aiko's otter den

black cat's curses - Blake Belladonna is not a faunus.

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6. The Pretty One

Of course, Blake had been careful, and taken showers quickly and early and dried herself off so none of them saw her ears and tail, but she couldn’t have been careful forever.

Not with humans trying to hurt her. Not with the White Fang nearby. Not with other Faunus wandering free. Not with a black and red Greymon still haunting her dreams.

Not with Adam knowing.

And especially not with Sun Wukong dragging her around like a kid in a candy store. She didn’t even know him!

But he was faunus. And he thought she was faunus. And she couldn’t tell him she wasn’t. Namely, because she didn’t know what she was. She was Digimon, she was something.

Was it all right to not know what you were?

The smell was close and she liked it.

And it was this or go back with Weiss. Weiss who smelled like dust and sorrow and hate with one mention of Faunus, of other, of different.

And the others, who let it happen.

She swallowed her disappointment and continued to follow him. It could be fun. It could be exciting.

---

Blake stood corrected. It was horrible.

She had never been jerked around so much in her life (that had been undeserved) but Sun demanded a tour of Vale and that was what was happening. At least this had allowed her to avoid her team.

She could still remember the sharp sheen in Weiss’ eyes and the acid and her own voice spewing bile that was true and not true.

Weiss wouldn’t understand. She was a Schnee. She benefited from the plight of her family, of her life before they’d gone to Menagerie, from the Dust that was kicked up from the earth.

She had never seen little kitten bellies yawn wide in hunger, ears drooped low and broken tails and people staring, staring. She’d never seen a strong man break and bow and bend in all sorts of order because a human had a gun that shot bullets of dust and liked to watch people squirm.

For all Faunus did, for all they were capable of, all humans wanted them to be capable of was suffering. And despite knowing the awful, unjust things her fellows could be capable of, Blake still wanted to protect them with all her will.

So when she saw a disaster in the making, she headed towards it at full speed, full force.

It was reckless and stupid, but the knot in her stomach eased just a little the closer she got.

Then, when she reached a warehouse full of fellow faunus, her entire being dropped into her shoes.

Not just because of that, but it was gut-wrenching to see former friends with weapons and attacking civilians (like they had been).

But the smell wasn’t right. It was familiar. It was nostalgic. But it wasn’t right.

“Think we can take ’em?” Sun asked her.

Blake wanted to say yes, the roar of competition making her skin hurt and her bones want to stretch and shine. But one of the warehouses, it was calling her name.

No, it was calling for Tailmon.

“I’m going to sneak in there,” she decided. “Can you help me with that?”

She saw his face fall in clear relief. “Anything for you on that front, sunshine. Looks fun.”

Sunshine was much more Yang’s speed, but she’d take it. He was being extraordinarily helpful after all, a little name calling was harmless. “You would say that wouldn’t you?”

“You’ve only known me for a few hours, don’t peg me like that!”

Blake wanted to laugh but it got stuck in her throat. The itch reached down to the tips of her fingers and a thrill ran up her spine.

“Let’s do this.”

Sun proceeded to somehow blow up the windows. Blake did not see how. She did come almost cane to face with a man with red hair but slid a clone in its way to dodge.

He sneered at her as she passed. Like he meant anything compared to the tug, like he was worth anything compared to what was behind him.

She simply kept moving forward towards a beautiful blue light. Fire and Dust and glass kicked up under her feet as the world became less important than the thing in front of her.

“Sister,” it whispered in her baby sister’s voice. “Blake, Blake look come here. Look, look! It’s your home!”

“Hurry!” Called her brother, yips loud and clear.

For a moment, Blake thought they were here, in the warehouse. But they’d be much older now, and not so high-pitched. And they wouldn’t sound so eager, so happy to be here.

Maybe she had finally snapped and started hallucinating.

Were they on the other side? Was she going to meet them? The very idea made her heart sing and simultaneously sink with fear. They wouldn’t recognize her.

“Course we would, Blake.” Her Licht assured. “You’re always our big sis.”

“Always,” Danielle agreed. “Now come on, show us!”

Blake took a step forward, then another, the blue light now bleeding over her vision.

She shivered. Pain blossomed in her back. Like the snapping of a rubber band, the world rushed back into clarity. The red man was still shouting and it made no sense. Her nose twitched, blood spilled, and Blake tripped on the weight of her flesh and bone.

And she fell forward, into the light. Blake Belladonna shattered as she dropped and felt none of it at all.

All she felt was regret and sorrow and a terrible crystalline realization of who she was and what she had been. And who they were and who they had been.

The loneliness ached through her body and Blake cried out without sound, for help and pack and earnest love.

Meanwhile, mid-jump, Ruby Rose lost her footing and fell, only to be caught by a strangely vacant-eyed Penny. She did not notice.

Weiss Schnee stumbled but used to pain, caught herself on a filthy wall. It went ignored.

Yang Xiao Long’s knees almost buckled. But she bore it with a single thought in her mind.

Hang on, Hikari, she thought. I’ll help you this time for sure.

Takaishi Takeru kept his promises after all, even if Yagami Taichi wasn’t the one who made it.

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