Chapter 9: Night of The Huntress's
Yang and Blake emerged from one of vales sketchier clubs, with Yang smiling ear to ear, having another fruitful conversation with her favorite club owner/associate of organized crime. Granted he wasn't exactly open to answering their questions at first, or even happy to have Yang back in his club, but the blond brawler was nothing if not persuasive.
"Okay fine, your informant was right." Blake admitted, as they mounted Bumblebee "You still didn't have to hit him like that."
Yang shrugged "Meh, Junior had it coming. Also, real rich coming from Miss Ex-Terrorist."
Blake narrowed her eyes, as she wacked Yang in her side "Not funny Yang."
"Hey, hey I'm sorry, keep your claws away" Yang teased, as she clipped her helmet on "Plus, we got what we wanted to know. Now, we just gotta wait at the docks until they show up."
Blake rolled her eyes, deadpanning "Great, now I'm stuck with you and your puns for the rest of the night."
"Come on admit it, you love them." Yang playfully responded, as she revved her bike and raced off towards the docks, with poor Blake hanging on for dear life.
Once they made it to the Docks, they sat in relative silence, hidden atop a roof overlooking the site. Yang tried to make occasional small talk, but Blake mostly just answered with one- or two-word answers, keeping her laser like focus on the activities of the worker's bellow. Once darkness hit, Yang disappeared to go find food, leaving Blake to her thoughts as the workers slowly disappeared, all packing up for the day.
Blake rolled on her stomach and continued to watch the leaving workmen, as they finished off offloading the dust and heading home. Yang came back, and crouched besides her, passing her a takeout box, filled with noodles and salmon, a pleasant surprise for Blake.
"Did I miss anything?" Yang asked as she dug into a spicy looking dish.
"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." Blake responded as she grasped her chopsticks "and thanks."
"No worries" Yang said cheerily "Stakeouts can't be fun on an empty stomach."
Blake nodded, turning back to the shadowy docks, keeping her eye out for any movement.
With that the wind picked up, with a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around for a landing spot, descending in the middle of the cargo containers.
Out of the bullhead stepped several burly looking men, some with visible animal traits, and all wearing fanged masks, indicating their affiliation.
"Oh no..." Blake said softly.
"You really didn't think that they were behind this, did you?" Yang asked, concerned for her teammate
Blake just stared off sadly into the distance, before answering "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."
Both huntress's ears perked up as they heard a new harsh voice addressing the White Fang members, who were all hooking chains onto the dust containers.
"Hey! What's the holdup!?" Roman Torchwick gestured wildly, as he joined the grunts on the docks. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you idiots try to pick up the pace?"
"What the hell is he doing here" Yang growled, as she clenched her fists.
Blake raised her eyebrows "You know him?"
"Yeah" Yang growled "We had a run in with this creep when we met Pyrrha, where he was also trying to steal dust. Guess they're working together then."
Blake narrowed her eyes, as she got to her feet "This isn't right. Why on earth are the White Fang working with humans, especially one like that."
Before Yang could respond, Blake ran to the edge of the building and leapt off, unsheathing Gambol Shroud, and rolling as she landed. She slid behind a container, watching Roman berate the White Fang members, as they continued to hook up dust shipments.
"…and people say I'm the reckless one." Yang muttered, as she watched Blake sneak around the containers, watching carefully for an opening.
In an instant Blake vanished and appeared behind Roman, pinning an arm behind his back, and holding her blade to his throat.
"Well, who the fu…" Roman was cut off, as Blake spoke.
"Nobody moves" Blake ordered, as the White Fang members raised their weapons to her. In response, she let go off Roman's arm and unhooked her bow, exposing her black cat ears!
Blake called out "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"
This caused hesitation among the members of the White Fang, with some of the grunts lowering their weapons and looking at each other nervously.
Roman laughed, before addressing Blake "Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"
Blake responded, "What are you talking about?"
Roman sneered "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"
Blake snapped at this, tightening her sword's pressure on his throat "Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little operation."
At that the wind speed picked up, as another Bullhead began to descend on the docks, with more White Fang members leaping from the aircraft, and landing beside their comrades.
Roman chuckled "Oh sweetheart, I wouldn't call it little…"
Blake watched the scene with horror. Roman took this opportunity to point his cane behind him, firing a shot at Blakes legs, causing a sizable explosion, and rocking the docks!
Location: A few blocks away, Vale
Weiss and Jaune turned in shock, as they head a massive booming sound from the docks, and a gigantic cloud of smoke rising from the blast. They turned to face each other in surprise, before rushing to check it out, both being fairly certain their teammates were the source of the blast.
Location: The Docks, Vale
Blake shook herself awake, lying on her stomach after the explosions impact. Her ears picked up the sound of something firing, and she leapt to her feet, just barely avoiding another blast from Roman's cane.
Roman fired the explosive shots, one after another, with Blake leaping, diving, and flipping away from the explosions that followed, just barely avoiding being knocked aside by the blasts.
After leaping into a back handspring to avoid his last shot, Blake dove behind a container, as Roman stalked towards her.
"Here Kitty Kitty" He growled, scanning the docks for any sign of the cat faunus. However, he was soon knocked to the floor, as Yang leapt from the building she was on, and landed on his head!
Yang propelled herself from Roman, launching herself into the air with an explosive blast from her gauntlet, and swivelling in midair, before landing and facing the criminal as he got to his feet, shaking himself off from the impact.
"Leave her alone" Yang said protectively, cracking her knuckles at Roman. As soon as she said that Yang was surrounded by over half a dozen white fang members.
"Good to see you again, Blonde. You really aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer are ya?" Roman sneered, as the White Fang goons charged Yang.
She caught the wrist of the first grunt, before smashing her fist across his face, an explosive blast launching him across the pavement.
Yang then rolled under the sword swing of the next goon, leaping up into an uppercut that sent him flying.
As she landed, she knocked out another attacker with a flying side kick, and then step sided a goon that charged her. Yang followed up with a knee to the chest, before knocking him away with a haymaker. She then sent out several shotgun blasts from Ember Celica, incapacitating three more goons who were firing at her with rifles.
Roman growled and fired at Yang, who raised her fists to block the blast, as Blake landed in front of her, in a crouched stance.
"He's mine" Blake cried, before pouncing at the criminal. With a reversed grip she swung the sheath of Gambol Shroud in a downwards slash, which Roman blocked with his cane.
The criminal countered with several swings with his cane, and Blake deflected these with her katana.
She then leapt into the air, and became a blur of violet sword slashes and clones, with Roman just barely being able to parry these strikes with his cane.
However, as Blake slashed both components of gambol shroud outwards at Roman, he saw his opportunity. After blocking the attack, Roman spun as Blake leapt into a back flip, aided by her shadow clones, and was able to stop Roman's cane swing with her swords, but the criminal followed the strike up with a fist, breaking through Blakes defenses, and knocking her back.
A shadow clone took the punch, but Blake was put on the defensive, barely able to block Roman's wild cane swings before her neck was hooked by the end of the cane. She was pulled into Roman's knee, and was then struck across the face, falling to the ground from the impact.
However, before Roman could continue his assault, Yang leapt in, blocking Roman's cane strikes with her forearms, and firing shotgun blasts with Ember Celica, in between the criminal's swings, which were also deflected by Roman's cane.
Using this stalemate between her enemy and her teammate, Blake leapt forward and slashed at Roman with her katana, sending him flying, and knocking him flat on his back.
Roman looked up to see a dangling container above the two huntress's and fired at the supports, causing the massive explosion that drops the container on the Yang and Blake.
Using her natural agility, Blake leapt into a back handspring to easily avoid the container, and Yang throws herself forward, barely escaping being crushed.
Unfortunately, she ended up sliding forward to Roman's feet, with the criminal pointing his cane directly at the Blond's face.
"Lights out kid" He says darkly, ready to fire on Yang, but a shout interrupted him.
"HEY!" Weiss shouted from the building that Blake and Yang came from, pointing Myrtenaster at Roman, with Jaune standing at her side, using his scroll to send his equipment at Patch to their location, via a newly set up rocket locker system.
"Ice Queen, so great to see you" Roman grumbled, sarcastically "Who's tall, blond and scrawny over there? Is he your boyfriend?"
"I'm guessing that's the bad guy?" Jaune asked
"Yep" Weiss deadpanned
"You're gonna jump in and fight him, as well as the dozens of heavily armed goons who all want to kill us?" Jaune questioned
"Yep" Weiss repeated, with just as little emotion
"Huh, guess today's as good a day as any to get my ass kicked." Jaune said grinning, as he joined Weiss in jumping off the building. Weiss landed gracefully, and dashed forth into the fray, while Jaune landed in a heap, before getting up, shaking himself off and following her.
Since Roman was distracted, Yang was able to smack the end of the cane away from her, and clobber the thief across the face, sending him rolling across the pavement.
Weiss used her glyphs to pull Yang and Blake toward where her and Jaune were standing, as the White Fang goons began to line up, dozens of men with swords and rifles alike, ready to fight.
Weiss then stabbed her sword down, creating a wall of ice in front of her that the goons fired at. She then created a circle of glyphs around the small army. The White Fang members all turned and pointed their weapons at the strange symbols, unsure of what to do.
Blake and Yang then rushed around the edges of the ice wall, and used the glyphs to project themselves at blinding speeds, tearing through the horde of opponents before them in diagonal bursts. The goons were sent flying, all being knocked around the edges of the battleground.
One of the goons managed to make it through the assault, without being knocked unconscious and charged at Weiss, who was preoccupied with keeping her glyphs up, was tackled by Jaune, who used his new training to brawl with the White Fang member, rolling around and swinging their fists at each other.
The White Fang grunts began to recover and regroup, firing at the ice wall, which was eventually cut down due to the storm of bullets. Blake leapt in front of Yang, blocking the shots with her sword, while Yang fired her shotgun blasts in between the Faunus's swings, picking off the goons one by one.
However due to sheer number of grunts firing at them the duo began to get overwhelmed, with Blake barely able to block the bullets stream. Weiss leapt in front of the duo, creating a repulsion glyph in front of them to block the bullets.
Blake threw the ribbon of Gambol Shroud to Yang, who used it to swing the Cat Faunus around, before tossing her into the swarm of White Fang members in front of them, slashing the grunts with her katana.
This stunned the goons, and Weiss finished the fight by stabbing her sword downwards, with a wave of ice being released from the blade and projecting upwards under the grunts, freezing them in place before shattering, breaking their auras.
They all looked up to find Roman in the seat of the Bullhead that landed, escaping into the night, without any of the dust shipments that he came here for.
The huntress's put their hands on their knees catching their breath from the brawl. Jaune then waltzed over, a happy expression on his bruised face as he threw an unconscious white fang member to the ground, having knocked him out in their fight.
"Hey, you beat up your first bad guy, nice job!" Yang congratulated, slapping her fellow blond hard on the back "I knew you had it in you!"
"Thanks" Jaune said, rubbing his back tenderly from the blow "I think you hit a lot harder than he did though."
"Damn right!" Yang flexed, her expression changing as soon as she saw Weiss's eyes lock with Blakes.
Weiss had a cold expression as she made a step towards Blake, with Yang positioning herself between the Faunus and the Heiress, waiting for one to make the first move.
Yang started "Look Weiss, she's not in the White Fang anymore, so don't even star…"
She was cut off, as Blake put her hand on Yang's shoulder "It's okay Yang, Weiss should be able to say what she wants to say here. It's okay."
Yang's expression softened as she stepped out of the way of the two.
Blake started to explain calmly "Yang's right, I'm no longer associated with the White Fang…"
Weiss interrupted "Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."
Everyone looked at her worriedly, before Weiss continued.
"I don't care."
Blake was surprised at this "You don't care?"
"I will admit that while I can't understand why anyone could join an organization like that, I did…experience something today that made me look at certain things in a different light. I shouldn't judge others for how they appear outwardly…as I don't appreciate when others do the same to me. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates, and not run off on your own like you did today."
Blake looked at Yang and Jaune, who both gave her a warm smile "Of course, assuming you are still willing to have me?"
Weiss huffed "I assume the answer to that is fairly obvious at this point, we should call a Bullhead to get us back to the island…"
She was cut off by the sound of police sirens
"…after we try to explain this to the Vale Police."
Location: HQ, Island of Patch
After a rather awkward conversation with the Vale Police, that Qrow had to show up to in order to bail them out of going to jail for property damage, and engaging in a fire fight with known criminals, Yang, Blake, Jaune and Weiss rode back to Patch on a Bullhead, all exhausted from the rather eventful day.
Pyrrha was fusing over everyone when the came back worried, and Yang couldn't help noticing her particular worry towards Jaune, who was very proud of his first knock out, which Pyrrha was perfectly willing to listen to his tales about.
Unfortunately, Yang did have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Ruby, and felt nearly sick to her stomach due to her guilt over snapping at her little sister the previous night. Thankfully once everything was explained to Ruby, that everyone was okay, and more importantly that no one was leaving the team, Ruby was more than willing to accept Yang's apology, and leapt into her sister's arms for a big hug.
The last time that Yang saw her, the Red Hooded Huntress was chattering away with Weiss about the Heiress's adventure, after crushing Weiss in a hug of course. Yang had decided that for once to call it an early night and trotted upstairs to head to bed, but on the way saw Blake looking over the forest on one of the mountain's many balconies.
"How's the brooding going?" Yang teased as she joined the Faunus, leaning on the railing and staring out into the forest below.
Blake gave her a smile as Yang bumped her playfully, but said nothing, continuing to stare off into the distance.
After about a minute of comfortable silence Blake spoke.
"Thank…you" Blake said softly "I appreciate you coming to look for me…and for standing up for me."
Yang shrugged it off "No worries, that's part of being in a team, right?"
"Not all of them would have done that for me" Blake continued calmly, as if she was still trying to figure something out "But you called out all your teammates and ran off into the middle of the night, for someone you barely knew a week?"
Again, Yang shrugged it off, this time turning away as a small blush crossed her face "I'm just impulsive like that, I guess. Saw something that needed done. It was nothing."
Yang then noticed the bow still on top of Blakes head, covering her ears.
"You're still keeping the bow on huh?" Yang asked
"For now," Blake answered, "I'm fine with my team knowing, but I'd still rather be judged for my actions as a Huntress, rather than my actions as Faunus."
"Oh okay" Yang responded, rubbing the back of her head, feeling awkward about her next question "Could I…maybe see your ears again?"
Blake blinked in surprise, before nodding silently, and undoing her bow, exposing her black cat ears. While she saw them at the docks, this was the first time Yang got a good look at them. They almost blended into Blakes raven hair, but Yang thought they suited her. Honestly while Blake was stunning regardless, having her ears out like this made her look even better. It looked more genuine this way, not having to hide her true self.
"They're…really nice" Yang commented "You know you shouldn't have to wear them around here if you don't want to. I'm sure no one around here would be weird about it."
"I…know" Blake responded, tying her bow back around her ears "But I'm still getting used to trusting people…especially Non-Faunus's, with my personal stuff. For now, I think I would prefer it this way, even if it really doesn't make a difference."
Yang nodded, really unsure of how to respond to this, before the pair returned to staring off into the night, the comfortable silence returning between them. This continued for nearly an hour, before Yang felt her eyes begin to droop, and felt her exhaustion taking over.
"Okay, I'm going to hit the hay, it's pretty late so I might just take one of the guest bedrooms, rather than ride bumblebee home." Yang yawned "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"
Blake turned to acknowledge this, and then did something that really surprised Yang. She stepped towards Yang and pulled her close into a hug, wrapping her arms around the Blonds neck. Yang stood shocked, before reciprocating the action, squeezing Blake back.
"Good night Yang…and thanks again, for everything" Blake whispered in her ear before pulling back. Despite the darkness Yang could see a solitary tear drop down Blakes face, but decided to avoid pointing it out. No sense spoiling the moment.
Yang said her goodnights, before heading inside, butterflies filling her stomach as she walked down the halls. After brushing her teeth, and getting into her spare pajamas, she laid back on her bed, arms behind her head. This team was getting better and better everyday.
Location: Beacon Fortress, Vale
Ozpin sat at the head of a grand table in his office, with various huntsmen and huntresses seated on the long sides of the table. On the left sat Glynda, Qrow, Taiyang and a stout huntsman named Port, and on the right sat General Ironwood, Winter, Lionheart and Oobleck. They were ready to begin.
"The Team has gained an additional two members since it's formation" Ozpin stated "And with that it is time that we gave the team an official leader, someone who we could trust to not only command respect and authority, but displays compassion and the ability to coordinate the rest of them. I feel it is best that we delegate who that should be for now, until the team is ready to alter that decision themselves. Who would be best to lead them in the field?"
"Blake is the oldest and most experienced, but I think it is safe to say that she would be a poor choice to lead" Glynda said "She is too new to the team and doesn't trust them, or anybody for that matter and frankly they don't trust her either. I can't see Frost Storm taking orders from her, especially after what just happened."
"Does the team know about her past?" Lionheart asked.
"Not fully, they know that she is a Faunus and at one point was a member of the White Fang, and until she is ready to discuss that with them, they won't know anymore, and they aren't aware that her parents were the founders of the organization, and were the ones that asked me to add her to the team."
"Miss Xiao Long is the oldest and has the most field experienced after Miss Belladonna" Oobleck added "Perhaps she could their leader?"
"My daughter is still too headstrong and reckless" Taiyang countered "While she does have a friendly, attitude and is adaptable, her over eagerness to jump into combat makes her leading too risky. Winter do you think Weiss would be a good leader?"
"Weiss has been educated in strategy and leadership her whole life. She has shown to be adequately intelligent, skilled and is confident in her abilities." Winter stated "But unfortunately my sister would likely be an overly demanding and narrow-minded leader at the moment. She needs time to mature before she is ready to take on that responsibility."
"Sounds like someone else we know" Qrow teased, to which Winter simply rolled her eyes.
"In all fairness" Ozpin added "these are children we are talking about here, and while Winter is correct in her assessment of Weiss, all of them have much to learn before they are truly ready for the responsibility of being a huntsman. What this conversation is about is who is the most ready at the moment to lead, as well as who shows the most potential?"
"Ozpin" Ironwood asked, "You were telling me about one of the newer members of the team, the Arc boy, you said that he has shown some potential in both tactics and leadership?"
"While Jaune does show potential as a leader" Ozpin responded "His lack of training and combat experience make him a liability in the field, and as such will act as support for the foreseeable future. When he has been trained perhaps, but I highly doubt the rest of the team would respond well to the least experienced and qualified member of the team taking command."
"Plus, we already know who the best choice is" Qrow added, putting his hands behind his head, and leaning back in his chair "Goodwitches secret weapon is easily the most skilled fighter on the team."
"Miss Nikos has shown exceptional intelligence and ability" Port continued "Furthermore she has been shown to keep a cool head, and does inspire others to better themselves. Would it not be correct to say that she would make a good leader? Glynda you know her best."
"Pyrrha" Miss Goodwitch countered, with an uncharacteristic softness in her voice "is a protegee and might be the most naturally talented huntress I have ever come across. It is correct that despite her abilities she does not carry herself with arrogance, which is a respectable quality for a leader. However, she has little experience working with others, and frankly has shown little interest in leading. Also, her overly soft nature gives her a limited ability to force respect, when necessary and makes her too eager to please."
The other huntsmen considered this before Good witch continued.
"Also, despite her age and her…um… interesting attitude, Red Reaper naturally takes charge on missions, and has shown over and over to be a creative strategist. She would be my choice to act as leader for the team, and like Pyrrha, has been shown to be in control of her ego.
Qrow added "Ruby's little punk, but I think Goodwitch is right, like her mother she is a natural leader."
Taiyang's face darkened slightly at Qrow's last comment, before nodding and continuing "I agree, and she also already has a close relationship with everyone on the team, making her well suited to handling interteam disputes. Yang has always said that Ruby would be a good leader, so she'd be on board."
Winter looked surprised before commenting "But she is so young and immature. Weiss is her friend, but I can't see her being okay with a fifteen-year-old ordering her around, and I doubt Miss Rose is ready for this level of responsibility."
"…and we may cross that bridge when we come to it, but I do agree that Ruby would likely be the best suited to lead" Ozpin stated "She may be young, but I think that with some coaching she would be a fine leader, and honestly I doubt any of the other candidates could handle the responsibility at the moment. I think it would be best to elect Ruby."
There was some murmuring, but the majority agreed with what Ozpin said.
"Excellent" Ozpin finished "Now we need to discuss why the White Fang has joined Roman Torchwick on his dust robbery crusade."
Location: Warehouse District, Vale
Roman walked into a large warehouse with a shadowy interior, pulling out his scroll as he hears it go off in his pocket. He goes over to a table and places down a case of mysterious contents, sighing in tiredness, before answering. It was that woman, and god knows she wouldn't be happy with the events of that evening.
The Mysterious Woman answered with a deceptively sweet tone "How very disappointing, Roman."
Roman responded harshly "Hey, listen, when I signed on to this gig, I didn't expect to be fighting little brats with superpowers every damn night. Give me a break here."
The Mysterious Woman laughed menacingly at this "Roman, I'd watch you're temper if I were you. Someday it may get you in trouble…"
Roman nervously muttered "Okay, I'm sorry. What's the plan then? What should we do to deal with these little punks?"
She slyly responded "Oh, nothing yet, we will deal with them in due time. But for now, it's time to send your little operative to Atlas. It's time we played our dear friend the General a visit."