Maybe Adam was right about her. Running away is her specialty.
But it's for the best, she reminds herself. She's not just running away because she's scared; she's doing this to keep everyone around her safe. What happened at Beacon had been a wakeup call, a reminder that letting her guard down and allowing herself to get close to others was just putting them at risk.
Adam—and the rest of the White Fang—had been at Beacon because of her, because she was there, because she had left and tried to start a new life of her own. And everyone at Beacon had paid the price for it.
Team SSBL—the group of girls that Blake had opened her heart to, who she had become so close to, was utterly shattered. Weiss had been swept off by her father, taken back to Atlas before the dust had even begun to settle at Beacon. Yang, her beloved partner, had lost an arm trying to protect her. She'd almost died because she'd gotten between Adam and his target—Blake. And Stella . . .
Stella, their leader, the glue that held their often-chaotic group together, was gone. She'd died protecting their school—a warrior's death—but she never should have been put in that position in the first place. She should have been able to finish her time at Beacon, become a licensed huntress and go out into the world, be able to help people like she'd always wanted to. Now she'll never get the chance.
Blake had seen Stella's family arrive in Vale, coming in from their small, remote village, desperate to find out what had happened to their daughter, but she hadn't had the courage to face them. She felt far too guilty to even try. With Weiss gone, Yang in the hospital, and Blake in hiding, they hadn't been able to hear from any of her teammates about what an amazing leader Stella had been.
And that's just the damage among her team. So many others had been hurt or lost in the attack on Beacon. She knew that team JNPR was shattered as well, devastated by Pyrrha's death. She'd seen them attempting to console each other as they recovered from their injuries in Vale.
After all, she hadn't just up and left without checking to make sure that the people she knew were okay. It'd been impossible to follow up with Weiss, but she'd checked on the remains of team JNPR and the other students that had stayed in Vale. She'd kept an eye on Yang in the hospital until she was certain that her partner was stable and going to be okay, hidden from Yang's father and a young girl that she's guessing was Yang's younger sister, although the two didn't bear much of a resemblance. She's seemed just as distraught over Yang's injury as Blake had felt, so Blake had felt confident that she was leaving her partner in good hands.
Not that Yang should want to be her partner, or have anything to do with her after all of this mess, after everything that's happened to her because of Blake. But at least she's safe.
Only once she was satisfied that everyone was okay did finally take off, traveling at night and taking a more winding route to ensure that she wasn't followed—and so she could come up with a plan for where to go. She's not usually one to be paranoid (unless there's a dog nearby) but ever since the attack on Beacon, she's constantly felt like she's being watched. It leaves her constantly on edge, uneasiness filtering over into her dreams, which are already far from pleasant. She desperately needs a plan, a place to go, before she loses her mind.
Finally, and with some reluctance, she decides to head home to Menagerie. It's far enough away from Vale, and her parents already know that Adam and the White Fang are bad news, so she shouldn't be putting them in too much danger. She hopes.
It's the best plan she's able to come up with, so she heads towards the area where she knows the ferries will dock, feeling a bit less frantic now that she has a plan of action. Some part of her subconsciously must have wanted to head home anyway, because she finds herself closer to the sea than she expected. She arrives at nightfall and purchases the cheapest one-way ticket for the next day. Then, it's just a sleepless night of waiting at the docks.
The feeling that someone is watching her is stronger than ever.
It's with no small amount of relief that Blake falls into line the next morning when the ship begins to board. Once she's on the deck of the ship, the cool sea breeze ruffling her hair, she allows herself a sigh of relief. Almost there.
Finally, she's heading home.
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Me? Attempting to fill the confusion that is Blake going "I put everyone around me in danger. I should stay away from everyone to keep them safe. I'm going to visit my parents?" It's more likely than you'd think!
