Guardian

Chapter Nine

Blake enjoyed Yang's tour of downtown Vale. She had been around the city multiple times before but getting Yang's look on it was a refreshing take on something that was, honestly, becoming quite stale to her. And Yang seemed to know a little bit about everybody. The dock workers she saved from bandits, the coffee shop owner who always gives her an extra shot of espresso for free since she's been going there for years, and the bar she went to in academy before Crosshares that, apparently, involved an incredibly hilarious story involving her sister, a giant scythe, and way to much alcohol. A building that looked like it belonged in a children's tale turned out to be the place Yang's sister always went for treats.

"I always got her chocolate covered strawberries for her birthday," the smile that Yang gave at the memory made Blake's whole body warm. At least until she suddenly got incredibly quite and her smile fell. "Let's cut through here," Yang pointed down an alley. "It's a shortcut."

Something's wrong. Blake thought to herself. But whatever it is she's going out of her way to make sure I don't know. As they continued down the alley she heard what was bothering Yang. They weren't alone. Blake could feel her tensing up next to her as the footsteps got closer. Blake flicked her ears back to hear better and that was when Yang spun around with precision speed and pinned someone to the wall with one hand, making sure her gauntlet was ready to fire at their friend.

"You have five seconds to tell me why you're following us. Go."

"You may want to reconsider your position," the person Yang had up against the wall quipped from under his hood.

Blake's ears twitched as more hooded figures flooded the alley. It was a trap. They knew we'd come down this way. She pressed her back to Yang's, eliminating her blind spots. She felt Yang's back jerk as she laughed.

"Nah I think I'll keep my current position thank you," she tilted her head back. "Can you fight without a weapon?"

Blake scanned their assailants and noticed several of them carried a weapon of some kind. "I can but I'm seeing plenty of weapons to pick from."

"I'll ask you one more time," as Yang spoke their circle of enemies closed in. "Why were you following us?"

"You'll be dead before you ever find out."

"Yang I don't think talking is really an option right now," Blake warned.

"I think you're right," Yang agreed before firing off a round and sending the first man into the brick wall.

Blake threw her hands up in time to catch the wrist of one of their assailants and smirked as she saw the simple sword in his hand. "I'll take this thanks," she winked at him and with a simple twist there was a snap and the hooded figure doubled over in pain. She connected her knee to his face and quickly picked up his sword in time to block the next volley of attacks and countered quickly. They're Faunus. She realized as her next attacker used their claws as a weapon. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye as another assailant came for her. Knowing she couldn't block in time she instead created a clone to take the hit as she quickly darted behind her enemies.

"What's wrong?" She chuckled behind her confused opponents. "Seeing double?"

They whipped around to attack her but she created another clone and leaped from it's shoulders to place herself back to back with Yang again.

"That's one hell of a trick you've got," Yang sounded behind her as she punched two figures into the nearby dumpster, denting the metal. "Anything else up your sleeve?"