Darkest Nights: a RWBY Story

Chapter 14: Reflections

Blake rolled to the side as Talia's fist caught her directly in the left shoulder, the impact thowing her balance off slightly as she rose into a crochining position.
"Keep your body back."
Talia instructed, landing another blow, this time to Blake's right side. Talia nimbly jumped over a sweeping kick from Blake, only to catch a blow on the left side as as Blake lunged across her body.
Takia grinned.
"Better–"
Talia gripped Blake's outstretched arm and used it to slam the other girl into the training room floor.
"But not quite fast enough."
Talia gently let go and allowed Blake to get to her feet, rubbing the place on her forearm where Talia had grabbed her.
"You're really good at this."
Blake said, breathing heavily.
"You've got to be ready for hand to hand combat."
Talia replied, wiping her sweaty brow with a cloth from a table in the room.
"You never know when you'll be pressed into a combat situation without your weapon."
As Talia was returning her towel to the table, Blake saw her opening. Leaping foward, she closed the distance between her and her opponent in a flash.
At the last possible moment, talia ducked the incoming strike, bringing her arm up to catch blake squarely in the chest. Blake dropped to the ground, coughing from getting the wind knocked out of her.
"Nice try."
Talia said, extending her hand and helping Blake to her feet.
"If I had been a less experienced fighter that would probably have worked."
As Taia gripped Blake's hand to pull her feet, Blake felt the pain in her joints slowly begin to fade as Talia used her Blake's aura to heal her.
"You're getting better. I think you should train with Jason tomorrow though. He can help you more with your timing and defense than I can."
Blake smiled as she stretched.
"Thanks for the advice."
They glanced at the wall display what was currently showing the weather and the time as the train wound its way through the countryside.
9:30 PM.
"Let's call it a night."
Talia said.
Blake nodded as they exited the training car.
"I should go check on Jason. I'll see you later."
Blake nodded and leaned against the wall, taking a drink of water and catching her breath.
After a moment, she grabbed one of the rungs in the wall and climbed the ladder to the hatch in the roof that laid to the top of the train. The train was moving slow enough that she was able to sit on its gently sloping roof without risk of falling off.
Her jet black hair blew slightly in the air as she sat there, staring up at the shattered moon through the passing treetops. The cool night air of early spring felt good against her skin. She layed back, feeling the gentle breeze blow over her.
Her cat ears twitched as she heard the hatch in the roof open and someone else climb onto the roof.
"Hey."
Yang said, sitting down next to her.
"Hey."
Blake said, sitting up.
They were quiet for a moment before Yang spoke.
"You know, it's interesting."
She looked at her.
Yang continued.
"We spend so much time fighting grimm and trying to save the world that it's easy to forget we're all still teenagers. We should still be in school but instead we're trying to save the world."
Blake sighed and nodded.
"It's a lot to think about."
Yang looked at her.
"It's important to take the time to relax when you can. Have a little fun."
She chuckled.
"It's how I stop all that responsibility from overwhelming me sometimes."
Blake nodded.
"Speaking of which, how's Talia?"
"She's cool. Great training partner when it comes to hand to hand stuff-"
She stopped as Blake raised an eyebrow at her.
Yang blushed slightly.
"Is it really that obvious?"
Blake actually laughed and playfully nudged her teammate.
"Yang, you're the least subtle person I know."
Yang grinned.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Yang's smile slowly faded as she looked at Blake.
"Look Blake, I actually came up here to make sure you're doing okay. Ever since we left Atlas you've seemed... restless. Everything okay?"
Blake took a moment to answer.
"I'm fine. It's nothing, really."
Yang hugged her.
"Remember, I'm your friend. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."
Blake nodded as hugged back.
"Always my friend. Always the best of my friends."
Yang pulled back as the two stood up, going back into the train.
As she opened the hatch, Blake grinned.
"I think I may try to take your advice about having fun and unwinding."