The Fall Project

War

Consequences

Blake drew her sword and charged forward to stand between the two raging fighters. There was more information she needed, especially about the hidden threat that Adam hinted at a just few moments before. As she neared, she was stopped by a sudden face-full of golden feathers. She was forced back by one of Milo's wings as he caught Adams blade with a pair of his own.

"Stay back or you'll get yourself hurt," he demanded, then shoved forward with all of his might.

Adam defended by ducking under his slash and cutting one of the tent supports, making the heavy canvas fall. The red-haired faunus sliced upwards and slipped through the cut he made, snarling when he saw the tent canvas suddenly reduced to ribbons by Milo's swords. They lunged for each other once more; a dance of deadly weapons and near-instant reflexes.

To the untrained eye, they would both be a blur of lightening quick slashes, stabs, and dodges that could barely be seen. Blake followed along easily, but every time she tried to intervene she was pushed aside by Milo.

She grit her teeth in frustration. "Both of you stop it right now!" Oddly enough, her outburst did make them stop fighting, if just for a moment.

"Do you have any idea what kind of man he is, Blake?" Adam asked her, clear frustration in his voice. "He's a murderer and a traitor, and not a single thing he says or does can be trusted!"

"What are you talking about?" she questioned, trying to understand his meaning.

Adam pointed accusingly at Milo, "The only reason I was promoted is because Cinder went looking for this scum and never came back!"

Blake shook her head in confusion, turning to Milo for an explanation. She nearly jumped upon seeing the deadly rage in his eyes, his face contorted in a hateful glare directed solely at Adam. There was something primal in the fire in his eyes; a subverted bloodlust that she never realized he could be capable of.

Fire licked the tips of the feathers on his wings as he crouched low and lunged at the man, who met his attack with a twitch of his wrist and the harsh clang of metal meeting metal. Adam kicked at the avian's exposed belly, throwing him back several feet before countering with a dash of his own. A billowing stream of liquid fire flew from Milo's fingertips, bathing the White Fang commander in searing heat. Blake squinted through the intense flame and bright light, seeing Adam absorbing the attack with his half-drawn blade and his hair glowing bright red as he gathered the destructive energy.

Seeing that he was not damaging his opponent, Milo reached one hand to his belt and unclipped a small Dust cylinder, pressing a button on the cap to ignite the fuel inside. He tossed the canister into the air, letting it catch on the invisible fingers of his semblance and hang suspended above their heads; a white-hot ball of flame growing more intense for each moment that passed. There was the sound of a loud pop, followed by a high pitched whistle as the canister ruptured. He released his grip on both the canister and the stream of hellfire aimed at Adam, then leaped back and shielded Blake with his wings as the object started to fall.

With a roar of frustration and anger, Adam fully drew his weapon and charged, slashing at Milo with fluid precision. Before his blade could sink deep into the man's flesh, the makeshift bomb touched the ground and exploded.

The blue-white flash of a combination of electric and fire dust vaporized what little remained of the vegetation around the center of camp, and set fire to any tent that stood in the general vicinity. Adam was thrown back, digging his blade into the ground to slow himself down. Half-blind and disoriented from the flash, he could do little more than hold his sword at guard and wait for some sort of attack to come his way.

From under the protection of his golden wings, Blake felt the infernal heat skirt past her arms and legs, watching in perplexed astonishment as the grass below her feet burned away, the newly-scorched ground starting to dry up and fracture. When the heat faded she pushed upwards and shoved Milo away from her, worriedly searching to see if Adam had been injured. When she saw him stumbling against a tree several dozen feet away, she started to step forward.

Suddenly, two powerful arms scooped her up from behind and she felt a powerful gust of wind as Milo surged into the air with a beat of his wings. She struggled against his grip despite their growing altitude. "What are you doing, Milo?! We can learn more from him!" she yelled over the wind, beating against his chest as they rose to the heavens.

"He's not in the mood to talk anymore," the young man responded, shifting her around so she couldn't squirm out of his grasp.

"No thanks to you!" Blake yelled, slapping a hand across his cheek for good measure. "Put me down already!"

Milo ignored her, beating his wings faster as they started to descend, the combined weight of the two of them too much to stay aloft for long. After a few dozen fear-inducing seconds, Blake started to go over the information that she had gotten from Adam. He had said there was a greater threat, someone pulling the strings in this overthrow of the modern world.

It wasn't much, but at least now they knew. She paused as a thought occurred; a detail that she previously overlooked coming to the forefront of her mind.

"Lean back and push your feet forward," Milo ordered as he pulled up slightly, making them start to fall to the ground. "I said lean back!" he yelled, just a moment too late.

They flipped forward, rolling several feet on the hard ground before skidding to a stop. Blake leaped to her feet, distancing herself from Milo and wiping off any dirt or dust that clung to her clothing. "Would it hurt for you to work on your landings a little more?"

"Well I've never had to carry someone before, so take it easy, would you?" he argued, resting on a fallen log at the edge of the small clearing.

When she had a moment to gather her thoughts, Blake's eyebrows furrowed, knowing that she had to ask him a question. "Milo, why was Adam so upset that you killed Cinder? She isn't a Faunus, so he shouldn't care."

His normally stone-faced expression twisted into a dark frown, and he sighed. After clearing his throat with a grunt, he began explaining with a remorseful tone. "My real mother's maiden name was Angela Fall. Cinder's given name is Cinder Aurelius. She changed her name when her entire family died of mysterious circumstances while she was attending Haven."

Blake's eyes widened in shock as the dots connected in her mind, her jaw dropping open in astonishment as Milo revealed one of his deepest, darkest secrets. "Cinder… was your sister?"

He answered with a hesitant nod, failing to ignore the look of vile disgust on her face.

"Would you take it easy?!" Weiss yelled from the roof of the trailer, doing her best to keep her balance as the truck surged to the side once again.

"No can do, Princess!" Gabriel called from the cabin of the truck, chuckling to himself. "Gotta keep these guys off us!"

She huffed and looked back, watching as Ruby and Mike used their weapons to fire on the fast approaching vehicles. Because of Gabe's erratic driving, aiming was difficult and only a few attackers were stopped before many more reached the trailer. As the truck swerved left once again to block one car, two more revved their engines and sped to the right, one driving up to the front of Cade's truck while the other pulled behind it.

Weiss ignored those two, knowing that Neo could handle anyone that might reach Cade. Instead, she prepared for her own fight as several White Fang troops leaped onto the trailer. "We've got company!" Ruby called over the loud roar of the engines and wind. She brandished her scythe when three faunus climbed up onto the trailer, slicing down to make them lose their footing.

The young heiress joined the battle, but quickly found that every time she fought one faunus off, a few more took it's place. It wasn't until then that she realized they were quickly being overwhelmed. Gabe couldn't knock all the cars off the road, and when Ruby and Mike stopped shooting it gave them free reign to come up and drop off more boarders.

"You guys keep fighting, I'm gonna get some of these cars off our back!" Mike yelled, then jumped off the back of the trailer with a holler of joy. In a flash of blue he teleported to the hood of nearest vehicle and stabbed deep into the engine block, making the car sputter and stall. He shut down a dozen vehicles before the White Fang caught on and started sending one brave person onto the hood of each vehicle to pose a challenge for him.

As fast as Mike worked, it still wasn't enough to hold them all at bay.

Gabe stomped on the clutch and slapped the stick into high gear, making the engine groan in protest. He followed closely behind Cadence, checking his mirrors when he heard an oncoming White Fang vehicle approaching from behind. On the left he saw a white truck with what looked like a large caliber machine gun anchored to the bed. The much faster vehicle zoomed forward to get in front of Gabe.

The young Huntsman leaned out the window and angrily waved his hand. "Hey, I'm drivin' here! Do you mind?!" he yelled, then swerved to the left. The trailer smacked against the side truck, sending it careening off road and into the thick treeline. A loud crunch of twisting metal confirmed that the vehicle was no longer following.

One thickly armored van made it through the mess, charging forward and making its way in front of Gabe. When the young man saw the back doors open, his eyes widened when a massive hulk of a man revealed himself, brandishing a humongous chainsaw.

"Oh boy..." Gabe huffed as the White Fang lieutenant gave a wicked grin as he revved the motor and started grinding away at the engine. He stomped on the pedal, surging forward and sandwiching the van between the two trucks. The chainsaw-wielding faunus was thrown atop the cabin as the van crumpled, lost control and turned sideways. The vehicle tipped over and rolled as Gabe's spiked bumper repeatedly smashed it to pieces until it was finally knocked aside.

With the attacker out of sight, Gabriel let out a sigh of relief now that his vehicle was no longer being assaulted by a chainsaw-wielding maniac. Not two seconds later, he heard the deafening grind of metal being sheared away just above his left ear. "AAAAAHHH!" he shrieked, ducking down to escape the deadly weapon.

Noticing the disturbance, Weiss turned toward the front of the truck to see a familiar Faunus attacking the cabin. With little time to left to act, she formed a glyph with a wave of her hand and pulled harshly back, violently forcing the man to stumble back and turn his attention to her instead.

His mouth contorted into a crooked smile when he regarded the heiress. "I remember you, Schnee," he accusingly declared, his voice laced with hatred. "This time… I'll finish the job!"

"Weiss!" Ruby called out, "We can take him on together!"

The young heiress turned and gave her partner a determined look. "No, Ruby. I can handle him; just keep protecting the dust!"

Ruby pursed her lips in concern, but nodded her head and turned her attention back to the would-be attackers.

When Weiss next looked upon her opponent, it was with determination and focus. She saw the unnamed thousands of Vale citizens, people that lost their chance at life when it was viciously taken from them by disgusting creatures; just like this White Fang Lieutenant. When they fought on the train so long ago, Weiss was prideful and naive, ultimately leading to her defeat. This time, however, she was ready to dig deep and bring out everything she had to offer.

With practiced finesse and precision, she brandished her weapon and lunged forward, narrowly ducking below a sweep aimed for her neck. Well within his range of attack, she made three quick jabs at his thick armor before having to roll to the right to avoid a powerful overhead strike. The foul smell of gasoline made her grit her teeth and push harder, using her glyphs to bolster the speed and damage of each strike.

Within moments, all other things fell away as she focused on one singular goal; the defeat of this one adversary. Each of his attacks were dodged or redirected, then followed up by several attacks of her own. She dominated the fight, pushing the man closer and closer to the edge of the trailer with each powerful thrust of her rapier that bounced harmlessly off the man's aura.

Enraged by the heiress' unexpected combat prowess, the lieutenant bellowed and reached forward with an outstretched hand, hoping to catch her off guard like the last time they fought. Instead, she spun in a tight circle, batting his hand aside and throwing him off balance.

Just as she finished the motion and crouched low beneath the man's form, Weiss cried out and thrust upward with all of her might.

Both she and the lieutenant gasped as the tip of her sword pierced through his armor, penetrating deep through the man's abdomen and into his heart.

The chainsaw slipped from his grasp and clattered to the ground, and he gurgled as he fell to his knees and gripped Weiss' arm with one shaking hand. "You… How did..." he coughed, blood starting to spill from his mouth.

The heiress was in shock. She merely stared at the lieutenant in disbelief as he slowly pulled the sword from his side with a sickening schlick, the visible contours of his face twisted in pure agony. When the thin blade finally pulled free, the heiress took a step back, unable to look away from the dark crimson liquid that dripped from the tip of her weapon.

When she looked back at her opponent, she knew that he was defeated. He lacked the strength to stand any longer, staying knelt to the ground and clutching his side as his lifeblood quickly slipped between his fingers. Chest heaving with each breath, he reached up and removed his mask.

His eyes were a deep brown, dark and filled with a willful rage. He truly despised her, through and through, for no other reason than the fact that her last name was Schnee. The hatred in his glare burned into her heart, until the fire in his eyes died and he fell from the top of the truck to meet the fast-moving ground below.

Weiss shuddered, wondering what she could have done to deserve this hatred. What did her family do? All her life she hated the White Fang for the atrocities she had witnessed against her family… but what was the true cause of all this suffering?

She thought she would be proud of defeating a lieutenant of the White Fang, but instead there was only a noxious lump in her throat; an urge to vomit that took all her will to stifle. She took a deep breath and pushed all of the terrible images and thoughts to the back of her mind, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand. There would be time for reflections and consequences later.

"We're almost there!" Ruby yelled, firing a few more times at the remaining vehicles that relentlessly chased them. "Once we get past the bridge they should back off, right?" she questioned, turning to Mike.

"Supposedly. At that point we would be in range to call for help from Mistral," he answered. A few moments later, he noticed a glint, something shining over the treetops. "Wait a minute..." He squinted, searching for the cause. Another shimmer caught his attention, the waves of jetwash from a Bullhead moving at top speed. As it came closer, he noticed the long tubes of rocket launchers attached to the underside of each wing.

"Oh, that is not good," he said to himself, then glanced at the front of the first truck to make a short teleport to Cade's door. "We've got company, buddy. Looks like a gunship on the way, so things will probably get hairy."

The young leader heartily laughed, "There isn't anything this baby can't handle!"

"Just keep things going, alright?" Mike quipped, then moved back to the second truck.

"The cars are backing off!" Ruby yelled over the howling wind. Merely seconds later, a rocket hissed just to the left of the truck and exploded, thrashing the trailer to the right and throwing Weiss, Mike, and Ruby off their feet.

While Ruby and Weiss managed to stay on top of the truck, Mike bounced hard off the steel, quickly grabbing the edge with an outstretched hand. He grit his teeth and looked back at the Bullhead, brandishing his machine gun with one hand.

"Alright… None of that!" he yelled as a second volley of rockets came their way. With a pull of the trigger, he let loose a whirlwind of fiery mayhem, making several rockets explode mid-air. The remaining bullets bounced harmlessly off of the bullhead's armor, then it swept to the right of the two trucks and rotated to fire on them with the chin turret.

"Take cover!" Mike yelled at Weiss and Ruby, who both swung over the edge and held on for their lives as the loud, repetitive crack of the weapon pierced their ears. Thankfully, the trailer absorbed most of the attack until the Bullhead pulled away and sped off to make another strafing run. The three young Hunters climbed back up onto the top of the trailer, giving themselves a precious breath to settle their nerves.

"Hey, Red," Mike called, making Ruby turn to look at him. "This is bad..." he declared, gritting his teeth in pain as he pulled his bloodied hand from the wound at his side.

The young leader's heart plummeted in her chest, and she started frantically moving to get him to safety. He grunted when she helped him to his feet and guided the way toward the cabin of the truck, taking a moment to rest while she held the door open for him to climb inside.

Ruby nervously peered over the roof of the cabin when the deafening crackle of the Bullhead's engines sounded as it approached from behind once again. She looked to her partner, her eyebrows furrowed with concern. "Weiss-"

"I'll handle it, just take care of him!" the heiress sternly shouted, knowing that taking care of Mike was far more important than helping take down the aircraft. The crimson reaper nodded her head, then reached out to her injured friend to lower him into the cabin to bandage his wounds.

Weiss took a deep breath and turned to the rear of the trailer, summoning up the power of her semblance as the Bullhead screamed ever closer. She knew how to take it down, it would just be… risky.

The moment the Bullhead's chin turret rattled once again, the young heiress swept her sword forward, creating a protective white glyph to shield her from the oncoming hailstorm of bullets. The moment the barrage subsided she swept the glyph aside and charged, creating another glyph at the rear of the trailer with a wave of her hand.

The Bullhead was well within range when Weiss hopped onto the solid surface, crouching low as a few of the rings spun and gathered energy. She leaped upward, letting the glyph propel her much farther than any normal human could jump. With a skillful twist of her hips and a graceful backflip, she landed on top of the Bullhead.

Thinking quickly on how she could best solve the situation, she carefully made her way to the left engine nacelle, using wires and footholds to grasp on to. Upon reaching the center of the left wing, she gave the Dust canisters in her sword a good spin and held down the trigger. The silver blade immediately began to glow red, quickly getting brighter and hotter as more and more Dust was imbued with it. After a few seconds, she heard a loud click and a ring of metal as the empty canister was ejected, then took a deep breath and raised her sword high.

She cleaved downward in a wide arc, her Dust-infused blade cutting through the metal like a hot knife through butter, and sheared the wing of the Bullhead clean off. The craft lurched to the side, nearly throwing her off before she could grab hold of anything. Luckily, she managed to dive down and hang on to a few loose cables as the aircraft tumbled out of the sky.

It wasn't until the Bullhead started to spin that Weiss began to panic. The wind tore at her body, thrashing her around as she desperately tried to figure out what to do. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that below her was a small canyon, with a ledge on the right that she might be able to safely land on. Trying to calm her erratic heartbeat, she watched carefully and prayed that she wouldn't mess up.

Powering through her fear and gritting her teeth, she let go of the open wires and spread her arms and legs wide to help control her descent. She struggled to keep her eyes open against the wind, just barely able to see that the ground was not far off. A thunderous boom pierced the air, something large and heavy explosively smashing against wood and stone.

She tucked her head in and rolled forward, jumping off a few glyphs to slow her fall. Unfortunately, she was still moving too fast for a perfect landing. The moment her feet touched the ground her momentum carried her forward, tumbling roughly through the dirt.

Weiss coughed and slowly stood, brushing off a few scrapes and bruises and sheathing her rapier. When she turned back, she saw what little remained of the bridge fracture and give way, crumbling into the ravine in a matter of seconds. She stood on the side protected by Mistral jurisdiction, but the trucks had yet to pass the bridge, and were now trapped in enemy territory.

Unless…

As the convoy approached, she calmly walked up to the edge of the ravine and focused her semblance once more. A dozen glyphs formed a makeshift bridge for the two trucks, but they were never intended to hold so much weight. For each set of tires that touched the bridge, the strain on the Heiress' mind greatly increased, until the load was so great that all she could think about was her will to keep her friends safe, and the intense pain of the fire lit between her ears.

After what felt to be an eternity, the trailer finally passed the last glyph of the bridge, and she let her semblance fade. Exhaustion immediately took hold of her, making her legs tremble and her mind go fuzzy. She felt the caring hand of Ruby on her shoulder and blinked away the fog in her eyes.

"Did everyone make it okay?" the young heiress asked.

Ruby nodded. "Mike is patched up, but he'll need healing time," she said, then gave her partner a look of great concern. "Are you okay? You're bleeding..."

Weiss suddenly became aware of the hot liquid that trickled from her nose, and tried to wipe it away, but only succeeded in spreading it around. "I'll be okay. I just need some rest," she reassured, letting Ruby guide her to the truck as she pinched her nose in an attempt to stifle the bleeding. Though she had set her partner at ease, she herself was very concerned with such a strange reaction. She had never tried to carry so much weight before on her glyphs, and clearly the strain had a physical effect on her mind. She would have to be more careful in the future to prevent long-term damage, or perhaps speak with her sister to learn of the limits of the family semblance.

As they moved deeper into Mistral, Weiss wondered what would become of all this… What would her father think? Did this action actually make a difference? The only way to know would be to send him a letter, and discuss the origins of the war the Schnee family had with the White Fang. She needed to know what spurned this hatred, and how she might be able to stop it from growing.

The only remaining question is; can she trust her father to tell the truth?

"What made you do it?" Blake hissed under her breath. "What would bring you to the point of killing your own sister?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Nova growled. "You're crazy if you believe I'd do that."

The raven-haired faunus grit her teeth, "What I believe doesn't change the fact that you-"

"Silence!" Glynda demanded as she slapped her riding crop down on the desk between them. The disciplinarian continued pacing the classroom, ensuring that the room remained silent until the Headmaster had his chance to speak to them.

For the time being, he seemed content with sitting at his desk with a look of disappointment and frustration on his face. His hands were folded tightly and pressing against his mouth in quiet contemplation as his gaze slowly scanned each of the eight young delinquents. With his lips pressed in a firm line, he stood and began pacing between the desks as he addressed them.

"What am I going to do with all of you, hmm?" he asked, though no one dared answer. "I bet that some of you believe that you did the right thing. That putting yourself in harm's way; that risking your very lives is worth a few thousand pounds of Dust!" his voice rose, echoing through the small room as if to ingrain his point into their minds.

"What you have done today was irresponsible, foolhardy, naive, and to be completely honest… very stupid! None of you have completed your training! None of you are ready to face the horrors of the outside world, and yet you choose to thrust yourselves into these dire situations!

"You are all my responsibility," he declared, stamping his cane into the ground. "And as such, you are all required to follow the policies, rules, and guidelines of the academy. I have been lenient in the past, but these are dangerous times. From this point onward, you will not leave the Mistral boundary except by explicit orders from myself, or any of the Beacon Staff."

Ozpin sighed, his eyebrows furrowing in sadness. "The future of Remnant rests on the shoulders of your generation. Do not squander it by needlessly risking your lives." The headmaster gestured toward Mike, who wore a bandage around his torso from the wound he received on the field. "This time one of you sustained a very serious injury, and was very lucky to have survived. Next time… the consequences may be too much for you to bear."

The young students took his words to heart. He was right; in the end, the Dust mattered very little. Sure, they managed to put a small dent in the White Fang's supplies, but so many things could've gone wrong that it wasn't worth the dangers.

"Professor Goodwitch will enact disciplinary action as she sees fit, effective tomorrow morning," he said, heading toward the exit in a brisk pace. "You are all dismissed, except for Miss Schnee."

The Heiress remained seated while the others shuffled out of the room. Once they were out of earshot, Ozpin pulled up a chair and sat across from her.

"I want to let you know that your father is coming," he said.

"What? Why?" she asked in a near panic, "What does my father have to do with this?"

"Weiss, a citizen is dead. There will be an investigation and you will need your father's support," he stated with a solemn tone.

The young huntress felt nausea rise in her throat once again, "But... it was self-defense."

"Of that i have no doubt. Still, the authorities must make their investigation."

Weiss gulped, knowing that if her father was going to be here soon, then sending him a letter would be out of the question.

One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.

-Proverbs 14:16