Seven years later...
'I can't believe I'm already here,' Blake thought, practically racing through her head continuously as she was walking off of one of the bullheads and onto the main pathway for Beacon. Nervous butterflies had swirled around her stomach as she began to take in the continuous sights of Beacon Academy, in addition to all of the batch of students that have made it here today for the initiation. She hadn't initially thought of the decision to become a Huntress as a career choice, but given the array of options, being a Huntress seemed like it would have a far greater impact. Of course, she had required to pass through various amounts of obstacles in order to become good enough in order to enter Beacon, seeing as it was one of the most prestigious Huntsmen Academy's out there in the continent of Vale.
She was just slightly overwhelmed by making it into the academy itself.
Her combat outfit consisted of a light-grey sweater, a pair of purple pants and black winter boots, with the pair of boots having white fluff as lining for warmth, with an additional pair of white strings attached to the fur, which lead to white fuzzy pom-pom-looking aesthetics. Before, she often had her hair long and fell down to her back, however, as she got older, her hair began to get in the way of her fighting, so she had used a purple ribbon to tie it into a ponytail, allowing her to fight with very little distractions.
Around her neck was a purple bandana, and over the grey sweater was a grey blazer of sorts, looking like a part of a fancy suit. The sleeves extended to just above the elbows, with the black cuffs being folded backwards, pinned by golden buttons. Tying down the blazer around her waist was a belt, a pattern of horizontal rectangles decorating the leather, consisting of black and white. The belt right at the centre had a golden belt-buckle. Her hands were covered by black fingerless gloves, with purple flaps covering the back of her gloves, pinned down by a golden button. On the palms of her gloves were paw prints, woven with shock-Dust.
Before, when she was in the White Fang, the thought of becoming a Huntress had never crossed her mind. However, once the violence began, her instructors had been concerned whether or not staying in the now-terrorist-organizarion would be safe and beneficial. She was in the White Fang for multiple years beforehand, but left when the White Fang was increasing its violent and volatile nature. As such, when she left when she was fourteen, she had continued to dedicate more training to Menagerie, focusing on trying to benefit the safe haven of the faunus.
With that, after leaving the White Fang, she suddenly found herself without a path to walk. She had her goal; to bring true faunus equality, no matter how hard it may be. However, the path she initially walked on was the one that would lead her to the White Fang. Unfortunately, the path has been completely barricaded by Sienna, upon her rise to becoming the new High Leader of the White Fang. With that, she had thought deeply about what to do with the strength that she has accumulated throughout her life spent with Adam and Yuki. To simply abandon her goal would be to spit in the face of all of the effort and dedication that the two had sunk into her to make her stronger.
Then, just as she was going through the motions of her martial-art exercises, it had suddenly occured to her. What if she had made public displays of the skills she had learnt? However, there were very little ways to employ her combative abilities. However, there was only one event that had stuck out in her mind. In fact, it was something she had watched just after she turned fifteen. The Vytal Festival is a tournament that was created after the end of the Great War, choosing to celebrate the self-expression and individuality of the people across the Four Kingdoms, which were the prominent reasons as to why the war began. Teams of Huntsmen and Huntressess-in-training would participate in in the Vytal Festival in a tournament, fighting for their homeland and respective training academy in the Vytal Festival Tournament.
There, she realized what other path she could take. She can help unite faunus and humans together and what better than a tournament like the Vytal Festival Tournament. As such, she had headed on the way to becoming a Huntress. Inevitably, it had led her to Beacon Academy.
She stayed in Vale for a few weeks, proceeding to take a couple of exams required. There are a couple of ways to enter an academy. The first would be to use a set of transcripts, which would eventually be observed by the Headmaster himself, with many being accepted and many being rejected. However, there is also a set of exams, allowing you to forgo the requirements of transcripts. The exams are divided between a written exam, which would naturally test your knowledge, and a practical exam, which would assess how you would be able to deal with Grimm, factoring skill, efficiency, Aura-control, along with a variety of other factors. Seeing as she has not went to Combat School, at least, officially, Blake had opted to partake in the second option.
Just as she got off the stop, she suddenly found herself nearly being shoved out of the way, almost losing her footing, watching as some male blond boy had shot himself towards the nearest trash can and proceeded to vomit out the contents of his stomach. Blake found herself blinking furiously at the sight of it, dumbfounded and confused.
She couldn't help but derive some level of hilarity from the situation, but still found it incredibly odd for someone who was supposed to be a trained warrior to have trouble not getting sick while on a bullhead. In fact, his entire ensemble seemed completely out of sorts, being a complete mismatched mess.
The blonde had worn a black hoodie, which seemed a bit small for him, seeing as the sleeves went up to his elbows, or not even that. Or perhaps it was purposefully designed like that. He wore a pair of blue jeans which were ripped at the knees and a set of black converse trainers. On his forearms seemed to be detachable orange-red sleeves and he also wore brown wrist-length gloves, which also exposed his fingers. However, decorating his mundane outfit were plates of armour. Across his chest was a diamond-shaped white chest plate, which had only covered the top of his abdomen. Blake was also able to detect the outline of some art beneath the chest plate, however, she couldn't make out the details. His shoulders had been covered by the same white and grey outlining as his chestplate as spaulders, with a set of rerebraces set underneath them.
His face didn't seem to be too outstanding either. Taking in his rather shaggy blond hair, his blue eyes and boyish face, one might go as far to say that he might be handsome. However, the abnormally pale, if not slightly sickly-green skin, happened to have retracted some of that charm. Suddenly, Blake realized that there was another person whose stomach wasn't all that co-operative with them, although this boy's stomach seemed to be rather rebellious.
Taking a few steps towards the boy, she had placed a hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention. His face turned to meet Blake's concerned look, before she spoke. "I need you to look towards the horizon. If you continue to focus on what's in front of you, you'll stay sick. If you focus towards the horizon, your sensory confusion will fade."
The boy blinked, before he turned towards the horizon, focusing on not only the currently-rising sun, but the visible mountain ranges, the formations of the clouds. He had tried his hardest to focus on the scenery beyond his natural reach...
...and just like that, he felt better, the uneasy sickness dwelling in his stomach had been quelled. He had breathed out a sigh, mixed with satisfaction and relief. "Thanks for the help. Wasn't sure what I'd do without your help."
Blake was willing to agree, seeing as that wasn't the first time she felt any sort of sickness. She had travelled many times by boat, and a couple of times by bullhead. She has experienced motion sickness multiple times until Adam had taught her a unique trick in assisting in the endeavour of mitigating and removing motion sickness.
"Relax," Blake had merely waved a hand around, showcasing a nonchalant behaviour at her act of kindness. "It's nothing much, really."
"Still, I owe you one," The blonde said, giving her a relieved smile. "Where'd you learn that anyway?"
"My teachers," Blake had simply responded. "They taught me a whole lot."
By this point, the two have already begun to walk together towards the large spire that is Beacon Academy. There were many arches, a few spires, and at the centre of it all, Beacon Tower, a clock-tower which also houses the Vale's CCT, allowing every student and teacher to place a call and download virtually any sort of file within reason of course. It acted as one of the lynchpins towards the communication with the rest of the world and the current world order. It honestly looked far more like a fancy boarding school for training warriors, given the location of the school.
"Really? That's cool," The boy said. "Anyway, the names Jaune Arc; short, sweet, rolls of the lounge; ladies love it."
Blake had left out a snort at that phrase, almost about to burst out giggling at the phrase, realizing just how silly it sounded. "Well, I don't think you need the ladies part in that greeting of yours. Doesn't suit you."
"Really?" Jaune said, blinking in surprise. "My dad always says that girls look for confidence."
"Nope," Blake firmly said, crossing her arms. "Honestly, cut it out and try to not act too hard, and you'll sound better." Just then, she flashed a cheeky smile towards Jaune. "If anything, it makes you come across as a bit over the top."
"Wow, you really know how to bruise an ego," Jaune said sarcastically.
Blake was unable to stifle a few giggles at that, before she responded. "My name's Blake, Blake Belladonna." Her face often maintained a natural seriousness on it, which had an allure of beauty to it. However, she allowed a small smile to grace her lips.
"Well, ready to go to this orientation thing?" Jaune said, jerking his head towards the large monument that is Beacon Academy.
The two continued to walk through the paths of Beacon, with Blake noting that there are calm and secluded areas for reading once she has settled down in Beacon. There were different garden beds containing different flora, creating a nice, harmonizing scent for anyone that would be wandering around. There were also a series of maple trees, most likely gathered from acorns from the Forever Fall. There was a strange mystery surrounding the Fall, seeing as the forest continues to remain in a state of everlasting autumn.
However, as Blake was walking with Jaune, she began to notice something extremely disconcerting.
His Aura isn't unlocked.
That, in and of itself, isn't uncommon, as most citizens go throughout their daily lives without having their Aura unlocked. If one were to be enrolled in a Combat Academy, then they will have their Aura unlocked upon entry, much like a write of passage. Adam, her teacher, even opened a school on Menagerie, teaching people how to use their Aura's and use weapons to become warriors to defend Menagerie. Having their Aura's unlocked was a must if they were going to be doing that. Beyond that, she could not think of any other institution that routinely unlocked the Aura of the recipient. The exceptions to that are those who are home-schooled and home-trained, such as herself...or had different backgrounds.
Her Tōmei had also picked up more than that. Jaune's physique didn't seem up to snuff with the physical standard of all other potential Huntsmen and Huntressess-in-training. It was more like he did the bare minimum to stay in shape, but didn't go beyond that. There was also a slight imbalance involving his sword, showing that he was not used to carrying its weight. Such a thing most likely didn't help with his motion sickness.
Blake had held her tounge, her instincts blaring sirens as they practically told her that, while she was ready for combat, this boy wasn't...at all, and it wasn't even funny. Whatever the initiation was composed of, she was confident it, at the very least, involved Grimm. All her knowledge about this boy had told her that he barely knew the first thing about combat...or even that.
And yet...she could not doubt that he was here. He most likely sent in his transcripts, since she knew he couldn't participate in the physical exams, which was looked at by Professor Ozpin...and he accepted them. What that meant and all that it implies means that Jaune is here and that there was something about him that Ozpin noticed about him.
"So, I got this," Jaune said, taking the sword and sheath/shield that was fastened at his left hip. "It's a family sword of mine."
Blake had observed Jaune take the sword of of the sheath, a colour of a pristine ivory had made up the blade. Looking at it, there were a few scratches that decorated the surface of the blade, with a good polish removing them, should it receive one. However, beyond all of that, the sword is in remarkably well condition, despite the scratches, which were definitely not caused by Jaune himself. Jaune held out the sheath before it expanded, becoming a plain-looking heater-shield, gold decorating the edges, with two arcs of gold decorating the front, much like a family symbol.
"The shield can act as a scabbard, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can turn it into a sheath and store my sword in it," Jaune said, rather shy about talking about the family blade.
"But it would ultimately weigh the same at the end of the day," Blake noted. "Wouldn't it?"
"Yeah..." Jaune said, now looking crestfallen.
Instantly, Blake immediately felt bad, realizing that her choice of words wasn't the best. "Not that its bad, kinda practical, actually. My own teacher has a sword of a traditional design. Not many people assume much of it, really."
"Thanks," Jaune said, feeling a bit better after Blake said that. "It's a first-gen weapon. My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the Great War, then it went to my great grandfather...then to my father...then to me."
Blake had noticed the term "first-gen". It was a group of weapons of a more traditional style, with the main weapon being an immutible piece of equipment. However, that didn't mean collapsible storage devices weren't used. More often than not, they are a less favoured piece of equipment over weapons from second-generation and third-generation weapons. Second-generation weapons involved the usage of weapons that had firing mechanisms inside of it, such as firing bullets from the hilts of swords...or a chain with daggers that can be fired with a click of a button. Third-generation weapons are the modern choice nowadays. They normally involve the weapon schematics to be more complex, focusing on constructing the mechanisms carefully so that it can change into its melee-form and firearm-form with ease...provided that they don't interfere with one another.
"If its that old and still in great condition," Blake said, rubbing her hand against the blade itself. "Then it must've been well-crafted."
"Aw, come on, you're just saying that," Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, a faint blush on his cheeks as he had a smile on his face.
"I'm not," Blake said, now done rubbing her hand against the surface of the blade. "As I said, it's old but in great and workable condition. Whoever made this had great skill and knew exactly what they were doing when they forged this."
Jaune blush had deepened into a darker red, not used to this sort of praise. His reaction had caused her to laugh again. However, her reaction was completely cut off as a sudden explosion of noise rang out. Correction, a genuine explosion had rung out. Both Jaune and Blake had turned to the cloud of smoke, which was dotted with sparks of lighting, wisps of flames, and flashes of frost emanating from the epicenter of the explosion. Immediately, Blake had simply given the explosion a deadpan expression, wondering who would be stupid enough to not properly handle their Dust safely.
However, multiple sparks of anger had arise within her as the dust cloud, the mundane kind of dust, settled as it revealed the two individuals within it. One of the girls had black hair and red tips, which was asymmetrically cut so that the right side was longer than the left. Blake had took notice of the fact that she had the same sort of silver-eyes that Yuki had.
Her outfit was primarily black and red. She wore a black blouse that had long sleeves with red trimming, a black corset with red strings around her waist with a matching skirt and petticoat. She had a set of black stockings and a set of black boots, lined with red trimming and red laces. Beyond all of that, her red cloak stood out, which was pinned by silver crosses at the shoulders. She also wore a black belt on an angle, with an array of silver bullets on them with a rose-shaped buckle, possibly an emblem of sorts.
However, the other individual was something that had grinded her gears. It was impossible to not notice her. From her snow-white hair, tied into a ponytail with some sort of silver tiara pinned into her ponytail. Her icy-blue eyes held a great judgemental gaze towards the red-head, her pale skin certainly highlighting them. There was also a vertical scar that had crossed over the left eye, but not leaving any sort of cellular damage to the eye itself. However, it had assisted in accentuating her beauty, not detracting it in any way.
Her combat outfit was more akin to a princess, a white dress that faded into into an icy-blue, the edges resembling the half's of diamonds as snowflakes had decorated the edges, with layers of white tulle decorating under the skirt. She had woren a pair of white, wedge-heeled boots, with red lining and silver decorations at the very top of the foot. She wore an open short jacket with a similar design to her dress, with red lining and a ruffled collar. Etched onto the back of the jacket was a snowflake symbol that she was all too familiar with.
Blake had to force herself to not grit her teeth. Her lessons with Adam have taught her about the realities involving the SDC, including their controversial associations and labour forces. Seeing as how Adam has experienced the gruesomeness of the taskmasters that ever worked there, she has not gathered great opinions of the Scheme Dust Company. In fact, her opinions of the company had mostly been forged from her own father's rants and Adam's experiences.
"Ugh, now look what you did!" The girl yelled, carrying an air and tone befitting of a spoilt princess. "Do you have any idea how much this costs?!" Her voice shrieked, much like an actual banshee.
The girl seemed even more flustered and embarrassed as the Schnee continued to chew into the girl even more. "You're lucky that we weren't blown off the side of the cliff, and given the amount of expensive Dust that I have, if we did survive, you'd have to pay for every single ounce of it all!"
Blake had clenched her fist as she watched as the prissy princess had continued to get even madder, evident by her naturally pale skin, no doubt a product of spending all of her life in Atlas, had begun to shift into a red, purely from her anger, rage, and frustration. Looking down, she had noticed a vial of burn-Dust. Picking it up, she noticed that the lid wasn't screwed on properly, causing her to roll her eyes.
"Honestly, it's completely irresponsible for this to happen!" The heiress shrieked.
"Hey, I said I was sorry!" The red-head yelled, finally finding the confidence to answer back.
"You heard her," Blake answered, causing the two to turn to Blake, holding the vial of Dust in her hand. "If she said she was sorry, then she was sorry, so don't continue to try to make the situation worse than it already is."
"Well, it wasn't my fault she had tripped over my luggage," The princess complained.
"Was it?" Blake rhetorically spoke. "Or was it just you not seeing where you're going?"
Even though she hasn't met someone like the girl in front of her, Blake knew exactly what her type was. The princess that was born with a silver spoon in her mouth from the very second she was born and given everything that she wanted. It wasn't completely out of the question for her to blame others for her own mistakes.
Certainly, the girl's reaction had betrayed her, confirming her suspicions. "H-How dare you! Do you even know who I am?! I am--"
"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC, also known as the Schnee Dust Company," Blake said, her voice completely monotone. "The greatest producers of Dust-propellant in the entire world."
The heiress, who has been revealed to be Weiss, had lifted her head up in pride. Blake could, albeit begrudgingly, understand. The Schnee Family was one of the most, if not the most, influential and wealthiest families since the great Nicholas Schnee had founded the SDC. Ever since, it has been on an incredible rise of profits and has been building up its reputation for decades, which has already been whittled down and degraded by Jacques Schnee.
"Finally," Weiss huffed before turning to the other girl, who had already stood up. "Some well-deserved recognition."
"Don't be so smug, Schnee," Blake said, the tone of her voice unchanging and her expression remained in its natural seriousness. "After all, they are also well-known for their labour forces, particularly towards the faunus, and beyond questionable business partners."
Seeing Weiss stutter and blush with embarrassment and, quite possibly, anger was gratifying and enjoyable to Blake in a way that she hasn't often felt. It was the feeling of delivering a reality check towards individuals who are far to much of an idealist. She wouldn't call Weiss an idealistic person, but rather someone who had observed the world with a rather...narrow world-view.
Weiss' eyes had narrowed in anger, before she looked at the top of her head and noticed the pair of fluffy cat ears, standing proud on her head. Her eyes narrowed even further, and Blake's Tōmei had scoped out some level of revulsion upon witnessing her cat ears. She then scoffed, mostly from disgust. "Of course, only a faunus would say stuff like that."
"I sincerely doubt it's untrue, given the fact that I have met several faunus who have experienced terrible things at the hands of the Schnee's," Blake said, levels of barely restrained anger leaking out of her voice.
"H-Hey, guys," Instantly, Jaune's intervened between the two of them, putting his hands between the two. "We're supposed to be heading inside of the big building so... let's just head there. Not much is gonna get accomplished if you two argue."
Blake grimaced, realizing that her anger has gotten the better of her as she was indulging in her particular disgust for the Schnee's. Looking at Weiss, she saw a faint blush on her cheeks, realizing that she too had allowed herself to indulge in her prejudices towards faunus, no doubt beaten and instilled into her by her father.
"Come on Jaune, let's leave the Ice Queen," Blake said, forcefully grabbing Jaune's hand and pulling him with her, heading directly to the auditorium of Beacon, with the red-headed girl heading directly behind her, realizing that staying behind with Weiss wouldn't be a great idea.
Blake had stood quiet amongst the crowd, with a bunch of whispers echoing around her. However, she had drowned them out, focusing on the esteemed Headmaster himself, Professor Ozpin. Blake had picked up on a natural lax posture he possessed, yet he also exuded a serious and mysterious wave of aura. Something about his presence seemed off to her.
Ozpin tapped on the microphone a few times, before he spoke. "I'll...keep this brief. Amongst the lot of you are individuals who have spent years dedicated to serving the world as great Huntsmen and Huntresses. You have learnt skills that many people do not possess and desire to strive in becoming beacons and paragon's of hope and duty. You hope to acquire new skills and hone your craft to do so."
Blake could easily see the people around her getting her hopes up, yet she felt as if Ozpin wasn't finished.
"And yet...all I see amongst most of you individuals are wasted energy,"
Their hope was snuffed out, like a Mistralian candle, as shock and confusion had filled the room, only Blake raising an eyebrow at the stern statement.
Professor Ozpin was more than just a professor. He is an esteemed Huntsmen, a great inspiration and a genuine prodigy, possessing a level of skill and wisdom beyond his age. Of course, such a position and fame would understandably cause him to become a source of inspiration. As an individual who takes training the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses seriously, he also uses the inspiration in a manner that would force anyone of his students to take their training seriously.
"Most of you are un-tempered and do not grasp the nuances of what it means to be a true, dedicated protector of the people," Ozpin explained. "You believe that knowledge will free you of this, but it is up to you to take the first step in the journey of becoming true protectors in your time at this academy."
After the brief, yet serious speech, Ozpin had left the microphone and the stage entirely, allowing the Deputy Headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch. She was the epitomy of a stern disciplinarian as her light-green eyes held a gaze that seemed to be cold and piercing to anyone that had glared in her direction. Her oval-shaped glasses certainly accentuated such a gaze. Her blonde hair also held a level of formality, being tied into a bun at the back while strands of hair had curled and spiralled around one another at the right side of her head.
Her outfit further accentuated her disciplinarian appearance. A white blouse with a keyhole-neckline with gauntlet cuffs that flared out at the wrists, which also exposed some of her cleavage. She wore black high-waisted pencil skirt, adorned with bronzed buttons and black stockings that faded into brown. She had black boots that had bronze heels along a cape attached to her blouse, pinned by straps. The cape was primarily black overall, but Blake could see that the inside of it was all purple. The end of the cape had transformed into wisps, almost flames, and ended in arrows.
Overall, she held a particular aura that screamed that she meant business and that it was wise to comply whenever it was necessary.
"The initiation will begin tomorrow for you all," Glynda said. "Until then, you are free to explore the grounds of Beacon Academy, and you shall be staying inside of the ballroom at night where you shall be sleeping. I would highly advise you head to sleep early, seeing as how there are many individuals who enjoy to stay up late." She said, letting her words sink into the inviteed.
"You are dismissed," Glynda said, proceeding to follow Ozpin's footsteps, literally, her heels clicking against the floor.
After Glynda had left the ballroom, the invitees had been left whispering with eachother, the voice gradually building up as the tension Glynda had left in her wake dissipated. Now their voices began to completely pick up, drowning the ballroom in whatever conversations were being spoken of.
Blake was confused by Ozpin's presence...or rather a Ozpin's neglect of one. It seemed as if Ozpin wasn't even there, uncaring for the reactions of the individuals. Although, it could be that it was Ozpin's unique way of trying to encourage individuals, almost placing an expectation on these people of what is expected of them at this academy.
After the welcoming speech, if it could even be called that, Blake had taken the chance to observe the courtyards of Beacon Academy, basking in
During Blake's training, she often had to traverse across the terrain of Anima. Very rarely does she ever travel across the continent of Sanus, seeing as Anima was naturally closer to Menagerie. Adam and Yuki often had expeditions in Menagerie for Grimm Hunting, in an effort for Blake to acquire experience and apply the skills she's learnt. Her experiences in the White Fang also served as a way to gain experience against people, seeing as there are organizations that openly fight against the White Fang, even before it was radicalized, such as the Silver Bullet.
More often than not, she has found herself living off of the land on Menagerie and Anima, managing to find herself comfortable in conditions that a lot of people would find atrocious, so it was no big surprise to find her sitting in a tree, her back pressed against the tree trunk as she dangled her left leg, swinging it idly as she continued to read her book.
During her travels, she only was allowed to carry the bare essentials required for travelling. She has foregone the need for food and water, seeing as she was taught to be able to live off of the land. If it weren't for her teachers, she would not be able to thrive in practically any environment. Even in environments that she wasn't experienced in, she was able to thrive in them, even in the deserts of Vacuo and Menagerie, which were rather inhospitable, even by the standards of its inhabitants. However, Adam and Yuki forced her to learn, whether she wanted to or not.
Continuing her peaceful reading time, she continued to enjoy her quiet time. Just before the sun was finally setting down, Blake had moved back into the ballroom, unpacking her sleeping bag and got into a set of her pajamas; a black yakuta with white edgings with a purple undershirt, and a black skirt underneath. Looking around, she was trying to scope out any sort of potential teammates, but couldn't help but wander over Jaune, who was in an admittedly-cute bunny onesie.
Her earlier assessment of Jaune's, combative prowess was accurate as a sinking feeling grew larger and wider in her stomach. When she was observing Jaune, she was one-hundred percent confident that he was not ready for combat. The mere fact that he couldn't properly adjust to the increased weight of his weapon was proof of that, meaning that he wasn't used to the heft or actually using it in genuine combat.
And yet...all she could do is just wait. When it came down to accepting transcripts, they are sent to Professor Ozpin for examination and legitification. Professor Ozpin was one of the most esteemed Huntsmen out there, do he most definitely knew about what it means to be a Huntsmen. If Ozpin read Jaune's transcripts, then that means he saw nothing wrong with his credentials and that they were completely legit. However, she found herself wondering whether or not Ozpin had made the right choice.
She found it ironic, really. That she, someone who wasn't even accepted into Beacon Academy was questioning the line of thought and judgement of one of the most esteemed Huntsmen of all time. Despite that, she showed severe concern over Jaune not having his Aura unlocked. Ultimately, she could not intervene, so she simply waited the entire night out, falling into the dreamscape's sweet embrace.
Back to this story, again! Honestly, feels great to get back to this story. Haven't felt this great in writing in a while!