Adam wasn't a sentimental man. At least, that's what he thought until Blake left. With the one person he truly cared about gone from his life, Adam found that he spent a lot of time reminiscing. Some of his memories were pleasant ones, others not so much. He'd like to forget where things went wrong. He'd like to act as if Blake had never seen him the way she saw him on the day her parents died. He wished he'd been there to save them, and he wished that Blake had never come on that mission and seen what the White Fang had become. He had no idea why. He really didn't. He knew Blake would find out eventually. She couldn't be blinded to the truth forever. She'd been with the White Fang since she was very young, when it was peaceful. Adam joined when it got violent. She knew far more than he did, and could easily see the changes being made. But wishing made people think stupid things, and Adam wished a lot of stupid things these days.
"We're here," the faunus said. Adam cringed. He glared at the burnt ruins of the town that was once Blake's home. Behind him, soldiers poured in, stopping for the night. They set up tents and made fires, traveling on the ground so as to avoid attention from the soldiers guarding the Dust shipment they were going to attack. Adam didn't join them. He made his way to the ruins of a house that used to be bright red and one mere story high. He hated that house, and he hated the ground it stood on. It made him think of things he'd much rather forget. It was one of those memories that would cause him pain, one of the memories he didn't want to have. Even so, he was drawn to the area. Maybe he was just so desperate to cling to Blake's memory, he would endure anything.
"You sure you wanna go on a mission here? Your parents could be seen as distractions," Adam said absentmindedly. Blake sighed.
"Look. I haven't seen them in a while, and I want them to know that things are going fine for me. I haven't died or anything. I'm still their daughter," she told Adam.
"I take it you don't write to them."
"I don't have time."
"I could write to them in your place. How well do you think I could copy your handwriting?" Adam asked. Blake smiled one of her small smiles, the smiles Adam had become so familiar with, and he knew that it meant even more than a full-blown grin.
"I've seen you write. I can hardly read your three-letter words. Good luck trying to copy my writing."
"I can practice. I have tons of free time."
"Right, because you don't have any letters to write yourself."
"Yep. No parents, and no relatives whose guts I don't hate. Well, at least I have a sarcastic friend."
"Yeah, that's me. Sarcastic."
"Wasn't that sarcasm?"
"Sure it was."
"That was sarcasm too."
"You pushed my buttons." Adam and Blake chuckled before walking off to the center of town to get their orders.
"Alright. Squad A, take the front gate. B, evacuate the houses within a mile of A and use them as bases to ambush the soldiers. C, take the back. You'll act as a backup. Adam and Blake, you do whatever the hell you want until we need you. You're our secret weapons and we're gonna need you if things get bad," the head faunus said.
"Why not just use us to wipe out the whole damn army?" Adam asked. Some soldiers murmured their agreements, but most were ready to die for their beliefs.
"Because I'd like to see you try wiping out a small army with just the two of you. Neither or you are that good, together or separate."
"...Fine. I guess we'll keep in touch?" Adam asked, slightly disappointed.
"Yes. Keep your cellphones on." With that, Blake hurried off with Adam following suit. They made their way through building after building until they reached one of the town's smallest houses. Only one story, it made up for its small stature with a flashy appearance. It was completely scarlet. Even the windows were tainted red. The door, however, was black. Blake knocked and sighed nervously. Adam hung back a few feet behind her, stoic and unmoving. The door opened, and Blake threw herself at the woman who stood before her.
"Mom!"
"It's been a while. It looks like you're not as mellow as I've been hearing. Have you been giving your partner trouble?" Blake's mother asked kindly, with a hint of playfulness in her voice that Adam knew she passed down to her daughter. Adam saw that she also passed down her looks. Her eyes were the same yellow color, and her hair was the same shade of black. While Blake's mother had short hair, Adam had no doubt that if her hair should grow, it would look like her daughter's. Her clothes were plain; she wore a white dress and brown loafers, but in a twist, had an eye patch on her left eye. That caught Adam off-guard.
"She's been a peach," he said.
"Really?" Mrs. Belladonna asked.
"A rotten peach," Adam replied. Both mother and daughter chuckled before Blake fixed him with a playful glare. Adam grinned.
"In all seriousness, working with your daughter has been a great experience. She learns fast," he said.
"She does," Mrs. Belladonna agreed.
"Could you stop talking like I'm not even here? I'm not that quiet," Blake said.
"Of course, honey. Anyway, I'm sure your father would love to see you. He's in the dining room," her mother told her. Blake beckoned for Adam to follow, and Mrs. Belladonna led the two through the house. The walls on the inside were a large contrast to the outside of the home. They were startlingly white. Like the outside, however, the rooms were small but stood out. There were books everywhere, and strange models and sculptures sitting on wooden tables. A piano lay in the corner of the living room, the first room they passed to the dining room. In the dining room, a man in a wheelchair was reading a large tome. He wore a black shirt that was too large, had black hair that was lighter than his wife's and daughter's, and wore ratty jeans and had on cracked glasses. He had blue eyes, which were strange to compare to the eyes of his family.
"Blake...I'm so glad you're back," he said. Blake ran to her father and embraced him.
"Dad! ...Hey, are you still reading that?" She asked.
"I am," was the reply.
"You were reading that when I last visited. How long does it take you to finish a book?"
"I don't have your memory. I have to let a book linger before finishing it," Mr. Belladonna told his daughter. He then looked at Adam and smiled warmly.
"So you're the man who's been training Blake. If we weren't inside, I'd ask for a demonstration," he said. Adam saw the same kindness in him that his wife possessed, but he seemed to lack his family's playful, joking manner. Instead, he spoke with honesty and kindness, not caring what his voice betrayed.
"If you have any furniture you need doing away with, we could give you a demonstration inside," Adam said. Mr. Belladonna laughed.
"My wife's sculptures are awfully spacious."
"No less than your books. You've finished all of them, you know. I still work with my models."
"A scholar doesn't destroy his collection." Both husband and wife laughed, and Blake smiled, glad to see her family. They hadn't changed a bit.
"If you want a reunion with just the three of you, I understand," Adam said gruffly. He liked Blake's parents, but still wanted to leave nonetheless. He wasn't sure why, he just felt like he was intruding. He wasn't sure he felt at ease with people like them, people with genuine kindness. Adam could act, but he wasn't really sure what the real thing felt like. At least, not unless he was with Blake. He had the same feeling about her parents, and, like his first meeting with Blake, it made him feel uncomfortable. He felt like an uninvited guest.
"Not at all! We want to know what kind of man is looking after our daughter. We can't have some lowlife teaching our precious little girl," Mrs. Belladonna teased.
"Like I need this guy to teach me anything," Blake said jokingly.
"I might need to teach you some manners," Adam replied, not wanting to say anything too genuine. He felt more comfortable with jokes.
"That's rich, coming from you."
"It's...I mean, I can't believe how little you've changed. Everything's just like I remember it...well, mom made some new sculptures, but aside from that...it's all the same," Blake said. The four all sat in the living room, having brushed all the books from the couch and chairs. Adam took a chair, Blake and her mother sat on the couch. Blake's father had his wheelchair.
"You haven't changed much either. At least, personality-wise. You look different, and you even act different. More controlled, I'd have to say. It looks like Adam helped with more than just your sword skills," Mr. Belladonna said.
"I guess I am more aware of myself, yeah."
"And you're taken to wearing a bow over your ears," Mrs. Belladonna told her daughter.
"...I'm not proud of that. I don't want to hide who I am," Blake said. Her mother put a hand on her shoulder.
"We know. You're not ashamed, and you shouldn't be. All faunus should be proud of who they are...unfortunately, not all of us see it that way."
"I just need it for missions. That's all. Like if I'm going incognito."
"That's smart. I don't support it, but if you're going to fight, you might as well pull out all the stops to keep yourself alive," Mr. Belladonna said. He and his wife knew that full well.
"You sound like you know from experience. Have you two fought in wars?" Adam asked. Blake had encouraged him to get to know her parents, and he didn't see any other option for him but to ask personal questions, as the conversation was moving away from jokes.
"Yes, we have. It's why my husband lost the use of his legs and why I'm missing an eye. I used to tell Blake I was a pirate who sailed the seven seas. She believed it until a few years ago," Mrs. Belladonna told Adam. Blake sighed.
"I was young and impressionable," she said.
"Anyway, we fought against local soldiers who were oppressing the fauna of this town. We helped liberate it, but at a price. It's funny how we take our legs for granted," Mr. Belladonna expanded. Adam was impressed. Blake's parents seemed very forthcoming about their injuries, not embarrassed by or sensitive to the topic. They really weren't ashamed of who they were or who they'd become. Blake was the same. So was Adam.
"Wow. Impressive. Did Blake get her dual sword style from one of you?" Adam asked.
"I inspired her to do that. My wife fought with a gun," Mr. Belladonna answered.
"She took some inspiration from me as well. Don't take all the credit," Mrs. Belladonna teased.
"You can both say you made me who I am, literally and figuratively, okay?" Blake told them, chuckling.
"And what about me?" Adam asked playfully.
"For you, let's just stick to the figurative sense," Blake responded. At this, everyone laughed. Adam felt himself grow more at ease. The Belladonna family was very charming, and he found himself, just a little bit, wanting them to like him. However, it wouldn't last. Adam's phone rang, and he knew he had work to do. He and Blake had been talking longer than they thought.
"We have to go," Adam said stoically, waving before exiting the house. Blake got up, but her mother stopped her.
"Blake, wait. Are you sure you want to do this? Do you really want to fight?" She asked.
"Yes. Yes I do. Peace hasn't solved anything. I know that now. What we have to do is really make a difference. Force is how the White Fang can accomplish that." Blake's father sighed.
"Very well. We admire your determination and conviction, but please...take what we say seriously. We've seen battle, and if doesn't solve problems, at least not the way the White Fang thinks it does. You can't fight fire with fire." Blake listened to her parent's pleas and walked away.
"I appreciate your concern, but I need to do this. Adam and the White Fang are counting on me. Mom, dad...I'm glad you respect my decision. Bye. I love you."
"We love you too." Blake hugged her parents and ran to the door just as Adam came in to tell her to hurry up. He ran off, and Blake followed. Looking back, Adam would wonder what Blake and her parents were talking about. He would never ask her.
The screams of death permeated the air just as much as its stench. Bodies lay on the ground, both human and faunus alike. However, it was clear who had the upper hand. The humans had superior weaponry, and even with the carefully planned strategies of the faunus, their enemies had the sheer power to overcome them. However, Adam and Blake weren't called secret weapons for nothing. But, when the two came out to face their human adversaries, they were met with jeers.
"They send a kid and some guy with a mask? Just when I thought these animals couldn't get any dumber," a soldier said. Adam held Blake back from jumping him on the spot. She clenched her teeth.
"Baring your fangs, huh? Like it even matters. Why don't you run away before you join the rest of the filth in their graves? Not that we'd take the trouble to bury your kind or anything," the same soldier said. Adam sighed and let Blake go. He knew that holding her back any longer would torture her.
"Still so impulsive..." He muttered, watching as Blake's foot collided with the soldier's head. He flew into his comrades, and those that weren't knocked out found themselves at Blake's mercy. They tried swarming her, but she moved with such speed that she created after images of herself, and they had no idea which image was a reality. Blake then took care of them, winding in and out of the soldiers, using the hand-to-hand combat skills Adam had taught her. She flipped, kicked, punched, and threw any soldier she could get her hands on. Adam, on the other hand, walked away, admiring his pupil's handiwork.
"Can you handle things here?" Adam asked. Blake, who was in the process of repeatedly punching the man who had insulted faunus in the face, turned to face her mentor.
"Sure. Where are you going?"
"To find a challenge."
Adam walked past countless unconscious bodies as Blake dashed around the soldiers who still stood. She flitted around the battlefield like an elusive shadow, striking fear into the hearts of the soldiers who knew they were her next target. She took the 'from shadows' motto the White Fang used to heart. Adam was less subtle. He approached a large group of robots who looked at him with empty eye sockets carved into empty black shells. Adam was glad to have found something he could use his sword on.
"Target identified as a faunus. Begin commencing extermination protocol," the head robot said.
"With pleasure," Adam snarled. He readied his sheathe, and Wilt shot from Blush with alarming speed. The robot, who was roughly the size of a large human, flew backwards into the air from the force of the impact. Adam was already upon him, grabbing his sword backhand and ripping it through the robot's metal skin, arcing his blade downward in a dramatic flourish. Two halves of the same robot fell in front of him. Three more robots charged, their hands turning into blades and their shoulders turning into turrets that fired rapidly at their target. Adam twirled Wilt and blocked the bullets, waiting for the robots to get close. When one set its foot within dashing range, Adam acted almost instantly. He brought his blade around his body and decapitated the robot, and then turned around and whipped his sword horizontally across another robot's chest. The slash didn't even slightly divert from its path, going in a perfectly straight line. Adam let his sword arm flow freely, using it as an extension of his blade, and the blade as an extension of his body. For the final robot of the three, Adam simply turned Blush around, now in gun form, and fired it. The robot was reduced to scrap metal. Not even half a second had passed, and three robots lay broken at Adam's feet. The rest, unburdened by fear, charged the wild red-haired soldier, who grinned ever so slightly before sheathing Wilt into Blush. However, as soon as the tip of his sword touched the bottom of his sheathe, Adam ripped the blade out again, his arm seeming to barely move, if it even seemed to move at all. His strikes transcended spacial restrictions and hit from a ways away. Metal heads flew into midair, some even knocking robots behind them in their heads and causing them to fall to the ground in a clumsy mess. However, most of the robots were as coordinated and sleek as the three before them, and Adam ran into the middle of the metal onslaught. He cut straight across one robot's neck, his momentum carrying him so that his sword cut through the necks of four other robots as well. Adam then stopped himself and turned, ripping his blade upward in a curved strike mimicking the rising of a bird's wing. A robot was cut completely in half. He then cut furiously in a diagonal pattern, stepping forward as he massacred the robots in his path. As he ripped apart the enemies in front of him, he dodged strikes from those behind, planning on saving them for later. However, he didn't have to.
"Miss me?!" Blake shouted over the sounds of metal cutting through metal, slicing her two swords in curved arcs, letting their momentum carry her forward as she brought them around her body, twirling and dashing forward with intense, graceful movements. The robots behind Adam were all but finished, and he was done with his batch just as Blake ended hers.
"Move back. See if any ran past us in the midst of the fight. Also, don't take my kills," Adam said seriously, although the last part had more of a laid-back feel.
"I can't make any promises," Blake teased. She nodded in response to Adam's first order and dashed off to find any soldiers or robots who had gotten past.
It was at this point of his reminiscing that Adam had to take a break. What happened next wasn't pleasant, and he needed to set up his tent besides.
"Here he goes, the lone wolf. Ever get tired of moping all day? Get over her, there are plenty of other fish in the sea," a soldier mocked as he walked past. Adam wouldn't take such vulgarity kindly. He turned to face the soldier and smiled.
"Blake's underage. What are you implying?" He asked. The soldier turned pale.
"N-Nothing!"
"I think you were implying something. And I don't like it."
"I-I'm sorry!"
"No you're not. But you will be if I catch you talking about Blake that way ever again." Adam didn't even look back as he walked off, still grinning. He loved freaking out the other soldiers, scared of him as they were. His reputation had perks. However, it wasn't just amusement that spurred Adam to toy with that particular soldier. It was rage. Adam felt a fire burning in his head. A bright, angry flame. That soldier had no idea what Blake meant to him. No one did, and no one ever would. They'd never understand. At least, that's what the fire seemed to imply. Adam shook it off, not caring for such melodrama. He was a far more cynical man than that. He ran his hand through his hair, lingering a second longer than normal. He didn't like what his mind was doing to him. Ever since Blake left, he noticed it. He noticed the feeling that not all of his thoughts were his, and what's more, they were thoughts he was perfectly fine with.
Adam lay on his cot, his small tent covering him from the rain that had only just started to pour. Lulled to sleep by the patter of the water on his tent sheet, he had no trouble dozing off. However, he soon wished he could wake up as easily as he fell asleep. Maybe it was something psychological, like his subconscious mind wasn't done with his memory of Blake yet, but he found himself dreaming of the day when, in retrospect, everything changed.
The fire rose high into the sky, smoke drifting even higher above that. The instant Adam saw it, he knew where it was coming from. Blake's house, and consequently, her parents, were in that area. Adam ran in the direction of the blaze, fear gripping his heart, but it wasn't fear for Blake's parents. It was fear for Blake herself. He ran, jumping through any houses in his way, too focus to go around them. He soon found his partner, who was in the process of running through the burning house. The door lay on the ground, and Adam crushed it in his efforts to get to Blake.
"Come back here!" He roared.
"My parents are in there! They could die!" Was the reply.
"And so could you!" Adam tried grabbing Blake by her shirt, but she ducked under his hurried grab and ran to the dining room. Seconds later, when Adam found her, Blake was blinking back tears. Standing at the entrance, she saw that her father's head had been crushed by a plank that had fallen from the ceiling. His hair was matted with blood, and it was clear that his head was dented. More blood poured onto the table from his head.
"Dad...dad...what is this? Dad!" Blake ran to him, ignoring the embers of the fire that got onto her clothes and rapidly spread. Adam lunged at Blake and pulled her back, patting out the fire on her clothes. Her skin was slightly burnt, but the pain meant little compared to the emptiness in her heart.
"Dad! Dad! Adam, let me go!" She screamed. Times like these made Adam wish that Blake was better at controlling her emotions. It was easy to rile her up, make her do something crazy.
"He's dead!" Adam screamed back. Blake ignored him, as someone appeared who was far more deserving of her attention than Adam.
"Mom! Mom! Get out of here!" She shouted.
"And you do the same!"
"Not without you!" Mrs. Belladonna was silently crying, both at her husband's death and her daughter's stubbornness.
"I need to get something! I promise, I'll make it out. Adam, take Blake and run-" Blake's mother was cut off as an entire section of the roof collapsed on top of her. Blake didn't even scream regular words. She just screamed. Her voice was ear-splitting, but Adam knew she needed to let it out. However, she didn't need to elbow Adam in the side and run towards her mother's hand, still stuck out of the rubble.
"Blake!" Adam roared, and stepped under a falling wall to get to her. She cradled her mother's hand and reached to grab her father's, as he had been buried as well. However, more of his body was showing. She didn't have long to hold her parents, as Adam snatched her up and hurled her through a wall and out of the house. He heard her coughing, screaming, and crying in the distance as she ran back to the wall. Adam jumped out and held her back, lifting her into the air again and carrying her, over his shoulder, far away from the house as it was destroyed by the flames. Adam hacked and wheezed, using his free hand to pound into his chest in an effort to elicit a more furious cough out of him. He tried desperately to ignore Blake. Her noises tore at his heart. She cried, and he could feel tears drip down his back. Her sobs mixed with her furious screams, which eventually turned into curses at Adam. He grunted as her fists collided with his back. Mixed in with her screams and sobs were furious coughs, often interrupting her cursing and forcing her to stop hitting Adam. Her furious coughing was almost too much for her. She began to drool, unable to control her body due to the sheer amount of concentration she was putting on cursing, screaming, crying and trying to hold back her coughs all at the same time. Looking back, Adam would cringe every time he remembered her suffering. Hearing those noises was the closest he'd ever come to being made to cry. At least, it was until Blake left.
Blake leaned against one of the few houses that remained standing. The White Fang had sorely underestimated the sheer amount of soldiers that would be attacking, and nearly every faunus who had been fighting was slain. The humans were burning houses, but not before looting them and abducting any women, and sometimes men, that they could find, leaving or killing the children. It was a macabre show, a display of human misery and hatred and greed and lust and sadism. Adam sat next to Blake, who had now moved past screaming and was simply sitting there in shock, absolutely motionless. She was mute to the cries of the faunus. Her own personal tragedy had consumed her. Adam, while he could hear the cries, did nothing. Blake was far more important. He wasn't sure what to do with her, however. Surprisingly, out of awkwardness and desperation to console her, he draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. Even more surprisingly, Blake allowed him to do so, and what's more, returned his hug of sorts, moving her arm around his waist.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you. It wasn't your fault," she said softly.
"Don't apologize. Don't ever apologize. You have every right to be mad," Adam told her.
"...I'm not mad," she replied. Adam curled his mouth into a strange snarl, surprised and confused.
"Why not?"
"Being mad won't bring them back. Nothing will. Nothing..." Blake tried to say more, but fell back into sobs. She hadn't quite cried her fill yet. Adam held her closer and sighed.
"Damn..." He muttered to himself. Up above him was a ship deploying more soldiers, right on Adam and Blake's position.
"Surrender now, freaks, and we won't give you to the raiding party!" A woman shouted fiercely, holding a gun in her hands that pointed directly at Adam's head.
"Leave," was Adam's simple reply. The woman looked at Blake.
"Why? You want to protect this brat here? She looks like she'd be better off dead."
"I said leave."
"And I asked why." Adam stood up, gently resting Blake's head on the ground. She looked around her, but only had the strength to push herself into a sitting position.
"Adam..." She muttered.
"Don't move," he said. His hand was on his sword, but he knew he was dead. The ship had amazing firepower, so while he could defeat the ground units with ease, he'd be blown to smithereens before he even had a chance to look up. And so would Blake. He couldn't do anything, no matter how tough he tried to seem. Blake didn't have the will to fight, and Adam didn't have the way.
"If you're too stupid to give me an answer, I guess you've lost your chance for input. Screw surrender, we're killing the girl, but only main the guy. I want him for myself!" The woman shouted. The rest of the soldiers cheered, and Adam's grip on his sword tightened. And at that instant, when everything he knew was about to end, he saw something. He saw red.
Adam's mask began to glow with an eerie red light. His body radiated scarlet energy, energy that whipped and whirled around him, turning into a energy maelstrom. It rose to the sky and pierced through the ship. An explosion lit up the sky, and Blake managed to stand in her shock. She said nothing. She couldn't form any words. She'd been through too much.
"You know why I won't surrender? You know why I'm going to fight?!" Adam shouted, his scowl from before turning into a grin.
"Because I want you to die. I want you all to die slowly and painfully and all the while begging for my mercy! And you know what I'll say?!" He asked again. The soldiers were too scared to answer.
"I'll say no. I'll look into your eyes and say no, over and over and over, as I rip you apart! Eyahahahahahaha!" Adam felt the words leave his mouth, he felt them tear themselves from a long dormant part of his mind and strike the air. But he didn't feel himself try to say them. He didn't feel anything. He felt like someone else was feeling for him and telling him how everything was, what was going on. He didn't feel right. He felt trapped. His grin wasn't his. His fury wasn't his. But his power was his, and so were the black spots in his head. He felt like he was slipping, like he was losing his grip on his mind. He was falling into shadow. He felt his body move and he reached for his sword as the energy began to spread, turning the whole world red. Silhouettes were all he saw before him, meaningless black specks that he would destroy. At least, that's what he was being told to feel. He arched his back and let loose another horrible laugh before cutting space itself, ripping a slash of pure energy through the red. Black energy, jagged and active, ripped across everything. It crawled rapidly across the red, furiously across the silhouettes. The jagged energy writhed with glee. And then it faded. The black turned to red, the silhouettes turned to corpses, and the red turned to rose petals, flying across the sky. Adam fell to his knees, grinning so hard that his face hurt.
"Eyahahahahahaha! Eyahahahahahaha! EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed. Feeling began to return to him. He started to feel free, liberated, alive. His fury was real, his grin was real. He was in control, and he liked it. However, it all faded just as quickly as it had come.
"Adam!" Blake shouted, waking him up. He ceased to laugh and fought to turn his grin into a scowl as he turned around.
"Blake...I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be. Just...please don't do that again. I can't lose another loved one today," she said, embracing him. As she hugged him, Adam began to feel like himself again. The insanity and rage he had previously felt were gone. He was Adam, and Blake had saved him from himself. What part of himself, he had no idea.
It had been a week since the invasion of the small town, a week since Blake's parents had died, a week since Adam had found his inner demons. The two hadn't gone on any missions, and Blake spent most of her days reminiscing about her parents, telling anyone who would listen, mostly Adam, about how great they were and what kind of things they did. She cried every time. However, there was one day when she stopped. There was one day when she stopped crying, one day when she decided that it was time to move on. It was abrupt, too abrupt for Adam's liking. He asked her what was wrong. The answer was surprising.
"My parents sent me letters that the White Fang kept from me because they were too...different from what the White Fang believed...and still believes today. I read them, and it felt like I was talking to them again, saying the goodbye I never got to say. Those letters taught me a lot."
"Like what?" Adam asked dubiously.
"...I don't know yet. I just know that I feel changed. Different. Stronger, even. But I do know one thing I learned about myself."
"And what's that?" Adam asked. Blake looked up proudly, smiling at Adam with warmth.
"That I'd rather be loved than feared. I think that's what my parents wanted for me, too," she said. Adam looked interested. He didn't know where this was going, but he kind of wanted to find out.
"And what does that have to do with, well, anything?" He asked.
"What do you think the White Fang used to believe? What do you think they used to stand for before all this...violence?" She asked in response.
"Uh..." Adam paused, not sure how to answer.
"...I guess peace?"
"You're right, but that's not the answer I was looking for. I was looking for kindness. They used to believe in kindness," Blake said passionately.
"The violence the White Fang has resorted to is working. Humans are treated faunus with more respect. Why do you think that is?" She asked Adam, who shrugged.
"No idea."
"Because they're afraid. Because they're oppressed and beaten and killed, just like the faunus. As my parents told me, you can't fight fire with fire. You'll only empower the flames." Blake walked away mysteriously, waving to Adam as she left.
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked. What she said distressed him. He didn't care what she thought of the White Fang, but all the talk about fear made him think of how she felt when he went crazy back at the town. Maybe he taught her the consequences of respect through fear, and maybe she was never going to look at him the same. However, his fears were put to rest. Blake looked back and smiled, her eyes piercing his just as they did before.
"On a solo mission. I want to try it out before going back to work with you. After all, I have to redeem myself for how helpless I was back at the town," she said. Adam grinned back, and waved. He thought nothing had changed, even if she didn't care as much for the White Fang. He thought she'd worked past her sadness. She had, but that was exactly why things were changing. Looking back, he'd know it.
NOW THAT WAS A LONG CHAPTER. AT LEAST, LONGER THAN USUAL FOR THIS STORY. I HAD A LOT OF IDEAS AND I WANTED TO GET THEM ALL COVERED IN ONE FELL SCOOP, ESPECIALLY AFTER WATCHING EPISODE 16 OF RWBY. I STATED BEFORE THAT WEISS IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. THAT STILL STANDS, BUT AFTER WATCHING EPISODE 16, SHE NOW SHARES THAT SPOT WITH BLAKE. LISTENING TO BLAKE TALK ABOUT THE WHITE FANG REALLY GAVE ME INSIGHT INTO JUST HOW WISE SHE REALLY IS. SHE'S NOT NAIVE. SHE KNOWS THAT THE WHITE FANG'S VIOLENCE IS ACHIEVING THEIR GOALS. BUT FOR ALL HER REALISM, SHE'S STILL IDEALISTIC. SHE'S STILL THE SAME KID WHO WENT TO ALL THE PROTESTS (AND LOOKED ADORABLE WHILE DOING IT; BLAKE WAS A REALLY CUTE KID!), AND SHE KNOWS THAT THE FAUNUS SHOULD EARN EQUALITY NOT THROUGH FEAR, BUT THROUGH GENUINE RESPECT AND LOVE. I ALSO LIKED SEEING THE IMPULSIVE SIDE OF HER. FOR ALL HER BADASSERY AND WISDOM, SHE'S STILL GROWING AND HAS THINGS TO LEARN. MY ONLY COMPLAINT ABOUT EPISODE 16: NO ADAM! WHY, WHY WHY DID ADAM NOT SHOW UP?! I KNOW THAT THE EPISODE WENT SWIMMINGLY WITHOUT HIM, BUT I DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR WHO KNOWS HOW MANY WEEKS (I HEARD THERE'D BE A TWO WEEK HIATUS, BUT I CAN'T SAY THAT FOR CERTAIN) FOR THE SECOND PART OF SEASON ONE TO START UP SO THAT I CAN SEE ADAM! WHERE ARE YOU, MOST BADASS MALE CHARACTER IN RWBY?!
ANYWAY, NOW ABOUT THE STORY: I DON'T WANT TO SOUND ARROGANT OR ANYTHING, BUT I REALLY LIKE WHAT I WROTE. MAYBE, LOOKING BACK, I'LL FIND SOME FLAWS, BUT FOR NOW I THINK I'VE WRITTEN THE BEST I COULD WRITE FOR THIS INTENSE CHAPTER. FIGHT SCENES ARE SMOOTH AND FLOW WELL, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS WELL-DONE, AND ADAM GOES BATSHIT INSANE. ALL THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD STORY! WHILE I DIDN'T LIKE MAKING BLAKE HELPLESS, BUT I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD HAVE MUCH OF A FIGHTING SPIRIT IF THEIR PARENTS DIED VIOLENTLY BEFORE THEIR EYES. OF COURSE, THERE ARE THOSE WHO WILL LIKELY DISAGREE WITH MY OPINION OF MY WORK, AND I'D BE INTERESTED TO KNOW WHY, IF ANYONE FEELS SO INCLINED TO TELL ME. I CAN ALWAYS USE MORE ADVICE SO I CAN IMPROVE MY SKILLS!
AND FOR MY FINAL NOTE, ROMAN TORCHWICK. WHILE HE'S NOT A BIG PLAYER IN THIS STORY, I JUST WANT TO APPRECIATE HOW AWESOME HE IS. PSYCHOTIC, EXPENSIVE TASTES, FUNNY, WITTY, GREAT AT SCHEMING, AND ON TOP OF THAT, HE CAN FIGHT! AND HE TOOK ON TWO BADASS OPPONENTS, NO LESS. IF I COULD BE ANY CRIMINAL, I THINK I'D BE ROMAN TORCHWICK.