So if you haven't noticed uploads have been kind sparse lately. And honestly its because i haven't felt all that inspired lately and it's just gotten hard for me to write RWBY stuff. Suffice it to say i had more love for the show when i started this then i do now. I don't hate the show, but i just find it has been a bit of a let down as of late. And a lot of whats been going on behind the scenes has left a bad taste in my mouth. So I've been sitting on this chapter for a couple months rewriting it till i was happy with it. I won't go into to details but as always your guy's feed back is always appreciated.
I also want to say thanks for the two hundred and six follows and the one hundred and forty seven favorites and over 40k views (particularly proud of that fact:D) I'm still in awe at how many people actually like this story, you guys are awesome.
"Beware of the truth, Although much sought after, truth can be dangerous to the seeker"
Team Rwby took in the sights as vale prepared for the upcoming Vytal festival. The biennial festival had come around to Vale again and the entire city was buzzing with activity. Weiss in particular was admiring the logistical feat that was needed to facilitate this. It was all so grand to Ruby as she marveled at the decorations and the interesting people that were arriving. Banners and streamers were flying from every street post, stop light and on every building. City workers were hard at work cleaning the streets and sidewalks of litter and all around there was a joyous festive attitude to the preceding. Even though they couldn't escape the fact that underneath all the spectacle things weren't getting much better, the string of robbed dust stores hammered home that fact.
"What could the white fang want with all that dust?" Yang asked as they left the scene of the latest robbery. Police had cordoned off the area but it seemed like they were about to conclude the investigation and pack it up.
"We don't know if it really is the white fang." Blake added sounding a little defensive.
"Oh please, what other ne'er do well organization would even need that much dust. If it isn't those psychos who else could it be?" Weiss said, barely holding back her disgust.
"The white fang is just a bunch of misguided faunus." Blake said in a placating tone. Ruby noticed she was starting to look uncomfortable with the subject
"Genocidal madmen are more like it. They're the ones wanting to wipe humanity off the map."
"Come on Weiss. It could have been that Torchwick guy i ran into months ago, the police never did catch him." Ruby said stepping in to try and shut down the growing argument.
"Be that as it may. It still doesn't change the fact that the white fang are nothing but scum. Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"That's not necessarily true." Yang chimed in.
"Well I suppose there are a few good ones." Weiss conceded. The team had walked from the robbed dust store and down to the docks as passenger and cargo ships could be seen pulling into the port of vale. The docks were just as busy as ever it seemed. And it was from here that many of the arriving students could be seen disembarking their ships for the tournament.
Their conversation was halted by a clamor from one of the ships. And team rwby watched as a blonde haired young man leaped from a ship to a dock and proceeded to climb a light post and leap over several officers.
"Thanks for the lift guys!" He called as he came bounding up the stairs and right past the girls.
"Well weiss you wanted to see the competition, there it wen't." Said Yang
"Quick after him!" Weiss declared as they and several dock workers took off after the boy. But while all their attention was focused on the brash stow away, no one noticed another faunus leave the ship.
Lukas took in a deep breath and took in the aroma of dead fish, and scummy salt water. Ever since the zoo incident he was a wanted man in vale. But luckily for him Akela arranged for him to stow away on a ship from Mistal to get into the city again. And his new friend had offered to help him get off the boat unseen in exchange for the banana from his rations.
He hopped off the deck of the ship onto the now deserted dock and as quick as he could was across the open area and heading to an ally before anyone could see him. He turned just in time to see Sun disappear with a handful of people. Including someone he knew. But it wasn't a good place to confront her. No he needed to bid his time for the perfect moment.
"That boy appreciates a good joke." He laughed to himself as he disappeared down vale's twisting alleys. He had a job to do and people to find.
"I don't understand how this is causing such a problem." Came the muffled voice of Weiss.
"That is the problem." Blake retorted
"They're still going at it." Narissa said through gritted teeth from her corner of the room where stacks of books and homework were placed within reaching distance. A pot of tea on her right and a mug on her left.
Ever since team Rwby came back from Vale they had been arguing about the white fang and while it was an interesting topic for discussion, it was now starting to get late it was really starting to grate on team Angl as there was a test next week. And unlike Azrael the rest of them couldn't use their semblances to rush a test.
"I'll take care of it." Azrael said rising from his chair at the study table, setting down his book and leaving the RWBY may cause the odd ruckus here or there but this was starting to get ridiculous and if someone didn't step in they might go at it all as Azrael walked down the hallway toward Rwby's room he was surprised to see Blake bolt out of the room and sprint right past him with not a word said to him.
"Blake?" Was all he got to say before she rounded the corner and was gone. Azrael broke into a jog towards the room and arrived to see the stunned faces of the girls.
"What was all that about?" He said gesturing in the direction Blake went. But all he got in return was stares.
Blake kept running. Tears in her eyes made her vision blurry but she could see where she was going and she eventually came to a stop in front of the monument that stood in front of beacon. The argument with Weiss had stirred up bad memories. Timidly she reached up and pulled the strings of her bow until the ribbon came undone and she stood there with her faunus cat ears exposed for the world. She knew why Weiss had spoken with such vitreal towards the white fang, part of her said that it was all done for the greater good, to help the faunus but she also knew that was nothing noble about what the fang had become. But part of her still burned with the same zeal she had used to carry out her missions. Knowing that she had helped cause such distress to the SDC but at the same time also to her friend Weiss filled her with a joyous sorrow that she couldn't express.
'Was any of it worth it?' She asked herself.
'I came to beacon to get away from the fang, to do some real good and to stop hurting people. I just want to get away.' With her thoughts muddled as they were she didn't sense the intruders coming up to her until it was too late.
"You know. If you wanted to hide, maybe you should have done more than just a piece of ribbon."
Blake wheeled around to see two figures standing in front of her. One was the blond faunus she had seen at the docks, and the other. The other was a ghost out of her past. The shaggy red hair, the piercing yellow eyes, And the rictus grin.
She took a step back and gasped. "You?"
Lukas took a step closer and said "Good to see you again Blake."
His grin grew and he gave a chuckle before he continued. "Let's have a talk."
The morning after the altercation with Blake was a free day for the students and as such the moment he awoke Azrael was busy organizing the search effort for Blake. Azrael was busy pointing to a blow up image of the city and was pointing with a yardstick and was assigning areas of responsibility when Yang spoke up.
"So while team Rwby searches the east side we'll be moving through the south west area of the city-"
"Hold it." Yang said, rising from her seat. Azrael arched an eyebrow "Yes?"
"Why exactly are YOU the one heading this? As far as I'm concerned this is a team Rwby problem."
Azrael turned from the board to give her his full attention. "Well I figured as friends of team Rwby you would welcome the extra help." He said holding the yardstick in both his hands.
"And who says you're our friend?" Yang asked. Once again Azrael shot her a surprised look before saying. "Ruby does often, and at great lengths. I believe her words were 'Sometimes I feel like you and Luis are the only friends I've made at this school. My own teammates hardly talk to me."
As the eyes of the other girls bored into her Ruby shrunk into her chair whimpering. "That was months ago."
Azrael continued. "Besides I figured you'd need someone to organize things to make it go smoother. Or did you plan to walk around Vale shouting her name until you found her?"
Yang said nothing but she did cross her arms at this. She sat back in her chair only saying. "Fair enough."
"Good, now let's continue."
At noon, with their areas designated Team Rwby waited on the school's landing pad for the boys so they could make the trip down to Vale and after waiting a few minutes the two of them finally came into view.
Azrael wore his normal leisure outfit but surprisingly he wasn't wearing his hood or robes. Instead he wore his khaki pants with a green tee shirt with his sword fastened to the left side by his utility belt. Luis was dressed much the same except for the different colors. Blue jeans and red tee shirt and his respective weapons holstered.
"No hood this time?" Yang said, sending the barb at Azrael who responded with. "No. it draws too much attention and the goal here is to find someone who doesn't want to be found." Weiss noticed that he talked in a sort of grating way as if it wasn't his idea. The resulting looks the two boys threw at each other and confirmed it.
"And where are Narissa and Ghianna?" Ruby asked.
"They have work to catch up on. Besides, they said they needed a break from us." Luis said. The girls all smirked at the comment. "Well I can't imagine why. Now let's get looking." Yang said with a smirk before turning and walking towards the waiting bullhead. The rest of the party followed suit.
As the ride into Vale began Yang looked over to her sister and took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, we'll find her." But as they flew ruby couldn't help but to worry. She was the team leader and Blake had just ran out on them without her even having a chance to stop her. Ruby thought of all the girls in her team as her friends but did they all think of her as one? Would Blake have really run away if she had thought of team Rwby as her friends?
Dad had always said that good friends can tell each other almost anything, and now she wondered if this was the 'Almost' thing. If Blake really did trust them then she wouldn't have run away. Ruby mentally steeled herself for what she told herself would be the inevitable confrontation with Blake.
'IF- No, when we find her. I promise to be a better friend to her. To all of them.'
"What do you make of all this Azrael?" Luis asked as they strode along the sidewalks of vale. The streets were reasonably packed with people but Luis could tell by his look that Azrael had tunneled visioned for Blake to the point everyone else might as well be blacked out. But he was at least listening because he decided to answer.
"Several Theoretical assessments. Nothing more." He said,
"Elaborate." Luis said making sure not to frame it as a question. The two boys had fallen into a mental rhythm of sorts for processing information. They spoke swiftly with an almost robotic sort of neutral expression. And the way they bounced unspoken ideas off each other was seen as disturbing to the uninitiated. Azrael continued. "Blake is a white fang member." He said simply.
"Infiltration of the school?" Luis asked.
"Possibly. She must be a faunus." Azrael stated and immediately Luis caught on.
"The bow." He said as soon as the implication registered. "There was no other place on her body that had animal features and it was known certain faunus could pass as human given the right disguises."
"Exactly." Azrael confirmed. "It all does add up."
"Theoretically?" Luis asked.
"Until we have practical information. It's all we can go on."
"And how do we do that then?" As if he didn't already know the answer.
"By finding Blake."
The trio of faunus came to a street corner cafe. Lukas sighed. "Finally. This place is my favorite." He said leading the other two into the cafe which was starting to attract the lunch crowd and finally finding a secluded spot on top of the roof. The three sat and ordered their coffee and for a while they sat and drank in silence before finally Blake set down her cup and spoke.
"So you want to know more about me?" she asked.
"Finally. You two have hardly talked since we left Beacon, It's all been small talk and weird looks"Sun said, setting down his own cup with his tail. Blake took a breath trying to collect herself. The past two days had involved dodging police and sleeping in and out of motels and out of the way areas on the street. It honestly reminded her of her days as a white fang operative. Always hungry and cold and not knowing if you'd live through the next mission. Blake looked at Lukas before continuing. In order to smooth this over Sun needed to know just who they were. While it was unlikely it was possible some Faunus hadn't heard of the white fang.
"Sun. Have you heard of the white fang?" She ventured.
Sun sat forward and looked between the other two before answering. "Of course, there's hardly a faunus alive who hasn't. Bunch of holier than thou creeps who use force to get whatever they want. A bunch of freaks if you ask me." He said, Lukas leaned back in his chair laughing at the statement as Blake thought of how best to continue.
'Well, he's heard of us.'
I. Was once a member." She said slowly as if it would soften the words spoken. This drew a gasp of surprise followed by choking as Sun was in the middle of drinking his coffee. Lukas didn't laugh but instead he was studying her with a look of some interest.
"You're a member of the white fang?" He asked.
"Former member." Blake said with emphasis. "I was for most of my life. I guess you could say i was born into it."
She began to retell her account of her work with the white fang and how it had changed over the years into a brutal terrorist organization and her own disillusion and departure.
"So i left. I just didn't feel right to me anymore, The price we were paying just kept getting higher and higher. Soon it wasn't just Faunus oppressors we were fighting. The kingdoms, other faunus, innocent humas. All of them." She said casting her gaze to Lukas for any sign of input but he sat silently letting her talk."Our list of enemies kept getting larger and I realized it wasn't about equal rights anymore. That it was about vengeance and hatred, not reconciliation, and integration. So after a while i gathered up the courage to leave" She said, staring down into her drink. "So here i am. A criminal hiding in plain sight. All with the help of a little black bow."
With her story completed Sun turned to Lukas. "So are you some kind of ex white fang to?" He asked.
Lukas Smirked. "Not exactly. I never pledged my allegiance to the khan or Adam. My pack had some common ground with the fang but now things have changed."
Blake looked up at him. "How so?"
Lukas got serious for a moment as he spoke. "The white fang is moving. They're going around to other faunus organizations demanding their submission. Adam came to our pack weeks ago with the demand we join him in striking against the human kingdoms."
"What did you tell him." Blake asked.
Lukas grinned. "Well considering we're in public i'll just say we sternly declined. But we're not stupid. Akela saw the writing on the wall and he's taken the pack into hiding. And he's left me to find out what the fang is up to, so I came to Vale only to find out my contact in the fang has gone straight." He said directing the last sentience at Blake.
"So now what?" Sun asked. They sat in silence thinking before Blake spoke up.
"I still don't believe the white fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before."
"Considering everything we now know about the fang I don't think that's a safe assumption." Lukas said.
"Still. If we needed to find out. then maybe we need to go to the place they would go and hopefully not catch them there." Sun said drawing looks from both of them. "Did you catch any of that?" Lukas asked
"And where would that be sun?" Asked Blake.
He shrugged. "Well i heard about a big Schnee company shipment coming into Vale tonight. Sounds like something dust thieves would be interested in."
Blake and Lukas looked at each other. "I think the wires in his head just sparked." Said Lukas.
"If we were Blake, where would we be?" Azrael asked, scanning the skyline of the road they were on. Luis pursed his lips thinking before he spoke.
"Theoretical. If Blake is an agent. Would she blow her cover to her team?" He asked. Azrael paused, turned to face Luis.
"Explain." He said,
"If Blake is a mole in the school. Why would she blow her cover? If it was to gain the sympathy and cooperation of her team. Weiss alone would have made that an unwise move considering the row they had last night guarantees she would have no part of such a plan, and Ruby and Yang have never struck me as traitors." The two boys made it to an intersection and continued talking while they waited for the light to turn green.
"Perhaps." Azrael began. "Perhaps it wasn't an intended confession. Blake could have blurted it out in the heat of the argument with Weiss."
"Possibly. All of this belies one question though." Luis stated.
"Which is?" Azrael said, taking the bait.
"If we're right, if she is an agent. What are we going to do about it?" Luis asked. But as they started crossing the street, They were hemmed in by other pedestrians and when he answered Azrael spoke in a motley battle can't that was a mix of Blood angel and dark angel phrases and commands which themselves were a coded form of high Gothic.
"We will deal with it." He said,
"Deal with it how?" Luis pressed. He didn't wait for an answer. "You'd kill her, wouldn't you?"
"The thought did cross my mind." Azrael responded.
"We could turn her in." Luis said wearily.
Azrael merely nodded. "Possibly."
Once they were across the road and well down a less travailed sidewalk they stopped using battle cant.
"Where could she be?" Azrael said again while scoping the layout and once again all he saw was the everyday bustle of downtown Vale with no sign of Blake.
"I have an idea." Luis said.
"Oh? Do share."
"The dust robberies." He said and immediately it clicked.
"Torchwick has been robbing dust stores. Not the white fang." He countered.
"True. But what is Torchwick doing with all that dust? It'd be too much for one man and a small crew to hide. Not to mention the White Fang would benefit most from stolen dust. You and I understand the kind of logistics needed to pull off an operation. This is bigger than the kingdom is letting on about." The speed with which he had answered told him Luis had considered along that line of questioning.
"True. The white fang could outfit an entire army with all that propellant." He agreed.
Luis nodded. He kept pushing. "Every dust store in town has been hit. Dust prices are through the roof. The Fang are probably sitting on an entire year's worth of it."
"I doubt the White fang are going to be breaking into the dust market." Said Azrael.
"But what if they aren't done, what if they're gunning for more dust?" Luis said.
"There's nowhere in the city besides beacon that has the stuff in any worthwhile amount, or are they going to be importing more from the outside?" Azrael asked. To his surprise he nodded.
"Maybe not per-say. But there should be a load of Dust coming into vale tonight. It was in the news." Luis said. Azrael rolled his eyes at the mere thought of a heist on the docks.
"Dante, a load of dust that big would be as guarded as the emperor's throne room. Who in their right mind would let a load of dust sit on the docks overnight just waiting to get stolen?"
Luis shrugged. "It would be just like Torchwick though, he always likes making a spectacle of his jobs."
Azrael stopped walking and turned to face Luis. "And what does this have to do with Blake?"
Luis beamed. "That's the best part. If the white fang is at the docks, chances are so will she."
Azrael waved his hand. "It's all too convenient. There has to be a caveat." He said,
"Truth be told it's all circumstantial at best. Worst case scenario, we stake out the docks for the whole night and we'd have to start over again."
"Best case scenario?" Azrael asked.
Luis grinned. "We get to bust some heads."
