"I don't think there is anyone here." Weiss said, glancing from Ruby to the desolate building they had spent the last several hours surveying.
"I'm starting to think you're right." Ruby agreed, disappointment tinging her tone.
It had been more than a day since she and Weiss had met with Blake and Yang, the members of Team JNPR, Sun, Neptune, and the members of Team CFVY and decided to investigate the possible connections between several seemingly separate events that threatened the security of Vale and the other kingdoms. So far, their investigation had yielded precious little new information and Ruby was beginning to wonder if they had been premature in their assumptions. Still, she wasn't ready to give up just yet, knowing that sometimes it took longer than expected for answers to present themselves.
Currently, she and Weiss were watching an abandoned building near the Vale docks that was rumored to be one of the last known hideouts of Roman Torchwick. Unfortunately, even if the rumors were true, Torchwick seemed to have left nothing behind to indicate that he'd ever used this building at all. And if anyone else was still using it, they weren't making their presence known.
"That's it, I'm going in." Ruby said, sliding gracefully from her hiding spot.
"But we're only supposed to watch the place." Weiss protested. "And I don't think there's anything in there for us to find."
"Only one way to find out." Ruby said, drawing Crescent Rose before approaching the building, motioning for Weiss to follow.
Sighing, Weiss drew Myrtenaster and followed her partner, every inch of her screaming that this was a bad idea.
The interior of the building was even more dilapidated than its exterior and Weiss could see why there was speculation that Torchwick had used it as a base. The entire place screamed "criminal hideout", though there was nothing inside to indicate that it had ever been used as such. Still, there was an unmistakable air of darkness about the place and Weiss was certain something unpleasant had occurred in this building.
"Ruby?" she called. "Ruby, where are you?"
"Over here." Ruby replied, her voice echoing in the cavernous confines.
Weiss moved in the direction Ruby's voice had come from, scanning the room for any signs of trouble. She was particularly cautious here, given the building's proximity to the docks, where Weiss knew production and distribution of Liquid Dust was taking place. It was possible that even if Torchwick hadn't used this building, the manufacturers of the drug were using it in some capacity. There were no signs that this was the case, but Weiss knew from experience that finding the source of the drug was a lot harder than it seemed.
As she mulled over the possibility that this could be a drug storage house, she caught sight of a glint of metal in the dim light and instinctively dropped into a defensive posture, only to realize a second later that it was just the blade of Crescent Rose. Breathing a sigh of relief, Weiss moved to stand beside her partner, who was staring intently at something on the far wall.
"Find something?" she asked, her voice making Ruby jump.
"I'm not sure." Ruby answered, doing her best to hide the fact that she'd been startled. "I can't tell, but I think there's some kind of message written on that wall."
Weiss followed her gaze and after a moment she thought she could make out what Ruby was talking about. "There's definitely words written there, but I can't read them through all the grime." she said, her gaze moving back to Ruby.
Ruby continued to stare at the wall, before walking up to it and attempting to wipe away some of the grime. Her efforts proved somewhat successful, though what she uncovered only left her more confused, for the words scrawled on the wall appeared to be only part of a message, one that read, of ashes and dust. There didn't appear to be any more to the message however and Ruby had no idea what it was supposed to mean.
"What do you suppose that means?" she asked, glancing at Weiss.
"I haven't the faintest idea." Weiss answered. "It looks like the scribbling of a madman, if you ask me."
"Meaning what?" Ruby asked. "That some crazy person just wrote that on a wall for no reason? Why would they do that?"
"Because they're crazy?" Weiss suggested, her tone incredulous.
"But why this building?" Ruby asked. "If this really was one of Torchwick's hideouts, why was that written here?"
"Who knows." Weiss answered. "It was probably written there after Torchwick left. Why does it matter anyway?"
"I don't know." Ruby answered. "There's something about it that unnerves me, I guess."
"They're just words scrawled on a building Ruby." Weiss said. "They're not going to hurt you. Now come on, let's get out of here before something that can hurt us shows up."
"Yeah, alright." Ruby said, casting one last glance at the scrawl on the wall before following Weiss out of the building, disappointment boiling in the pit of her stomach.
Across town, Blake and Yang had staked out another abandoned building, hoping to gain some knowledge of the whereabouts of the Red Fang. So far, there had been no sign that the group was using this building as a hideout, but Blake was certain there was something here to find. She just wasn't sure what that something was.
"Are you sure this is the place the Red Fang brought you?" Yang asked then, with a sidelong glance at her partner.
"I am." Blake answered, not meeting Yang's gaze.
Blake's tone suggested she was not interested in answering a thousand questions, so Yang kept her silence, swallowing the other questions she wished to ask. Still she couldn't help wondering if her partner's desire to stop the Red Fang was making her see things that weren't actually there. After all, it wasn't like Blake hadn't obsessed like this before. Back when they were still at Beacon, Yang had watched Blake spiral out of control as she obsessed over the threat posed by the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. She could only hope that wasn't what was happening now.
"So, what do you think the Red Fang actually want?" Yang asked, in an effort to break the silence, stretching her stiffening spine as she spoke.
"The same thing the White Fang wanted, only more extreme." Blake answered.
"So they want faunus/human equality?" Yang asked. "How could they make that more extreme? I don't get it."
Blake sighed before answering. "It's more that they want faunus domination." she said. "The Red Fang wants to take the mission of the White Fang one step further and control all aspects of life in Remnant. And they see eliminating humans as the key to achieving that goal."
"So they want to kill us all, is that it?" Yang asked, her tone serious.
"Yes." Blake answered. "But it's obvious to me that not all faunus feel the same. That's why I'm so determined to stop the Red Fang, before they have a chance to turn more faunus to their cause, thus breaking the peace Sun, Velvet, and I helped build."
"Well, I'll support you, no matter what." Yang said, with a warm smile.
"I know you will." Blake replied. "I've known that for-wait, did you hear that?"
Yang blinked, taken aback by Blake's sudden change of subject, before she heard it too, the sounds of something moving in the building they were watching.
"There's something in there." she breathed, her entire body tensing.
"Not something, someone." Blake said. "Multiple faunus, to be exact."
"How can you tell?" Yang asked, surprise coloring her tone.
"I can smell them." Blake answered. "And two of them smell familiar." She drew Gambol Shroud from its sharpened sheath, her movements suggesting that conflict was imminent.
"What's our plan here?" Yang asked, Ember Celica clicking into their full combat ready form. Her gaze moved from the building to Blake as she spoke, her partner's silence making her skin crawl with sudden uncertainty.
"We take them down and get answers." Blake replied, her sharp gaze fixed on the building, as though it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.
Yang nodded, not needing to ask if there was more to Blake's plan, and they sprang into action, dropping from their hiding place like ghosts.
Yang landed on the balls of her feet, the impact making her shudder. Blake landed gracefully beside her without so much as a sound. Yang felt a brief stab of jealousy towards Blake's ability to move so silently, before remembering that that was merely a product of Blake being a faunus.
For a moment they waited listening for any more signs of movement, and then Blake advanced, her body coiled like a snake ready to strike. Yang had never seen her partner so intense and again felt a stab of worry, before reminding herself that there was a reason Blake was so determined. Yet she couldn't help feeling that if Blake continued to pursue this endeavor with such conviction it would end up getting her hurt or worse.
Blake, however, seemed oblivious to her partner's worries, her mind consumed with the task at hand. She quickly and quietly cut her way through the rotted wooden door at the front of the building, Gambol Shroud making quick work of the maggot infested wood. She was aware of Yang moving behind her, but her focus was on the room before her, which now appeared to be devoid of life. But just as disappointment began to crawl up her spine, she caught a glimpse of movement off to her right and several figures emerged from the gloom of the building's interior.
"Hello kitty, we meet again." a gruff voice said, sending a shiver down Blake's spine.
"It seems we do." Blake said, her tone hiding the sudden rush of fear in her gut as she stared at the hulking, lupine faunus before her. She noted that his smaller companion was with him, along with several other faunus of all shapes and sizes.
"Who are these guys?" Yang asked then, her voice sounding as though it was coming from miles away.
"We're the Red Fang, human." the big faunus answered. "And you're dead."
"NO!" Blake shouted, as the faunus lunged past her, his claws reaching for Yang's throat. But before he could lay his hands on her, Yang had already sent him flying with a wicked, Ember Celica enhanced right hook.
The other faunus hesitated a moment before attacking, but they were quickly out matched by Blake and Yang, who took them all down in a matter of minutes. But before Blake could begin questioning them about their plans, the big faunus flipped a switch and disappeared into the gloom, taking the others with him.
"Damn it!" Blake shouted in frustration, her instincts telling her to pursue her targets.
But before she could move to follow them, Yang pulled her towards the door, saying, "Blake, we have to get out of here. This place is gonna blow."
Blake didn't quite understand what Yang was telling her until they were a block away and a violent explosion shook the entire street.
"Was that...?" Blake asked, her voice trailing off in disbelief.
"The building we were just in?" Yang finished. "Yeah, it was."
Blake swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry, and then said, "Thank you Yang. Thank you for getting me out of there."
"Any time." Yang said. "I told you, I've always got your back."
Blake nodded and they set off, heading towards Ruby's house, where they had agreed to meet with the others at the end of the day.
That evening, gathered at Ruby's house, the members of teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and SSSN exchanged the information they had discovered that day. It wasn't much, but Ruby was encouraged by the news Blake and Yang came bearing, as well as what Sun and Neptune had discovered.
"So, basically, we think this place is where the Red Fang is recruiting members." Sun said, summing up his tale of the apparent Red Fang base he and Neptune had discovered.
"Or it's only one of them." Blake said, not completely convinced by Sun's tale.
"Either way, it's something that's worth checking out again." Neptune said, defending Sun's account of what they'd found.
"Okay, well, we know a bit more about the Red Fang." Ruby said. "But we still don't know anything about that scrawl Weiss and I found or who is making the Liquid Dust and how."
"Not to mention the fact that we're also no closer to knowing about Roman's whereabouts." Yang said.
"I may have a lead on that actually." Jaune said, as he and Pyrrha finally arrived.
"Where have you two been?" Weiss demanded, her gaze sweeping over the pair as they took seats beside Ruby.
"More importantly, what do you mean you may have a lead on Roman?" Yang asked, ignoring Weiss's question.
"I mean I may know somebody who knows where Roman is." Jaune said.
"And why didn't you mention this sooner?" Ruby asked, her tone incredulous.
"Because you're not gonna like it." Jaune answered.
"And why is that?" Ruby asked, still incredulous.
"Because the person I'm referring to is Cardin Winchester." Jaune answered, grinning slightly at Ruby's look of shock.
A/N: And that's chapter 3. I know it's been awhile since I updated this (or anything else), but I've been really busy lately and my time on this entire site has dramatically decreased. That's something I intend to change in the near future, but for now this will have to do. So, we now know more about the Red Fang and we've gotten our first brief glimpse at the larger things at work in this fic (yeah, I'm referring to the scrawl Ruby and Weiss found). What that actually means, you'll have to wait to find out. The more important question now is, what does Cardin have to do with discovering the whereabouts of Roman and his allies? Check back in chapter 4 for the potential answers. And, as always, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers, KT.
