• Published 31st Aug 2018
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SAPR - Scipio Smith



Sunset, Jaune, Pyrrha and Ruby are Team SAPR, and together they fight to defeat the malice of Salem, uncover the truth about Ruby's past and fill the emptiness within their souls.

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Take a Trip (New)

Take a Trip

Blake's eyebrows rose. "You... you gave her Sienna Khan's Life of Ares Claudandus?"

"Yeah," Tukson said, as though he couldn't see the problem – probably because he couldn't. "I thought she might get something out of it."

"It's Ares Claudandus!" Blake exclaimed. "Yes, it's unfair that the historical narrative has erased faunus actors from our own revolution, and yes, his generalship deserves to be remembered admiringly, but... this is a man who ruled Mistral in all but name for eighteen months, and in that time, he made divorce illegal, ordered that in the last resort, struggling marriages were to be referred to him so he could decide how best to motivate the couple... in Ares' Mistral, I would have been sent back to Adam and told it was my fault for not trying hard enough to make him happy."

"That's Sienna's interpretation," Tukson replied.

"And it's Sienna's book; what other interpretation is going to be in there?" Blake demanded.

Tukson said, "You don't think-"

"No, I don't think Rainbow Dash is going to become a creep obsessed with other people's sex lives," Blake admitted. "But leaving aside whether she might be as put off by all of that as I was... do you really think it was a good idea to expose an Atlesian to the ideas of a man who held that the people existed to serve the good of the state, not the other way around?"

"The community," Tukson corrected her. "Not the state."

"Whose community was being served when Claudandus decided to reinstate plantation slavery?" Blake asked.

"Is it still slavery when the workers were to receive ten percent of the harvest?" Tukson replied.

"Is it freedom when overseers had the right to beat the workers with clubs and the field hands were legally prohibited from leaving?" Blake shot back.

"Contrary to Sienna's view, I never thought that was Claudandus selling out to the great families," Tukson said. "I think it was a pragmatic decision to get the economy back on track after years of war."

"You could excuse the SDC and all of its abuses on those grounds," Blake argued. "'Yes, it's labour practices are criminally abusive, but the economy!'"

Tukson was silent for a moment. "I suppose you have a point there, and I won't say that the man was perfect, but he had a sincere vision of how to bring humans and faunus together in harmony, and I thought it would do your friend good to be exposed to that. Too many people don't realise that the incarnations of the White Fang aren't the only path to equal standing the faunus have pursued."

"That's true," Blake allowed. "Although that might be a testament to how unsuccessful the others were. I just... I wish I could say for sure what Rainbow would take from it. If I was going to be around to correct any... misconceptions that she might get then... but I won't. Rainbow's team is returning to Atlas for a while before the tournament, but I won't be going with them. I thought about visiting Atlas myself, but... I'm not wanted there anymore."

"Is that what they told you?"

"Rainbow told me my services weren't required anymore."

"I can believe they're not," Tukson said. "I mean the White Fang..."

Blake bowed her head. The two of them were sat outside, on one of the verandas that overlooked the city of Vale. Above the highest towers, the great shops of the Atlesian fleet prowled the skies, symbols of the immense power that had, for a brief season, been her master... and now had cast her off, redundant.

She felt Tukson put his arm around her shoulders. "How are you doing, with all of this?"

Blake closed her eyes. "He let Fluttershy go," she whispered.

"Who?"

"Fluttershy," Blake repeated. "A friend of Rainbow Dash; she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Adam caught her. Except he let her go. He showed... kindness, to her. He released her, for no gain and no reason.

"A part of me would like nothing more than to say that Adam was too far gone, that he couldn't be reasoned with, that he had to be stopped, and a part of believes it, but... but then I remember that he let Fluttershy go... and I'm not sure that I can believe it any more.

"And then... everyone else down there, all those faunus... I know that they were willing to put Vale at risk, but-"

"But that doesn't mean you don't regret it," Tukson murmured.

Blake glanced at him. "There was nothing I could do, there were so many grimm, and we needed to-"

"I'm not blaming you," Tukson assured her. "I don't have the right; no one does." He paused. "I wish that I knew what to say to make it all better, but... but I don't know if there are any words to make it better."

"Probably not," Blake whispered.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," Blake said softly.

Tukson squeezed her shoulder. "Can I ask you to do one thing for me?"

"What?"

"Don't forget that you're not alone," Tukson implored her. "You've got people here who care about you, Blake. Remember that."


Blake stepped silently into General Ironwood's office aboard ship and then waited, in equal silence, for him to speak.

"Thank you for coming, Miss Belladonna," General Ironwood said, rising courteously to his feet as the door closed behind Blake. "I'm sorry about the short notice of my invitation, I realised that I didn't know if you had any plans for the break, and I didn't want to miss you."

"It's fine, sir; I wasn't busy," Blake said, not feeling the need to explain to him that she wasn't planning to be busy for the near future either. "I was a little surprised that you wanted to see me, however."

"Really?" General Ironwood asked.

"Yes, sir," Blake replied quietly. "I thought you were done with me."

General Ironwood frowned ever so slightly. "You don't sound overjoyed by the fact."

"Was I supposed to be?" Blake demanded. "Is that all the impression that any of you have formed of me over the past semester, that I'd be glad to be out? That I'd be delighted to be stuck on the sidelines doing what, nothing?"

"Miss Belladonna-" General Ironwood began.

Blake ploughed on as though he hadn't spoken. "All the missions I've been on, with all the different people, and that's who you all think I am? All the time I've spent with-"

"Miss Belladonna, it's going to be hard for me to defend myself if you don't let me get a word in edgeways," General Ironwood said in a tone of gentle reproof, seasoned lightly with a touch of amusement.

Blake felt her cheeks heat up a little. "Sorry, sir, I just... I've always had a hard time keeping my opinions to myself."

"I understand," said the General. "What I'm not sure you understand is what's going on. You're not being put out to pasture, by any means. But, we had an agreement: you would assist my forces when necessary to deal with the White Fang threat to Vale, and in exchange, we would keep you out of jail. The White Fang threat to Vale has ended."

"But there's so much more going on now, sir," Blake insisted. "Or at least, I know so much more about what's really going on. With so many forces at your command, I can see why you might think that you don't need me, but I swear, I can be useful to you."

"Is that what you want?" General Ironwood asked. "You want to be useful?"

"I want to play my part, sir," Blake replied. "Yes, I want to be useful. Knowing what I know now, I can't just turn away, or stand back and let other people handle it. General, how much do you know about what happened under Mountain Glenn?"

"Dash submitted her report," General Ironwood replied. "She told me everything."

"Then you know that a lot of faunus died in that tunnel," Blake said. "The White Fang wasn't created by Salem, she didn't even turn it into what it is today, but she got her hooks into it, and she used it, and she caused the deaths of hundreds of people. If I can prevent that from happening again, if I can do anything at all to prevent the spread of her influence that brings about so much death and misery, then I want to do it."

The corners of General Ironwood's lips twitched upwards in a smile. "You could be making this pitch to Ozpin instead of me."

"It wasn't Professor Ozpin who put his faith in me, sir," Blake said. "You did. And if it had been up to Professor Ozpin alone, I don't think I ever would have found out about Salem or the rest. And it isn't Professor Ozpin whose forces I've been assisting all semester. I've spent more time with the Atlas forces than I have with any Beacon team, even my own... either of my own. That's why it hurt when you cut me loose-"

"Can I ask what it is that Dash said to you that made you think this was such a dramatic severing of ties between us?" General Ironwood asked.

Blake frowned. "Her exact words were, 'You're free,' sir."

"Well, you're no longer at my beck and call, or that of Atlas. In that sense, if you wanted nothing more to do with us, then you could walk away, and I would have neither power nor will to stop you."

"But I-"

"But I didn't intend, nor do I think Dash meant to imply, that we wanted nothing more to do with you," General Ironwood said, cutting Blake off before she could build up another head of steam. "If Dash implied otherwise... from what she's told me, she feels that she's been putting a lot of pressure on you, and she regrets it."

"I don't think that she has anything to regret, sir; Rainbow was never anything less than honest about what she wanted from me and why she wanted it. That's part of the reason why this sudden turnaround was so, well, sudden. It's one of the reasons I thought we must be about to part ways."

"Perhaps you ought to tell her that yourself, it might prevent future misunderstandings," General Ironwood suggested gently. "For my part... you've been on several missions with my people now; how have you found it?"

"Your students are... very characterful, sir," Blake said.

General Ironwood chuckled. "They are indeed. I'm sure that every headmaster loves their students – at least, I hope they do – but these kids... Miss Belladonna, why do you think that in Atlas, we push so hard to get graduates to move onto the Specialist track inside the military?"

"I think you're about to tell me, sir."

General Ironwood paused. "Oz told me once that being a headmaster is the best job in Remnant, and the worst. The best because you get to watch these brilliant kids, these impossibly brave young men and women, walk through your halls, and you get to help them become the best versions of themselves possible. And it's also the worst because, after four years of knowing them, guiding them, nurturing them... you have to kick them out to let them risk death on a daily basis facing unimaginable horrors. There are many tactical advantages to having a Corps of Specialists in the military, but I must confess that part of it is... I don't have it in me to just cut these kids loose. This way, I can keep an eye on them, and I can keep giving them the support they need, as best I can." Once more, he paused. "Oz says that I can't protect them forever, and that's true. I've lost good kids... I've lost so many. But even if I can't protect them, I'd like to be able to say that I tried."

Blake blinked. She felt the absurd urge to go over to the General and give him a hug. The fact that she doubted he would appreciate it if she did was only one of the reasons why she refrained. "Sir, I don't need protection-"

General Ironwood's voice was tinged with bitterness as he said. "Then it's a good job that I haven't protected you, isn't it? I owe you an apology, Miss Belladonna; regardless of your desire to be in the thick of things, I shouldn't have sent you or Team Rosepetal into Mountain Glenn; I shouldn't have sent anyone in without laying on more support than I did. As Dash reminded me, it's my job to do what's right for my people, regardless of the opinions of others. What you encountered down there, what happened to you, it would tax a far more experienced huntsman. The fact that you're eager to throw yourself back into the fray afterwards... it either says something very good or very bad about you."

Blake frowned slightly. "Which do you think it is, sir?"

"I'm not entirely sure, yet," General Ironwood admitted. "After all of this and your upset when you thought that our working relationship was coming to an end, I take it that working with my people wasn't unpleasant for you?"

"No, sir, quite the opposite. Or at least, the unpleasantness didn't come from your people."

"I'm glad to hear it," General Ironwood said. "Just as you'll be glad to hear that everyone who has worked with you has sung your praises. However, both Dash and Lulamoon noted with concern what they described as a courage verging on disregard for your own safety."

"Shouldn't a good huntress be willing to sacrifice themselves to protect others?"

"Willing, yes, but not eager," General Ironwood informed her. "You can only die once, Miss Belladonna, and you can often save more lives by using your head than by using your body as a breastwork." The General turned away, leaning on his desk with both hands. "I once had the... the pleasure of teaching a very gifted student: talented, intelligent, diligent, popular with everyone who knew him. But, although he was an Atlesian, his ancestry derived from Mistral, from a warrior family old in honour, and his head rang with those ideals: chivalry, honour, personal heroism. This student was at a training camp, when they came under sudden and severe grimm attack. He, along with some other brave students, volunteered to assist the instructors in covering the evacuation of the rest of the student body. However, even when the rest of the camp had been evacuated and the order to pull out was given, he refused to abandon his post. Turning your back on the enemy is not, it seems, what a hero does. I sent a team to get him out of there, to drag him out if they had to... but they were too late.

"It comforted his sister to know that he had died a hero, bravely and with honour, a true heir to the traditions of their clan," Ironwood went on, bitterness ringing in his words. "But how much more might such a gifted student have accomplished by living to fight on, than by dying for the sake of his personal dignity?"

The General turned to face her once more. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bore you with my personal recollections."

"It's fine, sir," Blake said. "I... I'm sorry about your student."

"What's done is done," General Ironwood replied. "But thank you for your condolences." He took a deep breath. "You're no longer bound to the service of Atlas, but that doesn't mean that I can't find a place for you with us, if you wish me to. We can always use people of your calibre. Is that what you want?"

Blake hesitated. "I... I think so, sir. Sir, do you know Ares Claudandus?"

"The revolutionary?"

"Yes, sir," Blake acknowledged. "I don't think highly of every value he held or decision he made, but in the period between his victory and the betrayal by his lieutenants, he planned to maintain his army, a faunus army, as a force both to protect the Kingdom of Mistral and to maintain order within it. He hoped that the faunus would trust faunus soldiers as they did not trust mostly human huntsmen. Maybe it would have worked. Maybe if there were more faunus in your army, people would start to see that as normal instead of selling out, and maybe they'd start to trust your troops instead of the White Fang."

General Ironwood nodded. "You think the military can bring about social change?"

"You said yourself that it was a great engine, sir," Blake reminded him. "Sir, if I had to come up with just one word to describe your people, it would be... it would be hard, I admit, and open to challenge, but the word I'd choose would be 'righteous.' Everyone is trying to do the right thing. That's what I want to do as well, sir. As I see it, I can do everything that a huntress could, and a lot more that they couldn't."

"But you're not a hundred percent certain?"

Blake shook her head. "It feels... unfair on Team Iron, and there's a part of me that feels that if the battle against Salem remains in Vale, then it would be almost desertion to leave Team Sapphire to it and run away to Atlas."

General Ironwood nodded. "Then take the break to think it over. Get some rest, Belladonna; there'll be plenty of battles to fight without going out of your way to seek them out."

"Yes sir, I... I'll try, sir."


Blake decided to take General Ironwood's advice and speak to Rainbow Dash about precisely what the Atlesian girl had meant to convey versus what she had, in fact, conveyed to Blake.

As she approached the RSPT dorm – she was fortunate they hadn't transferred to their ship yet – she could hear voices coming from within, muffled by the door so she couldn't make out what they were saying. Nevertheless, despite the risk that she would be interrupting something, Blake pressed on. Although General Ironwood had put her more, well, general fears to bed, she wanted to clear the air over the more specific fears she had with Rainbow Dash.

General Ironwood, it seemed, did not want her gone. He simply didn't want to possess her either, but was content to let her come to him, if she so wished.

If she so wished. She did wish it, having admitted the fact to General Ironwood made it easier to admit it to herself; she did wish it, and the reasons why she might not or ought not do it were becoming few and far between.

She wished it, and until very recently, it had seemed that Rainbow Dash wished it too, and ardently so. Blake hoped that that was still the case, and she wanted to make sure, even if it did mean interrupting something.

Blake approached the door and knocked on it.

Her knocking did nothing, as far as she could tell, to stem the flow of conversation within. As the door opened, Blake could finally tell what was being said.

"All I'm saying is, you can be a little insensitive sometimes," Fluttershy said, in a tone whose softness did not quite manage to make the words spoken or sentiments expressed seem soft.

Rainbow made a sound like she was choking on her indignation. "I am not insensitive! I am... hyper-sensitive!"

"Hey, Blake!" Twilight, who had opened the door, said rather more loudly than necessary. "Everyone, look; it's Blake!"

Now, the conversation stilled, leaving no doubt whatsoever in Blake's mind that they had been talking about her.

Fluttershy was worried that Rainbow had been insensitive when talking to Blake? Well, if she'd been wrong, Blake wouldn't have been here.

Twilight stepped back, allowing Blake inside. Twilight's right hand glowed momentarily lavender as she closed the door with her telekinesis.

In the room, besides Twilight and now Blake, were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

Blake didn't look at Fluttershy. She couldn't bring herself to... she didn't want to be reminded of... looking at Fluttershy, thinking about Fluttershy, would lead to thinking about Adam too. It was unfair on Fluttershy, perhaps, but there it was. And Blake didn't want to think about Adam right now, which meant that she didn't want to think about Fluttershy either.

So she ignored her and hoped that it wasn't too obvious.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said softly.

"It's fine, sugarcube," replied Applejack. "We was just..." She trailed off without explaining what exactly they had been just, as though Blake couldn't have guessed already.

Rainbow thrust her hands into her pockets. "Blake, hey," she said. "How... how's Ruby doing, do you know?"

"No change, last I heard," murmured Blake. "I asked Sunset to keep me posted."

"Right, and I'm sure she'll let me know too," Rainbow said. She glanced away. "I spoke to your friend Tukson."

"I know," Blake replied. "I've spoken to him as well. Don't... that book is... Ares Claudandus had many admirable qualities, and some that were... not nearly so admirable. You should keep that in mind before you take him for a role model or assume too much about the person who recommended that you take him as a role model."

"Thanks," Rainbow said. "Will do."

Blake was silent for a moment, hoping that Rainbow would make the first move.

Rainbow, for her part, did not oblige.

"I... spoke to General Ironwood-" Blake began.

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Twilight exclaimed. "Rainbow Dash, will you just tell her?"

"I don't know how!" Rainbow snapped. "It's not that easy!"

Blake resisted the temptation to fold her arms. "Tell me what?"

"I don't know how to tell you that I want you to come to Atlas without telling you that I want you to come to Atlas!" Rainbow shouted.

There was a moment of silence, broken by Applejack stifling a snort.

"You see?" Rainbow cried. "That's why I didn't say it; it sounds stupid."

"What you said at the hospital sounded worse," Blake pointed out. "I thought you were trying to get rid of me."

"Why would you think that?" Rainbow asked in disbelief.

"Because you sounded like you were trying to get rid of me!" Blake snapped.

"That wasn't... I'm sorry, but I didn't mean to... if you really got that from what I said, then... I only meant-"

"As I told you, I've spoken to General Ironwood," Blake said. "Rainbow, you've got nothing to feel guilty about on the way you've acted towards me."

"Don't I?" Rainbow asked. "I put you up on a pedestal, perfect Princess Blake who was going to make everything better in Atlas, and the worst part is that I did it to excuse my own issues. I didn't have to worry about improving myself to help make Atlas an even better place, because I was going to make Atlas better by giving it you. Even after Sunset made me realise what I was doing, I still pushed you to make a choice I wanted."

"I-" Blake began.

Rainbow held up a hand. "Don't stop me now, or I might not be able to start again. I... I don't have the right to tell you to come to Atlas, or to make you come to Atlas, or to... only, I've so much of that that I don't think I can say how I feel because it will sound as if I’m still pushing you just like I always did."

"I... I see," Blake murmured. "Rainbow Dash, whatever you may think of what you did and said, I always understood what you meant. I'm not an idiot or a naive girl who can be taken in by a sales pitch. I heard you, and I understood you, and I watched and I kept my eyes and ears open for the truth, and the truth is... Well, that doesn't really matter; what matters is that the only time I didn't understand you was at the hospital, where I heard you telling me that I wasn't wanted or needed any more."

"That's not what I-"

"Now let me finish," Blake said. "I thought that you were throwing me away at the moment when I had given... everything for you, and that hurt. And I know you didn't mean it, but it still hurt. But it's okay, because now... now we understand each other again, I hope, and you can tell me how you feel without feeling as if you're doing anything else."

Rainbow looked at her. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse. "If you came to Atlas, I'd be delighted," she croaked. "You're the best huntress I've ever worked with – no offence, Applejack."

"None taken," Applejack said genially.

Rainbow went on, "You're brave and determined, and you never give up, and we'd be as lucky to have someone like you as you'd be lucky to have somewhere like Atlas. Maybe luckier." She coughed. "But, it's up to you, totally your decision, nothing I can say or do, nothing that I want to say or do."

"That's right," Blake said. "It is my decision. And a decision that I've almost made. I haven't made it yet, but I'm getting there."

"Good," Rainbow said. "That's... good."

Blake admired her restraint in not prying into what that decision might be.

Twilight sighed. "Is that it? Are you good now?"

"I... think so?" Rainbow ventured.

Blake nodded. "We're good. And I'm glad, because... because the last thing I wanted was... I would never have guessed when I met you that meeting you would turn out to be one of the best things that could have happened to me, but... but it was." Blake hesitated. "But now... now I should probably-"

"Blake," Fluttershy said.

Blake froze. She still didn't look at Fluttershy. She didn't want to look at Fluttershy. She couldn't look at Fluttershy; if she did-

"Blake," Fluttershy repeated. "I'm so sorry about Adam. I know that I didn't know him very long, but-"

"Stop," Blake whispered. "Please stop."

"Blake," Fluttershy said. "Won't you look at me?"

Blake didn't want to look, and yet, she felt herself drawn that way, her eyes and her whole body compelled until she was looking at Fluttershy.

"It's okay for you to be sad," Fluttershy said. "You don't have to pretend that you don't care."

Blake stood still for a moment, and then, the next thing she knew, there were tears running down her face, as many tears as faunus had died under Mountain Glenn, tears for a sweet brave boy named Adam, for the cruel and spiteful man he had become... and for the glimpse of the boy who had let Fluttershy go before the end.

She staggered forwards and into Fluttershy's embrace. Soft lilac hair covered Blake's face like a towel to dry her tears.

"I loved him," Blake sobbed.

"It's okay," said Fluttershy.

"He was dangerous and relentless, and he had to be stopped, but I loved him."

"And you don't have to be ashamed of that," Fluttershy told her. "Not here, not with us."

Blake let out another sob. "I'm glad that... I was glad that none of you asked me how I was doing, because the truth is... the truth is, I don't feel okay right now."

"No," Applejack murmured. "No, Ah can't say Ah'm surprised to hear it."

"That's why Applejack, Twilight, and I want you to come to Atlas with us," Fluutershy said.

Blake blinked. "'Come to Atlas'? You mean now?"

"Some of us," Fluttershy said, "don't think you should be alone right now."

"I wasn't going to just leave her alone; I was gonna make sure that Team Sapphire were there for her!" Rainbow exclaimed indignantly.

"But it sounds as though they've got their hands full with Ruby," Fluttershy said.

"There's her own... there's the team that she's technically on," Rainbow said.

"You said you didn't know them well enough to be sure they'd take care of Blake," Fluttershy said.

"Well, I don't, but-"

"Give it up, partner," Applejack advised.

Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, you're right; I don't know why I bother arguing."

"Neither do we," Twilight muttered.

Blake considered. Going to Atlas – the city, not the school? It wasn't as though she hadn't thought about it. She had thought very seriously about it, as a matter of fact, and at one time had planned to do just that this break. Now, though? Just because the White Fang had been beaten didn't mean that Cinder was, or Salem, and as much as General Ironwood had told her to take a break, did she really want to go to Atlas and leave SAPR to take the strain if anything came up?

"I... I'm not sure that's a good idea," she murmured.

"I'm sure no one will mind," Fluttershy said. "No one could object to you taking care of yourself, or being taken care of."

"But there might be things that need to be taken care of-"

"And I'm sure there are plenty of other people who can take care of them while you take care of you," Fluttershy replied. "And after all, things look set to calm down for a while, don't they, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yep," Rainbow said. "It will take a while for our enemies to recover from this. Even if they plan to come at us again, they'll have to prep from scratch, and that will take time."

"A perfect time to recuperate and recover your strength," Fluttershy added.

"I've done practically no preparation with my team for the tournament-"

"I'm sure your teammates would agree that your wellbeing is more important than some silly tournament," Fluttershy said, her tone sweet and soft and infuriatingly reasonable. "And if they didn't, their opinions wouldn't be worth caring about."

"Plus, I highly doubt you really care about the tournament," Twilight added. "It was just the last excuse you could come up with."

Blake pushed some of Fluttershy's hair out of her face so that she could look at the other girl. "There's nothing I can say, is there?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Let us take care of you, Blake."

"Fluttershy always wins," Rainbow murmured.

"Why?" Blake asked. "Why does it matter to you? Why do I matter to you?"

"Why?" Fluttershy repeated. "Didn't you realise? You're one of us now, Blake."

Applejack grinned. "And we always look after our own."

"One of... you?" Blake murmured. She could have argued, she could have questioned, she could have done any number of things, but really, what round be the point? Why would she want to?

When it felt so warm in Fluttershy's arms, why would she want to pull away?

Wasn't this what she'd been looking for, to belong to something?

She closed her eyes and leaned into Fluttershy's embrace. "Thank you."

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