"You know, you could be a lot faster." He says the words like he is handing down a command while Blake drags herself back up to her feet and forces herself back upright.
It's been a year since she officially joined the White Fang and took up arms for their cause, for their people. It wasn't a decision that she'd doubted for so much as a second. As things stood, the plan was that they were going to be leaving Menagerie sometime during the next few weeks and then going to Mistral to serve Sienna Khan more directly, once they'd proven their worth.
They were at a point where training was just a means to an end. A way to ensure that whatever happened out in Mistral would be worthwhile, and nobody would end up falling for some sort of mistake that arose along the way. It was a safety net, but that didn't stop either of them from pulling out all of the stops.
Blake stands back up, giving her blade a frustrated wave before relaxing again. "I know." She tells him, not looking over at Adam as she walks back over to one side of the impromptu training area that they had laid out to use together. "I'm trying."
Adam looks back at her and there is a frown on his face. His hair has fallen down into it, making him look a little more attractive than he normally was. Normally, Blake would have felt a need to fight down a blush, but as things were and with her heart pumping as hard as it was, it felt like the blood had all rushed to her face anyways.
"What?" Blake asks, swiping with Gambol Shroud at her side once more, mostly out of irritation because she knows that there's something that Adam isn't saying.
"You should use it more." Adam suggests, giving her a look that was able to communicate much more than Blake had been preparing for. "Your semblance could help you get around the battlefield faster. Not to mention the dodging."
Blake pauses because yeah, her semblance was a factor. One that she had been doing her best to train herself in for some time. It wasn't nearly as simple to use as she thought Adam believed. Blake was willing to see how things play out personally, but there was something about having to rely on her semblance that felt wrong to her. Regardless of how many possibilities it brough out for her. .
"Right." Blake says, feeling her ears flatten out for just a second before she made herself drop back down into the fighting stance that she was so used to at that point. She gripped both parts of Gambol Shroud a little more tightly and watched as Adam reached for his sword, resting a hand on the hilt. "I'll keep that in mind."
There was just that moment of silence before Blake sprang to action, rushing at Adam with a single leap that he was quick to dodge out of the way of. Just as quickly his sword was going up towards her and Blake blocked it instead of activating her semblance to jump back and put some space between the two of them.
"You could still be better." Adam taunts her, grinning. It feels almost playful as he puts his weight behind an effort to push her away from him. Blake lands back over on her side of the ring, preparing herself for him to move first because she is absolutely certain that Adam will do so.
She knows him, after all. The same way that she knows Ilia.
Knowing how each other work in and out is so important. They're all partners after all, but that is something that isn't going to last for much longer, with all things considered. Blake knows that for a fact- everything that she knows tells her that Ilia is going to stay there in Menagerie. The Albain Twins think that she would have a better place there than she would in Mistral. Their reasoning had something to do with stealth, and Blake knew that Ilia had been more than disappointed by the order.
But Ilia also believed in the White Fang, and she believed in the twins. So she was going to stay, regardless of whether she wanted to or not.
Blake is going to miss Ilia. The two of them have been two peas in a pod for most of their lives. The prospect of suddenly not having her friend that was... strange. She'd noticed it lately, that Ilia was doing her best to pull back and away from her. She figured that Ilia was doing her best to just distance them so that once the separation comes it won't hurt.
She can't help but feel hurt by it.
Adam is perhaps the saving grace in all of it. Blake can trust that he will be there a few months down the line. The two of them were going to go to Mistral together, and then...
They were going to fight. The two of them had taken up arms for the sake of bringing justice for the Faunus, and that was something that wasn't going to change for so much as a second. Blake believed in the cause, and Adam believed in it just the same.
Neither of them were going to let it fall apart for even a second.
Adam cocks his head to the side, watching her and staring her down like he was doing his best to figure out whatever she was thinking. Blake almost wanted to shrink back from it, but something else in her told her not to. She waited, and finally Adam allowed himself to move.
He rushed at Blake so fast that she didn't have even a chance at stopping it.
Blake braced herself for the blow, activated her semblance and leaped out of the way, watching herself be slashed down before she allowed herself to rush back at Adam from behind.
Her blade collided with him, his aura flashing up in too-vibrant red around him. Adam let out a noise as he turned, his hair beginning to glow red and Blake's eyes widened. Adam turned, swiping at her once more and this time it caught her, the blade slashing through her aura entirely too easily. Almost like it hadn't even been there.
Blake fell away from him, landing in the dirt with a cut on her arm that she was sure was going to need some time to heal, even with her aura there to aid it.
Adam was quiet. Blake picked her head up and looked over at him, and just watched as Adam walked back over towards her, his weapon once again sheathed at his side. He kneeled down next to her and offered her his hand.
Blake sat up properly, taking his hand in hers gingerly and standing up properly at Adam's side.
"Are you alright?" Adam asked, and Blake nodded, refusing to let tears come to her eyes and letting her hair hang down into her face.
"I am." Blake confirmed. "It was an accident." She said the words, but at the same time she didn't know that she fully believed them.
"It was." Adam replied, sounding entirely too comfortable. "You could have been better."
"I know." Blake mumbled, pulling away from Adam and looking down at her injury as she tried to figure out just how bad it was going to be. "I'm going to be better."
"I believe you." Adam raised his voice, like he was doing his best to make an announcement or an impression- possibly even both. "But I can't make Sienna Khan believe you."
Blake frowned because yeah, that was definitely something that she needed to be thinking about. That didn't mean that it was something that she could trust she would be able to fix easily or even soon. She sighed heavily and let herself sit down on the far edge of the clearing.
"I promise," She started, finally sheathing Gambol Shroud and setting it down at her side. "I'll be better."
There was a quiet that settled over the space for just a moment before Adam was sitting down at her side. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he set down his weapon all the same, relaxing back and taking in a breath of air. "We both need to be good enough once we see her in person." He muttered. "If we are going to prove ourselves and fight for the White Fang's cause, we need to be ready."
Blake hesitated and reached over for him, setting her hand on top of his in the same way that he had done for her in the past. Just offering the slightest comfort because if there was anything or anyone that she was confident she knew, it was Adam. He was her partner, after all.
The two of them were going to go out there, and they were going to do everything in their power to protect their people.
It was important that she knew him.
Adam noticed it, and he let out a huff before forcing himself up to his feet in one fluid motion. A moment later, he was offering a hand so that he could pull Blake up to her feet himself. She went with him, and the next thing she knew there was an arm wrapping around her shoulders as the two of them walked back towards the White Fang headquarters.
On the way in, they passed Ilia, and while Ilia seemed worried, neither of them said anything to her as they continued on their way to the small infirmary so that they could patch up Blake's arm together.
Blake felt Ilia's eyes on her back, and tried to ignore it. She had other things to do.
Adam and Blake had been in Mistral for all of two months. They had shared a very brief visit to a White Fang meeting, and then after that there had been directions passed down to the two of them and they were simply cut free to do whatever it was that the two of them needed to do. It was a lot for Blake to get used to. Mistral wasn't like Menagerie was. It wasn't nearly as populated. The people there treated her and Adam differently, and Blake had absolutely no illusions as to why it was that way. After all, Mistral wasn't like Menagerie. The people were different. She found herself thinking of how things were back in Menagerie a lot more now that she was away from there. She missed her parents and Ilia, but every time that she thought about making the call and reaching out for them, Adam reminded her that they were there to in Mistral to fight. If she were to make a call home, then she would risk exposing what they were up to. "Besides," he'd said. "They probably don't want to know that you are going to be attacking a shop that won't serve us. Let them think you're out carrying signs." Adam had been right, so Blake didn't call. The current plan was that she and Adam were going to take their things, and they were going to go and attack a shop sometime during the afternoon. There had been more than enough reports about Faunus being turned away, and that was all that they needed. Killing wasn't in the plans, but they were going to go and they were going to send a message.
As long as they weren't going to be killing, Blake was fine with what they were doing.
That didn't mean that Adam was.
"I don't like that we're being forced to wait." Adam snarled as he paced back and forth in their shared tent. The two of them weren't the only ones in their group by far, but people had understood once Blake and Adam had arrived that they were going to be staying together. Blake wasn't personally a fan of sharing her space like they were, but she knew Adam so it was okay.
"It's just until morning." Blake replied, her book resting in her lap. "We're going to be fine."
"I just want to be able to go out there and fight." Adam groaned, taking his seat beside Blake and reaching over to pluck the book away from her. "The humans need to know-"
"And they will." Blake responded, reaching over for her book and fighting back a blush.
Adam let out a small sound, akin to a laugh as Blake took her book back for herself. She slipped a bookmark into place before setting it down beside her since Adam now had her attention, like she figured he'd wanted. "We're going to go ahead, and we're going to get this done."
"I just wish that it didn't have to take so long." Adam muttered, looking over at Blake in that way that told her that he was doing his best to pick her apart. "Imagine how much we could get done if we weren't stuck waiting around because Sienna Khan says so."
And yeah, that was something that was hard not to think about. Blake needed to relax, and that was something that was just fine. "We need a plan." Blake finally said, a moment later. "Tomorrow we'll do the strike, and then we move on. Nobody gets hurt, we make an impression, and then we do the next job when it comes in."
She watched as Adam pushed herself upright and walked across the clearing, his back turned to her."I know that you're right."
"Then you'll be patient."
For just a moment, Adam's shoulders seemed to tense with frustration before it ebbed away just as quickly. He sighed, hanging his head. "You're right." He mumbled. "I will."
Blake got up and crossed the clearing herself, setting a hand on Adam's shoulder when she reached him finally. "Tomorrow." Blake said, doing her best to ignore the ache in her arm where she'd been injured. "We should get some rest."
She walked to the tent and slipped inside, and a few minutes later Adam was coming in and sitting down to rest beside her while Blake took her time to wrap the injury.
The morning would come, and they would manage to survive it.
Adam was fuming, and had been for most of the evening. The two of them had gone through a strike that morning, and had run into trouble on the way out. The words that had been exchanged had been a bit... much. Blake personally hadn't been able to get them out of her head just yet. That's why she was sitting on her and Adam's bed with a ribbon that she had cut and trying to tie it onto her head, over and over again. Trying to find the best way to hide herself behind it. "I can't believe that He stopped dead in his tracks, turning his gaze onto Blake now. "Why are you doing this, Blake?" Adam snarled as he stalked every closer to her. "I thought that you were " "You shouldn't." Adam muttered, his voice too dark and too angry. "You should be showing them with pride. Letting humanity see what you have that makes you Blake paused, because there was something in Adam's words that she didn't like. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and forced herself to relax. "It's just temporary."
Adam all but shouted back at her. "And what if it isn't?"
Blake goes silent, unable to think of a good response because she can't help the feeling that tells her that whatever she ends up saying might not matter that much in the end. She turns to him, locking her eyes with Adam's. "It won't be." She said, feeling her ears beginning to flatten back. "Just... let me try."
"I don't like it." Adam murmured, his eyes glued to Blake and feeling all too intense as he stares her down. Blake wants to shrink back for just a second, but doesn't allow for herself to follow the urge. "You shouldn't look like them."
And that was enough to make Blake stop, the ribbon still clutched between her fingers as she sat there. The fabric was smooth, satiny. It was going to do the trick when she figured out how to tie it the right way. For a second, she thinks of Ilia and her color changing skin. She thinks of her mother, and how she had always tried to fuss over her hair when she'd been a girl.
Did her mother try to hide herself like this as well?
Blake sighs. "I don't want to look like them." She said, keeping her voice down and not bringing herself to meet Adam's eyes. "It's just so that I can blend in and keep from getting noticed."
Adam took a step in towards her, and Blake felt his hand settle on her shoulder for just a moment. It rested there, a gentle thumb smoothing over her skin lovingly before Adam spoke up. "Promise me this isn't permanent."
"I promise." Blake responded, letting her eyes slip shut as she allowed herself to relax more into Adam's touch than she needed to. "Just believe me."
"I will." Adam replied, his voice dark. "For now." And just like that he was pulling away, and Blake allowed herself to open her eyes and watch as he stalked over towards the other side of the tent, his back straight and his head held high.
The day had bothered him, that's something that Blake is more than well aware of. She hadn't wanted to upset him more, but she knew Adam. He had thrown his entire livelihood into fighting for the Faunus and for him to think about the possibility of her just deciding to roll over and pass as a human...
It had to hurt. It had to light something deep in him on fire.
Blake wondered if jealousy was a part of it, but didn't dare voice the possibility. She knew Adam, he would explode if the suggestion was even whispered within his earshot.
She set the ribbon down on the bed beside her and spoke up a moment later. "Come here." She suggested, keeping her eyes glued onto Adam now. "We have a lot to get ready for."
"I know." He grumbled.
"So we should plan for it." Blake said, watching as he turned slowly and his eyes met hers. Adam sighed and crossed the room, sinking down onto the bed beside her. Blake leaned in towards him, letting their shoulders brush together before speaking up. "We're doing well, Adam."
"I just want to do more."
"And we will." Blake said, letting her hand drift over to Adam's and giving it a gentle squeeze. "We just have to be patient."
Adam nodded, but Blake couldn't help feeling that it wasn't from an agreement.