I
Blake sat beside Yang's bed. Her raven black hair draped her face in a disheveled mess, framing her pale cheeks like drawn curtains. The seemingly endless river of hot tears flowing from her swollen eyes had run dry at last, turning cold until her remorse froze to the young Faunus' face. The events of the previous night were fresh in her mind; again she saw Adam's smirk as the curved blade tore through Yang's outstretched arm like tissue paper, repeating each time she closed her tired lids. Her amber orbs burned, feeling as if they were throbbing, though no more tears came to wet them.
I can't stay here, she thought, looking down into her lap. Yang still slept, her eyes sealed to the misfortune that had befallen her because Blake was too weak to protect herself. She couldn't face her teammate if she would wake up. Looking to the window that shone a single beam of golden light on Yang's hospital bed, Blake Belladonna offered a final silent goodbye to the women who had saved her life; she gently caressed the sleeping warrior's cheek with the backs of her fingers sadly before climbing to the window. She perched in the sill a moment, staring out at the open woods ahead before springing out into the wilds. She wouldn't allow herself to look back for fear she might stay.
Yang stirred, releasing a pained grunt as she returned to the waking world. She turned over on her left elbow, forcing herself off her back despite her body's agonizing screams of protest. She slowly sat up, craning her neck around towards the window just in time to see the shadow of Blake disappearing over the horizon. All at once, the previous night came flooding back to her. She watched that red-haired Faunus stab Blake in the side, prompting her to rush headlong into a fight. She leapt through the air, but then…
Searing pain shot through Yang's right side beginning in her arm. She tried to move her fingers, but nothing felt right. She forced herself to look at the bandaged stub where an arm had once been, severed halfway between the wrist and elbow. She studied the incomplete limb in shock for several seconds before divulging a horrified banshee wail, falling back into bed and shaking violently. She attempted to calm herself, though she found it hard to do so as she began to acknowledge the cold sweat caking her entire body simmering on her otherwise burning flesh. Yang had devoted her entire life to becoming a Huntress like her parents, and all of that had been taken away in a single night. She breathed deeply, trying her hardest to suppress the tears that came with this realization. She thought first of Ruby, having no idea what had happened to her after her accident the night before. She was afraid for her sister, for Weiss, for…
"Blake…" She closed her eyes and allowed what remained of her arms to hang limply at her sides. Speaking her teammate's name aloud eased the growing pain in her head. She drank in its calming influence, though as she thought more of the girl any calm she had taken on drained out of her. She shot up, looking again out the window where she had last seen Blake. She was leaving. Her only hand gripped the bedsheets tightly, inciting another trembling fit. She couldn't help but feel betrayed, the sting in her heart and in her arm finally causing her to lose the battle against her tears. They pooled in her eyes, clouding her vision before spilling over her eyelids and cascading down her cheeks. "She left… She left me here by myself." Yang shook her head in disbelief, relinquishing her grasp on her sheets to hold her head, which hung dejectedly to touch the knees she had pulled in to her chest. "Blake, you damn coward…!" Her voice quivered weakly. If nothing else, Yang was trying to convince herself that she felt only rage at her friend's betrayal. Instead, it cut deeper. The freezing chains of depression gripped her mind. She hardly noticed her father's arrival at her bedside. She couldn't feel his warm arms embracing her gently. She only felt piteous grief tearing her apart inside.
Taiyang did all he could to calm his daughter and later to explain what had happened following her blackout the night before. Each bit of information only made her more crestfallen. In addition to losing her arm, Weiss' father had taken her back to Atlas. Ruby had been knocked unconscious after somehow freezing the Grimm Dragon in a duel with Cinder and still hadn't woken up. Pyrrha and Penny were both dead. Yang buried her face in her knees, her body wracked by a fresh bout of sobs.