Apologies and Answers
In Pyrrha's humble opinion, Blake looked pretty awful.
She was wearing a shirt two sizes too big for her, and jeans that she'd had to roll up several times to make them fit. What looked like a broken chain was being used as belt to even keep them around her hips. Her hair was so greasy that it was obvious she hadn't showered since she'd left this room five days prior, there were deep bags below her eyes, and even sitting down she seemed to be swaying a little.
And once she'd pulled her bandanna off, her nose confirmed the lack of a shower.
Pyrrha noticed all of that, but went on saying nothing. Mostly because... well, she had no idea what to say.
This was hardly the first time that someone who'd left her had come sneaking back in to her life. It happened all the time when she gently froze out the children only interested in her fame and supposed wealth. They would grow bored and dismissive, she would find an excuse to send them away, and then their parents or hers ordered them to apologize and try again. It was an endless loop that the other wealthy teenagers had seemed to resent just as much as she had, though not quite as much as they'd resented her for refusing to conform to their image of her.
But I don't think this is quite the same situation.
Blake shifted uncomfortably in the bed when Pyrrha just stared at her through her sunglasses.
After another a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, Blake spoke up. "You... added a bandanna."
The bland comment reminded her of their first awkward meeting, and got her mind working once more. Taking a deep breath, she found the polite expression she'd wielded against other people her age take over her features. It was the look she'd given them whenever they'd try to ask for money or tickets, or to introduce her to someone else rich and famous.
Once she was sure she had it she tugged her sunglasses off, then got to work on the bandanna. "Yes. I found it at the grocers, it was a good deal."
Either her mask wasn't quite as good as usual, maybe she was rusty at using it, or her words warned the other girl because Blake flinched when she got a good look at her face. "Right. Um... I'm sure you didn't expect to see me again."
"Not at all." Pyrrha smiled a little harder, hoping that would fix the expression, and began tossing the pieces of her disguise onto her bed. "I'm quite surprised to see you here."
The other girl flinched. "...I'm sorry. There's a good explanation."
"I'm sure there is." Her hands come together, folding in front of her as she politely waited for that explanation.
"I, um... I had something I had to do. On my own. I didn't want anyone else involved."
Pyrrha hummed politely, nodding.
When she didn't say anything Blake went on. "I still don't. What I'm involved in is... it's dangerous. I realized that I needed to warn you about that. Make sure you understand that this is serious, that just having met me could have put you in danger."
"That is most kind of you."
Her overly cheerful tones seemed to be getting to Blake from the way she averted her eyes, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. "I... understand that you're probably mad at me. I..."
Pyrrha tilted her head, made sure her smile was still in place, and said nothing.
I never helped them, and I am not helping you out of this either. No matter how dramatic you are in copying lines from A Thief's Honor.
There was a quiet groan, then Blake reached up to her shoulders. A little effort let her pull around a backpack that she hadn't seen, unzipping it with a single motion. She reached inside to pull out...
Lien. Quite a bit of it.
"My, um, peace offering." Blake mumbled, neatly stacking the money in front of her. "Nine hundred and seventy-nine lien. I... I only bought the backpack."
Huh?
Pyrrha felt her mask crack a little in confusion. "You... only spent twenty one lien? And you brought the rest of it back?"
"...yes."
She felt some of her emotions draining away. This was becoming ever so strange. "Why?"
A huff. "Because I stole your money. Because every time I tried to spend it I remembered... I remembered you calling me your friend, and I couldn't go through with it. Because... because I know I made a mistake running out on you."
"...oh." Was she supposed to forgive her for that?
It kind of felt like she should. Now she was the one who felt rude...
She still vanished and left you in Vale's poor quarter for a week on your own.
"Thank you." She managed to say. "For, um, not spending it. It's all I have."
Her words seemed to spark something, Blake straightening up a bit. "You're famous. Shouldn't you have all the money in the world? That's why I took it in the first place. I didn't believe you. Still not sure I do."
"I was a minor." She replied. "My parents controlled all of the winnings and sponsors. This is all I was able to hide away for myself."
From her expression that didn't seem to explain things. "All right, but you're seventeen now. You could have just withdrawn more money before coming here to do... whatever it is that you're doing."
Oh dear. She wasn't understanding. "I don't have a personal account."
"What? Then where did they put all of the money that you made?"
"Cars." Pyrrha replied simply. "Jewels. Art. Galas. Dinners. Fashionable clothing. Investments. Estates. Old debts. New debts. I didn't receive any of it."
The girl's mouth worked up and down a few times. "But... there's laws..."
A little giggle snuck through her lips, bitter truths spilling out from where she normally kept them buried. "Oh there are, but it's Mistral. There are ways around all laws if you're well connected enough, and my parents are. I didn't even know until I was sixteen that I'd signed away my rights to manage my own money when I was twelve."
Blake looked slightly ill. "That's... that's disgusting. Your parents did that to you?"
Pyrrha felt her stomach churn a little. Gods, she'd actually said that out loud. Said it to someone she barely knew, who'd already walked out on her once.
Swallowing, she shrugged, not trusting herself to speak without... she wasn't sure. Heaving maybe. Ranting maybe.
"I... here. It's all yours." Blake looked even more ashamed as she pushed the money away. "I... I can manage without it."
"Why?" Something else occurred to her when she glanced at the lien. If she hadn't spent any of it, then... "Um, what have you been eating?"
"There's a soup kitchen a few blocks away."
Pyrrha nodded. "Um, sleeping?"
"...there's an abandoned warehouse five blocks away."
That certainly explained the smell, and her hair. "Clothing?"
"You don't want to know."
Stolen? Or... maybe she picked them out of a garbage. Where has she been using the bathroom... no, I don't think I should ask that. Hopefully public facilities.
"Um, you should..." She hesitated, sighed, then walked over to where she'd folded some of her clothing after using the hotel's washing service. "Here. You should shower, and change. Maybe rest for a while? You look very tired."
Blake shook her head, pushing herself until her feet touched the ground. "I can't stay. I told you I don't want anyone else involved, I'll be fine. I just came to apologize and to return your money."
She's leaving? Again?
...no.
Her belt was a chain. That would do.
A gentle flex of her semblance stopped the chain from moving, which made Blake give a little gasp when she tried to stand only to find pressure against her belly. Amber eyes blinked rapidly several times, her muscles visibly straining to push herself away from the bed. When she made no progress they snapped up to hers, narrowing to slits. "What are you doing!?"
"...stopping you." Pyrrha swallowed. "Um. You're not leaving. I'm not letting you."
"Let. Me. Go."
Each word made her hunch her shoulders in a bit. "...no."
"Pyrrha-!"
"NO!"
She wasn't sure who flinched harder at the shout. Blake or herself. In the awkward silence that followed she said, far more quietly, "No. You're... you're the only person I know. You look awful. I can help you. I'm going to help you."
Blake's ears twitched several times. "And I don't get a choice in this?"
Pyrrha shifted her weight left to right, babble escaping her lips. "Um... not really. I think we both need each other's help, and we're huntresses. Or we will be, it's what we should do. And... well, um... you are the one who came back."
"I'm regretting it!"
The snap shattered what courage she'd managed to scrape up. Her semblance snapped at once, releasing Blake, while apologies bubbled out. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was... I'm sorry!"
"Wait, what-"
"I'm sorry." She bowed her head. "Please forgive me. You should at least take some of the lien so you can eat better."
With her eyes staring at the floor she could only hear, not see Blake slowly standing up. The other girl's footsteps slowly shifted away as she walked to the door.
Excellent work, Pyrrha. Once again you managed to ruin a moment, proving you can't be on your own after all.
She wasn't sure when her internal voice had begun changing into her mother's, but it seemed all too appropriate in the moment.
...I guess I'll go to Patch after all. Maybe... maybe... maybe they won't come themselves. Maybe I can talk my way out of... oh who am I kidding. I'll be back home before-
The unpleasant smells of body order and garbage made her nose twitch, then her head jerked up to see Blake standing right in front of her.
"...I'm using your shower." Two hands grabbed the spare clothes she'd set aside. "If that's still on the table."
"I... yes! Of course!"
Blake took the clothes, gave her an unreadable look, then stalked off to the bathroom muttering under her breath the entire time. Something about puppies.
Not really trusting to hope, Pyrrha settled on to her own bed to wait.
A half hour later her guest emerged from the bathroom, still drying her hair. Pyrrha's clothes didn't quite fit her, but they came far closer than the cast offs that she'd been wearing. Blake padded on bare feet across the carpeting, then sat directly across from her on the other bed. While there were still dark shadows under her eyes, she looked infinitely more alive now that she was clean.
"...thank you. I... you were right. I needed that."
Pyrrha smiled. "You're quite welcome. You look absolutely grand now."
To her surprise the other girl's cheeks reddened slightly, one hand picking at the too large shirt. "I... uh, thanks. How did you stop me from leaving earlier?"
"Oh that? My semblance." Glancing to her left, she held a hand out and called. Milo's collapsed form obediently leapt from the pillow on Blake's bed, snapping into her hand a moment later. She quickly set it aside before Blake could get the wrong idea. "Polarity. You were wearing a metal belt."
"Polarity." Blake shook her head before pulling the towel up and over it, slowly working wrapping it around her hair. "That certainly explains why you're the Invincible Girl."
Pyrrha winced at the abominable nickname. "...please don't call me that. I... I don't like being called that."
"...all right. You... look. I'm sorry. Again. For leaving like I did." Blake sighed. "It was to protect you, and to... protect me. I figured you would just go off to whatever real hotel you wanted to stay in. Thought you had real money. That you were... I don't know. Humoring me or something, using me as a faunus charity case to feel better about yourself."
"Oh. Has that... happened to you before?"
"Once. When I was much younger. Too trusting." Blake shook her head. "Anyway, I knew it was a mistake leaving you at the time, but I'm starting to get the idea I didn't really understand how much of one."
"Understand what?"
"...nevermind. Do... do you want me to stay here?"
"I... I would like that." Pyrrha admitted. "I'm... um, I'm not managing very well. On my own, I mean. I tried to sign up for a gym today and kind of... got into a fight with the owner."
Blake blinked very slowly before groaning. "What happened?"
She told her. Starting with the rather sheepish admission that she'd been bored and not thinking clearly, going on through her idea to try and burn off energy and maybe make lien by volunteering time at a huntsman's gym. To how her disguise had led the owners to think she was both a closet faunus and a terrorist, and how that had led to a short exchange of blows. How the man's daughter had interrupted before they could finish their duel, how she'd been recognized.
Followed by her being ever so politely kicked out.
"From anyone else I wouldn't believe that story." Blake said when she finished, "But I'm starting to think I believe it from you."
"Is that good or bad?"
The other girl's shoulders heaved in a sigh. "I don't even know to be honest. This has been... this has been the strangest kind of week. Do you really want me to stick around?
"Yes." She managed without stuttering that time.
Blake opened her mouth, seemed to grimace, then tried again. "I'm... that's going to be dangerous for you. I'm not lying about that."
"I can handle myself." She assured her. "I may not be good at laying low, but I'm a renowned tournament fighter for a reason. If you need help then-"
"I'm White Fang." Blake blurted out.
"-I can definitely help protect you until the authorities can-oh." Her jaw snapped shut, eyes going wide. "Oh my. You're a terrorist?"
"Well... I was. It's complicated." Her hands rose. "Hear me out, please."
"Oh. Of course."
Blake nodded thankfully, "I... the train we met on. It was carrying SDC cargo in the back. I think they attached it to a passenger train, one with a lot of second-class cars, to make us... to make the White Fang think twice about going after it. I don't think they've realized that the Vale Branch has... stopped caring about collateral damage."
Pyrrha bit her lip. "Is... that why you cut the cars?"
"...yes. He... they were going to blow the entire train. I disconnected the cars they were on. Killing hundreds of people, many of them faunus, just to spite the SDC... that's not what the White Fang is supposed to be about."
That didn't sound very much like the White Fang that Pyrrha knew of either. Sure, the news in Mistral painted them as terrorists, and yes, she knew that they'd killed SDC employees before. And gotten into shootouts with gangs and bandit tribes that preyed on faunus. But mostly they were... well, pretty tame for people called terrorists. They mostly vandalized shops, revealed unsavory secrets, and generally did their best to publicly humiliate racists. They were very good at that last one, especially in Argus where they seemed to delight in humiliating the Atlesian businesses by exposing their corruption to the public.
Which there is plenty of, in Mistral. Still, they were inspiring at least a few rights laws that I thought sounded like good ideas.
On the list of people to watch out for, the White Fang had ranked pretty far down on her parent's security worries compared to groups like the Branwen tribe, the Spiders, or the Frost Talons.
Yes, the news out of Atlas was always more violent, but... well... it's Atlas.
Having met several Atlesians, especially rich Atlesians, she could entirely understand why the faunus were... less polite in their protests over there.
Be honest with yourself. If a joke didn't involve a faunus on the receiving end of something awful, they didn't think it was funny.
"So I deserted." Blake rushed on, evidently needing someone to explain herself to from how quickly she began to speak. "I have a contact in Vale. Someone who claims to know what happened to the old cell leader here. A friend. They were someone who wouldn't have tolerated any of this, and I'm hoping that my contact has a way to get in touch with Sienna Khan or Menagerie. I have to warn them about how things are going in Vale. What it's doing to the image of the faunus. After that it'll be up to them, and I can attend Beacon to become a proper huntress."
Pyrrha nodded seriously. "Is... that why you left me? To go meet with your contact?"
"That was my goal, yes. And because I didn't want anyone else involved. Pyrrha, if they caught you..." Her head shook, looking a little green. "You'd be lucky if they just recorded them beheading you and broadcast it afterwords. A famous Human celebrity? That's the kind of thing that he... that they couldn't turn down a chance at. I couldn't... I couldn't have that on my conscience."
"Oh." Well, that certainly explained things.
Does it? You can handle yourself, you're a Nikos. A Nikos does not back down before grubby, lower class terrorists.
She really wished her inner voice would move away from being that of her mother's. It was growing worrying.
"And yes, I tried to meet with my contact, but he wasn't where I thought he was." Blake went on. "The old base the White Fang were operating out of was deserted as well. I tried to track them down, but it's been... well, it hasn't been going well. "
"So you... came back to ask me for help?" Pyrrha asked, knowing she sounded hopeful.
"No, I came back to apologize. And return your lien." There was a self conscious pause before she mumbled. "And maybe use your shower if you'd been gone a little longer."
Pyrrha tried and failed to smother an honest smile. "You needed one."
"Yes, I smelled like garbage. I was very, very aware of that." Blake mumbled. "Look. I can't ask for your help, but... I'll at least stay here at night. I can keep you company and give you advice. I can make sure I'm not being followed, so you shouldn't be in real danger. Maybe a find place to spar with you if you need to burn off energy."
How dull.
"I..." Lifting a hand, she coughed into it once. "I don't... think I'd mind some danger."
"Pyrrha, no. You have no idea what these people are like."
"Well, no." She agreed, "But... I forgive you."
"I... thank you?"
"And that means we're friends again, right?"
Blake's eyes slowly narrowed. "I know where you're going with this. No. This isn't a story, or a movie, or a game, Pyrrha."
"And friends don't let other friends fight terrorists alone." She continued as if Blake hadn't. "Can you honestly tell me that having me with wouldn't help?"
"You practically carry a neon sign telling everyone to look at you."
Pyrrha flushed, "Um, well, yes, I'm bad at that part. But I'm very, very good at fighting, and I would like to be good huntress as well. From what you're saying it's pretty likely you're going to get involved in something like a fight sooner or later."
"...if everything goes to plan, then-"
She felt horrible even as she interrupted her, "But your plans already didn't work. You said your contact was missing. So you need help finding him, and you'll need someone to watch your back. I can do that. And I can protect you! I could be your bodyguard."
Blake stared hard at her for several seconds before asking, "If I try to go out on my own, are you going to follow me anyway?"
"...probably." Pyrrha admitted.
It would probably go badly. No, it would definitely go badly. She'd get lost, or the police would find her, or the White Fang would. But... she would still make the attempt. It wasn't like she had much to lose at this point, considering how close she'd already come to just... surrendering to fate.
"...I'm going to regret this." Blake sighed. "Fine, fine. You can come with."
"Promise?"
"I... yes, I promise."
Grand! "Thank you! Thank you so much! When do we leave? Do you need to rest?"
Blake pushed herself to her feet with a quiet groan. "No time like the present. I'm fine, not the first time I've gone without sleep. I've got a lead on a bookstore that might be owned by my contact, or at least by someone in his family. If he's not there, maybe there will be an employee who can point us in the right direction. After that we come back, rest, and plan out the next step."
Beaming, Pyrrha began to rise as well, only to stop when Blake quickly put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes?"
"Your disguise needs work." Blake reminded her. "Um, do you trust me?"
You shouldn't, foolish girl. She's an admitted terrorist who already vanished from your life once.
"Yes."
Blake swallowed, then nodded. "I'm guessing you don't have any scissors, so I'm going to get my weapon out of my bag. Unless you'd rather I use yours."
"Um... for what?"
"You need a haircut."
Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."
Thanks, Kat