Chapter Ten: Sign of Resolve
The midday sun burned hot in the cerulean sky as Team ZERO was taken into the city of Vale on their assignment, the airship carrying them over several buildings. On the way to their destination, the team was unsettlingly silent. Zane looked over the city, his eyes narrow and focused while Orion sat with a saddened expression, his own eyes fixed on something in his hand. Being the only one that noticed, Ella scooted over to him and nudged his arm.
"Hey Orion. What's that you have in your hand?", she asked warmly, trying to cheer him up.
"Huh? Oh...it's...it's this black ribbon", he replied sheepishly, opening his strong hand to show her.
It was indeed a black ribbon, and a pretty long one at that. The ribbon was a few inches shorter of the length of an unraveled tie, yet a little wider.
"Why do you have that? I've never seen you with it before", Ella noted.
He smiled softly,"It belonged to my mom...it was her good luck ribbon. I just grabbed it before we left"
"Orion...I can tell that you're nervous, but I'm sure things will be okay", she assured.
"T-Thanks Ella...I really hope you're right", he sighed worriedly, tying the ribbon around his wrist.
The four teens readied themselves as they were dropped off in the lower-class part of the neighborhood. With their wits about them, the team started to walk. According to the information that Ozpin had given them, there was a violent riot at a restaurant a few blocks away. Team ZERO looked around at their surroundings, horrified at the sight. There were homeless people everywhere, Faunus and Human alike, though the Faunus were more prominent. From elder folk to children, the amount of people living in the streets was plenty. Orion shook his head.
"I can't believe it...how can nobody do anything about this?", he asked emotionally.
Rizu sighed,"Because all of the higher class citizens and large corporations could care less of who they step on to get their way"
"T-That's not true!", Zane defended,"The Noctis Corporation hosts several charity functions...though it is mainly for humans. But don't worry! Once I graduate and become the CEO, I'll make sure the Faunus receive equal treatment"
Orion smiled softly and patted his friend on the back, though didn't know his own strength, thus knocking Zane to the floor. After helping him back up, the group pressed on, trying their best to focus on the mission: stopping a riot. The group pondered what Ozpin meant by the White Fang were getting restless. The White Fang had always been a peaceful organization from the very beginning, so it was odd to hear that they were restless. Orion hoped to the heavens above they wouldn't have to resort to violence.
As the group approached their destination, shouting and chanting could be heard, and the closer they came, the louder the chanting. With weapons drawn and nerves steeled, the group was ready to charge, only to be stunned by a dumbfounding sight: a peaceful protesting rally.
"Justice for the Faunus!"
"Equality for all!"
"Justice for the Faunus!"
"Equality for all!"
Zane, Ella and Orion just blinked at the sight while Rizu stood confused. After moments of uncomfortable silence, the blind teenager spoke.
"Can you guys please tell me what the hell is happening?", he asked frustratedly.
"We came all this way...", Zane started.
"...to stop...", Ella continued.
"A...peaceful protest", Orion finished, lowering his axe.
The group put away their weapons and equipment, sighing in frustration as they looked on to the scene. About twenty members of the White Fang were marching in a circle in the middle of a roundabout road, marching around a fountain. The majority of them were adults...save for one.
Among them was a young girl. Though she was the smallest and the youngest, her voice resounded above all the others. She had short hair like the blackest of nights, her amber eyes burning with passion for justice, her voice crying to high heavens for the justice she craved so dearly for. Her adorable kitten ears stood proudly on top of her head, a little violet tint on them. Orion's eyes focused on her, amazed that someone so young could fight so hard. He smiled softly to himself, reveling in a moment of pride for his kind. However, the peace was not to last. The group noticed that Rizu's head was tilted in one direction, as if...listening.
He drew his weapons,"Guys...I don't think we were sent here to break up a peaceful rally"
"What do you mean?", Ella asked worriedly.
"Look up...and to the left...about ten o'clock", he replied.
The remaining members look towards said direction, their calm faces paling in shock. Soaring through the sky like menacing vultures, were three Atlesian Wyvern-class transport ships. They were modified bullhead ships with menacing dragon-like designs all over it, yet larger in size since they were designed to hold whole battalions of Atlesian Squire bots. Rizu readied his gear.
"Zane...is that what I think it is?", he asked, venom lacing his voice.
"If you mean a triad of Atlesian ships that could drop at least three dozen squire bots on us at any second, then yes", he sighed.
"Looks like we found ourselves another problem", Ella groaned.
"What about the criminal activity Ozpin talked about?", Orion asked.
"We will worry about that afterwards. Obviously Ozpin was mistaken about the White Fang", Rizu growled.
The airships began to hover over the intersection, the hatches of the ships opening, allowing the Squires to drop in. As the robotic soldiers hit the ground, the White Fang stopped in their tracks, looking on in horror at the military hardware surrounding them, unsure of what to do. As Team ZERO readied themselves, what happened next would unravel Orion Maxima's entire mind. One of the Squires lifted it's rifle, pointing it directly at the little girl in the crowd, and prepared to fire.
Orion's grip on his axe tightened to a vice, his muscles tensing and his eyes becoming like that of a feral lion, and a low, earth-rumbling growl began to emanate from him. The growl grew louder and louder until it ultimately erupted into a wrathful, dread ridden roar. Before the combat bot could react to the disturbance, Orion had hurled his mighty axe, the double bladed weapon cleaving it in twain. In the span of about five seconds following this, the White Fang began to scatter, the bots shifted their aim to Orion, and Orion in turn rushed to his axe and began to rampage, with the rest of his team standing dumbfounded at what just happened, yet they needed to move, and move fast.
"Alright guys, let's scrap these bots!", he cried out, charging in with blades lit up.
Ella smiled a little sadistically as her dress began to flare up, the dust on her clothes started glowing in several fire patterns. In her hands, she let small embers dance in her hands before letting them grow into an even-sized fireball. As two bots started to target her, she responded in kind, hurling her orbs of molten heat at them which made quick work of them.
Rizu smiled as he heard the sound of the melting metal hit the floor. Three of the bots turned their attention to him as he ran up, tapping his blade in order to 'see' his path. With a steady exhale, he rushed forward, ducking under the poorly designed aim of the bot before deftly beheading it, then using the body as a shield, shooting back with his revolver in a steady rhythm. He made sure to tap his blade when he attacked, making sure his target was right where he wanted it. The final Squire attacking him tried to hit him, only for Rizu to grab the arm with his own robotic one, ripping off the bots appendage before slicing the torso, letting the parts crumble to the floor before joining the fray again.
Zane carefully blocked any of the shots the Squires took, mainly doing his best to dodge them, yet he wasn't the fastest in broad daylight. Any bots he tried to fight aside from the initial few were taken down by Orion. Orion swung his axe with ferocious force, cleaving the bots in succession like a knife through butter, his attacks relentless and wild. Within minutes, he had decimated what remained of the Squires.
To the team's misfortune, another ship had appeared, four elite human soldiers sliding down some black ropes that dropped off the side. Zane, Ella and Rizu prepared themselves for further combat, only for a single command to stop everything.
"Stop! Don't fire! Everybody stand down...calm yourselves", a deep and authoritative voice called, sliding down one of the black ropes.
As the man giving orders came into closer proximity of Team ZERO, they were easily able to identify him as none other than General James Ironwood himself. He donned his normal white military uniform, his blue eyes coldly looming over the children. Orion growled lowly to himself, his fist clenching down on his axe's haft. Rizu was just as much annoyed to be in his presence, his brow furrowing in growing anger. Zane and Ella merely narrowed their eyes, fixing their gaze upon him.
"Can somebody please explain to me what is going on here?", the general asked frustratedly.
"You sent your scrap metal junk-bots here to slaughter innocent Faunus! One of them aimed it's weapon at a child!", Orion roared ferociously.
Ironwood's eyes widened at this accusation,"What?! I sent my 'junk-bots' here to do no such thing! They were sent here to stop a Faunus extremist riot!"
Ella calmly stepped forward,"Technically...we are here to do the same thing, though we were all mistaken in believing it was the White Fang"
"What? Are you Huntsmen and a Huntress?", the general asked.
She shook her head,"No. Ozpin asked us to investigate a riot here in the city as a substitute combat assessment. I'm guessing it's the same one you were warned about. Besides...isn't Atlas your jurisdiction and not Vale?"
"That may be young lady, but my military is allowed to respond wherever there may be a serious threat. The Squires were ordered to eliminate any sort of organized Faunus disturbance. I suppose I should have worded 'disturbance' a little differently"
Zane piped up,"Wait...you got the same message? From who?"
"Zane? My god it's been an age. Well...actually I don't know. My secretary told me it was an anonymous tip. I suppose Ozpin received the same one. I'll have my people look into this further"
The general turned around to speak to his guards as Team ZERO huddled to discuss the situation they had found themselves in. What was going on? Were both parties given false tips? Something here didn't add up. Ironwood cleared his throat to catch the team's attention.
"Well, it seems we were here on a misunderstanding. We were mistaken in assuming that the White Fang were the threat", he explained, chuckling a bit near the end of his statement.
Orion's eyes narrowed at the general,"How dare you think that they were! They are simply a peaceful group trying to attain equality"
As Ironwood turned towards his rope, he looked back to the Faunus,"Tell me...do you really think that they will remain peaceful forever? Equality will only go so far...until they want more"
As the airships flew off and out of sight, the team took a collective breath, tired from the ordeal. As Zane reached for his scroll to call for a ride back to Beacon, Orion looked to his left to see the young girl from earlier, staring at him from behind a lamppost, a look of both fear and wonder in her eyes. Slowly, he approached her, giving her a gentle smile.
"Hello there. Were you hurt?", he asked kindly.
She shook her head quickly.
"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier, I was just trying to protect you and the rest of the White Fang", he explained.
She stayed silent, just staring at him.
"My name is Orion...what's your name?"
"...B...Blake..."
"That's a nice name. You know...I've never seen someone so young...fight so passionately for justice"
She came out a little more, slowly inching toward him,"I just...I want us all to get along. And I...I'm sick of being bullied by the human children. I want people to treat the Faunus nicely"
Orion squatted down to this girl's height, his eyes meeting her own. Blake's amber eyes burned with a myriad of emotion. Pain from dejection, hate towards prejudice, and a passion to do good in this world in the name of the Faunus. In a way, Orion saw some of himself in her, causing him to smile and enjoy a moment of pride.
"Blake...close your eyes", he said softly.
"Huh? Okay mister", she replied as she did so.
Orion smiled, reaching for the black ribbon on his wrist, removing it and using it to tie a bow in Blake's ebony hair, tucking her petite kitten ears into the folds of the bow. When he had her open her eyes, she looked at her reflection in a shop window. At first, she was confused, looking up at the lion.
"Huh? Why does it have to hide my cat ears?", she asked, tilting her head.
"Because this way...people and Faunus alike will see you for who you are. Not what you are", he explained.
Zane shouted out to his teammate,"Orion! The airship is almost here! We gotta go!"
"Yeah I know give me a sec!", he shouted back,"Remember Blake. Define yourself by what is inside, rather than what is outside"
"Okay mister Orion. Will I ever see you again?", she asked, a little sad he had to leave.
Orion smiled and patted her shoulder,"Hopefully someday, we will meet again"
She nodded and smiled before running off into the streets to join her fellow White Fang members. As she disappeared, Orion could only smile as he turned to join his own people, only looking forward as he imagined what wonderful things that little girl would accomplish.
A/N: There we go! Sorry for the delay and the possibly crappy fight scene. It took me forever to write that. I'm not the best at writing them either so I'm sorry for poor quality if you think so. Anyway please check out the Project Embers Facebook page and stuff if you want and thank you all so much for following and faving this story it means a lot. So thank you. Seriously. Anyway Read and Review!