Still Loving You
Dark. Too loud. Too tired.
Bullets whizzing by alarmingly, fired by both the parties at each other. To any normal humans, the darkness made it difficult to see which are which. But not to Faunus. This is their advantage. Even against Huntsmen like the duo black and red, who were hot in pursuit.
Dark wavy hair fluttered as she dodged another round of cover fire. Blake cursed silently. She already disliked this plan since the start. Unfortunately, she already agreed without thinking of Ruby's flaw in the plan. Despite being the two fastest in their team, they still lacked the necessary power should something unexpected happens. Deep down her guts, she had a bad feeling it'd happen.
She hoped Weiss and Yang would appear soon, although judging from how disoriented the blonde was after that surprise explosive attack, she doubts it. Plus the fact that this ruins of a city provided no illumination in its maze-like road, it certainly won't help the other two members of their team.
Ruby appeared by her side. The red-headed sniper seemed tense, ready to spring at any moment. She reloaded her lightning Dust magazine while grumbled; "I just don't understand, how did they get so many high-class weapons?"
"They raided the SDC's shipment from Atlas," Blake muttered back, still watching over the position of their enemies.
Most of them are sticking to pin the duo in place while the rest are salvaging as many of the arsenal and Dust for evacuation. The sounds of bullheads were coming-some hummed overhead and made Ruby grit her teeth. This isn't going to end well. But what choice do they have? Wait and get surrounded instead?
Blake was more worried about whatever her former brothers and sisters have in store. She hoped those SDC military cargos aren't some kind of high explosive guns or missile launchers. That would be pretty bad. But knowing the company's never-ending joint innovations with Atlas Military, she could only pray the two of them could hold on against the White Fang party.
And then, her feline ears flicked to the direction of a new sound. Soft thuds of shoes. It's neither Yang's nor Weiss; they wear boots and stilts, respectively. Blake turned to the source's direction, trying to discern the walking style. Amber eyes widened. She recognized it almost immediately amidst the roar of gunfire.
He is here.
As soon as she's sure of the person, the bullets that rained them stopped. She stiffened in fear. Beside her, Ruby cocked her sniper-scythe, ready to shoot at the intruder. The hooded Huntress-in-training didn't notice Blake's tense posture; ready to flee from here.
There, the shadow of her past. Adam hadn't changed the slightest.
Still the same like the one she left on the train. The Faunus held his right hand high, a signal to his comrades; hold your fire. Just how fast this turned, from the hunter to be the hunted; Blake thought bitterly. She wasn't ready for this. She knew she'd end up meeting him again after running, but not this soon.
And most of all, she doesn't know what to do.
"Who are you?" Ruby tried her most menacing glare, which was as useful as a fly against Adam.
He didn't answer. Nor did he pause. The deadly aura that surrounded the young man answered Ruby's question. Blake shivered. They have to get out of here.
She called her teammate, "Ruby-"
-her former partner never let her finish. Ruby spun her scythe, parrying Adam's quick multiple slashes. The last one hit her and forced the girl to zip away, retreating from his range. Blake prepared her dark gray katana. She's already familiar with this; Adam wasn't going easy on them. He intended to kill.
And she has a clear idea who.
"Ruby, run!" she yelled while charging her former partner. "Get Doctor Oobleck and others here! Quick!"
Blake ducked underneath the first downward slash and left a clone to take the punch. She has improved, but she'd never defeat him like this. As their weapons clashed, she couldn't help but notice the power Adam put. He was trying to pin her and disarm her weapon.
Suddenly, Adam jumped backward and made a slash to deflect the incoming bullet. Ruby was ready to fire more rounds from her scythe.
"So, is this what you chose, Blake?" he finally spoke up. "Is this why you left?"
Blake shot him a silent yet defiant glare. She could hear Ruby faintly asking; "Wait, you know each other?"
"Ruby," the cat Faunus replied calmly, "Get others here. We can't win alone."
A soft sound indicated the young girl has shifted her stance, seemed taken aback. Ruby asked back worriedly, "But, what about you?"
Blake tried to open her mouth to answer her, but something hit her, hard. Dazed, she tried to parry the red katana. It was a desperate attempt, but it seemed Adam just wanted to toy around with her. At that moment, a long curved blade saved her just in time. Ruby didn't waste time to continue fighting, giving Blake enough time to snap out from the daze. But it's not enough.
Even with the scythe-wielder's speed, Adam is just too fast for them both. She heard a yelp. Ruby staggered backward while her red Aura flickered to sustain the damage. Adam strode leisurely and approached her. For the first time, Blake saw it in her teammate's silver eyes; fear. Ruby was too stunned to react.
"This is your choice, Blake," he said tauntingly, drawing the katana for a final strike. Blake could see his signature smirk. Thin, yet mocking her. "Are you going to run away again, my darling?"
Her feet screamed to run. To go as far away as possible from here. From her past. But then, there's Ruby...
There's her team...
Blake blinked and shook her head. No, not today.
Adam grunted as his Aura tanked the bullets from Gambol Shroud. Blake immediately put all of her weight to slam against him while he's distracted. Sparks flew from their katanas. She gave Ruby a quick glance, making sure the younger girl is alright. "Go! I'll hold him!" she instructed.
Without more questions, the silver-eyed girl nodded. Blake turned her attention back to her opponent, only to receive a kick to her chest. She stumbled backward.
"You chose her over yourself. That's surprising, Blake," Adam sneered and fired his shotgun. Not at her.
Blake watched in terror as it hit the running Ruby, who hadn't make it far enough thanks to the lack of her semblance. She knew the girl is exhausted. She wished Ruby had used her semblance to get a headstart. Instead, her teammate fell face-first to the dusty soil.
No...
"Now, you'll see how I end her life."
Adam walked past her to Ruby, who just got up with a hurting moan. She tried to move her left leg, but it didn't respond. The bullet wound wasn't fatal. It's just to prevent the girl from escaping. Ruby turned around and gasped in panic. The girl reached out for her scythe and tried to scuttle away from Adam. A poor choice.
Blake lunged for his leg. He nearly stumbled from the unexpected tackle. Adam tried to kick her off, but Blake wouldn't budge. She pleaded, "Please, let her go. Just take me with you instead!"
There was a pause.
"Why must you hurt me, Blake?" Adam retorted. It pained him to see how Blake is willing to submit just to save a human's life.
Ruby's silver eyes were wide in fear. The girl helplessly raised her hand; it was no use against Adam.
This is not going to work; the cat Faunus thought. She has to try something else. Something that she'd never done and she'd never wanted to do before. It contrasted against her; always running. Blake shut her eyes. Her arms were sore from clutching his leg and getting kicked at.
Shadow.
It's her semblance. It takes her place whenever she got hit. It fits her personality as someone who always run away from her problems. Amber eyes opened. Not now. This time, she will be the one who takes it.
Adam raised his katana. The red metal glinted despite the cloudy sky of Mountain Glenn. The victorious smirk was apparent on his lips.
He brought it down without a second thought.
~-x-~
"No..." Adam said in disbelief. "No," he repeated.
Kneeling before him, was his ex-lover. Blake's amber eyes were still defiant, despite the pain. There were tears, too, but she gritted her teeth and kept her gaze straight on him. Despite the red blade sunk deep in her chest.
He released his katana and fell on his knees. Blake collapsed into his arms.
"Why?!" Adam yelled, "Why did you do this?"
The cat Faunus was bleeding heavily and losing her consciousness quite fast. Adam couldn't believe she did that. He didn't even understand why. What's someone's life compared to your own?
Blake coughed up her own blood, "Because..."
Amber eyes slowly closed. "...I still... love..."
A slim hand weakly touched his cheek. It fell before she could finish her words;
...you.
~-x-~
I ran away because I wanted not to forget you.
I knew I could never do that. Forgetting you.
You're the shadow of hope that has become my burden.
Stupidly, I still love you.
~-x-~
A/N: A comeback fic. I know my writing quality has probably decreased over these months of hiatus and no productivity. I don't know... guys. I just... feel like I'm lost. Between many things called life and so-called those.
I'll be continuing Amber & Chocolate along with several new fics(maybe). Wish me luck, by the way. I need it so badly.
- Ozzy, signing out.