Chapter 48

A large crowd had gathered outside the Belladonna home. Everyone was interested in why Ghira had summoned them. What speech would he give? What development had occurred that required them to come? Why was Adam Taurus at his side with three humans? Did it have anything to do with the speech Adam had made a few days before?

Ilia heard the whispered questions around her. She knew what was about to happen, and what she had to do.

If I don't stop Adam's influence here, we might have to actually fight Ghira and Kali. I can't allow him to drag them into fighting Blake. I can't. She was resolute. It would hurt Blake so much to have to battle her parents and Ilia was a good friend. She wouldn't allow that to happen.

Ghira cleared his throat and began. "Hello everyone. I know you are wondering why I asked you here. The answer is that… well we have discovered a plot. The White Fang plan to attack Haven academy, destroying it. If this is allowed then a second Human-Faunus war will be on the horizon, and we won't win this time. We have-"

"To join the White Fang!" Ilia interrupted, throwing her cloak into the air. "Why should we listen to a man who preaches peace but has the most violent member the White Fang has ever seen by his side!? Adam Taurus is a monster but you have him at your back!"

"Ilia…" Ghira sounded disappointed. Adam walked forward and took the microphone from the older man.

"Ilia. It's called change. I've changed. I've grown. I see now that my actions were wrong. Ghira recognised that and accepted my help! I am humbled to be able to aid him once again, like I did years ago."

"Do you believe the humans will just forget what you've done!? They'll never accept you. They'll never accept any of us! Blake Belladonna, the new Supreme Leader, knows this! She will lead us to a bright new future!"

"Blake is misguided. She doesn't realise that we have no chance of beating Atlas in a war."

"So we should roll over and serve the humans!? What happened to your resolve?" Ilia smiled. She had him now-

"Resolve is useless if you are in the wrong. The path I had chosen was wrong. Fighting humanity will gain us nothing. We will only watch our friends and family die on the battlefield! If I must choose between that and waiting for peace and conversation to slowly gain our rights, I'll choose the latter. Even if our generation will never see the end."

Ilia scowled. He had his head bowed so that it didn't seem like he was looking down on anyone. His weapon wasn't with him and he had one hand over his heart and the other stretched out towards the crowd. Adam's expression was what shook her, however. Conviction. Sadness. Hope.

She opened her mouth to argue but ducked back instead as one of Adam's allies, the monkey Faunus, tried to grab her. I didn't even notice him leaving the stairs! Damn it! I'll retreat for now!

Ilia slipped into the crowd and quickly eluded him. It wasn't hard for her at all. It was her speciality after all. I'll have to tell Corsac and Fennec. We'll have to move to the second plan. She knew it wasn't going to be as nice. But their hands were forced. If Adam would just give up and return none of this needed to happen.

That's right. It was all his fault. He should never have abandoned Blake!

"You two just wait here! I'll check out the path for us!" Shay chuckled awkwardly and walked off into the bushes.

"Is he actually trying to get us to let our guard down? This is obviously an ambush…" Pyrrha said with a sigh.

Yang sighed and turned back to her bike, taking some of her extra clothing off and laying them down on the seat. "They're idiots. Simple as that."

Pyrrha shrugged. Yang was probably right. It didn't really make sense to her, but these weren't the kind of people she'd ever really met. Bandits were strange people who lived in the middle of nowhere and raided towns. That level of selfishness was something that just didn't make sense to Pyrrha.

Soon enough Shay returned, a new gun in hand and half a dozen fellow bandits at his side. "Alright, ladies. Hand over your valuables and weapons. We'll take good care of you."

"Is he… is he serious?" Pyrrha asked, concerned.

"Yup." Yang popped the p. "You want to handle this one?"

"Sure."

"H-hey! Don't ignore us!" Shay yelled at them. Pyrrha stepped forward.

"This is your one chance to surrender." The bandits paused for a moment then laughed at her. Pyrrha shrugged. "I tried." She tapped her waist and activated her Semblance.

A moment later the metal plates on her skirt opened and each deployed a single dagger. They carried three each but she wouldn't need that many. The golden daggers flew into the air and were caught by her Semblance. A moment later they began to spin around her. It took a lot of concentration, but luckily she had something to compare it to.

In her mind, she pictured the spinning blades wielded by Penny Polendina. The girl she murdered in front of the world. Pyrrha swallowed and started.

The daggers sprung forward. Half of them flew up and then curved down, stabbing the bandit's weapons and pinning them to the ground, divesting the group of their arms. The other half went a moment after the others and pierced her opponents themselves, forcing them back and down to the ground. They cried out in pain as the knives were pulled out with a flick of her wrist.

They gathered around her once more, spinning slowly.

Shay held up his hands. "Pl-please! We surrender!"

The daggers pointed at him for a moment, looking as if she'd pierce him. He whimpered. She nodded and flicked her wrists. The daggers flew back into their holsters and the plates closed once again.

Yang marched past her and grabbed Shay, holding him up off the ground by his shirt. "You done acting like an idiot?" He nodded frantically. "Good. Now take us to Raven."

"O-okay! J-just this w-way!" He pointed behind himself. Yang dropped him and he hurried to lead them.

Yang and Pyrrha shared a look and followed, their guards still up.

"We need your help to stop the White Fang. Please help us stop them from destroying everything we've worked for!" Adam asked, holding out his scroll.

"Uh… no sorry." The lumberjack replied and made a speedy getaway.

Adam sighed. Another failure. He couldn't help but feel angry and disappointed. He hadn't expected a lot to sign up but after almost a full day of asking he hadn't had a single person sign. After his speech he knew the people here didn't want to get involved, but they had proof now!

They really are that apathetic. Damn it. He took a short breather to push his emotions back down before heading out to try again. Night was coming. The nocturnal Faunus would be waking up soon. He had to try with them.

"Hiya!" Ruby yelled as she charged at Oscar. She threw a punch which he barely ducked under. He threw one back, hitting her arm as she tried to block. Oscar dropped below another punch and headbutted her chin. Ruby went stumbling back, clutching her chin.

"Sorry!" Oscar apologized, only to have Ruby dash forward and slam a fist into his face, sending him to the ground.

Jaune winced as he watched them. Ren tapped his shoulder. Jaune jumped and turned back to his friend. "Sorry, Ren. Got distracted."

"You'll get the best results if you can block that out." Ren responded with a smile. The two young men were seated next to the house. Jaune closed his eyes and tried again. He focused, manipulating his Aura around his body. Training was important, and for Jaune, he was focusing on trying one major thing. Unlocking his Semblance.

Jaune was having trouble. He had plenty of Aura and that was great, except for trying anything more… delicate. He hadn't had to do it very much, so he had to play catch up.

Which was nothing new.

He could feel something deep down, but couldn't quite reach it. I hope I can figure this out before we go after Spring. If I don't I'll need to rely on everyone else, including any Huntsmen Qrow or Lionheart can find. He was really hoping for something.

He didn't want to be a liability.

The stares of the bandits annoyed Yang, but she couldn't do anything about it. She was a stranger and a threat. At least she could take solace in being seen as a threat. Pyrrha was at her back, so the tribe in general wasn't going to be able to do anything. But she wasn't worried about the tribe itself.

It was the leader she was worried about.

Ahead of them was a large tent stood upon a raised platform. A crowd of bandits had formed a massive circle, almost like a city square. The tent flap was pushed to the side as a woman in black and red came out. The outfit as well as the black hair and the weapon at her side proved who she was, even if her face was hidden behind a bone-white mask.

"Well well well. You've finally come. Welcome, Yang." Raven Branwen triumphantly called out as she took off her mask/helmet. "You've proven your strength in making it here, even if you came with another." She practically sneered at Pyrrha.

Yang growled. "Mom. Been a while. Last time I saw you was… oh yeah, when you left me on that train, surrounded by Grimm and White Fang."

Raven sighed. "Yang I saved your life."

"Right. My 'one time'." Yang said with air-quotes. Raven's eyes narrowed. "Look I don't care. I'm not here for you. I just need your Semblance."

"Really now? After all this time you don't even want to ask why?"

"All I want is to get to my sister. You can get me to the one person who knows where she is. Qrow."

Raven glared at her brother's name. "Well then. You've come here for nothing then." She turned and made to return to her tent.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Yang shouted, deploying Ember Celica. She heard Pyrrha drawing her sword and shield as well. Raven didn't listen however and entered her tent.

"Time to leave now, girlie." Some woman with dark hair and a tattoo said. Yang snarled in response.

One of the bandits charged her. Yang effortlessly dodged the man's sword and punched him in the gut. She must have out a lot more force than she intended as he went flying back, crashing into a tent. As it collapsed under the attack Yang's eyes widened in surprise and anger.

"Weiss!?" She shouted.

"Yang!?" The white-haired girl replied, equally as shocked. She then sighed and rolled her eyes. A moment later the cage she was in exploded as a massive shimmering knight appeared. Weiss and her knight rushed over, joining the pair in a defensive triangle.

The other bandits, angry at how easily one of their own was disposed of, charged. As they neared the trio a bolt of lightning struck the ground. Raven had returned with her mask firmly in place once more.

"Enough! Yang. Join me inside. We shall discuss this further. Vernal. Return that weapon to the Heiress." Her biological mother said before walking back into the tent.

"Get back to work!" The other woman, Vernal, shouted at the bandits, who dispersed back to whatever they had been doing before. Vernal then walked over, sneered at them, and placed Myrtenaster back into Weiss' hands with force. She then stormed off.

Yang sighed, blinking away her anger. She then turned to Weiss. "I didn't expect to see you here, Ice Queen."

"Hm. I didn't expect to see either of you. It's an… interesting team up to say the least." Weiss looked between them for a moment. "But honestly, I'm so glad to see you!" She then jumped Yang, pulling the blonde into a hug. Pyrrha giggled and joined in. The trio took a moment to appreciate the hug and having reunited.

And soon I- no we- will reunite with Ruby. And after that… She stopped that train of thought and refocused on what was in front of them. Her left arm shook slightly, barely noticeable to anyone else. Yang took a deep breath and regained control. She turned, resolute, towards the tent.

Time to face the woman who gave birth to her.

A/N: And so we barrel on through Volume 5! I also reveal what I've done with Pyrrha. Her upgrade for this fic. With her unable to be as acrobatic and needing a power-up, she has looked towards her Semblance and, after what Adam said and the battle on the CCT tower, has figured out what she's going to do. Create deployable weapons she can control with her Semblance! The only real way to use it when fighting Grimm. It's intensive on her mind and Aura, but it allows her to gain a lot of the benefits Penny had without the weaknesses. No cords to cut here! Knock the weapons away? She can just grab them again! You'd have to destroy them entirely to get rid of them, which is something that only a few could do in the middle of a battle. A pretty strong boost if I do say so myself! Meanwhile, Adam continues his march forward, with Ilia resolving to keep fighting him. No convincing her through the power of friendship here.

I hope you all enjoyed and I'll catch you next time!