The Schnee Black Sheep

A/N

HAPPY NEW YEAR MOTHER FUCKERS! Welcome to 2017! Good luck to ya all for this year after everything that happened in 2016 we will all need it.

So here's the next instalment to this fic which has been one of my favourites to write so far. So I hope you all enjoy it. I hope this chapter will give you a lot more insight into just how insane Coal can be and just how quickly he can change between the caring and childlike big brother figure to well… I'll let you guys see for yaselves. BTW I'm not sure if any of you will understand the word Bairn, if not then it basically is another word for a child. Sometimes I forget which words are common English due to me language. Which is why I'm still in desperate need of a beta reader.

Also I still need Votes on Coals pairing. At the time of this A/N Blake and Ruby are tied! A few of you have mentioned in either pm or review that you could choose Pyrrha and while that's nice and all I'm solely going off the poll result. So get voting guys!

I still don't own RWBY I'm really getting tired of saying this.


Chapter 11: Operation Hide and Seek – Part 2

Coal was busy on his perimeter check which was almost over. The weather had calmed down some during the night but there was still a chilling wind. His scroll buzzed, in incoming call from Pyrrha.

"Sup Pyrrha?"

"Hey Coal, are you safe?"

"Yah, Blake and the bairn are hold up in one of the bigger houses here and there doesn't seem to be any Grimm around. The storm is probably keeping them at bay."

"Good… that's em, good that they are safe."

"What's up Pyrrha? You sound concerned about something."

"It's Ruby… she's been asking questions about you this whole time. She thinks you've killed someone before and I really don't know what to tell her. I think I understand why you did what you did back on the airship but I just… I just need to hear it from you first hand."

Coal let out a long sigh, of course Ruby would ask questions. She was far too young to be here but it was the best experience for her. if she could come out of this with a stronger mindset then she would make a great leader. "I put her in that position because she will be forced into it at some point or another. She is young, still older than me when I took my first life but still young. She needed to know that right now she can't kill and that right now, no one is forcing her or asking her to. Yes, I did order her to but she needed to recognise that orders can be disobeyed if it goes against what someone believes… Maybe not being able to kill makes her more headstrong than me." There was no answer for a few seconds, Coal wondered if the call was dropped due to the storm which was getting worse, even he was starting to feel a slight chill.

"How many?"

"Pyrrha you don't want to know the answer to th-"

"How many Coal?" She yelled.

Coal let a few more seconds pass as he debated about answering the girl. He had quickly learned from a young age that there was almost no point in lying to a woman, they always knew when you lied. At this point he had two options; reveal the number of lives has taken or not answer her at all.

He sighed. "Four…"

Another long pause before. "I don't know if that's more than or less than what I had expected."

Coal laughed lightly trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah well let's hope that." He stopped when he felt something sharp press into his back, not hard enough to break skin, but enough to make him uncomfortable. "I'm going to have to call you back." He didn't hear Pyrrha's reply as he had hung up on the girl. He didn't turn around to see who was attempting to threaten him. "So, what's the plan here then? Mug me and take off in an attempt to escape this place."

"No one escapes this place." A low gravely voice spoke. "We are all going to die here." The blade pressed harder into his back.

"You sound like your suffering…" Coal said quietly.

Kill him

"Let me help you." Coal continued in an attempt to defuse the situation and before the headaches got any worse. The blade eased slightly and Coal was able to turn and meet the gaze of the person who had threatened him. A pair of cold and distant, icy blue eyes that looked a lot like his sisters looked back at him. The man had a Mohawk of black hair and Coal recognised him as one of the missing townsfolk. "Your name is Jet right? Let me take you somewhere safe."

"NO! there is nowhere safe from Grimm, from the darkness. I watched as my wife and child died to those fucking creatures and now I've lost the last place I can call home. There is nowhere to run too. We will all die!"

Coal let out another sigh. He had seen the look in this man's eyes before. Back at the mental asylum, it was the look of someone who couldn't be saved. Someone who didn't want to be saved.

End his suffering

Coal turned quickly and slapped the hand which held the small kitchen knife away, taking a few quick hops back to create some distance. He needed to get back to the house and switch with Blake in a few minutes so he couldn't waste any time with this guy.


Blake woke up from the alarm that she had set on her scroll to wake her up after 4 hours in case Coal had neglected to wake her to switch watch duties. Which he hadn't. Luckily the alarm was quiet enough to not wake the still sleeping Ebony who was still resting on her lap. Blake couldn't help but smile softly at the sight, was this what it felt like to have a little sister? After carefully shifting the young girl to be able to move, Blake exited to room and closed the door, confident the girl would be ok for a few minutes while she located Coal.

After trying to call him several times she decided that it would be easier to look around for him from one of the windows. It didn't take her long to spot him, he was fighting one of the survivors from the town. Blake jumped out the window and made to assist him when the fight had moved down one of the alleyways, she rounded the corner and drew her weapon ready to help the boy when she saw that Coal had force the man to his knees with his gun to the man's head. They were talking…

"Your suffering, there are people who can help you with that." Coal said softly, Blake couldn't see his face so she couldn't tell his expression.

"No… I don't want that…" the man replied. "You know what I am talking about when I say that those people cannot save lives like ours. It's in your eyes you know. We are the same."

Moments past before Coal spoke once more, she head pain behind his voice. A pain that spoke volumes to her. That he didn't want to say what he was saying but he needed to. "I know."

The man yelled as he tried to lunge at the boy again, only for the barrel of the gun to press against his forehead.

*BANG*

Blake watched in horror as the man's kneeling form fell forward, lifeless. Coal had just ended his life. Before she even realised it, she was now standing right behind him with her own gun pointing at the back of his head. Ready to end his like he had back in the Emerald Forest.

"You going to threaten me too?" Coal asked not even needing to turn around to know that it was the White Fang's Black Cat holding the gun to his head. His voice carrying almost no emotion behind it.

"You KILLED him!"

"I know… I ended his suffering."

"You murdered him!"

Coal turned to face her slowly and when their eyes met, Blake saw only pain and sorrow. She still kept the gun pointed at his head while she continued. "He was human, he was alive and you took that away from him. Why?" she growled.

"Because he asked me too… Because we were the same. And for a long time… I wanted the same thing." He grabbed Blake's gun and pressed it hard against his forehead. "What do you see Blake? A monster? A human? A person? If you're going to kill me then do it." His voice was emotionless, his eyes filled with sorrow and pain. Blake could only stare as she held the gun to his head, desperately trying to talk herself out of wanting to end his life also. Her arm began to tremble and he continued to speak to her. "Like I told Ruby, when the time comes you must make a choice… Can you live with the choices that you've made?" He released the grip on the gun and took a step back, holding both arms out to his sides showing that he had no intention to fight back, as if he would merely accept whatever choice she made. Blake stood trembling as she held her aim to his head. Part of her wanted to pull the trigger, but that was the part of her that she wanted rid of. It was the part of her that Adam desired from her, the side she would never let out. She dropped her arm. "I am not a killer. If you desire to die, do it yourself."

"Like I said, I did at one point… Before I found a way to live with my sins. We are similar Blake, we both have a darkness inside of us that made us do things we regret. Its why you came to Beacon isn't it?" he asked softly.

"You don't know me." Blake Growled though closed teeth.

"No I don't. But I could and I could help you. I have learned a thing or two about fighting your inner daemons."

"How can I trust a murderer!" she shouted back. "Your no different from HIM!"

"Him?" Coal questioned. Blake's eyes widened upon realising what she had just said. She had just compared Coal to her ex and while they were both killers she knew that she was wrong in doing so. She froze up on the spot and tried to explain herself before Coal beat her too it. "Your running…"

Coal had realised that in that brief moment she had just compared him to her lover Adam and while that pissed him off, the look in her eyes said it all. She hated the loss of life and she was desperate to escape that life. She was in a dark pit of despair with no way of coming out while trying to escape her past… just like he was. She wasn't at Beacon to scout for the White Fang like he initially thought, she was here to hide from them.

He was annoyed that he had not even thought of the idea that she was trying to leave the White Fang and he was about to manipulate her into getting him closer to them… there was no way he could do that now; her pained expression was too much for him to look at so he just averted his gaze and spoke in the softest and most apologetic tone he could muster. "I'm sorry." He walked pasted her quickly, heading for their accommodation to sleep away his emotions. Blake stood for a few moments longer, confused by how he knew that she was running from her past before beginning her shift of watch duty.


Blake's shift was uneventful, despite her only half paying attention. She was still thinking about what she saw during the night. The conversation she had with Coal played over and over in her head and the more she watched it, the more she came to see that he spoke from experience. At some point in his life he had suffered greatly and had come out stronger because of it. But she could see that he was still fractured, that part of his soul was still broken and that he was still searching for the cure. Just like she was.

She realised that they shared a common goal, to be free of their past.

Blake had only wanted freedom for the Faunus populous, she never wanted people to get hurt much less die for that freedom. when Adam set out to change the White Fang she had followed him for the simple reason of a childish crush. Yes she had a great relationship with him for some time but the longer the White Fang operated under his command the more she grew to hate them. She needed to get out and Beacon was her only safe haven for now.

She forgot that she was still wearing his coat when the sun came up. The storm had passed during the night and the air was a lot warmer than it had been when she walked through the door of the house that they had made camp in. as she walked up the stairs she spotted Coal coming out the bathroom drying his hair and face with a towel… he was also shirtless.

"What do you see Blake? A monster? A human? A person?" she remembered him saying as she surveyed the claw shaped scars on his torso. They only proved that he had suffered…

"What?" He questioned as he noticed her staring at him funny. He spoke softly like he was trying not to provoke her.

"Why did you kill him?" she asked him. She needed to hear his reason now that the situation had calmed down.

"Rick Glacier."

"What?" She asked, not recognising the name.

"His name was Rick Glacier… And I told you why, he was suffering."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Blake snapped. "He could have sought after help, gone to see a physiatrist or a doctor, there is always someone to help."

Coal cast his eyes downward and responded quietly. "Maybe… But in that moment, he wouldn't stop until one of us was dead. When your pushed so far back against the wall, a primeval urge to survive takes over. In his mind, it was kill or be killed." He looked into Blake's eyes as he said, "He was right though. In that moment we were the same…"

There was a long moment of eerie silence before Coal spoke again in a much calmer tone.

"I spoke to Ruby earlier. They found the last survivor last night while Pyrrha was on watch. The guy I killed last night had no family that survived the initial raid and was a bit of a loner according to the contact at the refugee camp. His finger prints also matched to someone in the criminal data base… He was a murderer on the run and apparently thought that this island was far enough out the way that he wouldn't be found. We're heading back down the mountain and regrouping at the airship. The storm cleared up so it should be easy going from here."

Blake mumbled an affirmative before setting off to find Ebony and make sure she was ready for the trek down the mountain. She heard Coal let out a deep sigh before speaking again "By the way… why was Ebony asking if I'm your knight in shining armour?" Blake didn't need to look to know that he had his typical childish grin back on his face. Somehow he also made her smile slightly. If there was one thing she could count on him to do, it was to bring about the best of a situation. Though his humour did get on her nerves slightly.


They had set off only a short while ago but because of the clear skies they were making much better progress then yesterday's storm. Blake's mind continued to race with thoughts about what she saw last night and the conversations she had with her partner, both after the incident and the morning after. She didn't know what to feel at this moment, they had managed to find a wanted murder but was it right to execute him on the spot. She couldn't help but agree with what Coal had done at the same time, they couldn't risk bring a wanted murder along with them. Though the boy didn't know who the man really was at the time. She really couldn't decide how to feel on the matter.

Blake still had Coal's coat after she had once again forgotten to give it back, but he didn't seem to mind as he walked beside her with the young, energetic child riding on his shoulders. Ebony was bouncing along with the two hunters while playing a game of I-spy with her mount.

"Windows." Ebony tried.

"Nope." Coal said for maybe the tenth time this round.

"Weapons."

"Nope."

"Waffles."

"You've said that 3 times now, nope."

"Blake." The child cried. "Help." She begged giving the Faunus girl her best puppy dog eyes while trying to hide a grin.

Blake rolled her eyes before speaking for the first time since the game started about 20 minutes ago. "Water." She said pointing to a puddle of melted snow.

"And she gets it in one. Your bad at this Ebony." Coal teased getting a pout and a cross of the arms glare from the girl on his shoulders. "Come on Blake why not give us one?"

"Yeah Blake, Play with us!" Ebony asked with new found enthusiasm. Blake rolled her eyes at the two, honestly she couldn't tell who had the higher mental age at the moment. At least this was better than what she saw last night and it was distracting her from her thoughts.

"Fine… F" she said. Earning a pout from her teammate.

"Come on Blake do it properly."

"Ugh… I spy with my little eye something beginning with F."

Ebony tried first. "Flowers!"

"Nope."

"Fish." She tried again

"Nope." Where was this girl getting these idea on the side of the mountain Blake questioned internally.

"Waffles!" Ebony announced as if it was to most obvious thing in the world

"Doesn't even start with the same letter." Blake giggled. The child's innocence and oblivious nature to the fact that they were still in a supposed Grimm infested town was a funny sight, something that she realised she needed as it was brightening up the whole mission.

There was a long pause when the girl didn't answer. She was looking around trying to figure out what it could possibly be and just when Blake was beginning to think that she had won the game, Coal spoke for the first time that round.

"Faunus." He said without breaking stride. Blake stopped in her tracks. He knew about that… But how? She never got to question him as the youngest member of the trio tapped her mount's head and questioned.

"What's a faunass?"

"It's pronounced Faunus lassie. They are like humans but have animalistic traits. Think of it like this." Coal said as he looked up to the confused girl. "Imagine if you or me had a wolf's tail or cat ears or something like that. Then we would be known as Faunus."

Blake had caught up just as Coal had finished he quick explanation to the girl. She had expected something a bit more offensive but he spoke as if being a Faunus was actually quite amusing. Ebony seemed to agree as Blake noticed a sparkle in the girls eyes.

"So, if I was a Faunus I would have the cutest fluffy fox ears ever?" she asked with amusement.

"Yeah basically. I take it you think that you would be a fox Faunus if given the chance?" Coal asked with his usually childish grin.

"Yeah foxes are so cute! What about you Coal?"

"I'd have a wolf's tail, that would be epic." Blake looked at the boy with a mixture of confusion, surprise and relief. He thought that having a tail would be… Epic?

"That would be so CUTE!" Ebony gushed at the mental image of the boy with a bushy black tail. "Your tail would be so fluffy and soft and you would be called Mr. Fluffles!"

Blake couldn't help but let out a laugh at the look on Coals face. He looked genuinely hurt at being called cute, she never thought than an insult would actually make him speechless but the child had unintentionally shut down the childish prankster of Beacon, something even Yang had not been able to do during the first week of school. Blake would remember that little detail for later.

Coal eventually righted himself before starting a playful argument with the child which lasted the rest of the walk to the town's south entrance… where a pack of 8 Ursi were waiting. Ducking into an alleyway Coal let the child down and told her to wait for them in this spot while the take care of the monsters. Ebony nodded before running to hide behind one of the many trashcans.

Coal and Blake jumped up to the roof of the nearest building planned a brief formation for them to use to take out the Grimm. "You think you can handle the frontlines if I pick off any stragglers?" Blake nodded. "Ok then I'll get as close as I can on the roof tops and take pot shots at the ones you can separate from the group. Wait for my signal to engage."

"What signal?"

"You'll know it when you see it." Coal smirked as he slipped on his headset and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, as stealthily as he could, to ambush the pack.

[Battle music: You Me at Six – Bite My Tongue]

Coal position himself above the pack of Grimm and drew his revolver aiming it at the centre of the pack and shot an explosive round, the fireball exploded causing the 2 closet Grimm to be engulfed in the flames while the rest got knocked onto the ground just as he planned. Before he could get off another shot a blur of black hair zipped into view and stabbed one of the beasts through the chest right where its heart would be if it had one, instantly killing it.

With 3 down and 5 to go Blake dodged an incoming swipe from one of the creatures using her semblance to phase away from the attack and reposition herself to the monster's flank where she landed an exotic combo of attacks, slashing away at the Ursa's side before she heard a low roar of pain from behind her.

Coal took aim again after taking down the Grimm that was Closing in on Blake's rear, a quick headshot with a wind enhanced bullet was enough to break through it's bone mask and kill the beast instantly. He watched as the remaining four Grimm began to make a circle around the Faunus while she was fluently flipping and slashing at them all using her chain scythe. Sure her swords were short but they did plenty of damage as the Grimm were slashed and cut deeply from the hurricane generated by the single blade. He couldn't let her have all the fun and jumped off the building landing on the shoulders of one of the Ursa, grabbing onto its ears and steered it towards one of its pack. The mount began to wildly swing its arm in an attempt to his its hijacker only to drive its claws into the side of its companion that Coal executed from his seat on the Grimm's shoulders with a quick doubly tap.

Blake had seen Coal out the corner of her eye as he took control of one Grimm and took out another and turned her focus on the other two of the pack. She drove her folded bladed into the chest of one of the ursa and using her natural agility and reflexes, pulled herself towards the beast using the ribbon attached to the weapon and slid through the beast's legs while slashing the legs of the beast with her second blade. When she stood from her slid, Blake used every bit of strength that her arms carried to pull on the ribbon again, slicing the monster in two halves and catching the blade and shooting the remaining Grimm as it charged at her in a frenzy. She dodged the beast using her semblance once more and as the beast tackled her clone, she appeared above the beast in the air and thrust both her blades into its neck in a cross pattern. She slowly removed her blades from the Grimm and turned to help the child that she had been partnered with for the mission… and he was riding the ursa like it was a bull. Literally.

Coal was holding on to the scruff of the monsters neck with one hand as it bucked and span trying to force the boy off its back, he was having fun and Coal wished once more that he had a hat to fit the image. Eventually remember that he was supposed to be doing a job he flipped over the Grimm's head while still holding onto its fluffy neck and slammed the beast into the ground with enough force to create some cracks in the cobblestone road. Once more ending a creature of darkness' life with a double tap, executioner style.

Blake could only roll her eyes at the boy as he walked back over exclaiming that Grimm were amazing forms of entertainment in the right hands. They both walked back to where they had hidden the girl who had remained in her hiding place the whole time. Ebony jumped up and embraced Blake in a hug burring her head into the girl's waist as that was the height difference between the two.

"I'm so happy you're ok." She cried. Blake's eyes widened at the girls actions and after a moment of internal debate, she began to stroke the girls hair in an attempt to calm her down.

Coal stood and watched as the Faunus interacted with the human. Since he had confirmed that Blake was Black Cat he had been planning on ways to manipulate her into giving up her boss and lover, but looking at the girl now, he wasn't sure if they were the same person. Black Cat had never actually killed anyone herself, she was only a scout and as his brain rattled for an answer to the many questions he now had there was one thing he knew for certain. Blake Belladonna was not a bad person… she was simply lost in her own darkness like he had been a few years ago and, though he would never admit it, if it wasn't for Ironwood he wouldn't have come as far as he had. Maybe he didn't need to manipulate Blake into giving up details of the White Fang. Maybe she would help him take them down on her own accord if he could help her with her own issues. An, I scratch your back if you scratch mine kind of deal.

Coal was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of footsteps, Pyrrha and Ruby were walking towards them with a 3rd person in tow, a middle aged bald man who seemed to be limping slightly.

"Report." Coal said to the new comers as Blake still attempted to calm down the young girl.

"Few small packs of Grimm and one survivor." Was Pyrrha's simple report. There really want much else to report on.

"Okay, let's get moving again. We need to get to the base of the mountain before it gets dark again so we may as well use the break in the storm to our advantage."

The group nodded and made their way to the entrance to the town while Coal kneeled down to be eye level with the still crying girl. "Wanna ride on my shoulders again Ebony?" he asked with a soft smile. Ebony looked to the side to meet his gaze, still with a few tears in her eyes as she sniffed up some of the snot running from her nose. She nodded slowly and made her way over to Coal who gently picked her up and placed her back to where she sat earlier. Standing upright himself he gave a quick nod to Blake who was quite thankful for taking care of the crying child and they both made their way after their friends.