"What are you doing!" Blake shouted as she was all but dragged into an empty park in front of the store. She felt… nervous. She didn't know what to expect when she accepted Yang's offer to help her. She had thought she'd breeze through the day, just going through the motions and existing. She hadn't expected her teammate to be so adamant about her health, and she especially hadn't expected the blonde to try to rip her arm out of her socket!
She felt drained emotionally, even standing on her feet was a struggle. She just wanted to lie down and sleep. Her face felt sticky with tears, and it felt like a rock had settled in her stomach. Was the sun always that bright? Her wrist hurt, why was Yang pulling so hard? The faunus knew that she offered to help… but what if her ever present bow managed to slip off last night? Did Yang know? Was she being dragged off to the police? Were the birds always this quiet? What if it was the other way around, what if they were undercover White Fang that had come to take her back to the life she left-
Her spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a flash of red, and a feeling of warmth wrapping around her. Stunned, she looked down at the body of her leader wrapped around her own.
"You've been staring into space for a few minutes now," Ruby explained, voice muffled by Blake's torso. "And… You're crying again."
Blake brought a hand to her face to wipe off the tears she didn't realize she was shedding. The feeling of a body wrapped around hers… it was nice. Definitely one she could get used to. She returned the embrace, and swore she could feel most of the anxiety and fear flow out of her body and into the air. It brought memories of the nights she woke up crying as a kid, when her mother would run into her room and hug her until she cried herself back to sleep.
It was a feeling she didn't realise she missed.
She sniffled, cleared her eyes one more time, and stepped away from her leader. Feelings of panic replaced by the feeling of embarrassment. She wasn't always this emotional, but today had been… trying. Her teammate had been standing with her arms crossed in a clearly impatient stance, but with a smile on her face that betrayed her body language.
"Now that the sappy stuff is over and done with, let's get some answers out of you."
Blake felt her stomach drop again, having no idea what to expect. Every fiber of her being told her to run, but she held her ground. No, this time she would stand up for herself. She wasn't going to tell her team, she was going to keep her secret safe, she-
"Hit me."
"W-What?!"
"I want you to fight me." Blake tried to look for any hint of humour in her teammates eyes, but found none.
She wanted to fight? That was… definitely unexpected. And the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a bad idea. She didn't want to make a scene in the middle of Vale. Not that she thought it would take long, she was a trained assassin and Yang was… Yang. Maybe the best way to get her team off her back would be to shut her teammate down in a fight.
"Are you insane?!" The shrill voice of Weiss echoed her earlier thoughts, the girl storming between them. "You want to fight in public?! Goodwitch wouldn't allow it! We could get in massive trouble, or expelled, or even arrested! You can't be serious! Let's just-"
"Weiss." The heiress glared at the source of the interruption, Ruby grabbing onto her sleeve. "Let them do this. Trust me."
Yang shot her sister a grateful look as she attempted to drag the complaining heiress away from the soon-to-be combatants. Watching the hyperactive girl struggle to restrain her own teammate was a sight to behold, and she found herself with a small smile on her face. After what felt like a full minute of trying to convince the panicked girl through both reasoning and physical means, Weiss stormed off the grass in a huff. Blake idly wondered if Ruby had two semblances, and if having the most convincing set of puppy dog eyes counted...
"You ready Blakey?" The sound of the blonde's voice brought her back to the present. She shook the thought out of her head, and looked to her teammate, who clapped her fists together before lowering herself into a boxing stance.
They had all fought together during initiation… but honestly Blake had no idea what to expect. It was hard to watch your teammates when you were trying to avoid being bird food. She knew Yang had some sort of wrist cannon, and definitely preferred to use her fists… but other then that she was fighting blind. No idea what semblance she could have, or even the way she fought.
It was a little bit terrifying, if she was being honest with herself. When she was sent out on assassination missions in the White Fang, she had always done research on her targets. If it was a huntsman, she dug around for any information on weapons, semblances and weaknesses. This was the first time in a long time she was fighting another person blind. But… she had many years of real world experience the she doubted her teammate could match with a few years in some fancy school somewhere.
She crouched down, one hand on the grass, one foot outstretched, ready to pounce as soon as it was her moment. She was an assassin. She was cold, she was calculated. Yang was a close range fighter, she could wait until her opponent tried to move in close, and strike in whatever opening was available. One clean hit, preferably around the neck, enough to dent the other girls Aura… that should be enough. If it wasn't… she would deal with that if she got there.
Blake watched her opponent through narrowed eyes, waiting, watching for any kind of minute move to try and find her opening. But… it never came. After minutes of waiting, and an internal sigh of frustration, she realized Yang wasn't going to make the first move. But why? If her teammates first attack managed to get through, she would hold the momentum for the entirety of their match. Her defence wasn't going to be as strong as her offence either, as Blake's nimble and agile style was hard to defend against with just your fists. Everytime she played out scenarios in her head, it always made sense for Yang to be the aggressor.
She didn't want to, but she would have to make the first move.
She threw as much power as she could into her legs, sprinting up to Yang's face, fully expecting a counter. At the last second she feinted left, jumping around to the blonde's side, flipping and angling a kick at the back of her teammates neck. She didn't expect the feeling of hands wrapping around her shin, before being thrown into the ground hard.
"Yeah, go Yang!" The faunus shot a glare to her leader, who quickly straightened up after an elbow jab from Weiss. "Oh, uh, you can do it too, Blake!"
She rolled her eyes and dusted herself off before throwing a glare in her teammates direction. The girl was wearing a confident smirk, one hand on her hip and other at her side. "You're gonna have to try harder than that!"
Blake felt a burning frustration building in her stomach, and she could feel her face start to heat up. Not only was she fast enough to react to her faint, but she was strong enough to grab her mid kick… it was impressive. Even more impressive was the hole she left in the grass on impact. But it wouldn't happen twice.
Once again she ran at full speed towards her opponent, and once again she feinted left as late as she could. This time she watched the blonde turn to her, a wide smile on her face, then spun and sent a kick flying towards Blake's torso. Now, however, it was her turn to smile, as she triggered her semblance. She jumped into the air, flipping over her opponent once again, watching as her clone was sent flying into the distance. She brought her foot down for the final blow… and was caught off guard by a fist flying towards her face.
How did she… Blake once again triggered her semblance and landed unsteadily on her feet, struggling to find a foothold. She immediately adopted a defensive stance and waited for Yang's offence, but it never came. Her opponent was still standing in the same spot with the same stance, waiting for Blake's next move. The faunus took some time to recollect herself and her thoughts. Something wasn't right… she hadn't seen much of Yang fighting the grimm, but she knew that her style wasn't exactly centered on punishing her opponent's mistake. She expected the blonde to use an all out offense, trading blows and winning through brute strength, but this was different.
"Why aren't you attacking me?!" She didn't mean to say it out loud, but she was frustrated. She felt toyed with, she felt like she wasn't being taken seriously by someone with nowhere near her experience. The smirk never left her teammates face, however, which only fueled her frustration more.
With a scream forcing itself out of her throat, she threw herself at Yang with all of her might. Plans, attacks, and counterattacks all flew through her mind at breakneck speed. If she could force a punch as a counterattack she could use her semblance and attack her on the same side, and she wouldn't have a chance to retaliate. If she used her momentum to throw Yang off balance by spinning around her enough, she could go for the legs and throw off her footing...
"What is going on here?!" Both her momentum and her plannings ground to a halt as she heard the familiar voice of Professor Goodwitch shout. Adrenaline fled her body, replaced instead by guilt, like a child found stealing from a cookie jar…
She swore she could feel Yang turn on the charm. "Hey officer, what seems to be the problem?"
Goodwitch's glare hardened. "My 'problem' is that I have two students fighting each other in public. And as soon as we get back to the school, it's gonna be your problem. Both of you are to spend two hours after classes are done in my office for the next week."
Blake could feel her fingers chill and her stomach turn. She had just come to Beacon, and without real credentials. What if Ozpin found out? Would she be expelled? She didn't have anywhere else to go. She'd have to live off the streets, or she'd have to go back home, or worst case she'd have to go back to the White Fang!
"That isn't fair!" Yang's voice drew her out of her thoughts. "I convinced Blake to fight. She was against it, and I forced her to. Double down on my punishment, make me write whatever essay, but don't punish her for something I made her do."
Blake was stunned. Her teammate was… lying to a professor to get her out of trouble? They didn't know much about each other, she couldn't think of any ulterior motives… what was she doing? Why was Yang protecting her?
And with that thought, everything clicked. The way she was fighting wasn't to toy with her, it was to set up a wall. A barrier that could protect both herself and everyone around her. She wasn't attacking because she didn't want to hurt her opponent, only protect those on her side. And as soon as Blake felt endangered, she jumped in to protect her from the punishment that she deserved. She didn't want to fight for the sake of hurting others, not like her previous teammate. She fought to protect those dear to her. It was a leap in logic, sure… but it felt right.
Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Fine, whatever. Miss Xiao Long, two weeks detention, Miss Belladonna, please try not to cave into peer pressure in the future. Now run back to Beacon, I have a mess to clean up."
Blake started the long trek back to the school with her teammate by her side, leaving Ruby and Weiss behind them. They walked in silence for a few minutes, the faunus replaying the fight in her head. So many things she could learn about Yang just by analyzing her fighting style… it was something she had never even thought about before. Fighting was a means to an end, a way to finish a job, not to build friendships.
Were they friends now? She had considered them friends before, but that didn't seem right compared to how she felt now. She was shaking, she felt warm, and she felt excited. The tips of both her fingers and her toes felt hot, and for the first time in a long time… she felt satisfied. She was tired, more mentally than physically, and wanted nothing more than to sleep. There was one thing still on her mind though...
"Yang, I… I think I learned a lot about you during our fight. And I feel like we've gotten closer, as much as I hate to admit it." She watched her teammates smile grow bigger. "But you wanted answers out of me. What could you have possibly learned from that?"
"Well…" She stopped walking and cleared her throat. "When you fought you covered every area of both offense and defense very well, which probably means that you're used to fighting alone. You didn't make any noise when you ran, and your attacks went to vital spots rather than opening in my defenses, which leads me to a few guesses about your past. I won't dig any deeper, also seemed uncomfortable aggressing while you were in my field of view, but I guess your semblance really helps with that."
Blake felt her head spin slightly with all the information she was presented with. She thought she was making a jump in logic when she analyzed Yang, but the blonde had been so much more specific… and correct. She found herself wondering how much depth there was to Yang, especially since her demeanor screamed the opposite. Her first impressions of the biker girl weren't good, coasting through life, cracking puns and oblivious to the horrors of the world… maybe she was wrong. She let herself feel a little bit excited for the missions to come…
"Oh, and most importantly, you have a great set of legs." Blakes face went red instantly, her own surprised eyes meeting Yang's, who threw her a sultry wink and a huge smile.
Scratch that. She wanted a new teammate.
After walking again in silence until her face had cooled down, she decided to break it. "So… how can I repay you for taking the punishment for me?"
"I can think of a few ways…" The faunus had already prepared herself for this answer, and it was met with only a roll of her eyes. "Na, but seriously… I don't want you to repay me. It was my idea. I just want you to open up to us. I don't care if you want to read a book over hanging out with us. But out in the field, when we're all fighting the grimm and the bad guys… you can't be a stranger. It's life or death out there." She paused. "Rubes wants to set up some sparring matches between us tomorrow. She's really appreciate it if you came."
"I'll… I'll be there." No, it wasn't that she didn't like her team. She didn't understand them. Maybe they had more depth to them, just like Yang. Maybe she could make more of an effort.
Hey guys, Amber here again. I don't really want to get in the habit of having an A/N at the end of every chapter, but there's still some stuff I feel needs to be said.
First things first, I can't decide if this chapter is late or not. I'm really really bad at writing, on top of being really really hard on myself. I'm still not 100% satisfied with how this chapter came out, but I was going crazy working on it. This chapter has gone through four rewrites, way too many re readings and hours on just sentences. Because the chapters take me so long to write, as much as I want to do once a week updates, I'm afraid I'll burn myself out. So no schedule as of yet, but I'll play it by ear.
Next up is combat. I don't really want this to be a combat fighty focused story. I don't particularly enjoy writing fights, though I don't really hate it either. I felt like it was necessary for the plot in this chapter, and a bit in the next one, but I'm going to be staying away from that mostly. Sorry if it feels really awkward in this chapter .
Finally I just want to thank everyone for the support that this story got. Day one it got 60 visitors, and as I type this now its sitting over 100. It probably doesn't seem like much, but it blows my mind that so many people clicked and read my story. The reviews that were left made my week and left me in a super good mood, which is something I definitely needed at the time. So once again, thank you for taking the time to read what I put out, it means the world to me c:
