Cloudy Days
It wasn't as though RWAY's nigh-perfect record was any fluke as a team. No, that was a very coordinated effort from Adam himself. A little swapping off between Ruby's 'team attacks' and his own advice on targeting weaknesses had without a doubt left RWAY on top of every list. Yes, the closest he had gotten to another loss from one of them were the occasional close call in his duels with Weiss—she wasn't letting that go, either— but they were a force to be reckoned with.
It helped that one of Adam's only hobbies was the personal formulation of overall strategy, sparring with Weiss and training regiments. The latter wasn't exactly listened to by the team, but it was something to do. Something to keep his mind busy.
Something to keep his mind off of Blake.
In the end, the fact that it led to a string of flawless—by Ruby's definition, anyway—victories was just a bonus.
That didn't mean he was not left worried, the first time RWAY fought against JNPR.
Adam slid beneath a bronze shield launched fast enough to be naught but a blur and launched back up into a kick that his redheaded opponent narrowly leaned back from. It was a feeling he was growing accustomed to when fighting Pyrrha Nikos. He only had enough time for a single follow-up swing nudged aside by her own blade before the shield came flying back. Adam spun on his heel, one arm behind his back to fire at and suppress Pyrrha with Blush, his other prepped to deflect the shield further away.
To his surprise, however, the shield was not thrown aside by his aggressive block. It simply... rolled along Wilt, drawing sparks across the crimson blade and shifting like it had a mind of its own. Any time to hypothesize on how was short. Adam jerked himself out of the way of the flying object. As punishment for his hasty dodge, Pyrrha struck Blush away from his hand. A snappy twist and slash that sent his aura out like a wave kept Pyrrha away from him, but the fact of the matter was that his chances of getting back to his rifle were minuscule at best.
Adam rolled his blade in his hand. Surely, he was growing soft. Surely, that was the only way any freshman—even a prodigy—would be keeping up with him! He'd been trying to hold back the full extent of his speed to keep questions to a minimum... but the realization that he may not have been able to keep up even with that was creeping on him.
Pyrrha went on the offensive. He was at a disadvantage of one weapon, and she pressed it for all it was worth. Trying to avoid the rushes of her shield and swings of a sword now extended to a spear was like navigating a maze. Yet, something was wrong. His fighting style was not meant for two-handed fighting: he could fend her off well enough, but there were holes in his defenses. Holes he even instinctively flinched from, expecting a strike. But none came. Not from those glimpses through his defense, which she so clearly could see.
Was she holding back, as well?
She parried a forceful strike from above and launched Adam into the air with a flick of her spear. Just when Adam caught his bearings, a thrown shield smashed into him and sent him into a spiral. He was vulnerable. At least, so Pyrrha thought. Catching brief glimpses of her leaping through the air was enough for him: at his apex and as Pyrrha brought her spear back, Adam shined red. His pride wouldn't let him lose.
Adam brought his full speed to bear. Wilt moved faster than sight, a mere red wave that drowned the world out in its glow.
Yet, he felt resistance. In that fraction of a second of impact, he could see—he could feel—Pyrrha's blade clash with his, having moved just as swiftly.
Adam and Pyrrha both were launched to opposite sides of the arena in bursts of dirt. Wilt spun down like a buzzsaw and embedded itself in the wall meters away. Pyrrha's blade stabbed down just as far away from her. Both rolled to their feet unarmed, panting and appraising one another. They both knew what they'd just seen, and what that meant.
"... Draw?" Pyrrha offered, smiling.
"... Draw."
The buzzer sounded.
Maybe he underestimated these humans. Celebrity or not, a mere student able to stand against a former White Fang leader... just what was Ozpin creating in this academy?
Adam sat alone in the RWAY's dorm as the afternoon went on, spinning his Scroll in his hand in the vain hopes that perhaps it would ring and free him from this miserable boredom. Three months here was beginning to make one thing very clear to Adam: he had very little to do. Ruby and Weiss often now studied with one another, Yang had her clubs and he had... nothing. It was now more than ever that Adam realized how much fighting had taken over his life.
He'd read through the most of his textbooks, finished Ninjas of Love after Velvet left it against a tree again, fought with the rest of his team—currently at three wins, two losses—taunted Weiss, had a chat with Velvet... what now?
Surely, Weiss wasn't right. He could connect beyond battle, surely... even if that was the case with her. And Yang. And Velvet.
...
That wasn't the case with Ruby, though, which meant the Schnee was wrong, of course. Still, that did not mean she may not have been onto something. Combat and preparations for such was a significant part of his daily routine in the White Fang. Surely, there must be something better to do...
Adam yawned and checked the sky. The sun's position marked the time at roughly five o' clock. He grimaced. There was plenty of day left and plenty of nothing to do.
A pleading voice reached his ears, and Adam curiously looked out of the window.
Three freshmen were shoving a faunus girl with short cat ears between two dorm buildings, well away from most of the populous of Beacon. Were he not a faunus, he might not have even seen them altogether, and their voices would have been just part of the crowd. Adam's eyes narrowed: this was far more common than he would have expected. In fact, ever since Cardin's humiliation and the faunus gathering up, Adam thought, the mockery of faunus simply moved from the open to behind closed doors and there, hidden from the world, grew worse.
No doubt, this was simply those humans—those 'bullies', Adam's conscience corrected him—trying to place the blame on the faunus. Adam scowled and began to turn towards the door, but froze when he noticed they'd grown quiet.
Too quiet.
He focused and glared down upon the four, fearing the worst. He was correct.
The three humans were slowly reaching back. The faunus girls' hands were at two sheathes at her waist. Of course. Her pride couldn't take much more. She would have to fight back.
But unless they were complete slackers and she was on the level of his team, she wouldn't stand a chance. She'd be beaten, she'd lie about her involvement with the humans to avoid further assaults, and she'd become just another shadow too afraid to even raise her hand when asked about simple discrimination. Her aura would heal her wounds but not her pride. She'd be cowed. Broken. Just like the rest of his kind.
The human to her left struck first, swinging out a blade that struck nothing but air as the woman ducked down and drew two shortswords to block the second human's overhead swing. It was a stalemate, but one that wouldn't last long. They wouldn't risk using their firearms: aura or not, that would attract too much attention.
Even so, Adam had to act. He snatched Wilt and Blush, threw on his hat and, rather than take the long way out, flipped himself out of the dorm's window and launched himself off the wall towards the fight.
The advantage of aura protecting one's self was a double-edged sword for the faunus who unlocked them: while they might not take permanent injury, some took it as all the reason in the world to attack them. After all, they could sleep easy at night knowing they weren't really hurting them. They weren't really like those oppressors the White Fang spoke about. They were still good. The faunus were still evil.
By the time he approached, the faunus had taken a blow: all three had surrounded her, forcing her into a dance of blades and twirls that left her weapons clashing against the humans' own. She parried one and took her opening to rake her sword across his chest, launching him out of the fray but leaving her back open to a jab from the leader's staff.
Thrown to the ground by the sudden force, the faunus stared up with wide, fearful eyes at the three approaching students surrounding her once more. The leader spun his staff and raised it high.
It would be so easy to kill them, Adam thought.
Adam could already envision it: one leap from behind the leader within five feet, a second off of his staff into a spinning jump. Use the momentum to slash the leader's neck mid-flight, sheathe, land behind the survivors, second slash along their backs. Their auras would be so weak that even without piercing through it, he could still shatter them. Their deaths would be instantaneous. Painless, even.
His conscience warned him in Blake's voice, but it was pointless.
Adam wasn't going to waste his chances at Beacon for people like them.
In a rush of black, he front-flipped over the girl's to-be assailant and slammed his sheath back into the leader's stomach. His aura shattered in a brilliant flash, gone in one swift strike. By the time his enemies' sight returned, Adam had his foot jammed into one now-unconscious human's chest with his crimson blade pointing at the final one. The leader had already collapsed in a heap.
"Leave. I will not ask you a second time."
The final human slowly lowered his weapon and, trembling, dragged his leader off.
Adam spun Wilt and slowly sheathed his blade. Yes, all he had was fighting, but it was fighting for what was right: fighting to protect the weakened faunus from those who oppressed them, even if he was not part of the White Fang any longer. However, that did give him an idea. One that would not just strengthen the faunus but give him something to do.
"Tell me," he began, turning to face the rising girl. "Do you want to become strong?" Rounded, spotted cat ears on her head marked her as a cheetah faunus. Adam remembered her, now: that girl he'd seen during the initiation. He wondered, briefly, if these three were part of her own team.
Her eyes hardened.
That was all the answer he needed.
"Gather any friends you can find," Adam said. "I have a plan."
It was time to put that free time to use.
"... You plan to open a club," Professor Goodwitch peered over her glasses at Adam from behind her desk, eyes bearing down upon him even though, if anything, he sat taller than her.
Adam nodded, his face impassive. "Correct."
Goodwitch's eyes traveled over him, searching for any sign of falsehood. Folded hands. Straight posture. Not a twitch or a even a blink before he spoke, though the slight narrowing of his eyes meant her scan was not unseen.
She pushed her glasses up. "The formation of a club is no small act, Mister Belladonna." How she disliked that name. She wasn't ignorant to the news: for this terrorist to take the name of that which his faction had effectively forced out was disrespectful to the highest degree. And make no mistake, she was still finding it hard to believe that he had a sudden change of heart. "I would hope that you coming to my office on a Sunday means you have more than only the desire to make one. Just what would this club be for?"
"Self defense."
Were the situation not so grave, she would have smiled. Ah, so that was what he was trying: to recruit from within? She supposed it was better than the alternatives. But that didn't mean she was prepared to give the White Fang a foothold in her school, either. Let alone a training camp.
"I'm afraid that request will be denied. We already have the combat training courses as well as exhibition matches allowed during the weekend. There would be little point in this club's existence."
As she spoke, Adam drew out and unfolded a paper from his pocket. "Math club, science club, smithing club: all are already classes. I don't think overlap with curriculum would be trouble. There is a severe lack of personal defense options beyond training matches: understandably, Beacon Academy is focused towards the slaying of Grimm, not man. This leaves a potential hole that my club would fill." He smiled a slim, knowing smile.
Goodwitch was not amused. "That being said, those are general clubs for more general audiences. There are no assurances that your club will gather the numbers necessary to not simply be wasting any time rented in our facilities." By the end, she was gritting her teeth: Adam was unfolding another sheet of paper.
"Ten students ready to join on word-of-mouth alone within one day of being informed of the idea." His smile grew just a bit more as he slid the paper over.
She shifted her jaw and took a deep breath. "The costs of a combat club, Mister Belladonna, would be no small price. Dust prices have been growing higher each week after a string of robberies. You would need to cover the initial club costs..." A set of lien cards were spread out on her desk. Goodwitch held back a scowl at his casualness. "And find a source of income to replace ammunition and make repairs."
Adam withdrew a packet of papers from his jacket.
Goodwitch let out a deep sigh and raised a hand. "That's enough, Mister Belladonna. Fine. I'm quite certain you already have the forms prepared"—a second packet being dropped proved that—"so I will pass it to our Headmaster. I will warn you now, though: rarely are first years allowed to run clubs at all."
She really shouldn't have been surprised when the forms were returned to her, personally approved by Ozpin.
She really shouldn't have.
She'd just have to hope that Taurus would act with some modicum of class, dignity and respect.
"The first rule of the Self Defense Club is: you do not talk about the Self Defense Club!" Adam marched back and forth in the center of one of Beacon's numerous arenas. A group of students sat ready with the cheetah-eared girl at their head, their years varying, but one thing uniting them: they were faunus. The ones who silently withstood the attacks of the world, with Beacon being no exception. Perfect.
"The second rule of the Self Defense Club is: you do not talk about the Self Defense Club!" He twisted on his heel and jabbed the tip of his sheath into the sandy grounds. "What we desire is to become stronger! But with that strength and unity will come fear, and with fear will come the attempts to shatter and destroy that which makes you stronger. And this place is no exception: the information that you are arming yourself with knowledge will be seen as dangerous."
Adam couldn't help but notice his teammates peering from one of the doors. He didn't let that stop him, though. "Combat against man. Combat against a stronger foe, with aura and without. Combat while outnumbered. Sparring. This club will be about turning each and every one of us into a potent weapon. And getting just a little bit of that anger out, of course."
He chuckled. "But make no mistake. While we will not spill the secrets of our growth, we will be unified. We see one of us in a poor situation: we assist. We see even those outside our club getting harassed, bullied, attacked: we assist. Help your fellow faunus to stand tall, for in time, we shall hold our heads high in the light. But for now, this will be our domain, and our domain alone."
He caught the eye of Weiss as his teammates slipped away. A furrowed brow, the faintest of frowns, and worry in her gaze. No matter. Let the Schnee be annoyed.
"This will be where we train in the shadows."
She'd never understand, in the first place.
Weiss was annoyed at first, yes, but Adam couldn't help but notice just how disgruntled Weiss was becoming with him in the days following his morning training sessions with his 'Self Defense Club'. Ruby, on the other hand, was supportive and Yang even came in every so often. He had a feeling of why just Weiss would be so agitated: many faunus were beginning to sign up for it. As far as the faunus of Beacon knew, he was one of the few humans who were not just sympathetic towards faunus, but actually willing to do something about it. They were learning slowly, but it would not be long before he knew they could defend themselves well.
After all, who better to teach them than someone who was already well-versed in preparing an army?
Adam saluted to his 'students' and watched over them as they departed the arena. Yes, the day was already soon coming where they could operate freely and openly without needing to worry about interference: they'd grown considerably after only a month. However, the shifting of sand approaching him caught his attention.
"We need to talk." Weiss' voice came from just behind him, low and cold enough to be fitting for the nickname she'd started to garner: Ice Queen.
Adam sighed. He supposed it was inevitable. The trouble with getting more people was that there were more avenues for information to escape: faunus gathering up to get better at fighting people would draw ire.
"What about?" He didn't bother turning to face her. That'd justify the inevitable talk with any more attention than it deserved. The last person besides them had left. They were alone, now: she could speak her thoughts freely. So could he.
"Don't play stupid, Adam!" Weiss hissed. "About little private army you've been building." When he only began to walk away, Weiss snarled and pulled him around by his shoulder.
The first few words of what Weiss said were lost to Adam as he took a deep breath and tried to forget that little transgression.
"—and if you think the rest of the school haven't been noticing your little training camp over here, you're sorely mistaken. People have been whining to Ruby and I about how we've got some faunus-sympathizing radical in our group! What's next, hm? Are you going to start handing out masks?" Even in private, Weiss spoke in hushed, harsh tones. It annoyed him, but not as much as it did when the Schnee advanced towards him, having the nerve to step close until they were only inches apart.
Adam caught that look in her eyes, again: hints that this anger was not simply based on a single incident. He didn't care. A step forward forced her back.
"What's wrong, Schnee?" He let the bile and hate her family truly invoked in him show in his scowl and tone both. It was his turn to advance. Unlike him, Weiss backed up. "Upset that there's an 'SDC' around that actually helps faunus rather than keeps them around as weakened slaves and servants like they are back at home?"
"That's not the point, it's just—"
"Your point is worthless!" Adam shouted, face twisting in anger as he continued his advance.. "It's clear that a Schnee like you would never understand." He scoffed. " 'Handing out masks'? You're no better than the rest of your wretched family."
Weiss tensed and her eyes widened. She balled her fists and halted. She began to speak, only to turn her head away with gritted teeth.
"Oh? Have I struck a nerve?" He leaned down until their eyes met.
She muttered something under her breath.
Adam turned his head and brought a gloved hand to his ear. "I'm sorry, you're going to need to speak up—"
A blur of pale skin flashed by, and Adam's head snapped to the other side. He recoiled and stepped back, his cheek stinging red with pain. Briefly, he was dazed: she slapped him. A Schnee slapped him. Like he was just a disobedient animal.
And suddenly, his mind was clearer than it had ever been.
"You don't know my family! You don't get to treat them like they're the evil scum when your kind does worse!" Weiss' conscience struck her with the force of a truck the second she felt the last word leave her lips and the sting in her hand start to fade. Her breath caught in her throat: she'd lost control. She'd slapped her own partner, and for what? Telling the truth? Because that was certainly something her father would do.
Weiss forced down her guilt and pride. If she ignored Adam being a faunus for this long, she could keep doing so. She'd get nothing from being paranoid, after all. He hadn't even done anything wrong yet.
She took a deep breath and focused. "I... I apologize, Adam, I didn't think you'd..." Weiss trailed off. Adam simply... stood there, still staring off where he was before, having not moved an inch.
"Adam?"
His eyes slowly rolled in their sockets to stare at her, head turning after. Ice-blue eyes met crimson, and Weiss froze. Adam's nostrils flared with each slow, restrained breath. His hair and eyes both were emitting a dim, red light. Her mind jumped back to her father and those horrid days when he returned home after hearing the news of yet another facility destroyed or family member murdered, so full of rage and searching for a target to take it out on. This was worse. Far worse. This wasn't the desire to lash out and hurt.
It was to kill.
Weiss had once seen that dark mark of anger burned into him, but she now realized this was only the edge of the hatred that actually lurked in her partner. Hatred all focused onto her. There was simply no way this was borne from a single slap: it had to have been hidden, lurking under the surface for the entire time they knew one another. What were once just petty insults and scowls suddenly took on new meaning, and formerly good memories were stained by doubt.
Weiss trembled, suddenly aware of their privacy. She was alone with him. With someone who hated her to her very core. Her breath quickened.
This was a mistake.
Remember who you are! Adam's wrath roared at him as he stepped closer to the Schnee. The whelp who had the nerve to lay her hand upon him, a commander of the White Fang, for her own hateful beliefs!
And yet, his conscience, always with Blake's own voice, was quick to reply. "She doesn't know who you are, Adam."
Kill her! He took another step closer. Weiss stumbled back. She was saying something, but Adam couldn't hear a word. Not now.
"There'd be no going back from it: you'd lose everyone!"
She's just like them! Aura channeled into the blade still held in its sheath, honing its intent to kill until it was ready to finally lash out.
"She's just angry!"
She is a human who only sees the monster in faunuskind! Weiss jolted: her back was up against a wall, now. She was terrified. Good.
His anger festered, drowning out his conscience entirely. You can't turn back, now. She'll find the others and turn them against you. You won't have anyone else. They care more for her than you. They'll leave you. Just like Blake. You'll be alone.
Do what you should have done on the train.
Adam's hand found Wilt's hilt.
Betray her before she betrays you!
.
.
.
"You're losing yourself."
"Adam!" His trance broke, and like waking from a dream, his eyes focused anew on Weiss. She was trembling now, her hand grabbing tightly onto her rapier, but her stance screaming that she wanted to run. Adam realized at some point that he had drawn Wilt an inch out from its sheath, the gleam of crimson unmistakable against the black of his coat and Blush alike. He could see the two paths ahead of him:
He could demand that she leave his sight and throw the Schnee out. He could let her know just how worthless her opinion was to him and that it would be best if they never spoke of this argument again. She was a smart girl: she'd know it was for her safety, not his feelings. Weiss would return to her teammates and JNPR and she would no doubt tell them anyway. A split would develop: those who believed she went too far and those who believed it was him who did so. Rich humans were always so good at spinning lies, so that he doubted his faction would be large. It would be enough to shatter friendships. Forever.
Or...
Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My apologies, I did not mean to grow so angry. Just do not touch me again." He could swallow his pride and keep his illusion of normalcy for just a little longer. Slowly, and with a hand that he had to force still, he fully sheathed Wilt.
Weiss' trembling stopped, and she let her gaze fall towards the ground. Her stance did not change.
"I... shouldn't have slapped you like that. I've just seen too many groups"—'of faunus' went unsaid—"getting together for self-defense turn... violent."
Adam took a single step forward. He refused to let her hide under implications.
"Say it."
Weiss winced and glanced away.
"Say it!" Adam shouted.
"I-I'm afraid another White Fang will show up, alright! Why shouldn't I! You're... you're practically having an underground training camp of faunus hiding in Beacon and you think I can just ignore it! Just... just forget it! Forget I said anything at all!" Her rage felt hollow as she rushed towards the door.
Adam watched her leave, not taking a single step to follow. "Tell me something, Schnee," he called out to her.
She stopped with the door half-open.
"Would you have feared me if I were human?"
Her grip on the handle tightened, and her shoulders sank. They both knew the answer was no.
"Sorry," Weiss whispered.
And then she was gone.
By horrid coincidence, the two were the only ones in the dorm, that night. With all of her might, Ruby would not have been able to cut through the tension between Weiss and Adam. The two sat on their respective beds, Weiss doing homework, Adam having finished his and already moved to reading through one of his textbooks yet again with his back against the wall and his Scroll by his side. There were only the sounds of her pencil against paper and pages flipping by.
Neither wanted to say anything: Weiss out of fear, Adam out of simple disinterest. If the Schnee would so openly continue her racism, then so be it. He refused to pretend like they were more than acquaintances at most: in the White Fang, you learned to fight alongside people you honestly wouldn't care if they were dead. You don't choose your partners, after all.
Weiss, on the other hand, paradoxically feared that she had messed up for good, this time. She was afraid he would do something stupid, like form some kind of faunus brigade that'd no doubt spiral out of control, but she was much more afraid to... as much as she hated to admit it, lose her friend. And Adam was her friend, just a... very stubborn and sometimes dangerous one. Weiss stroked the bridge of her nose, mind fighting between what she had been taught all her life, and the simple desire to just keep a friend.
She groaned in frustration and threw her homework aside.
Adam felt the bed sink ever so slightly. A few seconds later, the source shifted closer. Then closer again. Then, he could catch a flicker of movement from out of the corner of his eye.
"... I propose a truce."
He glanced at the source of the disturbance on other side of the bed: the Schnee was sitting a few inches away, her legs and arms crossed even as she leaned against the wall. Perhaps it was the simple difference between her usual, princess-like attire and a simple gown with her hair let down that made her sound more genuine. Adam refused to believe it was actually because he wanted her to sound genuine in any way.
Adam let the suggestion linger for a few seconds, then sighed.
"Elaborate."
Weiss uncomfortably shuffled near him, yet continued to try and sound confident as she replied, "It is clear that there are some... severe, if not almost irreconcilable differences between us that may prove to be an obstacle if we wish to cooperate well in combat. So, I am suggesting a cessation of our hostilities: if I can trust you and stop comparing you to the rest of the rabble, then you can be nicer and... try not to hate me so much." Her attempts to speak in a cordial and official manner slowly faded into a quiet mumble. Try as she might, Weiss found it a little awkward and more than a little saddening to try and talk someone out of genuine hatred, especially when that person was supposed to be your partner, if not your friend.
Adam, meanwhile, could scarcely believe she was being this blunt about it. He snorted and closed his book, finally turning to face Weiss in full.
"Is this how you befriended the others," he asked dryly.
Weiss let out a hollow chuckle. "Not exactly. It hasn't ever come to this, with them, or with anyone, for that matter..."
"Tell me..." Adam let the words drag and linger in the air for just a moment, enough to get Weiss to finally look at him. "What do I get out of this?"
To his surprise, she smirked.
"The same thing I do, of course: another friend"—her eyes subconsciously fell towards the Scroll Adam had gotten so attached to, recently—"and... maybe not needing to feel alone, sometimes?"
It was hard for him to ignore the memories of dejection he'd seen in Weiss' eyes so long ago when they first tried peace. Ruby and Yang would always have each other, but Weiss always looked... separate from them both. Of course, when they formed the social core of your team, how wouldn't someone feel a little left out? Especially after such a catastrophic first meeting. And second. And third, really.
The fourth wasn't much better, from what he'd heard.
So, she was left to either butt in on two close sisters, or talk with someone who despised her family. An easy way to find yourself alone amongst 'friends'.
It was pathetic. Adam cared little for loneliness. He cared little for the detachment he felt even when he was surrounded by those kind to him. He cared little for the fact that he felt like he was always waiting for something. Someone. He cared little for the fact that his heart wouldn't let him feel like he wasn't alone until Blake had arrived.
Yes, he didn't care about having to come to terms with the fact that he'd been abandoned at all.
Adam noticed that Weiss was holding her hand out towards him, an awkward smile on her face. He scoffed. "What an awful deal."
She flinched, but hid it behind a neutral expression. Weiss began to pull her hand back, but neutrality turned to surprise as Adam reached out and shook it.
"The worst truce I've ever accepted."
Weiss took a second to realize that it was just his stubborn way of accepting things. This time, she couldn't hide how her eyes lit up.
"Great! Now, as our first order of friendly business... show me how you finished Oobleck's homework that fast, please?" Weiss leaned forward with what she must have assumed was her most charming smile. Adam could see the relief in her eyes.
He hoped she couldn't see the traitorous relief in his own. Even if it was a Schnee... a truce did not sound all that terrible, to him.
In retrospect, Adam never understood why he thought it would last.
