Chapter 12:

Blood-soaked Pasts

Asa's Point of View

The city of Vale….It's not exactly a place that brings good memories for me. "Hey Asa, you alright?" Oh, I forgot who I'm with. Shen leaned out, from where everyone was walking, getting a look at my face. I faked a smile, "Yeah, I'm good Shen." I know Shen knew I wasn't exactly truthful. He's very good at reading people's feelings. When I answered, his face turned a little worried, "O-Ok Asa. Let us know if anything's wrong so we can head back to Beacon." I then wrapped my arm around his neck and started giving him a noogie, "Haha ok man, I'll remember that! Hey, what exactly are we doing anyway?" Oni's eyes rolled to the corner of his eye as if he was annoyed, "We're going to meet the girls of RWBY and hang out with them today." Kat then elbowed Oni playfully, "Hey, don't act like you're not happy to see a certain blonde Oni." Oni's face turned red and his eyes white as he raged at us, "H-H-Hey! Th-There is no way in all Hell that I would ever fall for a ditz like Xiao Long!" Everyone began laughing at Oni's reaction.

When we arrived at the café we were supposed to meet at, Shen ran in and was immediately hugged by Ruby. They make a cute couple. Oni went over and started talking to Yang as she playfully punched him in the shoulder to say hello. Kat stood next to me smiling as I looked over to see who was on this team that Shen knew. However, as soon as I looked over to the table, I noticed the cat Faunus from there group. "You !" I yelled.
"You!" She yelled.

I pulled out five of my kunai knives in the gaps of my fingers while she pulled out a ninjata sword that transformed into an Uzi. "Guys stay back!" I yelled.

"Girls stay behind me!" The cat Faunus said. Shen and Ruby got in between the two of us, "Whoa whoa whoa, what's going on here?!" Shen intervened. I kept my eyes focused on the cat Faunus, "This girl is a member of the White Fang!" Shen's eyes widened as did everyone else on my team. Ruby looked back scared, "N-N-No! She's not with them anymore!"

"Wait you mean you knew?!" Shen looked back at Ruby shocked.

"So what if I was White Fang?! Shen, your teammate here is a member of the Twilights!" Blake exclaimed as everyone's eyes were now turned towards Asa. "What?!" Oni and Kat exclaimed.

"Much like you, Blake, Asa is not part of that life anymore!" Shen defended.

"Shen, you knew this about Asa?" Oni glared.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter. He's still our teammate Oni!" Shen glared up at Blake. "Which means he's a friend to all of us…" Blake's hands were hesitating at first, but she eventually put her weapon away, "Only because you trust him Shen…" I still had my eyes fixated on Blake with my kunais out. Shen placed my hand down, "Asa it's fine, you can trust them…" I put my kunais away, "Only because of you Shen…" Shen sighed as everyone finally sat back down.

The entire time when everyone was talking, my eyes and this Blake girl's eyes were locked in view of each other. I didn't take my eyes off her. She didn't take her eyes off me. Eventually I knew I had to talk to her, so I said, "Hey guys I'm gonna go and light a smoke." Immediately Blake noticed what I was doing and said, "I'll have one too if you don't mind." A fake smile spread across my face at her, "Sure thing." We both went outside as I lit a smoke for both me and her. "So….what made you leave the White Fangs?..."
"What do you think?...I finally saw what those bastards truly are like. Their ideals….their "great" plans for us when they win…it wasn't what I thought I wanted." I inhaled deeply, taking in all of the smoke from my cig into my lungs. "What about you?" Blake asked. I exhaled letting out all of the smoke, "Same reasons…..they weren't who I thought they were. With all of their talk about "loyalty" and "family", the first chance they get, they abandon me when their own lives were in danger."

Blake looked over at me with a sympathetic look quickly looking back forward and inhaling in some of her own cigarette smoke, "So what's the story with your team?..."
"What do you mean?"

"Shen is someone who I consider as a dear friend….something I don't find so often anymore. With the few friends I have, I protect them from anything…" She then looks over directly at my eyes with her yellow orbs. "…and anyone."
"…..Seems like me and you have more similar interests than I lead on to see." I spoke as Blake's eyes widened. "When my gang abandoned me…I never thought I could trust anyone ever again…years later, I meet Shen…" I smiled weakly and let out a little laugh. "And boy did he prove me wrong about my thought of friends…" This time Blake smiled as she exhaled some smoke. "He has that effect on people…Hell he's even on the Ice Queen's good side, something that took all of us awhile to do." My eyes then looked down to the ground as a look of upset drenched over me. Blake didn't have to have a Kat's mind reading to know something was wrong with me. "What happened on that day Asa?" I took in a deep breathe.

"We were given a tip from an anonymous source that there was a trade activity going on with our group's rivals. Our boss sent in me and four other guys…one of which was someone who I got along since day one of being initiated into the gang. His name was Shinji. We were with each other through everything. Drive-byes, deals, turf wars, heh…baby daddies." Me and Blake both laughed at the joke. "However…when we finally arrived at the place, we were ambushed by cops. The unanimous tip was a snitch. We all went out guns blazing. One of our guys went down on my left and another was shot behind me. Everyone then started booking it once our ammo was gone. However, as I ran, I tripped over a pipe that was on the floor and twisted my ankle. I yelled out to the guys for help, but none of them came back….not even Shinji who actually looked back at me before running…." Blake was silent, still looking at me with the same sympathy. I had a feeling she knew how I felt. "But….that's all in the past now…" Her ears perked up from my words, "I have a new life now…new school, new family,….and especially new friends. Ones I know I can trust with my life."

Blake looked down with a smile on her face and narrowed eyelids. "And you?" I commented. She looked up shaking her head slightly. "I think we heard about enough sob stories for now. I'll tell you next time…"
"Heh, sounds good to me…" We then looked up as we smoked our last inhale and exhaled simultaneously. "Ready?" I asked her.
"More than willing." After I put my cig in a carry-on ash tray and Blake stomp grinded hers out, we returned to the smiles and laughs of our dear, forgiving friends.