Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-24019512-20141026062352

The woman who suddenly saved Yang during episode 11 is speculated to be Yang's long-lost mother. Judging by her appearance and mask, she may also be a Faunus of some kind. Some people think she's a bird Faunus, and someone mentioned a phoenix. That actually plays in really well with Yang's character: references to fire, the way she occasionally uses Ember Cecilia to "fly" (like in Episode 5), and how she gets stronger with each hit.

However, looking at Mama Xiao Long (if that's who the swordswoman was), her appearance suggests a dragon more than a bird in some ways. Her hair and armor look like scales, her eyes (what can be seen through the mask) are clearly unusual, and she uses pure Dust to fight, which is valuable; dragons are known to covet gems and gold. It all works with Yang the way the phoenix theory does. (Also, since dragons covet gold, Yang is protective of her golden hair. Think about it.)

So I wouldn't be surprised to see that Yang is a hybrid Faunus, and a dragon at that. Plus it would explain why her mother left her: to protect her from discrimation at a time which, theoretically, could be just before or just after the Faunus War. 