I promised someone this would be up on Friday, and I succeeded! I hope that everyone likes this one. I think I've finally gotten a bit of a rhythm down for writing, but it could all go out the window if I run into another case of writer's block (or laziness).
I want to thank everyone again for their favorites, follows, and reviews! I write a little bit for myself, but a lot for you! So it's great to know that people are actually enjoying it :)
And now..the continuation of...The Fire Within (Says in awesome narrator voice)
Yang was feeling positively giddy. She felt like skipping down the sidewalk next to Blake, only barely managing to keep her steps somewhat normal. A little more bounce in them was all the Faunus girl would notice, plus the stupid smile that refused to leave her face. Her heart was soaring at that moment, and probably wouldn't come down anytime soon.
She could not stop thinking about the little rumble she had heard from Blake. So fleeting, it hadn't lasted longer than a second, but Yang had heard it clear as day. Blake had purred.
If there was one thing that could melt her heart faster than her own internal flame, it was that sound emanating from Blake's chest. It was so soft, so subtle, so pure. Yang knew deep in her soul that when Blake made that noise, she was truly happy or content. Most importantly, Blake would only make that noise when she felt safe. Knowing what she did about the early years of Blake's life, it made Yang elated to know that she was able to create an environment where Blake felt protected enough to be her true self.
She had only heard Blake purr a handful of times before. Every one of those moments was clearly etched in her memory, but none was more vivid than the very first time.
It had first happened when Blake had come down with a terrible cold one winter at Beacon. She had told her teammates to go to classes without her that morning, but when the girl hadn't shown up by lunchtime, Yang had really started to worry about her. In between classes, Ruby had used her semblance to speed back to their room to check on the girl. She had returned to report that Blake had caught a really bad cold and would be missing the rest of her classes that day.
This had been the first day Yang had spent without her partner since they had been paired together and she hadn't enjoyed it one bit. She found her thoughts constantly pulled back to their room, wondering if Blake was feeling better or if she needed anything. She had tried to skip class and head back to check on her partner several times, but was always stopped by a very forceful Weiss Schnee lecture.
After what had seemed like the longest day of her life, the team had finally returned to their room to find Blake tucked under all of her covers, asleep. Yang felt better when she could see her sickly partner, but wondered what she could do to help the girl feel better. Ruby had wisely suggested that they all just go to sleep so that Blake could continue to rest peacefully, which Yang and Weiss quickly agreed to.
As they settled in for the night, Yang laid in her bed, wide awake. She was trying to figure out why her day had felt so incomplete without her quiet friend by her side. She had finally decided that it was simply because Blake had been such a constant presence over the past year at school that being without her, even for the day, felt foreign.
Finally feeling like she would be able to go to sleep, Yang had only then noticed a quiet noise coming from somewhere in the room. Holding her breath, she tried to find the source of the sound. Rolling over to the side of her bed, she had poked her head down over the edge and listened intently.
It was then that Yang had realized what the noise was; it was the sound of teeth quietly chattering together.
She strained her eyes to peer down at her partner's bed, finding Blake's form under a mountain of covers, barely making out the tiny movements of Blake shivering fiercely beneath her blankets. Not being able to watch her partner suffer for a second longer, Yang had quickly dropped down from her bunk, landing with a small thud on the floor. Reaching out her hand, she had softly tapped on the section of blanket that she believed was covering the girl's shoulder.
She could still clearly remember Blake's amber eyes peering out through the dark at her, the only feature visible above the girl's comforter. She had frozen for several seconds under her intense gaze, transfixed by the luminescence and beauty staring back at her.
Giving her head a quick shake to bring herself back to the present, Yang had heated up her aura and tenderly laid the back of her hand across the girl's forehead, eliciting a sigh of relief from her shivering partner. After Yang gestured towards the covers, Blake had hesitantly released them, allowing Yang to quickly crawl underneath, trying not to let any cold air in.
Hastily heating up the rest of her body to a moderate temperature, Yang had slowly inched towards Blake. At the time, she hadn't understood why her heart was beating so rapidly, but she could hear it pounding in her ears as Blake had watched her with tired, uncertain eyes.
When she was close enough, she reached out and pulled her shaking partner gently into her arms. Blake initially stiffened, but the Faunus' muscles quickly relaxed as Yang's warmth enveloped her. She held her arms carefully around Blake's back as the Faunus rested her head underneath Yang's chin. By this point, Yang had been certain that Blake could heart her heart pounding in her chest, but the sick girl had quickly fallen asleep without a comment.
As she laid there, Blake's silky black hair and velvety ears pressed against her chin, Yang had felt something she'd never felt before. She had always been aware of the flame within her heart; it was what she called upon whenever she needed her semblance. But in this moment, that little flame seemed to have received a spark. It had become a blaze, spreading like wildfire through every capillary in her body. Yang had gasped as she felt every one of her cells come to life, tingling with energy.
She had reveled in this feeling for several moments as she breathed in deeply the smell of Blake's hair.
She had never felt this…alive.
Without thinking, she had tilted her head down and placed a loving kiss on the top of Blake's head, right between her ears, giggling softly at the feeling of the girl's soft ears grazing her cheeks.
That's when Blake began purring.
At first, Yang had frozen, having absolutely no idea what the sound was. She held her breath, trying not to move a single muscle in order to hear more clearly. It sounded like…marbles rolling around in a wooden box. After several moments of utter confusion, Yang had finally realized that the sound was coming from the girl nestled in her arms.
She could have cried out of happiness as she listened intently to Blake's purrs. Closing her eyes, she could actually feel the gentle vibrations against her own chest, quickly radiating throughout her entire body. Combined with her own super charged heart, Yang had been in complete bliss.
This was the moment Yang had realized that she was in love with her partner. Deeply, completely, utterly in love with the girl. She wanted this every night. She wanted to hold the stoic girl in her arms. She wanted to be the one that Blake always felt this safe with. The person that Blake could finally be her true self around. That Blake could always be her true self around. And with the power currently coursing through her veins, Yang knew that she would use it to move mountains in order for her partner to, one day, always feel this secure.
Yang had laid awake that entire night listening to the sound of Blake's gentle purrs.
She had never mentioned the episode to Blake for fear of embarrassing the girl and risking never hearing the endearing sound again. But, from that day onward, Yang had made sure to pay extra special attention to her partner, lavishing her with compliments and her affection.
She also began offering every single night to act as Blake's personal bed warmer. Although Blake hardly ever took her up on the offer, the few times she did were more than worth all of the rejections. Those were the nights that Yang hardly slept, staying awake as long as she could to listen to the heartwarming sound, to feel that unbridled energy. Unfortunately, after not too long, the purrs would become so peaceful that they would lull her into a wonderfully deep sleep.
She began looking forward to the bitter cold winters in Vale, formerly her least favorite time of the year. If she had been closer to Weiss at the time, she would have asked the icy heiress to chill down their room at night just to make Blake too cold to sleep alone.
But, after losing Blake, Yang had been certain that she would never hear that sound again.
She had never been so happy to be wrong in her life.
As they continued their walk home, she could tell that Blake was beyond embarrassed. As far as Blake knew, that was the first time Yang had ever heard her purr. But as she opened her mouth in an attempt to ease the tension, she was interrupted by the sound of her scroll going off. Quickly pulling it out, she read the message from Weiss:
Beowolves + King Taijitu, Sapphire Square. Will meet you there.
Yang swiftly shoved her scroll away saying, "Duty calls!" before taking off in the direction of Sapphire Square, knowing Blake would be right on her heels.
As the pair of huntresses reached Sapphire Square, they were greeted with complete pandemonium. The Square was exactly as described, a small, square clearing blocked in by tall buildings on all four sides. Retails shops and restaurants filled the bottom level of each of the buildings. In the center of the square stood a massive, ornate obelisk, built in honor of one of the greatest huntresses from the early Grimm wars, Dana Sapphire, after whom the entire square was named.
On this day, however, the great huntress would be rolling over in her grave at what was occurring in her namesake area.
Beowolves were running amok among the sidewalks and streets, chasing down fleeing civilians and crashing through storefront windows. Worst of all, a King Taijitu had taken up residence at the center of the square, claiming the Sapphire monument as its new territory. The serpentine creature had wrapped itself completely around the obelisk, with both heads observing the chaos surrounding it, occasionally lashing out anything that got too close to it, Grimm or human alike.
Blake looked over at Yang, eyes slightly wide at the sight, before asking, "You go left, I go right?"
Yang quickly took in the situation again, trying to come up with the best plan to eliminate the creatures as quickly as possible. Coming to a decision, she shook her head at Blake, not wanting to split up again.
"No, we stick together this time. Let's round up all the Beowolves before getting to King T." She noticed her partner's ear twitch slightly, suddenly realizing that the girl was nervous about going into battle once again. She flashed Blake a big smile, trying to reassure her.
"Just like old times!"
Blake gave a small smile in return before Yang lit up her aura and sped off to their left, her Faunus partner a half step behind her. Yang couldn't help grinning at the familiarity of the feeling as her confidence shot through the roof. There was nothing that she and Blake couldn't accomplish together.
She rushed straight towards the nearest Beowolf, who was still blissfully unaware of the huntresses' presence. One hit with her fist was all it took to put the first creature out of commission. Without losing a step, she quickly targeted the second victim and altered her path. However, this one saw Blake and Yang coming and was able to dodge Yang's initial attack as she flew by him. Unfortunately with Blake mere milliseconds behind her, the creature was not physically capable of dodging the second huntress' attack. The blade and sheath of Gambol Shroud quickly found their way into the weakest spots in the creature, ending its time terrorizing the Square.
Yang couldn't help letting out a joyful laugh at their fluidity. It was just like old times, after all. Blake shot her a quick grin, clearly enjoying herself a little as well, as they raced off to find another unfortunate target.
As the two girls swept around the Square, making sure to keep out of the reach of the King Taijitu's two heads, Yang could feel Blake easing back into the rhythm they had spent years honing while together at Beacon. Most importantly, Blake seemed to be relaxing with each successful attack.
Completing one lap around the perimeter of the Square, the two huntresses had dispatched all of the loose Beowolves, allowing them to turn their attention to the serpentine creature still coiled around Sapphire's monument. Pausing for a second, Yang tried to figure out what the best plan of attack might be. She could feel Blake's silent presence beside her, knowing that her partner was waiting for Yang to give her some direction.
"Umm…" Yang began uncertainly, not sure what their next step should be, "Let's separate and each try to take one end."
Blake nodded her head curtly, showing no apprehension at all.
"Which one do you want?" Blake asked seriously.
Yang couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face as she practically purred, "Oh, Blake…you know I've always had a weakness for black…"
She giggled at the slight blush that appeared on the Faunus girl's cheeks.
"Black it is then," Blake murmured as she set off, positioning herself on the opposite side of the square in front of the white half of the serpent's body, staying carefully out of the creature's striking range.
Yang practically skipped over to the black half of the King Taijitu, firing up her aura once again and clapping her hands together in excitement.
"Bring it on, King T.!" she yelled, pointing one flaming hand towards the creature, watching carefully as it trained its red eyes on her, a thin forked black tongue quickly flitting out of its mouth.
"I hope I smell good," she muttered cheekily, nodding to Blake that she was ready.
Watching her partner rush towards the white King Taijitu, Yang took off towards her own half, preparing for the first attack. She saw the snake's neck muscles ripple slightly as it sprang towards her, giving her just enough warning to nimbly jump to the left. As the creature's head flew by her, she spun and landed one hard jab to the side of the snake's head, causing it to hiss out in pain as it recoiled from her. Looking towards the other side of the obelisk, she saw Blake contemplating the white half of the creature, which now looked much angrier than before, but with no visible signs of damage.
A split second later, the creature lashed out towards her without warning. Yang jumped backwards as fangs snapped inches from her face. Just as quickly as it had happened, the King Taijitu had pulled back the black half of its body, allowing the white head to lash out towards Blake. Luckily, the Faunus girl was prepared and leap lithely backwards.
This thing is fast, Yang thought to herself as she stood slightly further away, crouching down as she watched the creature swing its head smoothly back and forth in front of her. Luckily, since it had wrapped itself around the monument, it would not be able to move any further very easily.
Suddenly the creature's head jerked violently to the side as a blur sped in front of Yang. The creature let out a loud hiss of displeasure as it raised its head high above the girl, a small red gash now visible behind its left eye. Yang smirked.
But Ruby's faster.
"Must we do everything for you?"
Yang's smirk turned into a huge grin as she turned to look at the heiress who had just slid to a stop beside her, arms crossed over her chest in apparent disdain as she flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder.
"Aw, come on Weiss, I know how you are when you rush out for a fight and don't find one!"
"She's gets super cranky!" Ruby answered cheerfully as she appeared beside her girlfriend, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, eliciting a deep blush from the girl.
"Let's just finish this, shall we?" Weiss said in a huff before fixing Yang with a pointed glare. "Why don't you go help your partner over there?"
"Yes, ma'am!" she answered with a fake salute as she skirted around the edge of the creature's striking range to join Blake on the other side of the monument.
"You remember how to do this?" she asked her partner, getting a hesitant nod in response.
"Alright, let's do this!" With that, she reignited her fists as she ran straight towards the white snake's head, watching without fear as the creature bared its long fangs at her. She felt Blake's presence several paces behind her, in perfect position, which was vital as Yang was about to put her life completely in Blake's hands.
Yang jumped directly towards the creature's open mouth as it lunged towards her. At the last possible second, she watched the silky ribbon of Gambol Shroud slide around the bottom half of the snake's mouth. Blake jerked the creature's head down just enough so that Yang would not be impaled on the fangs, but was still able to spin around in the air and grip her hands into the nearly nonexistent slits at the front of its face.
Hanging on for dear life as the snake struggled for several seconds in vain to throw her off, she was finally able to plant one hand firmly enough to hold herself in place. She stole a dangerous glance towards the other half of the creature, making sure that Ruby and Weiss were keeping it occupied enough so that it would not attempt to help its brother out.
As the black snake currently had ice covering its eyes as it blindly lashed out towards where Ruby had been standing seconds earlier, Yang figured that she was currently in the clear.
Using her free arm, she reached down into the snake's mouth, which was still being held half open by the struggling Faunus girl on the ground. Grasping on to one of the creature's fangs with her super-heated hand, she focused all of her available fire into those few appendages. The creature let out a pained hissing sound, beginning its struggle anew as its tooth began to melt away in its own mouth, spraying venom.
Feeling that the tooth was weakened enough, Yang ripped her arm backwards as hard as she could, hearing a satisfying snap and hiss of pain as the snake's fang came away with it. In the next movement, Yang plunged the tooth, dripping in venom, through the top of the creature's own head.
She leapt backwards to the ground as the white head of the King Taijitu came crashing down in front of her. Satisfied, she looked across just in time to see the remaining half of the creature lunge futilely towards Weiss, only to receive the business end of Crescent Rose through the soft underbelly of its throat. She couldn't help snickering at the blatantly lustful way Weiss eyed Ruby as the young girl removed her weapon from the creature.
That's when a cracking sound caught her attention.
"Uh, Yang…" Blake began, pointing towards the source of the noise.
"Oh sh-," she began, before her voice was drowned out by the sound of the base of the monument crumbling where the King Taijitu had crushed the stone during their battle. The four huntresses watched in horror as the obelisk tipped towards one side, before watching it fall away from its base towards the buildings surrounding it.
A horrendously loud smash was heard as the obelisk fell into the building closest to it, shattering the glass in all of the windows on that side of the building and sending bricks crashing to the ground below.
Yang breathed a small sigh of relief as the sculpture came to rest in that location, leaning up against the buildings. She turned to smile at Blake, who nervously returned her smile before fortune turned against the four girls.
The roaring sound of more glass shattering and stone scrapping filled their ears, only to end with a deafening boom as the monument finally lost its battle with gravity, shattering into hundreds of pieces against the ground while sending a massive cloud of dust and debris everywhere. Yang turned to the side and held up a hand to block the dust and rubble from getting into her eyes.
After several seconds of an eerie quiet, Yang cringed as she turned back to take in the extent of the destruction. One side of the Square had been completely destroyed. The remaining three sides were in various states of disarray, most with broken street level windows from the Beowolves.
As Weiss and Ruby joined their teammates in the midst of the rubble, Yang grimaced at the sour look on the heiress' face.
"Well…at least it's dead!" she attempted jovially, a nervous chuckle escaping as she ran a hand through her hair.
Ruby let out a nervous giggle along with her sister. "And I think there's one unbroken window…" They flinched at the sound of more glass breaking in the distance. "Somewhere…"
Weiss let out a giant sigh as she slowly looked around, taking in the wreckage.
"We probably should have handled this differently."