Hello! I'd just like to remind you to LISTEN TO THE SONGS I TOLD YOU ABOUT IN THE FIRST CHAPTER!
Kay? Kay. Now that that's outta the way... Enjoy!
A couple of years ago…
It was well into the class period when Ruby talked with her teacher. Before then, he said something along the lines of:
"I don't give a shit what you kids do. Just don't bother me."
Students cheered with glee. It was their last week at Signal Academy. It always sucked when teachers gave last minute work, so they were thankful. Everyone began chatting in the lively classroom and students abandoned their desks to talk with their friends.
"Uncle Qrow," Ruby called. "Do you have actual school work to give us this time?"
"Hah," Qrow scoffed, taking a swig of his water bottle that Yang was pretty sure was vodka. "School work, shmool work. Just be glad I don't give many tests," he leaned in the back of his chair with his hands behind his head, his feet propped up on his desk.
"Rubes," Yang swung an arm around her shoulder. "You worked hard to get two years ahead. Be proud and take a break!"
"I can say with certainty that you're the smartest person in this class Ruby," Qrow added. "I never thought I'd say this but… stop being so… studious."
"Uh, fine!" Ruby whined. "We do only have a week after all."
Every challenge Ruby had encountered so far was passed with flying colors. The tests, the pop quizzes, the aura training classes and other various things the elite academy could offer.
At their age, they weren't allowed to build their own weapons yet. However, with Qrow, Yang and Ruby were able to make their own before the rest of the students.
In secret, of course.
Naturally, Ruby modeled her weapon after her uncle's 's however, was a work in progress, and she wanted her weapon to speak volumes of her personality like Ruby's, but completely different in her own way. She wanted to go a different route, something Ruby and Qrow were happy to encourage.
A smug grin came from Qrow, prompting Yang to ask a question. "What're your plans for this summer?"
"I got a new job," the teacher smirked.
The sisters gasped at the revelation. As far as Ruby and Yang knew, Qrow's only job was teaching, with some sort of hunter's job on the side for extra money. The information made them intrigued to say the least.
Ruby couldn't help but press for information. "Doing what?"
"It's a hunter's job," Qrow informed.
Of course it was a hunter's job. Qrow was a professional in that field, but he was being far too vague for their liking.
"And?" Yang asked, hoping for more.
"The rest is classified," he said solemnly.
The sisters knew interrogating him further would be in vain, so they reluctantly didn't ask more questions. Even though he was… Qrow… he always took his hunter duties seriously. If he wanted something to stay a secret, he would do exactly that. The sisters had learned that over the years.
"Woooow!" Ruby gawked. "I can't wait to become a huntress and take on cool jobs!"
"I don't know about that," Qrow smirked, taking another swig from his bottle. "But it pays well."
Yang's expression turned to disappointment when she could smell the alcohol. "Are you leaving this job for the new one?"
"It depends, firecracker," Qrow said teasingly. "Now that my favorite students aren't going to be my students anymore, I see no reason to stay in this hellhole."
"It's not that bad," Yang replied, only to be proven wrong when a chair was thrown through a window.
Qrow stood, clearly irritated when all the students froze in fear at the sight of the glass shattered all over the floor. "Who did it?" he asked, his tone threateningly low.
That was rare. Usually Qrow had such a laid back demeanor, so when he was irritated, he was irritated.
A random voice piped up. "It was Cardin, sir!"
"You're going to pay for that!" Qrow yelped, menacingly advancing to the cowering boy and popped his knuckles. "I'm going to call your mother-"
"Unless you bang her first…" Yang mumbled.
"-and you'll be grounded for months!" Qrow quipped.
"It wasn't me!" Cardin squealed.
"Yeah right-"
"He was joking!" A female's voice cut in.
Qrow whipped around to see a giddy girl with bright orange hair.
"It was actually me!"
"Oh," Qrow trailed off as he calmly went back to his chair. "That's fine then."
Cardin's face contorted to anger. "So you'd be mad if I did it, but not her!?"
Qrow leaned forward, his hands set under his chin like he was uninterested in what the boy had to say. "It was Nora," he said obviously and gestured to her. "How could I be mad at that?"
Nora beamed her usual grin, her hand around a quiet boy's arm.
The sisters and the rest of the students couldn't contain their snickers.
Several years ago...
Jet-black hair was sprawled out on the fluffy pillow in the pitch-dark room. The room was small and her cabin was made of modest wood. Her family never had much money, but this place was what she called home, and she loved it, even if it wasn't anything impressive.
Little Blake was trying to drift off into a slumber underneath the warm quilt, but the slamming of a door was a rude awakening to her sensitive ears.
Before she could even step out of her bed, there were two violent gunshots followed by screams of pain. Blake widened her golden eyes in fear as she grabbed a baseball bat she had hidden under her bed.
With trembling fingers, she carefully opened the door, somehow managing to do so without a sound. She had to stifle a gasp when she was met with the lifeless bodies of her parents sprawled out on the floor, coated in a pool of blood.
"Dammit," the intruder growled as he lowered his gun. "If only they didn't put up a fight."
Little Blake's cat ear twitched from the comment.
"It's okay," another voice chimed. Blake could tell it was a female. "They deserved it. Speaking out against us like that..."
The man smirked. "You're right, dear."
"Of course I am," the woman added satisfyingly.
Blake internally seethed. Wait… speaking out against them? Do we know them?
Tears ran down her cheeks as she gripped the bat even harder, her knuckles turning white. Mom… dad… she couldn't rip her gaze away from her parents until she heard a dark chuckle.
"'Let's sort out our differences with words' they said," the woman quoted. "Sometimes in order to achieve peace, you have to use violence," she said as she stared at the corpses.
The man smirked, seemingly proud of her words. "Now they won't cause any more disturbances."
Little Blake grit her teeth at the sight of the people not only killed her parents, but berated them even in death.
Instead of grief, Blake felt something overtake her that she had never felt before.
It was pure...
Unbridled…
Rage.
Her vision clouded red.
Her amber orbs shifted to a fiery red and she darted out from the safety of her room. With a way cry, she began beating the intruders senseless with the bat. It took no time at all to smack their pistols out of their hands. The intruders were caught off guard and were hit in the skulls with violent thuds.
The man and woman fell to the floor, their arms up in surrender, but Blake was far too gone to realize they weren't going to put up a fight.
All she did was repeatedly pound the bat against their bodies as she straddled them with an iron grip.
Even though she was tiny, her rage was a force to be reckoned with.
Now panting for breath, she stopped her assault when a final sickening crunch rang out.
Her red eyes glazed over, now shifting back to their normal, gentle amber color. She took a deep breath and saw the aftermath. Like time had stopped, there were now four bodies lifeless on the cold, hard, wooden floor.
I… I killed them.
Blake's eyes widened in shock when she searched the intruder's faces. She was baffled to find out they were faunus, not only that, but familiar...
I-I know them! Why… Why would they-
She gasped at the epiphany, her thoughts going back to the day before.
Mom and dad spoke out against violence at the White Fang rally, Blake thought. Sure, they knew people would disagree, but THIS was the consequence?!
Little Blake could no longer think and she started to sob over her parents. She could ponder everything later. Right now her losses hit her like she slammed into a brick wall at full force.
She gently moved a straying black hair that covered her mother's face. While trembling, the little girl hugged her mother, desperate to feel a pulse.
Only to feel none.
"Mom…" she pleaded for a sign of life, her body unable to stop trembling. "Mom… mom… mom…" tears never stopped falling as they dripped on her mother's peaceful face.
Blake cradled her mother's head and set her on the wooden floor with gentle care. Her attention was now on her father, who was right next to his lifeless wife.
"D-dad…" her voice cracked with misery. "I-I'm s-s-so sorry!" she buried her head into his chest to seek warmth, only to find his body was starting to turn cold.
She'd never hear their voices welcoming her home ever again.
See their cheery smiles.
Feel their warm, loving touch.
Or their loving embrace.
Over her bawling, she heard a man's gruff voice from behind.
"I saw what you did."
Blake's whimpers caught in her throat. The consequences slowly dawned on her. She would be charged for murder, and locked away for the rest of her life, that much was certain. Even though she committed such a heinous act, that was nothing compared to losing her loving parents.
Reluctantly, she looked up to see a man with bristly snow-white hair and pale blue, calculating eyes.
Without thinking, she gripped the deadly bat and jumped to her feet, staring at the stranger with her weapon at the ready. All she knew was that this man was a potential threat.
When she didn't respond, he said. "I didn't just see that. I saw the whole thing," he stared at the grotesque scene, not affected by the fact that it reeked with blood. "What they did was wrong," he pointed to the murderers. "What you did was wrong," he pointed to the little girl.
"Spare me the lecture and just kill me!" she yelped, her bat wobbling in her hands. "Kill me like I killed them!"
The man was taken aback from her outburst, his gaze trailed to her parent's corpses. "Are they your parents?"
Little Blake's cat ears flattened on top of her head, her voice barely audible. "Were…"
"Do you have anywhere to return to?"
Little Blake's cat ears perked up, her bat lowered.
Return to?
This is where she lived her whole life. What'd he mean by 'return to?'
"This is my home," she replied softly, unsure of her words.
Now that her parents were gone, and her awful crime she just committed, could she really stay here?
"So you wish to stay?"
Blake averted her eyes, looking down at her mother and father for comfort, only to have the opposite effect. When he received no answer, the man continued. "Follow me," he turned around. "I have food, water, and shelter."
Blake lowered her head. "Why? You saw what I did... I'm a murderer!" tears cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall and soaked the wooden floor.
"Repent by serving me," he spoke with conviction and no hesitation, certain of his words.
He was met with silence, and Blake's eyes never left her lifeless parents. The mysterious man started to walk away and almost out of sight.
Little Blake leaned down and kissed both of her parents' cheeks. "I'm sorry…" she breathed, her voice almost inaudible.
She remembered something in that moment. Her father kept his weapon under the kitchen cabinet at all times in case something like this happened. It didn't come in handy in this instance, but Blake didn't want to leave her father's precious treasure behind.
After her hand left her mother's black locks, Blake ran to the cabinet and then sheathed Gambol Shroud.
She was sure he would've wanted her to have it.
After that, Blake darted out the door and left it open. She trusted the police to find the scene and for people to put her parents to rest.
She caught up to the man and left everything she had known behind...
Fun fact: I based Blake killing those people off on Eren from Attack on Titan when he saved Mikasa. Ya know… that one brutal scene out of hundreds.
Chapters 2 & 3 have/are flashbacks, but that doesn't make them less important. In fact, they are CRUCIAL. Chapter 4 is when the story starts advancing from the present. Seeya in a week!
Stay dandy,
~Toto