RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, of which I am not a part of.
(I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING ANYMORE. SOMEBODY STOP ME. I'M SLIGHTLY EXAGGERATING BUT THE END IS APPROACHING IN A FEW CHAPTERS AND I'M JUST-)
…
…I may need a short break after I finish this story. I have more (shorter) works planned but I really just need to take a step back and take a break for a bit.
Anyway, let us continue.
Volume 3, Chapter 10, 'Battle of Beacon'
"Hello? Blake? You there?"
The blonde's breath was short as she sprinted through the dorm halls, Zwei wrapped under her arm.
"Sorry, Yang. KINDA busy at the moment."
Busy was an understatement. She pulled back her blade from the Griffon in front of her as she stepped back onto the glyph forming behind her, propelling herself above the creature and bisecting it before landing hard and searching for a new target.
Her girlfriend blocked a charge from a Beowulf, pushing it back with a glyph and throwing out her fingers. Without even looking, she twirled her wrist, knocking over a Boarbatusk with her semblance that was charging at the Faunus girl, who shot up with a clone and jumped off yet another summoned platform to gut the creature in the stomach.
Turning her attention back to the beast roaring at her through her shield, Myrtenaster swung upwards and the heiress knocked it back, striking out with diligence as Blake took up her rear and distracted another Griffon sneaking towards the white-haired girl with a fire clone.
The area was swarming with Grimm but the pair cleared out a path, pushing through the ruined tents. Finally, they reached a somewhat secluded tent, Weiss launching out a wall of ice to protect the shrieking civilians from the madness outside.
As a few poor souls retreated further into the shelter, one woman let out a scream as a Beowulf crept out from behind a stack of food crates. The monster was barely able to let out a roar before it put up its hands to protect itself from several pistol shots. A pained howl followed as blasts of fire dust sent it stumbling and it let out one final whimper as Gambol Shroud embedded itself in the beast's skull.
Extracting her cleaver from the dissipating mass, Blake brought the scroll back up to her ear. "Sorry about that, Yang. You heard the speech, right?"
"Yep. It was definitely from that foreign chick who was always skulking around our battle classes." The Faunus girl could hear her partner's tone grow coarse with anger. "She was Mercury's teammate, right? I swear, if I ever get my hands on him again, I'll make sure his legs are the only thing I DON'T break."
Blake closed her eyes and pinched the nose of her bridge. So much was going on right now, it was hard to focus.
"Yang, listen, I'm sorry I-"
"Forget it, Blake. It's not something we should be worrying about right now. Look," There was a short pause. "Are Ruby and Weiss with you right now?"
"Weiss is. I'm pretty sure Ruby's still at the arena, though."
"Alright. Where are you two right now?"
"At the fairgrounds."
"Then meet me at the CCT Tower in a few minutes. The three of us can go look for her. I'd expect that she'd be at the doc-"
Suddenly, a loud noise sent the signal scrambling. Blake's bow flattened against her head, her expression wincing at Zwei's sudden barking on the other side of the line.
"Yang? YANG?! Are you alright?!"
A quick sputtering of coughs made the brunette hold her breath.
"Yeah, I'm good."
The reply, despite the audible rasp, let her exhale. "What was that?"
"I don't know. The side of the building just- SHIT!"
Gunfire broke out, lighting up Blake's nerves as she tried to keep a grip on the scroll, not sure how much longer she could stand panicking.
Weiss, having had time to check their structure's integrity and calm down the terrified civilians, ran up to her girlfriend and grabbed her hand in her own, lifting the other girl's chin and focusing the pair of golden eyes on her own in an effort to calm the Faunus.
Blake's mind only had a second of respite as she heard the blonde's voice again. "Uh, I think some of your old friends want to say hi."
It took a moment for her brain to catch up, but when it did, she squeezed her teammate's hand as hard as she could, her body tensing up and her eyes squeezing shut.
The White Fang.
I just can't get away from my past, can I?
"Blake, you still there?"
Her partner's words brought her back to the present. She bit back tears and shifted her gaze back to the heiress, whose face was wrought with concern. "I'm here, Yang." She managed to choke out.
"Same plan as before. Meet me at the CCT Tower. Be on the lookout for my little sis, just in case, and help out anyone you see along the way. Got it?"
It took a moment for her to find her voice again. "Got it."
"Good. ALRIGHT, YOU BASTARDS! COME GET SOME!" The brawler suddenly roared, her semblance easy to hear in her shouts as Zwei backed her up with a few enthusiastic barks of his own.
The brunette's arm fell to her side, her grip only just keeping the device from falling to the ground. After a few seconds, she brought Weiss's hands up with the one being clasped, kissing the other girl's knuckles.
The heiress, for her part, managed to hold back a sigh of relief. Lovers or not, she couldn't stand to see Blake in so much pain, so if there was anything she could do to calm her, it would definitely help both of them. She stood up on her toes and smacked a small peck on Blake's forehead, smiling at the larger girl before the duo turned back towards the entrance of the shelter.
By the time they arrived at the docks, the area was a scene of an all-out war. Airships were landing all across the opening fields in front of the cliff-side, Faunus in Grimm masks pouring out while Atlesian robotic soldiers were dropping in from the sky.
Blake closed her eyes and gritted her teeth before charging off, throwing her sword's kusarigama out and wrapping it around the closest White Fang member to them, the woman sputtering in confusion as the gun suddenly blasted around her and hooked the ribbon to trap her. A swift kick knocked the girl to the grass and the brunette bolted past with the heiress in tow.
A small group turned from their shoot-out with the androids and aimed at their former comrade, but Blake launched herself upwards, leaving behind a fire clone that blew several men off their feet. Weiss shot off with a glyph under her and swung wide, knocking over several more before parrying another woman with a spear.
A large column of ice strung out through the ranks, Blake sliding down one side while Weiss took the other. The two girls moved so fast that mere seconds later, dozens of their opponents were lying on the field, groaning in confusion as the two carried on undaunted.
Running up to the robotic soldiers, marked with the emblem of her home nation, Weiss let out a smile. It dropped immediately as the machines turned around, their faces lighting up red and aiming their guns at the two.
Blake could only let out a yelp as the entire weight of the small heiress's body crashed into her side, sending them both down as a chunk of ice took the brunt of the shots fired at them. Pushing herself up, she grasped Weiss's hand for a second before peaking up over the ice, ducking again as several more volleys passed over her head.
…
Please get here faster, Yang!
Throwing her hair over her shoulder, glossy strands of cloth ghosting over her face, the heiress swung out again, knocking over several more soldiers with a glyph as Blake sprinted through the converging ranks of Atlesian Knights and White Fang members, cleaving metal legs apart and knocking over anything with an aura in reach. A group of gunners went flying into the air before being pulled back down by a large, blue glyph.
A short shriek escaped Weiss's lips as she felt her feet left the stone path, only to silence herself when she looked up to see Blake's face, sown with concentration. Wrapped in her swinging girlfriend's arms, she allowed a glance back to see the startling image of a massive Paladin, the ground around its fist cracked in the space she'd just been moments ago.
As they dropped back down and separated, ready to pounce back in, a massive explosion sent flaming debris shooting past them. They ducked, their closest opponents sent flying back.
The two looked up at Beacon's cafeteria as it was quickly consumed by an inferno. The howling of the blaze and crackling of embers did little to drown out the horrified screams of citizens inside.
The brunette immediately took a step forward towards the building, only stopping as she felt a dainty hand grasp hers, looking behind herself into blue pools filled with concern.
Their gazes held before Weiss's eyes shut.
It's about standing at the front lines of humanity's struggle for survive. It's about being able to sacrifice everything you love to help others.
Now we have a duty to do; no matter what brought us here, we have a job that goes beyond everything else.
Grabbing Blake's arm with her other hand, she brought their lips together in a light kiss. It only lasted a moment, the white-haired Atlesian pulling back and nodding.
"Go. But… be careful."
The fingers curled around hers squeezed hard. "Of course. Everything will be alright. I promise."
And just like that, the raven-haired girl disappeared, a clone fading as Weiss's arm fell back to her side.
Turning back towards the crowd of staggering soldiers, Myrtenaster's tip struck into the stone tiles below her, smoke and ash swirling around the heiress as she bit back a cry of pain, her muscles tensing as power coursed through her body.
"Gotta think faster than that, Schnee!"
A loud trumpet blast faltered the snow-haired girl's concentration, her gaze lifting to see a shockwave knock down several more terrorists charging at her with swords. She only barely registered the words as aimed towards herself when a hand smacked her shoulder, the girl only seeing a burst of rainbow light before recognizing her saviors.
Flynt stopped next to her, offering her a hand up as the familiar crack of Neon's weapon preceded several cries of shock. Azure eyes swept over the row of immobilized opponents in front of her, each bashing at their now ice-encased feet with their blunt weapons.
The familiar battle-cries of JNPR, SSSN and CFVY passing by sent her blood pumping. Weiss let a confident smile split across her face before running forwards after her companions, back into the fray.
Sliding down loose rubble into the smoke-filled hallway, Blake pivoted her head back and forth, searching for anyone trapped under debris or lying on the ground. With no one in sight, she sprinted quickly down the path, skirting upside-down tables and shattered pillars before reaching the outside of the dining hall.
The Faunus peered through the inner window, narrowing her amber eyes to try and see through the glare of the glass.
And all at once, her blood ran cold.
There, standing in the middle of the cafeteria, where she had shared so many great memories with the friends she'd made over the past year, was the source of far too much of the part of her life that she'd spent entwined in the violent fate of the White Fang.
Adam.
Though he was facing away from her, he looked up, as though he'd heard her thoughts. She pulled back against the wall, only allowing a glimpse to see that nothing of him had changed since she'd last seen him a year ago. His horns, his tinted hair, his mask, the rose on the back of his coat.
His posture made it clear he knew she was there. And who she was. There would be little point in running now.
Despite his threatening presence, he didn't move from his spot. Unfortunately, that meant she had to make the first move or risk getting ambushed when she turned her back.
All those years he'd spent training her. All useless in these circumstances; it was just too predictable to try anything outside of what she'd learned at Beacon.
She should have stayed with Weiss; if putting the Schnee Heiress, HER GIRLFRIEND, in the proximity of the man most likely to skewer her through on the spot meant standing a chance against him, meant having just a few more tricks up her sleeve, she would've gladly taken that risk.
As things were, however, the young Faunus girl would have to do this on her own.
Creeping up to the edge of the entranceway, she shot through and hooked a strike right with the posture of a feint before actually following through with the slash.
A sadly-familiar screech of Gambol Shroud striking Wilt filled the air.
Blake yanked her cleaver back above her head, pulling the sheathed katana straight down and lunging forward again.
All she met was air.
She brought up her sheath to block the kick that slammed into her right, the force rattling her aura. Tumbling, her hands met the ground and she managed to flip and land on her feet, launching to the side to avoid a blast from Adam's shotgun that shattered the stone clone she'd left behind.
Barely three strikes in and she was already starting to sweat.
Pulling back Gambol Shroud's blade into its pistol form, she fired off several rounds as she sprinted around the larger man. Each shot glanced of the red blade he'd brought up, deflecting the bullets almost automatically.
Gritting her teeth, Blake jumped atop one of the intact tables and threw out her bladed pistol, only to find her opponent's previous location vacant.
The telltale sound of Wilt leaving Blush was barely a warning as the structure below her buckled as its supports gave. She flipped into the air, lunging back down with another clone and trying for a direct strike.
Her cleaver scaled down the length of Adam's weapon. A sharp knee to the face once more sent her to the floor.
As she lifted herself onto her elbows, pain shot down her spine as a heel came down hard on her back. The wind left her lungs and the sound that left her throat was somewhere between a choke and a cry.
"So, you went to a huntsman school. Is that what you wanted to become? Another tool for humanity to keep itself intact as it continues to chain us down?" His tone were filled with savage hatred, his wording chosen to inspire doubt and anger, just as she remembered. Blake sucked in a breath, trying to keep her fingers from curling as the pressure on her back increased, Adam's foot swerving back and forth to dig deeper into her skin.
All she had to do was focus. Focus and not let him get to her.
And not pass out from the pain! DAMMIT!
(ALSO, DID I MENTION THAT ADAM IS REALLY HARD TO WRITE FOR? BECAUSE ADAM IS REALLY HARD TO WRITE FOR.)
