Author's Headnote: Yep, she's losing a bit of the naivety, alright. Raven may be a good influence on Ruby. And that right there, is a rare sentence. Now for the next chapter.

RWBY: Festival of Blood: Pursuit of Mistral

Blake Belladonna:

Aura Status: 100%

Semblance: Shadow Clone

Weapons: Handgun, Machete

Licensing: Beacon Academy, Student Huntress

Party Relations
- Illia Amolita: She was convinced to abandon the White Fang in favor of Blake's thirst for revenge

End of Major character status report

Just Right Gas Station, April 13, Wednesday, 12:00 PM, Gas Station Bar

Blake Belladonna is not only an enemy of the White Fang, but one who has stolen property of the White Fang. Specifically, a Jet Boat. They were travelling to sea much faster than with the Canterbury. Which means more time for her and Ilia to get to Mistral.

Blake's outfit has undergone some changes. She now bears a red crop-top, with a black undershirt beneath it. She also wears a black facemask and sunglsses, so she avoids being tracked down by the White Fang. Her pants are red jeans, fitted with black and red sneakers. To top it off, she wears a black scarf with some black, sleeved gloves. In addition, she wears a black bandanna over her head, which covers her cat ears. Although she plans to attend Atlas Academy as Blake Belladonna, she does not want to have her name stained with vengeful blood. Hence, she conceived an Alias.

The Alias? Well, she went with Roselyn Crimson. A synonymous naming of her dead girlfriend. Ilia has provided her with a second scroll with Identification to back up this Alias.

She had also gotten her hands on some temporary weapons, a handgun and a machete. The handgun is filled with gunpowder ammo, so it'll bounce off grimm like a foam dart. And the machete is not built for combat, it's intended as an anti-plant blade, bones won't suffice. However, machetes are better to fight against grimm than gunpowder. Gunpowder ammo is all she can afford with what she can scrape by. Dust ammo is a luxury around these parts.

She's at a gas station, where she is going to retrace the steps of this would be mercenary that killed Ruby.

From her description, she lives nocturnally, only seen during the night. Is rather short and wears a lot of black.

The bartender shows up to greet well... 'Roselyn'.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked.

Ilia is waiting outside, she does not want to be seen by humans on the mainland, as of yet.

"Information." Blake, as Roselyn said.

"This is just a gas station; I don't have much of that."

"Well, do you have anything on a mercenary?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I have a grudge to pay. Won't elaborate. She wears a lot of black."

"Wears a lot of black?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

"Don't worry, I have an adjective: short."

"Short, wears black. Anything else?"

"Nocturnal..."

"Hmm... hold on, let me call the other bartenders be right back, they may know more." the bartender said, leaving Blake/Roselyn be.

A couple of minutes have passed, with Blake tapping her fingers on the counter... getting quite impatient. The bartender had returned...

"Okay... you said wears black, short, and nocturnal. Right?" the bartender asked.

"Yes." Roselyn stated.

"One of the attendants saw her heading toward mistral, the girl didn't elaborate why."

"Do you have a name?"

"No... she never said her name."

"Well, guess I'm heading toward Mistral then."

"It's a long walk, friend. I recommend getting a vehicle."

"Duly noted."

And before anything continued a shady guy had shown up, with a gun with a knife taped onto it, he sat next down to Roselyn. The guy had tanned skin, an eye patch, and terrible oral hygiene. It's obvious he's a thug.

"Ah great, you again." the bartender stated.

"You know him?" Roselyn asked.

"He's a member of the Branwen bandit tribe, I can't do anything lest I risk his leader to come in and burn this entire building down."

"And he'll do it anyway if you have anything of use to him..." the shady guy threatened.

"And what is it that he wants?" Roselyn asked.

"Information on his children. Huginn and Muninn."

"Tell me about them..."

"They're twins. Rather quite old. I heard they're over seventy."

"Over seventy?"

"I don't know how old the boss is. But if his kids are said to be older than most of the active huntsmen, it would be pretty easy finding a bunch of old people. But I have not found a single elderly man or woman by either name."

"What are they like?"

"Not really sure what they're like, really. Never met them."

"Huh... well, perhaps your trail has gotten cold..."

"Yep, which is why I'm here. I'm trying to get some information on those two."

"Wait, you said his kids are over seventy?"

"Ya..."

"How old are the parents?"

"The mother? Pretty sure she'd died giving birth."

"And the father? I can assume he's at least ninety."

"Ya...?"

"Bartender?"

"What do you want?" the bartender asked.

"Who is the leader of the Branwen bandit tribe?" Roselyn asked.

"Well, that would be the infamous: 'Odin the Immortal', as locals call him."

"The Immortal, huh?"

"Ya, he's been around ever since the great war ended, and hasn't rusted or slowed down in his age at all."

"And has he been raiding at night?"

"Ya, why?"

"I've heard enough."

"Alright then." the Bartender said.

"On a side note, have you seen a Sun Wukong?" the shady guy asked.

"Why?" the bartender asked.

"I'm a bounty hunter as a side, and I need the money. So, I'm hunting him down."

"You're hunting down a student huntsman with a gun with a knife taped to it?"

"Yep."

"That's just sad."

Blake knew and heard enough. She had learned that there is a vampiric bandit raiding the nights of Mistral. And given that this person is from the tribe... he's either a thrall, or a very sunproof vampire. If that latter, Ruby would have loved to learn his secret.

She had stepped outside to get Ilia. The two of them are to travel to Mistral and stay hidden during night. Last thing she needs is to be the prisoner of a vampire bandit.

Character Change: Blake Belladonna - Weiss Schnee

Xiao-Long Residence, April 13, 12:00 PM, Wednesday, Dining Room

The Xiao-Long Residence, formerly the Xiao-Long Rose Residence... mostly because there is no one here by the last name: 'Rose' anymore. Not since Ruby's been gone. Can't believe she went out like that. At the very least, her spirit can rest. If it still exists, grimm and all of that.

She's been taking residence here, sleeping in Yang's bed. Ruby's bedroom is being preserved, keeping it exactly as she left it. By her father's wish. From the sounds of it, Ruby was the only thing he had left of his wife. Though, she herself is without her lover right now... she doesn't understand the pain of losing someone that dear. So, she couldn't even understand how he feels. But she has an idea, it's like having a kid with Jaune, and then losing Jaune, and that kid soon after. It'd be just her, alone.

The concept is something she never wants to experience. Menagerie is off the grid from the rest of Remnant, so she's not going to hear about Ruby's death for anytime soon. And when she does, she's gonna need comfort.

As for what's happening right now, she's in the dining room/kitchen. She's now just noticing how high the cabinets are and it's pretty irritating. Why exactly are they that high up? Having to get a step latter just to get dishes. Every single time.

He manages to put up with it though, most of the table is filled with empty bottles of liquor. And most of the room, too. Some of them are broken and shattered. She's mostly just having a salad to eat, as she's eating, she's seeing Taiyang with another bottle and a checkbook.

Taiyang had sat down and began to write.

"What's that for?" Weiss asked.

"Personal business." Taiyang said.

"I see..."

"Nothing for you to notice."

He continues to write the check, as soon as he's finished, he rips the check out and walks away, followed by him downing an entire bottle of liquor and throwing it on the floor. He's been drinking less... but it's still a problem.

His attitude also improved slightly, but he's still a bit... rude. Guess he was like this when his wife died, too. Grief can be hard on someone, it seems.

Weiss was mostly waiting around for her next task. Though, Glynda insists she must be kept hidden and under the radar because of her new powers. Can't believe the two of them are co-workers instead of student-teacher.

Weiss continues to eat, and then put away her used dishes in the sink. She then began to clean up all the bottles, an act of kindness wouldn't hurt. She begins picking up all the bottles, and putting them in a plastic bag, one by one. It took a bit, but all the non-broken bottles are dealt with... as for the broken one, she needs a dustpan and a broom. She searches the house for those things... turns out it was facing the front door to the house.

Weiss picked up the broom and dustpan and swept it up. She never actually swept before, so... she doesn't know if she's doing it right, gathering everything and pulling it in. She got a separate plastic bag and put the broken glass pieces in that bag. Well, except for the last line of glass, sand, and dust. She went and swept it up again, only for it to not go in. She then turned the direction she was sweeping, it got some of it in there, but the line persists. Weiss spends an hour and a half cleaning that up... but eventually she gets the line swept up, and it feels good to get it swept up.

Then there was a knock on the door, it was likely Glynda, guess it's time for more training of her powers.

Character Change: Weiss Schnee - Blake Belladonna

Mistral Wilderness, April 13, Wednesday, 2:43 PM, Mistral Forests

Blake and Ilia had taken shortcuts. Instead of going to the main road, they're going to cut around in forests to make the route faster, this may also help avoiding encounters as Blake does not want to use up all her ammo, and her machete isn't built for combat. So... the trees act as a means of masking her presence from the enemies she's expecting. Heading toward Mistral in a straight line. The sun's still out, so chances are, she won't encounter the vampire just quite yet...

However, what they do encounter is a White Fang camp... it looks like it had gotten raided. And a couple of dead bodies onto that, been dead for at least month, so the trail is likely cold. It's best to stay away, lest a mook who has no knowledge in forensics shows up and accuses Blake and Ilia of killing their comrades.

And speaking of... two white fang mooks show up. Wearing standard white fang uniform.

"Huh, looks like someone already dealt with the traitors..." One of the mooks said.

"Ya, hold on, I'm gonna look." the second one said, investigating the camp. None of the mooks have noticed Blake or Ilia.

The second mook went back to the first mook.

"They don't have it." the second mook said.

"Okay, now what are we going to do? Sienna's gonna flip when she finds out..." the first mook said.

"IF she finds out, we'll just track down who stole the letter."

"Menagerie isn't going to last without it."

"Which brings the question, why would Adam betray the White Fang? He was well renowned in the ranks. And quite loyal and a devout believer of the cause."

"Guess somethings change about a person."

"Ya, I've heard he started covering his entire face. Guess whatever happened... kinda messed him up."

"Did his face get damaged during the Vale thing or something?"

"I don't know... but point being is... a small number of faunas had disappeared from Vale. And the Valean White Fang is in outright chaos, with members even joining the legion of Arris out of desperation."

"Arris... Arris... isn't he dead?"

"Nope, despite the rumors, he's still alive and well."

"I heard he got ran over twice..."

"And he survived and acted like it never happened."

"Huh... weird..."

"Do you see those two, as well?"

"Ya, they look armed."

"But what are they going to do? Follow us? If they're following us, we attack, if not... go about on our day."

"What about the classified info?"

"Look, is anyone going to believe Adam Tauras of all people betrayed the White Fang? Man's made a name for himself."

"True, alright, we should just leave them alone."

The two mooks have left, they had taken notice of Blake and Ilia... and then they came back.

"WAIT A SECOND! I RECOGNIZE YOU! ILIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" One of the mooks demanded an answer.

"I... uhh... quit the White Fang." Ilia stated.

"You... quit... the White Fang?"

"Yes?"

"Ah, so then you two must be more of Adam's lackies, open fire!"

The two mooks have begun shooting at the two girls. The two managed to react to avoid the bullet fire, Blake had gotten her handgun ready, and began to shoot at the White Fang mooks, though, she is doing it in a way of suppressive fire, because she's supporting Ilia to come in and strike them down from behind. Blake watched as Ilia went in and redirected the firing from Blake to her. Ilia had gotten out lightning lash and began cracking her whip a bit, stunning the white fang mooks. Blake went in and continued firing suppressive fire. Which keeps them off guard and flanked.

In time... Blake ran out of ammo and had discarded the weapon, in which she had grabbed her machete and charged in. She avoids using her semblance for this fight. She charges in and slams one of the mooks in the head with the machete, meanwhile... Ilia had used her whip to electrify the mook to incapacity, whilst keeping them alive.

"I'm not killing them." Ilia retorted.

"We're not, however, we are going to tie them up and take their weapons." Blake stated.

"Why?"

"These guys know something, and potentially, they made help us find who I'm looking for."

"Fair, I'll find some rope. You take the weapons; you need them more than I do."

Ilia had gone off to find some rope. As for Blake, she managed to grab one of the guns used by the mooks and took the ammo from the other. It is a combat automatic rifle with white fang paint on it. Usually, no two are the same models, but Blake was lucky here, and dust ammunition, no less. Well, this is going to be good for a weapon to have. She'll have to do with non-huntress weapons until she could find someone to build her a new weapon.

A couple more hours have passed... it's 4 PM, still plenty of time until the sun goes down. Ilia is back with the rope. Ilia had tied the two mooks to a nearby tree, next to eachother... because there wasn't that much rope.

And just in time, as the two mooks woke up...

"How did you enjoy your sleep?" Blake, as Roselyn asked the mooks that are just waking up.

"Huh?" one of the mooks asked.

"Ya, we'll be asking you for questions, cooperate and we'll release you. If you don't, we'll just leave you here."

"So... what do you want?"

"I'm looking for a mercenary..."

"To hire?"

"To kill."

"You don't want to kill a mercenary."

"Why not?"

"Because if that mercenary is in a union or guild, which most of them are... anyone affiliated with their union or guild is going to hunt you down."

"So be it. Short, wears mostly black, nocturnal..."

"hmmm... I've heard about someone matching that description... way back in the former kingdom of Vale, there was a mercenary wielding a scythe based in bloodshire. She was hesitant to kill, and never took on assassinations or hits."

Blake paused for a second. "Did you say she was hesitant to kill?"

"I don't know, for some reason she was known to not land a killing blow, though some of the people she fought woke up with a bite mark." the mook stated.

"Anything else?"

"Well, she's a tomboy by looks, despite being a girl, she mostly dresses in a tomboyish fashion. Short hair, too. Pixie cut."

"And her face?"

"Don't know, they say her face is completely covered, so no one knows what she really looks like."

"But you know, she is a girl?"

"Yes, looks like a teenager."

"Hmm... and what is her name?"

"I think it's... Roxy... something, don't remember the last name."

"Okay, and you?" Blake asked the second mook.

"It's Tudor."

"What's Tudor?"

"The last name. Thing is, I never remembered the first name."

"So... what do you know about her?"

"She had arrived at Mistral undocumented, but the security's too afraid to do anything about her..."

"What do you mean?"

"She came in and wiped out an entire crime family."

"And how do you know about this?"

"White Fang outpost in Mistral, undercity."

"You seem pretty... open about this information."

"We don't get paid enough to keep secrets."

"So... do you have any route for me to go to Mistral?"

"Just whatever you do... don't stay outside at night. Bandits and grimm attack more often there."

"Yes, we know that. Now, do you guys have a vehicle?"

"We have a buggy, the keys are still in the ignition, though."

"Ilia, take the Vehicle. I'll undo the rope."

Ilia sighed and went to find the buggy.

"What? You can't just take our buggy, we won't survive!" the mook begged.

"Don't worry, we'll drop you guys off at the nearest inn." Blake, as Roselynn stated.

"Thanks, I guess... but why are you being nice to us?"

"I don't have any ill manner towards you two specifically. I may not have best regards with who you work for, but you two shouldn't need to suffer for it. Besides, I like to keep my word."

"Huh... anyways... before you drop us off... you should know something."

"What?"

"Ghira Belladonna's message to Mistral was intercepted by a rogue cell of the White Fang, led by Adam Tauras. The rogue members are often seen with the unusual nocturnal grimm."

Blake sighed. She knew exactly what's going on. It doesn't take long to realize that those two statements add up.

Vampires exist... and unusual grimm, can be assumed to be feral vampires... or vampires controlled by grimm? Though, she doesn't believe vampires can do that, well at the very least she knows that Ruby can't do that. Guess not all vampires are the same. And if they're near Adam's rogue cell in the White Fang... it means four things

A: Adam is unknowingly working with a vampire (best case scenario)

B: Adam is enthralled by a vampire

C: Adam is willingly working with a vampire (Such a huge case of irony, there)

D: Adam, himself had himself willingly turned into a vampire (worst case scenario)

And if D is true, then C can also be true. Which is likely the case.

But she can't think about possibilities. She'll have to go to Mistral to find out. Blake had escorted the mooks to the buggy, in which Blake had begun to do something she had never done before, drive a vehicle.

White Fang Buggy, April 13, Wednesday, 5:01 PM, Mistral Wilderness

The buggy has the white fang colors and logo stamped on its exterior, in the interior, it's just a civilian grade buggy. A hoodless, off-road terrain vehicle... Yang's more of an expert on automobiles, so Blake doesn't have as much idea how the functions work... but there are four seats, exactly four seats... three petals, a wheel, and a weird stick thingy.

The keys are still in the ignition, with the mooks sitting I the backseat, and Ilia on the passenger seat next to Blake.

"Blake? Do you know how to drive?" Ilia asked.

"Nope. Never learned." Blake stated. "But I feel like I'm about to."

Everyone else's face looked scared. The white fang mooks held on to something, Ilia held on to her seat.

Blake turned on the buggy... and began pushing the petal, the car is not moving... she then moved the steering wheel, nothing. Next, she decided to play with the stick thing. And the car is moving slightly, she then pushes the petal, it stops. She let's go of the petal and now it's moving, slowly...

The speed-o-meter reads 2 miles per hour.

She then looked down and saw she's been pushing the middle petal with the right one... she just pushes the middle one... and the same effect occurs, as for the right petal... everything had gone immediately fast! Too fast for her to handle.

"Did you push it down all the way?" Ilia asked.

"Ya, why?" Blake asked.

"ONLY PUSH IT AT HALF AT MOST, YOU'RE DRIVING AT HIGH-SPEED!" Ilia yelled.

Before she could do that... well, she was at crashing distance of a tree, and began to turn... she moved her steering wheel and it ended up grinding the rubber wheels agianst the ground, friction of which... started a fire, Blake had driven out of the forest as soon as possible.

"Forest fire... great." Ilia said, sarcastically.

"As for you two, you speak a word about that, and I will find you." Blake, as Roselyn, threatened the mooks in the back.

Blake is now at the main road. She's driving well above what the speed limit might be, but she passes a building and presses the other pedal, and came to a full stop. Which pushes everyone back.

She then pulls a U-turn and then messes with the stick... and now it's going backwards. She then turns around again to compensate for that... she messes with it again... and it stops... 30 feet away from the building, which looks like an inn.

"Okay, now get out." Blake threatened the mooks, with a gun pointing toward them.

The mooks had gotten out of the buggy, and then Blake had winged the stick and began driving again.

"Thank you for not killing them." Ilia said, relieved.

"You're welcome. I never intend to kill anyone except Roxy Tudor on this trip to Mistral, after that... I plan on going to Atlas."

"You can't."

"What do you mean... 'I can't'. There are faunas students in Atlas Academy."

"I mean you can't even enter Atlassian territory, they don't allow anyone in, and they're saying any unauthorized entry in the kingdom will be met with lethal force. For both humans and faunas."

"Wow... guess Atlas kind of gotten paranoid after what happened in Vale."

"That's an understatement."

"Anyways, we'll have to keep moving, and we have to keep a low cover and sleep in shifts during the night."

"And why is that?"

"You've heard of bandits and grimm attacking at night?"

"We could handle that..."

"No, we can't."

"Why not?"

"Well... I made a promise I can't tell anyone. But trust my word, we need to head to Mistral as soon as possible."

"Okay, I trust your word. But I will need an explanation as soon as all of this is over."

Blake had mentally paused. She doesn't want to break Ruby's promise by telling her about the whole vampire thing. She also doeesn't want to lose Ilia's trust.

On another note, this Roxy Tudor is said to be 'hesitant to kill', though that conflicts with the rumor that she killed Ruby. And even then, wields a scythe? Chances are, she stole Crescent Rose from either her dead body, or took it as a victory trophy. If she has, that's just going to be unforgivable.

"So... uh? Do you know where we're going?" Ilia asked.

"Nope." Blake answered bluntly

"Well... we should have grabbed a map."

Author's Footnote: Ya... It's not that much, but I've got this chapter done. I exactly don't want to rush Blake meeting Ruby, take in the time... make sure to build up the drama before the big confrontation. How exactly did Blake with a jet boat get to Mistral when it took the SS Canterbury a month to Menagerie? Less cargo, less weight = faster. Well, it may be a smaller ship so the logic doesn't add up. You guys are likely going to rant about this or not... but, hey... writing isn't perfect. See you next chapter.