It was Saturday at Beacon. There were no classes and the campus was semi-active, with students and teachers meandering about, taking in the bright, sunny day. However, in the RWBY dorm, things had a bit more of a serious tone. It had only been a few weeks since the incident at the loading docks and the sudden reveal that Blake was a Faunas. It had taken some time for the teammates to come to terms with the reveal, some taking longer than others. But today, they all decided to just come clean. Let out any left-over anger and resolve any internal conflicts that were plaguing their minds. The majority of the taking and coming forth had come from Blake, who still had a lot to reveal about her past. Now, after hours of constant talking and a few arguments, the room was silent as the four members thought to themselves.
"So, the White Fang," Ruby asked, directing her question towards Blake. "Do you still like them?"
"Define 'like'?" Blake responded.
"I mean, do you still agree with them?" Ruby clarified.
"It's…complicated." Blake responded, turning away a bit from Ruby.
"It's a yes or no question." Weiss said, a bit snappy. Yang glared at Weiss, who quickly turned away and sighed.
"How is it complicated?" Yang asked.
"Well, the White Fang fight for equality between Faunas and humans. No more discrimination, no more ridicule, no more unfairness. That is something I will support until the day I die. However, their methods of achieving that goal are something I'd rather not be a part of."
Satisfied with the answer, the room fell silent once again. However, this time, the silence was brief.
"You said earlier that your family used to run the White Fang, but they gave leadership over to Sienna a few years ago." Weiss stated.
"Yeah, when I was 15, my dad stepped down as leaders and Sienna took his place." Blake said.
"And you also said that when you entered Beacon, you had cut all ties to them." Weiss said.
"Correct. I wanted nothing to do with them." Blake said sternly.
"So my question to you is, how long were you a part of the 'New White Fang' before you decided to leave?" Weiss asked.
Blake thought about it for a moment. "I left the White Fang nine months ago, so I would have been there just under a year and a half under the new leadership before I left." Blake responded.
Weiss nodded. "Okay then."
Yang looked at Weiss with confusion. "What was the point of that?"
"I was just making sure they didn't corrupt her mind with their voodoo mind control tactics." Weiss said back, crossing her arms like an entitled person.
"Hold on. Mind control tactics? Do you think we were brainwashing people?" Blake asked, surprised, and offended.
"I don't know! I didn't take part in attacking anyone who disagreed with you!" Weiss began to yell.
"What made you leave?" Ruby asked at a normal volume, yet somehow loud enough to be heard over Weiss.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"I mean, what made you leave?" Ruby asked again.
"I told you, it was the violence." Blake said.
"But you said earlier that this people, Adam and Sienna, were a part of the White Fang for years before they became the leaders, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah. They were a part of the organization for as long as I can remember." Blake said.
"And you also said that they began attacking people long before your parents stepped down." Ruby said.
"Well, yes. They began attacking people and places about three or four years before my parents stepped down." Blake replied, confused at where Ruby was going.
"So that means you were exposed to the violence long before you left." Ruby said.
"What are you getting at?" Weiss asked, a bit snappy.
"What I'm getting at is if you really didn't like the violence, why didn't you leave with your parents?" Ruby said, almost yelling. The outburst from the small girl stunned the other three member of the team. None of them, not even Yang, had heard that type of outburst from the girl. The room once again fell silent. As Weiss and Yang tried to make sense of the sudden outburst, Blake just sat in silence before breaking it.
"I… I still believed it was the right thing. For the first time in years, I was seeing actual progress being made. People began to respect us, treat us equally. " Blake explained.
"That's because they were afraid of you." Weiss interjected.
"Yeah. I realized that later. But at the time, right after my parents stepped down, I felt like they were in the wrong and Adam and Sienna had the right idea." Blake continued.
"So my question still stands: What event made you realize what you were doing was wrong?" Ruby asked.
Blake sighed. "There was an attack on a shipping port. Imagine what happened the other night but with roles reversed." Blake began before beginning to explain the events of that night.
/
"Alright, here's the plan. Inside that building marked 'C' is a large shipment of SDC inventory being shipped. Not only that, but the Faunas here are treated like animals." Adam began. There was a small task force of White Fang members including Adam, Blake, and Sienna. "So, you three are going around the back of the building to provide support and to serve as a small distraction while Blake and I are going in through the front door. Everyone got that?" Adam asked the small group. Everyone nodded in slight unison. "Okay then. Masks on, danger close. And remember, everything we do tonight is for our faunas brothers and sisters who had it bad for too long!" Adam ended his quick speech by putting on the Grimm face mask. Everyone in the group quickly followed suit. As everyone was putting on the masks, Blake glanced over at Sienna, who hadn't put hers on yet. In fact, Blake didn't remember Sienna ever bringing one, or even wearing one. Blake was going to brush it off, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. Just then, Adam quietly yelled "Go!" and everyone jumped off the large stack of containers, with Adam jumping first, followed by everyone else except Blake and Sienna.
"Sienna?" Blake said, putting a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.
"What is it Blake? We don't want to keep Adam waiting." Sienna said sternly.
"Why don't you have a mask on?" Blake asked, in an almost condescending way.
"Blake, this isn't the time." Sienna responded.
"Right, sorry. Forget I asked." Blake said, her head dropping slightly before lightly brushing past Sienna.
Sienna sighed. Right as Blake was about to jump off the stack on containers, Sienna called out, "Wait." Blake turned around to face her. "Why do you wear the mask?" She asked Blake.
Blake responded quickly. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we choose to don the faces of monsters." Blake remembered that speech Adam gave the day he and Sienna took over leadership of The White Fang.
"But what are you?" Sienna then asked Blake.
"I'm…we're faunas." Blake responded, confused at where this was going.
"But are you a monster?" Sienna asked.
Blake thought for a moment. "Society betrays us as monsters so we…" Blake began.
"I'm not asking what society thinks of you. I'm asking what you think of you. So, I ask again. Are you a monster?" Sienna said.
"No. I'm just like everyone else." Blake said.
"Exactly. Are you ashamed of what you are?" Sienna continued with her questions.
"No. Of course not. That's why I'm here." Blake said, a bit offended that Sienna asked that.
"So, if you're not a monster, and you're not ashamed of what you are, then why wear the mask?" Sienna asked, her questions now beginning to make a lot of sense. Blake took off her mask and looked at it. "By wearing that mask and hiding who you really are, you're proving the humans right. The reason I don't wear a mask is because I'm not ashamed of what I am, and neither should you. We aren't monsters, we're just like them. Now come on, we've kept Adam waiting for too long." Sienna said, before jumping off the containers. Blake soon followed suit, but left her mask behind, slightly chipped and broken.
/
"From that moment forth, I had doubts about what the true purpose of what we were doing was. Adam always said it was for the good of the faunas, but the more I looked at it, the more obvious it became it was more about him." Blake said
"So why didn't you leave sooner?" Weiss asked, the hint of snarkiness in her voice made Yang look at her with an evil eye. "Sorry. Wasn't trying to be snarky. Just curious." Weiss apologized.
Blake just ignored her tone. "Well, few people in the White Fang can claim that they knew Adam and Sienna as well as I did, so leaving suddenly would be meet with a lot of questions and scrutiny. It look a lot of strength to do what I did. Hell, I'm almost positive that if I stayed, I might have been Adam's wife or even fiancé by now." Blake said, cringing at the thought.
"I think you'd have to be dating someone first to be their wife." Weiss said with a smirk and a light chuckle.
"And who said I wasn't?" Blake said, smirking back at Weiss.
"Oh, so you knew him pretty well then." Ruby chimed in.
"Yeah, you could say so." Blake responded, still smirking.
"Did you know him that well?" Yang asked, with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Oh no, thank Oum. I couldn't stand the thought of…that." Blake said, which made everyone in the room laugh, including Ruby.
"Wait, aren't you a bit young for that kind of stuff, Ruby?" Weiss asked Ruby, still laughing slightly.
"I'm 15, not 12. I know what sex is." Ruby said, offended.
Blake stopped laughing, but still kept her smile. "Have you had any…" Blake began.
"Like I just said, I'm 15, not a slut." Ruby said, looking Blake directly in the eye in a serious tone. Weiss and Yang broke out into laughter after hearing Ruby use that word. Blake, who was still looking at Ruby, quickly joined them after trying to keep a straight face. Ruby was the last to join the group laughter session after her brain registered what she had just said. And as the four girls continued, the sound of laughter bouncing off the walls in their room brought an end to an otherwise serious day.