Blake Belladonna was an unusual person. She knew that, could accept it even. Not in relation to her faunus heritage – there was nothing unusual about that after all. But rather to the life she had lived up until that point.
Child labourer, protester, soldier… terrorist.
And now she was trying to become a protector. Maybe this life would be the one she didn't need to run away from. With her telling ears hidden behind her black bow, Beacon was to be a chance for her to live a new life. One that wasn't burdened by the poor decisions she had made in the past.
It was a chance she wasn't going to squander. Alas, fate apparently wanted to show her how good it was at throwing wrenches.
Why else would someone who knew her—who knew she used to be part of the White Fang—show up here at Beacon?
She forced herself to remain impassive as Geas walked alongside Goodwitch out of the cafeteria, looking carefree. She didn't shudder when his eyes met hers, or at least she tried to pretend she didn't.
He was taller than two years ago, and his plain face and different clothing made her unable to recognize him... until he began using multiple semblances.
Blake's fingers tightened around her fork.
He barely glanced at her during Port's class, but she couldn't hope that monster would forget her face. The face of a former White Fang member who had fought against him.
That was why after the class, she made a beeline for Goodwitch's office and asked—more like begged—for her to tell Geas to keep quiet. Asking him personally wasn't something she had the guts to do. It wasn't even cowardice this time, just self-preservation.
"Ms. Belladonna," Professor Goodwitch had said, her voice stern but not unkind. "While I understand your concerns, I cannot make promises on behalf of another student."
Blake had felt her heart sink. "Professor, please—"
"However," Goodwitch continued, adjusting her glasses, "I can assure you that all students at Beacon are entitled to privacy regarding their past. That includes you. Should anyone breach that trust, they will answer to me personally."
It wasn't the guarantee Blake had hoped for, but it was something. Enough to get her through the day, at least.
Now, sitting in the cafeteria, Blake stabbed her fork into her tuna with perhaps more force than necessary. The familiar taste—rich, savory, perfectly seasoned—normally would have been enough to melt away her worries, at least momentarily. Today, though, even her favorite meal couldn't fully distract her from the knot of anxiety in her stomach.
"Hey, Blake, you okay? You've been staring at that food like it kicked your cat."
What an unfortunate choice of words.
Blake couldn't help it—she burst out laughing. The absurdity of Yang's accidental pun coming at such a tense moment broke through her carefully maintained composure. She laughed until tears threatened at the corners of her eyes, one hand covering her mouth in a futile attempt to contain herself.
Her teammates stared at her in confusion. Thankfully, there weren't many people remaining in the cafeteria. Team JNPR had finished eating and left, as did most other students. Weiss and Yang had finished their meals but waited for Ruby and herself to do so as well.
"Whoa," Yang said, grinning despite her puzzlement. "If I'd known tuna jokes were your thing, I would've prepared a whole list. Something smells fishy about this reaction."
Ruby groaned. "Is Blake okay? I've never seen her laugh like this before."
Blake's laughter gradually subsided, and she took a deep breath, composing herself. "I'm fine. Thanks, Yang. I... needed that laugh. Today's been more stressful than I expected."
"Well, that's what teammates are for," Yang replied with a wink. "To provide comic relief when you're feeling claw-ful."
"Please stop," Weiss said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "But speaking of today—why did Professor Goodwitch call you to her office, Blake? It seemed rather sudden."
"Yeah," Yang agreed, leaning forward with interest. "Couldn't she pick a better time? I think Oobleck wanted to spar with Geas—uhh, the new guy—but he couldn't because we were an even number." She grinned, turning to Weiss. "But I suppose seeing him melt Weisscream with his moves was worth it as well."
Weiss bristled. "I was not melted by anyone! It was simply a good spar between two skilled combatants."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, princess," Yang teased. "But the way you kept getting flustered was pretty entertaining."
"I wasn't flustered! I was adapting to unpredictable combat patterns!" Weiss's cheeks flushed pink. "Besides, his technique was... exquisite."
"Of course, of course..."
Blake had to bite her tongue to not react too much. She didn't really like Weiss; she was too stuck up, and Blake could acknowledge the fact that she couldn't look at the girl without being reminded of the atrocities her family committed against faunuskind. But even SHE didn't deserve trying to get close to Geas.
A memory flashed in Blake's mind—broken bodies of her fellow White Fang members, people she knew, trained with, was friends with. Blood everywhere. Explosions of fire Dust and Adam roaring with rage as another person laughed hysterically...
The taste of tuna suddenly turned sour in her mouth, making her want to throw up. She swallowed hard, forcing the memory down along with her food.
"Anyway, he was cool," Yang said with finality, and Weiss snorted.
"If you call pretending to be weaker than you are 'cool'—"
"He was clearly egging you on." Yang leaned in conspiratorially. "Or who knows, maybe he likes to be dominated." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Yaaang!" Ruby groaned, her face turning nearly as red as her cloak. She turned to Blake, clearly trying to change the subject.
"So, um, Blake, can you tell us why you were in Professor Goodwitch's office?"
Blake smiled. Despite only knowing them for two weeks, the atmosphere of the team was growing on her. And fortunately, she had rehearsed a response for this particular question.
"Well, for one, she didn't call me. I went to her myself."
"Huh?!" The three teammates chorused in unison.
Blake kept her face carefully neutral. "Yes, I asked for any instructions she might have for me to become stronger... and she gave me a two-hour lecture. I didn't expect her to keep me that long, though..." And that wasn't even a lie.
"Huh, who would've guessed," Yang said with a shrug, returning to her empty plate.
"One-on-one instruction..." Weiss muttered to herself, tapping her finger thoughtfully against the table.
Ruby tilted her head, cookie crumbs adorning the corners of her mouth. "Umm, that's awesome, Blake! But, uhh... why so suddenly? Did something happen?"
Blake hesitated. "Well, of course. With that guy coming to Beacon, that's my highest priority..." She grumbled, but then realized that all her teammates were staring at her.
Oh, crap, shouldn't have said that.
"WHAAT?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"YOU KNOW THE NEW GUY?!" Yang practically lunged across the table.
"Are you familiar with Geas?" Weiss asked more calmly, though her eyes had narrowed with interest.
Blake flinched at their hungry stares. This was not how she had planned for this conversation to go.
"Come on, Blakey, spill!" Yang urged, eyes wide with excitement. "Did you two date? Is he an ex? Or—oh my god—is he your long-lost childhood friend who promised to marry you when you grew up?"
"Nothing like that," Blake said firmly. "It's just that I stayed in Atlas for a while and got to learn about his... reputation."
She had to try not to spit out the word, but only Ruby seemed to frown a bit at that. Yang and Weiss focused more on her words than her tone.
"Oh, he's famous then?" Yang asked. "What, is he some kind of Atlas celebrity?"
"I severely doubt it if I'd never heard of him," Weiss said, crossing her arms. "And I'm quite familiar with Atlesian society."
That's because they hid however much they fucking could, Blake wanted to shout but gritted her teeth instead. Goodwitch hadn't mentioned anything, but Blake wasn't stupid. Geas clearly had his own objective here at Beacon. Spreading rumors about him was bound to bite her in the ass sooner or later, be it in the form of anonymous rumors about her own past, or something more straightforward.
"Well, it is said that he is the strongest from his generation," she offered carefully.
"Oooh," Ruby and Yang chorused, exchanging glances.
"And that he really, really, REALLY likes to fight."
"Oh, that's old news. Everyone who went to Port's class knows that," Yang said with a shrug.
"Hmm... It doesn't ring a bell," Weiss added, equally dismissive.
Blake kept her face neutral and expressionless. She couldn't directly slander the bastard, but she sure as hell would try to get her team to find out for themselves just who they were dealing with.
"I think he also gained a nickname over time, but... I can't quite remember it now."
"Like Pyrrha who is Mistral's Pride?" Ruby asked, scratching her head.
Blake shrugged, trying to act casual. "Really can't remember."
"Eh, that's too bad," Yang said. "Say, Weiss, have you heard any stray nicknames floating through your Ivory Tower?"
Weiss didn't react to the joke, looking as if she was thinking deeply and seriously.
"I'm not sure... There's one, but I severely doubt it's referring to Geas."
"Go ahead," Yang said as she started wrestling with Ruby to steal one of her cookies.
Ruby squealed, holding her plate above her head. "Yang, no! These are my special double chocolate chip ones!"
"Sharing is caring, sis!" Yang laughed, making another grab.
Weiss watched them with barely concealed disdain before turning back to Blake. "As I was saying before these two started acting like children..."
"Hey!" Ruby protested, her mouth now full of quickly-stuffed cookies.
"It was quite foul sounding, something like..."