Well, this week is such a damn bust. Ill on the weekend, then my sales director quits over text and didn't show up today, now I find out they've emailed other staff members to tell them to quit (none have, but morale is low), and this morning I get a call that my uncle on life support died during the night. Fucking hell. I'll probably end up needing to go to the funeral so, depending on the day, there may be no update to a story. I don't know when it'll be yet, however, as my aunt and cousins are obviously too distraught to think on such things.

As for potential no chapter days due to my work issues, tomorrow's chapter of Xia is pre-written so no worries there, but Thursday's is most at risk of being postponed because mid-week will be when this issue with the sales director boils over most likely. Weekends should be unaffected. Today will be calming down everyone else, attempting to mediate and handling admin to terminate her job. Tomorrow onward will be contacting her and trying to do an exit interview, discuss her actions, etc.

There's where the real stress comes.

Man, I can't wait for my job to be replaced by AI, lol.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 101

Blake let the second day of the festival play on by, supporting Sun and even going out with him and his friends later. In her head, she said it was because she wanted to give him a chance to prove the other girls wrong, but she knew it was really because she was a coward and wanted to avoid the confrontation.

It wasn't that she was afraid of him so much as his reaction, and not in a violent light. Life would have been easier if he was the kind of guy who'd turn violent because then she could put him on the ground and walk away feeling good about herself. No, Sun was a good guy, and was bound to be hurt by this, and it was that ugly feeling in her stomach that held her back for a full twenty-four hours.

Up until her masseurs texted her to ask how it had gone, and then reamed her out via at least twenty texts when she admitted she hadn't had the conversation yet. Their customer service was atrocious! Though, inside, she knew it was actually for the best.

Sun hadn't changed.

That sounded bad when she said it even in her own head, but it wasn't like Sun was bad right now. He just wasn't what she was looking for, and his lack of change made it clear he was fine with that. If he wasn't looking to change and she was looking for him to, then there was an obvious impasse. One of them would have to compromise.

Sun couldn't because he was in school prepping to become a huntsman. A school in another kingdom, no less. Maybe it'd be different if he were in Beacon, but only maybe. It wasn't like she could just waltz onto campus to spend time with him. His whole team would be there.

She, meanwhile, couldn't just accept a distant boyfriend she talked to every now and then. Call her selfish, but she needed someone closer. Someone real. Blake didn't think that was any less valid a reason than his, which went to show neither of them were bad people, just two decent people with different wishes.

"Sun," she said, squeezing his hand as he walked her home from the club at one in the morning. "I think we need to talk."

He paused, eyes closing in that way that made it clear he knew this wasn't going to be a good talk.

"Oh," he said, a little lost, a little defeated. It made her stomach drop. "Yeah. Now—? No, you wouldn't say it if now wasn't best. I guess we can stop at a bar."

They found a quiet bar close to closing time, where a single bartender was cleaning up glasses. He looked ready to ask them to leave but took one look at Sun and her faces and let them have a quiet table by the entrance, flipping over the sign to "closed" as he turned up the volume on the TV to give them some privacy.

Sun sat across from her on a small table, looking like he felt sick.

"So," he said, attempting a smile that looked all too brittle. "I take it this isn't a good talk."

"No," she admitted. "It probably isn't. I need to ask you something first. What is it you want from this relationship?"

Sun leaned back, surprised by the question, or that his opinion was necessary at all in what he had obviously assumed was an immediate breakup. He thought on it seriously, perhaps thinking the question a trick or trap.

"I don't get what you mean," he finally said. "What I want is a relationship, a girlfriend. Is that wrong?"

"It's not wrong but..." Blake sighed. "How do you expect us working out? What is the ultimate goal? Is this a long-term relationship? Are we going to be serious? What'll happen when the festival ends and you go back to Mistral with your team? What then? Were you planning to break up with me?"

"No!" Sun sounded horrified at the idea. "No, I... I planned to be loyal even in Mistral. I'm not some playboy!"

"I know that." A lot of Mistral students had been holding banners of Sun but his eyes had never once wandered. She could tell he wasn't that kind of person. "But what I meant was that we'd have to make a long-distance relationship work, and even after you graduated it might not get any better. You're going to want to travel with your team and be a huntsman."

He flinched. "I can... I can come here instead. Be a huntsman here."

"And leave your team? Are you really willing to leave them for me?"

"Yes."

"Are you saying that because it's true or because you think it's what you should say?"

He had no answer.

"I like you, Sun," said Blake. "I like a lot of things about you. But I don't know if we're on the same page when it comes to what we both want from this. You want a girlfriend you can show off at parties and who'll spend time with you at school. I want someone who will be there for me late at night after a horrific day of work, and who'll take my mind off things."

Sun grimaced, eyes darting away, and his voice took on a combative tone. "Is this about me not feeling comfortable having sex with you yet? Because I can if it's that big a deal."

"It's not that." Blake pinched her nose. He was just upset and lashing out, and he didn't really mean it. "The sex isn't what's important. What I'm talking about is the difference in what we both want. I want you to be something you're not ready to be, and you want me to be something I've stopped being a long time ago."

"We're the same age."

"But we don't have the same lives. You're studying in school. I'm a business exec making over a hundred grand a year who works a job so stressful it's a wonder I don't have grey hairs." The specifics were something she had to keep a secret, too. "You've heard the saying `age is just a number` with people a few years apart, right? I think it applies here as well. Us being the same age doesn't mean we're similar."

"But we can become it. We can work things out. I can..."

"You can what? Quit Mistral? Get a transfer to Beacon? Give up on your dreams for a girl you met? Listen to yourself, Sun. None of this is healthy. And let's be real, even without this conversation the chances any relationship with a girl you met here surviving you being in Mistral for the next three years would be slim. You or she would want to move on. Distance like that, for so long, just isn't realistic."

"What about after?" he asked desperately. She wasn't sure if he hoped to salvage something or just wanted to poke holes in her argument. "What about after I graduate?"

Blake smiled and touched his hand. "Then I'd be more than happy to go out on another date with you and see if our goals align more. This isn't you, Sun. It isn't even me. It's the situation. It's me having a career and you having your education."

"That's it, then? It's over? We're through?"

"I think it'd be for the best. I'm not saying we can't have a casual relationship while you're here, or that I never want to hear from you again. I'm even willing for us to keep dating if you like, as long as you know it's only going to last until you go back to Mistral. And if you still feel the same way a few years down the line, you're more than welcome to—"

There was a bang on the glass nearby. Both Sun and she jumped in their seats, startled.

A man, looking drunk and dishevelled, perhaps even homeless, was leaning against the glass. It looked like he'd tripped and spilled into it, but the glass had held and now he was just squashed up against it staring at the two of them.

"Bloody hell," Sun swore. "I nearly jumped out my skin."

"Same," she agreed, laughing a little hysterically. Not from the man, but from having so bizarre a distraction feel so welcome. It was a chance for them both to gather their frayed emotions. "I guess we're not the only ones coming back from a night out."

"Yeah. So, where does this leave us?"

"It's up to you, Sun. I'm happy for us to be casual while you're here, just friends, or strangers. Like I said, it's not you that's the problem, so I've no concerns coming to Amity with you or even inviting you back to my place tonight."

He smiled awkwardly. "This isn't one of those pity-goodbyes, is it?"

"I'm not the kind of girl to do that. I do like you. I just don't think we're going to work out in a serious relationship. But I don't mind having a holiday boyfriend for the festival, as long as there's no hard feelings when it ends."

His hand took hers. "I guess this could have gone a lot worse. I thought you hated me or I'd screwed this all up."

"Not at all. Sure, you're immature at times, but I can tell that's something you'd get over in time. I just don't want to commit to loving someone who is going to be gone for the next three years. And the work I do is dangerous."

There was no telling if she'd live for long enough to see him return, and cutting herself from finding anyone else for a distant promise was too much. With her stress, she needed someone more available in the short-term.

"Then, if it's okay with you, I'd like to continue being happy for now," he said. "But only if you're okay with that."

"I'm fine with it, Sun. Seriously, if I wasn't then I'd—"

THUD.

The man banged on the window again.

They each flinched.

"Okay, sounds like our heart-to-heart isn't going to go uninterrupted here," Sun joked. "Man must really be angry the place is closed when he wants a drink."

THUD.

"Yeah, I guess—" Blake turned to the window, ready to fix the man with a harsh glare, only to freeze.

Sun followed her gaze and sucked in a breath.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

The man was slowly and rhythmically bashing his forehead into the glass. Being a bar, and with the expectation that items would fly, the glass was reinforced and holding up to it without cracking, but the same couldn't be said for the man's face. There was blood everywhere, fanning out with fresh squirts every time he slammed his head against the glass.

"What the fuck!?" Sun swore and leapt to his feet, knocking his chair back. "B—Bro, stop! You're going to kill yourself!" When the man didn't stop, Sun made a dash for the door. "Call an ambulance!" he shouted back in, either to her or to the bartender. "I'll hold him down!"

Blake shouted the same message to the bartender, passing on the responsibility as she hurried out as well, just in case he needed her help with the crazed man. Drink? Drugs? Suicidal urges? It could have been anything and she got out in time to see Sun loop his hands under the man's armpits and yank him back from the window, all but picking his feet up off the ground.

"Uwooooooo!" the man moaned, almost like a zombie.

"Calm! Calm the hell down!" Sun shouted.

"Get him on the ground," Blake ordered. "Pin him down so he can't hurt himself."

"I'm trying – he's strong!"

Blake cursed and ran forward. The man's face was obscured by a thick sheen of blood, and his features had been smashed in by his own actions. His teeth were shattered, spilling from his mouth along with a waterfall of blood.

And then his eyeball popped out.

It just... popped out, like it had been pushed by something from behind and sent reeling out its socket. There wasn't even the connective tissue she would have expected, and the organ slapped against the floor.

In the gruesome hole that remained, something green flickered.

And then it came out.

A leaf.

A single, green leaf, attached to a needle thin branch.

Not drugs, not drink, not madness.

"SUN!" she screamed, whipping her hand under her jacket. "GET BACK!"

Her tone must have been enough. Or maybe it was Sun being a huntsman-in-training and thus very aware of the value of listening to people shouting out warnings. Either way, he flung himself back and away, leaving the man to land on two feet and then fall onto his knees. Blake's gun came out, and while Sun was shocked, his attention soon turned back to the man.

Because the man's face was splitting apart. It was being torn apart from the inside, as branches grew fast enough to be seen with the naked eye, piercing through skin, cracking out of bone and expanding from the dying man's body. Vibrant leaves unfurled, the brightest green that Blake had ever seen, and reached out to the moonlight.

The man shrieked.

BLAM!

Gambol Shroud punched a hole through his chest and into his heart, both to spare him and to stop the anomaly. It was a valiant effort but the damage had already been done, and the tree didn't stop growing.

The tree grew from the body until it was eight feet tall and then stopped, its trunk widening until the man's body all but ruptured. It didn't spray, but remained caked around a trunk that was about six inches in diameter, closer to a fruit tree than a mighty oak. The branches and boughs spread out, fanning upwards and outwards until they covered a span of some seven or eight feet.

And then it stopped.

A tree rooted into the concrete with blood dripping from green leaves.

"What the fuck..." Sun choked out.

"Sun, get inside the bar. Make sure the bartender is okay."

"But—"

"I'm calling the authorities," she said, scroll out. That was enough for him to nod and rush back inside. "Come on, Jaune," she hissed, as his scroll rang. "Pick up the call, you bastard."

It took a long time. Too long.

But he finally answered.

"Blake?" She could hear merrymaking and singing around him. He sounded, and looked, a little drunk. "Hey, what's up? The party is still on here if you—"

"A man just exploded into a tree at my location."

"..." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "For fuck's sake. Alistair, cancel that order! I need to go." He turned back to the screen as he pulled on his overcoat. "Turn on your signal and I'll make my way to you. Do what you can to prevent witnesses."

Blake glanced around.

It was late, but it was a late night during the Vytal Festival where over a hundred thousand extra people had come to Vale, and where many of them were enjoying the nightlife just as much as the fights and festivities. Jaune hadn't been the only one partying and Blake could see no less than thirty people staring, some vomiting, others screaming, some recording on their scrolls. Meanwhile, the ambulance called by the bartender could be heard in the distance, no doubt bringing with it fresh witnesses.

"Yeah... I don't think that's going to work so well. This is a little public already."

/-/

It was six in the morning and they'd managed to erect a set of scaffolding and sheets around the tree with the aid of the local police, who had erected another barrier of yellow and black tape even further away and around the bar. Working on exactly zero sleep, Jaune and Blake stood in their suits with sunken eyes and styrofoam cups of coffee in hand. There wasn't nearly enough caffeine for her liking, though she was grateful to the officers who had bought some energy bars from a nearby store for them.

Less grateful for the crowds of people on the outskirts and across the street taking photos and staring. Despite their best efforts, videos had gone online – thankfully not of the actual human explosion, but of the tree itself and the barriers being erected to hide it from view. The Council was in emergency mode trying to write this off as an alarming case of someone having eaten dangerous plant seeds that had sprouted inside them and caused irreparable damage.

A valiant attempt, and even a little believable. Blake was sure she'd seen horror stories of plants sprouting from animals and humans alike, usually from their arms but sometimes from an ear or a foot.

The only problem was that those were tiny sprouts.

Not giant trees that could grow to full maturity in a matter of minutes.

The new addition to the story was that the man had a Semblance revolving plants that had interacted badly. It was all a good try, but there was no real way of keeping the panic down. At least most people were assuming this was a terrible disease or a case of bio-engineered crops going dangerous, and not physics-defying anomalies.

"Is there a reason we can't just burn it down?" she asked.

"Risk of spores," Jaune replied. "We'll absolutely try, but we'll need to move it away from the city first, then set it alight outside when you and I are fully wrapped up in bio-hazard suits."

"Hmmm." That made sense. "Then we're waiting to dig it up?"

"Something like that."

Jaune yawned. His night out was turning to a hangover, while hers was hovering around nearby. Sun had been escorted outside the police cordon but had been asked not to go home. The ambulance crews were taking blood tests on the chance he'd been infected by whatever this was. Blake had given hers, too.

"I need to go calm Sun down."

"Good luck."

"Can you handle things here for a few minutes?"

"Unless this tree pulls its roots out the ground and starts running away, sure." Jaune paused, coffee to mouth. "I better not have jinxed that."

Blake snorted and walked over toward Sun, through numerous police officers and then under the cordon. An officer held it up for her, allowing her out with a deferential nod of his head that Sun definitely noticed.

"Blake," he said, rising from the back of the ambulance he'd been sat in. "What the hell is all this?"

"Would you believe me if I said we had no idea?"

"Yes!" he replied. "Because `having no idea` why a man flipping burst into a tree sounds like a very reasonable thing!"

"Good, because we have no idea." Blake palmed at her face, too exhausted to mince words. "But we're going to dig it out, take it away and burn it down in a safe location far away from any people just to be safe."

"Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a good idea and all but... you..." He looked her up and down, as if only just taking in her suit and overcoat for the first time. "What are you exactly? I knew you had a job and you mentioned it was involved in law enforcement but this makes you look like some kind of secret service."

Blake snorted at how close Sun was. "It's nothing so grandiose," she lied. "We're more like emergency services, but for crisis situations. Grimm attacks, terrorism, dangerous criminals. Just think of me like a police officer who investigates more dangerous things."

Sun nodded past her. "And that guy?"

"My boss, Jaune. He was out at his own party last night and is nursing a hangover now. How about you?" she quipped. "I'm about ready to drop."

Sun smiled weakly. "Yeah, same. It's a good job I'm not scheduled to fight today because I'm definitely not in the mood. Could that tree be a Grimm...?"

"Maybe." It wasn't a bad guess for a huntsman to make, and him thinking it wasn't bad for them either. "That's something we're also looking into, though the Grimm would more likey be a seed that infects someone. That's why you and I have been tested."

"Makes sense. I mean, this is crazy. Vale is meant to be safe."

"Vale is safe, relatively speaking. We've not got information on the victim yet but there's always a chance he came into the city from outside. I can't comment on the investigation—" Sun nodded to show he understood, "But we'll obviously look into where he's been and how this might have happened to him. On your end, please let me know if you feel anything unusual. Any bumps, itches, growths, sickness."

"Trust me, I will. I don't want to end up like him!"

"You probably won't." With any luck, anyway. "If this plant grew inside his body then he probably ignored feelings of sickness and nausea. If you got a bump on your arm, it'd probably be very easy to surgically remove a seed. Either way, the tree doesn't look like it's flowered yet, so there shouldn't be any risk."

"Yeah." He looked around. "Should all these civilians be here if it's so risky?"

"No," she said, and her tone made it clear what she thought on that. "They shouldn't be. But good luck getting them to move. They're like seagulls flocking to a dropped pizza whenever something dangerous happens in this city."

"Heh." Sun laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. Wow. This... This isn't how I expected our date to go."

"Me neither." Blake finished her coffee. "I'm going to have to postpone that offer for us to go to my place. I hope you understand."

Sun stared at her, then burst out laughing. "Yeah!" he said, crying and wiping at his eyes. "Yeah, I think I can understand that one. I guess you're gonna be a little too busy for a date tonight as well, huh?"

"If either of us can stay conscious tonight, I'll be surprised."

"I don't know. This is enough to make a man scared of sleep." And then, as if to mock him, he stifled a yawn. It was enough to make her yawn as well. "Or not," he admitted. "Man, are you going to have to be up all day for this?"

"A man just exploded into a tree, Sun. I don't think the Council of Vale is going to accept me taking a nap."

He laughed again. Humour was always a shield against such traumatic things. "Yeah, I guess not. Then I guess we'll continue where we left off once this blows over. I still want us to try, by the way, even if I accept we'll be breaking up when I go back to Mistral. And I plan to come back here after I graduate and prove to you I can be the kind of person you need."

"I appreciate it, Sun, but right now what I need is a bed."

"I can go buy you another coffee."

Blake pushed a wad of lien into his hand. "As many as you can, and as much chocolate and sugar as you can as well. Do that and I'll make sure you leave Vale with a smile on your face. Then you should go back to Beacon and let your team know you're okay and get some sleep."

"Can't I help...?"

"You're not allowed in there," she said, nodding back to the closed off area. "And let's be honest, there isn't much help needed to keep an eye on a tree until someone can come along and dig up a stretch of the street to take it away."

"What if there's more than one?"

Blake closed her eyes and shuddered. "Don't, please. I'm trying not to catastrophise this already."

"Sorry. I'll go get those coffees."

Blake walked back through the cordon and past the police, ignoring the questions a reporter threw her way. She crunched her cup up and tossed it into a trash can, then ambled back over to Jaune.

"He seems like a good guy," he said.

"Hm. He's offered to go buy us coffee and sugar."

"I changed my mind, he's a great guy." Jaune smiled wryly. "Is he single?"

"Sort of."

Jaune's smile dropped. "Ah. Sorry, then."

"It's complicated." Many women had said that over the years, but Blake felt it so keenly right now. "And we have bigger problems anyway. What are the odds this is just one tree?"

"I'd give it fifty-fifty. It depends on whether the seed that caused this is the anomaly and thus the tree, or whether the seed was an offshoot of another anomaly that's still out there. I've a feeling we'll find out soon."

"Oh?"

"If this tree sprouted now, the others should be sprouting soon enough."

Looooool.

I get a call at 4:30pm from my nephew to let me know his pub has burnt down while he was out. Like, wtf. And he's asked to come live with me for a bit until he can get back on his feet. Wtf is this week shaping up to be.

I ask if it's arson and he's just like "nah, I had a feeling my tumble dryer was dodgy because it was smoking" and I ask him "so, you stopped using it, right?"

OF COURSE NOT.

He used it, left it on, and went out to go to the shops.

Which I suppose could be argued it may have saved his life as he wasn't in the building at the time, but there's also a part of the brain that asks if maybe it could have all been prevented if he'd been in the building at the time. I don't even know. I'm just head in my hands wondering what's coming next.

Next Chapter: 20th May

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