.
"It's good to hear from you Weiss, I've been receiving your letters fine but it is good to see your face." Winter said.
Weiss smiled. She was in the CCT tower in Beacon, facing one of the many computers it had to offer for communication. There were a few other people littered around but mostly it gave her the chance for a private conversation. Weiss hadn't really planned the talk at all; but Blake and Yang had ventured into Vale for some reason and she couldn't find Ruby anywhere, so thought it would be a good idea to converse with her sister.
"Thank you Winter, it's good to see you too. how are things in Atlas these days?"
"Doing well," her sister hummed. "For the most part things have been relatively peaceful, although there have been stirs of…" the older Schnee frowned before shaking her head. "Never mind, but enough about me sister, you're the one at Beacon, tell me, how are you doing? Are you performing well in your classes?"
"Of course," Weiss smirked, flicking her hair back. "I'm the highest scoring student is nearly all of my classes, and I'm on a sure track to the end of the second term. I scored top of the class in economics, huntsmen politics, kingdom infrastructure, mathematics and Dust manipulation and understanding."
It was good news in Weiss's opinion, to succeed so well in one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Winter frowned however.
"Nearly? What classes do you lack in? It would not do for a Schnee to fall behind their competition."
Weiss suppressed a frown at the mention of 'competition'… Her classmates weren't her opponents, they were her friends.
"I'm not falling behind persay," She protested. "It's just that in four class there happen's to be people with more… aptitude for it; Pyrrha Nikos outclasses everyone on combat class."
At that Winter nodded at least. She'd no doubt heard that the champion fighter was attending Beacon. What could you really do against that? Of course what was left unsaid was the fact that technically Weiss also scored under the rest of her team. Yang being next to unbeatable in a fight with her peers, Blake having proven she was better than Weiss when she got serious, and Ruby had participated in far more fights than her, meaning that she scored higher.
Weiss was not in the business of telling her sister that though.
"And the other classes? You said there were four, that still leaves three more."
Weiss perked up as a smile spread across her face. "Ah! Those honours would go to my teammates; Blake scores the highest in interspecies politics and relations, she has an invested interest in that, while History and Grimm studies are usually dominated by my own partner Ruby."
And hadn't that been a surprise, the fact that Ruby hated attending Grimm studies was clear, mostly because Professor Port aged them with his stories, but she was still the most knowledgeable of them when it came to Grimm. Perhaps the wildlands helped with that. History was easier to explain; Ruby was interested in it, and managed to keep up with most of Oobleck's lectures despite their speed, and used her own speed semblance to help. Weiss might have called it cheating if she didn't feel a tinge of pride from seeing her young leader work so hard.
Winter hummed again. "Ruby Rose correct? I haven't found much on her… but she is younger than the rest of you."
"She is."
"Be sure not to let that slow you down," her big sister warned. "I heard that she was made team leader instead of you despite her age, if her inexperience makes it an issue I can arrange for you to move to a different-"
"That's fine sister," the heiress interrupted quickly. "I am quite happy with my team."
Winter didn't make it clear whether she agreed with the sentiment, but chose to move on.
"Anyway, is there anything else you wish to talk about? What about the Vytal festival? Are you prepared for that?"
"I am, but mainly people have started to mention the school dance." She said. "Team CFVY just arrived back from a mission, they're second years, and I heard they were going to be arranging it. I was actually asked to help with the organising."
"That is good of them," Winter demurred. "It is a good opportunity to practice leading people in a working environment, but do not forget to keep up your training for the tournament, it would not do to be distracted."
"Of course sister. Is there anything else you wished to talk about?"
"No right now no," Winter hummed. "I will be sure to contact you if there is." She nodded to Weiss. "I must get back to my duties, stay safe sister."
"You too!" Weiss called as the screen turned to black, signalling the end of the call.
She let out a breath. That had been… different from what she had been expecting. Not terrible just… different. She'd never been that firm with Winter before.
"Everyone else is getting to me." She muttered. Weiss would need to water herself. It would do no good to turn into another Yang. she shivered at the thought.
Speaking of Yang; it was likely they hadn't returned yet, and Ruby still wasn't answering her scroll for whatever reason. there were other people she could talk to however, and a few minutes later she found them after a trek to the sparing ring.
Pyrrha and Jaune battled on the stage, although it was more like a thrashing if she were honest. Jaune's face was flushed with exertion and he was breathing heavily as she pushed back with his blade, while the Mistral Champion still looked as fresh as a daisy. Upon the stands Nora cheered loudly, with Ren observing calmly beside her.
She decided to join them.
Ren saw her as she sat down beside him and nodded a greeting.
"Weiss." Was all he said, yet it was still technically a lot coming from him. Nora of course was his opposite.
"Hey Weissy!" She cheered loudly, even if they were barely feet away from each other. "How are you? Where's everybody else?
"Off doing their own things apparently, I thought I could watch along with you to pass the time."
"You are welcome to do just that Weiss," Ren told her. "Perhaps we could spar afterwards if you are feeling up to it."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "It seems odd of you to look for a fight Lie Ren. Should I be worried?
He smiled and leaned in a little to whisper, although there was no doubt Nora heard.
"It saves me from sparing with Nora. There's only so much running around a man can do with her before either their pride or their body takes a hit."
She chortled at that.
"Arc seems to be doing well for himself," she noted, and she meant it too as she turned to watch.
He was faster than before, still not to his partners level but still far faster than he had been. And he was managing to block a fair few of her strikes, even if his aura was slowly falling from the redhead's continuous assault.
It looked like all the sparing with Pyrrha was doing him well, although maybe not in the way the champion had expected: he didn't fight like her, an unstoppable barrage of attacks and perfect defence, but was using his size and bulk to his advantage, using what he had learned from real fights with the White Fang and Grimm respectively to get in close.
It wasn't perfect, but for as good as Pyrrha was she still needed a little bit of distance to use her spear, swing her sword or even block properly.
Jaune gave her none of those opportunities, getting so close that even fists were ineffective at such distance, barrelling into her, forcing her back with his body and using the pommel and guard of his sword as a separate weapon.
It would work for a moment, and allowed him to score a few fair hits on Pyrrha, at least managing to make her aura dip were so many others couldn't.
That alone was impressive.
After a few seconds through the exchange would end and Pyrrha would manage to put some distance between them thanks to her superior skill and rain down blows that sent the boy reeling.
Still, it was an improvement that Weiss would believe astronomical or even impossible if she didn't see it for herself.
Eventually though, the match ended, and Jaune practically collapsed to the ground red-faced, gasping for breath.
Pyrrha stood over him, as Nora clapped wildly. Ren offered his own applause, and so Weiss did too.
"That was good Jaune," The redhead congratulated. "Those are some new moves you picked up, where did you come up with those?"
"Cardin… helped… me…" he gasped out between desperate breaths and groans. "Says… I should…. Get faster too."
He dragged himself up into a sitting position and took the bottle of water offered by his partner. "He said I should… get faster with my swings."
"You've been training with Winchester then?" Weiss asked as she moved down to the ring with his team.
He nodded. "Yeah, he's, like, really into helping me improve." He winced. "Kind of scary though, he's not a guy to go easy on me, and with that mace most of what I do is dodging and running away."
"That is nothing to be disheartened about," Ren reminded him. "You have a broad range of strengths, it's just a matter of finding or even creating a fighting style. Once you have that you can work on improving even more."
"Maybe…" Jaune sighed. "It might be easier if I could find out what my semblance is."
Nora rolled her eyes and still smiling, lifted her leader to his feet. "Don't worry about it, having a semblance is great and all, but you don't need it. There are plenty of guys and girls who never find their semblances at all." She encouraged before adding. "If you really wanna find out your semblance then trainings probably the best way to do it, otherwise you'll just have to wait for the right moment for it to unlock."
Weiss nodded. "She's right, you just need to keep going. I unlocked my semblance after one day studying, while my sister gained hers during her school years in Atlas. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to unlocking them other than some kind of need. I'm sure that when you truly need it, you'll be ready."
"I get that," Jaune said. "But, isn't your semblance some kind of special case though?"
She hummed. "I suppose. From what I can tell the Schnee line has had a semblance completely different than any other, but we are the exception. Most semblances fall under a category of some kind. Like Xiao-Long and Valkyrie; despite their unique flair and visual representations like fire and lighting, they both have strength enhancing abilities."
Others might have speed semblances, like Ruby. All you need to do is experiment with new things and push on until your powers develop."
"I guess," he mumbled. He shook his head. "Your right, I'm just a little jealous but I'll get over it."
She nodded. "Yes, besides, Cardin hasn't made his semblance public, and if she can do well as a huntsman then so can you Arc."
"Why do you do that?" Nora asked suddenly, tilting her head curiously as she grinned at Weiss.
The Heiress blinked. "Do what? Had I said something wrong?"
"Well, not wrong, but it's just kinda weird; you always say our last names instead of our first, or, well in Ren case you say his full name because you know, they do it the other way round in mistral places."
"Ah," Weiss breathed. "I... suppose I do, do that… my apologies…Nora. It's just habit though, I was raised with the idea that I would be speaking frequently with a company executive, you can't very well use their first names as you probably know."
"Hm…" Nora relented, or would have, if a sudden devious look didn't overtake her face.
"So then why do you always use Ruby's first name."
Weiss' eyes narrowed. "She is my leader and prefers things to be casual, something I abide by because of her position over me. Why. what are you getting at?"
"Oh nothing," The bubbly girl giggled, though it was clear she did mean something. Weiss wasn't sure what, or at least she hoped not. Nora continued. "It just sounds like you give Ruby the special treatment is all. Not to mention all this talk of working under her."
Pyrrha put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hide her laughter as Weiss recoiled in horror.
"Methinks you like her~" She finished in a singsong voice.
"D-don't be ridiculous!" Weiss snapped. "I don't feel how you are suggesting, Ruby is m-my partner, it's perfectly normal for us to be close."
"Oh I bet~" the hammer-wielding huntress snarked.
"Besides," Weiss said trying to salvage the situation. "Ruby's too young anyway, remember? Even if it was like you're saying – which it isn't – she's fifteen. Still a child."
Nora rolled her eyes. "That's Atlas culture, In every other Kingdom as long as it's two consenting adults it's fine, not to mention she won't be a kid for the whole time and you have four years as partners together." She laughed evilly. "and since she's related to Yang that means good things for you."
Weiss couldn't take it, listening to Nora's sudden depravity turned Weiss bright red. It was ridiculous, her and Ruby, her and… her and…
"And besides," Nora laughed. "If she's anything like her big sis it'll make up for your chest."
Nora was laughing as she said it, there was no malice in her words, which was why she wasn't ready when Weiss suddenly barrelling into her, knocking her over and snarling.
"I changed my mind!" the heiress snapped. Forget sparing with Lie Ren, I'll take you on!"
Team JNPR's laughter filled the training hall.
Although minutes later they were similarly filled with Nora's screaming as she ran from barrages of ice.
Wonderful times for all!
…
…
Hours later, Weiss practically fell on the changing room benches. Sweat was pouring off her body, and her breath was ragged, but even if her body as sore it was a pleasant feeling, the sign if a workout well spent. Pyrrha and Nora followed in behind her, chatting among themselves. Both had changed out of their regular combat outfits halfway through and into gym gear and tank tops.
Weiss might have glared at Nora if it had been an hour earlier, but between the spars and exertion her anger had quickly drained away. Now she just sent them a tired smile as they sat down beside her.
It stung her pride a little that neither looked as exhausted as she felt, but Weiss supposed that was to be expected. They bother were far greater endurance fighters than her. They were still drenched in sweat, though, so perhaps her pride could be saved.
Unfortunately for Weiss she didn't have any similar outfits, her own wardrobe seemed far less practical now that she thought about it. It was a surprise to learn that someone Pyrrha possessed several hoodies, maybe she should get a few too.
"That was fun Weiss," Pyrrha smiled. Perhaps next time both of our teas can arrange a sparring match together."
"I'll be sure to ask them when I see them" she laughed tiredly what time is it anyway? "
"hum, it nearly seven, they should be back by now surely, perhaps in their dorm room?"
"Probably." She agreed. I'll ask them later, but right now, I think I'll go take a shower, and sleep for a week.
They laughed at that, and eventually Weiss bid them goodbye as she made her way back to her room. She was surprised then however when the room was still absent. She shook her head, she could think about it later, right now she needed to get rid of the smell that was starting to come from her.
She walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her as she turned the shower on.
She stripped down as the steam filled the room and untied her ponytail.
She stepped into the shower, and let out a grateful sigh as the hot water washed over her. Her eyes fell shut as she tilted back her head, running hands through her white locks. Already she could feel the heat making its way into her muscles and felt herself relax. All she could hear was the sound of the water falling and her own breath.
Now this was pleasant she thought, feeling the grim from the day wash off her body, it felt better even now, just to feel her body relax in the heat.
Of coursed Weiss was a perfectionist in even this however, and reach over the side to grab the tools needed to scrub herself clean. She brushed it against herself, her skin clean and raw by the time she was done.
She let out a content sigh and stood there for a while longer, simply enjoying the heat.
Nora's words flashed through her head and she frowned. Her hands moved her chest. And she looked down.
Stupid, what Nora had said was stupid. Weiss wasn't flat, she just wore clothes that kept in hidden. She was a b-cup easily!
…okay, that didn't sound… argh!
No! it didn't matter, besides, Ruby… wore a corset… and she was still bigger while wearing it than she was without…
And now she was thinking of Ruby.
Damn that Nora, putting these thoughts into her head, , this whole line of thought was troublesome to begin with.
Pah! Saying that Atlas was the odd one out. Well, she supposed that maybe they were more strict with their expression still, after the great war they were still recovering from the regime that forced it's civilians to hide their emotions but… it was usually regarded that to be twenty-one before they could have any sort of intimate relationship.
The other kingdoms had gone much in the opposite way.
For Vale and Vacuo, it was sixteen as long as both parties were willing and closer in age, while in Mistral it was eighteen.
Technically… it would be fine next year, since Ruby would be-
Gah! Why was she even thinking about this! She didn't like Ruby like that! She didn't!
Rose, she didn't like Rose that way.
Even as Weiss thought that, referring to her partner by her last name didn't sit right with her.
She sighed and closed her eyes, her forehead falling against the shower tiles.
The sound of the door to their room could be heard opening and shutting, signalling that at least one of her teammates had arrived back, although judging by the voices it was two. It also signalled that she'd had enough time in the shower.
Weiss gave a final sigh before stepping out, turning off the shower tap and wrapping a towel around her hair and body. She checked her scroll and blinked.
She'd been in the shower for nearly an hour!
She shook her head, she could berate herself for her poor time management another time, right now she just wanted to sleep.
She opened the door and walked back into her room, over to her bead. Yang and Blake were there, sitting on the Faunus bed and talking quietly, though when Yang saw Weiss she grinned and whistled.
"Looking good Ice Queen, you here to give us a show."
She rolled her eyes at that, content in knowing that it was just Yang being Yang.
(But also fairly pleased with the compliment)
"Where have you two been?" she asked instead.
The blonde shrugged. "We went into Vale to visit a… friend of mine," she glanced at Blake, who nodded in return. "in fact, we got something we need to talk to you about, I think you're going to wanna listen."
She hummed, wringing her hair with the towel on her head.
"Is it important?"
"Kinda," she admitted. "It's about the White Fang."
Weiss froze, fore whipping around to face them with wide eyes.
"What happened?!" she hissed. "Were you attacked? Are you alright Blake?"
"Hey! What about me?" Yang whined.
"If you were hurt I'd hear about it." The heiress scowled, before sighing. "But if you're acting like that then I'll assume you're both fine. What is it then?"
"We thought we'd tell you once we're all here." Blake told her. "We're just waiting for Ruby to get back. Where is she anyway?"
Weiss made to say she didn't know, but at that moment the door clicked open and Ruby stormed in. And Weiss did mean stormed she didn't look happy, the only saving grace was that it wasn't with them.
Her face was pulled into a dark look, and her eyes were hard, shoulders stiff and general demeanour showing that she certainly hadn't been enjoying her day. She looked ragged as well, tired as if sparing, and her red cloak was ruffled, but she hadn't been at the sparing rings so…
When she saw them however she blinked and looked away, mumbling an apology
She made her way to sit over on the bed next to Weiss, who was suddenly very aware that she was wearing nothing but a towel.
She really hated Nora right now.
"So!" she chirped with forced positivity in an effort to distract herself. "You said you found something on the White Fang?"
That git Ruby's attention.
"We did," Blake confirmed. "We got information from a source that told us there's going to be a Fang rally tomorrow night. We got the address here too." She handed the address over to the Heiress.
Their leader frowned. "You said a source told you this? Who, can they be trusted with something like this."
"Yeah they can," Yang told her. "They're reliable, trust me."
"Alright then, but first we'd need to know what it is we might be getting into before we decide anything," Weiss ordered. "Blake, have you ever been to these White Fang rallies?"
The ex-terrorist nodded. "A few actually. They're kind of like large-scale requirement meetings. A spokesperson would stand on a stage in front of people and explain what it was the White Fang was fighting for. They might mention a few missions they'd be doing and generally it's a chance to see just how many people are willing to join the cause. I was at the few of them but never gave any speeches myself. That was done by… nevermind."
She shook her head. "As for who'll be leading it? It… It might be a case of Torchwick being involved again, and if that's the case me might be at a disadvantage."
Yang flashed her teeth. "Ha! Says you kitten, I for one am lookin' a rematch. We've gotten better since last time."
"But not that much better," Blake argued. "He beat us nearly single-handedly, not to mention he had that girl with him. And…" she looked to her feet. "Ilia and the others might be there too. if that's how it is we'll be severely outnumbered and outclassed. We need a plan at least."
"Well, who said anything about fighting?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if we sneak in, maybe pretend to be potential recruits then we might be able to listen in on what he has to say. If we do that we can take the White Fang plans to the professors at Beacon, or the police." She looked at them. "Right?"
"Well count me in!"A fifth voice intervened.
All heads snapped to the window to see a familiar monkey Faunus in a very similar position to last time. What was different than last time however was Weiss' state of dress.
The Heiress shrieked loud enough to make him flinch and without thinking threw the wet towel she'd used for her hair at him. It hit him square in the face and he stumbled back, crying out as he lost his balance and threatened to plummet to the ground below.
"I got you!" another male voice cried, hand slamming down on Sun's tail in a desperate attempt to keep him up.
"Neptune?!" Weiss squeaked, face suddenly turning red.
This was not what she wanted to be dealing with.
Eventually they managed to pull Sun into the room, Weiss had gotten dressed and Neptune had somewhat diffused the situation.
"So you heard all that?" Ruby sighed. "What are you even doing here Sun?"
"Well I just thought that since I was kind of a part of the whole crazy mess at the docks that I should help out here too." The blond explained reasonably. Weiss wasn't convinced.
"That doesn't explain why you were outside our window to hear it. what were you even doing up there? Why?"
Sun blinked. "um… it was just a… a feeling I had I guess? You had it too, right Nep?"
"Uh… yeah."
Ruby frowned. The Avatars were coming together. It was starting now wasn't it? Avatars were always drawn to others of their kind, and in such close proximity of a schoolyards distance Sun and Neptune were of course going to be dragged along with them… this could be bad in the long run, especially if more Avatars showed up.
This had Ozpins handiwork all over it, but she just didn't know why.
"That's not an excuse!" Weiss growled.
"Come on Weiss, it's fine right?" Ruby protested, coming to their aid. "Besides, even if it's a little weird this does mean we have more people to help."
"We could always ask team JNPR." Yang suggested.
The reaper hesitated. "I think we should leave them out of this. It's not their fault but Jaunes not exactly stealthy, Pyrrha's too recognisable and Nora's… Nora. The only one that would be any good is Ren and I don't think it's a good idea to drag him into this alone. Besides, we can call them if things go wrong instead."
Her sister shrugged. "Yeah I guess so. You guys okay with that?"
The two males nodded.
"Sure," Neptune said. "Sun told me all about what happened last time. Maybe I can be a good partner and watch his back this time.
Ruby nodded and looked around.
"Alright, tomorrow we meet in Vale and head to the address. Dress as inconspicuous as possible, that means no abs Sun!"
"Aw."
…
…
Their plans were set in motion the next night when all six of them took a bullhead into Vale. From there they'd followed the address to the industrial district. It was mostly how Ruby remembered it from her last visit, empty, grey and a place no good law-abiding person would be at night.
They'd all met up, and Sun had done as he was told, wearing a regular shirt to cover himself up. Ruby had to admit… he looked weird without his chest showing. Still, they all had to make sacrifices.
Ruby didn't like the idea, but she'd been forced to leave her cape at Beacon, the item of clothing too conspicuous not to draw attention. Weis,, Blake and Yang had also changed their clothes, with Weiss being forced to wear a hoodie instead of the white jacket she'd wanted to wear.
White hair may not have been too rare, but it was still enough of a risk that the Schnee heir might be recognised that Blake insisted.
Apart from that, Sun had joked that they were wearing their 'alternate set'.
What was that even supposed to mean? They wore plenty of clothes! Well… Ruby didn't, she'd been forced to go shopping a few days prior for that exact reason. and… well, Yang like her outfit, she didn't see a reason to change it, then there was Blake who was… but Weiss…
Huh… why did they only have two different full sets of clothing?
"We're here," Blake said, interrupting her thoughts. The Faunus ran a hand over a wall, with three claw marks etched into it. she peered around the corner, and they say other Faunus entering a building, a man stood at the door, greeting people. "Come on."
The group of six made their way to the door, and, apart from an odd look from the bouncer at the absent Faunus parts from four of them (Which was thankfully offset by Blake and Sun staying in front) they managed to get in after being handed plain White Fang masks.
Further to the right was a large hall and a light at the end. A number of people could be seen going down. They followed suit.
AS they walked Weiss frowned. "There… are more people being recruited than I was expecting… these are all citizens of Vale? I thought they were better than most places when it comes to racism."
"They are," Blake agreed. "Honestly most people here don't understand what it's like, but they feel the need to be a part of something bigger. That's why rallies usually bring in so many people, and after they hear what they might be getting into most of them will leave. But some will still say."
She sighed. "As good as Vale is, people still suffer, and the council is less than willing to help with disparity among the Faunus population in case it created back-lash with the people affected."
"That doesn't make sense! Why would the council need to listen to what the masses say? They're the ones in control of the government and laws."
"In Atlas maybe," Ruby shot back. "General Ironwoods on the council in Atlas remember, and he leads the military and the huntsman academy. Vale doesn't even have an army, and the council members here are career politicians before all else, so even if they wanted to change things, they're too cautious and worried about their positions to do anything real."
"I… never realised."
"It's fine," Blake smiled. "The fact that your upset by it means you care… anyway, lets focus, we don't know what's up ahead. We should spread out just a little, so at least if worst comes to worst we have the time and distance to react."
They nodded, and kept quiet as they stepped into the next room. It was a big one, and Ruby suck in a breath at the sheer amount of White Fang fighters already lined up in front of the stage. Not to mention there were dozens of new recruits.
They were still civilians, even if they were doing some less than legal things. If Ruby or anyone else got found out here it could turn into a bloodbath.
Suddenly, a muscular man stepped onto the stage, a mask covering his entire face.
"Greetings my brothers and sisters." He bellowed. "We've gathered here today for three reasons; one, to meet each other, and connect with the people we will be fighting beside for change. Two, to welcome our new brothers and sisters into the fold and fight against those who would oppress us, and three, to let you see someone who has aided in our goals recently, and will continue to do so."
He gestured to the side, and Ruby's breath caught again.
"Roman Torchwick stepped into the spotlight.
There were gasps and jeers almost instantly, some shouted calling the thief 'human scum' and others simply growling.
Roman took it all with that smug grin plastered on his face like he hadn't a care in the world. Then, he slammed his cane down.
And all went silent.
"Well," he said. "Isn't this a nice little turnout, I have to say, it's real inspiring to see so many people willing to fight for the cause or whatever, but I'm here on business, so let's get too it shall we?"
He reached behind him, and without ceremony, pulled the curtains behind him to the floor. Ruby was separated from the others, but she was sure they gasped just as she did.
"As you can see, I've brought along a new toy for you all, and there's more where this came from. My employer got their hands on these babies a while back, and f your willing to fight for the cause, then this is what you'll be a part of."
Suddenly, the thief's eyes flickered towards where Ruby was standing in the crowd and his grin widened.
"But the details of that will be given out by your superiors, once we know all the recruits are loyal. Can't have any rats now can we? No offence to any rodent Faunus out there. Right now, I'd tell you to mingle with each other, get to know the people you'll be fighting with… I've got some business to attend to."
Ruby heard the cold rasp of steel behind her over the murmurs of the crowd and the sharp prick as it poked into her back. She inched her head to the side, and her eyes met a pair of pink and brown, with a face that was smiling with bloodthirsty glee.
Neo gave her a little wave.
With that, out of the sight of her team and the White Fang, the reaper was escorted backstage, where a waiting Torchwick lounged in a rather comfy looking chair that he'd probably had carried here. across from him was a similar one, where Ruby was plopped down in, Neo's vice grip on her shoulder.
"Red… we need to stop meeting like this, seriously, people are gonna talk."
"Uh… hey Torchwick."
He put up a hand. "Kid, call me Roman. Might as well after last time." He sighed. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods, you wouldn't be here to foil my dastardly plans would you?"
"Um… no?"
"Uh… then did you suddenly become a lot more sympathetic to the White Fangs cause? Because otherwise I'm running drawing a blank."
"Wel what are you doing here?" Ruby tried. "I know we went over the 'not revealing your plans thing' but what could you even need a paladin for? Those things are still in the prototype stage."
The thief chuckled lightly. "So you know about them do you? Why doesn't that surprise me? Whatever, sorry Red but I'm not at the liberty to say, my employer has me on a need to know basis… she's a bitch like that."
"She?"
Ruby could practically feel Neo's eye-roll.
"What?" Roman shrugged. "I'm just letting the kid know what kind of trouble she's getting into. It's better if she walks away from something this big."
"Somehow I doubt it's my biggest concern." Ruby glowered.
Roman raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "Really? Then I guess you don't want to know how my employer can control Grimm."
The thief had expected a gasp of disbelief, or shock like he had when he'd first witnessed it, or mire reasonably he expected little Red to think the whole idea was crazy. Who wouldn't?
He didn't expect the kid's eyes to suddenly turn fearful and hiss out a breath.
"Roman you can't! You don't know what you're getting into! That- that woman's dangerous."
he blinked, and suddenly Neo was staring at the younger girl wide-eyed too.
This kid was in on it. No, she knew more than they did. How did a fifteen-year-old know more about this than them?!
"Oh?" Roman drawled, acting as if to brush it off, his poker face perfectly in place. "And what am I getting into little Red?"
"The end of the world!"
…Say what?
"She'll kill you!" the huntress went on, and would have jumped out of her chair of it wasn't for Neo's grasp on her. "She wants to destroy everything and once she'd done she'll have no need for you. You'll be dead in an instant. She's a monster!"
This was… this wasn't some prank, Roman realised, she was serious. He took a drag of his cigar to calm himself at the thought. End of the world? What kind of crazy shit was that? And what was worse was that when the master thief looked at the kid he could tell she was one hundred percent serious. She might be crazy, but then he'd have to forget the fact that his boss was able to control Grimm.
And their standpoint on the world was obvious.
"I don't know kid," he pressed, pretending not to be affected. If he acts like he knew what was going on the kid might spill more, he just had to keep calm. "She may be a pretty bad person but she seems human to me."
Roman paused suddenly as a wave of confusion passed over the girls face.
Oh?
"You don't know." She gasped. "You don't have a clue who you're really working for! Your employer is just one of her generals."
What? That… what was she saying? Romans mind was reeling, and by the look on Neo's face she was feeling the same way. Cinder was working for someone else? With her power? Grimm, generals, end of the world, what was this?!
Damn it he was in the dark on this!
"Generals huh? What exactly does that mean Red."
Ruby bit her lip, casting her eyes to the floor. She realised she'd given something away in her panic but when she looked back up her eyes froze the breath in Romans lungs.
That cold silver.
"You need to get out Roman, both of you do, before it's too late."
Heh… so that's how it was.
Roman tipped his bowler cap over his eyes as he stood up.
"If I thought I could Red, I would, but that's outta my control now. Anyway, this conversation been fun, but we've still got some business to finish."
He twirled his cane. "I wonder how many of your little friends are here with you."
There was a crack of a shotgun blast suddenly from the other side of the stage.
"Why don't we go say hi?"
…
…
Blake's eyes darted back and forth nervously as she moved through the crowd. This was bad, really bad.
How had Torchwick even gotten his hands on that thing? And there were supposed to be more of them? Blake had her fair share of experiences with the standard Atlesian Knights, but if the White Fang started using those things then they'd be even more dangerous.
They needed to regroup, she needed to find the rest of her team before they were found out. They'd been too sure of themselves, even with the six of them if they were caught Blake wasn't sure they'd be able to hold them off.
She made to move, when a rough hand suddenly dragged her to the side. Blake gasped as her back hit one of the buildings support beams and a blade was pressed into her side.
"Ilia!" she hissed. They hadn't been noticed in the crowd of people yet, but all it would take is one wrong move to be completely exposed.
Her old friend wore her mask, but even with it on Blake could feel the terrorists glare.
"I figured you'd be here," she growled. "You could never just leave things like this alone could you? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Blake made to speak only for Ilia's grip to tighten and the point of her whip to push harder, scraping against her aura.
"Shut up, I don't want to hear you speak. you betrayed us all, your brothers and sisters for these humans, what's worse, a Schnee! How can you even stomach it? to return here and act like we're the villains?"
"The White Fang is killing people Ilia," she hissed back. "Innocent people who've done nothing wrong. Are you seriously saying that's right? I know you don't believe that."
The chameleon Faunus looked away, but only for a second before she glared back even harder.
"You don't know me. You think you do but you don't you never did! I won't be persuaded by a coward who ran away from the cause, and sided with the people who oppress us." She pushed harder.
"Torchwick is going to want to hear about this, but I think I'll save time and just finish you now."
"Yeah, about that."
Ilia whipped around to face the newcomer, but was too slow to stop the fist that rocketed into her chest and sent her flying back, along with the crack of a shotgun blast for good measure via a fist.
She careened into the crowd, knocking some down and causing an uproar.
Blake turned to stare wide-eyed at a grinning blonde as she threw off her mask.
"You okay there Kitten? Thought you could use some help there."
Before Blake could reply Torchwick burst onto the stage.
"Oh for the love of- stop them already!"
Blake fell back to back against her partner and reached for Gambol shroud. She had no idea where the others were but from the cries it sounded like they'd already gotten to work.
"We're surrounded," she hissed. "We can't deal with this many of them like this."
Yang didn't look perturbed. "Don't worry, I've got a plan."
"Really?"
"Yep!" she grinned, cocking a gauntlet primed fist at the building support pillar.
Oh no.
Blake had approximately three seconds to regret all of her life decisions before the ceiling collapsed above them.
The White Fang cried out as rubble fell, and the fresh recruits did very much the same, fleeing as the sudden violence sparked. Blake couldn't tell if they were safe or not, but right now she had her own problems to deal with.
All she got was an angry scream before Ilia lunged at her through the crowd.
…
…
Yang breathed heavily as her crimson eyes flashed over the punks in front of her. Blake had been right, there was a lot of them, dozens surrounded her with teeth bared and hate in their eyes.
Fortunately for her they weren't armed. For whatever reason, they'd neglected to bring guns to the Rally. Was that foolishness or was something else going on?
She slammed an elbow into the face of a guy who got to close, and backhanded another who thought he could take her from behind. She ducked under a wide swing and lashed out with her boot, then her fist and sent five more to the ground.
She could do this, all she needed was for it to continue like this and-
A shadow flickered in the corner of her eye, then another, and another. They passed through the bodies of the White Fang members, who acted like they weren't there at all.
Because they weren't.
Yang grit her teeth. No, no, no, not now! Why did her mind have to screw with her now of all times!?
Before her eyes the air morphed into visions of people, transparent and watching as if they were alive. They distracted her, and Yang barely got her hands up in time to block a big guy with a hammer swinging for her face. It wasn't a weapon, it was the regular kind, and the handle snapped as soon as it hit Ember Celica.
Yang swore. She needed to focus! One wrong move or missed attack and she could be screwed. She called on her aura to protect her. Constant aura use was draining, most fighters didn't fight like that, instead timing their defence at the exact time a hit landed. She couldn't rely on that if her own fucking eye were playing tricks on her.
Move!
Her instincts screamed at her, there was something behind her, and Yang dived to the right as a thin blade stabbed past her throat. Her eyes met a pair of two different coloured eyes, and the face of a girl, who looked surprised over the fact that her surprise attack missed.
Yang lashed out with her left and followed up with a right hook. The figure shattered like glass, and appeared intently three feet to the left.
Yang remembered this one; she'd been at the docks.
Her name was… Neo, wasn't it?
The question was banished from her mind as the criminal lunged again with her weapon, the precision strike slipping through Yang's guard and scrapping against her aura.
The blonde growled through her teeth, firing off a shot at pinot blank range, only for the woman to bend so unnaturally Yang almost tripped. She flipped backwards, and caught the huntresses chin with her foot, knocking her back.
This wasn't good, she thought as she was pushed onto the back foot. How had this fight suddenly changed so fast? She was being beaten back like it was nothing!
She'd thought Torchwick was the exception, maybe the White Fang elites too, but just how many criminals were strong enough to take on huntresses?!
'You're not a huntress' her mind bit back. 'you're just a student in way over her head'
Her teeth ground harder. Damn it!
Suddenly there was a crash to the side, and White Fang grunts were trampled as the paladin surged forward. Neo took advantage of the distracting and ducked low, sweeping Yangs feet out from under her with a brutal kick to her knees. Yang cried out as she fell and only managed to look up in time to see a giant metal foot falling on top of her.
She stared wide-eyed and helpless when a hand suddenly grasped at her collar and yanked her to safety. Sun went tumbling at the effort, but managed to scramble up again in time to force the murderous woman away with his gun-chucks.
"Thanks." Yang gasped out
Sun nodded, and readied his weapon. Yang looked around and breathed a sigh of relief.
After the appearance of the paladin the White Fang had scattered, and all that was left was the six of them, the one that had attacked Yang, and whoever was driving the big hunk of metal.
Judging by the way Neo was grinning manically, sitting on top of the thing, Yang guessed it was Torchwick in there.
They circled the Atlas battle machine cautiously as it's red sights moved back and forth. Yang guessed it could see in nearly all directions thanks to all those cameras, but if they could hit it all at once it wouldn't matter. Right?
Ruby was ready it seemed, because she anchored her scythe into the ground and opened fire. Blake followed suit as Weiss summoned her glyphs to turn their ammunition into ice projectiles.
Sun and Neptune shared a look and nodded, charging in with staff and glaive at the ready. They leapt over the paladins swing and Neptune stabbed at it, his weapon electrified. It looked like it was able to scratch it but apart from that it went ignored. Sun tried to get onto the head but Neo suddenly appeared in front of him and booted him off.
Yang swore. This wasn't like the movies where electricity would short-circuit a war machine, and with amour who-knows-how thick they might not even be able to scratch it!
The brawler called out to her leader. "You got any ideas sis? We could really use them right about now."
"We need to slow it down!" Ruby answered as she reloaded. "But with Neo protecting the pilot seat we can't stop Roman from reacting in time."
Slow it down huh? She could do that.
"Leave it to me!"
Blake gasped. "Wait Yang don't-" it was too late to stop her as the brawled lunged at the paladin with her gauntlets at the ready. She skirted under its legs, and propelled herself into the air. If she could hit its back and keep it distracted then this could work.
She reared her fist back and-
Yang gasped as the things entire upper body did a one-eighty and blasted her into the ground.
She gasped as the air was driven from her lungs and the concrete below her cracked.
And then the metal fist crashed down atop of her.
Someone cried out her name, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. It reared back, and battered down again. The ground gave way as she was hit again and again and again and again.
Yangs eyes burned, her mind burned her whole body burned with pain.
And something else.
The metal fist came down again.
And was stopped.
There was the horrific screech of metal as Yang's fingers dug into the paladin like it was dough. She growled with all her pained fury as she rose to her feet. Her muscles screamed out in agony, her ears rang and her body groaned.
But she was forcing the paladin back.
In the corner of Yang's vision she could at insane criminal stare at the scene with wide eyes.
She could picture the panic on Torchicks face as she stared right into the camera.
She snarled, and with her free hand, grabbed the arm and with a mighty roar she threw the machine over her shoulder to come crashing down behind her.
The brawler didn't waste time, leaping onto the cockpit and punching through it, she wrenched it opened and found-
An empty seat.
Yangs eyes widened as her head whipped around, Neo was gone too.
They'd… they'd gotten away!
She might have roared in rage if it wasn't for the sight of her team sprinting towards her.
With a sigh she hopped off the broken paladin to meet their shocked stares. Or most of their shocked stares anyway, Sun and Neptune looked like Christmas had come early.
Ruby was the first to speak.
"Yang that was… that was.., I don't even know what to call that!"
"Crazy? Dangerous? Incredible?" Blake supplied.
"All of that!" The reaper agreed. "And you're hair!"
"Huh?"
"It's… glowing." Her partner explained.
Yang blinked and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah, it does that sometimes. Sorry."
"Don't be," Blake told her. "It feels… warm."
"Forget about that," Weiss snapped. "Yang are you alright?"
"Um…" the blonde began, only for the pain to finally set in, in full. She clenched her eyes and groaned, falling onto her back. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."
"You were hit by an Atlesian Paladin, I'd say that's substantially worse."
"How did they White Fang even manage to get their hands on something like that?" Blake wondered aloud.
Ruby bit her lip. "I don't know, but we need to tell the Headmaster."
"Tell him what?" Yang sighed. "We barely got anything out of this. We know they have paladins, and that Torchwicks working for someone, that's it… we don't know what they're going to do with them, where, or even when."
The silver-eyed warrior had to agree. "Your right," she said. "But there's no use sitting in a trashed warehouse now. Come on, when we get back to Beacon we'll bring you to the infirmary."
Her older sister sighed again. "Alright, let's go." She let herself be helped up by Sun and Neptune, who took an arm each for her to use as support.
As they left, Blake took one last look back.
In the chaos, Ilia had vanished without a trace.
This wasn't over, she knew. The White Fang still had plans
And she needed to be the one to stop them.
...
...
Well that's it for this part. Investigations is finished, and now we move on to the part I equally dread and hope for; the dance. What comes next should be a little more relaxed than recent chapters, but stay tuned for a few new surprises.
What did you think of this chapter anyway? Were there any parts you liked specifically? ANy you hated? Let me know.
And as always, be sure to Follow, Favourite, and Review.
BYE!