Crimson leaves cascaded downwards from the dust-red Forever Fall trees that surrounded the clearing Blake was sitting in. The gentle breeze that guided the leaves from sky to earth tickled her cat ears and caused her hair to blow in the wind. The surrounding trees swayed ever so slightly as the erratic wind blew them from side to side.
The crimson leaves continued to fall, one by one, as time continued onward.
Blake sat perched on top of a rock, waiting for Adam to inform her that the Schnee Dust Company train was approaching. The swirling leaves that landed beside her spot had a sort of gentle grace to them. The color of the forest around was a natural beauty, although it was a shame it had to share that same color with a certain type of dust. She could never fully appreciate the gorgeous natural landscape before, back when she was consumed by her blind loyalty. But now, she had changed.
When had she become so accustomed to solitude?
It was clear that Blake herself was nearing the breaking point. Mission after mission for the new White Fang got more dangerous, more violent, more costly. The peaceful protests had been completely replaced with a new way of thinking, with violent attacks as the answer to inequality. Innocent lives piled up day after day and for what? This wasn't what she joined the White Fang for.
This wasn't what she abandoned her family for.
A crunch of leaves behind her shook her out of her thoughts. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Blake. It's time." Blake continued to look out into the forest for a few seconds as Adam's words sunk in. Adam's voice was mixed with the cold tone that had consistently used since he took charge of the Vale Branch, and the gentle tone that the old Adam had always spoken to her with. It pained her, to see both sides of her best friend. She didn't know how to react to it.
Blake simply breathed in deeply, in anticipation to what would come next. She slowly turned around to face Adam, replying in a soft voice: "Okay." She was at a loss for what to say. There were so many concerns she wanted to voice, so many things she wanted to bring up, but all she said was 'okay'.
Adam wasted no time after hearing her confirmation, dashing towards the cliff that overlooked the train tracks, and Blake hesitantly followed him. Blake and Adam had scouted this area the night before for intel, and they determined it to be the perfect spot nearby to land on the Schnee Dust Company train. The area that they had scouted was a high cliff, but it also had a midrange incline for them to slide down.
The red leaves that she had been admiring scattered in different directions as they ran past them. It was symbolic, in a twisted way. She had pushed forward in these 'new' missions and therefore scattered any semblance of tranquility in the surrounding area. What did it accomplish in the end? Making humans respect the Faunus out of fear?
Her train of thought cut off as Blake came to an abrupt stop just after Adam did, stopping right before the cliff's edge. The view of the Forever Fall forest was beautiful, if you could ignore the massive railway that cut right between the forest. Blake had seen this view before last night, but the view in the day was just so much prettier. The coal black railway though, held up by beige supports, stood out for miles in the crimson red forest.
And on cue, the blackish gray train that they had been waiting for approached from the distance, moving swiftly along the tracks. Blake sighed in her mind, knowing about what would come next. This wasn't just any mission. The White Fang had staked out this location for days in preparation. If their mission was successful, no doubt it would be news worldwide. Adam had pushed Blake to wear a Grimm mask for the first time because of the risks, but Blake had refused because she didn't want to be a symbol of fear.
In any case, the aftermath of this mission would send a huge message to the Schnee Dust Company. An entire train car of dust stolen by the White Fang would not only bolster their operations but also hurt the Schnee Dust Company business in Vale. Adam had mentioned to her that he planned to shut down the railway entirely, but he had not disclosed the method of how, to her. The shutdown of a major trade railway from Atlas to Vale would hurt both international trade and relations between the two countries.
Adam, first to always take the initiative, moved forward as the train entered their range and jumped down, sliding along the dust red colored rocks, both hands on his blade. Blake leapt down after him, holding the hilt of her katana on her back, while using the other hand to steady herself as she slid down beside Adam. As they neared the train, Adam leapt off and flipped around midair, landing and stabbing Wilt into the top of the train car to stabilize himself. Blake landed less gracefully, but thrust Gambol Shroud into the top of the train car to steady herself nonetheless.
Both of them sheathed their blades after gaining a steady footing on the moving train. Adam leapt across the gap to the next train car, landing on the top of it, and Blake followed. Adam surveyed the area ahead of them and spotted a trapdoor that would allow them to drop into the train car, which is what both of them were hoping for. A quick, precise shot from Blush unsealed the trapdoor, and Adam opened the hatch, allowing both of them to view inside the train car.
Blake used her night vision to allow her to gaze inside. There appeared to be a stockpile of inactive Atlesian Knight-130s. As long as they were stealthy, there was no way for them to wake up. Adam came to the same conclusion as her and jumped down the trapdoor, leaving Blake to jump down after him.
As Blake landed beside Adam, a faint clicking sound was heard. Infrared lasers had activated shortly after the hatch was unsealed, causing the droids to begin waking up. That was unfortunate. Adam turned to Blake, preparing for a fight.
"Looks like we'll be doing this the hard way."
Blake smiled at seeing a glimpse of the old Adam, as the recently awakened androids formed a circle around them. "Don't be so dramatic."
"Intruder. Identify yourself." The android transformed its arms into cannons and aimed them at Adam and Blake.
Adam relaxed his pose and simply smiled, before shooting Wilt straight out of its sheath, its hilt bouncing right off the android's forehead, knocking it off balance. As the droid recovered its balance and attempted to fire, Adam rushed forward with lightning speed, grabbing Wilt and severing the droid's head off as he sped past it on the left, then he followed up with a slash from behind to cut its torso in two, which caused the malfunctioning droid, now in pieces, to collapse onto the ground.
The androids behind Blake looked at each other in confusion briefly. Adam must have just taken out their leader. Despite that, they transformed their arms into knives and charged at Blake blindly. Blake kept one eye on them as she kept her hand ready to draw Gambol Shroud as the two closest droids charged at her on a straight path, while the other androids chose to flank. At the opportune moment, she activated her semblance and pushed off her clone, spinning mid-air with Gambol Shroud's sheath blade and cutting both of the androids cleanly in half. Blake then ran forwards and joined Adam, and they moved in harmony as they cut down each of the approaching androids with a series of slashes and shots. Years of fighting together as partners had created a form of muscle memory for her; it simply felt natural. Blake covered Adam's back while Adam covered hers, each of them filling in their weak spots as they cut down enemies that came to close.
Blake wished that their words to each other could accomplish the same harmony one day.
One of the androids smartly shot at them from a distance with their arm cannons, although Adam easily deflected the bullets and absorbed the power of their shot with his blade. Blake ran towards the android, deflecting the bullets with Gambol Shroud, before she leapt into the air once she was in range, and sliced off its head with a clean strike. Blake then separated katana and sheath as she used her momentum to continue forwards, slashing mid-air to cut one android in half diagonally, then ducking low the ground while she continued her spin to cut off another android's legs. She then slashed upwards, intending to cut the next android in half from right hip to left shoulder, but the android backed off just in time, causing her to only to knock the android off balance. She quickly took advantage of the stunned droid to jump up into the air and flip downwards, creating momentum which she funneled into a downwards kick onto its head, which caused the android to flop face first into the train car's floor.
Blake grinned slightly. She didn't like to admit it, but it felt nice to fight after a couple long days of thinking. Smacking the AK-130s around was a nice stress reliever, and she didn't have to worry about injuring them since they were androids.
She kneeled down, katana in her right hand and sheath in her left, and pounced, knocking another android off balance then slashing with her katana and sheath, before she used her semblance to give her boost by pushing off another clone. She executed the same bladework to the next android, causing it to fall into pieces, then used her sheath to block an arm blade thrust from one of the androids in front of her. She then stabbed the android with her katana, hitting a key part of the android's system causing it to shut down, then pushed off her clone into a spin which cut another two androids in front of her into pieces.
Blake didn't give the last android any time to react as she slashed horizontally with her katana, then vertically with her sheath, then kicked the android into air while back-flipping. She then cut horizontally with her sheath in mid-air, then used both blades to slice diagonally along the android's body. The android still held up, which left Blake to assume that this was an upgraded model. Blake used her semblance to push herself forward and downwards, and she whacked the droid with a backhand slash that kept it in the air. Adam came running from the back, finished with the androids on the other end of the train car, and performed a perfect kick to the flying android that caused it to crash through the locked train car door and into the open train platform.
Adam and Blake both jumped outside, landing firmly on the train platform, with Blake using her semblance for a more gradual landing. A quick look ahead found a group of Atlesian Knight 130s that charged at them across the train platform. Many of the AK-130s were jumping on/over cargo to get to them.
"Let's do this." Blake could only blink and shake her head. Adam was never good at encouragement, despite him being the leader of the White Fang Vale Branch.
Adam rushed forward and knocked two of the droids into the air with a massive swing, and Blake jumped up to unleash a flurry of spins and slashes onto their reinforced bodies. Adam finished the droids off with a couple of slashes once they fell back to the ground. Blake studied the area around them as she landed, noticing how the androids had surrounded them once more. She hissed, annoyed at how easily it had happened.
Blake switched Gambol Shroud to its gun form and whipped it into the middle of the crowd of androids in front of her using its own shot to propel it forward. She suddenly yanked back with its ribbon at the perfect time, causing the gun to propel backwards into the back of an android that had surprisingly ducked the whip before. Blake flicked her wrist and caused Gambol Shroud to change its path to slash an android to the right and behind her, as Adam once again performed a perfect kick to the android she had knocked into the air with its whip form. Blake flicked her wrist to direct Gambol Shroud once again, and slashed a couple androids without hitting Adam. She then jumped and twisted into the air as Adam gave her space, causing Gambol Shroud to spin in numerous deadly arcs around her, which shredded the nearby androids to pieces. She landed on the ground with Gambol Shroud perfectly hooked into the head of an android which had fallen to its knees in front of her, and Adam rushed past it and used a backhand slash to finish it off. Blake rolled to unhook Gambol Shroud from the scrap metal that used to be the android, and followed Adam as he rushed forward to deal with the rest of the androids.
She was pretty sure that she was showing off at this point, and she was sure Adam was annoyed. She was impulsive, while Adam was calm and collected, but despite that they worked well together.
Adam slashed twice in the blink of an eye, then continued slashing with Wilt as he moved through the pack of androids. With one final massive slash, most of the group of androids he passed through exploded and short-circuited, falling onto the ground. Blake cut one of the downed androids with Gambol Shroud's sheath, then once again knocked another android off balance with an upwards cut of her sheath before slicing with her katana. Blake transformed Gambol Shroud into its whip gun form and spun it around counter-clockwise, juggling the androids in the air as they were repeated slashed by Gambol Shroud and Adam fired a heavy shot from Blush to further damage them, before he jumped up into the air and knocked them backwards further into the air with Wilt, while Blake flipped and kicked to knock another two androids into the exact same place. Adam then slashed three times while using a fraction of his semblance to heavily damage the androids, before Blake used her semblance to kick off into the air behind them and slash them. Blake activated her semblance once more to push off into the space above Adam, where she kicked multiple androids into the ground. Adam comboed his sheath and blade to cleanly finish off the android that Blake had kicked to him.
A quick scan of the surrounding area revealed that there were no more Atlesian Knights to be found, so Blake and Adam moved up to the next car. The train car door surprisingly was still unlocked, so Blake and Adam moved inside without question. The interior of the train car was completely free of androids. Something wasn't adding up, and both of them knew it as Adam and Blake glanced at each other briefly. Adam was quick to move up and examine the cargo inside, and Blake took a look at what Adam had uncovered. A massive stockpile of burn dust crystals lay in the crate, and a similar look at the other crates revealed that they held the same cargo.
"Perfect. Move up to the next car. I'll set the charges." Adam's voice took the same tone as it always did on missions.
Blake blinked while Adam was speaking. This was the plan? Adam knew there would be a massive stockpile of burn dust crystals to serve as a catalyst for the charges? An explosion of that magnitude would take out the railway, but it would also… Oh no.
Blake turned to him in shock as she came to a realization. "What about the crew members?"
Adam turned to her, emotionless as ever. "What about them?"
Blake closed her eyes for a brief second. How could he say that? These were lives on the line!
Oh Adam, what happened to you?
A loud noise behind them caused them to turn their heads. A massive Atlesian spider mech dropped down from the ceiling, sporting four massive cannons.
"Adam…" Blake wanted to shout at him, tell him that these were lives were important, but she only managed to call his name.
The Atlesian spider mech charged energy, then unleashed a barrage of ice white blasts at Adam, who nimbly dodged each one. Blake had to give the Schnee Dust company credit for that, as clearly they knew that a spider droid sporting ice dust powered cannons wouldn't cause the burn dust to react and explode. Blake charged forward, dodging the barrage as the mech targeted her instead, and leapt up, intending to slash the mech's head, but the mech headbutted her, taking her by surprise, causing her to land in the ground, her head dizzy from being smacked by a metal mech. Adam took the opening and delivered a few spins and slashes to the mech's body, landing beside Blake, before he was kicked back by one of the mech's legs. The mech unleashed another barrage of projectiles at Adam, which scattered the cargo all around the room as they missed him. The crates scattered everywhere as the ice white projectiles exploded upon impact, but thankfully they were all sealed properly by the Schnee Dust Company.
Blake was aware that the mech was trying to crush her and tried to stand up and get out of the way, but her head was still ringing from the previous blow, and she could barely lift her hands to support herself as she couldn't focus in time. Thankfully, Adam rushed over and grabbed her before the spider mech's leg could crush her. He gently carried her in his arms and placed her down even more carefully.
If only Adam could be this gentle all the time….
Blake blinked twice as her focus was restored, her eyes locking onto the spider droid, which was charging energy again.
"We need to get out of here." Blake's survival instinct kicked in as she analyzed the threat in front of her.
The spider droid combined its four cannons into one and unleashed a massive blast which Adam wasn't able to absorb due to its sheer magnitude. Blake and Adam flew out the end of the train car, along with the train car door, sliding along the train platform floor. Blake and Adam both started to get up as they watched the spider mech climb through the hole it had made.
Adam turned to Blake, fully standing, while Blake was still kneeling. "Buy me some time!"
Blake knew instantly what he was referring to. Adam needed to charge his semblance to contain a blast that powerful, so he was counting on her to delay for him. But if Adam absorbed all that energy, chances are he would spend all of the energy he had stored up from the last few days. Adam didn't have enough control to be selective once the magnitude of power grew too large. "Are you sure?"
"Do it!" Adam began preparing as Blake rushed forward.
Blake dodged to the left and then right as the mech shot two precise shots at her, then used her semblance to push forward and slash the mech with both blades, while hooking the mech's body with Gambol Shroud. She yanked the ribbon once again, causing the gun to fire and shoot back to her, where she gracefully landed behind the mech while slashing its back with Gambol Shroud's whip-gun form. Once she was finished, she quickly continued the assault, pushing off a clone generated by her semblance to weave between the spider mech's legs. She slashed its back legs with her sheath, then used her semblance to push forward as she backhand slashed its front legs with her sheath, then propelled herself upwards by pushing off another clone to spin with both her blades, dealing damage to the spider mech's torso. The spider mech fired a precise shot in an attempt to hit her in mid-air, and Blake once again used her semblance to push herself downwards. She bounced off the ground with her semblance and leapt up to jam Gambol Shroud's katana straight into the cannon's underbelly. Blake quickly fired an entire clip into the mech's face, which only served to agitate the mech. She then back flipped away as the spider mech swatted the area where she just was with its cannon claws. She ended up landing right beside Adam, who was ready to use his semblance. The spider droid transformed its cannons into the mega cannon like it had before, and began charging energy once more.
"Move!" Blake obeyed as Adam put his hands on Wilt and Blush and prepared to absorb the energy. She dashed over and landed on the next train platform and prepared to watch Adam in action once more. Suddenly, an idea sprouted in her mind. Her mother had always been a quick thinker, and she had inherited that trait.
I could cut the train caboose here and leave the White Fang. This part of the train would stop, leaving Adam and the rest of the train to keep moving along the railway. It would be impossible for Adam to choose me and the objective, and I know he would choose the objective.
It was her chance to escape the White Fang. Every mission since Sienna Khan had taken power had grown more bold, more dangerous, more violent. The line between innocent blood and faunus oppressors had started to become non-existent, and she hated every bit of it.
It was also slightly manipulative. Adam and Blake didn't see eye to eye on political issues anymore, but they were still partners. Blake was manipulating him to escape, and it felt wrong. But that wasn't the only reason for her hesitation. She could accept doing that to Adam at the price of pursuing a new path. But why else would she hesitate?
"Blake, they're your parents. Not every faunus in the White Fang is lucky enough to still have parents, and you should appreciate that." Ilia sat beside Blake as she tried to put reason into Blake's mind.
"They turned their backs on me! On all of us!" Blake practically screamed in Ilia's ear, causing her to wince, but Blake didn't notice, consumed by her anger.
"So what are you doing? Running away?" Ilia questioned, her skin color changing as her emotions did.
"They're the ones running away." Blake's tone was cold as she turned and walked away, heading towards Adam.
Adam laughing broke Blake out of her remembrance as he finished absorbing the mech's blast. As the spider mech jumped towards him, intending to crush him under its leg, Adam slashed its legs with a clean slash, the massive release of energy causing the spider mech to wilt away, as it disintegrated in the wind. The crates in the area scattered everywhere as Adam slashed, a result of the massive energy pool being focused into one area. Adam sheathed his blade just as the mech finished disintegrating, and relaxed.
Blake could only stare mournfully as Adam rushed forward to meet up with her. He stopped right before the gap in the train, realizing that something was wrong, as Blake refused to meet his eyes, choosing to look down instead. Adam reached towards her, then stopped the action, which caused Blake to reel in surprise.
He knew what I was going to do the instant he saw me. And he's letting me go because he knows he can't have me and the objective if I choose to run away, like I predicted. He knew… He still knows me so well…
Blake turned to face Adam, still intending to cut the train caboose, but her hesitation began to show.
Why the hesitation? I know how to live on the streets, and I don't fear the White Fang coming after me. Do I fear how Adam will change? I know he'll still choose the objective over me, given the choice. Do I really fear his wrath?
The memory of Ilia came to the front of her mind as she started to reach for Gambol Shroud. She stopped with her hand on Gambol's hilt as she came to a critical realization.
I was the one running away. My parents weren't the ones running away. I was. And what am I doing now? I'm running away. I showed concern towards the crew members and yet I'm leaving them to die, because I'm running away again. Even my semblance is an ability I use to run away…
"Adam…" Blake's voice cracked. The part of Adam's face that wasn't covered by the mask lit up in surprise.
"Blake?" Adam's tone became the gentle tone that the old Adam used with her. Blake winced.
"This has to stop…." Blake's amber eyes grew clouded as she looked down once more.
"What has to stop?" Adam changed his tone back to his cold demeanor and mimicked perfect confusion, but Blake knew perfectly well that it was fake confusion. Blake glared at him.
"You know what has to stop! All this… senseless killing! These people have lives to live, have families just like us!" Blake lost her temper at Adam's cool exterior. This talk certainly wasn't going in the direction she wanted it to. She supposed her impulsiveness had a part to play in that.
"These people work for the Schnee Dust Company. They're the ones who chose to work for a company who actively puts our people to death! They're not innocent, they're people who choose to stand for the slaughter of our people!" Adam lost his composure as soon as Blake did.
"You don't know that! They could just be regular people who work for Schnee Dust Company to earn a living!" Blake tightened her grip on Gambol Shroud as the argument continued.
"They're the ones who made the choice to work for that blasted company, and we're showing them the consequences of their actions!"
"They still have lives! Their lives aren't just something we can throw away to prove a point to the world! How can you be so cold and calculating without even taking that into consideration!"
"And what kind of message do you think sparing them will?"
"A message that shows the ideals my father fought for! Peace and Equality!"
"What you want is impossible! That's why your father stepped down, because he was leading us towards an impossible goal that cost us lives! That's what's precious, the lives of our people, not the lives of some random human filth that work for the Schnee Dust Company!"
"So you choose to make humanity respect us out of fear?"
"They should fear us."
"No, they shouldn't! If either side hates one another, it just leads to an endless cycle of hate that continues forever! Nothing ever gets accomplished!"
"I never took you for an idealist, Blake. Nothing changes peacefully, and your father is proof of that! Your father was weak, and we're giving humanity what they deserve!"
"You've changed!" Adam flinched for a second. Blake's voice grew soft as she continued. "First you told me they were accidents. Then it was self-defense. And you know what?" Blake locked eyes with Adam, even behind his Grimm mask. "...I believed you. I trusted you. I took the lives of others protecting you. And for what?" Blake gritted her teeth in anger. "You're not the person I once knew anymore!"
"Everything that I've done, has been for the betterment of our people." Adam's tone became hostile. "You're the one who refuses to change! You cling to your ideals and it gets you nowhere! Clinging to ideals doesn't get you anywhere and it never has!"
It was Blake's turn to flinch at Adam's words. "Ada-"
"No. We're done talking. Make your choice. If you run, I will never forgive you."
Blake closed her mouth and just glanced at Adam for a couple seconds. She could see the fire in his eyes behind the mask he always insisted upon wearing.
When they were younger, Adam had a similar fire in his eyes, although instead of dark and determined, it was bright and passionate. Blake had shared that same bright passion at the time and they bonded over it. But then Adam had changed. And Blake had not.
There was a divide between them, and both of them knew it.
Blake looked down at the caboose she was intending to cut, and thought about the possibilities in her head. Adam kept her in the dark regarding the rest of the White Fang, so there was a very low chance she could simply hope to find a peaceful branch of the White Fang. Sienna Khan had seen to that. Peaceful protests were an ancient relic now, and there was no amount of excavation that one person could do to find them.
Returning home to Menagerie wouldn't be the worst option. She could reconcile with her parents, and help them with their daily lives. But it wasn't the life Blake wanted to live. Despite how the White Fang had changed, she still loved the part of the organization that had once stood for the ideals her father had fought for. She still had faith in those ideals, and Adam's response didn't make that faith waver.
There was another way to fulfill the ideals her father fought for, and that would be to join a Huntsman Academy. Inequality, corruption, a lot of the world's problems could be fought by becoming a Huntress. But, it would also mean opposing the White Fang. Turning her back on everything she had ever known. Adam would never forgive her for running, but Adam would destroy her for joining a Huntsman Academy. Adam was extremely verbal regarding his opinions on Huntsman and their 'righteous path'. If he got his way, Blake was sure he would put a fair number of Huntsman into the ground.
Her last option that she considered was to stay with the Vale Branch of the White Fang. Stop turning a blind eye to the atrocities that they committed and instead, try and change things from the inside. It sounded impossible, to slowly undo 5 years of change. But, a part of her knew it wasn't impossible. There were still glimpses of the old Adam, and it wasn't too late for the White Fang to turn back. It was a choice that meant no more running, no more inaction. It was a risky choice.
But Blake had already run away before. She didn't want to do it again.
She could do a lot of good as a Huntsman. But it also meant she would turn her back on everything she knew. And in another life, she could see herself pursuing a career as a Huntsman as her own way to fight the world's problems such as inequality and corruption.
Blake knew what she wanted. And it was to stay with the organization that had been a fundamental part of her whole life, despite how it had changed.
"Set the charges." Blake responded calmly.
Adam's face lit with surprise for an instant before he reverted back to his usual look. It took no words before Adam simply sprung into action, slowly running back to the train car where the spider mech had emerged from, with Blake following behind.
"We will be having a discussion later, Blake." Adam's tone was mixed once more.
Blake didn't doubt it. She just hoped she could get Adam to see what she saw.
It was a couple of minutes later.
Blake leapt off the moving train using her semblance, following Adam as he stabbed Wilt into the dust-red mountain surface to stabilize himself. Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud and jammed both katana and sheath into the slanted mountain earth to stop herself from sliding downwards. She breathed out deeply, in preparation for what was next to come.
Adam unhooked the detonator from his belt once he had stopped moving and activated it. Blake lifted one arm to cover her eyes as the middle of the Schnee Dust train was caught in a massive explosion. The burn dust crystal crates reacted violently inside, causing multiple explosions to follow the initial detonation. Almost the entire train was engulfed in a fiery blaze, with debris flying everywhere. A number of screeches and snaps were heard as the train began to fall to pieces. Blake winced slightly as she heard metal crashing down.
After the smoke had cleared, Blake glanced at the damage. The railway had buckled and collapsed, falling to the red leaf forest ground below. The front half of the train had derailed and flipped on its side, the cabooses snapping under the strain, causing numerous train cars to be scattered everywhere. The various train cars that were scattered lay on their side or upside down, a couple of them even split in two from impact. The back half of the train that hadn't been destroyed by the explosion had merely fallen onto the collapsed railway, scattering crates everywhere among the railway debris.
Blake closed her eyes for a moment to mourn the crew members. She could only hope that their death was quick and painless.
"What about the crew members?" Blake repeated her question to Adam as he carefully placed the charges around the burn dust crystal crates that were scattered by the spider mech.
"They won't live to see tomorrow." At least Adam was honest and direct this time around.
"Let me save them." Blake had to try.
"And go where? This is a Grimm infested forest."
"I… I-" Blake didn't know what to say.
"That's the problem when you cling to ideals." Adam glared at Blake, gritting his teeth in anger, showing his disdain. "You get so focused on ideas, rather than practicality. You don't think things through. You never get anywhere." Adam focused back on the task at hand. "Killing the crew members is doing us, and them, a favor."
Blake tried to think of a response, but came up blank. Did she really cling to ideals that much that it brought her away from practicality?
"It's done. Time to make our escape." Adam simply kicked down the train car door instead of fiddling with the keypad.
"Mission successful. Come on Blake. It's time to leave." Adam slid down the mountain to a pathway that had been untouched by the wreckage, landing gently in the clearing below. "I'll send the White Fang to salvage as much Dust as possible before the Schnee Dust Company comes investigating."
Adam started slowly walking back to the White Fang camp that they had temporarily set up to catch the SDC train and destroy it. He motioned with his left hand, beckoning her to follow, and Blake complied, sliding down the mountain and also landing gently in the clearing. She took a few uneasy steps before she fell back to the familiar pace that she always walked with, although this time she kept her distance from Adam. Adam noticed and frowned, but he continued forward nonetheless.
I've chosen this path. But where do I start?
Blake stared at the back of Adam's head as they continued the walk back. She fell back into periods of deep thought, relying on her subconscious self to follow Adam. She reflected upon the events that had taken place this morning. Was there a way to save the crew members? Blake didn't see a practical way to save them. Adam was right. It hurt her to admit it, but Adam was right about her and practicality.
For five years, she had convinced herself that she was nothing like her father. The fact that Adam pointed out the similarities between them brought Blake back to reality. She became too fixated on possibility rather than pragmatism. And for that matter, she realized that she needed to reconcile with her parents. Despite all that had happened.
Blake was lost. All that was left was to follow the path that she had carved for herself.
The crimson leaves of the Forever Fall forest swirled past them as Blake continued forward.