Almost

Blake exhaled slowly, concentrating on controlling her Aura to form a thin layer around her body, blocking out the biting wind that had been chilling her through. She had shed her trench coat whenever she and Yang had left the Shadowswift, and her combat gear wasn't exactly built to withstand the Winter in northern Vacuo. A gray, sleeveless cotton undershirt, a dark leather chest armor piece, a black ankle-length skirt, and purple leggings tucked into gray thigh-high boots with gold trim did not exactly meet the standard requirements for not dying of hypothermia. Hell, she didn't have sleeves. The closest things she had were a shoulder guard and forearm covering on her left arm, and a long, black leather strap wrapped haphazardly up her right one.

She sighed internally in relief whenever warmth began to flow back into her extremities. She didn't even care that she was burning some extra Aura right now. It was worth it.

Blake's eyes slid to the side, taking in her companion, trudging through the ankle-deep snow in front of her without a word. Even with as much skin as her combat outfit exposed, Yang seemed entirely unperturbed by the freezing temperature. Her head was bowed, face buried deep in the crimson scarf. Her breath misted through the material, but other than that, there was no indication that the blonde was even remotely cold. Her Aura may not be working correctly, but it seemed her body would always burn hot. Blake had to admit that she deeply envied that trait right now.

It had barely been twenty minutes since they had departed the airship, and already she had had to resort to her Aura to keep the chill away. She had always been sensitive to cold, and it had only gotten worse in the past four years. They had a long day ahead of them, and being freezing didn't exactly give it a good start.

Blake had ordered Captain Reynolds to put the Shadowswift down several miles from their destination. She didn't want to risk Roman picking her up on sensors or spotting them. It would be safer to approach the objective on foot. From there she and Yang had set out by themselves. The captain had offered to send Rudgers or Britain along with them, but Blake had declined. This needed to be just the two of them, she had said. The less people involved, the better. They'd be fine.

Of course, that had been part of the reason. While it was true that the chance of discovery was smaller the less of them there were, it was also true that the two of them might not be enough to properly handle the situation should things go south. Blake had the utmost confidence in her skills as a Huntress and a Beacon operative. What she didn't have confidence in, at least not anymore, was her partner's skills. Yang had been so long removed from the constant world of battles and training that Blake existed in, and she couldn't accurately gauge just how far her abilities had slipped in that interim. She already knew Yang was weaker than she had been, she just couldn't say by how much.

As it was, though, bringing along another member of the crew would have just made things worse. Blake had noticed it in the day's travel time it took to get to Vacuo, but Yang did not play well with others. She steadfastly avoided contact with the Shadowswift's crew members, choosing instead to hole herself up in her cabin. At meals she showed up, grabbed her portion of the food, and then vanished, returning only after everyone else had finished to place her dishes in the washer.

The only person it seemed Yang had been willing to be in the same room with was Blake. If anyone else approached her or tried to interact with her, she would fix them with a glare and remain silent. If they continued to press her, she was liable to snap. Poor Rudgers had almost landed himself in the infirmary again after repeatedly asking if there was anything he could do for her. Fortunately, a quick shadow step on Blake's part had gotten her between them in time to stop the fist flying for his face. The weapons specialist was a giant softie with a huge heart who didn't know any better. He honestly and sincerely just wanted to help her. After that incident, though, Blake had been sure to impress upon him exactly what Yang could do to him should he incur her wrath. Referencing the Ursa's face she tore off in the final clash four years previous seemed to have gotten the message across as, thankfully, there had been no more problems between her partner and her crew for the rest of the short journey.

So here they were, the two of them, trekking through the northern hills of Vacuo beneath a grey sky. Light flurries flitted about them, gently kissing her cheeks before melting out of existence. Blake had to say, despite the less than stellar circumstances she found herself in, this place was beautiful. They were currently making their way across the top of a particularly towering plateau. Beneath them on their sides stretched miles of forest. Soaring pines dominated the view in waves of green, though she spotted a few twisted oaks or maples pushing through the canopy, their branches bare and dead for the winter. Off to the right, the trees ran as far as the eye could see, covering the gently sloping hills that made up the landscape in that direction.

The front, though, is what truly drew her eyes. A huge mountain range dwarfed the horizon, great monoliths of sharp, grey stone whose white-capped peaks disappeared into the clouds above. It curved along their left, vanishing into the distance behind them. No matter how many times she saw the Spine of Vacuo, Blake almost couldn't comprehend its sheer enormity. The mountains back at Beacon were basically anthills compared to these ones. In front of them, stretching from the foothills all the way to the base of the plateau there were on was a different forest.

This one was filled entirely with dark, dead trees. She had heard that residents of Vacuo had taken to calling it the "Forest of the Damned." She couldn't really blame them. A faint mist weaved effortlessly between the trees, seemingly beckoning onlookers forward. The twisted, spreading branches grasped at the sky as if thrashing in pain. Faces screeching agony could almost be seen in the scraps of deformed bark on the blackened husks that were once trunks. Looking down on it all from here, Blake had to suppress a shudder; it truly did look like a pit of tortured souls clawing desperately to escape their suffering.

It hadn't always been that way. She had never seen it herself, but apparently the forest has once been lush and green, full of thick, healthy Ashwood trees. The land was destroyed now, though. Ravaged by fire and poisoned beyond repair. She wished she could have seen it back then, before the town nestled in the middle of the woods was known as Ashfall.

All of these thoughts faded away whenever Blake's eyes landed on the edge of the plateau, at the two slabs of stone set side-by-side in the snow. This was why they had come here, why they had deviated from a straight course to Ashfall. She knew that she was delaying the mission for personal reasons, but quite frankly, she didn't really care. Roman seemed to be in no rush to go anywhere, and it had been awhile since she had been here, something that didn't sit quite right with her. Surprisingly, she hadn't been the one to suggest this, though.

A soft knock had sounded on her cabin's door early that morning. Figuring it to be one of the crew with updates of some sort, Blake had sauntered over and opened the door. She was thoroughly surprised to find Yang on the other side. The blonde looked anxious, refusing to meet the faunus' eyes and hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. Blake had gently questioned her about what she wanted, and after a brief pause, she met her eyes and spoke five words that completely caught her off guard, if only because they were entirely unexpected.

"I want to visit Ruby."

It had taken Blake less than a second to make a decision. Roman could wait. This was more important. Far, far more important. Because when Yang had looked her in the eyes, Blake had seen something in them. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but she didn't really care. What mattered is that it was something more than the dead, emotionless look that had haunted those lilac irises since Ruby's death. And that meant more to Blake than anything else. Yang, her Yang, might still be in there somewhere, even if only a little bit. Maybe visiting Ruby's grave would be some sort of catalyst to bringing her back. She didn't know, but it was worth an attempt.

Besides, she missed her friend too.

Yang reached the graves first, halting in between them. Blake stopped a respectable distance behind her, figuring her partner would like a moment to herself with her sister. It was the first time she had been here, after all. They stood there in silence as the snow around them began to fall a little heavier. Eventually, Yang lowered herself to a sitting position, knees bent up and ankles crossed in front of her. The graves were identical in shape. The right one was crafted of a light rose-colored marble, however, setting it apart from the gray one beside it. The same rose symbol that could found on the other marker was on this one too, located underneath two lines of text engraved at the top of the stone in an elegant script.

Ruby Rose

Go, Sleep Thou With Them

"Hey, sis," Yang whispered quietly, reaching out a hand and resting it on the smooth surface. Blake felt her chest tighten and throat clench. Yang's voice carried none of the anger and rage it had for the last four years. All it held now was all of the pain, hurt, and pure, unfettered anguish she had suffered since losing her sister. She sounded like small, broken child, and tears pricked at the corner of Blake's eyes as she continued talking. "I've been such a terrible sister, haven't I?"

No! Blake wanted to scream. No, no, no! You were the best sister Ruby could ever ask for!

"I let you down…let you die. I couldn't keep you safe." Her shoulders began trembling, and Blake had to dig her nails into her palm to keep herself from running to her.

It wasn't your fault!

"And then it took me four years to come visit. I didn't even go to your funeral." Blake felt blood drip from her hand as she pressed harder, willing herself not to move. She was sure Yang would not forgive her if she interrupted. "God," her voice cracked, "I'm sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry." She buried her face in her knees as her body shuddered. Blake couldn't smell any tears, and she vaguely wondered if Yang still had the capability of producing them, or if they had dried up with her flames. Her second ears drooped as she bowed her head, letting a few tears escape from her own eyes. If Yang couldn't do it, then Blake would do it for her.

Her partner shifted, turning her head toward the other grave. "Summer," she began in a weak voice. She swallowed. "I never had the chance to meet you, but from everything Ruby and my dad said about you, you seemed like a wonderful person. I…I swore that I would protect your daughter, even if it cost me my life." She looked up at the sky. "I failed. And I wanted to tell you I'm sorry for that." She closed her eyes, allowing the wind to gently tousle her hair while she sat there. Yang leaned over Ruby's grave and placed a gentle kiss against the marble. "I love you, Ruby."

She stood and moved the cliff's edge, not even looking back as she stepped off. Gravity yanked her downward, but two loud bangs and a faint fwump let Blake know that she had reached the ground below safely.

Blake approached Ruby's grave and knelt before it. She rested her unbloodied hand on her leader's insignia. "I'll take care of her, Ruby. I promise. I'll bring her back, no matter what." She straightened and leaped off the cliff after the Yang, and silence returned to rest once more on the gravesite.

She felt like she had just watched her sister die again. It was the only thing she could liken it to. She had always been aware Ruby's absence. It had never left her mind, and that had been what had fueled her despair. But this was different than the simmering anger she had carried with her all this time. It reminded her of those first moments after the final battle, whenever it had well and truly hit her that Ruby was gone, and that she wouldn't be coming back.

Visiting her grave had stripped away the scab of rage Yang had grown, exposing the raw, bleeding wound of pain beneath. She felt as vulnerable and hollow as she had the first days following the end of the Siege. She had been listless then, still unable to process that her baby sister was dead. People had tried talking to her, to offer their condolences or just for conversation's sake, but she didn't register any of their words, and she never replied. Not even Weiss or Blake, neither of whom were ever very far from her, could illicit a reaction from her. It wasn't much longer before her anger welled up and consumed her, and from then on her life had been an awful mix of death, rage, and revenge. Somewhere along the line, Yang had forgotten how infinitely bottomless her despair had been when Ruby died.

But she had been reminded of that. Viscerally.

And now she needed to make sure Roman felt the same thing.

There was a soft rustle behind her, and Blake dropped from a tree, knees bending slightly to absorb the impact. Yang felt something ping in her chest as the faunus moved up beside her, but she ignored it. Seeing her sister's name engraved on a gravestone had frayed her nerves more than a little.

"We'll be reaching the village soon," Blake commented quietly, and as Yang nodded in response, she realized the sound of Blake's footsteps had entirely disappeared. "Yang-"

"Don't, Blake," she said warningly, but there was no anger in her voice, just a plea. She couldn't find it in her right now. "Just don't."

Blake gave her a concerned glance, but let it slide. "We'll need to go quietly from here on out. Do not use Ember Celica unless you absolutely have to, okay? If we can, I'd like to get through this entirely undetected."

Yang glanced down at her gauntlets, still collapsed up on her wrists. "Alright."

Her partner blinked in surprise, she hadn't actually expected Yang to agree so easily. She seemed to have been going out of her way to be difficult up to now. Visiting the grave had clearly shaken her up. Either way, Blake wasn't going to complain. It was nice having the blonde on her side again. Blake slid Gambol Shroud from her back and moved into the lead.

It didn't take long before they reached the edge of the village. The trees thinned out before stopping at the edge of an enormous clearing. The two of them halted before emerging from the tree line, ducking behind the black trunks to survey their objective. What they saw filled Blake with anxiety.

Ashfall wasn't very large, around fifty buildings in all, if she had to take a guess. Though calling the structures left standing buildings was a bit of a stretch. Many of them were just dilapidated piles of rubble. Roofs caved in, windows shattered, walls blown away or burnt to ashes, there didn't look to be a single building that had escaped damage in the Beowolf attack all those years ago. That wasn't the issue, though. The issue was the vast number of people that were swarming over the entire area.

They were organized, regular patrols of twos and threes marched the perimeter and streets of the village in set patterns. The longer she watched, the more she noticed that there were no blind spots, no places that they could just slip through. Any building with a second floor still in tact had at least one scout posted to it, scoped long rifles slung across their backs. Roman was clearly taking no chances. All of them were similarly equipped as well, dressed in thick black winter coats and pants, coupled with gloves and boots and carrying sub-machine guns. A few of them had scarves or hats as well, and Blake felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She had a feeling she knew who these people were.

Fortunately, Blake had taken them on a bit of a roundabout path, so that they were approaching Ashfall from the east, rather than straight up the southern road, which would have gotten them killed in no time flat. Unfortunately, their options for infiltrating the town were incredibly limited, something Yang seemed to realize at about the same time. She glanced back at her, lilac eyes hard.

"So much for stealth then, huh?" She moved her arms, and Ember Celica unfolded.

"No, Yang, wait!" Blake whispered urgently. Surprisingly, the blonde halted, though she threw a glare her way. "We can at least attempt to be quiet about this before we raise hell."

"There's not a whole lot of options here, Blake."

"Look, I know there's not really an opening, but we can make one. It's something I've gotten pretty good at."

Yang narrowed her eyes, but seemed to consider her words. "Fine," she said grudgingly, leaning back against the tree again. "We'll try it your way."

Blake exhaled in relief and nodded at Yang. She peeked out toward the village again, eyes sweeping over the enemies' movements. A plan came together in her mind. "Alright, here's what we'll do. See those guards patrolling there?" She pointed to two men who seemed to lagging slightly behind in their circuit, causing more of gap between them and the next guards than there normally would have been. "When they get close enough, we'll draw them over to us and take them out. After that, we're going for that scout in the window." Her finger moved to indicated a two-story building with a collapsed roof sagging on the edge of town. The second floor was missing half of its walls. "We'll have to move fast, but if we can get there undetected we'll have a moment to breathe. You got that all?"

"Yeah."

"Good. They're coming, let's do it." Both of them tucked themselves fully behind their respective trees. Whenever the guards drew parallel with them, Blake whistled softly. Immediately, both of their guns snapped to their shoulders as they frantically searched for the source of the noise. They scanned the area, taking a few cautious steps forward. As soon as they crossed into the woods, Blake moved.

She activated her semblance, blurring out of view, and reappearing behind the front man. Gambol Shroud swung forward, and the back of the weapon smashed into base of his skull, dropping him without a sound. His companion jumped, and brought his gun to bear. Before he could pull the trigger, though, a fist slammed into the side of his face, pitching him head-first into a tree. He did not get back up.

Blake crouched down next to the one she had dropped while Yang glanced out toward Ashfall.

"We don't have long before the next patrol. We need to move," the blonde commented before looking back to Blake. "What the hell are you doing?"

The faunus pulled back the man's collar, and her eyes landed a very familiar symbol tattooed into the man's neck. It was just as she had feared. "They're ex-White Fang soldiers," she spoke as she stood, adding in an undertone, "Shit!"

Yang looked from her the tattoo and back again. "How do you know they're ex-White Fang?"

Blake gave her a confused look, as if she was trying to determine whether or not she was being serious. "Yang...the White Fang is gone. They were dismantled."

Lilac eyes widened. "What? When?"

"Years ago. How did you miss that?"

"I- "

Blake shook her head. "Doesn't matter. You were right, we don't have a lot of time. Let's get moving."

She burst from the trees before Yang could respond, leaving her no choice but to sprint after her. They flew across the open space. Thankfully, they had timed it just right. They should reach the building just before the next patrol would be able to spot them. The scout in the second floor seemed to notice something was amiss, however, because he turned toward them, eyes going wide with surprise and panic when he saw them.

His hand darted to a radio at his belt as Blake cursed. She summoned her Aura, and once more blurred through the air. She wouldn't reach him, but she could at least get in range. Her semblance faded, leaving her suspended in the air just before the second floor. She flicked a switch on Gambol Shroud's sheath with her thumb and swung it toward the faunus, who was now raising the radio to his mouth. If this had been four years ago, she would never have been able to reach him. But it wasn't, and she could.

With several faint clicks, the sheath separated into sections. The same elastic, high tensile material she used for the ribbon on the katana portion of her weapon was threaded through the entire sheath, holding the segments together and allowing the weapon to stretch to over twice its normal length. Her Aura formed blades in the gaps between, ensuring that she had a deadly sharp edge that ran all the way to the tip.

The weapon bit into the wolf faunus' neck and wrist at the same time and cleaved straight through both of them with barely any resistance. His body dropped to the wooden floor as Blake shadow stepped once more to reach the room. There was a brief thump, and Yang skidded to a halt beside her.

She looked at Blake, then at Gambol Shroud, and then at the still-bleeding corpse.

Blake waved her weapon. "I've made some improvements."

"Clearly."

The cat faunus moved to the shattered window that overlooked the street below, peering out cautiously. Nobody seemed to have detected them yet. "It looks like they're transporting some stuff towards the back end of the village. I'm guessing that's where their command post is."

Yang grit her teeth. "And Roman."

"And Roman," Blake agreed. She glanced down at the road and the surrounding rooftops. "if we move now, we can get to the building across the street without anyone noticing. You ready?"

Her partner nodded, and together they jumped from the window, clearing the street in one bound.

Yang clenched her fists to keep herself from trembling.

She was almost there.

She almost had him.

A/N: I'm so sorry this one's late guys. I got it started on time, but then I got swamped with overtime (again) and other engagements and I just couldn't find time. This one's the longest thus far though, so I hope that helps to make up for it!

Anyway, what did we all think? I was really happy with a few parts and kinda eh on others, but provided you all enjoyed it, I'm okay with it :)

If you'd like, let me know what you thought of Gambol Shroud's improvement.

For anyone wondering, the line on Ruby's grave is taken from the same peom as the one on Summer's, Thomas Moore's The Last Rose of Summer.

Anyway, I love you all, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Look forward to some Roman and a lot more action next time :D