Blake rolled over, almost mewling in protest at the severe discomfort in her neck. It felt crooked, and Blake knew it was going to be one of those aches that would last all day. She lithely twisted into a crouching position before standing, noticing she was in the same clothes she went to bed in.

She looked around the unfamiliar room she was in. Over the year, Blake had gotten used to the polarized room of team RWBY, where Weiss' and Blake's sections of the room were spotless and organized, and Yang and Ruby's corners were messy. The room she was in now seemed rather uniform, slightly messy but mostly neat throughout the whole room.

There were four beds, only three of which held bodies. Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were still sleeping soundly. Blake didn't want to think about the fourth bed. Pyrrha had offered for her to sleep in it, though hesitantly, but Blake had declined. Jaune hadn't even left Beacon yet, and it had seemed wrong to take his bed.

Blake stretched, then pulled her scroll out of her pocket to check the time. It was 6:30, about a half hour before she would usually wake up. Blake looked at her redheaded friend, and she felt horrible. Pyrrha was going through exactly what she had been through with Yang. Blake knew her friend's pain, but there was nothing she could do.

Blake looked towards the team's bathroom, considering taking a shower. Her hair wasn't disheveled or anything, Blake just wanted to feel the warm water coursing over her body. She could do with a hot shower. She walked into the small washroom and shut the door behind her. She shucked her clothes and stepped into the shower, turning it on to full heat. The water was scalding hot, but Blake welcomed the pain. The stinging sensation helped to keep the thoughts of her partner, the White Fang, and Jaune at bay.

Being alone, however, meant that she could only keep the thoughts away for so long. Before long, the pleasant shower turned sour as Blake's stomach started to turn. Thoughts of Yang in particular began worming their way into her head, and Blake couldn't stand it. She shut the water off, toweled off and donned her clothes once more. She checked her scroll, annoyed to see that only ten minutes had passed.

She exited the washroom and reentered JNPR's room. As she walked in, she saw Pyrrha sitting on the edge of Jaune's bed, her hand idly stroking a carving in the side. Blake strode over and sat beside her friend.

"Hello, Blake." Pyrrha said as she sat beside her. "How are you today?" Pyrrha's voice was sad and distracted.

"Are you alright?" Blake replied, ignoring the girl's question. Blake was not doing well, but Pyrrha had enough to worry about as it were. Pyrrha's head dropped at the question, and Blake heard an audible sigh. Pyrrha moved her hand from where it was tracing the design etched into Jaune's bed. Blake looked over and saw a javelin, Pyrrha's symbol, inscribed in the double crescent of Jaune's symbol.

Blake gasped. The implications of what Pyrrha had done tracing that in Jaune's bed were tremendous. To share symbols with another was to indicate a complete devotion to that person. Blake knew that Pyrrha was having a rough time, but she hadn't realized that the redhead had cared quite that much for Jaune.

"I just can't believe I might not see him again." Pyrrha said in her lilting voice. "I know what he did was wrong, but Jaune is a fine leader. With practice, he could make a great huntsman."

"I'm sure you'll see him again sometime, Pyrrha. He can come visit us in Vale whenever he feels."

"I'm afraid he won't be able to make that trip very often. His home is in a small village at the other end of the Kingdom. The fare to fly there is quite expensive, and the trip by foot is far too dangerous. Maybe I can see him in the summers, but Blake, I don't know how I'm going to go ten months of the year without seeing him. People can change so much in such little time, what if I don't know him anymore after that?"

Blake fell silent at her friend's words. If Jaune left, it would essentially mean the end of his and Pyrrha's relationship. Blake didn't say anything. There was a point where there was nothing that could be done to console grief. The only thing they could really do now was wait to see if, by some miracle, Ozpin would be lenient. Blake wasn't very hopeful, but she didn't voice her opinion. Pyrrha needed that hope for now.

Nora and Ren woke before long, and after everyone had washed, the four of them headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. Though Nora chatted nonstop, the three others didn't speak much. It wasn't until team RWBY showed up as well that some real conversation started. Yang sat at the opposite end of the table as Blake and talked with Nora about this and that. Weiss and Ruby were chatted idly with Ren about school, though Ruby seemed a little less energetic than usual. Blake assumed that that had to do with Jaune as well.

They all made their way to first class, Professor Port's lecture, and listened to the old huntsman ramble about the great feats he had achieved over the years. Though Blake knew the teacher was a skilled huntsman, she couldn't keep focused. Her eyes kept drifting to the streaks of golden hair that were constantly flickering in the edge of her vision. Blake watched the back of her partner's head, but Yang didn't once look back.

Eventually, the bell sounded for next period. Yang stood and looked back at Blake, and Blake's heart started pounding. Her partner lowered her eyes almost immediately though, walking away hurriedly. Blake's heart sunk again, and she stood to make her way to next class. It so happened that team RWBY had all the same classes together, and although Blake tried to position herself away from Yang, she couldn't help but look back at her partner constantly. When the lunch bell rang, Blake decided to take the rest of the day off. When she had entered Beacon, she had done her best to excel in school. She wanted to work as hard as she could so that, some day, she could pay off the debts that she owed the world. Now though, Blake couldn't stand to be in the same room as her partner, so she decided to skip out on the last few classes.

She made her way back to her dorm and walked inside. She changed her clothes first, putting a fresh pair of combat clothes in lieu of her school uniform. She then walked over to her book shelf and pulled out her notebook. She flipped through a few of the pages, looking over the sketches of her old life. It had been a lot simpler for her then. It was just missions and surviving, a dangerous life, but a structured one.

Blake sat on her bed, and a flash of color caught her eye. She turned towards her pillow, noticing two plant stems poking out from under her pillow. Tentatively, Blake lifted her pillow off her bed. Before her lay two flowers and a small card. There was a delicate rose with two thorns on the stem, leading into a tightly spiraled flower. It would have been beautiful had it not been slightly wilted. Next to it lay a stem of nightshade, the five flower bulb lovely, full and dark. Blake stomach churned in fear.

The wilted rose was Adam's symbol, the nightshade was her favorite flower. Something only Adam knew. Adam had been in her room, next to her bed, within the past few hours. Blake's mind reeled, but she reached forward and picked up the white card in front of her.

Tonight, same time, same place. You made a grave mistake Blake, it's time we settled it.

Adam.

Blake dropped the card and reached forward. She picked up the two flowers. The nightshade had a sweet scent that contrasted with the decaying smell of the rose. Together they were sickly sweet, and Blake felt nauseated. She threw the flowers away, turned and ran out of the room.

She bolted through the halls of Beacon before she rounded a corner and stopped dead. In front of her stood Ozpin. She locked eyes with him for a moment, her mind blanking in panic. Ozpin looked back at her calmly, raising his mug to his lips and taking a sip of coffee. He lowered the cup, and set his cane down in front of himself.

"Hello Blake,"

"Headmaster," She responded as calmly as she could. Her heart was still pounding in fear, and she wanted nothing more than to run as far away from there as she could.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I was under the impression that there were classes today."

"There are sir."

"You don't seem to be in class."

"I'm not."

"And there is the crux of the issue." Ozpin raised his mug to his lips once more, taking another sip. He was being frustratingly calm, and Blake couldn't think straight.

"I'm sorry sir, but I couldn't be in class anymore today."

"Miss Belladonna, Blake, you'll have to tell me something more if you want to stay out of class. You're a hard worker and a dedicated student. I know you wouldn't be missing class if you didn't have a reason. So, what's wrong?" Blake looked hard at the professor, but he wouldn't be intimidated.

"It's... Personal, sir. I'm sorry, but I can't be in school today."

Ozpin studied her, and Blake lowered her eyes. She had told the truth, it was just personal business, but it wasn't the whole truth. She was sure the professor knew that.

"Very well. I won't press the matter." Relief swept over Blake and she started to move away. "But Miss Belladonna, if you are having serious issues, perhaps you should tell your team about them. Perhaps they can help."

Blake almost scoffed at the statement. A member of her team was half her problem right now, and the other half was something no one could do anything about. No one but her.

She moved away from Ozpin. She would head to the forest and wait. She had about six hours until midnight, and in that time, she would do all she could to prepare herself for Adam's coming.

Yang walked into her dorm. She had been in classes all day and was fed up with working. The second the final bell had sounded in Goodwitch's class, Yang had been gone. She hadn't been sparring due to the absence of her own partner, so Yang had had an hour of nothing but thinking. Lately, Yang had not enjoyed thinking. Mostly, she thought about Blake.

Her partner and ex had been absent for the second half of the day, but only physically. Thoughts of the raven haired girl had been running through Yang's head all day. She wanted to forgive her partner and let things go back to normal, but Blake had still chosen her old partner over Yang. That decision had rocked Yang's trust in her partner so much that she didn't know if she could open back up to the other girl yet.

As she opened the door though, Yang was met with an odd sight. There were two flowers laying haphazardly on the floor, a rose and some five petalled plant that Yang hadn't seen before. Next to them was a note on a small piece of card no bigger than Yang's hand. She bent over and picked it up. Yang's heart jolted as she read the note.

From what Blake had told Yang, she had seriously pissed off the White Fang. If Adam had left her a personal message, that probably meant something serious. Blake was definitely in trouble. Yang threw the door open again and stormed out of the room. There were no thoughts of their recent break up. Yang didn't even consider her partner's betrayal. All she knew was she had to find Blake before Adam came to hurt her.

Okay, so this brings an end to the odd scheduling of the week. Another short chapter, I know, but this gets me back on track for the usual 1 chapter on sundays. This week was a bit hectic, and the three short releases rather than one larger release was the only way I could think of to get the full content of the week in. In other news, were heading towards the climax of Blake's story, and Jaune/Pyrrha's is coming up in another few chapters. This chapter was more of a set up, and next one should be a bit more exciting. Hope you've enjoyed the read so far, and as always, comments, criticism and suggestions are always welcome!

-Unjax