Gray Fringes ch 8: An unexpected encounter
Richard woke up peacefully to see a familiar sight next to him snoring lightly. It had been three weeks since Blake had the idea to try to stop the nightmares that had been plaguing and so far it had been working fine. He got up and began to brew some coffee for them and get ready for a big day of training. Today was usually a day set aside for sparring and challenging each other in the arena. As he put on his combat armor the coffee finished with a loud beep and woke Blake.
"Is it already time to get to class?"
"We've got about 35 minutes until class starts." Richard said as he handed her a cup of coffee with two creams and sugar in it. "Today's sparring day and knowing Goodwitch it's going to be a long day."
"We should be fine considering we've never lost a match since the start of the semester. She replied as she took the cup drank slowly.
"That's the point Blake, it's in a bracket style and we're the only two people who are undefeated."
"Oh I forgot about that. That means that today's the final fight for the championship."
"Yep and it's going to be a fight Beacon won't be forgetting any time soon."
"I hope your right. I have to get dressed; I'll see you in class."
As he walked by himself to class Richard suddenly realized that this was going to be the first time he had fought Blake since the fight at the White Fang compound. He had seen her in combat plenty of time and he had fought in front of her just as much but now those strikes will be directed at him and he was expected to counter them and attack with the same ferocity. So much had changed since then but somehow he still found himself in practically the same situation he was in four months before. He arrived at his locker and inspected his weapons for any malfunctions or imperfections. As he loaded his custom clips he thought of how close he'd gotten to Blake and wondered if she was thinking of the same thing right now.
"It's not dangerous and you won't hurt her." He reassured himself and walked into the gymnasium where the fight would take place. He noticed most of the students were sitting and idly talking with each other. Ruby looked to be arguing with Yang until they finally agreed to something and shook hands. Just then Blake walked in and stood at the opposite side of the gym waiting for Goodwitch to start class.
As he stood on his side of the arena he made some final preparations and sheathed his swords with a grim look on his face.
"Are you ok Richard? You look pretty tense for a practice fight in the school gym." Yang asked appearing behind him.
"I'm fine it's just been a while since I've been on the receiving end of that blade."
"Well on the bright side you know she won't kill you if she gets the opportunity only break a leg or something."
"Thanks Yang really assuring you should quit being a huntress and try motivational speaking. You seem to really have a gift."
Just then Goodwitch's voice sounded through the gym.
"As you all are aware this is the final match of our little tournament between Ms. Belledonna and Mr. Lionheart."
Richard got up and unsheathed his swords as the rest of them applauded loudly. Blake stood at the far end of the gym with Gambol Shroud in her hand.
"All right you two know the rules. This is a practice duel. The first person to knock their opponent's aura into the red wins… ready begin."
Blake attacked fist moving in a flurry of motions trying to find any way around Richard's defenses. However Richard had the advantage of having two swords to block and could match each of Blake's moves no matter which direction they came from. He couldn't seem to take the offensive due to Blake's speed so he simply dodged and blocked while waiting for an opening. She fainted right then jumped over his head trying to get behind him which caused Richard's eyes to widen in remembering the time Blake used that exact move to knock out George. In that moment of hesitation Blake turned and struck his back with the flat of her sword sending him flying into a wall and costing him a quarter of his aura.
"Ok Blake that's how we are going to play this." Richard growled as he transformed his left sword into a custom pistol. He closed his blue eyes for two second and opened them to reveal a pair of dull gray eyes and a small gray aura surrounding. He pressed his attack swirling and slashing with his sword and firing his custom air slugs that would fire small pockets of compressed air powerful enough to knock someone off of their feet. The only keeping Blake in the fight was her amazing speed. She would block Richard's sword then jump away from his pistol and attack from a different angle. A normal opponent wouldn't be able survive her first counter but Richard was no ordinary foe. He had the strength of a lion and the reflexes of the fastest big cat. He moved and blocked each counter then returned with his own lightning fast strike. They were a blur of motion moving back and forth through the arena unable to land a concrete blow to each other. After ten minutes of this Blake decided to try to duplicate her earlier success by feigning right then going over him. He had been anticipating this strike however and was ready to counter it. He pretended to take her feint and quickly struck upwards when she went over him causing her to go flying across the room twenty feet. She somehow landed on her feet but lost a good chunk of aura from the initial blow. As she landed she quickly transformed her sword and fired it at Richard hoping to catch him off guard. Richard had been waiting for this opportunity for the entire match and wouldn't let it slip away from him. As it came hurdling at him he quickly turned his body watching it go flying by just inches from his face. In one quick move he sliced his sword upwards cutting the small ribbon holding the sword grabbing the jagged piece of ribbon he pulled a startled Blake right at him. He quickly spin kicked her then fired an air round point blank at her chest causing her to go sailing and her aura to reach level to turn red.
A wild uproar erupted from the crowd as they cheered on the winner. Richard just calmly bent down picked up what was left of Gambol Shroud and extended his hand to Blake.
"Sorry about the sword. I went a little overboard with that."
"It's fine Richard. I should've expected that would happen considering that's not the first time you've used that move on me."
Richard cracked a small grin. "Well I hope it turns out to be the last time and it might be beneficial for you to invest in a sturdier substance for that ribbon."
"Duly noted." Blake said as her classmates swarmed the gym putting Richard on their shoulders and cheering his name. They carried him to a large platform where Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin were waiting with a trophy and medal. As Richard reached the platform Ozpin handed him the trophy of a hunter standing triumphantly over a slain Ursa to Richard while Goodwitch put the medal around his sweaty neck.
"Congratulation young man here you are the annual fall tournament duel award and one last thing, I need to speak with you privately. Be at my office tomorrow at eight."
"Yes sir and thank you for the medal."
Yang was the first one to reach him followed by the rest of the team.
"We have to go out today and celebrate. That was a BATTLE."
"What do you have in mind Yang?"
"I know this great place downtown if you and Blake are up to it."
"I'm fine. Just a little winded but I'll be good in an hour or two. How about you Blake?
"I'm fine too. I'll just need a minute to recover from that. Now if you'll excuse me I need to fix my sword."
"What do you mean Blake? We aren't going to be using our weapons for rest of the day." Ruby asked confused.
"I don't like the idea of not having my weapon at my side. It makes me nervous."
"To each his own I guess. We'll see you later then Blake." Weiss replied.
Richard immediately fell into his bed asleep once he reached his room. He fell asleep for at least two hours in his sleep without even changing out of his combat gear. He woke up to the beeping of his message pad. He looked at the message and suddenly dropped it in surprise. There in bold letters was written by an anonymous number:
Word around town says that there will be a planned attack on Dusk till Dawn tonight. Make sure nothing happens and you will receive the usual amount.
-S
"Can't get one night of fun with my teammates can I Schnee." He thought to himself as he got up and took a quick shower. He sat down on his couch for a second and stared at the ground.
"Am I really going to get back into this life? No I owe it to George to do whatever I can to stop these bastards."
He picked up his message pad and sent the same message to each of his teammates:
"I'll explain later but I need you all to bring your full combat gear and weapons tonight. Just trust me it's important."
He put his gray padded armor and sturdy armor under a comfortable pair of jeans and a plain gray T- shirt and went to meet his friends in front of the school. He walked up to see Weiss, Ruby, Yang and Blake waiting in front of the airship.
"Glad you could make it princess. What took you so long?" Yang joked.
"I was asleep until about fifteen minutes ago. So you have a place in mind Yang."
"Oh yeah, I know this great place on 34th street."
"It's not a club is it because I don't think Ruby can pull off 21?"
"Oh don't worry about that. We have a system for these things."
"Ok but I would not recommend drinking much tonight. I'd prefer we don't drink at all."
"And why would we not. Is this about that whole bringing your gear thing? What is going on here? You're not telling us something important."
"Well I got an anonymous tip from a business associate that there was going to be something big going on tonight?"
"Wait, what? I thought you had given the mercenary deal up man. Why can't we just have fun and let the police handle this mysterious attack?"
"Yang if the police could handle it then I wouldn't be bothering it but that fact of the matter is the police isn't solving anything and the situation isn't getting any better."
Blake was the first one to speak up.
"I think I know another reason for this. These thugs are actually the White Fang and you can't stand the fact that they are still successfully operating."
"I can't get anything by you Blake can I? I'm not forcing you all to fight these terrorist but know this, when the time comes I'll be at that store ready for a fight and it's up to you if you want to help me."
"I for one am not going to miss an opportunity to stall these criminals even if it isn't permanent." Weiss said as she walked over to Richard's side.
"I don't want to see Richard get hurt while I sit around and do nothing. What do you say Yang you up for it? Ruby asked.
"I'm always up for a good fight, especially against guys who did so much harm to my friends." Yang replied.
"Blake earlier I told you that you would have to make a decision regarding the White Fang. I learned the hard way that you can never truly escape your past and the best you can do is refuse to let your past define you. I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to do and I won't think any differently of you but I just want to let you know that this isn't going to be the last time we see the White Fang and sooner or later they are going to be at our doorstep if we don't act."
"Your right Richard I hoped you wouldn't be but I knew you were. I'm ready to do this. I won't let the White Fang rule my life. Now is the time to show them that Vale won't lie down and accept their tyranny."
"That's decided then but Richard when is this going to happen?" Weiss asked curiously.
"I'd say in about ten minutes." Richard replied pointing to a couple of red haired men one in a bright white suit and the other in a black and red suit with a small rose embroidered while wearing a white mask.
"Adam" Blake weakly said.
"Looks like he has that Torchwick guy with him too." Richard said as he put a reassuring hand on Blake's shoulder.
"Time to pay our little friends here a visit and show them that not everyone in Vale is willing to bend knee to their tyranny." Richard growled loading his weapons with the usual heavy knockout slugs.