Finding yourself in a bit of a pickle was one thing, but having done so unintentionally of your own volition came out to something else entirely. Blake had shared her big bad secret, as had she herself, but despite both of them technically being on even grounds, Yang felt as though she'd been completely left in the dust.
Yang Xiao Long was a woman who liked to believe she'd conquered her past... in a general sense. She'd accepted its happening, learned what she could from it, and understood that even if her ignorance had been what got her into trouble, there was no way she could have known what was to come. She'd been responsible for her own lack of consideration and caution, yes, but she was ultimately just a victim.
And thus, she found herself facing a new dilemma.
Blake Belladonna was, much like her, a victim. Unfortunately, though, innocence wasn't a word she could, in good faith, use to describe the reclusive kitten. Hmm... was that racist: calling her partner kitten? Well, she could figure that out later; nicknames really weren't the topic of her frustrations anyway.
Right now, Blake had taken off for... who knows where? All Yang had been told by her partner was that she needed some space to herself: to allow both of them to think and process their conversation. On the one hand, Yang wanted to help her friend, as any good teammate and partner would. But on the other hand, she had to wrestle with the fact that said partner and the woman she called friend...
Was a murderer.
This crap can never be easy, can it?
Apparently, it could not, but there was no use in crying over spilt milk - or, rather, blood in this instance. Executioner, murderer, assassin; it didn't matter how you rang it up as it all came out to the same thing: ending lives.
Yang liked to think of herself as a well adjusted person, and while there were situations and days where her faded nightmares would get the best of her, she still packed a real wallop right back at 'em soon enough. Blake, though? Blake wasn't like her.
Some might consider Blake brainwashed, and yeah, she was. However, Yang knew that real brainwashing wasn't anything close to what the movies and videogames would have you believe. Speaking more from experience on her part, brainwashing did not remove control from the victim: it instead took advantage of that victim's own wants and desires.
Yang herself had been brainwashed into thinking her assaulter genuinely cared for her, and that he was someone she could spend her time around and be safe with. She had no idea of the signs people pointed out, because she had already made up her mind on how she felt about the man, and he knew it. He took advantage of that self-inflicted ignorance, propping her up when she perceived everyone else was pushing her down; making her feel powerful as everyone else, from her perspective, sought to weaken her. It was only after the fact and when the cold hard truth of realization settled in did the pieces finally click.
Blake had told her about what she'd done: how she'd been lied to about everyone she killed, thinking they were captured due to their own choices. She spoke, at points tearfully, of how everyone she'd called friends and allies lied to her about these people, and how she'd been praised after every hit. Empowering, she'd said, struggling to breath as she spoke the word aloud, now able to finally hear how sickening it really sounded. She talked about Adam Taurus: the man who fed her the half-truths.
And that was the worst part of it. Adam, like her own deluder, hadn't outright lied about every single thing he said.
For Yang, she'd been told by the man seeking to bed her how her looks didn't matter; she could dress however she pleased because she was more than capable of protecting herself. That had been true, but just because she was capable didn't mean she was strictly able. He'd told her how her friends and family who disagreed with them being friends were overly worried based on stigmas of how people who go to clubs and parties act, and how she was the only person trying to get to know him, and could thus speak of him without unfounded bias. He'd been speaking honestly again, with her dad even later owning up for how badly he'd, in his own panicked way, tried to tell her of the strange happenings involving her new friend; her dad never mentioned he'd seen things like this before, only spouting out acts he called 'suspicious' - an issue he made a point to rectify after the fact.
It was a mess that might have been avoided with clear communication, but that was the big issue. The man had actively not only been muddying the waters, but he'd done so with elements and truths that she herself knew. He misdirected her, but he never outright lied. He led her along a train of thought, pushing her emotions away from the questions and quirks she should have been picking up on, and towards near irrelevant technicalities and coincidences.
Blake shared a bond with her in this sense too, but over much darker desires.
Blake wanted equality, but more than that, she also wanted to fuel her own petty revenge; not outright stated, but the writing was all over the wall... and honestly, Yang couldn't say she blamed her. She might not have agreed with the desire to kill and hurt, but she could understand how Blake had fostered those emotions. For as much as people liked to write faunus off as mere animals or lesser people, they were still human in regards to emotions and thought.
You didn't join up with a group of killers when you simply wanted peace. Blake told of how they were peaceful, and how a change in leadership shifted them to more violent acts, but through and through, Blake had stuck around. The fact Blake could be tricked into believing their murders were wholly justified said more than enough about the state of the world. This, ridiculously, had been the hardest part for Yang to wrap her head around and admit. The White Fang, for all their killings and kidnappings, had been making a difference. People no longer proudly and openly spouted their ignorant views, and nor did they act so carelessly in expressing their intolerance. To do so would evoke the wrath of the White Fang, and you could not only kiss your ass goodbye, but also that of your family's as well.
It would be both gruesome, and painful.
And then there was Adam Taurus: a man who Yang just wanted to strangle. He was, in essence, cut from the same cloth as her attacker. Based on what Blake said of him, he used the same fucking tactics too. Adam fed into Blake's fantasies and yearning for revenge, aptly pointing out changes in such a way that Blake would link them mentally to success, and justifying her actions so she didn't have to worry or think about them. Why think when someone else could do that for you? Why worry about right and wrong when everything is already wrong to begin with?
Why care, when nobody else does?
He had an excuse for every bad choice they made, but never once had there not been a quart of truth to it. The killings and fear generated by their group had created some level of peace for the faunus. But what Adam hadn't told Blake was that such peace was fickle. People feared the faunus now, and while respect may have been shown, it was not out of a sense of understanding or growth by accepting their similarities, but rather a sublime hatred just waiting to pop. The Fang would kill them for simply thinking different, and so they'd proved, in the eyes of bigots, that faunus were violent monsters that not only deserve the hate they got, but needed to be exterminated.
In a way, the White Fang had not only damned the reputation of faunus everywhere, but had also given credence and support to bigoted thinking and ideologies. People feared the faunus now, and the messed up thing about people was that they hate what they fear...
And they kill what they hate.
Adam Taurus had indoctrinated Blake into this mindset of revenge, of killing, and while Blake was a victim to all this, that didn't free her from responsibility. Brainwashing relied on taking advantage of peoples' already present wants and beliefs, and thus they were not only aware of what they did, but also responsible for it. Blake may have killed her victims under the guise she was doing the right thing, and indeed, the truth of their identities had been the only real lie Yang could tie to Adam, but that hardly changed the fact that those people were now dead.
And that's where everything got difficult for her. Yang wanted to comfort and help Blake, but Blake herself was a literal murderer, and there was nothing either of them could do to change that fact. The cut and dry of it was: Yang didn't know what to do. Blake killed people in cold blood, she ended lives based on nothing more than word from her peers, peers who were actively killing already. Justifying that to yourself took either massive amounts of hatred, or a level of irresponsibility bordering on obscene.
But the Blake Belladonna she knew wanted to change.
Blake had supposedly let go of her past, and apparently understood just how evil she'd become, and was doing something about it. She was a victim, but not a victim like Yang: she was a victim who'd allowed herself to be enslaved by extremism, being just as guilty as those who'd abused her.
Gaah! Yang flipped over onto her belly, groaning and screeching as she buried her face into her pillow and clawed at the mattress beneath. Why does this shit have to be so difficult!
Blake had convinced herself the world was evil, and in some twisted way, she was partially right. Terrorists like the White Fang wouldn't exist had it not been for the prejudice of people. For as much as someone like her little sister Ruby might want to believe, people inherently weren't good. They lied, cheated, and stole based on whims and desires. Yeah, the occasional thief may do so for survival, but twenty others, at the same time, did so out of pure greed. People argued and fought over ideals not for the sake of helping better the world or the lives of others, but simply because it felt good to be, in their eyes, superior in their thinking or beliefs.
They cared more about being correct, than they did about being right.
Had that been the whole truth, then someone like Blake might be a little more acceptable, and even to an extent admirable. But for every group of evil people, there were always just as many who weren't like that. People who helped others simply because helping out made them happy. People like Ruby, who even after being technically molested, still saw the good in others' hearts. She had such a strong natural sense of morality and justice that she'd practically proven the whole ordeal an accident, not because it benefited her in some way, but because she believed it was the right thing to do.
Ruby Rose, her precious little sister, had once more cemented herself as the sole pillar keeping Yang from caving and accepting that the world was, naturally, pure evil. Because an evil world wouldn't have people like Ruby. This mindset, this... admittedly childish idea, had Yang pulling herself up off her bed. Kneeling up, she blinked, before hefting herself down to the floor and just standing there. Her eyes whipped over to Blake's bunk, and the sight of so many - honestly quite trashy - love novels sparked some thoughts in her.
The books Blake read weren't about vengeance; they were about overcoming differences and making way for love.
Sure, most of the books were about gratuitous amounts of fucking and all the filthy ways its leads get down and dirty in perverse bliss, but while the story itself seemed like a backdrop, that didn't change the fact that the stories' themes were centered around overlooking differences, trust, and consent. She'd never tell a soul, but Yang had more than once snuck a novel or two when Blake wasn't looking, spending more than her fair share gulping down the messy and slimy fantasies Blake slathered herself with...
Okay, she'd need to lay off some of them for a while.
The point was, Blake wanted to change; she wanted to redeem her past mistakes and not only move past them, but hopefully inspire the same in others. Violence and murder didn't need to be the only working solutions; Blake wanted to actively show that change can be earned the right way. But that was Blake's biggest hurdle: she knew she couldn't never fully atone.
She couldn't bring back the lives she cut short. She couldn't restore the families she shattered, or remove the torturous nights of suffering every sibling, lover, parent, and child had to endure for the rest of their lives. She couldn't erase the terror and pain which made up the last few moments of the people she killed. Blake couldn't do anything to remove the taint she'd embraced before coming to her senses.
But... perhaps she didn't need to.
Yang felt that tiny little tickle in her tummy, and knew she was, once again, teasing herself with the sweetened spices and flakes of hope. Ruby wouldn't care. Yeah, she'd be appalled by what Blake had done during her time with the White Fang, but seeing Blake's willingness and determination would be more than enough for Ruby to encourage the girl to embrace it. It was here, because of the thought about what her sister would do in this situation, that Yang uncovered her epiphany.
Blake could never undo all the injustice and pain she'd cause, and Yang had no right to try and absolve her of those mistakes. What she could do however was lend her a hand and pull the girl up when she fell down. Blake wanted to change, to do right by the world, but the world would push back, and for as strong as her will may be, she was only one girl. She'd be shoved to the ground, kicked, beaten, and loathed by many tides of hateful people; both rightfully so and not. Blake, regardless of how well she held out, would eventually fall.
But that's when Yang would act.
Yang decided, here and now, that since she couldn't sooth the mental wounds Blake had uncovered, that she'd instead become the pillar of which her sister was for her. Ruby didn't exactly know what Blake was going through, but Yang did, and so it fell onto her shoulders to become that beacon of hope for the wayward repentant. Blake couldn't do this alone, but perhaps with the help of a friend, she just might.
Not to repair the past, but to protect the future.
Dang it Rubes, your optimism is running off on me.
Another gift to add to her repertoire, she supposed.
.
.
From her corner in the courtyard, Blake Belladonna watched.
Stood within the comforting shadows of her little hobble against the wall, she looked out at all the passing students; all of them showing various levels of business and mood. Many casually went about their evening, with only a couple of stragglers rushing by to keep up with whatever urgent task beckoned them hither. The sun was still out at this time, and so people were enjoying the day as one would in such nice weather. Blue skies, with a cloud here or there, and the sun itself wasn't super hot either as it was partially obscured, but not enough to darken the land.
But Blake couldn't feel its warmth from her place, and with her history eating up the bulk of her mind, she somewhat felt she didn't deserve its kindness.
Her talk with Yang had been... enlightening, to say the least. She got to know so much more about the woman than she'd ever thought to expect, but when it came her turn to tell a story, said story went more into a rant of self loathing. It was especially damaging from her side too; Yang had kept herself so calm, controlling what she said while never caving to the despair such events clearly brought her. Blake, on the other hand, she got all of maybe two points in before letting everything tumble out; dark feelings and all.
I'm such a disgusting mess. At the very least, she got across the real her. Yang now knew that her partner was just a bag of bloody knives, coated with the remnants of those whose lives she'd robbed. And she claimed to care about justice, to want peace and equality; what a laugh.
Well... at least Yang saw her for the liar she really was.
Maybe that was for the best; if nobody else would dish out the rightful punishment she deserved, then her own partner being the one to do it was a perfectly fitting piece to this messed up puzzle she'd constructed. A part of her wanted to run off again, to disappear into the night and hopefully be forgotten; out of sight and out of mind. But no, Blake knew she didn't deserve that peace. She'd already made her bed, and now she had to lie in it.
All she could do now was try her best to change things, and hopefully make a difference before someone finally put an end to her hypocrisy.
While loathing some more would make her feel better, Blake was unable to focus when her eyes settled on a familiar young bunny girl, who was once again having her ears yanked by the living embodiment of narrow-mindedness. Cardin snickered, as he always did, but let go almost immediately; one tug apparently plenty. Seeing him stroll off, she caught sight of his grin slipping into indifference the further he got, and eventually a scowl as he rounded the corner and vanished from her eye.
Returning her focus ahead, Blake pitied Velvet, who softly cooed her ears, wincing as she did so.
That was one thing she wasn't exactly sure of either: Velvet's inaction. With nobody going to check on her, and wanting a bit of a distraction from her own dark mindset, Blake made her way over, taking a seat on the bench next to the girl. This got a little jump from Velvet. Before really asking what was on her mind, Blake instead popped in smoothly with a simple question.
"Hey there." She started. "Velvet, right?"
"Yes... that's me." No innate hostility beyond mild discomfort and confusion; good so far.
"I thought so." Blake then propped up an eyebrow nice and slowly. "Ruby said she ran into you and Coco earlier."
The light of understanding shown in the brunette's eyes, and an easier look fell in place.
"Oh, then you must be one of her teammates, right?" Upon getting a nod from her, Velvet leaned back with a sigh. "Right... wow."
"Is something wrong?" Even with her own woes to handle, Blake wasn't blind enough to know when someone was huffing and puffing without showing it. Velvet just nodded.
"I just got back from the city. I decided to sit down here to catch my breath for a bit, and the first person to come and greet me ends up being Cardin. And next, after he's gone, I meet the buddy of Coco's latest test dummy." Leaning back, Velvet shut her eyes. "I guess you can say I'm a bit worn out right now."
"Yeah..." And she looked it too, but if there was any sign for Blake to go through with her curiosity, then this was it. Taking this chance, Blake stuffed down some of her guilt at taking advantage of the tired woman and pressed with a question that's been on her mind for a while now. "I've been kind of curious about Cardin and you, actually."
"Hmm?" Velvet cracked an eye. "What about us?"
"Why do you keep letting him bully you?" A touch direct, but with how timid the girl always seemed, it led Blake to take her chances. This was, after all, the first time Velvet looked relaxed and not jumpy or soft. Maybe she'd be bold enough to answer. "You and your team outclass him in strength and experience, so why let him do this to you?"
"It's no big deal." Velvet attempted to defend, but Blake ended up jumping a bump up on the scale - not too much, honestly, but enough to be picked out.
"But it is. He walks all over you like dirt, and you just let him." Blake bit the inner corner of her mouth, lightly gnawing some stress off in a bid to keep from blowing a gasket again. She quite literally just showed up to chat; she had no real right to explode on the girl. Still, there were some things people just needed to hear from an outside source; some things they couldn't quite understand on their own. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but it's making him think he can mess with you whenever he wants. He believes he has free reign to do whatever he wants."
"Maybe, but what alternative is there?"
"You can show him it's not that easy." Blake spouted automatically, but Velvet had a different opinion on the matter; one which cracked her idea just a tiny bit.
"And that would just make him angrier?" Velvet sighed, once more looking to relax in the sunlight, as if they weren't discussing the bouts of physical abuse she constantly suffered from on a near daily basis.
"You're stronger than him." Blake urged, but Velvet didn't budge, and indeed, she proceeded to slowly dissect the discussion.
"It's not about being stronger than him, it's about not giving him a reason to get worse." Opening her eyes, Velvet dropped an almost pitying look her way, like she was talking to someone a little out of their element. "I can take his hits no problem; at most, my ears ache for a few minutes, but never more than that." An edge carved along her features. "But if I bump things up, if I show him just what I'm capable of, it'll only motivate him to loath me more. Yeah, I can knock him down every time; I can outclass him without much issue. But if I do that, if I fight back and kick him in the dirt: yeah, I'll have reason to feel good, and even a little snarky, but it'll just make things worse."
"Not for you." Blake wasn't talking about straight up breaking bones or scarring him; she was referring to merely defending herself.
"No, but for everyone else." Velvet leaned forward, looking around from person to person as they enjoyed the day. "I might be able to protect myself, but not everyone can do that."
"But they have teams." Blake was quick to interject. "Teams who'll have their back."
"They might, but that'll only make him even more mad."
"Why does that matter?" Why should they care about that asshole's feelings?
"Because we'll be justifying his hatred of us. That may not make sense to you right now, but think about this. We won't always be at Beacon. Someday, we'll be hunters: people charged with not only protecting others from the grimm, but also warriors with significance and power. When that day comes, Cardin, and others like him, will be thrown out into the world, and they'll go out with one of two questions. Either they'll wonder why they feel the way they do about their hatred, or they'll be wondering how to put the animals pretending to be people in their place."
That... stunned Blake for a moment, and her absence of a comeback must have spurred Velvet on.
"Nobody has ever changed their mind because they were screamed at, or beaten up, or hated by everyone around them. All those things have only ever motivated them to give into their hate; it justifies, at least to them, that people are cruel and stupid. Even if they're in the wrong, they'll feel betrayed and hated without purpose, and do you know where they'll turn their blame?"
Again, Blake was given a chance to speak, and again she couldn't find the words.
"To us. They'll turn it towards us. We, the faunus, who's only difference is a few extra traits. They'll blame us for all their shortcomings, and their rage will deceive them into liking it. With everyone against them, they'll feel not only justified in labeling everyone as enemies along with us, but they'll feel no remorse for any of the things they choose to do next. After all, if everyone's already decided you're not worthy of care or love, then why should you feel bad about taking every little ounce of rage, hate, and hurt out on them? They'd have done the same to you, right? And with nobody you care about being in the crowd, with nobody there to come and ask 'hey, do you need someone to talk to,' they'll see nothing wrong with a little revenge."
"But-" Blake tried to say, only for Velvet to step in again.
"But he's in the wrong? It's his own fault, so he has no right feeling the way he does, because it was all his decision? Sure, okay, that's true. But tell me: why should he care? If the people you see around you hate and hurt you, regardless of good or bad, then what good is there in turning heel? In sucking up to their ideas of right and wrong? Will they forgive you? Will their forgiveness even matter? People don't change their minds so easily, and after being mean or rude in any manner, regardless of context, people will judge your legitimacy, and your honesty. You could spend years 'proving yourself,' but for some onlookers and other more direct and involved people in life, it'll never be enough. From that point onward, you're 'evil' to them, and there's nothing you can do to change that."
"Will..." Blake was struggling a little here. "Will none of them be capable of empathy... or forgiveness? Even if the one in the wrong was true about trying to change?"
Her own eyes widened, and streaks of terror ripped across her chest, forcing her body to temporarily lock up. She hadn't meant to say that, to let her own emotions slip, but Velvet was both making sense, and spitting the most terrifying idea that it had her shaking. Worst of all, Velvet wasn't saying anything she could easily denounce, and a small part of Blake began to wonder if she herself would fit the bill of this type of person. Whereas Cardin rested easily in the frame of her mind when speaking with Velvet before, all she could see now, sporting a pair of bloody hands, was a smiling image of herself, and her cold, careless eyes stared back, with her lips whispering lifelessly into her ears.
Murderer.
"Maybe not." A breath of fresh air rushed into her chest, and Blake was breathing once more, much to her shock. Shooting far too fast a look at Velvet, the young woman of a higher grade merely leaned on her elbows, watching the people walking by. "I'm sure lots of people would be willing to help. But the problem boils down to the person themselves. Cardin, if he falls that far into despair and hatred, won't see people trying to genuinely help him. He'll only see pity, and behind that pity he'll imagine laughter. In his eyes, they're making fun of the failure of society; the one who wouldn't fall in with the others."
Cardin Winchester... This was about him. Cardin Winchester: the man who rampantly bullied anyone who wouldn't, or couldn't, defend themselves. Cardin Winchester: the man who never shied away from his views on faunus, even when being forced to keep his mouth shut. Cardin Winchester: the man who's always the loudest in any room.
Cardin Winchester: the man who, after walking away with a smile just now, let it drop the second he was out of eyesight.
"Doing nothing won't change things, though." Blake discovered that she could speak without a rattle in her voice. "If it did, we'd be living in a paradise."
"True." Velvet said with a sigh. "But... I'm starting to think Cardin may not be as much of a dick as he acts." Blake tossed another glance, curious, but let Velvet continue on. "He's changed, at least a little. Bit by bit, he spends less time pulling my ears; cutting out a whole minute by this point."
"That's still not good." Blake spoke, getting a small hum from Velvet.
"No, it's not, but I've also seen how he's looking at people now. Before, it was like he only ever focused on himself, and me. Now, though, I think he's beginning to pay attention to the world around him. He isn't having fun pulling my ears anymore."
"He sure fooled me then." Blake said under her breath, only to be hit with a wash of embarrassment when Velvet responded to it - that wasn't supposed to be heard.
"Maybe you can't see it, but that's because you've never been close enough to see how he really smiles when having fun. Before, he'd haul my head every which way, never stopping until he needed to take a breath, and always poking fun at how they sprout out from my hair. Now he's just doing it to save face. His team are the only ones really getting a chuckle from it, and he's just putting on a mask."
A short pause again planted itself between them, and right as Blake was wondering if she was supposed to ask something, Velvet broke out of her daze.
"He's being forced to ask himself why he found ringing my ears fun in the first place."
"Because he likes hurting you?" Blake hadn't really meant to answer, but when you lived with a team whose primary day to day was sticking themselves into things they really didn't belong in, you tended to develop some... unwanted skills.
"He did before, but now he doesn't." Velvet leaned back again, resting. "Without me fighting back, he's either growing bored, or he's trying to find an excuse to make it seem fun again."
"Really?" Blake popped back with a puzzled look in her eye. "From how you were leading on, I figured you'd think he was having some sort of breakthrough with his racism."
This got a snort from Velvet, who bore an almost paradoxical grin to the timid rabbit everyone saw her as.
"Change isn't that fast. Even if he's beginning to wonder if his ideas of faunus weren't quite accurate, he isn't really on the equality train yet. My team still hates him, and they'll kick his ass if they see him picking on me."
"Wouldn't that upset things, like you said it would?" Blake was finding this hard to follow again.
"Yes, and no." Velvet stood, stretching. "Most of the fighting is done by humans too, so he can't pin the full thing on faunus. Get what I mean?"
"Kinda..." Blake said, while soon leading on with her thoughts. "But it still feels a bit too... how do I put this: optimistic? Like, you can't just change minds by doing nothing."
"No." Velvet gave, rolling her shoulder before facing the direction of the school; about ready to continue back to the dorms and meet up with her team, or whatever else she had to do. "But not everything can be solved directly. Sometimes there are cases where you just have to sit there and take it. They're rare, and irritating, but when it comes to certain situations and people, the best you can do is not to give in to what they expect from you."
Or, in Blake's mind: let Cardin grow so bored with you that he starts to wonder why he got a kick out of hating faunus in the first place.
"Anyway. Sorry for dumping all of that on you; I just get a bit tired when everyone's always asking and suggesting the same things. It gets a bit aggravating."
"Don't worry, I understand." Blake admitted with a bit of shame. "And, I'm sorry for bringing it up. I was, I guess, just worried about you."
"It's alright. Trust me, as much as it annoys me, I don't really blame anyone when it happens. It's a unique situation to be in, and to be honest, I don't even know if I'm doing the right thing myself. I'm just… trying my best." Shaking the hints of a frown from her face, Velvet propped herself up one last time. "Anyway, it's been fun chatting, but I've got to go. Coco will probably be back soon, and it's my turn to do laundry tonight. I better get started before she gets back."
"Right." Blake added, giving out a little wave as the older girl began her trek away. "See you later."
This left Blake alone on the bench, and she had a lot to digest in regards to that. From Yang's trauma, to unloading her own in the worst way possible, to Velvet's apparently intentional restraint: Blake's head was going through a bit of a twirl at the moment. But as if by divine intervention, and as she was looking around at the school and the people walking aimlessly and stress free, she spied Ruby and Weiss walking along the front...
Joined by two others.
Curiosity, yet again, got the best of this cat - or maybe she was just looking for a distraction. Either way, Blake stood up and gave chase. Maybe she was being nosy, but she kinda wanted to know what those two had been up to, along with the others. Plus, a break from all the dread and drama would be nice, and Ruby was especially skilled in lightening the mood; something Blake was forever thankful for.
Author's note
…
I told you they'd be back eventually.
This was an interesting one to do. Yang already had an exposition backstory dump, so I wanted to spice things up a bit for Blake. Doing things this way, while we only have the opening Blake gave Yang some chapters back, we don't quite get the full story here either. Rather, we get a taste of how they come to terms with it, and the new views they have of one another - with varying results.
Yang's learning to be a good teammate, and Blake's learning… a lot of things.
Key piece this time being Velvet, who's bit by bit breaking the whole 'timid bunny' persona she often sells. With her rant tying up the end, we get a tease of Ruby and the others. What comes next? Who knows - me - but we'll be cutting it off for now.
In the way of reviews, we've got one this time. I can confirm that I won't be giving up on this, so no worries there - I knew what I was getting into with this. I don't want to say anything spoilery, but I will mention this. Jay's conflicting nature is both known, and purposeful. Do with that what you will.
Anyway, we're done here for now. Until next time.
Extra little note: Try to ignore any strange quirks with the writing itself in this chapter. I'm working on one of my original works at the same time as this, so there's a chance some of the habits developed for them may pass over into this.