The sky paled above their heads as they walked, though neither of them paid it much heed. They were far too busy immersed in their thoughts to care about the time, Yang didn't even know if they were heading in the right direction, instead putting all her trust into her partner knowing the way back and blindly following her instead. Blake walked in silence, one eye on the area around them and one focused on the path they were taking, ever cautious of any and all enemies they could come across at any minute. Time was not on their side and as such Blake began to pick up her pace, forcing Yang to concentrate less on her thinking and more on keeping up.
The scrunching beneath their feet accompanied the wind that rose in severity to rush through the canopy, dislodging loose leaves that clung onto the branches of damaged trees in a desperate bid for survival. The grass that usually carpeted the forest floor was instead covered in a sea of leaves, and while Yang paid no attention Blake knew full well that they were re-tracing the path they had taken the last time they were down here, only in the opposite direction. She saw the scars raking across bark, telling of a forceful impact with something very heavy that bent the wood into unnaturally twisted shapes.
They had been moving for at least an hour since turning back, and spent a further two out in the Emerald Forest slaying any Grimm they came across. Blake felt the first twinges of fatigue in her muscles, but considering how much effort she had used today she deemed herself lucky. Meanwhile, Yang showed no signs of tiring at all, striding between the trees as though they had only just entered the area. Blake glanced over at her partner in the corner of her eye, watching Yang swing her arms in time with her legs, all the while with the customary happy smile on her face.
That smile morphed into a look of mild curiosity upon noticing Blake had stopped. Yang whirled around, taking three steps back the way they had came to meet with Blake, kneeling beside something on the ground, with her expression serious. Yang stood over her partner and registered what she was seeing, her mouth automatically taking the shape of an 'O' at the realization.
The soil had been violently churned upwards, kicking grass backwards as the freshly fallen leaves peppered the indentation with spots of green. Blake traced her hand along the outline of three slender triangular shapes, meeting together at the rear in a semi-circle. She looked up at Yang, speaking what they were both thinking.
"Footprint." It was easily as long as Blake was tall, something that could only confirm their suspicions.
"From what I think it's from?" Yang asked, pointing at the mark in the earth. Blake nodded.
"Yes. I don't recall seeing any more of these while we were out here, so it seems we've stumbled onto the trail it took while chasing us." She rose, turning her head to gesture at the damaged trees that surrounded them. Yang followed her gaze and rested her hands on her hips as she turned a full circle to take it all in.
"Well, isn't that a trail of destruction?" It was a rhetorical question, but Blake couldn't help to smile at the lightheartedness with which it was spoke.
"We should keep moving." Blake replied, acknowledging Yangs nod and stepping over the edge of the print. This at least meant they were heading in the right direction, and all they had to do was follow the devastation until they saw the steep stone face rising above the trees. Simple.
Blue faded to yellow as time passed, with Blake noticing the light levels starting to drop ever so slightly. She guessed it was early evening by now, and considering how much she knew Yang cared for her sister particularly now, she also guessed that her partner would be itching to get back to Ruby. Because of this, her pace quickened even more to a power-walk that caused Yang to half walk and half jog beside her to keep up. The blonde said nothing but kept her eyes wide for any hostiles just in case, it hadn't occurred to her until now just how little Grimm they had seen since turning around. Sure they were following the same path they had cleared before, but despite that she expected at least one new encounter to occur, but instead there was nothing.
It seemed that if there were a higher power at work it had been listening to her mind, as they pushed their way through some dense ferns they found themselves halting abruptly and stumbling backwards in surprise, holding whatever material they could grab onto over their noses. The vile stench of decay washed over them in waves, pulsing from the stone coloured...thing that was lying before them. It was very large, with ridges overlapping eachother in what appeared to be armour plating. Blake managed to pick out faint red markings adorning their surfaces below the claw marks that tore into the bony plates between clumps of moss, while Yang gasped at the sight before her, sharing a startled glance with her partner.
It was a corpse.
Now that they had gotten past the initial shock and began looking with a mindset of interest, they could see three jointed legs rising out of the bodies side and a jagged stump where a fourth had presumably been before it was ripped off. They circled the scene slowly, taking in the cracked 'skull' that held ten lifeless eyes, stained with a deep crimson that they could only assume was blood. Yang spent several minutes trying to make heads or tails of the mess at one end of the body. The plates ran all the way from the creatures head to the tip of its tail, but they ended suddenly in a large circular wound where she presumed the tip had been bitten off. The two of them gazed at the corpse for what felt like hours, until finally one of them broke the trance.
Yang folded her arms, mind racing. It was eerily awe-inspiring to see a Deathstalker destroyed in this way, but at the same time she felt the sensation of dread at the consequences of the sight. Something had tore this Grimm apart quite literally and she had a pretty good idea what had done it. She shared worried looks with Blake, too stunned to speak. All she could manage were a few stuttered sounds, prompting Blake to take the reins and steer them in the right direction.
"There's no sense in staying here any longer. We have to get back and it's already getting dark. We'll bring Ruby and Weiss down here as soon as she's healed and until then, we speak of this to no-one." Yang sent her a quizzical stare, questioning the reasons behind Blakes desire to keep the discovery hidden from other people.
"Shouldn't we tell Ozpin about this?" She started, motioning with her hands. Blake cut her off abruptly, turning her back to the grim display of death and walking back into the trees in silence, leaving Yang to take one final look at the corpse, shake the shivers out of her body and follow her partner.
While Blake did not know enough to say for certain, some things were clear. Of everything that happened one thing kept coming back no matter what happened. She had felt it on the journey, she had felt it during the encounter, she had felt it while she was breaking into Ozpins office and she had certainly felt it upon discovering the butchered carcass of the Deathstalker. It didn't sit well with her at all, but she had no doubts about the validity of her conclusions. All that remained was confirmation, something that felt needed now more than ever. Yang had to know about this, but as Blake had reminded herself so many times before - she has enough to worry about already. Weiss knew half of the story, and Blake felt sure that Ruby would be piecing things together in her own way, but as much as keeping her partner in the dark pained her she couldn't find a way to tell Yang exactly what was going on that wouldn't end in disaster.
On the other end of the scale, Yang spent the remainder of the journey in deep contemplation - a rare thing for her to be doing. Sure, the corpse was fascinating and undeniably cool and the things it meant were unquestionably dangerous and very bad, but that all seemed to be secondary to the main focus. At first Yang was going on the basis that the focus was this creature, but as time passed by and she spent more and more time actively thinking it became increasingly clear that the heart of all this was not that which was obvious at all.
It was Blake.
Blake was the one who had reacted extremely at the sight, Blake was the one who had Yang worried sick to her stomach in the infirmary, Blake was the one who refused to give any ground to the headmaster when she was challenged, Blake was the one who opened her heart to reveal the suffering she endured all her life, and Blake was the one who adamantly rejected the suggestion of telling Professor Ozpin of anything. It was all Blake. The creature was merely the trigger, a thought that disturbed Yang more than she could've liked. She couldn't shake the feeling that not everything was as it seemed, and after the confusing mess of events she only felt that even more.
So much had happened that she found it difficult to get her head around, Ruby had been severely injured and was currently bedridden, their ordinary school lives had been turned upside down in the course of a day and the bonds that she shared with each of her teammates seemed to have grown tenfold over the course of less than a week. Of course Yang was close with her sister, and while she and Weiss had never really shared any connection beyond team ties she felt that even the heiress was more complex than meets the eye. But that was nothing compared to Blake, the frightened, troubled girl that Yang had the fortune to be partners with. Blake was not an easy person to be friends with, and an even harder one to be close to but Yang felt that she was doing that more and more with every passing day.
They stopped being acquaintances and started being friends.
The cliff-face rose above them like a sheer wall, contrasting against the rapidly darkening sky. Blake led the duo up the path in silence, placing her feet carefully but quickly, something that Yang was forced to copy as they scaled the path. The wind had increased twofold, blowing across the grounds in bursts that forced Yang to squint. She was grateful when they entered the Academy building, noting that there were no students left outside or inside. They were alone as they walked through the halls back towards their dorm, having entered through the easternmost doorway.
The footsteps bounced off the walls, entering Yangs ears multiple times. And then they stopped, with Yang instinctively matching her partners actions to freeze mid-stride. Blake had her back to the wall and her head pointing in the direction of a corner that Yang couldn't see behind. She was about to ask the cause of the pause, but caught the sound of voices echoing down towards her. She couldn't make out any words and guessed that the owners were at the far end of the corridor, but was beaten to checking by Blake.
One amber eye peered around the corner, immediately adjusting to the lack of light in her view. There was only a single dull glow emanating from one of the farthest doors where two men stood, one of which she recognised instantly. Silver hair and green clothes with a steaming cup in one hand and a cane in the other, Professor Ozpin was talking to someone else, shrouded in shadow. She was only able to glimpse as the headmaster gestured with one hand towards the door, prompting his company to move out of sight in one clean movement. Professor Ozpin followed, and as Blake heard the faint 'click' of a door closing she was startled by the voice behind her.
"Who was'at?" Yang asked in a barely hushed whisper, leaning almost horizontally out from the corner as she balanced on one leg.
"It was Professor Ozpin and someone else, but I don't know who." Blake replied, well aware of the lie she was telling. The tap of a foot hitting the floor sounded behind her and she turned, watching Yang watch her. The two stared at one-another in silence, with Blake rapidly feeling uncomfortable with the situation.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. Anyway. To the dorm?" Another rhetorical question, and while Yang marched off down the hallway Blake was left to nod once before gathering herself and taking off after her partner, hoping as much as she could that she hadn't raised any suspicions.
Another familiar sound reached her ears a few minutes later, and as she closed the dorm door behind her she heard the characteristic 'whump' of boots being kicked off carelessly, followed by another thud as they almost hit something and the beginnings of an impromptu scolding by the other occupant of the room. Weiss's voice cut through Blakes thoughts like a knife, leaving her with two squabbling teammates and a third in the infirmary. She took her usual spot on her bed with a sigh, picking up her book and starting to read in an attempt to block the verbal battle that was beginning to rage around her out.
It was going to be a long night.
Ruby sat in a stillness that slightly unnerved her despite knowing that she was being quiet for a reason. Her mind was whirring, and she was well aware of the weight her decision carried. She had spent the past few hours debating with herself but knew that her mind had been made up, knowing full well that her choice was not going to be taken lightly by anyone. Despite this, she felt it was right thing to do and so she would do it. There was no turning back now, all that was left for her to do was relay her decision and await instructions.
She sighed, sinking into her pillow. She was hoping that Yang would visit once more before the night arrived, but it didn't look like that was going to be the case. Pouting slightly in disappointment she reached for her scroll, tapping the surface multiple times to bring up her Messages screen. She paused for a second, considering her actions and nodded to herself, rapidly pressing buttons as she typed out a message with fingers that danced.
"And...send."