Thick, black smoke filled the air. Every breath carried a foul stench. Ash clung to Blake's clothes. Immense heat was all around her, and she could barely see for all the dancing flame. The ground beneath her was the only place she could see that wasn't being engulfed in flame with the rest of the drug field. The world seemed inverted as she reached the midpoint of a backflip. Time passing slowly, she levelled the weapon she'd stolen from the hands of the enemy and fired. The bullet cut through the thick smoke and caught her target in the chest. His aura shattered and he fell backwards. Blake continued spinning through the air and landed safely on the ground. Flame was closing in. Blake scanned the walls of approaching fire, looking for an opening to escape.

Between the dancing pillars of red and orange, she spotted Weiss. Weiss caught her eye and aimed Myrtenaster into the air. A glyph appeared just above the flames between the two of them. Blake crouched, putting as much strength as she could into her jump. She leaped into the air, and repelled off the glyph, feeling the wave of heat from beneath. She landed next to Weiss, nodded to thank her for the save, and the two of them charged the nearby Guardians together. Blake jumped at the nearest enemy, spun and kicked him in the face. She pushed off him, shot another as she passed over him, and struck a third with the blade on the pistol. Weiss took down the first Blake had kicked with a Dust blast. The one who'd been shot hadn't been dropped by the attack. He swung his axe at Weiss. Weiss quickly threw up a glyph between them, and the axe bounced off, throwing the Guardian backwards. Weiss let the glyph disappear, then shot forward, stabbing Myrtenaster into him. Weiss glanced around, and saw a heavily armoured Guardian charging with a drill-spear. Weiss adopted a fighting stance, readying herself to parry. As her opponent closed in, she saw a blur of movement over his shoulder. He was caught off guard by a cloud of rose petals that struck him from behind. He started to turn, but was interrupted by the hook of a scythe catching him around the neck. He was dragged off his feet as Ruby shot past him. She twisted Crescent, sending him slamming headfirst into the ground. She swung Crescent Rose around, adopting a victorious pose.

Blake quickly scanned the area for more of them. The field had only been guarded by around ten men. The fight had been closer than Blake would have liked. Burning the field had caught their enemy off guard, but Blake couldn't say how well the fight would have gone otherwise. The Guardians were proving to be a formidable threat, even in small numbers.

"Setting the entire field on fire really worked out great, Ruby," Weiss said, as they retreated from the flames.

"It worked, didn't it?" Ruby said, shrugging.

"I wasn't being sarcastic," Weiss said, "It was genuinely a great plan."

"The fire's going to draw in more of them," Blake said.

"Right," Ruby said, "Get into the trees, recon their response to the attack. It'll be useful intel."

They ran from the burning field, a short distance down a dirt road that lead further into the island, and into the brush. They crouched down, and made sure they were hidden from view. Blake peered through the bushes, watching the road. Weiss stared up at the massive column of black smoke rising into the sky. The three of them sat in silence, waiting. Several minutes passed with a word being spoken. Eventually, Weiss looked over at Blake. She was still staring at the road with absolute focus. The way she crouched, a comfortable enough position to hold but ready to burst into movement at a moment's notice, reminded Weiss of a panther on the hunt. Blake's eyes were cold, almost emotionless, but hinted at an intense fire beneath the surface. Weiss watched Blake for a few seconds, thoughtfully. Something had been nagging at her since the clearing. Finally, Weiss gave in to curiousity and spoke.

"How did you know?" She whispered.

Blake turned to her, raising an eyebrow. Ruby glanced over, similarly confused.

"How did you know what the cage was for?" Weiss asked.

Blake turned back to the road, remained silent for a brief time. For a moment, Weiss wondered if she was going to reply at all. Finally, Blake answered.

"I've never seen it done like that," She whispered.

"Did the White Fang...?" Ruby asked.

"No. Well..." Blake began, "It was a long time ago. I was on a job with three others. Two of them were... I can't remember their names. The other was named Verte. We ambushed a shipment of Dust outside the Kingdom. They had more security than we expected. Verte and I survived, the other two were killed. And the truck we'd been planning to drive back to the Kingdom was destroyed. We had 20 kilometers to walk through Grimm territory. I was young, still learning, I thought for sure we would die out there. The driver of the truck, he was still alive. We had been planning on taking him prisoner. Negotiate with Schnee for a tidy ransom for his release. But now... Verte said he'd just slow us down. Said we could lock him in the back of the truck. Said he'd bait the Grimm away from us as long as... as long as he was in pain."

Blake seemed to be having trouble speaking. Ruby sat next to her and wrapped an arm around he shoulders.

"When we got back, Adam was... he was different back then. There was still some of him left that cared about humans. He was furious at Verte. Told him he'd gone too far. Told him he was the reason people saw the Faunus as animals. Threw him out."

Weiss didn't know what to say. She stayed silent, watching the road. She wondered, not for the first time, about all the things Blake had seen in her life. She felt like she was starting to understand what made her so distant sometimes, so hesitant to trust others. It made her all the more impressed by Blake's resolve to make the world a better place. Weiss felt almost privileged to be on a team with her.

The sound of an engine rumbled in the distance. There was a truck approaching, down the road. The three of them tensed up. They watched, holding their breaths, as not one but three large trucks rolled by, kicking up the dirt of the road as they passed. They pulled up to the burning field, still aflame but starting to die down. Men started pouring out of the covered backs of the trucks; at least ten from each. All of them were armed with powerful weapons. One guy, who seemed to be in charge, took a moment to survey the destruction, then turned and began barking orders to the group. The three Huntresses couldn't make out what was being said, but understood the meaning of the way he pointed to the trees surrounding the field.

"Let's fall back," Ruby whispered, "Hit them somewhere else while they're still looking for us here."

Blake and Weiss agreed. They slipped away, deeper into the forest, as the Guardians began searching for them. They moved a sufficient distance, until they decided it was safe to stop and plan their next move. Ruby and Weiss examined their map, trying to pick which building was most likely to house more Guardians. Blake stood watch. Eventually, Ruby and Weiss agreed to travel southeast. Ruby used the scroll to call Jaune.

"Jaune, you there?" Ruby asked, "The Guardians know we're here now, so be careful."

"Copy that," Jaune said, "There's a pretty big column of smoke south of us, was that you?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, "Burned down a drug field. Now moving southeast."

"Alright," Jaune replied, "JNPR is moving east, we think there's a group of them in one of the buildings up ahead. Wish us luck."

"Right, good luck, stay safe," Ruby said, "I don't want us stuck here after dark, so we should start heading back to the beach within the hour."

"Good idea," Jaune said, "Team JNPR out."

It was just after sunset, and Ozpin had had a very long day. He strode down the hall to the elevator that would take him to his office, knowing that a pile of paperwork waited for him there. He awkwardly held his cane under the crook of his arm, as both of his hands were occupied. In his right hand he held a fresh cup of coffee, in his left, his scroll. From the scroll, a voice he'd become far more familiar with than he'd have cared to was droning on.

"...and I don't have any intention of getting in their way, but I still have to do my job," Sheriff Auburn was saying, "And balancing those two things is getting harder and harder."

"Han," Ozpin said, sighing, "I am bothered by the implications of recent events just as you are. But there is no reason to believe that what little we know paints the whole picture."

Ozpin stepped into the elevator and hit the button that would take him to his office. He closed his eyes as the elevator hummed.

"With respect, sir, you must realize there's something that Belladonna knows that she isn't telling the police. She knows something about whoever is killing these people."

"Blake Belladonna is among the most enigmatic young Huntresses I have met in some time. And after what she's been through, I'm sure you can appreciate her being even less trusting of others than one might usually expect."

"All I'm worried about is that if she's protecting somebody, she might not realize how dangerous they could be."

The elevator reached the top floor of Beacon's highest tower, and a cheerful bell dinged. Ozpin stepped out of the elevator, looked up, and stopped moving mid-step. His chair, which he always pushed in when leaving his office, was turned around, facing the window. Ozpin got the distinct sense that somebody was sitting in it. Ozpin raised an eyebrow and took sip from his coffee.

"All I'm asking is that you ask her to come back in for more questioning. I don't want to stop them from going after the Guardians, but-"

Ozpin's chair suddenly swung around, so that its occupant faced the headmaster. Ozpin's eyes widened, and he slowly lowered his coffee mug from his lips. His grip on the scroll tightened slightly. He was staring into the face of a man he hadn't seen in a long time. Auburn's voice was still coming through the scroll, but Ozpin wasn't listening.

"-because if I'm supposed to be helping out in this fight where I can, its important that-"

Ozpin closed the scroll. He slid it into his jacket, slowly. The man sitting in his chair smiled at him, coyly. Ozpin took hold of his cane, and removed it from under his other arm. He gripped the handle, tensely.

"Hello, Ozpin." The man said to him, casually.

"Hello, Adam," Ozpin replied.