This week had one of those amusing beta instances I tend to think other authors would balk at. Basically, College Fool received this and looked over it last night, and I woke up this morning to a PM that (very politely and with good reasoning) said "Yeah, I think like everything from the middle onwards needs to be changed entirely."
It was a huge amount of work, and I can't help but think most people would have said "Lol, no way." I just shrugged, and figured the points raised were good ones. As such, this was gutted back down to 4k words, and then re-written. Good times!
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Kegi Springfield
Chapter 24 – Huntresses among Sheep
Mercury sighed for what felt like the tenth time and knocked on the door. It was eight in the morning, and already a time when he'd normally be getting ready for lessons. Luckily, it was a weekend, but that just meant he was awake at a time he'd normally be sleeping. The people on the other side of the door must have been the same, for he heard some vague cussing followed by the sound of something heavy falling out of a bed.
He then heard enough swears and curses that even he felt impressed. There was the sound of padding feet, then a latch being pulled. The door slammed open, revealing a pretty brunette in her pyjamas, one shoulder revealed as the cotton hung loose.
She also wore sunglasses… to bed.
"State your purpose or die," Coco Adel said, the threat cut off by a powerful yawn. "Actually, it might be state your purpose and die as well. I'm not quite sure yet."
"I'm here for Velvet."
Normally, he'd have gone for something a little more flirtatious, just to play with her, but it didn't look like Coco was in the mood, and he could sympathise. The girl nodded, yawned again, and then turned back into her room.
"Hey Bun, your boy-toy's here to take you away."
"Mrffl…?" Velvet asked.
"Mercury," Coco replied.
"Ufbrl…?"
"Yeah."
Mercury whistled. "You can understand that?"
"Yes." Coco yawned. "No. Maybe? I don't know. What time is it?"
"Eight."
"In the morning?"
"Unless you slept all day, yes."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Coco sighed and looked behind her, and he could hear the sound of a zombie moving around inside, presumably as Velvet fell into her dresser in the vague hopes clothing would find her. "Give her a second," Coco said. "We're none of us good at waking up early here. Well, except Yatsu with his spiritual crap. I swear, if he offers me another herbal infusion tea, I'll snap. Oh, on that note, you pull this again and I'll shove my handbag up your ass and deploy it."
"Deploy…?"
Coco smirked. "You don't want to find out. Oh wait, here she comes."
Velvet stepped out from behind Coco, and to her credit she'd managed to find an outfit and put it on without any problems. Her hair was stuck up a little though, and that created a surprisingly cute image with her ears above it. One was bent halfway, almost like they too hadn't quite woken.
He wondered what would happen if he pushed it up. Would the other fold down?
"Hey Velvet," he said. "Sorry for waking you up. I wanted to ask you something and thought it would be better in person."
She yawned and pawed at one eye. "Hm? Okay. I'm here…"
He spared a glance for her partner. "Preferably in private."
"Ooh, mysterious." Coco made some sarcastic hand gestures. "Do you really think I'd eavesdrop on a personal conversation between my own partner and her new boy-toy?"
"Yes," Velvet answered. She sighed and stepped out the room, grabbing him by the hand. "Come on, we can talk outside. Coco won't leave the room unless she has thirty minutes to prepare and check if her clothes are still in fashion."
"Lies and slander!" Coco yelled as they departed.
Velvet took him down one of the corridors, almost unusually insistent, but he supposed it was the early hours making her too tired to even realise how forceful she was being. Normally, she'd have been far shyer. They passed through an archway and outside, and the warm morning breeze was a welcome relief. Mercury sighed, and even Velvet seemed to wake up a little more, the fresh air giving her what she needed.
He could tell because she suddenly realised they were holding hands and yanked hers away, cheeks aflame.
Ah, to take advantage of that and tease her. It was hard to resist. Luckily for her, he wanted her co-operation, and that meant not starting things by pissing her off. Mercury pretended he hadn't noticed, and made sure not to do anything nasty like wipe his hand clean. It wasn't like he had any problem with faunus in general. They were a cool sort, and it wasn't like people were any less a bunch of dicks because they didn't have animal ears.
Besides, Velvet was nice enough. Well, actually, she was too nice.
Too nice by far…
"So, why did you want to talk with me?" she asked nervously. "You have my number if you needed something."
"I thought it would be best to talk in person."
Something about his tone must have made her nervous. "Is something wrong?"
"Not wrong, at least not on my side." He ran a hand through his hair. Ugh. How to explain? "You know Jaune, right?"
He knew she did, but it wasn't a bad starting point. Velvet nodded.
"You know that he and I are friends, right?" he asked again, and received another nod. Okay, good. Now came the hard part, weaving a believable and absolutely bullshit tale that contained little nuggets of truth. "Well, we were friends long before Beacon, and I guess in a way, I was always looking out for him. It was my job to make sure nothing bad happened to him."
"Kind of like an older sibling?"
"Yeah. I was like his older brother." It was a perfect mix of truth and lies. The latter half was all completely accurate, while the only falsehood was the timing.
"Is that why you came to Beacon?" Velvet asked. "So you could continue to look after your little brother?"
"Pretty much," he agreed. Sure, why not. "That's the long and short of it." He pulled a concerned frown. "The thing is, I think Jaune's gotten himself involved in something over his head."
Velvet's hands flew to her lips. "Oh no. Is he okay?"
"He is for now, but I'm worried…"
"You're a good friend, Mercury," Velvet said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's amazing how much you care about him. I think that's wonderful."
Oh, wow… was this what guilt felt like? Funny how he'd never experienced that before, even when he'd killed his own father. To be fair, Marcus had been a bastard of a man willing to crush his own son's legs, not a wide-eyed, brown haired bunny rabbit in human form. He grunted. "Ah, yeah… well, you know how it is."
"Where do I come into this?" she asked.
And here came the killer. It was one thing to evoke sympathy in Velvet, but if this was how she was each morning, then he had no idea how he was supposed to convince her to wake up an hour earlier than this on top of everything else.
"I… wanted to ask for your help," he said. "A favour. It might be too much, though."
Her ears twitched. "A favour…? What kind?"
"Jaune's caught the attention of a huntsman named Qrow Branwen. He's… let's just say the guy is kind of known to us, and hates Jaune's Mom. He doesn't realise Jaune is her son, so it might be nothing, but I'm worried and want to make sure." He shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, you know?"
"Hm." Velvet nodded.
"That's where I was hoping you could come in. The huntsman might get suspicious if I'm wandering around watching whatever it is he does with Jaune, but that's only because if he tried to find out who I was, it might lead him to Jaune's parents." Or Cinder, or his Grimm form, or any one of a hundred things to screw them over. "I was wondering if you might be willing to… uh…"
"Spy on them?"
Mercury winced. Yeah, wow, there really wasn't any other way to put it, was there? He tried to think back on Cinder's advice, but it escaped him. All he could remember was the parting words she'd given.
Give her anything she asks.
"I'd pay you back," he hurried, "even beyond what I already owe you for helping me before. I know it would be a real waste of your time and stuff, but I wouldn't ask if this wasn't serious. I'll do anything to help you out. Anythin-"
"Anything…?"
"Huh?"
"You said anything, right?" Velvet asked. She toyed with her fingers, not quite meeting his gaze, and one foot was scraping against the grass. "Did you mean that? You'll do any one thing I ask of you in return?"
Wait, she was actually considering it?
Mercury nodded frantically. "Anything," he confirmed. Knowing Velvet, it wouldn't be anything bad. If she wanted his help baking cookies, giving presents to orphans, or whatever else, then he was fine with it. "Anything you want, Velvet. I'll provide – as long as I'm able."
"How long would it take?" she asked. "Do you know what they're doing?"
"I had a look earlier, just a quick one so I didn't make them suspicious." He shrugged. "All I saw was that Jaune and one of his teammates were running laps topless. Well, Jaune was topless," he amended. "The other one was- eh?"
She had his hands in hers, a wide smile on her red face. For the first time, she didn't look quite so innocent, or as harmless.
Mercury swallowed.
Velvet smiled.
"I think we can maybe come to a deal."
/-/
Jaune bit the dust for what had to be the tenth time.
"Get up," Qrow called. "We're not done here, kid, and I know your aura can take more. Get up and fight." The older huntsman stood with his weapon stabbed into the dirt. He didn't even use it, and instead stood side-on with one hand forwards. "Don't tell me that's all you've got? You've let to even lay a hand on me."
"Get him, Jaune!" Ruby called from the side-lines.
It didn't help much. In fact, from the way the man's lips pulled down even further, it probably did the exact opposite. Not that Qrow Branwen needed excuse or reason to beat him up.
That was what a spar was for, after all.
"Calling this a spar doesn't do it justice," Remy snarled. "He's annihilating you. Fight back!"
"Don't you think I'm trying?" Jaune pushed down with both hands, and climbed back to his feet. He staggered over to Crocea Mors and picked it up, knowing Qrow would let him. It wasn't like the huntsman cared either way, since there was little he could do even when it was armed versus unarmed.
Qrow had decided early on in their spar that Jaune wouldn't get to face his weapon. It had started like that, of course, but it was just too unfair.
That annoyed him more than he dared admit.
"Oh finally," Qrow said, "Some life in your eyes. Come on, kid. If you want to wipe this smirk off my face, then here's your opportunity." He bent forward, pointing to his lips. "Here it is. One big-ass smirk, and it's all because of you."
Jaune raised Crocea Mors and charged in – intent on wiping it away. He cut down, aiming for the shoulder.
Qrow swept around it. He dodged to the left, spun around Jaune's body, and then delivered an elbow to the back of his skull. Much like the last time, Jaune staggered, and was left completely unable to defend himself as Qrow kicked his feet out from under him.
He hit the grass hard, and quickly slammed a fist into it.
"Damn it! Stop using the same move!"
"Stop being so predictable and I won't." Qrow stepped into view, and damn him for the grin that still existed. "If you can't get past this, then I don't have a reason to use anything else." The taunt stung, as had the last ten or more times his legs had been kicked out. "Until you give me one, this is all you're getting."
Gods, he hated how smug the man sounded.
It annoyed him.
He wanted to wipe it away.
Something burned inside him. Jaune surged forwards, hand wrapping around the hilt of his sword as he snarled and lunged for the man. This time, he came in low, thrusting up for centre-mass, eyes wide and focused on the tantalising promise of driving this guy low.
Qrow sighed and batted the sword aside with the back of his hand. He then tapped Jaune's shoulder, forcing him by.
He then elbowed the back of his head and kicked his feet out from under him.
Jaune howled his rage.
"Ooh, nice," Qrow complimented. "That was almost enough to make me feel intimidated… if I was a baby. Actions speak louder than words. If you want to fight me, then fight me."
Damn him.
Damn him, damn him, damn him! Jaune's teeth ground together. It wasn't enough that Qrow belittled and taunted him at every opportunity, or that he made this spar into a mockery. No. He had to do it in front of Ruby, too.
Jaune didn't think he'd ever felt so humiliated.
Nor had he ever hated someone so much in his life.
He growled under his breath, and his eyes flickered with red.
"Jaune!" Remy hissed. "Calm down. You're getting angry!"
Yeah, he was – and with good reason. His fingers dug into the soil, tearing up grass and more as he clenched them into fists. He felt his body shiver, even as his breath came out in a long gout of steam. He wanted nothing more than to rip this arrogant bastard to pieces. He glared up at him, eyes now a solid red.
Qrow's own widened. "Oh?"
"You're losing control! Jaune, you're going to transform if you don't stop yourself. You're going to lose control and go on a rampage."
Remy struggled for his attention, but his mind was already a hazy mist. He staggered to his feet. This time, he didn't reach for his weapon.
He didn't need it.
He was going to tear Qrow to pieces with his bare hands.
"Ruby!" Remy yelled.
The name slammed into his mind. He hesitated, and that was all the opportunity Remy needed.
"If you lose control, she'll be caught in the cross-fire," he said. "Even if you don't hurt her, you'll be hurting her uncle. She'd never forgive you. Your time at Beacon would be over. I need you to calm down, Jaune. Don't lose control!"
Jaune clenched his eyes shut.
When the opened again, they were a deep blue.
"That was too close," he said within his mind. He'd nearly lost control… allowed his anger to control him and push him over the edge. It was the same as what happened at the docks where he'd nearly killed Blake, except that this would have been at Beacon, and against a guy who really didn't deserve it, no matter how annoying he was. "Thanks, Remy," he whispered. "I… I don't know what came over me."
"I do," Remy sighed. "You need to control that temper of yours. It's going to get us in trouble."
Jaune nodded and took a deep breath. His shoulders sagged as he let the tension, the rage, and everything else, go.
Qrow sighed. "Well, I guess this session is over."
"Huh, why? I can still fight."
"No, you can't. I thought for a minute there, I was about to get one, but if you want to keep on losing, you can do that on your own." The huntsman's tone was disappointed, as though he'd almost expected something. "We'll continue again tomorrow, but until you can land a hit on me, you're going to get more of the same."
"Shouldn't you be teaching me sword forms or something?" Jaune asked. "This doesn't feel like training!"
"I could teach you every trick in the world and it wouldn't matter. Not if you don't have the right mindset." Qrow turned and pulled his weapon out of the soil. "If you're not going to fight, you're not going to win." He walked away, but paused to ruffle Ruby's hair. "Same time tomorrow, kiddos!"
Jaune swallowed his disappointment as his mentor left. That hadn't gone as he'd hoped it would, at least in terms of becoming a better fighter. He stooped to pick up Crocea Mors, and found Ruby in front of him when he stood back up.
She fidgeted with her hands. "I'm sorry about Uncle Qrow. He's not normally like that."
"Great," he sighed. "Maybe I'm just the lucky one."
"To be fair, I think he was trying to make you mad on purpose." Ruby sounded like she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but felt she had to defend her family member nonetheless. "I think he wanted you to go all out, so he knew what to train you in."
Jaune sighed. So, that had been the plan all along, huh? Not exactly a good thing, since if he'd lost himself entirely, he'd have been exposed.
"I'm sorry about the whole one move thing…" Ruby said. "That was… kinda mean."
"He's not wrong, though." Jaune sighed and sheathed his sword. "If I can't even get past that, then what's the point of him fighting with all his strength? It's not like an enemy would."
"You could use your Semblance…"
"Ruby," he warned.
"Uncle Qrow is a real huntsman," she added. "He's strong. Really strong! If you can use it on Cinder, then you can use it on him. He can take it, and it might make him take you seriously."
"I doubt it, Ruby. I think he hates me."
"That's not true!" Ruby's yell was so sudden, it caught him off-guard. It was all he could do to flinch and listen to her. "Uncle Qrow doesn't hate you," she went on. "He… He's never bothered to train anyone who isn't family before. He must really like you if he's putting this much effort in."
"Okay, I think I've said this before, but isn't he a teacher? How is everyone so blasé with him apparently not teaching anything when he's a teacher?"
"He does like you," Ruby said, ignoring his question entirely. "Trust me. He's my uncle. I know these things. He's trying to help you, which means he really does think you're worth helping."
A flicker of hope sparked inside of him. There was still a part of him that wasn't so sure, but Ruby sounded so certain. At the end of the day, didn't she know Qrow better than he did? He was her uncle after all.
"You think so…?"
"No," Ruby said, smiling. "I know so!"
Huh, well… how could he argue with that? He laughed and dusted off he last signs of dirt on his clothes, and the two headed off back in the direction of Beacon. The weekend meant no lessons, so there wasn't much to do other than waste time and mess around. He'd half-considered suggesting they head off into Vale, but there'd been other things on his mind.
Ruby walked beside him, humming under her breath. For a minute or two, there was nothing but silence between them, but Ruby seemed to remember something and clapped her hands together. "Oh yeah, did you manage to ask Yang out yet?"
"Not yet…"
"Jaune!"
"I'm trying," he said, hoping to avoid a pout. "I tried to ask your uncle, but he just slammed the door in my face."
"Well, of course he would," Ruby said, rolling her eyes. "Uncle Qrow's probably testing you and wants you to come up with something on your own. Besides, what would he know of where to take Yang on a date? That's creepy!"
He had to admit she had a point there. He winced and scratched the back of his head. This was harder than he'd expected, and it wasn't like Remy had any advice.
"Lies. I already said to go and drag her out by her hair."
No good advice, anyway. The books hadn't ever really covered the topic in detail. People were either already dating, or their dates came about as a result of some epic battle, war or the guy rescuing the girl from a tower. After a great show of strength and bravery, the hero would get a kiss. He never had to ask the girl out, or decide where he was going to take her.
Jaune's eyes slipped over to Ruby. "What would you like to do on a date?"
Ruby choked on air.
"Y-You shouldn't be asking that! You need to focus on asking Yang out. Not… not…" She looked away, shaking her head and mumbling something under her breath.
Jaune shrugged. Well, he'd kind of hoped he could take what Ruby would like and apply it to Yang, but maybe that was too personal a question. A ruckus up ahead caught his attention before he could say anything else, and it was actually the girl in question who caused it.
"Excuse us," Yang yelled as she pushed past someone, almost knocking them down. Ren followed close behind and completed the encounter by crashing into the poor girl.
"I apologise," he said, catching her before she could fall, then pulling an acrobatic move that resulted in him righting her up again. The girl stared at him, eyes wide and cheeks red. "That was rude of me. Please forgive me."
"U-Um, sure. Who are-?"
"No time," Yang growled, grabbing her partner's collar. They brushed past Ruby and Jaune a second later. Jaune looked to Ruby, who shrugged in return. As one, they both turned and chased after them.
Predictably, Ruby made it there first.
"Yang, what's wrong?" she asked, jogging alongside the girl with ease.
"No time, Rubes. Damn it." Yang paused to check her scroll, then stuck her head through a nearby door and looked around. "Not here," she called to Ren.
"Nor here," he replied, on the other side of the corridor.
"Are you two looking for something?" Jaune asked.
"Someone," Yang growled. "Or two of someone. We don't have time to- no wait, have either of you seen Blake or Nora?"
"They're missing?" Ruby asked.
"Again?" Jaune echoed. "I thought Blake was done with her running away thing once you told her everyone knew she was a faunus." Well, everyone but him. He'd been the only one surprised, to no one's shock.
"It's not that. Not this time." Yang whispered something under her breath and pulled out her scroll, dialling a number. From the sound of it, it didn't patch through, so she tried another – probably attempting to reach her teammates.
While she was busy, Ren chose to explain. "Blake's been acting strangely of late," he said. "She's been focused on the White Fang to the point of ignoring the team and generally spending all of her time in the library."
"How is that any different from normal?" Jaune asked. "She always does her best to ignore you."
Ren paused. He looked a little surprised. "Well… no… I guess she does, but this is different. This is her ignoring us because she's been on the verge of collapse. It came to a head this morning when Nora said she was going to find Blake and fix all of this." He sighed and shook his head. "Yang and I thought we'd leave it for Nora to sort out."
"Wow," Ruby said. "That was brave."
"I know. It wasn't my best idea."
"So, now both of them are missing." Ruby hummed and rubbed her chin.
"I think we can assume Nora did find Blake," Ren said. "She doesn't not find her prey when she's in a bad mood, so they're together. We just have no idea where."
"Is that a problem? Maybe they're still sorting it out."
"This was five hours ago."
Ruby winced. "Oh…"
Jaune looked between the two, and then over to Yang as she growled and put the scroll away. No luck there, it seemed. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry too much about," he said. "What's the worst that can happen?"
"Where Nora's involved?" Ren palmed his face. "I dread to even think."
/-/
This was the worst idea ever.
Blake wasn't even sure how she'd been convinced it would work. It probably involved her partner, who stood in line beside her at that very moment, a wide range of shouting, loads of rapid ideas delivered at Nora-esque speed, and then a grudging acceptance based on the vague hope it would all stop if she said yes.
The night had gone downhill from there. It, through a series of convoluted events, had led to each of them being dressed in different outfits and standing in a long line of faunus being led into what looked like a rundown and abandoned drinking house. Apparently, it was a front for recruiting disenchanted and troubled faunus into the White Fang, and something she'd wanted to check out.
Just on her own and not with Nora, especially not Nora with a White Fang mask in place. Especially not Nora without even a fake set of ears on her head or a tail, or even the slightest effort put into a disguise at all.
Especially not a Nora who was singing at the top of her lungs…
"-and we'll keep on fighting, to the end!"
It didn't do much for Blake's already frayed nerves.
"Cuz we are the champions," she sang.
"We are the champions!" another faunus further down the line echoed.
No. Blake refused to accept that this could be happening. It just wasn't possible. Life couldn't possibly have been this cruel to her – even after all the things she'd done.
"Hey, quiet it down back there," a White Fang officer yelled. He stalked through the crowd, his uniform in place but his weapon sheathed at his side. "I like the energy, but we're not exactly trying to advertise our presence here." He stopped before Nora and her. Blake's shoulder stiffened. "You get it, missy?"
"Sorry!" Nora giggled. "I was just trying to keep morale up. Need to fight the good fight if we're going to show those humans what we're made of!"
"Again, I appreciate the effort – and the thought." The faunus sighed and rubbed his mask. "Just keep it down. There are people we don't want to find out about this."
Nora gasped. "You mean… huntsmen and huntresses?"
Blake elbowed her.
"Among other people," he said. "You seem unusually keen to be here. Most are a little more reserved."
"I like to think I'm dedicated."
Blake elbowed her again. Harder.
"Nice to see someone who is." The man's eyes roved over Nora and then to Blake, who tried not to stand too stiff under his attention.
Did he recognise her? Had she been discovered?
"I see your friend is a cat faunus…"
"What very big eyes you must have. Are you a wolf faunus?"
"Dog, but you're close." The man smiled, somehow missing the terrible pun. It faltered when he looked closely at Nora. "I don't see what type you are… where are your animal parts?"
Damn it. This was bad! Blake reached down subtly, thumbing the safety off Gambol Shroud. She was about to pull it out, when Nora threw her arms in the air and cried out, knocking Blake to the ground.
"My animal parts!?" she hissed. "You can't just ask a girl that! Oh my God!"
"W-What?"
"Where do you get off doing that? I didn't ask to see your animal parts. Do you just want me to take my top off and show you them? Is that what you want?"
"N-No, that's not what I meant." The man looked around, suddenly aware of all the attention they'd gained, and also just how unamused many of the women in the crowd looked. They'd likely misheard the question, but made up their own minds on what he was saying. "F-Forget I asked. I don't need to see them. I'm sorry! That was insensitive of me!"
Wait, that worked? How did that work!? Blake staggered to her feet and breathed a sigh of relief. Now all she needed was for Nora not to do anything stupid.
"Damn right, you're sorry!" Nora strode out of the crowd, pushing a finger into the terrorist's chest. "You're supposed to be recruiting me, not turning me against you. I've half a mind to go and become a huntress now. I bet I could have a cool team and even a handsome pink-eyed boy on it."
Blake nearly died right there. She rushed toward her partner, more than aware of the looks they'd garnered not only from the crowd, but also some of the other guards. "Nora!" she hissed.
Her partner whirled on her. "You can't use my name," she yelled. "What's the point of my having a mask if you use my name?"
"She's got a point," the guard said, now shaking his head at Blake. "Use a little common sense, won't you?"
What… the…
"I'm sorry about her. I think she got into the catnip before we came out." Nora mimed a circular motion by her head. "You know the type."
"I do," the faunus said, frowning at Blake now. "Well, so long as you can keep her mouth shut. We don't need people with loose lips around here."
"I'll watch her!"
"Good… I've got a feeling you'll go far with your attitude. Who knows, there might even be a command position in store for you."
Nora cupped her hands before her face. "Really?"
"I think you've got it in you."
Blake wanted to cry. It suddenly made so much sense how they'd never quite achieved victory. The terrorist nodded and made to leave, but paused at the last second.
"If it's not too rude to ask… what kind of faunus are you, anyway?"
Nora smiled. "A cow faunus."
The man paused and looked down at her chest, where she'd earlier claimed her `animal parts` were. His face turned a sicky tinge of green and he rushed off.
"A cow faunus?" Blake hissed.
"What? It worked."
"It worked at nearly giving me a heart attack." Blake let out a sigh of relief as someone ahead called something out, and the crowd started to mill into the building. Thank god. The sooner she could get this over, the better. "Stay quiet from now on," she said. "Don't make a scene and don't do anything suspicious."
"Like muttered whispering?" Nora asked casually.
Blake winced.
She hated her partner sometimes.
Luckily, no one heard her, or if they did, they attested it to nerves or something else. The pub filled fairly quickly, a disappointing indication of just how cruel the citizens of Vale could be. There were people in suits and uniforms, so jobs weren't quite as pinched as Atlas, but she felt confident saying the overall treatment wasn't much better.
Blake took a deep breath in and let it go. In her time with Adam, she'd run numerous recruiting operations, and this shouldn't have been much different. What they normally did was talk to some of the faunus, explain their aims, answer questions and disarm fears – and then give the people time to think about it.
The media and most other people probably thought it was worse, with coercion, threats, and tests where applicants were asked to `prove their worth` by killing a drunk human or something. That would have been counter-productive. If people had come to you, then they were already thinking about taking the step.
You didn't need someone to hand out threats. You needed a salesman.
All we need to do is lay low and wait until the end, she thought. So long as we don't make a fuss, I'll be able to find out where the bigger operations are, and then what the White Fang are planning.
This wasn't about shutting them down. This was about gathering information. It was about fitting in and not drawing attention.
"I like what you've done with your ears."
"Really? You don't think it's too much?"
"No way," Nora laughed, reaching out to rub some random girl's long ears. "It looks awesome. I wish I had long ears. The studs look nice, but I'd try loops."
The faunus woman held a hand to her chin. "Hm, that's not a bad idea. I'll have to try it out."
"What are you doing?" Blake hissed, practically leaping across the distance between them to clamp a hand down on her partner's shoulder. She winced at the sudden attention and tried to drag Nora away. The girl didn't move.
"What am I doing?" she asked. "What are you doing? I was just talking. Fitting in. You're the one jumping around like a madwoman." Nora sighed and turned to the other woman. "She's really nervous."
"I can get that. Heh, I guess I'm pretty nervous, too. I don't know if this is for me…"
"Then allow us to change your minds," a new voice called out. Blake and the two others turned in time to see a tall man climb onto an unused table. He was dressed in the usual White Fang uniform, but wore his mask on a hook by his neck, leaving his face visible to all. He was quite handsome, even Blake could admit. With blue eyes, auburn hair, a bright smile and two cat ears with a loop earring through one, he cut an imagine she wouldn't have been surprised to see in a magazine.
That was probably why he'd been chosen. They didn't want to portray themselves as violent killers, after all.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming first," he said. "I'd normally introduce myself, but I'm sure we'd all rather keep a degree of anonymity here, eh?"
There was some nervous laughter from the assembled crowd.
"Is that it?" he asked. "Ha, I see it's a tough crowd." He shook his head softly. "Don't worry, I'm only joking. I too once stood where you do now, and I can remember what went through my head at the mind. What am I doing? Is this the right decision? Isn't this wrong?" He smirked roguishly. "Where do I get a sexy uniform like that?"
This time, the laughter was louder - more confident. He knew how to play the crowd. Blake's eyes narrowed, but she kept her lips sealed tight.
Nora had less tact. Naturally. "It's not bad, but I'd only give it an eight!" she yelled.
God damn it, Nora.
The man blinked, but recovered with the grace of one used to interruptions. "It must be the lighting," he quipped. "Trust me, with the mask on, I'm at least an eight point two." He paused for more giggles as the crowd slowly relaxed. "Seriously, though, you're all of you nervous, I know. I want to tell you not to worry. That's normal. If any of you came here feeling anything other than that, then I would question your sanity. Whatever happens here, you'll still have the chance to leave in peace and think over your options, to make your own decisions." The man paused, holding his arms wide. "I'm only here to answer your questions. To do everything I can to make sure you have the information you need to make an informed decision."
Blake's stomach churned as she listened to the kind and charismatic man. She'd seen this before, of course. Once-upon-a-time, she'd been a fool for such speeches, listening with rapt attention as chivalrous White Fang soldiers spoke of heroism and change, of making a difference and saving lives – of a battle fought for the defence of faunuskind, not out of any hatred for humanity.
This was how they did things. Once you were in, there was no escape. The White Fang didn't look kindly on traitors…
"I have a question," someone called. "When do we get to meet Hentacle?"
The man blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Hentacle. You know, the faunus on the media. He helped you all out at the docks, right? Don't we get to meet him if we join?"
"Well, I… I can't speak specifically about that. I'm unsure if he's part of the organisation or not, or even if he's a faunus in the first place."
Another woman interrupted before he could regain control. "What else could he be? He has tentacles, but he's still mostly human. He has to be a faunus."
"Maybe he's an octopus faunus."
"No way. He's a rare Mistralian faunus."
"That's not a type!"
"It's my type." The middle-aged woman giggled. "Give me ten minutes alone with him. I'll find out what type of man he is~"
"Excuse me," the speaker called. "Please, I'd like to try and get this back on track!"
"I don't see Hentacle here."
"Don't be stupid. He'd be much higher in the White Fang than these guys. Why, I bet time with him is a reward for only the most loyal and achieving… ah, to experience that bliss. I want to feel those tentacles all over my body!"
Blake leaned away from the source of that particular titbit. While she'd explored the idea in literary form, and maybe a dream or two, she wasn't quite that bad. She winced and stood her ground as the crowd jostled, a fair number of them shouting out questions, most related to the strange person who'd worked alongside Torchwick and the White Fang.
Was that really why it was so crowded here? What on Remnant was going on?
She wasn't the only one to be confused if the speaker's face was any indication. He waved his hands, jumping up to catch people's attention. His bright smile was still just that, but now held a hint of frustration, too. "People, please, if I could have some quiet. I'm sure that everyone is very eager to meet and uh… interact with Hentacle, but he is not here and I'm not certain of his movements."
"If he's not here then neither am I," one woman said. "I'm not really one for the cause, but I was willing to give it a go for a good ravishing."
Others clearly agreed.
Blake remained silent. They didn't know about Hentacle… did that mean something? There was a chance he wasn't as closely affiliated to the White Fang as she'd thought, which might explain why he was willing to harm them. But if that were the case, then why did he help them all escape?
There was no way to tell. It was just as likely these people were just too low on the command chain to know the truth. Considering the risk of events like this being busted, you didn't send people who knew dangerous information here.
"If you want to leave, that's fine." The man bit down on his annoyance, his left eyebrow twitching wildly. "In fact, I'd like to say that we can make no promises in regards to him. If anyone specifically came here looking for anything related to Hentacle, then I'll politely ask you to leave."
Almost three quarters of the people in the building departed.
They left behind a stunned silence.
"Seriously?" the man cried, echoing her thoughts perfectly. "Is this for real? This isn't some kind of wild fever dream or something?" He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "Okay, fine. Whatever. I take it the rest of you are actually here for something other than fetishism?"
"Let's smash some humans!" Nora cheered.
"Thank you! Finally, it's nice to see someone who understands."
Blake sighed. If Adam were here, he'd have fallen on his sword by now. She wasn't sure if she ought to consider the same. This was what she'd given years of her life to. This is what she'd run away from home and done terrible things in the name of. I could have stayed at Menagerie. I could have had a whole library of books to read. I could have been on a team of people with a partner who isn't insane.
"Ooh, ooh, I have a question!" Nora called, shrugging off Blake's attempts to shut her up.
"Perfect. Please, go ahead. You've already shown more than enough enthusiasm. I'm sure whatever you want to know, it'll be useful for everyone here."
Nora nodded.
Please don't ask anything stupid. Blake begged.
"What are your secret plans and where are they going to take place?"
The room fell silent.
Blake's hand fell to Gambol Shroud. Well, it was good while it lasted. She clicked off the safety and prepared herself for what was to come. Yet again, she cursed herself for having allowed Nora to talk her into this.
Her partner was insane.
/-/
Roman didn't typically look forward to meetings with Cinder Fall.
There was good reason for that, what with how he was under her thumb only by value of her threats and influence, and how he knew full well he would be expendable in the long run. That was why he'd sent Neo after the kid, after all. Roman had plenty of reasons to feel nervous when Cinder was around.
It was just that ever since he'd forced the kid to help him escape the docks… he suddenly had more reason to fear her.
"Roman," the dangerous woman greeted as she entered the warehouse.
He shot to his feet, a wide smile on his face. "Cinder! So good to see you. How are things in Beacon?"
A hand clamped around his throat.
"Not good?" he managed to choke out.
"Why Roman, you've read my mind. No, things are not going good. Do you know why that is?"
"I…" He gasped, and only continued once she eased the pressure a little bit. "I have a feeling you're about to tell me."
"Things are not going well because my operations – run by you – have shown a worrying tendency to clash with something of great concern to me." Her eyes narrowed. "I trust you know who it is I speak of?"
"The kid," he whispered.
She squeezed.
"Jaune," he amended frantically. "You mean Jaune!"
Cinder's words came out in a snarl. "I do, Roman. I do mean Jaune. While I gave no specific orders that he was not to become involved in your affairs, I'd have hoped it went unsaid that I want no one to be involved. How is it that you've managed to fail twice now?"
A good question and one he'd have liked to think more on if it wasn't for how the hand on his throat had started to feel far hotter than was natural or comfortable. "The incident at the docks wasn't my fault," he said. "We came in on Bullheads with literally no warning. I have no idea how they could have known about it. I did the best I could. I tried to keep him safe!"
"Are you sure it wasn't yourself you were trying to keep safe, Roman?"
Lie and have her call it, or tell the truth and have her kill him. He kept his mouth shut, hoping against all hope that something would distract her. If only Neo wasn't still at Beacon, but he was here on his own and wouldn't have wanted to risk her anyway.
Cinder scoffed and released him, watching as he fell to his knees. "I still need you, so you get to live for now. Make no mistake, Roman. He is far more important to me than you are. If he is harmed because of you, I shall not give you the time to regret it. Am I understood?"
"Perfectly…"
"Good." She moved over and sat down on one of his couches, helping herself to some wine. She waited for him to stagger over and sit down, and then smiled as she watched his hands shake as he tried to light a cigar. "Would you like some assistance?" She leaned over and summoned a small flame to her hand. Her smile was nothing short of vicious.
Roman forced himself to lean in and accept the aid, despite how much at risk that placed him.
"I want to know what you've been up to lately, Roman. Your recent disaster of a burglary aside, how do things fare? I trust you've managed to succeed somewhere."
"Apart from what happened at the docks, things are all going to plan." Roman waved a hand, relieved to be on more confident ground. "I led the attack on the Atlas convoy and we were able to make off with all the Paladins on board. Not a single one was damaged and all are being retrofit right now to remove any way for Atlas to track, influence or control them."
"And the pilots?"
"We're in the process of training some of the less useless animals to pilot them. You said you wanted everything to look like it was by them, and they were only too thrilled to receive some new toys." He snorted and flicked some ash onto an ornamental tray on his coffee table. "They were like a dog with a new bone, all eager to cause devastation in the name of peace and equality."
"Fools," Cinder agreed. "Well, they serve their purposes. How about Mountain Glenn?"
"The last of the tunnels are being excavated, and damaged lines repaired. We can start shipping supplies there within a week or two. I've gone for caution over speed. Don't want to alert anyone, let alone the Grimm."
"Hmm, there is no immediate rush on that, so I'm sure it will be fine. Keep an eye on them," she added, eyes narrowed. "The White Fang are not renowned for keeping secrets. Terrorists are just normal people out of hours, and are prone to gossip."
"I keep them not knowing anything," he said. "Honestly, our biggest problem is numbers. We're going to need more disposable grunts for your plan." He knew better than to suggest the problem was hers, and quickly continued. "I have them running some new recruitment drives in the city. We're looking at moderates, the kind that will agree to something if it's no risk and morally ambiguous."
"How are any of our plans that?" Cinder asked, smiling.
"I didn't say clever moderates," Roman replied, an equal expression on his face. "By the time they realise what they're doing it'll be too late. Anyway, those should bring in some new recruits, but I'll need to address them myself at some point. I've already had some balk at working with a human, so I want to nip it in the bud early."
Cinder nodded and sipped from her glass. Even in a relaxed posture, her eyes watched him, twin pools of gold that promised so much. If he'd been a braver or more suicidal man, he might have tried to make a move on her. She was beautiful.
He valued his own life.
"There is one thing I wanted to ask," he said, testing his words carefully. She raised an eyebrow but allowed him to continue. "The kid… he's your brother, right?"
"Oh, did he tell you that?"
"He might have let it slip. Then again, I think he was still trying to decide whether he wanted to kill us all or not at that point." He looked for her response, but had to suppress a growl when she looked more pleased than anything else.
Of course she'd be happy her damned half-Grimm brother tried to kill him. What was he anyway that he could be part Grimm? He knew that question wouldn't come with an answer, so he didn't bother asking it.
"Isn't there some way you can keep him off my back?" he asked instead. "I'm not asking for a miracle," he added, sensing danger. "I just mean that if he keeps running headfirst into my operations, then things are going to get awkward."
Cinder hummed to herself, crossing her legs and leaning back. "I should not have to help you with anything, Roman. Aren't you the master criminal?"
"I'm only human."
"I suppose so. Very well, I shall offer some assistance – but only this once. Tell me when your next operation is, a major one, and I shall personally ensure he is occupied."
Roman breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, some progress. So long as she kept Jaune, Hentacle, or whatever he was called away, things would be fine. Maybe it was time he had Neo step up her game as well, though. She'd been too slow with him, and the situation was getting worse. Now was a time for action.
"I have a rally planned in a few weeks," he said, "a chance for me to introduce myself to the new recruits, and also drum up support by unveiling the Paladins. If you can keep him busy for that, it would help."
"I'll see what I can do. Send details to my scroll." Cinder stood gracefully, sipping the rest of her wine and putting the glass down. "Oh, and Roman… I do hope you won't make it a habit of asking me to waste my time helping you?"
Her eyes bore into his.
"After all, if I need to do everything on my own, I might consider your services… unnecessary."
Yep, Roman thought as he watched her leave. It's definitely time to have Neo step things up a notch.
Maybe it was even time to meet with the man in question directly. After all, there was more than one way to skin a cat, and he didn't have to make himself useful to Cinder if he could be useful to the kid instead.
"This is going to be a disaster," he sighed. "I can just tell."
/-/
Jaune wasn't quite sure when a search for two missing friends turned into a cross-team rescue operation, but it must have involved Yang in some way, because he wasn't sure who else could have generated such drama. Certainly Weiss and Pyrrha couldn't be held responsible. They were only there because Yang had decided they'd need to go look for them in Vale, and Jaune had remembered that he and Ruby were grounded.
Weiss had been caught in her own trap, forced to go along if only to keep them safe.
Or at least, that had been the plan. They'd just managed to prepare, grab their weapons, and rush to the Bullhead docks, when they'd arrived to see Blake and Nora – perfectly safe – making their way off of one.
Blake froze immediately upon seeing them, eyes wide and a curse slipping from her mouth.
Nora waved happily. "Hey guys!"
"Nora," Ren sighed, more relief in his tone than had ever been heard before. "Where were the two of you? You vanished and didn't give us any warning at all."
Jaune shared a look with Weiss, who sighed and shook her head as Ren pried the excitable girl off of him. Well, so much for their dramatic rescue. The theories had been flying thick and wild, ranging from the two off hunting Hentacle alone, fighting Grimm, all the way to them invading the White Fang. "I told you it was nothing," he whispered.
"And I didn't disagree," Weiss countered. "I'm only here because I can't trust you and Ruby to wander around on your own lest you cause an international disaster." She nodded back to Team RYBN, who had finally come together. Ren didn't look pleased.
"You didn't answer your scrolls and even turned your team trackers off," he said, arms crossed. "What were you doing?" It was the first time Jaune had seen him look annoyed, and he was surprised at how stern a figure he could be. Even Yang looked miffed, standing beside her partner with a thunderous expression.
Not that Nora noticed.
"Oh, were you worried about us? About me? Oh Renny, that's so sweet!"
Ren sighed as his friend latched onto him, crushing his ribs.
He looked to Nora's partner for an answer instead.
"Ah, we didn't do much," Blake said. "We walked around Vale, just… talked. Spent time together…"
"It was like a partner's night out!" Nora cheered.
Ren's shoulders relaxed. "Nothing dangerous happened?"
"Nothing at all," Blake agreed. "We just went to have a drink together and talked with some people."
"Oh yeah!" Nora nodded and fished around in her bag. When she came back out, Blake choked loudly, while Weiss sounded like she'd inhaled not only a bug, but an entire tree. "We joined the White Fang!" Nora cheered, wearing a terrorist mask. "How cool is that? I've never been in a terrorist organisation before. Blake got in too, but I don't think she'll do very well. The guy said I had great leadership potential, but Blake is more of a grunt." She lowered her voice. "Don't tell her, though. I think she's jealous."
Blake didn't look jealous. She actually looked horrified.
Ren sighed and ran a hand down his face.
"Damn it, Nora..."
So, to answer a quick question – when in the timeline is this? Well, it's kind of before the White Fang Paladin incident in the show. The idea is that Blake went all emo-angst like she did in the show, except that with Nora as her partner, it was allowed to continue for exactly the amount of time Nora's patience did.
How it came to this will be revealed next chapter. As in, how Nora went and organised it all.
Next Chapter: 6th July
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur