A/N: This was not supposed to be this long, but I've decided to start a new chapter, make it a two-parter and leave it as a season finale. After this I'll be taking a hiatus to work on other things and to work on my personal health. I have a type of sciatica which limits how long i can sit or stand and makes it very difficult to sit down and write. I'll probably be on sabbatical from this story for two or three months. Thank y'all for reading, for commenting and for being supportive. Being stuck in quarantine and also having to lay flat for extended periods of time makes things a bit depressing and reading your comments, even the constructive criticism is a huge encouragement.
Thanks and enjoy
"Has Adam told you about his human friend Hazel?" Sienna asked cryptically while they were eating one evening. Weiss had taken to eating her meals while waiting for Sienna to finish her meal, and the high leader hadn't objected. They often made small talk, discussing the changes Adam was implementing and how things used to be run.
"I know nothing about Hazel except that he works with Adam and the woman who launched the attack on Beacon with Roman Torchwick." Weiss said honestly. She thought back to a time when she thought her life couldn't get any more exciting or hectic; when Roman Torchwick was terrorizing the city of Vale stealing dust and rallying the White Fang to do his dirty work.
"He hasn't told you or any of our troops about the grimm queen?"
Weiss put her bowl down. "The grimm queen?" It wasn't even something her brain could supply a concept for.
"Hazel works for a woman who is both grimm and human," Sienna said calmly, continuing to eat while Weiss hands lay idle. "And she is hellbent on destroying mankind."
"Mankind has a tenacity and a hardiness that's allowed them to endure every era. If she thinks that destroying the huntsman academies will bring us down, she doesn't understand humans at all." Weiss replied.
"I think she understand mankind all too well. She's discovered how to pit mankind against itself," Sienna replied. "Hazel and his cohorts are humans, and she's using them to instill fear and mistrust. Even if the White Fang had not been present at the fall of Beacon, man's own fear and the grimm would have been enough for you to rip yourselves to shreds."
"But why? What is her purpose in erasing humanity?"
Sienna barely shrugged her shoulders. "Jealousy? Spite? I don't even think Adam knows, but he was willing to sacrifice faunus lives for that cause."
Weiss finally took another bite. "What guarantee does Adam even have that this grimm queen won't turn on the faunus once humanity is eliminated?"
"He has no guarantee," Sienna continued between bites. "In fact, he suspects once the White Fang has outlived its usefulness, she'll lump us in with you and kill us all?"
"Then why is Adam helping her achieve her goals faster?" Weiss knitted her brow in concern.
"Because his goals, for the time being, are the same. Bring humanity down, make them hurt. But Adam wants to subjugate humans while this witch wants to kill them altogether."
"What's going to happen then when their ideals clash? Adam's and Hazel's?"
"That's a reasonable question. Why is he out there, leading our people, sacrificing our resources and manpower for someone who is going to stab him in the back while I'm chained up in here? He claims that this is the best path for the faunus, to feign compliance so we can find a way to either stop or her or at least hold her off, but no one in their right mind would think of that as the safest option. By complying, we are becoming complacent. He will grow comfortable that he won't be discarded once she's gotten what she wants."
"Does the rest of the White Fang know? About this woman? About any of the long term?"
"I don't know. But once the word does get out, it's going to split the White Fang. This should be a time when we should actually be putting aside our feuds and fight this threat together. We can settle our ow affairs once this is sorted out, but Adam is having none of it. His bitterness against humanity knows no bounds."
Weiss hesitantly took a bite. "So…what will you do?"
Sienna made a face, holding up her arms to remind Weiss of their shared predicament. "I'm not exactly in a position to do anything. I'm imprisoned in my own fortress, stripped of my authority, my title, and my aura. What exactly am I capable of at this point?"
Weiss shrugged. "I don't know; I thought you might have some members still loyal to you here."
"Anyone's love for me is nullified by their fear of Adam." Sienna placed the empty bowl back on the tray. "He takes great pains to be commanding and intimidating to his men."
Weiss nodded in comprehension. "He very much views the world in only black and white. If you're not kissing his boots, you're planning to stab him in the back. At least that's how he would perceive it." She quickly finished and balanced everything on the tray. "I'll see if there's anything I can do to persuade him from my end. If Adam wants what is best for the faunus, he'll have to leave this grimm queen's faction at some point."
"I just hope it isn't too late," Sienna said, giving a small wave goodbye as a guard unlocked the door for Weiss.
Her mind wandered as she returned the tray to the kitchen and returned to the throne room to wait on the high leader. He had little for her to do, giving her freedom to wrap her head around everything she had heard. A grimm queen, a plot to holocaust all of humanity, magic without dust? How much was Adam keeping hidden? She jolted back to reality when Adam stood. She followed behind him back to his room, asking if he needed anything out of instinct.
"Actually, yes. Today, you're coming with me to the dojo," Adam said with a hint of anticipation in his voice Weiss was sure she'd never heard before.
"I am?"
"I told you a few days ago I wanted to work on fighting left-handed opponents, and with the help of a few engineers, I can make it happen without compromising your captivity." He disappeared into the closet and returned with traditional Mistral clothes: a hakama, a haori, and socks that she was sure had a name but couldn't remember.
"I see…" Weiss replied unsure of what he meant.
"Clothes have been laid out for you to spar with me today," he said, not looking up. "You can use a practice sword from the selection we have at the dojo."
Weiss looked in her small bedroom and spied the outfit on the bed, almost rolling her eyes. It was a dry fit ensemble with a blue gradient that faded from an ice blue at the shoulders down to navy at the bottom hem. Sleeveless top with a short skirt that barely came to her fingertips led her to believe it was an old tennis or badminton outfit. Where he found it, she couldn't begin to imagine.
"Are you serious?" she asked, holding it up for him to see.
"What? You said you wanted to fight in a skirt?"
"At least it doesn't show my midriff," she sighed as she went into the bathroom to change. She emerged a few minutes later in her 'combat' skirt and had pulled her hair back in a ponytail that kept her hair both out of her face, but high enough to keep it from touching her shoulders.
Adam was ready as well, having changed into his hakama, wearing no shirt and keeping his haori open. The two of them could not have looked more mismatched as they walked side-by-side down the hall to the dojo. Adam seemed particularly eager to begin, and Weiss had to push herself to keep pace with him the whole way there.
The dojo had apparently been under some kind of renovation. Fine dust was layerd everywhere and one of the padded rings was roped off caution tape. The main pad in the middle however was being cut free of the yellow tape just as they entered.
The scene before her could not have been more stereotypical. A rat faunus with beady eyes and round goggles resting between his leathery ears stood with a clipboard. It didn't help that had an overbite and long skinny fingers. His voice even sounded weaselly, cracking when he got excited. Adam surveyed the work, seeming satisfied as the rat kowtowed to him explaining the modifications.
"As you can't see because we've done a fantastic job burying the nodes and cables, the ring has been fitted with a barrier similar to the one the Amity Arena used to protect the spectators. People can get in and out, but dust and aura can't. It'll keep the damage to a minimum. We went to the trouble of excluding each of the wooden pillars to keep the original architecture of the room. We've also allowed for the other modification of the collars." He handed the diagrams for Adam to look over. After a quick glance, Adam handed the papers to Weiss to hold. She began looking over the modifications to the ring. It was all Atlas tech; modern stuff, too. The Amity Arena had state-of-the-art advancements: somehow, the White Fang had access to some of the best equipment Atlas had to offer.
"Let's see how it holds up," Adam said, removing the haori, revealing his bare chest. He was broad enough through the shoulders and pecs to be intimidating, but not so much as too look macho or beefy. He had muscles, but not necessarily the sculped physique of a body builder, he looked more realistic, more solid like he both ate healthily and worked hard. His body was a weapon and it showed. He also removed the metal mask, leaving it atop his haori on one of the benches. He nodded to the myriad of swords on the wall. "Pick one. Let's see how you do." He took a few practice swings with Wilt and Blush still sheathed and stretching his neck.
None of the swords were thin enough for her taste and all of them were heavy. She was finally able to find a double-edged katana on the final rack, and while it was shorter than she was accustomed, the blade was at least straight.
Stepping onto the mat, the first sensation she felt was lightheaded. Blinking and trying to ground her feet only to have a wave of nausea wash over her. She stepped forward to lean onto one of the wooden supports, trying to control her breathing as her suppressed aura began surging through her body again.
"It's disorienting at first," Adam explained. "In time, you'll adjust."
"Thanks." Weiss said, not meaning it at all. After a few minutes, the nausea passed. She began making a few practice thrusts with the katana, adjusting to the weight and balance of the blade. She practiced her foot work, taking a big stumble before catching herself. She focused on her aura, getting used to the feel of it. "All right, where do you want me?" she asked, shaking her free hand to loosen up.
He pointed with his sword. "You sure you don't need a few more minutes?"
She used the palm of her right hand to summon a tiny glyph. A miniature suit of armor emerged in a tiny white burst of light. She looked him dead in the eye. "I'm fine."
Adam smiled his trademark smirk before taking his stance. Weiss took her own stance and waited for him to make the first move.
She wasn't ready.
His first thrust pushed her so far back she staggered to regain her balance. When he swung at her again, her instincts took over and she began blocking his moves, carefully keeping him from pushing her against one of the support pillars or getting her into a corner. She could tell he was using his aura but hadn't even indicated he needed to use his semblance. She had enough of a sense of self preservation, but it was taking all her effort to just stay on her feet.
Adam was accommodating the first few rounds letting her adjust and get back in the swing of fighting, but after he realized she had no intention of going on the offensive, he became more aggressive. Using her glyphs to summon a boarbatusk, it did little in the way of damage, but it was an excellent form of distraction because she could summon them anywhere in the ring. The next two rounds, she comfortably defended without letting him land a single blow. The rat and his fellow technicians watched, monitoring the state of the barrier to check for needed adjustments.
"Why are you just defending?" Adam was getting frustrated. "I need you to attack me so I can learn how to defend left-handed attacks." He chambered for a defense. "Come at me."
Weiss bent her knees and looked for a plan of attack. She'd never be able to match him in speed, but he couldn't read her mind, she'd have to out maneuver him. She scooted her right foot back a little to ground herself. It hadn't been that long that she was out of practice. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Lighting off her left foot she used both her arms to swing at his left side. He blocked it but she could feel the force of it push him back some six inches. She'd never had that much power in her swings before. With each blow her training came back to her, allowing her to predict his next move based on his body language. He was holding back in strength, but he couldn't keep up with her strategy, alternating between swinging high and low but aggressively keeping on his left side.
He was enjoying it. She was a strategist and he had to put effort into blocking her attacks. After an hour, her stamina was still holding up. After another thirty minutes though, she began to wane. Adam called it before she collapsed entirely. Towels were passed out and water bottles were passed through the ropes.
"I can't believe I've been holding up this long," Weiss said between gasps for air. "I couldn't last an hour with this intense of an opponent when I was adrenaline fueled fighting for my life at Beacon."
Adam panted for a few minutes before his breathing returned to normal and he responded. "Your body has built up muscles and stamina without an aura. You went from being a student with some athletic requirements to a day laborer using your body all day every day. It's hardened you mentally and physically. Add your aura back in and you're going to find you don't even need a second wind."
Weiss squirted water into her mouth from the water bottle. "Imagine what I could do with my own rapier or even some dust."
"I'm not giving you dust," Adam cut her off. "You're here to help me train on form, not make me sharper. You could never match me in anything. Not in speed. Not in brute strength, not in swordplay." He spoke with authority untainted by arrogance as he wiped the sweat off his neck and chest.
She tried not to focus on him as she patted herself dry. She was sweaty and needed to shower but knew she'd have to wait until he was finished with the bathroom before she'd have permission to clean up.
The instant she stepped out of the ring, the aura drained from her body and she slumped to the floor. Her muscles felt like they were on fire and a headache began forming on the crown of her head.
"Guess it works as intended," she could hear Adam say as she pushed herself onto her knees.
"Everything is to your liking then, sir?" the rat faunus said tapping the tips of his fingers together.
Adam looked at Weiss and smiled. "So far, yes."
Determined to not come across as weak, Weiss pulled herself up onto a bench and stood, pushing herself to taking steps even though everything hurt. She forced herself to match pace with Adam back to his quarters, immediately resuming her duties while Adam showered.
Weiss took her time when it was her turn in the bathroom. Her tennis outfit more or less peeled off her and she smelled awful, but something about today made her feel satisfied. It was the closest thing she felt like to a huntress since she'd left beacon for home. Once she was finished, it was time to collect Adam's tray for dinner.
"For the record, you're looking a lot healthier." He said as he returned his food to her.
"Thank you, sir," she replied, taking the tray.
A moment of awkward silence followed. Adam looked like he was going to say something but kept stopping himself.
"If there's nothing else you need sir, I'll return this and take my dinner with Sienna Khan."
"That's fine," he said, grabbing a stack of papers and pretending to look through them until she left.
She ate with Sienna like normal, asking more and more questions about what she knew about the grimm queen, listening as the former high leader recounted everything Adam had told her and adding her own speculation from what she'd learned. Salem couldn't give out magic, but she could wield it; she was old and had some personal vendetta with Ozpin and all of humanity with him. She'd never appeared in person, but had sent out her minions like Hazel and Cinder. Apparently, there were two others: Tyrian, a faunus none of the White Fang had ever met and an escaped convict from Atlas: Arthur Watts.
"Arthur Watts is dead," Weiss said flatly. "He was killed in a military exercise gone wrong years ago."
Sienna Khan shook her head. "He is the one who was able to override the paladins at Beacon and turn them on you," Sienna responded. When she saw Weiss knitting her brow trying to make sense of it, she expounded. "How else do you think the paladins turned on the huntsmen and the Atlesean military but never attacked the White Fang?"
"I have had to unlearn so much of what I thought was true," Weiss sighed. "If everything my father has said about the SDC is false, and the Atlesean military lied about Watts being dead, what else are they lying to their own people about."
"Every leader leaves information out," Sienna Khan replied. "It's the only way to ensure we can maintain control of those under us."
Weiss thought about what Sienna said the rest of the evening. Adam was leaving everything about Salem out. Ozpin left his knowledge of Salem out. Ironwood hid so much: Watts, Penny, new technology. Even her own father put on a fake show of helping the faunus while simultaneously marginalizing them in his mines and factories.
Who else was hiding things? Lionheart and Theodore, the other school headmasters? Ruby's uncle? Winter?
"You look deep in thought," Adam commented, jolting her back to reality.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was just thinking of how to improve our training," she lied. "Is there anything before turn in that you'd like me to do?" Adam had elected to pour his own bourbon. Weiss shrank, expecting to be in some kind of trouble for neglecting him, but he didn't seem to mind
"Some time tomorrow I need you to press my formals. I'll also be cancelling our training Friday."
"Yes, sir."
"If you'd like I can arrange for you to practice so you stay in the habit of using your aura. Bran perhaps or someone else I am confident won't accidentally be too forceful with you. I won't have time to practice this Friday or the next."
"Big meetings?" she asked casually as she unfolded the ironing board.
"I have a meeting planned tomorrow. Preparations for another meeting next week where I can introduce Hazel and a few of his men to the chapter heads of the White Fang as well as witness the execution of Sienna Khan."
"Execution!" Weiss said with more concern than she wanted.
"I don't know why you act either surprised of concerned," Adam replied. "This is the woman who ordered me to kill you to atone for your father's atrocities."
"She at least had logic to her actions," Weiss said finally, "She wanted to hurt the Schnees the way the Schnees hurt the faunus. You executing her after you assured me you'd keep her alive to make her see reason is not logical at all."
"Sienna only benefits the faunus if she's helping me work to find a way to stop Salem. She's refused to help me in this and now she stands as the driving force that would challenge my authority. If I keep her alive, I'm only undermining myself and giving the White Fang the opportunity to choose sides."
"I see, sir," was all she replied. "I'll have your suit pressed by tomorrow evening.
"Good. I'll take a bourbon tonight," he said retiring to his lounge chair. He smirked to himself with satisfaction as she served him, almost as if he were secretly happy to be ridding himself of his rival. After she poured his drink, he dismissed her for the evening.
In bed that night, she made up her mind she was going to help Sienna escape. She had clout as Adam's servant, she had the vial of dust, and she had easy access to both Sienna Khan and a place where the aura collars would deactivate. It would take nerve, but she would be able to pull it off.