KS: Okay, this chapter will focus on everyone's favorite vagabond. Also, her V5 short is coming soon, so excitement all around. Enjoy.

I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love... starting with her.

GET AWAY FROM HER!

*SLASH*

That haunting sound alone was enough to make Blake rise up, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down every pore of her body. She had re-occuring nightmares like that for over a month. Eight months, to be exact. And with each day passed, they've only gotten worse.

She was currently on her way to a White Fang outpost laying somewhere around Mistral's board. It was clear to anyone that after happened at Vale, they were feeling confident enough to wreak havoc to another kingdom in pursuit of their vision of equality... which of course involved ridding the surface of Remnant of every human.

"And to think, I left home just because I believed that we were doing something good for our people," she lamented as she walked. "I'm was such an idiot back then."

But as soon as she said that, Blake was reminded of something horrible. A more or less similar situation that happened during the fall of Beacon. All of the guilt she thought she had buried had re-emerged as she recalled the fateful moment where she witnessed her friend and teammate had her arm lopped off by her former mentor.

"What am I saying? This is no different from last time," she sighed. "I'm still an idiot."

Now, Blake was fully prepared to infiltrate the outpost and destroy it from the inside. What she wasn't prepared for was the sight of said outpost already destroyed when she reached it. Judging by the amount of destruction and carnage that was left behind, Blake theorized that whoever attack the outpost either had a massive grudge against the Fang, or some group of people who don't want to breath the same air as a faunus.

"Who could have done this?" she asked, walking around the ruins of the outpost. "This was no ordinary attack. Whoever was responsible must've had lots of equipment on hand."

She continue searching through the rubble, when she heard a pained groan. Without thinking, she rushed over to the source. And her blood ran cold once she found him. A man with red scale on his neck and forearms laid against a rock, covered in all sorts of wounds. He was still alive, but barely hanging on.

"What happened?" Blake asked.

The man coughed up blood before talking. "They literally came out of nowhere... guys in white armor and guns... we didn't stand a chance."

Blake's eyes widened at the mention of white armor. "Are they from Atlas?"

The man coughed once more. "I wish. The gear they were packing, it was decades ahead of Atlas has right now. Also, now that I remember, there was some orange highlights to the armor as well." His face began to pale some more. "My dust... those weapons were unbelievable. By the time they arrived, half our men were down."

"Who are they?" Blake asked. "And where did they go?"

He looked to her in horror. "Where did they go? Where did they go?"

Blake was confused by his sudden hysterics, but he cut her off before she could ask him.

"They're still here! They're sweeping the area for more survivors! You gotta get out of-"

He cut off by a gunshot to the heart, which Blake narrowly avoided. She turned to see who fired, and was horrified to see the soldiers that the now deceased operative mentioned.

"What the... I thought we cleared them all," the first soldier said.

"This doesn't surprise me," the second replied. "These White Fang scum are like cockroaches. They get harder to kill each time."

The first aimed his rifle at Blake. "Whatever. Let's just bag this one and return to base."

Blake didn't even need to think twice about dodging. She got out of there before the soldier could even pull the trigger.

"Hey, get back here!"

Unfortunately, the soldiers began to chase after her, firing their weapons as they did. Luckily, Blake was too quick for them to get a proper shot, but there have been some close calls. One bullet whizzed past her ear, while another barely grazed her leg.

"We need back up!" the soldier yelled to his wristcom. "We have another Fang on the run and we're in pursuit! I repeat, we need back up!"

Those two words alone were enough to make Blake sweat. If those two were hanging around the ruined outpost, then there were surely more lingering around.

"I have to get out of here," she panted. "I can't let them kill me. Not when I have so much to do."

She ran through a bush and hid there, waiting for her pursuers to pass by. To her luck, she heard the footsteps go further and further away from her. She sighed in relief and prepared to get away from the occupied site. At least, she tried to.

"Not another step, freak."

She had a wall composing of armed soldiers with rifles pointed at her blocking her way.

"Damn it," she muttered.

Upon being captured, Blake was brought back to the ruined outpost, but this time, she wasn't alone. The soldiers who captured her continued searching through the rubble for any survivors while the rest kept watch over Blake, who was cuffed to a pillar with two soldiers standing beside her.

"How did you manage to let one of them get by?" the commander asked. "I was sure that we killed all White Fang members upon arriving here."

"She probably came back to report her findings to whoever was in charge," a soldier suggested. "Other than that, I'm not sure what her reason was for coming here."

"I had a reason!" Blake shouted as she struggled to break free. "I came her to destroy this outpost!"

"Shut it, freak!" the soldier yelled, pointing his rifle at her. "No one asked you to talk!"

The commander waved his hand, signalling the soldier to lower his weapon. He then walked to Blake, who continued to glare at him.

"So, you say that you were arriving at this outpost to destroy it, huh?" the commander scoffed. "That's a likely story."

"It's true!" Blake growled. "I don't like the White Fang as much anyone! I wouldn't even dream of associating with them!"

That was obviously a lie, but Blake knew that if she let slip the fact that she was a former member, the soldiers would skip the questioning and proceed with the execution.

"Sure. You just happened to come to this outpost to destroy from the inside. Very likely." He turned to the soldiers guarding her. "Uncuff her and take her to the ship. Once we get back to base, we can use more effective methods to get information out of her."

"And what do we do once we get the info?" a soldier asked.

The commander scoffed. "Like you need to ask. There's plenty of faunus crawling around the world. No one's gonna care if one just happens to bite the dust."

Blake couldn't believe what she heard. It was clear as day that these soldiers didn't care about well being of faunus, but to go so far as to kill one when they stop being use to someone... she was disgusted. But on the other hand, she wasn't really surprised. This was the fate those who had an extra set of ears.

Once the soldiers beside her took her handcuffs off, she immediately attacked them, knocking them both out by smashing their heads together. Upon seeing the aggression, the commander brought out his weapon and fired at Blake, only to shoot air. She had disappeared on them.

"What the... where did she go?" the commander asked while looking around.

Blake soon reappeared behind a soldier and used the blunt end of her sword to knock him out. She fired rounds at the other three soldiers before they could shoot at her and used her swords to fend off a charging attacker armed with dual axes.

"Why don't you just spare us the extra work and kill yourself?" he growled.

"Never," she growled back. "I'm not giving up."

She parried his attacks and kicked him in his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. He attempted to get back up, but she kicked him in the head, knocking him out. She turned to the commander, who still had his rifle trained on him, ignorning the remaining soldiers aiming at her.

"You have to believe me," she said, sheathing her weapons. "I'm not with the White Fang. And after what they did, I would never dream of joining them."

The commander narrowed his eyes through his visor. "What exactly did they do to earn your contempt?"

Blake's features softened as she looked down. "You heard what happened, didn't you? The attack on Vale."

The commander nodded. "I doubt anyone hasn't heard about it by now."

Blake closed her eyes. "A teammate of mine was fatally injured by a member of the White Fang that night. And I've hated them since." She looked up at him with a glare. "I would sooner die than ally myself with the likes of the White Fang."

The commander stared at Blake's expression. He looked at every inch of it, searching for a sign that indicated she was lying. Thankfully for Blake, he wasn't able to find one.

"Men, stand down."

The soldiers lowered their guns and placed them on their backs.

"Okay, kid. I believe you. If you're really not affiliated with the Fang, then I see no reason to keep you here."

Blake sighed. "Thank you."

She went off without saying another word. And the pit of guilt she thought was boundless enough continued to grow even larger than she could comprehend.

"I abandon my teammates and lie about who I am... again." Blake didn't even notice the tears running down her face. "How much lower must I sink?"

KS: I swear, the amount of emotional baggage Blake has to carry can fill a cargo ship. When will she unload it once V5 rolls around in October. Only time will tell. And now, seeing how this is out of the way, I finally get the pleasure of working on Yang. And believe me, I have plenty of ideas for her... did I just sound sinister just now?