A/N: Some minor tweaks and changes, but nothing too disruptive.

Neither of them could count how many times Yang had visited Ruby since she was first put in the infirmary, but neither of them cared. Yang had agreed to accompany Blake for live practice down in the Emerald Forest, and while her partner had gone on ahead to prepare Yang had stopped by to check on her sister. The younger girl was typically cheerful despite her injury, showing Yang the large amount of drawings she had done while bedridden with an enthusiasm only Nora could match. While Yang was in somewhat of a hurry, she enjoyed seeing Ruby coping well, even if she wasn't very interested in the actual illustrations.

"And this one is of Signal, since it's been a while since I've been there and I was missing it a little, oh! And this is a Beowolf, obviously, but I did an Ursa too, and I think there's a drawing of Beacon somewhere in here, where did I put it?"

"You have been busy!" Yang exclaimed, watching her sister flick through page after page. She slid a serious note into her voice as she spoke, sisterly concern showing through. "You have been resting enough, right?"

Ruby groaned.

"Don't start sounding like dad again..." Yang folded her arms defiantly, puffing up her chest and straightening her back to look as authoritative as possible.

"You know how important it is to keep hydrated, rested and fed. You won't do very well in your classes if you don't get enough sleep!" She tried to keep her voice steady, but couldn't help giggling towards the end of her sentence, sending any seriousness out of the window. Ruby began to laugh with her sister, unable to keep her mouth from bending into a huge smile, snickering at the ridiculousness of Yangs impression.

"But seriously, you will start to fall behind if you don't sleep enough. I know it must be hard not being able to go anywhere or do anything, but you've just gotta be patient." The happy air dissipated as Ruby lowered her head, prompting Yang to lean forward and tap her on the nose playfully, winking as the young girl looked up at her sister. "And make sure it doesn't happen again!"

Yangs brow furrowed for a second, and she leaned forward even closer to whisper something into Rubys ear, cupping her hands to add to the secretive feel she had built up.

Silver eyes widened rapidly in shock, accompanied by a sharp gasp that caused a sly grin to spread across Yangs face as she spoke.

The dormroom door opened quietly and closed in the same way, Weiss was in no mood for anything remotely 'loud' or 'annoying', doing her best to pretend things weren't as hectic as they were outside the relative sanity of the dorm. She had her eyes trained on one of the few books from the library, completely engrossed in the information. So much so that she had time to sit on her bed, unhook Myrtenaster and turn three pages before she noticed the other person in the room. Blake had changed from her uniform into her normal attire in the corner of the room by her bed soundlessly, neatly folding her clothes as she always did and placing them in a pile alongside Yangs untidy mess before safely placing Gambol Shroud on her back, picking up her book and beginning to read.

The heiress watched for a moment in silence, observing her teammate as best she could without making it too obvious, deciding to do a little puzzle-piecing of her own. She was well aware of the confusing mess of ideas and possibilities and facts that surrounded her teammate, but it presented itself as a challenge rather than a discouragement. Blake had her weapon with her and so she was probably going to go somewhere it might be required. She was no longer in her uniform, so she wouldn't be spending any time on Academy grounds and she was alone. She was usually alone, so that may not have much of an impact on anything, but Weiss guessed she was most likely going into one of the forests or down into Vale. After a moment of deliberation, Weiss settled on the former, seeing no reason why Blake would bother heading to the city unless she needed to.

Almost on cue, Yang burst through the door in a big hurry, tearing Weiss's attention back to reality with a startling bang. The blonde scooped up her clothes and dashed into the bathroom in one movement, leaving Weiss recoiling at the surprise and noise of the entrance and Blake completely unfazed. Weiss frowned to herself, questioning how Blake could be so nonchalant about everything. She hadn't moved at all, not even slightly, and yet Weiss almost jumped off the bed completely in surprise. She didn't have much time to think for as soon as her heartbeat returned to normal another sudden movement sent it spiking back up again.

Yang zoomed out of the bathroom, her footsteps thudding against the floor as she cleared the dorm in a few strides, hurling her uniform into the corner with a satisfied grin and sliding her Ember Celicas onto her wrists, a small 'Heh' escaping her mouth while the gauntlets extended in a frenzy of mechanical sounds. As though detecting a silent signal, Blake closed her book and swung her legs off the bed, placed it gently on the bedside table and stood up to meet Yangs gaze head on. She nodded, pivoted on her foot and made for the door wordlessly, holding it open for Blake to leave first. Yang closed it behind her and as Weiss listened to their footsteps fade away she was left wondering just what they were going to be doing. Trying to keep her curiosity under control she quickly returned to her book, but couldn't shake the prospect of following them.

The sun was warm against their backs as they made their way towards the cliffside path, heading towards the Emerald Forest in no particular hurry. They walked side-by-side out of the courtyard and towards the edge of the plateau with neither of them wanting nor needing to say anything. They were content to enjoy the weather and the scenery, as it was only after they had descended and began their journey into the lush growth of the forest that Yang spoke, subconsciously raising her guard now they were in dangerous territory.

"So, why are we here exactly?" She asked, scanning the vegetation to her left for any signs of movement.

"Mostly to get some combat practice." Blake replied simply, keeping her eyes trained forward as she watched the area ahead.

"And?" Yang queried, picking up on Blakes choice of words. She listened to the soft scrunching of the grass beneath her boots as she walked, glad to be outside in the fresh air. The Academy wasn't a bad place to be, but she much preferred the open spaces and beautiful scenery of nature to the cramped corridors and stuffy classrooms of Beacon.

"And to keep the population in check." Came the next answer.

This was routine by now. There would be at least two teams every day spending several hours in the Emerald Forest to maintain the Grimm population at a safe level. While there weren't any schedules on this practice per se, all four members of RWBY knew that the two days they were to participate were Saturdays and Sundays. It was neither of those today, but Blake didn't feel like hacking at a lifeless dummy for hours on end. She wanted to fight against something that could very well kill her back, as she had learned from experience that the only real way to improve is to put your life on the line.

'Of course, venting some frustrations on these Grimm won't hurt...'

"So, Ursa or Beowolves?" Yang asked, the happy chime in her voice lending to the suggestion she was picking a toy for a child, such was her delight at being able to do some real damage.

"Ursa."

Blake said nothing else, causing Yang to whistle idly to herself in boredom, no particular tune, just noise. Yang had never bothered to learn any musical talents bar the singing she used to do for Ruby, and even that was improvised. She had never taken a singing lesson in her life and she was happy with that, as long as Ruby enjoyed it that was all that mattered. She wanted to reminisce, but she knew that now was not the time nor the place and so it would have to wait until later.

Happily for her, Blake flung an arm out to halt Yang in her tracks, feeling her stomach brush against her partners fingers. It tickled slightly, Blakes hands were soft to the touch, leaving Yang with a warm feeling that spread from her stomach throughout her whole body. She turned to look at Blake, knowing immediately what had caused the pause. She listened, catching the unmistakable rustling and grunting of a large creature, too big to be a Beowolf and too small to be a Deathstalker. There was an Ursa directly ahead of them, unaware of their presence.

Blake shared one glance with her partner and made her move, darting into the treetops before Yang could even lift a finger to protest. She pouted to herself and folded her arms in acceptance, Blake would get this kill. She decided to watch instead, sneaking as quietly as she could in a clockwise motion while she kept her eyes trained on the bushes ahead. A minute or so later and she was in position, crouched between two tree-trunks with her body behind one and her head peeking out from behind the trunk. She could see the Grimm clearly, holding its head centimetres from the forest floor and sniffing continuously. Blake was nowhere to be seen, and it looked like the Ursa was alone.

Yang breathed calmly, letting it out slowly and quietly, mindful of any noise she would make. She had no idea where her partner was, the trees gave no hints to the amber eyes. She knew that Blake was here, just not where, the other girls gift of stealth making her all but invisible even to someone like Yang. While she was by no means a detective, her reflexes and such in general were far beyond the average person, but still she had no clue as to Blakes whereabouts.

The answer came a second later in the guise of a startled snort from the Ursa in time with the familiar sound of slicing flesh followed by a heavy whump. Just like that, it was over. Blake stood over the corpse, staring down into the soulless, lifeless eyes with an expression Yang couldn't quite pinpoint. She broke her gaze upon catching the flash of brown and yellow emerge from the bushes and her face changed, a slight smile painted across her lips to which Yang returned. She admired Blakes speed and efficiency, and quietly feared ever having to fight her partner for whatever reason.

Not that she would ever tell anyone that fact of course, she had never been scared of any opponent before and she was content to keep people thinking that was the case.

The duo stood over the smouldering corpse in silence, watching the black wisps of smoke rise from the slate-coloured fur and bony spines. Yang had always wondered just what Grimm were really made of, seeing as they didn't behave in death like anything else. She shrugged, turning to follow her teammate deeper into the forest. Once again they walked in silence, only broken by the occasional gust of wind blowing through the canopy or the shrill cawing of crows. Again Yang was the first to speak, though she wasn't sure if Blake had even heard her as her partner didn't acknowledge the question.

"So where do you think the other one was?"

The answer came before either of them could speak, a hulking black beast that barreled out of the plants to their right with thick, muscular arms outstretched and claws ready to dig into flesh. A frenzied roar rang through the air, sending birds flying in every direction. Blake evaded the strike first, throwing her hands behind her head and kicking upwards, landing neatly on her palms and letting her momentum swing her back onto her feet in time to see Yang dive into a roll in the opposite direction, spinning around to face the Ursa with a speed that didn't suit her appearance. The bear slid across the earth, digging its claws into the soil for grip. Blake saw the back legs tense as it leapt into another attack. She flinched slightly at the dual-click that signalled the hit that was about to come.

A flash of fiery red streaked through the air on impact, sending the Ursa hurtling backwards past Blake into one of the tree-trunks. It fell onto its feet and charged again, seemingly unfazed by the hit and leaving the tree bent beyond repair. Yang still held her fist outstretched as she pulled back her other arm in preparation, counting the seconds in her head until the last possible second to attack. She timed the numbers with her heartbeat, slamming a fist directly into the Grimms shoulder and discharging a round as she did so. It fell backwards again, rolling several times across the floor until the momentum ran out, a broken snarl escaping from its jaws. It repeated the action again, hurtling forwards in a complete disregard for everything else.

Yang had had enough.

She lowered her body so much so that Blake could see the muscles stiffen in her legs, feet planted firmly into the ground. The Ursa neared again but instead of a hook to the chest Yang nimbly leapt aside, powering her clenched hand downwards at the precise moment the head of the Grimm passed her by. She fired in time, sending the brunt of the impact directly onto the Ursas skull, its roar of anger rapidly dissolving into a death gurgle while the body rebounded off the grass, settling for the second and final time. Blake was in quiet awe while Yang basked in quiet self-confidence. Blake made her way over to her partner, glancing between her and the dead Grimm lying at her feet. Yang wasn't even out of breath.

Her serious demeanour was swept aside by another grin and a head-tilt, leaving Blake in no doubt of Yangs agility and raw power. She didn't enjoy the thought of battling her partner in any form, the idea of being pummelled by those incredibly strong arms was not one that Blake appreciated having. She just hoped that if worse came to worse, her natural speed would be enough to keep out of the reach of those deadly fists.

They spent the next hour wandering the forest, dispatching any and all Grimm they came across. After the initial surprise of the first encounter they had both settled into the caution a place like this demanded and as such were prepared for the lurking Beowolves that interrupted their Ursii hunting sessions, dealing with each member of the pack swiftly in two very different ways. Yang almost treated it as a game, laughing to herself as she delivered bone-shattering blows to the creatures limbs. Blake almost felt sorry for them, but she felt no remorse when dealing with them herself. She kept her anger bottled inside and only let it out through means such as this where it was sufficiently disguised. Nobody else had any idea how violent she was feeling, except one person.

Yang sat on the rock opposite Blake, swinging her legs against the stone with her arms held behind her back to support her body. The clearing was tiny, but there was enough space above to let the sunlight filter down onto the pair, much to Yangs delight. Blake sat quietly, checking her weapons for any faults or inconsistencies that may cause problems later. She glanced up at the sky, noting the tiny tinge of yellow that crept above the canopy. It was getting late, and they should start heading back soon. Sheathing Gambol Shroud, she looked over to her partner and spoke calmly.

"I think we should go back."

Yang turned to look at her, her own voice filled with contentment.

"Alright, d'you want to do any hunting on the way?"

Blake shook her head.

"Not on purpose."

Yang sprang off her seat as Blake dismounted in a much more subtle fashion, turning to walk at a brisk pace back towards the Academy with her partner in tow. It had been an eventful day, but right now she was satisfied with her work both physically and mentally. Sooner or later she would tell Yang of her plans, but for now she decided that the fiery girl had enough to worry about as it is.

Blake could wait.