SAPR

by Scipio Smith

Blake's Request (New)

Blake’s Request

The amphitheatre was crowded, a lot more crowded than it had been at the beginning of last semester when Professor Ozpin had given that rather uninspiring speech to the freshman class.

Now, it was not just the Beacon first years – or even the prospective first years – who were crowded into the hall, but the entire Beacon student body, all of them wearing either their field gear – like all four members of Team SAPR – or their school uniforms, all of them gathered in their teams and then forced by the press of circumstances to cluster even more tightly together, so that Sunset was rubbing shoulders with Yang, who was in turn being crushed by Ren who was pressed against Nora, who didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Just ask him out already.

The reason for the tight quarters was not just the fact that there were four years worth of Beacon students gathered here, but also all of the students who would be or had already begun to guest with them until the end of the Vytal Festival. The students from Shade, who wore no uniform but simply wore whatever they happened to have thrown on today, stood at the far left of the amphitheatre, while the students from Haven and Atlas in their uniforms of black and white respectively stood in between. They seemed to have more space than the Beacon students did, as if everyone was trying to divide the available space equally between schools in spite of Beacon’s preponderance in numbers. Not every student from the other three academies visited for the second semester; numbers were not wholly confined to those teams who had hopes of competing in the tournament, but not every student wanted to travel aboard for half a school year, and not every student was thought worthy to go by their headmaster. There seemed to be more Atlas students than there were Haven students, and more Haven students than huntsmen in training from Shade. Sunset supposed – or guessed, at least – that since he was coming himself, General Ironwood had thought it best to bring more of his students where he could keep an eye on them instead of leaving them at home.

Or perhaps he just wanted them to be safe in numbers.

Or maybe Atlas is just bigger than Haven or Shade, and I’m reading too much into things.

But it was a valuable distraction for Sunset to read a lot into things. It took her mind off the fact that Yang’s Ember Celica was digging into her side.

The reason why all of the students had gathered in the amphitheatre was to hear Professor Ozpin formally inaugurate the new semester and welcome the visiting students to Beacon.

Sunset hoped that he’d punched his speech up a bit more this time, instead of delivering a distinctly first draught effort like he had before Initiation.

A moment after she thought that, the man himself appeared on stage, preceded by Professor Goodwitch and followed after by – Sunset’s eyebrows rose in surprise – Skystar Aris, dressed in a cocktail dress of shimmering turquoise that matched her eyes. Sunset wondered if her appearance had anything to do with all of the stewards who had started crawling over the courtyard, setting up tables in the open air. Skystar was smiling brightly, and she waved into the crowd, presumably at Cardin; certainly, he thought so, judging by the way that he waved back.

Then she blew him a kiss, at which point, his face turned a little red.

Sunset snorted. How embarrassing.

He’s a lucky guy.

Professor Goodwitch had caught all of this before she whispered something to Skystar, who suddenly became very apologetic, cringing before Professor Goodwitch as Professor Ozpin, paying no attention to either of them, made his way to the microphone.

“Good afternoon,” he said, his voice carrying across the amphitheatre. “To our existing students: welcome to the beginning of a new semester here at Beacon Academy. To our guests from Atlas, Haven, and Shade: welcome to Beacon. I trust that you will find your stay here pleasant and profitable.

“I am sure that some of you must be wondering why you are here. Some of you, of course, wish to compete in the Vytal Tournament for the glory of your schools, but not all of you will receive that honour, even if you wish it, and in any case, the Vytal Tournament will not take place until some weeks after the end of this semester. Why, then, are you here? Why are you not completing your year’s studies at your own academy and then coming to Beacon for the tournament only?

“You are here because – and I beg you not to forget this fact – the Vytal Festival is so much more than a tournament, as important an aspect of it as that is. More than a chance for the pride of our academies to show their prowess before the world, the Vytal Festival is a celebration of peace, a celebration of the fact that students from Atlas and Mistral can attend the same school, can stand in the same hall, as students from Vale and Vacuo.”

Meanwhile, an Atlesian fleet can hover overhead and not be intent on bombing anybody, Sunset thought.

Professor Ozpin continued, “We are living in an era of peace, long may it continue, an era in which the kingdoms of Remnant have put aside their differences to work for the collective good of all mankind. The Vytal Festival, which, in all its glory, will begin soon and continue throughout the entire semester and beyond, with the tournament not as its focus but rather its crowning glory, is a celebration of that fact. Nowhere is the spirit of the peace better embodied than in all of you. Visitors from the other kingdoms will arrive in Vale throughout the year, but you are here now; some of you have been here since the start of the year. There are teams from Beacon led by Atlesians, teams from Haven led by Vacuans, teams from Atlas made up of Mistralians, and you have all come here to Beacon to celebrate peace and the benefits of diversity and opportunity without borders that that peace has ushered in. Although today, you stand grouped by your schools, I hope that over the course of this semester, you will forge bonds with your fellow students from every academy, bonds that will endure across kingdoms long after the Vytal Festival has ended.” He fell silent for a moment. “But for now, let me once more welcome all of you to Beacon Academy before it gives me pleasure to introduce this year’s Amity Princess, Miss Skystar Aris.”

Professor Ozpin stepped back from the microphone, gesturing courteously for Skystar to take his place. She did so, the smile returning to her face as she looked out across the assembled student body.

“Hello, everyone!” she cried enthusiastically. “I hope that none of you got lost when you arrived; this campus is really big.” She laughed nervously, and some of the students chuckled too. “Anyway,” she went on, “as Professor Ozpin so kindly introduced me, my name is Skystar Aris, and I have the honour to be the Amity Princess for this year’s Vytal Festival! I want everyone to have the most wonderful time; we’ve got some great stuff lined up for you this year, and to start things off, we'd like to celebrate the arrival of our good friends from Haven and Atlas with a welcome feast to be held outside, in the courtyard, starting at eight. I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you, and let’s make this Vytal Festival a huge success!”

“Thank you, Miss Aris, and I’m sure that I will see you all in the courtyard promptly,” Professor Ozpin added. “Until then-”

He was cut off by Professor Goodwitch frantically whispering something into his ear.

“Ahem,” Professor Ozpin coughed apologetically. “Professor Goodwitch has just reminded me of an administrative detail that I should make you aware of. Beacon students ought to be aware - certainly, I hope that all of you who have progressed beyond your first year have noticed - that at Beacon, we give our students far greater opportunity to venture into the field on training missions than any other academy. First-years will have already had a taste of training exercises against the grimm, but starting this semester, a wide variety of missions will be offered to you. These missions may come at any time, and while no team will be forced to accept any mission, refuse too many, and I may begin to wonder why you are here.” The statement was spoken in so mild a tone that you could almost be forgiven for failing to notice that it was a threat. “However, I am aware that for our visitors, this may not be what you signed up for; therefore, if you would like the same access to training missions as Beacon students for the duration of your stay, please see Professor Goodwitch at your earliest convenience.”

And if you don’t sign up, then, again, he’ll start to wonder what you’re doing here, Sunset thought. Professor Ozpin’s choices were heavily loaded in favour of the desired outcome.

“That is all,” Professor Ozpin continued. “I expect to see you tonight, but until then, you are all dismissed.”

Sunset let out the breath that she had been half holding in as the students started to file out of the amphitheatre, giving her a little more space even as she – and the rest of her team – joined the throng, making their way slowly towards the exit.

“Sunset!”

Sunset looked around. It was Blake who had hissed her name and who was struggling through the crowd of people to reach her side.

“Excuse me,” Blake murmured as she moved sideways through a crowd that was overwhelmingly moving forwards. “Sorry,” she apologised to someone for something before she reached Sunset’s side. “Sunset,” she repeated.

“Blake,” Sunset replied. “You know Sun’s looking for you?”

“Oh,” Blake murmured, not sounding particularly interested in that fact. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “You may not have noticed, but this isn’t a particularly private space.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “I know,” she said impatiently. “But once we get outside?”

“Sure,” Sunset agreed, with a slight sigh in her voice. “If we get outside.”

They did, in fact, get outside, and while the rest of Team SAPR – and most of the other students – headed back to the dorm rooms while they waited for the feast to begin, Sunset and Blake wandered around the edge of the large, circular amphitheatre until they were at the back of it and alone and secluded from the other students.

Nevertheless, Blake glanced left and right and behind her to make sure that nobody was nearby and listening in.

“I wouldn’t put it past Sun to show up,” Sunset remarked glibly. “You know he was looking for you.”

“So you said,” Blake murmured.

“And you didn’t seem particularly interested in it at the time,” Sunset observed. “Trouble in paradise?”

Blake shook her head. “Everything is fine with Sun,” she averred. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I should hope not,” Sunset muttered, “but the fact remains that he is looking for you.”

“I don’t want to talk about Sun right now,” Blake said sharply, a mixture of anger and distress beginning to rise in her voice. “This doesn’t concern him!”

Sunset frowned. She folded her arms. “But it concerns me?”

“Yes,” Blake replied. “Or at least… I hope it does.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “Okay… what’s this about?” She had a feeling that she knew the answer already.

Blake exhaled softly. She hesitated, glancing around once again as though she really did expect Sun – or someone else – to pop up behind her at a moment’s notice.

“The Atlesians – General Ironwood – wanted to see me today,” Blake informed her.

“To apologise for the fact that Rainbow tried to kill you, yes, Rainbow already confessed to that,” Sunset said. She grinned. “I hope you made her squirm a bit.”

Blake regarded Sunset evenly.

“What?” Sunset asked. “You could have had a little fun with it.”

Blake shook her head. “They also wanted to know about the docks, how I knew that the White Fang would be there that night.”

“I think everyone wants to know that,” Sunset replied. “What did you tell them?”

“Nothing,” Blake said. “But General Ironwood is worried. This Atlesian fleet is here because he’s afraid the White Fang are planning something big and dangerous, just like I was afraid of.”

“Is this all so you can say you told me so?” Sunset asked.

“This is because I’m right,” Blake cried. “The White Fang is on the move, and if they’re not stopped-”

“If you want to stop the White Fang, then why in Celestia’s name didn’t you talk to the Atlesians?” Sunset snapped in a tone of strangled exasperation. “If you care so much then go back to General Ironwood and tell him that you’ve got a source with contacts in the White Fang and-”

“And then what?” Blake demanded. “What are the Atlesians going to do?”

“I don’t know, something professional?” Sunset suggested. She turned away. “I… sometimes… you are absolutely infuriating, sometimes, you do realise that? It’s a wonder Sun puts up with you. You wring your hands about how something is in the wind and someone has to do something-”

“Someone does!”

“At least have the honesty to say that you’re the only one who you’ll allow to do anything!” Sunset hissed. “As proven by the fact that you had the perfect opportunity to hand this off to someone who knows what they’re doing, and you wouldn’t take it!”

“I’m not going to leave this to Atlas,” Blake insisted.

“Why not?”

“Because…” Blake stumbled, falling silent.

Sunset raised one eyebrow, unable to resist the temptation to smirk just a little. “My, my, what an eloquent case you make.”

Blake snorted.

“You don’t have an answer, do you?”

“I don’t trust Atlas,” Blake said.

“Still? Even after everything you’ve seen?”

“Rainbow is a good person, and so are her teammates, but that doesn’t make Atlas just; one person – or even four – cannot stand for a whole kingdom. Atlas is still the home of the SDC; the Atlesian military is still their partner. Atlas is still the place in Remnant where faunus are the worst treated. That’s why I’m not going to hand Tukson over to them to be interrogated-”

“Like you have, you mean?” Sunset asked.

“Or faunus whose only fault is to desire justice so much that they have been misled into doing the wrong thing,” Blake continued. “I lived with these people for years; I fought with them; yes, I left because things were going too far, but I won’t condemn those who didn’t leave to die in the inferno of an Atlesian air strike!”

Sunset stared at her in silence for a moment. “Then how do you propose to stop them? Do you think it can be stopped without bloodshed?”

“I… I think… I hope… that if we can get Torchwick, then not only can we find out what the White Fang is planning – and why Adam was willing to work with a human to do it – but we can also stop the robberies, slow their progress until…” Blake bowed her head. “Maybe you’re right… but I’m not ready to take that step just yet.” She looked up, and into Sunset’s eyes. “I have to do this, Sunset; I… this is my past, coming back to haunt me. I have to do something; I can’t just sit back and leave it to other people with intentions I don’t know and can’t fully trust. I have to do this… but I can’t do it on my own. I need your help.”

“Why me?” Sunset asked. “You could ask Sun for help; he’d do anything for you. He would have stopped arguing long before now.”

“I know,” Blake said softly. “He would do anything that I asked him to, no matter how reckless. But if he were hurt because of me… if anything happened to him… I don’t want that on my conscience.”

“But you’re fine with me getting hurt or worse?” Sunset asked. “That wouldn’t touch your conscience at all?”

Blake shrugged apologetically. “Yes,” she admitted.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “You’re filling me up with warm and fuzzy feelings here, Blake,” she growled.

“I know that Ruby was hurt the last time you involved yourself in my business,” Blake said. “That’s why I’m not asking for the help of your team. It’s best that they don’t know, the same way that Sun doesn’t know, because what they all don’t know won’t hurt them. But you… I’m asking for your help because I know you want to protect your team. And that means playing it safe with their lives, keeping them out of danger, but ask yourself this: do you really think that the best way to keep them safe is to do nothing while the plans of the White Fang come to fruition? How will you protect them when the fighting comes to the gates of Beacon?”

Sunset was silent for a moment. Blake… Blake was infuriating, Blake was naïve, Blake was stupid, Blake made Sunset want to put her hands around her throat… but in this case, Blake made a pretty good point. Keeping her team out of danger would, well, it would keep them out of danger… right up to the moment at which the danger came to them. If the White Fang were allowed to proceed with their designs unmolested, then who knew where it would end up? Who knew who or what their ultimate target was?

And there was a part of Sunset that wanted nothing better than to tear the White Fang apart piece by piece. They had almost killed Ruby, who was Sunset's, and Sunset would neither forget that nor forgive it. She wanted to see Adam Taurus burn in fire, she wanted to see the strength of the White Fang broken and scattered like ashes in the wind, she wanted them to pay for the unforgivable crime of making her feel small and scared, if only for a moment.

But there was another part of her that remembered how terrified she had been in the moment when the world turned as red as blood and Adam came for her, his red sword shining. Nothing in her entire life had frightened her that way. That, although she would never admit it to any living soul, was the real reason she wanted his sword: because only once it was mounted on her wall could she be certain that it would never be used to scare her again.

And we were having a food fight earlier today. What Blake was proposing was nuts. It was absurd. They were kids; they ought to have been worried about school, not terrorism.

We're kids who signed up to fight monsters. We're kids who chose to walk the glory road, though it be paved with daggers.

I guess this is what I signed up for.

"If the black knight asks for her help, how can the white refuse?" Sunset mused. "But I do not want my team involved in this." I don't want their deaths in this nonsense on my conscience.

"That's fine," Blake said. "You and I will be enough."

"It'll have to be, won't it?" Sunset said. She held out one hand. "Sunset and Blake: Let's kick some ass."

Comments

[RDDash]

There is an idea, Ironwood should just carefully watch where Blake goes and drop that Atlesian bomb anyway on the White Fang. They're not the misunderstood kids they are terrorists
..
I guess I reached the end of the rewrite

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

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New updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, usually around 5:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time. If you check back on those days you'll have a high likelihood of seeing a new rewrite chapter... unless there's a network issue, then wait a day.

[Mastermind4892]

Long live Sunset x Blake!