Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-authored with ToxicExotic

Breathe No More (Part 1)

"Wakey wakey, Blakey."

"Mmm," Blake groaned at the sound of her partner's voice. "Go away."

"Aww, come on." The bed dipped and she felt a finger begin to repeatedly press her back. "Ruby cooked you breakfast."

"Ruby doesn't cook." Blake replied and gave her partner a small kick in the back. "And stop poking me."

"Fine. She helped me cook." Yang answered, though the poking didn't stop. "And it's getting cold. I think you have about thirty seconds until it's no longer edible. Twenty-nine."

"Yang…"

Another poke. "Twenty-eight."

"Will you…"

More fingers joined in and began to claw at her side. The soft tickle sent a jolt through her that caused her body to react and try to get away. "Twenty-seven."

"Stop it." Blake laughed, unable to keep it in any longer. But her partner didn't stop, instead she continued, until finally she let out a gasp. "O-Okay. Okay. I'm getting… up."

"Good girl," The grin on her partner's face was infectious, and Blake couldn't help but grin back. She did however push the brute away as she tried to kiss her cheek, only to receive a stuck out tongue. "You're getting more fun in the mornings."

"I'm always fun," Blake replied and sat up with a yawn. "You seemed happier today though."

That was a given since she hadn't seen her partner at all yesterday, or even for part of the day before. The blonde had been locked up in her room with Coco and Velvet so that they could talk about their issues, and it seemed like they had at least made some progress. Though from the way Yang's face fell at the mention of it, there was still a way to go.

"We're… dealing. There's still a lot to talk about, but it's a start, I guess."

"They're probably calling you stupid a lot."

"Heh," Yang scratched them back and gave a nervous grin. "Pretty much."

"You know they're right, don't you?"

Yang let out a deep sigh and let her hand fall. After a moment of thought, she returned to the bed and sat down again, though she kept her hands to herself. "I know. Just… being back here is tough, I guess. Brings back a lot of memories of Mom, and Raven. Didn't realise how much Beacon allowed me to escape from them."

"Just allowed you to punch stuff to your heart's content." Blake replied and placed a hand on Yang shoulder to feel the slight shake of the blonde silent chuckling. "But honestly Yang. If you ever need to talk."

"Thanks." Yang replied with a nod. "You know that goes both ways, right?"

Blake replied with a nod of her own. She thought back to yesterday when she had told Ruby the truth about her father. And though she was still unsure as to when she would call him, it really had felt good to talk about some of that stuff.

"If you promise to come to me, I'll promise the same."

Yang's lilac eyes gazed into hers for a few seconds, but she quickly gave another nod. Satisfied with that, Blake pushed her shoulder to indicate for her to get off the bed. The blonde complied quickly, but in typical Yang fashion, seized the quilt and took it with her as she left the room.

"No going back to sleep."

With another groan to herself at the sudden cold that assaulted her bare legs, Blake pushed herself out of bed. Though she was glad her best friend was feeling better, she also couldn't but be a little sad that Ruby hadn't woken her like she had the day before. But then again, it was hard to compare poking and tickling to kisses and smiles from a loving girlfriend. It was that thought that finally erased the last of her desire to return to her slumber. While dreaming of Ruby was always a pleasant thing, seeing the girl in the flesh was much better, so she quickly got dressed and made her way after the blonde.

As she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, Blake caught the smell of eggs. With a happy sigh, as she really did like Yang's eggs, she stepped into the kitchen to be greeted with the full house. Even more full than usual since Fox was sitting on the counter next to Ruby. The reaper was happily chuckling, so the two were likely deep in conversation using the boy's telepathy, but when the silver eyes caught her, the smile widened and she burst into petals. SHe reformed a second later in front of her and gazed up happily.

"Morning." She said in an eager voice. "I made breakfast."

"She tried." Said a voice in her head and she looked to see Fox wink at her.

"Yang told me," Blake replied and leaned down to kiss her. "Didn't tell me what you cooked though?"

"Ahh… uhhh, one minute." She moved back over to the microwave and pressed a few buttons to turn it on. As the inside lit up, Blake saw an omelette inside.

"You could heat it up quicker by pulling your sister's hair and putting the plate on her head."

"Hey, Fox." Yang called in a sweet voice and held up her middle finger. "Love you, Buddy."

To nobody's surprise, Fox bit a hole in the middle of his slice of toast and threw it so that the bread landed perfectly on Yang's finger. The boy may be blind, but Blake knew his senses were better than anyone else's in the room. In response, Yang pulled it off and took a bite from the corner before she threw it back at him.

"Please can we not have another food fight." Weiss sighed from the table where Coco and Velvet were sitting. "It cost a lot to have my uniform dry-cleaned last time, and I would rather not have this outfit dirtied."

"Yeah, what she said," Coco agreed.

Blake and Velvet both murmured their agreement too, and the former made her way over to the microwave where Ruby had pulled a plate from it. The smell of fish greeted her immediately, and she felt her mouth water at the smell. She no longer cared if the food was good, since she knew she would finish it regardless. When she took the plate, Ruby reached into the drawers and handed her a fork as well.

"Thank you," Blake said and took a small bite of the omelette. The flavour had been dampened a little by having been reheated, but it still tasted pretty good; so she gave her girlfriend a small hum of pleasure that put a smile on the girl's face. "So what's everyone doing today?"

"Me, Coco, and Fox are going to pick up Yatsu from the docks." Velvet replied in a soft voice as she turned to Tai, who was sitting on the far counter with his coffee. "I really hope the extra people are not an imposition."

"Please," Tai said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It gets lonely around here with the girls gone. The extra noise has been great. I need to pick up some stuff from town anyway, so I can come down with you."

"Ooo! Can you get me more cookies?"

"Maybe. Bakery should have some oatmeal ones."

Blake let out a chuckle as Ruby gave a playful dry heave, and sat down at the table next to Weiss, who turned her nose up at the microwaved food. She ignored her though, since fish was fish, and happily enjoyed the meal that her girlfriend had helped prepare.

"What about you?" Blake asked her teammate as the other went back to their conversations.

In truth, Weiss' words about being a sixth wheel had hit her a little. Though she knew Ruby wasn't going to be abandoning the heiress any time soon, she also knew their relationship was pulling the girl's best friend away from her more than usual. No matter how Weiss acted, Blake was aware of just how much Weiss valued that friendship, so there was a little guilt there about that too.

"Training with Yang." The snow-haired girl said. "I want to practise my time dilation a little more. I've been a little too focused on summoning that I've been neglecting my other skills."

"Well summoning is useful."

"It's also a crutch that takes time to do and will not always help me."

"That's true, I guess."

Weiss really was awe-inspiring with her training. When Blake had first been placed on the same team as the girl, she'd been a little annoyed by her own belief that the heiress had likely not even earned her place, and simply bought her way into the school. However, she had been quickly corrected by just how much time she saw the girl spend in the training rooms.

She quite often spent hours longer than anyone else due to her multitude of abilities; from time dilation, to summoning, to simple ice glyphs and platforms, the girl repeatedly ran drills every single day to hone each one to perfection. And those hours spent training clearly paid off. She was top of the year, even above Pyrrha on a technical level, though the Mistralian often still won their sparring session, and Blake had yet to actually beat her in a fair fight. And that was all before she could summon for longer periods.

"Yang could use the touch ups anyway. She's favouring her right again."

"Maybe because I'm right handed." Yang scowled and put an arm around the heiress' shoulders.

"You should really fix that." The heiress said testily.

"She's right, Yang." Blake replied. "You've been a little more predictable lately."

"Yeah, yeah," Yang said with a shrug. "Been a little more focused on mixing in kicks and stuff."

"Then we shall work on both today." Weiss said firmly and pushed Yang's arm off of her.

As the blonde let out a small groan, Weiss stood from the table and pointed to the bowl of fruit on the side to produce a tiny white glyph that pushed an apple into the air to be caught by a black glyph. As it was held in the air, a sword appeared next to it and cut it into four parts, which each traveled to a member of the team on their own trail of glyphs. All of them took it and Weiss held an eyebrow up at the brawler.

"We need to be in control of every single part of ourselves. Body, and mind." Weiss put extra emphasis on the last word.

Yang clearly understood what Blake did from those words, and gave an appreciative nod. With that acknowledged, the Atlesian took a bite of her apple slice and left the room without another word. As unconventional as it was, Blake knew it was Weiss' way of showing she cared, and not any form of judgement on Yang's issues. Gods, all three of them knew Weiss had plenty of her own anyway.

"If this is what she's like after a week with her sister, I never want to meet Winter." Yang chuckled and sat down.

"Really?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow. "I remember that you were the one who called her hot when she was in that magazine Weiss bought."

"Hmm?" Coco hummed with a raised eyebrow.

"Winter."

"Oh. Nine out of ten, easy."

"Hey!"

"Relax, Beautiful." Coco grinned at the offended Faunus and gave her a quick kiss. "You and Yang are both tens. And that's the only number I go for."

"Mhm," Velvet scowled, though her lips were clearly resisting the urge to smile.

"So what're you doing today?" Blake heard Yang ask and quickly swallowed her food.

"Uhh…" Blake was genuinely unsure. There were only two days left until they returned to Beacon, to classes and endless training; so more than anything, she wanted to spend some more time with Ruby. "Not sure honestly."

"Well, you could always join me and Weiss."

"Or!" Ruby's butt landed on the table in front of them as the girl came crashing in, clearly having eavesdropped on the conversation, but Yang quickly pushed her off it. "We could go and see the Breathing Hills. I wanted to show you them before we left, but we all got caught up."

Blake had to suppress her own grin at that fact Ruby also wished to spend more time alone with her. "I'm pretty sure that will be a more fun day than being Weiss' pincushion."

"Wow, leaving your own partner alone with a girl who enjoys stabbing people in favour of my sister."

"She does not enjoy…" Ruby backtracked quickly on herself. "Okay, a little. But only when people annoy her!"

"So all the time?" Blake asked, and received a chuckle from her girlfriend. "Anyway, another date with you sounds perfect."

"Great." The reaper beamed and leaned down to kiss her. "I'm gonna go get ready. See you outside in ten?"

"Sure."

The luscious leader zoomed off towards her room with a final wave to Fox, and Blake returned to her food. She was almost finished, but picked up her pace anyway so that she could get dressed too. While she was eating, she caught her partner's eye to see a mischievous glint in the lilac orbs.

"You two are so adorable with your little dates."

"Shuddup," Blake said with her mouth full of the last of her food and stood up. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Mhm." Yang grinned and stole her chair straight away. "Don't have too much fun."

Blake stuck her middle finger up as she walked out of the room, though her face held a hidden smile. She didn't actually mind the teasing. The manipulation of events? Sure. But the teasing was fine. She actually quite liked it, as it mainly just served to remind her that she was happy. And what was the not to be happy about when she had another day alone with her girlfriend ahead of her.

The smell of wet moss and wood surrounded Blake as she walked hand-in-hand through the woods with Ruby. The air that pushed through her hair was cold, not as cold as the day before, but enough to make her wish she owned a beanie or something. She was sure she could buy one, but she hated how they pushed her ears down, and buying one made for Faunus would just be a big giveaway to everyone at school. She would rather Cardin not find out about her ears due to her being unable to resist a little cold.

It's not like she really cared about the cold anyway, not when Ruby skipped along happily at her side and pointed to a large hill in the distance. Though she couldn't tell since how far they were away, Ruby was assuring her that the hill did in fact breathe. It was an odd claim, but Blake had seen weirder things, like the floating islands of Lake Matsu in Mistral; though she hoped the hills weren't hiding swarms of lancers like those islands did.

"So what exactly makes them breathe?" Blake asked curiously as she pushed aside a branch.

"Magic!" Ruby said and stuck out her tongue. Blake raised an eyebrow and the girl's smirk turned to a chuckle. "Nahh. There are caves running through it, and the biggest one that connects from the ocean has a lot of fire dust inside. When water comes in, it evaporates and makes the grass and stuff covering the other holes bulge when the air leaves. It's super cool to watch."

"Hmm, sounds like a great date spot." Blake teased and shot her girlfriend a smirk.

"Yup…" Blake went to draw her weapon as she sensed it, but Ruby was quicker. A single shot rang through the air, and the Beowolf that had been stalking them fell dead. "Nice shot. There are a lot more Grimm over here."

"Yeah, I noticed that too, but thanks," Ruby grinned and kissed her weapon before she put it back on her belt. "So, you excited to start school again?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"No… I thought you liked school?"

"I like learning. The people leave a lot to be desired."

"Hmm, that is a bad thing about combat schools, I guess. People are always competitive." Ruby hummed in agreement, though Blake had more issues than that with her fellow students. "You have no idea how many times people try and say their weapon is better than mine!"

"Considering we were late for class because you spent ten minutes fighting a third year because he said Crescent Rose was cumbersome, I'm well aware of how many arguments you get in about weapons."

"He was wielding a great mace/fusion cannon hybrid that was bigger than him!" Ruby said with a bit of excitement in her voice. "How is that not more cumbersome than my scythe?"

"You wouldn't think it from the way he wields it though." Blake replied, very aware of how strong the bear Faunus was, since the only time she'd ever fought him had resulted in her going to the infirmary to check for a concussion.

"I mean… it's a great weapon, but Crescent Rose is waaaay better."

Blake knew not to argue. Not only because it was a fruitless endeavor, but also because she agreed. While Garrick's mace was certainly deadly, Ruby's scythe was equally so and had the speed to match. Blake knew that if the girl just got over her worry of hurting people, a worry not many students at Beacon had, then she could jump from her ninth place spot in the ranking to at least the top five in no time. But she still liked that Ruby cared about life so much. Especially since it was very difficult to tell if people were just sparring or actually trying to kill each other sometimes.

"So I guess you're excited about school?"

"Uh huh." Ruby hopped ahead to turn back to her with a wide grin. "Beacon is my dream, remember?"

"I remember," Blake smiled and pulled the girl a little closer. "Little Miss Destined To Save The World."

"Pfft, nah." Ruby giggled and let herself be pulled in. As her body pressed against Ruby's, Blake reached her free hand up to gently caress the girl's cheek while the one that was previously holding her hand slipped to the reaper's waist. "You'll probably do more than me."

"I doubt that," Blake sighed while she enjoyed the way her girlfriend's eyes fluttered with every slight movement of her thumb. "I still have no idea what I'm going to do when I leave."

"Eh, I don't either," Ruby shrugged and Blake felt a pair of strong arms slip around her waist. "I know I want to keep people safe, but all killing Grimm will do is keep them safe for a day. I don't really know what I'm going to do beyond that."

"Hmm." Blake hummed with uncertainty. Ruby was right about that, but she already knew where the girl would probably end up in two years. "Maybe you can design some crazy powerful village defense system like the world has never seen. You are still aiming for the Weapons Development Program for our third year, right?"

"Mhm," Ruby smiled happily as a glint entered her silver eyes. "Maybe I can make something that fires scythes… that would be so cool." Blake shook her head at the childish vision, though she wouldn't be surprised if it actually came to exist one day. "You've not got any of your future courses planned yet?"

Blake shook her head.

"Beacon was mostly just an escape option for me." Blake admitted. "I'm happy I chose it, but I still have no idea what I want from it."

"Hmm," Ruby mimicked her earlier hum.

As she thought, her silver eyes shone and Blake couldn't resist placing a small kiss on the girl's lips. She also couldn't help but groan happily as the warmth of the girl's lips heated her own against the cold air. She still wasn't sure if the warming kisses in the middle of the forest were her favourite, or the morning ones that had become the norm; but she very much appreciated the forest ones more at that very moment.

"Mmm," Ruby hummed again as they broke apart, her eyes opening to show happiness in those shining orbs.

"Except for you." She said with a wicked grin, since she knew it would make the girl blush; which it did.

"W-Well…" Ruby coughed as her face turned bright red and a wide smile pulled at her lips. "I know there's a political history course with Doctor Oobleck," Ruby said and bit her lip. "Maybe you could take that and help people like your dad did?"

In truth, that did appeal to her. The idea of using her skills and knowledge to help other Faunus was still something she cared about very much, but she was also nervous. Her past had shown what her helping Faunus looked like, and though she knew she had been groomed with only the worst part of their present treatment, history held much worse things. She didn't quite trust herself to explore those paths again, still scared of awakening what she knew still laid within her.

"Maybe," Blake replied noncommittally as she heard a small rustling to her left. "Not a conversation for today though. Right now…" Her hand pulled away from Ruby's cheek and she quickly drew her sword. In a second, it was transformed into its gun form and the Creep that had barely emerged from the foliage turned to smoke from a single gunshot. "I just want to see that hill."

"Then stop making us stop." Ruby laughed.

"Ugh," Blake groaned and sheathed her sword so that her hand could slip around Ruby's waist too. "But I like you being close, and you're warm."

"We can go inside the hill and see the Blaze Lake when we get there."

"Does Patch have a name for everything?"

"Pretty much," Ruby chuckled. "It is very warm in there though."

"Mmm, I like warm." Her mischievous implications made Ruby turn red again as she clearly remembered what joke had occurred last time they were really warm.

"Then you should let me go so that we can get there and get warm." Ruby said and stuck out her tongue.

"Hmm."

Blake pulled the girl into another gentle kiss and captured her bottom lip between her own. Just like Ruby had days ago, she gently bit down on it and felt the girl take a sharp breath, clearly from pleasure since the hands on her back gripped her shirt tighter. After a second, she pulled away and released the lip. She also released her hand and held them up with a smirk to show she wasn't going to stop them again.

"Then lead the way to the warmth."

A small bead of sweat dripped down Blake's forehead as she backflipped away from the Centinel. Her cleaver tore through its body to sever it in two, and before it could turn to smoke, she kicked its head into another to throw it off balance. The moment it staggered, Ruby came from nowhere and put an end to it. The Centinel hive had attacked almost the moment they'd entered the cave, but thankfully it wasn't too big. It had only taken a minute or two, and she'd only taken a minor hit.

When the final one hit the ground and Ruby stood up with her scythe slung over her shoulders, Blake let out a small breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Ruby wasn't joking about the inside of the hill being hot. The energy that emanated from the red veins in the wall made the passageway feel a little sticky with the heat, not that Blake was complaining when the alternative was the cold outside; but Ruby had assured her that the passage was pretty short, and that they would be at the much cooler cavern in no time.

"There really is a lot more Grimm than usual around here," Ruby said as she collapsed her scythe and reattached it to her belt. "Should probably report it when we head back to Beacon."

"Mhm." Blake hummed in agreement, as she too had been a little concerned by the Beowolf pack that had assaulted them on their way to the hill, as well as the Croakers that had tried to stop them entering the cave. "Nothing we can't handle for now though. So how far until this cave of yours?"

"Only a couple of minutes," Ruby said and moved over to the wall, where a small chunk of dust stuck out. A small chisel was pulled from her back pouch, and she gently pried the crystal free; then returned both to the pouch on her belt. "Little something for Weiss." She smiled.

When Ruby was done, they continued their way down the small tunnel and she felt Ruby's hand go back into hers. A soft smile pulled at the girl's lips, and Blake quickly found herself not caring about the Grimm. True to Ruby's word though, it only took a few more minutes to get to the cavern, and Blake quickly saw why she wanted to show it to her.

The cavern was actually quite big. The gray stone floor was punctuated by the occasional stalagmite, some of which were taller than her, but some that were broken at the base; along with an occasional vein of red dust. Stalactites hung from the ceiling as well, each one thicker than her entire body, and holes that lead to other tunnels were dotted between them. Fire dust also littered every surface, the large red boulders deeply embedded into the stone and glowing so that the area was bathed in red light. The most distinguishing feature though, was a small pool on the left side. Though in all fairness, it really wasn't that small since it could easily have fit ten people.

"This…" Ruby let go of her hand and stepped forward with her arms outstretched. ".. is Blaze Lake."

"It's pretty." Blake said, and her voice reverberated around the cavern. Before Blake could stop her, Ruby slipped her boots off and ran forward and jumped into the small body of water. "What are you doing?" Blake laughed as the water rose to the girl's knees.

"Our clothes will dry off in a couple of minutes here," Ruby smiled and kicked some water out of the pool, only for it to evaporate as it touched the floor. "Come on."

Ruby's hand was held out, but it only took a couple of seconds for Blake to make her decision. Even if she didn't dry in seconds, she really didn't care about being wet. So with a flirty smile, she ditched her shoes too and took her girlfriend's hand and stepped into the warm water. She glanced to her left and saw a lighter spot under the water that she figured was a tunnel to the ocean.

"This is what makes the hill breathe." Ruby said like a proud tour guide. "When the tide comes, the basin overflows and the fire dust slowly evaporates it all. Shame it's not doing that today."

"Mmm, does suck I didn't get to see it," Blake admitted, as Ruby had also seemed disappointed when they had seen the hill wasn't breathing like the girl had said. "But this more than makes up for it."

"Good," Ruby chuckled mischievously and leaned down to flick some more water in her direction.

Blake quickly dodged it and sent some back in return. It felt stupid, like something she would have done years ago back on Menagerie, but it was undeniably fun. A couple minutes passed with them both flicking water at each other, and though their clothes quickly grew a little heavier, the water was warm enough that Blake didn't mind. Finally though, Blake dodged a particularly large splash and captured the younger, laughing girl in her arms.

As they both laughed, Blake looked down at the girl and allowed herself to revel in the stunning silver that shined with happiness. It was almost by instinct that her hand lifted and brushed Ruby's wet fringe behind her hair, but as she did, the laughter slowly faded and she felt her stomach flip. It still astounded her how much she liked that sight, how amazingly calm she always felt in those moments of looking into the girl's eyes. However, she was also aware of the other things, like how Ruby's hand had balled into a fist on the front of her shirt and was slowly pulling her in, the way her breathing felt a little laboured. Finally, as their lips pressed together, she closed her eyes and felt the earth move beneath her.

The kiss felt different than the others they had shared. There was desire there, but it was controlled. As Blake felt her body pulled into Ruby's, she slipped a hand behind the girl's waist and held them both firmly in that position; not that Ruby made any attempt to pull away. In fact, the girl pressed in closer and leaned up on her toes so that they were even height. As she did, she heard a small hum of pleasure from the girl and, knowing that Ruby was likely okay with it, she brushed her tongue over the reaper's lip and was immediately granted access.

The earth moved again as Ruby's came out to meet hers, and Blake quickly found that Ruby was better than the last time they'd gone that far. It was only natural of course, and Blake gladly enjoyed it. However, as her hand slipped into the girl's hair, the earth shook again, much more than last time, and a different feeling overcame her. Fear. Dread. Both of which quickly drowned out her desires. She knew that fear, remembered having felt it twice during her stay on the island, but never as strong as it was at that moment. And clearly Ruby felt it too, as the kiss was quickly broken and Ruby took a step back.

"B-Blake..." She muttered, her silver eye widened with fear as she stepped away from the entrance. "We need to go."

Blake didn't want to turn around, as she knew what awaited her, but she knew she had too. So as she let her girlfriend pull her backwards, she spun around and saw it stood in the entrance to the cave, which was also the only exit she could see.

The first thing she saw was its glowing red eye. It burned such a deep scarlet that it was even visible in the red light of the agitated dust, but the other was pure black and held a dark scar in the shape of a cross signifying that it was damaged. Each was set above a long, gray snout that held sharp teeth, each one so large that it's mouth seemed to be forcing open in a snarl, with two fangs the size of her forearm in front. Above the eyes were the antlers, a tangled mess of thorned bone that stuck out three and a half feet from its bone-plated head. A head that looked down on them since the beast was huge. Easily eighteen feet in height, and unlike the average Grimm, its body was covered in what looked like burned skin. But Blake knew it wasn't.

The burned looking skin was actually muscle, muscle that was stronger and far more resilient than average Grimm flesh. But that was only in areas that she could see. Sheets of white armor with red veins streaked through the fur on its back, over its ribs, and even covered its legs and curled into claws. She could also see three long tails hanging between its legs, each one tipped with a length of white bone that looked incredibly sharp from the grooves they left in the ground behind it.

She could feel its power. Feel its age. Every tiny hair on her body stood on end as she stepped out of the pool and felt the stone on her bare feet since. Power rolled off the thing as it watched them move, and she focused on Ruby's hand to suppress the shiver that was trying to run through her.

"What do we do?" She asked.

"Weapon out." Ruby hissed as she drew her scythe and extended it to its full form. Very purposely, she held it out so that it was visible and Blake did the same. "It sometimes doesn't attack huntsmen."

At her word, the beast's eyes fell to the weapons and Blake held her breath. It was clear the thing understood that if it attacked, they would fight back; but did it know they likely couldn't take it? How long had it been alive? Clearly quite some time, and likely longer than anyone else on Remnant.. It must have seen plenty of fighters, plenty of battles from the scars that were visible. Had it recognised that the people it fought were getting stronger with each generation? She hoped so.

Time seemed to slow as they slowly circled the cave and waited for its decision, her entire body tense and ready to spring into action at the slightest sign of danger. However, just after a particularly nasty snarl, the ancient creature began to walk away from the exit. Away from them.

"Slowly." Ruby whispered as the beast circled them.

Taking Ruby's advice, Blake kept her pace steady as they made their way towards the exit. Though its eye was still on them, It seemed it was going to let them pass and avoid the fight. It wasn't uncommon for older Grimm to do just that, as they seemed intelligent enough to not want to die. So just as they reached halfway, Blake let her breath go at the fact it was allowing them to leave. But she quickly wished she hadn't.

The Hellk stopped. The red eye burned brighter and it finally sensed it. Their fear. The breath of relief had given them away. And it was still much too close to the entrance for them to make a break for it. But that didn't stop Ruby, who had obviously noticed the change of mind too.

"Run!"

They barely covered half the remaining distance when a torrent of flames cut them off and forced them back. When the fire finally died down, the Hellk slowly stalked it's way back to cover the entrance and they retreated further back into the cave. Smoke folded from between its teeth, and its mind seemed to have settled for the fight. It was done with waiting, done with the stalking, and the black smoke that curled from its body showed it was finally going to do what it wanted.

Kill.

At that realisation though, Blake's fear faded slightly. It was no longer a bargain, no longer simply appeasing the creature so that it let them pass peacefully, it was a fight for survival; something she was used to. And to survive, she needed to be calm. So she gave Ruby's hand a firm squeeze, and then let it go to unsheathe her sword.

"We just need to get out." Ruby said firmly, a calm to her own voice too as her hand moved to the bolt of her sniper. "Get past it, and we'll be fine."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

Ruby took a moment to think. "Blind Split." Blake knew what the girl meant and gave her girlfriend a nod.

As the ancient Grimm lowered its head once again, Ruby spun in place to whip up a storm of petals. A ball of red burst from them, and since they were slightly off target, Blake collapsed her weapon and put a bullet into it. As the ball exploded to obscure the thing's vision, she pressed her fingers against Ruby's side and pushed away with her semblance. Just in time too, as the plume of fire tore through the petals and engulfed the clone they'd left behind.

She hated having split up in such a dangerous situation, but going on separate sides was their best chance at escaping. As they ran down opposite sides of the cavern towards the exit, Blake saw the Hellk turn to face Ruby and swipe at her with its antlers, and though she managed to dodge it, the angle of the attack meant she had to double back or be hit. At the same time, its tail lashed around at Blake, and though she too managed to dodge them, she didn't dodge the hind legs. As it bucked, one of the legs caught her shoulder and sent her spinning into the wall, and by the time she corrected herself, it had already turned towards her. Its clawed front hooves came down, but Blake dashed back into the cave and landed beside her teammate.

"Well, that didn't work." Ruby said nervously. "We might have to fight until we can get out."

"Can we even win against that?" Blake asked. The creature had yet to make another move, except to block the exit again.

"I hope so." Ruby breathed and retracted her scythe into its sniper form. "Just promise me something?"

"What?"

Ruby pulled back the bolt and gave her a firm look. "If you get a chance to escape, take it."

Blake was about to tell her that wouldn't happen, but Ruby didn't give her the opportunity. In a burst of petals, she dashed to the side and opened fire on the Hellk. She knew that wouldn't happen, that she wasn't leaving the cave without Ruby, but she also worried that she might not be leaving at all. But Ruby would, she would see to that. So while Ruby fired on the right side, Blake took off to the left and opened fire too.

The Hellk didn't care. It simply stood there and took it, not even bothering to move. That changed when they got in close though. They both arrived at the same time, and Blake slashed out with her blade, only for it to hit muscle. She was used to her cleaver shearing through Grimm, but that didn't happen that time. Instead, her sword came to an abrupt halt and one of the bladed tails rose and the connected tissue stretched to dart the thin point straight at her.

She heard Crescent Rose glide over her head and smash it away before Ruby smoothly transitioned it to strike the things jaw. Unfortunately, just like Gambol Shroud, the scythe did nothing but stop. Blake deflected a second tail that javalined towards them, but the Grimm swiped its thorned antlers downwards. She felt feet on her side, and barely had a chance to see Ruby push her out of the way in time as the beast headbutted the floor, leaving behind a small crack. But without missing a beat, its head raised and fired a jet of flame into Ruby's chest.

"Gah!"

"Ruby!" Blake shouted as the girl was flung backwards. As the antlers were swung in her direction, she used her semblance to dash away and back to the girl's side. "I'm not leaving without you."

"But I can distra…"

"NO!" Blake yelled and dodged as a small boulder flew at her, dragged up by the creature, and crashed into the lake. "Together! Or not at all!"

Though it was only for a split second, she met her girlfriend's eye and made sure she understood. There was a small amount of desperation in them, but she blinked and it was gone. Thankfully, the message had been received, and Ruby gave her a small smile.

"Alright." Ruby sighed. "Now then," She pulled her bolt again, and held the scythe behind her. "Let's get out of here."

The next ten minutes were spent trying to escape. They ducked and weaved, shot and sliced, but every time they had the tiniest opening, the Hellk quickly cut them off. Whether its tails slashed the air, or its flame breath cracked the stone and flooded their path, the beast seemed to understand everything they were doing. Every move they made. It had clearly survived for a reason, and it's intelligence was unlike anything Blake had seen a Grimm exhibit before. However, she couldn't shake the feeling it was playing with them. It rarely attacked, rarely ever went on the offensive. Instead it chose to just block their path. Toying with them, enjoying its hunt.

Thankfully they had only taken two more minor hits, but it had received nothing. No damage, no marks, it hadn't even flinched from their attacks. And Blake knew if it continued much longer, their aura would break and it would finally begin to attack in full. Knowing that was the case, they both rushed in and parried the tails that came to meet them. It was their final plan. They couldn't go under, or around, or through, so they had to go over.

Just as usual, its head smashed down, but they both rolled out of the way. Blake came out of it first, just in time to hold her sword up to make a platform that Ruby could leap off of. The girl went into the air and turned into a blur of petals, and Blake reached out. Just as they planned, her hand found the hook of Crescent Rose, and she felt herself taken up in the motion, before being thrown clear over the beast and towards the tunnel.

Happy at the success she turned to make sure Ruby was with her, and that was when her face fell. As the girl used her semblance to give herself more momentum, the Hellk rose its head and caught her with its antlers. It was not a graze, not a tiny hit, but a full force one. Though Ruby's aura protected her, she was thrown away from the entryway and into the ceiling, where her head smashed off of a stalactite and sent her spinning into a wall with a sickening thud.

Time slowed as Blake watched her girlfriend fall to the floor, even though she knew the girl would be straight back up. Or at least, she should have been. But she wasn't. She didn't move, didn't even a twitch, and Blake felt bile bite at her throat. Even aura didn't protect against every hit, and it was still possible to take so much damage that even aura couldn't save you. The Hellk finally seemed to be spurred to life though, and slowly made its way towards the lifeless girl's form, all thought of any other prey obviously gone from its mind. Then, it began to charge.

Blake didn't hesitate. She wasn't leaving without Ruby. So leaving behind her chance to escape without a single glance back, she darted away from the entrance and towards Ruby's body. She had to beat the Hellk there, so she used a few rapid burst shadows to sprint faster. She arrived just in time to snatch up the limp form and leave another shadow behind, and didn't stop until she was next to the lake again. She barely registered that the Hellk's charge had missed, slamming into the wall with enough force to shake the cave. Her only care was Ruby.

She looked down to see Ruby's eyes were closed, and immediately felt the urge to throw up again. Her head lolled to the side in her arms, and she felt tears already begin to drip down her cheeks. She knew she couldn't carry Ruby out of the cave and outrun the Grimm alone.

"R-Ruby… Please. P-Please wake up."

Her words went unanswered. The girl remained silent. And though she knew she had to run, she had to at least try to get her out of there, her legs refused to budge. Ruby couldn't be gone. Not yet. Not when things had just started to be good. Those thoughts flew through her mind, kept her where she was, even as the Hellk corrected itself and began towards them again. As it began a renewed charge, Blake let her eyes fall back to her girlfriend and let out a single sob.

"I-I'm S-Sor…"

"AAARGGHHHH!"

Raalm's Notes

Please don't kill me ;-;

Hehe, hello everyone :P I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We've been building to it for a long time but the Hellk is finally here :P I hope he is just as frightening as you all envisioned him. I also hope the fight scene was good, they are still a little tough for me to write, so let me know how it felt. Before I continue with the other notes though, just want to point out one thing regarding the Grimm. The Grimm Muscle is actually something I've taken from the Beringel. They all seem to have the burn-like scarring, and Ruby was unable to cut through their flesh when we have seen her shred other Grimm with ease. That is where that came from.

Anyway, most of the other stuff was just fluff :) With some serious talk sprinkled in. As you can probably tell, the issue between Yang/Coco/Velvet is definitely not finished, but they have talked about it. You will likely be able to spot it in some way for most of their future interaction. Same with Ruby and Blake, they are still figuring out what they want to be and do, so I hope you like me touching on that a little. I hope you liked the setting too. Blaze Lake was fun to envision :)

But that is it from me, I really, really hope you enjoyed this. Please let us know your thought :) And please don't kill us for that cliffhanger ;-;

The next chapter, Chapter 52 - Breathe No More (Part 2), will be up on the 28th.