Cover Art by CHE3ZY.

Wow! It's been way too long for my liking for Chapter 23. Sorry again for the wait. Things have been really busy lately. I wasn't able to get everything I wanted into this chapter, and so it will have to wait for Chapter 24. The upside is that this one is a longer one. Please enjoy this chapter and please be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews section. I always enjoy seeing the feedback. Be sure to re-read chapter 22 as I've made some description edits. I also went back and fixed a few errors in the earlier chapters. Thank you to everyone who wished me well. I really appreciate your kind words. Remember that the poll for favorite OC in this fic is still open on my profile. Be sure to vote. Without further delay, here's "A Night Out Part III!"

"I'm glad to see that the party hasn't been too boring without me!" Said a familiar voice, earning surprised looks from both Blake and Weiss.

Weiss looked up with wide eyes at the source of the voice.

"YOU?!" She yelled over the loud music.

Sun Wukong gave the heiress one of his signature mischievous smiles.

"Good to see you too Ice Queen," he replied, earning an irritated glare from the heiress.

"Hey, Sun!" Ruby waved at him just before he waved back at her.

"What are you doing here?" Blake asked with genuine curiosity and slightly red cheeks.

"That would be my doing!" Yang raised her hand and had her eyes closed as she smiled.

Blake grabbed Yang by the arm, subtly yanking her closer. Blake kept smiling towards Sun as she spoke through her teeth, doing her best to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"What the hell Yang?!"

Yang couldn't help but smirk mischievously at her friend.

"This is supposed to be a fun night out for all of us. I figured your boy toy would keep things interesting for you."

Blake's grip on Yang's arm tightened. She would need to find a way to get back at Yang for this but now wasn't the time.

"Hello there," said Pyrrha with a wave and friendly smile, "I take it you must be Sun?"

Sun nodded.

"That's me!"

Nora's eyes went wide with realization at the mention of the faunus' name.

"Wait!" The hyperactive redhead almost knocked over Ren's drink as she shot up from her seat and jumped closer to him, "are you the guy who helped Blake and Ruby fight off the White Fang?"

Sun smirked before he let out a friendly laugh.

"I'd like to point out that they didn't need my help, but I was glad to help anyway."

A massive grin etched itself onto Nora's face.

"Well, a friend of team RWBY's is a friend of ours! I'm Nora and this is my partner, Lie Ren!" Nora gestured to her quiet partner, who gave Sun a respectful nod.

"What's up dude?" said Sun before he turned his attention back to Nora. "Thanks Nora!" Sun held out his fist to her. The powerhouse of team JNPR eagerly bumped fists with the monkey faunus.

Pyrrha shot a friendly wave and a smile to the newcomer.

"Hello there," said Pyrrha, "my name is Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you Sun."

"Likewise!" Replied the monkey faunus.

Jaune shot Sun an upward nod.

"Hey man," said the leader of team JNPR, "I'm Jaune."

Sun returned the upward nod with one of his own.

"And together they're team JNPR!" Yang chimed in as she handed Sun a drink, the faunus eagerly accepted it.

Sun's eyes landed on the three members of team PGRT, recognizing the three of them from the docks. The redheaded girl was smiling and waving at him while her two massive companions simply stared at him. He recalled how the redheaded girl, Penny if he remembered correctly, and the big guy with black hair, Terre if he wasn't mistaken, helped him, Blake, and Ruby fight off the White Fang. The big blonde guy, though, didn't arrive until after when the whole thing was over with the Ice Queen. His name was Rahm if his memory served him right. Sun waved towards them as he made eye contact with Penny.

"Hey! I remember you three! What's up?"

"We remember you as well," replied Penny as she smiled, "it is nice to see you again."

"The feeling is mutual," replied Sun, "so are you guys a team of three?" He looked at the group of three with slight confusion.

His question wasn't unfounded. If they had a fourth member then he hadn't seen him or her. He was genuinely curious.

"No," replied Penny, "we are a team of four. Jai should be back soon."

Okay, so their fourth member was a guy.

"Well, I look forward to meeting him," replied Sun, "I hope he's as lively as Terre and Rahm there." Sun laughed.

Everyone except for Terre, Rahm, and Ren burst out laughing at the faunus' tasteful joke. It took Rahm a moment to realize that the joke was about his and Terre's emotionless nature before the Guardian forced himself to laugh along with the others. Ren gave an amused look while Terre remained his usual self, not bothering to care for the joke.

"Oh, you have no idea," said Nora.

"No idea about what?"

The new voice alerted the monkey faunus. Sun turned around and found himself facing one of the biggest guys he'd ever seen in his life. Sun looked at the tall, powerfully built young man for a moment before he looked over his shoulder towards the other two similarly massive young men, scrutinizing the similarities between them. He faced the young man before him again before he shot him a smirk.

"I take it you're Jai?"

Jai merely nodded.

Sun gave Jai a light, friendly punch in the arm.

"Nice meeting you man. I'm Sun Wukong."

"Likewise," replied Jai.

"Perfect! Now that Jai is back, let's hit the dance floor!" Yang yelled as she grabbed a confused Jai and an ecstatic Sun by their arms and led them away towards the dance floor.

"You heard our fearless leader! Let's go!" Nora grabbed Ren and Jaune and likewise led them towards the dance floor.

Penny was bouncing in her seat as she looked on at the energy that Yang and Nora displayed. She jumped up from her seat and rushed after them, grabbing Ruby and Weiss as she did so.

Pyrrha laughed, clearly unable to contain her laughter at the entire spectacle. The Mistrali champion turned to look towards Blake, Rahm, and Terre.

"Shall we?" She asked.

"Do we have a choice?" Asked Blake rhetorically.

Without another word, the four followed after the others towards the dancefloor.

Solitas:

"Everyone up! Move!" Yelled an intimidating man clad in a black military uniform with a white winter coat and armed with a rifle.

The thirteen prisoners, all faunus, reluctantly got up from their seats. They were clad in orange jumpsuits and their hands and feet were shackled. Some of them had downcast looks while others had looks of defiance. Those who still had defiance in them shot hate-filled glares towards the guard. The prisoners moved in a single file line off of the transport shuttle and out onto a landing pad, the snow crunched under their shoes as they walked. They found themselves surrounded by heavily fortified walls with guard towers and snipers posted in them. A row of heavily armed guards stood across from the prisoners. Everyone was silent. The only sounds heard were the sounds of the chilling wind and the running engines of the transport ship. The sounds of approaching footsteps earned the attention of the prisoners. A female wolf faunus' eyes narrowed in absolute hatred as she gazed upon one of the most despicable people on Remnant approaching.

"Specialist Schnee! Ma'am!" The guard saluted the woman. "The prisoners are all accounted for and are ready for in-processing."

Winter returned the salute with one of her own. Behind the former heiress to the SDC stood Specialists Ebi and Marrow.

"Thank you, Sergeant, we'll take it from here," she replied before she turned her attention to the prisoners.

"Members of the White Fang," she began with her hands clasped behind her back, "welcome to Detention Center Delta, the most secure prison on Remnant. Some of you may be wondering why you are here instead of a prison in Vale."

She wasn't wrong. That was one of the questions running through many of their minds.

"The Vale Branch of the White Fang was responsible for the theft of an SDC train several months ago. Because of this, you have all been extradited from Vale to here."

A male rabbit faunus took a moment to get his rage-filled breathing under control. He and his brothers and sisters were going to spend the rest of their lives in this Atlas cage and there was nothing that any of them could do. What made it worse was the fact that a Schnee was the one to lock them away. Her monster of a father was responsible for the abuse of so many of their brethren and here she was about to do the same to them. There wasn't any way this whole thing could get any worse.

Marrow stepped forward into full view from behind Winter, his dog tail was visible for all to see. The male rabbit faunus' anger grew tenfold. He was wrong. This whole thing just got even worse. One of their own was helping the devil's daughter lock them away like animals for the rest of their lives.

"Fucking traitor," the rabbit faunus mumbled under his breath.

Marrow ignored the comment as he addressed the prisoners.

"Alright, single file! Move!"

The White Fang members did as they were told and moved in a single file line inside the prison. The wolf faunus shot a hate-filled glare towards Winter as she walked past while the rabbit faunus spat in the general direction of Marrow, nearly hitting the specialist with the spit wad.

A guard pistol-whipped the rabbit faunus on the head, sending him to the ground reeling in pain, for his actions.

"Go ahead and try that shit again," said the guard as he watched the rabbit faunus writhe in pain. "Now, get up!"

Nora was throwing poor Ren around in every direction in a wild frenzy of dance moves while Yang was dancing on top of a podium with a drink in her hand, having the time of her life and earning the nearly undivided attention of so many men. Taiyang would have been going on a rampage if he could see the looks these guys were giving Yang. Penny, Jaune, Weiss, and Pyrrha were also dancing together as a group. It was quite an interesting sight to see. Jaune made efforts to dance closer to Weiss who gracefully managed to keep her distance while Pyrrha tried to dance closer to him. Jaune was completely oblivious to the Invincible Girl's attempts to get closer to him. It was obvious that Penny was having the most fun out of all of them. It was as if she were dancing all the limitless energy she had on out onto the dance floor.

Sun, Blake, and the three super soldiers observed the entire spectacle with mild interest. The three sat off to the side and were mainly busy keeping an eye out for any potential threats. Sun glanced over towards Blake who was next to him.

"So, is there like a love triangle between Ice Queen, Jaune, and Pyrrha?"

"Not exactly," replied Blake, "Jaune is head over heels for Weiss, but she wants none of it, and Pyrrha is head over heels for Jaune but either he's too oblivious to notice or he's just ignoring her."

Sun looked back at the group out on the dance floor, watching as Jaune tried again to dance with Weiss. The Ice Queen quickly grabbed Penny's hand and danced with her. Jaune continued to dance, eagerly waiting for another chance to dance with Weiss while he was completely oblivious to the girl behind him who desperately wanted to dance with him. Sun looked back towards Blake.

"Has anyone told him?"

"He can figure it out," replied Blake, "or Pyrrha can tell him herself."

Sun looked slightly taken aback by Blake's bluntness. Blake spoke up, noticing his reaction.

"I don't intend to be harsh about it, but these sorts of things can't be handled by others. If Pyrrha really wants him then she needs to let him know."

Sun merely nodded.

"You're right," he said, "that's a slap of truth right there."

Blake merely smirked, happy knowing that she was right.

"Want to dance?"

Blake looked as though she'd been caught off guard by what he asked. She merely looked at the smiling monkey faunus questioningly.

"I promise we won't look like Ren and Nora out there," Sun threw in a lighthearted laugh. He extended his hand for her to take.

Blake studied him closely for a moment before she briefly looked on as Nora threw Ren into the air, the boy spun uncontrollably for a few moments before Nora caught him. Blake looked back at Sun before a grin etched itself onto her face.

"I suppose one dance couldn't hurt," replied Blake as she took his hand and let him lead her out to the dance floor.

As Blake and Sun went about dancing, Jai turned his attention to his two brothers.

"While I was tailing our mark, I noticed a woman doing the same."

Rahm moved to speak, but before he could say anything Jai cut him off.

"This girl did not match the description that you and Penny sent us."

"It could be the same person," replied Rahm, "it could be an illusion semblance of sorts."

"Possibly," replied Jai, "but we don't know for sure. We need to be vigilant."

"Agreed," said Terre with a nod.

"In any case," said Jai as he retrieved his scroll, "I managed to plant a tracking device on our mark. She won't be able to go anywhere without us knowing." Jai typed in a few commands on his heavily secure scroll.

The scrolls of Terre and Rahm beeped. The two examined their scrolls and saw the location of Faline. She still hadn't left the club.

"Nice work," said Rahm.

Terre merely nodded before he turned his attention towards a certain silver-eyed warrior sitting by herself at the opposite end of the bar. Ruby's face rested in her hands. The energy of the club was in stark contrast to the girl's bored mood. Terre stood from his seat and walked over.

Ruby let out a tired sigh as she stared absentmindedly at the untouched drink in front of her, completely unaware of the approaching giant.

"Are you well Ruby?"

Ruby looked up as Terre sat down next to her. The silver-eyed warrior looked away briefly as she felt her face flush red. She regained her composure quickly before turning to face the Guardian.

"Y-Yeah," she replied, "just tired is all. I'm not really feeling this whole club thing."

"You're not alone in that regard," Terre admitted. He and his brothers didn't understand the appeal of places like this. "Rahm, Jai, and I are mainly here for everyone else."

That was a half-truth. They were here to track their mark, but they were also keeping an eye on Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby.

Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, I mainly came here because Yang said so."

"RUBY!"

Ruby and Terre turned to see Penny rushing over to them. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight of Penny.

"I noticed that you were by yourself. Are you well?"

Ruby looked away in embarrassment for a moment before she faced Penny.

"Thank you, Penny. I'm fine. Terre was just asking me the same thing."

Penny glanced at Terre briefly before she looked back at Ruby.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I think I've had my fill of clubbing for one night is all. I'm tired and I want to go back to Beacon."

"Would you like Terre and me to escort you?"

"W-What?" Ruby stammered.

"It would be our pleasure to do so, right Terre?" Asked Penny.

Terre merely nodded.

In mere moments Ruby wasn't flustered anymore. She looked genuinely happy.

"I would love that!"

"You know," said Rusty as he retrieved a cigarette from a carton on the table in front of him, "when Sepia told me that a representative of the White Fang wanted to discuss business with me, I was a bit skeptical."

He grabbed a lighter from his pocket before he lit the cigarette and took a long drag. He paused for a moment, letting the smoke linger in his lungs for a bit longer before he exhaled the smoke.

"After all, why would a radical faunus extremist group want to ever do business with humans?" He asked.

Faline said nothing, but inside she felt herself flinch. He wasn't wrong. The White Fang had always made it a priority to only do with business with other faunus. Anything they needed from humans they simply took by force, but now the White Fang was struggling to keep itself afloat with the limited resources it had. Adam's decision to send her here to negotiate a deal didn't come lightly. She remembered seeing the anger and disgust on her leader's face when he decided that they would need to seek additional help from human suppliers. According to Torchwick, Rusty was the best arms dealer in all of Vale. She wished she could have come here and referenced Torchwick, but the partnership between Torchwick and the White Fang needed to be kept secret. Adam was explicitly clear on that.

The skinny arms dealer smirked.

"Though your visit was unexpected, it's turned out to be a pleasant surprise."

Faline mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, good. It looked as though things weren't going as bad as she thought. There was hope for a deal to be made.

Faline smiled.

"I'm glad that our business proposition isn't unwelcome," she said, "do we have a deal?"

If there was one thing that Rusty prided himself in it was his practicality. He was a man of science as well as a businessman, and that meant that he always took the logical approach to things. Some of his colleagues in the underground arms industry would have never sold to members of the White Fang based entirely on the fact that they were faunus, but Rusty would have been an idiot to let racism get in the way of the golden opportunity before him. Not only was the White Fang willing to pay handsomely for his weapons, but they wanted him to be their main supplier in Vale. He would have had to have been a complete idiot to ignore such an offer. Rusty shot the deer faunus another smirk.

"Oh, we have a deal alright," Rusty snapped his fingers before making a gesture with his hand.

The large, muscular bodyguard retrieved a scroll from a desk drawer before handing it to Faline. The young deer faunus looked at the scroll briefly before looking at the arms dealer.

"Expect a call on that burner scroll. We'll be in touch."

"I can't believe Ruby bailed on us!" Yang yelled to no one in particular. "This was supposed to last all night!"

The group was seated at their private table. Ren's eyes were spinning, evidence of the brutal dancing session that Nora had subjected him to. Terre, Penny, and Ruby left just over an hour ago. Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha looked at Yang with slight disapproval.

"Yang," Weiss gave her a stern look, "she was tired and wanted to go back. At least Penny and Terre walked her back to Beacon."

"Yeah, but still," said a dejected Yang, "I wanted this to be a fun night."

"It has been fun," replied Pyrrha as she placed a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder. "Not everyone has the same amount of energy as Yang Xiao Long."

Yang smiled at that.

"I guess you're right," replied the blonde bombshell, "I guess she couldn't handle the Xiao Long style."

"I definitely can!" Nora chimed in with a mischievous smile.

"Are you challenging me?!" Yang snapped back.

"What if I am?!" Nora placed her elbow on the table in an open arm-wrestling challenge to Yang.

"You're going down Valkyrie!" Yang likewise placed her elbow on the table and grabbed Nora's hand.

While Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune, and Sun watched the two powerhouses engage in a test of strength, Blake was ignoring the whole thing while Ren was still recovering from the dance session and the two Guardians were alerted by their scrolls. The two Guardians discretely checked their scrolls while remaining sure that no one was spying on them.

Rahm and Jai shared a look of understanding. The eyes of the two Guardians scanned the club as they searched for their mark in the sea of people. Jai stood up, feigning the need to stretch, to get a better view of the area; his tall height was a great asset in a place like this. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a pair of antlers moving about the crowd. Upon closer examination, it was clear that they belonged to their mark. Jai glanced down at Rahm and gave him the subtlest of nods. Rahm returned the nod and went heads down as he typed a message on his scroll.

Jai looked over towards the group and noticed that Yang and Nora were locked in a stalemate. Neither could overpower the other in their little arm-wrestling match.

"I think it's time we called it a night," said Jai aloud for the others to hear.

Jai's words elicited a shocked look from Yang.

"WHAT?!" Yelled the blonde bombshell.

Jai's words distracted Yang long enough for the fiery redhead to pin Yang's hand to the table. Nora threw her fist in the air triumphantly.

"Oh yeah! Take that Xiao Long!"

Yang shot daggers at her redheaded rival, the look in her eyes was nearly akin to murderous.

"That was bullshit, and you know it!"

Nora merely shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"Doesn't change the fact that I won," replied Nora with a mischievous smirk.

Yang merely flipped Nora the bird before she turned her attention to Jai.

"Alright big guy, explain your treacherous words," Yang had her arms folded across her chest as she did her best to look scary to the super soldier.

"I said that we should call it a night," replied Jai who was unfazed by Yang's attempts to appear scary.

Yang Xiao Long was one of those girls who could be the sweetest, most beautiful creature someone had ever met one second, and then the most terrifying creature they'd ever seen the next second. Unfortunately for Yang, the three Guardians could probably make Death itself fear for its very life. Of the few emotions that still lingered within them, fear was not one of them.

Before Yang could say anything to Jai, she was cut off by Weiss.

"I think Jai is right," said Weiss.

"You too?!" Yang couldn't believe what she was hearing. First her sister, Penny, and Terre, then it was Jai, and now it was Weiss.

"I don't think it would be a bad idea to go home either," said Pyrrha.

Yang could feel her inner self weeping. Not Pyrrha! Not P-Money! Yang's eyes narrowed as she examined the others.

"Does anybody else want to go?"

Everyone raised their hand, including Ren. Yang was fuming.

"FINE!" Yang relented. "We'll go home if it makes you children happy." Yang got up from her seat and gestured towards the exit. "Shall we?"

No words were spoken, though the emotions were diverse. Yang and Nora didn't look too happy to leave while everyone else, except for Jai and Rahm, looked relieved to finally leave. Everyone got up and followed Yang towards the exit.

Beacon Academy:

The walk back to Beacon had been a long one. Terre had offered to order a taxi, but Penny had insisted they walk. It wasn't every day that she got to leave Beacon and she was adamant about taking full advantage of every opportunity to see as much of the world as possible. Terre didn't have an issue with walking; he just thought it would have been the faster way to get back to Beacon. Ruby honestly didn't care either way. She was honestly happy to be out of that club and with friends in a quieter place. Nearly one hundred percent of the entertainment during the walk back was provided by Penny. The girl couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had with her friends and how this had been the best night of her life, though Ruby made sure to remind Penny that it was the best night of her life so far. Terre had been on alert the entire walk. For one, he was keeping an eye out for any potential threats, but at the same time, he was waiting for any word from his brothers about their mark. He wouldn't have been able to leave Penny and Ruby alone to go run off and gear up and then hunt down their person of interest. No. He needed to ensure that the two of them returned safely to Beacon. Seeing how they'd arrived back at the dorms, and he still hadn't received any word from his brothers was honestly a stroke of luck. It certainly was a stroke of luck.

"Thank you for walking me back to the dorms."

Terre turned his attention to Ruby who was smiling at him and Penny.

"There's nothing to be thankful for, Ruby," replied Terre.

"It was our pleasure!" Yelled Penny as she enveloped Ruby in one of her bone-crushing hugs.

Ruby struggled to breathe under the force of the cyborg's hug while Terre watched the whole exchange with mild curiosity. Penny finally let Ruby go, allowing the silver-eyed warrior to catch her breath. Ruby quickly recomposed herself before she turned her attention back to the two.

"Well," Ruby said sheepishly, "I guess this is goodnight then?"

"Good night, Ruby," Terre said with a respectful nod of his head.

"Sleep well Ruby," said Penny.

Ruby's hands fidgeted for a moment. She looked unsure of herself. Terre watched the whole thing with curiosity. He wasn't expecting Ruby to approach him and hug him. Penny watched the entire thing with the biggest of smiles while a sea of confusion swept the Guardian's mind. He wasn't sure what to do here. The only person he'd been hugged by had been Penny. Terre slowly brought his arms up and awkwardly returned the hug.

After a few moments, Ruby broke the hug. Terre could see that her face was slightly red.

"Are you feeling well, Ruby? Your face appears red."

Ruby laughed nervously.

"Just fine Terre! Good night!"

Ruby quickly entered her room and shut the door behind her, leaving Terre and Penny standing out in the hallway by themselves. Penny was still smiling while Terre was still trying to figure out what that whole thing was about. He turned to face Penny, ready to ask her what she thought of the whole thing, but his scroll beeped. Terre immediately retrieved it and opened the message he received.

From: Rahm

The mark's on the move. Greenlight.

Terre put his scroll away before he turned to face Penny.

"Stay here and keep an eye on Ruby. I have to go," Terre didn't wait for a reply as he rushed past Penny.

Penny nodded, knowing what he had to do.

It turns out that they weren't the only ones leaving the club. It'd taken longer than they'd have liked to get out of the club, and now they found themselves waiting for a taxicab to take them back to Beacon. Unfortunately, the availability of cabs was very low which meant higher wait times.

"It's times like this I wish I had a car," said Yang as she tapped her foot impatiently.

Weiss let out a tired sigh.

"Try to have some patience Yang," said the heiress.

"You know I'm right," replied Yang.

Weiss wouldn't admit it, but Yang had a point. The wait was getting ridiculous. The others shared the sentiment too. Blake would have killed to have her book with her right now to help pass the time. The cat faunus hated sitting idle; she always needed something to do. Blake's eyes wandered about, searching for anything to help alleviate the boredom she felt. Her eyes took everything in. She saw a guy puking his guts out on the curb, she saw a deer faunus exit the club, and she saw two drunk girls about to get into a fight. Wait a minute. Blake did a double-take and found herself staring with wide eyes at the deer faunus that was getting further away from her. She also spotted a girl of short stature with purple hair and dark skin walking in the same direction as the deer faunus.

"Faline?" Blake whispered to herself.

She couldn't believe it. It'd been so long since she'd seen her. What was she doing in Vale? Was she still with the White Fang? So many questions were running through Blake's mind. With what the White Fang had become, Blake desperately hoped her friend wasn't involved with the group anymore. Blake remembered the days of her childhood when she would protest peacefully alongside her parents, Adam, and her dear friend Ilia. Over the years it became increasingly apparent to many within the White Fang that peaceful protest was getting them nowhere. It didn't matter if they were unarmed or nonviolent. Racist humans would still beat them or try to kill them. It was for this reason that Sienna managed to take control of the White Fang from her father. Adam and Ilia joined her and so did Blake. Blake thought that by going after those who actively put the faunus down like the SDC she would help improve the situation of faunus everywhere. In her eyes, legitimate targets like the SDC needed to be taken down, but eventually, her time serving under Adam's leadership began to open her eyes more and more. Slowly, but surely, their attacks began to include innocent bystanders. For Adam, it wasn't enough to take from the SDC. Under his leadership, they'd looted human settlements and even hurt faunus who lived there who opposed their methods. It became clear that Adam didn't want equality; he wanted faunus supremacy. He wanted a world where humans were subservient to the faunus and then eventually one where humans were completely eradicated. Blake took no physical part in hurting innocent bystanders, but her silence in the face of it all was as good as her active participation. That was one of the many things that haunted her. She wished she could go back and say something. Maybe she could have changed Adam? Was it partially her fault for Adam's slow descent into the darkness? She didn't know. What she did know was that she loved him more than anything once and it was because of that love that she stayed with him until she eventually quit. She didn't have the strength to face him. She was scared of what he might have said, she was scared of what he might have done. That's what she always did, though. When things got tough or scary, she would run away. She ran away from her parents, not having the courage to tell them in person that she didn't believe in their methods anymore. She left a note instead. Eventually, she ran away from Adam and the White Fang. All her life she'd been running away from something. She didn't want to be afraid anymore.

Blake closed her eyes briefly as she took a deep breath.

Fear was a natural response in almost all creatures. Faunus, humans, and animals all exhibited fear. Fear of death, fear of the unknown, and fear of fear itself were usually the things that spurred that dreaded emotion within faunus and humans. The Grimm were something else entirely, though. They didn't fear anything. They wanted only one thing and that was to destroy all humans and faunus. It was funny when she thought about it. She was always so brave when it came to raiding SDC Dust shipments or fending off Grimm from their camps, but when it came to her parents and Adam, she had been a coward. While she hoped that her time at Beacon would help her move beyond most of her fears, there was one thing that she was certain would continue to haunt her forever.

The Harvesters.

Demons, Reapers, Harbingers, Devils, and Ghouls were all some of the many names they had. She honestly didn't care what they were called; all she knew was that they were monsters of nightmarish proportions. It's been over three years ago when they were first encountered. Luckily, she'd been away with Ilia in Menagerie working to expand White Fang recruitment in the more isolated villages. When she met with Adam months later, she was horrified to learn of what happened. To this day, she didn't know what Adam did to provoke the wrath of such monsters. All she knew was that Adam dealt a devastating blow to the SDC somehow. How exactly? She wasn't sure. She'd heard rumors, though. She'd heard that Adam had kidnapped someone very important to the SDC. She searched through all news sources from every Kingdom, but she couldn't find any evidence of the White Fang kidnapping any high-level SDC member. If that had been the case, then there were only two people alive who knew it was: Adam and Sienna. Whatever he did, Adam had inadvertently brought the wrath of those monsters onto all of them. She counted herself lucky to have missed them by mere hours on a few occasions. Ilia, however, did not have the same fortune.

Blake closed her eyes as she held back tears.

It'd been over a year and a half ago when Blake and Adam went on a scouting mission together, leaving Ilia in charge of the camp. When they came back, they found what little remained of her and their comrades. The bloody mess that was Ilia haunted her to this day. She hadn't been the same since that day. A significant part of her decision to leave the White Fang stemmed from Ilia's murder at the hands of those demons. Whatever those things were, they were unstoppable forces of nature. Far more terrifying than any Grimm or demon of legend. The White Fang may have become a dark shadow of what it once was, but no one deserved to die such horrific deaths.

Blake opened her eyes, a fierce determination glowed in them. She turned her attention to her friends.

"You all go on ahead. I have to go take care of something. I'll be right behind you; I won't take long."

All her friends, except for Rahm and Jai, all looked at her with looks of slight confusion. Weiss quickly narrowed her eyes.

"Are you going to run off again?" Weiss looked a bit angry. She just had this conversation with Blake not too long ago.

Blake shook her head.

"No," Blake defended, "I think I saw an old friend. I need to go and see if I was right."

"Can we go with you?" Asked Yang. "Nothing wrong with making new friends."

"No," said Blake, "please I need to do this on my own. I promise you I will call if I need you. Please." Blake's eyes pleaded with them all.

They all looked at each other briefly before they reluctantly nodded.

"Alright," said Nora, "but you better call us if you need us!" Nora said in a friendly, yet threatening voice.

Blake smiled.

"Thank you," she replied, "I will see you soon."

Blake took off in a run in the direction she last saw Faline, leaving her friends to look on with slight apprehension.

"This better not lead to us looking for her for hours on end again," said Weiss with a scowl.

"At least she's being honest with us," said Yang, "that's progress."

Pyrrha nodded.

"I hope everything is okay," said the Invincible Girl.

Jai and Rahm stood behind the others and watched as Blake ran off. They kept their heads forward as their eyes moved to look at each other, silently agreeing with each other. Rahm retrieved his scroll before he typed in a message and sent it.

"Let's just hope he gets the message," said Rahm in a whisper to Jai, "there's nothing we can do now."

Terre finished tying his boot right before he stood to full height. He performed a quick check of the lock of the case that contained their requested gear. Rahm had hidden it well in the forest. No one, save for another Guardian, would have found it. Terre was dressed in all black which included his tactical boots, cargo pants, a tactical jacket, a balaclava over his head, black gloves, and low-profile goggles that covered his eyes. The goggles were equipped with both night and infrared vision. Guardians rarely used the night vision mode because they could already see very well in the dark. The infrared vision came in very handy when they needed to spot heat signatures hiding behind objects. Terre wore a black web-belt on the pants and on that web-belt was a drop holster that contained a high caliber pistol. The suit was adorned with sectioned dark grey armor. Greaves adorned his lower legs, and he wore knee pads too. There was a breastplate that covered his torso, his arms had vambraces on them, and his shoulders were covered in shoulder pads. The breastplate was the exception to the dark grey color scheme. It was colored white, and it was adorned with the red symbol of the White Fang. There was a curved combat knife located in a boot sheath, a pair of Vacuoan twin swords were kept in a sheath that was attached to his back, there was a Mistral made assault rifle with a suppressor on it that was slung over his shoulder, and there were a few grenades attached to a grenade belt that was slung across his opposite shoulder. His web belt had several pouches attached to it that contained additional ammunition as well as clear garrote wires. He had nothing on him that could identify him. His clothes, his scroll, and anything that could be linked to him were stored in the case.

Terre did a quick inspection of his gear, making sure that he had everything he needed for this mission. Seeing that he had everything, the super soldier placed a red and white helmet adorned with horns over his head. It looked exactly like the headwear that members of the White Fang wore. He looked absolutely menacing.

Terre retrieved a small electronic device from his cargo pocket and activated it. It showed his current location as well as the location of their mark, thanks to the device Jai placed on her. She wasn't too terribly far from him, but he would need to hurry if he wanted to catch her.

"I've got you now," said Terre aloud to himself before he bolted off in a full-on sprint in the direction of his target. Unbeknownst to the long-gone Guardian, his scroll was beeping inside the case.

Blake sighed as she hid behind a wall, peeking out just enough to catch a glimpse of Faline disappearing behind a street corner. The cat faunus had been at this for over 20 minutes. She'd taken extra care to follow Faline at a distance and avoid being spotted. Blake's eyes widened slightly as she saw a dark-skinned girl of very short height with purple hair walking across the street and heading in the same direction as Faline. She'd seen that girl earlier. She was certain of it. Was Faline being followed? Blake made a run for it and crossed the street in a matter of seconds. She had her back against the wall of a building. She slowly moved her head to peek around the corner. Down the street, she could see Faline, but there was no sign of the purple-haired girl.

Am I seeing things?

No. She was certain that something was up. Blake moved from behind the cover of the wall and ran as silently as she could before she hid behind a dumpster just before Faline turned her head around to see if anyone had been following her. Faline turned around and kept walking as soon as she was certain she wasn't being followed. Blake breathed a sigh of relief. She'd nearly been spotted. She needed to be more careful. Blake peeked around her cover and moved to the next bit of cover, completely unaware of the pair of mismatched eyes staring at her from the wall itself just behind her.

Just Outside Mt. Glenn:

The sound of a gate opening permeated the silence of the night. Faline's eyes wandered back and forth as she searched for any sign of unwelcomed attention. She was currently walking through one of the city's old airship yards. Rows upon rows of old airships littered the area as well as several abandoned warehouses. This shipyard was located between Mt. Glenn and the still inhabited parts of the city. It was an ideal location to hide. The Grimm weren't a threat here and there weren't any prying eyes. This yard had been abandoned for the most part. It was mainly used as a dumping ground for scrap metal. The great forests of Vale bordered this area just to the East which allowed White Fang logistics to flow smoothly.

The sound of footsteps approaching alerted the young deer faunus. Had she not recognized the sounds of the footsteps, the unarmed faunus would have been scared. Faline smirked as her masked comrades came out from their assorted hiding places from behind old airships and their various parts. There were ten of them total.

A tall, skinny White Fang member with a horse tail approached her with a smile on his face.

"How'd it go, Faline?" He asked.

The deer faunus smirked.

"It went well. It looks like we've got a new supplier," she replied.

The horse faunus laughed.

"You're the best!" He complimented. "When can we expect those weapons?"

"They'll call us with more information when they're ready," she held up the burner scroll that Rusty had given her.

"Let's just hope that we don't have to wait too long," replied the horse faunus.

Faline nodded in agreement. The sooner they got those supplies the better. The sound of metal scraping against metal alerted the advanced ears of the entire group.

"What was that?" Asked a badger faunus.

"Not sure," replied the horse faunus.

The horse faunus, who was clearly the leader, looked towards a pair of large, muscular Fang members. One was a bull faunus and the other was a monkey faunus.

"You two," said the horse faunus, "go check it out."

They nodded before readying their weapons and moving out in the direction of where the noise came from.

"The rest of you stay alert," said the horse faunus.

The monkey faunus and the bull faunus moved carefully through the maze of scrap metal, taking extra care to thoroughly examine everything they came into contact with.

"You think it might have been a stray cat or something?" Asked the monkey faunus.

The bull faunus shrugged.

"It's possible," he replied, "but we need to keep looking."

"Copy," replied the monkey faunus.

The two continued combing the area as they moved down the path that was clear of debris. The bull faunus led the way with the monkey faunus following about ten feet behind him. The area was nearly pitch black, but thanks to their night vision they could see no problem. The bull faunus rounded a corner, momentarily leaving the monkey faunus' sight. The monkey faunus moved to traverse the corner, completely unaware of a clear wired noose that was inches from him. He didn't see it coming. Within a second the monkey faunus found himself gasping for air as a wire tightened itself around his neck and lifted him into the air. The unfortunate faunus' eyes were going red as his screams were silenced by the intense pressure of the wire around his throat. The Fang member's legs flailed about as he tried to free himself, but the wire only got tighter. It was now cutting into his neck. He could feel the blood moving down his neck. The faunus' suffering was abruptly ended by a sword that pierced his heart from behind with tremendous force. The monkey faunus' struggles immediately stopped. A black-clad figure removed the sword with a swift motion. The sounds of footsteps could be heard. The black-clad figure leaped up high into the air and out of view as the bull faunus rounded the corner.

"Damn it, George! What did I tell you about sticking close to-"

The bull faunus ceased his rant as soon as he saw the corpse of his friend hanging freely. The bull faunus moved to scream for help but found a powerful hand clasp over his mouth and his legs buckling from a strong kick to the back of his knee. The bull faunus struggled with all of his strength but his efforts were in vain. The bull faunus' eyes widened as he felt the most intense pain he'd ever felt in his life. He glanced down and saw a bloodied fist sticking out from his chest. His breathing became ragged, and he could feel blood coming up his throat. The hand removed itself from his mouth, letting the bull faunus drop to the ground. This was it. He was going to die and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He was unable to scream for help and alert his comrades so that they didn't suffer the same fate as him. With a large portion of his remaining strength, the bull faunus moved his head up to take a better look at what it was that had killed him and his friend. His fearful eyes saw the sight of a massive, black-clad figure wearing a White Fang mask and armor. The bull faunus choked up a mouthful of blood before he used the last bit of his strength to lift his hand up so as to reach towards the masked being. The dark figure cocked its head to the side as if examining him with slight curiosity before it retrieved a sword from behind its back. The way in which it moved was so machinelike, so inhuman. It was just as menacing as it was terrifying.

Could it be? It tore poor George apart like he was nothing! It can't be them!

Oh, gods, he hoped it wasn't them!

The last thing the bull faunus' eyes saw was the incoming downward slash of the Harvester's sword that decapitated him.

Hope you all enjoyed this one! This is a bit of a cliffhanger haha. I think it's obvious who the mysterious girl following Faline is. Why is she following her? It looks like the nightmare of the White Fang has found them again. For those of you who have been paying close attention, those White Fang prisoners appeared in an earlier chapter. What would happen if they met with a certain lizard faunus who is the only surviving witness to a Guardian assault? Let's see what happens. Please be sure to leave your thoughts and comments in the reviews section. Until next time!

-Dude64