Hey all! Yes I'm productive today. This little fic has been sat on my laptop since before Volume 4 was announced. Much like Sun, I thought Blake was off antagonising the White Fang in Vale. Obviously we now know that wasn't the case, but this is my take on what that scenario might have looked like. I've edited it slightly to refer to some of the things we learned in 4 and 5, specifically Ghira leading the White Fang before Sienna Khan, while still sticking to this AU story. I hope you all enjoy!
It was getting harder to stay awake each night.
Weeks of poor rest was finally catching up to her, but Blake didn't dare sleep for long or deeply in a Vale still stalked by packs of Grimm and the White Fang operating in the area.
Adam's cell must have been reassigned to the city. They'd been based in Forever Fall for nearly three years before she'd left, but had been in Vale before that. Before Dad stepped down and people actually started listening to faunus protests - for fear of what might happen if they didn't. Before he'd changed.
Blake sat at the window of what used to be the supervisor's office, scanning the derelict, deserted street in the warehouse district until her eyes started to drift shut and her chin drop onto her chest. Finally conceding to the demands of her body, she made her way over to the bedroll she'd laid out when she first broke into the abandoned building hours ago. She moved every day, finding a new place to sleep each night to make herself hard to track or predict. She had very few contacts, which were her main source of what was going on in the rest of the world. Ruby and Yang's uncle must have got his hands on her scroll in the chaos after Beacon fell, while people were waiting to be evacuated. She'd simply found his number there after she'd been well enough to leave, with a message already waiting for her that simply said 'just in case'.
Whether he'd predicted she'd want to leave or he was just looking out for his nieces' friend, she didn't know. She doubted very much he'd want any contact from her after she'd proven what a poor friend she was. She didn't plan to use it, and besides - what help could anyone give her now, scattered to the corners of Remnant as they were and with online communication still down?
No. She was on her own now, and that's how she wanted it. It was better for everyone that she was.
She should have been used to sleeping on floors by now. All that time in the White Fang, the missions with Team RWBY, her isolation now. But it was so much harder not to think of her bed back in the dorm room now than it ever was. In the White Fang it was a luxury to get a camp bed rather than a bedroll on a ground mat. On missions it was a job, an adventure. It was camping like a normal teenager might, rather than sleeping rough. She'd never really noticed the lack of comfort - or she had, but they'd all complained of stones poking them in the back and taking turns on watch, so it hadn't been as bad. Even the dreary parts had been lessened by their presence.
Now she wanted nothing more than that cobbled-together bunk bed, even if it did smell of dog ever since Zwei arrived.
She'd only just found a somewhat-comfortable position when she heard footsteps on the stairs.
She was on her feet, Gambol Shroud in one hand and scooping her bedroll behind the door within a second. She pressed her back to the cold, unevenly-plastered wall and listened; glad she'd given up wearing the bow before bed so it wouldn't muffle the already-faint sounds of a group of people trying to be stealthy.
Three, she thought. At least. And faint voices now, too whispery to tell apart.
'Do we even know she's here?'
'He said so. Besides, it can't take long to check.'
'Will you both shut it? If she thinks someone's sneaking up on her she'll be gone before we know it.'
'Dude, we are sneaking up on her.'
'Not the point.'
Breathe. Think. They were right - she could escape out the window before they reached the room, but she needed to know how they'd found out where she was. Besides, it wouldn't be the first run-in with the White Fang since Beacon's fall. She'd made herself a deliberate thorn in their side, using their own tactics against them. She could handle a small group if she had the element of surprise and the few cartridges of Dust she'd managed to steal from their latest heist.
She raised Gambol Shroud as a pistol with the ribbon wrapped securely at the ready, hoping everything had locked fully into place. There had been some damage, after-
Not now.
There was only one pair of footsteps advancing now - the others left behind as guards, maybe. The other doors along the corridor creaked and dragged against the floor as they were pushed open in succession. Then, a second much lighter tread – there were two of them this close. Four in total; and one quiet enough to avoid detection even by her ears. She waited, nerves thrumming, breathing as steady as she could make it. Catch them around the neck with the ribbon, cut off their airway while dragging them out of sight of their partner. Either it would let her isolate and defeat them one at a time, if her methods went undetected by the slower of the pair, or it would give her a hostage to use if they were.
Her door stuttered on the floor and the hinges shrieked, and a blond head poked into the room as she lunged forward-
And pulled up with stunned gasp as Sun jumped in shock and turned to face her, wide-eyed. The loop of ribbon swung harmlessly against her stomach, but he didn't seem to notice, face splitting into a wide grin.
'Blake!' He stepped half-way around the door, only to duck back behind it to shout into the hall. 'Guys, she's up here!' There were three distant cheers, one much louder and closer than the others.
He reappeared again, still beaming, and only then spotted the pistol she held in one hand and the ribbon attached to it in the other, clearly about to be used. His smile faltered only slightly, and he lifted his hands in apology. 'Sorry, didn't mean to startle you.'
This couldn't be right. He couldn't be here. 'I heard you coming from the end of the hall. I thought you were the White Fang!' she snapped, shakily dismantling Gambol Shroud and sheathing it, the blade catching slightly as it always did now. She'd have to make repairs, somehow.
'Oh. Sor-' He was interrupted by Neptune sticking his head into the room.
'Blake, finally! You're a hard lady to find. Sun's been driving us nuts since you took off.' He gave her a toothy grin, the one he used when he was trying to be smooth. She returned it with a withering glare. She didn't have the time or the patience for this. She was going to have to go to a whole new district now, extend the length of her watches, make sure no one had seen them anywhere near her.
'What are you all doing here?' she demanded. Scarlet and Sage must be the guards - though she could hear them approaching as well. Sure enough they crowded Neptune further into the room as Sun's smile shrank further; appearing less and less certain the longer he was here. Good. The sooner they all left, the better.
'Looking for you,' he said, with an attempt at his usual confidence.
Neptune leaned his elbow on Sun's shoulder, using him as a rest. 'That and a certain someone made us miss the ship back to Mistral but hey, it's fine. Not like Vale is crawling with Grimm or anything.' He staggered as Sun shoved him off, straightening his jacket like nothing had happened.
She clenched her jaw, working to breathe normally. 'You shouldn't have done that.' It was harder than she expected to make her voice as sharp as she wanted. With how dangerous Vale was at present, it was a stupid move. He could have gotten himself and his whole team killed, especially if their showing at the Vytel Festival was anything to go by.
That was not something that should make her feel painfully soft-hearted beneath the anger.
'You should get the next airship home. It should be safer there.' Maybe. She wasn't sure how bad things were in the other countries right now, but she was pretty sure Vale was getting the worst of it. Beacon in particular, thanks to the damned dragon. She turned away from the lot of them, crouching to start packing away her bedroll and wrapping it more tightly than strictly necessary.
She heard more than saw the glance Sun's teammates swapped between themselves. She was too aware of Sun only watching her, of the confused, hurt slump of his shoulders that carried all the way down to his legs and tail, just in her peripheral vision.
'Ah, Sun, mate? We'll be out here. Uh...' Scarlet trailed off, scrambling for an excuse.
'Securing the perimeter,' Sage offered, which Scarlet leapt upon thankfully.
'Yes! Come on, Neptune.' He and Sage left quickly but Neptune lingered, watching his friend uneasily.
'Sun?'
'Go on. I'll catch up.'
He was still watching her. She could hear it; his voice was too clear for him to be doing anything other than facing her. Clear, but soft- sad, resigned.
I'm sorry, but it's better this way. You're safer this way.
Neither of them spoke until Neptune's footsteps had faded away entirely and her few meagre possessions were packed away in the backpack she'd scavenged from an abandoned shop. With nothing left to occupy her hands, she sat back on her heels with only the slightest wince as her scar pulled. The scab was starting to fall off, but the wound was fresh enough to still be tender.
'Blake-' he started, like he was lost as to what to say but needed to say something.
'You should go. The sooner you're on an airship, the better.' She picked up the bag and stood, slinging it onto her shoulders with only a tight breath to compensate for the discomfort. She walked past him without looking at him, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the window. She'd have to thoroughly scout out the area, make sure it was safe for them to leave - make sure no one had been watching them.
'Blake-' Fingers wrapped gently around her wrist, tips grazing beneath the wound ribbon. She stopped, head bowed. Just pull away. Walk away. Leave.
'What did I do?' he asked quietly.
Oh, no. Not this. Not now. 'Nothing.' Just let go. Forget you ever came to Vale.
'Is it what I said about leaving Pyrrha and Jaune? I know it was harsh-'
'It has nothing to do with that!' Without quite realising she was going to, she had spun around to face him, her wrist slipping free in the process. He flinched back slightly, but lifted his chin, encouraged he was at least getting a reaction.
'Then what? Blake, everyone's worried about you. No one knew where you went from the safe zone, you just vanished. If I had anything to do with it-'
Her stance widened, her voice rose with frustration she couldn't hold back. 'You didn't! This isn't about you!'
'Then what is it about, Blake? Because I'm getting the impression that you're not even glad I survived the past month, so there must be some-'
'I am!' She didn't mean for it to be that loud or to reach out to seize his hand. Neither did he; from his startled blink and the slow, hesitant pressure of his fingers. She took in a breath that was too ragged, trying and failing to keep the wretchedness out of her voice. 'I am, Sun. I just- You can't be here. It isn't safe.'
He gave her a small, quirky smile, one that hurt. 'Yeah, I noticed all the Grimm. Which makes me wonder why you're sticking around...' he trailed off at her shaking head, at the way she wrapped her free arm around her middle, hand pressed over her scar.
'It isn't the Grimm.' If only it was.
He took a tiny step closer, like he was scared she'd bolt if he moved too quickly. She was not entirely sure she wouldn't. 'Then what is it, Blake? Whatever it is, I can help-'
No. Never that. 'You can help,' she snapped to override him, voice dropping to a more normal level as she continued, 'by leaving. Go back to Mistral, or Vacuo. It's safer there.'
'If you're in some kind of danger, I'm not leaving.' God, he was so earnest, so sure he could protect her, so sure she was the one that needed it.
'I'm not the one in danger. Not yet.' She turned her head away from him, fingers running over the roughness of the new scar, but his snort of laughter drew her back.
'Look, you're Blake and I know being all cryptic and mysterious is your thing - two days of small talk and weird looks, if I recall - yeah, like that,' he echoed with a soft smile as she tried to glower at him and failed, 'but please, just be straight with me this once. What's going on?' When she hesitated, eyes averted and lip between her teeth for too long, he very gently shifted his grip from her left hand to her side, resting on top of her right hand. She jumped and looked up, fingers tensing beneath his in surprise. His eyes were soft, and so gentle, like he couldn't imagine anything he'd rather do than just be here with her.
It had been so long since she'd been looked at like that.
'Is it something to do with how you got that?' he asked, fingertips pressing with the lightest force against the fine bones in her hand, as if to touch the scar beneath. He'd seen the wound, of course. He'd been the one to hand her over to the medics to get it stitched and bandaged. She hadn't told him how she'd got it, and he hadn't pressed.
She took a breath. If she told him, he wouldn't leave. But she just couldn't think of a good enough lie on the spot, and she was so tired -
She reached for the sleeve of his shirt - stained and tattered now, missing more than a couple of buttons. It gave her something to hold onto, even as he stepped closer as if to physically bear her up. 'When I was in the White Fang, I had a... a partner. We'd worked together for years, even before things changed. But when they did, so did he. He- by the time I left, I didn't even recognise him. He was leading one of the cells by then, based in Forever Fall. We were going to attack a Schnee train for the Dust shipment. I just wanted to steal the cargo, but he wanted to destroy the train as well. He was going to set explosives, even though that would kill all of the human operators on board. He just didn't care. That- that was when I... I'd wanted to leave for a while, I just felt I'd gone too far and was in too deep to leave, but that was the last straw. I couldn't stay any longer, so I left. I separated the carriages. He still got the Dust shipment, and the human crew were safe. A compromise. I never realised how badly he'd taken it. I never thought I'd see him again – or if I did, that it would make him really think about what he was doing. I'd been with the White Fang my whole life, and if what they were doing was enough to drive me away, then maybe they shouldn't be doing it. I thought it would make him reconsider.'
His fingers were a gentle restraint, stopping her nails from picking at the healing injury, at the few flecks of scab left and the dissolvable stitches that were almost all gone. 'He was at the battle?'
She nodded, so close now that her hair almost brushed his cheek. 'Weiss and I had split up to deal with the attackers. She took an Atlasian Paladin; I went after a Beowolf that was heading for the dining hall. He was there, fighting - no, attacking people. I don't even know if they were students-in-training or civilians. I didn't realise how bad he'd become until then. He saw me, and he smiled-' she was talking too quickly, breathing too shallow.
The brush of the worn suede and rough calluses against her cheek made her jolt, the warm smell of sweat ingrained in leather bringing her sharply back into the present. She latched onto that, a definite difference. Sun smelled of hot summers and sea air. Adam was earthier, heavier – like the forest they'd spent so long in after a rainstorm had passed. And now, even if only in her head, like smoke.
She leaned into Sun's hand, breathing him in to wipe the memory away. You can do this. She gave him a tiny, helpless shake of her head without breaking contact with him.'He was going to kill them. Right there in the hall, just for being human. I had to do something. That's why I joined Beacon in the first place. I stopped him, but I don't know if they got out. He might have just killed them after we escaped because he could, and I left them-'
'What else could you have done? No, listen,' Sun said sharply when she made to interrupt him, dark eyes hard and serious when they were usually glinting with mischief. 'You could barely carry Yang, and you nearly passed out yourself. How could you have hauled two people out of there and still gotten out?'
She stopped, stricken and shaking, pushing back the memory of the flames and smoke catching in her throat, of her shoulders ripping as she fought to keep hold of Yang, of looking behind them at the dining pavilion as she got further and further away, just waiting for him to step out of the flames and follow. He wouldn't have even had to run. Her legs had been on the verge of giving way after her initial burst of adrenaline had let her lift Yang clear of the ground and rush out. She'd been staggering under her teammate's weight, even so much lighter after-
No, no.
Sun and his team had been the ones to find her, still combing the school for survivors and spreading the word to evacuate. Sage had picked Yang up without a word while Scarlet used his scarf as a tourniquet until they could get her to a medical team. As soon as she'd seen Yang in safe hands, everything hit her at once: the stress, the pain, her blood soaking down her left side and leg, and Yang's on her right shoulder. Sun had hooked one of her arms around his neck when she'd started to sway on the spot, then swept her up when he felt how badly she was trembling.
She didn't remember much after that – but there wasn't a black out, or a hole in her memory. She knew she'd seen and sensed things in the journey to the docks, she just couldn't recall any real details until Sun had passed her to the medical team to have her wound treated. She thought she might have apologised for getting her blood on Sun's chest, but it was... hazy. She might have thought it but not had the strength to voice it.
All she knew was that she'd soon been laid down next to Yang, both of them bandaged, and Yang still not stirring.
Then Weiss returned, with Yang and Ruby's uncle and Ruby in his arms, unnervingly pale and still.
Seeing the pair of them laid out next to her as they waited for the next airship, Weiss barely sitting up and face drawn from exhaustion and worry, Blake had realised she couldn't stay. She couldn't see them hurt anymore because of her.
She would stay long enough to see them to safety, then she had to go. Draw the target away from them. Away from her team, her friends, Sun, everyone. They had to be her secret now; and hidden more effectively than by a simple bow.
'He said that he would destroy everything I cared about,' she said quietly, barely aware that her memory had carried her several minutes ahead, that she hadn't answered Sun. It didn't matter. They both knew she couldn't have pulled two people to safety. If she'd been able to push away her past and actually fight him rather than defend and deflect, maybe she wouldn't have had to. Maybe Yang would still have her arm.
Or maybe she'd have just drawn it out. Maybe she'd just be dead instead, if she'd pushed him far enough.
At least then he wouldn't have a reason to go after anyone else. I wouldn't be there to suffer for it.
Would that stop him?
'That's when Yang came looking for me. I gave her away. I... I panicked. If I hadn't looked so scared for her, he might have left her-'
'Or he might have done it anyway. If she was looking for you, it might have been enough for him.'
Blake shrugged. Sun was probably right – but it was just one more hard truth she had to face in the aftermath. One more example of why she had left in the first place. 'Maybe. He might have already known who she was – the festival matches were broadcast, after all. Given when they chose to attack, it would be stupid of them not to find out exactly who the defenders would be.' One of the reasons their cell had been so successful was their impeccable research into their targets. It didn't always uncover everything, of course – the droids on that final heist had been a surprise. All they'd found out prior to the attack was that there would probably be automated defence of some kind, but they hadn't had the time to find out anything more detailed than that on top of digging up the train's schematics, timetable and cargo on short notice.
How much research had he done on Beacon? On her?
Don't.
'Anyway,' she said, almost a whisper from her dry, constricted throat, 'he... he got her attention.' Her fingertips tightened against the fresh scar, and Sun's expression hardened.
'I thought you got that in a fight, or from debris. Not...' he trailed off, leaving her to fill in what he'd been thinking. Not skewered on the floor. Not by someone she used to trust with everything. Not because she'd been too stunned, too stupid to see it coming and get out of the way.
If she'd just moved. If she'd just kept herself from screaming. If she'd never joined Beacon.
If, if, if.
She found a hole in Sun's sleeve, hooked her finger through it, pulled down tight against the hem. The burning pressure against the inside of her knuckle joint broke her out of the mantra enough to take a harsh breath and force the rest of the words out, to finish it, get it out, stop it choking her.
'Yang did what she always does. Jumped right at him, full power, head-on. I tried to warn her, but I couldn't get the breath. It wasn't a fight, Sun. He took her arm off with one swing before she even reached him. She never stood a chance, and I couldn't even warn or help her.'
He frowned at her, puzzled but not doubting. 'What about her aura? Don't tell me Yang was worn down from a few Grimm and White Fang idiots.'
It was a small, pathetic attempt at a smile, but she tried before it died away. 'No. Neither was mine. It didn't matter; it never does. His sword has been built to cut through aura like it isn't even there. He'd use it to scare people. All it would take was a small cut on their arm or face to show that their aura was as good as useless. At first it was to get groups of humans threatening us to back down quietly. Then it was to make sure they complied when we raided somewhere. Then just to get what he wanted from whoever stood in his way. The cuts seemed to get a little deeper each time. There's a reason he rose up the ranks of the new White Fang so quickly.'
'Because he was a ruthless bully,' Sun muttered.
'No-' She cut herself off this time, eyes closing as she drew back from that automatic response, still ingrained even after this long, after everything. 'Yes,' she said quietly even though it still felt wrong on her tongue, straightening up slightly with the admission. 'But more than that. Cardin Winchester is a bully. Bullies don't scare me. He does.' It was too soft to even be a whisper breathed against his shoulder, but Sun heard it.
His hands slid around her, catching briefly on her waistcoat and magnetic holster before he was pulling her in close. He was warm, even in the cooling autumn air, and reassuringly solid. The last time she'd held someone, she'd been so scared of hurting her further. It was an immeasurable relief to be able to embrace him, to cling tightly without fear of hurting or breaking him. It sounded stupid even in her head, but Yang had seemed indestructible. People were so, so fragile and they didn't even realise.
His breath tickled the space between her right ears, hair ruffling now it wasn't pinned down by the bow. 'Want me to go beat him up?'
No.
It was instinctive, a whole-body flinch away so strong that she didn't even realise she'd shouted aloud until she felt her own ears ring. Sun stepped back, startled, and it had just been a joke, just him trying to cheer her up but she couldn't quite stop-
'Don't you dare, don't go anywhere near him! Why do you think I left without telling anyone where I was going? I'm trying to keep him away from you!'
'Blake, I didn't mean-' he reached for her, found her hands again only to have his crushed in a desperate, clawed grip.
'Promise me. Promise me you'll get out of this city tonight. What happened to Yang can't happen again, not-' Not to you. Not to anyone.
'Hell no!' Blake cringed back but didn't relinquish his hands, her ears pinned flat against her head as his patience finally started to give way. 'I'm not leaving you alone here again, especially not after that, not when someone that dangerous and that angry with you is so close.'
'You aren't listening!' she said, voice high and tight with strain. 'He's not after me. He's after you. You, and Yang, and Ruby, and Weiss, and everyone I've ever cared about. And he hasn't been able to get to anyone since Yang, because you've all been out of reach. If he can't get to you, you're safe. That's why you have to go.'
'And if he doesn't find anyone? How long until he changes his mind and goes after you instead?'
'He- he won't. That's not him.' She shouldn't have stuttered. It wasn't him; he was too stubborn to change plans just because one was difficult, but-
'Was crippling Yang 'him' then?'
She turned away, every hair along her spine prickling as he lifted the thought out of her head. 'Not at first.' None of it was. He'd seemed so... so erratic. Even in ways that would have reassured her, a year and a half ago. The enjoyment he'd taken in fighting had always unnerved her a little, if only because she was waiting for his overconfidence to get him hurt. She would have given anything for him to show the same calm and deliberation he'd had at Beacon during their missions.
The calmness was worse. So, so much worse.
Blake only looked back when Sun sighed and took a step closer; fingers curling up to gently draw her in.
He looked tired, and hurt, and sorry. All three because of her.
'I'm not saying all this to hurt you, you know,' he said quietly. 'I'm just worried that you're so focused on keeping everyone else safe that you're not thinking about yourself. Again.'
She couldn't even argue that. If her teammates had been here to see the bruises beneath her eyes and the difficulty she had in staying awake, they'd skip the pep-talks and moral support and go straight to an intervention. 'I know,' she said softly. 'There just... there isn't time. I've got to stay several steps ahead of the White Fang. So far they don't know who is stealing from them or disrupting their operations, but I've only been going after the lower-ranking groups. The ones who wouldn't know me. I don't dare go after anyone else.' If she was stronger, more focused, better prepared – maybe. Not now. Even with her small-scale raids, she was constantly at risk of the reports reaching Adam and him putting the pieces together. So far her saving grace was that he probably thought she'd ran as far away from Vale as she could.
Oh, for the days when her 'running away' was only a joke; a play on her hit-and-run tactics.
'Come with us.'
It took a whole second for her to even register what he'd said. Even when she did, she couldn't quite believe it. 'What?'
'We'll go to Mistral. All of us.'
'Sun, I-'
'You said it yourself – it's safer there, and everyone else is out of reach. He can't hurt you or anyone else if they aren't even on the same continent.'
It wasn't that easy. They'd been planning on moving their operations back to headquarters in Mistral before she'd left. It was one of the reasons that she'd thought it would be safe to stay in Vale – soon their cell would be a continent away and she wouldn't have to worry about any reprisals for leaving. She'd never worried about Adam back then – he had a temper and a nasty habit of holding grudges but the worst of it had never been turned on her. The most she'd had was during their rare arguments when she was just as bad as him.
'How's your hand?'
'Better than the wall. I've been banned from punching things for a while.'
'You can be pretty stupid sometimes, you know.'
'I always said you drive me crazy.'
That was always the way. They'd fight, he'd hit something or she'd storm out, only for them to sheepishly make up a few hours later. The others had become used to it in the end. She wondered how many of them knew how much he'd changed. That he'd finally done what had seemed like the impossible and lashed out at her.
The White Fang leaders were different. From the start, they'd been the ones she'd been worried about. There were stories she'd heard – more since she'd left the group – about ex-members going missing, or turning up dead. There was one just before the Vytal Festival started – a puma faunus bookshop owner. Officially it was a robbery gone wrong, and if it was the only incident then it could have been. But more and more ex-White Fang members were meeting similar fates. Too many to be coincidence or what the police reports listed the incidents as.
Besides, if Adam was keeping his cell here in Vale she wouldn't have any idea of what he was doing or who he was targeting if she was all the way in Mistral. She wasn't just staying because she had no other options – she needed to be on hand in case he found someone.
'I can't. I'm sorry, but I'm the only one who knows how they work – I can figure out what they're doing next. I can make sure he doesn't find anyone else, but I can't do that from Mistral.'
'Blake, who is there to find? Other than us, I mean. Weiss is in Atlas, Ruby and Yang are back on Patch and they-' he stopped short, mouthing silently as he very obviously rephrased what he was about to say.
Her body felt hollow, like the only thing in it was her echoing heart. 'What?' They had both been unconscious when she left – Yang from shock, Ruby a mystery. What if Ruby hadn't woken up? What if Yang's wound had become infected? What if-?
No, no, please.
'What, Sun?'
He held his hands up, asking for patience, for calm. 'Just... neither of them will be going anywhere any time soon. They're awake, but Ruby was unconscious for nearly a week and Yang...' he hesitated again, trying to be tactful. 'She's... not really up to travelling yet. There's a lot for her to take in. Ruby's still recovering from whatever the hell happened up on the tower. All I'm saying is that they're both staying on Patch for now.'
The inside of her eyelids were soothing, calming as her panic flooded away from her, leaving her trembling slightly. Sun's hands landed on her arms, grounding her and making her realise she'd been listing to the side. She automatically opened her eyes and took a steadying step, hands rising to hang onto Sun's wrists. His gauntlets were gritty, dusty from the road and had more chips and scratches on them than she had seen. The paint was starting to chip away in chunks, the texture uneven beneath her fingers. No one had much time for cosmetic repairs anymore.
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry – I should have thought,' he said, gathering her in against his chest. One hand slid down her hair rather than through it, cradling the back of her neck. A wild, chattering thought in the back of her head noticed how tangled it was, how lank from days of being unable to wash it properly. Another part warmed when he didn't pull away or find an excuse to move his hand.
'And Jaune, Nora, Ren? What about them?' she said into the collar of his shirt – off-white and dusty enough to tickle her nose.
'Jaune took them to his family home. They were there last I heard,' he said. His breath ran against the side of her feline ear and it twitched involuntarily. He shifted slightly, for her comfort.
'Then they're in Vale. Are we going to go marching to the Arc's house and bring them with us to Mistral? What about Jaune's family? He's got seven sisters, not to mention his parents and any grandparents that might live with him-'
'Blake, Blake, Blake-'
She stopped, fingers curled tight in his shirt, breath short.
Sun pulled back far enough to look directly into her eyes, the concern and bags under his eyes startling clear at that distance. 'He's not going to go after one of Jaune's sisters or grandmothers. He probably doesn't even know who Jaune is, never mind his family. You're looking for excuses to stay and punish yourself.'
'No, I-' am lying to you, to myself, 'I'm not, I- it's not just my friends I need to worry about. The White Fang had something to do with Cinder and the attack on Beacon,' she latched onto that desperately, gratefully, and God that knocked her sick but she was still talking- 'If I can find out what, or why, maybe I can help. I can pass the information onto Ozpin, or Ruby's uncle, or-'
'Ozpin's missing, Blake. He has been since the attack.' Sun freed one hand to run it through his shaggy hair, shaking his head in disbelief. 'Man, you've been completely out of the loop. Have you even talked to another person since you left?'
Missing? 'You mean they haven't found the body?'
Sun shook his head. 'I mean there isn't a body to find. Ironwood sent in whole squads of droids once he had them all fully under control, on search, rescue and recovery missions. They cleaned out Beacon Tower from basement to Ozpin's office within an hour, searched every nook and cranny. They had to fall back eventually as more Grimm arrived, but they did a full sweep. Nothing. They were only able to recover his cane and the body of a woman, from that vault beneath the tower. No one I've talked to knows who she was.'
It was impossible. How could Ozpin be missing? Defeated, she could envision – just. No one was invincible; she'd learned that all too well. But to be gone without a trace, leaving only his cane? Not even the Grimm were that thorough when they chose to eat their kills.
'So you're saying he's been captured? The Grimm don't do that, and I doubt many people even knew that vault was there. None of the students did except Pyrrha and Jaune. Even if Cinder did beat him, she couldn't have... moved...' Blake closed her eyes, dropping her forehead against Sun's shoulder.
Stupid. Of course. Cinder didn't need to move a body, dead or alive. 'Cinder killed Pyrrha, right? But Ruby's uncle said that there was no body to bring back down. Nothing except her headpiece. What if the same thing happened to Ozpin?'
'Maybe.' Sun sighed, slumping. 'Jaune did say that something happened in that vault with Cinder. That she had some sort of insane power; and Ozpin was playing for time so the other teachers could get there. Not that he bought them much.' He shrugged, muscle shifting beneath the cloth against her cheek. 'It makes as much sense as anything does.'
That... did that change things? With Ozpin gone and Cinder presumably at large, who could they turn to? She'd had a feeling that their headmaster was a lot more than he appeared, and the news of this strange vault and whatever had happened down there with Jaune and Pyrrha only made her more certain. If Ozpin had been Cinder's target, then the coordinated attack on Beacon had been an overwhelming success.
Blake squeezed her eyes shut, thinking. She just didn't have enough of the pieces to fit this all together. The White Fang had no more reason to work with Cinder than with Torchwick. Their principles should have stopped them from ever working together, particularly with Adam at the helm in Vale.
So why? He couldn't have been bought off; the Schnees had tried that already. Adam had sent the case back full of shredded lien. She'd suggested taking the money and continuing on regardless – if the Schnee's were going to send them free money, she wasn't going to turn it down – but the mere suggestion had been insulting to him. They'd started the raids and the stealing to feed themselves and buy medical supplies, but once that became the White Fang's modus operandi they'd continued doing so to send the message.
It was too much for her to work out on her own. She needed more information and that was increasingly scarce nowadays. The longer the towers stayed down, the more disconnected from everything she was.
But... if she did go to Mistral, she might be able to get more information there. She could move more freely, ask more people. She didn't dare show her face in public here, it was too risky. This was all so much bigger than the White Fang and their involvement – if she wanted to know why they were a part of it all, she needed to find the bigger picture. She needed to know whether the White Fang as a whole were working with Cinder and her people, or just Adam's cell. Whether he was doing that under orders or he'd gone rogue and taken the whole cell with him.
Maybe...
'Maybe you're right,' she said quietly. She felt Sun perk up, the small jolt running through his body as he stood straighter. 'Maybe I should go. I'm too close to all of this.' And all her raids on the White Fang... were they really destabilising the group, or was she doing it to soothe her own guilt? To convince herself she was doing something, when really she was still running away from her problems?
I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down.
Yang would be proud of her. If she didn't hate her now.
It would be so good to just be able to relax for the first time since the match between Penny and Pyrrha. God, that felt like months ago.
She fought to focus her gaze and draw herself back into the present. Sun was standing taller than he had since he entered the room, the light and optimism back in his eyes. He was bouncing slightly on his toes, like he was trying to contain his excitement in case she changed her mind again.
Not this time.
She smiled; the first genuine one in far too long. 'So, when's our airship?'
As it turned out, there were no airships available. Refugees were still trying to get clear of Vale, not trusting the tenuous safety of the city, constantly threatened by the Grimm drawn to Beacon only a few miles away.
Despite Neptune's mild hysteria, they found themselves at the docks, looking for an actual ship to take them to Mistral. They got lucky – or rather, had made their own luck. Dozens of shops had been abandoned in the danger zone, their tills still full. The five of them had raided several until they had enough money to buy passage, reasoning that no one would be coming back for the lien for a long time with the dragon there, and when they did no one would remember exactly how much was in the till when they all fled. No one questioned where their money came from, and they all boarded without a hitch or a need for Sun to practice his stowaway skills.
They made their way to the main deck and the railing, looking back out at the dock. It was sunny for a change, the weather bringing an upward swing of the general mood of the crowd milling below them. The Grimm would lose interest today.
Neptune was standing well back, in the shadow of the cabin wall, throwing the water nervous glances. Sage and Scarlet stood with him, a show of resigned but fond solidarity. Sun joined her at the rail.
'You're gonna love Mistral,' he said, giving her shoulder a friendly bump with his.
She smiled, the expression feeling unused. After the first night's solid sleep in weeks, secure in knowing that she was safe with others on guard, she was less scared, less short-tempered. She had something to smile about. 'How do you know?' she asked, teasing.
Sun laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly scrambling for something to say. It had just been a platitude then. A hope. Still, the sentiment was appreciated. He wanted her to love it. 'I mean; the freedom you get! You can do whatever you want there. And it's a beautiful place, especially the higher up you go. Plus, we have excellent fish,' he added on a burst of inspiration, grinning.
She groaned and dropped her forehead to her arms, folded loosely over the rail. 'They had to tell people,' she grumbled, staring out at the crowd, idly scanning as Sun chuckled beside her, his tail curving in amusement.
A void of stillness in the crowd. At the back, by a wall. Cloak, despite the heat. Masked.
White. White and red.
Her heart froze as her gaze did, and it felt like several long seconds before it pounded again, harder as if to make up for its delay.
It wasn't Adam. Wrong height, wrong build, wrong mask. But it was still White Fang. And they were looking right at her.
At her and Sun, who was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her, looking down at her face. She could see him in her peripheral vision, so happy, so content. Looking for all the world like a guy head-over-heels with a girl.
With her.
She couldn't. Her heart ached, crumpled. She couldn't go, not now. Not when he'd been seen with her.
She had to get off this ship.
The ship horn blared, she jumped, casting around, panicking. The figure was still there, watching.
Go. Run, now.
He'd only follow her. He'd tracked her down after all those weeks. He'd find her again.
Not if he didn't have a choice.
The ship was starting to pull away.
Now or never.
She turned to him, took his face in her hands. She had seconds – seconds to delay him, to make it so she could jump but he couldn't.
He was startled, his cool broken, but looking like he didn't dare believe his senses.
She hated to do this to him.
He was leaning in slightly, smiling, waiting for her to make the first move. Not pushing her, even now.
She didn't deserve him, she was sure of it.
'I'm sorry,' she whispered. For a split-second, she wanted to stretch up onto her toes, pull his head down, kiss him hard.
Instead she braced herself and shoved him back, away from the rail. He staggered into his team, stunned, off-balance.
Blake took two steps back, faced the rail, and bolted. She hurdled up onto the rail, kicked off it to give her the last few feet she needed to land on the dock and not in the water.
People were screaming, scared, amazed.
Sun was shouting.
The others were holding him back from leaping after her, even though the distance was too great. She could see him fighting, saying he'd swim it. Sage had him in a headlock, Scarlet and Neptune restraining his arms. Neptune glanced her way. He didn't understand; she could see it in his face. None of them did.
Good. Maybe then they'd stop Sun from following her. Maybe her rejection would stop him.
The figure in the cloak was ahead. She shoved her way through the crowd, running, elbowing to reach them.
They turned and melted into the shadows of an alley. There were too many people in the way; she was too slow. When she finally broke through the crowd and bolted for the alley, there was no one there. No sign of where they'd gone.
The ship was completely out of reach now, Team SSSN barely visible.
She was alone.
Again.