Submitting this from work super early Easter morning! To everyone who celebrates, Happy Easter! To everyone else... Happy Sunday!
I'm tired. I edited this and I hope like heck it's not a complete mess. Brain's on fumes, time to go use the last of those at work.
Enjoy some time with Blake and Ruby!
And don't worry, Weiss is the "main character" and we'll get back to her next chapter. Just had this stuff I needed to do first!
"You're doing yourself no favors by refusing to talk, girl," Laurel grumbled. "Just answer the damn question and I'll leave you be."
Blake met the guard's gaze before looking away and feigning disinterest. She had to hand it to the man. Despite his clear agitation and disdain towards her he was keeping remarkably calm. Of course, she was aware, as was he, that if it came to a fight he'd have little hopes of winning.
Half a day had passed since her and Adam's assault on Holbrook and in that time, she'd had plenty of opportunity to escape. It's not like it would have been difficult to either: a single spell or two could whisk her from the cells, chains and all, and ferry her beyond Holbrook's walls. From there she could easily outrun the guard, magic or not, and vanish into the surrounding forests.
And where would you go?
The same question was the reason that she'd yet to make a move. There were numerous smaller White Fang camps around the countryside she could hide in. She'd be able to get a messenger and send word to Adam that she'd escaped, that she'd evaded the Church's hold and would be returning to his side. Again, it would be remarkably easy to flee with her magic, her energy having all but returned to her.
Yet she didn't. She felt her stomach knot up and anxiety left her foot tapping against the cold stone floor, bare feet chilled against it. Adam doesn't care about you. He left and abandoned you, why would he care if you returned or not? Blake bit down on her own tongue and clenched her jaw. If you go back, then he'll blame you for the failure. He'll beat you, then kill someone else. Again.
Even if she had allies in the White Fang still the commander, and perhaps the High Leader as well, both had no use for her. No concern for whether she was alive or dead, she added dully.
So, when Laurel and a pair of guards dragged her down to the cells she had let them. When plain iron shackles were bound to her wrists and ankles, the chains heavy but not impossibly so, she'd allowed it. Even with her ability to flee at a moment's notice the captain of the guard didn't seem concerned about the prospect, and rightfully so. He'd come to the same conclusion Blake had in the dead of night: she had nowhere else to go.
"You do realize the position you're in, don't you?" Blake looked at the Muran with no small degree of disdain. He glared right back. "You and yours attempted to murder my people, and I've gotten reports other towns were attacked too. You're going to hang for this, girl. Why not at least try to prove you're not complete scum before then?"
Why? Because the attacks had been deserved. Adam's voice lingered in her mind, buzzing, and even in his absence his words attempted to overwrite her own. All Murans are guilty. They're complicit by allowing our people to be subjugated, he'd tell her. Not his own words, not really. Someone else often wrote his flowery speeches used to rile up their troops, and even when half their number couldn't understand the words he said the fervor with which they were delivered was more than enough.
Adam believed everything so readily that others clung to his conviction. Blake had too right up until they planned to slaughter hundreds of innocent people.
Laurel pushed his seat back, legs scraping loudly against the stone floor. Blake couldn't help but cringe as her feline ears folded to try and block out the grating sound. "Fine. Stay here and rot for all I care. Once the capital sends its people you'll be out of our hair soon enough." The man stood and adjusted the broadsword that hung from his hip. He stared at her with disgust and for the first time since her capture she felt it warranted. "Too afraid to return to your masters and too weak to fight against them. Coward…"
A lone scrap of metal barely larger than her index finger laid beneath the table, forgotten. How easily Blake could have used it to cut out Laurel's throat. The guards outside would have fared little better and if her makeshift blade didn't get them then her spells would. Three men without magic were sheep to the slaughter before a competent Magi.
Blake remained seated like the coward she was, burning a hole into the table and fixing her furious gaze on a singular point. She hated that Laurel had been right. Had her conflict been so obvious that he'd read her that easily?
You've always been a coward, her mind berated, derided her. Your magic is for hiding, not fighting. You flee whenever a fight breaks out. You fled in Vindemia, you fled Alabaster. If Adam hadn't done it first you would have left this place too. Blake squeezed her eyes closed to try and drown out her thoughts. It didn't work.
Now your friends are going to die because of you. Adam will be mad, and he'll blame you for the failures. Ilia's life is already forfeit, Brinne's, Liam's, Dunst's… They're all going to die because of you. Unless…
Unless he thinks you're dead.
It was a stretch. Failed raids happened and, Blake hoped, her 'death' would create a martyr for the cause. If nothing else that might be enough to keep Adam from taking out any frustrations on those she'd left behind.
The Meera let out an angry huff and slammed her foot down on the floor. It was the first sound she'd made since interrogations began and the guards at her cell door turned briefly before looking away again. No sense in watching over an animal whose will to fight had been stripped away.
On the table a lone candle flickered as it barely clung to life. Shadows danced across the barren cell, the air musty with the faintest hint of mildew growing somewhere nearby. Blake shifted in her seat and licked her dry lips, then turned and coughed. The dried blood on her lip tasted foul. Rubbing her face on her arm she frowned when bits of dry blood scraped off and she felt a wound reopen. Nothing serious, just annoying enough to cause a faint prickling. A bruise on her left side ached and she exhaled heavily into the dim room.
Shadows around her waxed and waned with the dance of the candlelight. She could almost hear them calling to her, begging to be used. In their carelessness the guards had placed her in a room where she had everything she needed to escape, to fight back and flee. On a whim Blake reached out and twisted a shadow, giving it mass and shaping a barbed stalk. Then she let it vanish, a faint mist rising to the ceiling and dissipating.
Coughing again Blake winced as her parched throat ached. They'd given her little since her confinement and seemed intent on maintaining the status quo. Part of the reason she hadn't spoken to Laurel, albeit a very small part; speaking was uncomfortable when it felt like your vocal chords were ripping themselves apart.
"Water…" she rasped airily. When neither guard so much as moved she shifted, rattling the chains bound to her wrists. "Water," Blake repeated, louder this time. One man glanced back, sniffed, then turned away. Her requests went ignored.
As if giving a prisoner water was the least permissible thing in the world. She of course understood why the men rebuked her at every turn. She and Adam had attacked Holbrook, blown apart its gates with Dust and nearly set the town ablaze. Even if one put aside the obvious prejudice the men had for her - for a Meera, they were entirely justified in being a little bit ornery.
That didn't make their denial any less infuriating.
Above and to her right the door to the barracks swung open. Hinges in dire need of replacing squeaked and muted voices, too soft even for Blake's enhanced hearing, argued among themselves. It was a brief exchange and soon someone was on their way down into the cell blocks. The footsteps were too soft to be Laurel and the distinct lack of chain rattling told her it wasn't another guard either. Not a changing of shifts, and not the captain come to fruitlessly drill her for information again. When the guards looked surprised Blake leaned forward to try and see why. The chains at her ankles pulled taut and she fell back into her chair with a dissatisfied huff.
"Um… I'm here to speak to the prisoner…?" It was a girl's voice. Young too from the sounds of it, yet familiar. Blake placed it long before the Hunter came into view and she stared, on edge, as the cell door was opened. Though unarmed the girl didn't appear the least bit uneasy when she entered the cell with the same woman who had fought to kill her not a day ago. Nor did she think twice about asking that the cell door be locked behind her.
She has speed magic. She's quick, but ultimately little else. Blake felt herself press back into her chair as the silver-eyed girl approached. Then, perhaps realizing how irregular this was, the girl stopped and smiled.
"Oh, heh, sorry! I guess I should probably introduce myself, huh?"
Blake tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. Was this girl slow or cleverer at hiding her intentions than she'd thought? When the Muran extended a hand to shake only to realize Blake's were bound a moment later she flushed and sank into the empty chair across from her. Slow it was then, or at least a little airy. What did she want? Revenge? Information? Laurel hadn't been able to glean any so had he sent this Hunter down in his stead?
"I'm Ruby Rose, by the way! Hunter…" Ruby trailed off before smiling skittishly. "Well technically I'm not a Hunter, not yet. See, this was supposed to be our big test! Oh, I mean mine and Weiss'. Uh… You know her, right?" The brunette's face twisted in confusion and she crossed her arms. Blake noticed the bandages creeping up her neck but didn't comment on them.
"A-Anyways… I wanted to come down here and talk to you! Laurel… That's the captain of the guard," Ruby added hastily. Yes, she was aware, the man had only introduced himself three times. "He said it was a bad idea to come see you, since we're technically enemies and all, but I told him that I just wanted to talk! Then he said I was stupid for coming down without a weapon, but I mean you saw my scythe, right? I love her but she's a little bulky and the cells down here are like really, really small. I doubt I could have gotten it inside without catching on something!"
Blake coughed again and immediately regretted it. Rather than seem annoyed at being interrupted Ruby appeared concerned. Her brow pinched, and she turned in her chair. "Can she have something to drink?" The men exchanged uncertain looks. Ruby pulled a face that probably was meant to be intimidating but with her cherubic features looked hilarious to Blake. "P-Please? She probably needs it!"
One of the men shuffled before nodding and hurrying away, disappearing upstairs to the ground floor. Ruby's face glowed in the faint candlelight and she wiggled in her seat. Blake thought she was trying to get comfortable until she noticed the girl chewing her lip and plucking at her sleeve. She was… Nervous? What kind of interrogator was nervous?
"S-So, um… N-Nice weather we're having, huh…?"
Was this real? They were just messing with her now, right? Blake stared at Ruby at a complete loss, barely registering the guard that returned with a pewter mug of water. Ruby nodded to her and the Meera sniffed her drink before greedily inhaling it. Cool water soothed her aching throat and she sighed, feeling better for the refreshment.
"Okay, I'll just cut to the chase, s-since I'm not supposed to be down here, technically. Weiss said that it was a dumb idea to talk to you, but I wanted to, and since she's busy helping out around the town anyways I thought it was a good idea to, you know…" Ruby smiled nervously and waved her hands, eyes rolling in her head. "Sneak away to chat…?"
Chat?
The Hunter's smile was so nervous, her fidgeting so obvious, that Blake wondered if the girl was capable of holding a conversation at all. One of the guards outside snickered and she leaned back when Ruby leaned in. "So… Um…" The brunette searched for a topic of conversation. Blake almost wanted to bring something up just to break the awkward pause and save them both the grief.
Could she have Laurel back? Interrogation seemed so much easier.
/+/+/+/+/
She didn't seem like a bad person. Ruby watched as Blake stared at her across the table, those amber eyes unblinking. They were really pretty, she noted, and sparkled in the candle's glow. Her own eyes probably did too but it wasn't like she could see her own eyes, now could she? It was obvious that Blake didn't want to be here but then who would? There were no windows on account of the cells being underground and it smelled funny. Not in a 'Nora farted and Jaune is gagging' kind of funny, but in a 'When was this place last cleaned?' kind of funny.
What was she thinking again? Right, Blake didn't seem like a bad person. Ruby was aware of how insane that thought must seem to someone else, but to her it just felt like the truth. Sure, yesterday Blake had been doing her best to kill her and Ruby would be lying if she said there wasn't some hesitation due to that. She understood however that they'd been doing their own jobs and there hadn't been any real animosity towards her as a result.
Her dad explained once, when Ruby had asked about why wars happened, why it was soldiers killed one another. She hadn't understood how people could hate each other so much without having ever met that they'd so willingly cut each other down. To her it seemed impossible to hate someone you didn't know so badly, and even then, she didn't know how you could hate a person enough to want to kill them. That was beside the point.
Tai had told her that soldiers simply followed orders, and that many times, once war ended, people on opposing sides might reconcile, or at the very least try to extend an olive branch. Ruby hadn't been sure what a random branch had to do with anything, but she appreciated the lesson well enough: people sometimes fought because they had to, not because they wanted to. Whether duty or something else compelled them to take up arms it wasn't always a decision they themselves made.
Ruby had her orders to help Holbrook and Blake had her orders to attack it. Both had done as they were told and neither of them could have known who they might fight.
So, by that logic, it was impossible for Blake to hate her. Without any way of knowing who they'd encounter it had been happenstance that she and Ruby had fought. Adam… Adam she wasn't so sure about, but Blake she was confident in saying didn't hate her. An assertion made perhaps a little too easily considering how the other girl stared at her, but one she was comfortable to make.
"I um… I really like your… Hair! It matches your… Shirt!"
Blake raised an eyebrow, frowned, and said nothing.
Gods this was difficult. Was the cell getting warmer or was it just her? Ruby let out a nervous chuckle and shifted around in her chair. Was she thirsty, too? "H-Hey, um, more water, please!" She turned and gave the guards her best impression of a puppy dog, sending one of them scurrying back upstairs for refills. Score.
"Uh…" Now if she could just figure out how to talk to Blake everything would be golden. "S-So, once we leave Holbrook we're probably going to have to take some time off. I mean… We'll finish our training and everything and be real-life Hunters!" As opposed to fake ones, whatever that meant. "And I'm hoping Weiss and I get to be partners! Jaune and Pyrrha - oh, they're my friends too, and Ren and Nora. They're all paired up already, and while Hunters don't have to work in pairs I think it'd be really fun to!"
Ruby pouted and sulked in her seat. "Weiss doesn't seem super convinced though. I think she wants to but she's also trying to do like, a bagillion other things, you know? She mentioned that Ozpin had some work for her when we got back but she wouldn't tell me what. Isn't that awesome though? The Archbishop has work for her!"
Gushing about her friends was easy. Any time someone in their circle did well with anything - an exam, a sparring session, or even something as mundane as make a yummy meal, Ruby felt the compulsion to congratulate them. Gushing was easy, but being enthusiastic in the face of someone who not only didn't know her friends but didn't care? Ruby shrank a few inches in her seat and twiddled her thumbs.
"So, um… W-What are you planning to do after this…?" Maybe a silly question to ask. Blake was definitely going to be sent to jail for a while, after all…
"I'll be executed, I imagine."
Whatever words Ruby had died on her lips in an instant. "Uh… What…?"
Blake rolled her eyes. "Are you dumb, deaf, or both? Executed." The Meera sneered and pulled on her restraints, causing Ruby to jump. "Killed, hanged, drawn up. Whatever you want to call it."
That was a thing. Why though? For attacking a single town? Sure, Blake was part of larger, numerous attacks, but she'd not killed anyone. Scratch that, two guards had died. Did they have to execute her though? Why not just prison? Realizing she'd been staring for some time Ruby opened her mouth, let out a tiny 'Oh', then went silent again. Wholly inadequate but then she hadn't a clue what else to say.
Blake took some humor in that and snorted. "You seem surprised."
"Well I… You… Why?!" Ruby asked, desperate. "Why would they kill you?!"
It took a moment and Ruby watched as Blake's expression shifted, from surprise to annoyance, then amusement. In a startling twist she laughed, bitter and hollow, then offered a small smile as she tilted her head. "I tried to kill you? And this town…?"
True. Except there was one slight, teeny, incy-wincy issue with that. "Liar…" Ruby mumbled. Realizing how meek she sounded she sat up straighter, met Blake's eyes, and slammed her palms down on the table. "L-Liar!"
That gave the raven-haired woman a start and she stared in silence for a long moment. "What…?"
"You didn't try to kill me!"
"I pinned you down, had a blade to your throat," said Blake. She seemed genuinely confused, Ruby noticed, almost angry that she was even having to debate this. "I could have cut your throat in a heartbeat or pierced your heart."
"But you didn't."
To Blake it must have seemed like the ravings of a madwoman, and maybe it was. Ruby could still imagine the cold chain pressed firmly against her chest, pinning her to the ground. Blake's weapon curved and sharp, hovering inches above her flesh. Her speed magic would have done her no good after being pinned and her skin would hardly withstand a sharpened blade. Her life was over in that instant and she'd known it.
Yet here she was, alive and well. Sore, sure, but still kicking. Either that or the afterlife was a whole lot like life-life.
"You could have killed me at any moment, but you never did," Ruby went on. "When we were fighting you kept trying to steal my weapon, not kill me. And once you finally did pin me down you restrained me instead of… Y-You know…"
"I was distracted. I had to make sure Adam was okay," Blake answered back.
"Liar." Ruby leaned forward and smiled, feeling her own lips strain as she tried to contain her excitement and sorrow. What a weird sensation to feel both happy and sad at once. She was onto something, although she knew it was a stretch. "You didn't want to kill me."
"You're a Hunter. I kill Hunters, Muran."
"Ruby."
"… What?"
"My name is Ruby," the silver-eyed girl repeated with a smile. "And… Well, you didn't kill me, or Weiss." Adam was fighting with Weiss at the time and winning handily so there was little point in Blake fighting her friend. Before Blake could point out as much Ruby continued. "You can't be executed because… Because that's meant for bad people! Really, really bad people, and you're not a bad person!"
As far as leaps of logic went this felt like throwing yourself off the top of Mount Glenn. Even a small part of Ruby acknowledged that it was a semantic at best and would hardly sway anyone's opinion. Heck, she made a note to add a Lien to her swear jar later, even Weiss probably wouldn't see it her way.
Blake didn't. The Meera stared, brow furrowed, and mouth pressed in a thin line. Then she exhaled and chuckled, slouching back in her chair. "You're a child…"
"Nuh-uh, I'm sixteen!" Ruby flushed at her own outburst and Blake raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'I told you so'. "Okay, well… How about this!" Undeterred she stood and knocked her chair over from the sudden motion, leaning across the table towards Blake. "Whose idea was it to attack Holbrook? Yours?"
She had little patience and she knew that. Maybe it was a product of having a class of magic oriented around speed. When you could travel between towns at rates that would give horses whiplash, walking often seemed painfully slow. When people took longer than two seconds to answer a question it felt like hours. Ruby's foot had begun to tap impatiently before she'd caught herself, stopping that but continuing to watch Blake for an answer.
"I fail to see what that has to do with -"
"J-Just answer, please!"
Blake seemed torn, amused that she was being interrogated now by this 'child' before her and annoyed at having answers demanded of her. Not annoyed enough to remain silent. "Not mine," Blake answered vaguely.
That was good enough for Ruby who smiled broadly. "I knew it! It was probably that creepy guy's!" She sank back into her chair and exhaled, then clapped eagerly. "Okay, so let's say creepy guy ordered the attacks, right…?" Blake snorted. Probably a yes. "He was in charge, right? I think Weiss mentioned something about him being a captain…"
"Commander, actually," Blake amended. The Meera frowned and stared down at the table, not that Ruby noticed. She was on a roll!
"If he ordered the attacks and you followed then… Then it's like a soldier following orders, right?! If a general tells his people to do bad things…" Ruby paused to gather her thoughts which swirled manically inside her head. "You were just following orders! You don't hang a soldier for doing something bad on orders, you punish the person in charge, right?"
Her grasp on military law was lax at best considering she was a Hunter. The two branches were similar in ways of conduct, yet different in so many others. If it was anything like the Church, however, then the military deferred to its leaders to make decisions. Which also meant in times of crises or whenever something went wrong it was on the leaders too, since they made the decisions, not their troops. Or in this case the Hunters.
Ruby grinned and wiggled in her seat. Weiss would be so proud of her for figuring all this out!
"You're an idiot. You're actually an idiot," Blake muttered.
"Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me that you ordered the attacks, or that you wanted to do this. Tell me you're a bad person and wanted to see everyone in Holbrook dead."
A second passed where Blake looked ready to do just that, opening her mouth before closing it again. No answer came and the Meera opted to remain silent. Good enough for Ruby whose face hurt from smiling so wide.
"See? You're not a bad person, y-you were just following orders! And if you're not a bad person then… Then you can't be executed! Because that's not fair!"
"Life rarely is." Blake frowned seeing Ruby on her way to the cell door. "Where are you going…?"
"To talk to the captain, and Weiss!" The guards moved aside as the energetic Hunter dashed out of the cell only to double back. Ruby pressed her face between the bars and vibrated in place, grinning. "You're not going to be executed, I promise! I just have to tell them you're a good person!"
The air shimmered and Ruby vanished in a cloud of dust. Upstairs someone shouted and there was a clatter of dishes followed by a squeaky apology. The guards beyond Blake's cell exchanged looks of puzzlement, glanced back at their prisoner, then shrugged and went back to their watch.
/+/+/+/+/+/
Blake felt the minutes tick by as she stared at the empty seat before her. Ruby was an idiot. A naive, idealistic idiot. Did she honestly expect their conversation to mean anything? That she could dissuade not just the people of Holbrook who rightfully so called for her blood, but the Church? A 'good person' or not the law was the law, and with morbid humor Blake realized she knew it better than Ruby herself. She'd committed a crime and taken part in raids, raids which in Holbrook alone killed a handful and maimed others. She was guilty by association if nothing else, and that would be good enough to send her to the gallows.
"You're not going to be executed, I promise!"
Ruby had looked so sure of herself, so optimistic when she'd said that. Despite knowing the idiocy of the girl's claims Blake found herself wanting to believe the eccentric fool. It was natural to want to believe, she supposed. Only an insane person wouldn't rebel against their imminent demise. As ridiculous as the notion was she found herself hoping that Ruby's miracle might somehow come to fruition.
Blake resigned herself that it never would. No one was going to show an ounce of pity to a woman of the White Fang, one who had a history of attacks. Had Ruby based her decision solely off Holbrook, which she did, then maybe the argument could be made.
But Vindemia? Eagle's Pass? Galloway? There was a list of past transgressions that the Church had to know about. Blood, noble blood, stained her hands and sullied her record. Even if absolved of Holbrook there were plenty of other deeds to condemn her.
That still didn't keep Blake from grasping. No one wanted to die. Even after being abandoned by Adam and effectively the White Fang as a whole, after having nowhere to turn, she didn't want to die. Shifting in her seat she hissed in frustration and closed her eyes, tilting back her head and scowling. Ignoring Laurel had been easy, the man was just your run-of-the-mill guard, not intimidating in the least.
Ruby had somehow managed to fill her head with an outlandish promise. Little more than stray strands of a promise, ultimately, but enough for Blake to reach out and grasp at them.
Fleeing was still an option. She could return to the White Fang, to Adam and more importantly her friends. Would he let her back, or would he punish her for their failure? The other towns had survived their raids as well. She'd overheard the guards speaking at how a group of Hunters not even out of training helped turn back a contingent of White Fang troops. Not only her and Adam, but Yuma and Ilia who by their own rights were perfectly capable combatants.
It was as unlikely a scenario as Ruby convincing the powers that be to not send Blake to the gallows. They had already managed to do the impossible once, Blake mused with a somber smile, so why not again?
Blake would choose to trust Ruby for the time being and allow herself a sliver of hope. If things somehow worked out, then she'd be allowed to live. Imprisoned most certainly, perhaps beaten and bloodied, but alive. It wouldn't be much of a life she realized but she'd take it.
Blake leveled her head when the cell door opened. One of the guards from above set a tray of food before her, more than she'd expected to be given. A slab of lamb, vegetables that still had dirt clung to their skins, and a chunk of what looked to be stale bread.
"Eat up, animal," the man sneered, shoving the tray forward. Blake narrowly kept it from sliding off the table and ignored the biting laugh at her apparent desperation. "You'll be leaving here soon, off to the capital with you. Sad I won't be there to see you hang."
"Here here," one of her guards replied.
Ignoring the meaningless banter from nobodies Blake contorted herself and grabbed the slab of meat, grease running between her fingers, fingertips aching at the still hot steak. Tearing into the food she closed her eyes, taking her time and savoring even the bland meal provided to her.
They could think what they wanted for now. As far as she was concerned their opinions meant less than the dirt on her vegetables. Instead of choosing to give their derision any power she put stock in Ruby and her promises. Not like she had much else to put her faith in.
/+/+/+/+/+/
Vale's walls were impenetrable.
That was Blake's first thought as they arrived at the kingdom's capital. Having never seen it before she'd doubted the stories about just how imposing the city's defenses were. She'd heard tales that they stood a hundred feet tall and half as thick, manned with more soldiers than any other city on Sanus could hope to have. She'd been dubious that any city could be so heavily fortified that it would be decreed unbreachable.
The claims were still wrong, technically. The walls weren't a hundred feet tall yet they were probably close. Fifty feet thick? More like half that, wide enough for soldiers to walk abreast on top, for cannons and archers to rain fire down below on any force dumb enough to try and take the walls. Considering the impeccably maintained farmlands outside the walls and the sparse number of guards it was apparent no one had ever been stupid enough to try.
No one besides the White Fang.
They had never attacked Vale's capital directly, of course, for doing so required far more resources and manpower than the organization possessed. Even if they brought in branches from the other kingdoms Blake doubted they could make it much further than the walls themselves. Towering, imposing slabs of dark brick and wood and steel created a bulwark that could hold any threat at bay. And with Hunters and soldiers just inside, ready to fight at a moment's notice, attacking the city would be suicidal.
Blake smiled even as her stomach sank. Here she'd thought to be making some difference in her attacks. Killing corrupt nobles and members of the clergy, raiding small towns to supply less fortunate ones, settlements filled with sympathizers, and non-sympathizers alike.
Standing before Vale City's defenses served to show just how ineffectual all of her efforts had been. In the moment she'd caused great disarray and perhaps even ruffled a few feathers of those within the city. Yet everything she'd done had been nothing more than a drop in the bucket, a fleeting, inconsequential victory that amounted to nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Half a dozen guards stood at attention as their caravan approached the front gates. Much like the farmers and travelers on their way into the city Blake and the other prisoners were regarded with disgust, disdain, and little else. That was fine, she'd expected the outward hatred towards her and the White Fang. Nothing she couldn't handle.
The leader of their procession, a Hunter whose name she'd forgotten as quickly as he'd given it, spoke briefly with the guards. They shared a look her way before the call was made to throw open the gates. A man in plate armor grabbed Blake's arms and pulled her from the cart, catching her before she could fall. She grit her teeth when her arm was wrenched, held her head in defiance and stared at the opening passageway. She'd be damned if she gave these people the satisfaction of seeing her complain or grovel.
That didn't stop a few of the standard cloth and rag troops of the Fang from fighting back. One man spat at a guard and was rewarded with a backhand that knocked him off his feet. Another woman screamed angrily and threw herself at the man, knocking the soldier to the ground and tossing about until others dragged her away.
"Stop! Cease and desist!" one of the guards beside her shouted. Couldn't the oaf try not yelling right by her ears?
The scrap continued as her subordinates, her brothers and sisters fought back. It was a futile effort that in any other situation might have made Blake proud, proud for their tenacity and will to fight. None of them had weapons and Blake was the only Magi among them. Fighting wasn't just a moot effort, it was liable to get them killed.
"That's enough!" Blake shouted. Her comrades all turned their attention on her, a few still shoving and pushing at their captors. "Everyone, stop. You're only going to make it worse by fighting back. Just stop."
It wasn't an immediate reaction, but the scuffling did finally die down. What little fire her comrades had fled and only simmering embers were left, with little more than bitter remarks or baleful gazes shared between the White Fang and their escorts.
None of them were killed so that was a win in Blake's book.
A firm hand clasped her shoulder and Blake tried to pull away on reflex, gritting her teeth at finding herself trapped. She'd not even heard the Hunter come closer and she'd been certain to keep an ear out for him, just in case he became involved in the scuffle. The man smiled easily as he squeezed her shoulder.
"Thanks for that, kid. Would be a real pain if things got ugly out here."
Kid? The little brats that they had seen running around in the fields were kids. Blake had seen far too much, done too much, to even reliably be called a kid. She'd grown up years ago thanks to the Church.
"Alright, if you're all done causin' a scene then let's keep moving!" the Hunter called. "I'll take their boss, you lot can handle the small fries, yeah?" A few guards grumbled their dissent but formed up around the other captives. Blake finally pulled her shoulder free, stumbling forward when pushed. "Let's go, we've got places to be."
How could she forget. The gates creaked loudly and shuddered, chains rattling as they came to a standstill. Guards outside ferried them into the walls and more still lined the road, forcing them into a single-file line. There had to be dozens of them, Blake estimated, each wearing chain and plate, wielding swords, clubs, axes and spears, and each sporting a cloak emblazoned with the kingdom's insignia. In some morbidly humorous way it was almost flattering that so many had been called out to watch over her. How many Magi were among them, she wondered.
Enough to stop her escape? She'd toyed with the idea several times over the three-day trip to the capital, weighing her options. Every time she'd mulled it over she'd tossed it aside for one reason or another. She couldn't abandon those with her. She hadn't anywhere else to go. She'd resigned herself to her fate. She trusted Ruby at her promise.
Taking a Muran at their word… Maybe she really was an idiot. Maybe Adam had been right not to trust her on her own, with more serious missions. Not after she'd had blunder after blunder, failure after failure.
"Something on your mind, kitten?"
Blake glared at the Hunter, sneering and wiping the dreamy expression from her face. "Bite your tongue, Muran," she rasped dryly.
His tone matched, and after laughed he reached out and pat her back. "Good, you've still got some fight in you. You're gonna need that."
For what? Blake narrowed her eyes at the man's back, hands flexing, wrists locked in manacles. Could she attack him? Take the greatsword from his back? It was larger than her usual weapon by far and she was mostly unfamiliar with its use, but she could handle it well enough. It would take just one good blow to kill him, a single cut…
"You should make it harder for people to read you, ya know." The man smiled back at her, red eyes gleaming. Threatening. "Guess that's why you always wore that mask of yours, eh? Didn't want people figuring out what's goin' on in that head of yours, Umbra?"
"Don't call me that," Blake hissed.
"Then quit staring at me like you want to cut my throat. Respect's a two-way street, kid. Gotta give some to get some." The Hunter paused and reached out for Blake's wrist, yanking her forward and, to her alarm, off her feet entirely. "And right now, I got no reason to give you any, got me? You're already on thin ice here, kid. Just give me a reason…"
She growled when released but made no movements against the Hunter. She could use her magic, she supposed, but what kind of spells did he have? Were other Hunters watching them as well? It was a safe bet and a gamble she wasn't about to take.
Unable to do much and lacking the fortitude to even try Blake trudged along after the Hunter. By now word had gotten around the city and residents began to pour into the streets to see what the commotion was. Most kept in their homes, buildings of stone and brick, most two stories, some taller. Dozens of faces peered out of windows, from the safety of doorways and from behind the occasional cluster of guards.
Did they really think she was such a threat that a small army was necessary? Or did Vale just have so many troops that they could afford to spare so many for a common prisoner and her brethren?
And we wanted to fight against this. Blake chuckled under her breath and shook her head. Other cities, even the larger ones, paled in comparison to the majesty of the capitol. An ocean of stone and brick, thousands upon thousands of people within its walls, protected by stone and wards both. She craned her gaze skyward and saw the Cathedral looming like a beacon in the distance, its towering spire cutting an imposing figure against the blue backdrop. We're not even insects compared to the Church. Blake noted somberly. We didn't get away with so much because we were good. We managed because we mattered so little. Until now.
Closer and closer they walked towards the Cathedral and soon the roads began to open up and widen. More guards were present, and Blake realized at last they weren't there to keep her in line. No, the Hunter leading her along was enough for that, she assumed. As jeers, slurs and taunts were thrown her way she watched the guards hold back furious citizens, forming a wall of flesh and steel between her and a frenzied mob.
"Animal fuckers!" a man's voice called from somewhere nearby.
"Monster!"
"Heathens! Gods take you!"
Blake bit the inside of her cheek in anger. The Hunter snorted and shook his head. Was he annoyed that they were insulting her, or annoyed he had to listen to it?
"Kill her, you bastards!" A woman pushed her way between two guards, pointing furiously at the Hunter. "She deserves death! Kill her!"
The woman was pushed back, another man surged forward, pushing against the wall of guards. "Death to the animals! Kill them!"
She managed to find this one in the crowd and glowered at the cretin. His face was red with rage and his eyes bulged, kicking as he was pushed back into the crowd. Just one spell. No one was going to miss him surely. Blake reached out and felt shadow twitch at her command, her own silhouette stirring at her feet.
Her temple seared with pain as something slammed into her, rocking her and nearly causing her to topple. Hissing as she felt blood trickle down her face she glared up at the Hunter, expecting him to be responsible. Instead the man glared into the crowd, one hand on his sword.
"Bastards!"
"Criminals!"
"Burn them at the stake!"
Singular voices turned into an unintelligible shouting match as residents tried to scream over one another, hurling vulgarity and small items at the procession. The Hunter cursed and drew his sword, not to strike, but blocking projectiles with the flat of the blade. Behind them guards raised their shields and held them at head level, protecting both themselves and their captives from harm. The latter, Blake thought, was certainly a coincidence.
Voices of anger and dissent continued well after they moved into the Church's district of the city. Whitewashed stone buildings lined the roads and commoners were sparse, replaced by priests, Initiates, nobility and other members of the clergy. Though the majority of them glared at silence and no doubt thought terrible things they at least had the tact to keep their mouths shut. Blake preferred the silent fury to the outward display.
Upon reaching the plaza beneath the Cathedral they were finally given a bit more room to breathe. The wide space, graciously, was sparsely inhabited and Blake took the chance to stand just a bit taller, relaxing and enjoying the small spell of silence.
Then she noticed the gallows. In the very center of the plaza was the wooden platform, primed and ready, with heavy ropes and, more telling, several Magi on standby in the event something unexpected were to happen. Blake paled seeing the marks on their necks and matched it to the one the Hunter leading her bore. All Hunters, all here to ensure things proceeded as smoothly as possible.
So much for Ruby's vote of confidence.
One of her compatriots snapped at the guards and pulled against his restraints. Another began to weep, sinking to his knees while a third knelt beside him to comfort the fallen man. Blake couldn't take her eyes off the gallows, nor could she dismiss the gnawing sense of dread that blanketed her, smothering whatever fizzling pieces of hope she'd had.
Several of the guards around them snapped to attention. The Hunter, intent on seeming as aloof as possible before, stood just a bit taller. The stir was enough for Blake to divert her focus from her imminent demise and look to the cause of the commotion. There was no fanfare, no grand entrance. Despite the influence the man before her wielded his approach was almost mundane, woefully so. Even the air around him failed to generate any kind of reaction, content to remain warm and still in early summer heat.
For someone who wore black on a constant basis Blake wondered how the man could be bothered in the stuffy heat of the city. A black doublet with silver tresses woven in the torso of the piece, and loose sleeves with fitted cuffs on the end suggested modest wealth, even if Blake knew he had much more than the piece suggested. A green scarf wrapped around the man's neck swayed idly in the breeze and polished black shoes clicked against the brick of the plaza, free of scuffs or stains. The man smiled, gray eyes hidden partially behind tinted, thin-rimmed spectacles. His hair, a stark white, was remarkably unkempt, even more so than the Hunter who dragged her along.
"My my, it seems your arrival today has caused quite the stir in the city." Blake met the eyes of the man who had spoken and ground her teeth. Fury replaced resignation and she stepped forward. Immediately her escort grabbed her bindings and hauled her back, yanking hard enough to draw a pained yelp and force her to kneel. "At ease, Qrow. I'm certain she means no harm."
"Oz, you've gotta be kidding me. You know what she's done," Qrow argued.
"I'm aware of the young lady's crimes, yes. As I'm sure she's aware just how dire her situation is, and how ill-advised it would be to try to flee, or fight." The Archbishop smiled easily and stepped closer. Blake fought against her restraints, wishing she could reach out and throttle him. The man responsible for all the ills that befell not just her race, but all races. The reason that those in the Faunus conglomerate suffered and toiled, battling not just for equality, but for basic dignities.
Logically she knew it wasn't all the Archbishop's doing. It was the Church doctrine that made their suffering, not any one man's doing. He was guilty of upholding it, yes, but ultimately, he was nothing more than a figurehead. One she'd very much like to kill given the chance, but a figurehead nonetheless.
Logic had no place in the face of rage. Blake reached out with her magic and felt her shadow, Qrow's shadow, flex in response. She willed them to strike out and attack Ozpin, to tear him to bloody ribbons. They rose up, became physical, and erupted.
Her magic fled her all at once. No, it wasn't just her magic that left her, but her strength. Blake gasped, winded, like she'd just been punched in the gut. Her eyes widened as her spell fizzled out harmlessly before her and she slumped, lifted by Qrow and made to face Ozpin. She hadn't felt this burned out after Holbrook despite expending all that energy, throwing spells left and right. How then had her strength just fled her in an instant?
The Archbishop nodded to Qrow and she glanced suspiciously at the man beside her. Negation magic? No, that didn't exhaust you like this did. She panted breathlessly and tried to find an explanation, yet even thinking proved difficult. Her lungs strained, her body shivering as it attempted to right itself. She felt like she'd just ran for miles. All her energy, physical and mental, had been sapped away in an instant.
"Please, there's no reason for hostilities, Miss Belladonna. I've come here not as an enemy but as a friend, one with an offer."
Call her a skeptic, but between the gallows nearby and the numerous Hunters in the area Blake wasn't convinced she had any friends here.
"There's no reason we can't speak civilly," Ozpin continued. The man smiled, hands folded behind his back as he stepped away. "Please do excuse the rowdy welcome. I did my best to conceal your arrival, but rumors are wont to spread. I'll see that your wound is tended to personally."
Blake had nearly forgotten the gash on her forehead. The bleeding had stopped for the most part although it still throbbed. She blinked, grimacing when blood trickled into her eye, shaking her head and blinking it away.
"If you're going to kill me then do it already," the Meera grumbled. "Spare me your words, Muran. They're worth less to me than the dirt."
Ozpin continued to smile politely. "I do apologize then, but I'll have to ask that you bear with me a bit longer. I should think that you'll be interested in what I have to say once you hear me out." It wasn't as if Blake could really say no, not with her body weak and mind fuzzy. "Qrow, if you could bring her to the infirmary first, have her cleaned, then deliver her to my office? I'll be waiting for you two."
"As for the rest of our esteemed guests, please see that they're taken care of as well. Space has been set aside and food and drink prepared as well." A few of her comrades perked up at that, and while reluctant for handouts the lack of food or drink over three days had gotten the better of them. Ozpin smiled at Blake, bowing his head. "I must apologize again but you'll have to wait a bit longer for a meal. What we must discuss is rather urgent, I'm afraid."
She'd take the gallows now, was that an option? Qrow lifted her to her feet and did no small part in supporting her as she was ferried towards the Cathedral. The other members of the White Fang were marched into a smaller, adjacent building, with Hunters relieving the guards of their duties. Curious, given not one of them was a Magi.
"Oh, and one more thing…" he added, almost as an afterthought. Ozpin paused and turned, maintaining that damn smile that Blake was already coming to loathe. He placed a hand on his chest and bowed at the waist. "Welcome to the capital, Miss Belladonna. I do hope you enjoy your stay."
Thanks for reading, friends! Or if we're not friends, acquaintances? If we're enemies then thank you for not plotting to egg my house! I don't like eggs, they're icky.
As always any feedback folks might have is greatly appreciated. Next chapter... Coming to a web browser near you!