AN: Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction, and I will try and update it weekly. Reviews and Favs/Follows are always welcome, and if you spot any mistakes or wanna talk, feel free to shoot me a message. Special thanks to Niko for beta reading and helping me spot any errors and stuff. Nikos tumblr: queerassholeunderthemisletoe .com My tumblr: will-you-bumbleby-mine .com

Yangs breathing was laboured, and she could hear from her side that her raven-haired partner Blake was faring no better on the exhaustion front. The blonde brawler had been fighting waves of White Fang soldiers for what felt like hours with Blake. She knew that they had to keep the force distracted whilst Weiss was retrieving Ruby from the large concrete bunker they stood in front of, where the red-themed girl was being held. Blake rushed forward to fight the last few White Fang goons that stood in a semi circle around the bunkers entrance and then Yang saw Adam stood behind where his henchmen had been a moment ago. "Found you." she muttered to herself through gritted teeth. Adam had retreated briefly and the pair of huntresses had lost visuals on the Faunus man for a short time. The brawler was glad to have him back in her sights, knowing just how deadly the faunus mans sword was. Yang knew that the new improved version of Blush that sat on Adams hip was dangerous, and not just because of its lethally talented owner, but because of how Cinder had developed the technology to make it leech off of Adams opponents auras, draining them and, in turn, strengthening the blows it could deal out itself.

Yang knew that if they were to win, she needed to remove Adam and his damned weapon from the fight. She could see that Blake was struggling now to keep fighting the Fangs goons, her shadow clones were becoming more and more permeable, and some started to flicker away the very moment Blake summoned them. Yang briefly checked her scroll out of her periphery, whilst keeping one eye on Adams masked smirking face. Blake's aura was in the red, as low as the captured Ruby's. Weiss was fine, which made Yang breathe a small sigh of relief, glad that she had obviously not been stopped in her battle to save Ruby. Yangs own aura was down, not so far as Blake's, but still not at a comfortable level for ending a fight with a master swordsman and his demon of a weapon. The huntress had been saving the full use of her semblance, hoping to not need to burn herself out but now fearing that she had no choice. If she didn't kill Adam soon, Team RWBY may lose a few letters.

Yang cocked her gauntlets and took up position, fists up, right foot forward, wide set stance. She stared at the red slits in Adams mask, unable to make actual eye contact. The faunus in question simply drew his sword and beckoned for her to come forward, a confident smile tugging at his lips. Yang sprung forward, pointing her fists behind her briefly to use her gauntlets recoil to push her faster, before bringing one fist back to guard, and pulling the other one back for a hard blow. She put as much strength into this punch as she could, desperate for a killing blow, desperate to save her team. A few feet before Yang would hit Adam, she saw his smile widen and he lifted his hand, which looked to hold a small black box. In that instant, Ruby appeared in front of Adam, bloodied and bruised, with one eye scorched out by the nefarious Cinder Fall's incessant torture. The sudden image startled Yang so violently that she lost her concentration, and she could only watch as Adams sword and then, more freakishly, his whole arm moved through Ruby to bat aside Yangs blow. By the time she realised that her sisters image was only a detailed illusion, a hologram, it was too late, with her forward momentum too strong to stop, and Adams dirty trick along with the redirection of her blow, she found her fist going right around and to her side, the side where she knew Blake was stood, finishing off the last White Fang soldier in the clearing in front of the bunker. Time slowed torturously for Yang, and she watched as Blake pulled her weapon, Gambol Shroud, from the chest of the final henchman and began to turn to Yang. Blake had nanoseconds to register the danger she was in and it was clear she had no time to evade. Blake had faster reactions than anybody else Yang knew, but not even she could lift her blade fully to try and block the brawlers supersonic punch. Yang registered the shock in Blake's eyes, which she was sure was mirrored in her own red irises, as Ember Celica connected with the cat faunus's wrist, and passed on all the force of the explosive round, and Yangs aura, that the blond had meant for Adam.

The crunch of Blake's bones was sickening. After fighting for so long, what little aura the faunus girl had had left was shattered by her partners punch. The shock wave travelled up and down her arm, tearing apart the bones in her hand, and completely mangling her forearm. As time resumed its normal pace, Yang saw Blake fly back from the hit, and land on the other side of the dead soldiers she had just defeated, near the edge of the clearing. Yang roared in anger and sadness as her momentum pulled her around to face Adam again. The masked mans smile was twisted and mocking, and when Yang shot out her hands to grab his sword, she saw his face switch to confusion so quickly it would have almost been comical, if it wasn't for the circumstances. Now no thoughts entered Yangs mind as her semblance hit new, unchartered heights, completely eradicating any emotion but rage as her body burned white hot. If she had been aware of what was going on, she would have felt it as her own fire became hot enough to burn two long streaks down her back, that reached out from either side of her spine near her shoulder blades. Adam was startled to say the least, his constant mockingly calm façade having fallen entirely, as he watched Yang grip the blade, even as it cut deep into her fingers, staining the steel with crimson. He looked from his sword, up to Yangs eyes, and found that they had turned such a deep red that they were almost black, and he was reminded of the colour of bad blood in an old wound. Yangs voice was almost not her own when she spoke, it rumbled through Adams body like the roar of an angry dragon. "Your weapons power may be based off of my semblance," Yang growled, referencing her ability to absorb and use the power of peoples hits against them "but it will never be strong enough to beat me." As she finished her sentence, Adam saw the white fire that surrounded Yang being directed into the metal of Blush as it tried to leech her aura, and he started to smile at her foolishness in gripping the blade before he saw cracks appearing in the sword, going out from Yangs hands as she completely overloaded it with her fiery aura. After a moment of this, Blush shattered, in a loud explosion that shot shards of steel at both Adam and Yang. The pieces that came near Yang disintegrated on contact with her fire, but the aura charged shards that hit Adam pierced straight through his body with horrifying speed. Adam lifted a hand to his stomach, where he felt one of the new holes in his body begin to leak blood. Yang, or rather the burning demon who stood as Yang, saw Adam distracted by his injuries, and did not hesitate to cock back her fist, and slam it, will all her fire, and her explosive rounds, into Adams face. Yangs blood spattered skin began to cool as her semblance dissipated almost immediately, and she spared no glance at Adam on the ground before running over to Blake's prone body. She knew he wouldn't be getting up ever again, as sure as she knew that she had mere moments before she blacked out from the overuse of her semblance.

Yang knelt beside Blake's body, assessing the damage as best she could in her exhausted state. Splinters of bone had torn apart tendon and muscle alike and Blake's usually alabaster skin was sticky and red with blood, blood that Yang realised was flowing far too fast. Yangs punch had caused the shards of bone to tear through the main arteries in Blake's arm, and the faunus was fading fast. Yang began calling for her, crying out for her. "Stay, stay please" Her forlorn pleadings were like the whines of a wounded animal "I'll do anything, just please, don't go, Blake don't leave me." Yangs vision began fading, and even as her heart screamed at her to stay awake, stay with her partner, the fog of her exhausted soul rolled over her. And as she fell next to the body of her severely wounded friend, the last thing she saw was a blurred streak of white.

"Yang!" The blondes eyes snapped open as she felt someone shake her and she shot into a sitting position, breathing erratically, trying desperately to calm down as she grasped at her sheets in the dark. She hadn't even noticed who had called her name until she noticed the soft reassuring touch of her partner on her arm. Slowly, Yang looked over at Blake, seeing in the slither of moonlight coming through the curtains that she had climbed silently onto the brawlers bed to comfort her. "Yang it's alright, you need to take a few deep breaths." Blake told her, as she ran her thumb comfortingly over the warm, soft skin of Yangs forearm, her own cold fingers briefly causing yang to start. After a few moments of concentration, Yang had managed to return her breathing to something vaguely resembling a normal speed and she gave a sad smile of thanks to Blake, not looking at the warm, almost luminescent eyes of her partner in the dark, only at the covers of her bunk. Blake, as expected, noticed the lack of eye contact and merely sighed, moving her hand so she could gently hold Yangs. Blake did not like to see her friend so upset, especially when she knew that Yang was beating herself up over something that Blake did not blame her for.

"Yang," the girl in question finally looked Blake in the eye, lilac meeting amber "would you like me to get you a spare pillowcase?" Blake's question was quiet, knowing that it was still the early hours of the morning, and that even though Ruby and Weiss had spent the night away together at some uptight social event (how Ruby put up with them was beyond Blake), the dorm walls were annoyingly thin, and no one wished to invoke the wrath of an untimely awoken Nora. Not after last time."What?" Blakes night vision allowed her to see Yangs eyebrows crinkled in befuddlement as she spoke the word. Blake simply pointed at the head of Yangs bed, gesturing for Yang to look, forgetting that the brawler might not be able to see her actions. Yang reached behind to grab the pillow to look at but was surprised when she did not feel the soft down she expected, and when she picked it up and held it so the soft moonlight hit it she saw that it was now probably about seventy percent scorch marks and ash. "Woah," Yang muttered sheepishly before turning back to Blake's watchful gaze "so uh I guess you won't believe me if I tell you I slept fine?" Blake's eyes narrowed slightly and she huffed quietly, ignoring Yangs attempt to lighten the mood. "You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened." Blake's voice was calm and quiet as she spoke to Yang who simply looked away, again refusing to meet Blake's expectant gaze, suddenly finding her duvet very interesting. "How did you know?" Yangs voice was so soft and unhappy that Blake's gaze immediately softened, her heart clenching as she gave her partners hand another reassuring squeeze. She knew how Yang hated to be seen when she felt weak, she knew how this kindhearted, self sacrificing girl would feel like she was letting Blake down by being upset. Thinking about these things made Blake decide not to tell Yang that she'd heard the blonde quietly but fervently calling her name during her nightmare, instead choosing a safer option, less likely to make Yang feel even weaker. "We all have dreams about that day." She explained softly, not exactly lying. Yang simply nodded, too tired from her nightmare to sense anything off about Blake's answer. The raven haired girl suddenly jumped down from Yangs bunk, surprising the blonde, who was still occasionally startled by Blake's silent movement, even after four years. The blonde had to admit she was a little impressed that Blakes stealth had not been affected by the loss of her arm, but before she could let that thought snowball into something painful, she decided to stop thinking about the lost appendage. Yang only had to distract herself for a moment before Blake appeared to materialise in the darkness in front of Yang, holding a pillow out towards her with her one good arm. "Here, have mine," Blake whispered "I can sleep with just one." Yang reached out and gratefully took the pillow, throwing the scorched one onto the floor below the beds, and put on top of her other, untouched, bottom pillow. "Thanks Blake." Yang smiled at where she saw the dark shadow that was Blake, knowing that the cat Faunus would see the smile just fine, even with such a small amount of light.

Blake was about to quietly get back into her bunk, more than ready to try and stave off the unseasonably chilly night with plenty of blankets, when Yang grabbed her hand. "Wait!" Yang said softly, "You're cold." Blake could see Yang look at where she held the girls hand, before she felt the blonde gently pull Blake towards her. "Stay with me please? I can keep you warm, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep again if I'm alone tonight." Yangs pleading was so heartbroken that Blake felt empathy cut her deep like a knife, and she only took a split second to crawl into the small bed beside Yang and curl up on her side. The warmth of her partners aura immediately penetrated deep into Blakes cold bones, and the Faunus had to suppress a small purr escaping her chest. Yang settled next to her, facing her, still not letting go of Blake's hand as the dark haired girl slowly let her body relax. She saw Yangs lilac eyes drift closed after a few minutes and not long after that, the soft sleepy breathing coming from her partner lulled the faunus off to sleep as well.