4. After the Fall

The time it took to heal her wound Blake spent in an abounded warehouse. She sometimes went into the safe zone for food and warmer cloths but otherwise stayed away from others.

It got colder with each day and there was the risk of Grimm and White Fang members finding her. And Blake didn't have Gambol Shroud. She planned on getting it back.

As soon as her wound was healed enough, she went to Beacon. It wasn't an easy task. The frozen Dragon attracted Grimm to the school and without weapon it was suicide.

But maybe that was one of the reasons she went there. Because she thought that whatever happened to her there, she deserved it.

For the things she did in the White Fang, the danger she put her friends in, and what she did to Yang.

Not only did the blonde girl get hurt because of her but she also abandoned her in a time of need. She did that even though she know about Yang's mother. She still left her without a word.

Blake had to stop thinking these things. Her negative thoughts would only attract the Grimm to her.

The cat faunus stood on one of the buildings, overlooking the school ground. The dining hall was a good distance away and there were lots of Grimm on the way. But she had to get there. This was where she left Gambol Shroud.

The school grounds smelled after death, burnt flesh and wood.

She snuck through the hordes of Grimm but not far from her destination she was detected.

Blake sprinted the last meters to the destroyed building and frantically searched for her sword.

She found the sheath that served as a cleaver and made a break for it. Spinning around she raised the weapon and cut the creature behind her into two. Blake avoided the incoming claw by rolling to the side.

She saw the other part of Gambol Shroud. Between it and her were three Beowolves. That would be easy.

With a shadow clone to distract them, Blake cut one down and kicked of from another to reach the weapon, still in pistol form. She shot one and the last Grimm in the dining hall fell to the sharp blades of the Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe.

Blake wanted to leave this place as soon as possible but something caught her eye.

On the ground lay Yang's arm.

With more than a little reluctance she went over to it and quickly took the right part of Ember Celica off of it. She would clean the weapon later when she had time for it.

But after finding her friends gauntlet the noirette thought about what else could still be here. Of course there were thoughts about the brawler too, but Blake pushed them aside as soon as they came. It would do her no good to think about her now. All that negative emotions would only draw more Grimm.

The way to the dorm was short and held only few creatures of Grimm. The faunus charged at one and sliced it with her sheath. She ran to the other and used its head to jump through a window into the second floor. The ninja girl landed in a roll and scanned the area. Clear.

She made her way to the staircase.

Above her were two more Grimm. An Ursa and a Creep.

Blake jumped, gripping the railing of the stairs and pushing off to the next one. She used her clone to go over it and land behind the Grimm, cutting them down before they could do anything.

The stairs until her destination floor were free. She ran up them and cracked open the door to the hallway.

The faunus peered through the gap. An Ursa was ahead of her. No challenge for the huntress-in-training.

Blake stopped in front of one of the doors. It was open and she could see in the familiar room.

This school, this room had been her home just a little over a week ago. Now it looked so empty, so lifeless.

Weiss didn't sit on the desk to study. Ruby didn't sit beside her, forced to study as well by the heiress. Yang didn't lay on her bed reading magazines while listening to music, looking up to greet Blake with her smile.

Yang.

Just the thought of her name was full of longing and pain. The faunus' heart felt so heavy, it nearly physically hurt.

Blake looked away from her former partner's bed and finally entered the room. She closed the door behind her even thought she know it wouldn't stop the Grimm from coming inside if they wanted to.

Without much time until the monsters would come to her location the ninja know she had to hurry. Not wasting more time she went to her closet and got out a duffel bag.

She packed some of her clothes and a few of her favorite books. Her ammunition, weapon-maintaining kit, and first-aid kit was put in there too before she helped herself on Weiss' stock of dust. She wouldn't use it anyway.

The thought stung a little but she couldn't worry about that now. Blake could hear the Grimm coming.

She closed the bag and hung it over her shoulder. Time to go.

Blake opened the window and jumped on the tree Sun hung from that one time when he surprised them. They were about to head out for their mission to collect information about Roman and the White Fang.

Pushing that thought out of her mind, Blake started climbing down the tree.

A pack of Beowolves and a Death Stalker were already waiting for her.

The faunus jumped the down the rest of the tree and over a few Grimm before making a break for it. The Death Stalker alone was dangerous enough but with over a dozen Beowolves she didn't stand a chance in a fight. Her best option was to go back to the safe zone. She had what she came for.

Blake woke up lying on her bed in her cabin, still dressed and Yang's gauntlet pressed against her chest.

She slowly sat up stretching her stiff limbs. For a moment she looked at her former partner's weapon before she stood up and put it away. It would do her no good thinking about her again. It hurt so much.

It was still early morning, the sun hadn't yet raised, and apart from the crew and her nobody was awake yet. The girl used the time to do some morning workout, mostly cardio and weapon training. She needed to stay in shape.

Only hours later when Blake worked up a sweat and was completely exhausted, in the good way, did she stop and take a shower before eating breakfast.

Other passengers were up now too but no sign of Sun. He either wasn't awake yet, he liked to sleep in, or wanted to avoid her after what happened the day before. At this time of day the first was more likely but it didn't rule out the second possibility.

Blake feared their next meeting was going to be awkward.

Only around noon did the monkey boy show up. He was obviously nervous when he greeted her.

"Morning."

"It's not morning anymore." She said her usual emotionless face back on.

"Pff, trivialities." Sun waved her off before he got timid again. "Ehm, about yesterday… I'm sorry. I-"

Blake cut him off. "Sun, don't worry about it. Let's just forget it happened."

For a moment she thought he would agree but than his expression changed. He looked serious and determined.

"No! I don't want you to forget about it. I don't want to act like nothing happened. I… I l-"

She cut him off again. "Stop! Please. I don't want to talk about it. I already have enough to worry about. Don't make things awkward between us."

"If you haven't notice, things are already awkward. So let me get this off of my chest, ok?" He pleaded. "I like you, Blake. More than just as a friend. I want us to be more than that."

The cat faunus felt pretty uncomfortable in her position. She looked anywhere but the boy before her and shifted awkwardly. Why could never be anything easy?

Blake straightened her back and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Sun, but I don't feel the same. I'm really sorry." She was already in love with Yang.

"I know. You've made that clear yesterday. I just needed to say it." Just because she saw him only as a friend now didn't mean that couldn't change. He wouldn't give up so easily. Not Sun Wukong.

"Yesterday was a really bad moment to do something like that. I…" Blake hesitated. "Can we still be friends? I really need one now."

"Of course we can stay friends!" He nearly shouted. "And you finally admitted to needing one." A smirk grew on his face at her admission.

She knew that for some time now but that didn't change the fact that she didn't want them to get involved in her problems. But Sun was here with her and she wouldn't get ride of him that easily.

"Don't get cocky." She sent him a weak smile. He returned a full one.

After a few minutes of silence Blake asked. "Is that why you followed me?"

"NO! I mean yes but not really… I mean" He took a breath. "It was one of the reasons but what I told you on the way to Menagerie was true. I followed you because I couldn't let you fight the Fang alone."

Blake looked him up. "You weren't there the whole time. What did you do after the fall?"

Even asking that brought the bad memories back. She pushed them aside and listened to his answer.

"After I saw you run of I stayed with the others. Someone had to be there for them and tell them you left." His voice took a sad tone. He still couldn't believe Blake did that.

Blake felt the guilt raise anew at the reminder and she looked down.

"Neptune, Sage, Scarlet, and I helped as much as we could in Vale before we had to head back. After they took the airship back I began searching for you. You didn't make it easy. I was lucky I was at the docks when you went aboard the ship. I just followed after you."

"You were searching for me the whole time? You never thought about giving up?" The faunus girl was surprised to hear that.

"Well, why would I? I couldn't let you be all by yourself." He declared proudly.

Blake sighed. "Really, there is no stopping you."

Sun looked into amber eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you suddenly decide to take back the White Fang?"

"My dad was once the leader. He put so much effort into it. And so did I even after it became clear they changed their ways. I still believed we could make a difference. I told myself I could help them find the right path again. It was foolish of me to think I could do such a thing alone. After I realized how corrupted they became and I couldn't do anything I left.
At first I was to denying any change, and then I didn't want to see it. I told myself we were right." Anger walled inside her. "My father tried his best under the name of the White Fang and they sully it with their bloody and criminal doings! I want the White Fang to be known for what they were, what they could be! Not as a bunch of terrorists!"

"That's pretty cool. How are we doing it?" Sun asked enthusiastically.

The ninja suddenly deflated. "That's something I'm still working on. But what ever it is, we have to stop them from attacking Haven."

"Yeah! Let's do it!" The blonde looked around and continued sheepishly. "After we get there."

That brought a small smile on Blake's face. It soon vanished. She had a second goal. One she couldn't tell Sun about.

She wanted to kill Adam Taurus.

I don't think you really expected a real answer, Night Flare, but you get one anyway: Because I want her to. Not really but I think that's just more suiting for her character given where we are at in canon and, of course, me wanting bumbleby to happen. To me, Blake seems like the type who can't just be happy. At last not that easily.

Sad to say, the suffering won't end just jet.

Blake and Yang deserve to be happy, hopefully with each other, but time will tell where the show takes them.

I must admit I got a little stuck with the story. Hopefully that will go over before I published the last of the chapters I have written so far. But I still have to edit those.