Many rumors had spread about the White Fang's master swordsman. His jacket was said to be as black as his heart. His blade was red, as if in anticipation of the blood that would coat it. His smile was sickening, the look of a coldblooded psychopath. And he wore a mask, a mask to hide the beast within so that no one would see...until it was too late. The swordsman, for his part, smiled his supposedly sickening smile and enjoyed his reputation. Being public enemy number one was a thrilling and empowering experience. And now with the one person who could see behind the mask having left him, he was free to embrace the tales and enforce them. Garnering fear was part of his job, and walking the talk that spread about his skill was another part, the part he liked most. He always had enjoyed being feared. It was funny, watching all the people who would go pale at the mention of his name, a name he'd brought such fame to that there were those who believed it to be cursed, and who refused to associate themselves with anyone who even jokingly said their name was Adam.


"Are you sure you should be out on a mission so soon? You judgement could be clouded by recent events," a cold voice said to him over a walkie-talkie.

"Emotions don't have a place in battle. I'll be fine," Adam responded. He was entering a low-security Dust storage facility with the intent of taking the Dust inside and killing the soldiers who guarded it. It wasn't an important mission, but it was a small victory that would give the White Fang an extra edge. As he got closer to the building, he noticed a familiar emblem. He glared at the Schnee family symbol that proudly adorned the entrance to the facility. That same symbol was present when she left him, when he let her go. It was the day his best and only friend, the one person he trusted, the one person he cared for, the one person he could admire, abandoned him on the train. He could have easily jumped the cars and retrieved her by force. He could have killed her for betraying the White Fang, even. But he didn't, because he had too much respect for her than to assume he had the right to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. It hurt to think about her having left, but he knew it was for the best. He knew that Blake Belladonna would be better off without him.


The Dust facility was, as he had been told and had anticipated, devoid of the high-level security of facilities he tended to break into. He darted in and out of the shadows of the rafters, jumping out and landing behind three men stationed on a metal platform overlooking the production of the Dust. He quickly slit one's throat, and as the other two turned, he dashed past them, raking his blood-red sword across their necks. None of the crimson that covered his blade belonged to the enemy. He had cut them cleanly, so that absolutely no blood touched his katana. However, blood did drip onto the floor below. Ten guards, roughly half of them split between male and female, looked up. Adam had already hidden. But with a flash, he was hidden no more. He dropped onto a woman's head, his blade running through her brain. He ripped it out and turned, dashing towards a frightened man, firing wildly. He hit one of his teammates and Adam beheaded him before he could register what he'd done.

"Get back-" The woman radioing for assistance was cut dead, her walkie-talkie being sliced in half as well. The remaining six soldiers circled Adam and fired. He held up his sheathe, now a rifle, and fired back. He hit one man and spun, ducking under the bullets. He rammed his gun into another soldier's chest, firing. He twisted behind the soldier's dead body, and the bullets hit it. Adam took the chance to dash out from behind his meat shield and sliced through one soldier, and than another, finally stopping to shoot a woman who came up behind him. The last one fell to his knees and crawled away. The warrior simply walked towards him.

"D-Don't you have any honor?! Any morals?! Don't you believe in anything?!" He asked desperately. Adam laughed a bitter and cruel laugh.

"Morals? Beliefs? Those are for self-righteous hypocrites who believe they're superior to everyone who doesn't share their opinions. I'm neither."

"Then who are you?! WHAT are you?!" The masked man smiled enigmatically.

"A beast." And with that, he lopped the soldier's head in half.

"The facility's clear. You can take the Dust," Adam said into his walkie-talkie.

"Good job. Sorry for having you do this grunt work. We'll give you something better next time."

"Glad to hear it." Adam walked out of the facility, looking out at the landscape that was almost entirely covered in red leaves. All he could think about was how beautiful Blake thought it was.


A YEAR LATER


Adam glared at the castle-like building, standing tall above the city of Vale.

"So this is Beacon, huh? I wonder how she'll like it..." He said. He was happy for her, able to live a normal life for the short time the White Fang left her alone. But even though he was truly glad she found something she wanted to do with her life, he spoke with spite. He was angry at her for leaving, no use denying it.

"So I'm supposed to disrupt a civil rights protest...I never did see the point in those things."


A STORY ABOUT ADAM! HOORAY! I ALWAYS DID WONDER HOW HE WAS AFTER BLAKE LEFT, AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE TWO HAVE THEIR FATEFUL MEETING IN THE SHOW! I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS AFTER BEING UNABLE TO FIND A STORY SOLELY ABOUT ADAM ON THE SITE. THERE PROBABLY IS ONE, BUT I'M NOT PATIENT AND I LOVE ADAM, SO I FIGURED WHY NOT WRITE A STORY ABOUT HIM? I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN I'LL WRITE A NEW CHAPTER, BUT IT'LL PROBABLY BE MORE OFTEN THAN I THINK. ALSO, I DECIDED THAT ADAM'S SWORD IS A KATANA, SEEING AS HOW BLAKE USES ONE AND IT MAKES SENSE THAT HER MENTOR WOULD USE THE SAME WEAPON, SEEING AS HOW ADAM DID TEACH HER HOW TO USE IT. I'D LOVE ANY CRITICISMS ANYONE MIGHT HAVE, AS ALWAYS!