Blake

Howls and screams tore through the air as we ran along the wall. The sickening scent of blood hung in the air. Columns of smoke were drifting up from various parts of the city, most likely fires caused by Dust explosions. The screams, the blood and the smoke all served to push us onwards, to make us run faster.

We'd made it most of the way around the city by the time we reached the end of the wall, and we were about five hundred feet away from the gates to Beacon. But that seemed like a hundred miles from where we stood. There were dozens of Beowolves and Ursa in the street, blocking our way. No abnormal ones, like the Beowolf we'd fought just over a week ago, but normal Beowolves, in such large numbers, were a problem anyway. I couldn't see any Beacon students near the gate, though I could hear some of the fighting in the streets not too far away. I could tell they weren't very far away, but, by the sound of it, they weren't going to make it back to gate any time soon.

"Well, we need to get through somehow." I said as we stood atop the wall, looking down at the monsters below us.

"We could go over the rooftops again." Weiss said. "It'd get us closer to the gates before we have to fight anything."

"Where's the fun in that?" Yang laughed. She deployed Ember Celica and punched her fists together in excitement. I swatted the back of her head.

"We need to get to Professor Ozpin as soon as we can." I said. "There might be something else in those papers that can help him. We don't have time for you to let off steam." Yang pouted at me, but detracted Ember Celica all the same.

"Fine," she sulked. "If you want to be boring."

"If boring keeps us alive," Weiss said. "Then boring we shall be."

Yang stepped up onto the parapet, her face a mask of disappointment, and jumped down. She landed in a forward roll, and dragged herself up to her feet. She looked back up at us dejectedly and waited for the rest of us to follow. The three of us leapt down together, landing next to Yang. The shock of the impact sent a trembling vibration up my legs. I patted Yang on the shoulder as I stood.

"Cheer up Yang," I said with a smile. "We still have to fight our way across the street to the gate. You'll get to hit some monsters." That brought a smile back to Yang's face, and she led the way across the rooftops until we were right in front of the gate to Beacon.

There seemed to be more monsters concentrated here than further up the streets in any direction. Maybe they're attracted to intersections or something, I thought. Wow, another joke, and a bad one too. I really have been spending too much time with Yang. Speaking of Yang… She was standing on the edge of the roof, gazing downwards with a grin on her face. Ember Celica was out, loaded and ready to fire. Yang was ready for action. I drew Gambol Shroud with a sigh and stepped into position next to her.

"Yang," I said. "Give the papers to Ruby. You and I can clear a path for her and Weiss, then we'll follow them through the gates. We shouldn't let any more of them get into Beacon if we can help it." Yang nodded and turned back to Ruby, handing her the papers and patting her affectionately on the head.

"You two," I said, addressing Ruby and Weiss. "Wait here for a few seconds after we jump down. When you see a clear, or at least clearer, path through, come down after us. We'll hold them off until you get inside the gates, and then we'll follow you in." They both nodded and drew their weapons. Yang stood next to me once more, grinning madly. She punched her fists together again, setting off a flurry of sparks.

"Let's do this!" she yelled.

"Don't be so dramatic." I muttered. Yang shot another grin my way and toppled forward. I rolled my eyes and leapt after her.

Yang smashed into the ground with a resounding crash. I landed lithely beside her, without making a sound. I watched as Yang leapt forward, flipped over the first few Grimm in front of us, and brought her foot thundering into the head of a Beowolf below her. The Beowolf buckled under the force of the blow, slammed into the ground, and lay still. Yang leapt again without hesitating, throwing herself into the fray.

I lost sight of her as an Ursa reared up in front of me with a mighty roar. I cartwheeled off to the side as it swiped downwards with its front paws. A breeze tussled my hair as the vicious claws swiped past my head, missing by inches. I dove into a forward roll as the Ursa swiped sideways with a paw then, coming to my feet, I folded Gambol Shroud into its sickle form and fired it at the Ursa's exposed back. The blade sank into the meat of its back with a sickening thud and—from the sound of shearing bone and the Ursa's sudden fall following the blow—I knew I'd severed its spine. I yanked on Gambol Shroud's ribbon, tearing it out of the incapacitated Ursa's back, and used the force of my pull, as well as another bullet, to send it slicing into the crowd of monsters that was converging on me.

I caught sight of Yang through the wall of Grimm in front of me and leapt, over the heads of the monsters, to land a few feet away from her. We'd fight better if we were close enough to look out for each other.

"Yang," I called out her name, trying to be heard over the blood-thirsty roars around us. "I've got your back." I saw her glance over her shoulder at the sound of my voice and nod. She'd heard. With that dealt with, I unfolded Gambol Shroud back to its ordinary katana form and began slicing through the monsters around me. I could hear Ember Celica firing repeatedly behind me. Yang was clearly fighting as hard as I was.

Limbs tumbled through the air as I hacked at the monsters around me. Any Grimm brave enough to try an attack against me, or Yang's back, quickly lost its bravery, as well as whatever part of it strayed too close to us. Ruby and Weiss leapt off the rooftop in twin flashes of red and white. They landed in the middle of the intersection, which was now clear of Grimm. I smiled to myself as they ran through the gates. Our distraction had worked perfectly. Now we just had to get out of this mess.

"Yang! Blake!" I heard Ruby yell over the din of monsters around us. "We're through, get to the gate!" I met Yang's gaze as she glanced over her shoulder at me. With a shared nod, we leapt upwards, onto the shoulders of a nearby Ursa Major. Using the monster as a stepping stone, we leapt over the heads of the horde of Grimm around us. I flipped myself around in the air and landed just beyond the monsters, while Yang propelled herself forward with Ember Celica and kicked a Beowolf in the face, following it down and taking off at run when they hit the ground.

We dashed through the gate, locking it behind us. The Grimm beat against the bars, roaring at their lost prey. Yang and I stopped to catch our breath, sharing a smile.

"Well that was fun." Yang panted.

"I'm glad you're satisfied." I replied, rolling my eyes at her. Yang straightened up with a grin and clapped her hands loudly.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, let's get to Ozpin!" she cried. The four of us ran, away from the monsters howling at the gates, and towards the sounds of battle coming from Beacon.

The approach to Beacon was strangely devoid of monsters. We didn't encounter any until we'd reached the Academy's grounds, and even then, there wasn't as many as I'd expected.

"What's going on?" Yang asked as she beat down a Beowolf. "There should be more than this. And where is everyone?"

"It doesn't matter." Weiss said sharply. "Our job is to get to Ozpin's office. Let's focus on that for now."

As we crossed the grounds and approached the main entrance, we realised why there weren't any monsters around the academy. The main doors, and the wall around them, had been destroyed. The path towards the doors was littered with Grimm, blood and Nevermore feathers. Screams, roars and gunshots were issuing from the gaping hole in Beacon's façade. Myrka's monsters had gotten inside.

We dashed across the courtyard and burst into the great hall. The room was a mess of splintered wood, crumbling stone and corpses—both Grimm and human.

"Oh no…" Ruby whispered. "This is bad. This is really, really, bad!"

"What happened here?" Weiss muttered. "Ozpin said the students were going to fight in the city. Why are there students lying here?"

"Weiss! What is wrong with you?" Ruby cried. "People are dead, dying or fighting for their lives right now! Of all the things to be worried about, you chose 'why they're here'?"

"It's important, Ruby!" Weiss snapped. "If there are students here, then that hints at the situation in the city. Maybe the city is lost, maybe it's secured. If we know why they're here, we'll know more of what's going on. And I'll thank you not to question my concern for these people!"

"Okay guys, easy." I cut in as Ruby opened her mouth to reply. I looked at her, raising my eyebrows, and she snapped her teeth together before pouting childishly. "You're both right, but right now, we need to get to Ozpin."

"What about the people?" Ruby asked, looking at the carnage around us.

"The teachers left them behind," Weiss said. "That means they couldn't do anything for them, which means we can't either. Let's just get to Professor Ozpin." Ruby frowned at Weiss' words. I could see her being torn in two. Her desire to help people and the knowledge that going to Ozpin was the most important thing to do were at odds. But she nodded slowly, a look of frustrated determination on her face.

We ran through the halls, and did our best to ignore the destruction around us. It wasn't as bad as in the great hall, but there was at least minor damage everywhere we went. The sound of gunshots and screams grew louder as we ran. After turning down a few hallways, we came upon a disheartening sight. The teachers and the still battle-ready students had set up a barricade across the hallway and were fighting off a swarm of at least thirty Beowolves. Thirty Beowolves that were right in-between us and safety, between us and Ozpin.

"We don't have time for this." Weiss muttered angrily as she spun Myrtenaster's cylinder. I heard one of the barrels click into place as she took up her ready position. "You three wait here and watch my back." She said as she faced the swarm of monsters. Some of the Beowolves closest to us noticed our presence and turned towards her as she took a deep breath with her eyes closed.

"Uh, Weiss…" Ruby muttered. "The monsters are coming."

I saw a faint, relaxed smile appear on Weiss' face as she leapt upwards. A glyph appeared in the air above our heads, one that Weiss landed on and used as a platform to send herself sailing over the monsters' heads. She spun elegantly as she pulled back Myrtenaster and became a deadly blur of white as she used another glyph to accelerate herself towards the ground.

Weiss must have loaded her sword with Burn Dust because a burst of flame erupted all around her as she struck. The Beowolves reared back in terror at the sudden appearance of fire, something they were afraid of at the best of times. The roars turned to howls as Weiss yanked Myrtenaster upwards and spun around, slashing at the wolves around her. Myrtenaster flashed through the air elegantly, cutting down monsters and shooting out Dust.

Ruby, Yang and I took out a couple of fleeing Beowolves that ran too close to where we were standing, and the defenders on the other side of the barricade soon leapt over, joining the fray themselves. Between all of us, we routed the Grimm and cleared the hallway. Weiss sheathed her sword with finesse and brushed a solitary strand of hair back into place.

"Well," she said, turning to face us. "That's that dealt with. Shall we be off?"

We brushed past the cheering students and teachers and continued towards Ozpin's office. We encountered a few monsters and skirmishes on the way, but there was nothing that really slowed us down—which was strange. If the enemy had breached the walls, and were inside the school, why weren't we encountering more resistance?

But, as troubling as it was, we counted our blessings and made quick time to Ozpin's office. By the look of things, he was still inside. There was a huge barricade cutting off the entire corridor, with dozens of people there to guard it. There was a shout of relief as we rounded the corner, and a pair of students leapt over the barricade to help us clamber over it.

It seemed Ozpin had told them that we were on a mission to extract intel. They were all relieved to see us, as if our presence would bring the invasion to an end. I didn't know what was in the papers we'd recovered, but I couldn't help but feel that we were going to let them all down. I tried to keep my head down as we waded through the relieved defenders, sticking close to Yang.

But I could understand their relief. Any news at this point would be a blessing for us. Things in the academy clearly weren't going well. Weiss had been right when she said the teachers would have taken the bodies with them if they could have helped. The corridor was filled with injured warriors, and groans of pain filled the air.

We passed the still figures of bleeding students and broken teachers. The nurses were frantically rushing about, trying to help people. We passed one nurse who was almost yelling at a third-year student, holding a bloody bandage to her side and pleading with her to stay awake. She was a student I'd seen regularly, whenever I went to the library. She was as studious as they come; I'd never seen anyone work as hard as her. And now there she was, lying on her side, barely conscious, with a nurse struggling to keep her alive. She whimpered quietly at the nurse's voice, and we moved on.

Ruby knocked on Ozpin's door, and turned the knob when his voice called out to enter. Ozpin was leaning over a large table that was set up in the middle of the room, poring over maps and reports from the battlefield. A look of relief washed over his face as he saw us enter.

"You all made it." He said. "I was beginning to worry."

"We're all okay." Ruby said with an almost reluctant smile. "Unlike everyone else here," She added solemnly.

"News of anyone surviving is good news, Ruby." Ozpin said. "Now, did you find anything while you were in there."

"Yes, sir," Ruby said, stepping forward. "The hideout was on fire when we got there, but we managed to get these out." She handed him the papers and stepped back in line with the rest of us.

"Split his forces… Nevermores at the gates… Deathstalkers in the city…" Ozpin muttered to himself as he read. "Attack from Emerald—that would've helped a few hours ago… And… Keep them away from the chapel?" He looked up at us, a thoughtful expression on his face. "What is he doing at the chapel?" he muttered. "That's why they're not pressing the attack; they want us to stay inside the school…"

"Uh, sir?" Ruby said. Ozpin's head shot up in surprise, as if he'd forgotten we were there.

"Oh, my apologies," he said sheepishly. "Well, I suppose I might as well tell you the situation. The attack came a little less than half an hour after you left. We'd set up most of our defences on the northern side of the grounds, but I'd kept a few stationed on the southern approach, just in case. So, when the attack came from the south instead, we weren't completely taken by surprise. But it still took as a while to get out troops into position. And, by then, the enemy had breached the school by sheer force of numbers alone.

"We've been trying to force them back out, but the sheer number of them has only driven us back little by little. We've managed to keep them on the first floor, and now I think they might not even be trying to get up to the other floors, but we can't manage much more. But now, we have an idea of what they're doing. Something's going on in the chapel, and we need to find out what."

"We can do it, sir!" Ruby yelled excitedly. "We'll get there."

"While I admire your enthusiasm, Ruby, but it'll be tough to get out of the school. They seem to be cutting off every exit, so it'll be a fierce battle anyway we try."

"Sir," Weiss cut in. "Have you put in the first and second year reserves?"

"No," Ozpin replied. "But you're right, now that we know what we need to do, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Right," Ozpin declared as he turned back to his table. "You four, go up to the first and second year dormitories. They've been holed up there since the attack started. Bring them down, and we'll sort out a plan to get us out of here and off to stop Myrka." Ruby grinned excitedly at Ozpin's words.

"Yes, sir!" She cried and dashed out of the room. The three of us looked at Ozpin for a second longer, who nodded solemnly at us, then followed her out.

I looked down the hallway as we left the room, but Ruby was already gone. Weiss rolled her eyes and started after her with a tsk, leaving Yang and I standing at the door. I saw Yang's head turn towards me out of the corner of my eye and looked up to meet her gaze. She looked at me with a reassuring smile, one that—despite the horror and mayhem around us—filled my heart with warmth. I smiled back at her and nodded after Weiss, leading the way towards the dormitories.

"How're you feeling?" Yang asked as we climbed the stairs.

"Huh?" I looked at her in surprise. Why is she asking me that? "I'm fine. Well, as fine as can be expected."

"Okay," Yang replied with a smile. I looked at her in confusion as she lapsed back into silence.

"Yang, is something bothering you?" I reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder, but she stopped walking before I could.

"Have you ever lost someone important to you?" Yang asked quietly. I lowered my hand slowly as memories rushed to the surface. Friends, family, comrades… Adam…

"I… Yes. I've lost people before." I said.

"So have I." Yang said. She turned and gazed out the window as she spoke. "So has Ruby. We both lost someone important when we were little, so I try to always be there for her now. I'm not going to let her go through something like that again. But I know that I don't ever, ever, want to feel that pain again either."

"Yang, what's going on?" I asked as I moved to stand next to her.

"I know that there's a lot going on, and it's probably not the time for this. But… Blake." She turned to face me, a determined expression on her face.

"Yeah!" I squealed. The intensity of her gaze was terrifying. What was she going to say?

"Blake… I… I don't want to lose you." She said quietly. "Losing you would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to me. So I need you to just be careful, okay? Stay with me, don't leave me side. I want to make sure you stay safe."

"I can take care of myself, Yang." I laughed awkwardly. Where was all this coming from? "You don't need to worry about me."

"I know you can. But all the same, would you? I'd feel a lot better knowing I'm there to look out for you if you need it. And I'd feel better with you watching my back too."

"Yang…" I gazed into her eyes. I had no idea what to say. Was Ruby right? Does Yang really… My heart swelled with my feelings for her and as I looked into her eyes—her deep, beautiful, lilac eyes—I knew that I'd just fallen in love. I'd felt it coming for a while, but now it was certain. I love you, Yang Xiao Long, I thought to myself with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, Yang." I said, smiling up at her. "I'd never leave your side anyway. We're partners, remember? I'll be right there with you." Yang broke into a relieved smile at my words.

"Thanks Blake," she said. "It'll be good to have you at my side."

"Always," I said with a smile.

When this is over Yang, we are going to have a good, long talk, I thought as we continued up the stairs. I'll give you until the end of this battle, but once this is over, you are mine.

I watched Yang's back as we reached the top of the stairs. It was strange how I looked at her differently than I had all of two minutes ago. Now I felt a need for her. I loved her, and she was going to love me back, whether she liked it or not.

We came to a sudden stop as Ruby came hurtling towards us, with Weiss in tow.

"There you guys are!" she yelled excitedly. "Come on, things are about to get exciting!" Yang and I watched in confusion as she dashed down the stairs in a blur of red. I looked at Weiss questioningly, Weiss just smile and gestured for us to turn around.

An army of students, at least a hundred strong, was marching down the hall towards us. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora headed the procession, all with their weapons at the ready. Yang and I shared another grin as we turned to follow Ruby back to Ozpin's office, with the proud defenders of Beacon Academy in tow.