KS: (sighs) The V6 premiere is tomorrow. I have not written another bit of this since it's announcement. Although, I've been inspired to write some more after reading spoilers from wiki and an undying determination to present this alternate path from V3 continued to burn within my soul. Therefore, I persevered and wrote another chapter. With this, I hope to get out of the rut I unwittingly put myself in.

Blake sat across from the armored mercenary, still wary of what her intentions are. She claimed that she had knowledge of what the White Fang's planned to do next, but she was still unable to shake the feeling that she being led on. In addition, her expression was unreadable. She casually sipped her mug without looking at her.

"You know, I don't think we've introduced ourselves."

Blake flinched from the woman suddenly speaking after an hour of deafening silence.

"My name is Kana Pourpre," she said. "I'm a mercenary working for Grimoire."

"I'm Blake Belladonna. A former student at Beacon Academy."

Kana's ears perked up at the mention of the academy. "Beacon, huh? I knew someone who used to go there. I haven't heard from him in a long time."

"Does he have a name?" Blake asked. "I might have heard of him at some point."

"Nah, he's not the type who likes to stand out," Kana said. "He fancies himself as some type of loner. You might get along with him, though. You've got the whole loner thing down pat."

Blake narrowed her eyes. "Was that meant to be a compliement?"

Kana shrugged. "Nah, I'm just making a point. But we're getting off topic-"

"I doubt we were even on the topic considering how quiet you've been for the last half-hour," Blake snarked.

Kana glared at her. "Oh please, like you were any louder than I was. In fact, I bet you've spent your whole life keeping quiet, like some sniveling little coward."

And there it was. That one word Blake absolutely loathed hearing, but could not find it within her to deny the cold, hard truth.

Coward.

It rang through both sets of her ears like a bell signalling a person's final moments. It washed over her body like a violent wave enveloping a small boat unfortunate enough to be in its wake. It burned through her heart like an arrow made from pure fire. In short, the word brought out every negative emotion Blake had bottled up inside of her.

"Do not… call me that."

Kana tiled her head. "What was that? Speak up, I couldn't-"

Blake slammed her fist on the table, causing her glass to tip over and the milk to spill all over.

"I don't need a damn reminder! I know I'm a coward! I abandoned everyone I cared about for a stupid reason that nobody will understand, even if I explain it full detail! But you know what? I don't even care! I plan to rid myself of that title by dealing with the person who made me this way!"

Kana stared at Blake with a gaped expression, watching as the younger woman breathed heavily at the end of her rant.

"Well damn," she muttered. "I had no idea the word alone was enough to set you off."

Upon realizing her outburst, Blake gasped and lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Kana waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have pushed your buttons like that."

"Yeah, that's our Kana! She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut!"

One of the armored mercenaries laughed at the remark while Kana grit her teeth in frustration.

"Ignore them," she hissed. "They have too much booze in their system to know when to shut up themselves."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You seem to be real close with them."

"Yeah, you could say that," Kana sighed. "I've been in the same squad with those morons for at least five years now. But not a lot of people in this day and age have heard of Grimoire."

"Why not?" Blake asked.

Kana leaned towards her. "Have you ever read a fantasy novel?"

Blake nodded, prompting her to continue.

"Then you probably know what a grimoire is. A book containing text that is long forgotten, never to be read by anyone."

Blake blinked at her. "Is that what you believe?"

"It was what we were told when we joined," Kana answered, noticing the strange look on Blake's face. "Why?"

Blake shook her head. "Whoever told you that must not be an avid reader. A grimoire is a textbook containg a numerous magic spells and can only be read by one who is proficient in magic."

Kana sighed and crossed her arms. "Great. I was under the impression that grimoires were books of ineligible text and that only a chosen few were capable of reading them. I swear, I'm gonna knock out the teeth of whoever told me that."

Blake couldn't help but chuckle at how a skilled mercenary could be so gullible at times. The purple-haired woman had an air around her that made her serious and imposing, but seeing her be flustered over the misconception of what her organization's name meaning made the young huntress feel at ease.

"Okay, that's enough friendly banter," Kana said. "Let's get down to brass tacks."

"Are you sure you don't to talk about anything else you might have been lied to about?" Blake asked jokingly.

Kana huffed in frustration. "As I was saying, I need you to find a certain item for us. Once you get it and hand it over, we'll clue you in on what the White Fang plan to do next."

In times where one offers handout in any form, it is considered impolite to look a gift horse in the mouth. But in these times, Blake couldn't help but do so. "How do I know you'll keep your word?"

"What, you think I'm lying about the intel?" Kana asked defensively. "If I was lying, I could have sent you off to some random spot that is lousy with Grimm and be done with it."

Blake narrowed her eyes even more. "What's stopping you from doing so?"

Both of them stared intensely at each other, attempting to read their intentions through facial movements.

"Hey, let us know if you two are gonna make out at some point. We're waiting on some tongue fencing over here."

Without looking at the heckler, Kana gripped the mug and threw it in his direction. The mug hit his head and shattered on impact, knocking him out instantly.

"You're paying for that," the barkeep said nonchalantly.

"Whatever," Kana replied dryly.

Blake mentally stopped herself from gaping at what she just witnessed. "Was that really necessary?"

"It was that or slitting his throat wide open," Kana answered. "Personally, I'm in no mood to clean up any more than I have to."

Blake sighed and shook her head. "Can we get back to what we were talking about?"

Kana nodded. "Sure. So, about the object…"

Blake looked around the interior of the vehicle she was riding in. Beside her was a man sharpening his sword while checking out his reflection. Giving a grunt of satisfaction, he continued to sharpen the blade. Sitting in the seat across from her was a woman wearing a sunglasses who stared at without saying a word. Blake couldn't help but find the woman's gaze unnerving.

"She's probably anti-faunus for all I know," she muttered. "Wouldn't surprise me if she was."

The drive went on for at least an hour. Blake was not sure if she should say something to lighten the mood, but quickly realized that she was not the mood-lightening type. That position was better reserved for…

"No… I can't think about her now," she said to herself. "Not after what I did. But I need to deal with this now or I'll won't have any peace of mind."

Blake suddenly jolted to the left as the vehicle made a sudden stop. She found herself in the lap of the man who was checking out his reflection.

"Well now, I didn't think I was attractive to make you fall on my lap," he said teasingly. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

Feeling uneasy, Blake quickly stood up and got out of the heavily armored vehicle. Feeling the solid ground beneath her feet made her stretch out and sigh in relief.

"I'm glad that's over," she said. "Any longer and I would be vibrating like a broken scroll."

She looked at the cavern in front of her. The entrance was ominous enough, but the inside was so dark, she could barely see through it, despite her naturally enhanced vision.

"I wonder if I'm going to find it in there."

Coming out of the driver's seat was Kana, who had a wide grin on her face.

"I hope you didn't get carsick on the way here," she joked. "This old thing is a little rough on the terrain, but damn anyone who says she can't get you anywhere."

"Judging from all the bumps I felt, I doubt nausea would be on my list of problems at the moment," Blake quipped dryly.

Kana laughed in response. "Wow, you're a real charmer, Belladonna. Boys must fall at your feet anytime you work your verbal magic."

"I'm not into anyone at the moment," Blake quickly said.

Kana raised a brow. "Are you sure?"

Blake gave her an unamused look. "Do I look like I'm seeking any romantic relationships?"

Kana stared at her for a moment, then burst in a fit of laughter, much to Blake's annoyance.

"What's so funny now?"

Kana wiped a tear from her eye as she finished laughing. "You. You're what's so funny."

Blake's annoyed look quickly gave way to one of disbelief. "How am I funny?"

"It's just… you've got the whole brooding loner vibe going for you, but somehow, every sarcastic remark you make comes out of pure comedy gold. Have you ever thought of doing stand up?"

Blake sighed. "You know, I'm starting to think that your teammates don't like you."

"What?" Kana exclaimed in shock. "What gives you that impression?"

Blake turned to her with a blank look. "You talk too much."

Kana's eye brow twitched in frustration. "I do not talk that much, you witless, milk-sucking, dot-chasing punk."

"Milk-sucking? Really?" Blake let out a dry chuckle. "I was sure you had something more original."

Kana threw her arms up. "Okay, enough with the banter. Now, I brought you here because I need you to retrieve a dagger from that cave."

Blake looked towards the cave in question, then turned to Kana. "That cave?"

"That's the one," Kana answered.

"Why don't you send some of your own to get it?"

Kana scratched the back of her head. "We did, actually. A long time ago, we sent one of our guys to get the thing, but he never returned. So we sent someone else to find him, but she didn't come back either. We sent some others afterwards, and- well, you get the picture."

"I do," Blake replied. "But if that's the case, what do you need me for?"

"Well, faunus are supposed to see really well in the dark from what I've been told," Kana said, looking away. "But I didn't bother asking the faunus we had with us in fear of looking like I'm being insensitive."

"Insentitive how?" Blake asked.

"I didn't want them to think we were using them just for their quirks," Kana explained. "You might not know this, but we've seen a lot of faunus be exploited for their natural talents and cast off once their usefulness runs out. One guy was pissed at the atrocity that he nearly beat a guy some guy to death for holding a girl with wolf ears on a short leash. It was tragic."

Blake looked down and gripped clenched her fists. She was all too familiar of the horror story of faunus unfortunate enough to become ensalved being discarded by their masters anytime they are no longer useful.

"But anyway, that's enough reminicing on bad thoughts," Kana said, changing her solemn tone to a professional one. "The object you are seeking in the cave is a dagger."

Blake looked at her curiously. "What kind of dagger is it?"

"I'm glad you asked," Kana said. "Rumor has it that this particular dagger allows the user to manipulate darkness. It probably explains why it's stashed in such a dark place."

"Does it gain its power from being in the dark?" Blake asked.

Kana nodded. "It sure does. Bright lights will weaken its effects, but complete darkness can make the powers go haywire. There needs to be balance between the two."

"Okay then," Blake said. "I've heard what I needed to know."

She stepped towards the cave, but Kana stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"What is it?"

With a smug grin, Kana handed a flashlight to Blake. "You weren't really going to go in there with no light, were you?"

Blake was confused. "But you said-"

"I know what I said," Kana interrupted, but at times like this, there's no shame in being cautious."

Blake took the flashlight from her. "You can be a real pest at times, you know."

"I know," Kana said. "Now get in there and get the dagger."

Blake shook her head and walked into the cave. Turning on the flashlight, she made her way though the dark passage. Little did she know, she would not only face the darkness of the cavern, but the darkness within her heart as well.

KS: Let's hope Blake doesn't get lost in the caves finding the dagger. Thankfully, she has been provided a flashlight to help find her away around. Speaking of light, we're gonna take a look at how Yang is holding up. Expect to see her sometime in the next two weeks.