Log 003: Towards Shadows
A hooded lady boards a ship with a destination to the Menagerie Colony. She doesn't stand out in between the sea of faunus refugees as the fall led to a new wave of oppression and grimm attacks. But the mood is cheerful, the Menagerie Colony is renowned for its peaceful beaches, friendly citizens and overall climate. "A wild paradise" as the Vale News used to report it. The hooded lady walks uneasy, lost in her thoughts, reaches the bow of the ship as its trip begins. A look of longing towards the harbor hits Blake Belladona as the wind blows her hood away.
Blake sits down on the most distant bench in the deck, the sunset looking almost as beautiful as from the dorms in Beacon Academy. Her cat ears tickle as the captain of the ship approaches the bench she's seated on.
"Beautiful sunset, isn't it?" The captain comments, Blake nods softly, holding the hood so the wind doesn't blow it away again. "I think this is the best place to rest on the ship." Blake feels the gentle stare of the captain. "Because it never fails to have the most interesting view and people on it!" The captain lets a jovial laugh, Blake finally looks at him very curious.
"Finally fished your attention. You see young one, the people that avoid others have the most fun stories and normally sit in this place." The wide open eyes of Blake quickly try to avoid contact, "Don't worry, I won't tell, and even then, I doubt that someone here that doesn't know you would care. There are some sailors who have been here even before me and haven't noticed this." The captain sips from his canteen, Blake quickly notices the alcohol brewing from it. "But hey, the best fishes are the ones hidden in plain sight!" Blake looks at the relaxed sunset.
"So, what led you to this fine evening?" The cat eyes follow the sun as she looks at the vast ocean. Blake's hand, looking for something to grab, catches her other arm through the cloak. Blake gasps for air. "I… I don't know… I thought the sunset would lead me to the answer, but now with the fall nothing feels safe or stable anymore." The captain looks at the sunset and then to a group of people seated in the other benches on the Deck. "You know, that family over there lost the father in the fall." Blake's eyes follow as he then points to another group. "That group are friends and family that were attacked for being either Faunus or supporters of Faunus." There's a silence as dusk joins.
"What I'm trying to say is that everyone has passed through pain, you're not alone. What you do now to move forward is in your control. You can make a safe place for those you care about." An alarm rings. "Well, my break ended!" The captain stands up. "Have nice sleep, we'll arrive at our destination tomorrow!" The captain waves as Blake is left with only the sounds of the ocean, neither noticing how a shadowy figure looked at them with worry.
"It's 10 Lien for the coffee." Says the bartender of the ship as Blake is looking as another person drinks a coffee with 3 creams and 5 sugar. "Miss." The bartender reiterated, Blake embarrassedly hands the money. The night is chill as the ocean wind makes her hungry. The clash of the waves against the hull deafen Blake's thoughts as she sits on a table outside. She looks around aimlessly, looking at the groups that the captain mentioned and more, analyzing them. Her heart tightens warmly, as her vision morphs into Beacon and specially Ruby, Yang and Weiss.
"Look where you're looking, beast!" Blake is stunned to hear that. She turns her head to see a different group, some humans with bandages storming a lonely faunus. The lonely one tries to stand up for itself only to be stumped over by the group. The few people that notice this try to ignore it. It's always like this, Blake thinks as she leaps in between.
"Don't waste your energy." Blake exclaims as she stands in between the attackers and the lonely faunus. The group of humans stare annoyed. Blake smells the alcohol in all of them, her fighting experience shows that some can barely stand, they're drunk. Not a threat. The leader of the group grunts as he makes a signal to leave. As they do, Blake notices one of them has a white spike coming out of the bandages.
She then tends to the lonely faunus, is just a kid. Blake's ears twitch. She looks at the group again only to see walking too close to the edge of the ship. One slips. Nobody is quick to react as one of the drunk humans falls towards the ocean. No one except a glowing shadow that jumps from behind Blake.
Sun Wukong leaps to grab the falling human. The ease of how he moves on the side of the hull with the help of his light clones is interrupted when holds the arm of the drunk. Sun grunts as the white spike passes through the palm of his hand. Quickly he is able to throw the human back towards the deck as he falls to the ocean. Blake jumps, gaining an extra boost by pushing the human back into the ship. Using her semblance, each of the dark clones supports her and Sun, helping them reach the stern of the ship at last a minute. They barely get back on ship, as they're surrounded by both people and sailors helping them.
"My hero~!" Sun exclaims, smiling at Blake. A very hard slap is heard followed by Sun screaming.
The front of the ship is calm, with the waves hitting with a rhythm, which is interrupted with another Sun scream when Blake applies disinfectant in Sun's palm.
"Okay okay, I know you're angry, but can you be more gentle?!" Sun exclaims only to see a cold non response from Blake. "There's no gentle way of doing this, you'll get sick if it's any other way." Blake grunts. "And how did you find me?"
"I followed you!" Sun's enthusiasm is responded by shock when Blake presses the bandages without care. "Au au, look look, I should have made myself known sooner. But if I did you would have pushed me away. And couldn't let you fight the White Fang alone!"
Blake stops. The sounds of the ocean is clearer than ever. Sun looks at Blake with care, as he notices the bench they're seated on starting to tremble. "What are you even talking about?!" Blake screams at Sun. Sun only sees the glossy eyes that Blake has as his tail stops moving completely. "I thought you were on a heroic crusade to…" Sun says softly before seeing Blake leaving the bandages unfinished and distancing herself.
"I'm running, Sun." Blake says softly as she hides her sight in the sea. "What happened is my fault, and I made them safe this way." The beauty of the ocean hides the tears that Blake won't drop. Sun places a hand on Blake's shoulder. "Does any of your team, anyone, know?" Blake denies. "Well… I won't leave you alone like this. I want to help." Blake looks with hate towards everyone in the bow of the ship.
"Just let me be." Says Blake as she leaves Sun alone on the front of the ship.
Log 003 End.
