Chapter 2
Red petals floated slowly to the ground. In that moment, she felt completely calm, as still as the forest around her. She basked her face in the sunlight that filtered through the leaves of the trees as she sat against a large rock in the middle of a small clearing. She smiled softly to herself as the breeze washed over her, pulling her long, dark her along with it as it moved past her. Ever so slightly, her ears twitched to her left, picking up on the sound of footsteps approaching. From between the trees her partner appeared at her side “Blake,” he said, staring straight at her. “It’s time.” She turned her head and looked through the narrow slits in his mask.
Softly she said, “Okay.”
She leapt from her stone seat with easy and together they too off through the maze of trees. Around her hues of brown and red blurred past her as the sped closer and closer to their destination. She let her partner run ahead and followed closely behind. She wasn’t entirely sure of what their mission was this time. He had briefed her but kept many of the details in the dark. Finally, as they reached the edge of a cliff he stopped moving and Blake skidded to a stop. In the distance she could hear the whistle of a train and as it grew closer the chugging noise it made. She stepped closer to the edge, standing just a foot of two behind her partner and looked off in the same direction that he was currently starring in. Not too far off in the distance she spotted a train making its way towards them. Her partner jolted forward and she followed, sliding down the cliff side just behind him.
They pushed off the rocky surface and landed on top of the moving train, digging their blade into the roof to hold their positions until they gained balance. Once they did her partner moved forward on the moving vehicle. He stopped at a roof hatch, pulling out his blade he slid the lock and lifted the hatch and jumped down into the compartment and then she followed. “Looks like we’re gonna be doing this the hard way.” Adam said as her eye adjusted to her new surroundings. The compartment was filled with robotic soldier but regardless Blake rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be so dramatic.” She responded as she reached for her sword. They bots had them surrounded but Blake wasn’t scared, they had done this a million times.
“Intruder. Identify yourself.” The robots commanded at the same time.
Adam wasted no time humoring the machines, he launched the butt of his sward forward the robot facing him and immediately followed after it. He grabbed the handle and easily began cutting through the body of the machine. The rest of the bots began dawning blade along their arms and began to charge. Blake glanced around her and evaluated the situation quickly before unsheathing her blade and engaging in combat with the robots. Maybe it was sad, but it was here, fighting side-by-side with Adam that she felt the most as home as she ever had. Easily the two cut through the robotic forces, watching each other’s backs as they fought.
The robots changed their method of attack ad began shooting rounds at the pair. Adam easily blocked the bullets coming at them and the Blake rushed forward, slicing through the bullets and then through the robots shooting them. Just as the cleared the compartment they leapt through the door in front of them onto an open compartment. More robot guards charged at them but they were more than ready for this. “Let’s do this.” Adam, said before taking the lead in the fight. He ran straight at their foes and began to cut through them, Blake effortlessly backed him up.
She folded her weapon into its’ second former and threw it as hard as she could. Grabbing the ribbon attached she yanked it back towards herself, taking out a few bots as she did. She turned quickly and her weapon glided through the air before connecting with more of the robots. She couldn’t help but smirk a little confidently as she whipped through their attackers. Together she and Adam made easy work of the rest of the robots, swiping and slashing through their electronic bodies. When they were done they continued to the next car. “Perfect.” Adam said, as he lift the lid to a box. “Move up to the next car. I’ll set the charges.” He told her as he shut it again.
Blake hesitated, “What about the crew members?”
Adman looked as her and emotionlessly replied, “What about them?”
Before should could answer, a loud clanking sound filled the car that they were in. The two of them turned towards the noise to see a massive robot unfolding itself from the ceiling and aiming its’ guns at them. “Adam…” Blake started before her partner dashed towards it to attack. It started shooting and the pair managed to narrowly dodge its’ shots.
Blake charged the machine, slicing at it with but it made no difference. The robot smacked her away and began to move forward as she hit the ground. Adam left between her and the robot, attacking it to move it away from her but just as before his attacks did nothing and it swatted him back and continued moving forward. Adam’s back smacked against a stack of crates, disorienting him only for a moment. Just as it seemed the robot was about to crus her, Adman leapt forward and pulled her away just in time. “We need to get out of here.” Blake told her partner, before he had a chance to reply the robot blasted them with an attack that send them flight through the car and outside to a platform.
The robot followed them out and as they got back to their feet Adman said, “Buy me some time.”
“Are you sure?” Blake asked, not sure they could salvage this one.
“Do it!”
Having faith in Adam, Blake leapt towards the machine and hit it with a barrage of attacks but nothing seemed to take effect. Jumping away from it her eyes widened as it prepared to send another blast at them, “Move!” Adam yelled and she moved back even further as he blocked its’ attack and laughed. Standing straight Adam swung his sword as the machine jumped at him. A blast of energy seemed to release as the machine flung backwards and fell to pieces. Once the battle was done Adam ran towards her but stopped in his tracks as he saw the look on her face. His hand stretched out towards her and Blake reached behind her back to draw her sword.
“Goodbye.” She said, just before severing the link between their cars. His car began to slow as she moved forward and began to disappear into the distance.
When the train final began to stop Blake found herself in the train station of Vale. Before the crew members had time to get off the train she fled, not wanting to have to explain what happened to the rest of the cars. She ran as fast as she could, leaping and leaping and until she was far, far away from the station. She found herself in a dingier part of Vale, the part that one didn’t normally envision when they thought of the city. To her it seemed that most of the buildings in the area were abandoned, most likely used by those who knew no home, those like her. She continued to move until she stopped seeing people. Stopping on top of a random roof she scanned the area thoroughly before slicing a hole into the roof. As she landed on the ground she gripped her shoulder, squinting her eyes as she made her way to the nearest wall before following to the ground. Had she been injured? None of the hits she took could have caused the burning pain she felt at the moment. Her vision became blurry as she slid sideways along the wall before hitting the ground and gasping in pain. Before she knew it, everything around her went black.
When she opened her eyes again she could only tell it was morning by the few places that light was able to trickle in to her hiding spot. Sitting up she gently touched the spot of her back where the scorching pain had been to find that even with pressure it no longer hurt. She stood herself up and dusted herself off before stretching and heading back outside again.
She ran along the roofs until she made it near the busy downtown of Vale. She jumped down into an alleyway just before stepping into the street she cut a piece off the ribbon she carried with her off and tied it in a bow around her ears. She walked until she came upon a bookshop, instantly her face lit up and she made a beeline into the store. She browsed the shelves carefully, pulling out nearly every book to read the summary. She didn’t have all too much money to herself but if she was going to be alone she deserved something to read. She grab a few books that were a decent price and headed to the check out.
“Hm, haven’t seen you here before.” He said as he punched the prices of the books into the cash register. “You knew in town?
“Yeah.” Blake said quietly. The old man looked up at her again before moving his eyes to the weapon on her back.
“Are you here to study at Beacon?” He asked casually, holding off on giving her the final price.
“Sorry?”
“Beacon. Vale’s Huntsman Academy.”
“Huntsman Academy…” Blake said quietly.
“Mhm, y’know, protect us from Grimm, defenders of the innocent. That’s why you’re in town, eh? I can always tell.”
“Oh, um, yeah.” Blake answered. “T-that’s why I’m here.”
The old man laughed, “That’s great. I’m sure you’ll do great.” He said, packing her books into a back and sliding it to her. “There ya are.”
“Um, how much?” She asked but the old man just waved at her.
“Don’t ya worry about it, deary. Enjoy your books.” He said, smiling at her before winking and walking back off into his store to talk to other customers.
Blake was shocked for a moment by the old man. She waited a moment for him to return but when they caught eyes he only waved at her. Shortly after visiting the book shop Blake grabbed from a cheap food from a restaurant. When she was done eating she made her way to the bathroom to freshen up a little bit. She slashed water onto her frame and combed her fingers through her long hair. As her amber eyes scanned her reflection she found herself turning around and pulling her long, black hair over her shoulder. She pulled at the fabric near the back of her neck first and when she couldn’t pull it as low as she wanted she opted to pull her top up from the bottom.
There on her left shoulder was an image she knew was definitely not there before. Against her pale skin was a golden dragon that stood up on its’ hind legs, its’ claws out in front of it as fire poured from its’ open mouth. She lightly traced her fingers over it, amazed. On the back of her left shoulder sat her soulmate mark.
Soulmate marks, more often than not, appear when one has a big change in their life. Had she had that? Blake couldn’t help but wonder, had leaving Adam and the White Fang a bigger change than she had thought? Even if she didn’t think it, fate apparently did.