Sneak Peak:

"Blake? What are you doing?" Ruby asked as she slid down the wall of the ballroom next to Blake.

"Reading." Blake snapped, her body was filled with unpleasant tension.

"But your book is upside down, and you're just staring at Adam." Her statement was innocent, and lacking any sense of accusation.

Blake sighed as she snapped her book shut. "Ruby, was it?" She had overheard the young girl's introduction as she had stormed off earlier. "Sorry for being snappy, I'm… dealing with a lot."

"Oh, do you want to talk about it?"

Yes, she would love to rant about how her perception of the person she admired had eventually twisted into fear as he descended into madness. Only for her to discover he hadn't gone mad at all and she was just mistaken, but no, she couldn't spill a single word or it. She sighed again. "Sometimes, people's true natures are shocking. And I just have to accept he can act civilized."

Ruby frowned suddenly at Blake's last word. "Hey, so about what Adam said earlier, that you judge people based on what instead of who." She suddenly found it difficult to form her words, but she managed. "Y-you're not racist right? Like you don't think Faunus can't just be normal, do you? Adam's just a nice guy, just because he has horns doesn't mean he can't be normal." Her face was flushed with embarrassment as she innocently accused Blake of discriminating against Adam for being a Faunus.

Blake could feel what little sanity she had managed to hold in to strain as it was about to snap in half.


"Looks like she's doing alright." Adam told Yang as he stared fondly at Ruby befriending Blake. Perhaps a bit too fondly, as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"That's nice and all, but keep your eyes to yourself, yeah?" Yang smiled sweetly as she spoke with venom, her hand violently squeezing Adam's shoulder.

"Message received." Adam grimaced slightly as his shoulder was released. "And don't worry, it's not like that. She just reminded me of someone I used to know." As he stretched some feeling back into his arm, he looked at Yang with a discerning eye. "You also look like someone I knew." His mind flashed back to the violent bandit who inspired his own mask and taught him a bit of swordplay.


Thanks for reading! I'm always open to feedback, so please leave a review, or reply in my forum, about what you liked or hated about this chapter or the whole story. If anyone wants to be a Beta Reader, then PM me and we'll talk details.