The third chapter, and a mention of our favourite animal people.

Let's see how it goes!

…

When man first appeared from the creations of dust, it was alone. A single entity with the desire to live, grow and thrive. For a century that is exactly what it did, fighting back against the onslaught of Grimm, in many cases down to the last man. And when the humans wielded dust… well… this story is already known.

Strangely though, it seems that no one is entirely sure where the second race of dust came from; a sun species if you will. Or perhaps they came first. Those gifted with the features of their animal counterparts, or cursed with their blood.

The Faunus. A people with an origin shrouded in mystery even to themselves, but with a strength and cunning that aided mankind in their quest to be free from the fangs of the Grimm. And so eventually, they became a part of mankind. For a while.

Unfortunately, within all humans lies envy. To their fellow man they can learn to control it to some extent, rather than hate they feel jealousy towards those better off than them, and usually it stopped at that.

But with something that could not be considered entirely man. That hate envy would fester and grow into something much more horrible: Hate.

Through the years the Faunus had become stronger than humans, despised by many for their differences yes but it did nothing to stop them developing their own ways of life.

However this progress was destroyed when the Great War began. Despite what many might think the aftermath was not clean. The four kingdoms may have come together for the sake of peace. But that excluded the Faunus in a dangerous way.

Hate and distrust grew even more.

Then when the Faunus was offered a small continent to the south, they thought they had some measure of equality within their grasp. But it was not to be; more than half the country was uninhabitable by Faunus kind.

It was a laughable excuse by humanity to try and push them as far away as possible. But there was one thing they didn't take into account: when like-minded people are forced together, something will grow from it. And so, on the continent of Menagerie, the white fang was born.

At first they were a peaceful thing, dedicated to giving the same rights to Faunus as humans had. However for some people the peaceful approach was not enough, and after pressure, the original leader stepped down, giving way for a new way of doing things.

For these people, Violence was the only option.

And so what people have come to dread as the White Fang seized power from its predecessors, and a young girl sees it as her chance to make a difference.

How humorous, for a little girl to think that hate and violence, can be erased by the very same thing.

…

…

Blake took a breath, then another one. In, out, in, out as the floor trembled under her and she reached for a support.

The wall beside her was useful for that, there wasn't anywhere else to reach for anyway. At least when there were this many people packed together; there were twelve of them in total, members of the White Fang stood in the cargo hold of a dropship. Something they'd 'borrowed' from the military.

The floor shook again and Blake tried not to stumble. What was the pilot doing? It couldn't be that hard to fly this thing could it.

The Faunus girl craned her neck to see over the other members In front of her; none of them were talking, and it felt as if it would be a bit awkward if she broke the silence.

Someone nudged her elbow and she blinked out of her thoughts. Turning to a red-haired bull Faunus. Adam Taurus gave his pupil a concerned look. It was strange; one of the leading authorities of the White Fang in Vale had kept her around to teach her from time to time. Or maybe it was stranger that he had gone on this mission. It was only a standard hit and run. The third one, right? A few of them went in, steal from one of the mines promoting Faunus labour and then bring it down.

Since when did that need so much muscle?

"Are you alright?" he asked her simply.

"Y-yeah, I… I'm just a little bit tired." Blake lied. It wouldn't look good if she told him she was having second thoughts, what good would she be to the cause if she couldn't even help with this?

The redhead said nothing more as the alarms inside the cargo hold began to blare and the ship shook once again. A voice came in from the intercoms.

"Warning for all brothers of the White Fang; Atlas military has been stationed at the outpost and have spotted us, they've started firing, prepare for deployment!"

Blake's eyes widened. Now? They were dropping now that they knew there'd be a fight? Were they even equipped to fight Atlas right now?

She didn't get to voice her concerns as the door began to lower, Blake squinted as light poured in and wind rushed in like a gale. There was a signal from one of the men upfront and suddenly they were jumping, she watched as Adam followed without a second thought. She hesitated, only for a fraction of a second but it was all that was needed.

Just as Blake dived out of the cargo hold something hit the ship, and it erupted in a blast of flame. She suppressed a scream as the shockwave collided with her back, sending her reeling in mid-air. Spinning and spinning, tumbling and tumbling.

The girl grit her teeth as the clouds; so high up, rushed past her. The blades of the ship crashed past her, in a hellfire of smoke and twisted metal.

Her mind worked at a mile a minute, Blake reached for Gambol Shroud and unwrapped its ribbon. There was a spark as the gun fired, propelling the blade upwards as she held on. There wasn't much in the way of things to grab onto, except for what was left of the ship falling above her.

It would have to do.

The black blade sunk into steel and the ribbon tightened as Blake fall further. She braced herself as it elasticated, the material stretched for a moment, before Blake was propelled up as if on a bungee.

This came not a second too soon, the manoeuvre slowing her descent just enough so that the landing was not fatal. Still, Blake hit the ground uncomfortably as she stumbled forward. There was no time to rest; bullets flew above her head and metal was still falling from the sky.

She dived for what little cover was available. There, Blake managed to catch her breath; she pushed Gambol Shroud back into its sheath and peeked her head over the cover:

For it to immediately be in danger of being shot off. It was fine though; Blake had got what she was looking for; about five dozen Atlesian knights guarding a building, some kind of office no doubt.

Blake's ears twitched as Adam skidded to a halt in the dirt beside her. His red hair was covered in dust, dirt and oil. He ducked as the cover slowly began to erode under the hail for bullets.

He turned to Blake.

"We need to get in there! Listen, I'll lay down some covering fire and you slip past them."

"Then how will you get in?" Blake yelled over the roaring of fire.

"Just Go!"

She didn't have time to argue as he shoved her roughly forward. As not to fall over Blake used her momentum to sprint forward. Behind her, Adam showed himself, firing a shotgun-shell into a group of walking tin cans.

She split her weapon in two, using the sheath as a makeshift shield as she weaved through the clumsy machines. The hunks of metal were cleaved apart by her Katana like-

There!

For barely an instant there was an opening in the sea of steel. Blake dived for the scape as a blade came down on her.

And passed right through her clone.

The faunas rolled through the open door and slammed it behind her, barely in time to stop the dust projectiles from taking her head off.

And then there was silence.

Blake let herself slide down the door, her breath was laboured and the adrenaline was pumping from just that single encounter. She could hear the fighting outside as the two groups fought. Shaking her head clear, Blake stood up; she was in, now all she had to do was destroy the communications most likely located in this building, and with the Knights fighting outside, it was probably poorly defended.

With that thought in mind, Blake set off in a jog down the hallways, hopefully in the right direction. The interior looked mostly the same; a militant grey, but every so often, Blake would see a snowflake engraved onto a surface

The symbol of the Schnee.

Of course they had something to do with this, they just had to own every dust mine they could get their hands on didn't they?

But that didn't matter. Now wasn't the time to get distracted; fortunately, Blake's enhanced eyes caught sight of a door: one far more heavily fortified than the rest, made from steel and bolted shut. There was no way she was going to be able to open it.

But that was the funny thing. She didn't need to use the door.

Blake reached into her pockets and fished out a handful of red crystals: Fire Dust, highly explosive. She took a breath, to calm herself, and threw them at the door.

It was comical how easy the metal barrier caved in. a small dust cloud formed in front of her, blocking her vision.

It was in that second that her body tensed. Within the cloud she could see a shadow, a humanoid figure holding a handgun. Did they have Atlas drones inside too?

Without waiting for it to act she lunged forward, tackling the thing to the ground. There was a yelp of pain, but not from her. She blinked as the dust cleared to see a young man underneath her; barely older than her with a fearful expression on his face.

They weren't alone: there was a cry of fear in front of her. Blake looked up and froze. There was a group of humans, both men and women, huddled against the wall in terror.

How must she look to them? Kneeling over one of them with a sword to their throat, like a monster, like an animal.

"I…"

Whatever she'd planned on saying was forgotten as Adam entered behind her. The bull faunas paused at the sight before nodding.

Blake got the meaning; she crawled of them man and walked over to the side, where a desk was set. Opening each drawer, she pulled out the documents. It was all on paper. Smart, scrolls could be hacked, but the only way to steal information like this was to physically steal it. They'd got what they came for. She said as much to Adam.

"Good," he replied, catching the transcripts as she tossed them to him. He glanced at the human's once before turning around. But as he left…

"Make sure you deal with them Blake, we can't have any witnesses here."

She froze. What?

He… wanted her to kill them, in cold blood?

"But…" her throat was dry. "Couldn't we just leave them here?"

Adam stopped mid-stride before spinning to glare at Blake. She shrank under its intensity.

"What? Do you expect me to let them live? They've seen us Blake, not only that, but they work for the Schnee's. I don't intend to show mercy like that, especially not to humans."

He glared at them. "The airships going to be leaving soon. Hurry up so we can go."

She swallowed, nodding feebly and turning to them. Gambol Shroud transforming into a gun again. She pointed it at the head of the closest person. The woman cowered in fear. Blake couldn't blame her. If she was trembling so much from just holding the gun to her head, how must it feel to have it pointed at you?

Blake struggled to keep herself together. She needed to do this! They were humans, not Faunus. They worked for a corrupt organization that worked her kind to death, they deserved this.

Didn't they?

She would have said yes in any other circumstance. But watching this woman, as well as the others in the corner weep and beg for their lives spoke to her in a way she found extremely unpleasant.

This was wrong. They might be humans but they weren't evil. And here she was about to execute someone mercilessly.

"Come on!" Adam growled, irritated at her hesitation.

Her mind screamed at her to stop. To flee or maybe even to help them escape. It was the right thing to do. It was what anyone with a backbone would do, be brave and save these innocent people.

But… Blake wasn't brave. Was she? Here she was, trembling at the mere idea of actually doing what every other White fang member had done. Hadn't she signed up for this? Hadn't she known that sooner or later she would have to spill blood?

Of course she had. But Blake had always thought it would be the blood of some evil villain, or a slaver. Not office workers who didn't know any better.

A brave person would stop this. But Blake was a coward who ran from her fears.

And so…

She pulled the trigger.

…

…

Blake watched with narrowed eyes as people passed her in the alleyway. They most likely didn't even know she was there. The Faunus had done a good job of hiding herself. Even though she wore a bow atop her head to cover her ears. It was a safety precaution, necessary if she was to interact with people in this town.

But for the most part Blake stayed out of view. It was because she wanted to be stealthy. Defiantly. It clearly didn't have anything to do with the fact that it was raining and the water made her hair go all fuzzy.

Defiantly not.

Gambol Shroud was in clear view, scaring away anyone who thought they could rough her up a little.

Blake pulled her coat – a heavy white one with a high collar – up around her face and stepped out of the ally. People didn't pay her more than a second glance as she crossed the street to the store that was about to close.

Tukson's Book Trade.

She smiled at that. This was a place she had frequently visited over the past few months; a place to read in peace and think about things.

The bell rang as she opened the door, and the shopkeeper – Tukson himself – turned and smiled at her.

"Ah! Blake, good to see you again, are you here to pick up an order?"

She nodded lightly and gave him a polite smile. She skimmed through some of the books on the shelves absentmindedly.

'Home to every book under the sun'

Blake would have laughed at that were she someone else. It was a rather bold boast and yet, it suited Tukson.

She approached the counter as the other faunas reached under it.

"Here you go," he said upon standing back up. "The man with two souls; pristine and signed by the original author. It was a little difficult tracking this thing down you know?"

Blake nodded thankfully.

He continued as the book was handed over. "You'll also be glad to hear that right now there's no, ahem, Fang activity in the area."

Another nod, this time more serious. It was always a great risk for Tukson to bring her this information. After all, he had been the one to help her get out of the organization, and since he was still technically a part of the Fang he was able to keep her updated on their movements… and how to under the radar.

It proved to be a big help when Blake decided to… settle into Vale.

Tukson seemed to notice how she was lost in thought. However he didn't seem to know what it was about. So instead of just standing there in silence he sighed and began putting things away, conversing while he did.

"So, what do you plan do doing from now on? I mean, despite the fact that I like having you around it normally means you're here for something else."

Blake looked away. "You already know why I'm in Vale Tukson."

The faunas visibly winced. "Still pining to be a Huntress are we?"

"Tukson I-" she began, only for him to stop her.

"Yeah I know; you want to become a Huntress so you can change things. I suppose it's admirable in a way… defending the people from Grimm and stopping crime, but personally all I see it as is a way to die faster."

He turned to her again.

"I know that Hunters are supposed to be the people who protect us from the Grimm but in my own experience… they've all just been people who take what they want, kill a few things and expect to be praised and worshipped for it. If hunters were really the saviours we all expect them to be, then why does the White Fang exist in the first place?"

Blake's mouth formed a thin line. Not only from the incorrect terminology of Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"Maybe that was what Huntsmen were like in the past, but if people lose faith in the ones that actually want to make a difference then what hope do we have?"

Tukson went quiet at that, unable to come up with a response. Perhaps that was for the best.

Blake sighed; she had been doing that a lot lately.

"Thank you for the book Tukson, this will be the last time a see you for a while… stay safe."

"Yeah," he responded gruffly. "You too Blake."

The girl nodded one last time, pulled up her coat and turned to leave but right when she got to the door she paused. Not looking back, she gave one final farewell.

"Goodbye."

And she walked out into the rain.

She hated that she'd left like that… but it was poetry in a way.

It had been the same way she'd left Adam.

…

…

And there we go. A little bit of a change in Blake's backstory than canon but I think this works well with what I'm going for in the future, what that is, you'll have to wait and see.

Still kind of short but again, this is just a prologue.

Anyway; Follow Favourite and Review. I'd like to get your thoughts on this story so far.

BYE!