Author's Note: Good morrow once again good people. I bring you the combined efforts of myself and a dear friend. I would put her name here, sadly she does not have an account (that I know of.) Many thanks to her for sweeping up this now snazzy chapter. So without further delay, here ya go. Best of luck to thine poor soul.
Blake sighed quietly, thumbing the next page of the library book, eyes running down the page with vague interest. She didn't even know why she bothered. Her focus hadn't been on the book for a while now. To put it simply, albeit dryly, she had been distracted. What she was distracted by, even she wasn't sure, thought it was apparent something was eating away at her mind.
With another grim exhalation, she stood from her place at the foot of the bookshelf, placed her chosen tome back in its proper place. Perhaps a walk would help her clear her mind and get to the root of her distractions. Beacon's break had only just begun, and Blake had no idea how to keep herself occupied.
Sure, Ruby had made plans, displaying them on the table in the form of an overfilled, trembling binder, just as she had the day of the food fight. One could imagine the size of the newest addition to Ruby's "Best _ Ever!" series; instead of a mere day, it covered a whole freaking week. Blake found herself shuddering at the thought. Granted, the Faunus had tuned out most of her leader's enthusiastic chatter as she explained each grueling detail of the "exciting excitement" that team RWBY would partake in. However, before any of that could take place, there was mandatory training that she had implemented in; training that everyone agreed upon.
The first three days of break were to be spent with each teammate's respective partner.
On that note, Yang hollered, her eyes snapping to Blake's. Electricity rolled from her in waves, as well as a touch of mischief; the Faunus returned the gaze calmly with a small smile, shaking her head to playfully chide her partner's occasional childish nature. After a torturously long-winded breakdown of events by their leader (who may or may not have been in the midst of a cookie-induced sugar high), they returned to their dorm. Ruby fluttered around the room, knocking over nearly everything to pack bags. Once finished, she grabbed Weiss by the back of her collar, and despite the latter's screams to be saved, dragged her out the door in an instant. When the remaining pair's laughter had come to an end, they found the air around them become thick with… awkward. At least, for Blake is was awkward; Yang, on the other hand, seemed just as excited as her younger sister, though better at keeping herself contained.
The blonde proceeded to throw out numerous ideas of activity, only to be brushed off by Blake, who muttered something about being back later. She caught the slightest bit of disappointment in Yang's response as she closed the door behind her, disappearing to the library.
The ordeal had happened earlier in the day. Now, the sun was officially setting, its last rays desperately trying to light the world. Blake ambled silently through the campus, wandering mindlessly, thinking of the day's events, offhandedly wondering where her partner had run off to. After racking her brain for a cohesive, clever answer, Blake ventured to the most obvious location - the academy's gym.
Upon arrival, the Faunus spotted Yang relaxing on a bench press, likely in between her sets. The taller girl had already built up a thin sheen of sweat, a slight blush to her cheeks showing that she'd been at the gym for a while.
Blake was about to walk in, but she stopped, caught by Yang's movement. She had started her next set, muscles flexing from the additional weight, grunting from exertion. The Faunus's mouth went dry as she stared, noting Yang's shirt had hiked up enough to reveal the smooth muscles of her abdomen.
She'd become aware of her gawking, and swiftly shook her head to clear her mind. 'What the hell was that, Blake?' She grimaced amidst her self-beration. 'The joys of adolescence.'
Before her mind could wander again, the analytical teenager made her presence known, entering the room to greet her teammate.
"Hey Blakey!" Yang remarked with a cheerful grin, lifting the bottom of her shirt to wipe the sweat from her brow. "Here to work out with me?"
Blake couldn't help but snort. She shook her head, about to decline, when she had an idea. "Actually, do you mind sparring with me?"
The taller girl tilted her head, thinking. It had been a decent while since they had a good spar; general training focused more on teamwork and combined attacks.
Always down for a challenge, Yang flashed her teeth in a mischievous grin, lilac eyes portraying a mixture of bold determination and pride. She leapt from the bench and let out an enlivened whoop, punctuating the exclamation with a fist pump.
"Ah yeah! Finally some fun!" She shouted, grabbing Blake's arm and tugged her along to the sparring arena.
'What is with this family and dragging people?' Blake thought, allowing herself to be manhandled, rolling her eyes at Yang's newfound burst of energy.
When they were in the arena, Yang finally released Blake's arm, bouncing away to take her position a few feet in front of her. "I'm guessing you wanted to do this without weapons?" She asked, her confident grin plastered on her face, just wide enough to be labelled as downright arrogance. The Faunus merely nodded, taking a defensive stance. "I need to practice hand-to-hand," She muttered, watching her partner crack her knuckles and settle into her own form.
Blake took a deep breath to relax, settling her muscles, keeping herself open for anything Yang could throw at her. She was never the one to make the first move, and knowing Yang, it wouldn't take long for her to-
Her thought was cut off by her partner's yell. Yang was charging for her, aiming a punch to her face. The Faunus girl easily dodged to the left, leaning away to avoid a following uppercut. Blake danced away to analyze her opponent for a moment, Yang continuing to grin, light purple eyes boring into her own.
After another second of stillness, Blake took initiative and pressed forward, evading another strike intended to slam against her jaw. The blow was met with a retaliation of three quick jabs from Blake, testing the waters of what she could get away with. The blonde sidestepped the first, blocked the next two, and whipped her leg up in a roundhouse kick to her partner's head.
Blake threw herself into a back handspring to back out of the squabble, using her superior speed to gain the ground she'd given up. She threw more strength into her next hit, managing to nail Yang square in the abdomen. Yang's grin turned into a wide smirk as she willingly took the hit. Blake's eyes widened.
She jumped back, away from the taller girl, mentally cursing as she recognized her mistake.
After all, if Yang took the hit on purpose, she already had a plan to take her partner down.
Hard.
Her theory was proven correct as Yang surged toward her. Blake swiftly jumped to the right to avoid impact, using the momentum to attempt a counter. This proved to not only be a fruitless endeavour, but a flat-out blunder in itself. Yang, anticipating the counterstrike, grabbed ahold of the offending limb and made to latch on, planning to bring Blake herself to the floor. Foreseeing such an action, the Faunus created a shadow clone to distance herself.
Blake's usual calm demeanor was replaced with anxiety, if only for a second. Her opponent laughed in response to the ploy, before modifying her posture once more with a smirk, readying herself for another assault. A bead of sweat slowly formed on the other girl's forehead.
The Faunus's internal composure was lost as she analyzed the consequences of her attempted takedown, grimacing at her mistakes. While in thought, she temporarily lost focus of her surroundings.
With a blink to regain her wits, she found herself welcomed back to reality by Yang's fist aimed for her face. Ground was gained with a parry and a simultaneous uppercut, so it seemed. Yang's chuckle easily eradicated that hope.
"You're going soft, Blakey!" The blonde teased, her stance visibly relaxing. With the casual air she exuded, Blake couldn't help the roll of her eyes in response.
'The last thing I need to do, is take the bait,' She thought, wary for any hint of attack. 'Especially if it means getting slammed to the floor… I'd rather it be a bed.'
Her eyes widened at the foreign sentence that wheedled its way into her mind. Seeing this opening, Yang advanced, unleashing a multitude of punches at Blake's head and chest.
Blake needed to end this soon, what with her current track record of spacing out. She noticed a hole in Yang's attacks, seizing the opportunity to swing out her leg, catching Yang's foot to trip her. With a yelp of surprise, the taller girl ungracefully fell on her back. Lilac eyes stared up at Blake, trademark grin plastered on her face. She was waiting, almost patiently. The Faunus, not wanting to disappoint her partner, went in for the pin; only for Yang to wrap her legs in a trap around her opponent's waist.
To say Blake was flustered would be a severe understatement. Eyes blown wide in shock, mouth partially hanging open, the Faunus fumbled over her words ineloquently, releasing purely nonsensical noises. After a few intense moments, the blonde released Blake with a howl of laughter. The latter quickly scrambled to her feet, face burning as she gawked in shock at her teammate.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Yang exclaimed in between bouts of laughter. When she had settled down for the most part, wiping a few tears from her eyes, she stood. The wide smile was still glued to her face. "Come on Blake, it was just a joke. Anyway! Let's head back, I'm starved."
Blake, who still had yet to recover, much less respond, simply nodded and followed Yang out of the gym.
A/N: There we have it folks. Good, bad, so-so? Lemme know. Thank you for stumbling upon this in your boredom and I bid thee farewell until next time.