"Hey, John, wake up. Team RWBY is heading to Vale and we're going with, so get up." Fred said from the doorway.
John opened his eyes groggily and got ready. Just before walking out the door, he noticed that Linda was still working at the desk.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
She looked up from her new rifle, "Nah, I'm going to work on this and maybe check out the CCT tower for data." She turned back to her rifle. "Also once I'm done with those I'll be providing armored support and scouting out the city for more possible armor locations. Though I should probably try to be back before you guys, I think we should remain anonymous in armor" she added under her breath. John nodded and walked out the door, joining the others.
As the group walked through the streets of Vale, Weiss remarked on how some people would be arriving for the Vytal festival when it started at the beginning of next semester.
"You won't have much time to prepare for the tournament, but with your skills I don't think that will be a problem," Yang told Blue team. "Though if you want to train with us feel free; Team RWBY is prepared to kick butt, and if we have to go through you we will."
John nodded. "The feeling is mutual, and I wouldn't expect anything less-"
He was interrupted as one of the ships coming into the harbor blew its foghorn and let down the gangplank for unloading. The motley crew walked over to a rail to observe the comings and goings of the various passengers and workers. Suddenly, a young Faunus boy came running down the docks with two police officers following him. There was clearly no way the officers would catch him at their current speed. As he turned a corner, the boy stopped and a yellow, glowing version of him ran the other way. The two officers ran after the decoy as the boy turned and sprinted past blue team and RWBY. He turned and winked at Blake as he ran past, but his ease was short-lived, as he collided face first into the butt end of Kelly's spear. Kelly turned away and whistled innocently as the others crowded around the downed figure.
Weiss stepped back and huffed, "He got what he deserved. Freeloading scum."
Ruby scowled. "Weiss, seriously? Not every Faunus is part of the White Fang or out to get you."
Blake helped the boy up. "Kelly, is the casual violence always necessary? That seems to be you and your team's solution to everything."
John walked over and put his hand on Kelly's shoulder. "How else are we supposed to handle a bunch of Grimm and various criminals? Something tells me that diplomacy has already been attempted."
Ruby shook her head. "You have to realize that all those criminals are people and have a story, and sometimes you just have to give them a chance. C'mon Blake, let's take this guy back to beacon."
Linda traced Ruby and Blake's path back to beacon, checking their route for ambushes or anything out of the ordinary. She turned her rifle to survey the docks when her motion tracker spotted someone trying to sneak up on her. She spun around to face this new attacker with her rifle pointing directly at his forehead before taking a look at the man. He wore a grey coat with red cape, each looking a bit messy, as if he barely had enough time to dress himself in the morning. He had some sort of large sword in one hand and was actively taking a swig from a flask in the other. Linda assumed that it was some sort of alcoholic beverage. The man wiped his mouth and spoke with a gravelly voice.
"Hey, you snipers need to stay away from my nieces. I never want to see your crosshairs rest on either of them ever again." He hooked his flask on his belt and raised his sword.
Linda fired as the man ran towards her. His sword flashed and he blocked the shot, but the power from it stopped him for a solid second. During this time, thoughts flew through Linda's mind: Improper extraction, tweak extractor to the left slightly, calibrate scope two vertical notches up, add slight calibration to stock at later time. Her hands flicked and the rifle was ready to fire again. The issues had been fixed. She fired again and the man held his forearm out to take the blow as his aura flickered. With a burst of speed, he was standing within reach of Linda and swiped at her with the large sword. She jumped back in surprise, dodging the strike only to see the sword transform into a large scythe and hook her in. The man pulled her towards him, grunting with the effort of tugging a 750 pound Spartan toward him. He tried to kick the girl as she flew towards him, but she grabbed his leg and flipped him over, throwing him across the roof. Linda turned around to walk away and get away from this angry drunk but froze. Yang, Weiss, and the rest of Blue team were standing on the next roof over.
—
Yang was just about to jump over to the next roof and clobber this giant armored figure that attacked her Uncle Qrow. She had heard fighting on one of the rooftops and didn't want to miss a fight, so she dragged Weiss up the fire escape and onto the roof. Blue Team had followed fairly quickly without saying anything. While the figure had seemed to freeze after seeing she had witnesses, Qrow had caught himself by extending his scythe and digging it into the ground before slowly getting up and walking quietly towards the back of the armored figure. He raised his sword, preparing to hit the figure in the back of the head. Seemingly out of nowhere, the figure dropped to one knee, pivoted, and pulled out her rifle. She fired directly into Qrow's chest, his aura popping with a loud snap. His eyes registered quite a bit of surprise before backhanding her across the face with the back end of his sword. The figure started to fall backwards off the roof, and Yang wasn't sure if the fall was purposeful or not, but it definitely looked controlled. Qrow and the others ran over to the edge of the roof, expecting to hear a loud thud and maybe the figure sprawled out on the ground in the alley below, but when they looked over the edge, there was no sign of her.
Linda was waiting for them back at the room. She stood in the doorway to the closet and upon seeing the yellow flash of Yang's hair, she slammed the closet door shut. She leaned against it and tried to look innocent by whistling and inspecting her fingernails. Ruby opened the room to her dorm across the hall, and said, "Hey Weiss, Yang, Blue Team, can you come here, there's something I wanna say to you all."
"I think that everyone involved today should rethink their opinions on the Faunus, the White Fang are the exception, not the rule." Ruby said, before Yang spoke up.
"But as soon as you left we found a sniper on the roof, down the street, she was super tall, and covered in this armor, we didn't even see if she had a face. And when we saw her she was fighting Uncle Qrow, who, by the way, said he would show up tomorrow. She was supposedly targeting you before Qrow stopped her."
Weiss crossed her arms, "She jumped off the roof after popping Qrow's aura, just as we were about to help. It was probably a White Fang assassin, and that boy was probably an undercover agent."
Blake huffed, "As if. We talked to him before you guys got back and he showed us he was registered as a Vytal festival participant and was certified by Ozpin. Plus, I've seen White Fang members and assassins, and he doesn't act like one."
Weiss stood up. "You know nothing about the White Fang. My family has been at war with them since before I was born. Maybe conditions aren't perfect, but they're improving. This war is costly. Shipments disappearing just make it harder to take care of workers. All the White Fang is is violence. I've had tragedy befall me from the White Fang all the-"
A soft snort, then giggle broke the silence of concerned faces. Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. Linda had her face buried in her hands, and looked up at the deafening silence her.
"That was a joke, right?" She glanced around at team RWBY's faces. "I hope?"
Weiss was enraged and the others simply wore looks of concern. Linda's face turned dark, descending to a deadly serious glare. She spoke quietly yet forcefully:
"You have no idea what tragedy really is, do you?" Linda shook her head. "You've been sheltered. I'd bet that even if some stuff has happened it has never really affected you or your life much. You've never seen a Glassing, or watched entire cities burn to nothing but ashes and glass. You've never seen a city nuked, innocent lives murdered by the millions—billions even. Your White Fang is nothing like the Covenant, or even the Insurrection. You've never seen a little girl, on her sixth birthday, going out to eat with her parents, and halfway through the meal, a terrorist threatens to kill the entire building, for "freedom". You've never seen her parents try to shield her, and when the terrorist doesn't get what he wants, he sets off a bomb, and the little girl watches as her parents are torn from her." Her voice broke. "They were just trying to have a happy little birthday dinner. And now they're dead. Take your petty tragedy, and get over it."
Team RWBY's faces ranged from horror to concern as a single tear fell from the stoic face of the red haired Spartan. Kelly put her hand on her comrade's shoulder and led her out of the room.
AN: I know this was a Linda heavy chapter, and I hope you enjoyed, though please let me know in the comments if you would like me to focus on a different character or any ideas comments or concerns. Also, if you have posted a review I have responded to most by posting a review of my own. If you would prefer that I answer at the beginning of a chapter or if you like the way I am doing it now please let me know.
Also when I started this story I thought maybe I'll get 50 views if I'm lucky, and the first hour after posting the first 2 chapters I had 54, and know we have about 5,812 views, thank you for the continued support
EN: Sorry about the delayed corrections. I'm trying to stay on top of the editing but last week was finals week, so I forgot. Thanks again for reading!