A/N: Apologies for the delay, everyone! This chapter is especially long compared to my normal updates - I hope that makes up for the wait. With this chapter and the last one, I've started to make use of the T rating. I don't expect it to get significantly darker than this, but it might be a little uncomfortable if you're very squeamish.
Blackness. It was all she knew, now. The dark had never bothered Yang much, but she'd never realized just how boring it could be. She'd lost track of time long ago - the fact that they never needed to stop to rest or eat probably had something to do with that - but she was certain it had been days, if not weeks, since they entered the maze. The damn maze. It frustrated her to no end that she was walking through the largest, most elaborate structure she was ever likely to see and was, ironically, completely unable to see anything. Even worse, she knew that she was nothing more than dead weight for Blake to lug around. The only thing she'd contributed so far was some conversation, but even that had died out long ago. Feeling completely useless and bored out of her mind, Yang hated herself nearly as much as she was coming to hate this stupid labyrinth.
"I need some more leaves," said Blake.
Yang reached into her pouch to grab some, but frowned. "We're almost out. Tear 'em in half, maybe - make them count," she suggested, handing most of their reserve over to the other girl. They resumed their wandering in a slightly uncomfortable silence, quickly broken by Blake.
"If we do run out… what should we do?"
"Well, retracing our steps is always an option… but I really don't want to spend any more time in here than I have to."
"That's the thing, though; if we try to keep moving without any way of knowing where we've been, we'll be liable to get stuck in this place for much, much longer."
"Let's just do our best to get out as quickly as possible, so we don't have to worry about it."
"I suppose that's our only option. Wait - this is different," Blake said urgently, coming to a sudden halt.
"What's new?" asked Yang, excited by the change of pace.
"Well, if we turn right here, we enter a room way bigger than any of these hallways we've been walking through."
"Oooh, what shape is it?"
"Still square."
"Dammit."
"Anyway, there's something in the middle of the room," Blake continued. "Looks like a big rock. Same color as the rest of this place."
"It's not a cube, is it?"
"No, actually, it looks pretty organic… something about it doesn't feel right, though. I think we should keep going straight."
"Are you kidding?" asked Yang in genuine disbelief. "The first thing to happen here for who knows how long, and you want to just keep walking? I am absolutely, one hundred percent confident that this is the right way."
"I guess you're probably right," Blake conceded. "Just stay close, alright? I want to get through this room as fast as possible." The girls proceeded cautiously into the cavernous room, hugging tightly to the right wall. Before they could make any real progress towards the other end of the room, the rock in the center shifted. No, not shifted - stood, and Yang saw the first thing since the dark was laid over her eyes: a dimly glowing ruby the size of her fist. Something about it seemed to hate her simply for being, and something told her that it was looking right at her.
"Move!" Blake shouted, dashing as quickly as she could towards the door at the other end of the area without losing her grip on Yang's arm. Her partner followed, but not as quickly as she'd hoped; Blake had to slow her pace to match Yang's. Yang was not oblivious, though. She gritted her teeth, furious at her weakness - but it was simply not possible to keep up with her partner while unable to see even the ground.
Blake turned her head to watch the thing they were attempting to circle around. It stood almost twenty feet high, was shaped vaguely like a headless human, and was bulky enough that it probably weighed as much as a house. Its arms hung low, almost touching the floor, and widened near the ends, taking on a shape not unlike that of a tree trunk. The ruby glared from the center of its torso, the faint light it cast speaking only malevolence. And then it moved. To say it took a step wouldn't be quite correct; it flowed towards them, legs never moving. The thing was an extension of the earth. The texture at the base of its legs was always changing, as the rock floor flowed seamlessly into and out of the thing. And it was fast, too.
Blake concentrated, calculating the distances between them, the door, and the rock beast. It would be close, but they wouldn't make it at their current pace. "We need to go faster!" she yelled back. "Just a little bit more!" Yang pushed herself. Whatever that thing was, she didn't want to get caught like this. She wasn't used to running from a fight, but then again she was accustomed to being able to see her opponent.
When they got out, the rock beast was no more than twenty feet behind them. Blake slowed her pace slightly, knowing that the thing was taller than the halls of the rest of the maze which they had returned to. She quickly burst into an all-out sprint, though, when she turned and saw that it continued to follow them. It was bent forward, its back inches away from the ceiling, arms outstretched as if it aimed to crush the girls against the floor, should the opportunity present itself.
Yang turned every few seconds to look at the ruby on the thing's chest, and was very aware that it was slowly gaining on them. It didn't take long for her to make a decision. Without warning, she tore her arm out of her partner's grip and turned to face the oncoming , assuming the other girl had fallen, was very surprised and confused when she turned to see Yang adapting a fighting stance and activating her weapons. "Yang!" she shouted. "GO!" Yang yelled back. The authority and confidence carried with that command actually had Blake running before she could think about her decision. She stopped nearly half a minute later when she realized what was going on. "You can't fight that thing! Come on!" she called out, now a good distance away.
"The hell I can't," Yang muttered to herself. That crystal has got to be its weak point. I just need one good hit, she thought. She readied herself. When it got close enough to reach her, she fired her gauntlets and blasted herself straight at the oncoming rock beast. She pulled her fist back, ready for a full-force blow - and something hit her from below. The thing swung its hulking arm up, smashing Yang up and away, into the stone ceiling. She cracked the rock before falling back to the ground along with a collection of rubble. Blake's eyes widened. Realizing that she'd been standing by while her partner tried to fight something way out of their league, she started back to provide support.
Yang glowed. Slowly, she rose from the debris, shining brighter and brighter with each passing second. A trace of blood flowed from the corner of her smiling mouth. Her radiance shone, throwing bright yellow light onto the walls of the maze, as well as her opponent, who had stopped advancing, and stood about thirty feet away. "Round two!" she shouted. "I can see you this time!" With that, she sprinted at her foe, staying on the ground to keep herself agile. She planned to get right underneath the thing and throw a rocket-propelled uppercut.
She never saw it coming. From the left wall, a two-foot thick pillar of solid stone shot out, intercepting Yang as she closed the distance. It pinned her against the far wall, pressing into her torso and crushing her chest. She cried out in pain, and her light faded to that of a small candle. The ruby stared at her. Then it turned to Blake, who was still running towards them. The rock beast thrust its arms out, smashing them into the walls. Something began to shift. Then, with the huge, unbelievably loud sound of a mountain being torn in twain, a fissure appeared in the labyrinth, with Blake on the other side. She skidded to a halt before the expanding gap, and peered down into the abyss. Countless openings could be seen along both sides, all paths in the maze. Above, she could see the sky. Light poured down, filling the maze and enabling a bleary eyed Yang to see her surroundings.
"Yang! You have to get out of there!"
She coughed up some blood onto the pillar that pinned her. "Five more minutes, Mom…"
"YANG! You need to break the pillar and get over here!"
She nodded languidly, and began to smash her fists against the rock.
"Shoot it!"
"Oh, right," mumbled Yang, before finally cracking the rock with an explosion. After a few more hits, she was free, and starting to get up.
"Get moving! The gap is getting wider, and you need to jump it!"
Yang stumbled toward her partner's voice. The rock beast did not move from its position, rooted to the walls.
"Okay, now jump! Use your gauntlets to help you across!"
Hey, I know what I'm doing, Yang thought to herself as she peered sleepily down into the chasm. She took a couple of steps back, then threw herself into the air. She fired once, which propelled her in more or less the right direction.
She's not going to make it, Blake realized. Swiftly, she grabbed Gambol Shroud and whipped it over her head and down, firing the pistol once to increase its speed. The weapon embedded itself in the stone of the labyrinth about ten feet down, and Yang grasped onto it as she hit the wall. "I need you to climb up, now," said Blake, slightly more calm. The fissure had stopped expanding, and it seemed very, very quiet. "You're strong; I know you can do it."
"Of course I can do it," Yang said, as if there was nothing more obvious in the world. She inched her way up the black ribbon, slowly but surely approaching the top. When she finally threw her hand up onto solid ground, Blake firmly took hold and pulled the girl up. Yang crawled over to the closest wall and sat with her back against it.
"Um, I hate to rush you, but we should probably get moving," Blake suggested, gesturing across the gap to the rock thing which stood eerily still right on the other side, watching them with its ruby eye. "We can rest later." Yang grudgingly stood, and Blake supported her as they walked away from danger.
A few minutes later, they were far enough that Blake decided it was safe to let her partner rest. She set the girl down against the wall, and for the first time observed her injuries. Her shirt and jacket were torn and stained with blood in more than one spot. Blake, given her past, was more used to seeing blood than most, but it bothered her to see it covering her partner. The girl's aura was certainly stronger than most, but it appeared that the first hit had nearly drained her completely, leaving her especially vulnerable to the next. It was clear that some serious damage had been done - her entire midsection was starting to bruise - but she needed to see more to know how to help.
"Take your jacket off," Blake commanded.
"Yes, ma'am," Yang replied in a sultry tone, complying.
"You're delirious," Blake noted as she observed the wounds that were now clearly visible. Thankfully, it appeared that the girl's more sensitive areas had been spared injury, so Blake would not need to breach her modesty. She tore off a portion of her black coattail and wrapped it around Yang's waist, where the largest gash was. The rest of the cuts were fairly minor; they'd heal faster and would be covered relatively well by her jacket, helping to prevent infection.
"Okay, you can put it back on now." Yang put her jacket back on, and pulled it tight around herself to keep warm.
"Thanks," she said, shivering slightly.
Blake nodded, then slapped her. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" she cried at the sitting girl.
"Ow! What'd I do?" Yang exclaimed.
"What did you do? You nearly got yourself killed! What were you trying to do, sacrifice yourself to save me? What do you think my chances would be to make it home without your help?" She let out a deep breath. "We're in this together, Yang. You can't forget that."
Yang scratched her head. "Well, when you put it that way it makes me look pretty stupid. I guess… I was tired of slowing you down. I didn't want to be the useless buddy that's only extra weight for the real hero."
Blake's expression softened. "I understand. Just don't do something stupid like that again."
"You're the boss," Yang smiled. "Hang on, I can see you. Why is there light?"
Blake sat up in surprise. "Is there? I hadn't even noticed. I guess we must be pretty close to the exit. Do you want to get out of here?"
"I don't think I could if I wanted to," Yang said, frowning. "Pretty sure most of my ribs are broken. I almost passed out when you wrapped that cloth around me."
"Then we can rest a while."
"Shouldn't be too long. This place is great: there's so much energy in the air, I'll probably be in perfect shape in a few minutes."
Blake smiled "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."
"Maybe you're right," Yang said, closing her eyes. Blake watched her for a few moments before finding herself a spot to lie down.
"I'm cold," Yang complained. "Come sleep next to me."
Blake huffed a short laugh. "If that's what you need." She settled against the wall to the side of her partner, who leaned against her. Yang fell asleep almost instantly, and Blake, emotionally exhausted, soon followed.