[X] Sienna's scream in the distance.
There was a scream, Blake noticed, as she blearily regained consciousness. Her mind was moving too slow, it was too hard to think.
Why would someone be screaming?
Shaking her head and struggling to get her eyes open, Blake looked around.
There was a lot of fire, all over the place. Lots of metal, broken and melted, too. Almost like-
Her brain finally turned on enough for Blake to remember what was going on, and the shock of it woke her up faster than anything.
The airship-
Trying to stand up, Blake stumbled almost immediately as her leg refused to move. Looking back, the girl saw that the leg in question was pinned under broken iron.
Pinned, but not crushed.
Hadn't she been hit by the fireball? Been hurt bad enough to lose consciousness? Shouldn't she be out of Aura, then? But if her leg was fine...
Concentrating for a moment, Blake realised her Aura was still intact. It was at breaking point, from the fall, but she was barely holding on. But then...
Spinning as much as she could with her leg pinned, Blake pushed against the metal for a moment. Then, when she failed to get enough leverage on it, she tried punching it instead, putting dent after dent in it until she was able to make a gap just big enough to pull her leg out from under.
Prying it out, Blake's eyes briefly widened at the sight.
It was covered in burns.
Her Aura should have stopped the burns. That's part of why it was so useful, you don't have to worry about burns or frostbite or any sort of environmental damage until your Aura was gone. But her Aura had held through the blast somehow, but it hadn't stopped the burns?
She patted her leg for a moment, and felt nothing. No pain, no feeling, nothing. Had her nerves burnt out?
Looking herself over, Blake realised her leg wasn't the only thing burnt. The back of her arm was charred, and she couldn't see where the burn ended.
How...
How bad had she been hurt?
Feeling some sweat on her brow, Blake reached to wipe her forehead, and immediately pulled her hand away while hissing in pain.
Her face. There were burns on her face. Why hadn't she felt it earlier?
Was she in shock? Was that why she wasn't feeling anything?
Another scream ripped through the sky, and Blake nearly slapped herself. What the hell was wrong with her, sitting here being all concerned about herself when she'd heard the scream?
Scrambling to her feet, Blake looked around for Gambol Shroud, but saw that the ribbon on her arm had burnt away. Her weapon was...
Gone. Somewhere.
Forget it, then. She could find it after going to help Sienna.
Running as fast as she can, Blake looked around for the source.
There was a lot of burning steel around. Too much. Had the airship had more of it torn out if after she lost consciousness?
No matter. She already knew that most of the people on that airship were going to die. People just trying to do the right thing, children brought along because their parents were here too, potentially hundreds dead because of this.
All she could do was focus on getting as many people out of this alive as possible.
Running around the molten steel to prevent damaging her pathetically low Aura, Blake headed towards the direction of the scream. She'd be able to help Sienna somehow, she'd figure out how to help when she knew why Sienna was screaming.
The scent of burning flesh filled the air, and Blake did her best to ignore it. Even when she passed by another broken escape pod, with two burning corpses within. One of which was smaller, held in the other's arm.
Blake did her best not to think about the implications, as she ran.
Eventually, as she closed in, running up a hill, she heard the sound of clashing steel, and cries of pain. As she reached the top of the hill and looked down, Blake set her eyes on a perfectly circular battlefield surrounded by debris, with two figures within.
The first was Sienna, panting in exhaustion and desperately clutching at the bloody stump where her right arm used to be. In her left, she held her dagger, and she was covered in blood. Despite that, she didn't seem to be actively bleeding from any of her many wounds, and seemed to be doing her best to ignore the burns lining her.
Meanwhile, standing before Sienna, perfectly unharmed, was a brown-haired girl dressed in green. Her hair was pulled back in twintails, but with two other braids of hair hanging down the front of her face. She wore a cape around her, and wore claws around her hands.
Blake didn't know what drew her eyes to it, but she spotted, despite the difference, the numerals on the woman's head.
IV
Four.
"Like a cornered animal." The girl sang. "So vicious, aren't you, little wolf? Why don't you cry out some more, try to call the rest of your pack."
In a flash of speed, the girl was behind Sienna, and with a casual slash of her hand, sent the wolf Faunus falling to the ground.
"S-Stop..." Sienna begged softly. "P-Please..."
"Stop?" The girl in green asked. "Why should I stop? For a murderer? A terrorist? A bad guy like you? Why do you deserve mercy?"
Sienna tried to push herself up with her left hand, but Four kicked her in the side. The wolf Faunus coughed blood, as she was sent flying. Four dashed after her, and Sienna screamed.
For a moment, the blood she had coughed hovered in the air. Then, all at once, the earth buckled, pushing away every speck of dust of small rock which was between Sienna and the blood, momentarily blinding the girl in green. Then, the sudden rushing wind pushed at the girl, who took a step back to brace herself.
"This again?" The girl asked. "Well, I suppose it was a bit much for a feral beast to show some creativit-"
She got no further, as Blake moved into action. Moving as fast as she could, Blake threw a steel pole at the woman, trying not to wince at the feeling of molten metal. The girl's head tilted as she heard the sound of rapidly shifting air, and casually backhanded the projectile without looking at it.
She turned to look at the source, but Blake was already running. Jumping down into the battlefield, Blake kicked downwards. A second before the blow connected, she left a shadow behind, repositioning herself behind the woman to punch at her.
Her fist collided with her own shadow, and Blake's eyes widened. Then, feeling her Aura shatter, she doubled over in pain.
"Another survivor." The girl noted. "And Gabriella was saying I was wasting my time. Where is she, anyway, she should be back by now..."
Casually flinging Blake to the side, the woman sent her flying into the melting steel at the edge of the battlefield. Blake somehow managed to stop herself before she hit any of it, but the impact on the ground was enough to knock the wind out of her, and she heard her leg make a snapping sound as she landed on it wrong.
Breathing heavily, Blake tried to see through the pain, and looked back over at the girl in green.
"One at a time." She said to herself, as she approached Sienna's body. As Blake watched, she put a foot on Sienna's neck.
The cat Faunus tried to crawl forward, but a blinding pain in her legs made her wince, stopping her for a moment too long. The girl in green pressed down with her foot, and Blake her a snap, and a crunch.
"And justice is done." The girl in green said. "And now for the other."
Turning towards Blake, the girl with the roman numeral on her head approached.
"You..." Blake wheezed. "Monster..."
The green girl smiled. "Me? No, I'm the hero here, terrorist. The hammer of justice that ends your murderous rampage. The brave saviour who faces off against the wild beast, breaks it in and shows the villagers how easily it dies."
"You..." Blake tried to continue.
"Destroyed your airship?" The girl asked. "Of course I did. I couldn't let the bad guys get away, not when One was so angry at you."
"There were... Children..."
"Oh, child soldiers, how monstrous of you." The girl in green replied. "It'll be so sad making sure they can't be used as weapons against society, but all wild animals need to be put down before they can be a threat."
Blake glared at the girl, hatred in her eyes, burning like a fire. Taking her silence as a cue to continue, the green girl walked onward, approaching Blake rapidly.
"Some difficult choices have to be made in the name of justice." The girl in green said. "But this burden I gladly take. My ever thought and action are pure and unclouded, for I walk the path of justice-"
"Is that what you tell yourself?"
The green in girl paused at the voice, and turned around. She stepped to the side slightly as she did so, revealing the speaker to Blake.
Adam Taurus approached with his sword drawn, an expression of hatred marring his face from what was visible past his mask.
"Oh, I know you. "The girl in green noted. "You're exactly who I came here for. You're the monster that attacked the ball. One's going to be so glad when I confirm your death-"
"So that's why." Adam interrupted. "All of this is because you want this One person to appreciate you?"
The girl in green froze. "What are you-"
"Or maybe that's just your justification." Adam continued. "You said your thoughts were unclouded, right after saying you would have to make a difficult choice. No regret in your voice. Even if it wasn't for someone, you'd be out here killing, wouldn't you?"
"Stop i-"
"You're sick." Adam continued. "Projecting it on your victims to justify to yourself that you don't enjoy the slaughter, that it's for a good cause. But without the cause, you'd continue to kill."
The girl in green was shaking in anger.
"But why?" Adam continued. "Is it for pleasure? Does killing make you feel good? Do you do it to feel better about yourself?"
"Shut up!" The girl screamed, dashing at Adam faster than Blake could track. Her metal claws clashed with Adam's sword, and Adam continued.
"That got a reaction." He noted. "I'm on the right track? But you didn't react to being asked if you get pleasure out of it, so it's more that you're trying to not feel bad, isn't it?"
The girl threw Adam's sword away, making him struggle to keep his grip, then kicked him in the chest. Adam backflipped to bleed off momentum, then immediately began parrying blow after blow of wild swing.
"You could have killed either of those girls in a hearbeat." He continued. "But you took your time. Enjoying being the hero. Enjoying the feeling of being stronger than them, better tha-"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" The girl screamed, a roundhouse kick hitting Adam in the head and making him stumble. "What would you fucking know about me, you fucking animal! You're not even fucking human, you're less than that! Subhuman scum! And you think you can understand me? Get in my fucking head! You don't even know what a fucking Intoner is, you piece of shit! I don't need to take this from you! I don't need to take this from anyone, especially not a fucking wild beast!"
"I'm a wild beast?" Adam asked, as he struggled to keep her at bay. "You seem to be the one losing control."
"Fuck-"
The girl in green brought her knee upwards, hitting Adam into the air. Her right claw grabbed his sword, pulling it away from his arm as her left sliced at his arm below his elbow, completely ignoring his Aura as it left him armless.
"-You!"
Twisting the grip of Adam's sword, Four stabbed upwards into his chest, right where his heart would be.
"You think you can talk good shit, you asshole? Well fuck you! You're fucking nothing to me! Not a fucking challenge, not a fucking name, not even a fucking worm beneath me!"
As Adam fell to the ground, the woman in green kicked down, forcing him down fasted, and began grinding her heel through his chest, right above his lung.
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" She asked, as she stamped down and twisted. "You think you're so much better than me, looking so fucking smug with that grin on your face like you've figured it out. Well guess what, retard? You're dying now! You're fucking dead, and I'm going to go home and by this time tomorrow I won't even remember you fucking existed!"
With a crunch, her foot went through Adam's chest, and he cried out in pain. Blood feel from his mouth, and Blake could feel herself tearing up more.
Spinning Adam over with her foot, the woman pulled his sword out of him and started stabbing at his stomach.
"Does it hurt?" She asked. "I hope it fucking hurts. I hope you're in fucking agony while I kill you, shithog! I hope this makes you cry, makes you remember how much life fucking sucks, make you wish you chose not to be born so you didn't meet me!"
Twisting the sword and pulling it out of Adam's side when it had earlier stabbed through his gut, the girl stopped speaking, and just started screaming instead. Putting a foot either side of him, the woman held the sword high, and stabbed it through his face. His mask broke in two, and he stopped moving.
Blake's breathing stilled, and the girl breathed heavily from a moment as she stood over Adam's corpse. Looking at the sight, the cat Faunus couldn't believe her eyes.
Adam was dead. Adam. The strongest person Blake had ever met, one of the strongest in the White Fang, someone who never seemed particularly challenged in a fight. Torn down and butchered like a pig by someone who never even learnt his name.
How could he die so easily?
After a moment, the girl standing above Adam pulled away from him, leaving his sword impaled through his face, and turned away.
"Gabriella!" She shouted. "Time to go!"
A moment passed, and then a flapping sound filled the air. Dust blew as gusts of wind flew it away, and within a few moments, a shadow fell over the battlefield.
"About time!" Snapped a voice, and Blake paused as she saw a great black beast standing over the girl in green. "Are you done with your creepy little murder trip?"
"Don't call it murder." The girl replied. "Murder is the act of a criminal, and everything I've done today is just."
Blake ignored her words, looking at the beast. It was black, but it lacked the mask of a Grimm. And Grimm didn't talk. But...
There was no denying it. If that thing wasn't a Grimm, then this woman had somehow gone and found an honest to god, actual living breathing legend.
After all, it'd been hundreds of years since the last time a Dragon had been seen.
"I'll call it whatever I want to call it." The dragon replied. "It wasn't enough for you to take down the airship and have me shoot the escape pods, no, you had to go hunt down every last survivor too!"
"Justice is without restraint." The girl replied. "I couldn't risk a serious criminal getting away."
"You got that without restraint part down, I heard you laughing your head off while you were riding me."
"Why can't I enjoy killing the bad guys?" The girl in green asked. "It's not like these are people, Gabriella. They're murderers, the worst of the worst, and it's not like they started out human anyway."
"Yeah yeah, I heard you before." Gabriella replied, rolling her eyes. "Are we going now or what? If we're not home before sunset, I'm the one who has to explain it all to One."
"Of course." The girl replied. "I'm done here. Lay down."
The dragon gave a sigh, then rested down. "There you go, Four. Hurry up, already. You probably can't smell the difference, but I can't stand the smell of burnt Faunus."
"They are rather filthy." Four agreed, as she popped up.
"Yes." Gabriella stated, as it straightened up and prepared to fly. "I was referring to their filth. Not the fact that their bones are poison to dragon and I can smell that when you burn them. Clearly."
It flapped it's wings, and took off.
Watching it go for a moment, Blake watched in a combination of fear and owe, before it flew out of sight and she allowed herself to breath easy.
Crawling forward, Blake got to her knees, examining her body. She wasn't injured too severely anywhere, but had some minor cuts. Nothing too pressing.
Crawling forward, feeling the pain of the burns on her body where her nerves hadn't given out and all the little bruises, Blake tried to stand before the pain in her leg discouraged her.
...Right. She heard that snap.
Letting it hang behind her as she kept crawling, Blake reached Adam, and looked at him for a moment.
Picking up the broken pieces of his mask, Blake locked at them for a moment, before pocketing them and turning to the sword in his head.
He deserved better than this. Even if he wasn't the best person, he's always tried to do what he thought was best. Looked out for her. Cared for her. Did his best.
Even if he was a killer, even if he's killed a civilian before, he cared enough to go out of his way to spare someone just because Blake was there. So even if he wasn't the best, he'd tried for her.
And now he was dead. And none of that mattered.
Looking up, Blake looked over at Sienna's corpse. She'd only known Sienna for ten minutes or so, but she'd seemed like a happy person. A cheerful one, one who wore her heart on her sleeve. She'd given Blake her views on things so easily, and even if she'd stopped herself, her small tirade regarding the Schnee mines reflected a damaged person under all that. Someone who Blake felt could've been good to get along with, sometimes.
And now she was dead, and Blake would never get to know her better.
Pulling the sword out of Adam's head, Blake reached for and removed his scabbard, putting the sword away. Then, she straightened her bad leg as best she could, and started thinking.
What were you meant to do with a broken leg? Let it heal? Her Aura would hopefully help as much as it could, but she needed to give it the best chance she could. So maybe if she got some sort of pole or something, tied some cloth to her leg and around the pole to keep it straight...
...She could worry about that later. She needed to rest first, recover some Aura so she didn't accidentally make things worse. Hope that there were more survivors, maybe, and that one would find her. She could hear a sobbing sound in the distance, so there were people nearby, at least...
And probably some Grimm as well. Anyone who survived must be miserable, and injured to boot. Easy prey.
Clutching Adam's weapon, the only gun she had on her, Blake kept an eye out, ready to shoot anything that approached her. As she did so, she looked around, and again took in the aftermath of the battle.
Broken corpses. The scent of burning flesh. Broken metal, burning metal, ruins of something great. All torn away by one person, and a dragon who didn't even seem to like her that much. Dead children, dead people, people trying to do their best cut down, all because they'd gone too far in doing the right thing.
Closing her eyes to try and blink away the tears, Blake thought back to what Adam's killer had said as she left, asked herself a question.
"How is this justice?"
"End recording." The woman said, as she wrote the words on her notes. Then, setting the pen down, she looked over them. "It'll be a while before we go back to Blake, won't it?"
"A while, yes." The old man noted. "I think it's safe to say that the projected path without Intoner interference won't be happening."
"That's sad." The woman noted. "Didn't you predict that she'd end up going to Beacon? Like Yang and the Schnee heiress and all of the other people of interest you noted back then?"
"I don't think that's likely to happen at this point." The old man replied. "Miss Belladonna's fate seems to have taken a turn to drive her towards a darker path. We can only hope that hatred doesn't consume her, as it has so many before her."
The woman was silent, so the old man continued. "Let's return to Miss Xiao Long. She's returning to the Kingdom of Vale sooner than she expected, isn't she?"
The young woman nodded. "Yeah. Apparently-"
[X] "Winter finally got word of her Mother's death, and wanted to return to Atlas immediately. Do you think she ever got to say goodbye?"
[X] "It was originally intended as just a short stop, to drop off Two's orphans, and Yang got the bad news when she got withing the borders."