III
Blake rolled out of the way of an Ursa's claw, quickly ducking to dodge another. Her continued search for Adam Taurus and the White Fang had turned up nothing more than a few scraps which led her nowhere. Her tired eyes developed purple bags underneath them and her agile movements slowed, becoming clumsier than normal. She focused hard for a moment, activating her semblance to leave a shadow clone between the two creatures Grimm while she leapt away to gather herself. The beasts charged at one another, confusedly bumping heads when her clone shattered and they slammed into one another. Blake used this to her advantage, springing forward and quickly forcing the Gambol Shroud's curved blade into one's neck while wrapping the connected ribbon about that of the other, tugging hard on her weapon to strangle the struggling Ursa.
Both dissipated into black mist, giving her a moment to drop to her knees and breathe. She was too tired to keep up this constant fighting, and the frustration of her fruitless search was mounting to new heights. She looked up at the nearest abandoned building, recalling their mission to the failed settlement of Mountain Glenn not too long ago. She bowed her head, sighing with exasperation as she started toward the ominous structure.
She decided she could risk a fire tonight, using the building's decomposing furniture as kindling. She dismantled a few chairs and set them alight with a sprinkle of red dust, ruefully depleting her almost diminished stocks to dangerous levels. She only realized how cold she was when the fire brought feeling back into her fingertips, singeing her cream colored flesh light pink as they drifted too close to the flames. The sensation stung, but the miniscule pain was drowned in the warmth of the small blaze. All numbness left her in moments and she allowed herself that time to relax, lying flat on her back and gazing up at the stars overhead through a hole in the roof. She was forced to focus hard to see even the smallest twinkle in the heavens using her enhanced Faunus vision to see through the shadowy smog brought about by the Grimm.
She turned over to her side, watching the splinters burning red and gold. The white hot center left black ashes scattered beneath what remained of the wood. Images of her friends flooded her mind, sending fresh shivers down her spine. She had grown accustomed to loneliness before her time at Beacon, but losing that feeling was the worst in the world. Blake hated herself for running away, leaving Yang and Ruby behind never to learn of what befell them. Her hand balled up into a fist, pounding the hard ground once as her eyes lined with new tears. It was not the first time such thoughts led her to tears in the past weeks.
Her stomach howled desperately. Gnawing pain chewed through her core, indicating her only respite from the Grimm tonight would have to be taken with hunger in its stead. She squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her stomach with her left hand while her right propped her up on the elbow. "Why am I such a coward…?"
Thus marked the twentieth time Blake had asked herself that same question, at nearly the same time as every night since she crawled out Yang's bedroom window. However, tonight she was only concerned with torturing herself further.
"I had no reason to leave but my own cowardice. I couldn't bring myself to face her. Now I may never even see her face again. Or anyone's for that matter. I'm cold. I'm hungry. I can't sleep, and all I do is fight all day looking for someone who's long gone from here. I never should have run away…" Her eyes burned again with her sick tears. Grief struck her heart almost as strongly as Cinder's arrow had struck Pyrrha's breast. "My friends aren't afraid to die, or to fight or to face their fears. They're strong, and I'm nothing…" She sat up and drew her knees in to her chest, hugging them tightly and soaking her knees with fresh remorse.
"You're wrong, you know," came an effeminate voice from the doorway. The sound of boots crossing the room rang in Blake's ears as she looked from her knees to see strong legs emerging from a pair of brown boots. Yellow knee-high socks gripped her calves, leading up to a black pair of short-shorts framed by a thin skirt attached to a belt. An exposed, toned midriff soon gave way to a similarly cut brown jacket over a yellow tank top. Pale arms extended from the sleeves, ending in two hands dressed in black gloves overlaid by yellow vambraces. From the top emerged an orange scarf wrapped around the neck of a beautiful girl with amethyst eyes and wild blonde hair draping down her back all the way to her knees. Yang knelt down and hugged her tight, giving Blake a moment to sob into her neck before speaking again. "You mean something, Blake. To Weiss, to Sun, to Ruby, to me… No matter how many times you run, you'll always be someone to us." Blake cried harder.
"If only you were real, Yang…" She pulled her arms away from the column she had been hugging, pondering for a moment if she could just hang on to the vision a little while longer.
But it was gone.
Another sleepless night gave way to day as her fire died down to mere cinders and the sun again rose over Blake, trembling on the ground of yet another building.
Yang Xiao Long looked up at the Tower from a distance, standing over her bike with both feet planted firmly on the ground. It was still burning, and she could still make out the shape of the frozen Grimm Dragon. The road before her sloped down into the section of Vale that had been overrun by Grimm when Cinder and the White Fang attacked. She knew Ruby had gone east to Mistral in search of those responsible, but her little sister was stronger than anyone she knew. She had a team of friends to back her up. Weiss was undoubtedly spending every free moment hunting for some way down from her ivory tower in the northern kingdom of Atlas. The only member of Team RWBY left unaccounted for was Blake, and they had unfinished business to discuss. Yang sat back on the motorcycle and kicked the stand back into a folded position, speeding down into the ghost of their city.