Yang threw the hotel room door open and tossed her gym bag haphazardly by the bed. Her skin had a slight sheen on it from the sweat she had worked up at the gym. She had spent hours slamming her fists into punching bags and kicking them until her feet ached. It hadn't helped though. Every time her fist landed she just wanted to punch harder, faster, she had screamed, she had railed against the impassive bags, but nothing helped.

She slunk towards her bed, not bothering to close the door of the small room. She walked by the bathroom door to where the bed was and sat down heavily, hearing the stiff spring squeak. It smelled like damp dog.

Yang bent over and pulled the knot that kept her dark boot laced up and watched as it slid apart. Any facsimile of the knot's strength faded just by tugging on one little lace. It could have held together for months if she hadn't touched it, but one tug and it fell apart into a shambled mess. She looked at it curiously.

The room was dark. She was staying in a hotel rather than at her usual place on Pyrrha and Jaune's couch as her sister was staying there now. Ruby, alive and well, was probably lying there right now, dreaming peacefully.

A sharp needle of pain shot through Yang's skull and she gasped as she tensed, every muscle clenching against the ache. The pressure welled, squeezed, tightened, then broke. It faded completely in a few seconds.

It was well past midnight now. For three years, she hadn't rested peacefully, and tonight was no different. The only difference was rather than the unconscious nightmares that were her usual plague, now she had the roiling maelstrom of thoughts ripping through her mind that had kept her up, slamming against the unyielding bags.

The guilt had started as a void in her stomach. The twisting and clenching of her innards hadn't stopped, and it still felt like she had been punched in the gut over and over. But now it was physical too. Yang had tried to drink it away, but every time she tried to sip at her sweet poison, her hand started to shake and she couldn't bring herself to. If Ruby ever knew who Yang had become…

The guilt was bad. Her disappointment would be worse. Dust, Yang was supposed to be the older sister. Responsible, put together, caring… She was supposed to be a pillar for Ruby, who probably needed a bigger sister more than anything right now. But Yang couldn't be a sister right now. She was just trying to scratch the surface of human.

She threw her boot away and unlaced the second. Then she took off her shirt, pants, undergarments; the gauntlets came off last. She admired the gleaming gold for a minute. Even in the near pitch dark of the hour, they shone as though they had some inherent light. She grabbed some sweats and a tank top and threw them on. They were both black, but over her breast on the left side was a small white dove spreading its wings in a depiction of flight.

Yang was always unsure of the shirt. Sure, the bird could fly, but it was surrounded by darkness. What was the good of flying if you couldn't go anywhere meaningful?

There was a soft knock and the door creaked open. Yang jerked into a stance and her gaze shot to the door. A silhouette leaned against the doorframe, outlined by gold, with its hands in its pockets. Two little ear poked up on top of her head, and a blade hung in its sheath across her back. She was wearing all white tonight, except her purple sigil emblazoned on her right thigh.

"Hey," Blake said softly, almost as if she was talking to a wounded dog.

"What do you want?" Yang stepped out of her stance, but she didn't relax.

"I know what you brought back with you." Yang's eyes shot to the bedside table where the pills were hidden. "I'm going to need it." Yang's brow creased in confusion.

"What-"

"Crescent Rose." Blake said somewhat stiffly. "I'm taking Ruby on a hunt tomorrow. I know you have it, and while she's no slouch with a sword, she needs her scythe."

Yang's hands balled into fists, and her foot staggered slightly, dropping into a half stance. Then she was perfectly still for a moment.

"You're what?" The words dripped with venom.

"She wants to hunt. Being cooped up in Vale isn't doing anything for her."

"She's been dead for three years, and you're taking her on a HUNT?!"

Blake looked at Yang steadily, not backing down even as Yang felt her skin start to heat up.

"Ye-"

Yang slammed into the faunus, tackling her to the hallway wall. She heard the air rush out of Blake's lungs as they smacked into the drywall, bending the soft material slightly.

"If you bring her anywhere near the forest, I will gut you." Yang hissed.

"Yang…" The word was choked as Yang's elbow pressed into Yang's ex-partner's throat. Blake's eyes were fiery, angered. Yang had seen that dangerous, cold fire before, but never directed at her.

Yang just pressed harder. "You won't go anywhere near-"

Blake pushed on her shoulders, sending Yang backwards. She managed to keep her hold and dragged the brunette with her, spinning and using the momentum to flip Blake onto the ground, falling on top of her.

She tried to scramble up, but the second her weight shifted, Blake grabbed her arm and whipped it to the side. The move threw Yang off balance, and as she started to fall, she felt a knee slam into her kidney.

She cried out and rolled across the floor, coming out on all fours, ready to spring into action. Blake was already standing, looking at her coolly.

"Yang," She was trying to sound calming.

"I just got my sister back," Yang growled. "And you want to take her away again!" She screamed as she dashed forward and aimed a blow at Blake's chin. Her ex-partner ducked and slammed a fist into Yang's stomach. Blake caught her as Yang almost fell, hugging her tight to support her.

Yang let herself be held up for a moment as she caught her breath, limbs shaking, either from rage, fear, or exhaustion. Hot tears sprang to her eyes. Blake was going to kill Ruby.

Yang couldn't lose her again.

She would never see her sister again.

She was going to be left alone, staring at twin graves.

The woman who had been a mother to her.

And her sister.

Ruby...

Yang roared and grabbed Blake's arm near the shoulder, heaving upwards. She felt her semblance kicking in as the faunus left the ground and slammed into the roof a mere foot above their heads. She broke a sprinkler then fell back onto her stomach. Water jetted through the air, soaking Yang's skin and letting off a fine steam.

Yang didn't waste a second, stomping at Blake's head, but the faunus just rolled to the side and kicked as she twisted until she stood, catching Yang's ankle. She stumbled to the side, into the wall, pushed off it and swung.

Blake snapped a palm into Yang's forearm, deflecting the swing, then slammed her other hand into Yang's solar plexus. The force of the blow sent Yang crashing back into her room and sliding across the floor. Blake walked in after her, calmly. Yang scampered backwards, but Blake just held out a hand to help her up.

Yang grabbed it and pulled, sticking her foot across the raven haired woman's ankles, bringing her down on top of Yang. She locked her arms around the faunus and rolled, getting on top.

"You can't take her away!" Yang screamed as her fist struck down, only missing by the grace of a quick twitch on the faunus' part.

"Yang!" Blake yelled, shoving her off and into the bed frame. "Calm down!" She said as the two women stood slowly, warily, as mirror images.

Yang took a menacing step forward, and this time Blake leapt into action. She stepped inside Yang's guard faster than the blonde thought was possible, grabbing her arm as she flowed past. Yang recognized the throw a moment before it happened and a moment after she could do anything. She flipped over Blake's hip and landed in a puff on the stiff mattress of her bed.

Hot tears streamed down her face as she saw Blake's silhouette land on top of her and pin her limbs down. She writhed, but it was no use. Blake had been at her peak for years; Yang had barely been getting by.

Yang shook her head from side to side.

"Blake, please," She begged. "You can't. Don't do this. Please... Blake, please,"

"Yang, it's going to be fine,"

"I don't - I can't -" She broke off in a sob.

"She's going to be okay."

"-lose her." Yang sobbed. The weight on her arms and legs disappeared, and Yang reached forward to clutch at Blake. "I can't lose her Blake. Not again. Please. You can't do this."

Blake, now beside her, just reached out and hugged her as Yang curled into a ball next to her, the tears leaking into the bed. A soft hand stroked her hair calmly, no longer trying to convince, just reassure.

"She won't leave you again." The faunus spoke softly. "I'll make sure of it."

Blake, the huntress Yang should have been. The grace to her fall. She would do Yang's job.

Another sob wracked Yang's body, and she just clutched at her partner. The shadow that had become light.

Time passed. The red tinge of the world Yang hadn't even noticed faded. The trembling slowed, calmed by the reassuring presence beside her.

"You can promise that?" Yang finally spoke, breaking the tense silence.

"Of course." Blake's voice held the confidence of someone who knew when they would fail. And this would not be one of those times.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips. She clenched her eyes shut. She tried to squeeze them hard enough to squeeze the fear out of her stomach, but to no avail. She stood, her legs shaky, and walked to the closet. She opened it, and withdrew the black box with a rose emblem upon it.

She turned, holding it out to Blake. The faunus took it without hesitation, and Yang felt like a part of her soul was ripped away as the box left her hands. It was all she had left of her sister.

"Thank you," Blake said with a small smile.

Yang didn't answer. She walked numbly towards the bed, trying to hold away the shaking, just long enough for Blake to leave.

She fell into the tousled sheets heavily, then drew her knees up under her chin, sitting on it as she had those long nights after she had found out about summer.

The silhouette walked back towards the goldenly lit hallway from which it had come. Purposeful, sure, everything that Yang had once been. Everything Blake had once lacked.

"Blake?" The question came out nervous and hesitant. The silhouette paused, turned slightly, listened. "Will you stay?"

There was a pause, and Yang felt that moment stretch into an eternity.

"Okay,"

Release dates are going to be pretty spaced out from now on. Whole lot of work picking up right now, and not a whole lot I can do to make time to write. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, though I didn't much like it. I just feel like I needed to get something out, or I was never going to write again.

Cheers,

Unjax