Maybe it's too soon to say

Just why I feel this way

But now I think I have to say

Sorry, Yang, I've got to go away.

A beeping phone was enough to shake Blake into the land of wakefulness. She looked over her shoulder. Sun hadn't noticed. His face was still blissfully asleep, although the two were still locked in the embrace they'd fallen asleep in. Sun's hands were wrapped rather tightly around the cat Faunus. His tail was wound around one of her legs. With a faint smile, she shifted around, gently moving the sleeping monkey's limbs to free herself. His tail was the hard part – he was always sensitive about other people touching it, and as she unwound it, he stirred.

"Morning already?" he slurred, still more asleep than awake. Blake smiled, and passed a hand over his cheek.

"Go back to sleep, Sun. I'll be back in a second." He grunted and rolled over onto his back to give her room to get out of bed, his eyes still shut but his voice sounding more awake as he noticed the phone.

"Fine, but don't expect me not to hog the blankets when you get back." She giggled faintly, and stumbled through the dark room to find a shirt and the ringing phone. Sun might be a lot of things, but one thing he clearly wasn't was neat. She bit back a curse as her foot collided with the small table in his room, although she had to admit it was more of a small apartment than anything. As she moved, she slid on the first shirt she found – one of Sun's, which she buttoned as she grasped the phone and opened the door onto the balcony. With a yawn, she answered the phone.

"Hello, Sun?" The voice was deep and smooth with a touch of an accent. "You awake?"

"It's Blake, and it's two in the morning, Noir, so you better have a good reason to call." For a moment, the caller was silent.

"Did I call the wrong Faunus by mistake?" He sounded perplexed, and in the background, Blake could have sworn she heard a Beowolf howl. She groaned. Sun's teammate had probably gone for a walk and ended up in the woods somewhere. This wasn't the time.

"Noir, why call now?" She could picture the other cat wondering how to explain from wherever he was. It wasn't like Noir to call for help with Grimm; he was a more than capable fighter. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm following someone." As much as she tried, Blake couldn't hear anything in his voice that would hint at a joke, and Noir wasn't the kind for pranks anyway. "Saw her slip from the hospital with a big rifle, then teleported out past the guards. I think. Saw her head out from the school, so I tailed her, have been for the past two hours." Blake froze. Big gun, something that seemed like teleportation… Ruby.

"Don't know where she's headed, but wherever it is, there's Grimm around." He paused again, before finishing his thought path.
"We're heading north, according to my Scroll. She hasn't noticed me – after all, human night vision is nothing like ours."

"So, why call Sun?"

"Because…" the caller seemed tentative. "I thought I might need help. Not if it came to a fight between us, but if she's doing something stupid…" Both of them had heard the rumour about the day before, and Blake knew what Noir was hinting at.

"I understand. We can't come right now, though." Blake had a point – even if the rumour of the three teams being given vacation time to rest and heal was true, there was a curfew. Sure, Sun could pretty easily bypass it, but not at two in the morning during a night together. She hated to admit it to anyone, but she had exhausted him already.

"Gotcha. She's still moving, looks like we're heading towards a forest of some sort. I'll send you where I am via Scroll in the morning." He chuckled. "Ok, later in the morning."

"Try closer to eight, Noir."

"I'll try. Night." With that, the call went dead. She sighed. She and Sun knew his past, and she understood why he was so hard to pin down, but the cat's actions tonight were kind of ridiculous. Why follow her? Why not just call the guards? She sighed and slipped back into the warmer room. Sun was lying there on the bed, eyes wide open and staring at her.

"Please tell me that wasn't a mission call. Or the doctors."

"Your phone, so no. And why would doctors or the Professor call in the middle of the night?" He shrugged.

"Hey, why would anyone want to have someone stick their…"

"I get it, ok." Blake blushed as she sat on the bed. "It was Noir. Apparently Ruby's snuck out of Beacon, and he's tailing her." Sun yawned.

"And?"

"He thinks she might be doing something stupid." The monkey shrugged as he moved the covers to one side.

"Could be anything. And I do stupid things all the time, does anyone care about that?" Blake rolled her eyes as she slid the shirt off and lay back down, straight into Sun's arms.

"I do, but your kind of stupid isn't as bad as Ruby's." He nuzzled her, and his voice slipped into a dreamy tone as he yawned.

"Noir can deal with it for now. He's a big cat. And then, in the morning, if he still needs help, we can go find them. Now, I think we should both get some more sleep, unless you wanna..." Blake gently elbowed him, although without helping it, she purred as his hands wrapped around her once again.

"Sleep it is then." Within moments, the only noises escaping from his mouth were faint snores. Slowly, Blake let herself drift off to dreamland; although one more though was hovering around her mind.

What the hell was Ruby doing?

Noir growled faintly, as he looked at the three Beowolves that had moved between his position and Ruby, who was making a rather obvious track into the woods. He had to admit, he was certainly dressed for night operations, in his dark blue and black clothes of choice, not to mention dark hair. Much better for sneaking around in than, say, a bright red cape. But, Ruby clearly knew the terrain far better than he did, and she'd slipped into the forest before he'd noticed she'd vanished. Probably through use of her semblance again. That damn speed boost had given him a headache in tracking her. If he was going to keep following her, he was going to have to take out all three Beowolves without Ruby hearing. This wasn't the job of the small-calibre guns in his bracers, clearly. His hands grasped the hilts strapped to his waist, and with a flick of his wrists, his two falchion swung into the dark light. Each one of the black-tinted blades glittered with fancy metallic markings. The sword on his right bore a cobalt blue lightning pattern, while on the left-hand blade; a blood-red wave ran down just behind the edge. He grinned. Silent killing it was.

The first Beowolf noticed a faint trace of movement, but the scent in the air of Faunus was overpowering. It froze and drew itself to full height on both legs, and growled. The other two had noticed as well, and they fanned out like a professional military group. Without a noise, the first one dropped, silent. The blood instantly overpowered the other odours, and the surviving Beowolves noticed a dark shape standing over their fallen member. With a growl, they attacked, but there was no match. The Faunus was swift and smart, and his blades danced in intricate patterns as he darted through the middle of the two beasts. At first, it seemed pointless for him to be behind them, and his attack unsuccessful. But, as the beasts turned to confront the assailant, they both collapsed. Noir looked back at his handiwork. The first had been too easy, stabbed through the back. The other two, likewise. If anyone looked carefully, the wolves would look unconscious or like they died of disease. Only if they were looking carefully would they see the two, razor thin lines of blood where he'd sliced open the beasts, stripping them of the nerves required to stand, and within minutes, breath. He never prided himself on the "cut things to ribbons" ideals that most Hunters liked, and instead preferred a much more surgical, faster approach to slaying. Plus, he reasoned, less cleaning. All he'd have to do in that respect was wipe the blood from Raikiri, his right-hand blade. After all, stabbing was a rather dirty method to kill.

He sheathed Amelia, the red-lined blade, and slid a rag from a jacket pocket to wipe down Raikiri as he followed the girl's trail once again. The ground was soft and pliable, and her footprints had left a clear trail in the soil and snow, easily visible to the perceptive vision of the Faunus. Finally, he spied her once again. Wrapped in her cloak, she'd created a hollow under a tree using branches and a blanket, and seemed to be asleep. He took care not to wake her, instead putting some of his more feline instincts to the test. He faced a tall, thick tree, and leapt into the lower branches. He tugged the higher branches gently to test their strength. Satisfied with some of the thinner fingers of wood, he clambered further up until Ruby, and the ground beneath him, were both out of sight. The air was cool, and a layer of snow had formed on his chosen seat, but he simply smiled and hunkered down in the branches, his back against the trunk while he sat on a rather massive branch. He checked his phone – an hour and a half had passed since he spoke with Blake. Four and a half until he would call again. Until then, he'd rest, and listen.

A/N: I sense a disturbance in the Internet currents... the sound of hundreds of shippers crying out in harmony as I completely shut down the possibility of Bumblebee shipping. Well, for the most part, at least. And then there's the purists, who may just be sharpening their machetes and sniper-scythes at me adding a fancharacter, specifically my own. Well, it's the first of a few, and there's bound to be more as people decide they want in on the action. so if you don't like it, tough. I'll try to keep the main characters as pure as possible, barring the potential canonxfanon relationships.

Oh, and for those of you who notice Sun's comment about "doctors" and jump to the intimate conclusions: no, Blake is not pregnant (yet...not sure if that will appear in later chapters), and neither of them have STIs. And, if I get anyone asking that, even AFTER I've explicitly stated it here, I shall remove Nora from the next chapter.

Anywho, hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing these chapters. Tomorrow's chapter will bring you breakfast, Yang finding Ruby missing, and Blake's bedhair. In that order. Enjoy.