Chapter 12: Into Shadows

"Blake… what are you talking about? You're safe now, nobody's gonna hurt anybody," Sun insisted.

Her thoughts were slowly beginning to coalesce into something rational. She sat up in her bed, causing Sun to glare at her for disregarding her own well-being… again. Blake returned the glare, obviously trying to buy time for normal brain function to return. When it did, she opened her stream of consciousness to him. "Sun, you already know that I grew up in the White Fang. You already know that when our original leader stepped down, a new, radically different one stepped up. What you don't know… and what I… held back from everyone is… he and I worked very closely. We were partners, actually."

"Uh, I thought you told me you left after he took over," Sun stated quizzically, still trying to remember their conversation at the cafe in Vale on the day they met.

"I did. Eventually. The things he did… the things we did… went from questionable to flat out horrible in a really short period of time. A lot of people got hurt because of us. When I couldn't stomach it any more, I left the White Fang. I left him. He didn't… he doesn't understand how I could betray him." Blake was finally calming down, but she still kept looking around the room like she could see a ghost leaping from shadow to shadow.

"But you're out now. I'm not saying any of it was right, but it's in your past. I'm not gonna judge you by something that you put behind you," Sun said reassuringly, or at least he thought so.

Blake shook her head, "But you're wrong…"

He raised one eyebrow, perplexed by what he was hearing, "Which part? You rejoin the White Fang without telling me?" Blake frowned, unsure if Sun was joking, and equally unsure if she cared.

"Just... listen Sun. His name is Adam Taurus. He's the one that hurt Yang. He's the one that hurt me. And he'll come for you. I know, because… because I know him better than anyone else. Adam was my old partner, almost like a mentor, and he's ruthless. He promised me that he was going to destroy everything I love…"

Sun raised his other eyebrow to match the first, as a contemplative expression appeared on his face. He took a moment to try to work out that last part in his mind. Did she mean love-love? Or just love? He figured it would just be best to ask, "So does that mean we're a thing, or…?"

Blake found herself more annoyed by Sun's off-beat line of questioning than she was by being trapped in a hospital bed. She didn't get a chance to voice her displeasure before the doorknob twisted, and the almost darkness gave way to the light, and Weiss, both coming from the hallway. She couldn't see around the corner to Blake's bed, so she addressed Sun instead. "Oh, Hi… Sun. I can't say I expected you to be here… I was looking for Blake. She wasn't in Yang's room."

"Uh, yeah. She's here. Hospital staff said something about not wanting the patients to be jealous of each other or… I dunno. It's dumb… Wait. When did you even get back? Is Ruby with you?"

Weiss proceeded to explain her experiences over the last few hours to Blake and Sun. Everything from the debriefing with General Ironwood to her heart-breaking conversation with Jaune. The news about Pyrrha was particularly deflating. Even Sun's child-like exuberance couldn't shine through the veil of sadness. The news that Ruby was resting peacefully helped to offset some of the bad juju that had been accumulated by all the talk of death and defeat.

Blake was visibly upset with the story that she'd just been filled in with. "I should've been there with you and Ruby. But I-"

"Stop," Weiss ordered. "Everyone I talk to says that exact same thing. So stop. You were hurt, and no one could have asked you to-"

"You don't understand!" Blake cried. "I should've been there with you and Ruby, But I… I ran into… him."

Weiss racked her brain trying to remember everything she knew about Blake, trying to piece together who she was talking about. There was nothing. No one. It made her uncomfortable to ask her teammate to relive experiences that she clearly didn't want to, but Weiss decided that it would be in everyone's best interests to get issues like this out in the open. "Him? Who is he?"

"Someone who was very dear to me. His name is Adam. I've known him for… a long time. Going back to my time in the White Fang. After Yang's fight with Mercury, when I told her about a close friend of mine changing over time, that was Adam. I never wanted to associate the horrible things he… we… did with any of my friends and teammates. So I ran from him, I hid from him." Blake turned away from her audience in shame, choosing instead to make eye contact with the floor. "Right after I separated from Weiss to chase that Alpha Beowulf, he found me."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about him before? You promised us that you'd come to your team first," Weiss stated sharply, clearly annoyed that Blake was still keeping secrets from her.

"I didn't want to put anyone in danger. You don't know him, and you don't want to. He's a monster! I know what I promised, but losing your trust is better than losing you altogether!" She rubbed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears, "I don't deserve to have friends like you."

Weiss shook her head, "Actually, you need to have friends like us. Friends who understand that the monsters from your past are still out there. Friends who will stand by your side and face those monsters. As a team."

Sun chimed in, "We can totally take him."

"You just don't get it! He's not going to walk up and fight you. He'll toy with you. He'll target your weaknesses and then feed on your strengths. Didn't you see what he did to Yang? He did that with one attack. And he did it because of me. ME! It's MY fault! I don't know how you can consider me to be your friend when I'm leading a psychopath right to you…"

Weiss was speechless. She wanted to come back with a long-winded monologue about how their team could overcome any challenge, but Ruby and Yang were unconscious in the other room and Blake was an emotional trainwreck… with a stab wound.

Sun looked directly at Blake, who was still fixated on the floor, "So you'll run again. Is that it? Is that how the story ends?"

"It's the only thing I can do to protect the people I love," she said, slowly elevating her gaze from the floor to meet Sun's eyes.

Weiss huffed loudly, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Trying to ease the mood a bit after the theatrics that Weiss had just unleashed upon room 225, Sun broke the awkward silence left in the wake of a slammed door, "I'm not going to stop you from leaving, Blake. But you have to promise me that when you're out there… alone… I want you to tell me that you won't do something stupid like fight this maniac.

Blake slowly slid her legs off of the side of the bed. She felt a lot stronger than before, but she knew it was probably from the adrenaline and raw emotion she'd been running on during the last few minutes. She also considered that her aura was starting to replenish, so maybe it wasn't all adrenaline. "I can only promise one thing. If he finds me again, I won't be a threat to anyone but him."

Sun smiled. "Heh… Y-know, you can be really stubborn, like all the time." This time, Blake smiled back at him. As if to acknowledge that he might actually be right. They were silent for a few minutes, not sure how to properly part ways. "So, I mean I only ate one bite of a fake banana today… and you should probably eat something before you go… so uh, if you wanna go down to the cafeteria we can grab some dinner or something. Or not, I mean either way is cool."

"I could eat," Blake said bluntly. She wasn't sure how to process all of Sun's attempts to basically ask her on some sort of weird dinner date at a hospital cafeteria. "Just give me a few minutes to calm down, and maybe clean up a little bit."

He agreed, but not before helping Blake up from the bed and seeing her walk safely and under her own power to the bathroom. Sun decided that although fainting into one's arms could have romantic connotations, passing out into a plate of food was less... flattering. The time it took for Blake to rinse her arms and face with some soap and water in the sink was negligible. Even Sun was impressed that a girl could get ready for anything that quickly. He thought about commenting on it, but then decided for the second time that day, his own life was more valuable than some crummy joke.

Blake looked into the mirror as she washed herself, thinking about the ramifications of spending her last moments amongst her friends and… Sun. "What if Adam knew? What if he was watching somehow?" Then she considered what Weiss had said about friends having each others' backs. If he was watching, if he somehow knew to come to the hospital right now… he'd have an army of students, huntsmen and huntresses ready to fight him. It was a reassuring thought. Adam could be defeated in open combat, but that wasn't his game. No, he would wait for her team to go out on a mission for the time to strike. He would watch them, learn their vulnerabilities and then prey on them. It was safe to stay here, but it made leaving with friends all the more perilous.

When she left the washroom, Blake noticed that Sun was now fumbling with his favorite neck trap. "It's… just a cafeteria," she said with a dry laugh.

"Maybe to you it's… just a cafeteria. For me? This is high class. I usually just eat everyone else's food." Blake's eyes shot to the bowl of fruit… and tuna cans... on the nightstand, which Sun was quick to comment on. "Not your food. I don't really do fish." A sense of relief swept over her.

Before leaving the room for the last time, she tossed the tuna into her pack, along with whatever spare clothes that she had with her before being forced out of Beacon. It was a light load. Without her weapon, she felt strange, but at some point she could try to get it back.

They exited the room, walking slowly to the end of the hall and down the stairs. The cafeteria was on the first floor, in the back of the building. It had large windows along the rear wall that allowed for a… half decent view of the the sun setting behind Vale's skyline. There weren't many other people in the room, and most of the vendors had closed up shop for the night. One was still opened though. It was run by an older, familiar gentleman with a mostly bald head, his grey hair only growing from the back. His kind face and bushy eyebrows seemed to invite the two newcomers. Ordering was easy enough. The man seemed to know what they would order before they spoke.

With food in front of them, they set about their dinners. For the first few minutes, there was no conversation. It had been almost a day since either Sun or Blake had eaten anything. A short time passed before Sun became more interested in playing with his food than he was in eating it. Now seemed like a good time to get a constructive conversation started.

"I think Weiss is right." He blurted out.

Blake looked up at Sun, chewed the food in her mouth, and swallowed. A quick sip from her drink allowed her to build up the proper level of dramatic tension to convey her displeasure. "You… what?"

"I think Weiss is right," Sun repeated. "Hear me out. I can't blame her for being upset with you. Weiss was a loner. She was hard to get along with and generally pretty cold to people she didn't know or trust. At least… when I met her she was. You and Ruby and Yang have become the closest thing she has to a family in Vale. Right now, Yang is unconscious, Ruby is in some kind of coma, and you're…" he sighed, "running off again."

"I told you, I have to. It isn't safe for anyone to be associated with me," she said sternly.

Almost apologetically, Sun retorted "I get that. Really, I do. Weiss doesn't know this guy like you do, but she doesn't want to lose another one of her teammates. Her… sisters. She wants to help you. I want to help you, but I think we both understand that you have to do this for you. We just show our… understanding… in different ways."

"That's putting it mildly," Blake agreed.

"When the time comes, just remember that you still have a place here. Your team will be waiting for you. I'll be waiting for you. No amount of stubbornness can change that." They sat in silence for a few seconds, But having said what he wanted to say, Sun stood up from their table.

Blake was caught so completely off-guard that she almost couldn't make the words to reply. "Sun, I-"

"You don't have to say anything. Just watch yourself out there," Sun said, as he turned to leave the room. Blake wanted to say something to stop him, to keep up his company for just a bit longer, but he stopped before she needed to. He turned his head halfway back towards Blake, "Oh, and if you run into that creep again, give him my regards for me, will ya?" Sun motioned his right fist into his open left palm.

She nodded, trying once again to hold back her tears. Over the course of the day, Blake had begun to understand that her friends were more than willing to put themselves in harm's way for her. Her internal conflict lay in having to decide if she could bear to let them risk life and… limb… for her. As the doors to the cafeteria closed behind Sun, Blake now sat alone, as she would for the next hour. Occasionally she would poke at her food, as if to ask its opinion on the choice that she wasn't able to make herself.

During that hour, the sun had completely set over the horizon, and the last traces of light left only their orange corona to remember them by. The cafeteria doors once again opened, then closed. This time it was Blake exiting. Her decision was final now, but she couldn't leave without visiting her team one more time. The walk up to room 226 was especially painful. Not physically, it was the emotional battle that she fought with herself even after making the decision to leave everyone behind. How was she going to tell them? Sun made it seem so easy, and he was… less than delicate with his words. Blake decided that the best way to have this conversation was to just improvise.

She didn't knock. Blake briefly rested her hand on the doorknob, before applying pressure to the metal handle. She was surprised to find that only a single lamp remained on. It was on a coffee table near a chair located opposite of the two beds. Weiss was slumped, somewhat, in the chair. A small white book lay on the table next to her. As Blake pressed further into the room, she saw that both Yang and Ruby were still resting silently. The temptation crossed her mind to turn and leave, but she thought better of it.

Instead, she moved to the space between the two beds, and placed one of her hands on top of Yang's, the other on Ruby's. She turned to Yang first. "I can't even begin to explain how much this hurts me. You're my closest friend, Yang… but I can never forgive myself for what's already happened to you, let alone what other horrors I could be responsible for. I would never ask you to understand the decision I've made… or accept it. That's not fair to you. What I do ask is to remember that one day, I'm going to make all of this up to you. I don't know when, and I don't know how. That's my promise to you, Yang Xiao Long."

Blake remained still, with her head tilted towards the floor. Once again she was trying, but this time failing to hold back tears. A single droplet ran down her cheek, past her mouth, and rested briefly on the tip of her chin. As she turned to Ruby, the liquid broke free from her, and plummeted to the floor.

"Ruby Rose. You're the bravest of us all. Whatever happened to you up there, on that tower… it must've been absolutely overwhelming to take you off of your feet. I've never met anyone so sure of herself and her abilities. Don't let any of this change you. Let your heart lead you, and others are going to follow." She sniffled, having managed to control her tears for the time being. Even still, Blake didn't remove her hands from theirs for what felt like hours, but only amounted to a few minutes.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around, facing the slumping heiress. "I'm sorry Weiss. I understand that you care more for us than you could ever convey with words. I've just got to do this for me… but I'm not doing it without taking your well being into consideration. When this all gets sorted out… when everything is back to normal, we'll tackle this monster as a team. As friends." Weiss slowly formed a smile on her face. Blake almost jumped at the sight. "Wait, you're awake?"

"Of course I'm awake. You're talking… and you're right. For now, you do what you need to do. But when you get back... and you ARE going to come back... we're going to have a loooong talk about transparency. Got it?"

"Got it. Thank you, Weiss."

Weiss looked at Blake, then Ruby and Yang, "Don't thank me, just get out of here before one of them wakes up and wants an explanation from you."

Blake left the room with an unwavering confidence in her decision. Now that she had Weiss' blessing, the crushing weight on her conscience was lifted. Her eyes transitioned from the dimly lit room to the almost blinding hallway. The lights in the halls and stairwells seemed brighter than at any other point in the day. It made sense. The darkness outside made natural light a scarcity, and the interior lights compensated for that. Unfortunately, as someone who was trying to disappear into shadows, the extra illumination was problematic. She would never make it out the front doors, that much was clear from experience. The staff would recognize her after the whole fainting incident from earlier that day.

The roof was her best option. With so many buildings so close together on either side of the hospital, she could make an easy escape. Blake casually made her way down the long corridor to the double doors leading to the staircase. "I'm actually going through with this," she thought, almost in disbelief that she was at this point, after all that had happened. She wished with all of her might that she didn't have to do it, but with every step, she became more resolute that it had to be this way.

The door leading onto the roof was unguarded. As she meticulously pushed the door along it's hinges, the cool air reminded her of the unforgiving reality of the journey she was about to embark upon. She stepped out into it, and started towards the adjacent rooftop.

She was stopped by a pressure on her wrist. A hand.

"Forgot somethin." The voice said softly from behind. Blake was only able to half-turn her head before Sun gently kissed her cheek. In a flash, he released her hand, and quickly headed back through the door she'd just come from. He only stopped long enough to remind her, "I'll be waiting..."

She only caught a brief glimpse of him before the door closed, but Blake stood, frozen, for a short eternity. When she was finally able to move, she realized that she'd been blushing, and somehow empowered. She turned back to the next building, got a running start and charged headlong into the shadows.