Disclaimer - RWBY is owned by the late and great Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth Productions.

Hunted

She ran.

She ran like her life depended on it, because quite frankly it did.

Her breath wheezed out of her body, as she half-ran/half-slid around a corner into one of Vale's many alleyways. She chanced a quick glance behind and almost ran headlong into a trash can; only her feline prowess and hard-earned skills of agility and speed, kept her from falling headfirst onto the dirty alley ground, as she barely sidestepped the trash can.

She couldn't hear him anymore.

The steady, unhurried footsteps that had been stalking her for a while now, were no longer present behind her.

But Blake wasn't stupid.

She knew Adam hadn't stopped hunting. Wouldn't stop until he'd found...cornered...then killed her. She was his prey and having been by his side as long as she had been, she had seen firsthand too many times to count, just how diligent and efficient her now-former-partner was at stalking and then killing his prey.

So, she continued to run.

Somehow...someway...she had to find a way to elude Adam...elude him...and then find a way to kill him herself...

Because as long as Adam Taurus lived, Blake Belladonna would die.

~o~o~o~

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like it's better than yours, damn right it's better than yours, I could teach you but I'd have to charge," a bright-eyed, vibrant and beautiful blond sang merrily, as she bopped and swayed her way down the street from the grocery store she'd just left. Thankfully the grocery wasn't too far from her apartment and was luckily opened fairly late, so Yang could stop in and purchase the specialty cookies only sold at that location, that she'd promised her kid sister she'd stop in and get.

Though Yang realized as she continued to stroll casually down the darkened sidewalk, that she couldn't really call her sister Ruby, a 'kid' anymore. The little squirt was now 19 and had finally acquired her official Huntress license. Yang let out a little hum of pleasure as she thought about her own newly-acquired license, tucked safely away in the pocket of her jeans. Now that she and Ruby were both official Huntresses, they were both taking a small break to just live life before they began taking jobs and assignments, to hunt down and eliminate Grimm.

Yang was happily enjoying her free time in the apartment she'd paid down on with just a little help from her parents, Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long. Ruby had however pretty much moved in with Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Conglomerate. Weiss had essentially taken over control of the company, when her Father had been assassinated by unknown forces. Most people however assumed that the White Fang had been somehow responsible, though no one from the terrorist organization had ever come forward to claim responsibility.

Ruby had all but forced Weiss to let her move into the Schnee Manor for her own protection. Weiss had put up a fairly weak argument, as Yang knew the young heiress really didn't mind having her girlfriend and lover by her side. Weiss may still be a bit dishonest with her feelings and showing certain emotions, even after all these years of knowing her, but when it came to Ruby, Weiss had absolutely no defenses. The younger huntress had over the four years they'd known each other, slowly wormed her way into Weiss's heart. Yang was actually even beginning to suspect that Ruby may just make her temporary gig as Weiss's personal bodyguard, into a full-time thing. At least until the almost-certain threat against Weiss's life from the White Fang was resolved...one way or the other.

Yang let out a light chuckle as she turned onto a darkened alleyway, that would provide a bit of a shortcut back to her apartment. It was perfectly alright to Yang if Ruby decided to postpone being an active Grimm Huntress for a while, to look out for and take care of her lover. Yang understood that sometimes matters of the heart took absolute precedence over all other things. Yang knew eventually Ruby would once again take up her weapon in defense of the people, to fight the monsters that hunted them all in the dark. For right now though, Ruby would protect the one she loved most, from the monsters that hid themselves within the dark of the city itself.

Yang let out a carefree hum as she walked down the dark alley, with her small bag of groceries slung casually over her shoulder by the tips of her fingers. Suddenly though, a sharp cry of pain, and the sound of something hitting the ground hard ahead of her, caused Yang's steps to first slow then stop. She strained her sight to see what was happening further down the dark alley. There! On the ground, hidden partially in the darkness as no streetlights illuminated the area, was someone trying to crawl along the dirty alley ground. The person's leg was obviously injured as they desperately clutched at it, while trying to rise back up to their feet with a weapon drawn. Yang could just make out the silhouette of a tall man standing near the exit of the alley. He stood with a kind of deadly confidence that immediately set Yang's Huntress instincts on edge. This man was a hunter himself...a beast...one who had obviously been stalking his prey, and was now leisurely enjoying the moments before his kill.

Well fuck that.

Yang quickly dropped the small bag of groceries at her feet, before letting her own weapon Ember Celica engage. Once both bracelets had set themselves down into their shotgun gauntlet forms, Yang swiftly began racing forward.

The sound of her heavy footsteps obviously startled the two who were facing off against each other. The man let out a curse as he quickly sheathed his blade, which had been pulled out and raised to make a killing blow. Then with speed and grace Yang had only ever seen Hunters and Huntresses achieve, the man jumped up onto a fire escape above them, and quickly made his way up to the roof of the building it was attached to. As Yang pulled to a rapid halt beside the injured person, she saw the man make a leap onto the roof then disappear from sight as he crested the top of the building.

Yang let out a small curse of her own at having lost the man, but then quickly switched her attention to the injured person beside her. The person was now leaning down with both hands on their knees, weapon now sheathed on their back while releasing ragged, pained breaths.

"Hey, you ok? Saw you struggling to defend yourself against that guy who was about to further attack you. Which by the way, is something straight out of one of those thrillers my little sister loves to read! Two strangers facing off in a dark alley, the fractured moonlight only helping to deepen the shadows surrounding them, as they ready their weapons to attack each other. And then the dashing hero comes in and saves the day!" Yang exclaimed with a swift pump of her fist, as Ember Celica fully disengaged from battle mode, and settled back down into their unassuming bracelet forms.

"Do you...always...talk...this much? Especially with someone...you don't even now...who is...by the way...bleeding out...right beside you," a soft, mellifluous voice spoke up as the person Yang had just saved from certain death, straightened up as best they could, allowing the shattered moon's rays to softly illuminate their face.

Yang drew in a sharp breath, as her lilac gaze was speared by the most stunning pair of eyes she'd ever seen in her life. They were a brilliant golden colour, that seemed to almost magically draw in the light and power of the moon itself, causing them to practically glow in the darkness surrounding them. Plus the almost-delicate looking facial features of the woman who stood unsteadily before her, were quite simply breathtaking. Yang knew herself to be a very beautiful woman. She never acted vainly about this fact, but she did know that she attracted the attention of many people, as she went along her daily business. But the stunning beauty standing before her now...Yang wasn't ashamed to admit that for possibly the first time in her life, she finally understood what other people possibly thought when they looked at her.

Oh my god, she is beyond gorgeous..., Yang thought to herself in a brief stupor before she shook her head, and moved quickly forward to gently grab hold of the woman's arm before she toppled over. She then quickly looked down at the woman's leg, and saw what she'd suspected was there. A pretty deep-looking slice through the woman's thigh that was still steadily dripping blood.

"You need medical attention. Now. But wait, wait! Before you say anything, I already figure you most likely will not want to go to any kind of medical facility for treatment. Going by that nasty standoff between you and Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deadly...whatever was about to go down here tonight, is probably not something you'd want the local authorities getting wind of. Am I right...or am I right?" Yang asked with a small smirk as she moved her body into a position beside the injured woman, so that she could slip a strong arm around the woman's smaller waist, to help her start moving towards the exit of the alley.

The woman gave Yang a startled glance, as she was helped to walk out of the alley. She was first startled and surprised that this stranger who had come so valiantly...and stupidly in her opinion...to her rescue, seemed to have so cleverly surmised that she did in fact not want to seek treatment anywhere where...difficult to answer questions...may be asked as to how she had sustained her injuries. And secondly, she couldn't quite believe how closely into her personal space this stranger had placed herself; wrapping a steady arm around her slender waist, and carefully helping to guide them both out of the alley.

"Where are we going? Where are you taking me? I can get along just fine on my own. I don't need you to help me. I can find a way to treat myself on my own," the beautiful woman Yang was practically carrying muttered unhappily into the blond's ear. Yang just rolled her eyes, as she continued to help the unsteady woman out of the alley.

"Yes, because you can walk just fine on your own right now. And I am so sure that in your current condition, you can absolutely put up a fight against Mr. Tall, Dark, and Wants To Kill You," Yang answered with heavy sarcasm as she helped the woman out of the alleyway, and began moving them both towards her apartment building in the near distance.

"Adam...his name is...Adam," the woman said in a voice that spoke of a history shared between the two, that was filled with no small amount of anguish and regret.

Yang kept her eyes held straight forward, with a stoic expression on her face. "And what's your name, kitty cat?" Yang then asked in a low voice, as now that they'd stepped out of the dark alley and onto the streetlight-lit sidewalk, she could clearly see the twin cat ears laying flat against the top of the woman's head.

The woman stiffened against Yang's side, but Yang refused to let her pull away from her. After a few tense moments where the two of them fought a silent battle of wills, the obviously-Faunus woman in Yang's arms, slumped against the blond in apparent defeat.

"You're lucky I'm feeling too drained and exhausted from blood loss and fighting for my life tonight, otherwise I'd have to seriously hurt you for that 'kitty cat' remark," the Faunus woman muttered darkly under her breath, which only caused Yang to let out a loud, amused laugh.

So, little Miss Kitty Cat has claws, Yang thought to herself in amusement, as she and the Faunus reached the entrance to the apartment building Yang lived in. Fishing out the keycard to the building door from her back pocket, Yang flashed it before the built-in sensor beside the door, and waited the couple seconds it took for the door to swiftly open.

It was a fairly nice apartment building that was located just on the border of middle-class Vale, and the more lower-class areas. Yang had gotten the apartment at a fairly decent rate, because the building management was all too happy to have a bonafide Huntress residing in the building with them. The fact that the building straddled the line between the better part of town and the...less savoury...was the reason certain security measures had been implemented. Like sensors to open the building doors.

Yang led the injured Faunus the short distance from the building's front door to the elevator. Once the elevator doors closed, Yang allowed herself to take a quick look at the woman's face. The delicate paleness of her skin looked more pronounced, and short gasping breaths kept escaping the woman's lips, despite an obvious effort on her part to mask the soft, pain-filled sounds.

That asshole who was hunting her must have cut pretty deeply into her leg. I'll probably have to pull out my more serious injury med kit, and put in a few stitches to close the wound. Good thing management is aware that sometimes I may end up bringing my work home with me. So, if I don't get a chance to fully clean up the trail of blood that's being left in our wake, at least they won't freak out too badly when they see it in the morning...hopefully, Yang thought worriedly to herself, as she glanced down at the still-bleeding wound on the woman's leg. She sighed with relief when the elevator finally stopped, and the doors opened onto her apartment floor.

By this point Yang was all but carrying the woman in her arms, as the Faunus was practically passed out from blood loss and exhaustion. "Okay, up you go. Not gonna have you collapsing on me tonight," Yang said as she reached down, and easily scooped the rapidly-fading woman into her arms.

A low, pained moan escaped the woman's lips, and Yang looked down with eyes that shone with worry and emphatic-pain for everything the poor woman in her arms had gone through tonight.

"Wish you would at least tell me your name..." Yang said softly under her breath, as she once again used her keycard to activate a door sensor; this one to her two-bedroom apartment that her sister Ruby used to come visit all the time. Moving in with Weiss had severely cut down on those sisterly visits, but right now Yang was more than a bit grateful for that. At least now she could settled her 'unexpected guest' onto the bed in the second bedroom.

As Yang carefully and gently placed the hurt woman down onto the bed, and then began to lean back so she could go in search of her med kit, a hand shot out and gripped the sleeve of her top.

"My name...my name is...Blake," the woman's softly-melodious voice said, before amber-coloured eyes slowly shuttered closed, and the hand holding onto Yang's top loosened; falling limply down onto the soft bed covers beside her prone form.

Yang felt a soft, sad smile tug up the corners of her lips, as she unconsciously reached down to brush a few, stray strands of silky-black hair away from the woman's brow.

"It's nice to meet you, Blake. My name is Yang. I'm going to do everything within my power to help you. You seem like someone who could use a little help...and possibly even a friend. So, don't worry...I'll help you. I'll keep you safe."

AN - And there we have it! =D

Hope you all enjoyed. I'd love and appreciate any feedback on this story~ ^.^