Blake sprinted through the school grounds, weaving in and out of the damaged buildings and using her semblance to gain as much speed as possible. She had to make sure she got to him. 'Why is he here?' The same question repeated itself in her mind as she cut down any grimm in her path.

Each time it looped in her head, a memory would flash before her. They were scattered, but every one was of her and Adam, ranging from when they first met as kids to the last time they saw each other, the train carrying her further away. Each memory made her heart skip a beat.

She couldn't help but focus on one in particular. It felt like so long ago, but only a year had passed since.

Blake wandered the unfamiliar halls, still unsure of the newest hideout they had been forced to retreat to. The White Fang had been notorious for being elusive, sticking to the shadows and out of sight. But the police had somehow found out their location and stormed in. It was a miracle that it wasn't worse, though the result was much more than just a compromised safe house. Some White Fang members were captured before they could flee, and others were killed in the crossfire and panic.

As she took a right at the first intersection she came to, she sighed in defeat as the exact replica of the cream colored walls, grey carpeted floors, and unremarkable fluorescent lights of the hallway she had just left was right in front of her. Though she pressed onwards, wanting, no, needing to find an escape from this maze. She looked into every adjacent room she passed in hopes of finding either a shred of recognition, or another White Fang member to ask for directions. Yet emptiness was all she found.

That is, until she heard voices coming from a room nearby.

Using her second set of ears to guide her, Blake made her way to the noise, the new sense of direction better than wandering aimlessly. As she got closer, taking the last turn towards the voices, she heard that they had grown into near shouts, and she could understand what they were saying.

"-Never tried to lead the police to the hideout! We didn't know anyone was following us, let alone that we were pegged as White Fang members!" Blake recognized the voice as her father's.

"And yet, the police swarm our hideout shortly after your failed mission, is that correct?" Blake heard Adam say, quieter and in a more calm voice.

"No, it wasn't like that. We saw the target too heavily guarded to make an attack in broad daylight. You have to understand, Adam. If we had gone along with the mission as planned, we would be in prison right now." Blake's mother was the next voice that spoke.

"And the others that died and were taken prisoner in your place would have been spared." Adam replied, keeping his voice calm. "The hideout would not have been compromised, and we wouldn't have lost a major foothold in Vale. Not only that, but the media is now praising the police for their efforts, calling them heroes and turning away many of the Faunus that would want to join our cause."

Blake's parent's remained silent, taking in the reparations of their actions.

Blake silently made her way to the door, keeping out of sight and using her ears to keep track of what was happening.

"I think, due to this little... 'Mix-up' as you called it earlier, your efforts in the White Fang are no longer needed." Adam said.

Blake's blood froze. She recognized that phrase. It was what Adam said to every member that had lost favor in the organization and was about to be escorted out. Generally, it was by the tip of his own blade.

"No, please, we can make this up to you!" Blake's mother cried in desperation. "Please, think of our daughter!"

Blake's heart skipped a beat at the mention of herself. She stood perfectly still, frozen by what was happening before her.

"I will personally ensure that Blake is taken care of while you two are out on your new assignment." Adam said, his calm voice never faltering.

"Wait, you're giving us another chance?" Blake's father said in disbelief.

But Blake knew better. She knew exactly what that meant, and at this point, there was almost no way to stop it without her dying or being put on the White Fang's hit list. So she stayed. Against her brain shouting at her, to run in and defend her parents against Adam, she stood still, leaning back against the wall.

"I am not," Blake mouthed along with Adam.

"Th-then what's our new assignment?" Blake's father asked.

But Blake didn't stand around to hear the response she already knew. She ran to try to escape the nightmare she was living. Though she didn't make it far enough to drown out the screams of her parents crying out in agony.

She raced through the hallways, one blurring into the other as she turned randomly down another hallway. It didn't matter where she was going now, all she knew was that she had to go far away from them... and their now lifeless corpses.

As Blake rounded another corner, she tripped on something, sending her sprawling face first into the ground. She lifted herself onto her hands and knees, a sob escaping her lips and tears flowing down her face.

Her parents were dead, and she did nothing to stop it.

She looked up and saw, through her blurred vision, that she was just a few steps to the end of the hallway, opening up into a larger room. Though through the tears in her eyes, she couldn't make out any details. Just that it was large, open, and bright.

"Blake, are you alright?"

Blake jumped at the sudden voice and quickly spun her head around to see Adam standing over her. Panicked, she swiveled around with her arms and landed on her back, trying to crawl away. Though she was quickly met with a door that had closed behind her.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked, taking a step forward to compensate for the distance Blake tried to cover.

Blake didn't answer. She didn't know how to answer. If she told him the truth, she might very well be next on the chopping block. If she didn't, then she'd not only be accepting, but assisting in the murder of her own parents.

Adam made the choice for her, however, by extending his arm toward her. Blake hesitantly accepted, and was brought back up to her feet. Not a moment afterwards, he brought his other hand around her waist and brought her in for a kiss.

Blake tensed up at the familiar feeling that had once eased her worries, until the taste she previously enjoyed suddenly became bitter. She pulled back to see a smile stretch across his face.

"Feel better?" Adam asked. Blake refused to answer again, a thousand emotions swirling inside her as he laced his fingers with hers and guided her back down the hallway in silence.

A single tear dropped to the ground as Blake shifted her weapon into a pistol, throwing it out in front of her and connecting it to a building. She then used the ribbon to propel herself around the corner, right into the courtyard where she saw him.

Adam stood in the center of the courtyard, looking out at the destruction around him. Grimm were everywhere Blake looked, she had never seen so many, yet they ignored both of them as they stood.

"I'm glad you could make it, Blake." Adam slowly turned around, the grimm mask he always wore reminding her of so many things.

"Adam," Blake's mind was running a thousand miles a minute, "what are you doing here?"

"BLAKE!"

Blake turned around just in time to see a glimpse of her partner's blonde hair before she flew out of sight, the sounds of a building crashing was all she was left with.

"What are you going to do, Blake?" Adam whispered to her, though her cat ears picked it up perfectly.

Blake froze, torn at this crossroad. 'I've been running from this for so long that when he was mentioned, I immediately ran back to him. Now he's here, I can confront him, but... Is it worth losing my partner? Is it worth forfeiting the best thing to happen to me in the past year? How can I live with myself if I don't finish this? One way or another...'

"I'm finishing this" Blake stood her ground and turned back to face her past.

"Good, I'm glad you decided to stay. Now we can have some time together and catch up, just like we used to." Adam slowly walked closer to the other Faunus, his hand on the hilt of his sword, yet his face was blank of any emotion.

"Just tell me this," Blake began, clenching her katana and sheath in her hands, "Why is the White Fang using grimm to attack a school that houses Faunus students? What statement are you making from this?"

Adam stopped his advance, his face widening into a full, creepy smile. "Why, Blake, this isn't the White Fang. They would never be able to pull off something like this alone. And this isn't about just Humans and Faunus anymore. This is about so much more. It's about what every person has done to Remnant. It's about the injustice that all Human and Faunus alike are guilty of committing. Look around you."

Blake kept her head forward, looking past Adam at the grimm rushing past them, like a wave crashing into a lone rock defiantly breaking the water. Not a single grimm went near them, not even taking notice of the rising tension.

"There is no one else here except for grimm, Blake. Though they know better than to interfere. This is happening, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. So instead of fighting against it," Adam reached out a hand, "join me. Join us. Do what you've always believed is right and fight for a better world. Fight with me. This world can be as great as you have dreamed it to be. All you need is to accept, and we can be together like we-"

"No."

The only sounds that could be heard were the rush of the grimm and small battles being fought far away from them.

"I see," Adam said, lowering his hand, "I guess you would rather die with your beliefs than see a perfect world."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, well then what is your reason for defying me again?"

Blake stared hard, meeting Adam's eyes behind his mask as another tear streaked down her face. "Because I would never join the man who killed my parents!" Blake lunged with her katana, swinging it above her head.

Adam unsheathed Wilt and brought it up to block the strike. The two blades connected and locked together. "They are gone, there is nothing you can do for them now. But I know you. I know this is about more than that. What we are doing is for the betterment of the world, and you would cast it aside for, what, two people who will be unable to partake in the glorious utopia that we shall bring with the cleansing of this world? I know there is something more." Adam pushed off his blade and spun around, slashing at Blake's midsection

Wilt bounced off Gambol Shroud's sheath as Blake brought up a defense of her own. "Glorious utopia? Cleansing of the world? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what needs to be done to save Remnant. Now, what's holding you back from that?"

"I won't just stand aside while you kill millions of innocent people!" Blake cried, keeping her weapon close to her.

"Innocent?" Adam bared his teeth, "There is nothing innocent about these people, Blake. I have seen the truth. The real impact these 'innocent' people have had on Remnant, and I cannot stand by while their injustice remains unchecked. It's the same mindset you had when you first joined the White Fang, but now your judgment has been clouded."

Blake kept a defensive stance, looking at her opponent before her. "Adam… what happened to you?"

"I have seen true enlightenment, Blake. I have walked through the promised lands, and I have partaken in the sweet revelry of perfection. I have been shown the way, and I can show you as well."

Blake took a step back, confusion flooding her mind. "No, this isn't the real you. You've changed. You're… different. You aren't the man I fell in love with."

Adam took a step forward, anger starting to swell in his voice. "No, Blake, you don't get it. I'm still the same person, just polished and new. You, on the other hand. You have changed, yet you can't face it. You constantly run from anything and everything that could possibly show you who you've become. And in the end, you have nothing to show for it."

Blake stood her ground, her own emotions starting to rise. "That's not true. I do have something to show for it. I have found a place to call home. I have people who I can call friends. Who will be there for me no matter what!" She immediately thought back to her partner, having her own fight after trying to save her. "I feel I've gained so much in such a short time at Beacon, and there's nothing that will make me betray that."

Adam raised his sword and pointed it at his opponent. "I now know that you cannot be persuaded to understand my reasoning. You have disappointed me, Blake."

Adam rushed forward and swung just above Blake's head. She didn't have enough time to react, and cried out as she felt a burning pain radiating from the top of her head. She gripped Gambol Shroud and jumped away from a counter attack that never came. She felt blood oozing from her head and into her hair. Her ear shuddered at the liquid now flowing, but noticed how she was missing a distinct characteristic. Looking to her left she saw, just a few feet away, her right cat ear, cleanly severed off from her head.

She stared in horror as Adam moved into her view, standing between her and her lost ear. Blake shifted her focus back to the pale white grimm mask. "After what you've done, you don't deserve to be a Faunus anymore."

A/N: So this chapter took a little longer than I thought it would, but I've been trying to deal with some stuff on my end. No worries, though. I should be coming out with these a little quicker, so no need to worry.

Now, about the chapter. This one was a little different from the other ones. Though, that was the intention when starting this. The same described fighting scenes again and again can be a little boring and repetitive, so I wanted to change up how this was going to go. Next chapter will see a little of the old with something new, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Also, about the flashback, it feels to me more like a dream than a flashback, but that was my intention... to a point. I feel, after such a dramatic experience as that, that your ability to remember it wouldn't be perfect. So is that flashback exactly what happened? Probably not, but there was enough there to piece together what was happening.

And now, on to some news... I am not able to keep a consistent schedule. That's it, nothing life changing or story ending. I will see this story out to the end, as well as Satisfied. I will also make a point to alternate between which story I do, so the next chapter I will release will be for Satisfied.

After the longest A/N I've made to this point, I hope you all enjoyed and that you leave a review as well as follow and favorite if you would like.

-MM