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AYangThang: Hello everyone, I'm finally ready to make this all too important author's note. It's been a long time in the making, longer than I had hoped, but, here we are. In 2018 I found myself unhappy with my writing on this story, Flame's Shade. It is primarily a Blake/Ruby fanfiction found here on the FFN. I had almost written myself into a corner and stopped to figure out why. I could have continued as it was, but the idea left me unsatisfied. I struggled with what to do with it, because I wasn't about to give up on it.

I loved the premise too much to do that.

Eventually, I easily concluded where I went wrong, and how to correct what I disliked so greatly. There was only one issue, looking back, I saw so many other details that I could have added in hindsight. Things that, frankly, should have been there from the start, and I found it unforgiveable that they weren't.

As a compromise to myself, I left the old and (admittedly very flawed) older fiction up. I will continue to leave it here. I know it is liked by many for what it was, even if it was not completed.

Unbeknownst to all of you, though, I went to work rewriting and reworking the entire fiction from the ground up. I now have a completed version, and it will be slowly uploaded in its entirety. There are still flaws and tiny imperfections in this work, the bare bones themselves from the first attempt were not perfect, and that is the nature of the beast.

However, that said if you liked the concept of the old Flame's Shade, and what it was originally doing, you are sure to love this new one too. Most of the content has only been added to, very few things have been taken away. Extra scenes and careful contextual clues have been placed the way they should have been placed before, and I am much happier with this version because of this.

I'm so proud of the efforts I've placed into this that I'll be posting the revisited version up on the AO3 as well.

Even in this first chapter, the changes in story telling and quality should be obvious. I hope you like them too.

I am leaving this preview here so that you can see what the new chapter 1 looks like. If it interests you, then I would strongly suggest that you follow the new fiction titled Flame's Shade – Revisited when I begin posting it on FFN and the A03 tomorrow. As an added bonus, I'm even going to include the changes in chapter length so that you can see the amount of content added numerically. These counts do not include author's notes.

I hope to see you in the new fiction, but if not, then I hope you enjoyed this ride for what it was, and for what little token it may be, this fiction will always be left here for you.

All of that said, on with the preview!

Original chapter length: 1,330 words.
Revisited chapter length: 2,161 words.

Flame's Shade – Revisited (Pre-View)
Chapter 1

Night vision was her greatest asset as she traversed the dark city streets of Vale. The alleyways were cramped, full of homeless, drunks, and late night partiers. The usual crowd lingered in the dark corners, huddling together for protection. She didn't pay them any mind. Her cloak outlined her dark shape, black tendrils of ribbons casting outward as she hoisted herself up a nearby fire escape.

She climbed up the final few steps, taking a quick look around the city. Her decision made, the Faunus took a running leap across the divide, landing safely on the other side. Perching on the edge of this roof she jumped down silently, running along the shorter buildings below. She avoided any form of light, sticking to the shadowy corners as she made haste, eager to be home and in the comfort of her abode.

She took a flying leap off the end of the nearest dead-end, leaving no trace of her existence behind. Another line of roofs greeted her, but her home was just in sight, lingering in the short distance. She couldn't keep the grin off of her lips as she jumped down into another alleyway. Landing deftly on her toes, she turned the corner.

This path wasn't as dark as the others, and it contained friendly company.

These were hunter's homes, and as she passed by them, she could smell the faint scents of life. Several cooking meals permeating the air at the late night hour. Her ears twitched when she heard rambunctious shouts of glee. Team JNPR must have been back from their mission. The remaining three members were loudly chastising Nora for reasons that the figure didn't dare to find out.

Paying no mind to them, she continued onward. Staying would only invite trouble.

A little farther down, and she met shadows once again. All of these entryways were dark, indicating the people living in these homes where either sleeping, or nowhere to be found. The woman settled on the latter, a recent abundance of missions had likely called them away. The huntress passed by these as well, coming to a stop at the end of the alley.

Here, nestled in the slums of Vale itself, she found herself at the front door of a small old house. Four insignias were burned into the wood of the door. Team RWBY's calling cards. This was their domain.

With a smirk, she unlocked the door, and pushed back her hood. It felt good stepping beyond the threshold. The familiar scent of home touched her nose. The old hints of vanilla that could only belong Weiss, the dissipating earthy undertones that defined Yang. The sweet scent of baked goods and flower petals, belonging to Ruby Rose. It was good to be home, even while the others were away. She closed the door behind her, locking it with a loud clack.

She didn't waste any time to finish yanking her black cloak from her body and hanging it up on a small peg. Gratefully, she did away with her shoes. Stocking feet falling gently upon the smooth wood underfoot. The kitchen light was on, and she greeted the familiar inhabitant whose scent was second nature.

"Hello, Ruby."

"Hey, Blake." Ruby said tiredly, sitting at the kitchen table. In her arms there was a bundle of blankets, the likes of which Blake suspected protected rather precious cargo.

"Is that… what I think it is?" What she couldn't figure out, however, was why Ruby would be in possession of such a small child.

"And what do you think it is?" Ruby returned with an unusually distant tone. A ghost lingering in the depths of gunmetal eyes.

Blake stepped around the table, coming face-to-face with a sleeping infant. Tiny little triangle ears flicking ever so slightly in unrestful sleep. The concept was completely alien to her, there was no reason for a child to be here.

"It's a faunus cub…" Blake deadpanned, taking a pointed sniff. She searched for the clues that might explain more. The child was feline, certainly. She took another sniff. The smell was soft, lacking even the faintest masculinity. It had to be a baby girl. "Why is she here, Ruby? Why do you have her?"

"Mission…" Ruby murmured, her gaze downcast once more. "It went wrong."

"The same mission Yang and Weiss followed you on?" Blake asked, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

Ruby shook her head. "That one ended, they went off to report in Vacuo. I came back here, and when I did, Ozpin issued a second task."

"To what, babysit?" Blake asked with a small huff.

"No, but now that you say that, I wish it was." Ruby answered morosely. "I was given a solo mission. Ozpin had me escorting a merchant and his wagon to a nearby village off the coast of Vale."

"Were you given any partners?"

Ruby said nothing. A quiet moment passing.

Blake sighed, standing from the table to retrieve a glass of water. It was the only thing she could do to keep from scrutinizing the small Faunus that Ruby had somehow acquired. It was only after she gulped down the water that Ruby found the strength to look at her.

A meeting of saddened silver and curious gold.

"I didn't need a partner. The village was fairly close to Patch. I knew the area, so I took it." Ruby paused, words quiet, almost haunted. "It was just supposed to be a little walk, you know? Maybe a stray Grimm or two, nothing serious, but when we got there…" The woman shook her head, red tipped hair hanging in her face. "Everything was destroyed."

Blake's feet carried her back to the chair she had abandoned. She sat down, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. She meant it for comfort, but the young woman sagged beneath it. "Ruby, how big was this village?"

Ruby thought on it, but she didn't know the exact size. "Maybe fifty strong." She said, a weak shrug punctuating the statement. "That's at most..."

"And about the village…" Blake cleared her throat, looking down at the Faunus. She had her assumptions, but she had to be sure. There was no way to ask such a thing delicately. "I'm to assume it wasn't a human one…"

Ruby's answer, while expected, was no less discomforting. "Not many humans, no."

"A joint village?"

"I don't think so." Ruby said. "Humans passed by, but, I don't think they stayed."

Blake sighed at length. "Was it Grimm, or, something else?"

"I don't know..." Ruby began, trying to piece everything together in her head. She still didn't believe it. "Grimm go crazy all the time you know. They run amok, and leave all sorts of carnage behind…but this was..."

"What?" Blake asked. "Go ahead, you can say it."

Yet, Ruby still hesitated. "It was almost methodical. I didn't think there would be anything left, but I'm so glad I looked…" Ruby had no idea what to do upon retrieving the child, and had carried her back home without a second thought. "I found her, so here we are, I suppose."

"Her parents?"

"You really, really don't want to know." Ruby murmured, eyes clamping shut. "I didn't want to know, either."

The hours would be long if this kept up. Blake went about making herself some tea. The silence in the room heavy, and thick with tension. There were so many things she wanted to say, all of them weighing heavily on the tip of her tongue.

Finally, when nothing else seemed to fit, she settled on cold, calculated truth. "And it never occurred to you to follow protocol?" She asked as she set the water to boil. "We have measures we take for situations like these, you can't just bring an infant home on a whim. She needs care, and we can't provide that."

"I'm not sticking her in the orphanage."

"Ruby…"

"No!"

A very loud and startled cry tore through the room. Blake to rolled her eyes as Ruby tried to shush the little girl back to sleep.

Somehow, the idea of tea seemed rather unpalatable under the scrutiny to those angry silver eyes. It was a feat to upset Ruby in any capacity, but anger was especially rare. Blake found herself on the receiving end of that hard glare. It was hard to endure, she felt her breath catch, her world sent askew by the rage that Ruby carefully contained.

The Faunus licked her lips.

Clearly she had trampled upon something she ought not to have. Ruby's pain was very real, and it needed to be addressed carefully. If only she knew how.

"Ruby-"

"I said no, Blake. You know what they do to Faunus in those kinds of places. She'll be ignored, and that's the best she could hope for." Ruby argued, her voice quieter but no less gentle. "You know what it's like."

"I'm more than aware." Blake hissed. "I agree with you, but be that as it may, we are not equipped to handle this kind of situation."

"Then we become equipped." Ruby replied, steadfast in her stubbornness.

"Ruby, think about what you're saying. Better yet, think ahead more than a few hours." The Faunus in front of her beseeched. "Do you know the first thing about keeping a baby around? Raising it?" The entire thought was beginning to give her a migraine. "There are knives under floorboards, swords under sofa cousins, bullets in candy dishes. We can't keep a kid in a place like this."

"So we clean it up…" Again, so dry that it might as well have been a demand. An order passed down from leader to subordinate. Even Ruby seemed to have realized that, guilt flickering across her face. "I know what you're saying, but those are all little things. We can clean the house and figure things out."

"What about next-of-kin?" Blake asked. "She could have family out there somewhere."

"What are the chances of that?" Ruby asked honestly.

"Remnant is huge." Blake protested.

"Considering where she came from?" Ruby shot back, icily. Her time spent with Weiss a terrifying example of how a person could learn bad habits.

"Fine, I'll grant you that, but think of the way we live our lives. We come home from a good mission and fall asleep in a bed of beer cans. There's not exactly a lot of maternal instinct around here, Ruby." In fact, thinking about it, Blake would be ashamed of the living conditions if she stayed in the home for any length of time. The spider making a web in the corner of the ceiling only proved her point. "This is not going to work."

"It has to work, Blake." Ruby shot back, holding the child ever closer. "If it doesn't, then what's the point of anything we do?"

Sitting down next to Ruby, Blake weighed their options. The clock ticked by, her ears focusing on the sound. Each moment hammered away, and if she was going to insist on getting rid of the child, she needed to provide a better option. "I'll take her to Menagerie. They have an orphanage there. It's not like the one in Vale... That's the best I can offer."

"This isn't up for debate." Ruby said pointedly, in her 'I'm the leader' voice. "I'm keeping her."

"What aren't you telling me?" Blake asked, noticing that the habitual defensiveness for what it was. Ruby wasn't going to give an inch.

The only question was; why?

"Nothing."

"Ruby, this isn't like you. We've found kids before." Blake began. "We process them, get them into the system, they either stay at the orphanage, or they go into foster care. That's the extent of our duties, we're huntresses. Our job is to slay Grimm and protect civilians. Anything beyond that isn't part of the job description."

"This one's special, Blake." Ruby said quietly. "I can prove it, but you have to hold her. Also, you need to swear to me that you won't move."

"If it will get you to stop being stubborn, fine." Blake conceded, willingly taking the small girl into her arms. Crimson eyes blinked owlishly, a happy little burble of sound morphing into a contented purr. Blake refused to think about it, her attention turning away from the little girl.

Instead, she watched as Ruby left the room. The leader heading off towards the set of bedrooms. Blake didn't have to wait long for Ruby to come back with the worst kind of evidence.

A ball of confusion lodged itself in her throat. "Isn't that Raven's?"

The scent…

It wasn't very strong, but it was there none the less.

"Her sword…" Ruby said darkly.

"You said her parents were dead." Blake refuted, still coming to terms with the sight in front of her. Trying desperately to deny what her nose commanded her to understand.

"No, I told you…" Ruby began heatedly. "I said that you didn't want to know…"

I hope you liked the preview. As a reminder, if you do enjoy it, please follow the new fiction Flame's Shade - Revisited. Tomorrow Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 will be posted up together so that readers can get a true taste of the fiction to come.