A/N Hai Guise :3

So here we are again, another chapter in The Black Rose and the White Flame.
So for the most part this one here will be the Ladybug side of things, showing Blake and Ruby's interactions with each other on their half of the hunt.
Don't you worry Freezerburn fans, you're coming up next chapter :D

Lately things are a little slow at work so I'm able to write a little more frequently, I will warn you though once things eventually pick up I may not be as frequent. Like I said in the beginning though I will make sure to post at least once a week, if not an actual post then at least an announcement telling you guys why. This much I promise :D

Anyways remember to give a review at the end if you feel the desire to, and other then that I hope you guys enjoy!

Being near 2:30 the sun was for the most part up but slightly set given the time of day. Favoring the right side of the sky, all the shadows of the surrounding trees could be seen drooping down to the left side of the forest. Blake didn't exactly seem to mind this, her Faunus vision allowing her to see just as well in the dark as in the light. Ruby on the other hand was moving way too fast to even care, dashing through the trees with inhuman speed thanks to her semblance.

It hadn't been too long after Ruby started running that Blake had managed to catch up to her. Knowing that her new partner wasn't completely in the dust Ruby decided to let her semblance kick in completely and let loose. Something about being able to run as fast as she did made Ruby feel free, as if the troubles of the world were off of her shoulders. Roman didn't exist, Grimm were ridden from the world, everything was just at peace. That is until Ruby had forced herself to stop.

Being used to Weiss trailing behind her Ruby knew that every minute or so she would have to stop to help Weiss keep up. Weiss never saw Ruby stop however; Ruby never let Weiss realize just how fast she was with her semblance, not wanting her to feel inadequate. To prevent this she always made a habit of stopping every minute, letting Weiss close the gap slightly, and then activating her semblance once more, keeping up the pace.

Ruby had stopped as per usual, waiting to hear or see some sort of visual of Blake so she could continue her usual trip. After waiting about fifteen seconds, she realized something: Blake didn't have the same jumping as Weiss did with her glyphs, and immediately began to worry she had left her partner too far behind alone. She was starting to think of turning around to find her, worrying where she might be, if she was ok, if she could fend for herself against the amount of Grimm…

"…Why did we stop?" Ruby let out a high-pitch shriek of fear, not realizing Blake had appeared right behind her. "Did you spot any Grimm this close to the edge of the area?"

After turning and seeing Blake, Ruby's face was that of shock. You would think it was the face of a cartoon when the monster is found right behind the main character. Shaking it off, in a very obvious head-shake, she addressed the questioned-looking Faunus in front of her.

"H-How…how did you get here so fast?" Blake could see the surprise on Ruby's face.

"When I saw you use your semblance I decided to pick up the pace a bit." Blake stood there eying Ruby, realizing she was still a little confused.
"More often than not when running with the rest of you I've tried to dumb down my running a bit, making sure to maintain a group when we go into battle and in the beginning hiding my Faunus nature." Blake began to think back to the days when she had tried so hard to hide that she was a faunus from her teammates. She grew a little upset at the thought, only to be brought back in remembering that they were past that now. Going back to what she was saying previously, "Seeing that it's just us and knowing you have your semblance I didn't see the need to really slow down, so I went my more natural running pace."

Ruby's face of confusion had turned into a face of awe, surprised that Blake was able to near keep-up with her, even with her speed semblance.

"Wow, you're that fast?" Ruby said maintaining her awe, "I had no idea!"

Blake began to grin slightly from her leaders compliments. It was barely noticeable, and Ruby didn't seem to think anything of it

She looks so cute when she's surprised.

Blake immediately pushed the thought out of her head, having no idea where it came from. She went back to Ruby's statement, re-gaining her composure.

"Well it's no secret that most Faunus are more physically adept then the average human. Granted it's been a while since I've run as fast as I just did, but I should be able to stay close behind you without any problems."

"So…I don't have to keep stopping when I run anymore?" Ruby began jumping up and down and had the biggest smile on her face knowing she could run to her hearts content
All she thought in her head was Yes! Yes! Yes!, immediately replaced with Best temporary partner EVER!

Blake on the other hand while smiling at her leaders childish antics had a questionable look mixed in. "What do you mean by stopping?"

Ruby's enthusiasm died down a bit, remembering that no one knew about her stopping periodically for Weiss. She began to blush a bit and look slightly nervous at being caught. It wasn't so much that she was embarrassed for stopping, but rather that she didn't want Weiss to know and get mad.
"Well…" Blake had looked at Ruby intently, listening to what she had to say in curiosity. "Usually when me and Weiss go on these outings I stop running every once in a while so she can catch up." She began to blush a little more at the thought of how Weiss would be scolding her by now. "She usually takes a while and I didn't want her to end up losing me like the first day we met, so I stop every now and then to make sure she has time to get closer to where I go, so she doesn't get mad."

Blake looked at Ruby with a sort of surprised pride on her face. She never really realized how much Ruby tried to do for Weiss to keep her happy, or at least keep her from anger. Not only did she try her best for her team, giving encouraging words and trying her best to be a leader at every turn, but she went above and beyond to try to impress Weiss.
"That's very nice of you to do Ruby, but now, Oof-"

Blake was interrupted by Ruby giving Blake a big hug with plenty of force put onto it, her face one of fear as she half screamed "Please Please PLEASEEEEE don't tell Weiss! I don't want her getting mad at me again like that first day we became partners." Ruby began to lightly sob while pushing herself into Blake. "I've come so far in trying to get her to like me…I don't want her to hate me again!"

Blake's face had turned into one of sadness, but her eyes matched that of Weiss' staring angrily at someone, only without someone to stare at.
Is Ruby honestly that scared of the Ice Princess? I mean I know me and Yang have our angry moments when she teases me a little too far, god how many times, but it's never been anything like this. I couldn't imagine what that would be like, spending every waking moment trying to prove your worth to your partner.
In that moment Blake had realized that Ruby wasn't trying to impress Weiss, she was trying to show Weiss that she was worth being her partner, and knowing Weiss that couldn't have been so easy. She looked down at her leader, a new sense of sadness behind her gaze.
Oh Ruby, I hate having to see you like this.

Blake began returning Ruby's hug, turning Ruby's tackle onto her into a warm embrace, trying her best to comfort Ruby in her sudden sadness.
It may only be for today Ruby, but I won't ever make you feel like you need to impress me. I already am with all you do for us, both as friends and as your team.
She slowly started rubbing Ruby's back with her free hand, trying to reassure Ruby that she was safe where she was.

Ruby slowly started to relax in Blake's arms, thankful for the embrace Blake had given her. She was used to getting hugged by Yang which usually resulted in her arm going numb from lack of blood flow, and Weiss not returning the slightest bit of her affection she tried to give her partner. Having someone return the hug for once without it being overpowering…it was new, in a good way.

Before removing herself from the hug Blake calmly said to Ruby, "Don't worry, she'll never know." Blake rubbed her back a little lighter, "It'll be our little secret, ok, partner?"

Ruby simply nodded at Blake, not even realizing she started sniffling before from her emotional outbreak, even though now they were a distant memory, thanks to Blake that is.

Having regained her composure, Ruby focused back to their mission at hand. "We shouldn't be too far from our section of the Grimm clearing, you'll be fine if I go full speed?" A slight grin returned to her face remembering that she could run at her full speed now that she was with Blake.

Blake simply nodded, "Even if you get too far out of my sight my hearing and your pedals should help me find you. Just try to make some form of light sound when you stop so I can slow down." She then smiled at her leader, "Run to your heart's content."

Ruby's grin grew wider at those last five words. She nodded at Blake and simply said, "Okay, here we…GO!", beginning to use the entirety of her semblance to run forward. Smiling at the rose petals that were in her wake, Blake simply smiled for a second.
I'm glad I can make you happy Ruby.
Not usually being the emotional one Blake was a little caught-off guard at her thoughts, but didn't dismiss them as she had before. She simply kept her smile and began chasing after Ruby, not wanting to lose her too fast.

Meanwhile, enjoying the speed she could finally use, Ruby's mind began to wander as she made her way through the clearing as she had on the other Grimm outings. Thinking back to what happened previously, only one thought consistently crossed her mind:

Well, that was nice.

A/N Holllllllllllllllllly Crap, that was longer then I had expected xD

My original thought process was to have one chapter of each Ruby/Blake and Weiss/Yang's entire outing, but this seems to have gone much more in-detail then I thought it would've xD

So with that in mind I'll share you guys with my general thought process for what's to come as of yet (obviously I won't give anything away :3):

So my original thought was Prologue with introducing start, 1st chapter preparing for the hunt, 2/3 being each hunt, aka one for Ruby/Blake another Weiss/Yang, then 4 being the reflection walk back/return to Beacon and kinda just everyone's general thoughts. After that it's up in the air to my imagination and all of your opinions!

Now obviously seeing that I've come into this much detail so far 2-3 will probably be 2-5, one chapter for each pairs start (similar to this one) and another for each pair actually fighting Grimm. I personally think this works better because you kinda get to see how each could work out both on a personal level and a teamwork level as fighters.

So with that in mind make sure to tell me what you guys think of everything as a whole, especially if you guys have any kind of idea on how I can write something or make the relationships grow! Should any idea be used at all I'll make sure to give you guys a shout-out and credit. Hell even the smallest of ideas can grow into the greatest of stories, after all look at what I'm writing in the first place ;D

Anyways, you guys rock and I'm glad I'm already at over 500 views! Again, was expecting like 10 and a$$hole review to start, so I'm glad you guys seem to like it so much :)
See ya soon!

Warm regards,
Andrew (135246)