My apologies for the delay! I've been quite busy with...life. *sigh* But I am actually getting a few days off next week, so I hope to get a lot of writing done. *crosses fingers*
Disclaimer - I don't own rwby.
Several hours later, Blake had only managed to get a few minutes of rest, try as she might to calm her mind and fall asleep. Her brain was working non-stop as she tried to analyze every interaction she had had with her teammates so far. She so badly wanted to know exactly what was on their minds and what they were thinking of her, to know if she was even making progress in regaining their trust.
Looking at the clock that was placed on one side of the room, she saw that it was only slightly after midnight. She sighed. She still felt wide awake, even though she should be exhausted from all that had happened in the last few days.
After a few more minutes of fruitless rest, Blake decided that since she clearly wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, maybe some physical exhaustion would allow her to overcome her overthinking brain. Quickly getting changed out of her pajamas and into her combat gear, she snuck out into the darkened hallway; Ruby and Weiss must have gone to sleep after their movie had ended, as the living room was now dark and quiet. Taking the stairs two at a time, she swiftly found herself standing in front of the massive doors leading to the simulation room.
As she opened the doors, the inside of the room lit up one section at a time with a florescent light that burned her eyes at first. Letting the door fall shut behind her, Blake could feel her adrenaline starting to kick in as her eyes finally adjusted to the artificial light. She was excited to see what this room could really offer.
Heading over to the control panel, she tapped it to wake it up. Thankfully, the menu was pretty intuitive as far as selecting what sort of battle she was looking for. With hardly a second thought, Blake set it to spawn two Elderwolves with some default structures as scenery. A rematch of the day was exactly what she wanted right now.
Giant numbers composed of tiny green lights covering the far wall appeared as the computer began counting down the seconds until the Grimm would be generated. She watched in awe as trees, benches, and shrubbery materialized out of thin air around her. She walked over to the nearest tree and put her hand on it: solid. It would definitely be painful to be slammed into.
As the countdown reached zero, she heard a buzzer sound, notifying her that the simulation was now underway. She crouched down in a ready stance as she watched two Elderwolves materialize across the room from her. She couldn't help but stare in amazement as the creatures were crafted, crystal by crystal – they looked completely realistic.
She didn't have more than a couple of seconds to appreciate the technology as the two Grimm were sprinting at her as soon as their last cell had materialized. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two as they split apart, trying to decide which one she should go after first.
She hesitated as the Grimm on her left disappeared from her vision behind several trees. After a couple of wasted milliseconds, she finally made a decision and set off in a sprint towards the one she could still see. Hopefully, the one she lost track of would circle around and she could catch him before he snuck up behind her.
As she reached the first Elderwolf, she leapt from the ground, unsheathing Gambol Shroud and expertly spinning the end around the creature's neck as she tightly grasped the end of the ribbon. Reaching the apex of her jump, she yanked harshly on the end of Gambol Shroud, hearing the creature cry out as it was yanked backwards into the ground.
Landing silently in a crouch, she quickly turned back to the creature to finish it off, but realized that the second Elderwolf was already rushing past his downed brother towards her. Cursing, she pulled Gambol Shroud back to her as quickly as she could. Leaping to the left, she dodged the first claw that came her way. Feeling her weapon land back in her hands, she hastily split it into two large blades, just in time to block the second attack.
She felt herself fall into a heightened state of focus as she deflected each rapid blow, searching for an opening to attack. But every attack seemed to be coming sooner than the last one, quickly putting her on the defensive. Was it usual for an Elderwolf to be striking out so rapidly?
Too late, her eyes fell briefly behind her opponent to see the empty ground where the first creature had been laying several seconds before. Not a second after she realized her mistake, she felt a large force slam into her right shoulder, throwing her unceremoniously to the grass. The strength of the blow caused her to lose hold of one of her blades, which slid several paces away under a nearby shrub.
She had no time to pick herself back up as both Elderwolves were on her in an instant. She held her one blade up in an attempt to shield herself, but it was no use against two of them.
The room suddenly made a loud beeping noise. The Grimm in front of her froze mid attack, jaws open and drooling as they dove in for the killing blow. She hurriedly scrambled backwards away from the creatures, breathing heavily as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. Only once she felt confident that the creatures were not going to spring back to life did she feel her heart start to slow.
She shook her head as she retrieved her other blade from the ground before walking back to stare at the frozen creatures, figuring out where she had gone wrong. She had been so focused on blocking the attacks in front of her, she had allowed herself to lose track of one of her opponents. It was most rookie mistake a fighter could make. If she ever wanted to redeem herself, she would have to do a lot better than this.
"You're thinking too much," a voice spoke out suddenly from behind her.
Blake spun around at the comment, unaware that there had been anyone else in the room. She could feel the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks as she watched Yang walk slowly out of the shadows by the door and further into the room. The girl was wearing what were mostly likely her pajamas, a light yellow spaghetti strap top with a pair of light brown short shorts. The clothing perfectly accented all of her curves, only causing Blake's blush to deepen more.
However, Blake couldn't keep her eyes from drifting hungrily over the huntress' form, before finally settling upon the gashes on the girl's shoulder. The wounds had been stitched up nicely, but were still red and swollen. Yang didn't seem to be hurting too badly, but Blake knew that the blonde huntress had a pretty high tolerance for pain, plus was very prideful about not being viewed as "weak."
"You're thinking too much," Yang reiterated as she reached Blake, stopping a few feet in front of her. "And you're not having any fun," she continued as she pointed towards one of the still frozen Elderwolves. "You were thinking so much about how you needed to find an opening that you missed what was going on around you. You need to let your instincts take over more and loosen up!"
Blake frowned as she listened to Yang's critique of her battle.
"Where you watching the entire time?" she asked.
"Yup!" Yang smiled proudly at her accomplishment.
Blake felt her blush intensify as embarrassment overcame her. It was one thing for her to have been "killed" in the simulation, but knowing that Yang had seen the whole thing made it at least ten times worse. Adding insult to injury, the Faunus girl, who prided herself on having acute senses, had never even noticed that the girl had entered the room.
"When did you get so good at blending into the shadows?" she asked. Being sneaky had never been one of Yang's strong suits. And the blonde had never been able to sneak up on Blake before (something she had tried to do more than a few times while at Beacon).
Yang's smile disappeared as she looked away before replying softly, "Since I lost the person who used to do it for me."
Blake felt her ears droop as she looked at the ground. She had not been expecting that response, but there was truth to what Yang said. Blake couldn't even count the number of times her partner had 'requested' Blake sneak up on someone, or in somewhere.
"I'm sorry…" she said meekly, knowing that saying she was sorry probably did little to make her partner feel better.
After a few uncomfortable seconds passed with neither girl speaking, Blake eventually watched Yang's feet move the last few feet between them. As Blake looked up, she resisted the urge to take a step back as Yang put her face close to Blake's, a grin inching its way back onto her features.
"Hey, wanna wrestle?"
Blake raised an eyebrow as she slowly replied, "I don't know, Yang…you're still really injured and I don't want it to get any worse…"
The blonde took a step back and waved her left hand in the air. "Oh, yeah, you're right. It would be pretty embarrassing to lose to an injured huntress." Yang looked at her, violet eyes sparkling with mischief. Blake felt her competitive spirit flare, but she just didn't feel right fighting Yang while she still had stitches.
"I really don't want to be responsible for any more damage," Blake answered, hoping that Yang would drop it and they could both move on from the suggestion.
"Pfft, you couldn't touch me if I had both hands tied behind my back, Rook," Yang said as she continued her provocation.
Blake only shook her head. She knew enough about Yang to know that the girl wouldn't drop the subject now, no matter how much Blake resisted. She may as well agree and get it over with, than to spend more time arguing with the girl. Plus, it might be kind of fun to wrestle with her again. She would just make sure to avoid Yang's injured shoulder as much as possible.
"I was going to let you off easy with your pride, but I guess you're just a glutton for punishment," Blake responded, accepting Yang's challenge.
Yang's only response was a smirk, obviously pleased at having gotten her way. She backed away from Blake as the two girls got into position, crouching slightly as they prepared for their friendly 'wrestling' match.
"Here, kitty kitty," Yang jeered, motioning Blake towards her with her left hand.
Blake scowled.
"Let's see if you can back up all that hot air."