Blake scratched a particularly annoying itch on her left arm. Damn it, this was annoying.

It was a small, constant feeling that nibbled at the back of her mind no matter how much she tried to ignore it. she didn't even know why so many things today were annoying her:

The sun was annoying her, the cool breeze was ignoring her, hel, even reading was annoying her right now because every time she turned the damn page she was reminded that her left hand was… was this!

It didn't even have the decency to look like Yang's, which was identical to her other in every way apart from colour.

Hers weren't. She had long black spindly fingers with pointed ends. Not to mention that dark miasma that leaked from it.

She scratched again.

Despite being outside, on a warm and bright day, relaxing in the shade under one of the many trees surrounding Yang and Ruby's house she wore a long-sleeved compression shirt.

It was sweltering but she refused to take it off.

If she did she'd have to look at her left side again.

She'd done it this morning, looked at herself in the mirror and just taken it all in:

Her hand, arm, shoulder, neck, torso and everything below that on her left side was… whatever this was. Grimm or something. Pitch black and monstrous.

She glared down at her legs.

Ruby had told her she wasn't allowed to wear anything but shorts today. For some unbeknownst reason her leader had decided to take her position seriously when it came to Blake's attire and made sure that the Faunus had at least one part of her body showing.

She now she was looking at her bare legs –shoes of course being out of the question as well Blake liked the feeling of soft grass under her feet – and was forcefully reminded of what she looked like every time she looked down.

It was even worse than her hand, if only because her toes ended in sharp white nails. As in, so sharp they chipped wood when she walked indoors. (Mr Xiao-Long had told her not to worry about it the first time she apologised for it. The man really was too forgiving.)

But the worst, the absolute worse thing she had to deal with was that damn dog! She could see the thing even now, barking loudly as it ran rings around a laughing Ruby.

Zwei.

The name of evil.

The bloody mutt was a scourge, taking every opportunity to ruin per peace and quiet!

And what was worse, even more insane was Weiss liked him.

Weiss!

There was something going on. There had to be for the corgi to bewitch the heiress like that.

Even now, she cooed over the dog as Ruby laughed.

It… it was just so wrong!

Weiss did not make kissy faces. She didn't puff out her cheeks and use an overtly childish voice when talking. Except that was exactly what she was doing and if Blake was honest it was horrifying.

She tried to block out the sound of Weiss asking 'Who's a good boy?' over and over again while giving Zwei a belly rub.

Everything was just… weird.

It wasn't bad, she had to remind herself, in fact this was probably the safest place she could have been apart from Beacon. There were no White Fang here, no racists and she had her whole team here with her, not to mention Yang and Ruby's father.

She even saw Qrow earlier today. Apparently he had just arrived.

He was In the house right now 'sorting' things out with Mr Xiao-Long. There wasn't any yelling, nor the sound of things being broken, so that was a good sign at least.

Balke was taken out of her thoughts as something wet touched her left palm. She recoiled as she looked down to see the dog had been licking her.

It stopped, looked up at her and tilted its head, tail wagging all the while.

What did it want?

It moved closer, nuzzling into her darkened side again.

It was a huntsman dog wasn't it? Could it sense the Grimm part of her? If so it should have been attacking her, not cuddling.

In nudged her again, and with a resigned sigh she let her hand fall atop its head, scratching at its ears.

"By no means does this make us friends." She mumbled. "I'd just rather have you not annoying me you mutt."

Still… Blake had to admit there was something nice about rubbing his-

Click.

Blake's eyes snapped up to see Weiss taking a picture on her scroll.

Of Blake.

Petting Zwei.

The heiress smirked. "Blackmail material."

"Weiss no!"

…

…

Yang was facing a dilemma.

A really, really big dilemma.

It was in regards to Blake.

As her girlfriend.

Yang liked Blake. She really did. She liked spending time around her, listening to her and even the mention that Blake was her girlfriend made her all tingly.

But there was a problem.

Yang didn't know what Blake liked.

Well… she knew she liked… reading. And she cared a lot about Faunus rights and the White Fang and she liked quiet but apart from that?

She didn't actually know much else about Blake.

Yang palmed her head.

And the worst part was; that they'd done this the wrong way around.

They were supposed to get to know each other before jumping into bed together.

Maybe that just wasn't something Blake understood if her ex was anything to go by. Hel, even Raven had known her dad for years before they did it.

They'd gotten married for god's sake.

Summer… hadn't technically married him, but they'd known each other for just as long before anything happened between them.

Yang had messed it all up, and now?

Now there was this… thing between them.

It was like Blake didn't know what to do, and Yang sure as hel didn't know how to change that. They were awkward around each other when it came to anything relationship wise.

It had been fine with everything that had been going on recently but now that things had calmed down it was really starting to show.

She'd managed to escape before things got worse at least, retreating to Summer's grave to think. It was… quiet here.

She could probably have just gone into the Odyssium again but, well, Ruby had told her not to. Her sister had drawn out a clear set of rules for the library, mainly not going into it every chance she got lest she get addicted to it. With so much to offer there was a real risk of becoming reclusive and since it meant her real body would be in the same place for the time she was there it wasn't entirely healthy.

Yang understood, at least a little, but she still made sure to visit every day, usually in the mornings when everyone else was still asleep. The stacks of books she'd gone through were taller than her now.

Yang was sure she'd done more voluntary reading in the last week than she had the rest of her life!

But again, Ruby had warned her about that, as well as a number of other things.

Speaking of…

The sound of soft wingbeats was heard behind her, but she acted as if she couldn't hear them. A moment later, footsteps.

Ruby had told her all about Qrow's little trick, and how he worked for Ozpin closely.

Ruby wanted to keep Yang's involvement with the headmaster to a minimum. She'd made the blonde promise to avoid it if she could. So she had to act like she knew nothing about magic in front of Qrow.

Funny considering he was so obvious about it. maybe because he thought she wouldn't even pay attention to a bird flying by that he thought he could be lax in how he did things.

He heard him stop just a few feet away.

"Uh… hey."

She shifted. "…Hey."

There was a pause, and Yang could tell he was looking at Summers grave for some kind of inspiration.

"Do you… mind if I sit here?"

She shrugged.

Qrow took that as a yes, and with a grunt he plopped down beside her, feet dangling off the edge of the cliff. "So," he tried. "How's the arm?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's how you're going to start? Aren't most people told not to broach the Goliath in the room?"

The man's eyes widened in sudden panic. "Well I uh- I mean-"

She rolled her eyes and cracked a smile for his benefit. It didn't suit Qrow's demeanour to act like that. "Don't worry, you don't have to act like you care about it. It's fine."

He frowned. "Act like I care?"

She blinked at his upset tone. "Well… yeah? I mean you don't right?"

"How did you get that impression?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "That's just what it felt like."

It did. Ruby had told her about what happened after she'd been dragged away by Grimm. Qrow had wanted to leave, wanted to get out of there. It would have meant leaving her behind. Yang knew it was just logic and the facts that had dictated his choices. It was a miracle, nearly impossible that she'd survived.

But it still hurt to know he'd said it.

Qrow looked away for a moment. He reached or his hipflask but hesitated and after a moment abandoned the idea. He sighed heavily.

"I've been a really shitty Uncle haven't I?"

When Yang didn't answer he sighed again.

"I'm sorry firecracker."

"What, we're going with nicknames now? What's with that one anyway? You called me something like that before."

He glanced at her. "You don't remember? It's what I used to call you when you were little. Before-" he cut himself off, realising the tripwire he'd just stepped through.

"Before you left with Ruby."

"…Yeah, before that."

Yang sighed, leaning back with her eyes closed. What was she supposed to do? Her heart told her not to forgive him, that he'd done something irreparable not only in abandoning her just like Raven had, but also in taking Ruby away…

Her head told her to stop being selfish. Ruby had been taken yes, but it was for her own safety. For hers as well. This whole situation had been out of their control – out of Qrow's control – from the start.

"It doesn't matter," she said at last, and a part of her felt a little guilty for trying to hold a grudge when Qrow suddenly looked hopeful. She had to remember, she was his family too. "Whatever happened, happened and there's nothing we can do about it… but, if you want to start over then we could."

"You got it." he nodded. "We can start from the beginning, me as you're cool, slightly drunk Uncle that helps you out whenever you need it."

She smirked. "Whenever I needed it huh?" that gave her an idea.

"Hey Uncle Qrow. How good are you with the ladies?"

He blinked. "I'd say I wasn't too bad. I'm more of a one-time relationship sorta guy though; my luck usually means I can't hold something like that for long."

"You think you're any good with impressing someone on a date?"

"Yeah, why?"

Yang grinned. "Well I could use some help."

…

…

Blake sat on the couch watching TV. She'd never actually been a big fan of it, but the reruns of old shows at least help distract her from… not boredom, but her own thoughts at least. Ther was something else though. Weis had just sat down, and was giving her an intense, searching look.

It was something important. Blake flicked her hand to the remote and muted the television.

The heiress hummed, then sighed.

Weiss leaned back, her ponytail falling over the side of the seat.

It was funny, Ruby had gone out the other day with her partner to shop around. It was a new experience for the heiress, that was looking around practically quaint little stores rather than the high-end ones she was used to.

Even more surprising was the light blue hoodie she'd purchased, along with a long grey skirt that somehow only Weiss could manage to look classy.

Though, Weiss seemed to like it a lot more than Blake would have expected. She'd worn the hoodie on and off for the whole week. She'd mentioned it been far more comfortable than what she usually had in her wardrobe.

Right now though, Weiss looked nearly like a different person altogether. In both her dress and her demeanour.

She seemed… not tired, maybe lazy, or, at least she looked like it, but the intensity in her icy look showed something else.

"Belladonna," she said at last, and for a second Blake thought she'd just referred to her before-

"That's the last name of the former White Fang high leader."

Oh.

Oh no.

"Your silence says you knew that though." Weiss sighed, a hand rising to her face as she closed her eyes. "I thought Belladonna was a common name, I didn't even think that you and I would be on the same team with that sort of background. I mean, what are the chances? The heiress of the SDC and the daughter of the White Fang high leader."

"Former high leader." Blake felt obligated to say.

Weiss gave her a searching look before nodding. "Former high leader," she allowed. "He stepped down over five years ago… he didn't organise attacks against my family. That matter went to Sienna Khan, which means you probably knew her didn't you"

The Faunus swallowed. She couldn't even look at Weiss properly. "I did."

Another sigh. "You'd wonder why the daughter of a man dedicated to peace decided to join it as it becomes a terrorist movement."

Blake flinched but Weiss wasn't finished. "Obviously I don't know your reasons… but you were a part of it all the same… and you left it all the same."

"Y-you're not angry?" the Faunus asked nervously.

Weiss scoffed. "Oh I'm angry, but more on the fact that it took me so long to figure out who you were; I did some digging, after all the attention you got from those members of the White Fang at Mountain Glenn-" they both shivered involuntarily at the mention. It would be something they wouldn't forget for a long time. "- I thought it would be a good idea to find out if there was anything on you from before your time in the White Fang."

The heiress let out a little laugh. "I didn't realise when you mentioned how long you'd been in it that you meant you were born into it. Your name is mentioned only once in the documentation of the White Fang, along with a picture of you when you were young at a Rally."

Blake's lips twitched at the memory. She knew what Weiss was referring to; it had been her second Rally. She'd gone to Mistral with her parents years ago. In fact, that was where she'd met Adam.

But now…

"It's definitely a big deal," Weiss went on. "In fact I think it's something you should get off your chest, now rather than later."

The hint was obvious, far too obvious for Weiss. She really wasn't in a good mood was she?

It was understandable though… out of all of them, Weiss was the only one that didn't seem to have some kind of major secret that could affect the team.

It looked like she was getting tired of them all.

But…

"I can't tell them."

"Why not?"

Blake bit her lip. "It's… it's not important."

Weiss didn't look impressed. "I'd say it's pretty damn important."

"It doesn't matter!" Blake hissed. "It has no relevance to us as huntresses, no relevance at all to fighting Grimm or the White Fang."

"Does it have any relevance to Yang?"

Blake shot her a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The heiress scowled at her. "I'm no expert with relationships Blake, but even I know that something that important isn't something you hide. It is important, and eventually Yang's going to find out anyway. Wouldn't it be better if it was from you?"

Blake was about to answer when the door suddenly opened and Yang walked in. she saw the spitting there a paused before looking as if to steel herself and grinning.

"Hey Blake, do you uh… do you wanna get out of here for a while?"

The Faunus blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The… the two of us," The brawler went on, her real arm coming up it scratch the back oh her head. "I know this place on Patch… do you want to go get dinner, together I mean?"

Blake felt herself freeze, unsure what to do.

Dinner? Was… was that something coupl- people in relationships did?

She glanced at Weiss almost unconsciously and saw the pointed stare she got in return.

"Alright," she nodded. "Sure. We're going now right?"

"Yeah!" Yang nodded back, suddenly looked relieved at Blake's acceptance. Her eyes widened a second later though as she glanced at Weiss. "I mean, unless you have something you're doing. I don't want to bother you."

"Oh just go." The Heiress huffed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure Ruby is plenty capable of keeping me company."

Right as she said that there was a crash from upstairs. Their team leader must have heard somehow, because she came barrelling down the stared and tackled a startled Weiss.

"Yes!"

"Gah! What are you doing you dunce?!"

Ruby's only response was to shout "Video game night!"

"Why are you so handsy all of a sudden?!"

…

…

Okay, breathe she just needed to relax and do what was natural.

Yang ran a hand through her carefully managed hair as she and Blake sat down at a table.

The Faunus looked around at the other patrons in mild interest, which gave Yang time to get her thoughts together.

Uncle Qrow had given her any advice he thought would help but for the most part it was stuff she already knew, he'd just help her get it in motion: first, find a place to talk, somewhere relaxing, somewhere they could both be comfortable. It was harder to get things going smoothly if the other person was on guard.

Yang hadn't been sure about that, but Qrow had assured her that people were always on guard unless there was some kind of exception.

Friends, family, lovers still had things they wanted to hide if the situation wasn't right, she knew that already from Ruby but Qrow had accentuated it.

"This is a… nice place." Blake said uncertainly. "It's some kind of bar right? Feels quiet for one."

Yang let out a laugh. "Close, depending on how you look at it but not quite there. This is a pub, it serves drinks sure but it's more a place to have some good food with someone in a quiet atmosphere."

Blake looked surprised Yang would choose a place like this, and she could understand why being more of a party girl, but she could appreciate a place like this from time to time too. "It's nice." Blake said after a moment. "I've never been to a place like this before… we don't have them at home."

"Where's that?" Yang asked.

It was a mistake she found out a second later when Blake's lips thinned. The blonde suppressed a wince. Must have been a sensitive topic. Maybe it was, this was Blake after all, an ex-terrorist. Maybe home didn't bring back happy memories.

In an effort to distract she waved to someone, a waiter, who took her request for drinks and food. The Faunus was thankful for the Yang dropping the subject and listed her own desire for a meal.

The waiter nodded a second later and left them to their own devices.

Right, that meant she had a chance to carry out the next step.

Second, she had to find out what Blake liked.

No relationship worked unless two people knew each other's interests, what they enjoyed or didn't, what they wanted to do and how they spent their time.

The question was how to approach that.

Yang kicked herself internally. She was Yang Xiao-Long! She was supposed to be confident, flirty, charismatic. Why was this so hard?

No, no point in thinking like that. If this was gonna happen she needed to stop thinking and start doing.

"So," she said as the waiter returned with their drinks and the promise of food. "How are you liking the vacation from being constantly shot at so far?"

Blake let out a soft laugh as she took a sip from her glass. "It's definitely a step up. It's nice being somewhere so… safe. It's a plus that the people here aren't like the ones in Vale. Even the most tolerant there tend to either stare at Faunus, or try not to bother them and end up ignoring them entirely."

Yang shrugged, leaning back in her seat. "Yeah I guess it can feel a lot different here. I don't remember if I told you or not but Patch is kind of like the retirement island for Huntsman. This place is full of huntsmen or children, not much in between."

"I suppose it is," Blake agreed. "It becomes difficult to tell which ones are retired though. None of them look that old."

Yang gave her a funny look. "Well duh, they have aura."

Blake looked confused. "What has that got to do with it?"

Was… she serious? She was. Wasn't it common knowledge or- no, it wasn't, not really. The effect of aura taught to huntsmen was combat related. The basics were taught at places like signal, and Blake had never attended anything like that. And since she was part of the White Fang, Yang doubted any of the members were over the age of fifty.

"Aura has more than just an effect on how you fight," Yang explained for Blake's benefit. "it heals you remember? Well that doesn't just mean for wounds and major damage you take, it's fir your cells too. People with aura are less likely to get sick or develop illnesses unless they're the really bad kind. It goes even further though, skin regeneration and improved bodily robustness."

Yang raised her hands as if she was lecturing, and in a way she was, repeating what had been taught to her at a young age at school. She'd never been much of a study before Beacon, but her dad was a teacher, so she never missed a topic, and always scored high. Her written grades at Beacon showed that, how else could she afford to sleep in class?

"Basically aura keeps the skin looking young. Like Ozpin-" Though now with what Yang knew about him, maybe there was something else to it. "- he taught my dad and his whole team. But he still looks really young. He's in his… what? Fifties? Sixties maybe?"

"But he looks far younger." Blake murmured, eyes wide as she took in the information. This really was all new to her. She was like an awestruck child learning how big the world was.

And she had no idea.

Yang nodded. "Right. It also means people with aura live longer. I mean, it's hard to test sometimes, since most are in dangerous jobs like ours, but the lifespan could be stretched a lot while looking far younger."

The blonde reached for her own drink. "That's also the reason why people sometimes get confused when people mention aura as a passive thing: if you want to protect yourself from harm you need to call on it, but even when you're not it's still technically working in the background. Like uh… a standby mode on a computer, which is why some people can call on it as if it were passive."

"That's… actually incredible." Blake smiled, looking at Yang with a new expression, something between a mix of shocked and impressed. "You know a lot about it don't you?"

Yang grinned. "Hey, I got the brains and the brawns, not to mention the bangin' body. Trust me kitten, I'm not as dumb as I look."

"…"

"…Wait."

Blake rolled her eyes but could help the smile that spread across her face. Their food came a second later, and gave Yang the opportunity to talk again.

"So what have you been doing this week?" she asked. "I mean, what is it you like doing when you have all this free time on your hands?"

"Reading," Blake answered simply. "There's a library in town, it has some good books."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd find your type of reading material here of all places."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The blonde laughed. "Oh you know, your books kinda seem a bit…raunchy."

The Faunus blushed at that, making Yang laugh louder. Blake shot her a mock glare and took a bit of her dish;

Salmon… fish, of course.

"I'll have you know it's artistic literature," she mumbled. "And besides, I don't just read that sort of stuff."

"Oh yeah? What else then?"

"Well… romance."

"Uh-huh."

"And adventure, and mystery and poetry."

Yang smirked. "Poetry?"

"Whenever I can yes. Something about it's just… wonderful to read."

"Isn't poetry supposed to be read aloud?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Yes well, if I could have found anyone to share my interest in poetry that might be possible." She shook her head. "What about you? Is there any genre you like or is reading not something you're interested in?"

Yang hummed. If Blake had asked that just a few weeks ago she might have said no. maybe even a few days ago… but after her time in the Odyssium, as short as it was so far, Yang didn't think she could say she didn't love that sort of thing with a straight face.

"I like… fairy tales," she said after a moment. "Or myths and legends. Really it doesn't matter what kind, it just depends on whether a story catches my attention."

The brawler gave a wink. "But hey, if you want I could always woo you with some poetry myself."

Again Blake looked away in embarrassment, and after a moment, Yang decided to let up. The two of them got back to their food, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere around them.

Or… Yang would have thought so, if it wasn't for the fact that every so often Blake was… twitch, or more like flinch and scratch at her left side and she'd frown for a moment before doing her best to hide it.

That didn't sit well with Yang. Blake thought she was Grimm, it was probably getting to her. She wanted nothing more than to tell her otherwise but…

Yang let her eyes flickered red, and take in Blake's form again.

It was… completely different. Her left side emanated a ghostly white light, ethereal almost, but not human.

Not alive.

Ruby had warned her, told her that she couldn't tell Blake the truth.

The brawler hadn't been happy about it, she'd almost just ignored her sister and done it anyway until Ruby broached the question.

If Blake was this bad at the thought that she was have Grimm, what would she do when she realised she was Undead?

That's what she was. Blake had died under that mountain, and brought back to life.

How long had she been dead before Merlots experiment – whatever it was – brought her back.

How would that affect her psyche?

Yang didn't know, neither did Ruby. So she'd agreed, reluctantly albeit to keep quiet for now, if only because the truth might break her.

Blake had enough to worry about as it was.

For now… Yang just wanted her to feel safe.

And here on Patch was the best place for that.

…

…

It was hours later before they got back, the sun setting. Though it wasn't that far to walk, both of them were a little tipsy by the time they saw the house. Yang had to rely on Blake as a support lest she fall over.

How was that even fair? Blake was still graceful even when drunk.

Eh, it didn't matter, for the most part Yang's plan had worked, Blake was far more relaxed now than she had been the whole week. Hopefully that would demeanour would stay around.

Yang's thoughts were cut off as she heard shouting from the house.

The two of them shared a look and opened the front door to the living room.

"Die dammit!"

What they saw was… strange.

Ruby sat on the couch with a box of popcorn in her hands, while Zwei lay down beside her sleeping through the noise.

That noise being Weiss, with a headset on, mashing her scroll frantically in front of the TV.

Yang blinked.

"What is going on here?"

Ruby turned to them and grinned. "Oh hey guys. You two look like you had fun. don't worry about this," she spared Weis another look as she growled angrily at the screen. "I introduced Weiss to competitive online games."

"Fuck you I shot him first!"

Ruby snickered. "Weiss takes everything seriously."

Yang laughed, then laughed harder when the Heiress devolved into a slew of curses. She fell onto the couch, as did Blake and laughed at Weiss' antics.

Ruby watched them all with a smile.

Team RWBY would spend the night together, simply as friends.

Suddenly Ruby's scroll suddenly buzzed.

She blinked, looking down at it.

She'd gotten a message from Cardin.

...

...

First I'd like to apologise both for the delay on the chapter, and it's shortness. I'll be honest, this one was hard to write. Romance isn't something I'm very good at writing, and I found it hard to get across the inexperience of all parties involved. Hopefully it doesn't come out as a slog to read, but the next one should hopefully make up for it a little, and then, onto the fun part.

Hopefully you do enjoy this chapter and if you did, be sure to follow, favourite and review.

On another note, comics, how do you feel on that sort of thing. For the last year and a half I've been practising my 'artistic abilites'. Obviously it's nothing to be amazed by, but if I was to adapt the chapter of this story into a comic what would you say to that?

just something to think about.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.

Bye!

P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre