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Chapter 3
I'm gonna ignore the whole brand on Adam Taurus thing, mostly because I didn't plan the story to have him in the situation to get it, but also because it just seems so pointless and serves nothing to the show. Could they make a story out of it in a later season? Sure, but I doubt they would. Rooster Teeth, I love them, but they retcon and alter so much in RWBY that I doubt they'd make a deal out of that brand thing. I'd be happily proven wrong, though.
Also, no, I haven't watched Season 7 yet at the time of this chapter's release, maybe later. Just couldn't find the energy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He Doesn't Care About Strength, He Has That Full To The Brim; Emotions, While He Does Not Have Them, Are What Really Interests Him!
Chapter Three: Forcing
"D-Dead!?" Blake nearly shouted. "A-Are we talking about the same two humans?"
"Two humans were found killed in an alleyway," Sienna answered. "A witness said he saw two Faunus children along with an adult wearing all white and a helmet with a single horn." She looked to Ulquiorra with narrowed eyes. "It'd be hard to believe they were mistaken."
For some reason, Blake's Reiatsu fluctuated, indicative of stress and panic. Somehow, the information of the two humans he eliminated was cause for surprise.
The girl turned to him. "Did you kill the two humans in that alley?"
He looked down at her, albeit a little confused. "Of course." It wasn't a secret, was it supposed to be?
Blake was distraught at his answer, but the Sienna woman and the men behind her moved closer to him. Their form was defensive, but the woman took the lead. When close enough, she moved the two children behind, separating the three of them.
"Moromori is in an uproar," she said. "The two people you killed were foremen of the mines, local police have begun cracking down on every Faunus gathering they see. Could you explain to me why you killed them, and why I shouldn't turn you in to calm things?"
"Would my explanation deter you from attempting?" he asked. And that's all it would be, an attempt, a failed one.
Whether unperturbed or uncaring, she went on and thought for a second. "Unlikely, I'll need you in Moromori to face the onslaught and take the heat of the situation off of us." The seven men behind her encircled him. "Forgive me, but it needs to be done."
How bothersome, he took his hands out of his pocket, ready to dispatch them all as quickly a- "WAIT!"
Adam intervened, shoving himself between Ulquiorra and the Faunus group. "Sienna, this isn't what we're fighting for," he said quickly. "Since when did the White Fang sell out allies for convenience?"
The darker woman narrowed her eyes. "Watch your tone, Adam, and move aside. This man killed two humans, and because of that the village is in an uproar." She leaned in. "Would you like to guess how many Faunus were injured because of it?" He didn't answer, watched as the woman stood back straight. "You called him in ally, explain."
Taurus turned to Ulquiorra, gulped, then back to the older woman. "After the protest went bad, Blake and I got separated, we couldn't find each other and I feared the worst. Then I thought I heard Blake call for me, so I took the chance and looked for her in some alleyway." He gestured to the Espada. "When I reached her, I found two humans who I thought were knocked out, one of them had a club in his hands, and this man standing in front of Blake. He helped us get out of Moromori, too, and saved us again from Grimm just before coming here."
Her eyes widened and turned to the Espada. "You're a Huntsman?" She looked him head to toe, and lingered at his sword. "You certainly have the hallmarks of one."
Ulquiorra nodded. "I am a Huntsman, and like the boy had just explained, I saved them from death, the girl twice so." The woman turned towards Blake, who seemed to still be processing the information.
"So it seems," she commented as she turned back to him. "And why is it that you ran from the scene rather than explaining it?" She walked closer. "They'd have listened to a Huntsman, understood what you would've said. Instead, you ran, and turned all of Moromori into a hunting ground for Faunus."
Was he supposed to care? He couldn't find a more mundane topic. However, in agreement with the girl and for his efforts to learn of the heart, he had to comply and pacify the situation.
"Situation called for it," he said vaguely. "Had I not intervened; Blake Belladonna would've certainly been killed by the hands of those two men. Afterwards, I deemed the village unsafe, and left the village with a destination by their suggesting, being this campsite."
Sienna turned to Adam. "Is what he said true?" The boy quickly nodded, and turned back to him. "One more question. Surely you could've easily incapacitated those two humans, why did you kill them?"
"Because they were trash."
Somehow, that answer seemed to surprise the woman, having her gawk at him in a silence that lasted several seconds and counting, even the people around her seemed to join her shock, Blake and Adam included.
He didn't know why they had such a reaction. If an ant bit you, even if it wouldn't draw blood, would you not kill it? It was the same with those two men he eliminated. Trash who decided to get in his way, unknowingly or otherwise, were to be culled.
Just when he started to calculate what the next reasonable course of action would be, this Sienna woman made an interesting development.
She laughed.
It was small at first, but slowly grew louder. Even the men around her joined him in his confusion and looked at her oddly, hands still on their batons and knives, unsure of what to do next.
"Of course!" she finally said after calming down. "Men who intend to kill children could hardly be anything but scum, the world would be better off without them wasting our air." Her stance relaxed, the others following suit. "You saved Blake from two disgusting humans, and saved her along with Adam from Grimm. I'd say the White Fang owes you." She crossed her arms and looked conflicted. "Now what to do with you."
"I do not follow. . ."
"It's simple," she said as she walked closer and moved the boy out of the way. "You saved two of our people from certain death, but you also caused an uproar in Moromori and made our lives ten times harder. Do you see what I mean?"
He did. "You are conflicted between showing gratitude for saving the two children, and handing me over to the authorities of that village for killing those two humans."
"Exactly, but something a bit more. Considering you're a Huntsman, I can't force you to come back into Moromori, but I also can't ignore the mess you made. The Faunus here are treated poorly as is, and your actions made that tenfold, something needs to be done."
Something needed to be done? It didn't pertain to him nor his goals, and just as she realized, she can't force him to do otherwise. He'd admit, he was interested in what decision she might make after knowing all that.
"What's your name?" That wasn't the question he expected.
"Ulquiorra Cifer."
"And I am Sienna Khan, leader of the White Fang." She paused, as though he expected to be shocked or give a reaction, then lost whatever will and continued. "Moromori is a mining village, one that greatly interested the SDC, enough so that they essentially run the town, and as we learned from a call for help, their Faunus workers have a suspiciously higher number of workplace fatalities and injuries than their human counterparts."
"And your group came to aid them, I assume."
"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't be the White Fang. Now, do you see the predicament?"
"I do." It was conflict between goals she must achieve, and paying back a debt. "However, this changes little. I have no inclination to comply with you."
"And what would you have us do?" she asked seriously. "We can't leave the people here under the humans' oppression, and I refuse to let that happen."
"That is none of my concern, if you so wish for change, then make it happen, I will not be forced upon to act simply due to your inadequacy."
She hummed, somehow taking his insult as criticism. "You think our current actions are inadequate, you say? Then what would you have us do?"
"Is it not easy to see?" He received no answer, he should have expected such. "If they are so unwilling to provide your demands, then make them. I am not required, nor willing, to be a part of this."
Again, she hummed, but now with a certain added interest. "By force, then." She smiled, the same way Lord Aizen had back in the day, one filled with desires and cunning. "That may bring forth some repercussions, are you certain that it would be the right move?"
Sensing some stress, he turned to see Blake, and even on her face it was evident she was disturbed by what this woman was saying. He looked back at Sienna. "As I'm sure I made clear, I care little on the matter. However, as long as your goal is achieved, do repercussions matter? If they were to respond angrily, then it's par for the course to respond again until your message is made clear."
Chuckling, it seemed he said something the woman liked. "How odd, a Huntsman, who defends all people, is advocating for violence to get things done." It's because he wasn't one. Did she know that to be the case? Did it matter if she did? A better thing of note, however. . .
"Your tone implies you were going to do so regardless of my input." She shrugged, which had the Belladonna girl gasp.
"Sienna!" Adam shouted. "I thought you were going to try resolving this peacefully. We can't have what happened in Atlas happen again!"
"What happened in Atlas was necessary, and the effect afterwards was quick and effective, just as it will here." Again, she turned to Ulquiorra. "Perhaps I would've kept the peaceful approach, but after what I heard and what you told me, a proper response is in order. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Cifer."
Was an opinion of a Huntsman that important, or would one somehow satisfy her argument? "Of course." His answer seemed to have pleased her, but upset the two children.
"It's settled then," she said. "I'm sorry, Huntsman, we can't offer you much, but feel free to use our camp as you wish." She turned around to her men. "Alright, men, rest and heal up, we have a lot to do tomorrow morning, starting with the mining office." Her words were received with excited battle cries.
Sienna walked away to discuss with one of her men, from the sound of it, it seemed to be a list of targets within the village. It was an odd turn of events, from being interrogated for some killings, then being welcomed with access to their current, if dismal and unneeded, resources.
Someone grabbed his sleeve and attempting to forcible move him, but since it was the Blake girl, he allowed her to move him to where she needed, which so happened to be the edge of their camp, alone with her, Adam, and away from any curious ears.
"Do you know what you just did!?" she whispered, or perhaps a muted shout would've been more appropriate. "Sienna's going to light Moromori up in flames!"
"She intended to do so regardless of my involvement," Ulquiorra said. "Perhaps she was hesitant to do so with half the information, but a direct action was inevitable."
"He has a point, Blake," Adam said to his defense. "Sienna was only waiting for confirmation; I wouldn't be surprised if she had battle plans drawn already." All things heard, neither of the two prefer the current plan of Sienna Khan. "You can't blame him on this one."
"But after all we did. . ."
"I know, Blake, I know." Adam sighed, and looked at her with an emotion he'd seen on the Orihime girl. "We did all we could, but it's too late now, the gears started turning."
How curious. He understood that the organization these two were in had a certain objective, and these two specifically wanted to achieve that goal with their own method, considering Sienna Khan's plan and Blake's reaction, the leader's plan and hers don't align. Why would it matter? The results were the same, was it not?
"I seem to be lacking in information," Ulquiorra said, drawing attention of the two. "From my understanding, your goal and the White Fang are one and the same, I fail to see why Sienna Khan going through with her method is so bothersome for you."
"Sienna's method for equality is making sure one side complies at the end of a gun," Blake said heatedly. "That's not equality, that's fear."
Was it not? Were laws not enforced with the threat of punishment, yet still considered peaceful? If law was put into place, and the people were forced to comply, then it was simply par for the course.
"Why would that matter? The results would be the same, an achievement of goals."
"It matters!" she nearly shouted. "The White Fang wants peace for both Faunus and humans. Sienna is just fighting for peace for Faunus, humans be damned."
"So, your opposition is not the results, but rather the methods." There was that question, do the results justify the means? It was a question with no real answer, usually the vague 'it depends' as scenarios were greatly different, thus a blanket single answer does not qualify for all. Was that really all it was? "Perhaps I am not human enough to understand your refusal."
Her shoulders sank. "I hope so, because none of this is okay."
"But it'll be something we have to do," Adam added, not as bothered by the turn of events or simply well hidden. "We're committed White Fang members; we can't shy away from our duties."
Blake looked to him. "You're right, we're members, not soldiers, I hope you at least know that." She looked away and stomped into the direction of one of the aircraft.
"Oh great," the boy sighed, hand on his face. "I made her upset."
"It seems she has an emotional attachment to this White Fang organization," Ulquiorra commented as he watched Blake now speak with another young girl. "From my little experience, that usually when you have history on the topic." Such as Orihime with Kurosaki, how attached they were due to their extended history.
"You got that right. The White Fang is- well, was led by Ghira Belladonna, Blake's father. She grew up with the White Fang, might even say she was a member at birth. Then he up and left, kinda didn't have a choice. His methods weren't bad, they were peaceful but slow." He scratched his head in frustration. "And here we are."
"I assume other members weren't pleased with the slow process, and elected someone with a more direct and violent approach."
The boy snorted. "Right again." He sighed. "I respect Ghira, no doubt about it, but his solutions to things. . . they're frustrating."
"And thus, why Blake is displeased at the change of methods." The boy nodded at his conclusion. It made sense that she was distressed that the way she was taught was to be the most appropriate was sidelined, regardless if it was effective or not. Humans tended to be irrational as such, and even be successful for it. "Would it be accurate to say that also has to do with emotions and the heart?"
Adam gave him an odd look. "What do you think?"
"I'm uncertain, hence why I asked."
Again, the boy sighed. "I forgot you don't know when I'm being rhetorical."
"If you were being rhetorical, then you should have said so."
He threw his hands into the air. "That defeats the- ugh, whatever!" He proceeded to take deep breaths to calm himself, then looked back at him. "You know what? That doesn't matter. Does your kind sleep?"
"While technically we can sleep, we have no true need for it. For me, however, I do not sleep."
"Well, you're gonna have to pretend to sleep, otherwise people here will think you'll kill them in the night." He paused. "Now that I think about it, don't even tell them you don't need sleep and that you'd be awake throughout the night, it'll make everyone either creeped out or suspicious. Which will cause us problems and hinder everything." Ulquiorra felt Adam added that last part with extra inflection just for him.
"I agreed thus far to comply with your norms, as long as it provides an easier access to explaining concepts of the heart." He had the time and patience; these people did not even have a quarter of his lifespan. "I will pretend to be asleep if that continues our agreement."
"Good, I guess." He looked around the camp. "We don't have sleeping bags to spare. Think you can make due with sleeping on the back of a tree?"
"There won't be any sleeping, I'd just be sitting with eyes closed. There will be no issue." His Pesquisa should be more than enough to stay aware of his surroundings. "However, I am more curious if I am expected to take part in the operation within the village tomorrow morning."
"I wouldn't worry about it." Adam shook his head. "I doubt Sienna would involve you, but I'll talk to her, tell her how you're invested in our safety, but won't take part in our operations. You don't know our tactics, code words, and tools, I doubt Sienna would have you be involved."
"With a Huntsman at our side, it gives credit to our cause," Sienna announced in the gathering at the camp. "No one could deny our claim that the two humans who were killed were the first to instigate to kill a Faunus child, and this brave warrior-of-all, saved her."
Ulquiorra turned his head to Adam, who was groaning and had his face in his hands, beside him Blake looking horrified at the turn of events. What did they expect? That they'd reject the aid of a warrior at the dawn of a battle? And here he thought those two knew better.
"The SDC foremen were about to kill our Blake," she proclaimed, gestured to the girl, getting their angry growls and curses. "And now, they're cracking down on our protests even further, that proves one thing." She leaned forward as if to whisper, but she was loud as before. "The time to talk is over." They cheered. "Get your tools, get inside, and get quiet, I'll be there soon, and we'll show Moromori what happens when you strangle our voice."
Ulquiorra wasn't sure if she meant it metaphorically or literally, her tone certainly sounded like she meant it seriously. She was obviously riling her people, or soldiers, up for a battle or something similar. What's more, why did she include him? Did saving two of her members give her the idea that he'd join her endeavor to the village? If Blake and Adam were involved, he would follow, otherwise he wasn't interested.
He just stayed quiet and watched as things played out.
As the members dispersed to follow their orders, the two actual members he had interest in walked up Sienna and him along with an extra, a girl their age with dark-brown hair and a lightly-freckled face.
"Sienna, I don't think this is a good idea," Adam said. "He's new, he won't know our tactics. He'd sooner mess everything up before we make any real impact."
The woman, likely a tiger Faunus or sorts, turned to the boy with a slow smile. "Adam," she greeted. "I'm sure a Huntsman could help us greatly in what's to come. You're right, he doesn't know our usual strategies, but he can help us in better ways than that." She turned to Ulquiorra. "Are you willing to help the White Fang's mission for equality, Mr. Cifer?"
Did he want to help the White Fang? No, he cared little for what they did. However. . . "If Blake Belladonna and Adam Taurus are involved, then I shall help for the time being. Where they go, I shall follow."
"Protecting them even now, that is very admirable of you." She nodded in what he would guess was respect, or faked well enough. "They are key members, so they will be a part of this operation."
"Then I shall be taking part as well." His answer seemed to have pleased her.
"I will look forward to see your aid, Mr. Cifer." She nodded again. "I have orders and plans to give; I will see you in the field." And then she left to a group of what he assumed were her officers.
Things certainly seemed to have changed since the protests he saw when he flew over, though it only made sense things escalated thus far. Would it change things? Most likely, for if it didn't, then things would escalate even further until something gave.
"Mr. Cifer, things weren't supposed to get this way," Blake said. "You should've just said no."
"It is as I stated, where you go, I will go. If it means taking part of this, then so be it."
"Sienna doesn't want you there to protect, Mr. Cifer," she responded. "She want's you there to fight."
He wasn't so ignorant as to not see that, of course he was going to be used as a soldier at one flank while others worked their side. "I have no intention of fighting, as long as none present themselves as a threat."
"That's the thing," Adam replied. "Sienna is giving us the role as another protest to attract the security's attention, while Sienna and her group raid offices before first light, we're going in for a fight."
If they're being knowingly involved in combat, then all the more reason for him to be involved to keep them alive. "If that is the case, then I must join you for your protection and assurance for my research."
"Uhh. . ." the new girl sounded, the first time he heard her voice. "Should I even be here for this?" A good question, he didn't ask for her presence, nor did he know who she was.
"This is Ilia Amitola," Adam said. "Ilia's been a recent addition to the White Fang, but even so, we've become close friends." The new girl gave a small smile. "She's going to be with us in the operation, and we spoke about you, but not all of about you." His hint was taken, and considering how Ilia looked at him with confusion then dismissal, he had an educated guess that it wasn't his Hollow, but rather his 'Huntsman' background.
"So it seems," he said curtly. "Is she relevant to understanding the heart?"
"Uh, what?" the girl in question asked.
"Don't worry about it, the guy's a bit weird," Adam told Ilia, then looked to him. "No offence." If he said so. "But no, she's nothing to do with what you said."
He nodded, while not really understanding the point of their introduction. "Then I assume this meeting is due to our shared role in the aforementioned village."
"Mostly, and that you two will see a lot of each other."
So, he should try to keep her in the dark of his true nature and be careful of his surroundings when they converse. "Understood, I shall keep note of Ilia Amitola." He gave the three a look over. "If that is all you'll be equipped with, it is lacking in combat and defensive benefits."
The three looked to their wardrobe, which was nothing more than pants, shirt, jacket, and whatever accessories that did little for protection for a regular human.
Adam was first to speak up. "Well, we're supposed to be inconspicuous, ya know? Part of the protest to get the attention off of the raiding squad. Wouldn't do to make it look like we're going for a fight." Ulquiorra gestured to his sword. Adam sighed. "Right, good point, but we don't have anything to wear for protection anyway."
"Incorrect, you have Aura."
Adam's eyes widened. "That's right! I can't believe I forgot about that. Hell, I didn't even tell Sienna."
"Should we go tell her now?" Blake asked.
"No," it was Ilia who chimed in quickly. "You two should tell her after, there's no point now. Besides, she might get the idea to transfer you to the attack team."
Ulquiorra considered the girl's assumptions. "Ilia Amitola is right to be concerned. Considering Sienna Khan's ambition, her transferring you two to attack the offices is a real possibility." Not that it'd be very effective, they only just recently 'unlocked' their Reiatsu fully. "Without proper training, you'd be next to useless."
"That was a bit harsh," Ilia mumbled.
"But accurate," Adam added. "We'll just leave this till later, right now, we need to focus on what we got to do. Is there anything anyone needs done?" The girls shook their heads. "Then we're leaving in thirty minutes, let's hope the worst doesn't come."
Ulquiorra found that sneaking back into Moromori was ridiculously easy. The guards, what few there were, took shifts one by one, whether because it was due to the civil discourse thinning them, or simply not enough manpower, he couldn't say, but the fact all they needed to do was wait as the guard left his post unmanned for sixty seconds until the next guard came was beyond stupid.
"This is idiotic," Ulquiorra commented as the group he was with used alleys to reach the building the White Fang was using as forward operations base. "How this place wasn't destroyed sooner is nothing short of a miracle with such lax security."
Adam took the lead of their group, peeking around every corner and using his agility and experience to get them through undetected. "The place is a village, probably only a thousand or so big in population, maybe a hundred guards at most to protect the mines, walls, and streets, and don't forget they take shifts," he said quietly. "That, and most of em are just contractors hired by the Schnees, they don't care about this place, they don't have families here to protect, just a paycheck."
If so, then there was a noticeable lack of quality in their employees. He doubted the White Fang needed much to infiltrate the village. Proof of so as they quickly walked across a street without a person present.
"A curfew must be in effect," Ilia commented as she looked at the bluing sky, dawn being minutes ago. "Streets would at least have a few people starting work in the mines."
Another White Fang member spat to the floor. "Probably trying to starve the daily-wage workers, stopping 'em from rising up against 'em."
"Just like in Atlas," Adam said with a visible frown. "C'mon, we're almost there."
Ten more minutes of sneaking, they reached a building three-floors high, a banner outside that a showed a snake coiling around a chalice, the symbol for medical clinics, though this one's condition was aged and tattered.
Taurus peered around the corner and sprinted forward, the group of six not far behind. He quickly knocked an odd sequence, and a few seconds later an elderly woman with a single deer horn opened the door and rushed them in before quietly shutting the door behind them.
Inside, Ulquiorra saw a counter, behind of which held shelves full of jars with myriad of ingredients, likely collected and picked from the occupant's gardens or from the forest just outside the village. With all this in mind, Ulquiorra realized this wasn't a clinic, but rather an apothecary.
Ulquiorra also noticed that the elderly woman wasn't the only occupant.
"Miss Sera," Adam greeted. "How is everything after yesterday?"
The woman shook her head, then eyed Cifer. "Who's this?"
"A Huntsman who saved Blake and me from Grimm on the way back to camp."
"And the one who killed two humans?" Adam didn't answer that one. "As long as he can be trusted." To that, Adam nodded. "Follow me." She led them to a room deeper in and opened the door. Inside had them, sans Ulquiorra, gasp at what they saw.
From the looks of things, Ulquiorra assumed it was a ward that would normally have held eight people in small cots for treatment, but he sensed twenty-eight signatures residing here. He saw make shift beds, blankets on the ground holding injured men and women.
"Those bastards!" Adam seethed, not daring to enter an already-cramped space. "Why!?"
"Because the two men you killed," said Sera. "Once they heard, the village went on a 'hunt' for the killers, making sure to even raid houses where they might hide." She gestured to the injured. "Some being overzealous, or most likely, not giving a damn for who they hurt."
Ulquiorra scanned the ward, noticing how eighteen of them were actually the infirmed, the rest likely being just family trying to nurse them with what little ability they had.
"Why not take them to a hospital?" Ulquiorra asked. "Surely they'd have better methods in handling your injured."
The elderly woman scoffed. "Clearly you're not from around here. The mayor called for martial law due to, as he says, 'violent gangs taking to the streets' and has most of the village in lockdown from 'likely suspects', a fat load of bollocks." She spat to the side. "Even if he didn't, the doctors would say they only needed rest and send them home, happened before and it'll happen again." She gestured to her shop. "Nowhere Faunus can go for treatment but my little apothecary, even before your lot decided to show up." Last bit was aimed at Adam.
"It's not our fault. . ." Blake meekly said. "This wasn't meant to happen."
The elderly woman faced her, Ulquiorra keeping an eye in case she intended to attack. "Believe it or not, this was a long time coming, we all knew that they wouldn't listen to your signs." She gave a near-toothless smile. "That, and those two humans that died, we couldn't be happier."
"W-What?"
She gave a raspy laugh. "One of those humans died was named Byrn, a foreman at the mines, and let's say he had a certain cruelty to young Faunus, most break a bone within their first month under him, and offer some pennies as extra money for the riskier jobs." She spat to the side. "He doesn't even compensate the families when they don't come back." She then looked Ulquiorra. "You're the Huntsman that killed Byrn and his friend?"
Clearly it wasn't a secret. "I am," he answered.
"Name?"
"Ulquiorra Cifer."
"Just call me Sera, I'm the closest to a leader for Faunus here, as well as doctor," she nodded. "So, why'd you do it?"
"Why did I kill the two humans, or why did I not rather use non-lethal methods?"
She laughed again. "Piss on your non-lethal, they deserved nothing less. I'm asking if you killed them because they decided to kill a child?"
He thought about it, did he kill them because they were going to kill Blake Belladonna? Technically, yes, but he intervened because of Belladonna, he killed them simply because they were too weak to even survive a strike from him, but it was semantics at that point.
"Yes." He gestured to Blake. "The older one intended to kill her, so I decided to stop it. His and his companion's death, while not unexpected, wasn't what I was aiming for."
"Ha! Fuck them anyway, they died when in the only time they think they're strong, beautiful irony." Another smile. "And the first time justice was served in Moromori." Eyes went to Adam. "What is the next move, because chances are that'll be the last."
Adam looked surprised. "You'd still work with us, even after everyone got hurt?"
"There's not a single man and woman in there that wouldn't have given an arm and leg to kill that bastard. Still, things are going to get worse," Her voice turned grim. "Soon, the humans will take up out their anger on us, so whatever the White Fang has planned needs to start soon, otherwise the ward won't fit what's to come."
Adam looked deep in thought, face set in a frown after hearing the news. "Sienna's going to strike the mining offices today, during a protest to distract most of the local guards."
Sera hummed. "Today, you say? They're going to crack down on us harder for violating lockdown." Again, she smiled. "I can get the people ready, but will the Huntsman join us?" Adam nodded. "Does he intend to fight, however?"
"I will fight when attacked," Cifer answered. "My only concern is the safety of Blake Belladonna and Adam Taurus, everything else is secondary."
"So if they were in danger you'd fight?" He nodded. "Honorable of you, but all this tells me is that you will fight. There is no chance of things going peacefully today."
If it was inevitable, then he will fight. "So be it."
He lived at least two-hundred years, though during that time he did little beside explore his abilities and climb through the ranks of the Espada. Exploring was done within the first century, even acquiring a second Resurrección in secrecy, reaching the rank of cuatro happened a few years later, with that pest Grimmjow never seeming to cease his irritating attempts to duel him.
So holding a wooden sign that said 'Faunus Rights!' wasn't something he expected to do. He didn't know how to feel about it. Irritating? Mildly, it was only holding a sign. Excitement? He has no memory of feeling such an emotion, if this was it, then it was underwhelming.
Bothered? Sounded close enough.
Regardless, it was eventful, and interesting from how Sera got the word out for local Faunus to meet by using a bat Faunus to talk with another. An interesting way of evolution, and thus landed him and his wards here. At a ratty tavern in the early morning, watching as Faunus gathered, ate, drank, and made posters for the upcoming protest, in that order specifically.
"People really don't want to get close to you, do they?" Blake said as she approached with her own sign in hand.
"Not entirely," Ulquiorra answered. "Much earlier, several came to thank me for killing those two you humans." Such happy emotions, he wondered if he should've felt something then.
"O-Oh." She didn't sound appreciative of that, of course it wasn't difficult to know why.
"You do not approve of me method of protecting you?"
"No, not really." She shuffled her feet. Then she snapped to him with eyes wide open. "N-Not saying I don't owe you for saving my life, and I can't thank you enough for it, really; but I can't help but feel so many more problems came from it."
Curious. "Do you not believe they deserve to die? Even though, as Sera the apothecary has stated, those two were responsible for so much misery, even being responsible for several loss of lives?"
"I- I, it's just," she stammered before devolving into mumbling, then took in a deep breath. "I just wish nobody had to die."
Was this guilt? It wouldn't make sense if it was, Ulquiorra was the one who killed them, and even then, they were the ones who approached to kill. He recalled how emotions and the heart seemed so illogical before, this felt similar.
"Perhaps I lack the empathy required to understand why you feel such." How annoying, his own characteristics were getting in the way of understanding.
"Right, the heart thing." She furrowed her brows. "By the way, why do you want to learn about things like heart and emotions?"
A question he can answer easily. "Such concepts always eluded me," he answered truthfully, not really bothering in hiding it since the tavern was loud enough to cover him. "Until somewhat recently, I was under the impression if I cannot use any of my senses to confirm its existence, then such things are novel concepts, not reality, though it never stopped my curiosity why people demand they exist."
His threat to Inoue Orihime came to mind, the same discussion but in a vastly different tone. If he ever met her again, would she answer him? Unlikely, due to both her being dead and that he nearly killed both her and Kurosaki Ichigo.
"I was proven wrong, however," he continued. "For naught but a moment, I did see heart, it does exist, but that is all. I do not know why it exist, how it works, can it be quantified, do some have it while others do not? I am frustrated to know that what I've been searching for exists, but too late to know more." He looked to the girl, listening to him with clear interest. "Your empathy with the two humans, though they may be trash who wished you harm, is further proof that the heart exists, defying my logic and previous reasonings."
She blinked for a few seconds, contemplating what he'd just said. "Woah, that's pretty intense." Then she looked back forward, leaning back onto the wall they were near. "It makes a bit more sense now, why you want to know, I mean."
Ulquiorra only nodded. "One must ask if one such as myself is capable of feeling such emotions. While I doubt it is possible, I am curious for the answer."
"I think you already feel emotion, Mr. Cifer."
"Explain."
The girl took a few seconds to organize her thoughts. "Well, like you said, you're frustrated, that's an emotion everyone feels. On top of that, you're curious, so it's not like you just keep to yourself fully, you don't just stay in a shell and react to things around you. You are a bit cold, though, which we'll need to work on."
The more he thought about her words, the more it felt reasonable. "Perhaps you might be correct." His apathy to others included, but there's nothing he could do about that, since most around him were barely worth his time and energy. "I will keep note of this for a later time."
"Glad I could help," Blake said with a smile, but that soon faded as Adam walked up to them.
"Preparations are done, Sienna is on standby and waiting for us to get their attention," Taurus said. "You know how it goes." That one was to Blake. "You two ready?" They both nodded, one of them reluctantly. "Then let's go."
Ulquiorra couldn't help but recall his previous thoughts, how he lived a long time compared to human standards but with little in terms of experience outside of surviving and strengthening himself. So now he was marching with several dozen people with animal traits in the early morning calling for civil liberties.
Interesting times.
The more they marched, the more Faunus joined them off the street, even a few normal humans here and there. For the most part, people just watched, some sneering and spitting on the ground near them. Overall, an all-out attack against the protesters would have made things more interesting.
Which might be soon, because it didn't take long for police to show themselves. A small amount for now, five policemen walking alongside the march that numbered a hundred protesters at the moment and slowly rising, not even daring to try stopping them.
Considering one of them spoke a few words into their radio, he assumed more would come soon. He looked to his side, where Adam and Blake were chanting their calls for civil rights. 'I'll need to keep close attention to both for their safety,' he thought, then looked around the crowd. 'If a fight happens, casualties are a likely result.' He didn't even mean just from the human guards, but also if he decided to fight. And if a civilian was in his way? Blake Belladonna would likely react negatively, but it wasn't enough a reason to stop him.
Until something happened, he just watched, uncaringly holding his protester sign, blending in as the Belladonna girl told him. When one of the policemen saw him, his eyes went wide and immediately pointed him out to his companion. 'Blending in, a nonsense idea.'
The guard made too sure to keep an eye on him, and he in return gave him a look, the guard going still at his stare before his eyes moved on. He was noticed, seen, and most definitely reported on, a fight was no longer just a possibility.
He grabbed Blake's shoulder and leant down. "I've been seen, expect resistance shortly," he told her, and turned to Adam and Ilia who were also listening. "Best you stay close to me to ascertain your safety." Ilia was expendable, but as long as she stayed with those two, she'd be protected by default. "Do we continue as planned or elude them?"
The Belladonna girl visibly stiffened and looked to Adam for support, who sighed and shook his head. "We keep going," she said hesitantly. "We made it this far, we need to get the attention off of Sienna."
Ulquiorra only nodded and kept watch, seeing how two guards kept an eye on him at all times as they walked beside the protest, not difficult considering what he was wearing among the Faunus around him. He also noticed how Blake and Adam weren't chanting anymore, obviously tense and their eyes darting between the guards that there were.
It didn't take long, a few minutes at most. Slowly more guards began showing up around the protest, where five were there near the beginning, now there were twenty-three, one Ulquiorra noticed had a substantial amount of Reiatsu when compared to those around him. Looking at the woman, she was uniformed in white like the guards, but held a spear at her side when her colleagues had firearms.
From what he could tell, that woman was a Huntress. Would she know that he wasn't a Huntsman? Did they need a sort of identification card or code? Regardless, the two locked eyes, she scowled where he was neutral, after a quick look if anything he missed, he looked back forward.
"A Huntsman is among the guards," he told the children, who snapped to his direction.
"T-That can't be, there's no way!" she said. "Maybe you saw something else, you don't know what Huntsmen are like, you could've mistaken someone for one."
"Their Aura is grander than any I've yet seen, but also hold a spear where others hold firearms." He wasn't sure if the last one meant to be indicative, but it was noteworthy enough to mention. "I am fairly certain that this person is a Huntsman."
Adam looked around, spotting the same woman Ulquiorra saw, who he noticed was still staring at him. "That's a Huntress, alright," he said worriedly. "A mercenary hired by the Schnees, I bet."
"Due to my actions?"
He shook his head. "Doubt it, Huntsmen mercenaries are expensive, not that the Schnees would have a problem with it, but this would be too quick even for them. Probably just a Huntsman for the Grimm out there, but that's still making me nervous."
Ulquiorra looked at the Huntress, who stared back at him all the same, and gauged her Reiatsu. "She will be of little issue," he said. "She isn't strong enough to even land a blow on me."
Blake blinked dumbly and looked at him. "You can tell just from a glance?"
"I can gauge her Aura using my Pesquisa, an ability of mine for judging others combat worth." He paused, thinking back on his fight with Kurosaki. "It isn't foolproof, but it is reliable enough for me to trust it."
"Well, I hope your right," Blake said, peeking at the Huntress. "Because it looks like she's aiming for you."
He didn't even need his enhanced sensory ability to know that, as the Huntress kept the pace with the protesters only eyeing Ulquiorra with her spear resting on her shoulder. He had the suspicion that if any fight was going to break out, she would skip all the other Faunus and aim for him.
A few more minutes into the protest, things began to escalate, more guards began to show up, and once they reached the main hall of the village, a collection of humans stood ready with signs out. More specifically, it was a counter protest. With the guards facing the Faunus only around twenty meters away, leaving their backs to the humans, it isn't difficult to notice the bias.
Around him, he noticed the protest chants becoming louder, the chants of the humans becoming more vitriolic in nature, what he assumed were slurs and rocks being thrown by the opposition. A single stone hit his Hierro, but did little besides simply bouncing off.
Throughout this, the police did nothing to stop the human protestors. In fact, one of the guards brought out a megaphone and aimed towards the Faunus, completely ignoring the humans behind him.
"This is captain of the guard," the person said, earning massive amounts of jeers from the Faunus. "This is an illicit gathering, disperse immediately and return to your homes." The jeers only got louder, which made the surrounding guardsmen nervous. "Cease your rioting immediately and disperse!"
This confused Ulquiorra, looking around only to see the angry faces of the protesters, but nothing that indicated a riot was taking place. It took him another moment to realize just what was going on, almost feeling insulted from the complete lack of subtlety.
As expected, the Faunus at the front countered that argument, arguing that there was no riot taking place, but that didn't deter the resident captain. "If you continue with this discord, we'll have no choice but to intervene!" the captain said into the megaphone, pleasing the human protesters behind them as they whistled and shouted more obscenities.
"What is the current plan of action?" Ulquiorra asked Blake.
Justifiably, she looked nervous of it all. "We stay," she said. "We need to keep them here a bit longer."
Ulquiorra looked forward, watching as the guards and Faunus bicker and argue. "Things will turn quickly, you three stay close to me." Ilia wasn't really needed, but it was a package deal situation. He then looked to the Huntress beside the wall of guards, who unsurprisingly was still staring at him, keeping him under watch. He knew he had to keep the children safe and fight this person at the same time at some point.
Something flew into the crowd, and he could see that it was a small canister flying towards his general direction. Without much thought, he batted back forward and saw it fly above the guards and towards the human gathering. Suddenly a pure white flash and a concussive noise erupted, the humans suddenly screaming and shouting swears at that.
Stun grenades.
Not a second later, two more canisters flew into the Faunus crowd, like the other, they exploded into a blindly bright light and a loud, sharp sound that had people scream and cover their ears.
'So it begins,' Ulquiorra thought as the Faunus rights activists shouted in anger at the attempt to disperse them, in response, the guards backed away, and forward stepped in men with shields, forming a shield wall that began moving towards them.
Rocks began flying at the shields and above, just as rocks began flying over the guards from the humans and hitting the Faunus. Hundreds of agitated humans and Faunus quickly became furious, stones and glass bottles being thrown at the other, Ulquiorra was being meticulous enough to make sure none struck Belladonna or her companions.
He knelt slightly to Blake, who was visibly stressed at all that was happening around them. "How long must we stay?" he asked loudly.
"I don't know!" she answered, then turned to Adam. "How long, Adam?"
The boy paused from his own shouts to answer. "As long as we possibly can," he said. "The other team definitely reached the offices by now, I'd say a few more minutes, no more than ten."
Ten minutes? Ulquiorra pondered, looking at his surroundings as more stun grenades began being lobbed at their group, again batting one away to the other crowd. "Things will escalate even further shortly."
Out of his peripherals he spotted a Faunus holding a glass bottle that was lit on the end with flame. Ulquiorra and the children watched it as it left the Faunus' hand and onto the shields that began encroaching them. When it shattered, the shield and the man it hit were set on fire, his shouts drowned out by the chaos.
His colleagues immediately dragged him back and aided him, while the shield wall still moved forward, only quicker than before. More evident response was the increase of stun grenades being lobbed and shot towards them. Cifer made sure any that came to close to him and the three were batted away.
Around them even more Faunus began throwing stones, some running away from the stun grenades and approaching guards, but most stood their ground. In a fit of what had to be mania, a man with a squirrel tail charged at the police, but had little effect as he was hounded by four guards, beaten, and dragged away.
"T-This is worse than yesterday!" Blake screamed out. "We need to stop this!" While she was evidently nervous, Adam in contrast was scowling, and Ulquiorra saw his fist shaking. "People are getting hurt; we need to do something!" Did they? The whole point of this farce was to distract, and it was going extremely well.
Adam said nothing, looking ahead at a lone furious Faunus standing tall against an encroaching squad of guardsmen. "Yeah," he finally said, seeing a smoking cannister that landed in the middle of the protest. "This needs to stop." He quickly ran and picked up the smoking container, winced at the heat, and threw it over the guardsman and onto the humans. "No more!" he shouted at the approaching humans and the guards, several Faunus repeating his words. "We won't stand for this! No more!"
"No more!" "No more!" "No more!"
Ulquiorra watched with fascination as people around him began chanting the words of a child, he'd wager if any were hesitant to continue were reinvigorated to keep going. 'Is this the action of the heart as well?' Ulquiorra pondered as he saw several Faunus burn their hands holding tear gas canisters to throw them back, it wouldn't be effective as the guards wore protective masks, yet they did so anyway. 'Perhaps it was the right decision to save the boy as well.'
What semblance of peace there was stopped. A large explosion sounded in the distance, black smoke climbed to the sky, and everyone must've known that it was the mining office. The guards stopped in their tracks, looking in shock at the smoke and what happened, the human counter-protest after a brief bout of confused silence began increase their vitriol towards them; the Faunus protesters themselves, however, celebrated, even more joined in chanting "No more!" "No more!"
From the wall of guards, forward stepped the Huntress with her spear, aimed it towards the protesters and shouted, "by the order of the mayor, arrest them all under charges of terrorism!"
The effect wasn't as immediate. It took a few seconds, but the wall of shields broke the stoic line and charged at them. The protesters, in their renewed vigor, stood strong and met them head on.
Ulquiorra felt a certain nag in the back of his mind, a familiar one at that, but felt distant. It wasn't the spear that attempted to pierce him, that he batted away like the grenades thrown towards him. Though this time the person holding it tried it again, and like before, used his palm to swat it away like an annoying fly.
Blake and Ilia screamed in surprise and jumped back at the sudden appearance of the Huntress. To them it was sudden, to him he kept track of her with his Pesquisa, it was a bit more difficult with the crowd having a level of Reiatsu that almost masked her, but hers was still more distinct than the rest.
"Huntsman-trained alright," she growled out, then backed up a few steps, flourishing her spear before aiming it at him. "You're under arrest for two counts of murder. Surrender peacefully or else."
Cifer looked around, looking for Adam and saw he was holding his own with a crowd of Faunus against a force of guards. Others fared less, taking beatings on the ground before being dragged away. He parried another spear thrust with his hand, and would admit he was starting to get annoyed.
"You must be brave or stupid to take your eyes off of your enemy," she said. "And word to the wise, blocking with your Aura can only go so far, amateur."
Ulquiorra raised a brow. "I keep my eyes on my opponent only if they were an actual threat, and your attacks are hardly cause for concern." While he hadn't intended an insult, her face scowled regardless. "What's more, I see no reason to submit myself to you, it would be best if you took this opportunity to leave."
She fell into a low battle stance. "Huntsman-trained and refusing authority, now I don't need to take you alive." Cifer felt there was some irony in that statement. "Ha!" She lunged with her spear, which he patted away, making her lose footing for a split second, then twirled for another jab that he also blocked.
'This is who I am to pretend to be?' he thought dryly as the woman continued thrust and lunge at him. Perhaps her abilities are impressive to other Huntsmen, but he found her to be slow and predictable. "Blake, Ilia, stay near so I can find you, try to get Adam as well," he told them.
The woman he was facing was getting increasingly frustrated. "You think you have the benefit of being distracted!?"
Another parry. "Obviously."
"Fuck you!"
She threw her spear at him like a javelin, which he caught with ease by the shaft. "Now that you're without your weapon, leave," Cifer ordered, but the Huntress instead sprinted at him. "I made it clear you're-" He cut off, finding the spear he was holding no longer there, and to his surprise it was in the woman's hand again, where she used his momentary lapse of judgement and confusion to score a hit into his abdomen with her spear.
It didn't pierce, of course it didn't, instead it cut into the lower part of his jacket, hit his Hierro and scraped to the side with sparks like steel on flint. The look of victory on her face was quickly wiped away, if not from the evident lack of effect of her strike, then certainly by the backhanded smack that shot her to the side into a building, erupting in debris and smoke.
He fiddled with the ripped cloth, lamenting that he'd have to try finding another spare in Hueco Mundo. More so, he was disappointed that he let his guard down against someone far below his caliber, if even for ineffectual attack.
This time he was prepared and parried the flying spear that came out of the dust cloud, and watched as it bounced off the cobble ground, then disappeared altogether into thin air. A curious phenomenon, but he had an idea of what it was.
True to theory, the Huntress climbed out of the hole, using her spear as a type of cane to keep her standing, a green light shimmering lightly around her. Her arrogant attitude replaced with a haggard, dazed, and bleeding look. 'Her Reiatsu was able to protect her from that attack? Seems this Aura is a bit more interesting than I thought.' Still, her levels dropped significantly, in fact. . .
"An interesting ability you have," he said. "It is summoning your weapon back at hand, correct?" She didn't answer, instead stumbled again into a battle stance; once she took a step forward, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and fainted. With her Reiatsu so low, it was mildly impressive she lasted as long as she did. "Pathetic."
When he turned to see to Belladonna and her compatriots, a dozen guardsmen aimed their weapons at him, and from his analysis of their Reiatsu, he designated them as weak trash. What's more, considering the shaking hands and copious sweating, many were very reluctant to even be there.
"Don't you move!" one of them said angrily, in what must be in misplaced bravery or utter stupidity. "You're under arrest!"
When he turned fully and faced them, all the guardsman including the fool flinched. "It would take me less time to deal with all of you than it did with your Huntress." While a simple note, their stress levels spiked, but the cheering Faunus behind a wall of riot shields amplified it. On the other side, he heard the counter protesters call him a freak animal lover, dishonorable swine, rogue Huntsman, and myriad of other things he couldn't bother to listen. "On another note, I am the least of your problems."
They were not listening. "Get down on t-!?" A series of gunfire was audible through the jeers and cheers, silencing everyone. People were quiet as they focused on the sounds, then a few seconds later, a bell began to toll. Ulquiorra had an educated guess of what it was about.
It didn't take long to confirm.
"Grimm!" a man shrieked, and it set it off. Men and women, human and Faunus, began running nearly in every direction, some clung to guardsmen begging them for protection. What guns were aimed at him were immediately lowered, if not from despair, if not from some abandoning their post, then from the people rushing past them and knocking them over. Even the one who yelled for him looked around at a loss.
A tug on his sleeve from a familiar Reiatsu signature had him move, and allowed himself to be guided through the alleyways by Belladonna and the other two. They were saying something, but they were drowned out from the cacophony of screaming people and explosions in the distance.
He focused on his Pesquisa, honing in on the feeling he had earlier, and accurately guessed it was the Grimm that was approaching the city. Compared to before, the number reached the thousands.
"This is a disaster!" Blake shouted as the three dragged him. "What're the chances Moromori can survive this?"
"I don't know," Adam answered, turning another corner. "We need to go back to Sera's clinic, see if we can get out of here."
Ilia looked horrified. "We can't leave them here!?"
Again, Adam shook his head. "No, we won't. We'll take as many Faunus we can."
"What about the humans? Are we gonna leave them to the Grimm?"
"We can't save everyone, and Sienna isn't gonna have humans in the bullheads. I don't like it, but it's the best we can do."
"So that's it?" Blake seethed. "We come here, start a protest, and leave everyone to the Grimm?"
"This was going to happen anyway!" Adam nearly shouted. "You saw how they were doing to Faunus, and they weren't going to accept change quick enough to stop it. At least we're here to save some lives."
Blake stayed quiet for a second. "Is that what you believe, or is that what you think Sienna's gonna tell them when we abandon them."
As they bickered, Ilia looked uncomfortable through it all. When the apothecary was in sight, she was more than happy to point it out. "There it is!" she said. The trio didn't bother knocking, they immediately opened the door and went in.
Cifer walked in after, and saw that Sienna Khan herself was there, surrounded by Faunus. It was a gathering, with Khan herself near the middle and her men around to keep any malicious actions away.
"We can't fight it," one elderly Faunus said. "The guardsmen are holding them back, but a friend of mind told me there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Grimm. We have to escape!"
"We can't just leave!" and angry younger Faunus with antlers said. "We fought hard for change, leaving now is abandoning all the lives who died in the mines for this."
"They'd be gone to waste if we die here." The old man sighed. "This does leave a bitter taste, but there's no surviving this." He looked to Khan. "Moromori is as good as gone."
The young Faunus wasn't having it, and when looked to the four who just entered, his eyes widened. "The Huntsman!" he shouted. "Surely he can save us from the horde! Sienna, he's one of your men, isn't he? We can't give up on Moromori just yet."
Sienna looked to Ulquiorra, then back to the young Faunus. "Are you implying that one lone Huntsman can stand against thousands of Grimm?" she asked mockingly, but then looked to Ulquiorra. "What say you, Mr. Cifer, could you take on the horde of thousands?"
He noticed Blake looking pleadingly, but he didn't know what she expected from him. "Unsure," he answered. "I can't confirm of the types of Grimm out there, there's a chance one of them is unique and could overpower me." Outside of Sienna, they all look like they lost hope. "However, from what I've seen, I am confident in saying I can slay them all."
"You can kill them all?" the young Faunus from before asked hopefully, to which he nodded. The boy approached him with a look of desperation in his eyes. "Please, will you save Moromori?"
"No."
It was like a slap to the face, his whiplash was visible to all, as visible as the anger that began to grow in this room.
"To clarify, I'm confident in my abilities to eradicate all of the Grimm, but I can say for certain, with their current number, they would go around me and deal with the city before I can effectively intervene. With that it will increase the emotions that they seem to crave, then more will come after. What's more, if my life was in danger, I will retreat and leave you to the Grimm remaining."
Partially the truth. If he unleashed Murciélago, he could perhaps destroy the Grimm easily along with the part of the town since they were so close, but this village and its denizens were not worth the trouble nor the effort. Without Murciélago, he doubted any would put a challenge, but to fight and kill the whole swarm of Grimm and keep the village safe at the same time? Unlikely, and not worth it.
The deer Faunus collapsed to his knees. "So that's it then, Moromori is done," he said quietly. He looked to Sienna. "After all this, all the work we did, just down the gutter?"
The mood turned sour quickly, the sounds of gunfire and explosives in the distance only mounting. All the while, Cifer couldn't really understand why. They understood the problem, this village was doomed, yet they sulk around doing nothing. 'The heart, what an annoying thing at times.' But that was what made it so interesting.
Adam stepped forward. "No, this is not all to waste!" he shouted, everyone's attention on him. "Your friends and family died and bled in the mines for you to eat and drink to see the next day, and you're just going to throw it away?"
"What do you know!?" the deer Faunus screamed, getting back on his feet. "You White Fang are here to get us our rights, and now look, everything got worse!"
Adam folded his arm and looked to Sienna, who shrugged and nodded for him to go on. "So that's it, you're gonna keel over and die?" The other Faunus clearly didn't like the response. "Why won't you fight?"
He laughed sourly. "Fight what, the Grimm? You're mad. None of us here have experience fighting anything than a deer or a rabbit."
"Fight for Faunus, damn it!" While others were confused, Sienna nodded in approval. "You're going to throw your life away, your friends' lives gone, then might as well fight for Faunus so others don't go through the same thing you did. Let your friends deaths drive you to stop the oppression of others, that's what I do."
"You had friends who died?" Adam nodded. The deer Faunus stared at him, his frown gone and instead his lips set in a hard line. "You, what's your name?"
"Adam. Adam Taurus."
The boy hummed, took out his cracked circular glasses from his pockets and donned them. "Name's Perseus, but friends call me Perry. I'm in." He turned around, looking at the remaining Faunus. "What about you guys, anyone want to fight for something?" The solemn faces turned determined. "That settles it then." He turned back to Taurus. "But I'll be damned if we leave a single Faunus behind."
Now Adam looked worries, but Sienna stepped forward. "I called in more bullheads, there will be room for all of us, I swear it."
Blake perked up. "We can save everyone?" she asked happily. "What about the humans?"
"What about them?" Sienna scowled. "No, we won't have enough for humans, but enough for perhaps for the Faunus. I did the math, I called in the bullheads to carry a hundred-fifty, just enough, am I correct?" The last bit was aimed at Perseus.
"We'll have to squeeze more in, but yes, that's enough."
Blake was about to protest, but a look from Sienna shut her down. Adam was placed a hand on her shoulder, Ulquiorra guessed as a form of comfort, but she wasn't having it and shrugged it off of her.
"All well and good," an elder said. "But how're we going to leave without the humans noticing?"
"Why would they notice?" Sienna said with a grin. "They're busy fighting back the Grimm, but soon, they'd breach the walls. How quick can you gather all the Faunus?"
Perry scoffed. "A minute, with how the humans treated us, we're tightknit, the one good thing to come out of their shit. One call, and everyone knows."
Khan clearly approved; her smile wide and very Aizen-like. "The Grimm are at the east gate, so tell them to go to the west gate as soon as possible, I'll call in our bullheads." Her smile turned sinister. "If the humans don't want us here, well, let's give them their wish."
Ulquiorra watched as people began moving, some calling friends or family, no doubt setting the gathering time and location. Off to the side, he heard one of gathering some supplies. Things were going smoothly, smooth enough that Sienna walked up to him, her stance exuding a sense of victory.
"I'd like to thank you, Mr. Cifer, for everything you did," she said, beside him Blake took interested in another part of the room, Adam and Ilia following her. "It seems Blade is unhappy with my decision."
It was obvious for him as well. "She values life, even those of who do her harm," he answered.
"Some might call it soft."
"It's nonsensical."
She looked surprised. "You agree with me, then? I would have guessed a Huntsman as yourself would value life of all."
Yes, a Huntsman might. "I value lives of those valuable, that is where we agree on."
She chuckled. "I admit my decision is cold, but I value my soldiers' lives, not those who oppressed them." Her new soldiers, and she will whisk them away and leave the village to its demise. "If the humans didn't actively make Faunus lives miserable, none of this would've happened, I see them reaping what they sow. Do you agree on that, then?"
"Grimm being attracted by such emotions are common knowledge, if they were foolish enough for their own pleasures, then yes, I agree with your sentiment." Her smile grew further.
"I have taken a liking to you, Ulquiorra Cifer, I hope the White Fang can depend on you further in the near future." She didn't wait for his answer, instead opting to quickly leave and assist the Faunus exodus.
With nothing to do, and he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. When he looked up, his eyes widened, noticing for the first time the shattered moon.
"Interesting."
Funny thing, between this chapter and the last one, I got into Warhammer 40K, good stuff. And during this pandemic, gave me stuff to do, like saying "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES!" whenever I can. Also, Crimson Fists are best bois, don't me.
Next chapter in: lol idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯