Levi's lessons came to second importance as they turned to be a space to chat and laugh. I didn't have any complaints, though. However, as much as I wanted to keep my days in such a happy routine, I have stalled long enough.
And I needed to continue with my crazy plan.
The training camp wasn't that far from the walls just like the directions in the paper stated, I could even walk to reach the place but the possibility of getting attacked by Grimm dissuaded me from doing so and simply rely on their already established network to reach the place.
There is no shame in recognizing your limits.
A large transport truck took me along with many others to the camp and it looked more like a mini fortress than a campsite, the thick palisade walls protecting the entire perimeter along with the tall watchtowers with armed guards standing on top of them.
When the truck finally entered the place, we all got guided to a relatively empty area except there was a course filled with obstacles. And the first drill instructor laid out the rules and terms after giving us a speech about how great and brave we are for joining a just cause.
Of course I didn't listen to a single word of it.
I had the feeling that I wasn't the average faunus, as I didn't tire out after hard physical activity or regarding my strength that didn't correlate with my body shape. But the obstacle course made it blatantly clear the gap I had with the average people from the very beginning and give a rough idea of what my stats actually represent.
I aced it.
Over-excelled the obstacle course and I was pulled from the group and made to wait sitting on rock as I watched the rest struggle with merely climbing a rope, very few actually finished the first stage in seconds only to fall face flat when jumping the fences or struggling to maintain their balance.
At least they had the spirit. I needed to give them that.
And watching them from where I am sitting is entertaining enough, including the incessant yelling from all the mysterious drill instructors, all of them wearing white masks covering only the upper face.
"So you are Ma'iq." I froze at the serious tone of the voice and slowly turned around to see who was calling my name, only to warm up at the sight of a very beautiful faunus girl dressed in a black and white outfit that perfectly hugged her frame.
Her only faunus trait being a pair of black cat ears on top of her head.
And her amber eyes stood out the most.
I mentally kick myself out from the stupor and smirk, "If it is something bad, then my name is Na'iq and you are looking for my evil twin brother who has already fled Menagerie." I joke as I raise my hands in mock surrender.
Except that only causes her to harden her glare, sending shivers down my spine.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna decreased by 1, -01/100]
Is that petty or I am an idiot?
She starts pointing at various places around us. "Usually we take various tests on aspiring recruits, but your performance on the obstacle course impressed enough instructors to directly pass you." She crosses her arms as she looks at with a bored look. "However, since everyone is busy evaluating the rest, I will be in charge in the meantime."
I scratch my head as I wasn't expecting that sudden development of events. "Oh, that's great. I guess." But it is a welcome one as it puts me closer to my goal.
She nods, "Good. Follow me."
The girl goes in the opposite direction with me following behind, leaving all the people busy with their own evaluations. But our walk is very silent and slowly becoming uncomfortable as I got accustomed to having a very talkative partner. I can't help but imagine how it would be if Levi joined me on this crazy adventure.
"What's your name, by the way?" I break the eerie silence between us as I want to improve my bad first impression and get to know her more.
"Blake Belladonna." She answers curtly.
That doesn't give me much to work with and the attitude doesn't help either.
Yet it is a beautiful name.
"So, I'm an official member of the white fang?" I ask in curiosity, since I am being taken away to a distinct part of the pseudo fortress.
She doesn't turn to look at me. "No. You are just a recruit. You need to earn your mask if you want to be considered part of the White fang."
"And where is yours?" I ask, as I don't see her carrying a white mask anywhere on her body.
Blake freezes in place for a moment. "I don't like wearing it." She finally answers and resumes her pacing, more focused on arriving at our destination.
It makes me wonder why she had that hiccup. So far, every member was proudly showing off their complete attire, and she is the only one who doesn't wear a uniform yet carry herself as if she can boss others around.
Passing more groups and a few tents, we arrive at a different location away from all the noises. It wasn't as empty as there are a couple of buildings not very far and there were other faunus casually dressed. They are more focused on a gun that was being shown by a white fang than taking notice of us.
The cat girl takes the lead and approaches something covered by a large gray blanket.
"Pick a weapon." She removes the cover and reveals a wooden table full of melee weapons, but most of them were swords, big or small, one edge or double edged.
I walk closer to take a better look and pick one from the rest. It isn't big or small like a dagger and tries giving a couple of swings in the air.
But the movement felt wrong, very wrong.
I drop the weapon back where I found it and try the same with another sword from the bunch and obtain the same results.
I just can't picture myself using any of those weapons. All of them feel and look wrong in my hands.
"I think I'm good." I don't know a thing about wielding them, so it is for the best to stick with what I am confident with. My fists, the most used weapon back in Vacuo whenever a problem came my way.
"Unarmed?" I nod at her question. Blake looks at me and then at the pile of weapons before shrugging.
She doesn't seem surprised or worried, instead she calmly approaches the trio and brings them to me while the masked guy left the scene.
"You two will fight." She puts a girl with small antlers in front of me who was equally surprised when she heard the order.
The confused girl turns to Blake and then to me, who is equally confused.
But the confusion quickly dissipates as she charges at me.
My mind kicks in and orders my right hand to grab the oncoming fist and pulls her against my body to close the distance before sweeping her feet with my right foot.
The girl is caught completely by surprise as she loses her balance, but since my hand still has her fist; it creates an opportunity which I take notice of. Using the opening, my knee smashes against the side of her stomach before releasing my grip on her hand.
She hits the ground hard while clutching her stomach in pain, holding back her sobs.
Blake rushes to help her get back to her feet and takes her to the building, which now I can safely assume is an infirmary of sorts.
I don't think she will like me after that. Blake should have picked the guy rather than the girl. He seems to be built for taking a hit or two, if his size was any indication and he is glaring daggers at me but keeping his silence and distance.
Not for long, though.
Maybe she is his friend or close family, since he also has a pair of small antlers coming out from his head.
Blake finally returns from the building but with a deep frown and her arms crossed, "That was unnecessary. Your last attack could have injured her badly."
"I know." I look down, rubbing the back of my neck. "I acted on muscle memory. I hope she is okay."
I don't think I would forgive myself even if it was an accident.
Blake sighs. "She will be fine. You didn't hit her with enough force to leave a mark or damage anything, but it will sting tomorrow."
I turn to look at the very angry male faunus. "Does it help if I apologize?"
"You…" He tries to get close, but Blake immediately puts herself between us and forces him to back away. Instead, he turns around and heads to the building to check on his companion.
Blake walks closer and stands in front of me. "You clearly know how to fight. It was my mistake to make you fight against another recruit rather than an experienced member." She immediately assumes a fighting stance. "Like me."
I gulp. "Isn't this overkill?" I ask, frantically checking my surroundings for anything that might help me.
Even moral support helps.
"You have combat experience and the White fang needs strong fighters with unshakeable resolve, and a stronger opponent shouldn't faze you."
I can argue back because she is right.
Doesn't mean I like it.
And have a hunch she wants to give justice to the poor crying girl resting inside the infirmary.
We have a brief standoff.
It is me who makes the first move and aim for the head. But my opponent easily side steps my attack and counters with a kick to my stomach.
It almost connects if my other hand didn't react fast enough to block her. But by using my hand, I leave my face open, which she takes advantage of and grabs my shoulder and throws me away with shocking ease.
When the shock dies down, I shift my body to land on my feet. It is strange to not have control even for a short moment. Much to my dismay, I am not given time to check or recover as Blake closes the distance, surprising me once again.
She lands a perfect hit on my stomach taking most of the air in my lungs but I get no time to feel pain as she follows her attack with a spinning kick directed to the side of my head making my body stumble back a couple of steps.
Even with that punishment, I don't lose my balance and raise my fist again, showing that I'm ready for more.
Or at least that was the plan.
The cat girl is relentless as I'm hopelessly blocking her attacks that I can't tell where they are coming from. I can only guess based on the spot that gets hit.
A crazy idea pops into my head and try to grab whatever that hits me and smirk in victory when I manage to grab something and keep it in place.
I look down with a smirk and see I have her leg, but that small victory doesn't last as she twists her trapped leg and uses the momentum for a downward kick. My poor shoulder took the full brunt and weight of the attack, forcing me to lose the grip on her leg, the perfect moment she was waiting for to finish me with a drop kick directly to my chest.
My body finally concedes and hits the ground like a broken doll.
I must look pathetic.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna increased by 1, 00/100]
Or not…
I see the cat girl towering over me, blocking the sun, "Your performance is not that bad. But all your attacks looked very amateurish and telegraphed." She offers me a helping hand to stand up, which I begrudgingly accept.
"Yeah yeah, getting beaten by a girl really sucks tho." I dust off my clothes but stop as I realize the stupidity that came out from my mouth.
I want to slap myself, hard.
Blake narrows her amber eyes "What is that supposed to mean?" She growls as she steps closer with her hand gripping the hilt of her blade.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna decreased by 5 -05/100]
Fuck me
I quickly raise both hands, hoping to stop her from doing something drastic, "Nothing! nothing. Bad habits from Vacuo, they all have a hard-on for the whole 'Might makes right' ideology. Spend most of your life in that place and some things tend to stick, hard to get rid of in a matter of months."
It came out without thinking.
I don't really mean it or think that way, do I?
"Vacuo?" Her ears perk up as she leans closer. "Now that explains many things…" she trails off while looking at me with an analytical eye. "I heard stories about how life is in those lands. You came to Menagerie because you don't agree with them?"
I shake my head, "Of course not, only psychopaths think like that. We are not animals but people who can tell right from wrong."
My words make her nod in agreement as her entire posture relaxes, no longer giving an intimidating aura.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna increased by 4 -01/100]
Back to square one.
But that still didn't save me from the trashing disguised as a close evaluation.
And I swear she looked smug while doing so.
-Blake Belladonna-
She had seen the unfiltered news, and it made her sick in the stomach. Adam was getting worse every day, and she didn't know what else to do or say to calm him down. Every day, she wishes to return to the better times where he still was the man she fell in love with.
Even if his targets were only Schnee private soldiers, eventually his blade would inevitably point to other parties.
There was so much censorship they could do before his savage rampages got out to the public.
But what made the situation even worse was that Sienna Khan was perfectly fine with his growing violent methods!
No matter how many times she protested, her words fell on deaf ears. Yet that wasn't enough reason to give up and stop trying all together and put everything back on the right track.
Which is why she used the opportunity to address her concerns with the excuse of delivering the recruits profiles as Sienna didn't want to speak with her, as their conversion always ended in the same way.
After knocking on the door twice, she was given permission to enter the office.
Blake quickly noticed the room was practically empty except for a large table with a large map of Remnant filled with miniatures of the white fang, Grimms and humans. In the middle of all was a dark-skinned woman wearing a dark gray sleeveless top revealing the tattooed arms. She had black wild short hair, revealing her tiger ears, along with a red button in the center of her forehead.
She had both hands on the table as she examined the map closer, occasionally moving a piece to another place.
The young member awkwardly fake coughed to get her superior attention.
Sienna khan finally took notice of Blake's arrival with a single glance before looking back at the map. "So, how was it?"
The cat girl passed the first batch of profiles.
"Like always. Many join and few pass. And even then, the majority of the new recruits are barely impressive." She was present in the tests and saw many struggling on the first obstacle already.
While they could still be made into decent fighters, it would take time and resources.
The dark-skinned woman glanced at the papers with mild interest before throwing them away. "We can't lower the bar or spend our resources on kids, especially now that Atlas has approved increasing its army size, according to my sources." Sha added another droid on top of Atlas.
"Again?" Blake feared that it would happen one day, but not that soon.
An army expansion meant growth in every department, from human soldiers to the droid army. And in turn; it increased the risk and casualty rate of the White Fang. The limited number of war hounds were already bad enough.
"The council always does their best to stop Ironwood's plans, but since they allowed him to go through with it, then my guess is that the tin man got dirt on a couple of council members to sway on his side." The high-leader of the white fang grabbed the mini soldier and placed it back on the Mistral side. "I will call our brothers and sister back and halt all operations. Atlas and Mantle are off limits for now."
"Don't you think it is because Adam has been attacking far too many dust transports and killing actual humans?" Balke spoke up with venom in her voice.
Sienna dropped her shoulders as she let out an exasperated sigh. "We talked about this, Blake. Adam's new methods might be… violent, but he is getting us enough resources to arm ourselves despite the embargos. So what if he kills a couple of Schnee private soldiers in the process? Nobody will miss them."
"Because I know soon, it won't be only soldiers! My father founded the White fang as a bridge between humans and faunus to promote equality and peace! Not an unscrupulous bandit group!" Blake slammed both hands on the table, making it shake and drop most of the miniature soldiers from their positions on the map.
Sienna didn't flinch or flare up in anger, but took one deep breath and looked her subordinate to the eye. "We tried your father's way, and we got nothing. Since we changed our methods, we started getting results." She calmly picked up another miniature and placed it back on Vale.
And then focused on Mistral, where she picked up a human miniature with her right hand.
"We have destroyed many slaver rings within Mistral and saved hundreds of lives that would have died on a cursed Dust mine or tortured just to satisfy deranged fantasies of some bastard. Now the faunus who live in villages around Mistral can sleep at night knowing that their family won't be kidnapped at night to be sold off!" She crushes the mini human in hand, making Blake flinch in surprise. "What did we ever accomplish with organizing debates and peaceful protests? Besides being turned into laughingstock and even more sanctions because a council member felt offended?"
Sienna opened her hand only to reveal the scale model turned into dust.
Blake looked away, biting her lower lip as she didn't know how to retort.
The older woman let out another sigh as she rubbed her temples. "Blake, how many times are we going to have this discussion? Dozen? Hundreds? Thousands? Words will get us nowhere in this world. We need to act, not talk. I need to look out for my people all over Remnant, not the whims of an idealistic girl."
"..." Blake looked down as she rubbed her left arm, holding back her frustration as another failed attempt came to be.
"Anything else to report? If not, leave."
Her ears perked up and handed the last profile. "We have a promising recruit. He comes from Vacuo, so he has enough combat experience to stand his ground and aced the obstacle course on his first try."
The high leader read the hastily written profile and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "So not a complete green. Is his aura unlocked?"
"No." She didn't feel any and while he recovered fast, the bruises remained on his body.
"That's promising. I can see why the others passed him without any issue." She gently placed the report on the table after she finished reading all the contents. "I should call Adam to oversee his training. This is the perfect chance to have him lie low for a while."
Blake panicked at hearing her plans and grabbed the paper. "I will do it."
"I thought you would like to have Adam back here instead of killing 'innocents', as you refer to them." The tiger spoke in a sarcastic tone.
"This is different." She hissed. "I will be the one to train him, not you or Adam or anyone."
"I don't know what drove you to be this brazen, to actually dare to talk to me like that." Her face contorted into a frown full of anger, with her hands gripping the edge of her table. "In my office, no less."
Even then, Blake didn't flinch or cower and glared back. "I won't back down from my decision."
The two had a vicious glare standoff.
"Dismissed." Sienna snarled and resumed organizing the map that Blake ruined.
Said girl exited the office and let out a long sigh of relief as the high-leader didn't pressure her to give up her idea. But the implications of becoming a teacher finally dawned on her.
She didn't know a thing about training others or how to speak to them, but she would be damned if she allowed Ma'iq to turn into another Adam Taurus.
Maybe Sienna was right, but she held the hope to guide back the White Fang in the correct path and Ma'iq would be the first of many.
AN: It came to my mind that Atlas is supposed to be supper advanced and stuff, their military partially shows, but why not have more models? Especially simpler designs because as far as I know, quadruped robots are far easier to build and control and bipedal ones.
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