Napier arrived at the White Fang's headquarters. This was it. After hitching a ride on the last airship to Mistral, Napier made a dash for the infamous White Fang Highway, keeping low on his long trip to the place where he had calculated so many endings. He only had one course of action: to prostrate himself before Sienna Khan. If the guards didn't kill him first, or take him prisoner, then his fate would be entirely up to her. His options ranged from being beheaded to becoming food for the Grimm, all of them sewing seeds of hopelessness in his already exhausted and weary heart. As he resurfaced on the path before the palace, aura abused and depleted, he rose his arms up in surrender, head down as the White Fang guards aimed their spears at the weathered and emaciated boy.

"My name is Napier Reed," he said calmly, his voice cracking from disuse. "I was once your brother, working under High Leader Sienna Khan. I seek an audience with her now."

The guards looked to each other and nodded, lowering their weapons before one of them spoke. "We will alert Sienna to your prescence, but you will not be seeing her in the state you're currently in. Come. We will show you to your cell."

Napier lowered his arms and complied, following the guards into the building. They led him to an underground facility, cold and dismally lit, with prisoners ranging from traitors of the White Fang to political enemies, and even human children who would be made an example of. Napier felt his stomach knot at that last point. He saw the scrapes on the young souls behind bars, the way their ribs protruded from under their skin. He saw the way they looked at him in fear. That same look that made him leave the White Fang in the first place.

They came across an empty cell in a less populated section of the dungeon, the only natural light coming from a thin slit that functioned as little more than a storm drain. One of the guards opened the cell door and nodded for Napier to go inside. He did so, his head never coming up even as the door creaked shut and he was locked inside.

How much time had passed since he was locked up? Minutes, maybe? Hours? He wasn't sure, he just knew that his bath had been cold and he couldn't trust his shaky hands with a pair of scissors to cut his hair. He scrapped his green hoodie and blue skinny jeans for a plain black T-shirt and garnet cargo shorts, his combat boots having been ditched long before he had arrived so he was courteously granted a pair of white sneakers. The dog tag he'd known since he was young remained around his neck, but now it was scratched, marred, and his emblem had faded out. Hunger nagged at him as he lay sprawled out across the cot.

He perked up when he heard the jingling of keys and the voice of his jailer. "Today's your lucky day, kid. Sienna's granting you an audience. Just don't waste her time."

"I'll keep it short," Napier grunted as he sat up, following the guard out of the dungeon.

At the end of the throne hall sat the tiger Faunus who had taken Napier in at a young age. She wore a look of expectation, the air around her cautioning those in her prescence to choose their words wisely lest they find them ripped from their throats. As Napier arrived in the centre of the throne hall, he knelt down before her, his gaze to the floor.

"High Leader, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me. I'm sure this wasn't a visit you were expecting, but I hope you will be willing to hear me out."

"You will make eye contact while addressing me, Reed," Sienna said sternly.

"Yes, High Leader." Napier rose his head to meet Sienna's gaze.

"What business do you have coming before me?"

"I wish to return to the White Fang."

"So you've finally come to your senses?"

"Yes," Napier lied through his teeth.

Sienna stood. "Very well, but I can't guarantee your brothers and sisters here in Mistral will be happy with your return. After all, you did betray them and turn them in to the police."

Napier looked down again, feigning remorse. "I understand."

"However, the Menagerie branch does seek new recruits," Sienna continued. "I will be sending you to work there, under the brothers Corsac and Fennec Albain."

"Thank you, High Leader."

"Now stand."

Napier obeyed her command as Sienna stepped down to meet him. Her hand came up to rest on his shoulder as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I'm sorry for what happened at Beacon. Know that I was not the one who authorized the attack."

With a silent nod, Napier was dismissed.