Rain leads to shelter, shelter leads to wandering minds.

Notes: Hello again! Good news and even better news. Finals are over (yay) and an now completely free. Even better news being I will now have so much free time to make these longer and update at a frequent pace. This one will be short to get things started. And if you haven't already maybe check out my OC fanfic? Those are actually a lot longer.

The First Step

It had started to rain, not hard, but enough to end up soaked. Blake continued to walk on the path through the woods until she reached her destination for today. Higanbana. Silently, she continued to walk forward. Blake loved the rain. There was always something calm about it, the sounds it makes against different surfaces making soft thumbing sounds, almost like a lullaby. The feline girl refused to give in to her instincts and stretch in this weather. No, she must keep her guard up. Mystral was a hot place for White Fang movements, if word got around that a traitor was around, it wouldn't bode well for her.

It wouldn't come as a surprise for the White Fang to find Blake in Mystral. Given Adam's… informant… they will be aware of the information that has been leaked. They'd be stupid to just continue as if nothing happened. No, their information leak will cause the faunus group to move ahead of schedule. It's unknown of when they plan to realize their plan of attack, but it'll be sooner now that their information has been compromised.

Blake kept on walking, high on alert. Her ears moving this way and that, flickering at any sudden noise that wasn't as melodic as the rain. She passed by a bar and what looked to be a popular inn. She opted against renting a room, she wanted to stay as far away from the public eye as possible. Alerting the wrong people of her presence will complicate things.

Instead, Blake walked further, towards the less habited part of the town. A few glances around and she found an empty abode. There was no knob on the wooden door, just a piece of wood wedged on the side crack to keep it from opening. The dark-haired girl pulled at the piece of lumber and the door swung open inwards. Taking a few steps in, she let her faunus eyes adjust to the dark enclosed room, surveying the place.

It looked to be some sort of woodshop. It was a small rectangular space, no bigger than her dorm back at Beacon. Tools were thrown haphazardly to the right side of the wall, towards the left was a small makeshift desk. There was no flooring, but the shop was built strategically on raised ground to keep it from flooding. Everything seemed to be slightly covered in dust, giving Blake the impression that no one has been around for a while. Stepping completely inside, Blake turned around and closed the wooden door, wedging the piece of lumber back in place. She them moved to lean against the opposite wall, gripping Gambol Shroud from her back and placed it beside her as she slid down the wall. Facing the door, she ran her hand thru her damp hair, waiting for the rain to stop.

Just like old times, she thought. This situation being reminiscent to her days after her departure from the White Fang. Those days were hard on her, all her life she had a group she could depend on, people she trusted and befriended. But all of that soon changed.

Was that even friendship to begin with? She thought back to before Adam became… whatever it is that he has become… even Ilia… looking back, none of it came close to the relationship she had with Team RWBY. The laughter, the dance, the food fight. Hell, had any of that transpired in the base camp of the White Fang, you'd be given dirty looks. The members would conclude that you aren't taking faunus rights seriously, and deem you unworthy of being a freedom fighter.

Blake smiled at the memories of the food fight, how Nora started it all, Ruby's dramatic opening speech, Wiess' swordfish skills, and Yang's turkey fists.

Closing her eyes, she willed herself to think about her for the first time since she left Menagerie. Her fiery attitude, her exaggeration with her hair, and that spark of excitement she gets in her lilac eyes when she's enjoying a fight.

"Why me?" Blake asked the brawler, confused at the prospect of being chosen for a sparring match.

"Well, why not?" The blonde asked back, cocking her head to the side. "C'mon, it'll be fun! We hardly ever hang out much, your always nose deep into a book," Blake shifted her eyes from the pages to her partner. "Yeah, like that." Rolling her eyes, the feline turned her attention back to the pages in from of her.

They were in their dorm, Blake was leaning against the headboard of her bed holding a novel. Yang was currently doing some sit ups in-between her bed and Weiss,' facing the window and peeking at Blake every time she sat up. She stopped counting after fifty, saying something along the lines of 'true strength has no limit.'

"Maybe we can try out a new move, although it probably won't be as epic as 'bumblebee,'" she chuckled as she dropped back down. "I don't know where Ruby gets the ideas for these team attack names," she added, rising back up again.

Blake said nothing, keeping her eyes on her book. But silently wondered if Ruby just blurts out the first thing that comes to her mind when thinking of two colors.

"We're opposites," Yang blurted out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my style of fighting is more 'act now think later,' you're more stealth and quiet. Plus, your very acrobatic, clashes with mine. I'd be a good workout." She rose back up and stopped doing sit-ups, placed her hands behind her and stretching her legs forward. Her face turned rigid. "I mean, see what happened with that Neo girl?"

Blake lowered her book and glanced over at her, noticing her change in attitude. She saw the blonde's hand clench to a fist and the hardened features on her once expressive face. She had taken it hard after that train fight a while back, training more and with doubled efforts. The faunus was at a loss of what to do or say.

Do people generally say something motivational during moments like this? Or maybe hugs? Hugs rise spirits, right? Blake thought, unsure of what to do. It was odd to see Yang with such a hard expression, she was the powerhouse of the group, cheering everyone on with a smile on her face.

"Well, then I guess we're going to have to practice a lot together if you plan on beating her next time," Blake winced slightly. She sounded way out of character, but if sparring with Yang got her to stop making those expressions, then she would do it.

After the talk Yang gave her before the dance, the duo grew a bit closer. Yang sharing her past with the feline not only brought them closer as partners, but it slapped some sense into her. When she has an objective in mind the dark-haired girl tends to lose her focus of everything else. There's more to Yang than meets the eye, and it made Blake feel… good… the fact that she had someone to lean on. More than one. She had… friends, this was different than in the White Fang.

Yang's face turned sharply to her right, her eyes widening in surprise and excitement.

"Really?" she exclaimed.

"Why are you so surprised, weren't you the one who asked me?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. But I never thought you'd agree to it." She responded, her face warming up. No longer a cold expression that could've rivaled Weiss.'

"There's always Nora, you know. I bet she'd be up for it," Blake suggested.

"We have, but we kinda clash. And are pretty similar, I want to go against something that's different and challenging. Besides, it's always good to practice what your good at but even better to practice on parts you lack."

"I see what you mean," Blake deduced. "I excel at long range fighting and evasion, but hand to hand will come in handy if I'm unarmed."

Yang was getting more and more excited, glad she was able to get Blake out of her shell a little more. As small as the step was.

"Then I guess were gonna help each other out," she stated rising from her position on the floor.

Blake closed her book and placed it on the bookshelf on the wall, grabbing her scroll that she had lying on the bed. She had to admit that working out with Yang will be beneficial, but she was actually looking forward to this. She made her way to the door where Yang stood waiting, her grim expression from earlier vanished completely.

"Ready to go, partner?"

Thunder crackled loudly, white lightning illuminating the dark cold shelter she's sat in, unmoving. The rain had started to pick up, now pouring rivers creating loud impacts on the roof. Blake looked up and silently wondered if this place will hold up. The memory of her partner still fresh in her mind, a good memory. That was an interesting work-out, she thought. Fighting alongside her was certainly different that fighting against her.

The now roaring storm continued to assault this village. It'll be a few hours before it let up. Blake rested her head on her knees, crossing her arms to cover her face and maybe try to rest her eyes, knowing that sleep would be near impossible. So, she let her mind wander again, not surprisingly going back to the blond brawler.

Her first flashback of Yang. I'm debating whether to include the sparring match scene. Its actually done but I cut it off because I'm not that confident on the fighting scenes so I'm taking my time with it. I did try out my first (kinda) fight scene on my OC's fic, but I'm still iffy. Thoughts?