"Hey scooch over I can't see!"

Near the airship platform a not insignificant crowd had gathered, drawn in by the rumors of the arrival of Remnants latest royalty. There were the skeptics of course, humans and Faunus alike that took the actions of Amiya as the power tripping of a terrorist leader. Others, however, were more disturbed by the implications - those who were part of, or were affiliated with, the White Fang knew that there was no such leader in their hierarchy a few months before.

As sudden as her ascendancy was in the eyes of public, to the White Fang membership outside of Menagerie and Mistral, very few were actually aware of her existence, much less how she looked like. There was little any of the White Fang cells could do about it other than shrug their shoulders however, as her status was backed by arguably the two most influential persons in the organization, in the forms of Sienna Khan and Adam Taurus.

Among the crowd there were also those on the opposite end of the spectrum - those against the White Fang, angry that their nominal leader was given this much leniency as to be treated as a political VIP. Miniature protests had formed along the roads that were barricaded off by law enforcement, the protesters shouting all manner of inflammatory and insulting words in an effort to make their displeasure felt.

Weiss Schnee was inclined to join them.

"So that's her..."

The white haired heiress eyes traced the girl who would call herself queen, and was astonished by how young she looked.

"She looks our age," pointed out a bemused Yang, giving voice to her thoughts.

"She's kinda impressive though."

Weiss raised a brow at Ruby, voice incredulous as she spoke. "How so?"

The silver-eyed girl pointed at her, or more specifically, the people she was speaking to.

Ironwood and her sister - and she would have so many questions for her when they next meet - looked intimidating, eyes sharp and faces set to a stern humor. It was when she looked, and really looked, back at the brown-haired Faunus that Weiss could see what Ruby was referring to.

A girl their age matching their gazes was impressive in its own right, but managing to somehow seem even more intimidating was a tremendous feat even for older, more experienced Hunters.

"She doesn't feel out of place does she...?" muttered Blake.

Ruby nodded animatedly. "Yeah! Exactly! It's like, I expected her, like, kinda nervous or something or maybe-"

Yang snapped her fingers, eyes alit. "I get what you mean, like she'd just be standing there and someone else would do the talking for her and stuff."

"Like a figurehead?" said Blake, her eyes leaving the Queen to someone of equal interest, even as she and her retinue began walking away with Professor Ozpin, escorted by Atlas military.

"Adam..."

That monster in Faunus skin was here, and not only that, was empowered to walk out and about, as if he were guiltless. Would he look for her? What would she do if he did? What could she do?

Where else could she run if he decided to pursue her? Her status as a Huntress-in-training was her refuge - her advantage over Adam was that she could go out in public whereas he could not. He was too well known while her identity was kept hidden.

When she left, it was easy enough to forge a new identity, with her connections. She assumed her mothers' maiden name, and attended Beacon as "Blake Villeneuve" with Headmaster Ozpin's blessing.

The man probably knew about her true identity - he alluded as much during their initial meeting - but had allowed her entrance anyway. How would he react if Adam demanded he turn her over? She wanted to believe that the Headmaster would be on her side, but a paranoid part of her kept whispering that she would serve as a useful bargaining chip, if it turned out that the new Kingdom in Menagerie was here to stay.

"BLAKE!"

Jumping in surprise, the dark-haired Faunus-in-hiding turned to her teammates, who were looking at her with mixed expressions of concern and confusion.

"I-ah, what is it?"

Rolling her eyes, Yang spoke. "We were wondering what you think of those two following the Queen."

"I think I want to run very far away from one of them," she thought. Out loud she said: "I... don't know anything about the cat Faunus in the coat. But I do know the red-head. His names Adam Taurus, he, um, he is- used to be-?"

Confused as she was about his current status, she was about to say the Chapter Master of Vale, until Weiss interrupted her.

"Wait, Adam Taurus? That's ADAM TAURUS?!"

Her voice thankfully was not loud enough to rise above the noise of the surrounding crowd, but it did draw some eyes.

"Adam who now?" said Ruby, head tilting to the side.

The Schnee heiress' face contorted into an expression of hatred, the emotion so strong it took her teammates aback for a moment before she spoke.

"Adam Taurus," she repeated through ground teeth, "is what's called a 'Chapter Master' among the White Faunus. He leads and coordinates their terror tactics in Vale. He's high up their command chain. That thing is a monster."

Despite herself, and despite the fact that she agreed with her, Blake couldn't help but blurt out in his defense:

"Don't call him a thing!"

Weiss' eyes narrowed as her gaze flicked towards her. "And why shouldn't I?! That thing," she said putting extra spite in the word that made Blake's own eyes narrow, "is a monster! He's the epitome of what the White Fang represent! He's a heartless, cruel, murdering terrorist!"

"You don't know that!"

Blake did however, and yet hearing the words come from Weiss felt more like an accusation towards her than an affirmation of her own thoughts.

"YES I DO!" the heiress yelled back. Now eyes were definitely on them as the Queen was no longer in sight, the spectacle of her arrival no longer distracting the crowds that had gathered.

Ruby was looking back and forth between the two, a lost expression on her face, while Yang put a hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Calm down now Weiss, there's no need to make a scene."

The Ice Queen levelled a glare at the blonde, seemed to consider it for a moment, before snorting. "Fine, but nothing I said was wrong. That thing strutting around and the White Fang - probably this new queen of theirs too - they're all monsters. Just thugs and murderers that take out their frustrations on innocent people. If General Ironwood has any respect for the victims of those vile cretins, he'd put Adam Taurus down like the animal he is."

Blake's vision swam and for a moment she lost awareness. Then the moment was gone. Ruby and Yang were looking at her with wide eyes, Weiss' head was turned to the side, a similarly stunned expression on her face as her had cradled her quickly bruising cheek.

The stinging sensation on radiating from her own hand told her all she needed to know. Her mind was void of thought, unable to come up with words to explain herself as her head quickly shook from side to side, as if to deny that she had done this.

"Blake wha-"

Before her partner could finish her sentence, Blake Beladonna did what she had always done when faced with a crisis.

Once again, she ran away.