No one who knew them would ever say that Emerald and Blake had anything in common. Their personalities were on opposite sides of the spectrum, their hair color clashed violently, one was loud while the other remained quiet.
Blake ran.
Emerald stayed.
Even though nobody was chasing her, Emerald still fled. No one saw her take the loaf of bread, even the security guard. Her semblance might've helped with that part.
Emerald didn't stop moving until she was over a mile away, double checking her surroundings before slipping into an alleyway. It was devoid of people, so Emerald sat down against one of the walls to examine her bounty.
She was getting better at not being noticed, but part of that strategy involved taking inconspicuous food in the first place. A loaf of bread was about as common as it got, but her stomach wasn't complaining about the lack of choice. As tempting as it was to wolf the whole thing down, she needed to save some of it for later. She might not get as lucky with her next meal.
It turned out Emerald had less self-control than she thought, and the whole loaf soon vanished into her stomach. Once she finished she left the alleyway, working her way across town to her humble home. It was a small area between two buildings where an out of service dumpster had been abandoned. The rats and a makeshift lock guarded Emerald's belongings, which consisted of a blanket, a change of clothes, a rusty dagger, and an old photograph.
It didn't take Emerald long to walk back there. She let out a sigh of relief when she found all of her stuff untouched; it only took a moment to make sure it was all there. The day had been going pretty good so far, considering that she'd gotten to eat and all. Any day that none of her things were stolen wa already a good day.
But as good as things went today, Emerald knew that tomorrow her stomach would be grumbling again. She would have to get up and steal something else to eat, and while she was gone someone would steal her stuff. It was a viscous cycle; one she couldn't escape by doing the same thing every day.
Maybe it was time to move on to something different.
"You're a faunus, aren't you?"
Blake had been walking though the local park, minding her own business, when an orange haired teen approached her. He led with this question, and Blake immediately tensed up. She cast him a wary glare as she responded.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She managed to speak calmly while fighting to keep her cat ears from twitching. They were safely hidden beneath a bow; this boy had no way of knowing they existed. If she played it cool she could still talk her way out of this situation.
"I know my comrades when I see them." The teen didn't appear to have any faunus traits at first glance, but Blake knew better than anybody that it didn't mean anything. When Blake stayed silent, he continued. "Have you ever heard of the White Fang?"
"Yes." So much for trying to talk her way out.
"We're always looking for more faunus to join our cause. Are you interested?" He smiled sincerely as he spoke.
"This is kind of…sudden." Being recruited by the White Fang was not how Blake thought her day was going to go. She'd never even considered joining them before.
"We're having a meeting tonight at the docks." The teen pulled a leaflet out of his pocket and held it out. Blake took the paper slowly, making note of the information written on it. "I look forward to seeing you there." He finished with a small nod, and then vanished as quickly as he'd appeared.
Once alone, Blake had time to consider her options. She agreed with what the White Fang did, but did she really want to join them? Her fighting skills were good enough to keep up, and making a difference in the world could be nice.
And there was the guy who invited her; he seemed interesting. Despite not disclosing his name, he'd given Blake valuable information about the White Fang. He'd trusted her despite not knowing her. If she'd been a different kind of faunus, she might've turned the info over to the police. But she didn't do that. Instead, Blake made a mental note to go to the docks that night.
When the mysterious woman cornered Emerald and asked her to join her cause, the green haired teen accepted immediately. At least, on the surface she did. As she followed this 'Cinder' though the streets, if that even was her real name, she stayed on high alert. This could still turn out to be an elaborate trap by the police.
As they moved to the shadier side of town that became less likely, and was instead replaced by thoughts of an ambush. Any one of the people around them could be an enemy.
Despite Emerald's doubts, the pair reached their destination undeterred. Cinder led Emerald into a few story building, and then up a couple flights of stairs, before stopping at the door to an apartment. She entered without any flair, silently inviting Emerald to join her inside. The apartment was relatively small; only containing one bedroom, one bathroom, and a shared kitchen and living space.
"Please sit." Cinder gestured toward a small table and chair set in the corner. "We need to work out the details of our… arrangement."
Emerald sat without a word, taking the chair closer to the exit. Cinder didn't comment on her seating choice as she sat down gracefully on the other side. A few seconds of silence passed as Emerald struggled not to fidget.
"What do you want to talk about?" Emerald cracked under the pressure of silence.
"As long as we're working together this apartment will be our safe house. You will have access to the organizations shared funds, as long as you remain a member." Cinder folded her hands together on the table as she spoke. It felt like her gaze could see right into Emerald's soul, wasn't a good feeling.
"Organization?" It seemed to Emerald like Cinder lived alone.
The older woman's visible eye narrowed slightly. "It is just the two of us for now, but we will grow."
"Oh." So she wasn't as put together as she seemed. "What will I do in your organization?"
"Whatever needs to be done." A vague answer, but one Emerald could live with. The needs of a criminal organization changed day to day, and as one of only two members she needed to be versatile. There was just one thing that still bothered her.
"Before we set this in stone." Emerald resisted the urge to play with her hair; her body was betraying her big time that day. "Why did you pick me? I'm not exactly the best thief and my semblance isn't foolproof. So why?" It was surprisingly insecure, coming from her. But she really wanted to know.
"You intrigue me." Cinder answered bluntly. Emerald couldn't produce a coherent response, and gave up without attempting one. Cinder rose from the table, brushing one hand on Emerald's arm as she passed. "I am going to pick up some dinner. Make yourself comfortable while I'm gone." She closed the door to the apartment softly behind her.
Emerald turned at the quiet sound, wondering if this was actually a dream. But no, her parents would usually turn up by this point in a dream to taunt her. What happened was definitely real.
Of course Blake joined the White Fang. Once she was fully signed up they assigned her a partner. She wasn't sure what to expect before they met for their first assignment, but she wasn't quite ready for who she found.
"It's you." She openly gaped at the orange haired teen who'd recruited her.
"Nice to meet you." He reached out one hand for a shake. "I'm Adam Taurus." He was over half a foot taller than her, so she had to look up to meet his eyes.
"Blake." She accepted the handshake for the minimal amount of time before retreating.
"I guess we're partners." Adam fished in his pockets for a slip of paper; he wanted to get straight to business. "Our first assignment is to spread information about a protest next week."
"Ok." Why use many words when she could only use one?
Adam talked about the specifics plan as Blake followed him towards the busier part of town. He wanted to personally invite every faunus they saw to attend the protest, and that is exactly what he did. Adam spoke confidently to any faunus they passed, inviting them to join the event. He spoke so passionately about faunus rights Blake had to stop herself from staring more than once.
She wasn't good at talking to people, but she had a good eye for picking faunus out in the crowd. They worked together for a few hours and were able to convince a few faunus to attend the protest. They met up again a few more times in the next week to do some more recruiting, but nothing really exciting happened until the protest itself.
Blake came to the base about half an hour early to help make posters and meet a few other members, though none really stood out to her. Adam arrived just before the protest started, and he joined Blake on the walk to the protest site. They stood together on the line, waving matching signs.
People who walked by pretended not to see them, but there was no way to ignore Adam's voice. He called out for equal rights for faunus, the right to vote, equal pay, and better working conditions. Many who passed by crossed the street to escape the protestors. They set their gaze dead ahead and pretended like the faunus weren't even there.
As the protest went on, Blake started to feel discouraged. So many people were just ignoring them. How could they just pretend faunus rights didn't exist? Maybe this was a mistake; she shouldn't have joined.
Blake was about to put down her sign when a family of faunus walked by the protest. Cat ears could be seen on the top of their heads, and the two adults passed without looking over. Their child, a young girl of about ten years old, slowed to look at the protests. The child scanned the crowd, and stopped once she met Blake's gaze. A smile grew on her face as she wiggled her ears, raising one hand to wave into the crowd.
Blake froze with her poster half way down. A child was waving at her. Someone had noticed her, here at the White Fang protest. Her presence made that child happy. Blake had one hand half way up to wave back before the child's mother yanked her forward. Blake couldn't hear them, but it looked like she was scolding the young cat faunus. The moved on without a second glance.
The poster in Blake's hands took to the sky with renewed vigor. So many people passed her by, but one stopped to wave. One faunus child looked over and smiled. That alone was enough to keep her going strong.
"So our goal is to steal more dust?" Cinder and Emerald had met up at the hideout to prepare for that nights heist. Well, they both lived there so it wasn't like they had to go far. Emerald asked the question as she packed dust into the hilt of her dagger.
"Yes." Cinder sat across the table from Emerald, putting the final touches on her dust woven sleeves. "It is imperative that we continue collecting dust." She confirmed that her sleeves were satisfactory before standing up. "We are going to the Bell dust factory across town." She moved towards the door without looking back. Emerald hastily shut the dust compartment of her weapon and followed Cinder out.
They caught a bus towards the factory, and got off a few blocks away from it. Approaching the building took a little longer; they had to look out for cameras and security guards. It turned out that only one guard stood at each entrance, and Emerald couldn't see any cameras.
She looked to Cinder for confirmation, and the other woman nodded in response. They'd practiced this so many times, Emerald knew exactly what to do.
She quickly picked an entrance, the one in the back would do, and gestured for Cinder to follow her there. Once they were close enough, Emerald cast her hallucination semblance on the guard. He didn't react as they passed since in his mind he saw no changes to his surroundings.
Once Cinder and Emerald were past the guard, they were in. They crept down the hall carefully to avoid any guards and reached the storage room without incident. They then searched for the right kind of dust to steal. Primarily they'd been taking red dust, and Cinder still needed more of it for the plan.
It only took a minute to stuff their bags full of the volatile mixture. After they finished, they snuck back out the way they came. Emerald reapplied her semblance to the guard, and then they were gone.
They pretended to chatter as they caught the bus to make a clean getaway, and nobody paid the pair any attention. It was easy to get back to the hideout.
They put all the new dust in the closet with the other acquisitions, making the pile a little larger. Once it was all put away, Cinder didn't stay long.
"Good job tonight." Was all she had to say about the operation. "I will be back." She slipped out the door silently. Emerald, not a person who often suffered from not knowing what to say, stared after her blankly. She felt almost, warm. It almost seemed like Cinder appreciated her.
The White Fang did more than organize protests; they also sabotaged companies who exploited faunus labor. Blake and Adam often joined the operations to shut down factories and free enslaved faunus. They traveled along with the main force. Basically, their job was a defensive one. Adam was a solid fighter with a powerful dust based weapon, and Blake was extremely versatile. They flanked the group and fought off anybody who attacked them.
There were typically very few factory workers who were willing to fight the White Fang, but those who would were strong opponents. Sometimes, when the group was short staffed, the pair had to split up to deal with separate enemies. Most of the time they were able to reunite and continue with no issues. But this time, that didn't happen.
When Blake split off the counter a guard with a sword she agreed to meet with Adam right back at that spot. She ran down the hallway to catch the enemy off guard, and was able to knock him out easily. She confiscated the sword and left the person unconscious on the floor. They wouldn't wake up until the White Fang was long gone, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.
Blake moved back to the rendezvous point without any other encounters, but when she arrived Adam still hadn't returned. She stopped and waited.
A minute passed. Blake tapped one toe. She decided to go look for him.
He'd run down the alternate hallway, so Blake set off in that direction. She didn't have to go far to find him. Adam stood unmoving in the center of the hallway. At his feet laid a factory worker. At first glance they appeared to be unconscious, but the blood told Blake otherwise. It pooled in the area around Adams feet, oozing into the soles of his shoes. The harsh scent bothered Blake's nose, but she didn't cover it up.
"Adam." Blake called out his name, earning no response. "Adam!" She nudged his shoulder and he flinched. He turned in surprise, his clouded gaze meeting her own.
"Blake." Adam said slowly. After a second his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, we were supposed to meet up back there."
"It's ok." That wasn't the problem. "What happened here?"
"He attacked me." Adam crossed his arms. "I had no choice." He passed Blake to head back towards the group. Each step left bloody marks on the otherwise pristine floor. "Let's go."
Blake trailed behind him, avoiding the sticky red trail as she followed.
Emerald should've known better. She'd never believed that something could be too good to be true, but life was starting to prove her wrong. Ever since they'd recruited Mercury, things had been different. 'Do not mistake your place' still rung in her head as she sat in the hideout. Cinder had been out for a few hours, leaving Emerald to wonder just what her place could be.
She'd thought they were partners. Clearly Cinder didn't agree.
The door to the apartment pushed open, startling Emerald out of her thoughts, Maybe Cinder came back? No, she sighed, it was just Mercury. Cinder game him a key to the hideout, though he rarely used it. It seemed like he only ever came by to taunt her.
"Why the long face?" Something about his smirk pissed her off.
"What do you want?" She couldn't bring herself to be polite to him when Cinder wasn't around.
"I'm wounded." Mercury put one hand over his heart dramatically. "I just wanted to share some news from our illustrious leader."
"Spit it out." Emerald's pulse jumped at the thought of news from Cinder, but she couldn't let Mercury know that.
"We're moving to phase two, whatever that means." Mercury shrugged, walking towards the small kitchen. "Do you have any idea?" He opened the pantry and, after examining it for a moment, took some crackers.
"I don't." Even if she did, Emerald wouldn't have told him. "I'm sure she'll tell me later." But after what happened when Mercury joined, maybe she wouldn't. Emerald didn't want to think about that.
"Let me know if she does." Mercury waved goodbye with a whole sleeve of crackers in hand, not even bothering to lock the door behind him as he left. Emerald stuck her tongue out at the door, but he was already gone. She couldn't decide what to do after that conversation, so she ended up cleaning her weapons.
Cinder came by later to tell her about phase two. Her eyes seemed to glow as she spoke; Emerald couldn't look away. The plan was getting bigger, moving from petty theft to large organizations and bloodshed. Emerald didn't agree with portions of the plan, especially the part where Cinder sucked somebody else's soul into her body, but she didn't argue. After all, she had to remember her place.
All organizations had leadership change, and the White Fang was no different. Important members were often arrested, leaving space for others to move up. Adam and Blake jumped up the ranks quickly due to their prowess in combat and were soon assigned their own squad to command.
Adam, with all his charisma, took the lead spot, and Blake became the second in command. Their squad was assigned some of the more dangerous missions, including the bombing of what was supposed to be an abandoned mine. It had been used by the Schnee dust company in the past, and the White Fang wanted to insure that it was never active again.
Blake and Adam's squad was deployed to blow it up, but their plan was deterred when they saw people milling about the entrance of the mine. From a distance it looked like they were wearing hard hats and moving around mine carts.
"What do we do?" Blake pulled Adam aside for a private conference.
"The plan doesn't change." Adam set his jaw. "We just have to set the bombs discreetly." He was still looking out towards the mine, strategizing about where to place the explosives.
"What about the people?" She inquired, weaving her fingers together.
"They'll have died for the greater good." He still wouldn't look at her.
"We can't just kill them for being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Blake insisted at a louder volume, drawing the gazes of a few squad members.
"It's what must be done." Adam finally looked directly into Blake's eyes. His eyes didn't look any different than when they met, but something had clearly changed. "I will lead a few members down, and you will guard the perimeter." He picked out a few faunus to go with him, leaving Blake to set up the guard.
She set their posts and took her own spot as far from the mine as possible. She didn't see any enemies, and she didn't look back as the explosion sounded. As she pretended not to hear the screams of the dying, she wondered if this was how people felt as they walked by the faunus protest.
Once they were sure the old guy with the sword wasn't following them, the trio stopped to gather their strength. They three sat under a tree, weary from their fight with Amber. Mercury laid with his back flat on the ground, while Emerald stayed near the edge to keep watch. Cinder knelt between them, trying to figure out how her new powers worked. She lit the tree on fire, then put it out, only to light it on fire again.
After Emerald's aura recovered enough strength, she started up a conversation. "How do you feel?" She asked.
"Fantastic." Mercury quipped from his spot on the ground.
"I wasn't talking to you." She spat back before turning to Cinder.
"I feel…" Cinder looked at her hands, then directly at Emerald. Eyes that burned with fervor before now glowed with magic, and Emerald felt a chill run down her spine. "Like the whole world is at my fingertips." She raised one open hand to eye level. "Mine to save." A flame burst to life in her palm. "Or destroy." She clenched her fist shut, putting the flame out.
"So what's our next step?" Mercury sat up, brushing the grass off his back and pretending Cinder hadn't just said something creepy.
"Back to the White Fang." Cinder smirked. "They can't turn us down now."
"Do we really need them?" Emerald regretted asking as Cinder glared at her. "I mean, with you being this powerful can't we do it without them.
"No." One word was all it took to shut down her protest, but Cinder wasn't done. "We need their Grimm, and their numbers. Their leader will fit into our group… nicely."
"That red head guy?" Mercury raised one eyebrow.
"He has a certain ruthlessness about him. Together we will make the world burn." Cinder looked off into the distance as if already seeing the possibilities. The conversation dwindled away, and the group soon moved on.
They traveled to the White Fang camp, burst through the front door, and murdered any faunus that got in their way.
The day of the train, Blake ran. She couldn't watch the murder of innocents any longer.
Even as things changed, Emerald stayed. Even though she wasn't sure of her place, at least she belonged.
They met at Beacon, never knowing just how much they had in common.