Third interlude-Blake Belladona

The Games We Play

Third Interlude – Blake Belladonna

​

"Amazing," One of them whispered, gathered around the TV. She didn't need to even look up from her book to know what they were talking about. After all, it was the only thing anyone was talking about lately. In the White Fang, on the news, even when she went into the city, it seemed like the only thing anyone thought worth discussing—the most recent attack by Jian Bing.

And yet, she couldn't help but listen as they continued.

"Coming to you live from the Penstemon where just earlier today, the White Fang terrorist going by the name 'Jian Bing' attacked the SDC heiress Weiss Schnee for the second time. Guards stationed throughout the building claim to have seen and heard nothing during the attack and it is still unknown how he entered or exited the building, as his presence was not noticed until a routine check found the heiress and her bodyguards unconscious in her room. What the White Fang leader intended to accomplish with this attack is unknown, but it is believed to be linked to a nearly assault on the Gaura building, which hosts and maintains servers for many companies, including the local branch of the SDC. It is suspected that the White Fang may have been after something in their files, but what remains a mystery. Heiress Weiss Schnee, now under guard in a local hospital, has refrained from commenting and now awaits the arrival of her father from Atlas. With countless questions and so little in the way of answers, we are left to wonder—what was Jian Bing after? How will the SDC respond to this attack? And, perhaps most frighteningly of all, what do these displays mean for the growing threat of the White Fang?"

"Got in without any of them noticing," One of the masked Faunus watching whispered with a grin. "I heard half the guards got fired, right of the bat."

"How do you think he got in?" Another wondered. "I heard some of the big guys saying they were going to attack the building, but he was already inside when they found out the Schnee were in town."

"I heard the Rats saying he's been working with the boss lady lately," A third mentioned. "And I heard she made some kind of portal a few days ago. Maybe she…?"

"Couldn't be. I was there for that and while she made a portal, I didn't really get the idea that they friend, you know? I thought they were going to fight for a minute there."

"Yeah, but you're stupid," The first speaker snorted. "They're obviously close, given their ranks. Hell, I heard they spent most of the day working together downstairs and no one's seen them leave yet."

"It's been, like, eight hours," The second sound incredulous. "They can't still be down there. What would they even be doing?"

"I know what I would be doing down there—"

"Oh, shut up, Denim," The first rolled his eyes. "Anyway, does it matter how he got in? I mean, this is the guy who stole the White Whale. He wanted in, he got in, the end. What I want to know is what he took from the servers?"

"Do we even know if that was him?"

"No, it just happened to happen at nearly the same time." He snorted. "Come on, guys; there had to be a reason why he left the girl alive. He interrogated her and then broke into the servers to get what he needed."

"Interrogated?" The third speaker sounder skeptical. "And no one noticed? It's hard to interrogate someone quietly."

"She's a Schnee," The second snorted. "I bet all it took was a look and she sang like a songbird. I heard she fainted, too."

There was some snickering at that.

"What I don't get is why he left her alive, though. I mean, he got what he needed, obviously, so why let her go?"

"A message," One of them sounded sure. "He could have killed her any time he wanted and they wouldn't have even noticed until he was gone. Let them sleep on that."

"I guess, but I still say he should have just ended it. Scaring them is great and all, but would they have been less frightened if they walked in to find a corpse?"

"Maybe he was worried about what the SDC would do if their heiress died?"

"Um, hello? This is the guy who stole the White Whale in front of a thousand people, including the head of the SDC and two headmasters. Somehow, I don't think he gives a fuck. And hell, what are they going to do to us? Zack said that the negotiations with the Families went through because of Jian Bing," A Faunus with curling horns said. "Mistral's on our side, now, if not officially. The SDC can go suck a dick."

"Then…I don't know, maybe he was feeling merciful or something?"

"Wasn't the boss lady there, too? I'm pretty sure she was the one who eventually called everyone off, right?"

"Actually…yeah, she was. Then…no, there's definitely a reason they left he alive then. Maybe they still need her for something?"

"What?"

"How the fuck would I know?"

"Well…I guess it depends on what they took from her? So there's no really way to know…"

"…Actually…Doesn't Taurus work for both of them? Jian saved him at the White Whale thing and I thought he had some connection to the boss lady. You think maybe he knows?"

"Adam? Well, yeah, he probably knows—but that guy is, like, super busy. I'm surprised he has time to breath."

"And, um, we're probably talking about top secret information here, guys. Somehow, I don't think anyone who knows is going to go 'Oh, sure, let me tell you everything!'"

"It was just a thought, dude." He said before pausing. "You know, Adam's really busy, but we could always ask Blake. She's his student, right? Maybe she knows what's going on."

"She's probably busy, too. She's always around Adam, isn't she?"

"Um, she's right over there."

They all turned towards her at once.

"…So she is." One of them said. "Hey, Blake! Do you know what's going on?"

She thought about just ignoring them, for all that she'd been listening in up 'til now, but…

The truth was…

"No," She answered honestly. "No idea."

"…Oh," One of them said awkwardly—and it was at times like these that she wished she could just look above people's heads and know their names like Jaune, because she honestly didn't remember any of these people. "We just, uh…"

"I know," She answered, closing her book as she rose. "It's no problem."

"Uh, right." The speaker nodded, bat ears twitching. "You're going now, then? I didn't mean to make you…"

"It's not that," She lied. Though it probably wasn't what he thought, at least. "Things are getting busy again. Adam and I have a mission soon."

"Right," He looked relived. "Good luck on your mission! You two stay safe, okay?"

"We'll try," She shrugged and left, doing her best to ignore their conversation and the TV behind them.

Even though she was new to this base, she's memorized the various pathways quickly and it didn't take long to get where she was going. When she walked in, Adam was going through files again, so odds were they would have another mission soon. A part of her wanted to ask, both about it and what had happened, but for now she just went by him and took a seat, reopening her book.

It was easier that way, if no less worrying.

"Jaune wanted to say goodbye," Adam said after a moment, not looking up from his work. "He came by about an hour ago, but I didn't know where you were. Neither did he, so I take it you were in the city?"

"Yeah," She said quietly. "I…needed to clear my head. Was he okay?"

"Same as always," Adam snorted, but there was a slight smile on his face. "No point worrying about that guy. He's gotten really strong."

She nodded, looking away.

"Did he tell you what happened?"

"Just a little, to clear up some stuff. Mostly, he said to ask my teacher."

"Did you?"

"Not yet," He shrugged. "Those two…I guess they're both busy now."

"Maybe," She nodded before taking a deep, steadying breath. "What now?"

"Hm?" Adam looking at her for a moment before understanding. "Oh, just…the usual. We'll be heading back to Vytal soon—give it a week or two to make sure everything's okay here and we'll leave."

"Vale?" She asked. "Or Vacuo?"

"Either or," He said. "Things have died down some lately, so it shouldn't be an issue either way."

"Of course," She said shutting her eyes slowly as she rested her head against the back of her chair. "What are we going to do now?"

"I just told you—"

"The White Fang, I mean," She corrected. "What are we going to do next, Adam?"

He was silent for a long minute.

"Adam?"

"We'll keep going, Blake," He said, his tone sounding a bit tired for some reason. "Of course, we'll keep going. You know that."

And then it was her turn to be quiet. She considered what he was saying and knew what he meant and just…nodded.

It was true, after all.

"Yeah," She said. "Of course."

"Blake," He began to say before cutting himself off and just…stared at her for a moment. In the end, he left whatever it was unspoken and returned to his reports.

In the end, maybe it didn't matter. She'd already made her decision.

There was only one more thing to do.

XxXXxX

​

Several weeks passed before they returned to Vale. Maybe Adam had been avoiding it deliberately. Maybe they both had. Deep down, she wondered if he knew what was coming.

He probably did.

But that didn't make it any less inevitable. Eventually, duty called and they both answered, returning to the city of Vale. She didn't ask what the mission was and Adam didn't say, but when she said she was going to Tukson's Book Trade, he'd looked at her and they'd both known it was a lie. But he'd still nodded and she'd still left and soon she'd made her way to her destination.

It was a long time in coming, she thought. She was almost as frightened to end this as she was relieved for it to be over. But there was no turning back now.

She knocked.

"Be right there!" A voice cried from within the house and a moment later the door opened. Jaune Arc blinked at her, looking briefly surprised to see her at her doorstep before smiling. "Oh, hey Blake. Didn't expect to see you here. I tried to say goodbye in Mistral but I guess you were busy."

She nodded once and took a deep breath.

"I've decided to leave the White Fang," She said by way of greeting, making him blink again.

"Uh," He said. "Okay."

"Okay?" She questioned, not sure why she was even surprised by the blasé reaction.

"Well," He scratched his head and shrugged. "If that's what you want, it's your choice. I guess I'm not that surprised, either? I mean, things weren't really going the way you wanted and I…well, I didn't help much. Sorry."

"It's not your fault," She shook her head. "This was…"

She shook her head but smiled slightly. For all that she'd been dreading it, perhaps she'd known that it be like this and to get it over with…for the first time in years, she felt at ease.

Maybe he noticed that, because he smiled, too.

"Does Adam know yet?" He asked.

She took another deep breath and sigh.

"No," She admitted. "I didn't…I didn't know how to tell him."

"Goodbye usually works," He said and shrugged at her look, smile refusing to fade. "Hey, I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Still, that's not really what I meant. Does he know? That you want to leave?"

"He…yeah. I think so." She whispered before nodding. "Yes, he does."

"That's good, then," He mused. "He'll probably come by here soon, too. You want me to tell him anything for you?"

"He…he already knows everything important," She answered.

"Cool," He nodded. "You need me for something?"

"No, I just…I thought you deserved to know that I was leaving," She looked up at the morning sky. "After everything…"

"You didn't have to tell me anything, Blake," He replied, shaking his head. "It's your life, after all. There's no reason for you to do anything you hate."

"I know, it's just…" She trailed off. "I was the one who dragged you into all of this. I got you wrapped up in the White Fang and now it feels like I'm the one giving up after everything, when you…"

"'Dragged me into this,'" He repeated and then laughed a little under his breath. "Blake…you didn't make me do anything. Everything I did, I chose to do myself, so…it's okay, isn't it? Mistakes were made, there were some ups and downs, but…it was okay. You don't need to feel like you owe me anything."

"I never did take you on that hunting trip, actually," She said, smiling a bit herself when it made him chuckle.

"Well…" He glanced above her head contemplatively before shrugging again. "It's nothing that can't wait. How about I give you a rain check?"

"Sure," She said. "Just until everything gets sorted out."

He nodded.

"What are you going to do now, then?" He asked, smiling at me. "You going to go help the protests again or what?"

"I'm…" She paused for a moment before nodding firmly to herself. "I thought about it a lot and it wasn't easy to decide, but…I'm going to become a Huntress."

"Oh?" He said, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he frowned.

"I won't tell anyone about your secrets," She said, seeing his expression. "Just like I won't tell them anything about the White Fang. But I…after all that's happened, I need to…"

"It's not that; I understand completely. I was just thinking about something else, is all," He said, nodding again as his smile returned. "Maybe I'll see you around, then? Have you given any thought to where you want to go?"

"I was thinking here," She said. "In Vale where…well, where everything seemed to start. There are a few things I need to do and it'll take a few months to wrap everything up, but…This seems like a good place."

"Beacon, huh?" He said. "Cool. You know, I'm going to speak to the headmaster soon, anyway. Do you want me to put in a good word for you?"

She smiled at him again but shook her head.

"Thank you for the offer," She answered resolutely. "But no. I…I think I want to do this myself. And for myself."

He looked her over once and then leaned against the doorframe.

"Okay," He said. "If it's you, you shouldn't have any problems. I'll see you around then, Blake?"

"Yeah," She shut her eyes and looked up as the sky continued to lighten and the night truly came to an end. "I'll see you later, Jaune. Stay safe, okay?"

"Yeah. Good luck, Blake," He said as she began to walk away.

"Thank you," She answered back, pausing for a moment to glance over her shoulder. "For everything. Really."

XxXXxX