Yang was breathing hard, and sweat was pouring down her brow. Her legs burned with each step, making her stumble as she walked. She did not care though. She was there. She had made it. She looked behind her at the small bundle in the wagon behind her, and pulled the red cape up around her little sister's shoulder. Ruby had fallen asleep long ago, near the start of their journey, but Yang had kept moving. Satisfied that her sister was all tucked in, Yang turned around. Her legs buckled, and Yang had to use one of her shaky hands to make herself stand again.

The little shack in front of her was dark and scary, but Yang clenched her fists in determination. She had been looking ever since her father had told her the truth, and she might finally have an answer. All of her hopes lay inside that shack. It was rugged, old, and made of dusty wood, and Yang doubted anyone had been there in years. The door on the front was missing, and there was nothing but a yawning abyss therein.

She walked towards it, her trembling from exertion, but stopped when she heard something creak inside of it. There was no way anyone was in there, but Yang knew what she had heard. She took another step. She saw something move in the shadows, but she took another step. She knew that if she stopped again her tired legs would not start moving again. Those legs were tired, and weary, and Yang did not want to move them anymore, but she had to.

And then she saw it.

A pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness. Her feet stopped as she froze. She knew what the eyes meant, anyone who had ever heard of the Grimm did. She was not scared though, not because she was brave, but because the weariness pulling at her consciousness was too strong.

Not realizing it, she fell to her knees, and she saw several more pairs of eyes slide into view from the edges of the shadows. She knew what Summer would have done, what her father or uncle Qrow would have done. They all would have fought. They would be brave.

But Yang could not be brave.

A sob ripped through her throat as she realized what she had done. She tried to stand so that maybe she could fight and be brave, but she could not move. Her body refused to respond to her. Tears began to flow down her face, and Yang forced herself to look behind her at the wagon. If it had just been her, maybe it would have been okay, but Ruby was here. No matter what happened, Yang did not want anything to happen to Ruby. But she had brought her little sister out here, where the monsters were waiting for them.

There was a growl, and Yang's attention was pulled back to the doorway as she saw a Beowolf prowl out from the shack. It was snarling at her, its bright white teeth glittering with saliva. It opened its massive jaws, and Yang stared down its throat. She began to tremble as the fear gripped her heart. This was her fault. She had done this. The growling grew louder, and Yang began to scream, shutting her eyes and waiting for the inevitable.

There was a squelching, then a thump. Yang's eyes opened to see the head of the Beowolf at her feet, but its eyes were not glowing anymore. The bright red was fading to a dull black, and Yang realized why. Its head had been removed from the rest of its body.

Yang looked up to see a man with a creased brow looking down at her, a massive scythe held in one hand. He smiled tightly at her, then turned his attention back to the shack, his other hand coming up to grip the scythe. A moment later there were howls from inside the shack, and a moment after that Qrow walked back out of the shack and knelt in front of Yang.

"Are you alright?" He said calmly, but Yang could not answer. She was scared and tired and ashamed at what she had done. Her uncle leaned forward and hugged her tightly. "Its alright, you'll be okay."

He picked her up from under her arms, then carried her back to the wagon. He sat her down next to Ruby, who had slept silently through the whole ordeal but was now waking.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Yang?" She asked innocently, her eyes holding the absolute faith in her sister that younger siblings reserved for their elder counterparts. A sudden protectiveness came over Yang, and with the little strength she had left, she reached forward and hugged Ruby. When she had told Ruby that they were going for a walk, her sister had smiled brightly at her without any questions and asked how far. Yang had put her in danger by bringing her, and she would never do that again.

"No Ruby, but that's okay."

Yang looked backwards as the wagon thumped along the bumpy path. The shed was fading away in the distance between the skeletal trees around them. She had come all this way and not even stepped in the shack. That was alright though, she would keep looking. She would not be stupid though, not anymore. She would keep looking, but not so that it could hurt Ruby. Ruby needed her older sister; she had already lost her mother. Yang could not get herself killed while she looked, or she would hurt her little sister more than anyone else ever could. She smiled slightly as she looked at Ruby, who had already gone back to sleep. She curled up next to the small bundle of black and red and gave into the weariness that was calling to her.

/

Yang strode down the smooth cobblestone path, her fists clenched. She could feel her hair crackling behind her and the air around her shimmered from the heat she was giving off, but Yang did not care. She stormed into the circular pavilion that was home to the famous statue of a group of hunters crushing Grimm under their feet. She took a moment, slowing her stride and composing herself as she walked into the circle. In the middle of the smooth stone clearing stood a woman, about the same height as Yang, with very long, silky hair. She was wearing red armor and a wickedly long sword at her hip along with a feathered cape hanging from her belt. Yang looked at her face, but it was hidden behind a black, red and white mask. A Grimm mask.

Yang had only seen her briefly before, but she recognized her immediately. It was the woman from the train. Yang had been dazed, probably slightly concussed, but she would have recognized that woman anywhere.

"Who are you?" She asked. Her voice was almost pleading. She had said she knew something about Yang's mother, and Yang needed to know. She had been searching for so long, and this could finally be an answer. An answer that would lead her on the path to her mother.

The woman reached up to her mask and pulled it away. Shock ran through Yang's body at what she saw. It was the eyes.

They were crimson red.

Like Yang's.

"Yang," She said. "We have a lot to talk about."

/

What struck her first was the smell. It was glorious, golden, warm, and sweet. It was a smell she had grown used to over the years, waking up every once in a while to those pleasant odors wafting in from the kitchen. She took a deep breath, letting the soft scents caress her nose, and she felt herself begin to grin. Her eyes shot wide open, and she looked to the side to see exactly what she had expected to find.

Pancakes!

Behind the perfectly cooked breakfast sat a ragged looking Ren. The silly boy had probably spent the entire night by her side until he had finally passed out from exhaustion. Her heart swelled a little when she looked at him, and she felt an overwhelming urge to hug him, or thank him, or chastise him for staying up, or pour syrup on those pancakes and eat them... She tried to sit up so that she could get off the bed and wake him up, but as her muscles tensed, pain shot up her side, and Nora gasped quietly.

The instant the sound left her throat Ren's eyes opened and he sat up straight. He saw her laying down and conscious. She watched his eyes as they flickered from surprise, to elation, and then returned to their usual impassive stare.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." He said calmly, leaning forward. Nora heard a button click on the side of her bed, and the entire contraption slid so that Nora was in a sitting position. Once she was upright, Ren stood and walked over to the pancakes on the side of the table. She watched silently as he poured the syrup over the golden, puffy pancakes, and her mouth began to water. He lifted the plate off the bedside table, kicked the stool up next to her bed and sat down on it.

"You know," Nora began as the grogginess of sleep began to wear off. "I asked you to wake me up. I mean I woke up, and you were here, but it wasn't you who woke me up. And you promised." She chastised, just talking at this point because the words came easily to her mind. It was easier to criticize him than say what she was actually thinking and feeling. "The pancakes woke me up. Actually, they didn't, that would be silly. Could you imagine pancakes getting up and waking me up? It would be silly, right?" She looked at Ren, who met her gaze impassively. "Right. But they smell did wake me up, so in a way, it was the pancak-"

"Nora?" Ren interrupted, looking at her with the slightest ghost of a smile.

"Yes Ren?"

"Who do you think made the pancakes that woke you up?" He said pointedly. Silenced, Nora looked at her partner with no idea what to say next. She wanted to tell them how much it meant to her that he had made her pancakes, and been her partner, and been her friend for so long, and always been there when she was scared as a kid, and always been kind to her, and always been by her side...

"Boop!" Nora said, reaching forward and poking Ren's nose. Whenever she started feeling like this, she couldn't think of anything else to say. Ren smiled at her ever so slightly; Ren's smiles were really just the faintest tightening of the muscles in his cheeks, his lips didn't even move. He took a fork and speared the stack of pancakes, then brought a knife up and sliced away at a bit of it. She looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing Ren?" She asked, as he raised the fork to his lips. Panic gripped her chest. "No! Ren!" She cried desperately, as he slid the mouthful of pancake into his mouth. She watched him in horror as he deliberately chewed the food, then swallowed. She felt betrayed, and hurt, that he would do that to her. Make the pancakes, lather them in syrup, and then not even let her eat them! It was cruel. Absolutely and positively cruel. She looked at him heatedly, and he met her gaze, and she saw a sparkle of humor in those pink eyes. He set the plate on her lap, and relief flushed through Nora's system. He handed her the knife and fork, and Nora dug into the sweet, sweet syrupy pancakes with vigor.

/

Ruby sat on the edge of her sister's bed, her hands clasped between her thighs nervously. Across from her, Weiss was sitting stiffly with her arms crossed over her chest, and between them, Yang paced anxiously. Blake was on the windowsill, which had quickly become her favorite spot in the room since they had arrived. It was a bright and sunny day, and Ruby was curious as to how the weather could be so cheery on such a bad day. She was no stranger to the feeling; after her mother had died almost every day had been colored by a similar tinge. The events of the last few days still made her stomach twist though.

Nora was still unconscious, but the surgeons had said she would recover fully, that she should be on her feet in the next day or two. When it came to Pyrrha, however, the doctors hadn't the faintest idea what had happened. When she had gone to visit her friend the previous evening, she had found Jaune holding her hand as the woman slept peacefully. Ruby was worried for her, but she was also worried about Jaune. Ruby knew firsthand what it was like to lose someone close, and she had no doubt in her mind that Jaune cared for his partner more than he let on.

There was a buzzing in the pouch attached to Ruby's belt, and she reached into the small pack. She fished around for her scroll, then pulled it out. The little yellow light in the corner flashed at her, and she opened the scroll to see a small message. Nora's awake. It was from Jaune.

"Hey," Ruby spoke up, though her voice lacked its usual energy. "Nora woke up. Want to go visit her?" Everyone looked at her, but no one really moved.

"We should." It was Blake that spoke after a moment.

"Yeah," Yang agreed, and Weiss nodded her head.

Her team having given their input looked at Ruby. She felt their gazes rest upon her, and she stood. She grabbed Crescent Rose and strapped it to her back before heading towards the door. Students walked back and forth through the hallways, oblivious to what had happened the previous week in Forever Fall. Ruby wondered if it would ever have an impact on the lives of any of the students that were walking around her. She wondered if anyone would ever be bothered if Pyrrha never woke up. Those were the thoughts that had threatened to consume Ruby once before though, so she pushed them to the side and forced herself to smile. Nora had woken up, and at the least they had that small victory.

They arrived at the medical bay. It was relatively empty today, and given that it was a weekend, Ruby was not surprised. On days where the students had classes, the medical wing was abuzz with injuries from sparring matches or a variety of accidents. Now though, no one but a few nurses walked the shiny white halls.

"Hi!" Ruby called to the young man sitting at the front desk. He was probably the same age as the rest of Ruby's teammates. "We're here to see Nora Valkyrie." She said as cheerily as she could despite her melancholic disposition.

"Mm, one moment." He said politely, scrolling down a monitor in front of him. "Alright, room 212. Just go down that hall there and up the stairs. It'll be the sixth door on the right."

Ruby nodded, and her team moved off. They walked silently up a set of stairs until they came to the second floor. They walked past a bunch of empty rooms with their doors swinging open on their hinges. Only one other door was closed, and when Ruby got to room 212 she twisted the door knob to open it. Ren was sitting on a small stool next to Nora, but Jaune was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Nora," Ruby said as team RWBY entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Great!" Nora exclaimed, and Ruby smiled. It was good to see that the other girl's optimism was undiminished. "Ren made me pancakes! Isn't he the greatest?"

"And you didn't make any for us?" Yang inquired, her voice dropping into a low and dangerous tone as she crossed her arms crossed over her chest.

"When you get speared by a Deathstalker, I'll make you pancakes Yang." Ren said, and his voice did not change at all in response to Yang's threatening stance.

"Fair enough!" The blonde cheered as she sauntered up to the side of Nora's bed.

"Where's your fearless leader?" Ruby asked Ren as Yang and Nora began bantering.

"Pyrrha's in the room kiddy corner to us." Ren answered. "You should talk to him." Magenta eyes met her own silver ones, and Ruby nodded. Ren had to stay here with Nora, she understood that, and Ruby was probably the closest with Jaune beside him.

"I'll be back in a bit." She stated, then turned back out the still open door.

She closed the door behind her, and not a single sound rang through the hallways. She was acutely aware of the silence as she walked across the floor to the room that Ren had pointed out. The door was closed, so Ruby rapped a knuckle against it lightly before twisting the door handle to open it. She opened it partway, stepped inside, and closed the door behind her.

Jaune was sleeping with his head buried in the crook of his arm laying on the bed beside Pyrrha. Their hands were joined together, though they were both asleep. Ruby's stomach twisted as she thought of the impact that Pyrrha's situation must have had on Jaune. She was not quite sure what she would do if Weiss were in a similar situation, and even then, it was hardly comparable. She and Weiss were partners, as close as two people can be, but Pyrrha and Jaune had an entirely different relationship. On top of being partners, they also certainly had another dynamic in the way they treated one another. They had something that Ruby had never really felt before, that she had never allowed herself to feel since the day that her mother had gone away and never returned. If it were Weiss laying there instead of Pyrrha, Ruby would be devastated, but she would survive. Jaune, however, cared for his friends and his partner openly, without guard, and that kind of loss would shatter him. It would take a very long time to pick up the pieces if Pyrrha did not wake up.

Ruby walked silently up to where Jaune was sitting on his stool, and shook his shoulder gently. His ocean blue eyes opened slowly, and Ruby felt sympathy shoot through her when she saw the dark black bags under his eyes. She had no doubt that he had gotten less than a few hours of sleep since their return the previous day. Nonetheless, he sat up, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and smiled tightly at Ruby.

"Hey Ruby," He said, his voice cheery. Despite the upbeat tone though, Ruby could hear tension behind his words. "What are you doing here."

"Checking in on you." She replied as cheerily as she could.

"Last time I checked I wasn't a patient."

"With the way you look, you really could be." Jaune sighed and turned away from her, looking back at the scarlet haired girl. Pyrrha did not look bad, Ruby thought, considering that she had probably been poisoned. In fact, she looked better than Jaune did.

"Her aura's not responding at all." He said, and his voice was tired and serious. "When we became partners back in first year, she unlocked my aura. Did she ever tell you that?"

"Nope,"

"She did. I thought that maybe I could do something with my aura to help her, but its like there's nothing there."

"She's going to wake up Jaune." Ruby said with certainty. "Pyrrha's always been one of the strongest of us. No matter what happens, she keeps her head up. She's not going to let us down now."

"Yeah, you're right." He answered, nodding in agreement. Ruby could tell he was trying to convince himself, and she could not blame him. She was doing the same.

"I'm going to go say hi to Nora, okay? If you need anything at all Jaune, just send me a message." Ruby said, hoping that he would. Until Pyrrha woke up, she did not want Jaune to feel like he was alone.

If she wakes up. The little voice in the back of her head said without welcome. Ruby shook herself mentally, dispelling the thought. Pyrrha would wake up. She had to.

/

Yang looked out over the railing she was leaning on, taking a deep breath of the cold, fresh air. The moon cast long shadows over the smoothly paved concrete of the roof as the air tried to pull the warmth from her skin, but Yang's semblance burned the chill away. She had never been cold in her life, and this night was no exception.

It was a pleasant enough evening. Despite the clear sky and bright stars though, Yang was not happy in the least. She crumpled the piece of paper in her hand and clamped her fist, squeezing her eyes shut. She knew what she needed to do, but that was not a door she wanted to open. Not now.

"Aren't you a little chilly?" Yang heard Blake speak from behind her, and turned to find her partner standing with her hands rubbing her bare arms. She shoved the paper into her jacket.

"No," Yang said a bit quietly. Around everyone else, even Ruby, she worked to keep an optimistic facade, but with Blake, she could let it drop. They were partners. Yang knew she would help Blake with anything, and she knew that Blake would do the same for her.

"Yeah, I know." Blake said matter-of-factly. She walked up to the railing and leaned on it, crossing her arms over her chest. Yang studied her partner for a second. She admired the way Blake's hair shone as the moon hit it, the way her warm amber eyes locked with Yang's own like she could look right through her, and the smooth skin of Blake's delicate features. Yang blinked, forcing the thoughts from her head. They weren't fair, and it was the one thing that Blake could not help her with.

"What brings you to this warm and cheery place?" Yang asked, but the teasing tinge of her voice was missing. She was just speaking out of habit.

"You do." Blake said, her voice soft but warm. She laid a hand on Yang's arm comfortingly, and Yang shivered despite being impervious to the cold. "Look, I know something's wrong. I know you well enough to tell when you're troubled."

Yang met her partner's amber eyes. She was not wrong. Despite keeping up her chipper demeanor, Yang was not happy. Thoughts of Ren and Jaune sitting by the sides of their partners had been running through her head since the previous day, and they were the reason she was outside at this unholy hour. Seriously, she should have been sound asleep in her bed right now.

"It's just what happened." Yang confided. "I'm worried about Jaune most of all. Nora's getting better and Ren will help her, but Pyrrha? We have no idea if she's going to get better anytime soon, and I'm worried about how that's hurting Jaune." Blake squeezed her arm gently, and Yang could not help but look at that hand clasped around her forearm.

"You and I are no strangers to loss, Yang. We've survived it before, and there's nothing to say he won't. Besides, we don't know if he'll have to yet. I don't know, but the way that Cinder woman was talking, I don't think she wants Pyrrha to die. I don't know what her deal was, but she seemed fixated on Pyrrha for some reason, like she wanted her to suffer."

"Yeah I guess." Yang mumbled, but her mind was elsewhere.

"You're not just thinking about Pyrrha, are you?" Yang looked at Blake as she spoke. As per usual, she was completely right. The words spilling from her soft lips rang true, and Yang sighed as she looked back over the view that the rooftop offered. The stars were shining brightly, and the moon cast the courtyards and halls of Beacon in a pale light. It was a beautiful sight.

"It's my mother." Yang admitted finally. "I just wish I knew what happened to her."

"What brought this on?" Blake inquired, and Yang sighed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. She handed it to Blake, who began to read.

"On the train when we stopped Roman, I was losing to that little pink haired punk. She knocked me out, but before she could finish the job, someone stopped her. I had never met her before, but she wore a Grimm mask and a feathered cape on her hip. Before I could talk to her though, she made some sort of portal and left.

"When we got back to Beacon I got a message from someone named Raven. There was no picture or affiliation attached to the profile on my scroll though. The message said that the sender knew something about my mom, so I snuck out that night and met her. It was her eyes, Blake. They were red. She had the same eyes as me. She didn't say a whole lot, but she gave me that."

"Yang," Blake whispered, reading the note.

"I know," Yang whispered.

"You got this years ago though, why haven't you done anything?"

"I-" Her voice caught for a moment. "I don't know what's there Blake. I haven't been there since-"

"Since you brought Ruby there when you were a kid, right?" Blake said somberly, and Yang knew she understood. The location scrawled on the note represented where Yang had almost gotten her and her little sister killed because she was too stupid to realize what her search was doing. She had never gone back as a point, that she would never endanger those she loved to fulfill her search. "So then we don't go." Blake said calmly, handing the note back to Yang.

"We?"

"You don't think I'd let you go alone, do you?" Yang smiled at her partner's words.

"We need to though. Look, I don't know who Raven is, but she said if I ever wanted to find her again, I would have to look there. On the train, she used dust somehow to open a portal. I've never seen someone do that before. Whoever she is, she might know what Cinder did to Pyrrha. She might be able to help."

Blake's amber eyes met Yang's lilac ones, and they studied one another carefully. Then Blake hugged her tightly. Yang shut her eyes, and hugged her partner back tightly.

"Then we'll go tomorrow. I think we can handle a few Beowolves now." Blake said with a little smile, and Yang laughed a bit. Blake could lift her spirits no matter how bad things were. "For now though. let's get some sleep. C'mon."

/

Well there's the next chapter! This one was not in the original plan, I'll be honest this story might run away from me. I'm trying to stick to the plan, but the original plan had this chapter and both the previous and following chapters as one chapter. It would have been more fast paced, but I'm still trying to cram in as much characterization as I can before things go nuts! Btw, for all of you talking about the bumblebee pairing, as I said, things are going to get complicated for Yang and Blake... If you have any thoughts, ideas, comments or criticisms they are more than welcome and go ahead and drop a review! Till next time!

-Unjax