Yeah...I dunno where this came from. Guess I was inspired by recent reviews in An Arc For Every Season dogpiling on Blake for being the Worst Girl and getting into antics. Not even sure when I'll be updating this since I have no clue on the plot besides the initial premise. Guess we'll see.

Also my first Knightshade stories with my previous two leaning towards Lancaster. Should be fun.

Jaune Arc was many things. A Rabbit Faunus, the middle of eight siblings, and a loyal member of the White Fang. Now granted he hadn't been a member long, and a few of the old timers weren't exactly keen on a 'half-Faunus' like him even being in the group, but he didn't let that put him down. So what if he had a Human mom? She believed in equality just as much as any Faunus! And genetics proved that when a Human and Faunus had a child that kid would always be a full Faunus.

Which was why he didn't let him get it down when said narrow-minded people looked down on him. So what if he never really took part in the big operations? Every little bit helped! Everyone in the White Fang started somewhere, and if carrying boxes and spreading fliers around helped the cause then he'd do it gladly.

"Help fight for equality today! Join the White Fang!" Jaune shouted enthusiastically, waving fliers at the passing Faunus. He was in Menagerie right now, and despite it being the seat of power for their group not everyone wanted to join. He understood why. Too many of them just wanted to live their lives instead of putting them at risk. His family was the same. Mom and dad worked hard to give him and his sisters a good life back in Sanus.

It wasn't enough for him. How could he stay there knowing other Faunus like him were suffering? He'd always wanted to be a hero, just like his great grandfather who fought in Faunus liberation, and he figured following in his footsteps was the best thing he could do. The people in the past fought for their rights to equality and now he was doing the same. It's what great grandad would've wanted.

...Granted he probably wouldn't have been happy about him running away from home and stealing the family sword, but he didn't have a choice! Every time he brought up the topic of joining the White Fang back home mom and dad always got angry. They're terrorists, dad would say. It's not safe, mom would say.

He brushed the back of his right hand across his sweat soaked forehead. Menagerie was way hotter than Sanus and even after a couple of months here he hadn't gotten used to the change in temperature. He just thanked his lucky stars that Ilia was nice enough to awaken his Aura. It was pretty much the only reason he hadn't passed out from heatstroke even after he finally ditched his favorite hoodie.

"Morning, Jaune." An all too familiar voice greeted him.

"Morning, Mrs. Belladona!" Jaune replied back happily. Kali Belladonna, wife of Ghira Belladonna and co-founder of the White Fang. Apparently they weren't leading it anymore for some reason, but they still had a lot of influence in Menagerie. The woman's daily routines led her to pass his corner and she took to greeting him every day. She was nice like that.

"Still at it, hm?" She had a basket of fruits held in her. Must've just finished her morning shopping.

"Yup! Every little bit helps, right?"

"I suppose." She sighed. Jaune's furry tail twitched from underneath his jeans at the sound, "Still haven't changed your mind, hm?"

"Of course not," Jaune said. The woman always tried to talk to him and a few others - mostly the teenagers - about their membership with the White Fang. She was just worried; her own daughter joined and recently left under...less than pleasant circumstances, so he understood why she was so worried about people his age. Still, he wouldn't let it deter him.

"Well, I suppose you know what you're doing."

"I do. Thanks for being worried, though."

"Well, at least have this if you insist on standing around here all day." She pulled out a juicy red apple from basket and offered it to him, which he took gratefully.

"Thanks! I'll see you around, Mrs. Belladonna!" He waved goodbye and bit into the red fruit. He liked Mrs. Belladonna, but talking to her reminded him of his own parents. Were they worried about him, he wondered. It'd been months since he left with not even a single letter back. Did they think he was dead now?

Jaune shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think about that. He had a job to do.

"Help fight for equality today! Join the White Fang!"

Jaune managed to pass out a few fliers by the time the sun had finally set. He trudged his way back to the barracks and yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Passing out fliers and moving supplies around wasn't glorious work, but someone had to do it. So far he hadn't even swung his sword, at least not since the first operation he took part in. It...hadn't ended well, but in his defense Deery walked into that swing even after he warned her. It wasn't his fault!

The barracks was a simple place. Menagerie wasn't exactly swimming with luxuries and at best they were at least provided a roof over their heads. The bunkbeds were military grade, so it was more function over comfort, but he'd gotten used to that after a rough couple of nights. The fight for Faunus equality wasn't gonna be easy, that was for sure.

"Hey, Ilia."

"Mm." She grunted back tiredly, sitting on the bottom bunk in a daze. Ilia Amitola, his bunkmate and unofficial guide to showing him the ropes of White Fang 101. Unlike him she was usually out on missions so it was actually pretty rare for them to be in the barracks together.

"Hard day?"

"Yeah. Adam's been...pretty rough ever since Blake left."

"Well, just stick to it." He patted her shoulder sympathetically. He always envied Ilia for getting to work under someone like Adam. He'd heard the stories. An amazing fighter, a great leader, and a genius on the battlefield. All the soldiers under his command would've followed him to the Grimmlands itself, and he would've been the one leading the charge. The man was an inspiration.

"What about you? Any luck?"

"I think I managed to convince a couple. Or at least they didn't toss the fliers when they rounded the corner." He sighed. Sadly for him, espousing the values of joining the cause wasn't really that effective. At best he could get the interest of a few people, but even then it wasn't a guarantee that they'd actually join. It was probably for the best. Ilia told him once that numbers didn't matter so much as conviction. Ten devoted members were more valuable than a hundred doubtful ones.

"Well, I think I might have something that'll cheer you up." She stood up and nudged her head, silently instructing him to follow her outside. She waited till they were out in the open air again before she continued, "You're going on a mission. Straight from Corsac and Fennec."

Jaune's eyes widened, "A mission? Like, an official White Fang mission?"

"Pretty much." She shrugged, "Beacon Academy's about to have a new school year and we're always on the lookout for Faunus sympathetic to our cause. Poaching even a single student with Huntsmen level training, even if it's incomplete, is a major benefit."

"So...what do you want me to do?"

"Guess you could call it spy work. We've got some fake transcripts on hand and we're confident it can pass the screen tests. Once you're inside you can see if you find anyone sympathetic and...subtly coax them. Don't just ask them if they want to join the White Fang." She paused, "Oh, and I suppose you should see if they have any plans against us. It's unlikely, but the majority of students are Human and prejudices run deep. So, you in?"

"Of course I'm in!" Jaune shouted. This was it, this was his chance to prove himself! And with such an important mission too! All those months of backbreaking work were finally paying off!

Ilia watched as the blonde cheered to himself and couldn't help but feel bad. She...may have made the mission sound more important than it was. Huntsmen academies were low priority targets for the White Fang. Huntsmen only concerned themselves with Grimm, which were a threat to both Humans and Faunus, and Sienna made it very clear that any attempt to target them would lead to members being dealt with by her personally. The last thing they needed was the Grimm getting stronger.

And maybe they were sending off Jaune less cause of his people skills and more because they kinda wanted to get rid of him for a bit. Hey, she liked the guy, but it took a special kind of dumb to try and solo an Atlesian Specialist when you had no training. She was pretty sure the only reason he was alive was cause they didn't really think he was a White Fang member. He didn't wear the mask and his Faunus trait was pretty well-hidden.

Oh, and those transcripts were just gathering dust in a cabinet somewhere and the Albain brothers were curious if it'd actually get past screening. Ilia personally had her doubts. Oh well. If they rejected the transcripts then Jaune would just go back to doing grunt work, no harm no foul. If he did pass then Jaune could get some free training for however long he stayed there and he'd be more useful when he returned. Win-win for everyone.

Even if he did get caught, who'd believe a goof like him was a member of the White Fang? The guy was as harmless as the rabbit he truly was.

Jaune finally finished cheering and took a breath to steady himself. Alright, this was his first official mission and he'd do his absolute best to make sure it succeeded. Things were looking up for him.

This couldn't be happening!

Jaune gripped the sink at the bathroom of his new dorm room and stared at his reflection in the mirror. Shaking hands turned on the faucet and he splashed cold water against his face, trying to get some sort of sensation in his numb skin.

Things had gone great. He was let in thanks to those foolproof transcripts and all he had to do was pass the Initiation before officially being enrolled as a student of Beacon. Granted he didn't expect to get thrown into the forest by springboards or that his partner would be the first person he made eye contact with, but he could deal with it. Anything to fulfill his crucial mission.

And then he saw her.

Blake Belladonna, daughter of the founders and recent traitor to the cause. He thought he was hallucinating at first. He'd only seen her once, back when he was carrying supplies for a train job she and Adam pulled, but she was famous among the lower ranks for being one of the longest members despite her young age. That was why her betrayal came as such a shock to everyone.

The two of them made eye contact and he'd frozen. It was definitely her, and the bow disguising her cat ears did little to make him doubt that. It might've helped if she'd changed her outfit at all or gone under an alias, but somehow nobody else in the school realized who she was so maybe she was onto something. Either way it was bad news. He was sent her on a crucial mission and she was a traitor to the cause. This wasn't gonna work.

...Or would it? She didn't seem to recognize him, which made sense since he was only a low ranking new recruit. Even if they were partners now all he had to do was keep a low profile and make sure she didn't catch on to his true loyalties.

Jaune's mouth quirked up in a slight smile. Yeah, he could still do this! So what if his partner was Blake Belladonna? She didn't know who he was and as long as he acted like she was the human she pretended to be she'd have no reason to suspect him of anything. Heck, he could even use it as a chance to dig up info on her, maybe find out why she betrayed the cause.

"Jaune, you alright in there?" Ruby Rose, one of his teammates, asked. Aside from Blake, Ruby and her sister Yang made up the four members of team BRAY. Team Brandy, which was appropriate cause he felt like he needed a glass after the day he had.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He took a deep breath and opened the door. Remember, he was Jaune the Human. He'd been told by Ilia to hide his Faunus traits in order to move around easier, which was an easy enough thing to do considering his preference for baggy jeans. As long as no one saw him naked the disguise was foolproof.

"You've been in there a while," Ruby said. It was just her and Yang in the room. His partner (and their team leader) was nowhere to be found.

"Just freshening myself up. Not everyday you fight a giant scorpion Grimm, you know."

"Pfft, that was the easy part. Did you see that Pyrrha girl take down that Nevermore? That was awesome." Yang said, already lying down on the bed.

"Yeah, too bad she's partnered with that jerk Weiss." Ruby frowned. Jaune could relate. The Schnees weren't exactly the nicest to Faunus and the SDC was one of their main targets. He definitely needed to make sure she didn't realize what his true purpose here was.

The door opened with a soft click and Blake stepped inside. Their eyes met for a brief moment before she walked over to her bed and pulled out a book, never saying a word the entire time. A feeling of relief rose in his chest. That proved it then. She had no idea who he was and his mission was still safe. As long as he did things right then everything would work out.

This couldn't be happening!

Blake turned the pages of her book and internally screamed. What was he doing here?! She'd done her utter best to erase her tracks and told no one of her plans. Granted that was because it was spur of the moment, and she barely had enough supplies to last the week when she'd left, but it still meant no one would've known of her plans. Not even Adam.

And yet he was here. Jaune Arc. She almost didn't recognize him when their eyes met at the Emerald Forest. While they'd only met once, she always had a good memory for faces. It helped that he stuck out considering he didn't wear his mask while in camp, reasoning that there was no enemy there so why bother with the disguise? She couldn't actually disagree with that.

But that didn't explain why he was here. Had he somehow found out her plans and followed her to Beacon to exact retribution? If so why didn't he just attack her in the forest? She shook her head. No, there were cameras there, of course he wouldn't attack in a place where he could be recorded. Did that mean he was planning to strike tonight while her guard was down? Attack her in her sleep?

Or perhaps he was here for another reason. The White Fang had spies in many places, after all, and an academy for Huntsmen was rife with opportunity for recruits and learning new combat techniques. It wouldn't have surprised her if he was planning to convert the Faunus here to his side. He might have been a recruit the last time she saw him, but there was a reason he was sent here alone.

She flipped to another page and subtly flicked her eyes upwards. Was it truly possible that he didn't recognize her? Perhaps. She was wearing a foolproof disguise, after all. Not even her own parents would recognize her, and it wasn't just because she hadn't seen them in half a decade and that when they last saw her she hadn't even hit puberty. Without her cat ears present she was indistinguishable from any other human.

Even if that were true she couldn't let her guard down. He was here for a reason and after seeing how far the White Fang had fallen she couldn't risk whatever plan he had coming to fruition. She'd have to stick to him like glue and foil any schemes he had. If she was careful she dig up info on him, maybe find a hint of what his plans were so she could stop them if she needed to.

Thankfully they were partners, so he wouldn't find her constant presence suspicious. If he had to go somewhere outside like Vale then she'd be sure to follow. If he protested or tried to find excuses then it would only prove his ill intentions. Why would he go off alone if he had nothing to hide.

Her eyes flicked up again and their gazes met. Blake immediately looked down once more and held back a shudder. He didn't recognize her, she was sure of that...but it would be best if she didn't sleep so soundly tonight. And maybe she should keep a knife under her pillow just in case.

From her own bed, Yang watched the two partners not-so-subtly eyeing each other, looking away when one caught the other's gaze. She grinned. Those two totally had the hots for each other. That explained all the awkward looks and the stiff way they acted around one another since they arrived. Well, what kind of teammate would she be if she didn't help them out?

Ruby looked at the rest of her team - Blake and Jaune constantly eyeing each other while Yang grinned at them both - and shivered. Why did she get the feeling this school year was gonna be a disaster?

Yeah, like I said I'm not really sure where this is going. The only thing I have so far is Blake and Jaune both thinking they're super slick and subtle and assuming the other hasn't caught on to who they are. Meanwhile Yang assumes these two trying to spy on one another is a sign of a mutual crush, which she's happy to egg on. Poor Ruby's just caught in the middle and doesn't know what to do.