Here we go.

Cover Art: Terakali

Chapter 30

It had taken asking a favour of Weiss to keep Yang busy and allow Adam a chance to corner Ruby alone. Weiss had only agreed once she knew why he wanted it, at which point she'd been only too happy to help. He knew she'd been waiting for him to do this and it was honestly past due.

Ruby, poor innocent Ruby, had no idea she'd been separated from the pack. She kept going on about the homework Adam had asked her help in going over, work on weapons and ammunition types, the exact kind of thing the weapons-obsessed teenager loved most.

"Ruby," he said after a good half hour of her wild and happy rantings on why explosive ammo was a good idea in theory but not application. "I have something to tell you…"

"That you're dating Yang?"

"I- No. Not that." He coughed. Damn his cheeks for turning just a little red. "I… It's about the reason our previous room was ransacked."

"Do you know who did it?"

"Not the specific person. I know why it was done, however."

Ruby nodded, suddenly interested.

"It was done by an old group I used to be a member of. One that I left recently." He paused, considering his words. In his head he kept thinking he should just shout `White Fang` at her and be done with it, but he didn't want to hit her that hard. "One that I… in some way regret being a part of. It was… I don't regret joining but we often went too far. I…" He sighed and ran a hand over his hair and horns. "This is difficult to say."

"You don't have to say anything. It doesn't matter what you were. You're a member of Team RYST now."

"That's kind of you to say. Still, I think you deserve to know. You all do. The things I did, they're not easy to accept. You may hate me for them-"

"I won't!" Ruby's voice took on an angry note. "I won't hate you."

"Don't say that when you don't know what I'm about to say."

"It doesn't matter," she insisted stubbornly. "You're my friend and my teammate. That's all I care about."

Damn it, Ruby. Her support was endearing most of the time but not when he was trying to be honest with her. Maybe it would be best if he did it quick like ripping off a band aid. "Even if my actions caused the deaths of innocent people?"

Ruby's face was pale. "D-Don't say that…"

"What if it were true, Ruby?"

"It's not."

Adam grimaced. This denial wasn't a good sign, especially not of what her reaction might be when he forced her to accept it. "You have to be wondering why so many people hate me, where I've learned my skills, why Weiss' sister distrusts me-"

"Because they're wrong about you! Because they assume things you're not!"

"Or," he countered, "Because they are right about me."

Ruby jumped up off her chair and backed up. "They're not!" she insisted, glancing around for help. This was exactly why he'd chosen to separate her from Yang or Weiss. "You- This isn't funny, Adam. A-And I don't care. You're my friend and that's it. You're a huntsman now. Anything else doesn't matter."

"Ruby. I used to be-"

The door beeped and opened. Adam could have screamed. Yang came in first followed by Weiss. Ruby took the chance afforded to her, blurting out, "I need to check on Crescent Rose" before blurring between them and away with the aid of her Semblance. No one had the reaction time to stop her.

Damn it! Why is she so stubborn? Just let me say my piece!

"What's up with her?" Yang asked.

"I've no idea," he replied, glaring at Weiss. "I didn't even say anything that could have upset her."

Weiss caught the hint and looked back at him as if to ask how he'd failed when she'd bought him a full thirty minutes. He didn't know the answer himself. Ruby just wasn't receptive to having her believes changed. Or she was just stubborn and wanted to avoid the Goliath in the room.

"I'll go look for her," Weiss said, giving him a clear look that said this would be his chance to get it right with Yang if no one else. "I'll be back later. Don't do anything untoward in our room."

"Technically, this isn't our room." Yang replied with a smug grin. "Since our room is trashed."

"Then don't do anything weird in this room!"

"No promises, Ice Queen!" Yang laughed as Weiss slammed the door, then turned to face him and said, "Want to rough up her bed, mess our hair and sprinkle some water on her pillow so it's wet? I bet she'll explode."

Tempting. He had to admit. On the other hand, this wasn't a time for fun.

"Maybe another time. I was trying to talk to Ruby about… well… something in my past. Something I'm not proud of."

"Whoah. Whoah. Is this one of those heavy talks?"

"Maybe." He sighed. "Yes. It definitely is."

"Ugh." Yang sat on her bed with a grimace. "And now Weiss asking me to spontaneously walk around Beacon makes sense. Great. So, you tried to spring something on Ruby and she bolted, huh? Wouldn't be the first time."

"That's common?"

"Rubes is the bravest girl alive if you put a Grimm in front of her. Same can't be said if it's something more to do with being sociable. It's easier for her to avoid things that make her uncomfortable. I'd say it's a play on her Semblance and how she's hard-wired to avoid taking hits, buuut… it's just her not knowing how to deal with things."

That certainly fit. Ruby's response hadn't been so much anger as complete denial and a shut down of the conversation. This wasn't the first time, either. If Ruby were as convinced on the idea that she'd forgive him no matter what then it shouldn't matter if she listened to him or not, which only implied that the news might actually affect her.

I don't have time to spend all day running after her. I need to meet the White Fang tonight.

Which meant this had to happen now. Right now.

"Will you be better?"

"I'll listen," Yang said with a little shrug. "As to my reaction, well, that's harder to say. How big is this?"

"Big."

"It's worrying you?"

"A little," he admitted. "Or a lot. I've been… trying to think of a way to tell you all for some time. I've wanted to for a while, but I've never found the right place or time. Or method," he added. "Weiss found out on her own and that felt worse. There's a chance you and Ruby might soon."

"Okay, now this is sounding deep." Yang crossed one leg over the other and grinned his way. "How about we do it the easy way?"

Easy sounded good. Adam needed that right now. "How so?"

"We'll count to three together… and then you just blurt it out!" Yang threw her arms out. "Just throw it out there and get it in the open. We'll deal with it afterwards. Don't sweat the details or how to make it perfect; I'm a direct kinda girl so just say it straight. I'll even do the same." Yang scratched at her cheek. "I kinda have something I need to say as well, so we'll do it together."

"That's it?" he asked.

"That's it. You down?"

"I… yes, I guess I am." If this was how she wanted it, this was how she'd get it. "On three?"

"On three. Ready?"

"One-" they said in unison. "Two. Three-"

"I think I'm in love with you!" Yang blurted out.

"I'm a wanted terrorist and ex-White Fang member!"

The silence that hung after was stilted to say the least. As Yang's face stopped blushing and as her mind comprehended the words he'd said, Adam couldn't help but think he'd missed the point of the exercise. Or that his revealed secret was somehow a lot more problematic than hers.

Yang appeared to agree.

/-/

There was a reason the White Fang always chose to meet in dilapidated and abandoned buildings, often industrial warehouses, old factories or similar. Such locations were placed away from residential housing, reducing the risks of any activity being overheard. They were also spacious, allowing for a large gathering if needs be, and above all else they were dark. Ever since the Great War, the faunus had learned to use their natural abilities to their advantage.

As such when Adam walked into the rundown building the note detailed, he was unsurprised to find it pitch black inside, nor that his eyes could adjust easily and take in every corner. A human would have been helpless, and flashlights were a good way to draw every bullet in a hundred metre radius.

The White Fang didn't have the monopoly on dark and abandoned places, however. Glass bottles, cigarette stubs and the occasional used syringe dotted the floor, along with burn marks from people setting campfires. Graffiti covered the walls, both the artistic variety and the jagged gang signs.

The main corridor had all that going down to a staircase at the end, with gaping doorways leading into bare rooms strewn with rubble, waste and animal droppings. Adam walked slowly toward the staircase at the back, scanning each room as he went by with his left hand holding Wilt's hilt downward, ready to draw.

His shoes clicked on the worn, concrete stairs. Ducking at the turn, he scanned upward for threats before following it into another corridor. This one was not empty. Further down the end, in the dark and far out of sight for any human, stood a man in grey with a White Fang mask.

Young, Adam thought, taking in the nervous stance and the way he tensed on seeing Adam. Tensed not to draw or fight but to bolt. Inexperienced. He hasn't seen combat before. No one that green should be put into a situation like this.

Moving toward the boy slowly, Adam continued to check the doors on either side. He listened for the sounds of breathing, the tell-tale creak of leather or the uncomfortable scuff of cloth on concrete. All signs of someone inside a door pressed up against the wall trying to hide. As ambushes went, bringing him into narrow confines wasn't a bad plan. The walls would cut off the full range of his swings. Then again, a sword like his was more than capable of working on thrusts and vertical slashes if it had to.

"I-Inside here," the boy stammered, indicating the open doorway he was guarding. "T-The others are waiting."

"Hnn." Adam walked past the young man. "Then I shouldn't keep them waiting."

He counted six in total inside the final room. There was nothing set up for him, no fanciness or furniture, just six much more confident White Fang, one of which was topping almost seven feet with ripped muscle and a mask almost too small for his face. Two of them slid around the far walls to try and reach the door he'd come through and cut him off. Adam thumbed Wilt free of Blush with a none-too-subtle click and they froze in their tracks.

The apparent leader wasn't Torchwick this time. It seemed they'd be having a White Fang reunion, no humans invited. The masked man was one Adam didn't recognise, which meant he'd probably rise up from the ranks after his departure. He had no defining ears on his head, but there was a subtle flicker of his tongue and a flash of fangs as he smiled.

"Welcome back, Adam." The snake faunus rose and tossed something forward in an underhand swing. It came to a clatter by Adam's feet. "You've forgotten your mask."

The White Fang mask stared up at him. "No." Adam placed his toes atop it, pressing down until it let out a quiet crack. "I didn't." It split down the centre, crunching underfoot. "The White Fang and I have parted ways."

"One doesn't simply leave the White Fang. We're in this until the end. That's a promise we all made."

"I'm not an honest man," Adam replied. "Nor am I a forgiving one. You attacked my team, vandalised their belongings." Adam's single eye narrowed. "I'm not best pleased about that."

The faunus shrugged. "We had to get your attention somehow."

"The letter alone would have sufficed."

"Ah, but it's always best to show instead of tell, isn't it?"

To show that he wasn't safe. To show that they could and would follow through on their threats. Adam huffed, sliding his left foot back to test them. They tensed as one, each and every single one of them recognising the widening stance and knowing what it meant.

They're not amateurs. Looks like they're taking me seriously.

"There's no need for violence between brothers and sisters," the leader said. "You've given a lot to the White Fang in your time. Few have done more. You also didn't abandon your people in a time of need like Belladonna did."

Adam nodded. "I made sure to leave after the mission was over and only once my men were back in their encampment. I spent years training them; I wasn't about to leave them to rot."

"Your care ssshows." The faunus' tongue flickered for a moment, drawling the s out. It must have been an instinctive thing because he hadn't for several instances before. Nerves, maybe? He wasn't as calm as he was letting on. "The White Fang hunts its traitors down, but I think we could make an exception for one such as you, Adam. You have done much. If you wish to retire, who are we to refuse you?"

"Generous words. Not so generous actions in drawing me here. I don't feel welcome."

"You attacked us at the docks!" the seven-foot tall faunus growled. "You worked with humans!"

"As did you," Adam returned easily. "At least my allies didn't refer to me as a `filthy animal` while doing so. You're picking interesting allies. I can't say I approve."

"Better a thief than a Schnee!"

"Enough Banesaw." The leader touched the giant's arm. Adam snorted, amused by the name. "You admit it, then?" he asked Adam. "You admit that you joined the huntsmen in fighting against your former brothers and sisters?"

"I was there hunting Torchwick. Your lot were thrown in my way to assure his escape. You realise he's using you, no? He didn't try hard to keep the recruits from being captured."

"He is of use to us."

"More use than your precious brothers and sisters obviously." Adam nodded his head backward. "In my day you wouldn't be using someone as fresh as that kid out there. I always pushed for a full training regime for fresh recruits before they saw any real action."

"It is not your day anymore, Adam. Things have changed."

"Evidently. I can't say they're for the better."

"The old guard will alwaysss resist change. That is not what we brought you here to ssspeak of."

"Go on then. Speak."

"You have wronged the White Fang. Not in leaving, but in striking at us as we continue our mission in Vale. We aren't always merciful, but we do not want to kill someone who has done so much for us all. As such, we are willing to let you leave the White Fang and live in peace. If…" he stressed, "You do sssomething for us first."

There it was. Adam's eye narrowed further on the man, noting the sudden increase in his accidental hisses. Aside from a few scales on the neck, there wasn't much to show of his nature, but those teeth could easily contain venom. A quick glance over the others showed that their features were more standard and less of a concern.

"Blackmail, huh? The White Fang really has fallen far."

"Consssider it a gesssture of good will. Making amends for what you did to our men on the docksss. You do a little something for us and we ignore the fact you are at Beacon. We allow you your… retirement."

"And if I refuse?"

"News of who you were will be released across Vale. That will happen if we don't report back as well, so don't think killing us will sssolve that problem. You would not want your time at Beacon to be cut ssshort, would you?"

Adam didn't answer.

"It is not a big task we will asssk of you," the faunus went on. "All you need do is allow some of our members access to Amity Colosseum."

"What makes you think I have access?"

"You don't now but you will when the festival starts. All you need to do is open the doors for them to get backstage."

"And what happens then?"

"It is better you not know. Plausible deniability."

A bomb, abducting someone, perhaps even a murder of a competing team. The options were limitless and could well destabilise the entire Vytal Festival. That would be a big show of force for the White Fang, but he couldn't see how it would help push them toward their goal of winning better conditions for faunus.

"I thought our war was with Atlas and the SDC, not huntsmen culture."

"As I said before, things have changed."

"I think they've changed too much for my liking…"

"That isss not your decision to make now!" the faunus hissed.

"I think it is." Adam reached up and peeled his bandage off, revealing his second eye and the grisly scar beneath. It did more than simply shock them. It granted him proper depth perception. "Because it's my choice on whether to accept or refuse."

The leader's eyes widened behind his mask. "Stop-"

Wilt swung free with a whoosh of air, slicing up and through the chainsaw rushing in for him. The single swing, enhanced by his draw, struck beneath the blades and at the motor, slicing through cheap plastic and through the engine. The chainsaw spluttered and tumbled through the air overhead. Adam danced under it, spinning on his heel and bringing his blade low to slice across the giant's stomach.

"Arghhh!"

"Get him!" the snake faunus roared.

The five others moved.

Adam was already moving, sliding behind the stunned Banesaw while he moved to clutch his stomach. A quick strike of his pommel into the man's spinal column made him stagger, then Adam drove a foot into his rear end to send him crashing into his charging allies, taking one down and forcing two others to abandon their charge.

That left one on her own, bringing her machine gun up to fire. Wilt blurred through the air and knocking one, maybe two of the ten or so shots clean. The whole idea of blocking bullets was nonsense in reality, but good old fashioned luck could play a part. The rest pattered off his aura as he closed the distance and slashed at her face.

She brought the gun up to block, catching Wilt's blade between the stock and the finger-guard. Pushing in, he forced a guard lock and drove her back into the closest wall, planting his second hand on the flat of his blade to force the rifle back into her face. Releasing suddenly, he gripped and wrenched it from her hands, aimed it blindly and opened fire behind him while smashing his fist into her face until her mask cracked and she slumped down to the floor.

Once the gun clicked empty, he threw it away, turning in time to see he'd hit precisely no one with his wild firing. That was fine – he'd forced them to split up and pinned two down, meaning he only had the hulking and disarmed Banesaw and one other to contend with.

"Traitor!" Banesaw roared.

"Obviously." Adam replied, bringing Wilt up to guard and forcing Bane to avert his overhead two-handed smash or cut his own hands off. Bringing his guard down, he was able to divert a clumsy thrust from the other to his left side.

There was no time to counter because Bane was reaching out to grapple him, a surefire way to get killed considering how big the man was. He skipped back and out of rage instead, unleashing a round of buckshot from Blush that did more to disorient and blind them than damage.

"Wha was your first clue, really? The fact I betrayed the White Fang by leaving, the fact I betrayed the White Fang by attacking your operations or the fact I betrayed the White Fang by rooming with a Schnee? Please tell me, I'm curious as to what tipped you geniuses off."

The other two raced toward in him tandem, seeking to overwhelm him. Adam extended one arm, stabbing Wilt out at one of them with a frankly pathetic and over-extended thrust with no power behind it. That didn't matter. The faunus had to either stop his charge or impale himself on it like charging cavalry into a pike wall. He staggered and drew back, at which point Adam did the same, drawing Wilt back into a much more favourable guard in time to take on the final faunus one on one.

He had no hope. A decent blow was caught by Adam with contemptable ease and then swept left in an arch, pinned to the ground. Adam stepped onto the man's sword to keep it down, drove his hilt up into his chin to stagger him and make him let go, then swept his now freed sword diagonally across his stomach, cutting first through aura and then through flesh as the former failed. The faunus cried out and toppled, clutching a serious wound.

"Pathetic!" Adam shouted, leaping over him to engage the one who'd faltered on the charge. A feint above had the faunus blocking and left no time to fix when Adam ducked and stabbed under instead, piercing through the right shoulder and disarming him in one go. "They can hardly fight and you want to go against Beacon? You'll be eaten alive!"

Ripping his sword free of the shoulder, he turned and thrust it out at the person trying to sneak up behind him. The tip of his blade hovered before the young man from outside's throat. He trembled, stumbled and fell on his rear, a metal rod clattering from his hands. Scoffing, Adam whipped his blade down, sparing him.

"It would be a kinder fate for me to kill you all now. That's all that awaits you. Instantaneous and one-sided death. A slaughter. It won't end there either. Attack the SDC and people can at least understand our motives even if they despise us. Attack the academies, the schools that teach the huntsmen that keep us safe from the Grimm, and the whole world unites against us. The White Fang would be hunted to extermination within two years."

"It would be a glorious death!" Banesaw roared, charging in with arms raised.

"If that's how you want it." Adam reversed his sword so the tip was angled forward, ducked low and lunged. Banesaw was already without his weapon, already without much of his aura, and Wilt plunged deep into his sternum, rupturing out his back. The giant gasped and shuddered, leaning heavily upon Adam as he came to rest against the man's chest. "I'll save you the anticipation and give you your glorious end here."

"T-Traitor…"

"Am I? Your fanatical actions would see faunus hunted down and killed." Twisting, Adam drew back, letting the man fall to his knees. "I may be a traitor to the White Fang but I'm not a traitor to its founding ideals. That would be those who use it as a means to hurt humans for no other reason than their own anger."

The faint hiss from behind gave the attack away. Adam dragged Blush up, holding the sheath horizontally behind to cover his neck. It wobbled as the jaw clamped down on it, bared fangs grating on the leather scabbard and dripping a clear and viscous liquid.

"Did you think I'd forgotten you? I never did answer your… generous offer. Did I?"

The snake faunus leapt back, spitting venom out his mouth. "This isss answer enough! I'm not even in charge here. My death won't make a difference. Your identity will be revealed to everyone, Adam! The world will know!"

"It shall." Adam brought Wilt up before him. "I've accepted that fact. And the hate that will come with it. You might have had more luck if you'd approached me directly. Going through my teammates was a mistake."

"You would throw everything we have accomplished away for a Ssschnee!?"

"I would not. But I might just throw it away for a friend." Adam grimaced the moment he said it. "That sounded awful in my head and worse coming out my mouth."

"You've gotten soft!" the faunus hissed.

"Honestly…" Adam sighed. "You're not wrong."

"Soft enough to forget your place. Do you think we're the only ones here? We always knew you might refussse us. This building is surrounded." He laughed. "You are surrounded. If you will not join us as an ally, you will be killed as a traitor and shown as an example to all who might betray us!"

Adam hummed. He hadn't seen anyone outside but then he shouldn't have for a proper ambush. They could easily have been positioned further out and then converged only once Adam was reported as being inside. There was plenty of time for someone to push a button or send out a signal.

"Not bad," he complimented. "At least someone is keeping basic tactics in mind since I left. There's just one problem…" Adam sheathed his sword before his foe, then stooped to pick up his bandage and sling it back over his eye. "If I came here fully intending to refuse your offer and aware of the consequences for doing so, what other instructions might I have gone against?"

It took the faunus a few seconds to understand what he meant.

Qrow Branwen literally waltzing through the door behind Adam with his scroll held out acting as a light source helped. "You were right," Qrow said. "Plenty of White Fang came in to surround the place once you were inside. Winter's lot have them handled outside. You finished in here?"

Adam snorted. "Near enough."

"Y-You bastard!" the snake faunus screeched. "You treacherous bastard!"

"I literally left the White Fang. Why is this a surprise to you?"

The faunus was too angry to form words and lunged in, a knife in each hand and his teeth bared. Adam let him approach, then slid one foot back and whipped Wilt and Blush around as one, striking his sheathed sword into the side of the attacker's head with enough force to send him slumping to the side. He groaned once and laid still.

"Another captive for Ironwood," Adam said boredly. "I wonder if this will be enough to prove my intention to him."

"Probably not," Qrow mused. He looked around and sighed. "You've left quite the blood trail here. I'm not sure Ozpin will appreciate this."

"They threatened my team."

"Hey. I didn't say I don't appreciate it. Thanks for looking out for them by the way." Qrow offered his fist but Adam refused to `fist-bump` him. "And good on you for coming to us with that letter. I bet if it were Yang or Ruby in your shoes, they'd have come alone or with the team. Just… run into danger. Why not?"

Adam hummed. "They said my identity would be revealed the moment they fail to return to their base. My tomorrow morning, everyone will know who I am. What I was." He closed his eyes and sighed. "It's going to be difficult dealing with that. I expect a lot of people in Beacon will hate me for it."

"Ozpin won't let anyone demand your captivity. Not after what you've done. Or are you more concerned for what others will think of you? I guess it's empty words for me to say if they hate you for this then they weren't good friends in the first place."

Appreciated but ultimately empty.

"Did you at least tell your teammates? They'll be the most upset if they have to find out from another."

"I… I may have forewarned them…"

"But did you tell them?" Qrow asked again.

"Ruby would not hear it!" Adam's frustration bled through. "She knows there's something dark to me but hopes she can avoid confronting it if she cuts me off whenever I try. Yang is…"

Adam turned to face Qrow, and in the light from his scroll's torch, the blue bruising around Adam's good eye was visible. The skin was turning an ugly and swollen shade of purple.

"Yang is complicated."

"Ah. Looks it." Qrow thankfully decided not to ask why his niece would have such a violent reaction. He might have figured it out by now since Yang hadn't been subtle at the dance. Adam took the lack of any threats as a sign Qrow at least accepted this was happening, even if he didn't outwardly approve. "Ruby always was stubborn. As for Yang, well, I guess it's your issue to sort out. Maybe it won't stick. There's always a chance the White Fang won't have the clout to get this out there."

The next morning the newspapers and stations were all focused on a single headline.

Beacon accepts dangerous White Fang terrorist as student.

Adam's face was splashed centre page.

Man I've been sniffly and sneezing all day today. I do double sneezes, too, which are super obnoxious. Always in pairs, always super loud. I'm guessing it must be the weather or pollen or something. Bwah!

Next Chapter: 4th May

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur