#blake would get those ear piercings just like kali in the future i think

[sonagitalk]

some random rwby doodles of characters i find interesting

parents

[dontshootmespence]

Swan Song

Chapter 7 - Kate

Strauss and Blake may have had a very strained relationship, but that didn’t mean she and her athlete weren’t telling the truth.

They were.

Ian Doyle had been brazenly selling from his room in the Olympic Village and had promptly been kicked out - barred from competing in any future olympic event. And being the coward that he was, he’d given up quite a few names of other sellers and buyers, including George Foyet, who was quickly stripped of the gold he’d won in the biathlon. 

Numerous IOC members and the South Korean police force had interrogated Doyle. While some names had been easily given, like Foyet and Barnes, others were harder to come by, including that of their top-most supplier. “You’ll never get that name out of me,” he replied, his Irish brogue almost enough to convince those questioning him that he wasn’t a scumbag. 

“Why?” Strauss asked.

Doyle smiled, his ice blue eyes piercing Strauss’ tough exterior. “I would rather go to jail than cross that man.”

“A big tough man like you is afraid of getting beaten by another drug dealer?” She asked, thinking that she would get under his skin. 

Shaking his head, he looked her dead in the eyes. “Anyone who crosses the boss ends up dead, but not before they’ve lost their minds and had everything they’ve ever loved taken from them. I’d rather die than cross him.”

After another few hours of questioning, they stopped trying. He wasn’t going to give anything else up. Given how many people had been accused of selling and buying across a number of countries, the only way to weed out the good from the bad and allow those that earned their medals to leave Pyeongchang with integrity was for everyone to be tested. 

Before the Olympics was over, every athlete would be tested for a range of different performance-enhacing drugs.

“Why the hell should I have to be tested?” Kate fumed. She’d already had her blood tested and she knew it was going to come back clean, but it was still frustrating. “It’s bullshit.”

It was the day of the finals for slalom. Her other event, giant slalom, was tomorrow. 

While her parents knew their daughter would never take anything, they thought it better than everyone was tested. “Did you take anything?” Her father asked.

“Of course not!”

Her mother grabbed her face to try and calm down the fuming. There was practically smoke coming out of her ears. “Then the test comes back negative and when you medal it won’t be questioned at all.”

Kate took a deep breath and smiled. “You’re right. You’re always right. It’s kind of annoying.”

“My job,” she chuckled.

The only athlete she’d heard of being stripped of a medal was Foyet, leaving William LaMontagne, the former silver medalist, with the gold medal. 

The Alpensia Sports Park was buzzing today. At the peak of the games, there were a variety of events taking place today. “How are you feeling?” Maureen asked.

Her coach had insisted she take the day off before having back-to-back events, which meant that Kate was more than raring to go. This morning she’d taken a two training runs down the slope to perfect her line and her skis. “I’m good. I’m hyped. I’m energized. I just want to get going.”

Maureen turned around to see someone signaling for her and Kate. She needed to line up in the gate because she only had a few more athletes to go before she took her first of two final runs. “Okay, time to go kick some ass kiddo!”

“Yes! Fuck yes!” Kate screamed when she looked at the board. 

As soon as she turned around, she saw that she was being filmed. “Sorry,” she whispered. She just cursed on national television. Oops.

First run was 48.97 seconds. Fucking brilliant first run. It was like she’d been floating on the snow rather than skiing down it. 

After giving her parents a quick kiss, she headed back up for her second run. “You’re tests came back...negative of course,” Maureen laughed. 

Kate flexed her muscles, which could barely be seen through all the clothing she was wearing. “Exactly, so that stellar run was all me baby!”

Unfortunately, she was beaten by two hundredths of a second by one of the Swedish athletes, but she was by no means out of contention for the gold. They were neck and neck.

In her training, she’d been so focused on gold that she’d lost sight of the fact that she’d even made it to the Olympics after qualifying fourth last time and just out of arms reach of glory. “Okay, Kate,” Maureen said, preparing her star skier for her final slalom run. “You made it here. You are within medal contention. Go out there and do the thing you love. Forget the gold and have fun.”

“Alright,” she replied.

Just as Maureen had said, Kate cleared her mind and positioned herself at the gate, ready to have fun. Her coach was right; she made it here and that was all she’d ever worked for - to be included among the best of the world.

She heard Maureen’s screams to get her hyped up at the gate and then she was off. The leader and one other were the last ones to run, so she needed to do her absolute best, which always happened when she was just reveling in her sport. 

She knew she made a mistake at the top of the hill, but it wasn’t the worst and she recovered quickly. Only the clacking of the gates against her skis and poles could be heard as she descended the hill. That and the crunch of the snow under skis as she turned. 

The bottom of the hill was in sight. She could see the person in first place standing there hoping that Kate wouldn’t pass her. As soon as she crossed the line, she spun around to see her time - 50.12 - not bad, but could’ve been better. However, she was still in first.

She happily took her place next to the woman from Norway who was now in second place. As the fourth place finisher started making her way down, Kate and her new Norwegian friend started talking about their runs and how much fun they’d been having, only to have their attention drawn to the hill when the athlete wiped out and into the barrier up top. “Oh god, I hope she’s okay.”

Kate replied as she grimaced. “It looks like she’s getting up on her own. I think she’s okay.”

Last but not least was the current leader from Sweden. Kate was guaranteed the silver, which she already knew, but couldn’t possibly forget when her parents were screaming it in the crowd behind her. 

Snickering, she turned around to tell her parents to chill (to which they of course said no) and missed the Swede crossing the finish line in record time. 

Kate won the silver. 

It was always more her color.

After hugging and congratulating her competitors, she met up with her parents and Maureen, who’d already made her way down the hill. “Congrats, kiddo,” she said, enveloping her in a hug. “I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks, Maureen.” Kate was never a crier, but she found herself tearing up at the overwhelming emotions of the moment - one she’d worked for for so long. “I can't believe I did it.”

“Yes, you can,” her father laughed. “You said so the other day that you had this.”

“But now it’s real,” she cried. Her tears were threatening to freeze on her face it was so cold, but she didn’t care.

Who knew how tiring winning could be?

The medal ceremony took place later that night, and although she wasn’t on the top podium, she wore her silver with pride before returning to her room in Olympic village and crapping out for the night.

Now she was here at the start of her first run in giant slalom and as the gate fell open and her skis glided across the stark white snow, she couldn’t think of any other place she’d rather be.

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