"Don't ever let yourself get caught."
That was the main advise Blake had been given the moment she started going to the White Fang rallies. She was used to being in the middle of the fight and was used to spending her days screaming and holding posters in front of the Schnee Manor.
Because, although Blake was only 14 years old, she knew what her fellow faunus were suffering because of the Schnee. They were working in horrible conditions, losing their lives and families; just to get a disgusting human more money and power. It was beneath them and Blake could not understand why there were some faunus that willingly went to work at that company.
She, like many other faunus from the White Fang, were angry. They wanted justice and equality. They wanted their voices to be heard by the ones in power. And with her father leading them, Blake knew that it was possible. She had gotten used to the tear gas that the manor guards threw at them. She had also gotten used to having bruises on her body and her arms feeling sore for days. She, in one word, had gotten used to the pain.
Because to Blake it was all worth it if that meant that there could be a chance of someone hearing them.
Of someone noticing that they were there.
But today was different. Things had been weird in her house, her father locking himself in his study and her mother promising her that he was just thinking about their future. Instead of being there, protesting, her father was absent from the action and Adam had taken the lead.
Blake liked Adam. He was a strong man that had strong convictions and dreams for the White Fang. He knew firsthand how vicious humans could be with faunus and had warned Blake many times about not letting herself get caught. Nevertheless, she knew that her father was afraid of Adam, and that he had advised her to stay away from him, calling his behavior reckless and a setback to the goals of the White Fang.
Yet where was her father when it was important? Hiding in a study. And Adam was here, pushing and trying to move around guards and faunus, screaming at the top of his lungs the many crimes the Schnee Dust Company had committed against their community. Letting the world know how many children were dying because of poisonous air. How many families were forced to beg on the streets for food because their main providers were dead. How Menagerie had become so dangerous for them that it was impossible to leave your house at night without getting robbed or attacked.
"You murderers!" a faunus screamed at the top of his lungs. "My child is dying because of you!"
"Stop moving! Step away from the fence!" one of the guards screamed and pushed forward.
"No! Not again!" the faunus quickly kneeled and stood, a rock in his hand being held strongly. "This time, you will listen to us!" he yelled and threw the rock.
In that moment, Blake saw the world moving in slow motion. Saw that guard open his eyes in shock and start falling down, blood pouring out of his head and splashing the people at the front of the line, including the faunus that had thrown the rock at him, a frantic look on his face at all the red on the floor.
He was dead and they all knew it. Yet for a moment no one dared to move, not believing what had happened right in front of them. How, in the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
How the White Fang, in a macabre way, had become what they had argued passionately to destroy.
Screaming, the remaining guards immediately took their guns out and started firing at the people in front of them, bodies pilling on the floor while all Blake could do was stand in fear at the massacre happening in front of her. Her legs wouldn't move, and she couldn't even speak from the terror she was experiencing.
"Blake!" she felt someone grab her and managed to see Adam carrying her away. "We have to go!" he yells and starts pushing faunus and people away from them, only caring about taking them to safety.
Blake, meanwhile, was still watching the guards and faunus fighting, wondering when did it all go wrong.
WBWBWBWBWB
20 faunus and 3 humans died that day. The news calling the event the White Massacre because of the presence of the White Fang.
Things became worse.
When Blake returned that night to her house covered in blood and bruises, she heard her father yell for the first time.
"You destroyed what took us so long to build!" he screamed at Adam.
"You abandoned us! They started it!"
No, we did… Blake thought but didn't say anything.
"And who do you think people will believe?! Schnee or us?!" her father continued yelling. "It's all over the news."
"But they're talking about us!" Adam says excitedly. "And isn't this what we wanted?! For people to hear us?! To see us?!"
"To see us as equals! To hear us and not fear us!" her father looks down in sadness.
"In every revolution there must be sacrifices." Adam says simply. "And today, our revolution started. So that faunus get to the place they belong!"
"Today, what you did Adam, was sacrifice 20 of our brothers and sisters."
"They knew the risks." the young faunus says somberly. "That this is the path to finally gain our freedom."
"By becoming animals?!" her father screams. "By becoming exactly what we swore to fight?"
"If that means our freedom, then yes."
"There can be no true freedom in living with fear."
"Then let them fear us! Let them know how powerful we are!" Adam laughs.
"You are so naïve. And, in your selfishness, you have doomed all faunus."
"Doomed faunus?" Adam laughs hysterically. "You mean those traitors who work for humans?! Those who hide their true self and pretend to be something they're not?!"
"Their reasons are their own." her father closes his eyes dejectedly. "Their lives and choices were their own. But now you've tied them to the White Fang, being just as tyrannical as the Schnee Dust Company."
"Don't, don't you dare compare me to that man!" the red-haired man screams and attempts to get close to her father, making him raise his chest and take his claws out.
"Leave." her father seethes and watches Adam grab his jacket.
"You are no longer welcomed to the White Fang." the young faunus tells him somberly. "We don't need weak and coward men like you." he then turns around to look at her. "But, we do need you Blake."
This makes her parents stare worriedly at her.
"Blake…" her mother says to her. "Please, don't go. Humans, not all of them are like this. There are some that are good. Just like there are some faunus that are not good." she says this while staring at Adam.
"Good humans?! All they do is mock and insult us?! They look at us and think they're better than us. They call us savages. Animals!" Blake screams desperately.
How could her parents be so blind?!
"There are more humans beyond Atlas. Good and kind humans that have accepted faunus for who they are and have even grown to love them." her father adds softly. "Don't let yourself be blinded by his hate and his resentment."
"But he's right to feel angry!" Blake cannot help but argue. "We don't live in these other places. We live near Atlas and we need to do something about it. We're finally getting somewhere. I don't like that people died because of it but it was an accident. I'm sure it won't happen again and that we'll take advantage of the media watching us! We can finally make something happen, make a difference." she stares at her father. "Dad, this is what we've been waiting for."
This makes her father look away from her.
"When a revolution starts with blood, it is doomed to only end in blood." he tells her somberly. "And we cannot go down that path. That's not who we are. Who we raised you to be Blake. Please…" he stretches his hand. "Stay with us."
"And abandon my fellow faunus? Turn my back on them when they need us the most?!" she screams at her parents. "I can't do that. You raised me to not be a coward, father. And today won't be the day when I start to be one." she finishes and grabs her jacket.
"Blake, please stay!" her mother screams and grabs her hand desperately. "Please, don't leave us." she begs and it breaks Blake's heart.
"I'm sorry mom." she cries. "But I have to do this." she follows Adam away and abandons her childhood home in order to make her dream come true.
WBWBWBWBWB
3 Years Later
Things had gotten worse. And Blake had been too proud and naïve to notice the signs. She had been so enamored with the ideals of the White Fang that she foolishly believed that it wouldn't take long for things to change.
Adam and a group of young faunus took control of the White Fang. The elders, who were the voice of reason and tradition, were forced to resign and new faunus with similar ideologies to the ones Adam had took their place. They were more violent, they wanted to fight.
But to fight they needed weapons. Weapons that they didn't have and hence started to steal.
Protests in front of the Schnee Manor were abandoned, and instead highjack robberies and abductions were taking place in order to get money. Now, the faunus in the White Fang had to wear masks, because they were an army and they were all equal.
Or that was the idea that Adam was trying to sell to the faunus who were joining the organization.
Yet Blake knew that it was so they wouldn't get recognized by the police. It was so that they become faceless monsters and perform horrible acts without fearing retribution. The White Fang had become what her father had told her it would become all those years ago.
But a small part of Blake still had hope that things could change. That Adam would listen to her, would finally see that they were no longer asking to be heard but were trying to destroy the institutions. That they were creating anarchy and giving justification to other groups to use violence as well.
She should leave. She should go back home and apologize to her parents. Beg them for forgiveness. Try to find with them a way to fix this. To take the White Fang back and make it what it used to be.
Instead, she was leading a group inside one of the Schnee Dust factories in order to steal some dust for their weapons. Adam was supposed to lead the mission, but when he got called to an urgent meeting he asked her to do it. He trusted her enough and knew she was capable of infiltrating buildings easily.
All thanks to her semblance and ability to move quietly.
Closing her eyes and signaling for her fellow White Fang members to follow her, Blake starts moving inside, doing all she could do avoid having a confrontation with the guards. Luckily, it seemed like they were distracted and that made it easier for them to get to the container where they would find the dust.
"Ok, hurry and take it all." she orders them firmly. "And remember, don't make noise or engage with anyone. The last thing we want is for them to realize we've been here."
Nodding in confirmation, her people start to do as ordered and that gives Blake some time to take a look around the area. Now that she thought about it, there should be some guards keeping watch. Not liking this, she was ready to order her crew to move. Nevertheless, before she can even speak, she watches guards coming from all sides with their guns in position.
Someone sold us out.
Bitterly, Blake immediately tries to find some way for them to escape. She knew that they had no chance of beating the soldiers in a one on one because they were way more. Nevertheless, if there was one advantage that faunus had over humans was that they could see in the dark.
Taking Gambol Shroud out and transforming it to a gun, she aims to the energy generator and shoots, the lights turning off and making the soldiers fire erratically at them. Kneeling, Blake takes covers behind one of the many boxes and thanks the precautions the Schnee company takes when packing dust. Signaling for her people to merely retreat with what they got, Blake is surprised when some of the guards start hitting them in the dark. Staring at their faces, Blake notices that they're carrying night googles.
Huffing in annoyance, Blake uses her semblance to create a distraction that would allow her remaining members to leave. Knowing that the soldiers would take the bait, Blake orders her people to run away and starts following them closely behind, somehow forcing herself to not scream when her people, instead of running, have returned with some guns and opened fire on the guards.
"I said to run!" she yells at them and pushes a woman out of the way from a ricochet bullet.
Screaming in pain, Blake can feel her leg getting numb, it losing blood too quickly for her liking, Surprised that her aura wasn't healing the wound, she takes a quick smell and spits when she can notice that the bullet has dust in it, which was preventing her aura from helping her. Closing her eyes at the sensation of tiredness that was possessing her, Blake can still hear the noise of guns being shot.
And, when one of the guards finally made his way to her, with a gun pointed straight at her, she knew that it was all over. Not wanting to cry, Blake felt sorry for not being brave enough to apologize to her parents. For having been too proud to beg for forgiveness.
Nevertheless, when it took too long for the guard to fire, Blake opened her eyes and saw him being hit with the hilt of a sword, falling unconscious to the ground right in front of her.
Doing her best to keep her eyes open, all Blake can see before losing consciousness is blue eyes staring worriedly while speaking to her. Yet, although Blake was trying her hardest to listen, all she could feel was silence and darkness encompassing her.
Darkness and beautiful blue…
WBWBWBWBWBWB
The moment Blake opened her eyes, she immediately noticed that she was not in her room at the White Fang headquarters. Instead, she was laying on a white room, devoid of any decorations or things that could help her make sense of where she was. Remembering what had happened to her, Blake quickly moved the blanket away from her body to take a look at her wound, expecting to see it untreated.
Nevertheless, she could see that it had been cleaned and bandaged neatly, something that Blake knew had not been done by her fellow faunus. They had not been trained to treat injuries and this, she thought while using her finger to touch the wound, was done with care and professionalism.
"Don't touch it yet." she heard a soft voice warning her and this made Blake stare at the door. "It's still tender."
The woman who had warned her was slowly making her way towards her, a soft and inviting smile on her smile attempting to calm and soothe her.
"Where, where am I?" she asks and is given some water to help her throat.
"Somewhere safe." the woman promises her and stares at her deeply.
When she does, Blake remembers that she doesn't have her mask on, which makes her freak out and try to step away.
"Don't, don't move!" she stops Blake from injuring herself again. "You'll re-open the stitches and start bleeding again." she scoffs. "And it took me a while to close the wound."
"You mean you did this?" Blake asks surprised.
"Well, who else?" the woman says cheekily. "Because if I remember correctly, you were in quite the predicament when I found you."
"In what kind of predicament?" the faunus girl asks cautiously.
"In the kind where you have a gun pointed at you."
This makes Blake focus on the girl, noticing that although she had her head covered by a hood, her eyes were the same blue she had seen before she fainted.
"You saved me." Blake murmurs while looking at the woman carefully. "And then you treated me. Why?" she then chuckles bitterly. "Don't you know what I am?"
"I don't know who you are." the woman says simply. "But, I saw you needed help and decided to help you."
"I'm with the White Fang." she says simply. "And you're a human. So forgive me when I can't accept that kind of explanation as enough. For all I know, you may have told someone that I'm here and are just making time so that they come capture me."
"Do you really have so little faith in people?" the woman asks sadly. "I promise you that my intentions were to only help a person who was in danger. You say you're a faunus and that that should be enough reason for me to not help you."
"It should be." Blake murmurs bitterly.
"Well, it's not." the woman tells her firmly. "And, although you were stealing, you had no intention of hurting the guards. I did manage to see and hear that."
"But that would mean that you were there…" the faunus woman says confused.
"Because I was there. And that is all I will answer about it." she warns Blake who knows she has no right to ask more questions.
"Could you at least tell me what happened after I fainted?"
"Your fellow crewmembers ran the moment you collapsed. I don't know if it was because they thought you were dead or because they ran out of ammo. But, they did kill and injure most of the guards in their escape." the woman says dejectedly.
"I…" Blake closes her eyes bitterly. "I'm sorry." she is too upset to say something else.
"It wasn't your fault. You didn't fire your gun." the woman gives her a sad smile and it makes something inside Blake shatter.
"Why, why are you being so nice to me?" she cries desperately. "I'm no good." she chokes out. "If you only knew all the things I have done. You wouldn't have saved me."
This makes the woman get close to her and grab her hand, making Blake stare at her in complete shock.
"Whatever you have done, it's not for me to judge." she squeezes the faunus' hand. "I just knew, from the moment I saw you sacrificing yourself for your comrade, that you were different. And, what convinced me of saving you was when I saw you crying." she cleans Blake's tears tenderly. "I couldn't let that be the way I remembered you."
"But…" Blake says too confused. "I don't understand why you put yourself in a position like that for me. The risks of you saving me, keeping me hidden… They're too much."
"Well…" the woman smiles cheekily at her. "Then I guess that means you'll have to make it worth it."
WFWFWFWFWF
"Tell me…" the woman asks her suddenly. "Why did you join?"
They had both agreed to no names. Blake was scared of what giving this woman her name could mean. How it could shatter that safety she felt in anonymity.
Because she knew that the police were aware of who she was and her involvement with the White Fang.
And, she didn't want to put this woman in more danger.
"The White Fang?" Blake asks tersely.
"Yes." she simply says. "I know you don't like violence."
"How could you know that. You don't even know me."
"You look away whenever I change your bandages." she says teasingly and this makes Blake blush.
"I've been in the White Fang for years. I grew up in it and I really believed in what they wanted."
"Believed?" the woman asks softly. "You mean you don't anymore?"
"The White Fang wasn't like this." she murmurs bitterly. "We wanted equality. We wanted to be heard. To be treated equally and not be seen as freaks." she chuckles bitterly. "But all we have done is manage to make the media condemn us and the people to fear us."
"Then why stay?" she can hear the honest curiosity. "Why, if you no longer believe in it, risk your live for a cause that no longer holds meaning to you?"
"Because the cause itself still holds meaning to me." Blake says firmly. "Because a small part of me has hope that things will change and that my dream of being seen as a person and not a faunus will come true." she then looks down. "Besides, I risked too much to stay. I have to see how it will all end."
This makes the woman stare at Blake with a warm smile.
"Then I will make sure to help heal you so you continue your quest to making your dream come true."
This makes Blake stare at her in complete shock.
"But…" she closes her eyes. "You know that the moment I can walk will be the moment I return to the White Fang. And I'll have to do what they tell me."
The woman kneels close to Blake and grabs her face tenderly.
"You, from what I have seen, are a person who does not listen well to orders." she smiles cheekily. "I'm sure that a small injury like this won't change that." she winks and this makes Blake smile brightly.
WBWBWBWBWBWB
"I don't understand." Blake murmurs while putting her book down.
It had been two weeks since she was saved by the woman with the blue eyes and she was just as confused as she had been when the two met.
"What don't you understand?" the woman asks her while opening her bandages and checking her wound. "How does that feel?" she asks while poking her leg.
"Ouch." Blake complains and this makes the woman chuckle, which in turn makes Blake chuckle as well.
"I'm sorry, but it's good that you felt it. It means that the nerves in your leg are healing and that you will be able to use it."
"Because of you." the faunus girl replies softly. "Because you've been taking care of me for all this time."
"Well…" the woman blushes and this makes Blake blush as well. "I'm just happy I could help you."
"I still don't really understand why…" the faunus woman says. "But I wanted to thank you. And, although I have nothing to give you…"
"I didn't ask you to give me anything in return."
"But I have to. Because you helped me. You gave me something and now I have to give you something too."
"Is that the way you think relationships work?" the woman chuckles.
"I've been taught that's the way relationships with humans work." she murmurs and this makes the woman's smile disappear.
"Maybe…" the woman says suddenly. "Maybe I wanted to do it because I wanted to show you that not all humans are bad. That we can be good." she smiles softly at Blake.
"I haven't met, in all of my years, humans like that." Blake whispers and stretches her hand so she can grab the one of her savior. "Until you."
This makes the woman stare warmly at her.
"Then that means it was worth it." she squeezes Blake's hand in return and the faunus woman blushes deeply, feeling her stomach turning and noticing she's too embarrassed to keep eye contact.
WBWBWBWBWBWB
This wasn't good, Blake thought while keeping her eyes on the woman in front of her.
I… I can't continue like this.
I can't keep pretending that I'm ok with her not knowing who I am.
With her not knowing my name.
Yet she had been the one that has asked for them to not share their names. She had been the one that had closed that door.
But time was running out.
She knew she could walk any day now. She could feel her leg and could move her fingers at will. In fact, without the dust bullet, her aura had done most of the work in healing her muscles and nerves.
Which technically meant that she could leave whenever she wanted to.
The thing was that she didn't want to leave.
Blake had grown to enjoy her time here. Had grown to expect familiar blue eyes stare curiously at her when she was telling her stories. Had grown accustomed to cold and firm fingers massaging her leg. Had started to enjoy the way she was heard and was accepted by who she was.
Blake, for the first time in a long time, was not being treated like a faunus.
The White Fang didn't want to make faunus go away. They wanted to make them become the superior race. The humans, they wanted to treat faunus like animals.
But here, in this small white room, Blake was being treated like a person. She was being seen and heard, for what it felt like a long time.
And she has grown addicted to it.
"I want to ask you something." Blake says determined and this makes the woman stop cleaning and come close to her.
"What do you need?" she asks curiously and Blake takes a deep breath, thinking of the best way to make this request.
Nevertheless, before she can voice her wish, she hears a scroll going off and notices the woman's face scrunching in hesitation. Surprised at the fact that in all of their time together she had never realized that the woman had a scroll with her, she watches the way she grabs it tighter.
"Ruby?" the woman asks tersely. "Did something happen?"
"They suspect." Blake hears the woman on the scroll say dejectedly. "Yang tried her hardest to stall them, but they are looking in the area and will probably go there."
"And my sister?"
"She's on her way to you." Ruby informs her worriedly. "You have to leave now."
This makes the woman stare worriedly at her.
"I can't leave until I'm sure she's ok."
"Now is not the time to be a hero!"
"I… I'm sorry." she apologizes and hangs up, running towards her with a determined look on her face. "We have to leave."
"What happened?" Blake asks worriedly.
"I don't know how, but the guards from the previous night managed to find us." she says while taking some clothes and giving them to her.
"The guards? I thought you said they didn't see you!" the faunus woman says angrily while putting her clothes on.
"I lied." the woman merely says and this makes Blake get up and grab her tight.
"Why?! Why would you do something like that?"
"Because you needed me."
"My leg has been healed for a while now! I could have left." Blake screams desperately.
This isn't what she wanted.
"Maybe I needed you as well." the woman whispers brokenly. "A reminder that it is possible for you and I to be friends. That we can choose to leave our prejudices behind."
This makes Blake close her eyes desperately and hug the blue-eyed woman strongly.
"I need to know." she begs and her cat ears can hear noise coming from outside.
The woman notices her flinching and sees her scroll ringing repeatedly.
"You…" she smiles sadly. "You need to go."
"No, we can go together." Blake says determined. "You can come with me. I'll keep you safe, we'll go to my camp and you'll be under my protection."
This makes the woman chuckle.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"They won't harm you if you're with me." the faunus woman promises vehemently. "Please believe me."
"I believe your word." the woman smiles warmly while taking her hood off, showing Blake long, white hair. "But I think the temptation would be too big for the White Fang to ignore."
White hair and blue eyes…
"You…" Blake chokes. "It… It can't be."
She's a Schnee.
"You should go." the Schnee woman says tersely. "Like I said, no harm will come to me."
This makes Blake panic. The woman that was now talking to her was not the same one that had listened to her worries, the one that had told her to find her own truth.
The woman that was in front of her now was one that had been rejected by her just because of her last name.
Blake, foolishly, had done what she condemned every human did to her.
Unable to move, Blake notices the door opening and flinches in fear, only relaxing her stance when she sees another woman with white hair and blue eyes coming in.
"Winter." her savior addresses her coldly. "What happened?"
"Someone spilled. They're coming now." Winter tells them tersely and then looks at Blake. "I suggest you leave now. I don't think we'll be capable of protecting you from the guards."
This makes Blake become desperate. Everything was happening too fast. And she had no way of making things slow down. No way of thinking about what she had to do.
"I…" Blake stutters pathetically.
"I wanted to thank you for talking to me about you and your past over the last couple of weeks," her savior says softly. "And that I'm sorry for not having told you the truth until now." she gives her one last smile. "But at least you'll be safe and that's what matters."
"They're here." Winter informs them. "We need to go." she grabs the other Schnee woman and this is what makes Blake react.
"Wait, please!" the cat faunus begs and hugs her blue-eyed savior strongly. "It doesn't matter." she promises. "Your last name, it doesn't matter." she cries when she feels arms hugging her back.
"That makes me truly happy."
"Tell me your name." Blake begs.
"But you said…"
"I don't care anymore." she interrupts her and goes to put some stuff on the door. "I need to know your name. And I want you to know mine."
"You would trust me that much." the woman says surprised. "Even after knowing my family, you would still tell me your name." she laughs and the sound makes Blake's heart beat quickly.
"Tell me your name." Blake whispers and knows she should be embarrassed about the woman's sister being there but she didn't care.
Maybe it was because the woman was doing her hardest to not let the guards come in, using her glyphs to hold the door.
"I won't be able to hold them anymore." Winter warns them.
"Please." she grabs the woman's hands and squeezes desperately.
"Weiss." the blue-eyed woman says softly. "Weiss Schnee."
"I'm Blake Belladonna."
"Blake…" Weiss tests her name and the way the woman makes it sound makes the cat faunus feel butterflies in her stomach.
But, Blake is brought back to reality when she hears the guards taking out a bigger gun, which made her push the two Schnee women away from the door and towards the same window Winter used to get in.
"Go!" she tries to push Weiss down. "They can't see us leaving together. If we separate they'll follow me."
"But you're still injured!"
"I'm a cat faunus." she gives Weiss a smirk. "Besides, I'm determined to make it out of here in one piece."
"You are?" Weiss asks softly and then smiles. "That's right, because you still have to make your dream come true."
"That may be one reason." Blake confesses with a cheeky smile. "But mostly, to find you. Now that I know your name, I promise that I'll find you Weiss." she hugs the white-haired woman one last time and pushes her down, watching Winter drive them away before the guards break the door.
This makes Blake chuckle and grab Gambol Shroud from its case.
"Now, come at me!"