A Changing World

Act 2

Chapter 15: Dealing with past sins (Part Three)

A/N: Bonus chapter!

"I have called you all on such short notice for an announcement that I have in mind," began Weiss.

She and Blake were standing at the very front of the room, facing a small horde of journalists armed with wireless microphones or cameras that sported flashes which threatened to burn out the retina of anyone unfortunate to look at them at the wrong moment.

This was the same room where the art exhibit had been set up, as well as where Jacques, Whitley and many more had been killed.

Behind Weiss, Blake and Klein were a set of double doors, with another set nearer the journalists and news crews who were present.

"I presume that everyone here knows about a town called Stuttgart and what happened there," an uneasy murmur of agreement spread through the room, slowly, after a moment.

"Well my announcement involves the plan to fund and build a memorial to honour those involved in the tragedy that happened there," continued Weiss. "I believe it is high time that something like this is done, to atone for the past."

"And how did you come to know about this, Weiss Schnee?" One journalist asked her.

"Through some digging into the history of my company," she replied. It wasn't a complete lie, as she had searched for the death toll of the massacre on InfoHunt beforehand, though obviously not the truth.

The man who had asked the question gave a nod of satisfaction. In the following moment, Weiss looked at Blake without turning her head.

Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss saw Blake lift her scroll to her ear. But she then turned away just as another question was uttered.

"How do you expect the White Fang, particularly Banesaw, to react to this announcement?" Another journalist, this time female, asked Weiss.

"If Banesaw sticks to his previous statements, then this memorial won't be received with joy on his part. But regardless of his opinion, I will ensure the memorial is completed."

"What about the rest of the White Fang? How do you anticipate them to react to this announcement?" another female journalist prompted.

Weiss noticed that Blake was no longer beside her before she responded. "I anticipate that they will be surprised by the announcement, as faunus have never been acknowledged in such a fashion by the SDC before. I'll accept just three more questions before I have to leave."

"Where exactly will this memorial be built?" the first journalist asked her.

"On the site of the old mine in Stuttgart. I think it is quite appropriate."

The man nodded before continuing. "And when will construction begin?"

"If all goes as planned, within the week."

"Do you have an idea of what the memorial will look like, at the current time?"

"I have yet to think about the memorial itself in detail, but I envision pillars bearing the names of everyone who was killed during the tragedy, surrounded by flower-beds consisting of black tulips or other flowers that suit the occasion. That is all. Thank you all for coming, ladies and gentlemen."

Without another word, Weiss turned away and approached Klein, as the journalists and news personnel present started to either leave the room or pack away their microphones and other equipment.

"Where did Blake go, Klein?"

"She left to take a call through those doors behind us there. I presume she's out in the hallway or her room."

"Thank you, Klein."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Schnee."

Weiss found Blake not long afterwards, in her assigned bedroom.

Weiss knocked politely on the door of the bedroom but received no reply, although she could have sworn she heard a quiet thud.

"Blake, can I come in?"

"J-Just a moment, Weiss. L-Let me get the door for you."

The door opened a few seconds later, and Weiss saw that Blake's eyes were red-rimmed.

Weiss immediately embraced her. "You were crying. Do you want to say why?"

"I-I can't. N-not just yet. I just want to leave for Mistral now and help the others find Banesaw,"

"Of course. I'll have a Bullhead ready as soon as possible." Weiss then broke away, and left the room."

Once she was gone, Blake wiped at her eyes and picked up the scroll that she had flung across her bedroom. She pocketed the device before sitting on her bed again and thinking over the call she had received from Banesaw earlier.

And to think, Weiss is planning to have a memorial built to remember what happened at Stuttgart. It's clear that the kind gesture is wasted on him, thought Blake.

Hiccup, laying next to Astrid in bed, was awoken by a scroll call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" He mumbled.

"You don't know me, but we have crossed paths before. We need to talk," a tenor voice answered him.

The words drew some more of Hiccup's attention. "Okay, strange and mysterious person I don't remember meeting before."

"All will become clear soon, Hiccup. You and Astrid will get on your dragons and meet with me at Haven Academy as soon as you can. I'll be waiting in the rear courtyard. Best hurry, before the sun rises further and your dragons become easily visible." Then the person on the other end hung up.

Duty calls… again, thought Hiccup as he pocketed his scroll.

Glancing over at Astrid, he sighed before shaking her awake.

*Click*

"Astrid, hold out that axe of yours. I didn't get a good picture the first time."

*Click*

"Thank you."

"Do you know how to use an axe?" wondered Astrid.

The pair had been preparing their dragons when Velvet emerged with her camera at the ready, having noticed Astrid's axe was different, which had led to the current situation.

"I don't need to. Just need to watch you fight once and my semblance will do the rest."

They stared blankly at her following her answer, silently asking her to elaborate, which she did. "My semblance lets me copy other people's fighting styles after I see them fight at least once. Also, my weapon lets me use light Dust copies of weapons, hence the camera."

"How does that work for people with guns, or my railgun crossbow?"

"Light Dust projectiles. Try not to overthink it, Hiccup."

"…Right. Well, I think we should start looking for the White Fang now. See you later, Velvet."

"Bye, and good luck you two," said Velvet.

They nodded, mounting their dragons and taking off.

Velvet watched them until she could no longer see them.

When that happened, she turned around and headed back inside.

"So, he said we should meet him at Haven, right?"

"Yeah. It could be a trap, so let's be careful."

"Was just about to say the same thing, babe. Great minds think alike." Then Stormfly pulled ahead of Toothless and an unspoken race began at that moment.

When both Hiccup and Astrid directed their dragons to land at Haven's rear courtyard after slowly circling the area to find any sign of an ambush, they came face to face with a single faunus man who had black and white patterned skin.

Behind him were two graves, the headstones showing that they belonged to Glynda and Pyrrha in turn.

Disembarking, Hiccup and Astrid approached him.

"What kind of faunus are you if you don't mind me asking? I've not seen someone with black and white skin before."

"No worries. It does surprise people, sometimes even other faunus. I'm a dog faunus; a Dalmatian to be exact."

"Okay then. So who are you and what do you want? You woke me up when you called, and I had to wake up my fiancé, so we're not in the best mood right now. Especially with how early it is," said Hiccup.

"My apologies, I had to hurry back here, so-"

"Get on with it," Astrid said shortly.

"Okay, you are both aware of Faunus First, correct?"

Both nodded. "Well, I am the second in command of the organization. I was also the one taking care of your dragon while you were in a coma."

"So you would know the person who tailed Jaune and I, before that?" asked Hiccup.

"Of course I know him. He's me; David Smith at your service. Anyway, the reason I called you here is to tell you both that I believe Faunus First have found the White Fang's headquarters."

"You had to wake us up for that? You could have just sent a message to our scrolls you know."

"Would you have considered such a message trustworthy? This way, you can be sure that this is less likely to be a trap, due to the fact I asked you to bring your dragons and outnumber me even more than I already would be if you came on foot."

"So where is the White Fang headquarters, then?"

"South of the city of Mistral. About an hour's drive from here."

'That matches up with what the White Fang people in Vale told us,' thought Hiccup. Glancing at Astrid, he could tell she had come to the same conclusion.

"Alright, then David Smith. Follow us and we can introduce you to the others."

"I'm not sure I'm okay with riding on a dragon's back."

"Well, then the only other option is to have you carried in the claws of either Toothless or Stormfly. Are you sure you want that?" asked Astrid.

"I'm sure," he said confidently.

"Remind me never to request that done again. Dangling through the air like that is quite uncomfortable."

"Hey, you asked us to. Now come on in. Time to introduce you to everyone." said Hiccup before stepping inside the safehouse, followed by Astrid and David.

"Team CFVY, Yang, Gobber, Oobleck, Port. This is David. The second in command of Faunus First." announced Hiccup, finding them all awake now.

"Nice to meet you again, sir." Velvet and Coco said.

"Oh, I forgot you're part of Faunus First. Anyway, Yang, have you called Qrow, Taiyang and Ruby here? I think we should bring them here."

"Good idea," said Yang, bringing out her scroll. "We also should bring Ren and Nora, and Jaune, if Ren's idea worked."

"I'll go do that," said Hiccup.

Just after saying that however, Hiccup's scroll started ringing.

He glanced at it. "It's Blake, wonder what she wants," he said before answering. "Hello?"

"Hiccup, it's Blake. I decided to come to Mistral. Have you found where the White Fang headquarters are, yet?"

"We have a possible location. It looks to be about an hour's drive south from the city of Mistral. But I'd like to check to be sure and our dragons would be spotted now."

"Leave that to me. Stealth is my thing after all."

"But you're injured still."

"It'll be fine. Only means I have to take it slow, which is the key to stealth. Come get me and I'll help you."

"I'll do that." Oobleck cut in. "You, Astrid and Yang go bring Nora her hammer and try and persuade Jaune's family to join us."

"Okay then. You hear that Blake?"

"Yup. I'll be waiting for him," she then hung up.

"In the meantime, I'll go and find my own operatives," said David.

It was now well into the afternoon, with Ren, Nora, Blake, Arslan and Jaune with his family. (They had agreed to let Jaune fight, but only as a package deal.) plus David Smith and two more faunus, one a bull and the other a cow - having recently arrived and not yet introduced - present at the safehouse.

With the addition of Ruby, Taiyang and Qrow and those who were already there, this resulted in quite a crowd.

"Right, does anyone have an idea for our battle plan for when we get to the base?" asked Hiccup.

"Peter, team CFVY and I have been discussing it for a little while. Team CFVY and Jaune's sisters will deal with the bulk of the White Fang goons, while Peter, Faunus First and I search for Banesaw and everyone else act as support wherever necessary," said Dr Oobleck.

"I suggest we wait until nightfall before attacking. That way we should be able to catch them sleeping," said Blake. "Then, we won't need much of a plan beyond rushing in."

"As good an idea as any. I think we've come to a decision, so let's make sure everything we'll need is ready while we wait," suggested Qrow.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree?

"Did you hear that?" One guard asked his companion as they stood guarding the entrance of the White Fang headquarters.

The forest that surrounded it was bathed in the silver light of the broken moon far overhead.

"No. I'm sure you're dreaming," replied the second guard.

They strung up a man they say did murder three.

"There it is again, but louder," the first guard insisted.

"Okay, I stand corrected. I heard it that time, too. It sounds like people singing. I wonder where it's coming from though."

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be.

The pair looked around before the first guard pointed, saying. "Look, over there by that clearing on the left!"

If we met at midnight, in the hanging tree.

Both guards watched four people emerge from a clearing among the trees, one, a man, in green armour towering over the others, with another; a short woman, holding a large rectangular handbag.

Are you, are you, coming to the tree?

One of the two who remained had what looked like curved knives attached to his hands, while the other; a rabbit faunus girl, had no weapon in sight, besides a box attached at the hip.

All of them were singing as they walked.

Where a dead man called out, for his love to flee.

They continued advancing, and yet more appeared behind them, five people in a line, three of which were faunus and all were close in age with each other, with the two humans on the end of the line holding an axe and…

"Is that guy on the far right holding a thermos?" asked the second guard.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be.

They were also singing the song as they walked.

Now close enough that they could be seen more clearly, the three faunus on the left were identified to have traits from a cow, bull and dog respectively.

"You should raise the alarm."

If we met at midnight, in the hanging tree.

"Oh yeah," the first guard turned and ran inside, prompting team CFVY and everyone behind them to break into a run in turn, with the singing coming to an end as a result.

The remaining guard raised his pistol and fired at the tall man in green armour, only for the shots to go wide or hit his armour and do nothing, as it was reinforced by aura.

When he closed the distance, Yatsuhashi knocked the guard to the ground with a punch to his stomach, resulting in the guard losing his grip on his gun.

Without a word, Velvet, Fox and Coco continued on, in that order, just before Yatsuhashi punched the guard again, knocking him unconscious.

Now the line consisting of David, Port and Oobleck reached the base, following after Yatsuhashi's huge form.

They were tailed in turn by Qrow, Taiyang, Yang and Ruby, who were tailed by Ren, Nora, Arslan and Jaune, and his entire family.

Lastly, Hiccup, Astrid, Gobber, Blake and both dragons brought up the rear.

"I think it is safe to say that we have more than enough people here," mused Blake.

"Don't jinx it, Blake," warned Hiccup.

"At least six fully qualified huntsmen with two dragons and several trainees? I fancy our chances, everyone," chuckled Nicholas. "I'd be surprised if anyone got an injury more serious than a broken bone, and even that is doubtful."

Then he glanced back at Blake.

"Speaking of which, you shouldn't be here with those crutches."

"This one has problems staying put sir. I doubt you could keep her out of a fight if she had other ideas, so we just let her come along. It's easier for everyone." said Hiccup.

"I'm not that bad," grumbled Blake, which only resulted in her words attracting flat stares from everyone in earshot and she stared at the ground as she walked with a huff.

"You know, it almost seems too easy. You'd think after last time that they'd have more guards around," said Astrid.

"How about we get inside and secure the place before something happens that causes someone to get hurt or killed?" cut in Ren.

"Agreed," chorused everyone within earshot.

When they entered the base, they found it already mostly secured, with a few having awoken by the sounds of gunshots, and the rest still asleep.

"Aw, I wanted to finally break some legs with my new hammer," complained Nora, as she saw that nobody was attacking them.

"I'm sure we can find some Grimm later, Nora. They can be target practice for you."

Hiccup and the others in earshot of the pair, shook their head in amusement when they heard those words.

Meanwhile, Velvet had caught the guard before he could raise the alarm, with the man held in her grip and Coco's minigun handbag close by, alongside Fox and Yatsuhashi.

Those who were awake; four in total, had emerged from their quarters which wasn't far from the entrance, as they were assigned to guard the building during the night. There they had found themselves outnumbered. They surrendered then and there.

"How many sleeping quarters are there here, and where are they?" Oobleck then asked one of the four; a male panda faunus.

"Four in total, ours is over on the right there. There's a hallway that connects our room to another one further back. It's the same design on the other side. Also, the High Leaders quarters is through that door. All his lackeys also sleep there."

"Traitor," the three faunus who were currently awake, chorused, all glaring at him.

"Why tell us all of this?" wondered Oobleck.

"I was taken and forced to work for the White Fang when Sienna took over. They killed my family, but I was always good as a medic, so they kept me around. I tell you this in the hopes that you can capture or kill Banesaw and let me go free. Though I ask you don't harm the others. I've made some friends here; a few others like me. Though not those three murderers." the faunus explained.

"It shall be tried," replied David. "What's your name?"

"Timothy. My name is Timothy."

Later, all twenty faunus in the base; six in each quarter, had been plucked from each room and placed in the entrance hall.

Then Qrow, Taiyang, Port and Oobleck had entered Yuma, Trifa and Banesaw's quarters before dragging them out of their rooms.

"So you got me, Congratulations," said Banesaw after he and his companions were dumped unceremoniously on the floor and surrounded by Qrow, Taiyang, Port and Oobleck.

Then they separated as Blake, Hiccup, Yang and Astrid approached him. "I should have figured that you'd scheme like this. It's your family's nature."

"Oh, this was my idea. She had no involvement, as she's back in Atlas still. I think it's fitting that the White Fang was started by a Belladonna and has now been ended by a Belladonna. Seems almost poetic."

Then she walked behind him and dealt a blow to the back of his head, knocking him out. "Now someone should call General Mondschein and tell him the White Fang is no more. In the meantime, I want to talk with Banesaw, alone."

"Uh, okay then," said Taiyang.

Grabbing Banesaw's arm and pulling him to his feet, Blake led him back to his quarters without saying anything further.

Then, following a scroll call on Qrow's part and a few minutes of small talk, two gunshots were heard from Banesaw's quarters.

Alarmed, Qrow, Taiyang, Oobleck and Port ran towards the room.

When they returned, they were each solemn. "Blake Belladonna and Banesaw's are both dead," announced Professor Port.

A/N: So here's another chapter for you all. Didn't go with a final battle this time as I am bored writing them and they take a lot of my time.

A bit anticlimactic with the armour that Hiccup and co got, and for that, I apologise to you all. But I think that dark ending makes up for it a little and there is more stuff to come, particularly explaining why Blake decided to depart in such a way, so stick around everyone.