After being saved from the SDC, Blake finds herself a free woman. And the uncertainty of this newfound freedom terrifies her.


Evading the guards had not been difficult for Blake. The only thing she had done was use her semblance to fool them into thinking the room was full of people and she then took to attacking each one of them with Gambol. The aftermath, unfortunately, had to be one where the three guards lost their lives. They had seen her without her mask and Blake didn't need any of them relaying to the Schnee who she was.

But then again they already knew who she was…

She had told Weiss her name. Had even promised her that she would find her.

Why? Why couldn't she just let things go and return to her old life.

Because you don't want to go back… a part of her whispered honestly.

Blake knew how things worked in the White Fang. The moment your comrades saw you were captured, they informed Adam and a target was put on your head. Because, as a White Fang operative, you were expected to kill yourself before allowing capture or the organization would do it for you the moment you returned. Blake had seen it happen many times and she was not expecting Adam to make an exception for her. And, after almost a month of being away, she knew that everyone would suspect her and name her a traitor.

This, for better or worse, was the opportunity she had wanted to disappear.

Everyone thought she was dead, the White Fang would not be looking for her for long and the Schnee Dust Company had no idea that she had been saved that night thanks to Weiss.

It could be so easy to just get some things and leave.

And yet there was something preventing her from doing so, a promise she had made to both Weiss and herself that day they parted ways. And Blake, for the first time in a long time, was looking forward to a reunion. She felt she needed to honor this promise she made. Not only because she desired to see the Schnee woman again, but because she felt it was a way to repay all the kindness Weiss had offered her.

Weiss Schnee, in a word, was an enigma that Blake felt she needed to solve.

And if there was one thing Blake didn't run away from, no matter how scared or insecure she felt, was a good challenge.

Hence, instead of taking the first train out of Atlas, she used the small emergency pact the White Fang gave their operatives to buy herself some new clothes and a hair bow. Luckily for her, her ears were not hard to hide, which in turn gave her the opportunity to walk as a human around Atlas and at least get the White Fang out of her hair.

In fact, it had been such a long time since she took her mask off that apart from Adam, she didn't expect any faunus from the White Fang to recognize her without it.

Thankfully, that worked to her advantage.

Walking through Atlas like a human certainly made Blake see the privileges that she implicitly acquired. Instead of being the recipient of distrustful and hurtful glances, the cat faunus could calmly walk around the city without having to worry of an attack or racist slur. She could go to a store and but things without being constantly watched by the sells-person and she could sit down and eat in a restaurant without being denied access.

Having this bow in her head made Blake feel sick of the irreversible inequality faunus experienced daily. It made her understand why there were some that pretended to be human, that hid their true selves from the rest of humans and were happy in their shame. That type of behavior, many years ago, had been seen by Blake as a betrayal. But right now, after almost dying and being set free of the White Fang, she found herself understanding, and even enjoying, this fake peace she had created.

Nevertheless, Blake was also thankful that this new identity she took could get her valuable information without risking too much in return. Humans, the cat faunus found out rather quickly, loved to gossip about others. Most specifically, others who were in higher positions of power than they were.

And lucky for her, every single person that lived in Atlas knew who Weiss Schnee was.

It all started with a trip to the local library, using a stolen card to access some newspaper articles and stories done on the Schnee family; most specifically the ones that had to do with Weiss. Soon enough she found out that Weiss was the heir to the dust company after her sister Winter was disinherited. Winter, who Blake remembered clearly, had been the one that helped her escape. Then there was a younger brother Whitley, a mom that rarely made social appearances and Jacques Schnee, the head of the SDC. All that was old news to Blake. The White Fang tended to be well informed about the family and relied on spies to keep them updated about the latest gossip.

What Blake needed specifically was a location. Somewhere she would be able to approach Weiss.

In order to get that type of information, the cat faunus knew that it needed to come from a trusted source that wouldn't be too difficult to find. Someone not too close to Weiss but still somewhat knowledgeable of her schedule and activities. And to find her snitch, it took Blake two days to realize that most of the guards of the SDC's headquarters rotated shifts between the main factory and the Schnee manor. And, that most of them went to get drinks after their night shift at a popular bar downtown.

After finding out her target, she took two more days to watch the atmosphere around the bar. The area where it was located was one not frequented by faunus. Which meant that she would need to keep her status as a faunus a secret from everyone. Apart from that small thing, it seemed like the guards of the SDC only chose this bar because it was the closest one to the main factory.

Spending what remained of her emergency money (after having paid to rent an apartment), Blake wore her new black dress, her black hair bow and confidently went to the bar, knowing that most men and some women were staring at her. She was no stranger to the eyes of others, and, as a faunus, it was pretty obvious when someone was 'enjoying' the way she looked.

Determinedly walking to the bar, Blake sat down in one of the chairs and ordered herself a drink, quickly scouting the area in search of any danger. When none was found, she relaxed and took a sip of her drink, enjoying the way the alcohol hit her stomach.

It had been such a long time…

Hearing that someone was walking towards her, by the sound of it a man, Blake pretended to not have idea and faked surprise when someone touched her shoulder. Turning around, she saw a man with two drinks in his hands, obviously wanting to give her one. Realizing that this is not the one she needed, Blake merely rejected his invitation by saying that she was waiting for someone.

Once again alone, and nursing her drink, Blake thought about her recent behavior. Going to bars, dressing up and drinking; those were things she never did. All her time was spent planning, conducting or taking care of White Fang business. After leaving her parents' house that night, Blake's life had been solely focused on the White Fang.

And now that it was gone she had nothing left.

Only this promise.

"Excuse me." this time she hears a familiar voice and looks up to see the man from the SDC. "Is this seat taken?"

Bingo.

"It's not." she says politely and watches him take a seat.

Taking a sip from her drink, Blake waits for him to start the conversation.

"I…" he stutters. "This may seem a little forward of me, but I was wondering if I could buy you a new drink?" he asks and that's when Blake notices that she finished her glass.

I need to measure myself.

"Sure." Blake gives him a warm smile while stretching her hand. "My name is Diana."

"Jordan. Nice to meet you Diana." the guard smiles and pushes the new drink towards her.

"Likewise." she nods and takes a sip from the drink.

"Tell me…" Jordan gets closer to her. "What is a beautiful girl like you doing here?"

"Getting a drink?" she can't stop herself from answering sarcastically because that was a really stupid question.

"I meant alone." the man corrects himself. "Why are you in a bar all alone?"

"To get a drink." Blake teases him. "Sometimes, it's just one of those days when you need one."

"I know what you mean." Jordan slurps and finishes his drink. "Today was definitely not a good day at work."

"What do you do?" she fakes curiosity.

"I'm a guard at the SDC." he says proudly. "What about you?"

"I'm a photographer." Blake lies. "And today I had this session scheduled and the person was just horrible."

"Why?" Jordan asks and orders himself another drink.

"She thought she was just so superior." the cat faunus fakes annoyance. "We scheduled the photoshoot to be at 2pm and she made an appearance at 4pm. I had another client scheduled for that time and she ordered me to attend her first."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it." Blake sips her drink. "And she kept on screaming and threatening me that if I didn't take care of her first then the Schnee would hear about my store and bankrupt me."

"Oh, she was one of those." Jordan says annoyed.

"One of those?"

"One of the many people that are in the Schnee circle." the guy explains. "Tell me how she was."

"Tall blonde, green eyes and white skin. Oh, and she used a lot of leopard clothes."

"That's Carmina DuMont. She's the wife of the owner of DuMont, the exotic clothing store. I've seen them many times at the Schnee Manor."

"Oh, so she wasn't bluffing?" Blake asks while laughing. "Damn, good thing I did take care of her first. Mostly did it because she was very annoying and I wanted her gone."

"Indeed." he gets close to her. "In fact, those two are the ones that dress the future heir of the Schnee Dust Company. They design all of her clothes and prepare her for the gala events."

Weiss…

"You work there as well? That's impressive." Blake compliments him and carefully switches his almost empty drink with hers. "You must know a lot of things about them."

"About the Schnee?" he finishes the drink in one gulp and orders two more. "Annoying and horrible family. Father is insane, son is a bastard and the daughter is too altruistic for her own good."

"Altruistic?"

"Even though they try to hide it, everyone knows that the future heir of the SDC is an animal lover." Jordan laughs. "Got caught a couple of times talking to faunus and her father got incredibly pissed about it. Oh man that was a fun day…" he drinks yet again. "The Schnee girl was screaming about equal rights and treatment for faunus. Claiming that the company was taking advantage of them and endangering their health."

"That's insane." Blake murmurs.

"Oh, that's not all!" he laughs heartily. "Papa Schnee got so pissed that the scar you can now see on her daughter's eye, that was all done by him."

This makes Blake feel her hands trembling, and doing her best to calm down, she grabs her glass to get a drink but hears it crack under her strong grip. Hoping that the man didn't notice this, she exhales in relief when he simply continues nursing his drink.

"That Schnee girl…" she tries to say condescendingly. "She sounds like a piece of work."

"Oh, you have no idea!" Jordan complains. "Every day she wants to go around town and we're the ones that have to escort her. Look, I don't care about leaving that awful manor, but going to an orphanage to watch sick faunus is just too much."

"Sick faunus?" Blake asks curiously.

"It's part of this fake initiative the SDC is doing. As a way eliminate some criticism from the media in regards to the way they treat the faunus. So, Papa Schnee thought that building an orphanage and housing there some sick faunus kids would make the company look better. And, since the Schnee woman is the face of the SDC, she goes there every day."

This makes Blake close her eyes for a second and think about what she was hearing. So Weiss helping her was not a one-time event. She had been doing everything she could, in her own way, to help them.

She had all she needed from him.

"Listen…" Jordan tries to grab her hand. "We've been talking a lot about me. But I want to hear about you."

"Oh, well, I'm afraid we don't have time. I have to go."

"You do?!" the man complains and earns the attention of some people. "But we just started talking. I bought you drinks! Tell me why you're leaving."

Almost stopping herself from growling out-loud, Blake chooses to groan instead and try to get away from him. Nevertheless, in order to keep her persona, she couldn't just hit the guy and be done with it.

"Please let me go." she asks the man angrily.

"Not until you tell me more about you."

"I don't want to." Blake tells him firmly.

"Bitch." Jordan answers back and Blake feels his grip tightening.

"If you don't let me go…" she threatens but stops when a blonde woman approaches them out of nowhere and punches the SDC guy away from her.

Looking at the smirking blonde, she can see that this woman is no mere fighter. The way she stands, the confidence she exudes and the way her aura was helping her heal her fists.

This woman was a huntress.

"Thank you." Blake says to the blonde woman who simply gives her a smile.

"Sure thing!" she smirks at Blake. "I mean, he was being a douche."

"Indeed." Blake chuckles and takes out her hand. "Diana Parker."

"Yang Xiao Long." the blonde woman replies confidently and grabs her from the shoulders. "Tell me D, do you mind if I call you D? What are you doing here?"

"Don't tell me you'll also start asking dumb questions like he did." Blake groans while doing her best to not flinch at the woman's contact. "Is it really that weird for a woman here in Atlas to grab some drinks after having a shitty day at work?"

"I guess it's not." Yang chuckles and sits in one of the empty tables. "I'm assuming that you're new here at Atlas."

"Just got here a couple of days ago. Wanting to start over away from my family." the cat faunus sits as well. "Shitty childhood."

"Don't we all have them?" the blonde murmurs. "I mean, for us to get into these kinds of things…"

"What kind of things?" Blake asks carefully.

"The things that would make a faunus woman get a drink with a racist pig." Yang merely says and Blake feels herself flinch.

"You are terribly mistaken… I'm no faunus." Blake whispers angrily.

"I can smell you." the blonde smirks. "Been around many faunus to know the distinct smell they have. Like an earthy texture to it."

This makes Blake stop pretending.

"My motives are my own." she huffs annoyed.

"Usually I would agree with you." Yang says politely. "But I've seen the way you've been snooping around, Diana. And I don't like that at all."

Instead of arguing, Blake merely stood up and went towards the back exit, knowing that the blonde woman was following her close. The moment the two of them were outside, Blake turned around and saw Yang putting some gauntlets on her arms.

"I knew you were no mere good Samaritan, huntress." Blake says annoyed.

She had been careless and she was angry about it.

"Don't get me wrong." Yang chuckles. "The guy was a pig and I'm happy I was able to punch him for it." she relaxes her stance. "And I usually don't care about stopping some White Fang spies from spilling the beans on some dust cargo. For all I care about make that racist Schnee man suffer a little." she then turns serious. "But the questions you were asking, I don't think it had to do with a mere robbery."

This makes Blake get in position for a possible attack.

"You could have chosen anyone in that bar to help you, one with a higher position and more information. Instead, you chose this simple guard who merely follows the heiress around town." Yang's eye become red. "And I think that's who you were intending to talk to."

"I don't work for the White Fang." Blake says and for the first time it's true.

"You may not…" Yang agrees. "But your interest in the Schnee heiress, that I don't like."

Instead of answering Yang, Blake simply took out Gambol and started to attack the woman, who evaded her attacks with her gloves, matching her movements perfectly.

"You're pretty good." the blonde compliments her while firing some rounds from her gauntlets. "Definitely makes me suspect that you're White Fang though."

"And I told you that I'm not!" the cat faunus huffs and uses her semblance to trick Yang and then kick her away.

"White Fang or no White Fang, I don't really care." Yang uses her gauntlets and kicks Blake straight in the chest. "All that matters to me is the heiress' safety and to keep her away from both the SDC and the White Fang."

This makes Blake stare deeply at the blonde woman, knowing that the person in front of her was willing to do anything for Weiss.

"And since I don't know who you work for, I will just get rid of you and solve this problem once and for all." she exclaims and tries to hit the cat faunus, who uses Gambol to shield herself and then push the huntress away.

Doing her best to run, Blake is stopped by Yang who used her bullets to propel herself forward, managing to catch up to her and again engage in a close fist fight.

"Leaving already? We were just getting started." the blonde exclaims.

"I don't want to fight!" Blake screams and transforms Gambol to its ribbon form and uses the hook to pull herself away from Yang.

Moving in circles, Blake avoids the bullets Yang is sending her way and propels herself to clash with the blonde fighter, who was not expecting her to go straight at her and is now using her semblance to try to push her away. Nevertheless, using the hook to keep herself on the ground, Blake remains on top of Yang.

"Listen to me!" she says worriedly while dodging a punch. "I swear on my life that I have no ill will towards the heiress."

"You really expect me to believe that from a faunus?" Yang says sarcastically.

"She…" Blake closes her eyes for a second. "She saved my life."

This makes Yang stop struggling and focus on the woman on top of her.

"And I don't really know why I'm here…" the cat faunus continues explaining. "But I promised her that I would find her. I'm just trying to keep that promise."

"So you're telling me that you, a faunus, went to a bar full of SDC racist pigs just to know where the heiress is because you promised her you would find her?"

"When you say it like that…" Blake murmurs. "I know it sounds insane, but I swear that's the truth"

Once that is said, Blake feels Yang stop moving completely and take a deep sniff of her, which makes Blake blush and try to move away. Nevertheless, when the huntress simply holds her in place, she gives up and allows Yang to continue.

"You know this is weird, right? Even for a faunus." Blake says embarrassed.

"Your smell has changed." Yang simply says and lets go of Blake, who immediately stands up and helps the blonde do the same.

"I don't understand."

"When you were in that hospital room, I never really saw you. I mean, you were bleeding like crazy and had so many bruises…" Yang gives her a soft smile. "And you smelled foul, like decay and dust. It wasn't very pleasing."

"And that is so not nice to say!" Blake complains and this makes the huntress laugh.

"I still can't believe that you came back." the blonde says surprised. "In fact, I would have expected you to return to the White Fang."

"We both know I wouldn't have done that. What would happen to me the moment I return." the cat faunus is direct.

"But if you came back with the Schnee heiress, then they would welcome you with open arms." Yang says strongly. "And forgive me for not trusting your word…"

"Blake." she gives her real name.

"Blake. But, I know you understand why it's so hard for me to accept your story just like that."

"I do understand." Blake chuckles mirthlessly. "I don't even understand it myself. I know I should have gotten as far away from Atlas as I could. Instead I'm here, looking for someone that may not want to see me."

"Believe me, that's not the case." Yang murmurs but Blake can hear her clearly.

"But you just don't understand what Weiss did for me." the cat faunus admits. "How she saved me, not only from that wound, but from doing something that I would have regretted. She gave me, in a weird way, my freedom back." she looks up at Yang determined. "I just wanted to honor that promise we made to each other. And to thank her."

Yang simply stares at Blake for a long moment, making the faunus woman feel anxious.

"She's been reading the news every day." Yang says suddenly. "Asking me to keep asking about Blake Belladonna and if she's been found." she continues explaining. "Because Weiss is no fool. She knows that the White Fang does to deserters. No news to her were good news."

"She's been wondering about me?" Blake asks dumbly.

"It seems that the two of you made quite an impact on each other." the blonde huntress surmises. "And although Winter will probably kill me for this, I know Weiss would never forgive me if I let you go without helping you."

This makes Blake feel hopeful.

"Will you help me then?" she asks and are then interrupted by Jordan and a number of guards.

"There she is! The bitch who rejected me." he stops when he notices the blonde huntress with her and how they're both holding weapons.

"Now you've done it." Yang smirks and with a quick nod, the two women finish off the guards.

"They're really weak." Blake says pitifully after hiding the last one on the trash.

"Well, they're drunk and they're mere body shields. They're the ones that are meant to get shot when the White Fang attacks." the blonde says simply.

"I know…" the faunus woman mutters. "Got rid of a lot of them myself."

"Oh don't worry, you won't get any kind of judgement from me. Have done my fair share of stupid mistakes and been lucky enough to live long enough to correct them." Yang smiles kindly. "I'm assuming this new freedom will be your opportunity to do so as well?"

"That's what I wish." Blake says and is suddenly grabbed by Yang. "What are you doing?!"

"I decided that I will not only help you find Weiss. Instead, what I'll do is take you to her."