Blake's POV

I took a breath, steadying myself atop the roof of one of the bars on the south side of Vale. It was just a matter of waiting for my targets to final come out, show themselves, leave themselves open for an attack.

I'd only been going on these missions for two weeks, and I had to say it felt so good to be out and about again. There was just one little caveat.

I looked over my shoulder to a rooftop a block or so down, catching the eye of my assigned babysitter who gave a little quirk of her lips and waved before returning her attention to the comic she'd brought with her. It would seem I wasn't entirely off probation just yet. Honestly, I couldn't really complain. She never interfered with my mission, and didn't interact with me unless it was just a wave. I couldn't be sure of what specific orders she was under but I was thankful for any amount of freedom.

One ear twitched as the door below me swung open and shut, cutting off the obnoxious laughter from inside as my targets stepped into the comfortable night air. Both men were clearly drunk, laughing and stumbling, carrying on without a care in the world. My hand reached back for Gambol Shroud. These two were recruiters, known for taking children from their homes for the Imperial Army, putting them on the front lines to die.

I jumped down to street level once I'd checked to make sure the coast was clear, landing on my feet with ease. One of them men saw me coming and started to take a swing when I slashed his throat, allowing a spray of red to burst forth as he collapsed onto the ground, one hand trying to keep pressure on the wound.

The other man couldn't even fathom what was happening before I stabbed the unsheathed blade of Gambol Shroud into the side of his leg, just above the knee. He shouted in pain, toppling over and grabbing at the wound, cursing as he looked over to his comrade then glared up at me and the blade that was was pointed at him.

"Well," he growled. "Get on with it then."

He actually thought I'd make this quick. I had plenty of time.

I lowered Gambol and sheathed it in the plate on my back, pulling the dagger from the holster on my boot. I cut the fabric on his shirt and shoved it into his mouth. "I'm not through with you yet."

When I finished with him, he looked like he'd been pecked over by a Nevermore. It still wasn't enough, if you asked me. What I did to him wasn't close to the amount of pain and suffering those kids and their families had been put through. I could feel that injustice still stinging under my skin. This still wouldn't be enough.

Two subtle thuds landed behind me and both the ears on top of my head swiveled toward it. I turned to find my blonde shadow standing on the ground with me, leaning casually against the brick wall of the alley. Her eyes weren't on me, however, they were on the two men at my feet, more specifically the one I'd just finished with.

I waited for some sort of reaction, actually almost expecting one, but she simply blinked once and then lavender orbs finally looked at me. It frustrated me that this woman could be so unreadable in moments like these.

"You know," I started, all the while cleaning the blood off my dagger and sheathing it. "For an assassin you're not all that quiet."

This finally got a reaction out of her. "You're only saying that because your hearing is ridiculous."

She had a fair point. "Mmm. I suppose. A human's hearing is somewhat...limited."

She snorted in response. "I only came down to let you know there's some White Fang close by. Your mission's over. Probably best we head back."

I nodded. No way was I ready to for another encounter with them. Not yet.


Weiss's POV

"Again."

I bit my lip to keep from groaning, knowing Winter wouldn't appreciate my annoyance, and held my rapier vertically in front of me. We been at this for hours. Well, quite honestly we'd been at this for years. I couldn't do it. Glyphs, sure. Time Dilation, in a pinch. But Summoning just wasn't something I would ever be capable of doing, at least nothing beyond a partial summon. I'd accepted that.

But obviously my big sister hadn't gotten the memo.

I focused. I tried really hard to get the glyph to hold, watching it spin, and sputter, and flicker. I could feel my frustration starting to replace my fatigue. That seemed to be the final straw because the glyph disappeared all together and my jaw clenched and I lowered Myrtenaster.

"Try again."

"You know I can't."

Winter stepped around so that she was now standing in front of me but I refused to look up and meet her gaze, my own eyes locked onto the spot my summoning glyph had just been. "Every Schnee can summon."

I huffed. I'd heard this a million times.

I heard a similar sound leave my sister before feeling one of her hands rest on my shoulder. "Remember, your semblance is like a muscle. You have to practice with it, test its limits," she continued. "That's the only way you'll get better. But for that to happen, you have to keep going."

I finally looked up, and nodded, resigning myself to this drug out test of my sanity. I understood that Winter was only trying to help, but it was so...so... so absolutely maddening that all this had come so easy for her and I was having so much trouble. It shouldn't have been this difficult. Winter believed I could. Every Schnee could, she kept saying.

I took a huge breath, closing my eyes and getting back into my stance, Myrtenaster once again pointed toward the sky. I heard Winter step away, her heeled boots thudding against the hardwood.

"Now, focus. Remember your fallen foes. Focus only on them, and watch as they come to your side."

The snowflake insignia swirled, and I kept my breathing even. I had this. I just had to focus, relax. The glyph widened and started to actually shine. Well this was certainly new. Something started to rise, something...it looked like... My eyes widened and my breath hitched, and just like that my concentration and the glyph were lost. I felt one of my breaths get almost stuck in my chest before it came out in a rush. Every muscle in my body was tense.

"Aw, Weiss, you almost had it!"

Both Winter and myself spun around at the new voice, a voice that belonged to the one and only Yang Xiao Long. She had the biggest grin on her face, standing there in her casual clothes, looking so very impressed by what I had managed to summon for that one moment.

Next to her was the Faunus. She seemed amused if that slight smirk was anything to go by. I narrowed my eyes at her, but she paid me no mind as she turned her attention to her taller partner and exchanged a few words before leaving. I watched as Yang watched her leave.

"I actually thought you were gonna pull it off this time!" she continued, turning her attention back to me, sounding enthusiastic and genuine as she entered the room, walking over to sling her arm over my shoulder.

I managed to regain my composure, offering the brawler a soft smile. "Yes, well..."

"She's improved," Winter offered when I failed to come up with a sufficient response. The look in her eyes told me she knew exactly what I'd been about to summon, and why it had, for lack of a better word, freaked me out. "I have no doubts that with more practice she'll manage it. However," she added. "I believe that will be all for today."

Winter gave me a small smile then nodded at Yang before she left the room as well, one hand rubbing the back of her neck. I released a heavy sigh.

"I didn't interrupt, did I?" There was a genuine concern in Yang's voice as she retracted her arm, looking down at me curiously.

Shaking my head, I walked over to the table and put Myrtenaster in its case. "No, we were done for the day anyway."

"Can I ask what you were about to summon that scared you like that?"

It was actually astounding how perceptive Yang could be.

"It was the knight, right? The one that..." She trailed off, and I was grateful. Jacques Schnee had put me and my sister through many trials throughout the early years of our childhoods, stories that Yang and Ruby had heard. My hand clenched and unclenched and I simply nodded in answer to Yang's question.

I straightened and turned once more to face Yang. Amethyst eyes were studying me, arms open at her side with a small little smile on her face. I laughed a little before accepting the invitation for a hug. This big goof.

"So," I stated as I pulled away from the blonde. "Is the Faunus finally cooperating?" I asked, changing the subject. Enough of this mushy nonsense.

"Weiss, don't be like that," she gently chided. "I mean, I know you both got off to a rocky start but give her a chance."

"Why should I? Hmm? She seems to be barely tolerating you."

"Aw, Weiss!" She laughed and I thought I was about to get a famous Yang Xiao Long bear hug. "You do care!"

I took a step back from the stronger woman for good measure. Yang was a like another sister to me,and I loved her dearly, but her bear hugs could leave bruises. "Shut up, you brute, of course I care," I huffed.

She smiled. "Love you too, Weiss."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Honestly.


Ruby's POV

Penny and I were in the training room, cleaning, maintaining, and testing our weapons. This mostly included me firing a few rounds from Crescent Rose and making sure the blade was sharpened while Penny worked out any possible knots in Crosstails. I wasn't sure how, but no matter how much it was used, Penny's weapon of choice hardly ever got tangled. Though she'd informed me once that getting blood off of it could be a pain sometimes.

It had been a while since I had a chance to test the change of ammunition I was now using. Used to, I'd stuck to regular bullets but Nora and Penny had suggested I try something new. So electric and wire darts became part of my arsenal. They both worked pretty well, especially the wire that extended as soon as it was fired, making it easy to catch those we wanted to keep alive...temporarily.

"Yang spends a lot of time with her partner, doesn't she?" my green eyed companion said after a while.

Well she's been waiting for a partner for a long time," I answered with a shrug, taking another shot at the targets. "And I think she's finally been making some progress with her. Blake's kind of on the quiet side."

Her brow furrowed, and she was silent for a moment. I could almost hear the gears turning in her head. "Will I ever get a partner?"

I sighed and looked over at my best friend. Penny was...odd. Not that any of us were normal in Night Raid, but she was... I wasn't sure how to explain it.

In her own words, she'd never really good at anything. When her father died, she'd tried her hand at a variety of jobs but she didn't last long in any of them. One day I found myself in a bit of situation and she'd jumped in and saved my rear, surprisingly calm after having dispatched my would be killers. She had remembered me from a few months back, how I'd stood up for her when she was a waitress and she had wanted to repay the favor. Afterwards, I'd talked to Winter, had explained the situation, and she'd let her join us, impressed with my report of what had happened.

We were all a team but sometimes we were assigned partners, a person that would be the one who accompanied us on a majority of our missions depending on their severity. Winter never really explained, but she had a good idea of who worked well with each other. She just hasn't found someone that matched Penny's skills yet. Penny was pretty self sufficient if I was being completely honest. I'd have been her partner, easily. But Weiss was my partner and I was pretty happy with that arrangement as well.

"You'll get one soon," I said after a moment. "It took Yang years before she got hers. Just have to be patient."

She hummed in response, her yo-yo out and playing with it, a habit that kept her hands busy. Seemed like she was done taking care of her weapon. The door opened and I heard a loud screech that caused me to smile.

"Nora!" I said as the new redhead tackled me to the ground.

"Watcha doin' there, Ruby?" she asked as she helped me stand, before waving at my companion, toothy grin in place.

"Salutations," Penny simply replied, shaking her head with a smile of her own on her face.

"Cleaning our weapons," I answered as I put Crescent Rose away in its portable gun form. "What do you have in mind for tonight?"

"I was thinking we could go get pancakes at the new place," the hammer wielder answered. "Already cleared it with the boss and everything!"

"You sure it's safe?" I asked. There had been more and more soldiers dispatched lately, a product of our interference. Which was both good and bad depending on how one looked at it.

"I've got it covered," Nora replied with a wink. "We'll just go in costumes!" She grabbed both my arm and Penny's, almost dragging us with her. Well, it was never a dull moment with Nora, that was for sure.


Yang's POV

I looked up from my comic book to look at my partner sitting across from me on the edge of the training grounds. We had been going out on a few missions together, mostly me supervising her by making sure she didn't have any run-ins with the White Fang. During this time we had gotten to know each other a little better. Well, sort of. She really didn't say much but she seemed to be getting more comfortable here, at the very least.

Her eyes were trained on Pyrrha and Jaune who were at it once again. I had to admit, the kid was coming along pretty well. He was nowhere near Pyrrha's level but, then again, not many people were. I glanced over at my satchel and smiled before grabbing it and moving to stand against the railing with Blake. "Like our new recruit?" I asked.

She scoffed and returned her attention back to the book in her hand. I tilted my head to the side curiously. "Having someone like him around isn't very smart," she finally said.

"I admit he's a little rough around the edges, but with a little more training he'll shape up."

"He's going to get someone killed," Blake answered closing her book. "And I don't mean one of the targets. He's incompetent."

"So were you, once upon a time," I defended. "So was I. But what happened? We trained. We learned. We evolved and adapted." I smiled. "Trust me Blake, we're not about to send this kid to fight the Omen of Death or anything. We start him on the easier stuff, watch his back, help him grow. Give him the push he needs. He's got promise."

"Do you always have this much faith in people?"

My smile widened, letting out a short laugh. "Only in those I think deserve it."

She hummed and I sighed reaching into my bag before handing her a book. "This is the one you wanted, right?"

Blake blinked in surprise before taking the book carefully. Her fingers traced the gold lettering carefully and she looked up at me, disbelief and something else swirling in amber eyes.

"You...I...I didn't think you were paying attention."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I, uh, I hope you like it."

She nodded, still holding that book gingerly. "Thank you." And I could hear the sincerity behind her voice.

"Don't mention it."


Salem's POV

It had taken years, but the kingdoms were indisputably mine. I had complete and utter control over them. Of course I hadn't completed this task alone. A handful of my followers and the White Fang had helped along the way. So I had rewarded them each accordingly and even gathered new recruits such as the the amber eyed woman before me, her two companions and...a special weapon of mine.

I leaned back against my throne as Cinder continued on with her report. When she moved on to the damages and casualties I leaned forward as she provided the numbers. My eyes narrowed, realizing where she was heading. Night Raid. The little vermin rebel group had begun to annoy me with its little interceptions. Ozpin was behind it, I knew it. He had a talent for getting under my skin. Something I had always despised.

"Also I thought I should let you know that Blake Belladonna of the White Fang has deflected," Cinder finished.

I raised a brow. "Adam Taurus' pet?" I asked. "Interesting."

"He's already been given orders for her to be captured dead or alive."

"She should be made an example of," I agreed. "Along with Miss Nikos, should we ever get our hands on her."

Cinder kneeled and nodded her head. "You have my word they will be dealt with."

I hummed in response. "When is the Omen due to arrive? There is a shipment that needs to arrive here without any interference from those would be liberators," I elaborated. "She will ensure it."

"She should be here within the next two weeks," she answered. "But if you would allow it, Emerald, Mercury, and I could-"

"The Omen of Death, Cinder," I said. "I will not repeat myself." Her jaw clenched slightly but she nodded. "It's time Night Raid realized who they are dealing with."


I am so so so sorry that this took so long. We've both were so busy with finals and then I had some packing and moving to do and life has just been so hectic this last month or so. Again, we are so so so sorry, please forgive us. We will try to keep chapters coming at a more reasonable rate.

Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter and are still interested in this story. Love you all.

We out! Peace!