King Kong: The Faunus and the Beast

Chapter XX

Blake heard Kong roar.

It wasn't often that he roared. Whenever anyone came to the room and she'd ask about him, they'd say he stayed in a corner, lying down without moving. They had to dump food on his side of the cage so he would eat it. Whenever he did roar, it sounded like rage, and it hurt Blake to listen to him, let alone imagine his described behavior.

Blake herself was just as much of a prisoner as Kong. She had been locked in a room with Sun, and White Fang soldiers would walk in every now and then to give them food and water, and to give her updates on Kong. She'd gotten her bow back, and she was hiding her cat ears underneath it again. They were the same cat ears that Kong had found so fascinating.

She didn't know how long it would take until they reached Vale. She hadn't been counting the days. She sat in the corner all day, hiding the guilt she felt inside. She wish she hadn't left Kong on the island. He had grown an attachment to her, and she had left him behind. Of course he'd followed her to the wall, and it had gotten him captured. It was all because of her.

Sun had tried to talk to her, but she only responded with as few words as possible. After a couple days, he gave up on trying to talk to her, or even comfort her. He paced the room, or sat in the bed, and Blake remained sitting or laying down in one corner of the room, only moving to eat or drink.

The door to the room opened, and Torchwick walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Hello, kids," he greeted the two.

Blake glared at him, but she didn't move.

"What do you want?" Sun asked.

"Well," Torchwick said, "you two have done so much for us, truly. I'm afraid I have done nothing to show my true gratitude for what you two have done."

Blake glared at him. "What are you going to do with him?"

Torchwick smiled. "Oh, he's going on tour around the world. Vale, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo. Nobody will know what hit them."

Blake sat up, her eyes widened in horror. Kong wasn't a monster that could destroy humanity. He was an animal, and he could be killed like one.

"You can't do that!" she said. "They're going to kill him!"

Torchwick raised his finger. "Not if he has backup."

Sun butted into the conversation. "Why are you telling us this?"

Torchwick smiled at him. "I need someone to keep him tame for me. And, well, you and I both know that a certain attachment between faunus and beast hasn't gone unnoticed."

He looked down to Blake. But she scowled at him. They wanted her to send Kong to his death, to kill dozens of innocent people.

"The faunus and the beast," he said. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"What makes you think I would ever help you?!" she growled.

He smiled, and knelt down in front of her. "I haven't told Adam Taurus about you yet."

Blake's anger vanished, and she went pale. She tried to back away from Roman, but her back hit the wall behind her. Torchwick smiled. He knew this would strike a nerve. He was glad he'd held on to this.

"I wonder how excited he'd be to find out his Kitty-Cat is right here in our hands."

Blake could only stare at him wide-eyed. She knew exactly how Adam would react if he knew they had her. She could imagine the pain now, and she placed a hand at her stomach, wincing as if she'd already been stabbed.

Roman smiled. "I'll give you time to think it over."

He stood up, and left the room.

Blake sat completely still, her hands still clutching at her side like she'd been injured there. She was so defenseless. Even with her Aura regenerated, there was nothing she could do. It seemed every direction led her somewhere she didn't want to go.

Blake felt eyes on her, and she turned to see Sun staring at her.

"What?" she said.

Sun smiled at her. "The ape had the right idea."

Blake turned away from him. Thoughts of Adam were starting to vanish, and Kong came back to mind. She could still imagine him in that cage, sulking in defeat. He was probably thinking about her right now. He probably thought he had failed her as much as she felt she had failed him. If only there was some easy way out of this.

Another roar echoed through the ship. But this time, it was followed with a bang. The roar stretched on far longer than the previous ones, and that banging continued. Over and over again she could hear massive fists crashing against the walls. This went on for many minutes, and it didn't sound like it was going to stop.

Then, a White Fang soldier pulled the door open.

"We need you!" he said. "Now!"

Blake was pulled from the room, and onto the deck of the ship. She was led to a drop on the floor of the front deck, which was blocked off by massive bars. Torchwick and many other soldiers stood there, staring down.

Captain Desmond turned to her. "Blake."

He had a look of disgust the moment he laid eyes on her. But, he took a deep breath, and gestured to the bars.

"I hate to admit it, but we need you. If you don't do something, he's going to destroy this ship."

Blake didn't mind the idea of Kong destroying the ship. What scared her was that, if he did, they were in the middle of the ocean. How on Remnant would he survive out here?

With Kong's life threatened by his own actions, Blake ran for the bars. She crawled on top of them, and peered through the holes between them to look down. She could see Kong below, bashing both fists against the walls, and roaring loudly. Once he quieted down for a brief moment, Blake took the opportunity to yell.

"Kong!!!"

Kong paused at the sound of her voice. He slowly looked up at the bars above him, and he spotted her. He instantly recognized her, and his face softened. Blake smiled at the relief in his eyes. She had missed him so much.

"You need to calm down big guy!" she called down to him. She knew he couldn't understand her, but she didn't care. She just wanted to have some kind of interaction with him, and it didn't matter whether he understood her or not. "I'm alright, see? Everything is going to be alright, I promise!"

Kong roared. He jumped, reaching up for her. When he landed, the boat rocked, and Blake slipped and fell into the cage.

"No!" Sun shouted. He ran for the cage, but the soldiers grabbed him and held him back.

Blake descended down the pit, and landed on something soft. She panted, barely comprehending what had just happened. She pushed herself up, and realized she was resting on the palm of Kong's hand. He had caught her.

Blake made eye contact with Kong, and her eyes barely glowed in the dimly-lit room. He stared at her, and he didn't move. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. Perhaps he was amazed to see her alive. Perhaps he was shocked to have her in his hand again. She wasn't sure.

Kong lowered himself to a sitting position, without taking his eyes off Blake. She smiled, and reached one hand out to him. But Kong lowered his hand to his leg. He tilted it over, and Blake slid off, onto his leg. She climbed down, and looked back up at him. He was sitting still, watching her.

She wanted to stay here with him, but she knew she couldn't. She'd calmed him down, and that was all she'd been sent here to do. She couldn't stay in a cage with a giant gorilla, no matter how attached to him she'd become.

She slowly backed away, her smile fading as she did so, without taking her eyes off of Kong.

"Bye," she said.

She turned around, and made her way to a ladder that led all the way back up and out of the cage. She started to climb, glancing back at Kong every now and then. Halfway up, she decided she wanted to give him something to keep him calm. She reached for her bow, untied it, and tossed it down to him. Kong reached out his hand, and took it. He held it close to his chest.

Blake smiled. She had tried to keep her cat ears hidden for so long. The world judged her for them. All she'd wanted was to be seen for who she was. But if Kong found them so fascinating, she saw no reason to hide them. She climbed out of the cage, and took one more look back at Kong.

He had fallen asleep . . .