Author's Note

I'm warning you now, if you're looking for anything resembling "happy" then you'd best turn around now. Incidentally, Happy Birthday Angie! I hope I did the Grimmdark AU justice.

For those who don't know, this is based off of Angie's Grimmdark AU. As the name and my previous warnings suggest, it is not a happy place. I'm certainly not making it any better of a place either.

Note that the writing from Yang's perspective is intentionally stilted, simplistic and perhaps a little disjointed given her current state of mind. I assure you it's not just me suddenly losing my ability to properly write.

It was dark in the hospital wing of Beacon when Blake got out of her bed.

She really should not have been getting out of bed yet, let alone leaving as she was planning to do. The medical staff certainly would not be pleased. That wasn't even mentioning Professor Goodwitch or her teammates.

A grimace twisted its way across Blake's features as she tried to change out of the hospital robes into a set of her clothes she had found nearby in a closet. It was partly due to the ache in her ribs, and also partly due to the thought of her team. A member of her team was precisely why she had to do this.

"Aura is the light of one's soul. It empowers us, and protects us. But it is not unlimited."

The words of the professor rang through Blake's mind as she dragged her sore body towards the window. It was all fairly common knowledge, especially among those in their profession. Someone that didn't understand what aura was, was someone who was going to be dead very soon against the Grimm.

"The essence of the Grimm however are the very antithesis of our aura. Pestilent, infectious, malignant. Their energies do not always disappear immediately or in their entirety with the death of the creature."

Fewer gave thoughts to the Grimm. For most they were simply monsters, plain and simple. A soulless creature and an enemy to all other forms of life. The only thing that mattered was how to kill them.

Attaching Gambol Shroud to her back Blake gave a small sardonic laugh to herself. It was every bit as empty and hollow as she felt now. There was no amusement to be had here.

If only they had known. If only she hadn't been so foolish.

"In the presence of so many Grimm, both living and freshly slain, the concentration of such dark energies would have been higher than normal. Like the creatures themselves the forces that drive them are voracious and infectious, latching onto anything it can. A twisted mockery of life."

Yang...

"Normally one's aura would be sufficient to protect against the passive properties of the Grimm. But in the case of particularly potent darkness, and a lack of light with which to combat it..."

Blake had nobody to blame but herself. What had happened was her fault.

"I am...sorry, Miss Belladonna. There is nothing anybody can do."

Pale fingers tightened into a fist, nails digging into her palms as Blake's eyes glinted. It didn't matter what the professor said. It was her fault, so it was also her responsibility. She had to at least try.

Opening the window Blake swung herself up onto the windowsill. She gave one last lingering look at the hospital wing before turning her back on it and pushing herself off the ledge.

The fall towards the ground was not too far, only three stories. For Blake that was nothing. Landing on her feet she absorbed the impact by immediately tucking into a roll to expend the momentum. She was back on her feet and running within less than a second.

"Just hang on a little longer Yang. I'm coming for you."

Hunger. Anger. The urge to kill.

Ever since she had awoken, these were all she could feel. All she could remember.

That was fine. Those were all she needed. Instinct.

Snarling, she pushed her way through another bush. She'd been looking all day. Searching.

Prey. Prey. Prey.

A splintering sound was heard alongside a roar as she lashed out in anger at the closest thing, a rather unfortunate tree. Its base creaked as the wood strained and failed to keep the tree upright. A thunderous crash seconds later sent a number of birds in the neighbouring trees fleeing to the sky.

She had yet to come across a single prey at all. It seemed that frustration still existed within her as a subset of anger.

The only other beings she had encountered were The Others. The Others that were like her, except, more complete. The only thing that mattered about them was that something told her they were Not Prey. As such, they did not hold her interest.

Giving a huff she returned to her search. The search for something to rend, to tear, to kill. That would be the only way to satisfy the darkness within her.

No attempt was made to mask her presence as she made her way through the forest. Why would she need to? She and The Others were the hunters. Everything else was prey. Nothing else mattered.

More time passed as the search continued. She didn't know how long, as the passage of time held little meaning for her. Finally though something interesting came up.

She came to a stop, just as the other figure did as well. Baleful red eyes examined her quarry as she was inspected in turn. She was prey. Kill her. That was what her instincts told her.

And yet, why now did she hesitate?

Yang. It was Yang. Briefly Blake felt thrilled at how quickly she had managed to find her, but quickly clamped down upon the emotion.

In truth it had not actually been too hard to track her down. Blake had been able to retrace her steps to the place she had last seen Yang easily enough. From there, well, Blake had had some previous experience in tracking. The occasional destruction left in her partner's wake had certainly helped as well. It hadn't taken more than a couple of hours to find her.

Looking at Yang now though, Blake almost wished she hadn't.

The...infection, for lack of a better term, of the properties of the Grimm had spread itself further upon Yang's body since they had last seen each other. The formerly wispy aura of darkness that had surrounded the blonde had since solidified upon her. A mantle of black fur had formed around her shoulders, not unlike a short cape. What worried her more and really stood out though was the characteristic bone-like half mask of the Grimm that had formed upon the upper half of Yang's face.

The fur coat appeared loose upon Yang's back, and the mask incomplete. Blake could almost believe that they were but accessories she was wearing, not unlike the mask worn by her old partner and mentor. But that was a fleeting thought. A foolish wish.

A low rumbling growl issued itself from Yang's throat and Blake had to suppress a wince. It was not a sound that a human would have made, not one that Yang would have made. Every combat instinct Blake had was screaming at her now to either pull out her weapon or run. This is a Grimm, this is an enemy. Why do you stand and do nothing? It took all of her willpower not to do just that.

But Yang hadn't attacked yet either, something uncharacteristic of the Grimm. She could try diplomacy first.

"Yang," Blake called out softly to her friend. Loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to be surprising or threatening. Tentatively she held up her hands, palms facing out, as a placating gesture to try and show that she meant no threat. "Yang. Can you understand me?"

Another growl.

It was painfully obvious that Yang was more animalistic than human right now. Hunched over she was practically on all fours as she attempted to circle around Blake, never letting her eyes move off of her. The golden hair she had always been so proud of was already tangled and filthy. The sight of what she had been reduced to gave Blake a sharp jab in the chest.

This was her fault. She had done this.

Blake groaned as she felt herself returning to consciousness. What had happened?

Her fingers twitched as they scrabbled against the ground beneath her. She was lying on her side upon the ground and it was quite uncomfortable.

Slowly Blake opened her eyes, thankful for the small amount of light wherever it was she was now. When her vision focused, she immediately latched upon a comfortingly familiar figure kneeling in front of her.

"...Yang...?" Blake managed to croak out.

Dimly she saw the crumpled and broken figures of multiple Grimm lying around them in the peripheries of her vision. Most of them Ursa. That was right, she had gotten ambushed whilst alone. Surrounded. Given her former state of unconsciousness and her current state of still being alive she must have been saved.

"Hey Blake..." The voice was definitely Yang's, Blake confirmed in her mind. Something in it bothered her though, some quality within those words that seemed...off. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

Opening her eyes a little wider Blake prepared to greet Yang properly. Before she could get a word out though, she glimpsed something that gave her pause. Tendrils of blackness, of wrongness were twisting their way around her partner. Her eyes snapped all the way open as she lifted her head slightly for a better look.

"Yang!?" The alarm was now clearly as evident in her voice as she felt in her heart.

A soft smile. Eyes now turning a shade of red quite different from her usual. The moving shadows surged.

"YANG!"

Blake blinked, forcefully dragging herself out of the memory. Amber eyes refocused upon the human-Grimm hybrid in front of her. She had circled several feet to her left, but had not actually moved closer to her yet. Blake decided to take that as a good sign. Slowly, she took a tentative step forward.

"I know you're still in there, somewhere." said Blake taking another step. "You saved me." Step. "You could have hurt me. But you didn't."

When Blake took her next step, Yang finally made a move. With a snarl she leapt backwards, away from Blake who had moved just beyond an arms length from her. Landing in the treeline Yang stood crouched on all fours with muscles tense, still growling at Blake.

Blake felt her heart wrench, but she stopped moving forward for fear of chasing Yang off.

"Yang, please," Blake pleaded. "Come back with me. We can help you." Her eyes were stinging. "You're my partner. My friend. My best friend." With a shaky hand she reached out towards Yang once more, only to have to pull it back at another sudden snarl. Clutching her hand to her chest Blake averted her eyes, perhaps rather unwisely, unable to bear looking at Yang. "More than that...I never even told you..."

It was only the instincts honed from years of combat that saved her.

Throwing herself backwards from the blow she never even saw Blake just narrowly managed to dodge the powerful swipe that would have smashed into the side of her head. Instinctually twisting her body into a spin the follow up attack missed her as well. Pushing off with one of her feet Blake dodged to the side. Now in the air she placed a hand upon the ground turning her dodge into a handspring which helped her put some more space between herself and Yang before landing in ready position on her feet.

"So is this the way we're doing this Yang?" Blake asked looking sadly at her partner. Nevertheless, she had wasted no time in drawing Gambol Shroud, unwilling to get caught off guard again.

Roaring loudly this time Yang charged.

"Ghk!" The first blow was met with the flat of Gambol Shroud but Blake was surprised by the force of it. Yang's strength under normal circumstances was nothing to scoff at, but this was a bit more than even that.

Stumbling backwards she was forced to pull the katana free of the sheath in order to knock aside the next strike with the back of the blade. Even as Blake was steadying herself she was forced to lean her upper body to the side as what would have been a skull shattering blow passed by where her head had just been.

Her attack were fast and vicious. Blake had little time for thought as she was pushed to her limits in blocking and dodging again Yang's assault. Seeing an opening where Yang had an overextended a punch Blake lashed out with the back of Gambol Shroud's sheath into her opponent's side. Unfortunately from their close position she failed to deliver a strong enough blow and Yang was able to easily ignore it with the influence of the Grimm. Once again Blake was forced to dodge another a series of blows as she was put back on the defensive.

This fight was going badly for her, Blake thought grimly. With Yang under the influence of the Grimm she was attacking with reckless abandon, constantly staying on the offensive. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for Blake. Such a thing would mean that her opponent was also likely paying little attention to their defence, making counterattack easy. Normally Blake wouldn't be afraid of using her blade either.

Against another human, their aura would protect against the physical damage of most attacks. Right now, with Yang in her current state, that was an unlikely prospect. Against a normal Grimm Blake would not have hesitated to strike out with lethal blows, but this was no normal Grimm either. This was Yang.

That left plan B.

Activating her semblance with a surge of aura Blake's image flickered as the tainted Yang struck out against her afterimages. In a blur of speed, Blake took advantage of the opening. Two rapid strikes with the back of the sheath and blade had Yang stumbling. A quick quarter spin then had Blake's foot forcefully planted into Yang's chest, sending her flying back into the ground.

Following after her Blake landed on top of Yang, blade side of the sheath held to her throat. Pulling back her other hand Blake prepared with gritted teeth to slam the hilt into the side of her partner's head. Before she could do so though, just for a moment she caught Yang's eyes. The moment of hesitation that resulted from that was a moment too long.

An instant later Blake found herself thrown aside, the air leaving her lungs. Before she could even figure out what had just happened Yang reappeared in front of her. A crushing blow to her front caused Blake to cry out in pain. This was quickly followed by a painful landing as her back crashed into the ground. Snapping backwards upon impact the back of Blake's head smashed violently into the ground, and she knew no more.

Mine.

Mine.

As usual, the forces that drove her were telling her to kill. To rip out this one's throat right now. She was unconscious, helpless. It would be easy.

But now, there was another voice.

Mine.

Do not hurt her.

Mine.

To be protected.

Mine.

She is precious.

Mine.

She is mine.

"Nnghh..."

It was really hot. That was Blake's first thought as she drifted back into consciousness.

She was lying on her back this time. Turning on to her right side Blake pushed off the ground with her left hand in front of her, sliding in her right arm to brace herself on. The pain the movement brought her to the second thought that she must still be alive, because if she were dead then it wouldn't hurt this much. Yang hadn't killed her then. But where was she?

Opening her eyes she was greeted with what appeared to be a cavern wall, with an illuminating glow coming from the left. Turning her head to the side she was greeted with a rather unexpected sight.

Fire. Or to be more specific, lava. Blake herself seemed to have been sequestered away into a side tunnel, but she could see a large cavern filled with lava just beyond. Magma, she corrected herself after a moment. This was not above ground, so it was technically magma, not lava.

Even without being directly next to the magma it was sweltering just from the proximity. If not for the stronger constitution that a huntress like her had in comparison to a regular person due to their stronger aura Blake would not have been holding up even half as well as she was right now.

Pulling herself into a sitting position Blake raised a hand to her mouth to cover up a dry cough. Her throat felt so dry and yet her skin felt so unbearably sweaty. It really didn't help that the heat was making her head swim. Those were all bad signs.

Blake had to get away from here. Aura protection or not, she wouldn't last long here in this heat.

"Ahh!" With a cry Blake collapsed back to the ground almost as soon as she tried to get up. The movement had sent a sudden surge of pain through most of her body catching her by surprise.

Panting heavily from the heat Blake laid on the floor waiting for the pain to subside. It felt like she had been trampled by an Ursa, which was not too far from what actually happened. With great effort Blake managed to drag herself over to the wall before trying to get back up again.

Leaning against the cavern walls they felt warm to the touch, though not quite hot. Carefully cradling her ribs in one arm Blake used the other to brace herself against the wall as she slowly got back up to her feet. Blake's body still hurt everywhere, but she was able to keep moving well enough as long she kept it slow.

When she had gotten into as much of a standing position as she was able to Blake took a brief assessment of her surroundings. The tunnel was decently spacious, perhaps the size of a hallway in the dorms at Beacon. There weren't any remarkable features within it though aside from herself and the glow of the magma to her left. Grimacing she noted that Gambol Shroud was nowhere in sight, not that she was in any condition for a fight anyway.

The first order of business was to get away from the heat, so turning away from the light Blake took a tentative step forward, wincing at the rush of pain. Inch by inch Blake slowly retreated into the tunnel away from the magma chamber, feeling a noticeable relief as both the air and cavern walls began to cool the further she went. This was one instance where being a faunus was to her benefit as well, since the further she moved the darker it got.

As she moved, Blake wondered just how she had gotten here. Certainly she hadn't moved under her own power. Not after how her fight with Yang turned out...

Yang.

Just the thought of her name inevitably reminded Blake of what had become of her partner. When she had first awoken the shadows had twisted their way around Yang's form. The darkness would then go on to become a blackened coat of fur and the white mask upon her body, things that were the trademarks of the Grimm. Things which were now a part of Yang as well. Above all though what stuck out in her mind though was the look in her eyes.

It wasn't quite that their current physical appearance was too out of place on Yang's face. When the blonde's semblance was activated, they burned a bright a red not unlike how they were now. It made a good contrast to their normal calming lilac. Blake found that both colours suited her well. Normally Yang was a very fun and loving person, with perhaps a bit of mischievousness as well that reflected easily enough in her eyes. When her eyes turned crimson they burned with the fiery passion and anger Yang was infamous for, but it was a part of her that Blake appreciated equally.

Though Yang's eyes still burned red, it was no longer the same. Where before they could be aflame with anger at times, now there was only madness. Hatred and mindless rage more than anything else seemed to have been what she saw in Yang's face, the same as any other Grimm. That mockery of what made Yang Yang looking out from her face was perhaps what hurt the most.

That thing wasn't Yang, and yet at the same time, that wasn't quite true either. It was still Yang's body, even if it was now controlled by the Grimm. More than that though Blake still believed that there had to be something left of her mind and soul in there. She had to believe in something at this point.

Back to the matter at hand it was most likely that her Grimm possessed friend was the one who brought her here. There was nobody else that had been there, and if Blake hadn't move herself, then it had to have been Yang.

Briefly she had entertained the thought of Ruby or Weiss having come and saved her, but that idea didn't quite make sense either. The two would likely have come together, and she saw no reason why they would have decided to bring her here instead of returning to Beacon, nor would they have left her alone in such circumstances. Not to mention Weiss of all people would hardly have spent time in such a place.

So no matter how unlikely it seemed under the circumstances, as the only option left, it must have been Yang that brought her here. The fact that she wasn't dead or more hurt than she already was gave Blake some hope, even if her head and body ached with every moment, something that was only compounded by the knowledge that most of her current injuries were caused by Yang earlier.

There did come one benefit from having been so lost within her own thoughts. Although dwelling upon such things could not have been good for her emotional state, it had at least helped distract Blake from the physical pain as she moved which allowed her to cover a fair amount of ground. The stone wall was now cool to the touch, a little damp even from moisture.

"Water!" Blake's voice was a little cracked and weak from the oppressive heat. She hadn't meant to say anything, a rather unnecessary action with no one to hear it, but the surprise of her find had managed to draw out a verbal response anyway.

The tunnel dead ended here rather unfortunately, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth coming down here. At the end of the tunnel on the floor was a fairly large pool of water, surrounded on the floor and ceiling by stalagmites and stalactites. Her ears could hear an occasional drip of water coming from the cracks in the ceiling. Blake wondered how long it would have taken to form the spiked structures and the pool. Needless to say though, Blake immediately slaked her thirst as the next course of action.

Given a moment to rest here Blake had a chance to better clear her head a bit and decide on her next course of action. The obvious two choices were either to stay for a little while until it at least didn't hurt so much to walk, or to try and find a way out as fast as possible.

Too bad for her though, she didn't end up getting to choose.

A roar echoed through the tunnel.

Why? The side of her that had been telling her what to do since she had awoken did not understand. Why had she not simply killed her? She was prey.

Mine. That was what the other part said. She is mine.

So she had taken her alive. Hidden her away.

She liked this place. As much as she was capable of liking anything right now anyway. It was warm. Comforting.

Watching the fire and magma reminded her of something. Made her feel a little less hollow. A little more complete.

Just like she did..

Getting up from the floor she meandered her way over to the tunnel where she had left the girl.

The moment she looked in to the mouth of a tunnel a roar ripped itself out of her throat.

Gone. Gone. WHERE WAS SHE!?

She hadn't passed by her and gotten out that way. Enough rationality was retained to at least figure that out. So she must have gone down the tunnel. Less rational though was the rage of her response. She had scoped out the tunnel previously, and knew it to have no exit. There was no real reason to be so enraged, though that hardly mattered to her now.

Rapidly tearing her way down the tunnel she quickly reached the end, furious red eyes landing upon a figure sitting at the water's edge.

"Yang?"

That word was supposed to mean something to her she was sure, but she didn't care about that right now. She could hear the fear and surprise in her voice. And that pissed her off.

"Yang, I know you're in there. Fight it. You can't let it control you!"

More annoying words. She stopped in her place and growled at her in warning.

"You're stronger than this. What would Ruby say if she saw you like this? Weiss?"

The rumble of the growls in her chest deepened.

"...I never got to tell you before, but Yang, please."

She was incapable of recognizing what exactly it was right now, but her tone of voice made something within her move unpleasantly. She snarled, snapping at her with bared teeth.

The girl was came closer anyway, reaching out towards her.

"I love you."

A hand made contact with her cheek right as the girl spoke those last three words. Something twisted inside her, uncomfortable and painful as the two sides to her raged against each other. So she lashed out.

With a roar she threw an arm out blindly, casting the girl aside violently. The sounds of her pain as she was thrown to the ground did not help the twisting feeling inside her.

She stalked over to where a figure now lay prone on the floor, lying where she fallen. Pinning her to the ground she roared again in her face before curling up around her restricting all movement.

Mine.

The girl was quieter now, no longer speaking, but obviously still breathing. She was warm, and her presence was comforting in a way not dissimilar to the fire. Neither of the two voices in her head were fully appeased, but they had settled down at least.

She looked down at the girl's face, and memories stirred softly but unable to quite come to the surface.

Mine.

Warm. But Cold.

Yang. But not Yang.

Those were the thoughts that most often dominated the mind of Blake Belladonna these past few days.

It had not gone well when she had tried to speak with Yang. Pleading, begging, appeals to reason or emotion, none of it worked. She had tried more than once of course, but most often the only reaction she had gotten was a violent one. Eventually, she simply no longer had the energy to spare in any more attempts.

To be honest, it was a surprise she had not been killed yet. It's what any other Grimm would have done. She had been violent and often threatening, especially when Blake had still been trying to reach out to her, but she hadn't inflicted anything that could be life threatening yet.

The progression of her transformation into a Grimm was advancing noticeably. The mask had steadily crept down her face, now forming an upper set of teeth. The black fur too had grown in length, and upon her upper back bony white plates and spines had begun to form. It was growing harder and harder to think of her as Yang. In some ways that helped, but of course it hurt as well.

Every night was spent pinned to the ground against Yang as she slept. The beast clung to her, possessive and unyielding. Under different circumstances, that would have practically been a dream come true. As it was now, it was a twisted nightmare. Yang had always been so warm, to the surprise of no one. Her flesh now though was cold to the touch, like death itself. This wasn't Yang, merely all that was left of her.

It helped to try and differentiate Yang the Yang she knew from the thing she was now. It made the dealing with the source of her wounds a little easier in her mind. But still, she lived, and that inevitably gave hope to the thought that Yang was still in there somewhere protecting her. Enough of her left to be saved. To give up on that hope would render everything up to this point worthless.

Yang had watched her closely the entire time. Blake had barely been allowed to move about within the confines of the tunnel. If her body wasn't in such bad condition, and her aura so depleted due to that she might have attempted an escape, but with Yang standing guard there wasn't a chance that would work.

Given her limited freedoms, Blake hadn't had anything to eat anything since she had been brought here either. A failed attempt would only drain her diminishing reserves unnecessarily. So with little else to do, as she was watched, she watched Yang as well in turn.

The Grimm girl spent a lot of time by the magma. The heat didn't seem to bother her. Given the circumstances Blake theorized that perhaps she had been drawn to this location because of what had been lost to her. Though most often she was silent, at times she would rage and roar.

Blake had frozen out of fear the first time that it had happened. She had thought the anger directed at her and that perhaps finally whatever had stayed her death thus far by Yang's hands would do so no longer. As she kept watching though it became evident that it was not her Yang was angered with, but herself.

She liked to think that it was a sign that Yang was still in there somewhere. doing as she had said and trying to fight off the influence of the Grimm. Try as she might though, she also knew that the only thing supporting such a hypothesis was her own blind hope. And as much as she may have wanted to try an intervene at such times, Blake knew better by now than to try.

Blake wasn't quite sure just how long she had been in here. There wasn't exactly any convenient method of telling time in here. She was sure that it must have been nearing a week at least though, it had been many years since she had endured hunger like this, but it was something she had never quite forgotten.

Today though, she had a chance. When she had awoken there had been no sign of Yang for the first time since she got here. The pain of her injuries had dulled as much as they would with her dwindling aura reserves, and her stores of energy would only get worse without food.

If no one had managed to find her and come for her yet then it was safe to assume that nobody would be coming any time in the near future either. Waiting around would accomplish nothing.

Stepping out into the lava chamber Blake confirmed that Yang was not here, and quickly located a path forward. It was now or never. She had to take the chance.

The girl had been getting weaker.

This puzzled her at first. It was not something she herself had been experiencing, so why?

Eventually though, the second voice had whispered to her, and her memories had stirred. Food. That's right, humans needed to eat.

Food was not something she required herself anymore. She had forgotten. Prey for her kind were not for the purpose of eating. Merely killing.

When the girl had fallen asleep she had returned to the forest to look for food for her. It had been more difficult than expected. The Others were not fit for food, this she knew, but any other animals fled from her mere presence. Eventually though, she had done it, catching and killing a small animal to bring back.

It was not unusual not to see the girl immediately upon returning. Most often she would retreat into the very back. She disliked being away from the heat herself, but the girl was warm enough for her when she went back there.

When she finally reached the back of the tunnel only to still find herself alone was when the rabbit fell from her bloody jaws in the closest approximation of shock a being such as her could manage. This was quickly followed though by an apoplectic rage.

She had run. How dare she? HOW DARE SHE?

Her vision was filled with red as she rocketed out of the cave mouth back outside. The forest shook with the force of her roars and the toppled trees in her wake. Outward manifestations of her anger though did little to quell what she felt inside.

Finding her was unlike hunting for food earlier. The girl's scent had become familiar to her. Now that she was looking for it, there was no way to escape from her current sense of smell.

The moment she was in sight, another roar issued itself from her throat. Red eyes narrowed dangerously when instead of stopping she only ran faster.

Unforgivable.

She gave chase, and steadily she closed the ground. It was inevitable after all. With the forces that drover her she herself was tireless, unlike the one she chased.

With one final burst of speed she pounced upon her prey, knocking her to the ground face first. Snarling she flipped the girl over, baring her teeth at her. Defiance. Unforgivable.

Mine.

She had attempted to run.

Mine.

She had tried to leave me.

Mine.

The shadows flickered.

Mine.

Two clawed hands reached down, grabbing solidly upon a leg.

Mine.

She would never get the chance to try again.

"Mine."

Blake could feel as the last of her aura left her. Her injuries were simply too severe this time.

This was it, Blake realized.

This was the end.

She had failed.

Not a single one of her pleas had managed to reach through to Yang. And just now she had lost all hope of escape, of getting back to Beacon and coming back with more help. That was provided that Yang could even still be helped at this point, with how far the influence of the Grimm had spread throughout her body.

She had been so foolish. It had been her fault that she had been put in that position originally, that she had fallen. It was by her own hand that Yang had to rescue her, her own fault that Yang had given everything up to save her. Even more she had wasted her partner's sacrifice in her stupidity by coming out here alone.

How rather ironic that the second chance she had been given by Yang would then be taken away by her as well.

As if sensing her despair Blake could see the darkness encroaching in on her vision right on cue.

She felt cold.

For a brief moment she thought could see the face behind the mask that loomed over her vision.

The shadows flickered.

"I'm...sorry. Yang," Blake murmured. "I'll be with you soon."