So uh…less than a week from now is the midseason of Vol. 8…oops.
"…"-Normal talking
'…'-Pokémon/people thinking
After Blake left, Ash decided to meditate for a little while at the Hall of Origin. He was working on trying to keep himself in check as he was going to dinner with someone who he had only known for only for a short time.
Meanwhile, Arceus took notice of him being there and he knew that he was still struggling. He flew towards him and landed by him.
"Are you alright Ash?" Arceus asked.
"Yeah, just need to calm down a bit." Ash answered.
"Listen, you must continue to reconnect with Remnant. Your six-year absence hurt many people's hearts. Even those that didn't cause your disappearance were hurt that you vanished. Consider this your ultimate test of how far you've really come." Arceus said while looking at Remnant.
"But how!?" Ash demanded while standing up and glared at the alpha.
"That's something only you can figure out for it cannot be taught or learned. Think of it like this: you won't think, just act." Arceus suggested.
"Right…I'll just do what I always been doing then." Ash assumed as he too looked towards Remnant.
"No. I believe the time has come for you to see things their way for a while. Your final task is at hand Chosen One. Just trust in your heart." Arceus said in a calming voice.
Ash fell silent and looked back at Remnant. He knew that he needed to do what Arceus says. Otherwise, he will never move on from his past.
"Alright, I best return. I have dinner to get ready for." Ash said before creating another portal that'll take him to the fountain that Blake specified where they'll meet up at.
"Remember, connect with Remnant. Your new friends will guide you to the right pathway." Arceus said.
"Okay." Ash said before he entered the portal and it closed.
Ash arrived at the fountain where he sat by the fountain and just sat there and waited.
Meanwhile a bit earlier, Blake was in the bathroom in their hotel room applying some eyeliners. She was now in a white crop shirt that had long sleeves. Above her shirt was a long black trench coat that had multiple pockets. She had her weapon underneath her coat for concealment. She had short black shorts with long black with faded purple going down her legs. She had black ankle strap on heels with each of them carrying a scabbard for twin knives.
Just as she was finishing up, she was catching some strange scent in the air. She looked over to where she smelled it from, and she saw multiple tissue paper in the trash. She saw red stain marks on them.
"What the?" Blake asked with confusion. She began to remember that Ash had tended to his wounds on his arm, but this seemed a bit much. "Why doesn't he just use his aura to heal himself?" She asked herself.
Just as she was about to leave, she saw something hiding a bottle of soap and shampoo. She pulled it out and she saw a blood-stained knife. She gasped and she dropped the knife onto the ground. She just starred at it until her eyes began to widen.
She began to have flashbacks to when she had her encounters with Ash and how he reacted when he held his arm. She remembered him saying that it's a wound that he tended to, but now it began to hit her, they were all lies.
"NO!" Blake screamed as she ran to her scroll and dialed up Yang.
"Blake? What's up?" Yang asked with a look of concern.
"Yang! We go a problem!" Blake yelled as fear began to consume her.
"What is it? Is it Ash? Where is he!? I'll teach him a lesson!" Yang yelled with anger.
"WAIT! We had it all wrong! Change of plans, I'm going through with this myself!" Blake continued to yell.
Just then, her scroll began to go into a three way call with the rest of her teammates.
"What's with all the yelling? I can hear your voice from the other side of our room." Weiss asked with annoyance.
"It's Ash. I just figured something out that we were wrong about." Blake answered.
"What?" Ruby asked.
"Those wounds he had; they were not accidental." Blake answered once again.
"He lied to us? Why would he lie about-" "DEPRESSION!" Blake interrupted Yang with a scream.
Everyone froze up and reality began hitting them. Ruby dropped her scroll in shock, Yang sat on her bed and looked down with the same look, and Weiss leaned against a wall near a window while processing what she had just learned.
"Oh my god. I don't…I don't understand why." Weiss whispered a bit.
"Girls, I think I can get through to him. Let me handle this one on my own. And no Ruby, it won't be like in our first year. I've learned my mistake on that." Blake assured Ruby.
"Good because I really consider that to be one of our moments of weakness. Oh! We also need to update Anabel. She warned us about him, but not this." Ruby suggested.
"Good idea. In the meantime, I'm going to get these submitted to confirm of his depression. Then, my dinner with Ash." Blake said before hanging up. "Ash…how could you lie to us like this?" Blake asked as she looked back at the knife.
She left and she brought the knife to a couple medical officers and explained to them about the situation that transpired. After informing them, she contacted Anabel.
"This is Chief Anabel. State your name and situation." Anabel answered Blake's call.
"Chief, this is Blake Belladonna regarding Ash's condition." Blake said.
Anabel gasped a bit from her words.
"What happened? Did he have an unfortunate encounter with the ones that caused his disappearance?" Anabel asked with a more serious tone.
"We did have an encounter with a few of them earlier today, but no harm was made. It's about his other condition. You did say he had some PTSD and anxiety, right?" Blake asked.
"That's right. Why did he break?" Anabel asked with more concern.
"Worst. He's going through depression." Blake said.
"OH! I totally forgot about that!" Anabel yelled with shock.
"YOU KNEW!?" Blake shouted in anger.
"IT SLIPPED MY MIND!" Anabel shouted this time with fear. Anabel hated herself that she completely forgotten about his depression. And now she needed to take further actions to ensure of Ash's safety from here on out.
Meanwhile, Blake was still rather furious with Anabel. But then she kinda cut herself off from her hatred and realized more of her behavior towards someone she had known for a short time.
She sighed and calmed down.
"I'll look after him myself. He is my partner after all." Blake said.
"Alright. Just try to avoid them at all cost. If they start pestering him, you are free to fight back. I will overlook knicks, scratches and bruises. Just make sure that they remain capable of taking part in the tournament." Anabel said.
"With pleasure." Blake said before she hung up. She looked at the time and realized that she was slightly behind schedule. "Here I come Ash." Blake said as she ran off.
Back with Ash, he continued to sit at the fountain. He began to question of whether or not that Blake meant this dinner, or if it was a trick.
He waited for some time until he came to the realization.
"I knew it…I guess I'll go by myself." Ash whispered in sadness and defeat. He got up and began to leave.
"Ash! Wait up!" Blake called out. Ash looked behind and saw Blake running towards him. "Sorry I kept you waiting longer than normal. I had a bit of an obstacle in the way to deal with. So, are you ready?" Blake asked while smiling.
"Yeah. What happened?" Ash asked as they began to head off towards a restaurant.
Blake got very unsure of herself on how to answer that question. She didn't want Ash to feel worst, but she had to tell the truth sooner or later.
"I had to deal with a situation with a friend of mine. Rather serious." Blake half lied.
"How bad are we talking?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Err…a recent injury." Blake said on the fly. Blake knew that Ash wasn't a fool, but she had to keep what she had learned to herself for now. "Anyway! Here we are." Blake said as they arrived at the restaurant.
They went inside and they placed their orders in. They were at a two-seat table that was right next to the window. Blake sat right in front of Ash. She was looking at Ash's arm where she knew the wounds were at.
"So, how was your time at a Huntsman Academy?" Ash asked while they waited for their meal.
"Well…me and my team, along with Team JNPR, didn't exactly stay a full four years at Beacon. Let's just say that years ago, Beacon Academy's CCT tower was destroyed from a raging battle. Pyrrha unfortunately died near the end of the battle, but she was brought back by the Gods of Light and Darkness themselves since her death was unnatural. As for me, I returned home to Kuo Kuana to reflect of the injury that Yang suffered because of me, but now we've bonded so much stronger than just teammates, but as sisters. We've been almost inseparable since." Blake explained.
"I don't wanna know how Pyrrha died, but if she's that close to Jaune, then something tells me that they have been glued together. What of Salem, what was she like?" Ash asked.
"She was a human once but was cursed with immortality for not coping with Ozma's death. She eventually jumped into a Grimm pool and turned into a humanoid Grimm herself, dubbing herself Queen Salem. Had it not been for Ruby, the relics, the Seasonal Maidens, and Ozpin, we wouldn't be able to stop her for good. Ozpin sacrificed himself for good to help Salem see the light and she, too was gone forever." Blake explained more. "But enough of that, how about you? Why don't you want to become a Huntsman? You have such potential." Blake wondered.
"Well…I did say earlier that Professor Oak and Lance found a loophole, but there's more to it." Ash said as he looked away a bit.
Blake then placed a hand on his. Ash looked back at her and she smiled at him.
"It's okay Ash. If it's too much for you, I'll stop asking." Blake said.
"Actually, I'm okay with this. You see long ago, my father left not long after I was born to help provide food for the table back home in Pallet Town. He was a Pokémon Trainer, and he was one of the best Kanto has seen in years. I was in a Huntsman Prep Academy called Oak Academy but dropped out to find out where my father went after he supposedly disappeared. I've been traveling since then. That is…until Alola happened." Ash explained before cutting himself off from mentioning Alola.
"Enough said." Blake said. She began to feel like opening up more to him. "As you already know, I've from Menagerie. My father is the chieftain of the village, Ghira Belladonna. Would you be surprised if I told you that he was once the High Leader of the White Fang?" Blake asked.
"Now that you mention it, I heard that the White Fang has been going all over the place these past years. They started off as a peace keeping organization turned terrorist to get the respects they deserved. Lately, they've been more out there thanks to someone named Adam or something." Ash said while in thought.
"That man was so corrupted with lust for power and killing that I thought I was the only one that can fix him, but it wasn't meant to be." Blake said as she looked down herself recalling that day when she and Yang killed him before going to Atlas.
Ash looked towards her with a bit of sadness. He covered her hand with his hand, returning the favor earlier. Blake looked back at him who was smiling back at her.
"You don't need to say anymore if it's too personal." Ash said.
Blake gasped a bit from how he said that to her. She smiled and held his hand. She slightly nodded and their eyes continued to gaze into each other.
Just then, she looked back at his arm. She began to tremble a bit, and Ash took noticed of this pretty quickly.
"Ash…I lied a bit. I did say that I was tending to a friend. However, I never told you who it was." Blake said.
"Blake?" Ash asked with concerned.
"You're suffering from depression and you're hurting yourself." Blake stated with a very serious look. Ash was about to say something, but she raised her other hand at him. "You can stop lying now. I found the knife you used on yourself. Not to mention the smell from it that I picked up on." Blake added on.
Ash was completely frozen on the inside from shock that she discovered his secret. On one hand, he knew that he wanted to not tell the truth because he didn't want to share the pain with others. But on the other hand, he knew that he would be discovered. He jus wished it was later.
"I…I don't…know what to say. In fact, I got nothing." Ash said as his sadness began to grow and he slowly pulled away from her grip, but she refused to let go.
Blake got up and knelt down next to him and began to channel her aura into his wounded arm. She did not want to break her grip on him in believing that he will flee. After a bit, his wound was almost completely gone.
She then hugged him.
"No more Ash. Please…no more." Blake whispered as she was fighting the tears in her eyes.
Ash looked back at Blake as she continued to hug him. He slowly smiled and gently held her. After a bit, she broke the hug and went back to her seat.
"How about we head for the park nearby to take a bit of a load off?" Blake asked.
"Sounds great." Ash answered.
"Excuse me. Can we get a quick picture with you guys?" Someone asked nearby.
They saw a few fans approaching them. Ash and Blake looked at each other and nodded.
"Sure why not?" Blake asked as they got into position.
Ash and Blake smiled with the fans as someone took a picture of them. One of them was showing a peace sign right next to Ash.
After a while, their food arrived, and they dug in. Ash was getting into a chicken sandwich while Blake was getting into fillet Magikarp. After they ate, they paid for their food before heading out. They made their way towards the park where Blake suggested.
Ash and Blake sat on a bench nearby a fountain just as the sun was setting.
"You know Blake, this was a good idea." Ash said.
"Yeah. You know, this reminds me of how me and Adam used to hang out before he went crazy." Blake said.
"You two seemed pretty close. Didja bear your mark on him, or weren't you ready for that yet?" Ash asked with a bit of a smirk.
"No…because he became more and more like a monster and I just couldn't do it." Blake admitted.
Blake began to imagine what would've happen if he really did remain stable. She saw herself bearing a kiss bite on his neck.
Ash then adjusted a bit on the bench until he accidentally placed a hand on her hand.
"Ah! Oops." Ash said when he pulled his hand away.
"I-it's okay. I don't mind really. You know…this really a great view." Blake said as they saw the sunset becoming a beautiful twilight color.
"Yeah. But you know, don't take this the wrong way, but I love the color in your eyes." Ash admitted while looking back at her.
Blake looked back at him when he said that.
"Oh really? Would you like a closer look?" Blake asked with a smirk herself.
She leaned closer to him and their eyes looked deep into each other. They continued to look at each other. Little did they know that they began to slowly get closer to each other. They slowly closed their eyes and their lips met.
A spark came to them inside when they began to kiss each other. Ash crossed his fingers into hers. Blake slowly placed her other hand on his cheek. Ash took his other hand and held her waist.
Meanwhile nearby, Max and May were nearby, and they saw Ash and Blake kissing.
"Sis, I have an idea that'll ruin their friendship and relationship. Especially since she's the daughter of the chieftain." Max said as he pulled out his Pokedex and took a picture.
"Sending it to the right people at Kuo Kuana?" May asked with an evil smirk.
"Oh yeah. Enjoy the bad publicity." Max said as they left.
Back with Ash and Blake, Blake began to deepen the kiss while moving her hand to the back of Ash's head.
Suddenly, Ash slowly opened his eyes and he saw what he was doing. He quickly pulled away.
"NO!" Ash shouted as he scooted away from Blake. Blake opened her eyes and held her heart. "I-I am so sorry Blake. I had no idea what I was doing and…UGH! I think I should just go." Ash said with shame as he began to leave.
Just then, Ash felt his wrist being grabbed by Blake. He looked back at her with a bit of a small smile. She stood up and cupped both his cheeks.
"Ash, if I wanted you to stop, I would've force you off. I actually enjoyed that. In fact, I wanted to do that for years when I first saw you in the Indigo Plateau tournament years ago because of how much of an inspiration you've given me. And now, I've become the person thanks to my teammates and friends, but you as well. I love you Ash Ketchum." Blake said before leaning on his face and gently rubbed her ears on him.
Ash was stunned. Despite all the lies, and the short time they've known each other, Blake fully opened up to him and Ash felt the same. Ash now began to feel like his pain is being shared with Blake, but Blake was able to overcome it with ease.
Ash then began to snake her arms around her waist and hugged her, to which Blake did the same.
"I promise that I won't lie to you like this again." Ash whispered.
"Thank you…Ash. I love you." Blake said before she pulled back and they shared another kiss.
That night, they returned back to their room and they got ready for bed. They shared one more kiss before Blake went to sleep on the bed while Ash went back to his chair and went to sleep.
Ash and Blake's relationship is going well, but Max and May learns of it. How will the people watching the tournament handle their new relationship? Has Ash's depression finally begun to dissipate, or will it return? Find out more as the story continues.
And there we have it readers. The shipping of Ash and Blake, A.K.A Ravenfaunushipping, has begun. So…I didn't realize that there was more to Vol. 8 until the night when the previous episode was released to the public due to someone who I can assume is a first member and gets updates from the CRWBY on DA. Just a reminder, I don't have a membership, so I'll be seeing it the week after this episode comes out. Thank you so much for reading as always. TheD-Rock900 is signing off, see you guys next time for the conclusion of Round 1.