Last chapter's review feedback!

Sachiel21: Thank you so much for your kind words! This being my first fanfic for RWBY, it means a lot B) It's a bit tricky to incorporate the different story elements but I'm glad you are enjoying it :))

Matthew998: /wiggles eyebrows

unmei: Oi! Sleep is important! (but I am sujected to late night/early morning fan fic reading too so.../awkward laugh) And Blake is such a bundle of cuteness, amirite?

FoxyFoxation: Weeelpp, Imma just keep my mouth shut 'bout all that... for now...

Alright! On the the chapter now! :)

Chapter 5: Clouded

Curious lilac eyes fixated onto focused amber as Yang charmingly grinned at the raven-haired girl. The blonde switched her position so her front was facing Blake, the right side of her body lying on the floor as she used her metal hand to support her head. She draped her human left hand over her hip, still smiling at Blake. The noirette had to look away from a moment to compose herself. Does she really… have to pose like that…? I mean… I don't know, I'm not complaining or-

Blake mentally slapped herself in the face for the third time that day.

"Hmm… myself?" Yang inquired, her left hand mindlessly fidgeting with the strings of her hoodie as she continued, "What would you like to know?"

Blake nervously nibbled her lip, not completely sure what to ask the blonde. She was an introverted book-worm, socializing was - for sure- not her forte. Sure, Blake had many questions to ask but she just wasn't sure how to ask them without appearing nosy. Her thin fingers ran through her midnight-black hair as she curled a strand behind her right human ear.

"What, uh… what do you like to do?" Blake started, but added onto her question as soon as she saw blonde eyebrows quirk, "I mean like- as in hobbies." Yang let out a soft and dragged-out 'ooooh' then tapped her flesh index finger on her chin as she glanced up at the roof of the train cart in thought. "Well, I box. Been doing it since I was 'bout… eight, I'd say. It's a fun pastime… I think my stage name was 'The Gold Dragon' or something along those lines," she paused to giggle softly and then continued, "I just do some underground matches for a couple of bills here and there now. I can't do it professionally anymore…" Yang glanced at her metal arm in minor dismay as Blake's amber eyes looked over also at the mechanical limb. The blonde forced herself to pull her gaze away from it and sat up beside Blake with her legs crossed, rubbing the back of her neck unsurely. She strained a smile as citrine eyes met with violet. Curiosity poured into Blake but decided to dismiss her intrusive thoughts, knowing that Yang's arm could be a sensitive topic to talk about.

"Wow, that's actually… pretty neat. You said since you were eight?" The noirette continued the conversation.

The blonde nodded.

"So that makes you-?"

"Twenty. I'm twenty years old," Yang replied nonchalantly, her face now growing relaxed. She quirked her head to Blake.

"And you?"

"Twenty also."

The boxer grinned at the answer. A familiar silence soon surrounded the two, which made Blake uneasy. She bit her lip. Wow, Blake. You're hopeless. Is that all you have to say? "Same"? Pretty sure you just killed the conversation. Why was I born this way to be so socially impaired, ugh fuck you introversion…

Luckily, Yang spoke up, disrupting the quietness to keep the conversation going, "What about you? What do you like to do?" Blake's eyes glanced at the blonde as she lightly ran a finger over the grooves of her combat boots. "I, uhm… I suppose like to read, mostly the classics though. You know: Poe, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald… Oh, can't forget Lee, How to Kill a Mocking Bird is one of my favorites by far…" The noirette cut herself short, not wanting to geek out in front of the brawler.

There was a small pause before Blake felt a hand clap onto her back, causing her head to snap up in surprise. "Ohhh, hey now, I see! So I got a book-nerd on my hands then, huh?" Yang teased with a wide grin, lightly shaking Blake's shoulder with her metal hand. The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Oh, ha. Ha. You asked and I answered, so best be happy," she teased back, sass dripping off her words. She felt oddly comfortable enough to joke around with a stranger, which wasn't normal for her at all.

The blonde laughed and smirked at the girl beside her. She retracted her mechanical arm from Blake as she leaned her torso back, using her palms for support. "So, my guess is that you attend a college or something?" Yang spoke, quirking her head, "You seem pretty smart." The noirette peered into lilac and smiled at the blonde's unintentional compliment. Or maybe intentional?

Blake found herself biting her lip, "Yeah, I do. I go to Beacon Academy… I'm a first year." Yang furrowed her eyebrows, "First year? You're twenty though. Shouldn't you be a second –maybe even third- year?" The raven-haired girl froze up, citrine eyes fixating on the moving forest outside. "I…" Blake began, clearing her throat while trying to think up an excuse.

It wasn't her choice to be a first year. She was a first year because of her past. She missed her last year of high school because of Adam, who decided for her that it was pointless for her to attend school and forced Blake to focus all her time to help him in his fight against the humans. She was forced to learn how to stay in the shadows and use a knife and gun; skills she wished she didn't have to learn. Adam tried to teach her how to properly use Blake's semblance, but he never could, as he didn't possess the skill to. Blake trained her semblance by herself but made little to no improvements, with Adam always cutting her training off short so that he could teach Blake something he did know how to do. After that horrible night three years ago, she devoted every waking moment of her free time studying for school, reading books at the public library almost every night until the librarians had to kick her out. It took her a good two years for Blake to be able to take the entrance exam and get accepted into Beacon Academy.

What was the excuse I told Ruby and Weiss again…?

"I… I did a victory lap in high school," Blake answered as she looked over to the blonde, who nodded her head, believing the girl's outright lie.

Yang smiled with her eyes agape, "But Beacon Academy, damn. You gotta be quite the brainiac to get in there… just like my…" Yang drifted off, her cheery expression seeming to fade. Blake's hidden Faunus ears twitched against her silk bow as she peered at crestfallen violet eyes with worried amber. Yang cleared her throat, her voice serious.

"Listen, Blake. I know this is sudden but… do you- do you by any chance know a girl named Ruby? Erhm, Ruby Rose?"

Blake froze. Her golden eyes widened just a bit as they stared forward at the moving evergreen trees, not daring to look at the blonde. There was a thick silence that coated the air, the sounding 'clunk' of the train moving along the track draining out. The sudden quietness made the blonde think that Blake needed more than a name to answer her question.

"She's a first year too. Pretty short for an eighteen-year-old; has dipped-dyed red hair, silver eyes. Although… she's kinda hard to have a good look at when she's always making heads turn a little too late with that speed of hers…" Yang forced a light chuckle as her lips formed a frown.

Why would an underground street fighter want to know about Ruby? The thought made the noirette silently question Yang's association with her younger roommate. Her mind darted all over the place with thoughts of the crimsonette. But all she could think up was the image of when she last saw Ruby, her innocent face questioning Blake's crazed older brother her in a quiet but woeful tone…

Blake found herself biting her lower lip again, feeling the blonde's intense gaze on her, waiting for an answer. She twirled her thumbs together, not completely sure what to say. She wanted to learn more about the blonde and talk, and so she guessed that this was somehow still relevant to the conversation.

"I…" Blake breathed, Yang's lilacs still fixated on her, "I do know… of her."

Lie.

Yang suddenly clasped both her hands onto the noirette's shoulders, twisting her torso so that purple peered into amber. The blonde's expression was covered with bewilderment.

"You do?! Seriously?!" Yang's questioning voice boomed at Blake. The raven-haired girl was taken aback at the blonde's tone as she gasped lightly in shock. She didn't completely know who Yang was to Ruby… She had to choose her next words carefully. Just in case.

"Y-yes, I've… seen a girl like that around campus…"

Another lie.

"Oh, so you don't talk to her or anything?"

"No, sorry, I don't…"

Another fucking lie.

Blake was disappointed in herself as false words and statements parted from her lips. She just… Couldn't completely trust Yang yet, as much as she truly wanted to. Blake was never a person to vocalize the many thoughts that occupied her mind, she kept her curiosity to herself. It was something she was fairly good at, hiding in shadows and not getting close to many people.

Silence ensued. Blake continued twiddling her thumbs, looking down at them in sudden interest.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's fine." Yang's voice seemed dissatisfied but calm nonetheless. She took out her red lighter and began playing with it to keep her hands occupied.

Maybe Blake was wrong, maybe she should have-

"Anyway, if you don't mind my asking," Yang started back up, acting as if that last topic of conversation was never brought up, "What's an obedient university student like yourself doing with a brawling delinquent on a stolen train ride?"

Blake rubbed her clammy hands together awkwardly, her eyes staring at her palms. That's exactly what she didn't want Yang to question but the noirette was already in too deep. She asked to talk so that's what she was going to do. She decided to answer the blonde's question with as little details as possible.

"I-" Blake cleared her dry throat. The brawler looked up at the raven-haired girl, seeing her midnight tassels caress her focused complexion.

"Yang… someone's after me."

Lilac eyes widened as they met with distressed ambers. "W-what do you mean?" Yang gulped, mouth slightly hanging open. Blake blinked and readied herself for her next words. "What I mean is," she paused, her tongue dry, "Someone toxic that I've been running away from for years managed to find me. I- I didn't know what else to do… So I ran… Found you getting knocked around by some guy… then boarded this train without a second thought… I just needed to… go..." Yang didn't interrupt the noirette even once, watching the girl's jittery words escape her lips. Blake brought her knees closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her eyes never left the outside land breezing pass her, the trees and foliage calm under a clouded, cool sky.

A hand gripping Blake's shoulder made the girl perk up her head, her worried amber eyes meeting gentle and pleasant lilac.

"Blake…" Yang began, her soft voice flowing with concern, "I know I'm just some stranger that you just met but I- I want to help you." Blake's head cocked over to the blonde, now fully facing Yang's serious expression as she continued, "I feel like- like I owe you something. Something more than just talking with you. Let me help you."

Blake looked away for a second, chewing her lip, "You don't owe me anything, Yang. I appreciate your offer but I'm not sure how you can help me…" The noirette suddenly stood up and walked farther into the train cart. She held hear arms close to her chest as her back faced the blonde. There was a slight pause before she heard footsteps calmly approach her.

"Yang… please," Blake breathed, making the blonde's hand tense up just inches from the girl's shoulder, "I really am thankful for your concern and your friendliness… but I don't want to cause you problems. You clearly have somewhere you have to be; I don't. Not anymore. When this train stops, wherever that may be, I'm getting off and we'll go our separate ways, okay?"

Blake didn't want those words to leave her dry throat. She had always believed that she was built to be alone, forever in the shadows. She would have never imagined that a thuggish stranger would make her question her own nature. In truth, she never wanted to be alone, it was just better for others if she was. Her brother didn't feel much like company, Blake saw him as more of an empty shell of hatred. It took months to be vaguely comfortable with Ruby and Weiss.

Yang was different.

In a mere forty minutes or so, the blonde managed to make Blake want to learn more about the girl, to talk with her. Even after the noirette pointed a knife right in-between her purple eyes. Yang gave off a sort of energy she had never felt with anyone else. It made Blake interested… but scared. No one else ever had that effect on Blake and it terrified her to bits. She had knocked a man unconscious just to save the girl. She would not have even thought of saving some random stranger that day. Had it been not Yang, she would have just left the person.

Leaving her…

Blake swore she could feel the blonde's dim lilac gaze barring a hole into her back. Now Blake started to regret lying to her about her schooling, about Ruby. But what was she supposed to say when all she could think of when she heard the crimsonette's name was fearful silver eyes?

Blake needed to forget. She knew she would hate herself for the rest of life if she chose to ignore her past but she just had to. The present and future was her top priority now, even if she figured she might have not much of the latter.

A quiet and slightly raspy voice cut through the air.

"If that's what you wanna do, Blake, I won't force you. The last thing I want to do it make you feel uncomfortable. But, just know my offer is always on the table for you, okay?"

Blake rubbed her sweater-clad arms and down-casted her head a bit, not knowing what to say. Timid footsteps started to walk away yet stopped after a couple, Blake's Faunus ears twitched at the sound of something light being placed onto the wooden floor.

"If you need a smoke, I left my lighter near your bag. I'm gonna maybe catch some z's, if you don't mind. I'm all tuckered out and I think we're gonna be here for awhile anyway," Yang stifled a yawn as she dragged her converse-clad feet to a spot farthest from where Blake was standing and plopped her body down to the floor.

After a couple of moments, Blake slowly turned her body, seeing Yang's form resting up against the one of the corners of the cart, her head leaning on the metal wall. Her eyes were closed.

Blake's soft footsteps stridden over to the still open metal door, not disturbing the blonde, and stopped at the edge to breath in the damp, tranquil wind that gently brushed her face. After a moment, she bent down to grab a cigarette out of her bag. Citrine eyes glazed at the red lighter, her hands hesitating. She shook her head once then grabbed the lighter, gripping it in her dainty fingers and stared at it as if it was a foreign object. The noirette bit her lip lightly then lit her cigarette with the tiny flame, popping the cancer stick into her mouth before sitting down against the wall opposite of Yang.

Blake took a long drag before sighing, a narrow line of gray smoke escaping her soft lips. She looked over at Yang, her blonde hair slightly covered her relaxed, angel-like face and her arms comfortably wrapped around her torso as her chest softly heaved up and down. Blake pursed her thin lips in thought.

Let her… help me?

Did someone order some Yangsty Blake? No? Oh well... here you go anyways...

And wwooaahh, can you say 'drama'? Phewwee

ANYWAYS!

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