A/N: Written for monochrome week day 5: role swap; set in an AU where weapons exist but semblances don't
Kali Belladonna resisted the urge to roll her eyes upon seeing her husband and daughter training yet again. She knew how much Ghira fretted over their daughter's safety, but to Kali, Blake was still a young woman who needed to take breaks. She leaned against the door and decided to give them a few more minutes before making her presence known.
It wasn't as if they needed to train excessively, she mused. After the Great War, Menagerie had established itself as Remnant's most formidable kingdom and elevated the Belladonna name to its famed status it was known for now. As for Blake, the mage was already proving to be quite intelligent and capable, if her assistance in the war didn't already showcase her potential.
For the past five years, their family attempted to negotiate peace between the remaining Remnant kingdoms. Alas, old prejudices made it difficult for any concrete agreement to be reached, especially with the inferiority that various human leaders felt under Faunus presently. Thus far, they only had alliances with Vale and Vacuo and even managed to stockpile supplies with the latter should the need arise.
Kali wanted to believe that peace could truly spread across Remnant, but it was getting increasingly harder with recent rumors of insurrection and the previous month's break in at Vacuo. Fortunately, the only loss suffered was a train car full of potion ingredients stolen. The only clue discovered was a strand of white hair, which motivated Blake to train harder in order to capture the perpetrator.
Sparks of light magic caused Kali to return her attention to her family. Father and daughter were both breathing heavily, having just finished another spar. Kali decided to make her presence known before they passed out from exhaustion.
"I'm so glad I can finally spend some time with my family because there's certainly no way that any more training is happening today," Kali stated sternly, making sure to keep her gaze locked onto Ghira. She smirked as Ghira gulped imperceptibly and turned to glance at Blake, who quickly bit back her objection before steadying her resolve.
"Mom, I've almost mastered the new spell that we've been working on-" Kali held up a hand to stop Blake's objections. She knew her daughter's light magic was improving by the day, but Kali wasn't having it. Huffing, Blake walked off.
Blake made her way across the courtyard her parents had built for training. She didn't want to stop yet, especially since she was so close to gaining another spell to use. Sighing, she resolved to take advantage of the break before an unfamiliar noise near the entrance made her pause. Her ears perked up, and she made a sweep of her surroundings. She didn't notice anything amiss, so she turned to her magic to double check.
Closing her eyes, she focused her aura and allowed it to guide her search. With her magic, she was able to 'see' the environment along with all the individuals present within. The familiarity of her home seemed the same as always except for the presence of a dark aura hiding behind a tree.
Opening her eyes, Blake considered her next actions. Sensing that she hadn't been suspected yet, she was currently at an advantage. However, knowing how talk of rebellion had been increasing lately, she knew that the upper hand she held now wouldn't last long.
Immediately knowing her cover would be blown, she unsheathed Gambol Shroud and quickly infused her light magic with her weapon. As she did so, she heard a swear and the unmistakable sound of a weapon being drawn and the crackle associated with dark magic. Blake turned to meet her assailant, their weapons clashing, causing a black and white spark to release as their magic mingled and knocking them away from each other.
Since Faunus were faster than humans, Blake recovered first and took the opportunity to give a hasty once-over of her opponent. Two details stuck out to her instantly: she was fighting a human who wielded a rapier, and that human had a familiar shade of white hair. Suddenly, she had more motivation to stop the mysterious snowy-haired beauty. Blinking, she chastised herself. That wasn't what was important now.
Gripping Gambol Shroud tighter, she watched as the other mage got back up. She could practically see the calculations running through the woman's mind. Preparing herself to either retaliate or chase her, she readied her stance.
Instead of striking with her blade, the attacker surprised Blake by casting a spell to disarm her instead. Expecting the woman to quickly strike following her ploy, the Faunus concentrated on channeling her light magic but was astonished when her foe threw aside her sword to fight with her magic instead. It seemed that this woman wanted a fair fight, which was something she wouldn't have expected from her knowledge of Vacuo's heist and the supposed involvement of her adversary.
"Are you going to drain away the essence of these trees to strengthen yourself now?" Blake couldn't keep the resentment out of her voice as she recalled the various rumors she had heard about dark magic users. She noticed the other woman's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but Blake refused to fall for another trick.
The white-haired woman shook her head as if to clear it of confusing thoughts. Readying her own magic, she met Blake's eyes with a sharp gaze. "This was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission. It doesn't have to end in bloodshed."
Blake scoffed. As if a person who had the ability to remove life's essence would be anything but violent. She decided that if her enemy wasn't going to make the first move, then she would take advantage of the standstill.
Wanting to test her opponent, she channeled a tiny spark of magic and aimed it at the woman's feet. The woman was more graceful than she expected, easily dodging the blast and retaliating with one of her own. Fortunately for Blake, she wasn't exhausted enough that she couldn't hold on her own.
The two mages exchanged blows back and forth for a while before one strike from them clashed and caused a fire to ignite in the middle of the courtyard. Shocked, they both paused their duel and began to think of ways to stoke the flames. When they simultaneously opened their mouths to object to the other woman's interference, the fire began to spread quicker. Reaching a silent temporary truce, their priorities shifted to putting out the fire.
Weiss began to draw out essence from the fire, giving Blake ample time to channel her light magic and evaporate the flames. This process took quite a bit of time considering how much the fire had already spread, but they eventually managed to restore the land to how it originally was. When they had finished, they were both spent.
They held gazes and came to a realization. If they could accomplish this working together, what more could they do if they continued to cooperate? Perhaps they weren't so different after all.
A/N: This ended up being much longer than anticipated and sets up for a potential continuation, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do so yet. Thoughts?