Author's Note: So this chapter was a bit delayed. While getting called into work on a couple days I was supposed to have off didn't help, I had been hit with a jolt of inspiration that led to my writing a quick oneshot titled Grimmspawn; an emotional piece where I tried my hand at Blake's past that, while having a dark twist, ended on a warm and fuzzy note. With Halloween closing in (and a ten minute long RWBY episode along with it), I decided to hold off on writing until I watched Episode 15 in case they decided to unveil anything more about Blake that I could use to help with this chapter.

It seems both Grimmspawn and my decision to wait were both extraordinary in timing because that episode was all about Blake! Including the fact that kitty Blake is canon! Foooooooook ya! THE KITTEH IS REAL! Not too much of a fan of the color that they chose for the ears but ah well. Although it seemed quite obvious, I had been somewhat wary of the possibility that Monty would pull a bait and switch on us.

As for my thoughts for the episode as a whole…ups and downs. The problem mostly comes from the fact that RWBY's episodes are relatively short and when you try to invoke some more serious drama, it tends to come rather rushed. Point being, we barely heard anything from Blake for three episodes and now we have a time skip - measuring in months - and a rather serious issue causing inner strife that could threaten to break team RWBY apart when it comes to Blake and Weiss. While I did predict that Blake's revelation was probably the first thing that the series would focus on, I'm rather concerned with how it's going to end. If they try to end it on a cliffhanger with something rather drastic like Blake leaving the team…that just won't feel right. My thoughts would be to somewhat settle the matter in the next episode but leave behind the possibility of tensions flaring up again like when Adam or some other member of the White Fang will make a reappearance and approach Blake.

But that's just my opinion and I'm just a fanfiction writer, not a professional. And I won't kid myself with thinking that I have any idea on what's planned for RWBY. We'll see how it goes. If anything, I'm enjoying the new characters and Team RWBY's interactions with one another. While I question the staff's capabilities of creating more serious drama that can appear rather sudden and even out of place with RWBY's short episodes, I've loved all their characters so far.

"It's a combat skirt!"

"Yeeeaaah!"

*Slap!*


When Blake opened the door to Team RWBY's dorm, all she saw was darkness. Not that that was a problem with her night vision; her eyes like glittering points of amber in the darkness. The young woman silently slipped into the room before carefully closing the door behind her so that only a barely audible click emitted upon the lock reengaging once it was sealed.

At this hour, she expected her team to be in their beds and fast asleep by now. No, she had planned on it. With all her efforts to avoid her teammates throughout the day – especially one in particular -, it would've been too awkward to give them a chance to swarm and question her with the closing of classes. She knew they would mean well and they would only do so because they were worried about her but she had desired privacy when they weren't cooped up in the classrooms.

Besides, what had been troubling her was strictly a personal matter and something she needed to settle for herself.

As soon as she took a quiet step further into the room, she immediately noticed that something was wrong; specifically the empty beds. Well at first it was just the one bed. Sitting right across from her own bottom bunk was Weiss's but the heiress could not be found within the sheets. In fact, the sheets remained undisturbed from when Weiss had carefully made her bed this morning.

Curious, Blake had stood at the side of the abandoned bed before looking up. A short climb and pushing aside the makeshift curtains of the top bunk revealed that Ruby's was similarly empty. Odd.

They said they were going to the library after classes, Blake remembered. She looked off to the far wall of the dorm where she could see a clock hanging from it. Even though the light of the moon that barely slipped through the curtains of the window should've told her enough, she wanted to be sure. No, the library should definitely be closed by now.

Where were they then?

Her curiosity started to evolve into concern. Worried that her partner had disappeared as well, Blake turned to look over her shoulder to Yang's bunk. Even at this distance her enhanced vision allowed her to see the body that lay on top of the mattress. That and the ridiculously long mane of blonde hair.

Blake sighed in relief. Reverting back to her stealth, the faunus dropped away from Ruby's bed and practically tip-toed over to Yang's side.

Unlike the other members of RWBY, Yang tended to sleep on top of her blankets rather than settle within their embrace. Blake had admittedly been envious that the nightly chill never seemed to affect her even when she was dressed in nothing more than her orange top and black short shorts. Then again, when one witnessed the visible manifestation of her fiery Aura, any such doubts were swept aside.

No one had as much firsthand experience as Blake did when it came to Yang's warmth. During the months when winter's frozen presence came over Beacon, their occasional cuddling sessions usually involved the two being drawn as close as they could to one another while a blanket was draped around them. Funnily enough, Blake found herself seeking comfort from Yang's body rather than the blanket. The heat that radiated from her partner's skin had warmed Blake immensely during those cold nights and with her head cushioned by her ample chest, the beating heart beneath had been a comforting melody that had lulled her to sleep on more than one occasion.

She had been finding herself reminiscing those moments quite frequently. Well, Blake had been reviewing their entire relationship a lot lately but it was those moments of closeness in particular that she was relying on when it came to deciding on certain things about their relationship such as whether to continue with it or not.

It was not a question as to whether she loved Yang or not; she did so absolutely. However, such a tender emotion was one that had been previously unknown to the faunus. Having been born and raised in a life that had been so ruthless to her because she sported an extra pair of ears didn't leave much room for love. Contempt, fear, hatred, rage, and sorrow came in abundance instead.

There was perhaps one point in her life – one person in her life – where she may've found something close. Companionship and camaraderie in the wake of shared misery had been bred between the two of them to bring them together in achieving a common goal. Whether it would've led to love or not remained a mystery as he had chosen a path that she could not follow and was forced to break away from his side.

That had only been one of the several examples of regret and heartache that dominated her life. Forced to abandon her previous cause, Blake had sought to find a reprieve in the halls of Beacon. She found much more then she bargained for. If she was honest with herself, this new world that she stranded herself on was completely alien to her and she had no way to navigate it, especially when it came to this rocky terrain known as love.

In front of her, Yang slept on. Lying on her back, the blonde's limbs were splayed out all over her bed with one arm stretched out off to the side while the other was half-raised above her head. Her mouth was slightly agape, a gentle snore issuing with each breath.

The display produced a smile upon Blake's face and a warmth to blossom at her heart as this only proved to remind her how different the two of them were; she the quiet bookworm while Yang was the excessively energetic and straightforward brawler. Then again, she supposed that straightforwardness was what helped her get out of her shell and open up her heart to her partner.

Yet she was worried and it was those concerns that kept her occupied for the past week. As much as she wanted to separate from it, her past was her past and one day it may catch up with her. The revelation of her faunus heritage and previous affiliation to the White Fang hadn't exactly gone well when she let it slip in the midst of a heated argument with one Weiss Schnee. That conflict ended up being put to rest but not without difficulties and not without the chance of those problems resurfacing.

Yang, on the other hand, had lived a normal, happy life. As willing as she had been to give their relationship a try, Blake greatly feared that the possibility of the dark remnants of her life would one day come between the two of them. To bring any kind of trouble to Yang distressed her like nothing else and continuing their time as girlfriends would only increase the danger of her partner being sucked into something awful.

More than once Blake had seriously considered ending their relationship for the sake of Yang's safety as she debated on what to do during the week. Logic inevitably kicked in, arguing that Yang was to be a future Huntress so danger was going to be an intricate part of her life. That and she had a very mean right hook. She could handle whatever may come up.

Blake was still worried nonetheless. Her past aside, there was also the fact that she still floundered at times when it came to them being together. The start of their relationship had been awkward to say the least and going further would mean more unexplored territory that could leave her lost on what to do. It didn't help that when it came to more intimate contact between the two of them, Yang was usually the leader as she held more experience. That was all Blake could do: follow her partner's lead.

Not to say that she didn't like it mind you. Nonetheless, her failure to initiate more loving contact worried her. Would Yang get the wrong idea if this pattern continued? Despite her plethora of romance novels, Blake found that she currently possessed a startling lack of knowledge of where to go or how to act.

Logic came in again. This was the first time that she had ever been in a real romantic relationship so there was going to be a lot of learning involved. And this was Yang she was with; if Blake was ever willing to ask, if she ever wanted to confide to her girlfriend, she could do so and Yang would be more than willing to assist her.

And Blake did love her. To be blessed with something as beautiful as what she had developed for her partner even with her previous hardships, the faunus believed that she could be selfish.

Which was why she was going to let this relationship continue to wherever it may lead. Maybe to that happy ending that Blake would read in her novels and would always desire.

She was tempted to wake Yang and inform her of her decision. In fact, without her full consent her hand had slowly reached over to rouse her from slumber but Blake held her fingers back what had to be an inch from her arm. It was close enough so that she could feel that warmth that exuded from her body.

Tomorrow, she decided. It was late and the weekend was to start in a few hours. Best that each of them got their rest to better help them decide what, exactly, the next level of their relationship was to entail. That didn't stop her from admiring her girlfriend for a couple more minutes.

Finally she dropped back to her own bed. A quick change into her sleepwear and Blake settled down onto the mattress, throwing the blankets over herself while her head rested against her pillow. Unlike how it went during her beginning months at Beacon, her bow was missing, allowing her cat ears to be on full display.

Here with her team, there was nothing for her to hide anymore. Smiling contently, Blake closed her eyes while her ears pricked up towards the sound of her girlfriend's gentle snoring, quickly lulling her to sleep.

The snoring only continued for another minute before it was suddenly silenced. In its place was the sound of shuffling.

A curtain of blonde hair fell over the side of Yang's bed, nearly reaching the floor as she peered down at the bunk below her. Seeing the sleeping occupant, a grin appeared on her face. It was time to get to work.

Descending to the dorm room floor with stealthy movements that would've made Blake proud, Yang made her way towards the shelf.


Even in a run, Blake's movements were silent. Between the soft fabric of her boots, muscle control, and her own training, each footfall left minimal sound as she kept her feet close to the ground; the less time her feet were in the air, the less downward energy that would create more noise upon impact. It was one of the basic lessons her sensei had drilled into her.

Other than the dark violet sash wrapped around her waist, the rest of her attire was black and tight-fitting, best to avoid any rustling of cloth and to cut back on those extra centimeters that could allow her clothing to brush up against her environment. For tonight, leaf-covered branches and bushes flew past her in a blur.

When she believed that she had covered suitable ground, Blake's run started to slow until she found herself resting in a crouch. Her hand came to her face and pulled down the cloth from over her nose and mouth, exposing the lower half of her face. With her nostrils clear, she took a sniff of the air and detected the scent almost instantly.

During her training, she had been taught to attune herself to her surroundings. Whether it be a forest, swamp, or even a bustling town, she had always been encouraged to allow herself a minute to take in both the sights and sounds of the terrain. In that amount of time, she would get an idea of what was normal and anything that did not match it was something that wasn't right. In an extreme scenario, it would allow her to know where an enemy was hiding.

In this case, she was looking out for prey who did not realize that tobacco smoke could carry a long way.

As always, the intelligence given to her was far from perfect. Considering that this was to be her initiation, it wouldn't surprise her if even more information than usual had been held back strictly to test her. If she wished to become a full-fledged member of her clan, she had to prove that she was as resourceful and adaptable as a ninja should be.

For this mission, she was to locate and retrieve an artifact that had once been sacred to her clan. During the opening of the Clan Wars a hundred years ago, the artifact had been stolen by an enemy faction. Initial attempts to track and find it had ended in failure with the war's outbreak having halted more thorough searches. By the end of the conflict they still had no idea who had taken it or where it had ended up. With the chaos of battle, it was a possibility that even the thieving party no longer knew for whoever was responsible could've been killed and the artifact lost.

Well, that was until it was discovered that an item that held a similar description to the artifact had been reported to be on the black market and had was recently purchased by a merchant. It was currently being transported but while Blake had been given a general area of where it would be, it was up to her to find its exact location.

This scent of tobacco was the only clue she had to there being someone other than her out here. Pushing her mask back over the lower half of her face, Blake started tracking it to the source. She had to be getting closer.

It ended up being much closer. Only two minutes later did she find a road that cut through the forest. An extra minute of traveling parallel to it and she spotted the carriage…as well as its armed escort.

She got slightly ahead of the small convoy before dipping into the surrounding vegetation, going prone. Carefully parting the greenery in front of her just enough so that she could see onto the road, Blake waited for the carriage to come forward so that she could see what she was dealing with. Even with it being night, her vision was long-used to peering through the darkness. It also helped that a couple lanterns hung from the carriage to provide illumination for both the driver and the guards.

There was no one except the driver at the head of the horse-drawn carriage. However, walking alongside it to form a protective perimeter were four armed individuals. They wore mismatched patches of armor and carried weapons; from standard katanas to a yari tipped with a foot long blade. If Blake had to guess, the guards were rōnin or some other disgraced warriors who couldn't find any other job that favored their combat arts. Dangerous foes to be sure if engaged in open combat and allowed to organize but that wasn't Blake's style.

None of them were the source of the tobacco smoke that she could still detect which meant there was at least one more in the carriage. Possibly a liaison or some other hired hand that would collect goods in the merchant's stead. She couldn't say that he would be spared when she struck even if he wasn't knowingly stealing the artifact.

This had to be her target then as what else could it possibly be?

Satisfied with her brief surveillance, Blake allowed the carriage to pass before getting into position to strike. A tree with its thick branches provided the perfect overhang and with the iron hand claws that were strapped to her palms, Blake scaled up the trunk easily before perching herself on the branch. Up here, it provided her the perfect vantage point.

Her hand went to the holster at her thigh, drawing a small crossbow. Bringing it up, one golden eye focused down the sight which followed the retreating carriage. Then she fired.

Shuriken and kunai would not have been enough but the small bolt did the job, having enough momentum to sail through the air and bury into the back of the driver's exposed skull. The man jerked in his seat in response to the blow but that was just the body's instinctive reaction as soon it slumped in its seat and the reins to the horses slipped through now limp fingers. Without direction, the horses slowed.

It took the guards a moment to realize that something was amiss. By then Blake had tossed the crossbow to the side, jumped to the ground, and sped towards the exposed back of the first guard. In no point during the time that Blake needed to cross the distance did the man understand what was happening and when her hand went to the hilt of the sword at her back, Blake made sure that he never would for the last two seconds of his life.

Barely breaking her stride, in one swift motion Blake drew her ninjato and swung at the back of the guard's neck, slicing cleanly through vertebrae. The head dropped to the ground first followed by the body.

Unfortunately, the next guard had been alerted by the dual thuds. That didn't save him. When he turned around, hand instinctively dropping to his sheathed blade, Blake was already in his face. Before he had a chance to draw it her now blood-stained sword sliced across his belly. Stepping past him, Blake turned and made another quick, clean slash that ran diagonally from his left shoulder to his right hip.

One side clear. Just like with her second victim, Blake was already moving before her latest kill had fallen.

She ran under the heads of the two horses to cross over to the other side of the carriage, hoping to come at an unexpected angle as she slashed upwards. However, there came a clang as one solid blade met another as the third guard managed to not only draw his katana but bring it in a low guard to block her attack. Blake did not allow disappointment to slow her movements. Removing one hand from her sword, Blake opened her palm, exposing the iron claws, and slapped the guard across the face.

The claws left four deep gouges along his cheek, the pain causing him to cry out. Blake silenced his cries when she used the opportunity to run him through.

By this time, the fourth and final guard had ample opportunity to be warned that they were being attacked and was prepared. He was the most armored and the most heavily armed as he was the one that held the long spear that severely outclassed Blake's shorter blade when it came to length. As he centered his stance and pointed the bladed tip in her direction, Blake knew that getting in close was going to be tricky.

It hardly deterred her. Her gaze focusing solely on the man's armored mask and helmet, Blake extended both her arm and her blade to the side as if to better display the blood of his comrades that now dripped from the steel. It was only meant to draw his attention from the arm that drifted to her back. The guard remained as still as a statue, hardly phased although with his face hidden Blake couldn't make out anything.

Swiping at the air – and thus flinging a small rain of blood to the side -, Blake charged.

The armored warrior seemed content to wait and let the ninja approach him. With the barest of movement, his legs tensed and the tip of his spear backed a fraction to better prepare for a thrust. He had the advantage and he knew it; he was just letting her come to him to be impaled.

When she had closed the distance between them by half, Blake drew that arm from behind her back and flung the trio of shuriken that had been clenched between her fingers. With that armor, the small weapons had little chance to penetrate and do any significant damage. Nevertheless, the sight of these projectiles coming right towards his head forced the guard to react in an instinctive urge to protect his eyes and throat. He turned his head away and the spear was drawn out of position as he lifted one arm to his throat.

The shuriken bounced off his armor.

Blake brought her blade back to strike.

The guard blindly swung his spear back around in an attempt to catch her on the tip.

Dropping to her knees, Blake slid along the road while leaning back, forcing the spear to pass right over her head. Straightening, she turned her body and arm to slash at the guard's knee. There, the armor was at its weakest and Blake's sword cut right through the joint.

Behind the mask came a howl of pain as both the savage cut and the man's own armored weight forced him to drop while attempting to now use his spear to keep himself from falling completely. Behind him Blake stood up, both hands gripping the hilt of her sword in a reverse grip, the blade pointed down. With his hunched over form, Blake found a space beneath the protective covering of his helmet to drive the bloody steel down and stab through the back of the man's neck.

He spasmed and twitched upon the length of metal that pierced his throat which only ceased when Blake removed her sword and let the corpse drop the rest of the way down. With the security dealt with, Blake focused her attention on her prize: the carriage that now sat still. She approached cautiously as she was very aware that no one tried to escape during the commotion and she trusted her gut that there was one more obstacle left.

Almost as soon as she thought it the door to the carriage opened and someone flung themselves out. Blake saw the light from the lanterns glint off a piece of metal. That was enough for her to bring her sword around for one last kill. The fact that her weapon met cloth and not armor was enough for her to guess what she would later confirm with a glance: a rather plain-looking man but the flowing robes marked him as a person belonging to some faction of wealth. The metal that she spotted was from a dagger that he carried.

Not giving the body another look or even another thought, Blake searched inside the carriage, idly wiping the blood off her sword while she did so. She finally found the source of the burning tobacco that she had followed: a still smoking pipe abandoned on the seat. As much as it gave her pride to see visual proof of her tracking skills, Blake was more interested in a small case that was left as well. Hoping against hope, Blake sheathed her sword before taking the case and opening it up to see what it contained.

It was the artifact. Her chest now swelling with pride, Blake stepped out of the carriage with her prize.

That was it then. Once she returned to present the proof of a successful mission, she would be accepted with open arms into her clan. She would become a full-fledged ninja and her mask hid the smile that was spreading across her face at the knowledge very well.

It also hid how quickly it vanished as Blake suddenly jerked her head up and leaped to the side. She wasn't quite fast enough as one of the sharp ends of the flying shuriken cut through the cloth over her left cheek and the flesh beneath before thudding into the wood of the carriage along with two others.

"It looks like it's just you and me, Blakey-chan."

"…What?"

Aware of the warm trickle of blood that slid down her cheek to her chin, Blake looked up to find her. With the moon hovering above and her position on the ground she easily spotted the silhouette that stood high up in the tree. Eyes narrowing, Blake pulled her now torn mask from her face. "You."

The intruder dropped down from the tree, landing in a crouch. Although the moonlight was no longer at her back, she was now within the vicinity of the still-burning lanterns so that Blake could see her with the help of the light they casted. It was within that illumination that the long, golden hair of the intruder shone and with how her body was bent over, resting on one hand and one knee, head bowed, Blake could see the rather bountiful chest that she knew she was purposely showing off in her own black, tight-fitting uniform.

A snort.

The intruder lifted her head, exposing violet eyes that met Blake's amber ones. Although the latter were narrowed and aggressive, the former were wide and playful. While she did possess a mask of her own, the other woman kept it lowered to expose a smile that expressed the same feeling displayed in her gaze.

"It was your clan," Blake spoke. "You were the ones that tried to take…" She forced the small case that held the artifact into the thigh holster that had once held her crossbow.

"Oh I know nothing about that!" Hopping to her feet, the blonde stretched her arms high above her before settling them behind her head, her stance relaxed and, to Blake, highly unprofessional. "You know how I work, Blakey-chan: I just do what I'm told. The details are just so unnecessary. I was just told that there was a certain item of value that might've been rather important to a certain ninja clan. The idea of snatching it up before they did just sounded like too much fun."

"You're a little late since I already have it. I guess this means that you should just go on back to your masters and tell them you missed out."

Eyebrows jolting up, the other ninja's smile turned into a wide grin. "Is that a joke?" Letting out a short laugh, the blonde shot a fist towards the sky. "I knew you had it in you, Blakey!"

Blake didn't bother with a response. A twitch of her fingers at her side was the only sign of what Blake was thinking: taking stock of her own armaments, what she had left that she could use…

Despite the other ninja's playful attitude, not once did those violet eyes stray from Blake and they briefly flicked towards those twitching fingers. Lowering her fist, the blonde sighed, her smile briefly vanishing…only to return again along with a pair of sai that slipped into her palms-

"Wait, wait, wait."

Lowering her fist, the blonde sighed, her smile briefly vanishing…only to return again when her other fist came around and she smacked the knuckles of both of them together. Beneath the heavy cloths that were wrapped around her hands came the clang of iron striking iron: metal gauntlets.

"I wasn't late," the blonde continued. Spreading her legs, the ninja placed a hand on her left thigh as she lunged towards that direction, then did the same except to the right as she stretched the muscles in her calves. The playful smile turned coy while she waggled her eyebrows towards Blake who remained unmoved. "In fact, I've been waiting for you. You know how I love to watch you work but now I think it's time for a more hands-on approach if you know what I me-"

In the blink of an eye, Blake was face-to-face with the blonde, already drawing her sword from its sheath as she sought to cut her head off.

It was stopped a good foot away, the space protectively covered by a gauntlet that halted her blade.

"Oh-ho!" The blonde smacked her lips, seemingly unnerved by the shaking of her right arm as it fought to remain in place against a force that sought to bring that sharpened steel through her neck. "A bit hasty are we? I guess it's true what they say about the quiet ones."

Blake took a step back, taking her blade with her, but then sprung forward again to try and stab into her opponent's chest. All the blonde had to do was move that right gauntlet in front of her and slap the weapon aside. The amber-eyed ninja just used the momentum to spin and jump to try a downward cut from above.

With the protection of the iron, the blonde reached up and grabbed Blake's sword by the blade with her left hand. The fingers of her right curled into a fist that jabbed solidly into Blake's stomach. The breath came out of her in a rush, momentarily stunning her.

The blonde used the second of time to turn her attention to the sword she still held. Pulling her left hand down, her right came up in an uppercut that snapped the thin blade in two.

Blake had recovered by then and she took the destruction of her weapon in stride. Although she was now missing half a weapon, the other half was still dangerous. She slashed vertically with that jagged end of that half high, then reversed her grip and slashed again, this time low.

Her opponent deftly avoided each one but only barely, first leaning backwards and then forward, sucking in her middle. The ruined sword managed to cut across the cloth that covered her chest, exposing a line of cleavage, before it came back and cut a line to her navel. It was only cloth that Blake tore, nothing more.

When she tried for a third pass, the blonde snatched her wrist, halting her momentum before driving another metal-covered fist into her ribs. One headbutt later and Blake dropped her broken sword, forced to be driven back when her opponent let her after releasing her grip on her wrist.

An arm curled around her middle, Blake took several steps back but the other ninja didn't seem to be in any rush to continue. In fact, the young woman seemed more interested in the slits that had been sliced into her uniform. Bringing a hand to each cut, she tilted her head as she inspected them. When she was done she pulled her fingers away but, strangely, Blake caught the sound of cloth tearing.

Suspicious, she looked at those cuts again to find that they had been ripped open a tad more, exposing a bit more skin.

"Like what you see?" the blonde asked, again waggling her eyebrows.

"Heh!"

Again Blake made no response to those advances. Instead, she grabbed the violet sash around her waist and pulled it off.

The blonde's brows shot up, a delighted smile appearing. "Ooooh!" A brief second later those brows lowered and the smile became a bit uneasy. "Ooooh…"

The sash had not been decorative. Having been wound tight several times around her, it had been strictly used to keep the chain beneath from rustling. Taking that chain in hand, Blake unrolled it to reveal that at each end of it was a different item attached to it. On one end of the chain was a round, iron weight. At the other end was a deadly-looking sickle.

Unable to help herself, a small grin sprouted on Blake's face as both her hands gripped the middle of the chain. To be fair, how she used the kusarigama wasn't how one properly used it but Blake had decided to refine the technique. For this opponent, she was going to take an extra delight in it.

Reestablishing her role as the attacker, Blake swung both ends of the chain. The heavy weight and sickle spun in the air, creating a whirlwind of motion as Blake spun and twirled, the chain dancing all around her.

The weighted and bladed ends of were brought to bear on the blonde. She quickly realized that attempting to block one end of the chain would just leave her exposed to the other which forced her to dodge the whole time. Jumping back, the weight slammed into the ground at her feet. Before she could even act, the sickle was swinging towards her head, forcing her to duck. By then the weight came back, threatening to either shatter or wrap the iron links around her ankle if she hadn't lifted her foot in time.

As if seeing defeat, the ninja ran off the road and into the forest.

Internally, Blake cursed. It wasn't a retreat but a tactical repositioning. The only reason that Blake could perform as she did was because of the wide open space of the road. In the forest, she would be in danger of catching the chain on a tree limb or some other vegetation which would leave her open. Even though she understood it, Blake did not even hesitate to take off after her opponent. She had to make sure to finish this fight here and now unless she wanted to be ambushed later.

All this meant was that she would have to use the kusarigama as originally intended: to bind her opponent with the chain and weight before closing in to finish her off with the sickle. It still offered her the ability to engage at range which would allow her to overcome the blonde's enormous advantage at hand-to-hand. She just had to make sure that she didn't get too close until she disabled her.

The run was thankfully short. When she believed that she had put enough distance between them and the road, the blonde had stopped and waited patiently for Blake to catch up. When Blake approached, one hand holding the sickle, the other spinning the weighted end in small circles, the young woman's arms were crossed over her chest with that playful grin having returned.

"You've learned some new tricks, Blakey-chan," she spoke. She lifted her right arm. "Unfortunately for you, I've got some tricks of my own." She unwound the heavy cloth from around her arm.

It took Blake a while to process what was unveiled. With each revolution, her opponent unveiled more of the iron plates that made up her gauntlet. But that wasn't the trick.

The trick was the multiple barrels that had been strapped on the gauntlet around her forearm; six in total. And behind each gun barrel was a fuse with those six fuses coming together to form the main one. By the time Blake realized what she was looking at her enemy extended her right arm, pointing the barrels at her with the fuse now alight.

Her gaze looked to the barrels, then up at the main fuse that was now splitting. Six sparks slowly traveled down to the back of the gun barrels. With a start, Blake turned and ran.

It was not a simultaneous blast as she thought. Instead, the fuses must have been carefully measured so that one would go off every half-second with one bang barely having time to end before a second bang immediately followed. As Blake ran, bullets suddenly zipped by her, smacking into trees or flying off into the distance. She hit the ground as the remaining bullets were fired, ripping through the air and whatever vegetation was in their way.

After the firing of the sixth bullet, a silence descended upon the battlefield. A cloud of smoke was being dispersed, spreading the scent of gunpowder everywhere. Blake didn't move, not just yet. She used the brief reprieve to see if any of the bullets had possibly struck her. To her relief, none did.

There was the sound of coughing which the other ninja was trying to muffle. From where it came from, it didn't seem the blonde was making any move to try and look for Blake which was odd. With such a, admittedly, fear-inspiring surprise attack, she would think that her opponent would use to chance to capitalize on her advantage and catch her while she was unawares.

Again there was that cough and the smell of gunpowder continued to intrude within Blake's nostrils.

Wait, she couldn't have. Realizing what was going on, Blake lifted her head enough to peek over the bushes to where she last saw her opponent. As expected, a thick cloud of smoke had formed with the firing of so many rounds. Still, with her eyesight, Blake could barely make out a silhouette who was swiping at the air with her hands as if to clear the smokescreen.

Did she blind herself? This was her chance. Jumping to her feet, Blake ran straight at her. She held back on spinning the chain, wanting to keep such noise to a minimum to use this bit of camouflage to the fullest.

It seemed that she was right as her opponent didn't realize she was coming until she was practically right on top of her. Spinning the chain in her hand as she drew closer, Blake threw it. It caught one of the blonde's swinging arms, the weight at the end spinning around and bringing the chain with it to wrap around the limb.

That was when her opponent realized she was in trouble. Instinctively, the blonde pulled on her arm that was bound, hoping to use her strength to bring in her opponent while blindly throwing a punch to fight back with her free arm. Sadly for her, the chain was ten feet in length. Not only did she not draw Blake close enough to strike her, there was plenty of slack for Blake to flick her arm up and spin her hand. Another portion of her chain came up and wrapped around that arm too.

With both arms bound, the other ninja lashed out with a kick. Again, Blake turned the attack against her. Using the sickle, Blake actually hooked it beneath the extended leg, keeping it up and, stepping closer, Blake wound the chain around her opponent's neck and pulled.

She was caught. Upon tugging the chain, the blonde's arms were pulled up to her neck, trapping them there. With only a little amount of leverage, Blake knocked her to the ground where she quickly dropped down to straddle her. There was really only one thing left for her to do.

But when she raised the sickle to deliver the finishing blow, she hesitated. This close, she could now see that the blonde's eyes were watery, a pair of tears actually having slid down to stain her cheeks that had been darkened by the ignited gunpowder. Unable to use her hands, the blonde had to blink her eyes rapidly to try and clear her vision.

She soon realized the trouble she was in when she found Blake sitting upon her stomach with one hand holding tight to the chain that bound her arms while the other held the sickle high, ready to strike. Instead of reacting with fear, the now defeated ninja eyed the intimidating weapon, noted how it continued to remain high, and then looked to Blake. Her lips cracked into a small smile.

"You can't do it can you, Blakey-chan?" she questioned, her violet eyes knowing. "After all we've been through, you don't want to end it like this do you?"

She knew it to be true but, even so, Blake's golden orbs continued to radiate a clear warning of what she would do if the blonde fought back. After some hesitation, she lowered the sickle.

Seeing it as a sign that she was allowed to continue, she next spoke, "You could leave me here I suppose. Keep me all tied up and helpless so that you can get back to your clan. But poor me will have nowhere to go. They'll know of my failure, they'll probably figure out I told you all about this, and they will probably have me killed. I can't go back."

"Yang-chan," came the whispered name.

The blonde looked a bit startled to hear her own name or, more than likely, the honorific that was attached to it. Or it could be because Blake had leaned over so that her head was hovering over her own, her palms pressing against the ground on either side of Yang's head. Neither the chain nor the sickle was in hand but Yang made no attempt to free herself.

This close, the scent of gunpowder that clung to Yang's skin filled Blake's nostrils. Beneath that acrid smell though she could barely catch what was the sweet fragrance of lilies. Her right hand came unbidden to Yang's face where her index finger traced along her jaw, starting at her right ear.

"I have beaten you, Yang-chan." Blake's words continued to come in whispers. "I'm your conqueror. And thus, like any conqueror, I will take you as my possession."

"Pffffft!"

Yang remained silent, her violet eyes now wide with shock. Not a surprising reaction; from their first meeting to now, Blake had done little to reciprocate the advances that Yang had continually attempted to press against her. Considering the look on her face, it seemed that Blake had done a rather decent job in keeping the attraction that had developed as soon as she laid eyes on her hidden.

It was different here. With a night of fighting, adrenaline, blood, death, and now this position of dominance she now held on her opponent…it was all rather arousing.

"…Wait, what?"

"If I am to become your property…" Yang started slowly, the beginnings of her usual coy smile beginning to show. "…Then I believe you should mark me as your own."

"I want to examine my latest claim entirely first." Blake leaned down even further, her nose barely bumping into Yang's. "But if that's what you desire…"

She halted her trailing finger at Yang's chin where she took it in her grip and pulled her mouth to her own. Her tongue briefly played across Yang's lips then she kissed her, fully and deeply. Immediately the thrill that Blake had felt ever since she understood her position over Yang exploded inside of her, the hot emotions running from her loins to her brain and repeating. Beneath her, Yang crooned, the clinking of chains the only hint to her desire to grab the ninja's head and keep her lips pressed against hers. The need for air had them both separating when they became breathless.

"…So be it," Blake finally ended before leaning back down. Instead of meeting Yang's lips again, Blake gently tugged her head to the side, exposing her neck which her fangs bit into. It was not enough to break skin but she nonetheless heard Yang hiss and buck against her. Ignoring it, Blake suckled the trapped flesh between her teeth enough so that when she pulled back there were the clear sign of her teeth upon the reddened skin where she bit.

"'You are mine now…'"

"You are mine now," Blake spoke, placing a more tender kiss on the spot before her lips went to Yang's jaw. "My little treasure." Remembering where she had cut, her hands gripped at the two tears in Yang's uniform. She started to pull, the sound of cloth ripping deafening in the silent night that was only filled with their heavy breathing.

"'Now that I have laid my claim I shall unveil your…v-valuables…hehe..I shall see for myself the r-riches that you…that…you…hehe...hahaha-!'"


"Hahaha-!"

With her one hand currently occupied, Yang slapped her other over her mouth as she fell backwards, landing on the dorm room floor. She sealed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears of mirth while her body shook with barely-restrained laughter.

I can't take any more of this! Yang was practically shouting within her mind. She now stuck her hand in her mouth, biting down on the knuckles when it proved increasingly difficult to keep her laughter in check. Her face was already becoming wet with tears.

Soon the threat of either breaking her knuckles or cracking a tooth took the edge off of how absolutely hysterical this all was. Once she felt she calmed down enough, she sat back up, her gaze returning to the bunk…and she nearly burst into another fit of giggles at what she saw.

Blake was practically mewling in her sleep. With a flushed face, the faunus constantly shifted within her bed. Her grip was tight on her pillow which she nuzzled with surprising force considering her sleeping state, a hint of drool at her mouth.

Oh, this is too perfect! Ready to go into another fit as it was, Yang didn't dare attempt to continue reading the black book that was the cause for these hysterics.

As could be deduced, Yang had decided to take Nora's advice to heart. On any other day such a thing would be considered as outlandish in her mind but seeing the state of her girlfriend, Yang couldn't possibly make any argument with the results.

She had waited all night for Blake to return and get to sleep. Although she had been ready to try again another night – especially considering how late it was when Blake returned –, the fact that Weiss and Ruby were missing made this too much of a great opportunity to be put aside for another night. While she did wonder as to where, exactly, her sister and the heiress could possibly be at this time, Yang could hardly care right now.

Anyway, once she was sure that Blake had fallen asleep, Yang had gone to her partner's bookshelf to retrieve a book that would fit perfectly for her plan. And what was this diabolical plan to be? Why it was simple really: to satisfy this burning urge to see if Blake really, truly loved her.

Which was why, with Blake's copy of Ninjas of Love and some rather excellent, on-the-spot verbal editing if Yang was allowed to toot her own horn, the brawler had decided to see how Blake felt if it was her and Yang that she fantasized in one of these smutty situations.

So essentially she was attempting to see if she could give Blake a wet dream by replacing the featured characters in her book with them.

…For some reason Yang remembered it sounding a lot better when she first thought it up.

She had been rather apprehensive when she started it as who knows what kind of punishment Blake would inflict upon her if she discovered what she was doing. When Yang first started reading and those cat ears turned towards the sound of her voice, she could swear that she nearly had a heart attack. Thankfully she managed to realize that that was just a natural reaction for animals and faunus. The currently hot and bothered Blake? Yeah, that was all Yang.

Yang tried to continue reading but as soon as she drifted to where she left off, she almost succumbed to another bout of laughter. Considering that her sides were aching so badly she decided to wait just a bit longer to sufficiently recover before starting again.

Actually, why am I not recording this? Yang thought to pull out her scroll but, belatedly, she remembered that she didn't have it. During a previous duel, some poor sod had thought to accidentally take a lock of hair off her precious head. The resulting firestorm not only saw Yang winning the duel with a resounding knock-out but her Aura had overloaded her scroll.

Fortunately, a quick search of the dorm and she found Ruby's scroll as no way was she going to use Blake's. At least with Ruby, Yang could convince her sister to hold onto the video and wait until she got a replacement scroll to send it to her.

Actually, doesn't Ruby need her scroll to get into the do-?

Another heated mewl reminded Yang she had more important things to worry about. Opening the scroll, Yang held the screen towards the sleeping Blake before hitting the record button. With the light of a candle she lit so that she could read without hurting her eyes, Yang was able to get a clear picture. Blake started to still but her breathing was still rather heavy, her face red, and while her eyes were open, they were half-lidded with-

Eyes. Open.

How Yang managed not to scream when she realized that two glittering gems were looking straight at her she had no idea. Especially when she became aware that, in her other hand, she was practically holding the book so that the title Ninjas of Love was practically right in Blake's face. She fixed that by throwing both scroll and book over her shoulders; where they landed she had no idea but as long as it was far away she didn't care.

She had been too late though. During her moment of stunned inaction upon finding out that her girlfriend was awake, she had been aware of Blake's eyes moving from the book, to the scroll, and finally ending at her partner's face.

Silence stretched between the two of them as Blake continued to stare with half-lidded eyes while Yang's were wide with fear.

Wanting to try and salvage something, Yang decided to speak first, "Um, I know what that looked like and while you may come to some crazy ideas as to what, exactly, I was doing, I can tell you that there is a perfectly good explanation for this." Yang tried to appear confident but the feeling of a severe lack of blood at her face told her that she was absolutely terrified.

Blake didn't make any move at first and Yang wondered about the possibility that Blake was still half asleep and didn't realize what was going on. Maybe if she just went up to her bed, she could play this whole thing off as- no wait, Blake was moving.

Pushing her blanket off her body, the faunus sat up in her bed, wiping the drool from her mouth. She had broken eye contact with Yang and for some reason seemed to be staring at the hands that she had folded at her lap. Her breathing still sounded heavy and the flesh of her cheeks that Yang could see kept their red coloring.

"Um…" Even though she questioned the idea of drawing Blake's attention to her, Yang cautiously asked, "Blake?"

Slowly, the faunus turned to her. Her features rather blank, even if colored, she just stared at her partner.

"…You all right there?"

Those iridescent eyes continued to stare at her blankly. Soon, though, those eyes narrowed into slits and Blake shifted in her bed. Bringing her knees beneath her, Blake pressed her palms against the mattress in front of her. While she lowered her head and shoulders, her butt and knees were slowly raised. Her cat ears were drawn back and lowered, a clear sign of hostility. If she had a tail it'd probably be swishing menacingly right about now. Not once did her gaze leave Yang…nor did it get any less threatening.

It dawned on Yang that the image that her girlfriend was presenting was not her usual, docile kitten but a fearsome lioness that was getting ready to pounce. She took an involuntary step back. "Blaaaaaake?"

She would never know why it came to her but at this moment Yang was reminded of one of the basic lessons that Professor Port had laid upon them during the first day of Grimm Studies. No matter at what dire straits you would find yourself in, a Huntsman or a Huntress never let an animal, especially one so grim as the Grimm - his joke, of course -, see any sign of retreat or fear. Only by facing it did a Huntress have any chance, no matter how minute, of survival.

The growl that came from the back of Blake's throat convinced Yang that Professor Port was crazy and whoever let him command a classroom was equally so.

The growing sense of panic forced her to act. Turning her back, Yang started to run. Oh sh-!

She didn't stand a chance. She perhaps only managed to go forward one step before Blake was on her in an instant, her girlfriend's limbs constricting around her body. While her arms curled around Yang's neck and chest, her legs entangled themselves within her own which forced the two of them to drop to the floor.

I am seriously starting to question the merits of this plan! Faced with the consequences that she had thought she would manage to avoid, Yang wondered what kind of degree of insanity convinced her to do this.

This is Nora's fault! she declared. Desperately she tried to break free but while she could be considered as the strongest of Team RWBY, Blake's grip was like a vice. It didn't help that she managed to pin one of Yang's arms which made attempts to break free all the more difficult. I shouldn't have listened to her! Oh why oh why did I ever think thaaaaaaoooowwww!

Her thoughts ended in a panicked shriek when she felt Blake's mouth – which had been blowing a disturbingly amount of hot air at the nape of her neck – open so that she could sink her teeth into the side of her neck.

She's biting me! Faunus instincts have overridden all rational thought! She's going to kill me!

But instead of ripping into her flesh, Blake was suckling upon the skin that she had taken into her fangs. If Yang wasn't busy panicking, she would maybe find something oddly familiar about Blake's actions. Like something she had read in a book once. Five minutes ago.

It would've also allowed her to catch on to what her girlfriend did next. Having seemed content to simply pin her arms and legs so she wouldn't escape, Blake's hands were starting to explore along Yang's body. At first, Yang thought that it was in response to her struggles but she understood the truth soon enough.

"Nonono! No! Bad Blake! Stop it! Bl-AKE!" The last word was interrupted by a shrill squeak when she felt a sudden squeeze at her chest. "DO NOT WANT!"

Funnily enough, although it was faunus ears that heard the words, they were oddly deaf to them as Blake paid no mind to her girlfriend's protests. Her hands continued to wander and her bite lessened to a gentle, loving nibble as she waited for her prey to submit.

Eventually Yang's struggles lessened. Soon the tables had turned and now it was the blonde who was mewling heatedly as the loving attentions started to get to her.

With her prey sufficiently subdued, Blake decided to continue where she had left off. Forget about tomorrow, she was going to show Yang just how willing and just how far she was ready to take their relationship now.


Author's Note: Well…that was a thing. I honestly don't know what to think of this chapter. It got weird. In a good or bad way I have no idea. I guess that's what reviewers are for to tell me what was good and what was bad. Was kind of disappointed with myself that I decided to go that way with Blake and Yang's relationship as everyone has seemed to be doing that lately…but we all know that they're probably like that so it's cool! …Maybe.

This is the first time I really went that far into a more mature theme. Really this chapter was either full of a lot of firsts for me (hopelessly fluffy/smutty romance, loads of action scenes, etc). Granted, I don't think this was enough to bump the T to an M rating but, in case anyone got uncomfortable, I have no plans to repeat this in Weiss or Ruby's chapter. Speaking of which, where had Ruby and Weiss been up to while all this was going on? Guess you'll find out next time!