And through the darkness of ages, I shall rise from the deathly hallow of writers block, thus conquering the page by the unyielding force of my disturbed imagination!

Seriously though, sorry for taking that long in updating the story… struggled with good old pal' writer's block for a while, and then fought against school and exams. But anyway, this story is nowhere near finished, and even if it is taking an unplanned turn I still like it. Hope you'll like it too!

A few days later, and they were still walking in an ever-red forest. Boy, Forever Fall was a huge forest! But that didn't matter. Even if they saw exactly the same landscapes day after day, it felt like a whole new Remnant to Yang. She was free. Last time she saw a tree, she was chained and pulled toward the coldest lands she had seen yet... And she was nearly naked.

"Don't you think it's too peaceful?" she jumped at the words, suddenly drawn out of her morbid thoughts by the raven-haired girl that made her heart flutter.

"Peaceful is fine for me." she answered, trying her best to hide the fact that her heart decided to do a marathon without asking her.

"Yeah but... Forever Fall is a Grimm-infested forest, one of the most dangerous place of all Remnant. We didn't cross any in two days now. It doesn't feel natural." she was truly worried. And in fact, yes, it was strange to hike so peacefully in such place. Well, strange if you didn't know that a certain professional Grimm hunter was with you, hiding as a crow and clearing the path.

"I'd say that we are lucky. We escaped the Schnee manor, without dying even, so a Grimm-lack won't bother me. I'd even say... wanna push our luck?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'd like to talk to you, but Ice Queen and my baby sister back there might interrupt it, so... wanna head out for a while?"

"Are you crazy? They could get hurt, heck, we could get hurt!"

"Come on, they can handle themselves! And you'll survive a ten-minute walk just to go aside from them..."

"I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea."

Nah, you're just pretty. Of course, she didn't say it out loud, preferring to give Blake her best reassuring smile. Blake who finally nodded, agreeing on accompanying her out of the path and into the wood. Why did she want to talk to her? No special reason. Truly thank her for freeing them all officially. Enjoying her company alone, and maybe finding the strength to ask her out officiously.

"Who am I kidding..." the lioness muttered. "won't find the strength for it."

"You said something?"

"Yeah, I hope we'll have the strength to join your village. I'm fine but Whitey back there seems truly exhausted... Never worked a day in her life, I'd bet."

"Don't underestimate her. At the age of six, she crossed half of Vale and the Emerald Forest on foot, just to flee her family"

"Well, I didn't expect that." she whistled appreciatively. "Anyway, I didn't ask you to follow me out here to bitch on Princess Grumpy."

"You really like those hmm?"

"What?"

"Those nicknames. You keep calling her everything but Weiss."

"Sorry, I'm used to giving any and everyone nicknames. Rubbles, Ice Queen, Qrowski..."

They walked a little more in a comfortable quiet, before reaching a clearing. Then Blake fastened her pace, before skidding to a stop in front of her, crossing her arms and making the cutest mocking pout ever.

"You haven't one for me?" she said, fake hurt resounding in her voice, while the wind rattled branches against one another.

No. Wait. The wind didn't have footsteps. Something wasn't right. Yang tensed immediately, feeling her tail froze in tracks.

"No no no, you won't avoid the question by faking a Grimm attack." the ravenous said playfully.

She silenced her with a quick movement of her hand. She wasn't joking or trying to avoid the question. Now that she had focused, she heard it distinctly. Several rapid footsteps were approaching them. Too fast to be human. Too heavy to be animal. She shivered when the ground shook ever so slightly. Ursa, big and approaching fast. Far enough to leave? Not if the other were here first. Cocking back Ember Celica, she turned to Blake with a dead serious face.

"Grimms, many. Maybe a few young beowolves, two to three alphas. An Ursa not far behind. Stay vigilant, they'll arrive faster than you think."

At the exact moment she ended her sentence, a four legged, black and white creature tore the bushes on its way to get them. Yang turned to face the thing, but Blake was faster, drawing Gambol Shroud and placing a bullet right in its monstrous belly. The Grimm was dead before it even reached the floor.

"Did you see that?" the Blondie asked, still watching the radioactive green slowly fading out of the Creep's spikes.

A nod was all she got from Blake before the nightmare exploded, quite literally. As sickening green spikes flew all around, they both jumped to the nearest cover they had found, which happened to be a fallen trunk. They were fast, but the spikes were even faster, and they had lost a few vitals seconds chatting on the reality of this weird Grimm. And that's what got Yang, as she leaped toward the cover... A spike got way too close. With any normal weapon, her Aura would have protected her, repelling it easily. But whatever this green thingy was, it was silencing Aura.

The pain struck her side as if millions of burning needle were penetrating her skin. She groaned while jerking her head against the oh so precious wooden protection to support the pain.

"It will be... harder than I thought..." she panted, grimacing when she saw unnatural color starting to course through her veins. "I don't know... what they eat here... but it doesn't care about Aura."

"Are you..."

"Don't worry about me. Don't get hurt, that's all" she cut through, not wanting any unnecessary time to be spent on her wound. "Time for them to get rocked!" she then stood up, ready to put up a hell of a fight.

A dozen creeps turned their head toward her in unison, and a split second passed before the idea of attack finally lurked in their devious minds. Of course, Yang was already punching one of them in the guts when it happened. Sending him flying away, she had just enough time to see it sliced in half before having to block the second one's attack. Then she started her dance.

Right hook, left hook, uppercut. Slam a boot on the ground to get them out of the dirt. Keep an eye out for flying spikes. Crush a skull, sent the rest flying as far as you can. Kill them, never stop, don't worry about the rogue creep over there, Blake has got it.

Using her natural strength and instincts, and helped as she was, the Grimm were no match to Ember Celica's fury and Gambol Shroud's death wish, and soon the silence fell on the clearing once again; but not for long.

Yang's painful gasp cursing the poison was nothing compared to the terrific roar of an Ursa Major. And worse, its claws and mouth were dripping with the strange substance as if it's entire body was saturated by it.

"Uh... Blake? I'll need a bit of help for this one!"

"What are you even doing, still standing and fighting? You've been poisoned Yang! You should sit and rest!"

Two creeps flew over their head, shoved away by the Ursa's infuriated swing and signaling the end of the discussion.

"No time to discuss! Just help me kill this thing!"

Despite the seeming, Yang was truly wearing out bit by bit. Not to mention the constant pain in her side and the partial paralysis in her right arm and leg, where the green had started flowing. She allowed herself a quick glance to the wound, only to find out that her flesh was turning a sickening yellowy-green, while her veins were protuberant and darkening at eye sight. She cursed under her breath before shooting a bullet behind her as a head-start for her run toward the giant. She saw Blake melt in the shadows of the trees, a short while before the degenerated bear saw her. She couldn't use her usual fighting style, since any hit would go straight through her Aura, not even charging her semblance. As the monster's claws plunged toward her, she shot downward, propelling herself in a perfected circle over the dumbfounded Ursa. Using her momentum, she placed a violent kick to its head, earning a very satisfying and audible bone cracking nose. Of course, it was only its mask, but the black blood running in its eye will definitely help. The pain in her foot, in the opposite...

She landed behind its back, quickly rolling back to her feet and punching it a few times in the back before it turned, swinging its arm widely and missing her by a strand of hair. That's the moment her partner chose to strike from the shadows, slaughtering the spinal bones and neck of the creature, soon turning it into a blur of red petals and a toxic green goo puddle.

"That was a thing! Thanks for the help, Blakey." she winked, hardly restraining a wince.

"Sit. Now." Blake tone suffered no contradiction, and so Yang obeyed without a complaint while the remaining creeps fled to find an easier prey.

She would have done much more without even blinking. And she had to admit that her concern and seriousness were definitely cute. As Blake started to examine the wound, she surprised herself to shiver against her cold touch.

"Yang this is serious. You're burning with fever, and the poison is progressing fast. I don't even know what it is, or how to cure it!" as panic started to take over Blake's voice, she felt her alabaster hands shaking ever so slightly while trying to figure out the dimension of the wound.

But Yang didn't feel wrong or anything. Actually, it didn't even hurt anymore. If only the world could stop waltzing around, she could take Blake back to a proper place and sleep everything away. Black dots appeared in her vision, and she smiled while counting them, before realizing that she was losing consciousness. She heard Blake promising to heal her, and then everything went black.

White. Everything surrounding her was white. A deep, sharp, eye-piercing white, so aggressive after the soothing black of unconsciousness... She tried to speak, but her dry lips crackled and bled slightly, while her sore throat and heavy tongue prevented any intelligible word to form.

"So, our patient is awake? Don't try to speak, let me just help you" a stranger voice, which she attributed to the vaguely human and very blurry form approaching her.

A strong, cold and callous hand passed under her neck while a glass of water was approached of her lips. The first drop of water on her wounded lips made her wince, but once that passed, she only craved for water, downing glass after glass while her savior patiently helped her. Once she finally drank all of her might, she managed to articulate a very weak 'thank you'. Through her blinded vision, she almost saw him smile.

"It's natural, I take care of my patients. Now you should keep your strength, you aren't completely healed yet."

Ah yes! The wound! How did she survive that? Last time she checked she was in a really bad state.

"Before you try to ask, you've been asleep for two days. That's very few, for such poisoning. I've analyzed your blood twice, when you arrived and about an hour ago." His shape started pacing around, starting a headache in Yang's still comatose brain. "Congratulation on eliminating 86,37% of the poison by yourself and managing a fight with your Aura down."

"You... know about the fight?"

"This poison didn't just happen to be in your blood. And you are covered with bruises and scratches, so I made a blind guess. Do you know how you got poisoned?"

"There was this weird... green thing on a creep's spine... spikes?"

"Never heard of that. Don't worry, you won't need a counter poison. You seem to have a very strong and resilient aura miss. It probably saved your life, and your arm."

"My... arm?"

"When you got here, your arm was paralyzed, hard as stone. I was worried I'd have to cut it off. But everything ends well, right? You've healed. Now rest."

With her vision slowly returning to normal, she finally saw the man that was leaving: grayish hair, white coat... A casual doctor. Her eyes trailed on the white walls for a while, before the quiet of the room bored her to sleep. Which was probably intended, she thought about a second before closing her eyes.

Opening her eyes again, she blinked a few times. This time, she was seeing much more clearly. The room was white, that at least she knew from the last time. Now she noted the lack of windows and the aeration, quickly concluding that they were in a basement. Thanks to her instincts, she knew that she wasn't too far down the earth, two to three levels max if she trusted the echo and faint dirt smell. That alone should have worried her. Who puts a hospital underground?

But her mind was sloppy. And she hadn't time to think, since the doctor came back, holding a glass of water and a food tray.

"So, how's the survivor today?" he said, placing the tray on a side table, so white that Yang hadn't noticed it before.

"Better. I'm starting to see further than my nose, which I guess is a good start." she answered with a weak smile, always up for a little bravado.

"And you speak too! You're always going past my expectations by healing way faster than you should."

"Thanks. I grew up in harsh environment, so I became strong."

"I figured. Between your aura, scars and tail, it isn't hard to know what you've been through."

"I don't know what you're talking about" she tensed immediately, suddenly realizing how fragile her position was.

"Relax lioness, I'm not gonna hurt you, nor return you to your former masters. Don't you know about Hippocrates's sermon?" his voice was calm, soothing. As he got no response, he pursued with a formal tone "Heal everyone, harm no one. I won't judge you nor will I call the Schnee family despite the prime on your head. Here, you're not a fugitive. You're a patient, and I'm a doctor."

"Thanks..." the adrenaline still in her blood, yang couldn't help but think it sounded false. Or maybe she was just paranoid?

"Here, I'll help you drink and eat okay?"

"Thanks, but I'd like to try by myself"

Not waiting for an answer – that would probably be negative anyway – she slowly rose her right hand from under the covers, after checking that the said hand was still under her control.

Her smile dropped at the exact same second as the cover. Underneath the white sheets, her arm was perfectly fine, functional, not even sick in color anymore. But it was tied to the medical bed with leather shackles. She pulled on the chain, not believing her eyes, and when she was forced to admit that she was truly tied up – and quite tight too – she turned her questions on the only one that could have had a rational explication. Only to find that his smile had dropped too.

"Bad kitty. You weren't supposed to see that you know? We could have spent a few more weeks healing you. Now I'll just have to drop the act."

The lioness' eyes widened. Something had lit up in the doctor's eyes. Something dangerous. Something mad.

"What... what do you mean?" her voice was shaking, as her mind still had trouble figuring if she was dreaming or not.

"My acting skills are quite grand, aren't they? You here, aren't a patient. You're an experiment. And I have to say, your organism is quite interesting. The way it eliminated all of my Dust Gio... marvelous. And no matter how much of it I inject in you, you seem to tolerate it. I had never seen such resistant subject."

"Your... Dust what? What are you talking about? What do you want of me?!" panic started to take over, as the reality of the situation sunk in.

The doctor took a few steps back, then made a pose as if presenting the room.

"THIS! This is the work of my life! I've been experimenting here for most of my life all alone... What a luck that you happened to roam around here! Now I have a brand-new subject to test on!" he laughed hysterically, before adding like it was confidential information, "The last one wasn't strong enough. It died way too soon, I couldn't even start maxing the doses..."

Eyes widening, Yang was at loss for words. She was still shocked at how fast her situation had dropped from hopeful patient in recovery to helpless captive test subject. But there was one question, one name roaming her mind again and again.

"B… Blake?"

"I suppose that is the name of your raven-haired friend? What a pity that she left before I could catch her..."

So, she made it out. That was a small light of calm in the storm she had just been thrown in. But she didn't care anymore, if she was the only one captive then let be it, at least no one else would suffer. Well there was still Ruby, and her father, and she was a bit sorry to leave them that soon after finally reuniting with her baby sister… But truly, that was her only regret.

Perks of being a slave for half her life she guessed. She had been told so many times that she was worthless, that her life was worthless, that she ended up believing it to her very core.

"And then I… hey, are you even listening?" The gray-haired madmen suddenly yelled, barely snapping her out of her self-depreciating thoughts.

"Nope." she said blatantly, her usual defiance coming back as soon as she lost all kind of respect for the man.

"Well, too bad for you. You missed the story of the soon-to-be famous Docteur Merlot!" While he said his own name, he had a strange accent as if he wasn't saying it in English.

"As if I'd care. If you were expecting cooperation on my side, you bet on the wrong lion." she chuckled, regretting it immediately as it echoed through her mind and awakened a dull pain in her chest.

Without adding anything, Merlot shrug it and left, the food tray still untouched on the table, tantalizing Yang and her empty stomach. Trying her left hand, she noted that it was also tied to the bed with a hint of attended deception, but not letting herself drown in lament she turned and shifted until her tail was free from her own weight. Then, she started moving to the best of her abilities, desperately trying to get a hold of... well anything that would be edible.

Finally wrapping her tail around the loose apple that was standing there, she contained a triumph exclamation, instead quickly bringing the precious food close enough to hold it properly – and eat as much as she could before the so-called 'doctor' could come back.

And that's how she spent most of her days, defying Merlot, struggling to eat, trying to survive, enduring the pain that coursed her veins daily as her captor augmented the doses, further and further. Faking increasing weakness, all the while building up her strength.

Until one day, as she was barely recovering her sight from the high dose of poison she had just been injected, she saw something. Something that freaked her out and pissed her off at the same time. Something Merlot probably should never have left in her sight. It was a medical form, a quite classical one too. Dated today. With Blake's name, status and test results.

And that, somehow, royally pissed her off.

And here comes the man in white! Thanks for reading pals, I really appreciate that some of my nonsense can be liked by normal people. Do not hesitate to leave a review, criticize or anything!

Here are some reader's questions answered! (If said readers are still here, that'll be a true miracle…)

Wolfenheart: Actually, I never planned on making a racist Weiss… It's just that when your whole family asks you to act like a racist, you end up conforming… As for Ember's Celica's name, that's just me not checking my writing before sending it, absolutely not a voluntary change.

Also, thanks for the cheering, I'll do my best to keep up! Though I'm a bit worried that I'll venture in some writing that won't be everyone's taste…

TBH4: I don't know if you're still here after all that time but… Thanks for supporting me guy, it's heart-warming. Also, the story just kind of completely changed direction during my absence, but you can still expect Bumblebee and White Rose, as well as some other ships I am fond of (might find a little Chocolate Bunny in the next chapters…)

Anyway, thanks to all those who keep reading me. I know I've been away a long time but… I didn't do nothing at all! I've been writing bits and pieces, and as to make up for my absence, I'm planning on posting longer chapters from now on. Have a great day, and maybe I'll see you around another fanfiction!