A cool, subtle breeze tossed the tresses of Blake's hair back and forth as she remained otherwise still, her elbows upon the wooden railing before her and her hands clasped together just beyond the barrier. The streets of Kuo Kuana below the roof of The Notched Blade were bustling with life, though in a way that the faunus had never seen before. Uniformed members of the White Fang, their masks proudly in place, were helping native citizens to carry and wheel shipments of cargo through the city streets. Kali Belladonna could be seen at the entrance to the market, making motions with her arms as she directed the workers to whatever their destination happened to be. Blake narrowed her eyes and took a long, slow breath as she watched, unseen from her position high above.
"…family sucks sometimes, doesn't it?"
Blake's ears flattened immediately as she recognized the tired, drawn-out drawl, followed by heavy footsteps and the sound of a weighty tail dragging along the surface of the rooftop.
"…stay out of my family business," Blake snapped as she saw Daisuke take up position next to her in her peripheral vision. "You have your place in Kuo Kuana, so keep to it. We're not friends."
"Ouch," Daisuke replied as he folded his arms atop the railing and leaned forward, following her line of sight. "It took ages to find you, you know. I scoured the entire town before thinking to just look upstairs."
"Yeah," Blake said, finally allowing herself a small smirk. "That was the idea. I don't want to be bothered, so maybe take the hint?"
Daisuke made a frustrated noise and cracked his neck to one side as he settled deeper into his leaning stance.
"These long weeks are gonna be even longer if you keep up that attitude. Sometimes, people need to hurt the ones they love to do what's best for everyone. Sometimes, the people we love make shortsighted mistakes, and piss off those close to them without meaning to. The fact that the ones they hurt give them the benefit of the doubt and stick with them afterward is what makes it love. It's not meant to be easy…"
Blake gave the man a sidelong look and found herself entirely unable to figure out his expression behind the black cloth mask over the lower half of his face.
"…of course I'm going to stick with her," Blake grumbled as she brought her eyes back down to the road, only to find that Kali had disappeared. "She's my mom."
"Good," Daisuke praised. "She's trying. We all are. I doubt she meant to make a mess of things by agreeing to bring you along."
"I know," Blake seethed before balling a fist and mashing her knuckles down into the railing as she turned to begin walking toward the staircase. "It's not just that, either. It's a lot of things… but… leave it alone. I don't really feel like talking right now. Thanks for trying, I guess."
"Well, what do you feel like doing?" Daisuke asked as he pushed off the railing and moved to follow.
"…beating the shit out of someone, if I'm honest," Blake replied as she reached the top step.
"I figured. This does seem to be a decent place for it," Daisuke observed as he looked at the large, rectangular rooftop. "Give me a moment to move the chairs and tables off to the sides…"
Blake turned, her mouth open and ready to snap at the man again until she caught sight of what he was doing. Daisuke stood with his arms out to either side, with green wisps of aura channeling around them. The wind suddenly picked up enough to slide the obstructing furniture along the surface of the roof and off to the sides, with visible green currents surrounding the objects. After several seconds of controlled effort, all of the obstacles had been bunched up into the four corners of the rooftop near the railings, and a sizeable battleground had been created.
"…well. You just blew any tactical advantage by showing off your semblance," Blake pointed out as she drew Gambol Shroud and took up its bladed sheath in her opposite hand.
"I know of yours. It's only fair that you see mine ahead of time," Daisuke replied as he unhitched his weapon from the side of his belt. The implement had the appearance of an overlarge golden rifle with a trio of silver barrels stacked vertically.
"…do I even need to say it?" Blake asked as she rolled her shoulders and adopted a wide stance, watching as Daisuke hefted his gun and held it with the barrels facing off to the side.
"…no, but things should be fair and honest among allies. If I don't do my part working toward that, then I can't complain later. That's a major part of why I pitch in and do as I'm told- bitching rights, later."
Blake let out an amused noise somewhere between a snort and a huff before dashing forward and taking a few simple swings. She watched closely as Daisuke lifted and spun his firearm, parrying the blows before striking out with the gun as if it were a heavy, one-handed club. Blake dipped her upper body backward to avoid the sweeping blow, before leaning back in and doubling down on her speedy assault.
"In that case, who told you to come find me? Mom? Qrow?"
"No one," Daisuke clarified as he batted away another strike and spun down to one knee before hefting his rifle and firing off a burst of three high-caliber bullets at once. "I thought someone should check on you, and I figured you would want a punching bag after what happened downstairs."
Blake blinked out of the way as the projectiles sped forth and tore three holes through the afterimage that stood where she had only seconds before. Without missing a beat, she descended into a spinning overhead strike with both blades, only for Daisuke to lift his firearm into a vertical position and depress a hidden button upon the grip. Suddenly, the top and bottom barrels slid out sideways to form a 'V' shape as a red metallic shield in the shape of a folding fan occupied the space between the three silver tubes. Blake's blades screeched along the wide metal surface as she fell, before she planted her feet into the fan and launched off of it into a graceful backflip.
Just as Blake's head came around to lock on to her opponent once again, she saw the man fire three more bullets while the weapon was still spread open. The two projectiles on the sides veered wildly away from her, before tiny green wisps of wind caught and redirected them toward Blake from either side. The faunus girl responded by batting away the central round with her sheath before landing into a spinning motion and managing to deflect the incoming threats from either side. By the time she spun to a stop, all three projectiles laid uselessly upon the rooftop, spinning and smoking.
"…reputation well deserved," Daisuke praised as his 'fan' barrels snapped back into their former stacked orientation. "You're as quick at thinking as you are with your feet."
"Not all the time," Blake admitted as she rose and took a few steadying breaths. "I'm out of practice. Anger-fueled adrenaline is keeping me in this fight right now."
"Then good on you for being able to focus it," Daisuke replied. "Now, come on. I know that didn't get out all of your frustration."
Blake responded by sliding back the blade of Gambol Shroud and firing off a hail of bullets, to which Daisuke re-engaged his fan and lifted the weapon to block. As he raised the shield before himself, Blake engaged her semblance and reappeared behind the man before raising her bladed scabbard and going for a raking blow across his back. A moment before the weapon connected, she found herself being thrown to the side by a surprisingly speedy blow from Daisuke's massive tail. The girl managed to right herself in the air and skid backward, dragging her hand along the ground to slow her momentum.
"How…?"
"As if you wouldn't go directly behind me while I'm functionally blind," Daisuke responded with a roll of his eyes. "You can't go for cheap tricks right after I pulled one with my weapon. It's too predictable."
Blake made an amused noise as she rose to stand, smirking despite herself.
"…touché. Still, not bad. Not bad at all…"
"This thing is for more than decoration and slowing me down," the man let on as he thumped his tail against the rooftop.
"I can imagine," Blake replied as she began to circle, her weapons raised. "So, do you usually volunteer to let people take out their anger on you?"
"…have you met Cin?" Daisuke asked as he took the initiative and ran forward with another heavy swing of his gun. "Sparring is her preferred way of getting her anger out. She's not the best with words."
"Not the best with words?" Blake questioned as she went on the defensive, whirling her sword and sliding it along the rifle as she spun and shifted off to the sides to avoid more attacks. "She's been playing the smooth negotiator with us since day one!"
"…not the best with words when it comes to talking about herself, I should say," Daisuke clarified as he extended the fan once again and began to use his weapon almost like a short halberd. "When it comes to personal feelings and frustrations, she'd rather make excuses, run away, or deflect than discuss."
Blake hesitated just long enough to catch the flat of Daisuke's fan to the face, and her aura pulsed a vibrant purple as she stumbled backward a few steps before righting herself. Daisuke stopped his assault immediately and adjusted his stance from a combative one to standing straight up and looking oddly concerned.
"You alright…?"
For a moment, Blake could only stare, unable to think of what to say in response. She watched wordlessly as Daisuke pulled down his mask, offering her a first view at his slender, almost feminine features. His mouth was twisted into a frown and his brows were furrowed, giving him an expression that she had seen so many times before on another man. Without so much as a word, Blake sheathed her weapon and began to make her way toward the stairs once again.
"Blake? I w-"
"I'm fine," the faunus girl replied as she placed her hand on the railing and looked back toward Daisuke. "Really. I just… let's do this again, sometime? When I'm not so distracted. Now really isn't a good time. Sorry."
Daisuke arched a brow and shrugged, before securing his weapon back to its position upon his belt.
"…sure. I'll be on the main ship, if I'm not in town. Come and find me next time the urge strikes you."
Blake simply nodded and made a quick retreat down the steps, the air somehow feeling a bit colder upon her skin.
Ilia shook out her hands and bounced on her heels, her chainmail shoulder cape jingling softly as she moved about. Her powder blue eyes were locked upon the door to General Ironwood's office, and though she couldn't stop moving, she also couldn't bring herself to move forward.
"…Ilia, there is nothing to be worried about," Weiss insisted as she folded her arms across her chest. "Ironwood is expecting us, and it's like you said before- if this goes badly and the two of you can't come to some sort of understanding, then at least you're not going into the mines."
"Yeah," Ilia agreed shortly. "Yeah, but… still. I'm not new to tearing people down when I'm fed up with their bullshit, but I am new to being civil while doing it. I need you to keep things on a middle ground, so I don't screw this up for everyone. Please."
"I will," Weiss reassured. "I know that things have been… tense, and we haven't gone out of our way to spend time together, but I do think of you as a friend, you know. One that I'd like to get to know better. Truly."
Ilia finally stopped fidgeting as she looked over at Weiss. She took a long, slow breath before shaking out her hands once more and nodding.
"…yeah. You, too… even if I don't always show it. Thanks for setting this up, by the way. I doubt he'd agree to go one-on-one with me behind closed doors. He's probably expecting me to go off the rails and start accusing him of shit…"
"He might be," Weiss confirmed. "But do keep in mind- he's instead agreed to a two-on-one in our favor, and he knows that we have some concerns. I think that says something about his character. Ironwood is seeing us voluntarily and with a packed schedule when he knows it likely won't be pleasant. He isn't obligated to listen to us, especially with so much else going on."
"…no. No, he's not," Ilia agreed as she finally began to approach the door. "And you're right. The fact that he's willing to entertain any of this is a good sign. Thanks, Weiss."
"Mm-hmm," the girl lilted as she followed Ilia toward the mechanized door. "Sometimes, you just need the perspective of someone else to… see…"
Ilia stopped walking immediately after the door slid open. All she could think to do was stare at the scene before her while Weiss froze up at her side, looking equally pale and uncertain.
"…what the fuck…" Ilia seethed in a furious whisper.
General Ironwood sat at his desk at the far end of the chamber, elbows atop the surface of the furniture and hands clasped with his chin resting atop them. On either side of the desk were Winter Schnee and Clover Ebi, standing at the ready.
Author's Note:
How about some more tangles in the web? Webs are good for tanglin'.
-RD