And at last, the final chapter! Thanks to all who made it this far!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Chapter 15. The Journey's End

Blake! Blake?!

She could hear her partner's thoughts, but Weiss was too disoriented to make sense of anything. She tried to roll onto her back and claw her way up to the surface of the snow, making an opening. But the levels of snow were deep, and she felt as though she were drowning.

She quickly realized her panther weight was keeping her down, and so Weiss transformed again. In her lighter human form, she could get a more precise foothold on any mound of packed snow beneath her. Gradually, she made her way up, her weight no longer causing the snow to give beneath her. She burst from the top layer as if it were the surface of water and gasped.

"Blake!"

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find Blake, lying motionless in her cat form, blood seeping red into the snow around her head.

"Oh no…" Weiss scrambled over to her, grabbing one of her front paws. "Blake? Blake, you've got to transform! I can't find the wound in your fur, it's too dark-" She prayed her partner wouldn't pass out, shaking Blake's paw to indicate her urgency. Weiss gave a kiss to the back of it, letting Blake know she was there. "Please, Blake..."

. . .

The world felt fuzzy around Blake. She was struggling to stay conscious, afraid of giving in to that blackness.

She heard movement, and then felt a grip on one of her paws. Weiss was there, and by the sound of it she wasn't hurt, at least not as badly as Blake was. She was talking to her, but to Blake it sounded like it was muffled through wool in her ears.

The other girl started shaking her, and Blake was trying to figure out what Weiss wanted her to do. The words were jumbled and didn't make sense to her. The darkness lapping at her mind surged up...

A soft kiss was pressed to the back of her paw, and Blake was honestly just happy to know that Weiss was with her.

She couldn't hold the bare minimum focus to stay in her panther form and could feel herself slowly transforming back into a human. A chill ran through her and she shivered; she could feel the loss of her fur's warmth all too well now. The cold was jarring enough to keep her conscious, at the very least.

"Weiss… a-are… you all right?"

. . .

Weiss relaxed a little bit as Blake began to transform, waiting until her body had morphed and the paw in Weiss' grasp turned into a hand. Blake's eyes fluttered open, and she could see they were hazy with pain as she spoke.

"Oh, hush about me, I'm fine," Weiss muttered, shifting over a bit in the snow to get closer to her. At least now she could locate the wound more easily. She pulled Blake's head into her lap, following the trickle of blood with her eyes, caressing her fingers through her hair until she found the source of it.

She let her aura flow, concentrating it on the gash as her eyes looked worriedly up to the sky. It was snowing a bit faster now, and when she inhaled, she could tell the temperature was dropping.

But she focused on Blake, clearing her mind of all other thoughts as she began to stop the bleeding.

. . .

Blake could feel the wound at the back of her head healing, a cooling sensation emanating from Weiss' hand. The sensation was incredibly relaxing after the terror of the fall, and Blake leaned her head into the touch as she felt the bleeding slow.

Once the blood had stopped, Blake could still feel Weiss sharing her aura. The cooling feeling was helping Blake regain her hold onto her consciousness, the world returning to sharper focus.

The first thing she noticed was that the snow was starting to fall faster and heavier around them. But more importantly than the sky, Weiss was sitting over her with Blake's head resting on her lap.

"Weiss... ow... how long have we been down here?" Blake asked after a moment, wrapping her hands around the other girl's waist and hugging her. She nuzzled her face into her stomach and sighed, her head wound now nothing but an ache.

. . .

Weiss was glad to see Blake regain consciousness, and she let out a sigh of relief, continuing the flow of her aura onto her partner just to be safe. The snow was falling faster now, and the wind was picking up. Their new home was just another climb up the cliff face, but Weiss wasn't so sure she could manage it anymore.

Blake buried her face into Weiss' stomach, and the white-haired girl's cat ears flicked when she heard the question.

"I'm not sure. Probably no longer than ten minutes." She squeezed Blake's shoulders softly, still sharing her aura. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you rest just yet. We've got to keep moving as soon as you feel that you can."

She leaned down and held a long kiss to the back of the girl's head, trying to share as much warmth with her as possible. The snow was falling faster by the second, and Weiss whimpered softly.

. . .

Blake smiled slightly when Weiss kissed the back of her head. Slowly exhaling, Blake pulled her face away from Weiss' chest and looked up into her blue eyes.

"All right, I'm ready... let's keep moving. We're almost there, after all."

Blake started to stand up, even though her body wasn't really all that ready for it. She got to her feet carefully, unsure of her balance after taking the rock to the head. Weiss was standing next to her, ready to help if Blake should stumble. Luckily, Weiss had healed most of the damage, and Blake stood up fine. She drew in a good breath and let it out again.

"Let's go." Blake hugged Weiss one more time before walking to the opposite cliff face. The wind and snow were picking up, and the storm was finally catching up with them. If they didn't make it to the top of the cliff before it hit full-force, they would be stuck at the bottom of the chasm for who knows how long.

This would be their finally challenge; their final test of their journey.

. . .

She stayed beside her partner until Blake found her balance on her feet, nodding in determination. They crossed the bottom of the chasm, feeling the frigid cold much more prominently now after having been in their human forms for so long, not even the small layers of fur over their bodies doing much good.

They made it to the opposite side of the cliff without another hitch, but it suddenly seemed like a much farther way up than it had coming down, probably because they couldn't fall upward. But Weiss vowed to herself they would make it before the storm hit. They had to.

"Yes. Let's go." She grabbed onto the nearest rock where she could get a hold, watching Blake do the same next to her. Weiss hauled herself up bit by bit, trying to dust the snow off of each rock before she made contact. "We can do this," she called to Blake. "After this, we're home free."

. . .

Blake took another deep breath, filling her lungs with the chilly air before reaching up for a hold. The ledge she grabbed was clear of ice and she hoisted herself up, her feet searching for purchase.

Weiss was right next to her as they made their way up the cliff side. The wind whipped around them, picking up in speed as the storm drew closer.

This time Blake and Weiss were more prepared and were better able to hold onto the cliff. They stuck closer and supported one another when they could.

After a while of climbing, Blake started to feel the exhaustion in her limbs. Looking up, she saw that they were nearing the top of the cliff, even as the snow continued to fall harder and harder. It kept getting in her eyes and ears, making her shake her head multiple times.

"Ugh..." She groaned as another slight headache came on, but then felt Weiss' tail reach out to curl with hers. Blake smiled and pushed onward.

. . .

There were a few slip-ups here and there on both their parts, but neither of them fell again. The worst Weiss got was a broken nail, but the blood didn't flow for long until her aura tended to it.

"Come on... almost there…" She grunted encouragement over to Blake who was clearly drained of energy after that blow to the head. Weiss stayed by her for a moment, then slipped away to climb a bit higher up than her. An idea sparked in her mind, and she worked toward putting that into play. She went a bit faster up, making a few gutsy moves that left her lucky she didn't fall to the bottom again.

Snow fell away beneath her hands, and more fell into her eyes from above, but she pressed onward.

Panting and sweating now, she hauled herself up over the top at long last, using her tail for balance as she struggled over. Blake was still climbing, and the white-haired girl grunted down to her.

"Hold onto my tail."

Weiss transformed instantly afterward, her tail growing a few inches to match the size of her animal form. She dangled the tip down toward Blake; at least Blake could hold onto her securely and have some kind of hold that wouldn't give like the rocks and snow could.

Weiss dug her claws into the earth beneath the snow, waiting until she felt fingers grasp her tail.

. . .

Blake gasped for breath. Her arms felt weak and black spots danced at the edge of her vision. She could still feel a throbbing from the wound in the back of her head - even though Weiss had healed it, the pain was still present. She could see that Weiss was pulling ahead of her, now nearing closer to the top of the cliff.

Blake stopped climbing, trying to catch her breath. She couldn't really hear Weiss over the wind, so she looked up to see the other girl disappear over the edge, and a moment later a long white tail appeared.

Tentatively she reached out and grabbed with one hand, making sure not to hold onto too tightly. Using her other hand to grip the snow, she started climbing the rest of the way up.

When she finally grabbed the top of the cliff, Blake pulled herself up as much as she could, heaving her body over the side. She huffed out her breath as she let go of Weiss' tail.

"Thank you," Blake gasped as she reached out to her.

. . .

Once Blake was safely on solid ground with her again, Weiss shifted back into her human form. She reached out her arms and pulled Blake into a tight hug.

"There. We did it, Blake. We made it."

The forest that stretched out before them now seemed endless, and the trees were so closely packed together that it was clear why humans could never use Air Ships to travel here. Weiss imagined that in the springtime it would be teeming with life and animals, but due to the oncoming storm, the forest was motionless now aside from the two of them.

She held Blake a moment longer until they had both regained their breath, and then stood, helping her partner up as well.

"Come on. We've just got to find someplace to take shelter. It doesn't have to be where we stay permanently - just temporary is fine."

. . .

Blake enjoyed the close contact with Weiss, happy that they had made it to the other side of the chasm.

After taking a moment to get her bearings, Blake nodded; shelter was something they needed soon to wait out this storm.

Taking Weiss' hand, Blake stood up next to her companion and looked out at the massive forest ahead of them. The trees were packed densely together, everything blanketed in quiet white.

"All right let's find somewhere quick, I'm exhausted." Changing forms, Blake waited for Weiss to do the same before they took off into the woods. Blake could feel how much harder it was to maintain her panther form with how tired she was, the injury to her head making focusing harder as she ran alongside Weiss.

. . .

They raced off into the unknown forest. Normally, they would take more caution and listen and smell for potential danger, like other Panthers. But they were the only ones crazy enough to be out in this weather now, and they weren't intercepted or challenged at all.

The snow was falling harder, and Blake was falling behind. Weiss kept close to her, grunting encouragement as she shared her thoughts.

Don't worry, we'll make it. Just keep going a bit farther.

And at long last, they found what they were looking for. A small mountain that rose up before them had a yawning hole in the side of it, and it was unoccupied. The scent on it was fox, but it was stale; the previous owners must have changed locations a while ago.

Weiss ushered her partner inside, encouraging her to lie down.

I'm going to dig away some of the snow from the entrance so we don't get trapped in. I'll be back in a minute.

She left Blake there to rest and headed back into the biting cold. Using her massive front paws, Weiss dug furiously, clearing away several layers of snow to spare them of the risk of getting caved in. So long as they took care to clear the entrance every few hours within the night, they would be fine.

. . .

Blake rested near the entrance of the cave in case Weiss needed help. The black panther curled up to preserve body heat in the frigid weather. She was better able to hold onto her Panther form now that she wasn't forced to run through the cold. She listened to the sounds of Weiss working, her little grunts of effort.

Blake started to fall asleep, the exhaustion and pain catching up with her now that she was in shelter and able to relax somewhat. But she forced herself to stay awake for Weiss' sake.

Blake examined the large cave that was their temporary home. It was about the same size as their last one, though it stretched out further in the back, and even with her night vision Blake couldn't make out the far wall.

Breaking her from her thoughts, Weiss returned to the cave and Blake looked up at her tiredly.

Come here. Let's just relax for now. I feel more exhausted than I've ever been.

. . .

Weiss finished her work and trudged back into the cave, feeling the wear in her paws with every step. She retreated to Blake and licked the fur of her head and neck a few times, nuzzling her affectionately.

We did it, Blake. We made it.

She collapsed onto her side, curling tightly around Blake, continuing to give gentle licks to the injury on the back of her head.

The wind howled on outside, and Weiss listened as Blake gradually fell asleep. She rested her chin on her companion's shoulder before closing her eyes as well, knowing that they would soon wake to a new life.

. . .

. . .

Blake looked outside of their cave. The sun was just starting to rise over the nearby mountain.

It had been months since they had made the journey to their new home.

After they had spent the first night in the cave they had found, Weiss and Blake had set out the next day to find a more suitable home, not venturing far for fear the storm would pick up again.

Within a few miles, they had found a larger cave near a river, an ideal spot for the two girls to make their new home. They had lived there since, and had made a new life for themselves, one they were happy with since they were together.

Presently, Blake stretched her arms out across their bed of blankets, moss, and feathers, and tapped against Weiss' side.

"Wake up, Weiss. It's a beautiful day out." Blake gently shook the other girl's shoulder to get the white-haired girl moving. By now, the weather had warmed, so they had taken to sleeping in their human forms.

. . .

"Mmm…" Weiss blinked her eyes open sleepily as she looked up at her partner. Sometimes she still couldn't believe it was reality, and not just some dream.

Weiss stretched, feeling the comfortable padding of their shared bed beneath her as she did so. Blake was sitting above her, and Weiss reached up to hug her.

"I'll get up soon. Just five more minutes," she implored. Embracing Blake, she pulled the other girl down on top of her and stroked through her fine hair, then reached up to scratch her ears as their tails entwined.

She sighed contentedly, something she'd done every day since they'd arrived here. There'd been no trouble from the native Panthers, as the cave Blake and Weiss had selected to stay in was beyond the limits of their territory. And due to the immense number of big cats in these parts, the wolves and foxes were fewer, which in turn spelled fewer competition for the two girls, and more plentiful prey.

"Every day…" Weiss sighed. "Every day I wake up and wonder how we got so lucky. How I got so lucky," she rephrased, straining up to kiss Blake's cheek.

. . .

Blake smiled when she felt familiar arms wrap around her neck and bring her back down to their bed. Weiss started scratching her ears as Blake laid atop her, their tails intertwined as Blake purred in response to all the attention.

"Every morning you say just another five minutes, and every morning it's much longer," Blake teased as she rubbed her hands up and down Weiss' sides. She wasn't complaining; her time with Weiss was the best of her life, but it was always fun to tease the other girl. Smiling at the kiss placed on her cheek, Blake leaned down and kissed Weiss' cheek back.

"I'm the one who's supposed to say that," Blake replied as she moved over from Weiss' cheek and captured the other girl's lips in a light kiss. "I'm the one who's lucky."

. . .

"We both are." Weiss sighed happily as she closed her eyes again, feeling Blake's hands rubbing soothingly up and down her sides. She made a small, content sound in the back of her throat and hummed lazily. "I'm just so exhausted after yesterday. That oaf really took it out of me…"

She was referring to none other than Yang Xiao Long. As the blonde girl had promised a few months back, she had trekked her way into the new forest and visited the two of them, glad to find them safe and happy. Yang had since given up her career as a Hunter and now worked a restaurant in town to help support her family.

Yang had stayed most of the day yesterday, talking to Weiss and Blake, sharing meals and news of Ruby and other things. She had said the bloodthirstiness for the Panthers' lives had almost diminished in town after several big protests and meetings had been held. They were a long way from peace, but they were getting there, step by step.

Publicly, Weiss was known to be dead, but only Yang and a few other people who truly cared about her knew the truth.

Yang had left early to make it home before nightfall, but for whatever reason, having her visit had drained Weiss a bit, probably just from the excitement of it all, if anything.

"She said she'll come again in a few weeks, so we should enjoy our alone time before she comes trouncing back," Weiss mumbled.

Blake kissed her, and she returned it warmly, locking her fingers behind the girl's neck and pulling her down to deepen it.

. . .

Blake sighed into the kiss when Weiss pulled her down and deepened it. Blake was the one to pull away for air, resting her head on Weiss' collar and listening to her heartbeat.

"Yes, Yang can be quite the handful," she agreed.

Blake had been initially uncomfortable around the former Huntress, their last meeting still rather fresh in Blake's mind.

But that discomfort had quickly been dashed when Yang had embraced both her and Weiss in a bear hug, crushing them as she'd greeted them enthusiastically. During her visit, Yang had pulled Blake aside to privately apologize for what she had done and to tell Blake that Weiss was happier than she had ever been as a full human.

"It's good to have our alone time," Blake murmured as she nuzzled Weiss' neck. "Maybe Ruby could come and visit sometime. From the stories you and Yang tell, she sounds like someone I'd like to meet."

. . .

"Oh, there's an idea. I'm sure Yang could find some way to get her out here. I've missed Ruby. She was a good friend," Weiss recounted a little mellowly. "But now I'll always have you." She cuddled Blake closer to her chest and closed her eyes for a moment, breathing slowly.

It was incredible, all the things that had happened in the past few months. Half a year ago, Weiss had been killing Panthers as per her father's orders, and now here she was - a runaway - living with, and loving one.

And she'd never been happier.

Weiss kept one hand on Blake's back as the other traveled down to find the hand Weiss had shot upon their first meeting. The old would had long-since healed and hadn't even left a scar, but she kissed it anyway, brushing her lips over Blake's nails and then dipping down into her palm and to her wrist.

A few minutes later, she kissed the top of Blake's head and reopened her eyes.

"Let's go for a walk this morning before breakfast," she suggested.

. . .

Blake nuzzled further into Weiss when she pulled her closer, happy to just relax with the other girl.

Months ago, Blake had been afraid of Hunters, afraid of the death and despair they'd brought.

Now she had not only run away with one and forsaken her pack; she loved one and had transformed her into one of Blake's own kind. She couldn't imagine her life without Weiss now.

Blake could feel Weiss' hand traveling down her back, grabbing her hand and bringing it to her lips. The white-haired girl kissed the spot where she had shot Blake the first time they met, her lips ghosting over her nails and going down to the palm and wrist. A purr rumbled in Blake as Weiss kissed the top of her head.

"Sounds wonderful. Do you want to walk or run?" Blake asked helping her companion up.

. . .

"We can walk," Weiss answered. "I want to hold your hand."

Together, they stood and headed for the open forest beyond their cave.

For a moment, they simply stood there, bathed in the early-morning sunlight, listening to the birds singing as they woke, smelling the dew on the grass.

Weiss pulled Blake down into one more kiss, and they held it, pressing warm lips together, hearts pounding softly as one.

There were murmurs of love shared, love they'd never dreamed possible, but that had by some miracle come true and been found in one another.

They pulled apart and locked hands before heading out into the forest to meet another day, their feet passing over the pawprints in the dust; the constant, silent reminders of their struggles, their successes, and their love.

[Fin].

A/N: Fifteen weeks of this fic and now it's finally finished! I know it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and the writing was old and not so good and a bit rushed, so I wanna thank everyone who read till the end!

Please review!