Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Star Wars

Blake had had a strange feeling of unease ever since Wayle left. The timing had been odd, and while she suspected it was part of his plans, she had no idea how it fit. It didn't help that he had told her: "Watch the shadows, and your back."

Sometimes she wished that he would just tell her everything, but she also knew that it was for her own good. It made her feel conflicted again, something she had gotten used to when it involved him.

She had a few times considered the possibility that he was toying with her, but if so then his skills at manipulation had passed beyond the realm of mortals. She had never been able to detect any falseness in their interactions when they were alone and she was fairly certain that she had started to gain insight into his true self, that she had started to become able to read him.

And since she couldn't bring herself to see him as a monster of that level, she had decided to believe in her heart that believed in him.

"Blake! Come on! There's still a lot to see, and we have the tournament to consider as well!" The exited voice of her partner brought her out of her reverie.

There was also that little detail that she couldn't spend any time with him during the festival which had started shortly after he had left. So she was currently being dragged around by an exited Yang while Ruby had been dragged off by Weiss for some reason.

Blake also couldn't help but note that security had been strengthened, with far more soldiers and Knights than what was usual, even for a large event like this. Well, maybe the fact that they were Atlesian had something to do with it.

On the other hand nothing good would come from overthinking things, her friends had taught her that. With that thought she followed Yang who had started leaving her behind.

-Break—

Anyone at Beacon could tell you that the relationship between Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee was somewhat strained at times, which was why the confusion when they caught sight of said pair sitting next to each other on a bench eating crepes was, to say the least, great.

So when they, upon what seemed to be Weiss' suggestion, tasted each other's crepe, and Weiss Schnee developed a slight blush as she gingerly took a bite, activity around them ground to a halt as large amounts of people had to stop and affirm that they were in fact not dreaming.

The fact that the pair that caused it never noticed despite it lasting for several minutes certainly did not help settle the widespread confusion that took hold as the tale spread.

-Break—

The first day of the tournament offered little excitement, as, by some miracle (most likely by design that is), none of those expected to do well was to face each other. Although it came as both a big relief and surprise for many that neither Amara nor Wayle was in it, a surprise because of their immense ability and relief because, well, the story of what happened when they had their little match, as well as stories of random clashes between the two (for the most part true, and always initiated by Amara) meant that there was a not inconsiderable amount of concern over the potential amount of damage to the tournament grounds and crowd.

Instead, the only really interesting events was Jaune managing to achieve victory against a relatively strong student from Mistral, and the various members of team CRDL being defeated by Blake, Yang, Nora and Ren respectively. Not to say that they were easy wins, just that it wasn't anything special either. Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss in the meanwhile grabbed easy victories against people nobody bothered to remember.

All in all, eventful enough to remember, but no real nail biters, except for Jaune's match, which was… well, Jaune may have improved, but he was still nowhere near that good, and despite his opponent not being anywhere near the level of his friends, he still struggled, showing fortuitous endurance and determination, finally winning when his exhausted opponent slipped up, overextended and took a solid hit from his shield to the face.

It took Jaune several minutes to get out of Nora's excited celebratory bear hug and then many more to recover after Pyrrha gave him a peck on the cheek, his shock palpable as he stood flabbergasted while Pyrrha's face took on a colour closer to her hair.

This was of course a source of amusement for their teammates, and Nora showed a gigantic grin while Ren gave a small smile.

-Break—

The tournament was nearing the end of the first rounds, after which it would stop for the day and resume the next. It was at this time, as things were winding down slightly and Blake had gone for a breath of fresh air, that she saw something that made her freeze up entirely.

A mop of spiky, brown hair with streaks of red and two small bull horns sticking out. Just by that he was unmistakable, and for a few moments she thought she was dreaming. Recovering her wits as he disappeared from her sight she quickly picked up her scroll to call the others.

Only to find that the signal didn't go through. There was no way that she would be unable to reach the others while in Vale and yet now somehow she couldn't, indicating some sort of sabotage. She quickly turned to dash towards where she knew at least some of the other members of her team were.

Except that she found her way blocked by two Atlesian knights.

"Halt, this is a restricted area." One of them said with their robotic voices.

'Restricted? But that can't be, that is the contestant's area…'

Blake looked at them confusedly. "I'm a contestant in the tournament and a student at Beacon, let me pass." She said warily. There was something wrong with their behaviour.

"This is a restricted area, you may not pass." The robot continued saying weird things.

"Wha-"Blake only had time to express her confusion at the situation and unconsciously take a step forward before the Knight swung at her.

It was so sudden that she barely reacted in time, rolling away from the sudden attack. When she looked at them again they had trained their guns at her, and if she hadn't used her Semblance to get away she might even have been killed right there and then.

Gaining a high vantage point she noted that more Knights were blocking strange locations and people they shouldn't, and the sound of gunfire told her that she wasn't the only that they had opened fire upon.

The real clincher that convinced her that this was serious was when she saw a Knight gun down one of the Atlesian soldiers. Chaos soon erupted as crowds panicked as fights broke out all over, Knights seemingly attacking anyone who so much as looked at them.

Well, maybe not anyone, civilian casualties were low, most of them from stray shots more than anything. Blake quickly set off, this time disregarding any laws and such as she crossed the rooftops, seeking familiar faces.

She found her teammates trying to suppress a few of the Knights without damaging them too much. Which, for the record, was really difficult when they were trying to kill you in return. They were definitely better than their predecessors, and the fact that she knew that because she had fought those was one of her great shames in life.

She landed neatly on top of a Knight that was about to shoot Ruby, knocking it over.

"Blake!" Ruby's relieved voice reached her as she decapitated the fallen machine soldier.

"What's going on?!" Yang shouted.

"I don't know." Blake responded as she took her place with her team. "They suddenly just started acting weird and then shooting at people."

"Yeah, we noticed that much, but why?!" Yang said angrily.

"We can worry about that later! These things need to be subdued before things get any worse!" Weiss barked as she used her Dust projectiles to incapacitate another Knight.

They nodded in agreement and where about to move out when a cold voice reached them.

"Hello Blake. I see you made some new friends after you betrayed us." Blake froze up again as she heard that voice.

Turning towards the voice revealed one of the primary reasons she left the White Fang, Adam Taurus.

"Adam…" Blake's voice caught slightly in her throat as she spoke his name.

"Is that… Adam Taurus?" Weiss said incredulously.

"Who's that?" Ruby asked curiously.

"He's a high ranking member of the White Fang, and most likely currently one of the most influential members." Weiss said, giving her partner a slight look of: "Really?"

A short "Oh" was her only answer.

Of course, Adam was a man with very few virtues, and patience was most certainly not one of them. A fact that he demonstrated quite well as he charged the group.

They quickly jumped away from Adam's slash, and Weiss and Blake went on the offensive first, Blake doing her best to stop him from making use of his sheath or draw slash while Weiss launched a flurry of blows to keep him off balance so that Yang or Ruby could hit him.

It would have worked too, if Yang and Ruby hadn't been forced to fight off several Knights who were slowly forcing them to retreat away from the rest of their team, their numbers, strength and tactics keeping them from fighting effectively.

The short moment of distraction as they realised this was enough for Adam to use his greater size and strength to push them away and gain some space. After only a few moments he was right at Blake, his sword already leaving the sheath again despite having been sheathed just a moment earlier.

Luckily Blake had improved greatly since then, and all he hit was an image of her produced by her Semblance. Unfortunately Weiss was being forced to retreat as members of the White Fang started besetting her, forcing her away from the fight as well.

While they didn't pose a threat individually, they managed to use numbers and sheer brute force to force her onto the defensive, pushing her away from the fight as well. They were being separated in a manner that they were unused to, never really having had to fight enemies this organized.

While Blake could fight Adam decently, especially with her knowledge of his style, she was still outmatched by her opponent, and was forced to use precious Dust to empower her Semblance. Unfortunately, Wilt was more than capable of cutting through the rock and ice images, and he was getting at her far too quickly, whittling away at her Aura without actually hitting her.

In desperation she tried using fire Dust, causing the image to explode, something that proved quite effective, seeing as it caught her too. Both combatants where flung away, Blake unable to see were Adam ended up as she painfully impacted against a wall somewhere.

When she came too again she realized that she had landed on a large balcony with no one in sight. Getting up, she winced slightly in pain as she felt that she had sprained an ankle. Trying to hobble forward as her battered Aura tried to heal her, she heard someone approaching.

"Well, well, if it isn't miss actually a former member of the White Fang. Always suspected you were an animal." The voice that came to her was one of the worst possible when combined with what it said.

Slowly turning around, her muscles stiff from pain and fear, she saw one of her least favourite people, Cardin Winchester. And he had found out about her secret.

He stalked forward, a vicious glint in his eyes. "I can't wait to tell everyone." He laughed. "Unless you can convince me not to." The look in his eyes boded poorly as his eyes roved all over her.

She took a step back as he advanced, lips set in a smirk and an unpleasant look in his eyes.

"Hey! Answer me, eh!" He grabbed hold of her arm and tore the bow off her head. He laughed as her cat ears were exposed. "Wow! Who'd have thought! I always thought that bow of yours looked weird, but never could I have imagined this." He reached forward to grab at them.

Blake tried to struggle against him, but in her current state she couldn't get away from the larger and stronger boy.

"Mr. Winchester, could you please unhand my beloved, even from over here I can see that she is very uncomfortable. Oh, and while you are at it, could you please refrain from telling anyone about her secret? It would be oh, so appreciated." A pleasant and calm voice caused Cardin freeze up entirely, his face contorting into one of pure horror. At the same time Blake's face filled with hope and joy. She was saved…

Author's notes: So I decided to go AU, although it has been that arguably since the beginning so... yeah. Tell me what you think about that. Also, I apologize for the long wait, I got kind of distracted by trying to figure out how to proceed and then the next thing I knew a week had already passed by, and then I got distracted some more by life. Anyway, things are happening now. Did you like the chapter? And Blake's secret was found out, by Cardin. But someone is there to save her! But considering how subtle I am I really doubt there is any doubt as to who it is. Well, I hope you enjoyed and that you have a nice day.