I Hope you all enjoyed the holidays! I'm a bit late but merry Christmas and all that noise, hope you like the chapter!

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Chapter 29

It had barely been a week since Adam Taurus had returned to base and still the image of the abomination refused to leave his mind. It had taken two years for them to find any trace of the Grimm that had taken so much and now that he had finally found it, he could do nothing about it. Not only was the creature posing as a student at Beacon Academy but Cinder had made it clear she wanted to deal with the issue herself.

Normally he would never let the opinion of a human interfere with internal matters but this particular human held much more power than any individual should be able to. After seeing her strongarm some of the strongest figures in Vale's underworld her physical ability was unquestionable, but the influence she held over Sienna showed a wholly separate level of power. Why his leader would listen to the words of a human over his own he had no idea, but it was clear Sienna saw Cinder as invaluable to the WhiteFang.

That being the case Adam had a difficult time trying to convince Sienna of the danger this unique Grimm posed. His position in the WhiteFang gave him enough clout to have the basic description spread around along with a "Kill on sight" Order but nothing else would be done. No hit squads would be sent and no bounties would be placed, no matter how hard Adam pushed for it.

How could Sienna just let that creature run free? After all the Faunus it killed and all the damage it caused to their operations? How was he supposed to just leave it to a human to handle? Cinder cared nothing for what the WhiteFang stood for, she couldn't be trusted to properly punish their criminals.

But what choice did he have? Sienna's word was law, if she said the human would handle it than he could do nothing but stand down. His strength and accomplishments bought him some support within the Fang but he didn't have nearly enough to directly disobey an order. Not yet anyway.

"So I'm just supposed to stay back? After what it took from me…" his hands tightened into fists, a picture of Blake burning in his mind. "The day we met that abomination was the same day you left me behind." He could remember dragging her along, forcing her to follow him while she began babbling about the humans as if there was any innocent among them.

Then she was gone, her semblance easily breaking from his grip before she seemed to vanish altogether, forcing him to return home alone. Upon his return he felt more confusion than anything, Why had Blake thrown her life away for some humans? She knew just as well as he what they were capable of, it just didn't make sense why she would sacrifice herself for their sake.

Then he found out she was alive and suddenly it all made sense. She hadn't sacrificed herself for the humans. She ran away. Because of that Thing.

"I don't know what you did to her…" It had to have done something, Blake was loyal to the WhiteFang and to him. She would not have been convinced to betray the Faunus, that had to mean she was somehow forced. "but I will take back what was stolen from me."

And that freak will be punished for daring to lay a finger on what was his.

…

"Sir!"

"Hm…?" Adam looked up to the voice that had pulled him from his thoughts, finding a lower ranked member looking at him from the doorway. The young man looked around the hallway nervously before entering the office and closing the door with an anxious expression plastered on what little of his face that could be seen. Was he scared to be facing a higher ranked member? Or was it the news he carried that caused such fear?

"What is it?" Adam prompted, placing his current work aside and giving his full attention. The young man swallowed hard as sweat began to drip from his face, giving the impression he was doing something he really wasn't supposed to be. Absentmindedly Adam's hand rested on his sword, a habit when tension was in the air.

"You hate the abomination!" He blurted out suddenly "...Right?"

Adam idly wondered if the "young man" may have been closer to a boy than he first thought. The White Fang mask he wore hid most of his features but his nervous energy was palpable. "I do…" Adam answered cautiously, unsure what the point was.

"More than Sienna?"

Adam narrowed his eyes, what did Sienna have to do with it? What would it matter if he hated the creature more? He got to his feet and approached the boy, leaving his hand resting on the hilt of Wilt as a warning. If this was some kind stupid prank there would be hell to pay.

"That makes it sound like you're going behind her back, which would make you a traitor." Adam warned though kept his blade sheathed. "Why would you say something so dangerous to me when you must know I have Sienna's ear?"

"B-Because Sienna is wrong!" The boy tone spoke of fear of course but it lacked doubt, causing Adam to raise an eyebrow curiously. "I know she's our leader, and I know I could never hope to see what she sees but still... I can't accept her decision!" The emotional response wasn't a complete surprise but it did little to clarify anything.

"What decision? Explain." It wasn't a question but the boy didn't seem to have any intentions of hiding the truth. He seemed relieved more than anything, like he was expecting to have been shut up already

"I had just received a report for Sienna from a frontier town in Vale, a place called Retel." The name was easily recognizable, it was rare for Frontier towns to reach such a size without becoming well known to travellers. "We have a supporter there who feeds us intel from time to time so we kept them in the loop about persons of interest, in case someone passed through."

"And the abomination was seen?!" Adam connected the dots quickly, struggling to contain his shock. Was the Grimm really dumb enough to cast away the added protection Beacon afforded it? It wouldn't be completely unreachable at the school but surely it would be better than an open town anyone could access. In the end the reason didn't matter, This could be the White-Fang's best chance to get rid of an unpredictably powerful enemy.

"Ah but if you're here." Adam motioned to the boy as his thoughts continued to turn. "Then I assume she isn't taking the chance…" That could cause a stir, there were many within their organization that blamed the abomination and none would be pleased to hear about such a missed opportunity.

"It was that human!" The boy cut in with a glare of such contempt it forced Adam to reconsider his earlier judgement, maybe the boy wasn't as green as he first thought. "Sienna was about to make a call, I know it! But that woman in red stopped her!"

"Calm yourself!" Adam hissed while opening the doorway and checking the hall to make sure no one had heard the boys outburst. "If word were to get out that Sienna Khan was taking orders from a human, it would cause ripples throughout the entirety of the White-Fang." He explained after locking the door and returning to his previous position. "Such ripples would only serve to divide us. To weaken us."

"I guess…" The boy looked downwards with a frustrated frown, conflicting emotions flashing through his eyes before he raised them again "But we can't just let that murderer go. I can't let it go." Again Adam saw that glare. It was strange to feel such a strong murderous intent from someone who couldn't have been older than sixteen.

The boy had lost someone, that much was clear, but whether that person was actually killed by the abomination was nearly impossible to know. After hearing how the creature wiped out a major armory in Vale without a single corpse being left behind, most in the White Fang began blaming it for every facility and patrol that went missing without a trace.

Could the abomination have killed every member that it was now being blamed for? Considering how spread out the White Fang had become in recent years it would be impossible, no one could be in two places at once. Did that mean he wouldn't use it to his advantage? Such a suggestion of weakness was idiocy, plain and simple. Adam learned a long time ago that taking every advantage possible wasn't just a good idea, it was completely necessary if you wanted any kind of shot at changing the world.

"Who said anything about letting it go?" Adam replied curiously as a plan began to take shape in his head. "That thing has silenced countless of our brothers and sisters," He let some of his fury slip into his voice to help drive his point home, or maybe he was just struggling to control it. "and has stolen something very precious to me. It will not escape justice."

The boy gave a knowing nod, perhaps believing they were in the same boat. "What will I be doing?" he pointedly did not ask if he could help, making it clear he would not sit idly by.

Adam scratched at his chin as if he was thinking about what the boy could do, like he hadn't been planning for it the moment he saw the loyalty to Sienna waver. "Listen very carefully…" he began by grabbing the boy's shoulder to ensure the proper attention was given.

The "Plan", if it could be called that, was simple; have the boy spread the abominations location as quickly as possible. With how many deaths the thing was blamed for their was no way some of the more fanatical members wouldn't take matters into their own hands despite the Hunter level threat.

Best case the monster would be slain and Adam could take credit for having a hand in putting down a vile criminal, boosting his standing while undermining Sienna's. The Faunus would see him taking action while she chose to stay her hand, at the behest of a human no less.

But when was life ever that easy? The abomination would more than likely survive after slaughtering his comrades… Which would leave the boy in front of him to take the blame for disobeying orders and being summarily executed, marked as a race-traitor.

The latter option brought him no joy. Knowing full well that he was more than likely causing a massacre against his own people… hurt, to say the least. But no life would be lost without purpose, each would become a martyr in their own right. Each brought the White Fang closer to seeing the threat that the creature was to to revealing the truth behind Sienna's corruption.

And when she was rightfully marked as the race-traitor she was, he would be there to take her place.

Then his work could truly begin, and the corruption that could only be known as humanity would finally be purged.

\-/

Jaune looked through the trees once more, a frown playing behind his mask while he waited for Qrow to finish his scroll-call. Gregory stood a short distance away, his scowl mirrored how Jaune felt though he doubted it was for the same reason.

It turned out Qrow's idea was just a combination of Jaune's and Gregory's plans. The civilians would be gathered at a single, defensible point in the center of town. The town's militia would be concentrated around the civilians while small squads would be spread out among the watchtowers that overlooked the streets. The Civilians would then begin evacuating by Bullhead and considering the limited number of vehicles it would take two to three trips.

The closest town was an hour away which left the militia to hold off the Grimm for four to six hours. After which point the militia would be evacuated as well, leaving the Hunter-trained to handle the remaining threats. Without the risk of civilians being caught they could take their time and retreat to rest before continuing the extermination.

The plan wasn't perfect and put a tremendous risk on the town's militia which would explain Gregory's soured expression as he was technically apart of said militia. Jaune didn't like that part either but when the alternative had innocents being risked it became much easier to swallow. What really made him anxious was who was chosen to reinforce the militia as a mobile response squad.

They're going to be fine. Whitback encouraged. They are Huntresses after all, they've spent years training for this exact scenario.

"Huntresses-in-training." Jaune felt the need to add if only to justify his anxiety but forced himself to take a breath and try to relax like he knew Whitback was trying to encourage. "But I suppose you're right…" Worrying would only cause distractions, it would be better to trust in his team and focus on his part of the plan.

All he had to do was stand at the edge of the valley, where the mountains had made something of a natural bottleneck, and kill as many Grimm as possible. It might have been dangerous for almost anybody else but with Whitback the risk was almost laughable. He was more worried about the Grimm running away than actually injuring him.

His job was easy, he didn't have to go door to door waking people up in the middle of the night to tell them they had to leave everything behind. He didn't have to fight surrounded by those people's livelihoods all while hoping and praying that nobody had been left behind for the Grimm to find.

He took another breath and released it slowly, trying to push his worries out with the air. His team would be fine. They were specifically trained to fight Grimm, not to mention Retel's militia and any fortifications the town had. This being a frontier town it must be used to fighting off Grimm, there was no way it would fail against the few that made it past him.

But what if more than a few made it past him?

"Jaune?" he flinched slightly as Qrow suddenly appeared inches away with a critical look in his eye. "Are you alright? I don't mean to pressure you but I can't have you zoning out in the field." Jaune looked downwards feeling embarrassed and a bit guilty at being caught.

"What a surprise, the greenhorn is scared." Gregory mocked. Qrow just rolled his eyes and nudged Jaune to keep his attention. "Ignore him, he's just pissy he actually has to fight. Are you good?" Jaune shook the doubt from his mind and nodded.

"I'm alright." Qrow believed in his team after all, and the man wasn't what Jaune would call an optimist. He just had to make sure he did his part and stop as many Grimm as possible. They would be fine, they said they weren't leave him so they couldn't just disappear right?

Qrow returned the nod "Then why don't you get the rest of your gear from the bullhead? You'll be fighting much more Grimm than we first thought so it wouldn't do to leave any openings." He tapped the back of Jaune's head to bring attention to the lack of armor on his head. "Should probably also grab you're other weapon, the big one you use to kill lots of Grimm." The hint went right over Jaune's head and he almost asked what Qrow was talking about.

He's covering for us Jaune, Whitback kept their mouth shut. He's suggesting we add some armor and make a weapon specifically for killing large numbers of Grimm.

"R-right, got it" He recovered quickly while trying to hide his embarrassment before rushing into the Bullhead. He waited until he was inside and out of Gregory's sight line before asking what kind of weapon they should use.

Well… Whitback began as the material around their head shifted before solidifying into a helmet to match his armor. Seeing as how we've only seen one type of weapon used in live combat against Grimm I would say it's a foregone conclusion. Jaune was going to ask what he meant but the material forming in his hand answered his question before he had the chance.

"A scythe?" Jaune said curiously as he inspected the pale white weapon. It was bigger than both Ruby's and Qrow's but not by a large margin, the extra size being more for the weight rather than any kind of range increase. "I guess we have seen Qrow fight Grimm during our training, so I guess it's easier to fight with weapons we've seen used before?"

Of course. Ever since that Bull faunus and Qrow showed us how much brute force could fail I made it a point to memorise all combat styles we encounter for the next time we meet an opponent too powerful or fast to crush. We'll have to bring our minds together like we used to but it should allow us to fight Grimm on a level similar to Qrow. Minus his experience and tricks but add our stamina and strength and I believe us equal against the Grimm.

He was as strong as Qrow now? That came as a surprise, though Jaune didn't miss how Whitback specified "against the Grimm". He might have been a bit oblivious sometimes but that didn't mean he didn't listen when people spoke. And just like he caught Whitback's words so too did he catch Qrow's. He said "No civilian casualties", meaning he was expecting some of the militia to die.

"Is there anything else we can bring...?" he wondered out loud. Maybe he could spare the militia some trouble if he expanded his arsenal? I'm hesitant to suggest it, considering the waste of material but…

"The more we kill the less that will reach the town." Jaune pointed out immediately, letting some of his frustration show at Whitback's hesitance. "No amount of material could be worth a person's life." There was a silence before Whitback finally relented.

...Very well. At his word black veins spread through his armor as large amount of material was pulled forward and reshaped. A few moments later Jaune walked out of the bullhead wearing a familiar cloak with a few hundred pointed surprised strapped beneath. His sword remained sheath while he kept the scythe in hand and in place of a shield a longbow sat strapped to a quiver on his back.

"Well you sure look prepared." Qrow commented with a complimentary whistle "Whole new level of armed to the teeth." Jaune could only shrug while the motion caused many of the knives in his cloak to clack against his armor, proving the Huntsman's point. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

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Took me awhile, sorry about that, but I'm happy to have finally got it out. Going a bit deeper into adam's psyche was interesting, not sure how well I did the blinded by pride and arrogance thing but I couldn't see Adam as the same level as Cinder. Even if he's bloody psycho from what i've seen (I've seen just after the fall of beacon) he truly believes what he is doing is the right course. that being said I don't remember seeing much of adam so maybe he was actually just an arrogant child getting pissed off that his ex left him. Also tried showing a bit more of how Jaune sees his team and his fear of losing them. figured that fear would probably be something ingrained pretty deeply in Jaune's mind. Oh and about the updates slowing way down lately I don't have any real excuse, Winter is tough for me and my seven pm to three am shifts aren't really helping. That isn't to say I'll be dropping this but unfortunately my rate of updates may not get any better. I wish you all a wonderful morning/night.

PS, I made a bit of an error last chapter, the white fang have only had Jaune's description for two years give or take, not a decade. My bad. I thought about going back and changing it but than I thought about all the other mistakes that I should be going back and fix and i kind of thought I would just leave it, for now at least. Lemme know if that's some nonsense.

Sergeant Soul Snatcher, Understandable to hear, Rereading the chapter I actually found some mistakes so personally I'd have to say it was a sideway's movement at best. I know I don't really have to follow a schedule but I was hoping to if only to prove to myself I could, you're right though. no big loss either way. You are spot with you analysis, even more so than I was as i got a touch mixed up with my definitions, woops! As you're probably noticing I love make incredibly powerful characters, I am the biggest sucker for a power fantasy whether it be in anime, reading or video games I f*cking love them! With the illusions you're also very correct in assuming he only has limited resistance when compared to his other abilities, something I hope to have made clear with Neo. He is not immune to illusions but has a large amount of options to break said illusions (which I am definitely going to have to use at some point.) Thank you for the review/analysis! I enjoyed reading it and hope I didn't disappoint with this most recent chapter!

dragoon109, I admit I'm not positive I completely understand you question but I will do my best to explain my logic behind my characters and also explain why i specifically wrote Weiss that way in chapter 19 (the initiation if i'm not mistaken). I write characters based on how i believe their core being is, like how i think most writers do. I have a set of morals and such in my head for each character. Ruby is a major bleeding heart with a lot of love for what I believe she sees as family (both biological family and the friends that i truly think she sees as another sort of family.) Weiss would be the arrogant girl who believes struggles with feeling superior at times but also has the heart to feel bad about that and to actively try and change that about herself. She enjoys things that are calm, quiet and orderly and feels a great sense of duty towards her heritage. I could go on but that is the idea behind how i write characters. For that chapter specifically I would have to say I chose to follow the anime to a certain extent, believing that I hadn't changed enough to have that event play differently than the anime. side note with the changes i did Ruby did not attack out of nowhere in the forest and also did not ride a giant nevermore. The first and last thing are true and part of the reason I thought she would dislike ruby to begin with. I'm sorry I'm babbling a bit at this point, hope that answered your question and if not please let me know! Thanks for the feedback!

Dethcat, I'm always happy to read something so positive. I've not fully rewatched the anime in awhile so it's nice to hear I'm keeping characters in line! My goal is to try and show a realistic (at least as much as i can manage) reaction to a series on non-canon events so that part is kind of important to me. I hope to keep you reading! Thanks for the support!