Well it must be a sign of the apocalypse if I finally have what I believe to be a decent story out. Ok, so let's see.

First off, a great many thanks to Coeur Al'Aran who has become my sort of tutor dash beta reader. Without his assistance this would not have been possible. If you have not read his stories I suggest you do so now...well, I mean read this first then go to him. He writes one of if not the best RWBY fics on this site/planet.

Now then, this will be my first official (That I am actually happy with) story posted. A good deal of the script for this is already planned out so please know that it will not be one of those rushed fan fics you see just about everywhere. Eh, no offense to any writers. Just mean that this will be a well planned story as supposed to some one-shots which can be very pleasant to read.

My idea is to post one chapter a month with the updates becoming maybe a bit more frequent as I get better. I may even work on a second story at the same time as this one.

Beta: Coeur Al'Aran

Chapter 1

The world was on fire.

It was either the world or her. Beacon was burning, abandoned and lost - but so was she. Pain lancing up her right side, Yang grit her teeth and opened her eyes.

"Where… is Blake?" She rose to her feet. Blake was hurt, stabbed by some red-headed bastard wearing a mask. Like the ones from the White Fang. Probably was one from the White Fang, who else could he have been?

Gritting her teeth she moved to place one hand up against the wall. Okay, back track. She remembered Blake being hurt, so she'd charged at the man and-

The blonde stumbled against the cool metal, cutting off her train of thought. She groaned, feeling more pain then she should have, before pulling her face from the steel as she finally recognised her surroundings. A Bullhead, yet to take off since the back door was still open.

What was going on? Were they leaving already? Where was Ruby? Where was Blake? Was that why they hadn't taken off? They were waiting for the others? Where… Yang glanced to her right, lilac eyes wide. Several emotions went through her mind. Horror. Anguish. Anger and confusion.

Where was her arm!?

Yang took several steps back, eyes wide as she frantically looked around. H-her arm. W-where was it? Why was it...that man! He did this! She stumbled before someone helped steady her. "W-where…" It was suddenly a lot harder to breathe. To even stand or be conscious. She felt like she was going to throw up at any moment.

"Easy." Sun Wukong guided her onto a seat against the wall. She hadn't even seen him. "You need to stay calm. Blake...Blake left-" Sun had to push her back into her seat when she tried to get up after hearing him. "Y-Yang! You're in no condition to go out there. Or even stand for that matter…"

"Let me GO!" Lilac eyes turned red as her body started to produce heat. Her hair flared up from the force of her semblance, forcing Sun to jump back.

Immediately, Yang winced and clutched her arm in pain. She felt it burning. She could feel the...the stub of her arm… it felt like it was on fire. It had never happened before. She screamed, unable to suppress the sounds of her agony

She collapsed onto her hands- onto her hand. Yang grit her teeth to the point they felt like they might shatter. Her forehead touched the ground, hand clutching her stump as if that would somehow relieve the pain. It only seemed to make it worse.

Why did it hurt? Her entire body started to swell up in pain and heat. She was sweating as fast as her semblance was evaporating it, the bulkhead under her body starting to warp from the heat. She couldn't be sure, but even her clothes seemed to slowly turn into ashes.

"It hurts. It hurts so much. Why... why does it hurt?" Her entire body stiffened, curling into herself in a futile attempt to stop the pain. She forced her head to look up from the floor to see Sun's distraught face. He took a step toward her only to wince in pain and step back. Her semblance, it had never been like this before.

Yang fought through the agony. Perhaps in some odd way the pain she was feeling added to her power. She didn't bother thinking about it. She stepped forward making Sun take a step back in fear. Her body slowly raised itself up from the ground despite it all.

She had to find Blake. She would find Blake. She will find Blake. She-

The only warning Yang got was Sun's eyes looking at something behind her before wincing.

The last thing she heard was a thud as something hit her on the back of the neck and the sound of her body coming into contact with the cold floor.

B-Blake...

Yang's eyes slowly fluttered open with a groan. She looked at her surroundings, not noticing much, other than that she was in some building. Everything was dark.

"Easy." Something as bright as the full moon came into her view. She had to shield her eyes, looking to the side for a moment before she saw Weiss smiling down on her. "You're going to be okay, but you need to rest."

"B-blake...where... Ruby…" Yang sat up from her bed, only to be guided back down by Weiss' hands on her shoulders. She felt too weak to fight back.

"I said you need to rest." Weiss moved the covers over Yang's body before frowning at the look she gave her. "Ruby… Ruby is going to be fine. Your uncle brought her in and she's stabilized." Yang's body relaxed immediately at the news. Sore muscles unclenching. She still looked to her teammate for more answers. Weiss grimaced, "Blake...Blake is fine too."

Yang felt much better. What Sun said...it must have been a dream - a nightmare.

"What's wrong with Ruby?" Weiss had said stabilized, what had she stabilized from? Yang tried to get up again only for her team mate to push her back down.

"I...I don't know." Weiss admitted. "I think she just exerted herself too much but she's fine now." Weiss made it a point to remind Yang of that. That her little sister was okay. "That dolt is too stubborn…to..." It was like she was trying to comfort herself as much as she was her teammate. Yang moved her arm to rest over Weiss'. She seemed to appreciate the small action if the smile on her face meant anything. "Just get some rest."

"..." Yang finally noted the state of her right arm when she turned her head to the side. She had wanted to grab Weiss' hand with her right but couldn't. She stared for a few more moments before turning back toward Weiss' direction.

The school, it had been destroyed. Run over by Grimm. Penny and all the other students and civilians who had gotten caught up in the fight. They were all...

"Hey…" Weiss clasped her hands over Yang's before giving a tight squeeze. "I'm right here, you know? I'm not going to leave you."

Yang clutched Weiss's hands back. Squeezing a bit too hard by the wince Weiss gave, but she didn't tell her to stop. "Promise?" Yang was pleading. She knew. She couldn't bring herself to be ashamed of that fact.

Weiss looked her right in the eyes, squeezing her hand as tight as she could before nodding. Her grip was almost enough to make Yang cringe. A testament to how tired and weak she really was. "I promise." Weiss said. "A Schnee never goes back on their word. So get some rest, okay? I'll be here when you wake up and who knows, Ruby might even be up as well." Yang nodded weakly. Whatever was going on, they would face it together.

Yang paused for a moment before nodding. She faced the ceiling of the building they were in before her eyes slowly drifted shut, her hand still squeezing Weiss'. They'd get through this together.

As a team.

It was the smell that woke her up the next time. Stink might have been a better word to describe it, however, since it made her teeth curl up and shake. Her face scrunched in disgust before her eyes finally locked onto the source. Her uncle.

Wait…

Her uncle!

"Uncle Qrow!" She immediately regretted sitting up. Her entire body screamed out in pain at the action. One part in particular more than the others.

"Easy there Firecracker." Her uncle eased her back down, much like Weiss had done not too long ago. At least, she didn't think it had been long ago. How long had she been asleep? Given the state of her body, not long enough.

"How lo…" She took a moment to breathe in, only to cough at the smell of his breath. "Been drinking a bit more than usual?" she asked instead, trying to fake some humour.

"Not nearly as much as I would like." He took another swig of his flask before releasing a deep breath… much to her nose's horror. "How you doing?"

"I'm...I'll be ok." She had Weiss with her and Ruby was fine. Blake was somewhere around here. She had to keep repeating that to herself. "How long was I out?"

"A while." Ever the helpful old man.

"Well, where's Weiss and Blake? What about Ruby? Can I see her?" She knew Weiss wouldn't lie to her about Ruby but she still wanted to see her little sister with her own eyes. She also wanted to see how Blake was doing… She had been wounded, hadn't she?

Her uncle didn't seem pleased at the question. "It's probably better if you don't get up." he said. "Ruby's still asleep and it's not really safe for either of you to be moving."

Yang didn't like the idea of not seeing her baby sister. Not knowing the exact condition she was in. They said she was stable and fine but what if she wasn't really in one piece? What if she had some scar? What if she was paralyzed? Just thinking about it made her heart beat rapidly against her chest. Her breathing starting to pick up.

"Hey." Her face was guided toward her uncle. "Ruby's fine. The little squirt will be just like she was the last time you saw her."

After a moment to think about it, she gave a nod and a heavy sigh. That helped. If anything happened to Ruby then… She shook her head. No. That didn't matter. What mattered was that Ruby was alive. She was in one piece. "So where's Weiss and Blake?" She wouldn't mind talking to some familiar faces that didn't stink of booze.

Again by her uncle's expression he didn't seem to like that question. "Weiss is out tending to some of the other injured." Qrow explained. "Not everyone was lucky enough to get their own room."

When Yang finally had time to take in her surroundings she saw it was indeed a single, small room. Wooden floors and walls. Comfy bed. A hotel maybe? Some sort of inn? Was there even a difference between the two? Heh. If Weiss or Blake were there, they could probably have told her. Give some boring explanation and possible origin of the two words. They were a lot alike in that regard. Being nerds.

"Thanks…" She knew it wasn't by luck that she got her own room. Her uncle must have pulled some strings or something.

"No problem, Firecracker." Yang groaned waving her arm around when he squashed his hand into her scalp. The hair! Watch the hair!

"Nhhh...what about Blake?" She hadn't seen her yet.

"...I don't know. Lot of people are everywhere and I can't keep track of them all."

Yang let out a frustrated groan, wincing at her sore body's reaction. Her whole body felt like crap and it really sucked.

"You alright there, Firecracker?"

Yang groan, which led to more pain and her face scrunching up. Alright? He had already asked her that and she felt a compulsion to give a different answer this time.

"I'll manage…" She had to think positive, if only because the negative was so overwhelming.

Blake was safe and well somewhere. She would see her as soon as possible if she would ever be allowed to. If she could even stand properly herself. She'd prefer to see both Blake and Weiss at the same time if only to talk. About what? She didn't really care so long as they talked. She'd also see her sister. With her own eyes. See that she was really whole and undamaged. Even if she was asleep. It would make her feel better just to see her. To hold her hand and give what comfort she could to the unconscious girl.

"Now tell me if it hurts."

"It hurts. It hurts!"

Yang thought herself to be a tough girl. From all the training she did as a child to the small occasional battles she had with other people in Patch for picking on her sister. Sure they had taken most, if not all the damage in those fights, barely being able to crawl back home, but she digressed. She thought herself to be tougher and stronger than the average huntress in training.

So she couldn't help but feel emasculated by how the doctor was handling her. She wanted to blame it on her wounds and how exhausted she was, but another part of her, the part that was screaming out in pain, wanted to blame the not so gentle handling of this god damn woman!

After a few more moments of the woman's hand touching her aching body, she pulled back with what Yang swore was a slight entertained look. "Yes, she seems to be quite sore."

She could have told her that!

"So can you do anything for her, doc?" Now, her uncle was usually pretty laid back. Drank a lot for one reason or the other. She didn't pry. She liked drinking herself but she couldn't help but want to smack that small smirk on his face till it was indented. Maybe he thought her struggling was a sign of how well she was. Maybe it was. That still didn't change the fact that she wanted to pummel him.

"Hm? Oh yes." The doctor looked like she was interrupted from a pleasant thought. "We can fix up those sore muscles no problem. It will take some time to heal. Possibly up to a few weeks, but nothing too serious."

It certainly felt serious from her examination. Now that she wasn't in anymore pain, Yang had a moment to take in the doctor's appearance. She was a faunus if those brown ears and long tail had anything to say about it. Both animal appendages were brown save for the tip of her tail which was black.

"Thanks Tsune. I appreciate it." By the way Qrow talked to the doctor and how she nodded back, it seemed like they knew each other. Friends maybe? Former lovers? Yang shook her head. Ugh, gross. She was bad enough as it was.

"Alright then." Yang's face paled when the doc held out a needle about as thick as her arm. "Let's begin the first dose of treatments."

First dose? Treatments? As in, there would be more than one?

She officially hated doctors.

Doctors were supposed to make you feel better by the time they were done. This one did not. She felt even worse and was really unable to get out of bed now. In the day or so she had been in town, at least she assumed it was a day since she kept sleeping and waking up, she hadn't seen Blake or Ruby. She also hadn't seen Weiss besides that one time when she first woke up. It was nice to see her uncle but she wanted to get out of this bed and maybe see someone who didn't stink of booze and aftershave.

The smell tended to get old after a while.

She didn't even know how the outside looked like. If it was dark or bright. She hadn't left this room since she was brought into it and that, among other things, frustrated her to no end.

Yang glanced around the darkly lit room for a moment before slowly, and rather painfully might she add, sitting up on the bed. After that she dragged her partially numb body to the edge and for the first time today, pressed her feet on the wooden floor. Her hand gripped the side of the wooden desk beside her, slowly placing pressure on her feet.

And just like that she fell flat on her face.

Fuck.

Yang tried to stand, and when that wouldn't work she tried pushing herself up. Again, she met with failure. Normally, one hand would have been more than enough. She must have slept longer than she'd thought. That, or the doctor really messed up.

She wasn't sure how long she laid there. Maybe half an hour, maybe less. By then her body was starting to ache from laying on the wooden floor and she was pretty sure her face or some part of her body would have a small dent from the tiles.

Her uncle couldn't have gotten a room with a smooth, flat floor? No. It had to be rectangular tiles with small, tiny gaps. She hated those. They were sore on her feet.

She could call for help. Assuming anyone answered, she would be hearing it from her uncle for the rest of her recovery. She had enough pains without having to add a headache to it. When the door opened her head shot up. Part of her hoping it wasn't her uncle and that it was someone that could keep their mouth shut. And it was...Sun?

Eh, she could work with that.

She waved for him. "Lend a hand?" Guh. Not the best, even for her. Didn't even mean that one. After a moment of shock, the blond rushed over to Yang. His hands instinctively went to either of her arms which made her wince and in turn made him cringe back.

It also made her fall flat on her face again.

"Sorry!"

"Just get me on the bed." She'd suddenly lost the urge to explore.

"Sorry." He apologised once again, helping her up onto the edge of the bed. She held her hand out for the faunus to back off signaling she didn't want to lay down. She could at least sit. Probably.

"It's fine…" She groaned, rubbing her sore face before shaking it off. Even that hurt. "So, what's up? How long have we been here?" She'd been lucky to get a nice room to herself but not one freaking clock? Seriously?

"It's been three days since the attack." Sun explained. "You've were out the first two…"

Had she really slept for two whole days? Sun didn't see her until now so had she woken up a day earlier? Guh. Yang rubbed her head when she thought too much into it. Whatever. It didn't really matter now. If it had been three days though… "Ruby hasn't woken up?"

Sun shook his head. "Not as far as I'm aware. She's got her own room though." Probably because of their uncle. "She's resting. She'll be alright though." Yang could tell that the normally chipper guy was feeling down. Then again, given everything that happened, she couldn't blame him.

"So...the rest of your team alright?" Yang asked. "Neptune and the others okay?"

Sun nodded. "Yea. They wore themselves out from fighting but they're good now."

"That's good."

"Yea..."

"..."

Well...it just got quiet real fast. Sun and her didn't hang out much, but come on. "So...how is everyone else doing?" Yang asked, "I've sort of been locked up here the entire time. They won't tell me much."

"Most of the professors and teachers are accounted for." They had their position at Beacon for a reason. "They've been taking up position around the city in case…" Sun didn't have to say it. In case any Grimm decide to cut their trip to Beacon short and come to Vale.

With the negativity and grief around all the people in Vale, it wasn't unrealistic to think the Grimm would be attracted to the town. If it really had been three days since the attack, then people were likely still scared. People would be shaken for weeks, if not months to come, and during that time there were bound to be more Grimm attacks, which meant even more negativity... Talk about a vicious cycle.

"What about the other teams?" Thinking about how everything sucked wasn't going to make things any better. The best she could do right now was get up to speed.

"All the teams from the tournament seem to be accounted for." Sun explained. "Nothing too serious. The students that are able are also set up around town. At least until it's their time to evacuate." Well that was good to hear. Though there were bound to be some people who probably weren't as…

No. Enough of that. Just keep thinking on the positive.

"Anything else?" Anything that she should know? "Weiss still tending to the others?" Or had she been moved to a lookout position.

"Weiss is still doing what she can for the injured." Sun confirmed.

It may have been better that she was acting like a nurse then scout for any signs of Grimm but when Yang thought of the things Weiss might see. All those wounds, the screaming and groaning? Yang clenched her bed sheets. Weiss would be stained with so much red. Still, it was safer, right? Not that Weiss couldn't take care of herself but there could be so many.

Yang hit herself in the forehead to Sun's worry. Stop it! Yang Xiao Long, get ahold of yourself!

"Eh, don't take it out on yourself?" It was the only thing Sun could come up with given her sudden action.

She smirked, letting out a small snicker and a wave of her hand to try and ease him. "Sorry. Was just teaching myself a lesson."

"Well try not to do anything that might involve injury. If you get hurt while i'm in the room, who do you think is going to be blamed?"

"Hm…" Now there was an idea.

"Yang, I'm serious here."

"What, afraid your girlfriend will hear about how bad a nurse you are?"

"That's not funny…"

"Geeze. Blake never likes my jokes either." Some people had no taste.

Sun cringed, glancing to the side. Yang couldn't help but notice how distraught he looked, the normally bright man's eyes dull and heavy, even as his teeth bit down on his lower lip.

"Sun… what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Sun..."

"Just recovering from all this crap."

"You're shaking."

Sun cursed under his breath.

"You're hiding something from me."

"Guys always hide stuff from girls. Not porn this time. I swear."

"Is this about Blake?" Were they having an argument?

"I-I should go. You probably need your rest."

Yang gripped Sun's wrist before he could flee, only to be dragged out of the bed and sent tumbling to the floor when he didn't stop. Her body folded beneath her. She wasn't even strong enough to kneel.

"Yang!" Sun knelt down to check on her, face full of concern "Are you okay?"

"Tell me!" She clutched the collar of Sun's shirt and dragged him face to face.

"I…"

"NOW!"

"I shouldn't…"

"You will if you don't want a black eye!"

Sun tried to look away but she was having none of it.

"Where. Is. Blake?" Sh pronounced each word carefully, just to make sure he couldn't misunderstand. Sun's eyes drifted shut.

"Gone…"

Yang felt her stomach drop.

"Gone? Gone where?"

He didn't respond.

"Where is she, Sun?"

"I don't know…"

"Where is my partner?"

"I don't know!"

He was useless. Yang pulled herself up and staggered to the door. She needed to find Weiss. Weiss would know where Blake was. Maybe by Ruby? She would have tended to her personally, Ruby was her partner.

Yang stepped out into the hallway, frantically looking around. Wooden hallways, wooden floors, oaken table to the sides with some fake flowers. Everything brown. Some kind of hotel, second of third floor judging by the view from the window. None of it mattered. She had to find...find...Weiss!

If she found Weiss then she would find Ruby and no doubt Blake as well. And if Blake was missing, Weiss would know where she was.

Yang took a step forward, only to tumble and fall on her face. She grit her teeth, trying to pull herself up against the wall. Get up. Get up!

She couldn't afford to just lay around anymore. With her shaking hand, she dragged herself along the wall, sliding with one shoulder constantly pressed against it to help prop her up. The soles of her feet burned and felt numb with each step, but she didn't care. She pushed on. She needed to find her team.

The next door was ajar and from within it, a tuft of familiar hair poked out from beneath white blankets.

"Ruby!" She pushed into the room, making her way to the bed before collapsing beside it. "Ruby…" One hand reached out, nervously hovering an inch from her sister's face. The skin was pale, paler than usual, but there was a faint rise and fall to her chest. She looked so fragile, even more so with the bandages crisscrossing over her eyes. "W-what happened to you?"

"I'm not sure." a voice said. "Her uncle won't tell me what happened. She's fine though, her eyes are fine and will heal."

Yang spun in time to see Weiss standing in the doorway.

"Sun told me you were moving. You should still be in bed." Weiss stepped into the room, placing some bandages down on the side. Yang could see some red stains on her normally immaculate dress.

"Weiss, where have you been? Where's Blake?"

"I've been out changing bandages on everybody. I just came to change Ruby's again."

"Where's Blake?"

"Things are chaotic out there. People injured, civilians and Hunters both."

"Weiss…"

Said girl look agitated from the scrunch on her face. She moved beside Yang before crouching down to change Ruby's bandages. "You might want to look away."

"You might want to answer my question."

Weiss sighed, "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me where Blake is."

Weiss' head snapped to Yang. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean, I can't." Weiss' hands fell from Ruby's face, giving up on changing the bandages. "No one knows where Blake is."

"I-I don't understand…"

"What do you mean you don't understand?" Weiss snapped. "She ran away. Left us. She did exactly what she said she would never do."

"You're lying…"

Weiss scoffed. "Excuse me? Why would I lie? Why would you even be surprised - running is all she ever did."

"Shut up..."

"She left us. She left Team RWBY. As soon as you and Ruby were injured, as soon as we turned our backs, she ran. She ran like the coward she is!"

"Shut up!" Yang almost shouted.

Weiss laughed. "What? You want to defend her? Defend this?" She motioned to Ruby. "She never cared about any of us. Not me, not Ruby - not you."

"I said, shut up!" Yang surged to her feet grasping the front of Weiss' dress and pushing her against the wall. Weiss was wrong. Blake would never run away. She had promised them. She had promised her!

"I have every right to speak!" Weiss struggled but couldn't get free. "I've been out there every day!" She pointed to the window. "Looking after the wounded, looking after Ruby - looking after you! Where's Blake when all of this is happening? Why isn't Blake helping me? Us? Anyone?! I'll tell you why! Because she's a cowardly bitch!"

"Take it back!" Weiss was pushed further up against the wall.

"You're right. She's part cat, isn't she? It would be more appropriate if she was part dog!"

"RARGH!" Weiss' shoulder slammed into the hardwood floor as Yang tossed her out of the room. The heiress' face was cut off a second later as Yang slammed the door shut. With tears forming in her eyes, she leaned up against the door falling to the floor.

"Yang…"

Yang clenched her eyes shut and gripped her golden locks.

"Yang...please…open the door."

Blake couldn't be gone. She couldn't be.

"Yang…" Weiss whispered. "Open the door. I'm sorry…"

Her knees pulled up to her chest as she rested her face on top of them.

"Yang…" A moment of silence. "I'll...leave you alone with Ruby. I'll change her bandages later. I'm...I'm sorry about Blake…"

"Go away…"

"Yang, I promised...I won't leave you…I'm not Blake. I'm part of the team and I'm not going anywhere."

Yang's teeth ached. Her body shook. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a nightmare. She would wake up. Her team would still be together. Beacon would still be in one piece. Everyone would be happy. Ruby would be awake and well.

She would have two arms...

"I'm going to go now…" Weiss paused. "I promise I'll be back."

"Don't bother..."

Still surprised this is actually happening. Glad to finally have a proper story out.

Would once again like to thank Coeur Al'Aran for his assistance. Please like, comment and subscribe.

People may not think much on it but every person who takes the time to do any or all of these things encourages me more than you can imagine. So by all means tell me what you thought of this chapter and future chapters. Thoughts, ideas, predictions. Anything you think that might be a mistake that I might be able to clear up. Or I may not be able to because it is important to the plot but I can't explain at that point in time. Point is, even if it's just to say nice job or something you think may be a problem, take the time to comment.

So...yea...till next time.