Blake laid there, her head in Yang's lap still, but her ears twitched as she looked out across the room. This had been her hideout spot for the past few weeks, it was odd to think that the brawler was right there with her in that very room now, considering what had happened.

The Faunus thought about that fateful night. Adam, in that stupid Grimm mask, stood over her with malice and dark humor seething from his voice.

"And as I go about delivering the justice that man-kind deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."

A sound that would usually bring sweet joy to Blake's ear caused her blood to run still. Her eyes betrayed her in front of her former mate, who looked over at the golden locks that fought the White Fang. Adam has a keen sense, especially with Blake. He had a tiny inkling as to what this despicable blond human meant to Blake.

"Starting with her." He smirked as Moonslice was buried into her stomach, Blake let out an awful cry and she knew her lover well enough to know what her next move was.

Eyes that were more suitable for mirth began to burn, "Get away from her!"

"No… Please…" Blake begged, her voice weak… she had to warn her, she was not a match for him at the moment, his Semblance…

The sound of Moonslice being sheathed was enough to cause Blake's eyes to widen in panic.

The familiar smell of used Dust powder filled the air, Yang's eyes and hair were set ablaze, enraged at the sight as her body went flying towards Adam.

"No." She whimpered at the sight. Memories of Yang's strong embrace flashed before her eyes. How the fighter would use her right hand to tilt her chin up for a kiss. The feel of her muscular arm as the Faunus would run her fingers along its length. Her strong brawler lay limp in a heap. Her arm… her strength… it was gone.

Blake finally snapped from her stupor, 'She's going to die.' She shielded the unconscious fighter best she could as Adam's towering form scared her.

"Why must you hurt me?"

"Let's talk." Blake tried lifting her arm to push herself off, but the sharp pain from the gash on her right arm stung.

"Stay there." Yang commanded, she had her scroll out as it still had some practical uses left. "Your aura is still low."

"I'll be fine." Blake tried once more and with great difficulty to push herself up.

"You can't even take care of yourself in your current state." Yang placed a hand on the Faunus' shoulder, "Listen to me."

Midnight hair shifted as she felt the weight of the prosthetic limb on her shoulder. The limb itself was made out of a strong alloy and had gleamed silver in the moonlight vice the regular orange color scheme that was Ember Celica on her left. The pieces themselves were robust, but definitely not as comparable to what Atlas could produce.

"It's still a work in progress, me and dad only tinkered around with it for a day. This is just stuff that he was able to get from Signal." Lilac eyes caught sight of amber eyes staring at her new limb, "I can't do nimble things with it like writing, eating with utensils, or playing video games… the stuff at Signal was limited, I'm going to need to go to Atlas to get a fully functional cybernetic arm, although that one is gong to require some surgery to attach it. This one relies on Dust to function."

A tear threatened to fall from Blake's eyes, "I'm sorry," Her voice betrayed her as it came out as a sob.

Yang remained silent, her prosthetic hand still on Blake's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry-"

"Why did you run?"

It was Blake's turn to adopt the silence.

"If you're truly sorry, then you'll tell me why." A hint of constraint was in her voice, Yang was succeeding at keeping her anger at bay. Her anger, especially after being able to blow off some steam via Grimm hunting, had become more manageable than before when she was at Patch. 'I work better this way, anyway.' The silence still lingered as she awaited Blake's response.

"I… I was scared." The quiet voice let out into the night.

"So you decided to turn tail and leave me behind?" Yang's eye twitched slightly, "Why didn't you stay and tell me after I had woken up?"

"I don't know…. I mean I do, but I just…" Words couldn't seem to form in Blake's mind, which was ironic to her because of her love of books.

The prosthetic hand's grip had tightened, Blake winced at that and Yang was quick to notice and let go. "Sorry… like I said, my right hand isn't so nimble."

"It's okay." Blake let out.

Silence ensued once more.

"Do you know how shitty it felt?" Yang tried once again, her voice low as she took a deep breathe in, "To have Sun, of all people, tell me," She emphasized that part, it was no secret that the brawler harbored some feelings of jealousy towards him. "To have him tell me that you ran off. "

"I just…" Blake trailed off once more as words failed her.

"Just what? Why did you run? I didn't do a damn thing to you, I was there for you Blake!" Yang went through the scene in her head once more, "I was there for you when you had given up on yourself!" Fury began to cloud her mind; she couldn't understand why her partner had just laid there before that conniving vicious bastard with the stupid hair. Her partner might as well have been served up on a silver platter for him. "Why didn't you run when you had a chance? Why did you just give up? Why?!" Blond hair began to glow as her eyes took on a familiar shade of crimson. The memory of seeing her being stabbed played in her mind's eye.

"Because," Blake started as she, with great difficulty, pushed herself off of Yang's lap, "I'm not strong enough… I'm not strong enough to protect you." A sizeable lump had begun to form in the Faunus' throat, "I wasn't strong enough to fight back against Adam…" She took a deep breath to steady herself, the pain radiated throughout her body from her Aura deficiency. Blake Belladonna struggled to remain upright before Yang Xiao Long; a hard look on both their faces.

A hand whose warmth she felt to her soul steadied her, those lilac eyes looked at her steadily as their red hue dissipated from the sight of her. Once again, Yang's temper kept at bay from the sight of the cat Faunus.

A tear fell down her cheek, Blake hadn't even notice her face heat up or eyes begin to swell. "He…He said he w-was going to…" Her voice trailed off as it cracked under the weight of her words. Another deep breathe. "Adam said he would kill everything I love." A whisper managed in between the silent sobs, "I-I don't want…"

A flash of the brawler lying prone, her Semblance cauterizing what was left of the arm.

"…I don't want to see you die." Tears rolled down the Faunus' face. Yang's face scrunched at the sight, without a moment more of hesitation she threw her arms around Blake. "I-I thought if I left, if I wasn't around you… I thought he wouldn't be able to hurt you, or Weiss, or Ruby, or… or…" Her voice failed.

The scent of wild flowers and used Dust powder over whelmed her.

"I'm not completely defenseless." Yang managed, blossoms covered in dew surrounded her, and the more she inhaled the scent the more peaceful she felt. The more she was with Blake, the more she felt like her regular self. "A-dumb," the brawler stressed with a cheeky grin, "just caught me off guard."

The brawler supported the weight of the Faunus as she cried into her neck, "I'm sorry." Blake managed a weak smile at the ill-timed pun, "I can't forgive myself for what happened… If only I hadn't done all those things for the White Fang… For Adam…"

"You say that name one more time, and we're gonna have a problem." Yang was quick to pull back, a look of knowing on her face, "I don't care." Determined lilac eyes stared into unsure ones, "I don't give a damn about what happened between you and that guy. It's in the past now. He's in your past now and you need to stop running away from it. You need to keep focusing on what's in front of you." A gentle hand caressed Blake's head, "Focus on me. You'll be fine."

"But what about you? Who's going to protect you?" Puffy eyes were downcast.

Yang smiled, as if the answer was obvious all along. "We're going to protect each other." She leaned her forehead against the Faunus, "Together."

Blake closed her eyes, the let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding on to, the once distraught girl nodded her head before her self-assured partner.

"Okay." A small smile made it's way to Blake's lips.

"Stop running, okay?" Yang looked at her with a pleading gaze, "Don't run from the people who care about you."

Another silent nod, Blake struggled to push herself off of the brawler and into a more comfortable position.

"Hold on." Yang gently held up the Faunus and helped to lay her on top of the sleeping bag that Blake had set up in the room. "Better?"

"Yea," Blake winced as she repositioned her right arm, the gash stung.

"You need to rest, focus on recovering your Aura so that your wound could heal up more." Yang observed her partner's status on the Scroll.

"Thanks." The katana wielder let out, "You've got a knack for bringing me to my senses… Despite your streak of absolute nonsense." She was referring to Yang's unpredictable behavior and impulses when it came to certain things.

"Someone has to." Yang flashed a smile as she sat on the ground next to her partner, she looked at the space next to her.

Blake already knew what she was thinking as she scooted over on the sleeping bag, "Keep me warm already."

The brawler nodded in compliance as she found her place next to the katana wielder. "I can do that."

"Good, it's been getting cold lately." Blake let out simply while staring into those lilac eyes that seemed to drown her in joy and happiness. "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that, I'm getting tired of hearing it." Yang let out with a playful tone, "If you're really sorry, you'll get some sleep."

Blake nodded as she closed her eyes.

"After you kiss me goodnight." A low tone added which caused Blake's cat ears to twitch ever so slightly.

Amber eyes stared intently into lilac ones as they hovered over her.

Soft lips found their rightful place on Yang's. The Faunus' good left hand was curled around the prosthetic limb's wrist. Same hand ran its course up the metal that glistened in the moonlight before finding a perch on a very warm shoulder. This soft feathery touch on her lips just felt right.

Blake felt at home with Yang. And Dust be damned if she wanted this feeling to go away.

The two slept, or at least Blake finally did. Yang stayed up a bit longer and watched the peaceful face of her partner. The bags under her eyes had become more defined since their last encounter. Then to her hands, which were more calloused than usual, some small blisters had begun to form. Yang guessed that it was from all the fighting she had done while the two were apart.

With a glance out the window, Yang peered at the sight of the Dragon; they had their work cut out.

The early morning rays broke, the first to arise was Blake as she peered at the person next to her, making sure that this wasn't another dream. Sure enough, those wild blond locks were sprawled about, the brawler's sleeping face caused a smile to grow on the other girl's lips.

She laid there, still wrapped up in Yang's embrace, finally she took note of the rather cold arm that was on top of her. With curious eyes, she ran her gaze up and down the mechanical contraption. The lack luster shine and some mismatched metal color cued her that this was indeed scrapped together by her clever partner.

"There's a special plate that acts like a receiver where my little stump of an arm goes in." A raspy voice caught Blake's attention. "It's hard to explain, but basically my Aura and the electrical signals your body sends through the nerves in your arm in order to move your hand." Yang demonstrated with her good hand while still laying down by opening and closing her hand, "Are picked up and translated by the plate. The plate itself is attached to a Dust compartment that houses lightening Dust." The prosthetic limb moved about and Yang demonstrated it curling into a fist.

Blake's eyes went wide in surprise at the engineering prowess of Yang's mind, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise since she did build Ember Celica on her own.

"Dad came up with the receiver plate thing, I'm not sure how, but he did. I guess he's a teacher at Signal for a reason." Yang shrugged, "But on the downside, I can't exactly do nimble things… I tried picking up a pencil, but I couldn't do it. Stuff like pulling, pushing, punching, and gripping simple stuff like a pole I can do. I need to go to Atlas for the good stuff, which might require some extensive procedures."

"It's amazing." Blake let out as she ran her hand up and down the metal arm, "I'm impressed."

"You're amazing." A low whisper as innocent lilac eyes looked up at her partner.

Amber eyes looked away to the ceiling, their owner turned to her back and then took a deep breath, "I'm not."

"You are." The brawler now hovered over her body over the Faunus, "So much for it being so easy to get me on my back." A jest, but it seemed to go unnoticed as Yang looked down.

Blake stayed quiet, obvious guilt wracked her mind. Yang frowned at the sight; she didn't want to see her like this.

So she did the first thing that came to mind to remedy the situation. Yang kissed Blake.

It was another gentle and feathery touch, but it took great restraint as just being around the Faunus drove the brawler wild with desire. Yang began to make a move to pull back, her intention is to keep the kiss short – but instead she pushed herself closer.

A small purr vibrated through the kiss, the sensation drove the Xiao Long mad with desire. Lips that had a slight citrus taste to them began to part slightly; a tongue ran across the bottom lip of the Faunus. Another purr erupted.

As soon as that purr had escaped her throat, Blake knew that there was no stopping Yang.

But Blake didn't want to stop.

Here they were, both Huntresses in training finally united. Both of which had dreamt about the other, dreamt about times that weren't so far gone, dreamt about the touch and feel of the other.

Yang ran her good hand down Blake's side, tracing her hips before moving upwards and underneath her shirt. She recalled her sensitive places, deliberately brushing her fingertips against these places that were the small dip of her hip, the bit of skin beneath her belly button, the spot in between her chest. Each time she brushed up against these places did the Faunus squirm and moan and purr.

Blake's hands found their way to the back of her partner's neck, she had a fistful of the hair which seemed to glow in the early sunrise. She gasped as the two broke contact with their lips; Blake's own lips were moist from the kiss. Although she had difficulty trying to catch her breath as those lips that she was locked on to made their way along the length of her jaw.

The hand that was playfully tracing her ticklish spots were now caressing her stomach, fingers were sliding underneath the waistband of her pants as a warm tongue swirled around the base of her neck. She stifled another purr at the sensation of her mate's tongue against her skin.

Small circles were being traced on the skin just above a very sensitive spot just below Blake's waistband. The Faunus began to roll her hips in anticipation; the brawler was getting closer and closer to her sex with every circle she traced. Yang's confident lips curved upwards as she took note of her partner's reaction. Blake could feel her body heat up, a particular sensation between her legs was building up.

A screech of a Grimm echoed throughout the other wise peaceful morning.

"Fuck." Yang cursed, her eyes ablaze at the interruption.

Blake looked up at her partner, the hand now idle as those glowing eyes looked out the window, "Better luck next time."

A low growl emanated from Yang, Blake giggled at feral sound because she knew how much Yang hated waiting when it came to things like this.

"We need to get going," Yang pulled herself off, albeit with extreme reluctance. "The main port in the Industrial District has been turned into a safe zone of the sorts. Uncle Qrow and Dad say that's where everyone is rallying." The brawler took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

Blake smirked at the sight of her worked up mate. She examined the map that lay on the floor from the night prior, they were in the center of the Residential District and therefor not too far off from the Fallen Beacon. "The Grimm hoards have extended their reach, they used to be confined mostly to the Academy borders."

"It's been left virtually unchecked for weeks, it's no surprise that the Grimm are making territorial gain." Yang peered out the window to see if she could spot the screeching Grimm from earlier. That one definitely needed to die for rudely interrupting. "Let me see your arm." She turned around to face the Faunus.

Blake complied as she held out her right arm which no longer hurt. Yang removed the bandage and smiled at the sight. She was practically good as new, "Got the doctor's approval?" Blake questioned.

Yang nodded her head as she got the rest of her stuff together. From her bag she grabbed five more Dust RPGs and began to load it into her right prosthetic, "Do you have everything?" Yang questioned, as she was concentrated at the task at hand.

Blake watched as the mechanical arm transformed into it's RPG Launcher mode, the forearm opened up to allow Yang access to reload the canisters. "Yea."

"Good, we're gonna have our work cut out for us." She got up as she flashed a wink into Blake's direction.

The Faunus hated when she did that sometimes, the way her heart fluttered every time she did so drove her nuts.

'That we do." Blake acknowledged as the two exited the building to start their journey back to Vale's safe zone.

That very morning, Qrow and Taiyang were up early sparring. The day prior was spent getting some things prepared for the long battle they had to retake Beacon. They decided that this morning would be spent to blow off some steam before they would head over to the safe zone in Vale. The two were busy trying to round up some of the other professor's a Signal to come and join the cause.

"Someone definitely did not lose their touch." Qrow commented, his weapon retracted into its compact form.

"You've only gotten better with Midnight Call," Tai commented as the single gauntlet on his left hand retracted into it's own compact mode – a rather innocent looking wrist brace. He was a southpaw boxer through and through and believed firmly that his left hand could take on the world.

Qrow wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow, "Can most definitely say the same about you and Scorch Terra." It had been a while since he had to go all out like that, the scythe wielder had an inkling that it was the same story for Tai too.

The two teammates bumped fists and exchanged a brotherly grin, how long had it been since the last time they fought like this? They took their time walking back to the house, the clearing they had just left was littered with craters, burnt earth, and broken trees.

"You packed up Tai?" Qrow mentioned casually as the two entered the house.

The blond man nodded, "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Let's hit the showers and then we'll go," Qrow reached for his flask and took a quick swig from it, "We need to meet up with Glynda and put into motion the plan." He closed his eyes, "It can't wait anymore."

Tai stopped on the second step of the staircase, he looked to Qrow with a hardened look, "We need the tower back up, and we need it now more than ever." He was referring to the fact that each kingdom's Council was on the verge of declaring war on each other. The Huntsmen knew better, they knew better because they were a smaller community and it was easier to get the truth out.

The general public was another thing, and so were the men and women of each kingdom's Council. There was only so much they wanted to believe before paranoia and fear would take over. Paranoia that their neighboring kingdom was plotting their downfall – Fear that their kingdom would end up in a similar state as Vale.

"I know Tai, I know damn well." A solemn look took over, "I'm just worried… that I'll be sending people to certain doom." The dragon… Qrow was sure that if Ruby was there, they could pull it off, but he wasn't sure how long it would take Ruby to get to Atlas and pick up Weiss. But at the same time, the man had sent her away so that she wouldn't have to take part in the hard part to come. She was still a kid.

Last Qrow had heard about the Schnee heiress was that she was practically locked up in White Castle, the key closely guarded in the form of Altesian robots and guards. General Ironwood was doing his best to enlist more help from the Council, to send Altesian robots to help with the battle, but it was proving difficult… But he still had the Special Operatives unit that was fiercely loyal to him.

Qrow had asked James how he would get his Council's permission to dispatch his unit to help retake Beacon. The General merely smirked and remarked casually, "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Tomorrow was the agreed upon deadline, they had spent the past month formulating this plan and trying to gather enough people. Qrow knew better, they were lacking slightly in numbers and the predicted hoards of Grimm were greater than anticipated.

"We're Huntsmen, Qrow." Tai had a rather childish grin on his face, "Best of the best. We uphold the peace and kick Grimm ass while doing."

The infectious smile found it's way on Qrow's face, this is what he needed - his teammate, but most importantly his brother to help him see this through.

"It's what we always dreamed of becoming." The remark was slightly bitter sweet.

Tai shrugged, he looked to the floor before turning back up to the scythe wielder, "That's just growing up, everything seems so much brighter when you're young."

"Maybe a little too bright." Qrow scoffed as he started up the stairs behind Tai.

"Just a little."

Hope you guys enjoyed my stab at Qrow's and Taiyang's weapon's name. For Qrow, the name Midnight Call came up after some time of pondering - to me it seems to fit. For Tai, I looked up Yang's weapon Ember Celica (Celica meaning Heaven) and decided to make Tai's a tad bit similar (Terra meaning Earth). After all, like father like daughter. After looking over Tai's pictures and what not I noticed how his right always had that bit of armor and glove on while his left remained relatively exposed (I'm a former southpaw boxer myself) so I thought it'd be cool to make him a Southpaw and have his weapon on just his left hand.

Not sure how legitamate my explanation of Yang's prosthetic arm would be, but I figured it was close enough. I hinted at it in the past two chapters, but Yang's current prosthetic will not be the end all be all.

Krazyfanfiction01 - I aim to please, although we'll see how well I hold up from here on.

Grndrgnzrd - Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

reconghst5 - Not sure how well of a feels trip this turned out to be. I'm unsure how Yang will really react when she reunites with Blake, but I figured I'd go for the mature route (where she lets go of her anger at Blake) like she did that one time when she had a private one-on-one with Blake. Hopefully this fits the billet.

EyesofSteel - Fan art huh? I'll think it through some, I'm not all that confident that Salvage deserves some artwork love just yet. I don't mind the FMA reference in the slightest, I'm a fan. Speaking of automail, I hinted at it in the story already, but I don't plan on leaving Yang's prosthetic arm as is - there's always room for improvement. No pain, no gain.

Sachiel21 - I'm excited to see how Vol. 4 plays out, I'm glad you like the story so far. I'm a hopeless romantic at heart, but I do enjoy a good adventure.

VirgilTheart - I get a smile on my face when I see your name come up now, thanks for the kind words. I plan on keeping Salvage short compared to some other stories on here - so forgive me if things seem to be moving fast.

To everyone else, a good day or good evening and a big thank you for keeping up so far. I mean it when I say that I get a lot of encouragement to write from you guys reading.

And a quick PSA: I will be undergoing a surgical procedure in about 3-4 weeks, I plan on finishing this story before then because I'm unsure if I'll be able to write for a while. However, not everything goes according to plan.

Cheers,

DevilRed