In a Land Far, Far Away

A/N: Welcome all to my first RWBY drabble series. Here you will find a series of one shots pertaining to the characters and world of RWBY. Some will be canon. Some will be not. Some will feature pairings. Some will not. Some will be AUs. And some will be not. Some will focus on our favorite main characters. Some will not. Some will be short. Some will be long. And some will be in between. From the mundane to the absolute ridiculous, you'll find these stories and more.

As I will be posting multi-chaptered stories in the near future, this story will be updated on a monthly basis. This may change in the future (when things settle down a bit in real life), but for now, think of this story as just a little something extra to my other stories. :)

A huge and awesome thank you goes out to Skire for doing up the cover for this story. You can find the original picture here: tinyurl[insertperiod]com/l6yw2dp

Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.

Summary: Yang was sick. How it happened, or when it happened wasn't important. All that mattered now was taking care of her partner. Pre Faunus!Blake x Yang.

*** ~ Even the Strongest of Us Gets Sick ~ ***

~ Beacon Academy. Team RWBY's Dorm. 5:30am ~

As usual, Blake was the first to awaken.

It started with the twitch of her ears, both sets, followed by a contented sigh which came out like a purr. Then there was the stretching of her extremities, Blake's back arching like a cat's, before golden eyes blinked open and examined the world with feline sharpness.

As the first light of dawn shone through the crack in Team RWBY's curtains, Blake sat upright in bed. Her eyes narrowed. Something was... off. Glancing around the room, trying to identify the source of this feeling, Blake was left unsatisfied when nothing looked out of place.

Maybe she was just imagining things.

Following that line of thought, Blake silently got out of bed, grabbed her towel, and made her way to the washroom for her early morning shower.

~ Beacon Academy. Team RWBY's Dorm. 7:58am ~

THUMP!

"Oh gods, Yang! Are you alright!?"

Amber coloured eyes darted upwards from the book in front of them, soon after widening in shock.

Weiss was the second of them to stir, Ruby rousing mere minutes after her. As was their routine, the girls quickly proceeded to the washroom to brush their teeth, wash their faces, and comb through their hair. All the while, their last teammate snoozed on. Blake, having already showered and eaten by the time her teammates came back to the dorm, she quickly changed into her uniform and sat down in her bed with a book. Ruby and Weiss would disappear again moments later to grab breakfast in the cafeteria, leaving Blake to read in the quiet for an hour and a half.

Then came this disturbance.

"Ugh," Yang groaned. "Was my bed always that high up?"

Blake stared at the blonde from her bed in utter shock.

Unlike regular mornings, where Yang's dismount from bed was a bit more... upright, today for some reason, Yang's balance just wasn't there. There was no whoosh of displaced air and the ta da! exclamation from the bubbly brawler after landing a perfect two foot stomp off her bed. There was no giggling from Ruby as her older sister bowed over dramatically for her ridiculous display of athletics. There was no eye rolling from Weiss, no muttering from the Schnee heiress about stupid blondes and their childish siblings. No, there was only shocked gawking right now, as Yang lay face down in her pyjamas, on the cool dorm room floor between their beds. Ruby and Weiss stood next their beds in their uniforms.

"Yang?"

Ruby helped her older sister to her feet, something which took great effort on both the sisters' parts Blake noticed. The smaller of the two was practically hauling up dead weight in the form of Yang Xiao Long, the blonde grasping weakly at her sister's supporting arm as she was pulled to her feet an hour later than usual. Yang was no morning person, by any means, not like Blake, but still, even this was late for her.

Blake narrowed her eyes, something about her partner's sluggish motions raising red flags in her mind. As a result of her super human vision, Blake made out pin head sized beads of sweat sticking to Yang's bare skin, the black haired girl also noting redness in the blonde's cheeks. Violet coloured eyes were hazy and unfocused, Yang shivering noticeably as she stood up. Yang murmured a quick thanks to Ruby before rubbing her bare arms with her hands.

"Are you... alright?" Weiss asked, peering at Yang longer than normal. "You don't look so good."

Blake rose from her bed, setting her book aside in one fluid motion. Just as she did, Yang shivered again.

"Was it always this cold in here?" Yang asked, dazedly looking around the room before her gaze settled on her bed.

The brawler swayed on her feet, dangerously in Blake's opinion, the black haired girl quickly putting a hand on her partner's bare shoulder to steady her. Yang was hot to the touch.

"Yang," Blake said, drawing the girl's disoriented gaze towards her. "I think you should lie down."

Yang trembled against Blake's hand. "What? Why-"

Blake's free hand pressed against Yang's forehead, before sliding down to cup a rosy cheek. Yang was rendered speechless, her eyes immediately glazing over.

"Your burning," Blake said, frowning even more.

It took all of five seconds for Yang to register what Blake had said. But instead of the witty response Blake was expecting, something along the lines of Yang naturally being hot stuff, what she got was a confused utterance.

"Huh?" was all Yang said.

Ruby shot Weiss a worried glance, the white haired girl pursing her lips in concern. This was so unlike the normally obnoxious blonde, so much so that even the Schnee heiress was starting to worry.

"Yang," Blake said, putting a hand on her partner's arm. She gave it a gentle tug. "Let's get you back to bed."

~ Beacon Academy. Team RWBY's Dorm. 8:48am ~

"I can't believe Yang is sick," Ruby said, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her slumbering sister. "She's never gotten sick before."

Yang was put in Blake's bed, none of the girls (especially Blake) comfortable with the idea of the blonde sleep in her own bed right now. Not only was it smelling of sweat (though only Blake noticed that because of her rather sensitive nose), Yang falling out of bed again in her fevered state was not something they wanted to repeat.

"There's a first time for everything," Weiss said, standing next to their leader. She was also looking at Yang.

Yang made a noise of discomfort, the blonde rolling onto her side restlessly. The brawler unconsciously pulled the blanket tighter around herself, shivering for the umpteenth time in the span of minutes.

"Ruby," Blake said. "I'm borrowing your blanket."

Blake didn't wait for Ruby's approval before she began stripping the youngest girl's bed. Not that Blake expected a negative answer. Even if Ruby disapproved, Blake would have still done it.

"Yeah, of course," Ruby said, the youngest of them mentally slapping herself for not thinking of that sooner.

"You can borrow mine too," Weiss said, causing Blake to pause. Noticing the black haired girl's look, Weiss huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like I need it right now anyhow."

Blake stared at Weiss in surprise for a few seconds, before she nodded and yanked the blanket off of Weiss' bed as well.

"Awwwwww Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed. The scythe wielder tackled her partner into a hug. "You're so sweet! Thank you!"

"R-Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed, her cheeks flushing. "Get off me!"

Anything said or done after that was zoned out by Blake, the bow totting girl immediately covering her own partner up with the two extra blankets. While that seemed to help a bit, Yang's shivers lessening, the blonde still trembled. Blake frowned, sitting at the edge of her bed. She reached over and pulled some sweat matted locks away from Yang's face.

"Someone should stay with her," Ruby said, somewhere over Blake's shoulder.

Amber coloured eyes glanced back before focusing on Yang again.

"I don't want to leave her alone like this," Ruby continued.

"Ruby," Weiss said, looking at the wall clock near the door. It read 8:56am. "Classes will be starting soon."

"I know, but-"

"I'll stay with her."

Ruby and Weiss looked at Blake.

"But-" Ruby protested.

"She's my partner," Blake said, levelling her gaze at Ruby. "I'll take care of her."

~ Beacon Academy. Team RWBY's Dorm. 11:28am ~

If Blake wasn't worried before, she was now.

After Ruby and Weiss left for classes, Weiss promising to take notes on both Blake and Yang's behalf, Blake changed out of her uniform and into her regular black and white garb. Her first order of business was to change Yang's sweat soaked bed sheets. Once fresh sheets were in place, and after a quick check up on the blonde, the suspected faunus quickly darted off to the cafeteria to get Yang some broth. If Yang was going to get better, she needed to keep her strength up.

As loathed as she was to wake her ill partner, Blake did so anyhow. Thankfully, Yang still had enough strength to sit up and eat, albeit at a slower rate. A quarter of the way into the bowl of broth however, Yang was exhausted, leaving Blake to spoon feed her the rest of it from that point onwards. Just when things were looking up, three quarters of the way through the bowl of broth, Yang's hands jerked up to her mouth, the blonde soon after tripping over the blankets and her own feet as she staggered out of the dorm room for the washroom. By the time Blake caught up to her, Yang was emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Blake stood by her the entire time, holding back her hair.

That was half an hour ago.

And now they were back in their dorm.

And Yang was getting worse.

A violent coughing fit wracked Yang's body, the blonde whimpering in the aftermath as she curled up on her side. Blake frowned, the grip on her book going knuckle white. The coughs started about ten minutes ago, the first of them having startled Blake out of her silent reading. Not that Blake managed to read much in the first place. The black haired girl could barely concentrate on anything aside from her partner right now, this whole sickness bothering her more than she wanted to admit.

Yang was strong. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Well... maybe not always emotionally. But nevertheless, she was strong. During initiation, Blake saw that, time and time again. First with the rampaging Ursas. Then with the Nevermore. No normal person could have done what Yang did. And that was an integral factor in Blake's process of choosing a partner. Blake could have had any partner she wanted. In the end, she chose Yang.

Yet, to see Yang here, so fragile, so weak, it hurt. It hurt so much. Blake was helpless to do anything about it, helpless to do much aside from whispering uncertain reassurances. She hated it. Yang went head to head with a Nevermore for gods sake! And she didn't get eaten, despite the Grimm's attempt to devour her whole! How could such a stupid thing like a cold reduce Yang to such a pitiful mess?!

When a rasping, pained breath made Yang whimper again for the umpteenth time since the morning started, Blake had had enough. The black haired girl stalked across the room for her things, soon after tearing through her belongings like a woman possessed. She was searching, searching for one particular item, and anything and everything that got in the way of her search would be torn to shreds until she found it.

Ah, there it was.

With shaking hands and heavy breaths, Blake took a moment to calm herself. It would all be over soon, she reminded herself. Fingers curled around a small black pouch with black strings tying the pocket shut. Gingerly opening it, Blake pulled out two small yellow pills before closing it back. She tossed the black pouch over her shoulder, and it fell amongst her scattered belongings. Amber coloured eyes stared at the pills for a few seconds before looking towards the feverish blonde on Blake's bed.

These tiny pills were no ordinary pills. No, these pills were special, something unique only to a certain clan of assassins thought to have been killed out many years ago. They were only meant to be used in emergencies, in life or death situations.

Why only under those circumstances?

These small yellow pills were potent enough to amplify one's aura, and hence magnify one's healing rate by at least tenfold. Taken when one was perfectly healthy, these pills could, for a time, give one super human abilities. There of course would be aftereffects from misuse (that being using them when one was perfectly healthy), such as exhaustion, temporary limb numbness, among other things, but that was a moot point right now. Normally one pill would have been enough for dire circumstances, but Blake had pulled out two.

These were Blake's last two pills.

With her clan having been almost completely eradicated during the Faunus War, the assassins having given their lives to protect the fragile freedom today's faunus enjoyed to this day, that meant there would be no refills on the pills once these were done. There were only a handful of clan survivors left in the world, one of them being Blake herself, and none of them were versed in the medicinal arts. Looking back to Yang again, a mewl escaping the blonde's throat, Blake's lips pursed and she stood up. She had made her decision.

"Yang," Blake said softly, a hand on the brawler's shoulder, shaking her gently.

Yang moaned, before cloudy violet eyes opened halfway to look at her.

Blake's lips twitched at the corners, her eyes softening as she gazed at her partner. She felt her heart flutter as a small smile stretched across Yang's lips in response to hers.

For the longest while, Yang was something special to her. She was different from the rest.

Important.

Blake hadn't felt that way about another person since Adam, but that was a very long time ago. Never did she think she'd feel this way again about another person, yet here she was, with Yang. And her heart was beating so fast.

"I've got some medicine for you," Blake said, once she realized she'd been staring. "Think you can swallow it?"

Yang nodded limply, the blonde too tired to say anything right now.

Blake's smile widened. "Good."

Blake reached under Yang's head, tilting it upwards as she gave her the pills. Just as the black haired girl turned back to her desk to retrieve the glass of water on it, a coughing fit overtook Yang, the blonde coughing up the pills on the pillow next to her head.

"Yang!"

Blake cradled Yang's head against her chest, rubbing her partner's back. The fit soon passed, leaving the brawler utterly exhausted in her arms. Looking back at the spit covered pills, Blake gritted her teeth before she reached forward and nabbed the pills off of the pillow. Without thinking, Blake popped them into her mouth, but did not swallow. Quickly taking a gulp of water (also not swallowing), she held Yang's cheeks in her hands as she pressed her lips to Yang's. A clammy hand reached up and held onto her arm, Yang's lips opening, allowing Blake to feed her the pills mouth to mouth. This time, Yang swallowed them without problems, the blonde sighing tiredly as Blake pulled back to look at her. Hooded violet coloured looked at Blake for a few seconds before closing again.

It wouldn't be until after she lay Yang back down on the pillow, pulling up the blankets on the blonde, did Blake realize what she had done.

~ Beacon Academy. Team RWBY's Dorm. 5:32pm ~

It never occurred to Blake just how much Yang's illness bothered her.

Until now.

Thinking back on the incident hours ago, Blake's cheeks burned hot when the sensation of Yang's lips on hers quickly flashed through her mind. The black haired girl shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside. While it was true, in the literal sense, that Blake had kissed Yang, that didn't count. Not really. Blake needed to give those pills to Yang and that was the only way to do it at the time. Yang probably wouldn't even remember it tomorrow anyways. And that thought made Blake's heart sink a bit.

Continuing to think on it further, Blake silently berated herself for panicking back then. She didn't mean to, but panic she did. It was that overwhelming sense of panic which led Blake to giving Yang the last two of her life saving pills. While others in her clan would have regretted such an act, Blake did not. Not one bit. If she had to redo the entire situation all over again, she would have still given Yang those pills. Seeing Yang like this, sick, unnerved her. And the longer Yang stayed sick, the more Blake felt herself unravelling, losing control of the emotions she thought she had locked away a long time ago.

Panic. Helplessness. Fear.

Looking down at the damp cloth in her hand, the one she'd been using to wipe the cold sweat off of Yang's body, Blake finally realized what was happening.

She was afraid.

She was afraid of losing Yang.

And that thought alone made it suddenly hard to breathe.

A whimper drew the black haired girl out of her thoughts. Blake immediately set the cloth in her hand down on the basin of water on her desk nearby.

"Shh Yang," Blake murmured. Before she realized what she was doing, Blake reached over and cupped the blonde's cheek. "I'm here," she cooed.

Upon contact, Yang settled, allowing Blake a soft sigh of relief.

The medicine was working. The blonde was looking much better than she did hours ago.

Yang wasn't shivering so much anymore, and her restless tossing and turning seemed to have disappeared as well. Her cheeks were no longer a red colour, now a faint pink of anything. And the coughing, Yang barely coughed at all now. Come tomorrow morning, Yang would be back to her regular, bubbly and loud self.

Thank the gods for that! If this edginess was how she felt when Yang got sick, Blake didn't even want to think about what would happen if Yang actually got hurt in combat.

A warm hand curled around her wrist, making Blake jump. The black haired girl quickly looked down at her bed ridden partner and found Yang staring up at her. Blake fought with herself not to blush furiously as she quickly realized her hand was still on Yang's cheek.

"Hey," Yang said, her voice scratchy and soft.

"Hi," Blake said meekly, not quite sure what she should be doing right now. She wanted to move her hand, in spite of how right it felt against her partner's skin, but it didn't seem like Yang was going to allow her to do that.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, gazing at each other. It would be Yang who broke the silence first.

"I-"

A coughing fit quickly took hold of the blonde, Yang immediately relinquishing her grip on Blake in favour of bringing up her hand to stifle the cough. Her body shuddered sharply, Blake immediately wrapping her arms around the brawler's shoulders, rubbing her back. She cradled the blonde in her arms. When the coughing subsided, Blake turned and reached for the refilled glass of water on her desk, bringing it to Yang's lips.

"Thanks," Yang said tiredly, after drinking it all.

A small smile crept up on Blake's lips, the black haired girl taking a moment to set the empty glass down on her desk again.

"How are you feeling?"

Yang looked around for a moment, deep in thought. "Hungry actually," she said. As if to support her claim, Yang's stomach chose to gurgle noisily right then, making the blonde blush.

Blake found that sight to be the cutest thing she had ever seen. She almost giggled at that, but managed to stifle it at the last minute. The smile on her face widened in place of the laugh.

"Think you can keep down a bowl of broth this time?" Blake asked.

"This... time?" Yang looked at her in confusion.

Blake sighed tiredly. "I tried to feed you some earlier." A pause. "All of it ended up in the toilet."

Yang grimaced. "It was that bad, huh?"

Blake nodded.

"How long was I out for?"

Blake turned to look at the clock for a moment. "Since this morning," she replied.

Yang's eyes widened. "And you've been here with me the entire time?"

Blake nodded again. The suspected faunus couldn't but feel warm under the gaze Yang was giving her. It was so... welcoming, so caring. Seconds later, Blake straightened up significantly when she felt Yang's thumb caress the skin of her wrist. She hadn't even realized when Yang touched her hand again. Goosebumps immediately went up her arm, amber coloured eyes going down to the offending hand. That sensation wasn't all that unpleasant. It was rather nice, actually.

"Ah, sorry..." Yang said sheepishly. She pulled her hand back immediately. "I didn't mean to-"

"No," Blake said quickly, putting her free hand on top of Yang's to halt her retreat. Blake's cheeks redened slightly.

"It's alright. I... I actually liked it..." Blake said softly, her voice trailing off. She looked to the side shyly.

It was now Yang's turn to blink. "You..." Yang blinked again, her fog addled mind trying to process that information. "You did?"

Blake looked at Yang, a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks as she nodded. Blake quickly looked away again seconds later. A smile stretched across Yang's face. Daring to be bold, the blonde reached up with her free hand to cup Blake's cheek. The black haired girl looked at her in surprise, before closing her eyes, melting under her touch. Blake sagged forward into Yang's hand as the blonde's thumb rubbed against her cheek. Blake's hands tightened around Yang's held hand.

"Thanks for taking care of me, Blakey," Yang murmured. She was happy.

Golden eyes opened halfway, to meet a brilliant violet gaze. "Your welcome, Yang."

A/N: In this story, Blake is half faunus. Though, at this point, that has yet to be confirmed to her teammates.

Technically, Yang has the flu. While I realize it takes much longer to get over a flu of this magnitude, for the purposes of this story, let's just say Yang got hit with one of those 24-hour bugs.

For this story, Blake comes from a long line of assassins. That being said, it shouldn't be surprising for our ninja-like heroine to have access to some pretty potent medicine. ;)

If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend checking out Skire's artwork on Deviantart. There's some fantastic RWBY artwork there. Skire's Deviantart page is here: coldfox72[insertperiod]deviantart[insertperiod]com /