The night was crisp and peaceful, the cool air blowing through, the villagers going about their lives with little to no commotion, and the stars above glimmering. The ebony haired girl was sitting on top of the walls surrounding the village gazing about until her friends interrupted.

"Blake, it's time."

Blake turned from the sight of the stars towards the one speaking to her, her gaze fell upon a brown haired girl clad in black leather armor with a grimm mask in hand. She had daggers along her belt with a compact crossbow slung on her back with a sling of bolts.

"Okay, what's the location of our targets Ilia?" Blake stood up from where she was sitting gripping the short sword on her belt.

"May Zedong, Atlas' second best archer and King Ironwood." She responded as she placed her grimm mask over her face. "It's about time we cut off the head of Atlas' "great" army."

Blake nodded in reply as she wore her mask. She looked back towards the squad that had assembled, three male Faunus and two females including herself all dressed in black leather armor and grimm masks hiding their identities.

"Everyone knows the plan right?" Blake waited for everyone to nod in rely before continuing, "Then let's begin, we have this short window of opportunity and we can't afford to miss it."

Blake threw over her hood before descending down into the village, hopping from rooftop to rooftop avoid any onlooker's gaze while making her way towards the villa along the river. The group barely made any sounds as they approached the large two-story villa, they stopped on a nearby rooftop that gave an overlook the entire estate. She spotted only a couple of guards dressed in white armor patrolling the courtyard, some with blue strips on the chest piece. Blake signaled her squad, then immediately dropping bellow into the shadows of the building. She snuck past two guards as she climbed towards one of the open windows, she barely made any sound entering as she scanned for any movement in the room. Satisfied she left the room, creeping through the halls listening to any footsteps from the guards. She made her way to a side room where one of her unit waiting by the window. He handed her a pouch full of throwing knives and signaled towards the hallway.

"Three guards to the left, one is facing towards you if you enter while the other two are facing away." He muttered, "Ilia is position to take out the one facing us, give us the word and she'll fire."

Blake nodded as she caught the pouch, taking out two throwing knives while sneaking towards the hallway. She heard the guards discussing about a soldier, one who certainly caused trouble for both the Faunus and the army alike.

The Red Reaper

Or what at least what some of the soldiers said. For the past couple of weeks there were reports of a soldier that was causing problems for the White Fang, they've sent out feelers and spies to figure out who this person was but it seems that no one knows. All they know was that they would wear a crimson cloak with a grimm mask and was a Vale soldier who was transferred. Not much was known about them as very few got to stay alive after an encounter with them, most of the Faunus soldiers say that they're the best archer in the corps. She shook her head, trying to concentrate on the task at hand.

'There's absolutely no way that someone like them existed' She thought to herself before peaking around the corner. She spotted the guards in their positions, she signaled Ilia then dashed into the hallway. A bolt flew past her as it connected with the guard's head, she threw the knives into each guards throats then pulled out her daggers cutting their heads off. Blake stopped to listen for anyone before moving towards the closed door, she heard several people inside, laughing, singing, and caught the smell of alcohol, completely unaware of what's going to happen next. She waited for her unit to mobilize, then dashed inside as the door was broken down. Several shouts were audible as Blake made her way towards the drunken archer, when she was in range she slashed opened her throat letting her bleed out as she scanned the room. Everyone was taken out as she looked over, she counted all of her squadron as she sheathed her dagger.

"Target one confirmed, proceed to part two." She ordered.

"Roger," Everyone echoed as they left. They traveled along the bank of the river, hiding along the trees as they arrived at Castle Alsius. They scaled the walls using the shadows to conceal themselves. Blake snuck through the battlements along with two other Faunus, quickly taking out the guards stationed inside. Once secured Blake crept along the outer wall until she got inside the keep. The room she entered was long abandoned as the sign of cobwebs were present and the line of dust in the furniture. She kept her ear to the door as she heard bystanders walked past, engaged in an interesting conversation.

"Did you hear? Vale sent over more reinforcements and they've just arrived last night!"

"Really? It was nice of King Ozpin to send over Miss Schnee and Miss Nikos weeks earlier and now they've sent us Miss Xiao Long and Miss Valkyrie."

"But what of the other ally? The one King Ironwood personally asked for?"

Blake's ears twitched at the new information mentioned.

"It matters not, that person is troublesome enough with our own forces than against the White Fang themselves."

"Surely what you said was untrue, they've done great things for us and even gathered valuable information too."

"But afterwards they cause tension every time they're with the troops, everyone is scared of them and it seems that the young crimson haired medic is the only one who talks to them."

'Crimson haired medic? Wait are they referring to the Red Reaper?'

"Ah! I knew I was forgetting someone, Miss Rose is one of the nicest people I've met in the line of work. It's a shame that she still talk to them on her free time."

"I know, I feel as if they're going to do something to the innocent girl-"

Blake pulled away from the door, trying to process all the information that she'd heard. She pulled out a parchment and a pen, jolting down all the information before slipping it away. She went back to the door, trying to listen for more but couldn't hear anything.

'Looks like they're gone, whatever it's time to move'

She silently opened and closed the door as she went towards the King's chamber. She crept around corners avoiding sentries and patrols as she stepped into the storage room. As she closed the door, she was greeted with Ilia watching the other door with her dagger in hand.

"Ilia, how much time do we have?"

"A couple more minutes until King Ironwood arrives at the castle with Vale's reinforcements." Ilia whispered. "Got any new information?"

Blake passed her the slip of parchment as she unsheathed her own dagger, "Looks like we got some new info on the Red Reaper."

Ilia looked at her in a bewildered fashion, "The Red Reaper? This is going to be interesting."

"There's a medic who has information on them, or at least is in contact with them."

"Really? That's great, the Red Reaper isn't going to make an appearance tonight. I think we got very lucky."

"After this contact the White Fang, send feelers and spies for a crimson haired medic that goes by the surname of Rose."

Ilia nodded as she opened the door to let in the rest of the squadron. Everyone checked their weapons and Ilia reloaded her crossbow, Blake looked out from the window and spotted the royal carriage approaching the main gates. They all dispersed as they made their way towards their assigned positions, Blake perched herself on top of a tower, taking out the sentry before he noticed. She took his bow and arrows, notching an arrow aiming towards the escort below. The carriage stopped in the courtyard with Ironwood stepping out with his Guardian Winter Schnee by his side. A couple of soldiers also stepped out from the carriage behind theirs, one with golden hair and the other with pure white.

'Vale's reinforcements huh, doesn't matter to us'

She aimed towards the king, letting loose the arrow. She heard Ilia's crossbow fire right after with multiple arrows flying towards the King. The ambush would've worked if Vale didn't step in. A bright redheaded warrior jumped in front of the arrows with her shield deflecting them while Winter cast an ice wall blocking Ilia's bolts.

'Damn Oum, the mission was a bust'

"Everyone scatter!" Blake yelled as she jumped from the tower unto the battlements. She saw black figures quickly making their way over the wall while one was caught by a flying icicle. She saw his body go limb as it landed in the courtyard, she dashed across the battlements quickly noticing someone chasing behind her. The attacker behind her was much faster than she realized, they were almost on her until one of her squad-mates jumped in to slow them down.

"Get out of here Captain!" He shouted as he fended off the white-haired warrior.

Blake turned around and saw him get cut down immediately, she was almost off the castle walls hoping that she could dive into the river for an escape until she felt a burning pain forming on her left shoulder. She ducked behind battlements as she checked her wound, she pulled out the arrow stuck into her shoulder and made another attempt towards the river. Arrows flew by her with two more attackers joining in on hunting her down, she pulled out a couple of throwing knives and briefly turning around tossing them pinpoint at their heads. They easily blocked the projectiles as they closed in, Blake stopped and pulled put both daggers from her belt desperately trying to buy some time for her escape. She blocked the redhead's spear from connecting with her other shoulder and dodged the blond-headed girl's swing with her long sword, she tried side-stepping but felt searing pain forming on her right arm and chest. She jumped back to inspect the wounds that were caused, noticing the gashes made on her body. She looked back towards the river and back towards the attackers in front of her,

'It's way too high to jump, there has to be another way' She kept on repeating those thoughts in her head as she tried to think of a way out of this.

"Surrender now assassin," The redhead yelled, as they slowly cornered her.

"Glory to the White Fang!" Blake cried as she turned around preparing to jump to the lower parts of the castle until she felt herself be flung over by the impact of the arrow entering her back. She was tossed over the battlements and towards the river below silently screaming until she blacked out as she hit the water.

The three pursuers looked towards the waters below before looking at the archer who shot the arrow.

"Sorry, I grabbed a long bow instead of my Magnhild." Nora apologized as she leaped from a nearby tower.

"It's alright Nora, although we didn't get the information we at least stopped the assassins and their leader." Pyrrha quickly reassured her companion.

"Really?" Nora asked quietly.

"Yes, yes now can we please get back inside? We still need to write our report to King Ozpin and King Ironwood." Weiss fumed.

The three nodded in agreement as they made their way off the battlements and inside the keep.

Yang looked back towards the river, and thought of what had transpired tonight. She knew that they sent the assassins after Ironwood but she feared that the White Fang sent assassins after any potential threat including officers or medics alike. She began to doubt sending Ruby to Signal, a nearby village that is somewhat far from where she was even though it was her sister's request. She sighed, even though Signal was in Atlas territory she's still scared of White Fang soldiers sneaking over the border and attacking several villages. Her train of thought was disturbed with a light punch to her arm with azure blue eyes staring back at her.

"Don't worry Yang, Ruby's old enough to take care of herself. Better than most people her age you know." Weiss reassured her.

"I know sweetheart, but I'm still her sister. It's only natural that I look after her and her wellbeing."

"Still, I think you're a little too overprotective of her," Yang glared daggers at Weiss. "I mean you ran out several boys who were asking your sister out."

"In my defense they were perverts and one of them was pressuring her, besides I don't know if she's even looking for a relationship right now."

"Is that so?" Weiss looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, she said that she isn't interested in talking about boys and that she has a lot of work on her hands to spare the thought."

"Speaking about her, didn't she go to Signal a couple of days ago?"

"She did, she should've sent a letter by now."

"Hey guys! The courier just arrived and there's a letter for the both of you!" Nora yelled across the battlements.

"Your sister never fails to delivers does she?" Weiss elbowed Yang in the side.

Yang smiled at that remark before retiring to the keep with her lover in tow.


"Are you sure you want to visit the bank at this hour Ruby?" Penny asked the crimson haired girl as she was putting on her cloak over her small hat.

"Yep! There's practically no one there to disturb me while I relax." She tied the cloak around her shoulders and began to walk out the door until the orange-haired ginger stopped her.

"You know Yang told me to look after you right?"

"I know Penny," Ruby groaned in irritation, it seems that whenever she would like some time off her sister would always be somewhat present. "You should take the night off, go home and relax."

"But-"

"Let me stop you right there, I'm the youngest active officer in both the Atlas and Vale armies not to mention part of the first away squad that arrived here to support the Atlas army against the White Fang and-"

"Okay, okay you made your point Ruby." She tried calming down the mumbling crimsonette. "It's just that you're part of the Special Forces and you're their combat medic."

"Yeah so?"

"That means the White Fang might send troops after you."

Ruby stopped at the door at the mere mention of that. She knew that she wasn't as strong as the other away members especially Pyrrha and Weiss but still she wanted to help so she volunteered to be the combat medic despite knowing that the White Fang was also hunting down the away squad. She sighed again knowing how she quickly jumped through the ranks at such a young age making the way to where she was now. She thought about staying home and letting Penny return back to hers, ending the night rather peacefully, but then she thought about the beautiful view that she wanted to see along the river bank where the water was calm and the sky was clear to enough to see most of the stars.

"Sorry Penny, I promise I won't run into trouble!" As she took off into the night. Most of the villagers were indoors making the run towards the forest a lot easier and peaceful. She made her way through the tree line and over uprooted trees. The air was cool as it blew around her as she settled at the open aired space near the river. She found this spot a while back as she settled in Signal, since then she wanted to return as soon as the chance allowed it. She smiled as she took in the view, the lush green forest surrounding the calm river was already breathtaking enough with the stars glimmering above. She was about to sit near a patch of earth that was the closest to the river until something caught her eye. She noticed something upstream where the water was settling to it's calm state, something shiny as it glinted with the moonlight. She hesitantly made her way across to inspect the shiny object, when she got close enough she saw that it was a dagger caught in the mud underneath it. She was about to pick it up until she heard a loud splash over to her left, she looked over as was shocked at what see saw. A ebony haired women was unconscious along the bank with blood seeping from the wounds, without any hesitation Ruby jumped over to the other side of the bank and scooped up the injured woman. She pressed her head against her chest, sighing in relief when see heard a heartbeat. She dragged her our of the water and wrapped her up in the cloak that she wore.

'That should keep her from getting cold, but I need to bandage the wounds before she bleeds out'

That thought kept racing in her head as she made a mad dash back to her home, quickly avoiding all the trees and roots from hindering her from saving the injured woman. She made it through the village without any problems, it was late enough to the point where everyone stayed indoors while Ruby seemed to be the only one outside at the moment. She quickly opened the door to her cottage and shut the door just as fast, she gently settled the woman in the guest room and ran for her first-aid pouch. After grabbing all the necessary supplies she unwrapped the cloak from her and quickly noticed the cat ears present on her head.

'A Faunus? Way out here?'

She quickly focused again and began to remove the wet clothes that stuck onto the woman. Immediately she wiped the wounds with disinfecting wipes and cringed at the sight of the woman twisting and turning in pain. She pushed that thought to the side as she cleaned the wounds and removed an arrow head that was present in her back. She tightly wrapped the bandages around the wounds ensuring that it applied pressure. She sighed in relief as she finished up, she looked back at the unconscious Faunus in her guest room and silently shut the door as she exited.

'What am I doing? She's a Faunus, everyone knows that they hate humans and vise versa.'

She slumped against a nearby wall putting her head in her arms.

'It's doesn't matter, she was in need of assistance and I provided it. What was wrong with that?'

She thought again on how the villagers hated the Faunus, ever since the war the Faunus were destroying many villages and killing many innocent people in the process only to make a statement to the rest of the kingdoms that "they also have power," but she also heard about many Faunus refugees seeking an escort out of White Fang territory fearing the army itself. She looked back at the door where the Faunus was housed.

'Could she be a refugee? Maybe I'll get an answer when she wakes up.'

And with that final thought she retired back to her bedroom, without the slightest thought the woman was an experience killer.


"What do you mean that she's gone?!" Ilia yelled at the last remaining member of the unit.

"As we made our escape Douglas was shot with magic while Rean tried to assist Blake in her escape, but he was cut down just as well. I tried circling back but their archer already..." He didn't finish the thought as he stared towards the ground.

Ilia punched the nearest tree, fighting back the already forming tears in her eyes.

'Oum damnit! It wasn't suppose to end up like this.'

She silently screamed at herself until she calmed herself down. Blake was gone and there was nothing she could do about it. She wiped away the remaining tears then pulled out the parchment Blake had given to her prior,

"Get up Soran, we still have a job to fulfill." She looked back at the Faunus. "We still need to deliver the information to the White Fang, hopefully this would help us win this war."

"You're right Ilia, we'll do this for the captain if not nothing else." Soran stood up with a new found determination in his eyes.

"We'll do this for Blake."


Blake woke up with a massive headache as she felt as though her head would split at any moment, she caught the smell of hickory and flowers but couldn't tell where she was. She opened her eyes trying to adjust to the room's lighting as she tried to prop herself up.

'Where am I? Am I dead?'

Slightly terrified at the thought she pinched herself in the arm, waking herself up with the pain that came with it.

'Nope, still alive but that begs the question. Where am I.'

She was very confused when she examined the room that she was in, a small bed table to her left and a door to her far right. She noticed that one of her daggers was placed near the wall to her right and that she was covered up in sheets and bandages.

'Did the White Fang rescue me? All I remember was-'

Her train of thought was cut off as her ears heard someone approaching the door, she tried to make out who was coming but from what she can tell it was only one person and that she was alone. The door opened up and all she saw was a crimson haired girl walk through with a hat on her head.

A human girl

Immediately Blake's reflexes kicked in, she jumped to her right quickly unsheathing the dagger and rushed the girl in front of her. The girl dropped the tray she was holding and was pinned against the wall with the dagger pressed against her throat. Terrified silver orbs looked into the amber eyes that were gazing back, the girl made no movements besides the unstable breathing as Blake kept her pinned to the wall. Slowly Blake was processing what was going on, who was this human, why is she here, what's going on? She snapped back into reality as the girl in her clutches began to sob quietly, with single tears streaking down her face as she realized what was happening to her.

'Wait, did she- save me?"

Blake released her grasp on the girl as she stumbled back trying to figure out what was going on. The crimson haired girl stood there in shock until she slumped against the wall until she sat on the floor across from her. They both sat quietly for a while until the young girl broke the silence.

"Are you-," The girl stopped mid sentence while trying to think of a better way to phrase what she was about to say, "- a refugee by any chance?"

'A refugee? Does she mean tha-'

"Y-yes, I'm a refugee." Blake felt a little bad for lying to the young girl before her, although she did have the right to be cautious about her. She had almost killed a civilian, who saved her by the looks of it and yet she repaid that kindness with a blade to the throat. Her ears flattened at the thought of that, which didn't go unnoticed by the other girl in the room.

"H-h-hey it's okay, you were probably acting in self-defense." The girl stuttered as she tried to reassure the older woman.

Blake looked back at the crimson haired girl, already she was puzzled by her behavior towards her not to mention help her out in the first place.

"I-I'm sorry," That's all she muttered before she felt the world dragging her down, she almost hit the floor until she was caught by the girl who lead her back to the bed that she was resting on earlier.

"I knew it, you're not strong enough to be pulling stunts like that," Blake heard the younger girl mutter under her breath, "Just stay here and rest while I get you something to eat okay?"

Blake stared at her in confusion, as she sat herself up on the bed provided for her.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

The short girl turned around as she was finished picking up the mess the tray left behind, and with a big smile on her face she said, "I'm Ruby Rose, combat medic of the Atlas Army."