Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. RWBY is owned by RT, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.

VOLUME 4: Part One, The Menagerie

CHAPTER 1

A fugitive from justice, with a grudge against the White Fang, was heading into the vipers nest. Pale hadn't shaved since the fall. The beard helped conceal his identity, as did his change in clothing. To be fair, the wardrobe change was a simple shift in clothing color to a set of light blue pants, and a darker blue coat with a sergeants chevrons on the sleeves, both horribly faded fourth hand apparel, that looked more grey than the described shade of blue. A grey blanket was rolled up long ways and tied around his shoulder like a sash. His signature hat was left back in Vale, a simple kepi cap, the same color as his coat, replaced it. Speaking of replacements his peg leg was holding up quite well.

Curse the sea. Pale hated it, but his goals had led him to follow the Belladonna. For better or worse. He kept out of the way, and avoided detection as best he could. Not that getting found out would matter in the middle of the ocean, but after the Fang abandoned Vale, he moved on to continue his personal war against them. He needed to know everything about the higher ups, and Pale knew Blake's parents had started the organization. It was as good a place as any to start looking for answers. If he could find them, he could be pointed in the right direction of the current and more secretive leadership, the bastards in charge he wanted to kill. The snakes that gave Adam Taurus his free reign, be it maliciously, or negligently. As he understood it, Blake was going home to Menagerie, and since that's where the ship was going, Pale decided to get a ticket, and so he floated along in the south sea. Turning his attention out towards the waves, he saw the fin of a giant grimm breach the surface nearby, Pale sighed. "Mother fucker."

The sun had begun to set on the sea, and Pale at the rear of the ship was on high alert. That sea fei long was circling the ship. It was waiting, waiting until they were nearer to land, where the ship could be forced to run aground. Looking up the length of the ship, Pale saw that there were rocks ahead. The Belladonna seemed spooked too, though it might not have been by the sea dragon. There was a man in a cloak on the deck above them. Walking up the length of the ship, Pale prepared to alert the crew of their impending fight, only for the boat to be rocked, as the grimm swam too close to the ship, displacing enough water to create a small wave.

The Dragon raised it's head from the water, and let out a roar, just as Pale made his way past Blake… If he was going to reveal himself to her, it might as well have been now. Shoving Blake out of the way, Pale drew Guerrilla warfare off his hip, and made good use of his semblance. With each subsequent gunshot and ball of smoke, dimples in the scales of the monster appeared. It shrieked out in pain, as Pale holstered his revolver, and whipped his sleeve gun out, sending 5 smaller dust bullets into it's hide. It dove back below the water, giving Pale some time to reload. Glancing over his shoulder, Pale smirked at Blake, as she looked at him in stunned silence. "Bet you never thought you'd be happy to see me." He said, before briskly limping up to the bridge, his peg making a thunk noise with every other footfall.

"Oh and Sun, you can stop hiding now." Pale said, to the faunus under the cloak as he passed him on the second deck. Leaving the two faunus to berate each other about why he was following her and why she ran away, Pale opened the door to the bridge and looked around the room. "Captn'. It's come to my attention we're under attack." Pale said sarcastically, as the first mate automatically deployed the port and starboard deck guns.

"Are you a huntsman?" The captain asked. Pale nodded.

"That I am. But my little six gun ain't exactly up to snuff. You got a long nine cannon on board?" Pale asked.

"The 8.8 centimeter gun's being brought up from the hold." The captain said.

"Good, have a man load it. I'll sort the rest." Pale said, before hobbling back down to the main deck. Before Pale could even address his two fellow hunters, the fei long reared it's head from the sea once more, this time making a show of sprouting wings from it's central spine. Blake and Sun looked at Pale, and he just held his hand out to the dragon. "Do what you're gonna' do. You'll know when the fight's over." Pale said, as the two hopped off the bow of the ship, taking the fight to the dragon.

Pale saw the gun slowly rising up from the deck with a small stack of ammo on a pallet. He limped over to the gun, and checked the breech, finding that it had not been loaded as he asked. Grabbing one of the massive shells from the pallet, Pale kissed the solid shot's AP tip for luck, and shoved the case into the breech. Standing beside the gunsight, Pale started rotating the manual controls, preparing to line up a shot.

In the distance, he saw Blake and Sun take their time clipping the beast's bat-like wings, which just gave him time to clear his head. Resting his eye just far enough to avoid scope kiss of the worst variety, Pale inhaled, took note of the wind, and the rocking of the ship, the humidity, the distance, the direction the grimm was moving, the shell's speed, and the axis the ship was moving on. Pale exhaled as he depressed the trigger. There was a defining boom and a giant billowing cloud of smoke as the high velocity shell, being boosted by Pale's semblance, whistled downrange, striking the grimm in the same second it was fired. He'd hit the grimm, but only managed to clip it, ripping off what remained of it's wings, and the fin on it's back.

The sea dragon fell into the water, and turned to face what had injured it. Spotting the human in blue on the deck of the ship, it began charging towards the craft. Pale cursed to himself, as he pulled away from the gunsight to reload the gun. Opening the breach and yanking out the hot shell casing, Pale grabbed a second shell, this one a timed high explosive shrapnel round. Using the edge of his bayonet to set the distance fuse, he then slammed the shell into the gun and got back on the sights. "Come on, come get some." Pale said, as the dragon got closer, nearing the distance he'd set the fuse to. "Come ooooon." Pale whispered, as the grimm roared at him. "COME GET SOME!" With a second ear shattering boom and cloud of smoke, the 8.8cm shell screamed towards the fei long, this time detonating just in front of it's open and waiting mouth.

Flack flew in all directions, but a large enough segment flew in a concentrated cone down range, that the entire face of the dragon was shredded by chunks of metal, each little bit like a jagged bullet ripping it's way through the length of the monster. Lifelessly, the grimm fell into the sea, and began to vanish.

Pale was promptly smacked across the face the second Sun and Blake got back onboard the ship. "You have some nerve." Blake spat at Pale, only for the human to spit out the mucus he almost swallowed.

"I have nerve? You just smacked a guy who tried to kill you twice in the past year." Pale said, before Blake looked at Sun.

"And are you two following me?!" Blake shouted. Pale rolled his steely blue eyes and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, ever since Beacon fell… What happened? You landed with us at Vale then just ran from the hospital?" Sun asked.

"She was scared." Pale said tersly, causing Blake to look at him.

"Not of you." She said through gritted teeth.

"Never said you were… Look. My opinion of you marginally worsened after Beacon, but trying to strangle you was entirely out of line for me, and I'll admit that." Pale offered, before pulling out a cigarillo to smoke… An old habit dying hard.

"What, you're pleading temporary insanity?" Blake shot at him. Pale scrunched up his face as he answered.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I knew something was up the minute Yang punched Mercury, and I watched my girlfriend die… Held her in my arms as the lights went out… Because I was too slow. And I fuckin' snapped. I knew the Fang was involved, and I knew you were one of them, that's the only justification I needed at that point… Then you pointed out Adam, and we'll say the veil was lifted. I did to him what he did to me, and with any luck he's dead, but the Fang still exists. So I decided to cut off the head. Kill their high leader. And to do that, I needed to find them… And who might have the answers as to where they might be, hmm?" Pale asked.

"I… I've never met the high leader. My entire time in the Fang was kept mobile, mostly Atlas and Vale." Blake said, half lying. She knew of Sienna Khan, she just had never talked to her personally.

"Which is why I'll be talking to your parents." Pale said with a smirk. Blake didn't like that smirk at all.

"Hold on, If you're going on a one man revenge rampage, what are you doing Blake? Just… Going home?" Sun asked.

"I'm… Trying to get away from everyone… Bad things happen to the people I care about… I did lead the White Fang to Beacon… It's because I left the Fang that Adam became fixated on hurting me… And now Penny and Yang are dead." Blake said, turning to face the horizon, as she held her own arms. A somber mood was cast over the trio at the mention of their friends.

"I hate you." Pale muttered.

"Glad we've established where you lie on the matter." Blake said, only for Pale to look out to the ocean with her.

"I don't think you get it. I hate you. All of you. Every single faunus out there. Doubly so for the White Fang. But it's because I hate you, that I understand you… When Adam Tarus burned down Sakkura, he did it because he wanted humanity to know what it felt like to be oppressed. To be subjugated to a race in power. And I did, oh I felt it alright. And I hated it… Before he came, I had no problems with the faunus. Shit I liked some of them more than humans sometimes… But Adam showed me that if humans did what the faunus did, just roll over and take our punishment for the sins of our ancestors, we would never break out of oppression like you could… Because we're inferior…" Pale said, clenching a fist.

"Inferior?" Blake asked.

Pale unbaled his fist. "Humans are genetically disadvantaged compared to faunus. Claws, horns, night vision, wings, with none of the drawbacks. You are every bit as intelligent, and reasonable as a human… And every bit as racist and malicious. If faunus ever decided to rise up, completely united, and did to us what Tarus wishes, we'd never be free. We already lost one war against you… What makes you think we could win another… So yeah, I hate you, because I understand why you all fight so hard against us, and I never want to see the day you realize you can not only fight us, but win too… That's why humanity treats you as second class citizens… Because if we didn't, you'd do it to us." Pale said, before walking off to the aft end of the ship. "That's not true." Blake whispered to herself, a truth she could not help but tell… She'd been with Adam long enough to know that if he ever won out against humanity, it would not mean their subjugation… it would mean their extinction.