Author's Note: I don't know if I made it clear enough in the previous chapter, but Gambol's POV sections were meant to be a sort of 'flashback' – she is telling us her story from the other end, having already lived it and grown old. Just wanted to clarify if any of you wondered…
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To the Dovah, they are called the Stain. Humans call them the 'Creatures of Grimm.'
No living Dovah can truly say where they came from, nor why they are here. All know that the Stain are a blight upon the land and must be destroyed. It is an ancient hatred, a blood feud that demands nothing less than death.
Before man came along, the Stain were content to merely destroy the land itself and ravage the blessings of nature. That alone was enough to earn the undying hatred of the Dovah. Once man came, the Stain turned their attention to these new creatures and found they had quite the …appetite for them.
Man soon joined forces with the Dovah… to keep themselves from extinction.
The Stain are simple creatures, yet powerful enough to drive mankind to the edge of oblivion. They are immune to physical damage, and all Dovah learn early to avoid using claws or teeth to try to kill them. The blackness of their bodies is like acid – it melts away even the strongest steel with ease.
Only one thing can kill the Stain… Fire.
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Over the course of the first few weeks, Blake and Yang became fast friends. It helped that they were assigned to each other as 'partners' for the duration of their time at Beacon, but they got along quite well even without that extra detail.
As partners, they were also roommates – sharing a room turned out to be far more fun than Blake expected since now she had someone to talk to besides herself. Someone who could continue the conversation in new and interesting ways. Someone who could throw the pillow back after she sent it sailing across the room.
Gambol seemed to be getting along with Weiss, despite their rough first encounter. While Blake was no expert in dragon behavior, she knew enough about Gambol to know she and Weiss were just fine. They almost acted like long-lost siblings, really. She sometimes caught the two of them growling and chortling at each other in low tones, almost like they were… speaking. Strange.
There were other things to think about, of course – new classes, new teachers to meet, and a vast campus to figure out were just a few of these. Blake also had to navigate a new collection of fellow trainees that didn't always have the best interests of the other students in mind.
One month after they enrolled, Blake and Gambol met their first Grimm.
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Chapter 41:
Dragon Rider (part 2)
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It was classified as a Ciel-Diablo, but everyone just called these things Diablo for short.
The monster resembled a ray fish; a triangular, flat body with a long tail and no visible head. It was pitch black with various plates of white armor scattered over the surface, both on top and underneath. Four glowing red eyes adorned the relative head area of the beast. The only other distinguishing feature was a set of three large spikes on the tip of the tail, used in combat. This particular one was not too big – only about 25 feet from front to tail, with a 10-foot wingspan. Full-grown Diablo can be five times that size, easy.
That didn't make this mission any less scary.
Blake sat on Gambol's new saddle, custom made for her by some of Vale's finest leather crafters, and watched the creature gliding low over the trees. The pair stood on the same cliff's edge as their first day, only this time there were far fewer eyes watching them.
"Wow… uglier than I thought," Yang said from beside her, astride her own white dragon. This hunting mission was specifically for Blake, with one of the teachers present to monitor how she performed, but as Yang was her partner they were here together. Better for emergencies, too… around Grimm, anything could happen.
"As I stated earlier," Professor Goodwitch said to Blake with an even tone, "the objective is simply to kill the Grimm, which I will observe your progress and grade you accordingly. Miss Xiao-Long is only to provide backup in case of an emergency or if the Grimm seems likely to escape; any other interference will result in Miss Belladonna failing the assignment."
"Right…," Blake said with a touch of nervousness.
"No problem!" Yang said, grinning.
Professor Goodwitch looked at Blake and calmly said, "Relax, Miss Belladonna, and remember what we've gone over so far: open yourself up to Gambol, free your mind, and trust your dragon – trust is the most powerful tool any Rider can wield."
Gambol turned her head to the side, making eye contact with Blake for a moment. The cat Faunus nodded to the dragon, then told the teacher "I will."
Prof. Goodwitch allowed herself a tiny smile, then put her serious face back on and said, "…Begin."
Blake shifted in her saddle, gripping the reins tightly, as Gambol dove off the edge once again. The rush wasn't quite as bad this time, as they'd had some extra practice. She could just hear Weiss diving right behind them.
Gambol opened her wings, bringing their fall to a gradual stop and sending the pair gliding back up and to a safe level. Weiss joined them a moment later, with Yang grinning from ear to ear on her back. Honestly, that girl… the diving was her favorite part.
...The blonde-haired nut.
The Diablo continued it's steady glide just ahead of them. It hadn't noticed them yet. Good. These things could be wicked fast.
When it came to fighting Grimm, both Blake and Yang had learned to let their dragons do most of the work. The dragons already seemed to hate the Grimm, and Riders only concerned themselves with directing the flight path during combat.
That, of course, was the point of Blake's mission.
The Diablo suddenly made a low roar and flapped it's massive wings faster, quickly moving away. They'd been spotted. A Grimm this young still somehow knew better than to dive into a fight with two dragons, choosing instead to flee.
Gambol and Weiss dropped all pretense of stealth and roared a challenge, darting forward to catch the monster. Blake held fast, trying to open herself to Gambol's feelings like she'd been taught.
But all she felt coming from her dragon was… cold. A barrier of stone. Nothingness.
Once they were in range, Gambol unleashed her flames – red-orange fire shot forth from her mouth in a long stream that hit the black beast on one wing, causing visible damage. The thing gave a roar of pain, then swiped its spiked tail at the pair. Gambol ducked down before it reached them, dodging easily. The young dragon gave an eager roar, almost challenging the Grimm to try again.
Still, Blake searched with her feelings. Still she was blocked by that cold wall of nothingness.
…Why?
The Diablo suddenly dropped into the trees, crashing through the upper levels of the forest with impunity. It wasn't falling, but… what was it doing? Trying to escape?
Yang moved ahead of the thing's path of destruction, and Weiss shot forth her own stream of fire; this one an incredible bluish-white flame. The attack cut off the Grimm's escape, forcing it to fly back up above the trees. It continued its alien roar of pain, a sound that echoed into the distance.
The Grimm rapidly turned in midair, coming around to face Blake and Gambol head-on. The pair watched as the Diablo opened its mouth, a circular hole in its face that was clearly lined with rows of needle-like teeth.
Blake saw it as a portal to hell.
Gambol apparently saw it as a target.
The mixed-breed stopped, flapping to keep herself in one spot as the monster approached, then… inhaled deeply, her chest expanding further than Blake had ever seen. She was doing something new.
The Grimm picked up speed, eager to tear apart its enemy.
Gambol attacked, sending a ball of fire flying into the thing's gaping maw. She then dove down, avoiding the black beast as it passed above them. Blake watched in awe as the Grimm started to burn from the inside out. Holy shit.
At least it didn't scream anymore. The rapidly dissolving husk landed in a clearing just past the trees, but there wasn't enough left to even stir the dirt by that point.
A few minutes later, both Gambol and Weiss had landed back on the cliff face where Professor Goodwitch was waiting for them. Yang didn't bother waiting on their teacher to speak first, blurting out a shocked "How the hell did she DO that?!"
"I don't know!" Blake shouted back, unable to control herself, "…I didn't think that was even possible!"
Goodwitch cleared her throat to get their attention before calmly stating, "Actually, there have been many documented cases of dragons manipulating their fire breath in unusual ways over the years. Gambol's technique is not new, though surprising given her age. Such skill does not normally reveal itself until the dragon has reached full adulthood."
"Yeah, well," Blake patted the side of Gambol's neck, "she's not exactly 'normal.' ..I guess it's not so unusual in hindsight, huh?"
Goodwitch nodded but stayed focused on the business at hand. "Did you feel anything during your flight, Miss Belladonna?" The teacher's voice seemed pensive.
Blake carefully climbed down from Gambol's saddle, quietly walking over to the dragon's head and rubbing the spot behind her horns. She also tried to 'feel' Gambol again… but that cold wall remained. And that upset her on a deep level.
"I think- …we've got a lot more work to do." Blake's voice cracked slightly as she spoke.
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My apologies. Telling this part of the story is most difficult for me. As I said before, I did not wish to shut Blake out of my heart so… harshly. But you know my reasons.
Instead… I will tell you about other events. Things that were happening elsewhere. Things that I only learned about after the fact, related to me by other Dovah. Things important enough to shape history.
A war was brewing between the humans and the Faunus-humans. There was some sort of misunderstanding between them in regards to how one side treated the other. A lot of dishonorable things occurred between them as well, so their Dovah willingly took part in the fighting. They shared strong bonds with their Riders.
As I understand it, the horned Faunus-human called Adam led the first assault against the other human cities. Under his leadership, Faunus-humans from all over the world began to gather around him… while others were treated harshly because of him.
I tell you this now because it has a direct effect on my story…
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Less than a week after their fight against the Grimm, Blake and Yang came back to their dorm to find a little 'gift' in front of the door – a bucket of kitty litter. With a big red bow on it.
As a cat Faunus, Blake was well aware of the meaning of this 'gift.' And she was not at all happy about it.
"…Maybe it's just some hazing?" Yang suggested, "I'm sure it's just a one-time thing."
The next week, another appeared. And another a week later.
Unfortunately, despite her pleas to the Headmaster to take care of it, the 'gifts' kept coming once a week, and only when they were out of the dorms. Buckets of kitty litter. Every. Damn. Time.
Giving kitty litter to a cat Faunus was the same as literally calling them a piece of shit that needed to be dumped in the toilet. At first, Yang was not aware of how degrading this was to Blake – once she explained the meaning of the prank, however, the blonde was ready to start breaking legs.
Other than the litter, Blake had a major problem to figure out.
Gambol.
More specifically, the fact that her dragon did not seem to trust her.
Professor Goodwitch had been observing the two of them for the entire duration of their training, and she deduced that the problem lay completely with Gambol; Blake had done everything right, there was just something about her dragon that was keeping the bond from fully forming, but neither of them could work out just what that was. It was more than frustrating – Blake was starting to pull her own hair out. (Yang almost had a conniption when she thought Blake actually would pull her hair out.)
Three months passed in this way. Blake struggled to figure out why Gambol would not open herself up to Blake while simultaneously trying to ignore the growing problem of anti-Faunus bullying.
It all came to a head one evening at the start of Blake's fourth month at Beacon Academy.
Everything changed that night.
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The forest around Beacon was fairly well-known to the Kingdom as a place where Grimm lived, as well as a good location to let dragons fly freely. Training was far more efficient in a place like this.
What was not well known, however, was the fact that it was easy to hide things in the forest. Things you didn't want the world to see. Things that could get you in trouble.
The final bucket of kitty litter came with a note that read: 'Come to the forest, to the old glen with the tall rock. Leave the bimbo behind. It's time to end this…or the next gift will be even worse.' It was obviously a trap… but Blake didn't relish the idea of a worse 'gift' than the litter. Whoever was doing this had pretty clear intentions.
Seriously… if Dad were here, he'd probably whoop her butt for being so stupid.
The 'tall rock' sat in a hidden glen deep in the trees. Almost every student knew about the rock since it was a clear landmark during training flights. Blake stood next to Gambol (because honestly, how else would she get out here?) and looked around nervously, expecting the worst.
The other dragons came first, diving out of the darkening sky and quickly overpowering Gambol, pinning her to the dirt. Blake had to dive out of the way to avoid getting knocked over by their wings.
And she recognized these dragons. One was a large Quicksilver called Mercury. He belonged to…
"Took your damn time, didn't you?"
Fierce red eyes and pale green hair emerged from the shadows beneath a nearby tree. Emerald Sustrai, the ringleader of this little group, had a wicked smirk on her face as she taunted Blake. "But hey, at least you found us. Not bad for an animal…"
"Let her go!" Blake shouted, "I'm the one you want, leave her alone!"
Blake was so focused on Emerald that she didn't hear the two larger boys come up behind her until it was too late. One grabbed her hair while the other landed a savage punch to her gut, almost knocking the wind out of her. She recognized the taller of the two as a guy called Cardin, but not the other one. There were no lights in the glen and night was quickly falling.
"How fucking stupid do you think I am?" Emerald growled from a safe distance. "You think I'll believe that if I let that ugly thing go free that she'd just… fly away and leave you behind?"
The two boys now had each of Blake's arms under control and held her down on the ground, much like Gambol was still pinned behind them.
"Typical idiot Faunus," Emerald purred as she strode forward, a clear note of amusement in her voice. "You demand equal treatment, then turn around and burn down a village. You insist that you're as good as us humans, then treat us like fools. It's a wonder the dragons haven't turned around and killed you all out of shame yet!"
The green-haired girl punctuated her words with a hard kick to Blake's face. The Faunus gave a pained growl as fresh blood flowed into her eye. Gambol gave a desperate roar from beneath her captors, but they held fast.
Emerald then bent down and pulled Blake's face up to meet her own, nearly tugging out a handful of hair. "This is your only warning, Faunus. Get out of my school… or we'll carry you out in a bag."
Through the pain of her wounds, through the fog in her brain, Blake summoned up the last of her will and spat in Emerald's face.
The girl slammed Blake's head down in the dirt, angrily wiping her face off. "Kill the fucking dragon!" she shrieked.
"NO-O-O-O! ! !" Blake's voice cracked as she screamed from her captive position.
Gambol… her dragon, her closest friend, and nothing less than her child… began screaming in horrid, shrieking tones that no Rider could ever bear to hear. She also heard the terrible sound of… scales ripping beneath claws. And a wet splashing noise.
That was too much. Blake drew on every last speck of strength she had and pushed. Somehow she threw the two boys off and darted back to throw herself into the carnage. She could not let Gambol die. She would not. Blake would rather die herself!
The scene that met her eyes was almost enough to break what was left of her will. The attacking dragons had backed off as soon as Blake freed herself, but the damage had been done.
Gambol lived, but just barely. Both of her wings had almost been torn off of her limbs, leaving most of the flesh hanging in bloody ribbons. Several patches of scales on her body were missing, some in ragged and bloody bites. Her tail was unnaturally bent in two places. One horn had been broken off.
Blake ignored everyone and everything around them, throwing herself onto Gambol's head and opening weeping. Even in the slim chance that the dragon survived her injuries, she would never fly again.
If Yang were here… maybe she could have stopped this…
If Dad were here… he would have known what to do…
If only… if only…
"…?"
Something reached out through the blinding pain, through the tears and sorrow. Something warm. Something… incorporeal.
(BE STILL…LITTLE ONE…)
The cold wall of nothingness had been pulled away. Gambol's feelings were stretching out to Blake, trying to calm her down. Trying to bring her comfort at a time like this.
Blake did not hesitate to stretch out her own feelings, making contact with her dragon for the first time. True contact. She could feel their energies intertwining, mixing together. Merging.
Bonding.
(MUST NOT FAIL… MUST PROTECT LITTLE ONE…)
(UGLY FORM… HATE MYSELF…)
(PROTECT LITTLE ONE…)
(DISHONOR TO MY KIN… SHAME UPON MYSELF…)
(MUST… PROTECT… BLAKE!)
All at once, Blake understood.
"You d-don't need to earn my approval, you silly thing," the cat Faunus choked out, her face dripping with tears. "I've always loved you."
A new emotion burst forth from the dragon, and Blake was startled to feel anything at all from the creature.
Surprise. Disbelief.
Rather than speak, Blake let her love for the young dragon flow from her heart. There was no longer any barrier between them to stop it. She let it all out, years worth of emotions that finally had somewhere to go.
And in a moment Blake never imagined would occur… a tear rolled out from Gambol's silver eye.
…Right before that very eye began to glow with a brilliant, silvery-white light.
Blake did not stop her feelings as the light spread and covered the two of them, engulfing the pair in a warmth unlike any the cat Faunus had ever felt before.
She felt… safe.
Home.
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Do not worry – what happened that night baffles everyone who hears of it. No one can explain why my eyes suddenly unleashed an unknown power.
But I know the truth.
If you recall, I previously mentioned that within my chest beats two hearts. This silver power came from the other – the one called Ruby Rose. According to her memories, the Silver Eyes are a trademark of her bloodline… though even she does not know from whence they came, nor why she possesses them.
However, I have a theory: the Dovah do not worship gods as the humans do, but we do hold to the belief that all life was created by a higher power. I believe the energy of the Silver Eyes is the evidence of a direct connection with this power.
But, that is neither here nor there. The important thing is what happened next.
At the time of our encounter with the bad human Riders, a large battle was about to take place in another part of the world. Humans and Faunus-humans were set to begin slaughtering each other that very night. Their Dovah were right next to them, ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their bondsman.
But then I found the light. And everything changed.
If you recall, I also mentioned that all Dovah share a deep, spiritual bond with each other that knows no bounds of distance. Everything we feel can be felt by all other Dovah at that very moment.
I did not learn this until only recently, but the very hour I found the light… so too did all of the Dovah, all around the world. Light, life, understanding, …and most important of all, love. The Dovah involved in that battle gained new insight and forced the humans and Faunus-humans to stop fighting. I only wish I could have been there to see it for myself.
The silver energy, the gift from Ruby Rose, was enough to not only heal my wounds… but to also cleanse my body of impurities I did not know where there. My unsightly appearance was washed away, leaving a larger, stronger body behind. My discolored scales fell off, and in their place was a new skin of polished silver. I became a symbol, a scion of hope that no matter how much hatred is in the world… love will overcome.
… … …Blake?
I am truly sorry, but it seems my time is at an end. I would love to tell you of the years that followed that fateful night, but I cannot. Do not fret… other Dovah know the story as well as I, for did I not say we all share a common bond?
I must leave you now, my friends. The hour of our passing has come, and I must away. Never forget what you have learned. And never forget the courage and love of Blake Belladonna, the greatest Faunus-human in the world.
May your fires never grow faint.
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[ Continued in the next chapter… ]
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A/N: Thus ends the main part of this story. The final part will feature an older Blake as she makes peace with everything while she and Gambol fly off into the sunset. Literally.
After that… we finally see what all the fuss is about back on Carmine's world. Heh heh…
P.S. - Now that we've hit 41, this story is officially 'over the hill.' It's a birthday joke.
=^..^=