Chapter 43
Yang sighed as she sat down on the deck steps next to Zwei, watching as Pyrrha and her father sparred for the fifth time today. They both wore smiles on their faces as they traded blows. Yang could see where Pyrrha had weakened. Her right leg, despite its new brace, was slower and couldn't hold as much weight as it could have before.
Pyrrha had been coming to spar for the last week or so and Taiyang was only too happy to oblige. He obviously thought it might inspire Yang to put on her new arm and join in. It didn't and it frustrated Yang that he thought it would. She knew he wanted her to get 'better', but she'd lost a part of herself! She couldn't just get up from that and go back to normal!
Yang also knew that Pyrrha wasn't here to spar. Oh, she was trying her hardest against Taiyang, that was for sure. However, Yang could see through the excuses. Pyrrha was here to watch over her. Ruby had probably asked her too. Before she'd run off with the rest of JNPR. Is Pyrrha not angry about that? Being left behind by her friends and even her new boyfriend?
She watched on as the pair went at it for several minutes. Zwei whined and lay his head on Yang's lap. She rolled her eyes and gave the corgi a pat. Soon enough they stopped and Taiyang shared some pointers with Pyrrha. Yang didn't pay much attention to them. Instead, she got up and went back inside, Zwei following her.
She felt so tired, but sleep never helped. Time for some lunch.
"You brought the box, right?" Neptune asked.
Sage sighed. "You can see me carrying it."
"Right, I just wanted to make sure."
Adam could hear Sage's desire to facepalm. He felt it himself after all. Still, at least he's serious about this. The group was nearing their destination now. The main marketplace, where his plan would occur. I hope this works.
When they arrived they garnered plenty of attention, especially with Ghira and Kali following behind them. Which was good. Would save them some time. Sage planted the heavy crate down and Adam stepped atop it. SSSN arranged themselves behind him, with smiles upon their faces, and Ghira and Kali next to them. There was no order to their placement, mixing Human and Faunus together.
Adam loudly cleared his throat. Many stopped to listen but even more continued on without a care. Well. It's showtime. "Hello! You may or may not know me, so I'll start there. I'm Adam Taurus. I used to be a member of the White Fang. A leader in fact. I supported the actions taken under Sienna Khan for several years, however recently I realised how far we had fallen. The Humans are right to call us terrorists because that's what we are! The White Fang attacked Beacon Academy! They attacked a school full of children, both Human and Faunus, despite the fact that Huntsmen protect everyone! Regardless of race! I was there! I saw the devastation wrought by those I used to call allies or even friends!"
A few more had stopped to listen now, but others had shaken their heads and moved on with their day. Adam continued, filling his voice with as much emotion and intent as he could. "The White Fang has become corrupted! It is our duty to set them right! We have to show them that their path is wrong! Violence won't solve our societal issues! It will only grow the divide between us and the Humans! When I returned here I brought friends that I made after leaving the White Fang. Three of them are Human! If I, Adam Taurus, can make friends with them then why can't all of us!? We have the power to bring change, all we have to do is work for it! There are people on the other side that seek peace just as much as we do! We can work together to better this world for all of us!"
He took a breath and looked out over the crowd. His enthusiasm died instantly. A couple looked interested, but the rest looked on with bored expressions. I'm not getting through to them. How can I change that? "I know that we have been beaten down and mistreated by humanity! I know it well and have experienced plenty of it. But my time in Vale after leaving the White Fang has shown me that the actions we took have made it harder for true change to occur! We need to set aside our differences and work with them to bring change! We have to prove to them why they're wrong!"
"We don't have to prove anything to them!" Someone shouted from the crowd. Adam winced as several others yelled out in agreement.
"Yeah! They should prove to us that they deserve our forgiveness!"
"Yeah!"
Adam could feel their eyes on him, judging him. He could feel Ghira's eyes stabbing into his back. Adam swallowed. "If you give them a chance they'll-"
"If we give them more chances they'll just abuse us again!"
"Yeah! We can't trust the Humans to be our friends!"
"A couple nice ones don't make up for all the others!"
With a final 'yeah' the crowd began to disperse with most of them muttering disparaging remarks. A few gave him sympathetic looks but moved on. Adam sighed and stepped off the crate. Kali walked forward and gave his shoulder a pat. "You tried. So Ghira, you think he's still against us?"
The large man grumbled. "No. I doubt the old you would have so willingly shouted out for us to work peacefully with the humans. You're just incompetent at convincing people."
Kali rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's return to the house. We should try and come up with some new ideas."
Adam sighed. "They didn't listen. They were…"
"They don't want to hear about it," Kali responded. "They like to live in their safe fantasy where Menagerie is safe and perfect and humanity will never be an issue here. The White Fang prey on that and use it to convince people to fight to 'free' Faunus elsewhere and bring them here. It's just as delusional as those who believe Atlas is perfect or crime doesn't exist in Mistral. It's wishful thinking. It takes a lot to break people out of it."
"I see. How do we manage that?"
"Truthfully I have no idea. The only way I could see would be to show it isn't safe here. But we can't jeopardize our own people just to tell them we aren't safe and not to trust the White Fang. So, welcome to our conundrum. You'll be staying awhile." Kali smiled.
Adam nodded. I thought showing that someone like me could become friends with Humans would work. If we can't convince people the White Fang is bad, perhaps we need to more directly stop their recruitment?
They needed a good plan.
Weiss sighed as she slumped down on her bed, clutching her cheek as it throbbed in pain, and reflected over the evening's events.
The show had gone well enough, though she knew her father had been annoyed by the new song. The rest of the elite didn't care to think about the lyrics and their meaning, however. They were too busy patting themselves on the back to pay attention. The night had been boring but fine until she managed to escape her father's grasp and retreat to the painting of Beacon.
The peace she had felt looking at the painting had soon been broken by the idiotic Henry Merigold, who Weiss could best describe as 'an arrogant, rich best version of Neptune'. She hadn't felt any better after expelling him from the party. Probably due to the anger that rose after some foolish party goer loudly proclaimed that Vale was stupid for having such a small armed force.
Shouting the woman out had felt great until her father had come running. She'd felt a mix of satisfaction and dread when she accidentally summoned a Boarbutusk to attack the rich woman. If the General hadn't been there…
General Ironwood hadn't looked well. Unshaven, tired and generally exhausted. He still had excellent aim, however, ending her summon before it could do more harm.
More harm because it had already done some. Her father had been explicit about that when he slapped her and removed her title of Heiress. She was no longer the next in line, that went to Whitley. But it would always go to him anyway. He's the spitting image of our father and tries to act just like him!
Which led to now, with her on her bed. The night had ended in a train wreck. She was no longer the next head of the company. She was just herself. Weiss Schnee, the Huntress in training. A smile formed on her lips.
The night may have been terrible and she may have been grounded and stuck in her room but she felt free. Free of the shackles of her father and his expectations and demands. She didn't have to answer to him anymore.
Time to prepare for my escape.
"Then maybe you lost a few brain cells along with your arm!"
"Have you heard from Ms Rose?"
"I have a few things to do first."
"... Qrow in a skirt!..."
The words kept coming back to her the next morning. Yang stared out the window at the bright sun and the vibrant green and brown trees. Her father was staying here for her, because of her. He hadn't chased after Ruby because he wanted to help her first. It seemed so obvious now and yet it hadn't occurred to her.
Why would it? She'd been wallowing. Hating herself and others because they left her behind. Because of her arm. But enough was enough. Taiyang was here to help her, she should at least try and let him.
She swallowed as she opened the box once again and reached in. The heavy arm was detachable at the elbow with the upper half including several plates that clasped onto her shoulder, ensuring it would remain locked and even protect the joint. It took several minutes for her to properly connect it. The lower half thankfully connected quickly and easily. It only took a moment for it to begin responding to her.
It felt… strange. She'd expected it to be heavier than it was. Instead, it felt more akin to the weight of her original. It was similar enough to what she had lost that it didn't feel alien or off, unless she thought about it.
Yang took a deep breath. So much had changed, but now she had somewhat returned to before. She sat there for a while before finally making her way outside to feel the sun. Her arm controlled like her original. No clunky moves or lag or anything. It was… incredible.
Taiyang smiled from the garden when he saw her. "Let's get started."
Yang smiled back. "Yeah, let's."
A/N: So my Beta was unavailable this week, but I decided that due to not doing a chapter last week because of computer issues I'd update anyway. Hopefully, I didn't miss anything. My computer is all sorted now so shouldn't have more issues. Anyway, we're moving on through Volume 4, with Adam trying a speech and encountering an apathetic crowd, Weiss dealing with the party, Pyrrha coming around for training and Yang putting on her arm. To answer a question posed by ThatSexyShikamaru(great name btw): Weiss, of course, hasn't had the particular realisation that Whitley is basically in the same boat she is. He's so much like Jacques after all and spends every encounter antagonising her.
I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!