Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The wonderful characters and settings of the RWBY universe belong to Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth.

Chasing Shadows

Chapter 4: Into the Ravens Nest

The snow dare not touch the force of nature that stalked through the woods. Around the burning embers of what once was a hopefully young woman the biting winter dared not venture. The small scatterings of Grimm that lived on Patch had been drawn to her anger and hate; she was, quite literally, a shinning beacon for them.

It was a cautious Beowolf who made the first move, stalking ahead of his pack to investigate the source of the negative emotion. He was returned to dust before Yang even knew it was there. Next a small nevermore, no bigger than a seagull tried to swoop down on the unsuspecting girl. It too turned to ash as flames leapt from her body and engulfed the attacking creature.

Yang heard the next two Beowolves coming, she snapped of a shot with her gauntlet at the first one, sending it crashing into a nearby tree before the second one received the same fist to its face for its troubles. Yang swung wildly at the Beowolf, managing to knock it out in one punch due only to her insane strength.

She felt pain.

A white-hot streak of it erupted down her back. She spun around quickly, already feeling her semblance send the energy of her pain to her muscles. She broke the third Beowolf's neck with a simple backhand.

There was more pain. A fourth claw raked along her exposed arm. Another Beowolf had gotten inside her guard. Her first instinct was to punch it with her right arm and she swung the stump uselessly at the creature's head. It bite down on her arm, she could feel its teeth cracking as they failed to penetrate her aura fully, leaving only slight scratches on her skin. Her flames burned at the creatures bone mask as she kicked its legs out from underneath its body. A splatter of warm blood coated her face as she used Ember to bore a hole through its chest at point blank range.

Around her the rest of the Beowolf pack gave pause. She had dispatched four of its members in such a short time they might have rethought their actions. The wolves however could smell blood, she knew it as well as they. She was beginning to tire. Her flames no longer burned white hot with rage, but had settled back into their normal flicker of orange and yellow, just enough to deter all but the most determined attacker.

She would need her strength for when the pack charged her. She knew she had only a few seconds to calm herself before it happened. There was only one way she knew of that was guaranteed to calm her down. That had been before though, she didn't know if her heart and mind would react the same now…

She had to try.

Yang closed her eyes and ears to the world; somehow confident she would now when she was in mortal danger again. Into her memories she slipped. Yang remembered Ruby's eyes first, the innocent gleam of silver as she told Yang she was the 'best big sister ever'.

Ice blue was next. Weiss had a way of laying things out to Yang that even Blake struggled with. The Ice Queen was absolutely honest with the fiery blonde and it was something she appreciated. The same line repeated over and over in her mind. "You believe me don't you?"… "Of course we do!"

The final eyes were the hardest, but Yang knew they were the most important. The memory that was Blake Belladonna's eyes burned across her own vision. Yang took the time to remember every perfect imperfection with her partner's eyes, the small freckles of black that seemed out of place in the otherwise crystal clear sea of amber. The intelligent gleam and catlike slit to her pupils that let her see in the dark far better than even most other Faunus. She heard those words over and over and over again. "Yang… are you okay?"

There was a noticeable chill in the air as Yang breathed deeply, letting the icy winds sting her nostrils as she took in as much life giving air as she possibly could. The fire burned at the pit of her stomach, but it no longer threatened to consumer as it had earlier. She felt in control for the first time ever.

She felt some semblance of power again. It was as intoxicating as she remembered.

Yang let it build and build, feeling her very core fill with the warm relief her fire provided. Again and again she flashed between her teams eyes, always lingering on Blake's the longest. She wanted to hate the Faunus, but was it truly hate if they still plagued your dreams with happiness? Could you hate the same person you fantasised about? Could you truly hate a person you loved? Yang doubted shed ever now unless she saw the Faunus again, which seemed as unlikely as her making it home alive right now.

A loud crow from a nearby bird forced her back to reality. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at the snarling snout of a rapidly closing Beowolf, it would be wrapping its jaws around her neck any second now. All around her Beowolves were charging. The rapid thud and crunch of their vicious clawed paws on the blood soaked snow rung in her ears as she took the last seconds of her life to realise just how thoroughly stupid she'd been to wonder alone in the woods with only her left gauntlet for protection. She hadn't learnt her lesson; she'd done it again.

She'd been consumed. Controlled by the fire in her stomach and heart.

The Beowolves were upon her now, inside her guard. She couldn't swing even if she wanted to, she'd never make it in time.

She'd been stupid.

She needed help… again.

The word felt wrong in her mouth and her mind. She had promised herself she wouldn't be weak again, but here she was bloodied, bruised and about to die in some forest on a tiny island twenty minutes from home.

She bit her tongue so hard it bled.

She spoke.

"Raven!"

She screamed.

The fire she had stored in her belly, which she had taken the time to rein in moments before, was released once again. The flames burst outward in every direction, a massive, all consuming dome of pure fire ripped across the land. This was a fire fuelled by desperation, fuelled by her anger at herself for being weak again… for losing. Fuelled by her father for not being here to protect her again. Fuelled by Blake for making her leave in the first place. It was fuelled by hope that she might live to find answered.

In short, it burned bright.

It was a bright flash of light in her peripheral vision that drew Blake Belladonna's attention first. She turned, confused towards the source of the light, her hand cautiously gripping the hilt of Gamble Shroud as she did so.

The tremor was next, the abandoned and badly damaged hotel she had made camp in shook to its very core. Loose bits of plaster and ornaments feel from their places, smashing to the ground by the young woman's feet.

Blake ran to the roof, she had to see what had caused such a violent quake.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the northeast, a place she had purposefully been avoiding. The hotel was the tallest building in this part of Vale; she could see the island's coast clear as day.

"No." She gasped, tears stung at her eyes as her mind brought up every worst-case scenario she could think of.

Patch was burning.

At least that's what it looked like to Blake. She knew the island itself wasn't burning, but something big had happened. There was a visible column of smoke rising from the western side of the snow-covered island.

Right where she knew Yang lived.

He couldn't have found them. It just wasn't possible. Patch was as sparsely populated an area as you would find. A person could spend days searching and not find a single living soul unless they knew where to look.

Plus, she was with her family. She had to be okay. There was her father and her uncle Qrow, both professional and well-regarded huntsmen, Qrow especially. There was Ruby, Blake had seen what she'd done atop the CCT, she wouldn't let Yang be harmed. It was simply impossible. Adam couldn't breach all the defences around her. He simply couldn't.

Except Blake knew he could. Adam was as sneaky and subtly as she was. The family wasn't prepared for Adam to be hunting Yang, she hadn't warned them of his promise before setting off, she had thought she could lead him away. All she had done was made them unprepared and defenceless. He could probably stroll up to the front door if he so wished.

She would be of no use to Yang now. Not that she ever had been.

Still, she knew she had to go.

She had to know.

Blake Belladonna set off from her perch atop the hotels roof. She could be on the island by nightfall.

From above all a person would see was scorched earth, the remains of Grimm scattered around, turned to ash before they could even return to dust. Tree's had been ripped from their roots and landed miles away, covered in burns and black soot. There was not a single living creature for the next mile in any direction.

Except a small blonde, who lay unconscious at the centre of the destruction. Her hair and clothes were singed at the edges as even her aura failed to prevent the power she herself had unleashed from damaging her. A golden glow flew from her right arm, which disappeared as ash into the wind. It had been there, solid, but for a fleeting moment.

There was one other creature alive.

A small blackbird swopped down from the sky, diving straight towards the blackened ground immediately next to the unconscious girl. Closer and closer to the ground it flew, never once even considering that it might be better to pull up before it crashed.

Raven's feet crunched to the ground.

"I knew I was right" she said, kneeling to cradle the exhausted and injured blonde to her chest. "I've got you Yang"

"You've done well."

A/N: Quite a short chapter this time. I hope to have another, longer chapter up for you all tomorrow.

As always this chapter is unbeta'd, so don't forget to lend an hand and point me to any glaring spelling/grammatical mistakes.