Chapter Seven
Paranoia
Taiyang wasn't the Deputy to the Headmaster of Signal only because of his good looks and charisma. After the dissolution of Team STRQ, he had asked Ozpin to be relocated to his home island of Patch. Ozpin hadn't been willing to let such a talented Hunter retire and had instead tasked him to teach his skill to the next generations of Hunters.
It had taken over a decade, but he had turned Signal into the premier intermediary Academy before Beacon. Students from the mainland applied for his school once they turned of age rather than go to ones closer to them. He was even slated for the role of Headmaster when the current one retired.
He had taught hundreds of students, beat them down until they had enough skill to graduate as Hunters, or be transferred to Beacon for further training once they became adults. He had molded the worst students into passable Hunters, and similarly broken prodigies set in their prideful ways.
But none of his former students ever displayed such skill as Blake did a few hours previous. Their fight was keeping him awake as he lay in his bed. The full moon wasn't helping as its silver beam illuminated the room.
Spars between Hunters were meant to gauge the skills needed to take on more foreboding Grimm. Signal's graduates could all take on the lower level ones, but only those who made it to Beacon were authorized to take on Nevermores, Griffons, Nuckelavees, and Drakes.
Blake had displayed none of the traits needed to effectively deal with Grimm, but she had displayed a terrifying degree of skill needed to fight against people. She had preyed on his assumption, most likely from spars with Yang, that he'd charge forward and engage her in close quarters.
He had thought she had frozen up at the start of the fight, surprised at his quick engagement. Her Semblance wasn't anything to brush aside, but it was the counterattack hidden within the clone which made him pause.
The fire Dust would have at least severely burnt any Hunter not able to muster a proper shield and the follow-up bullets masked by the smoke would've killed any smaller Grimm or human. She had specifically aimed for extremities, rather than his torso or head.
Her second counterattack was a disabling shot rather than a retreat, a tactic used by the less experienced to buy time and make space, but she had used the overextension and smoke to hide and attempt to end the fight.
It could've been the smoke, but he swore she disappeared from his vision until after her attack had landed. She had a very versatile Semblance.
When he had tried to blindside her with a return kick, she had moved away, almost as if expecting it, luring him in for another attack. She preyed on his need to attack, a style he never got the proper handle of fighting against.
She hadn't thrown an attack without first negating his own and she had taken his incapacitating knee as a chance to lock him in place and land a lethal blow.
She had had the opportunity to 'kill' him and she had taken it. His spars with Yang and Ruby didn't end until one of them was in the dirt from a complete lack of Aura.
Blake had stated she wanted to go to Beacon and said she was self-trained, but she never said she was trained in combating Grimm. Someone had trained her in the art of assassination. She displayed a ruthlessness found in seasoned Hunters, the deception needed use his weakness against him, and the skill needed to put her plan into place.
Yet, she had also displayed the detachment needed to switch between who she was on the field, and who she was on her downtime. She was absolute putty in Ruby's hand and Yang had let her get close enough to touch her hair, no mean feat by his standards.
The more he learned about her, the more questions he had for her.
It didn't help Ruby and Yang seemed to be in on her plan to keep her secrets from him. She hadn't revealed her family name either which left Tai without a foothold to begin his inquiry into her past. Faunus she may be, but he had nothing against them. No last name, no school, no age, and no concrete past.
A first name and a pair of feline ears was all he had.
She was a ghost.
He would've asked her to leave his home if Ruby and Yang didn't act so relaxed in her presence. One year wasn't near enough time to create such a bond, especially since both of them were at Signal for the better part of the year and Blake hadn't been a student there.
The bullhead in the backyard hadn't revealed anything either. The identifying code on its tail had been scratched off. He hadn't had the time to sneak away to check the interior. Not until right now.
It was the sound of a descending bullhead which snapped him from his stupor. The sound of a takeoff got louder, not quieter. Whoever was piloting had cut off most of the engine power and drifted into his backyard, only applying backward and vertical thrust at the last possible moment.
It wasn't the easiest maneuver to perform and resulted in pilots more often than not plunging the craft into the ground and damaging the hull.
There was silence while the engines spun down and he crept to his window, catching a figure in white making its way towards his house. She, he corrected, noticing the flowing mane of white hair reflecting in the moonlight.
Her gait wasn't cautious in the slightest and she didn't draw the rapier at her hip. A muted white snowflake within a circle appeared just under Ruby and Yang's window, shining weakly in the darkness.
He refrained from stopping the Schnee as she knocked on their window, the sound of a fingernail lighting tapping on glass reverberating across the walls. Someone inside the room opened the window after a short while and grabbed the Schnee, pulling her in violently.
Whatever whispered conversations the four were having were lost on him. They were speaking quietly enough where pressing his ear against the wall and channeling Aura to his eardrum wasn't enough to pick up anything.
It took a few minutes of waiting before anything happened and Tai wondered exactly what Ruby and Yang had gotten themselves into as he saw them leave their house with weapons and packs.
The most important details of their escapade wasn't the fact they were leaving, but how they were decked out. Ruby forwent her red cloak and only carried Crescent Rose and a small pack, while Yang had Ember Celica tucked under her sleeves and her hair tucked into her hoodie.
There was something severely wrong with the entire picture.
He watched as they climbed into the bullhead without any fuss. The moonlight let him see it was Ruby sitting in the co-pilot seat and Blake sitting in the pilot's seat with the Schnee behind her and Yang behind Ruby.
Blake cheekily saluted him as she noticed him in the window. He watched as she lifted the bullhead from the ground and shot off towards mainland Vale.
More questions seemed the arise the more he learned. Ignorance really was bliss. He regretted not going to sleep and then dealing with the missing Ruby and Yang in the morning.
The house was eerily quiet knowing he was the only one inside. He had never been in the house alone before, always having Ruby and Yang with him since they were attached to Signal.
There was a yellow sticky-note on their door.
Gone for a trip with Blake. Be back in a few days. Love, Y + R
It was written in Yang's hand, interestingly enough. Usually, it was Ruby leaving cutesy little notes if she was going to do something reckless, the guilt of her actions getting the better of her. It could mean she didn't think what she was doing was reckless, or Yang had subverted her efforts.
There was something awfully wrong with Ruby as well. She never left the house without her cloak and was the first one to greet him when he returned home, racing Zwei to hug him. The sunglasses quirk was small enough to chalk up to Ruby's training exuberance, but the lack of cloak was unusual.
And the way Blake, Yang, and the unknown Schnee had deferred to her was unusual as well. Not giving the pilot's seat to Ruby was natural as she had no flight experience, even with how intuitive the controls were, but Yang should've been the one in the co-pilot's seat as the older and more experienced.
He was lacking information, but he was a former member of STRQ. Qrow was still an active member of the Hunters. He composed a quick message and set it to be sent in the morning.
He needed sleep if he wanted to pick Qrow's brain later.
He woke up to the incessant ringing of his scroll, a particularly annoying klaxon he had set for Qrow's number. He let it ring for a few seconds, letting it pull him from his slumber before he answered.
Qrow's stubbled and smiling face popped up on the screen, completely unmarred by the early hours of the morning. He did have shadows of bags under his eyes, betraying his nocturnal activities.
"First time you call me in weeks and it's not even a 'hello'. I'm hurt." Qrow scratched his chin, the rustle of his stubble crackling across the speakers. "I have Winter call me more often."
"I'm sure she calls just to vent at your stupidity." Tai quipped, slipping into their characteristic banter. "I have a job, and you have yours."
"C'mon Tai, I only get two weeks off during the year."
"Officially." Tai deadpanned, knowing Qrow could disappear off the radar whenever he wanted to and come to Patch to annoy him. Ozpin could do nothing against it with how valuable his function as spymaster was. "Half the time I wonder what exactly your role is as a Hunter?"
Function creep had demanded his role to keep expanding, going from listening posts watching for potential Grimm nests, to fishing for information about potential terrorist cells, subverting plans, and spreading misinformation.
He was the balance keeping the Council and the White Fang in check.
"Half the time I wonder when I stopped being a Hunter." It had been so long since he had taken a mission involving Grimm. Years ago, when Summer had died, he wanted out; wanted to forget the team, wanted to forget what he had had with her. He couldn't even bear to look at the three year old Ruby, her silver eyes reminding him too much of Summer.
The drinking had started soon after.
Ozpin took him under his care, manipulated him to stay as his second right hand. He didn't have an official function until Qrow had suggested his current role, and he had taken to the work in gusto, willing to forget about his previous life as a member of STRQ.
Half a decade into his new job, a moment of sobriety had him returning to Signal and collapsing in front of Tai, begging for his forgiveness. Ruby and Yang hadn't been old enough to remember him, and Tai, in his mercy, had let Qrow back into their lives as their uncle. He had missed his chance to be Ruby's father, and he wasn't going to throw a second chance away.
Tai had put his foot down about his drinking and forced him to greatly curtail it. The resulting detox had nearly killed him and they had learned he couldn't function without at least a drink here and there. He was, in essence, the perfect functioning alcoholic.
"Once a Hunter, always a Hunter." Tai recited their mantra, ingrained into their skulls from their years at Beacon. Hunters didn't retire, and Ozpin was never going to let those who could serve go. Although glorified by the countries and people they served, few ever went into its voluntary service. They weren't paid, and there were much safer alternatives.
"So why'd you message me?"
"I can't just call to say 'hello'?" Tai threw Qrow's own insult back at him, grinning condescending. Qrow returned a look of boredom. "I have a guest staying with me and I need information on her."
"One of Ruby and Yang's friend? I see nothing to worry about."
"Yang let her touch her hair." Qrow choked on his drink, committing blasphemy by spilling some from his mouth. Tai knew he'd never do so if he could avoid it. They knew how possessive Yang was of her hair.
"And you don't know who she is? She didn't just walk out of thin air, did she?"
"I've never seen her before yesterday." That was a massive breach in their security net surrounding the two. Tai was the overprotective one and Qrow served as the method of giving him some peace. "I got nothing from her but her name. She dodged every question I threw at her and when we sparred, she went for the kill."
"You're getting old if you let a girl of Yang's age get the better of you." There was a dangerous and curious gleam in his eyes, hidden behind the lit of his teasing. "Can I get a description?"
"Her name is Blake. She's 5'11", has black hair, golden eyes, and is a cat Faunus with slitted pupils, black feline ears, and sharpened nails. She's deadly with her weapon, a kusarigama/pistol combination, and proficient with her Semblance, the ability to create Dust clones to take hits, yet she doesn't appear registered as a student anywhere in Vale."
"As of last year's census, there are approximately 200,000 Blakes living in Vale, of which only 3% are female, leaving 6,000 people to track. Of those, only 2% percent are classed as Faunus, leaving 120. It's still not enough information. Do you have a picture?"
"Sending it over." He had managed to take a discrete picture as he was leaving the backyard after their spar. Stalker-ish? Definitely. But when it came to his daughters' protection, privacy didn't exist.
Qrow opened up the image, eyebrows deeply furrowing and lips twisting into confusion. He made to speak, but words seemed to escape him. He eventually took several gulps of his drink before scratching his chin and inspecting the image again.
"I know who she is." This certainly was a nice surprise, but it was suspicious how quickly Qrow had found it who she was, not having ran her face through any recognition software. "She was smart not to tell you her name. If I didn't know her mother and father then you'd be shit out of luck."
"Who is she then?" Tai was beyond intrigued.
"Her full name is Blake Belladonna, the princess of Menagerie. She's been missing from her home for the last six years and is suspected in dozens of White Fang operations ranging from armed protest to grand larceny. She dropped off the grid a year ago, disappearing from society and the Fang entirely."
"So what's she doing in Patch and how does she know Ruby and Yang?" Tai thought aloud, bouncing ideas off Qrow. "They've been at Signal all year."
"Six years ago she ran from Menagerie for the Fang. I occasionally get a plea from the Belladonnas asking if I can find their daughter. I knew she was in Vale, just not where. Getting informants into the Fang is a large hassle, but I do know she trained under Adam Taurus, the head of their operations in Vale. A year ago, some altercation happened and she left the Fang, and I haven't been able to track her since. I have no idea when and where she would've met Ruby and Yang."
"I let a trained assassin into my house because they trusted her." Tai rubbed his face tiredly. "Well, she knew how to charm me. Certainly gained my respect with her skills. You'll also be happy to know the three of them left the house sometime early this morning, rendezvousing with a Schnee and then taking her bullhead towards the mainland."
"Long hair, or short hair?"
"Long, all the way down to her hips, and glowing intensely bright white. I got to see her enter Ruby and Yang's room through a glyph suspended in the air."
"Winter hates wearing her hair down." Tai already knew why he'd be privy to such a tidbit of information. Qrow had moved on past Summer, while his Raven had chosen to cut ties with everyone she knew. Funny how Qrow chased after women named for seasons. "So what is little Weiss Schnee doing in Patch, and why is the heiress to the SDC associating with the princess of Menagerie?"
"All good questions, yet I have no answers to give. Anything Winter can tell you?"
"She's been estranged for the last few years and has rarely had the chance to speak to her sister. I could ask her if she has any idea why she'd be on Patch but I don't dare message her before noon. Last time I did, she gave me a gift." He traced a thin scar on his jawline. It was probably when he first fell for her. "Why didn't you stop them?"
"Yang's going to Beacon next semester. She's an adult and I can trust her with Ruby, and if what you've told me about Blake is true, then she has all the protection she needs. Do you know anything about Weiss?"
"Nothing. Winter speaks of missing her immensely, but she barely interacts with her, even at official functions. She says she stays locked in Castle Schnee and is only ever seen at SDC events with her father."
"Hmm. They left a note saying they'd be back in a few days. You wanna drop by for a visit?" They'd have more opportunities to ask questions if they had two senior Huntsmen there, and Ruby could never resist spending time with Qrow. His information would force answers they might not want out into the open, but Blake was a suspected terrorist.
"I'll bring a bottle of something good." Qrow ended conversation, no doubt already preparing for his trip.
He got another message a few hours later and his laughter echoed about the house. Zwei joined in his laughter, running circles around him and bouncing off the walls.
It seemed Winter was tagging along.
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