Chapter 6: Assassination

Ruby pushed the warehouse door open, entering with Drei and Neo not far behind her.

"About time." Mercury scoffed, standing up straight after leaning his back against a shelving unit. "Cinder's been impatient."

Ruby rolled her eyes as the silver haired boy followed them until they reached the "meeting area" where Roman was sitting on a crate with Emerald and Cinder also perched on seperate crates.

"Good. You two arrived at last." Cinder purred. Ruby wanted to flinch as golden eyes seared through her soul. Ruby felt Drei shift his weight so he was lightly pressed against her leg. Whether it was for his comfort or Ruby's, she had no clue. "Sit and we can start." The woman waved a hand to two crates near Roman, which Neo and Ruby sat on. Cinder nodded to Roman, who stood up with Melodic Cudgel in his grasp. If he wasn't wearing gloves, Ruby would have bet he was clutching his weapon so tight his knuckles were white.

"So Neo, Red, and myself have been very busy. We've amassed quite a mountain of lien and Dust, and I am sure our buisness partners have been doing the same. We'll have enough firepower to fill this warehouse from floor to ceiling and wall to wall soon." Roman explained. Cinder nodded and motioned for him to sit again.

"Good." Cinder smiled, but it reminded Ruby of a wolf baring its teeth. "I'm sure you are wondering why all of us are here. Its because I have more for you to do." Ruby, Roman and Neo exchanged an exhasperated glance. "But," Cinder continued, "You won't be doing it alone. Our partners have some valuable assets that they are loaning us."

The moment Cinder finished speaking, a woman appeared from seemingly nowhere behind Cinder. A pair of black ears perched tall upon her head and amber eyes swept through the warehouse.

"I am Sable Kage," The faunus introduced herself "I was sent on behalf of the White Fang to assist in an important task."

Cinder's eyes flicked to Sable and the faunus looked at the woman. "As she has said, Sable is a valuable asset. Her semblance is to be able to become one with shadows — an invaluable ability. She is a skilled fighter, and will assist you three on an important mission."

Roman looked a bit irritated, "So what is this "important mission" that you guys are babbling about?" He asked.

Sable walked his way, her boots making no sound. Stopping before him, she told the criminal "We have a high priority target we need taken out." Sable reached into a pouch on her hip and withdrew a scroll. It opened up and a photo of a man in a suit was shown. "This is Tawny Bay. A prominant figure in politics. He has an agenda against faunus progression and the reason he is such a threat to us is that he has Huntsman training. He retired to take up politics, and is a good fan of ruining faunus-owned buissness." Sable explained, rage flickered in her eyes as she spoke. Closing the scroll, the faunus released a short exhale. "We need some skilled mercenaries to eliminate him. Fortunatly we have a renowned murderer among us in this room."

At that, Mercury smirked and flexed his arm as if showing off. Roman shook his head and used Melodic Cudgel to smack him in the stomach, as he was close enough to Roman for the action to be done. Ruby rolled her eyes, but realization dawned. "Me?" She asked. Sable nodded.

"Of course. What better way to cause more trouble is a relevant threat to Vale taking out a politician?" She asked. Ruby nodded and looked Cinder's way.

"That was all. You have until Wednesday." Cinder spoke and stood up.

"I'll be in contact." Sable handed Ruby a slip of paper before walking to a faint shadow cast by a crate and seeming to sink into it.

"Lets get going." Roman suggested and led the way back out from the warehouse to the car. As they drove, Ruby pulled out her scroll and started doing her research on her target.

"Drei," she murmured "Take a look at this. He's known for betting on dog fights." The doberman's golden eyes hardened and his posture stiffened. "Sick bastard." Ruby growled. Neo turned around and reached a hand back, silently asking for the scroll. Ruby obliged and saw from the backseat, Neo's jaw clenched and she handed the scroll back.

'Sick bastard indeed. He breeds them too!' Ruby growled. Drei gave a soft "whoof" to draw the girls attention.

"Drei, he breeds and raises dogs to fight to the death. Apparently he lets them kill puppies of a few months old to get a taste for dog blood." Ruby explained, barely containing her rage. Drei growled for a moment before it died down. "We'll do what we can, boy." She patted his head. "We'll bring him to justice. I swear."

Suddenly what was just a normal contract became more personal, with how hard it had hit home with Drei.

The next night, Ruby and Neo arrived at the front of a cafe. Darkness was everywhere around them, and Sable was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly behind a lamppost Sable emerged from its shadow and approached. She wore black clothes and a White Fang mask. Unlike the plain ones Ruby had been used to seeing from grunts, Sable's had red marks that indicated she held some importance of rank, alongside the mask's sides somewhat looking like tufts of cheek fur to make it stand out more from other masks.

Even from behind the mask, Ruby could feel the gaze of Sable briefly land on her before the faunus' attention swept elsewhere as she surveyed the area around them.

"You know where to go. I'll meet you up there." Was all Sable said before stepping back into the shadow and vanishing.

Neo led the way to the house, easy enough to spot due to them being in the classier part of Vale. Ruby's hand instinctivly brushed against Dark Glory's hilt, fingers drumming on it as they surveyed the house.

She sensed something behind her and Sable emerged from her shadow.

"Before we begin," Sable walked around Ruby so she faced both Ruby and Neo "If things go south and we are captured and taken into custody, you should take this." She grabbed a small bag that contained three tiny black bottles and gave Neo and Ruby each a bottle. She had a clue as to what was within, and when she opened the bottle and peered inside, the content confirmed her suspicion.

"Potassium cyanide. Used as suicide pills." She murmured. The content was a single tiny white pill. Neo looked at her own bottle with suspicion. Ruby voiced the mute's thoughts. "If this goes south, you want us to off ourselves?" She asked. Sable nodded.

"Its the logical course of action. We do not want to be caught and tortured. I'm sure the Vale Police Department would be thrilled to interview the fabled Red." Sable explained. Neo's weight shifted slightly towards Ruby, and the girl knew what was going through the mute's mind.

"I'll be fine." Ruby told Neo, and her words did little to soothe her. Neo gave Ruby a look, worry clear. "I promise I'll be safe."

Sable cleared her throat. "We're wasting time," the fox faunus stated. Ruby gave Neo a final reassuring look. "We all have our role. Neo shall scout and disable alarms, we'll get to the office. Red and I will enter and take him out."

Ruby blurted out "What about the dogs he has?" She could feel Sable's gaze pierce her again.

"Focus on Bay. He takes all priority. Extra goals may be achieved as long as it is safe." Sable told her. Ruby understood and nodded. "Let's move."

Roman rubbed the side of his face, looking at Drei. He had a bad feeling, a terrible gut feeling about this mission.

"You seem... tense, Mr. Torchwick." A woman walked next to him. "Are you worried for your children's job?" She asked. Roman looked up and met amber eyes that were identical to Sable's.

Roman reached for a cigar and lit it, trying to ignore the similarites. The woman noticed and kelt on the ground in front of him, a mahogany colored tail moved to curl into her lap, a perfect white tip flicked as she watched him. It was like Sable's gaze, except less intense and predatory. "I know they can handle themselves. But I guess its just your sister that rubs me the wrong way." He admitted and dragged on his cigar to steady his mind. The woman was silent for a moment, tucking a few strands of blue hair behind an ear.

"Sable has that effect on people," the woman admitted, "She's cunning and practical, and she's serious about her job. Sable will make sure the job is fufilled." She stated.

Roman could sense a "but" coming on, there was definitly something the faunus before him was hiding. She noticed his expectance, and bowed her head for a moment before lifting it again to meet his eyes. "She'll make sure the job is fufilled... at any cost." Her gaze softened and she was silent again.

"Should I worry about what she'll do to get her job done?" Roman asked hesitantly.

The woman's gaze flicked away from his for a second and remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes, miss...?" He trailed off, waiting for her to complete his sentance. She jerked her head up and seemed a bit embarassed.

"Oh, I'm sorry for forgetting to give you my name!" She ducked her head again "I'm Sora, Sora Kage-Hisui. A pleasure to meet you!" She introduced herself.

Roman chuckled at her antics, but took note of the name. "Kage-Hisui?" He murmured. Sable had introduced herself simply as "Sable Kage" but there was no "Hisui" part to her name.

Sora took notice, "Yeah. Sab' and I are half sisters," she admitted "We share a mother, where we get our eyes, but our faunus heritages come from our fathers." She told him. Roman decided not to press further. "I'm sorry," She said suddenly, ducking her head again "I'm terrible at conversation!" She exclaimed with a slowly reddening face, eliciting a chuckle from Roman.

"Red and Neo are the same way. Neo being quite literally — she's mute, Red is just really bad with talking to people." He told Sora. His words had their desired effect, and she seemed to calm herself down a bit.

"Well at least you're used to it!" She smiled, and Roman dragged on his cigar again. He had nearly forgotten his worries for Ruby and Neo. Nearly.

Standing up, he startled Sora. "I'm sorry, did I offend you sir?" She immediatly apologized, rising to her feet. Roman waved her off.

"You're alright, I'm just going for a walk really quick." He told her.

Sora nodded and a small smile formed on her face. The woman's scroll buzzed and she sighed. "I'm sorry, I need to take this." She apologized and moved away.

Now Roman was alone with his worries. For some reason Sora's words about her sister did little to stop his growing worry.

I'm being irrational. He tried to tell himself. They'll be fine.

A/N:

Two OC's I put in. Sable and Sora are two older OC's from a RWBY story that I doubt I'll ever post. What do you think of them?

Next chapter: Murphy's Law takes center stage for Ruby, Neo and Sable!