Arriving in the Mistral harbor, Blake was ready to take the well-deserved break and relax on the cruise to Menagerie. It has been months since she had more than a minute for herself, with all the research she had done and the combat training for those who wanted to join their militia, she felt like a single minute of rest would be more than heaven right now.
She was already mentally going through the list of books waiting in her private cabin on the ship, trying to pick which one to start reading. The decision came down to two – a science fiction novel about a man shipwrecked on an island with human-animal hybrids and a mysterious doctor, and a story of a distant future in which noble families control various planetary worlds, and hunt for a drug which can prolong life and enhance mental abilities. She only got into science fiction recently, but the authors' ability to create an entirely different world from the one she lived it and make a thriller full of scientific and futuristic references was quite… well… thrilling.
She mentally slapped herself for that joke, while simultaneously openly grinning at it.
"What's got you so happy?" questioned Sun suspiciously, walking by her right side. She gave him an intense side glare, to which he just raised his hands apologetically and made his typical 'sorry I asked' expression. Blake giggled softly at the reaction, giving him a silent, friendly smile.
"Wow, you are so easily disarmed," said Ilia from Blake's other side, as she was trying to hold her own laughter in. "But seriously, is there a reason why you are so cheerful?"
Not wanting to reveal her ongoing habit of making silly puns in her head, Blake attempted to think of a more logical reason.
"Let's see… It is the first time in months we managed to find and collect enough Earth Dust crystals to keep us safe and sound for a while. We're going home with a huge collection, AND nobody got injured this time, except for Sun's papercut..."
"Hey, that paper had an agenda against me!" Sun interrupted loudly.
"Right… anyway, on quite the other hand, we managed to find some healing herbs and supplies. And currently, we are on our way home after a month away, without me having to take care of wounded troops. Which means that after a very long time I can rest and read a book in peace," Blake counted out with a slight hop in her walk.
"You are so easy to please, woman…" Sun snorted, which resulted in him getting elbowed in the abdomen and finally sending Ilia into a laughing fit.
Their walk towards the ship continued in silence interrupted only with more jabs in each direction, and everything seemed beautiful and peaceful for at least a few minutes after a long time of hiding from their enemies. The hoods covering their heads and Faunus features were a great aid in this calm atmosphere.
The coastal part of Mistral was beautiful in this time of year. Flowers were waking up from their cold sleep and showing off their beauty. Children were running around and picking them up, making tiny garlands, while their parents were drinking tea and coffee on the nearby benches or in cafes.
But like always, the peace couldn't last forever. The trio suddenly heard rushed footsteps running towards them from the behind. Blake placed her hand on the handle of a small knife fastened to her right thigh, turning quizzically and cautiously, only to be met with the sight of a terrified Velvet.
"What's…" started her question, which was quickly interrupted.
"It's the White Fang, they were waiting here for us, someone must've tipped them off when we got to Mistral!" said Velvet through her rushed and terrified breaths.
"Shit…" whispered Blake, frantically looking around at her crew and the citizens in their surroundings. "Velvet, you make sure the civilians get home safely. Sun, go and get our people on the ship! Ilia get our fighters and meet me in the tunnels close to the city edge. If I'm not here by the time you get there, assume the attack has already started and kept to our plan – do not injure anyone innocent, or any random troops that might've been just brainwashed by their leader, okay?"
"Okay! Understood!" all three of them said in unison, running towards their own directions.
Blake ran to the closest wall, leaning her back against it and taking deep breaths to calm her sudden adrenaline rush and her beating heart. Once her body reached peak concentration, she trained her ears to listen for any suspicious sounds. However, all she could hear were the cheerful laughs of kids, conversations between lovers, parents praising their kids, students talking about their next tests, and so on.
After five minutes of nothing indicating an uproar, she got impatient, taking the hood off her head, to give her ears a better chance at hearing something… or anything that would reveal the location of the White Fang. The other noises were, however, loud enough to conceal the trained Faunus. She was starting to feel anxious and overwhelmed with the tension. She took a few more deep breaths, trying to enter a higher state of concentration and calmness, something she learned to do over the years of having to stay out of any problems, be it with the humans or the White Fang.
Gotcha… she thought, as she heard clinging of the combat boots, which became a part of the White Fang forces. Quietly and cautiously running close to the walls, she followed the sound. She didn't want to engage in a fight but also didn't want any uproar to start, just because of them being in the city. Therefore, she decided to follow the enemy troops, stay hidden, watching them, and make sure all her people would have got on the ship safe before they are noticed. The tunnels were an easy route, but it's better to be safe and protected than sorry.
Entering a crowded street, she kept her focus and hearing tuned towards the roofs, where she could hear most of the fighters on. She was getting closer and closer. But as she was approaching, she realized she had to divide her focus more and more, to make sure not to run into people, as the streets got crowded with citizens.
That's when it hit her. They weren't waiting for them at the bay. They surrounded the city center, hiding on the roofs of the town hall, the church, the museums, and restaurants.
Cursing under her breath, she slowed down and tried to blend with the crowd, to seem less suspicious. She pushed past people, making sure to keep her head low, but her ears trained towards the noises.
Thump-thump, she heard as the offender jumped from one roof to another. The crowd in front of her got thicker and thicker, and her concentration was getting foggy. She needed to get out quickly. If someone attacked now, the consequences would be terrible. She was getting worried for all the people around her, quickening her step and breaths, accidentally hitting some people and apologizing quickly to the disembodied angry voices. She could hear some music from the center… probably some folk concert. That could explain the crowd was moving that way. Why did it have to be now, though?
She stopped for a second, stepping to the side, to get her focus back on and still the oncoming panic. One long breath in… hold for four… long breath out. And repeat. The effect wasn't as good as she'd wish, but it helped. She mingled back into the crowd, following them, realizing she lost the Faunus' location. Finally getting to the center, Blake hid in the shade of the city library, gently leaning against the wall pretending to be a regular citizen enjoying the afternoon breeze. Focusing intensely again, she tried to listen for any new sounds on the rooftops. Nothing happened for a few seconds, a minute… Only the wind was slowly flowing by, making some leaves dance on the ground, playing with her hair.
Wait… the breeze! She could feel the gentle breeze brush against her ears just as some kid shouted: "Mom, that pretty lady has kitty ears, can I pet them?
Her eyes widened, as her hand quickly shot up to touch her head, only to realize she never put her hood back up. Suddenly, she felt the eyes of almost every citizen turn towards her. She quickly covered her head and ran to the nearest side street. But it was too late. She could hear panic behind her, as the people started running to their homes, or to call the Atlassian soldiers, that were supposed to be protecting them from any Faunus. On the one hand, that meant the citizens were getting to safety, on the other.
"Not quite subtle, are we, kitty?" sounded a chilling voice, followed by a White Fang fighter jumping down from the roof in front of her.
Blake quickly pulled out her weapon, pointing it at the Faunus in front of her.
"Look, this can go two ways… You drop the tone and your weapon, and get away, or…," she started.
"Yeah, yeah, heard the spiel before – I realize I'm making a mistake by following Taurus, or I get to fight you. What do you think sounds more thrilling? Chickening out, or getting to bring you to him, and watching him do whatever he wishes with your pathetic ass?" the guy interrupted her. The tone in his voice sent a chill down her spine. He pulled out his weapon, setting it to the gun mode. "Let's see how well you fight, kitten!"
Blake dodged behind an open door on her left side, as the guy shot at her. Suddenly she heard several pairs of boots running towards them, some from above her, some from the ground.
Quickly considering her options, she decided to play a trick on them. Leaving a clone hiding behind the door, she managed to disappear into another side street, where she quickly reached into the middle pouch fastened on her waist, taking a smaller red crystal. She set it on the floor and kicked it towards the place she just ran away from, just as the White Fang members found her clone. With a precise aim, she shot at the crystal, creating smoke and fire right next to them. This action was followed by screams of pain and anger, as the fighters either had their clothes catch fire, or had their eyes invaded by the clouds of hot smoke. Not enough to kill them, but enough to create a disruption.
Using the moment, she ran towards the tunnels, making sure her hood was now up. She made sure that hardly any citizens were left standing around, occasionally warning some who still didn't get the memo about the White Fang to tell them to go and hide.
She was holding onto her hood, dragging it further down her face in a vain attempt to conceal her ears and her face, to not agitate the civilians anymore and to not be so easily recognizable by her stalkers. However, she could hear both the heavy footsteps of the attackers and the anger of ordinary people. Many clashes between the two groups could be heard from behind, when either a citizen noticed one of the White Fang troops, or when a more dedicated Faunus randomly jumped onto one of the innocent humans, tackling them to the ground.
She had a strong urge to turn back and stop the minor fights to make sure that nobody got hurt because of her mistake. Blake, however, knew she couldn't face both forces herself without making the situation even worse. All she could do was run further and faster, towards their hideout and make sure the White Fang followed her.
Blake kept leaving her fire clones behind, using the moments to catch her breath as they blew up whenever one of the enemies tried to attack them. The explosions were starting to sound closer and closer, but she was still far enough from them to make it in time. Hopefully…
She needed to make it to the far end of the town, with all the soldiers following her and leaving the civilians alone. She needed to make it to Ilia and the rest of the waiting militia.
It started working brilliantly. People had managed to find the safety of their stone walls as Velvet urged them in, thinking that either she or the White Fang were planning to burn down the city. At the same time, the enemies were now actively following her, not paying attention to the people anymore, getting more and more annoyed by her antics. All she needed to do now was to get to the appointed place on time. But the loud thuds of shoes and the clinging of weapons was getting closer. She was partially happy that the fighters weren't careful enough to at least attempt to follow her silently, but at the same time, they were too close for comfort now.
"Hey, kitty kitty kitty," she heard a sleazy voice catching up to her. Gritting her teeth, Blake forced herself not to retort in any way and made a quick turn into an empty side street.
"Aw, why so serious? I'm sure your lovely voice sounds great when you beg for mercy," another one of them tried her patience.
Instead of a proper response, she shifted Gambol Shroud into its gun form and shot back at the guy without sparing him a second glance. A thud could be heard as he got hit in the shin and fell to the ground with a yelp of pain.
She took another corner, leaving another of her clones behind, and quickly climbing on one of the hip-and-valley roofs, sliding to the other side of the house and hiding behind a chimney to catch her breath again. The fact that she had only been training new members for the past months, without paying attention to her own skills, has been starting to show. She used to be faster and calmer during fights, but there was nobody skilled enough to fight in Menagerie to train with if she didn't count Ilia and Sun, who were on missions most of the time.
An explosion sounded as her clone exploded after being hit by some idiot, who still hadn't learned her trick.
"Hey, play nice, or we will make sure our boss learns about this… aaand maybe a few more things if we feel like making your situation worse," some squeaky voice coughed through the clouds of smoke.
Shuddering, but otherwise not paying attention, she jumped to another building and then down to the last block of farmhouses before the tunnels. The White Fang very much knew that mentioning anything Adam related made it easier for them. Blake felt her anxiety rising; her mind replaying the images from the Fall as it does in her nightmares almost every night. Blake couldn't allow that. Not right now, when she was so close to getting reinforcements.
"Are you looking for some friends to give you a helping hand? Damn, we really should get Taurus here so that he can help with that again," the whole gang started to snicker. Blake stopped in her tracks, completely frozen.
It's been seven years… Seven long years since the attack at Beacon, yet the simple mention of it could disarm her in a second. The only thing that changed was the emotion associated with it. At first, it was regret, shame, fear… now it usually sent her into an uncontrollable, panicked fit of rage, especially if some asshole from White Fang was using the memory against her. And this occasion was no different.
They were right behind her when she switched Gambol into its sheathed form and pointed it at them. She could see all their animal traits now as she was observing them. There were some horns and antlers, some animal ears, and she even saw a pair of wings here and there. She also saw the change in their faces, which went from smug to terrified, the second she turned, as they probably didn't expect her to react at all. The horror in their eyes got even worse as she sprinted at them and started hitting them with the flat side of her weapon, making them fall to the ground, either unconscious or with a broken limb. Still being in control enough to not hurt them all, she hid behind a random car on the street by using her semblance once again. When the ones who were still standing noticed her disappearance, they started looking around frantically, eyes filled with rage.
"Where did the bitch go? I swear to gods I'll beat her up before we even bring her to camp!" she heard them yelling.
While they were still standing around in a tight group perfect for another explosion, she reached into her pouches again, opening the second one which contained the Fire Dust.
Shit… shit, shit, shit… She thought as she untied the pouch from her belt to look at it more closely. Opening it fully to see the insides only confirmed Blake's horror. She had no fire left. Which meant she couldn't use it to distract the attackers.
"Oh, are we having trouble there, friend?" a mocking voice sounded from a building above. She looked up with a jolt and saw the winged bat Faunus above her.
The only thing that followed was dull pain on the right side of her head, loud ringing in her ears, and then everything went black…