A/N: This is the first fic that I have ever put out online, I hope you all enjoy it.

Prologue

"That'll be $12.76," The brunette softly told the customer who already had a twenty dollar bill extended forward. Monotonously, she typed on her register, pulled out the amount due, and gave a customary "Have a nice day" with no feeling what-so-ever. From behind her, she heard the same phrase, but said with much more gusto.

"Have a wonderful day ma'am! I hope you enjoy those limes, we just got them in today," The blonde beamed at the old woman who lowly made her way to the exit, her small bag of produce in tote. The other cashier then turned to the brunette one. "Guess that's the last of 'em, huh Blake."

"Yeah," She replied, grabbing a rag and wiping down her counter. It was officially ten and Blake wanted nothing more than to just leave. Alas, she still had to clean up with Yang. Which was always quite... difficult for her.

"Alright!" Yang clapped her hands together with her signature grin spread across her face. "Let's do this!" She nudged her co-worker playfully as she passed her to grab a broom and proceeded to sweep around the registers. Blake kept her head down and made her way to the other counters to clean. As she did, she took small peaks at the sweeping girl. Her blonde mane was pulled up into a messy ponytail by a purple hair tie. She was wearing the same white polo, khakis and green apron as Blake, but she made it actually look... good.

"Like what you see?" Yang asked, some how knowing that Blake was watching her. She looked over her shoulder with a knowing look. The brunette turned her focus back to the counter, a light blush dusting her otherwise stoic face. Yang chuckled lightly and continued to sweep. "Sooooo... Ruby, Weiss and I were gonna go out and see a movie Thursday. You want to join us again?" She requested hopefully.

"I-I... wouldn't want to impose." The raven-haired girl politely replied, but the blonde waved her off.

"Pssh, pleeease. I invited you, didn't I? And besides," She leaned in closer and put a hand up to her mouth as if she was telling a huge secret. "You'd be saving me from being the third wheel again." She added in a little wink that made Blake blush even more. She seemed to know it too, as her grinned widened even further. "So, whadya say?"

"No, thank you," Blake forced herself to say, even though her heart told her to scream YES! Yang had looked like a sad puppy for a good five seconds, before forcing a smile back onto her face.

"That's ok," She uttered with fake enthusiasm "Maybe next time..." And with that, the two girls went back to their respective cleaning. They made idle chit-chat (Well, Yang did. Blake listened and made small, cautious comments.) as they finished checking all the isles. By the time they finished it was 10:45 and the manager was still in the office finishing up some paper work. So Blake was forced to wait outside of the office with Yang until he was done.

"Did you hear about the robbery Yellow Dragon stopped today?" Yang piped suddenly. Oh jeez, that new super hero? Blake thought to herself, but didn't dare say out loud. The blonde always seemed to be so excited about her, she couldn't crush her twice in one day.

"No, what happened?" Blake asked, though she had absolutely no interest in the firery, cocky hero.

"Well, she was awesome as usual, I heard!" Yang exclaimed, looking a bit proud for some odd reason. "She went all flamey and roasted their butts. I heard it was actually pretty funny." She chuckled at the mental image and Blake giggled at the way she had so simply explained Yellow Dragon's victory.

"Most impressive," Blake tried to compliment YD "But she is a bit reckless, wouldn't you say?"

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, her previous hype a bit dampened. Blake winced slightly, she hadn't wanted to hurt the blonde's feelings, but it looks as if she had anyways. So she continued.

"Let me guess, she arrived at the scene of the crime and busted through the front door?"

"... Yes?"

"Then she said some overconfident and pithy one-liners?"

"...yeah?"

"And she charged in 'Guns-a-blazing', right?" Blake used air quotes for 'Guns-a-blazing'

"... So? What's the problem?" She defended.

"Well, super heroes nowadays think it's all about show and bravado, but they are wrong. It takes tact and skill, otherwise you will get killed or worse." Blake explained. The blonde stared at her for a moment, as if she was truly taking in what Blake had said.

"So... I take it you were a Nightshade fan?" Yang inquired. Blake froze up and her eyes widened upon hearing that name.

"No! No no," She backpedaled.

"No, I get it. She was awesome. Mysterious and cool," Yang smirked at Blake, but her smile seemed to diminish "It kinda sucked when she just disappeared though. I wonder what happened to her." She trailed off a bit solemnly (which was rare for the blonde).

Blake hummed in response as she pulled her knees closer to her chest, avoiding eye contact with her co-worker. It had been a while since she was reminded of her past mistakes, but that didn't take the sting away. There was a moment of silence as both girls stared intently at the tiled floor of the Vale-mart grocery store. That was until the manager burst through his office. He turned to his two cashiers.

"Hey, get outta here ya crazy kids," He directed, pointing his cane to the exit.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I have been twenty-two for three months now!" Yang shouted back in mock insult.

"Well you're still kids to me. Now scram while I yell at the kids in the back." He chuckled lightly.

"Catch you later!" Yang shouted back and she and Blake left the store. "See ya 'round Blakey," Yang said a bit softer to her co-worker as she left in the other direction. Knowing that Yang could no longer see her, Blake finally allowed some emotion to bleed through upon hearing the blonde's nickname for her. Her blush came back and she had this dreamy, lovesick look slapped on her face. She soon shook her head in order to get rid of it. She simply could not think that way.

The problem with being around Yang wasn't that the girl annoyed her (though Yang might think that she was). In fact, it was quite the opposite. Blake liked Yang... a lot. She wanted to say yes to all of her requests to 'hang out'. When she had first met the girl, she had given to these requests on multiple occasions. Going to get some coffee, to the movies, or simply spending time at her place. Most of the time Ruby, Yang's sister, and Weiss, Ruby's girlfriend, would tag along. But there were occasions were it would be just Yang and Her. Then Blake realized that Yang started having feelings for her. And then Blake realized that SHE had started having feelings for Yang. And that was when she had to stop all the 'hang outs', stop the casual flirtation, stop her feelings.

Because there is no way she would ever get close to anyone. Ever. Again.

XxXxX

Blake alone walked down the lowly lit road. To most, walking down this dark path would elicit feelings of dread, paranoia, and fear.

Blake, however, greeted the dark and solitude as an old friend.

On a normal day, the raven-haired girl would have kept on her path. She would have kept walking until she hit the traffic light and then turned right to get to her apartment building. She would have unlocked her door, took off her shoes and gotten ready for bed. She would have read for an hour, turned off the lights and slept.

This is not what she did.

The mention of Nightshade had gotten her very anxious and she knew that she would not be able to get lost into her book on this night. So she turned down a nearby alley and checked for any witnesses. When she was certain that no one was around to see her, she reached into her sleeve exposed her chain charm bracelet. Blake clicked a button on the cat charm that hung off of it and her street clothes were instantly replaced with a sleek black outfit. Her loose khakis were now tight leather pants and knee high boots pulled over top. Her long gray coat was replaced with an incredibly deep purple, almost black, crop top with a barely visible plant-like symbol and black ribbons wrapping all along her arms. Her hair seemed to be a bit more loose and wild and two cat ears rested atop her head where her bow used to be. And the final, and most essential change, a sleek form-fitting mask protected her identity.

Taking a breath, Blake wasted no time in transforming into a crow and taking flight. She flew high above the city of vale, taking in the sights she hadn't seen in a while. Being up in the air, she knew that this was exactly what she needed right now. Her favorite form to take had always been the cat, but there was something about flying as the crow that always allowed Blake to forget about her problems.

She finally landed atop her favorite building. It was the near the center of town and was a great spot for surveying the whole town and looking for crime.

Not that she was looking for crime, that life was behind her and she had no intention of running back. Not for anything.

No, there was a sense of calm that came to her when she was overlooking the city. With her enhanced vision, she could see far and wide. Knowing exactly what was going on in the city not only kept her mind occupied, but helped ease her anxiety. Nothing would sneak up on her, not again.

As she cast her gaze across the city, she took note of a girl clad in red. Ruby Rose, Yang's younger sister, was putting posters up around town. The posters had the same symbol as Blake's outfit and read 'Believe in the Night? So do we. The Hero Fan Organization will be holding a meeting all about Nightshade and her mysterious disappearance. Come and share your experiences or theories about our mysterious heroine'. It then listed a location and a time (which was a couple weeks away). The raven-haired girl sighed as she watched the hopeful red-head skip along with her stack of fliers and tape. She had known that the girl was a super hero fan and was partial to Yellow Dragon, but had no idea about her affinity for Nightshade.

"Sorry Ruby," Blake apologized as if she could hear her "I'm not coming back. Nightshade is gone." And with that, the brief peace she had gotten from her favorite peak had fluttered away. She changed form once more, and flew off into the night.

She was not aware that someone else had been on the roof with her the whole time. The goggled blonde stepped out after Blake had left, watching her fly away with a shocked look on her face. Only when the bird had flown out of sight was Yellow Dragon able to close her jaw. A small grin worked it's way onto her face.

"Well I'll be damned."

XxXxX

"Come to the Hero Fan Organization! We're talking about Nightshade!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully, as though it was the first flier she had handed out that night. It was not. The woman she had tried to hand it to simply put her hand up to deny it, and then walked away. It wasn't the first time this happened either. Ruby Rose does not give up though, not when she was determined! Besides... she had already promised Jaune that she would spread all these fliers.

She didn't understand. Nightshade used to be beloved by all! Out of all of the heroes in Vale Super Hero Association, Nightshade was the most popular last year. She was by no means flashy, she stuck to the shadows, doing her work by night. She had a partner too but... he went down a darker path than her. He disappeared around the same time actually. Some think that they killed each other in an all out battle. Others think that Nightshade joined him and they are plotting an attack against the city. Ruby didn't care for either theory very much, but hated the second one even more.

What Ruby really liked about Nightshade was that she did whatever it took to save the day. Most of the heroes followed the rules too closely and took things far too cautiously. Heroes, in Ruby's opinion, should lay everything on the line. It was a dangerous line of work, but one that she wished she could be involved in so bad. Alas she had to stick to simply handing out fliers about them. That was her job in the organization, and one she took pride in. She had a blast making the posters for the last meeting about Yellow Dragon. So many people showed up for that one. She was the new hero (and the best, in Ruby's opinion) and she everyone went CRAZY for her.

She did make a good first impression. Some crazed gun men showed up the local mall, wearing horse and gorilla masks. They had rounded everyone up in the food court when they saw a blast of fire form the second floor. And then another one. And another. Most thought that this was just for flare (pun intended), but she was really drawing them all in one place. Once that was done, she leapt from her hiding place, raising one fist and smashing down where they stood with a blast of fire that emanated off of her. Only a few were left conscious, but Yellow Dragon deftly knocked them to the ground, throwing in some one-liners about horses and monkeys. And with her back to the crowd of onlookers (Who could see the detailed golden dragon on the back of her long jacket), she glanced towards them with a cocky smirk. And then strolled out the front doors, winking at a few citizens.

Aww man, Ruby was soooo jealous to hear that Yang had been there to see it. Yang had insisted that she was glad she wasn't because the whole ordeal was terrifying. Ruby knew her sister though, and she could see a glint of excitement when she recounted the story.

Wait, how late was it? Oh shoot! It couldn't be 12:30 already? Yang was going to kill her! She started to run, fliers in tote, back home. But when she turned a corner, she found herself slamming into a solid object, falling down, and dropping her posters everywhere. She looked up to see that it was a man she had slammed into.

"Oh my goodness, sir. I am so sorry about that!" Ruby apologized, quickly gathering her papers. She tried to move past the large man. He had no intention of letting her leave, as he grabbed her shoulder very tightly.

"Excuse me, sir, but I need to get home," Ruby tried to pull out of the man's grasp, but he would not budge.

"Sorry, little Rose. But you're not going anywhere," He seethed through a sinister grin.