Chapter Text
Blake runs through a golden field, diving out of the way of several Grimm as she rushes past them. She draws her sword, slicing through a dozen beowulfs in a single strike. Grinning at their pathetic attempts to hit her, she toys with the last ones before ending them. She pulls her sword from the last Grimm's ashy corpse, hearing a deafening roar from behind her.
Blake whips around, quickly leaping out of the way of a manticore's claws. The beast charges Blake, attempting to gore her upon it's horns. She dives to the side, narrowly avoiding being skewered as she tumbles into the dirt. A long cut grazes her shoulder, a shallow wound running along the length of her arm. Blake winces at the injury, drawing her second sword in a reverse grip and standing back to her feet to face the manticore. She dives beneath its underbelly, cutting deep into its flesh as she-
"******!" Her father's annoyed voice breaks through her fantasy, causing Blake to be pulled back to reality with a start.
"W- what?" She jumps, stumbling in an attempt to compose herself as her father walks into the yard.
"I've already asked you five times!" He stops in front of her, rubbing his temple with a long sigh. "We need some firewood for tonight, your mother and I would like you to grab some from the woods."
"Yes dad." Blake nods meekly, embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming. "The place we always go to?"
"Yes ******." Her father looks down at her sternly as he walks back towards the house. "And don't delay!" He calls back, stepping through the door with a frown.
Blake nods again, pausing for a few moments before hurriedly making her way to the edge of the woods. She enters the forest, walking along the path she always takes with her father. After a while she finally reaches the clearing that her family always gets their wood from.
Blake slumps down onto a fallen tree trunk, sitting with her face buried her hands as she tries to drown out the world. She winces as the name her father had called her still rings in her ears. She didn't know what was wrong with her, why couldn't she just tell her parents how she feels?
After being alone with her own thoughts for quite a while, a loud and sudden growl interrupts the familiar pang of self-destructive thoughts that had been running through Blake's head. The sound echoes from the bushes surrounding the clearing as she goes completely still.
An ursa bursts into the clearing, charging towards Blake with a deafening roar. She scrambles to her feet with a surge of fear, running away from the Grimm as quickly as possible before tripping on a root and falling painfully onto her back.
Blake lets out a frightened whimper as the ursa looms over her, standing up to it's full ten foot height as it snarls down at her. She's unable to close her eyes, unable to tear her gaze away as she prepares to be ripped to pieces.
As the ursa swipes it's claws down there's a flash of red and a blur of motion before Blake. The grimm falls dead at her feet, cut cleanly in two by whoever had saved her. She stumbles away from it's body, falling to her hands and knees as she trembles in fear.
"Are you alright?" Someone bends down to look at Blake, extending a comforting hand in her direction. She looks them over in awe, finally taking in the details of the person who'd saved her.
He's a young man with dark red hair that contrasts his pale skin, looking to be no older than seventeen or eighteen. He looks Blake over as she gets to her feet, his red eyes looking her over for any possible injuries. "The ursa didn't hurt you did it?"
"I- n-no..." She whispers, standing shakily to her feet. "I-I think I'm okay."
"Hey, hey. Sit back down if you need to, I'm here in case any more grimm attack." He assures Blake, sheathing his sword and gesturing for her to sit back down on a fallen log. She does and he joins her, after a few moments of awkward silence he speaks again. "Well you're certainly the quiet type. My name's Adam by the way."
Blake looks Adam over cautiously, finally deciding that there's no harm in being friendly with the person who just saved her life. "I'm..." She hesitates, considering whether or not she should actually tell him her real name. "I'm Blake..." She murmurs, finally deciding there's no harm in doing so.
"Blake, Blake..." Adam mulls it over for a moment. "That's a-" he squints at her for a second before grinning sheepishly. "Uh, I can't really tell whether you're a guy or a girl so..."
Something leaps inside Blake, a growing, rising feeling of both nervous excitement and apprehension. "I-I'm a girl!" She nods animatedly, nearly falling over in her eagerness.
"Huh." Adam looks her up and down again, smiling softly. "Well I think it's a cute name, nice to meet you Blake!"
Her cheeks flush pink at the comment and she begins fidgeting nervously, turning away in embarrassment. "Thanks."
"So what's a kid like you doing out in the forest all by yourself?" He asks, seemingly ignoring any of her embarrassment.
"Hey!" Blake protests, whipping back around to face him. "You're probably not that much older than me!"
"I see you're not all just mumbles and whispers then." Adam smirks at her indignation. "How old are you even?"
"I'm fifteen." She crosses her arms with a frown. "Well, in two months at least."
"Huh, you look younger than that." He stands to his full height and stretches, Blake just then realizing how much taller Adam is than her as he stands illuminated in the sunlight.
"W-wow." She stands up and stares at his near foot of height above her own, suddenly feeling oddly self-conscious about herself. "You're really tall!"
"Hmm?" Adam turns to look back down at her. "Oh yeah, I suppose I just got lucky in those regards, genetics or something..." He shrugs in disinterest.
Blake continues to look up at him, suddenly a little intimidated by his elevated stature. He takes his hands and measures the height difference between the two of them.
"Or maybe you're just short." Adam grins, giving her a playful shove as he begins to walk back into the woods.
"Hey!" Blake calls after him as he walks along the forest path. "Where are you going?"
"You're persistent." He stops, facing her with a soft smile. "Why don't you go home, okay Blake?"
Blake nods as he continues walking deeper down the forest path. Suddenly she scrambles after Adam, hastily grabbing his arm in an attempt to stop him from leaving.
"Okay, that's enough." He briefly tries to pry her from his sleeve before giving up with a sigh.
Blake releases his arm, swallowing nervously before speaking. "Adam, can you- can you be my friend?"
Adam stares blankly at her for a moment, throwing his hands in the air as he begins to laugh. "Listen kid, I'm the last person you'd want to-"
"I don't have any other friends." She mumbles as she looks down at her feet with an expression of sadness.
Adam's laughter stops at her words, his face briefly hardening with some unknown emotion before smiling again. "Of course Blake, of course I will."
"Really?" Blake smiles ecstatically, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"No problem." He murmurs, hesitating before awkwardly hugging her back. "I suppose I can give you my scroll contact if you'd like, does that work?"
Blake had recently gotten a scroll from her parents, apparently it was practically mandatory if you were a member of The White Fang. While she still wasn't quite used to the technology, Blake did happen to remember her contact information. "Um, it shouldn't be a problem." She lets go of Adam, stepping back to give him some space. "Can I just tell you my information?"
Adam nods, pulling out a black-colored scroll and entering Blake's contact information as she gives it to him. He turns back to her, smiling before putting it back in his jacket pocket and continuing down the path. "Alright Blake, I'll send you a message when I have the time."
"I'll wait for it!" She waves as Adam disappears into the depths of the underbrush. Blake grins to herself after he leaves, bending down and finally getting to work on gathering the firewood for her parents.
"Really ******?" Blake's father crosses his arms as she walks into the house, dropping the wood off next to the fireplace. "I told you to be quick about it!"
Blake shrinks under his glare. "S-sorry dad, I was just gathering the wood when I-"
Her mother enters the room, looking between Blake and her father with a frown. "Ghira, what have I said about using that tone with ******?"
He turns to his wife with a sigh. "Yes Kali, I know that I shouldn't raise my voice but-"
"No more excuses." Her mother kisses him before turning to Blake with a warm smile. "That goes for you too ******, I understand that you're a young boy and you want to go out and explore. That's fine, you should get the chance to be a kid, but try to listen to your father more next time." She walks over to Blake, hugging her for a moment before setting to work on the fireplace.
Her father murmurs something in agreement, exiting to the kitchen to finish preparing the food for the evening.
Blake nods, internally cringing at the name as she begins to make her way up the stairs and into her room. She opens the door and slinks inside, shutting it before collapsing onto her bed, completely exhausted.
Blake was so overwhelmed by the events of the past hour, not only had she been attacked by a grimm but she'd also met Adam. He'd been so kind and friendly, and he surprisingly hadn't seemed to care about her being trans.
She hesitates, maybe he just hadn't known, and would hate her if he knew what she actually was?
Blake frowns, now annoyed at her own feelings. Why did she have to be so complicated?
She lies completely clothed atop the bed, splayed across it's surface as she lets out a sleepy yawn. Blake eventually falls asleep, not even her frustration able to distract her from her overpowering exhaustion.
Late at night, a soft buzz emanates from the scroll on her nightstand, it's screen flashing blue as it receives a message.
Unknown Number
This Blake?
Its Adam
Just confirming this is the correct person
I was wondering if we could meet again next week?
Message me when available
Thanks