Late at night under the light of a broken moon, an amazing change was occurring.
A tiny creature was slipping out of the water, taking hold of a reed to hoist itself up. Slowly, the nymph, a tiny, aquatic insect, began to crawl up the reed, out of the pond and into the cool night air. The nymph didn't move terribly fast- anyone asked to observe the climb would probably have been dreadfully bored- but it moved with determination, and inevitably, reached it's goal about halfway up the stalk.
The nymph sat still, clutching the plant. Something was occurring within it; it wasn't going to be a nymph for very long.
It took half an hour for the little insect to moult completely. Shedding it's old body, it clung to the vacant husk as a new creature, long and slender, soft and delicate, but soon to be a deadly predator in the world of the tiny, a swift and lethal carnivore.
A dragonfly had emerged.
By the time the sun was up, bathing the decorative pond in yellowish light, the dragonfly's body had finished it's transformation. The little one was now shrouded in a carapace, tough but light, and shining, iridescent green. It twitched a quartet of thin wings and took off, zooming through the morning air. It did one quick lap around the pond, circling the whole thing in mere seconds, before expanding it's horizons around the grounds of a mansion owned by some wealthy, Vale entrepenuer.
The dragonfly spent the day flying far and wide around the Kindgom of Vale, passing over and between buildings, zigzagging through parks, at one point even entering the open window of a moving car and emerging several blocks later.
The dragonfly's journey came to a temporary stop as it landed on something to rest. That something happened to be a head of long black hair belonging to a teenage girl. And so it came to be that, feeling a bug land in her hair, Blake Belladonna waved it away in mild annoyance, not even falling out of step as she and Yang Xiao Long walked side by side through the streets of Vale.
Blake looked sideways at Yang. She hadn't know the girl for very long; it had been less then a week ago that the two had partnered up to take down a pair of Ursae in the Emerald Forest. The two had... perhaps "bonded" was a strong word at this point, but formed at least some level of kindship over, for lack of anything better, shared competence; recognizing each other as capable fighters, they had reached a mutual (and mostly unspoken) decision to stick together. They shared a team now, and while Blake had gotten a fairly good sense of what she could expect from Ruby and Weiss (she still found it eerily ironic that she was now sleeping eight feet away from a member of the Schnee family) as teammates, Yang still vexed her somewhat.
On the surface, Blake had, in her current opinion, misread Yang as something of a flake; vivacious and energetic, but perhaps somewhat dimwitted and chaotic. The experience in the forest, however, had allowed Blake to see that despite her boisterous nature, there was a kind of depth to Yang that had been initially hidden. Not only was she actually very bright, but she seemed to show a strong nurturing, almost maternal instinct to her little sister. Perhaps this was only the result of a lot of paranoid instinct, but Blake felt the need to get to know all three of her teammates as well as she could, for safety's sake if nothing else.
For Yang's part, Blake assumed that she was just as curious, hence her suggestion that today, the first day that Team RWBY had been unburdened of classes since arriving at Beacon Academy, the two of them "hit the town". While Blake somewhat doubted that they shared many of the same interests in activities, this worked well as a nice excuse to get to know the big, bubbly blonde a bit better.
Blake and Yang came to a stop at an intersection. "Well?" asked Yang brightly, throwing her arms open. "Whaddya think? Grab some lunch maybe?"
Blake looked at Yang and shrugged. "Sure."
"Pizza?"
"Maybe."
"Pizza and Ice Cream?"
"Ew."
"Well, yeah, not at the same time..."
Blake shrugged again. She generally preferred something a bit quieter than a pizza parlor when eating out - coffee shops were nice - but she could make a concession.
Yang led the way across the street, Blake following behind. They made the next couple blocks in silence, looking around at the surrounding buildings. They passed by a mattress store that had a snoozing Boarbatusk on the sign, a burger joint (Cunningly named "Hamburger", Blake had roll her eyes at that one), a car dealership, a bookstore named "Tukson's Book Trade", a Dust shop with boarded-up windows that looked like it had recently been broken-
Blake stopped in her tracks, doing a double-take. She craned her neck around, looking back the way they had come with a surprised expression. Yang stopped and looked back at her. "Blake? What's up?"
Yang followed Blake's gaze back to the bookstore she was staring at. The sign read "Tukson's Book Trade: Home to Every Book under the Sun." Blake was mouthing the title and tagline in silence.
It couldn't be... Blake thought to herself, staring at the sign. But books... it can't be that big of a coincidence...
"Hey! Blake! You... wanna stop in there? Grab some books?"
Blake looked around at Yang. "Yes. Why don't you go on? I could be a while. I'll meet you there."
Yang looked at Blake for a second. Blake could tell she suspected that there was something unsaid going on, but nevertheless kept her expression blank.
"Okay." said Yang. "Don't buy too many, your eyes will fall out."
Blake gave a small smile. "I won't."
As Yang walked away, Blake turned her attention back to the store and approached slowly, almost like she was afraid it was going to bite her. It occurred to her that this actually was quite risky... but she had to be sure. As she approached the door, she reached for the handle, then hesitated. He wouldn't... tell Adam? Would he? She bit her lip, thinking hard. No... no. Not Tukson. He wouldn't. But... would he even be happy to see me? Would he yell at me? I don't think so...
A hobo, lying on the sidewalk, had been watching her stand indecisively in front of the door for thirty seconds. "God, lady!" he slurred. "It's a book store, not a marriage proposal! Make up your freakin' mind!"
Blake looked at the tramp in momentary surprise, then looked down at the handle again, took a breath, and grabbed it.
The inside of the store was a bit dim, though somewhat roomy, and, as one could expect, stocked with an ample supply of books. There was the sound of something heavy moving under the counter. A bell above the door chimed as Blake entered, and a man's deep voice from under the counter spoke:
"Welcome! I'll be with you in a moment!"
Blake panicked slightly in her head; the voice was familiar, it was him, and this was happening more quickly then she thought it would. She considered running, but didn't have time to reach a decision before the large, burly man stood up and saw her.
"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every... book..."
Tukson stared at Blake, blinking quickly. "Wait a minute... Blake?"
Not smiling, Blake stood as still as a rock in front of the door for a moment, then waved meekly. "Hey, Tukson." she said quietly. Tukson watched Blake in silence for a moment as she took a few steps forward, halfway reaching the counter. She stopped when something unexpected happened: Tukson's face was illuminated in a huge smile. "HAHAHAHA!" he bellowed. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WEREN'T DEAD!"
Whatever Blake had been expecting, it hadn't been this, nor had it been for Tukson to suddenly vault over the counter, cross the distance in two strides and seize Blake in an enormous hug. She yelped in surprise as he lifted her clear off the ground, popping her back in the crushing grip while he continued to laugh heartily.
After he finally dropped her, she stumbled back, coughing a bit, and asked, "What do you-" *koff* "-mean, dead?"
Tukson's face fell slightly, but he recovered his smile immediately. "That's what Adam was saying. It's the official word; you were gunned down by droids on the train. But quite a few of us who knew you didn't buy it. We assumed you found a way out, and bailed on Taurus. Was it true?"
"Yes. I left him behind on the train."
"HA!" Tukson clapped his hands once and turned away, grinning. "I knew it! Oh, Blake, you should have seen the look on his face, it was price-"
Turning around again, Tukson stopped at the sight of Blake, who was looking down at the floor with a concerned expression, arms folded in an expression of discomfort.
"...I'm sorry. I know, for you, it was probably more complicated than that. I just... well, you know I've never really approved of Adam's methods."
"No, I know. It's fine, I just... was he mad?"
Tukson laughed again, though more bitterly. "Was he mad? He was furious. He tried to hide it, but not very well."
They stood in quiet for a moment. The clock on the wall was ticking very loudly. Blake looked at it, watching the longest hand twitch from one dash to another, second after second. Tukson leaned back against the counter.
"...So... while you're here, can I get you anything? Water?" he hesitated. "Um... food? A place to crash?"
She smiled. "No, I'm fine. I have a place to live, I'm doing alright."
"Good. I wasn't sure. I figured it would be touch and go for you, no money, no friends outside..."
"Are you..." she gave him a searching look. "You're still with them, right?"
"...Ah... yes. I am."
They stared at each other for a moment before Tukson spoke again. "I won't tell..."
"I know." she said quickly, interrupting him. "I know you won't, it's okay."
Tukson smiled again. "Well... pull up a chair! Let's catch up!"
"I can't. Sorry. I'm supposed to meet someone. I might have a busy weekend, but I'll come around on the next one, first thing."
"Promise?"
She smiled. "Promise."