Welcome to Chapter 8!

Sorry for taking so long with this one. But hey, now this story has a cover image, so… yeah.

Anyway, moving on:

He watched halfheartedly as his men cleaned up the mess. The blood was still fresh, so it was relatively easy to wipe off, but the memory of that corpse would not be going away anytime soon.

Adam knew that Scarlatina was different. He knew that she was different from Blake. He knew that she was different from him. But he had gone and tried to turn her into another Blake anyway.

He had thought that he was alone. All those years, he had shouldered those emotions alone. He had endured the weight of that sin alone. He had turned it all into power, into ruthlessness, into rage, but he was ultimately alone. He knew that the world was cruel, and that regardless of his own pain the humans would continue to ostracize them. So he poured all his emotions and power into his body and weapon, and bared his fangs dripping with hatred towards the humans.

But even then, he stood alone. He wandered endlessly in the darkness, bathed in the blood of vanquished enemies and fallen allies alike. He had all but resigned himself to that darkness, until he met her.

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was different. He could see the fear and despair etched in her amber irises, swallowed up by the madness of her inner demons. He was sure that they were similar monsters, and that she could understand his pain. Or perhaps, he had wanted that to be true.

He decided to see things through for himself. If fate pitied him and decided to grant him that reprieve, he would take it all too willingly. If it meant that he no longer had to be wandering, lost in suffering and confusion, Adam was willing to take her under his wing.

In the years he trained Blake, she had indeed become everything that he hoped for. No, she might have even become better than that. She had a talent for combat, and her earnest wish for Faunus to be treated better was true. She was a valuable ally to have, and he had been sure that they could have taken on anything the humans could throw at them.

When she finally told him that secret which had been buried deep within her memory, a part of him felt happy. It had been something horrifying – something unbelievably vile, even – but he did not mind. Why would he mind, when he had just found someone uncannily similar to himself? When he had been guilty of the same sin?

Even if it was for a short while, the loneliness dissipated. For Adam, who had been drowning in it since the day he plunged his hands in blood, it was an unfamiliar experience. Walking alone in the shadows had been excruciating, but when he discovered that there was someone else to trudge across it with him, he had felt liberated. That feeling, which felt so nostalgic it was almost unreal, might have pulled him back from the abyss.

When she betrayed him, he could only stand and watch.

He knew why he did not pursue her. Given his ability, he could have easily leapt onto the platform where she was at after she cut the links between the carriages. Despite being aware of that, he had not moved. He knew that it was foolish to just stand and stare, but he also knew that his legs would not have obeyed him then anyway.

Grief? Anger? Disbelief? Which was it that had rooted his limbs to the platform, forcing him to watch her fade into the distance? Was he even capable of harboring such emotions? If not, when had his control slackened?

Perhaps it had been foolish to have expected something out of this cruel world. Perhaps it was stupid to believe that he was not alone. Perhaps it was weak to be swayed by emotions. But Adam did not care.

As he watched the henchmen drag away Velvet Scarlatina's corpse, he felt nothing. Cold, firm control – that was what he had been lacking when he had foolishly decided to become Blake's mentor. Now that he had regained it, he could not be stopped anymore.

Unasked questions would remain unasked, and they would ultimately be unanswered for the rest of his life, for he was no longer interested in knowing. He was done seeking answers, and he was through with pointless companionship. He had stared into the abyss for so long that such meaningless sentiments would never catch his gaze. How had he forgotten that?

With a seething, roaring rage erupting from within his chest, Adam Taurus clenched his fists. Her betrayal had shown him quite clearly who he was always meant to be, but he could not forgive the pain he suffered in losing her nonetheless. He could not forgive knowing what it meant to not be alone, right before being thrust back into solitude. He could not forgive the existence of Blake Belladonna.

"You're next, Blake," he whispered, and the shadows around him recoiled at the tone in which he had hissed the name.

Blake inhaled, momentarily forgetting that her face was in direct contact with the ground. Mud and dirt shot up her nostrils, instantly bringing her back to reality as she sat up trying to get them out.

"Blake? What's wrong?" Yang asked, kneeling down next to her. They were already safe, having surely lost any pursuers after running around for so long, and it was time to return to their hideout. However, Blake was acting way too strange, tripping and falling despite not being physically injured. "That's the fifth time you've tripped since we left! Are you hurt or something?"

"I-I'm fine," Blake replied, still choking a little as she wiped her nose with as much dignity as she could muster. "Let's keep moving."

"Are you worried about leaving Cardin and the others back there?" Yang asked softly. Her tone was so gentle it actually startled Blake. "There wasn't anything we could have done, Blake. You know that."

"I know," Blake managed between shaky gasps as she got to her feet. "I know, Yang. I'll be fine. Trust me."

"That's not what's worrying you, is it?"

Blake felt her blood run cold. How did Yang know? Did she overhear Velvet's words? What would she do if-

"Look at me, Blake," Yang said gently.

Even though her voice was gentle, and it sounded more like a request than an order, Yang's words had a strange hypnotic charm to them. Without understanding why, Blake felt herself raising her head and staring into those dazzling lilac eyes.

"I've been your partner back in Beacon," Yang said. "I'm still your partner even now. I know when something's bothering you. You don't have to say anything, but-"

"What do you know?" Blake hissed. "What could you possibly know about me?"

Yang Xiao Long was a human. Not only that, she was also a girl. Even if she could call herself a Huntress, and even if she could hold her own against people like Torchwick and possibly some of the upper echelon of the White Fang, she was ultimately still a girl. She had never seen the horrors which Blake had seen. She had never once bore witness to the tragedies that Blake had wrought with her own hands. How could she possibly hope to understand?

"Do you know what I've done?" she asked in a low, dangerous tone. Yang just stood there, listening as her own face openly displayed her confusion and concern. "Do you know what I'm capable of? Don't act as if you know just because you've been with me for some time. You couldn't possibly know. You couldn't possibly understand."

"You're right," Yang conceded. "I'm not you, so I can't know everything about you. But it doesn't mean I can't tell that you're being haunted by something you want to hide. It's related to what you confessed to me that night, isn't it?"

It was. Blake's bloodlust – her deranged sadism – had come from that one incident which she had not told even Yang. She had thought that only Adam knew about it, but when she found out that Velvet knew as well, it erupted in her mind with horrible clarity. There was no way those images would simply go away this time, and Blake could even hear the screams in every waking moment.

"You don't have to tell me everything," Yang said. "But I want you to know that I'm here for you. And it's not just me, either; all of us are here for you. You don't have to suffer like this alone, Blake."

"How can you say that…?" Blake asked, her voice hoarse as she felt her lips trembling with the effort to form words. "How can you be fine with that, when you have no idea what I am…?"

With a dull sound, Gambol Shroud tumbled to the ground next to her. Looking up in surprise, Blake found Yang standing in the same neutral position as before, with her arms resting at her sides.

"Because I believe in you," she said resolutely. "Like I told you before, you can't call yourself a monster if you care enough to hold back. If I'm wrong, then I'll lose my head right here, right now."

She wanted to pick up that weapon and swing it at her, stopping short inches before touching flesh. She wanted to see that her resolve was nothing but words – nothing but lies – but Blake did not budge. She had been Yang's partner for just as long, and she was well aware of that look in the blonde's eyes. She was familiar with the raging flames that burned in them when she was willing to give her life for her friends. She was willing to put her life on the line for Blake, even though she had no idea what skeletons lurked in her closet. Even though Blake was a killer.

"Damn it, Yang…" Blake muttered, falling to her knees. She did not deserve such warmth and kindness, much less from a human. So why did she have to be in the midst of it? How did she end up proving Yang's point twice thus far? "Damn it…"

"Come on, kitty cat," Yang said, resting a hand on her shoulder and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "Let's head back to the others now."

Blake nodded reluctantly. She knew that she did not deserve any of this, but if she could, she would hold on to it for as long as it would last.

"You're back!" Ruby screamed enthusiastically, clinging on to Yang and Blake like a koala. "What on Remnant took you guys so long?!"

"No enemies detected," Weiss announced, setting up some more glyphs just in case. Watching them disappear into the air, she turned to the two of them. "Looks like you managed to give them the slip."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Yang asked cheekily, half-choked by her sister's frontal glomp. "Huh, the ol' cave seems a lot more cramped now, doesn't it?"

"Glad that you're all in one piece," Jaune said from next to the bed where Pyrrha rested. "Where're Cardin and the rest?"

"He…" Yang trailed off, casting a sideways glance at Blake, who looked downcast again.

"He died protecting me," Blake stated plainly, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. A heavy silence instantly descended, drowning out the slightly uplifting mood. "Velvet killed him."

"Wait; Velvet?" Weiss asked incredulously. "The rabbit Faunus from Team CFVY? Our Velvet?"

"Yes," Blake nodded. Ruby let go of them, standing in front of her with a hurt expression on her face. "That Velvet."

"Did you have to fight her?" Ruby asked. Wordlessly, Blake nodded. "It must have been painful. Are you alright?"

Blake jumped. She had not expected Ruby to say that after hearing Velvet had just killed someone. Granted, hearing about something, no matter how terrible, was nowhere as horrible as experiencing it firsthand, but she had expected Ruby to start crying or something similar. She did not been expecting her to show concern over her teammate's wellbeing.

"I-I'm fine, Ruby," she managed, looking away from those large, silver eyes. Ruby's innocence was so out of place with the world right now that it was painful to even look at her. "I'm just a little tired from all the running, that's all."

"I can't believe that Velvet would do something like that," Weiss muttered, staring holes into the table in front of her. "I just can't believe it…"

"Me neither," Jaune added. "That'll be one more thing to ask her when we save her, right?"

The girls of Team RWBY turned to look at Jaune curiously, while the other members of Team JNPR merely smiled; that was their leader alright.

"What?" Jaune asked nervously. He had never been someone comfortable with getting a lot of attention, even from those he knew. "I-I mean, come on! It's Velvet we're talking about! There's no way she would've done all that because she wanted to! When we rescue her from the White Fang, we'll get our answers; isn't that the logical thing to do?"

"A-greed~!" Nora chipped in, groaning a little from the effort. Ren instantly pushed her back onto the bed, but she dragged him along with her and clung on to him like a giant plushie.

"I see it's a thing for our leaders to be hopelessly optimistic," Weiss wondered aloud, receiving a pout from Ruby. "But you're right; maybe she was extorted or something. We'll clarify it when we take down the White Fang."

"Right!" Jaune said happily, elated that Weiss had just agreed with him. "Until then, let's rest up in this… um… cave? What's the name of this place?"

"Um…" Yang stuttered, looking to Blake and Weiss who both shook their heads.

"The RWBY Cave!" Ruby declared instantly. "Oh, wait. It's the RWBY and JNPR Cave now, isn't it?"

"Too long," Weiss complained. "And it's boring."

"Who would've thought Professor Ozpin's naming sense would come in handy at times like this?" Yang said aloud. She was hardly in the mood for coming up with names, but if it kept everyone from thinking about more depressing things, then she would by all means invest unneeded time into this. "How about… the Second Beacon?"

"You're sisters alright," Weiss mumbled, rolling her eyes. Ruby puffed out her cheeks angrily and stared at Weiss to express her displeasure, but all it did was make Weiss blush and turn away.

"How about the HQ?" Pyrrha suggested from her bed. "It's our base, after all."

"We need something more epic!" Ruby declared. "We need something inspirational, like the Room of Mysteries or the Batca-"

"Don't go any further, sis," Yang warned. "I get the feeling something very bad will happen if you cross that line."

"What?" Ruby asked innocently. "We're discussing this in secret while in a cave! It's not as if someone is listening in on this conversation or if it's being typed out and people are reading about it right now, so why not?"

"How about the Lighthouse?" Jaune said suddenly, once again drawing all eyes onto him. "W-well, you know, we're students of Beacon, and we're fighting for humanity and all that, right? Lighthouses were meant to guide ships in the past, like a beacon and… well… Because we're a ray of hope for people, so I figured it'd be cool and…"

"That," Yang pointed out. "Was the most clichéd thing I have ever heard in my life."

"Agreed," Weiss nodded.

"Same here," Nora replied, prompting Ren to nod.

"Wow, Jaune," Ruby said. "I knew you were a sappy guy, but I didn't think you'd say something so embarrassing."

Jaune, while doing his best impression of a ripe tomato with his face, turned to his last source of help – Pyrrha, who was clutching her stomach in an attempt to reduce the pain from laughing so much. Utterly betrayed, the leader of Team JNPR hung his head in shame.

"Well, it's better than what Ruby had in mind at least," Yang said, shrugging. "We could go with that, can't we?"

"So 'Lighthouse' it is, then?" Ruby asked. "I liked 'RWBY cave more though…"

"How fitting," Weiss added. "Our lighthouse is in a cave. At the foot of a mountain. With a covered entrance hiding from enemies. But sure, why not? Let's shine a light and tell them to come."

"Aww, you know you actually like it, Weiss!" Ruby teased, wrapping her arms around the white-haired heiress.

"N-no I don't, and get off me!" Weiss tried pushing her off with one hand, but Ruby would not relinquish her hold. "Get off me at once, Ruby Rose!"

Everyone laughed. Momentarily forgetting about the battlefield that they had narrowly escaped from, they laughed together for the first time since Beacon. For the first time in what felt like years, they laughed like the children they were. And that was the last time Weiss could recall Jaune laughing along with them.

She could not blame him. When she found out about Cardin' and Velvet's bodies being lined up next to the rest of Team CRDL on the Beacon Tower, she too knew that she could never laugh like that again.

He watched the bodies hang. He watched as her head was crudely stitched together for the sake of proving her identity, and then as it was dangled from the tower next to young Winchester's corpse.

When he heard the guards complaining about how the carcasses reeked, he wanted to murder them. He wanted to tear them limb from limb, just so they could know a modicum of his rage.

He had seen many corpses before, be they of humans or Faunus, of enemies or of allies. He had braved countless battles and faced numerous outrageous situations, but this was something he could not bear to see.

They were children. They were the ones who would eventually lead the world in the right direction. They were the people who would protect this world, driving back the monsters that would do it harm. He was supposed to have helped them find their purpose, but instead he was here, groveling like a dog before their enemies. The one who should have died, more than anyone else, was him.

Gritting his teeth, Ozpin tore his eyes away from the gruesome image before him. He knew that apologies were pointless, but he could not help repeating them in his head like a desperate prayer.

"Ozpin," a soldier – no, a former student – called out. "We have a disturbance. You are to assist in the elimination of the enemies at once."

"Why do they need me?" Ozpin asked lightly, masking the cold fury that sat like bile in his chest. "If it's just enemy forces-"

"Amongst the enemies in question are the former staff of Beacon," the soldier replied. "Adam's giving you a chance to prove your worth by dealing with the situation."

"So I'm to either convince them or kill them?" Ozpin asked. He refrained from looking into the soldier's eyes, but he was sure that he had picked up on the hostility in his eyes regardless.

"Yes," Sun replied. "He's watching, so don't screw up, Ozpin."

"I understand," Ozpin replied. If Sun was supposed to be an ally, then he was doing a great job hiding it. "I shall go at once."

He hated the White Fang. He despised their methods. He loathed the Collar around his neck. He hated the fact that he had let so many die. But more than anything, he hated himself for bowing down to them because he was too weak to do anything about it.

He was a man of power, a man of action. But now, even he prayed earnestly for the nightmare to end. Even if his soul were to burn in the deepest parts of hell for that, he continued to beg the heavens for a miracle.

Behind the callous pieces of glass that hid the windows to his soul, two warm streams blazed down his cheeks.

In case anyone was wondering, the Faunus (well, the White Fang mostly) refer to human corpses as 'carcasses'. It's not a typo error. Just thought you should know.

And no, I'm not going to write any sex. I rated this one M because of swearing, just so it's out there.

Till next chapter, then!