This should've been up a week ago, but thanks to Red Red Kroovy I've been too afraid to even boot up my laptop (Shell-shock from Reviews I guess) I won't apologize for that fic, nor anything else I wrote, I don't do this to please anyone. I just want to use my voice for the good of RWBY and everything it's given me.
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Bálor to me
For Blake Belladonna the subject that was Bálor Moonlight was still something of a raw nerve that had yet to heal.
She had been one of the few people to not share her team's seemingly instant magnetic attraction to the wolf Faunus and had spent her time trying to figure out just what it was that attracted a free spirited woman like her partner Yang to a seemingly incompetent ass like Bálor. "It just doesn't make sense, she's never been the type to attach herself to one man, yet he seems to tame her like a breeder breaking in a mare" The feline would sigh and look around at the now empty dorm room, her once unbreakable team was now very much fragmented as each of the girls were dealing with the fallout from a very public suicide attempt.
"There has to be something behind it all, there's no way Yang would fall head over heels for a lunatic like him!" Blake would nod in determination as she got up from her seat and left her dorm room, heading down the hall to his room, the answers would definitely be found there.
What she didn't expect to find upon her arrival to Bálor's dorm was Professor Ozpin, who was quietly examining the photos that lined the young man's mirror. Blake would hide herself outside the doorway while trying to figure how she would make her way past the veteran Huntsman.
"You don't need to hide Miss Belladonna." Ozpin would sigh as he examined a picture of the wolf with his Bullet Club gear on and a smiling Ruby Rose with her arms around his waist, it warmed his heart to see the once solitary young man at peace. "I suppose you're also here for answers to the madness that currently grips our academy at the moment." The raven haired Faunus would spare herself a brief eye roll before entering the lair of her supposed enemy.
"The answer's fairly obvious here Professor, nothing's been right since you let your little dog outta his cage in Vacuo without any sort of leash." She would sigh as she found a framed photo of Yang hugging Bálor tightly to her well-endowed figure even though the silver-haired Faunus's cheeks had gone beet red during the act. "I just don't understand what there is to be so enamored about him." Blake tried to think back on her own experiences with the amber-eyed Faunus, although that would prove difficult due to the holes in her memory courtesy of the Vacuan Brain Moth that had been feeding off of her for a good portion of her tenure.
Exactly how it attached itself to her also remained a mystery to be solved.
Ozpin would merely nod in silence as he observed the feline's inquisitive search, he could tell that her body was tensed up in anticipation and was agitated due to whatever questions were weighing upon her mind. "You do realize that the two of you, despite your rather open contention for one another are cut from vastly similar cloths: Both of you are Faunus having to deal with the pressures of narrow minded individuals as well as your own inner struggles, both of you have been trained outside the usual combat academies and yet..you've both performed exceptionally upon your entry here, even excelling during the initiation test." Blake would scowl upon hearing the headmaster's words, not for one second did she believe that the silver-haired psychopath shared anything in common with someone like herself. "Oh really, because I don't remember seeing him on the initiation field once! Yet he comes in here, is allowed free reign to do whatever he damn well pleases and you shield him from whatever consequences he rightfully has coming!" She would continue to search through the young man's belongings with even more fervor than before, this time moving on to his closet even as Ozpin watched on in silence. "We're nothing alike. Unlike your precious demon I know how to show restraint in the face of bigots like Cardin Winchester, I don't just go flying off the handle and attacking people just because they piss me off!" By this point the raven-haired Huntress had tossed aside the various shirts and hoodies that hung above his closet and was now searching the innards of the structure, stopping once she saw a rusted metal locker bearing his personal symbol: The chibi-fied wolf howling at the moon, she had come to despise that symbol due to the copious amounts of letters and love poems that the wolf had shoved under the door of RWBY's dorm on more than one occasion. "I thought that voice message made things pretty clear, but I guess if anyone can set him straight then it's Ruby." Blake had turned over every last scrap of paper that bared the amber-eyed young man's symbol to her leader in the hopes that upon seeing the mushy poetry within the crimsonette would join their more-or-less unified apathy towards the newcomer. "Professor, what do you make of this?" The feline was nosily dragging the metal footlocker from its resting place at the back of his closet and into the light of day, Ozpin slowly making his way over to inspect the locker himself even as the Faunus was already prying it open. "It appears to be a military footlocker for housing a soldier's possessions, Miss Belladonna I think we should tread lightly-" The veteran Huntsman would sigh as the feline had pried the door off of the rusted footlocker with a satisfied smirk before reaching in and retrieving a worn out leather jacket with a tattered insignia on the shoulder. Ozpin would examine it carefully, recognizing the symbol Vacuan military but nothing else beyond that as he dug in through the footlocker quietly. Blake however would stare at that charging wolf symbol in a state of shock, her yellow eyes widening as her mind flashed back to her days in the White Fang.
It was just supposed to be another snatch and grab from a local Schnee Dust Company warehouse, Adam Taurus, herself, and a handful of fresh eyed hopefuls new to the cause had planned to overwhelm the regular warehouse night guards and dispose of the Dust shipments there while pilfering supplies for themselves.
However, the security team that awaited them weren't exactly the average overweight and underpaid security goons, nor were they the usual Atleasian security robot force. Standing before the members of the White Fang were a single group of individuals hellbent on stopping their progress before they had even broken through the door, they all wore the same leather jacket with the charging wolf insignia, the same brown camouflage pants, and with the exception of one very bored looking brunette the same stoic look on their faces. It was the type of look that screamed 'we've done this before; you don't stand a chance against us.' The cadets were clearly at a loss as a woman with fire red hair stepped forward and appraised the group in silence, stopping to raise her hand. Adam would instinctively unsheathe his sword and go charging in, but before he could strike her the woman would snap her fingers as a shot rang out, cutting down a cadet before she could even register what was happening while the bored brunette from before would kick a startled Adam back a few feet with a cocky smirk before settling back on the bored look from before.
"So, this is the White Fang that has Gideon Schnee shitting his pants like a helpless child..I expected more from you people." The redhead would signal for the bored brunette and the silver-maned youth behind her to step forward, the brunette would sigh but ready his fists as metal began to coat his arms and legs as the lethargic expression was replaced with a venomous sneer while the silver-maned young man stared at Blake apologetically as eight crystalline swords floated from the rotating scabbard behind him.
"Boss, do we really have to hurt these people?" He would ask this while keeping his gaze solely on the feline in front of him, if it weren't for the fact that one of his group had already killed one of the rookies Blake might have actually felt pity for him. "Aww c'mon, not this again!" This time the brunette with the metal coated limbs would pipe up with a thickly accented grumble of annoyance at his comrade. "You've already got a pretty kitty sitting up in the rafters, or are you already bored with Asada?" Blushing furiously, the soldier with the levitating swords would growl in protest. "N-No! Strawberry's my partner, I'd sooner lose an eye and a hand before even considering replacing her!" The pair would be so caught up in their argument that both failed to notice Adam signaling for the cadets to go around back as he nodded to Blake, who was already unsheathing her Gambol Shroud and waiting for the signal from her partner to counter attack. He barely even had to look back at her before giving a nod in affirmation as the two of them charged forward in a furious ballet of sword strikes, their opponents would shield themselves with blade and metallic limb respectively in a startling turnaround of defense.
"Just as I taught you boys, you do make me so proud." She would say this with a dry tone even as shots rang out from the rafters above them, cadets dropping like flies under their sniper's steady gaze. "Honestly, I don't see why we even agreed to do this. Gideon horrifically underestimated this bunch of louts." Their leader would proceed to quickly subdue and then snap the neck of an incoming deer Faunus before viciously ripping out the young man's antlers with a satisfied purr of pleasure.
"What ARE you people?!" Blake would cry out as she used a clone to dodge a flurry of blade strikes from the silver-haired Faunus in front of her, countering with a flurry of strikes from Gambol Shroud before the remaining blades could compensate for the hole in his defense. "You're murdering innocent Faunus and for what, because somebody ordered you to?" The wolf would step back even as sniper fire rained down upon Blake, unlike the previous rounds fired earlier these were frantic and unrestrained. It was as if the shooter were verbally trying to force the feline Faunus away from her opponent at all costs, this theory was confirmed when the silver maned young man gave a thumbs up to the rafters before summoning his weapons to surround him again. "That must be your partner up there isn't it?" The wolf would nod with a confident smile as a ruby red colored blade settled in his hands. "Strawberry's very protective of me, like any big sister would be." His smile would fade as he charged in to attack, stopping as Blake used her speed to get behind him only to be met with a pair of blades blocking her path. "I'm not stupid you know, those fancy clones aren't going to work on me little kitty-" His banter would be cut short as a bullet whizzed by his ear, earning a yelp of surprise from the wolf Faunus. "Alright sis! I'll stop flirting..sheesh." Blake would flush in embarrassment before parrying a blow from her clearly agitated foe, this wasn't the first time a fellow Faunus would make a pass at her but those were usually lobbed outside of combat situations. The two of them would clash once again as the lines between memory and reality blurred, the flirty young wolf from before was now gone and in his place stood her hated enemy. Only now she could see the resemblance between Bálor and the young man from back then, no cocky smirks, no Bullet Club bullshit. Just a silver haired wolf looking for a place to call home. " You..it was you back then!" The feline would look around in shock at the carnage around her, gone were Adam, as well as the rest of the wolf's cronies. It was just the two of them, an abandoned warehouse, and the rotted bodies of those she once called comrades. "You killed them all!" Blake lashed out with the frenzied fury of hatred, wanting nothing more than to end this nightmare she found herself in, but this Bálor was smarter, more reckless, catching the blade with relative ease even as his hands began to bleed. "That's really what you want to believe isn't it kitten, that I'm some plague designed to make all your lives miserable right?!" The amber-eyed Faunus would growl as his Semblance made itself known, feeling herself being forced to her knees by the young man's telekinetic ability. "If you really believe me to be some sort of demon then vanquish me already goddammit!"
Blake would gasp as she felt herself being pulled back into reality as she felt the headmaster's hand upon her shoulder as he looked upon his student with concern etched upon his face. "Are you alright Miss Belladonna?" He would frown upon noticing her white knuckled grip upon the leather jacket and the fact she was now trembling rather aggressively.
"I need to head to the infirmary Professor, I need.." She would shake her head as she made her way out of the wolf's dorm and began her trek to the Academy's infirmary as the vision of those poor innocent souls losing their lives to sniper fire played in her mind. "There's no way in Hell that Ozpin's going to let me end this by myself!" The feline would pop her knuckles with ease, even as she was holding the leather jacket from his locker and suppressing a hiss as she heard voices coming from inside the room. "Ruby?" The raven-haired Huntress would focus her hearing as she listened in on what her leader was saying.
"Doc, is there any chance we can save the fingers that were cut away, I know that his eye's too far gone but there has to be a way to help him!" Blake would sigh quietly as she heard the desperation in the crimsonette's voice, clearly her revelation of the various pieces of love poetry had failed miserably. "Ruby, even Yang eventually saw Bálor's true nature..why haven't you snapped out of it?" She knew that there was no point in convincing her, the demon's spell over her had to be broken through force and while she knew that Ruby would be distraught over losing her little pet, it was clear that unlike the memories of her lost comrades, time would heal that wound. "I'm sorry Ruby, but this has to end now!" She would make her way past the irate reaper with absolute silence, nearing the wolf that had caused everyone in Beacon's wall some sort of grief and while she didn't have her Gambol Shroud on hand the feline figured there was some sort of ironic justice in smothering the young man with his old uniform.
"Ugh..Ruby?" Bálor could definitely hear the sounds of somebody entering his room, but they lacked the lightened thud that usually accompanied his little Rose's boots. "Enemy!" He would quickly reach for the shiv he had fashion from the hospital spork only to feel someone grip his wrist tightly before something began cutting off his air supply. "No, no no I can't die now!" The silver-haired Hunter would thrash about even as he struggled to hang onto what little life was resting in his lungs. "She needs me!" His memories of happier times with the crimsonette played out in his mind: She was flourishing as a Huntress, getting bolder and stronger in combat while bringing joy to the children of Vale as 'Ruby Red' one half of the slightly famous Vaudevillains of the promenade, and becoming more confident in herself as a woman. "I can't leave her!" The amber-eyed Faunus would try using his Semblance to force the jacket out of his mouth, the individual on the other end would merely exert more strength to counter his efforts. "Dammit, I just can't fight this bastard off…forgive my lovely little Rose, but it appears this is the end for us." Bálor could feel the darkness slipping in around him, deciding to give one final push with his Semblance but this time to the area around him to break the bed, the monitors, anything that would raise the alarm of the medical staff. "I may be on the express train to Hell, but you're not getting away with this!" Sure enough alarms would begin to blare as announcement for a Code Blue was heard throughout the infirmary as footsteps pounded into the room.
"Hey you! Stop that right now!" The voices of the medical staff were dulled as the obstruction that had been smothering him was pulled away, finally allowing him both some much needed fresh air as well as a view of his attacker.
"Blake?" The wolf would gasp in a quick gulp of air before focusing his Semblance upon the individuals flooding his hospital room, forcing the medical staff either against the wall or down on the floor with the feline being forced closer to him as he finally examined what had been smothering him. "M-my old uniform?" Bálor would look upon the yellow eyed Faunus in shock, the sweat around his forehead building from exertion of his ability. "I guess you've been snooping around my stuff haven't you kitten?" He would force a lighthearted laugh even as she hissed in anger at his demeanor.
"You bastard! You know what that uniform embodies: The blood of helpless Faunus who just wanted a chance at equality!" Blake would snarl even as she shuddered angrily. "They were just kids! They didn't know that they were going up against you and your merry little band of psychos! They didn't stand a chance-" The amber-eyed wolf would snarl as he flung the feline up to the ceiling and then back to his side.
"I have no idea what you're fucking talking about Belladonna!" He would look at his tattered uniform with a look of heartbreak and shame even as Blake began retelling story of the White Fang's failed raid upon an SDC warehouse, the various cadets who had been killed in the ensuing battle, as well as his own clash against her. "I..remember that day, yes we did kill some members of the Fang but it was UNDER ORDERS THAT I DIDN'T AGREE WITH!" His anger would only serve to inflict more pain upon those held down by his Semblance, but Blake would remain unconvinced as she glared back at her amber eyed torturer. "Look, I remember the SDC blitz pretty well..at least the stuff that happened AFTER big sis took a shot at me.
Bálor winced as his ear still burned from the near miss with Asada's bullet as he clashed with the raven-haired feline, she was attractive that was for sure but he had been asked to take her out. "I hate this, I only wanted to escape the pits!" The wolf would be taken aback as he had seemingly scored a hit on his feline foe, only to have her disappear into nothingness before striking him on the shoulder as he felt the burning pain of a fresh wound. "Shit, Valor! How 'bout a freaking hand here!?" He would look toward his brunette haired comrade to find him laughing off his opponent's strikes as his sword met metallic skin, not even bothering to block when his opponent switched to using his shotgun scabbard. "No can do mate, this bloke's hilarious!" He would stop to yawn even as Adam tried cutting through the young man's Semblance enhanced skin. "My God you're really trying your hardest aren't ya there pal?" The foolhardy soldier would laugh, unaware of his opponent charging up his own Semblance as crimson symbols lined his mask and coat.
"You know; you really shouldn't underestimate your opponents." The masked Faunus would smirk as the skies above suddenly went dark, his Semblance now at its maximum as he finally unsheathed his katana in a burst of energy even as Valor shielded himself with his arms.
"Hah, are you kidding me with that-" The brunette-haired antagonist would go silent as his arms scattered away slowly in a flurry of blood red petals, the rest of his body being shielded from the worst of the effects. "What the hell..?" The stumps where his arms used to be erupted in a geyser of blood as Valor stumbled to the ground, mortally wounded and quickly going pale as the younger wolf Faunus looked on in horror as his frenemy was struck down and his arms wilting away like petals thrust upon the wind. Even his feline opponent would be stunned at the actions of her compatriot as the masked swordsman turned his gaze upon the wolf.
"Blake, move now!" The masked man would begin to charge up once more, this time the crimson marks would be slower to form, giving him just the opportunity to strike back with a panicked battle shout as he charged forward.
"This monster has to be put down before anyone else is hurt!" The amber eyed young man would do his best to bifurcate the black coated swordsman before he could finish charging up his devastating attack, but once again the raven-haired feline would block his path with a furious assault of her own. The air rang with the sounds of melodious sword on sword violence as his red-haired leader watched on in silence as her ward was pushed back and his black coated opponent finished recharging his weapon, his symbols glowing bright red as he chuckled sadistically.
"This is the end for you boy!" Adam would grin as he watched his feline partner quickly move out of his striking radius as his finger neared the trigger of his shotgun scabbard for a quicker and even stronger draw. "Give my regards to those poor souls as you round the corner to Hell my young dog eared friend!" The masked Faunus would grin, unaware of the blonde-haired sniper running down the sides of the rafters as she searched for a proper headshot.
"I won't let you wipe my brother off of Remnant!" She would hiss as she pulled the trigger of her rifle, startled to hear the clicking noise associated with an empty magazine. "No, how could I have lost track of my rounds?" Asada could see the panic rising in her little pup's eyes, he was too shell-shocked to get out of the way and the katana wielding madman knew it. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as she gathered the winds around her to boost her running speed, Strawberry would quickly unclasp the lucky cross she wore around her neck as the winds shoved her forward enabling her to tackle the startled young man aside as Taurus finally pulled the trigger and released his final strike.
"Bálor…my precious little brother, we may not have shared the same blood but you were always my family." Strawberry Asada could feel the tears of pride welling up in her eyes as she recalled the day she witnessed him ace the initiation test for joining the Charging Wolves (Even though he had bombed the written test in epic fashion.) She remembered the day she had given him his jacket, telling him to always wear it with pride, Asada had been the one to keep him company while the older men hit the Tail House in search of a quick lay, eventually having to explain the Nevermore's and the Buzzboomers to the young wolf when he had finally hit puberty (and again after she had walked in on the poor guy choking the chicken one fine morning in the barracks.) "You were a little hellion, but I still loved you all the same." The lavender eyed Huntress would keep her eyes squarely on her silver-maned sibling even as petals began to obscure her vision. "My sweet little pup, promise me that you'll never forget the lessons your big sis taught you: Stand strong, fight like the devil's on your heels, and never settle for a woman who doesn't make your heart race!" She wanted to say more to the young man, but the force of the petals drowned out even her voice, but she smiled nonetheless knowing that her brother would be alright once the Academy took custody of the wolf.
"Your big sister will always love you, my precious Baby B"
"That was the day my only family died!" Back in the present the silver-haired Faunus was still keeping his feline antagonist restrained, even as his vision began to blur from exhaustion. "Because of your precious White Fang and their stupid push for equality, Asada isn't here anymore! And yet I'm forced to coexist with the woman who stood beside my sister's killer like a puppet!" He would sob in agony as he released his helpless victim from their invisible restraints, Blake would shakily rise to her feet with a groan of pain.
"I'm sorry you lost your big sister, but I had no control over what my former partner did that day. You lost good friends and family, but that doesn't give you the right to take your anger out on the people here!" The raven-haired feline would bristle with her own restrained fury as she glared back at the heartbroken young man. "You broke up MY family with your heartless actions and somebody finally gave you your comeuppance, as far as I'm concerned your sister would be ashamed to see what you've done with the second chance she left you with!" Blake would turn away and walk off with an icy glare as she left her hated rival to wallow in his sorrows.
Well there you have it, Blake's chapter is FINALLY in the books. Solidified as an antagonist to Bálor but still a hero in the eyes of Beacon, some of you may hate this but I have my gripes toward Blake and the way she goes about things. Coming Soon: Weiss Schnee.