Distant Past-Alone

When Blake was a small twelve year old girl, she showed up at every White Fang rally. She would cheer the loudest, speak the clearest, and fight the hardest for the good cause. Faunus deserved respect and she would help bring it on. A small little girl, full of hopes and dreams. It wouldn't take long for the idealism to be crushed beneath the weight of the sins the White Fang would commit. 3580 killed, 24 of whom were Schnee executives and 158 were innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was at age 14 that her insulation to the darker side of the White Fang evaporated. It was at 15 where blood was spilt for the cause. It was at 16 she would have daily nightmares of those she felt forced to kill. But she never killed an innocent and she never wanted to. Wars were based on necessity and innocents were never a part of that equation for her. She thought the man she looked up to felt the same. Her partner, her mentor, and the man she loved. She would spend most of her free time within his room, sometimes reading his vast collection of books and other times exploring each other's bodies. She was ready to die for the cause if that's what it took. Her doubts were minuscule compared to the iron resolve that she had. Until the Schnee Train Robbery.

It was a simple mission, blow up the Dust shipment that the Schnees used Faunus slave labor to refine. Set the charges, send the message that Faunus weren't to be trifled with. The security wasn't too tight and they got in without too much trouble. But Adam immediately went to set the charges without making sure the innocent are safe.

"What about the civilians?" Blake destroyed the last robot.

"What about them?" Adam scoffed.

Three little words. Three little words and Blake's grasp on reality slipped. Three little words and nothing she knew felt real anymore. Three little words and the conviction she had felt gave way to doubt. Three little words and Blake knew that everything the White Fang stood for was a lie.

"How many?" Blake asked, trust fragmented further and further into non-existent shards.

"How many what?" Adam turned to Blake, head tilt.

"…" Blake couldn't ask. She already knew the answer. Too many innocents died for Adam's execution of the mission. She ran towards the front of the train and stopped right after the connector between the supplies and the engine. "I can't do this anymore Adam. The White Fang has too much blood on its hands. Blood it shouldn't have."

"They'll kill you." Nothing more was said, just a simple admission of truth.

"I don't care. I refuse to fight for a cause that's become so twisted and corrupted." She yelled at the man she had looked up to.

"You have blood on your hands too." Adam gritted his teeth.

Tears had fell down Blake face. Raising Gambol Shroud she had cut the connector. "Goodbye Adam."

"I'll give you a year, one year. Beyond that I cannot stall the will of the Council." Adam turned around and sat down, his image growing farther and farther way. Her connection to her old world gone.


Present Time-Beacon

Jaune received an encoded message from Roman this morning. Its message a simple request for information on a woman named Winter Schnee. But information missions rarely signified anything good. They either implied Kill Orders, Kidnappings, or other things. Jaune breaks the disposable Scroll into small shards and throws it into the toilet. Flushing it, he turns on the faucet to wash his hands and face. Taking a moment to breathe in and out to calm his nerves, he leaves the bathroom.

"Finally!" Yang yells before rushing into the bathroom. The perks of a four-team dorm meant a personal bathroom. The downside of a four-team dorm meant sharing a personal bathroom.

"I swear to Oum Yang, if you take forever..." Blake threatens her through the door.

"And now you know why I wake up 5 in the morning." A small knowing smile spreads across Pyrrha's face. Blake rolls her eyes and plops back down on her bed to read another book.

"The fun has arrived!" Yang yells as she walks out with a towel wrapped around her head. Blake ignores the girl and heads straight for the bathroom.

Jaune looks around, "Where is it? I don't see it."

Yang cracks her knuckles and socks him in the shoulder, "Very funny Vomit Boy."

"Glad I could make you laugh, Puke Shoes." The moment the words leave his lips, he rushes to the door to escape the wrath of Puke Shoes. He pops out a small bottle of Lightning Dust and smashes it on his legs. Crude but it gets the job done. His speed doubles as ducks and weaves through the poor souls unlucky enough to be wandering the corridors. He didn't have his sword so he had to rely on his surroundings. Glancing behind him, Yang still chases after him, red eyes and all. "...Me and my big mouth." The corridor ends as he reaches the cafeteria and an insane thought enters his head. He scans the surrounding area and finds some poor sap eating mashed potatoes. He runs up and grabs his plate.

"Hey!" The boy yells at him.

"Sorry!" Jaune yells back. Pouring his Aura into mashed potato, he flings it at Cardin Winchester, Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose, and Coco. If his calculation was right, it should quickly devolve into a food fight and chaos would reign supreme. Nora and Ruby take the bait and fling food back at him, he dodges and it hits Yang square in the jaw. With new targets acquired, Yang unleashes a barrage of food based attacks. Within a mere matter of moments, the entire cafeteria devolved into pure unadulterated mayhem. Jaune smiles at his accomplishment and activates his Semblance. Awareness of him quickly slipping into the ether, Jaune laughs to himself as Yang is thrown through the roof. It gave him a small reprieve before he began his information quest.


Present Time-Arc Household

Fleur Arc, the second oldest child of nine Arc children. She felt that earned her the right to be the heir, but her father was always ever disappointed in her. Never good enough, never fast enough, never smart enough, and when she wasn't made leader of her team at Beacon, that was the final nail in the coffin. It would take three more siblings before her father found a "worthy heir." A pathetic boy who cried when she teased him, who couldn't fight worth anything, and to add insult to injury, he had the largest Aura reserves of the family. Her older brother would've been the heir had he not pissed it all away getting into fights with hoodlums. Rouge had a taste for blood, so he would carve his initials into the people who lost. Father had wasted no time disowning him.

"Mom, why do you care if Jaune's alive or not? Last I checked, he ran away. He abandoned this family when we needed to unite." Fleur starts peeling the skin off an apple.

The lady pinches the bridge of her nose. "We've been over this Fleur, and he's still family. Besides, he's at Beacon."

"What?! How?!" Fleur yells out.

"And, he's a team leader. By all rights and means, he's still the heir." Her mother speaks.

"He should've lost that right when he ran away."

"Well that's not your decision to make."

"Lady Azure, isn't it time that Master Arc returned home?" Noir the butler spoke up.

"Not yet, he still has his demons to battle. After all, he's spent time with Rouge." Azure Arc's lips twist in anger.

"I thought we were banned from talking about Rouge?" Fleur frowns.

"It's better than that Oum-awful name he calls himself now. And the ban still is in place, but this conversation is happening because Jaune needs to be freed of Rouge." Azure sighs.

"Shall I retrieve Master Arc then?" Noir inquires.

"No, chances are he'd make good on that promise he made to you all those years ago."


Present Time-Dorms

The information he gathered on the Schnee woman was rather interesting. She was considered the "back-up" plan just in case something happened to Weiss even though Winter was older. Did Perle disown the woman? No, that would get her name stricken from the Schnee household. No, she must've been like Fleur, not 'good' enough. A small of sympathy enters his minds before he squashes it. Sentimentality would get him killed in this line of business.

Her preferred method of weaponry was a rapier infused with Dust. This family cared for uniformity and conformity more than the individual. Not unlike his own... He punches the side of his head with his knuckles a few times to stop the onslaught of sympathy. Where was it coming from?

Her personality was seemingly cold. Those she values: she's kind, almost motherly. Those who get in her way are systematically put down. Literally or figuratively, it depended on the severity.

Beyond the weapon was miscellaneous information that both he and Roman wouldn't care for. Then a nasty idea began to form in his head. If it worked, it would remove the Schnees from play entirely. If it worked, people wouldn't mock the Arcs anymore. Jaune sends a message to Neo through his Chess Scroll telling her to figure out Winter Schnee's entire schedule. For the first time, he would escalate the mission to a kidnapping by his own volition. Roman wouldn't care, information is information is information.

Breathing in, he looks over to his sleeping partner. Even in sleep, she wore that black bow. What did it signify? Yang listens to music and Pyrrha gets ready to sleep. A month had passed since he enrolled to Beacon and he was no closer to finding the White Fang deserters. Regardless, he started to enjoy his time in Beacon.

Yang takes off her headphones and faces him. "Jaune, do you like Weiss?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Jaune frowns in confusion.

"I don't know, you two have this weird tension between you two." She shrugs.

"It's a family thing. Arcs and Schnees after all." He tosses her one of the apples in his drawer. "Eat. It'll help you sleep."

"Thanks. What about Blake?" Yang takes a bite and the corner of her lips foam.

"Hmm?" He takes out a pencil to write some things down for himself.

"Do you like her?" Yang leans forward and grabs her ankles.

"I... I'm not sure." Jaune scratches his neck.

"Oh-hoh? Do tell." Yang crosses her legs and leans forward.

Jaune looks out the window, intent on studying the fascinating non-existent weather outside.

"Jaune, I will punch you in the sternum so hard, you'll have trouble breathing for days. Tell me."

"I'm surprised you know what sternum means." Jaune laughs.

"I'm not an idiot Jaune, despite popular opinion. Now tell me."

Jaune groans. "You ever get that feeling where you want to know everything about a person? What their favorite books are, their favorite musics are, what their dreams are, what their passions are? That's what I'm feeling, but it's too early to pinpoint if that's romantic or if she's in the process of becoming my best friend."

"Sweet Oum, you are adorable. You are a precious national treasure, you must be protected."

"Thanks? I think?"


Present Time-Downtown Vale

Yang forcibly brought her team with her to the night-life in Vale. She recently acquired a certain Heiress's credit card and like the responsible adult-to-be she opts to treat her newly acquired friends with money that isn't quite hers. Blake looks like she's ready to run at any given moment, Jaune looks bored out of his mind, and Pyrrha has a smile that said, 'I'm here because I'm socially obligated to be here.' This is her toughest crowd yet, but that wasn't going to stop Yang from making this the best night of their lives. They needed some festivity and fun in their lives. No use drowning in books like some bookworm.

"So we're going to hit this club called "The Three Bears," I know the club owner and he owes me a couple favors. So tonight we're going to get waaaaaaaaasted~" Yang cheers. Jaune frowns a bit, that's Junior's bar.

"You're getting wasted, I'm reading my book in solitude." Blake pulls out one of her books. Yang grabs the book.

"No. You're going to do something other than put your nose inside of a book." Yang sticks her tongue at Blake. "We're all going to have some stupid, reckless fun. We're going to fulfill every stereotype they have about partying teenagers!"

"How about we don't and say we did," Jaune interjects.

"That sounds boring Jaune, denied." Yang yells out.

"It'll be alright Jaune, it's only one time. As long as we drink in moderation, we will be fine." Pyrrha said.

"Et tu, Pyrrha?" He looks betrayed.

"We're here. Remember, beer is off-limits. We're not drinking that pansy ass light-weight garbage." Yang cheers as she pulls open the door. Hardstyle Techno blasting loud blasted into their ears, the bass so powerful that they could feel it on their skin. They walk in and walk up to Junior, his eye twitching.

"I thought I told you that you weren't welcome here anymore Xiao Long." Junior growls out.

"And I thought I told you that as long as I had physical evidence of you openly flirting with a minor, I could do whatever I wanted in your club~" Yang blows into Junior's ear; he stiffens and glares at the ground in disgust. Then he notices Jaune standing behind Blake and Pyrrha. About to call out to him, Jaune raises a finger to his lip and shakes his head. Nodding, Junior turns back to Yang.

"You're paying full price."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She hands him the credit card. Junior clutches his head as a migraine began to build. He walks off, it wasn't worth it. Yang laughs and pulls Pyrrha and Jaune towards the dance floor. "Show me your dance moves you two."

Jaune smirks and raises his right arm and clicks his fingers. He nods his head to the beat of the song playing in the background for a good ten seconds before he begins moving. No wasted movement, flowing like water, just like how his sisters had taught him. He turns to Blake and draws her in and spins her.

"Oh my god Jaune, you're amazing!" Yang jumps up and down. Dancing wasn't unlike a battle, know the moves, know the placements, and keep pace properly. Blake keeps up just enough to not distract from what Jaune doing. In these just few moments he would stop caring about his mission, his role, his destiny and he would just enjoy himself with his friends. Friends... They were his friends... He grew attached to them...

"I'm not drunk enough for this! Bartender! Bring me a Chateau Merlin." Jaune yells out. A wine so powerful that one glass would make you feel like you're a magician. He was growing attached to these people and that scared Jaune. He would drink it all away to forget the fear building inside of him. The man brings a bottle and three glasses. Yang laughs and grabs the bottle, taking a swig of the bubbling concoction before shoving it into Blake's mouth. She takes a few gulps before Jaune grabs the bottle and downs a third of the bottle. A fire lights inside his stomach and his cheeks flush and burn. Yang laughs, takes the bottle away and pushes the remain onto Pyrrha. Reluctantly Pyrrha drinks the rest. She hiccups the moment the empty bottle leaves her lips.

"You know... *hic* what would be *hic* a good *hic* idea?" Pyrrha giggles. "If we all *hic* got a private *hich* room. And then we can *hic* play spin the *hic* bottle."

"That... is... BRILLIANT!" Jaune yells out. Yang nods sagely. Blake grabs the back of Jaune's shirt so she doesn't lose her balance. Together they walk upstairs to grab a private room.

The moment they enter the room, Yang plops down on the floor and places the bottle on its side on the floor. "Let's do this!" One by one the rest of the team sits down to place the game of spinning bottles.

"I go first seeing how I'm the leader." Jaune grins with a huge blush spreading his cheeks.

"Nuh-uh, I go first because I invited us all on this trip~" Yang counters.

"Fine, but you better make it extra hot~" Jaune lets loose things he would never say sober. Pyrrha giggles and Blake rolls her eyes, long giving up fighting Yang's insanity.

Yang grabs the bottle and gives it a good spin. It spins for a good thirty seconds before slowing and stopping in front of Pyrrha. Pyrrha hides behind her hands while Yang chuckles, slowly crawling towards the champion. Removing her hands, Yang kisses Pyrrha's neck. A small moan escapes her lips before Yang bites the girl's lower lip causing Pyrrha to yelp in pain. Yang presses her lips against Pyrrha's and they start to make out. Jaune tries to look away but he's mesmerized by the sight. He steals a glance at Blake and notices she's bored.

Jaune leans in and whispers into Blake's ear, "Want to head back to the dorm while they're busy?" Blake nods. "Grab my hand, I'll make sure my Semblance extends to you as well." Hesitating, she grabs his hand and the lights and colors in the world fade to grey. Jaune wobbles a bit but he manages to stay upright. Together, hand within hand, they walk out of the club without tripping too much. Once outside, they let go hands and Jaune deactivates his Semblance.

"Why does your Semblance remove the color from the world?" Blake asks.

"Not sure, but it does let me know when it's properly active." Jaune shrugs as he wobbles a bit. Why did he have to drink that blasted concoction? "Taxi!" A taxi stops in front of them; they get in. The rest of the night blurs into a haze.


Present Time-Dorm

Jaune wakes up in the dorms with a headache the size of the Sun in the sky. Groaning, he turns to look at the rest of the rest his team. They're all groaning as they try to go back to sleep. Jaune places a pillow over his head and screams into it.

"I'm never going out drinking with you ever again, Yang." Jaune whispers.

"Stop shouting!" Yang groans out. The weekend starts off with a bang. Laugh crying, he hears a familiar ring from a certain scroll of his. Groaning he looks at the damn thing and a chill runs down his back. Neo sent a picture to Jaune's Chess scroll. It was a picture of Winter Schnee. It could only mean that there was an opening. Breathing in, he responds with a simple two word command.

Do it.

-Chessmaster


Present Time-Vale Cafe

Winter Schnee loves her green tea cold. She also enjoys it when the barristas add lemon and honey to it. Usually people only went one way or the other, but Winter was the only person she knew that did. She loves her small rebellions against the her father's strict adherence to the family unit. Sweets are her life blood, romance novels her guilty pleasure, and cute subservient boys were her passion. She takes a sip of the green tea before smiling, none of the servants back at the Atlesian capital can make it quite like this store. Ironwood always tried to get her to switch to coffee. She admire the General, but she wouldn't drink that devil's concoction.

"Hi, how may I help you?" The silver haired boy smiles. She grins, the boy is pretty. Winter could make him spell her name with only gasps and begs.

"I'd like to drink cold green tea with honey and lemon."

"Sure, coming right up." The boy smirks.

"How long have you been working here?" Winter strikes up conversation while waiting. She taps her nails against the wooden table, making a small percussive melody.

"A week now, the boss usually has me working night shifts but today she wanted me to the morning shift because everyone got sick." He shrugs as he works on making the tea.

She nods and goes back to tapping her fingers and her nails against the wood. "Hmmmm. Hmmmm. Hmm." She hums along with her melody.

"Your tea is ready." The voice snaps her out of her reverie. The boy places the tea in front of her and she drinks it. The way the lemon and the honey clashed with the bitterness of the tea, she loves it. But then she notices a strange foreign taste to her drink, her head begins to hurt and her vision starts to swim. The effects are similar to... Blood Dust... Scrambling for her purse, the boy laughs at the TV in the background. She reaches for her purse but the world spins 180 degrees, gasping for air on the ground. She tries to get up but she falls back down instead, dizziness growing exponentially. Tears flood her eyes and her consciousness fades.

The moment the girl stops thrashing about, Mercury walks up to the girl. Giving her a light smack on the face to confirm, she doesn't respond. Mercury pulls out his scroll and types out an encoded message to Neo as he picks Winter and throws her over his shoulder.

Mission Accomplished.

-Mercury


Author Note: Well that's Chapter 7. How are you guys enjoying the story so far? Don't forget to review, let's me know your guys' thoughts. Anyhow, the plot is going to start picking up now. The political intrigue is going to hit the forefront of the story, there'll be more romantic moments between Jaune and Blake eventually, but it has to feel organic and natural. I'm not going to force it. Next chapter I'm going to start putting Adam into play. So look forward for that. Anyhow, this is Zaynal peacing out.