What's this? Two updates on two different stories in one hour? This is unheard of! Well, either way, this chapter will show some of the tension and morals of Team KOLD compared to their friends in Team RWBY. Hope you're ready for an adventure, because we're almost at the end of season 1!
Chapter 16: Trust Issues
Title Song: In Your Past (Sword Art Online OST)
That evening, Team KOLD and Team MPRL stood before Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. Sapphire stood between them. "While it's a shame about our fallen comrade, the information you acquired is invaluable, I shall send the data to my fellow headmasters," Ozpin said calmly, one eye flickering through the data, and the other checking on his students.
Lilo raised a hand, "Sir. I'd like to ask that this data gets sent to Chieftain Ghira and my brother in Menagerie, they might find this information more than useful," She said.
"Of course, Miss Fuchsia, I shall send this data to them," Ozpin nodded. "Chieftain Belladonna and Captain Fuchsia are our allies and we will always help them with their oppressive problems."
"That's all I ask, I know that Ivor will find the White Fang roster to be rather useful in rooting out the spies," Lilo smiled.
"Will that be all Professor?" Sapphire asked. "I'm sure these students would like nothing more than to curl up and sleep in."
"We shall pardon them from classes tomorrow, Team KOLD, I would like to talk to you again tomorrow, once you've rested up," Ozpin nodded.
"Of course, Professor. We will be here once we're all up and about, I apologise if we're a bit late getting back to you," Koa nodded.
"In that case, both of you are dismissed after one final note. The mission you have done over the weekend was not an easy one. You fought trained killers with limited training, and I am beyond relieved to see that you all survived and returned to us with no injuries to note. Later this year, we assign teams to shadow huntsmen and huntresses in the field, and this mission has given you experience that would mirror those missions, therefore you won't need to take another mission this year," Ozpin told them. "Be proud of yourselves. Team KOLD, Team MPRL, goodnight."
The two teams bowed slightly in respect and left the office. When they got back to the dorms, they stopped at the stairs that the second-year team would take.
"Well, it was a pleasure seeing ya in action. I definitely would feel safe knowing that you guys have my back," Mari said, shaking Koa's hand.
"Likewise, we'd be happy to fight by your side, anytime, anywhere," Koa nodded.
"Hopefully you won't have too much crazy until you graduate, but then again, this is Beacon, crazy always seems to find us," Persia said, fist bumping with Lilo.
"You're welcome to join the wolf pack anytime kitty cat," Lilo smirked.
"Give us a call if you ever need help with school work or life work, we'll see how we can help," Reggie said, handing a card to Onyx, "This card has all our scroll numbers on it."
"We'll remember that, thanks," Onyx said. "Likewise, we'll help if we can if you need us."
"And I hope you manage to find your voice again kid, I know a Psychologist in Vale that does a good job with PTSD and the like, if anyone can help you, it's her," Leva said, she gave Jasmine a card also, with an address and a number.
"We'll promise to investigate it once we've got some time," Koa said, as Jasmine held onto the card. "And again, thanks for the adventure, we'll be sure to take the experience and continue to evolve."
With that, the second year headed up the stairs, and KOLD headed back to their dorm. As they did, Blake suddenly burst from the room, running past the team with eyes leaking tears.
"Blake?!" Koa asked. "Lilo, go…!" He never got to make a command, as Jasmine patted him on the arm, before running after her instead. "Jasmine?!" He asked.
"Want me to go bring her back?" Lilo asked.
"… No. I want to hear this from the others first," Koa said, knocking on Team RWBY's door. Finding it still open, he, Lilo and Onyx entered the room.
"Any reason why we saw Blake dart out the room?" Lilo asked.
"Well…" Ruby didn't seem to know how to say it, but Weiss did… bluntly.
"You heard what she said Ruby, 'We were just tired of being pushed around'," Weiss said. "She's a member of the White Fang! Ugh! I can't believe I was starting to trust her!"
"Hold on… What started this?" Koa asked, already suspecting who.
Ruby and Yang glanced at each other, before pointing at Weiss, they took turns explaining what happened earlier in the day.
By the end of it, Koa and Lilo were close to seething. Koa started advancing on Weiss. "I warned you what would happen if I heard that you were being racist."
"Hold on… where's Jasmine?" Asked Yang.
"She insisted on chasing after Blake. Dunno why," Onyx said.
"I bet she's a…" Suddenly a blue circle of hardlight phased around her neck.
"Finish that sentence. I. DARE. YOU!" Koa roared. Lilo's claws were out, ready to tear the Schnee asunder.
"Whoa! Let's use words, not threats!" Yang called out.
Koa kept giving the heiress a glare, before sighing, dispelling the constriction around her neck. "Maybe it's time I told you more about her. At least… what she's told me… let's see your opinion of Faunus change, after I tell you what I know."
Meanwhile, downstairs in the courtyard, Blake finally stopped running, before she reached up and removed the black bow, the one that covered her ears.
"I knew you'd look better without the bow," Jasmine heard someone say, as she approached the statue. "And who's your friend?" He asked.
"Huh? Jasmine?" Blake asked, once she turned to face the girl. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Five years ago, you saved my life. Now, I want to do my best to return the favour…" Jasmine smiled, pulling a ribbon from her tails.
A monkey Faunus jumped down, and blinked. "Uhh… am I missing something… or do you have nine tails?" He asked, as for the first time since she arrived at Beacon, Jasmine showed her unique trait to another person.
"We'll explain later," Jasmine's scroll said, causing the monkey to nod.
The three Faunus left the school grounds, heading to a hotel in Vale for the night.
Meanwhile, Koa got started on his story. "Even back in Melodious, Jasmine was… unique, there weren't many Faunus, but those that did live there lived normally with humans. I was a loner back home, kept to myself really. I would go to the park when it was quiet and play with a ball or my boomerang, when one day, I met Jasmine."
Ruby and Lilo were the first to think of what a kid Jasmine looked like. Tiny ears poking through her hair, and a short but fluffy tail. "Aww… She must have been so cute!" Ruby smiled.
"That she was. That she was," Koa nodded with a faint smile of his own. "I have a picture of the day we met on the mantle at home. Anyway, she didn't even know my name, and asked, 'That thing looks like fun. Can I play?'. How could I refuse, I hadn't had a proper friend until then, but she just had this… inviting aura around her that pulled me in. And then she invited me to dinner!"
"Her mother Amber was a pharmacist, her dad Ash was chief of the village guard, and she had two older siblings, a brother and sister called Garnet and Lapis. Both were huntsmen, and were home from a mission."
"You keep saying 'was' and 'had'… I'm afraid to ask but…" Yang began, but trailed off.
"Fast forward a few months, me and Jasmine were at the park, playing boomerang. It was her birthday, and her family had asked me to distract her while they set up the house," He winced.
"And that's when they came. The White Fang attacked our village. Luckily, Mom and Jasmine's siblings were back from work, and fought against the fodder, but there were too many. A man took Jasmine, right before my eyes, and then forced her to watch as he cut Garnet and Lapis in half, and had a man with a chainsaw gut her parents. I watched all this from a trash can, and my mom did her best to save Jas… but they got away…"
"I don't know what happened while she was captured. But it wasn't until six years later that I was about to head out to look for her again, when I open the door to find her collapsed on the doorstep, with not one, but nine tails. On top of that, I could never hear her lovely sweet voice again. Because she had PTVD," Koa finished his story.
Ruby was holding onto Snowfall with sadness, and Lilo was holding Shadow. Yang was gripping her fist, and Weiss was mortified. Onyx put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She didn't have to go through that. But this monster called Adam Taurus didn't care much for the age of his test subjects. She had just turned four years old!"
"Weiss… I don't think Jasmine is a member of the White Fang. How could she?" Yang asked.
Weiss herself was looking very pale. "I… I didn't expect her to have gone through so much…" She looked down at her feet. "It seems that those monsters didn't care, even for their own kind…"
"I guessed she was hiding something… oh Jas… why didn't you tell me…" Ruby sighed.
"I think it might be because it's not exactly something you share as an opening to a conversation. 'Hi, I got kidnapped and experimented on by the White Fang for six years', what's your story?'" Onyx pointed out.
"Alright, you've helped defend Jasmine, but what about Blake? She ran," Weiss asked. "The innocent never run."
"All I'm saying is that you wait until you hear her side of the story before jumping to conclusions. You never judge a book by it's cover, and people are the same," Koa told her. "Team KOL, let's get back to our dorm. We'll look for Jasmine and Blake tomorrow."
"You got it boss," Lilo nodded, giving Weiss a tiny glare before heading out the door. Onyx followed wordlessly.
Jasmine walked into the room that Blake had rented out for her, sighing at the fact the cat Faunus had not spoken to them once since they left Beacon.
She pulled out her scroll and noticed concerned messages in the Team KOLD chat group, as well as one from Ruby.
Hope you're ok, how's Blake? – Koa
Let us know if you need help with her, I can tell she's had a rough time – Lilo
Don't do anything reckless – Onyx
Hey, Weiss kinda caused Koa to blow up and tell us what happened to you, and I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Let me know if you wanna talk. You know, for what it's worth, I'm glad you're at Beacon with me. Even one friend from Signal is better than none, I hope you feel the same – Ruby
Jasmine smiled, at least her friends were being supportive. Replying to all, she put her scroll down, before heading over to Blake's room and knocked. The cat Faunus answered the door, letting her in. Jasmine noticed she had been staring at the ribbon that she used to hide her ears.
"Feeling a little better?" She asked through her scroll.
"Glad you're here, you and Sun are good company, unlike someone…" Blake smiled. Her eyes drifted to the nine tails flowing behind Jasmine and faltered. "I'm sorry," She sniffed, taking the younger Faunus into a hug. "You shouldn't have had to put up with that, you should have been growing up back in your village and had a normal life. Instead, you can't speak, and doomed to forever be laughed at by anti-faunus people like Cardin or the Schnees."
Jasmine just sat there, allowing Blake to get her regrets off her chest. "It's ok. I would have enrolled for Huntress training anyway, this just gives a unique element to how I live. And I don't mind the tails, I feel like one of those foxes from Mistralian lore." Her scroll told for her.
Blake couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I'm a little jealous of you, you know. Six years of absolute hell, and you still manage to get by. I know I wouldn't recover as quickly as you. I know Adam was the source of your torture, but he was my partner for a while. I should have been able to stop him, but I couldn't do anything. Not until I saw you for myself, when you asked for help, I knew that I would have to get you out of there," She smiled.
"Blake, I don't hold you responsible for Adam. He's insane. You know that, besides, it was that experience which made me unlock my semblance, as well as be the conduit to me making Kitsune's Kickback," Jasmine smiled, as her scroll droned out the words.
Blake sighed with her own smile. "I suppose you're right," She said.
A few days later, the three Faunus sat down at in a café outside, Sun was holding a cup of tea with his tail while Jasmine sipped some hot chocolate and Blake put down her own cup. "So… you wish to know more about me…" The cat Faunus said.
"Finally she speaks!" Sun cheered, "For the last two days you haven't said anything other than small talk and weird looks!" At this comment, Blake gave him a pointed looked. "See, like that!" At this, she just rolled her eyes.
"Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake asked.
"More like who hasn't heard of them? Stupid 'holier-than-thou' creeps who use force to get what they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me," Sun's reply got him a thumbs up from Jasmine.
"Well… I was once a member of the White Fang," Blake sighed.
Mid-drink, Sun began to choke, but Jasmine pat him on the back. Once he could speak, "YOU were a member of the White Fang?" He echoed.
"I was a member most of my life, you could say I was born into it," Blake said, closing her eyes as she recounted her tale. "Back then, things were different, in the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between the humans and the Faunus.
"Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humans still thought of us as lesser beings, and so the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people.
"And I was there, I was at the front of every rally, took part in every boycott, and I actually thought we were making a difference.
"Then about five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place, a new leader… with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organised attacks, we were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour.
"And the worse part was… it was working, we were being treated like equals, but not out of respect… out of fear." Blake put down her cup. "Jasmine here was the turning point, when I found we were kidnapping our own kind and using them as experiments, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. Instead, I would use those skills and dedicate my life to becoming a huntress."
"So now you hide in plain sight, thanks to that little black bow," Jasmine said with her scroll.
"So…" Sun started, but he was quieter than before, "Have you told your friends any of this?"
"The only one that could have the slightest idea was Jasmine, as I let her go when I met her," Blake sighed. "And the others…" She trailed off.
Across town, Koa, Onyx and Lilo were walking down the street with Snowfall and Shadow trotting aside them. "Shouldn't we be helping Ruby find Blake?" Onyx asked.
"Oh we are, but I have not been impressed with Weiss lately. Until she stops acting like a child, I refuse to be near her," Koa frowned.
"Racist brat, just because she has had a bad life because of the White Fang, doesn't mean she can be mean to every Faunus she meets," Lilo grumbled.
"Come on… don't you two think you're overreacting, I can kinda understand her position. Faunus have given her family endless problems for years. Then again, it might have something to do with the fact they use Faunus in their dust mines," Onyx shrugged.
Meanwhile, "So what's your plan to see if the White Fang were behind all the dust thefts?" Sun asked as he, Blake and Jasmine walked down another street.
"Well… I guess the first thing to do would be to figure out where the thieves will strike next," Blake mused.
"Well, when I was on the ship, I heard the crew talking about unloading a huge shipment of dust," Sun suggested.
"Really? How big?" Blake asked.
"Really huge, big Schnee Dust Company container," Sun pointed out.
'Sounds like a good idea to me. To the docks then?' Jasmine asked through her scroll. Blake nodded, determination etched on her face.
Lilo: Looks like things are picking up for Blake, what happens next boss?
Koa: Sorry, all I can do is give you a hint through the title of the next chapter.
Onyx: Then give us a clue, so we can find out together.
All: Next time: Facing Demons!