So, this is my attempt at writing a story full of feels. Not entirely sure if it worked but I'll leave that to you guys. Would just like to say that this story idea came to me pretty much a few hours ago and I decided to write it while I still had the ambition. So please enjoy this short story.
In the cool shade of an alcove of a Faunas-owned café, a certain man in a longcoat quietly drank a refreshing iced tea. He was in one of those moods where people naturally didn't want to approach him. His pale skin, dark clothes and blood-red hair didn't help alleviate his threatening demeanor. The odd passerby that looked in the window only saw a shadowy figure sitting menacingly in the darkest corner of the room, like a vampire hiding from the sunlight. But the store owner didn't mind the creepy visitor. The White Fang had been good to his family so he was more than happy to let a high-ranking member stay and wile away the days in between missions.
Adam Taurus wasn't one for melancholy. Most of his comrades wouldn't use such a word. "Cold", "Stubborn" and "Driven" were more appropriate. But today, he was feeling melancholic. A certain raven-haired girl was the subject of his introspection, something he had tried to ignore for a long time.
"Blake…" he said to himself in between sips. Time had done much to heal the wound but he still couldn't keep the hurt out of his words. There was more there too though: anger, hatred, betrayal. Feelings Adam had felt all his life but his partner wasn't one he had expected to feel them for. It was almost a year since she had abandoned him and the White Fang for some life of false peace. He didn't know. She had always wanted to make a better life for her people. Looking back on it now, Adam started to wonder if he really knew her at all.
"Adam," the leader of the White Fang jumped at the sound of a female voice. For a moment he actually thought his old partner had in fact come back to him once again, but when he looked up, it wasn't those bright yellow eyes he saw but dark green.
"Hazel," he relaxed once again, "Good to see you,"
"Likewise," Hazel Hargloss sat in the opposite chair. She wore a designer jacket and a miniskirt, her hands perfectly manicured and her distracting legs thankfully covered by leggings for once. Her blonde hair was tied in a bun and hidden under a button hat, which also concealed her Faunas heritage. At least she's not trying to draw attention to herself, Taurus thought, though anyone who didn't know her wouldn't agree when confronted with the sight of a woman who could pass as a fashion model. "So, what is the most active member of the White Fang doing lying low in the middle of Vale?" she smiled seductively. He mentally sighed. She always enjoyed trying to distract him. She seemed to think it was a game.
"You know why," the bull Faunas pressed on, trying to ignore the fact that Hazel was leaning unnecessarily close to him over the table, "I sent out the information to you and your branch. Did you get it?"
Hazel sighed at the mention of work, finally giving up on her flirtations, "Yes, it took some digging and not a little subterfuge on the part of our more clandestine members, but we found records of a seventeen-year-old matching the description and picture you sent us," the female Faunas revealed a brown envelope and pushed it across the table. Adam snatching it up quickly and ripped the seal off, looking in at the contents, "Blake Belladonna: seventeen-years-old, currently a first-year student at Beacon Academy,"
Adam looked at the picture of her silently. There she stood to one side of a group of three other girls. In the middle was a tall busty blonde who had an arm cradled over a much smaller, black-haired girl in a red cape who looked desperate to get out of the headlock. On the other side of the group was a white haired girl that made Adam gasp. Seeing the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company in the same picture as his former partner was a shock beyond belief.
"So that's her," Hazel said looking at the picture over Adam's shoulder. He had been far too engrossed in the picture to realise she had gotten up and moved to stand behind him, "She's certainly grown.
"A Huntress," Adam said more to himself than to Hazel, "She always said she wanted to help people,"
"That is the Hunter Society's job," Hazel pointed out.
"But she was making a difference with us," Taurus growled and lay the photo down, "Why did she just throw her life away?"
"It doesn't matter, Adam," Hazel said coldly, "You know the law; you do not leave the White Fang without permission from the elders. Blake betrayed us. There is only one option left,"
"I know," Adam looked down at the girl he had grown up with and loved like a sister since they were kids when he found her stealing bread from behind a bakery. The girl he once trusted more than anyone, "Blake has to die,"
If there was one flaw about Blake's personality, it was that she enjoyed her own company far too much. All it took was a snoring Yang working off a hangover ("I swear, I thought it was non-alcoholic!") for her to decide Sunday morning would be best spent in the forests just outside Beacon. Taking up one of her older books, she set off on her own to find a nice quite clearing to read away the day. The forest looked truly beautiful in it autumn colours. The leaves crunched underneath her feet and the rays of light spilled through the cracks in the trees to warm her skin. The smells of wildlife and plants convinced Blake that she could walk like this for hours.
Finally, she found an opening in the trail that was brighter than the rest due to the more sparsely placed tree-trunks. She found the largest on she could see and sat on a root that seemed perfectly shaped to accommodate her back. Opening up on a bookmark she had placed weeks ago, she resumed reading as if she had closed it only moments ago.
But the tranquility of her surroundings seemed off. No matter how relaxed she felt, her sense for danger told her there was something or someone watching her. After a minute of trying to shake off the feeling, she finally closed the book in frustration and looked around. Her eyesight was sharp even more so than other Faunas so a quick scan told her there was definitely nothing in her immediately vicinity. So why did she still have that feeling she always felt before a fight?
Then, the rustling of leaves just above her told her exactly why she had seen nothing. Blake rolled forward as the assailant dropped down, driving a sword into the ground. Once she recovered, she turned, drawing Gambol Shroud. The woman that attacked her was one of the White Fang, her mask clearly showing her allegiance. But otherwise, Blake had no idea who she was. All she knew was that this woman was here to kill her and that was all Blake needed to know.
Not mincing words, Blake charged forward but at the last moment, she shadowed, leaping into the air as the woman cut through her clone and delivering a strike of her own. The woman was staggered but for what it's worth, she didn't let Blake capitalise on it. Metal clashed on metal as Gambol Shroud locked with the red cleaver common among White Fang foot soldiers.
"Not bad," the assassin grinned, "I can see why he likes you,"
Blake pushed away and unsheathed her sword, taking aim but the woman already closed the gap and kicked her gun aside. The other half of her weapon fell a few feet away and Blake was now only left with her sheath for protection. But the assassin underestimated her. Having thought it was over, she tried to grab hold of her instead of disarming her fully. Blake lashed out and the woman pulled her hand back in pain. Blake lunged for her weapon and rolled back into a crouch as she caught it. But the cocking of several guns made her freeze. She looked to her left and right, seeing two White Fang members holding rifles pointed at her. They wouldn't kill her but it would still hurt like hell if they decided to fire. Blake readied Gambol Shroud for an attack but something caught her elbow before she could make a move. She turned around to find the hindrance but the man in black and red behind her caused her mind to go blank.
"Adam…" her voice cracked as she looked into the emotionless mask of her old partner.
The bull Faunas' reply was a brutal swing of Wilt into her face, knocking her to the ground. Blake cried out more in surprise than pain and tumbled away to try and get away from this new revelation rather than getting away from the danger.
"Not so fast," the woman placed a foot on Blake's back to stop her from moving. She sounded smug. Blake felt her anger for the woman rise up.
"Let her up, Hazel," Adam approached, drawing Blush, "She deserves to accept her fate on her feet,"
"Fate?" Blake could only ask as she was allowed to stand.
"You should have known what would happen when you left us, little one," the woman called Hazel said quietly into her ear, "Did you think Adam cared about you enough to let you betrayal go unanswered?"
"I-I…" In truth, Blake really didn't know why she expected otherwise. White Fang cells were brothers-in-arms and could be likened to tightly knit families. As such, if one were to go rogue, all the members would be in danger, as well as their families if word of their actions got out. So, of course they would have to kill anyone that no longer served the Faunas' best interests.
"Blake," Adam raised Blush to her chin. Even though it only pressed against her lightly, the edge broke her skin with ease, drawing a drop of blood, "You turned your back on everything we believed in. Why?"
"What?" Blake didn't expect questions in a situation like this. Wasn't this supposed to be an execution?
"We can't mess around, Adam," the woman snapped, "If anyone sees us here…"
"I need to know," Adam snapped back but the anger in his voice was much more volatile and caused Blake to flinch. Blush left her chin, only to be pressed against her throat. Now the edge began to hurt, "Tell me; what made you turn your back on me?" the hatred she heard in his voice broke the young Faunas' heart. He hated her. They say the greater the love between two people, the more intense the hatred when it spoils, and right now, Blake was sure that the only reason he hadn't killed her was because she hadn't answered his question.
"You changed, Adam," she choked out the words, partly from the blade against her neck and partly from the feeling of losing her oldest friend, "We joined the White Fang to make the world a better place. Do you really think all that we've done is going to change anything?"
"Maybe it could have if you just believed," the red-haired Faunas shouted, "Believed in what our parents believed in: that it was better to die standing than live on our knees. Don't you remember what people like the Schnees did to your family?"
Blake scrunched up her eyes at the reminder of why she joined the White Fang to begin with. That Adam was throwing that in her face proved that the friend she knew was gone, "Adam, do you really think doing to humans what happened to me is going to solve any of our problems?"
"Our problems are trying to find equality in a world that hates us. How else are we going to show the humans the pain we feel?"
"Adam," Blake couldn't take the words her old friend was saying anymore. Not caring how he would react, she moved her hand to caress the red lines of his mask, "you really have spent too long under that mask that you forget what it's like without it. If that's really how you view things then please, kill me now. I'm tired of fighting where the only goal is hate. I want to fight for something that offers a shred of hope in this world. And I'm sorry, but I can't fight that battle with you alongside me,"
She dropped her hand, closed her eyes and waited for her last moment of life. Adam was fixed in the spot, the blade still poised to end her. Finally, like a burst dam, Adam screamed in rage and Blush flashed out twice in an arc of blood. Blake flinched but the pain didn't come. Instead she heard Hazel gasp in shock for a moment before Blush lashed out again, ending the gasp prematurely. Blake opened her eyes and was horrified to see the two White Fang men and Hazel lie dead in the autumn leaves and in the middle, her red-haired partner sheathe his bloody sword.
"You… why? You killed them..." it was all she could say.
"You were ambushed by three members of the White Fang," Adam said emotionlessly, not looking up at her, "They recognised you as a friend of Weiss Schnee and followed you to Beacon, where they attacked you once you were alone but Grimm also attacked and killed the attackers. You managed to drive them off but not before the other three died."
"But why?"
"This is my last act of kindness towards you. From now on, we are not friends, family, comrades, anything. You are dead to me, Blake Belladonna, and if I ever see you again or if you ever disrupt the actions of the White Fang ever again, I will kill you,"
Without another word he turned before she could look at his face directly again. He walked away from her into the forest away from Beacon. She knew that once he was out of sight, no one would be able to follow him, not even the most experienced Huntsmen. As a friend, Adam Taurus was out of her life for good. This would be the last she ever saw of the boy who saved her from starvation, the teenager who protected her from bullies when she was too weak to protect herself and the man who taught her how to become strong enough not only to defend herself but also others. This was the last she would ever see of the man who meant more to her than life itself. The man she had betrayed.
"Adam, wait…" she called out. She wanted to run after him, but her legs wouldn't respond. Her voice echoed through the silent forest but Adam Taurus paid no heed. He disappeared and she was left alone, "I'm sorry," she said as she began to cry for all that she had just lost.
In the silent glades of Forever Falls, after an hour of walking with no particular goal, Adam finally stopped. He didn't know where he was and didn't care. All that mattered was that he could keep moving forward. But for now, he stopped, looked up at the reddening sunset and took a deep breathe to calm himself, "I'm sorry too, Blake," he whispered as a tear of his own rolled down from under his mask.
That was... emotional? I hope so, it was what I was going for. Still, provoking emotion isn't my strong suit so criticism is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)