Chapter. 8 From Shadows

Blake Belladonna. That was the name of the girl. Orphan from a young age when her parents died in work hazards. She stayed in an orphanage long to learn to read and write, but at the age of 11 she ran. She left behind her hometown, snuck into a ship that took her to the mainland. She spent her life in slums and on the roads, doing whatever she needed to survive, mostly stealing. But that was easy as she was a shadow thanks to her gift. Her semblance. As Blake had aged on the streets, she had seen how bad her kind had it. She had seen families ruined by long days in work, parents dying or getting fired. Some fall into alcohol and other drugs. Blake hated to see it. Blake had grown to hate the humans who used her people almost as a slave force, not caring for their lives, only about the money they made for them. Because of this, she had stolen money a few times and given it to the faunus, before moving to a different city. Owning only her clothes, a bag and a short blade she had wrapped with black line of rope. It had saved her life many times. As she wandered around, she didn't talk much, as she had learned from an early stage of her life that it was best to talk little and listen a lot. And thanks to this mentality, she had heard rumors about people working in the shadows. People, who wanted to free everyone. Maybe these mysterious people were what she'd need. Maybe they would help her start a new age for faunus.

The sun peeked through the gray clouds, the fresh dew of the grass smelling almost pleasant for once. Blake slung her bag over her shoulder, the strings digging into her shoulder. The dirt road was damp, and clung to the bottom of her boots as she walked. Being on the road for quite a while, the silence was familiar yet in a way deafening to her, and yet she wouldn't change it.

As she meets a railway junction, a fellow group of wanderers begin to pass by alongside Blake. Blended into the crowd, Blake remained quiet as the group talked amongst themselves, catching snippets of conversation which gave her a brief glimpse into the goings on of the world at large. Some news was good, however, most emboldened Blake, giving her cause to continue onward with her unrelenting journey.

Blake saw a train approaching the junction. It's hard to not hear it.

"I suppose that could save me a lot of time", she thought as she tried to figure out what sort of train it was and would it be easy to catch a ride. As it got closer, she saw that it had two travel wagons, four open ones loaded with what looked like canons covered with blankets. And last, two wagons with no windows. This must be moving military gear. Blake smiled as the train approached and got to her. She pulled out her blade and ran alongside the carts. She then threw her blade while holding onto the rope tightly. She jumped and as the ground disappeared from under her she swinged herself on to one of the open carts. She landed smoothly on her feet and looked around to see if there was someone traveling in the open. For her relief, there wasn't. She looked behind her to check if the cart behind her had any doors on this side. There wasn't, but there was a ladder leading on top of the wagon. Blake smiled and put her bag against one of the covered items so that she was in cover from the wind. She laid down and enjoyed the easy ride.

As the train slid into the station, Blake was already out of her seat before it stopped, leaping off before it came to a full stop, much to the annoyance of a few onlookers. Looking at the city of Vale, it was a lot more impressive than she had initially thought, although not in an aspect one would normally assume.

Blake could feel the dark miasma of criminality and corruption here in Vale, she wasn't sure if this was just something everyone could feel or her instincts, with the smiles on peoples faces pointing to the latter. Having nowhere to be at the moment, Blake would let her feet guide her, taking in the sights of the city until her feet began to exhaust.

Taking a seat at a nearby central park fountain, Blake let out a breath before her eyes snapped open. Without moving her head, she looked around, feeling some or presence focusing on her. Having spent a better part of a lifetime in danger, Blake knew all too well what being watched felt like.

Deciding to test her theory, Blake rose from her seat on the bench and began to walk to the commercial district; once in a while taking an alleyway as a shortcut. Blake never felt such a stare before, no matter where she turned, their gaze was still on her. Her hands shaking slightly, Blake eventually turned into an alleyway with a deadend, turning around quickly to see if she could catch the person following her.

"I must say, you are a perceptive woman. Even those with decades of training have issues picking up my gaze." In a slight fright Blake turned on her heel to see a tall and dapper gentleman; in one hand he held his cane and his posture was straight, acting as if he was always there moments ago. Drawing her blade, Blake pointed it at him, curious yet cautious of who this man was and why he was following her. "What do you want?!"

"Pardon my manners, I merely saw you while you were walking and noticed how you carried yourself. It intrigued me. I'm Ozpin." He extended a warm hand to her, the pleasantness of his voice making Blake unsure if she should calm herself or be more alert.

"You are new to Vale, yes? I thought perhaps someone with your skills and demeanor would be interested in a job."

Blake eyed him before slowly putting her weapon away. "Why didn't you just approach me before we got to this point?"

A humored laugh escaped his lips as he apologized. "My apologies, I merely wanted to see if your skills of perception were cut out for what I needed. I assure you I mean no harm, if you desire to end our conversation here I promise you we will not meet again."

Blake seemed tempted to leave it at that and turn away, but something about this Ozpin fellow made her interested to at least hear him out. "What sort of job?"

"You blend well into a crowd, and have little presence. Pair that with your exceptional perception, I would like you to do some work in investigation and espionage." Ozpins words were a slight surprise, yet in a way she almost expected it, nobody who could get the drop on her like this would be offering her a job as an artisan or dockworker.

That was what frightened her, the fact he managed to get the drop on her. It was clear that he was allowing her to notice him, if this was a manner of him trying to kill her, Blake felt that her life would have ended moments ago. "Who or what am I looking into?"

Ozpin gestured to the entrance of the alleyway, beckoning her to follow him to somewhere that wasn't dark and damp.