Chapter 10
"Markus!"
I crashed into the grass as I ripped through several branches of the nearby tree on the way down. Maybe jumping off a high story dorm building wasn't such a good idea, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I ran through the school towards the courtyard, completely ignoring the yells of RWY and my partner as I bolted. She should be at the statue by now, assuming she didn't deviate from what the show did and just leave Beacon entirely.
Was Sun Wukong here? I reached the courtyard to see Blake and Sun in front of the statue. Blake's ribbon hung in her limp hand as Sun walked towards Blake. Her cat ears twitched and I noticed she looked pretty cute with the bow off her head. "I knew you would look better without the bow," Sun said as Blake slowly raised an eyebrow.
"Blake?" I called. Blake turned and her eyes widened when she saw me run in from the bushes, clothes smudged with dirt and a few leaves in my hair. "M-Markus! I…uhh…" she said, nervously covering her ears as she searched desperately for a hidden excuse.
"I know you're a Faunus," I said, silencing her stuttering. "Believe it or not, it's easy to tell. Not sure what the bow was fooling."
Blake flushed before coughing. "If you're trying to make me go back, forget it," she said sternly, recomposing herself. "I can't face them again."
"I'm not. I just wanna know why you left," I said sternly.
"Didn't Weiss tell you already?" Blake asked, frowning as she remembered the white haired heiress. "Surely she explained the situation very in a colorful way."
"No. I kinda jumped out the window before anyone could really explain anything," I said, Blake's face adopting a surprised expression before I slowly turned to look at the monkey Faunus nearby. "Uhh…who are you?"
"Sun Wukong! Student from Mistral and quite the charmer," Sun said, winking and shooting finger guns at me. "Came here to scout out Beacon before the festival."
"Uhh…at night?" Blake asked, finally looking back to Sun.
"Uhh, yeah. Then I saw you and…well…wanted to talk," Sun said, smiling sheepishly.
"Ooh, you have a love interest, Blake," I said, and both Sun and Blake spluttered in surprise. "But seriously, where are we going?"
"We?" Blake asked.
"Yeah. You said you weren't gonna go back, and it's obvious the two of you are gonna be sticking together. And I wanna tag along to make sure you all stay safe," I said.
"You won't tell the others?" Blake asked cautiously.
"I'll let them know you're OK and with me. But I won't tell them where we go or are," I said, holding up a hand. "On my honor."
Blake looked down, clearly thinking it over before sighing. "OK…" she said, finally conceding. "I know a good place we can go."
"I can pay. I got my wallet and scroll, always in my pocket," I said. It was true; I always kept my phone and wallet in my pocket back at home. By now, I'd gotten used to ignoring home to focus on the here and now.
Home... I forgot to ask the God of Light if it was possible for me to go back home after all of this was over.
"What about me?" Sun asked, feeling out of place. Blake opened her mouth, likely to deny him the chance to join us, but I spoke up before she could go and do that. "Come with us. You're from Mistral, right? Could do some good to make friends then."
I didn't see Blake stare at me as I dragged her along. We ended up sneaking to Vale the long way, with Sun chatting the entire time. I appreciated the talking, it distracted me from the sheer paranoia of things going wrong. Blake didn't like it as much, however, just on her scroll as we walked.
When we arrived at Vale we crashed at a hotel, the same hotel I stayed at before I went to Beacon. I paid for a single room for all three of us, insisting that Blake explain what was going on. Sitting on the bed, she shared her story. How she was part of the White Fang, how she enjoyed making a difference for fellow Faunus all over Remnant. She even talked about Adam, some of her missions, Ilia, and how things in the White Fang began to change for the worse.
She talked for well over an hour, answering any questions we had and exemplifying her beliefs on the White Fang. I asked about the argument earlier, and Blake talked about Weiss's insensitive words and insults on Sun when they first saw him at the docks, to which Sun went "Aww, you do care!", lightening the mood a bit.
"I see," I said, thinking over her words. Even if I knew about what happened, this was an entirely new situation, especially since the series didn't cover this part. "So...now that you left, what now?"
"Yeah. I doubt you can run away and just think it'll all fix themselves," Sun said.
"I'm not running away," Blake snapped. "I'm protecting them. The less they have to deal with me, the better."
"Blake. They're your team," I said slowly. "They're not gonna let you abandon them-"
"I'm not abandoning them!" Blake cried. "They're better off without me!"
"And who said that would be the case?" I asked, knowing exactly how this was going to go.
"Me!" Blake shouted.
"What about them? Your friends?" I asked, pulling out my scroll. "They've been texting you nonstop!"
I showed her text after text of Liya threatening me to come back before I got killed, Ruby begging me to know where I was, and Yang demanding that Blake and I be safe. "Over fifty messages and missed calls! And I ignored it because I wanna hear your side of the story! Now that I have, you need to hear them!"
"I can't face them!" Blake retaliated.
"You have to! You got yourself into this mess, and only you can get yourself out!" I said. Blake growled in frustration and threw a pillow.
"I'm leaving," she grumbled as she got up off the bed and made for the door. This wasn't working, I had to do something or else I could ruin everything for this world.
"If you leave, I'll kill off Thomas!" I shouted. Blake stopped in her tracks, and she turned to look at me in abject confusion and horror.
"What did you say?"
"I wrote Condemned! If you leave and abandon your team, I'll kill off Thomas!" I said, switching to my web-story account and quickly showing her that I was the author. Blake seemed very torn now, and she eventually went back to the bed.
"Uhh...I feel like I'm missing something," Sun said awkwardly, clearly out of the loop after what just happened. "Who's Thomas and why are you gonna kill him?"
"Blake loves books. She's been reading my web-story since the semester started," I said. "Thomas is one of the main characters of my story."
"Ah," Sun said, waving a hand. "Not too much of a reader. That's more Neptune's thing. I'm more of a fighter." And with that, he playfully punched the air like he was a boxer.
"You wrote Condemned...and I had no idea..." Blake said, suddenly seeming very giddy. "Ohmygoodness, how did you come up with a story like that! It was almost as if it were professional writing, not insulting you, but it was so good, a perfect mix of satisfying, heart wrenching, suspenseful, and downright beautiful-"
"Blake...is this really the best time?" I said sternly, ignoring the swell of pride in my chest. "We should sleep, then figure out this whole situation later. You can ask me stuff about the story after this is all over."
Blake blushed nervously, embarrassed at the 180 she'd done earlier. "Yeah," she said before glaring at me. "You'd better not tell the others where we are."
"I won't, but you have no idea how much it hurts leaving them in the dark," I said angrily. Blake's glare softened into one of shame, and she just looked away. Sighing, I sat on the bed next to her. "Look. I know you can't just leave Vale like you were never here...Ozpin will get worried and send out a search. You know how much he cares for his students."
"I won't run away," Blake said defensively. "I'm just...I'm gonna prove that the White Fang isn't behind all these crimes like Weiss and the police think they are."
"And...how will you do that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm tired from all the yelling," Blake said. "And we should sleep. Or try to get some sleep."
"Suddenly, I feel like I'm interrupting something," Sun said. Blake flinched, clearly forgetting he was here. A literal third wheel in our conversation.
"Shit, sorry," I said sheepishly. "Wanna tell us about Mistral? Haven? Your team?"
"Oh, uhh...really?" Sun said awkwardly.
"Yeah," I said. "You're a cool guy. Stalker-ish maybe, but by no means bad."
"...I'm gonna ignore the second part," Sun said, shooting us finger guns before he hopped on the bed, forming a triangle of Faunus sitting on the sheets as he broke out into conversation, describing a turquoise haired nerd in his team as the clock ticked on.
- Beacon Dormitories -
Yang sat alone on the roof of the dorms, watching the night sky and fractured moon illuminating the city of Vale. She was uncharacteristically quiet as her hair blew softly in the wind.
"I don't understand why you're so strung up on this matter," Weiss said near the door. "I mean, she's a member of the White Fang!"
"I know," Yang said.
"She said 'we'! Right under our noses! She had to have been targeting me!" Weiss ranted as she stamped her foot. "I refuse to consider myself even associated with that...criminal!"
"Weiss! Just stop, please?" Yang asked, tiredly. Weiss, giving no indication that she heard Yang, just kept going.
"Of course she was a Faunus! She was very cold to us-" Weiss said, ignoring Yang's "look who's talking" and continuing. "And she was always looking around, or reading that stupid book of hers! She was acting odd, I should've seen it!"
"Weiss, I'm trying to be nice here-" Yang said before getting interrupted again.
"And that Markus! I thought he was different, but nooo, he jumps after Blake as if he KNEW, he knew what was going on! I bet the two of them came to spy on Beacon for some attack by the White Fang!" Weiss said, and Yang stood up to turn and face Weiss, eyes blood red.
"Shut the hell up before I knock your prissy princess teeth down your throat so hard you can only chew in your stomach!" Yang shouted, effectively silencing Weiss. "Markus is not a criminal! Blake is not a criminal! They're both Faunus, yes, but that does not make them terrorists!"
"They might as well have admitted it!" Weiss shouted back. "Blake said so herself, and Markus retreated with Blake when she gave herself away!"
"Or, he could be going after her to make sure she stays safe, you racist spoiled brat!" Yang cried, shocking Weiss into a ten second long gasp, which was halted at the eight second mark when Ruby, who was nearby, ran between her sister and her partner. "OK, let's stop!" she shouted.
"Of course you'd defend the damn toy you were playing with-" Weiss retorted before Ruby clamped a sweaty hand over her mouth.
"We have to stop fighting! Our friends are out there, and we can't do anything about it until we figure out a plan!" Ruby protested. Yang sighed and calmed down, as Weiss pulled Ruby's hand away and stormed inside.
Ruby made her way to Yang and patted her shoulder. "Markus texted me. Blake's doing fine, but she asked not to tell us where she is, and that she promises she'll come back once she does something or when things cool down," Ruby said, holding up her scroll.
"Heh...Blake won't come back on her own, not after this. Maybe Markus will make her," Yang said.
"I hope so. We need her," Ruby whispered. "We aren't complete without her." Yang hugged Ruby tightly on the roof of the building, staying outside for just a bit longer.
Liya sat in her bed, reading the last message Markus sent before she lay in bed. Gods dammit," she whispered.
- the next morning -
Blake, Sun, and I sat at the breakfast lobby, eating in silence after a decent night of rest. Sun and I were sitting across from Blake and staring intently at her, me eating an omelet with hash browns and Sun eating some biscuits and gravy with a few bananas stashed on the side of his plate; likely for later.
Don't feed the stereotype, dammit.
Blake was eating a bowl of oatmeal and a small stack of pancakes. She set down her milk glass and sighed. "What?" she asked as she looked at us boys staring at her.
I put down my fork. "You gonna tell us about what your plan is?" I asked.
"Or what you'll do about your friends?" Sun asked.
"Oh, right," Blake said nervously. "I said I would, didn't I?"
"Yeah. We crammed ourselves on the floor for your sake," I said.
"Stop..." Blake groaned as she shoveled oatmeal in her mouth in an attempt to distract herself. "When we walked out to Vale yesterday, we saw a Dust shop having been robbed. Weiss and the police said the White Fang are behind it, so I plan on proving they aren't."
"Uhh, how?" Sun asked.
"I'll figure out where the next place will be hit, and I'll wait. Once some other gang or something shows up, I'll snap pics, send them to the police and Weiss, and they'll see they were wrong about the White Fang!" Blake said.
"But that all depends on whether the White Fang is innocent at all," I said.
"Yeah, what'll you do if you catch them?" Sun asked.
"I won't. It won't be them, it can't be," Blake said.
"But-" Sun started again before I grabbed his arm and shook my head. Sun sighed and fell silent. "Well, what do we do till then?"
"I'm not that low on Lien," I said. "I can get us lunch and dinner, as long as it isn't five star stuff."
"Oh yeah, we should totally try and see if that new mall has any new arcades," Sun said. "I bet I could nab me a souvenir when my team finally gets here."
"But, we should be searching for a next possible robbery-" Blake said.
"We can do that while we hang out," I said. "No need to rush things."
"Oh yeah, I remember now," Sun said, snapping a finger. "While I was on the ship going here-"
"The one you were a stowaway on?" Blake asked.
"I wanna hear the story behind that," I said, Sun not acknowledging me as he kept talking.
"I heard the guys on the ship talk about a huge shipment of incoming Schnee Dust. Like a massive freighter," Sun said. "They said that it was arriving in two days...and it was two days ago when I heard it so..."
"It's coming today!" Blake said. "We have to move and-"
"Blake, calm down," I said. "If the docks were being robbed, we'd know about it. It's still morning and no one's stupid enough to rob a massive dockyard in broad daylight."
"Yeah. We'll wait till nightfall," Sun said. "We have our place, our time, but what about a plan?"
"Hide and watch," Blake said. "It won't go any further than that."
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yes," Blake said, sighing.
"So now that we have plans...wanna go to that mall?" Sun asked excitedly.
"Yeah, can we?" I asked, also kind of hoping to actually have fun instead of mope around all day.
Blake sighed quietly. "I swear, you two are like little kids," she mumbled. "Fine. But when this is all over, you have to let me in on Condemned, Markus."
"Ugh, fine mom," I said, forcing Blake to sputter as I passed the hotel room keycard to the receptionist and signed out before we left the hotel. "So, where is this mall?"
"Markus?"
I froze and turned to see Liya near the hotel. She was in her combat outfit with her weapon. Sun and Blake stopped as well, Sun raising an eyebrow and Blake paling. Liya frowned and stormed over to me, finger raised.
"I can explain-" I said before getting poked harshly in the nose, which hurt a lot. "Agh, come on!"
"You left!" Liya cried angrily in the streets, Sun and Blake watching as she scolded me. "I get you're trying to keep Little Miss Runaway here-"
"Hey!" Blake protested, only to go unheard.
"-safe, but you just leap out a window without any words?" Liya continued. "What was that?"
"I wasn't thinking, I was just trying to help!" I said, but Liya wasn't having it. I'll spare the details of what she said, but she ripped into both me and Blake in the most profane way possible, Sun and a few others just staring in horror as this happened. When she was done, she stepped away from our pale and thoroughly scolded bodies and sighed to herself. "You know I'm gonna have to tell the others where you are. They've been searching for you," Liya said.
"Not yet," Blake protested. "We have to hit the docks tonight before we go back."
"And what for?" Liya asked.
"Blake thinks we can prove the White Fang's innocence by showing up to the docks tonight and showing that it's not the White Fang doing this," Sun said.
"Who the fuck are you?" Liya asked, and Sun went silent.
"A friend," Blake said, defending Sun.
"I see that. I swear, you could do better," Liya said. "I mean seriously?"
"What are you...wait, no," Blake said. "We are not dating."
"Could've fooled me," I said, deciding to lighten the mood a bit. "A Grade boyfriend material if he's willing to help someone with no questions asked."
"Eyyyy," Sun went, clicking finger guns at me, which I returned in full earnest. Blake groaned and Liya snorted.
"So, I'm guessing you're going to pass the time," Liya said. "Without reassuring everyone."
It's just a day, they can handle it," Blake said. "Come on." I shrugged to Liya, before the three of us walked with Blake to the mall.
We ended up spending several hours at the arcade, Sun killing it on Dance Dance Revolution and Liya winning a bunch of tickets with all games that required marksmanship. Blake tried to stay on the sidelines until Sun dragged us all to a big competition of DDR, which he won as expected.
After several hours of passing the time, Sun surprised us all by paying for everything as we headed out. A few employees were jerks, as were several people as well during our mall experience. Some ridiculed Blake and Liya for hanging around two criminals. Others tried to shove Sun and me away to flirt with the two girls, only for them to turn them down immediately.
We left the arcade to go to the docks, where we saw a massive ship, easily in the 200-300 meter range, unloading container after container of Dust. Blake and Sun took pictures of the entire dockyard, while Liya and I took pictures of the shipment, making sure to count every single one and cover their placement.
We ate lunch at a nearby bbq half an hour later, which I paid for with the last of my Lien. As we ate, we made plans using what we knew about the docks. Our scrolls were on the table, each with information on the docks and the surrounding area via pictures.
"The freighter left an hour ago, so we have just a little over a hundred containers sitting there by themselves," I said, swallowing the meat of one of the pork ribs on my plate before setting down the clean bone. "We need a good vantage point that's stealthy and covers a lot."
"If this is the White Fang, IF," Liya said before Blake could say anything. "They might try to rob the area from the air or the water. A convoy would be absolutely useless so close to the city."
"All the containers are kept together within range of the crane. Lots of empty space to work with around it," I continued. "They could land Bullheads without any trouble."
"So we lie in wait," Sun said, tossing another clean chicken leg bone onto the pile. "Gotta say, this is pretty fun. I mean, not the whole plotting against the robbers or Blake's team searching for her, but everything else. Almost thought it was a day out, you know?"
"Yeah...I hear you," Liya said as she started spooning coleslaw in her mouth. "The circumstances would be different if Blake-"
"I get it!" Blake said. "But we have to prove it isn't the White Fang. Weiss has to be wrong, they wouldn't do something like this."
"Blake..." I said, setting down my macaroni salad. "You can't know for sure. You need to prepare for the possibility that it could be them."
Blake sighed. "I know...it's just hard."
"Whatever happens, we're with you," Sun said, before belching. "Whoops, sorry."
"Come on, we'd better finish eating before going to the docks," Blake said before my scroll rang, the screen showing it was Yang. Sun, Liya, and Blake stared at me as I picked up the phone, answering it. "Hi."
"Where the fuck are you?!" Yang cried through the phone. I could hear the anger and worry in her voice, and I immediately felt my stomach clench in guilt. "We've been searching for you for hours now, and Weiss is about to just go to the police!"
I looked to Blake, who was practically begging me not to tell with her eyes. Sun just looked awkwardly at his plate, and Liya looked sadly at me, giving me the choice to do what I felt was right.
"I...I can't tell you. I made a promise," I said. "B-but, I will have Blake back by tonight, I promise that too."
"No more of that shit! Come back, please!" Yang cried, and I nearly did, just from the raw emotion in her voice. I shut my eyes and let out a shuddering breath, before hanging up on her. The four of us were silent, before Blake spoke up.
"T-thank you. I promise it'll be worth it-" Blake said before I shot a glare at her.
"Do you...have any idea how much it hurts to turn Yang away?" I asked, my voice much shakier than it had any business being. "All for some personal vendetta? Something you have to prove? I had to...it better be worth what you wanna do, because I will not hurt my friends like that again."
Blake looked down, raw shame in her posture as Sun patted her on the shoulder. The restaurant may have been loud, but the rest of lunch between us four was almost as silent as space itself.