"Blake." Adam stalks out of the cabin, Wilt sliding into its sheath. Blake knows it's more dangerous there than it is drawn and grips Gambol Shroud's pistol grip tighter.
"Adam." She replies icily.
"Am I seeing this correctly?" Adam motions at the two huntresses, "After everything, everything we did together, everything we were together you choose to side with a Schnee? You choose to come back for a Schnee, after running from me for years?"
"I did. Weiss is my teammate, and my friend. Her Father's actions are not her's Adam."
Adam chokes out a laugh. "All humans are to blame for the treatment of the Faunus! Your so called teammate is just as much to blame as the men who all but enslave us!"
"No Adam," Blake straightens up, her shoulders squaring. "That corrupted view is why I left in the first place. All people are not the evil you make them out to be. I couldn't live with myself if I supported your violence and hate any longer. Weiss, Ruby, Yang... I've met so many kind people, human and Faunus alike. All I had to do to see them was to stop letting you control my world. I'll never come back to you Adam, I'll never let you control me again."
Adam snarls and dives at Blake. Wilt whips out of Blush but Weiss steps in front of Blake, Myrtenaster intercepting and deflecting Wilt. Blake leaps to her left and fires at Adam as he swings deadly strikes at Weiss. Myrtenaster isn't strong enough to take the hits head on so Weiss is forced to parry every single swing and with Adam's strength, it's hard to keep that up for more than a few exchanges.
The pistol fire breaks Adam's assault off, the bull Faunus firing off a trio of shots from Blush at Blake. She dives for cover, the third shot clattering against the cabin wall she's made it behind. Weiss tries to take advantage of the distraction, Myrtenaster's barrel spinning as her semblance forms a circle beside her. She's quickly interrupted by another onslaught of slashes, putting her on the defensive again.
Blake bolts from her hiding place, the sheath of Gambol Shroud in her right hand as she swings for Adam's head. He steps to the left, leaving Blake to swing wide and forcing her to roll out of the way of a punishing slash that nearly cuts her foot off. Adam swings his wrist in the other direction, jamming the hilt of Wilt into Weiss's face and knocking her back. Blake scrambles to her feet just in time to block Wilt from severing her left arm.
"Why Blake? What changed?" Adam growls out as he hammers Wilt against Blake's sheath. He changes angle suddenly, sweeping for Blake's side. Blake barely gets Gambol Shroud between her and the blade, the force of the clash knocking her to the ground. She rolls with the fall and springs to her feet as Adam takes potshots at Weiss, keeping her from using her dust or semblance.
Blake growls a battle cry of her own as she fires three rounds at Adam that he side steps. Gambol Shroud's sheath is blocked with Wilt and an aside, pitying glance from Adam. He pushes her off, destabilizing her and she's forced to use her semblance to retreat. As she reappears 10 feet behind her clone Adam has renewed his assault on Weiss, the fencer putting all of her training to the test as she deflects Wilt's aggressive slashes.
Weiss manages to unbalance Adam with a particularly good parry, choosing to kick off him and gain distance. He doesn't fall, steady as a stone as she flips back and Blake's heart pounds when Adam sheathes Wilt.
"Weiss, watch out!" Blake screams. Weiss doesn't even look at Blake, only nodding as Adam makes to unleash the full force of his semblance upon her. Blake dashes forward in what feels like slow motion as she watches the red blade fly forward, the combined force of every parry he's taken with it in a single blow and it slams to a halt when a massive ghostly blue sword intercepts, appearing from a circle behind Weiss.
The heiress is in her summoning posture, blade held vertical before her and eyes closed. Blake wants to laugh, Weiss risked her entire life on that summon working. Adam's snarl of frustration takes the laughing mood from Blake as she engages Adam, getting a few good hits in while he's too angry to focus. Weiss appears by her side and the two trade off strikes against Adam's own blade. The two together keep Adam from overwhelming them but they gain little ground against the terrorist. Adam's anger makes every counterattack harder and harder to deflect, somehow adding to his strength.
Adam swings heavily against Blake's sheath and she is forced to step back to avoid taking Wilt to the stomach once again. Weiss thrusts forward only for Adam to forgo blocking with Wilt, reaching out and grabbing Weiss by the neck as Myrtenaster shoots past him. He lifts her up, strangling her as she grasps at his hand with her free hand. Blake screams and dives forward with a wild swing at Adam's arm, but Wilt whips up and cleaves even Gambol Shroud's sheath in two. Blake isn't deterred, she drops the broken sheath to draw Gambol Shroud forward, jamming the pistol into his stomach and firing wildly. Adam grunts in pain, dropping Weiss and pounding Wilt's hilt into Blake's skull. Blake's aura shatters and she has the sense to roll away despite the ringing in her ears. She stands up, the cabin entrance to her back as Adam removes Wilt from the deck where she had just fell. Weiss is off to the right, Adam deads center of the rear deck.
Weiss walks up to Blake, whispering in the faunus's ear, "Activate an SOS beacon or something, I'll hold him long enough. We're going to need back up." Blake opens her mouth to argue but Weiss winks at her. "Trust me, okay?" Blake nods mutely at Weiss's back as the heiress steps up to Adam.
"You wanna know something? You and Jacques? You're cut from the same cloth." Adam growls but Weiss continues, "He's too much of a coward to do more than slap his defenseless daughter, to be fair. Not quite the physical abuse master that you are. But he's just like you on the inside. An abusive and manipulative dirtbag who treats the people around him as things to be used to his pleasure." Blake's surprised by the steel in Weiss's voice as she bolts for the control room, it's no less than Blake's own condemnation of Adam.
"I fight for-," Weiss cuts him off with a swing of Myrtenaster through the air.
"You fight for power, for control! I doubt the plight of the Faunus even matters to you anymore, you just want to reassert your power over Blake to salvage what's left of your pathetic ego when your White Fang was rejected by the very people they pretend to protect!"
Adam's response is a gutteral shout, raw like that of an animal. He charges at Weiss and she meets him halfway, Myrtenaster valiantly standing up to the weight of Wilt. Weiss makes use of her small size to duck or side stepp attacks whenever possible. She keeps Adam at the edge of her range as much as possible, Myrtenaster was built for thrusting attacks while Wilt was designed to slash, the slight difference in their range gives her an edge as long as she stays out of his cutting range. Anytime she can force him to use Blush is a win in her book, his rage has made his aim terrible even at such close range.
Despite her best efforts, every time she has to parry Adam grows a little stronger and harder to parry the next time. His skills are sharp, even mad as he is she can't break his guard. Adam was a warrior forged by years of combat and violence and he's only survived this long because no matter his anger he's capable of fighting off Huntsman and soldier alike. The best Weiss can do is keep up the pressure to give Blake more time to call for help; and keep Adam from sheathing his blade. It was a miracle she survived the first strike, and every second the fight goes makes the inevitable second strike more powerful.
Weiss pants, barely dodging a cut from Wilt and raising Myrtenaster in time to deflect the follow up. She thrusts Myrtenaster forward, but with horror she realizes just how slow she was moving when Adam sidesteps her exhausted attempt and once again grabs her by the neck. He marches her forward, Myrtenaster clattering to the deck as she uses both hands to try and break his grip. Adam lifts and slams her against the wall of the cabin.
Blake dashes out of the console room, leaving via the side entrance less Adam see her coming. She bolts down the side of the cabin and stops dead in her tracks as she reaches the rear deck. Weiss is pinned against the wall, struggling for breath, Myrtenaster is across the deck... and Wilt is angled directly at Weiss's heart.
"Adam, wait," Blake starts but he turns to her. His mask is gone, his eyes cold with fury.
"No Blake. No more games. You'll never come back to me," The calmness in Adam's voice is more terrifying than Blake has ever seen him, "And I'm done chasing you. I'm going to kill the Schnee, break you as you broke me. Then I'll be the one to choke the life out of your body too." Adam slowly smiles, his eyes widening with a demonic edge to them as he pulls Wilt back for a thurst into Weiss' heart. "Are you ready to be broken, Blake?"
Three things happen in the next moment. Blake reaches out for Weiss, tears falling from her eyes. Weiss looks to Blake, trying to mouth something through her gasps to Blake. And a distinct sniper rifle cracks off above them all.
Adam screams, dropping Weiss. They all look up to see an Atlesian airship above them, the side door open and a familiar red cape fluttering from it. More sniper rounds fly from Ruby's rifle, though Adam is able to dodge them without the element of surprise. Through the covering fire, a blonde blur drops out of the door and lands on the deck with a distinct cracking of shotgun gauntlets.
"I believe... We have a score to settle," Yang says to Adam with a cock of her hips. Blake spots the shaking in Yang's good hand but Adam doesn't as he launches into a whirlwind of strikes at the brawler. Blake takes the chance to slide down in front of Weiss.
"Please tell me you're okay, please gods Weiss-"
It takes Weiss a few tries to croak out the words, but Blake's cut off with, "I'm fine, help Yang!" and Blake nods.
Yang tanks hits, deflects Wilt, and dodges him over and over, punishing Adam with a jab or hook whenever his strikes are too wild. It eats into her aura but she doesn't activate her own semblance. Her controlled combat seems to drive Adam to new levels of rage and it makes him all the sloppier. Between his own rage and the sniper cover from Ruby circling above, Yang is almost toe to toe with the terrorist leader.
Yang glances beyond Adam to see Blake moving towards the fight, picking up Myrtenaster as she does. Yang redirects her attention to Adam, taking a few hits from Adam that deplete her aura to set up a heavy punch into the faunus's chest. Adam is launched backward, right into Blake's range.
Blake's no fencer, but she faces off against Adam in the center of the deck as he sheathes Wilt. Yang is making her way around to Weiss, and even Ruby has stopped firing. Blake locks eyes with Adam. The eyes, as her books often say, are the windows to the soul and Adam's are nothing but a bonfire fueled by hatred and spite. Only Adam would ever know it, but her own were steeled with a strength that only comes for fighting not only for oneself but for the ones they love.
Adam charges forward with a shout that embodies all of his rage, all of his hate. He's moving faster than anyone has seen him move before but to Blake, it was as if he was moving in slow motion. Wilt creaks out of the scabbard of Blush and Blake shifts, bending just under her former mentor's slash. As she watches it crawl past her, she remembers when he showed her exactly how this very technique worked. She remembers back when Adam had a soul.. Back when he cared for anything other than power.
She remembers who Adam once was... and knows as she plunges Myrtenaster into Adam's chest hilt deep she's doing what that Adam would have wanted. Adam chokes on his own blood, Wilt dropping to the deck beside him, and time resumes. Blake pushes Adam forward, letting him drop onto the deck as blood seeps from his wound. His mouth twitches, like he has final words to say... but they fall on deaf ears as the fire fades from his eyes.
No one says anything for a while. The only sounds are the ocean lapping against the hull of the boat, the slight drone of the airship above them, and the blood dripping from Myrtenaster's tip. Yang helps Weiss up, and the two approach Blake. Weiss places her arm around Blake's waist, pulling her close.
"You okay?" she asks quietly. Blake doesn't reply right away, face fresh with tears for Weiss and the Adam she once knew and herself but her expression frozen as her mind catches up with the world around her.
When she does, she turns to Weiss with a small smile. "I will be."
This is my first multi chapter fic I finished!
This fic actually started from my friends and I talking about some fanart of Weiss and Adam meeting and the angst that would come of it and I wrote a little snippet showing how easy it could have been, which is this:
*Blake at the tower, running from Adam
They end up at the water fall, gambol shroud broken, Adam stalking towards Blake
Weiss arrives
Adam does the abusive ex speech, Weiss sees how scared Blake is
Weiss: "Can I convince you to leave my teammate alone?"
Adam: "What could you possibly offer better than Blake?"
Weiss: "The schnee heiress."
Adam, eyes her up, starts cackling
Adam: "Fine then! If that's how it'll be... I can always find Blake later"
Weiss, drops sword, Blake falls to knees sobbing: "N-no"
Adam leads Weiss off, smirks at Blake, says something creepy
Eventually Blake wipes her tears and picks myehmyehmyeh and chases after Adam and Weiss*
After one friend said "How dare you make me feel things", that snippet served as the launching point for the first chapter, and the next two wrote themselves. Took awhile, but I got the idea for 4-6 while driving to visit family of all things, and wrote the outline in my parents driveway on my phone lmao. 7-8 I knew what was going to happen, but it did take a while to sit down and write it. 8 in particular was literally unplanned (the outline said ' ') and I think it wrote itself out pretty well.
* I forgot which was Wilt and which was Blush literally everytime I started a new chapter, I'm so bad.
* I had to copy and paste Myrtenaster every time it appears in the fic, because as my snippet shows, I can't spell it
* Chapters 1-6 were written with "Out of Kindess" on loop from the Persona 5 Royal soundtrack. Chapter 7 was "Keep your Faith" and chapter 8 was "I Believe" from the same.
Thank you so much for reading! Even when I was too busy with avoiding Quarantine depresso to write, Snowflakes Fall got the occasionally kudo or favorite and those email really inspired me to finish this story and I'm so grateful to all of you! (^^)