Weiss Schnee

Dawn's White Fang HQ was more of a ragtag camp than what I would call a proper headquarters. The Vale branch of the White Fang must really be having a rough go of things to put it mildly. I remember back on Patch, he once told me that the Vale branch was 'The pride of The Fang!'. Second only to the branch in Mystral that was under the direct control of their High Leader. Some would say, second to none.

Whoever these people are, they must be even more formidable than we thought. If not for Dusk and Dawn, they might not have even been able to hold out this long.

Honestly I always knew Dawn and Dusk were pretty strong, I mean just look at how they always kept Grey in line just with their presence, but even I was kind of surprised at that display. As a duo they are incredibly formidable.

Dawn leads us into a tent with a large table in the center, a map of Sanus spread out on top of it with several different colored markers placed all over it. He motions for a few Fang soldiers in the tent to leave with the exception of a girl with a long ponytail and wearing a black stealth suit. He also instructs one of them to ensure that the prisoners are secured, the big one in particular placed in their strongest cage they have and to have even more restraints placed on him.

"Well...I'd say we have a lot to discuss." he stands at the front of the table, leaning against it with his hands.

"That's an understatement to say the least…well Alan?" I stand across from him at the other end of the table as the others all take their own spots. He lets out a long sigh, I guess he had hoped we'd save this talk for a bit later but before we do anything else we need to know the truth.

"Okay…well for starters Alan is not my real name."

"What do you mean?" Inu asks.

"That was a cover name…my real name is Sariel, at least that's the name I was given, honestly I don't even remember my original name."

"What do you mean Sariel is the name you were given? What did you need a cover name for?"

"I needed a cover name because…" he looks around at us for a brief moment before turning his gaze down toward the table.

"Because why?" Yang leans forward, her voice dripping with an energy that says 'No more lies'.

"...because I was sent to that island to monitor Ruby. I was to make sure nothing happened to her until she was needed and then when the time came I was actually supposed to be the one to take her." he doesn't look us in the eye. I assume he just can't bring himself to, not after dropping that bomb shell.

"So..so you've been lying to us the entire time?" I ask. On one hand it kind of validates how uneasy he made me feel at first, early on it always felt like there was something off about him but..over time we became so close, or at least I thought we did.

"Not the entire time no…yes I was sent to monitor Ruby and at first..at first that was all I cared about but eventually I really started to genuinely care about her, about all of you." he says, slightly desperate for us to believe him I can tell.

Based on the looks on everyone's faces, I can tell that none of us are finding it very easy to process all of this right now. Normally that alone would have been enough to think on by itself but..we aren't done.

"Okay so consider that issue shelved but not resolved…who sent you and what does that have to do with the people who took Ruby and have been attacked Dawn and Dusk's soldiers?"

"Well…I am sort of related to them, in a way."

"What in the heck does that mean?" Yang asks.

"We have the same creator…"

"Creator?" I ask.

"Yes, I wasn't 'born' really, at least not the me you see before you now." This just keeps getting crazier by the minute. "..you see, I'm not…I'm not entirely human."

None of us really knows how to handle that information either. We just kind of stare in stunned silence for what feels like a lot longer than it probably actually was. Finally Inu is the first to speak up.

"What…What do you mean not entirely human?"

"I…" he looks around at all of us. Like even now he is hoping to find some way out of telling us the truth. Finally he just looks down in defeat. "I am part Grimm."

"P-Part Grimm?" I ask not sure If I completely believe it…but at this point what good would it do him to lie about this? How could someone be 'part grimm' though. It's just insane but...

"Yes…I'm not entirely sure how it works, heck I don't remember much of anything before I was 'reborn' but what I know is that I'm infused with Grimm."

"Okay so let's say we believe all of that craziness, what exactly does that mean?" Yang asks.

"Yeah like, what exactly makes you different?" Inu asks.

"Well…my kind lack a protective aura for one but we make up for it with accelerated healing beyond what the average aura is capable of, it also comes with enhanced strength and speed. Nothing crazy but it can definitely tip a fight in my favor."

"What about a semblance?" I chime in. "You say you lack a protective aura so does that mean you don't have a semblance either?"

"I do still have one but...it's different."

"Different how?"

"Well…whatever my semblance was originally, it's been…corrupted I guess would be the right term. It is an altered version of whatever it originally was…also it does come with a couple extra abilities."

"Okay…that is a lot to take in Ala- I mean Sariel."

"I understand…" he chuckles. "You can still call me Alan by the way…it just feels weird to hear any of you use that name, I have left it behind after all."

"Okay I hate to interrupt, I'm sure this is difficult…on everyone involved, but we really need to start discussing the situation we're in." Dawn says. "Once we get Ruby back and deal with these bastards, you'll have plenty of time to sort everything out."

"Dawn's right." I sigh and brush my bangs out of my face. "We can all figure out how to handle this later…besides, we can't decide anything without Ruby."

"Agreed, though for the record, I'd really like to sock you one for lying to us all this time" Yang angrily points at Alan. "but I feel like Ruby wouldn't be very happy with me if I did."

Alan offers only a sad smile and a nod. The only one who doesn't chime in is Inu, she must be taking it a bit harder than the rest of us, not that I blame her. I can't imagine how it feels to fall head over heels for someone, only to find out they aren't really who you thought they were. It's bad enough when you're friends with that person..

I honestly don't know how we are going to keep trusting him after this but…he seems sincere enough, though who is to say it's not just another trick. Regardless, we don't have much choice right now. We need him to get Ruby back and besides…after everything we've been through it wouldn't feel right to not at least give him a second chance.

"Okay…I guess for starters I'll fill you in on our situation." he points at a spot on the map with a big X marked over it. "This was where our original HQ was located, it served as the operation center for the Vale branch for years but roughly a month ago it was attacked by a large force of these...what did you say they were called?"

"I didn't…we call ourselves the Grimmiore." Alan leans forward and points at another spot on the map. "Your original HQ was only a few clicks away from their secret bunker..that said I have no idea where all these new Grimmiore are coming from. As long as I can remember there have only been a few dozen of us spread around the world, maybe a couple new ones every few years or so."

"So there are gaps in your knowledge?" Dusk asks.

"Yeah…ever since I moved to Patch I have been getting less and less info and about a half a year ago it stopped entirely. Whatever they are up to though, I really don't like it." That doesn't sound ominous at all.

"Regardless they decided to use their new found numbers to attack us and frustratingly the one in charge of that outpost at the time, Adam Taurus, was nowhere to be found during the attack." I notice the girl named Blake tenses up at the mention of this Adam. "As much as I don't care for his leadership, he is highly skilled and fairly strong, had he been there things might have gone differently but as it is our forces were scattered, that's why Dusk and I were called in from Patch."

"To regain control of the situation and re-establish an HQ for the Fang, also to identify the aggressors and deal with them." Dusk adds.

"Well it seems we've been able to help you out on the identification thing at least." Inu says.

"Yes, partly anyways and tomorrow you'll help with the second part too." Dawn stands upright and crosses his arms. "Our goals are one and the same, by striking at them together we can get Ruby back and take out a thorn in the Fang's side, soooo how are we doing this Sis?"

"We will split into two teams." She points to me, Alan, Inu and a young girl on the other side of the room. "You four will be the infiltration team, your job is to fight through the facility and get Ruby out as quickly and safely as possible."

"Woah, woah, why am I going with them?" She objects. "I don't trust these humans…even if one of them is only half human."

"First Illya, you are the best infiltrator we have and second, it's an order." Dusk glares at her. "Dawn and I are in charge now, if you don't like it then you are free to leave."

I am sensing some tension between those three. I don't know what's wrong with that Illya girl but she just seems to be a very angry person in general.

"While I wouldn't be quite as blunt about it...I understand that you're upset about the change in leadership Illya but High Leader Kahn put me in charge, so consider it an order direct from her if you must." This seems to calm her down slightly, enough to not argue at least. "Besides, you will be going along for more than just to help Ruby."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"As you make your way through, Illya will place charges throughout the bunker, when you have safely made it out we will detonate them and land a crippling blow against them." Dusk says, placing one of the charges on the table.

"Okay so if I might ask, what exactly is stopping us from being shredded by their forces while we are making our way through?" Alan asks. "The base might be filled with mostly those weaker Grimmiore but if they throw enough of them at us we won't stand a chance."

"Dusk and I will be leading an assault on the bunker, composed of us and everyone else in this room, along with what remaining Fang forces we can spare."

"So while they go in to save Ruby, we'll be drawing most of the attention off of them by wrecking those sister stealing freaks?" Yang punches the palm of her hand to accentuate her point.

"Precisely."

"Okay there is one last thing, how are we going to get in exactly?" I ask the obvious question. "It's not like we can just walk through the front door during your attack."

"I think I have a solution for that." Alan crosses his arms. "I've been to this particular facility and assuming it's as I left it, there should be a second more hidden entrance off to the side."

"If we use that, we can slip in mostly undetected, especially with all the chaos the others will be causing, that's awesome Alan!" Inu shouts, her ears perked up in excitement. For a moment she seems to forget how upset she is with him but quickly remembers and calms back down.

"All right, does everyone understand the plan?" Dawn asks and we all nod in response. " Good because after Ruby is back safe and sound I am sending you all straight home, now go get some food and rest, you'll need all your energy for tomm-"

"Sir, this is the second coastal unit, I have urgent news!" the radio next to Dawn suddenly cracks to life. He grabs the microphone and holds it closer to his mouth.

"I keep small units all over to report back to me if they spot anything suspicious." he presses the button to talk. "What is it?"

"We just found a small boat of civies and Fang soldiers, most of them were dead, only one survivor." This news causes noticeable shock on his face.

"Did you manage to get any info from the survivor?" he asks.

"He's pretty shaken up sir, he keeps mumbling something about Patch, he also keeps repeating a name over and over."

"What name is that?"

"Grey, sir."

We all look at one another, a mixture of worry and surprise on all of our faces. Could Grey have found another way off the island? How? Did he kill those soldiers? About a million questions are running through my head.

"H-Have someone bring him here for medical attention and further questioning, in the meantime I want you to contact the other coastal units and keep a close eye out, alert me immediately if you notice anything strange."

"Yes sir, over and out!" A moment of silence hangs over the entire tent at this news before Dawn finally speaks up again.

"I know we are all probably..concerned about this bit of news but there is no point stressing about it until we know more, especially with such a big operation tomorrow, we can't afford distractions."

"He's right...Ruby is counting on us, we need to stay focused." I say, earning a nod from all of my friends at least.

"Now..Blake will show you all to the food tent and after she'll show you where you can get some sleep, go on, I have more work to do." His attention turns fully to the map as he starts moving little chess pieces around it.

Blake motions for us all to follow her, I assure the others that I'll catch up.

"Hey Dawn..Dusk." Dawn doesnt take notice at first, already absorbed in his planning. After a second or two, Dusk nudges him and he is shaken back into the moment.

"Oh, Weiss, shouldn't you be getting food with your friends?"

"I will...I just wanted to say it really is good to see you two again...and thanks again for coming to our rescue back there."

"It's good to see you too Weiss, it's been awhile since we actually talked in person, as for the whole 'rescue' thing don't give it another thought."

"It's not like we knew it was you at first." Dusk says in her typical very direct manner, she always speaks very matter of factly. She seems to realize this when Dawn gives her a quick nudge. "Oh uh...but we definitely would've gone out of our way to help if we did know it was you."

"Yeah I know Dusk..you two have always been good to me and Ruby, starting with the day we first met and you protected us from Grey and his goons."

"I'll be honest there was a time that Dusk and I weren't so different from Grey...before he went totally off the rails at least."

"That's really hard to believe."

"Well believe it, we were a lot more angry and radical, let's just say...we weren't exactly what I'd call good people."

"What changed?"

They both just stand there in silence for a while. Both of them are noticeably uncomfortable with my question.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me."

"It's just...really painful for us to discuss, maybe one day we'll tell you." He looks at his gloved hand and seems to get lost in thought. I always knew, but never really thought much of it until now but...they must have been through a lot before we met.

You really only have to look at their wings to come to that conclusion. They each have a healthy wing on one side and what looks like a nub where a wing used to be on the other.

I decide to let it go for now and just offer them an affirming nod.

"I better go and join the others now." I step forward and hug both of them which catches them off guard at first but slowly they return the hug.

"Alright alright, get going before your friends worry about you." Dusk says, clearly the most uncomfortable with the display of affection. I slowly pull away from the hug and wave goodbye to them as I exit the tent.

It's now occurring to me that I'm not entirely sure where the food tent is. I slowly walk around the camp trying to find my friends, taking in the sight of all the Fang troops surrounding me. They are all staring at me to some degree, some even seem to be extremely unhappy with my presence but I just try to ignore them.

I run my fingers over the bracelet Ruby gave me during my first birthday on Patch and I can't help but smile as I imagine that day vividly in my mind.

Sure there was some bad stuff, like meeting Grey for the first time...but it's also the day we met Dawn and Dusk. Not to mention it was the first day that I really felt like I was part of a big happy family...it's also the day I started to realize just what Ruby meant to me.

Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look to see that I'm surrounded by Yang and Inu, Alan is there too but standing slightly off to the side. They are all smiling at me comfortingly. Without a word I know exactly what those smiles mean. Both 'we are here for you' and 'we can do this'. Sure we still have a lot to sort out right now but…we are family and that's not something that can be shattered so easily. With all of us together I know we can get Ruby back and put everything back together.

Ruby Rose

As I wake up I'm saddened to see that I'm still in the cell they threw me in when I arrived. My hope that it was all simply a horrible dream didn't really pan out. I sit up and let out a frustrated sigh.

I fumble with my friendship bracelet, wondering what Weiss is doing right now. Wherever she is I hope she's okay..I hope everyone back home is okay.

I don't have much more time to think about it before I find my cell door being opened by several goons, all armed. They surround me and train their weapons on me, I'm not sure why they seem so jumpy, it's not like I could do much without my weapon, I'm not even sure where Crescent Rose is.

They order me to get to my feet, which I reluctantly do. They then lead me out of my cell and deeper into the compound, down a set of dimly lit stairs and into a laboratory that seems normal at first, until you realize what he probably does to people in this room. It's enough to make me sick to my stomach.

I'm led over to what looks like an operating table where I am asked to lie down. Before I do, I quickly kick one of the guys standing behind me in the gut. He winces in pain for a moment before grabbing me by the collar of my shirt and yanking me toward him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing you little shit!?" he asks. I don't even respond, just smirk at him which really pisses him. He reels back to punch me in the face but the others hold him back as I fall back onto the ground, pretending to pull back from his punch. They warned him not to damage the 'doctor's new favorite lab rat'.

In the confusion I quickly slid the key card I swiped from him into my sock before rubbing the back of my head as if I'm pain. They lift me up off the ground and force me onto the operating table, locking me down with the table's restraints.

"You fools sincerely can't bring me one unarmed teenage girl without incident?" the Doctor walks in, looking pretty annoyed to say the least.

"Sorry Sir, she just attacked me completely out of no-" the guard starts to say before he is cut off by the doctor giving him a look that could probably kill. It wasn't even directed at me and it gave me chills.

"I don't care if she tries to slit your throat, control yourself because if you damage my highly valuable test subject" The doctor holds up a scalpel. "I promise what I do to you will be far worse."

"Y-Yes Sir!" they all salute him before quickly dismissing themselves. I'd say he demands a lot of respect but fear is definitely the more appropriate word.

"Now then miss Rose." he holds up an IV needle. "Are we ready to begin?"

"What exactly are you going to do to me?" I ask, more concerned than I let on. I mean how could I not be?

"Oh you see, what I hope to accomplish with you is to perfect my Grimmiore production process, I want to see if your special blood combined with the Grimm essence can be used to create a concoction that will yield a much higher success rate."

He walks over to me and sticks the IV in my arm. I could raise my Aura and stop him but I know he'd just...forcibly lower it if I did.

"As it stands, even with all my work, the process only has a 50% success rate and even then the subjects are significantly weaker than their 'pure' counterparts created by Mother, they pale in comparison really."

"What happens to the failures?" I dare ask.

"Most of them die horribly, the remaining subjects are either turned into mindless beasts or turned into husks so devoid of life they may as well be dead." he says so nonchalantly, it sends a chill down my spine. It keeps sinking in more and more just how much of a monster this guy is. This isn't just a job to him. He clearly derives some sick satisfaction from it.

"Get ready, this may be...unpleasant." he says with a twisted smile, allowing some kind of black liquid to begin flowing through the IV. It doesn't take long before it reaches my arm and immediately I feel a searing pain in that part of my arm, like someone is stabbing into it with a red hot fire poker.

That's nothing compared to what comes next though, eventually the same pain I felt in my arm begins radiating to the rest of my body. It's the most painful thing I have ever experienced, my vision starts to go white and my limbs would be flailing around if not for the restraints.

My mind begins racing, flashes of burning villages and slaughtered villagers. Large numbers of Grimm swarming around me and destroying anything in sight. The most horrifying thing of all though, was what appeared to be me, controlling the Grimm. I had a man held up in the air by his throat and with one disgusting snap, he fell to the ground dead.

I didn't get a chance to see the man's face before the pain and horror became too much to bear and my vision fades to black. When I finally open my eyes again, I have a pounding headache and I find myself back in my cell.

At first I can't stop my body from trembling as it all comes rushing back to me. The pain and those terrifying visions. I look at my hands and slowly try to steady my breathing. Whatever he did, I can't let it stop me, I have to calm down, I have to focus. Eventually I manage to finally calm down enough to get to my feet, even if I'm a bit wobbly at first.

That black liquid he put in me..it must have been the Grimm essence he keeps talking about. I check myself up and down, I don't seem to be any different than before, which is somewhat of a relief. I took a deep breath and refocused my thoughts back on my plan, checking my socks. I do a little internal cheer as I find the key card I snatched from that idiot guard before they strapped me down.

I look around the room and see that the only guard is barely paying attention, checking his scroll. I swipe the key card, hoping desperately that it would work. To my instant relief, the hard light wall fades away. I sneak over behind him, hoping to catch him off guard.

I quickly pounce on him, trying out that choke hold that Yang taught me. He tried to fight back but to my surprise, he wasn't able to pry me off. He eventually stops moving and I, more aggressively than was probably necessary, throw him to the ground.

'Finish him, if he wakes up he might ruin everything.' The thought only crosses my mind for a second but with such clarity that it almost sounded like a voice in my head. It's honestly kind of scary but I shake it out of my head and focus.

That said I expected it to be more of a struggle than that. I know some Grimmiore are stronger than others but they are usually at least...stronger than average? I don't know, no time to think about it either.

Next step is to try and locate the armory, that's probably where they'd be keeping Crescent Rose. I'm gonna need her, just in case I run into a fight...besides I can't just leave her here.

I quietly sneak around, barely avoiding being spotted several times. Luckily, based on all the clocks I've seen, it's late at night. So the guard seems to mostly be a skeleton crew right now. It takes far longer than I'd like, this place is built like a maze, but I do eventually find the armory.

I swipe the card I stole on the lock and to my dismay the guy I stole this from apparently didn't have clearance to get into the armory. I resist the sudden urge to just slam my fist into the lock out of frustration when I hear the sound of two voices approaching from behind me, I quickly duck out of sight behind the wall of an adjacent hallway.

I peek from behind the corner and watch as the two chatty guards stop in front of the armory door and, to my delight, swipe themselves in. As they walk inside I quickly rush over to slip in right before the doors close.

I duck behind a shelf of weapons, trying to avoid being seen, especially before I can find my weapon but surprisingly I find myself being grabbed from behind.

"Hey boys, it looks like Doc's new rat got out!"

"What the hell!?" The two guards from before come running over, now that I get a better look I see that one of them is the guard I stole the key from.

"How did she get out?!" As I'm struggling, the key card I stole falls out of my pocket and he picks it up. "This...this is my card."

"You idiot, she must have snagged it off you when you were freaking out earlier!"

"You little shit!" He goes to grab me but the other guy shoves him back.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Getting some payback from this worthless rat!"

"First the Doc would kill you and second that's the crap that got you into this mess in the first place!"

"Lets just take her back to her cell and-" I cut off the guy behind me by ramming the back of my head into his face. There is no way I'm letting that happen. I lunge forward and punch one of the guys in the gut. I've never been great at hand to hand but I've learned some things from watching Yang.

To my surprise, the guy goes flying into the wall at the back of the armory and he looks like he's knocked out. I look at my hand, wondering how in the heck I did that. Part of me was scared but another part of me, one I didn't know I had, was exhilarated.

The guy who tried to grab me tries running for a button on the wall, that I can only assume is to the alarm system. I realize he's already too far to stop now so instead I quickly look around for Crescent Rose.

I spot her sitting on top of a wall of weapons, all looking like they belonged to Huntsmen and Huntresses. Which makes me a tad sick to think about but I shove that down for now and grab Crescent Rose.

The alarms in the base now blaring, I throw sneaking around out the window and just bolt in the direction of what I hope is the exit. I try several times to activate my semblance but for some reason it just won't work.

As I round a corner I am confronted by several guards. One of them opens fire, the others hesitating and even try to stop her as they are likely under orders not to 'damage' me. I attempt to raise my aura but to my confusion, the bullet grazes my arm and actually leaves a cut but..it heals almost instantly. What in the heck is going on?!

I charge into them, knocking them aside as I go. I'm determined to keep pushing until I am out of this place, then I'll run as far and as fast as I can. I'll find a way back home and I'll see everyone again...I'll get to tell Weiss that I lo-

My thoughts are interrupted by a pair of huge arms wrapping around me as I round the corner into the hanger.

"Good job Azael, that was a bit too close for comfort." Gadriel walks around in front of me as the big guy, who I now know is named Azael, tries to restrain me but is surprised when he has to exert himself to hold me still.

"You won't stop me, I have to get back to them, to her!" I shout, struggling even more.

"You really have turned out to be more trouble than you're worth brat." Gadriel walks up to me and grabs my face, getting a better look at me.

"What the hell are you looking at?!" I shout, trying to kick her.

"It seems the Docs experiments had more of an effect than he thought." she says with a chuckle. "He'll be happy to hear that at least."

"What are you talking about?!"

"You mean you didn't notice?" she asks. "Your improved strength, how your aura didn't seem to be working correctly?"

"What do you-?" I start to ask but then she pulls out a little mirror and shows me my own reflection. One of my eyes was silver, like I remember but the other one…it was the same blood red as theirs. "What did he do to me?"

"Guess he wanted to see what effect the Grimm essence would have on someone like you, gotta say I wouldn't have bet on this…"

"Are you...are you saying I'm-?"

"Not entirely I don't think, but more or less yeah, you're a Grimmiore."

As the shock from the realization washes over me, Gadriel snaps her fingers and I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head. In only a few seconds my vision completely fades to black.