Blake looked up from her book at the breathless duo, she had sent them off an hour earlier to get groceries, they had returned with a summons bearing the beacon academy seal and a broken door. Ruby was babbling about how many cookies she could buy with the pay, while Yang still sat in the ruins of the door, looking rather dazed. Blake slammed the book shut, drawing their attention, "planning what you're going to do with the Lien is all well and good, but you haven't even told me what the mission IS" She asked, looking quizzically at the team leader.
Ruby paused for a moment before remembering the Summons, hurriedly unfolding it she began to read:
"Beacon Academy had summoned This team for a mission of the upmost importance. You are to report to Beacon Headmaster Ozpin at the earliest opportunity."
Ruby looked up from the paper with a grin,
"Mission Threat Class: A"
Blake sighed, yang laughed, and Ruby giggled excitedly. Of course the mission she'd find would be highly dangerous, Blake mused, it was just like Ruby to forget about all notions of self-preservation. She glanced at her book longingly, before standing from the sofa and putting it back on the shelf. Hoping for another day when she could simply read without anyone breaking her doors, or setting her bed on fire, or jumping through her windows, but now the she had no choice other than to step over the ruins of her door and follow their team leader as she rushed across the great span of the residential district towards the distant towers of Beacon.
Ozpin was waiting for them when they arrived. He'd changed since they had last seen him, his eyes where ringed with black and his grey hair had turned white. He leant heavily on his cane, his right leg shaking slightly as he moved to greet them, giving them a tired smile. Blake could only wonder how someone could deteriorate so much in little more than a year, but they followed him in silence as he began to walk towards the tower that stood at the heart of the Academy.
"Things have not been going too well, I'm afraid" Ozpin murmured with a sigh, "like a Hydra, no matter how many heads we cut off, the beast doesn't fall."
Blake's ears flattened against her head as she held back a hiss of contempt. "White Fang"
They had won every battle, stopped every plot, defeated every giant robot or evil clone. yet White Fang still clung onto life, even if many of its members and leaders had lost theirs. They no longer hunted her, too concerned with their own survival she guessed, but the knowledge that they were still out there troubled her deeply.
The headmaster could only nod, grimacing as they slowly ascended the stairs to the elevator. When they reached the top he spoke again. "they're recruiting hunters now, fully fledged, students, even those without training, and we have troubling reports of the Trio".
Blake rounded on him, shocked, "Cinder?". He nodded once more. "The Cinder who you said died in the blast in the research facility?"
He frowned "I said it was likely , we were never certain, but even then -" he was cut off as Ruby appeared between them, her eyes wide and a grin plastered across her face, "Are we gonna go fight her?" She asked excitedly, Ozpin chuckled, "no such luck I'm afraid, besides" his smile faded "there are far more pressing matters than shadows and whispers.
Unlike the headmaster, the Office had not changed one bit, it still imbued Blake with a sense of dread, the outlandish design of the room making it seem alien, a step apart from the archaic architecture of the rest of Beacon. Ozpin quickly settled into his chair, sighing with relief as he sank into it, before turning his attention to the three huntress'. "I'm sorry for calling on you at such short notice" he said, smiling politely, "but there have been some rather disturbing events in the last few days and we have no time to waste"
he paused for a moment, reaching out to the steaming coffee mug sat at its usual place on his desk, his hands shook even to lift the weight of the cup, yet drinking deeply he seemed to reclaim some of his old vigour. he hummed contentedly before beginning, "They attacked from within our own ranks. Students and staff alike turned on their fellows. Yet It soon became apparent that there was more to his attack than a desire to pain my Halls red. They where a distraction, White fang had another Objective in mind." his morose expression twisted into a triumphant sneer "and we've found it" he tapped at the keyboard built into his desk, causing a holographic map to appear, a map of Beacons grounds. With a few quick taps the map became more detailed, buildings could be seen, and down by the coast, in closed off part of the academy, was a glowing red Dot. Ozpin jabbed his cane at the Dot, his eyes shining "This is the Tomb of Heroes, the burial place of some of the greatest Hunters ever to walk the earth" he frowned "and their weapons".
"So they tried to swipe all that stuff while you were occupied with the attacks?" Yang asked, sounding unusually serious. Ozpin nodded vigorously, "and they would have succeeded" he stopped, his apparent anger at the defilement of the Tomb failing, being replaced with a look of confusion "well, They SHOULD have succeeded, and that's exactly the problem" , Blake finished for him "you don't know why they failed, and I take it you want us to find out", Ozpin smiled proudly "as Sharp as ever Ms. Belladonna" she returned the smile, it had been the first emotion that his aura had reflected all day.
He clapped his hands "now, unless you have any questions I suggest you get right to it". They hastily agreed and sprinted back to the elevator. Yang slowed when Ozpin called her name. "be careful out there Ms. Long, while there are many of your usual Cannon fodder, many of the higher ups are trained hunters. they won't go down quite as easy as the Average Goon" Yang nodded, before steeping into the elevator. Both the sisters where being rather calm seeing they had just been given a High importance mission which sounded a lot like certain death, a favourite of-
Once the doors closed Ruby and Yang both screamed, jumping excitedly and shouting at each other, their screeches unintelligible, after a solid minute of Ear Decimating Celebration, they finally broke off for air. "Something good?" Blake asked, a smile dancing on her lips despite her ringing ears, Ruby Looked at her with wild eyes, "Blake , we're going to the Tomb of Heroes" Blake cocked her head, "and?", the Brunette gasped dramatically "And?, AND?, the Tomb of Heroes is the best place ever" she spun to her sister "Yang tell her".
Yang was still red in the face, but she looked a great deal saner than her sibling. "The Tomb is really cool, Dad used to take us there when it was still open to the public. They've got more than just Graves, there's shrines to lost teams, artefacts used by ancient hunters, they also have the biggest archive of Data on Remnant, which includes every movie ever made" Ruby giggled Excitedly, yang blushed "and there's some other cool stuff there which is obviously less important and in no way secret".
Very subtle. But it could wait until after they had solved the mystery of the vanishing terrorists.
"It's beautiful" gasped Blake as they stared up at the magnificent structure, made of stone and Iron, it cut a sharp contrast to the muted colours of the late autumn foliage. "I said it was cool" remarked Yang with a triumphant smirk, Blake looked pointedly at the Blonde "It should also be filled with Die Hard Fanatics, so let's take this one step at a time" Ruby nodded in agreement "lets beat 'em up first, then we can go exploring!" Blake sighed, that was the best she was going to get. She didn't even try to stop them as they rushed through the main entrance shouting war cries, but before she could follow she something struck her from behind and she stumbled, she tried to draw Gambol Shroud, but another blow came, causing the world to flicker, then go dark.
The room was small, it had probably been used for storage at some time, but now it was stripped of everything but a table and two chairs, one on which she sat, there was someone in the other chair but-
Adam grinned, "Good to see you Blake" fear knotted her stomach as she stared at her Once partner, "you" she finally said. The Leader of White Fang and the person who had demanded her death (preferably painfully) raised his arms as if in defeat, "me".
he chuckled, "well not just me, I brought an army this time" he lifted a large lacquered box onto the desk "and an offer, if you're interested" when she remained silent he shrugged and lifted the lid, Inside was a Mask, shaped in the visage of a Cat, and an awful realisation, "Come back Blake, help us change the world for the better" he spread his arms, "you're not fighting your way out of this, even the heroes buried here would have a hard time at that" he smirked "hell, you can even bring those humans your so fond of" he tapped his chin, as if in thought, "I think they're still alive, I may have overestimated them though, which would be disappointing for the both of us."
He slammed his hands on the table, locking eyes with her, "so what do you say? Partner?" Blake paused for a moment, but it was hopeless, she didn't want her team to die. She couldn't let her friends die. She reached for the mask as Adams smile grew wider.
A Scream split the silence.
Adam swore, "hold It back" he roared at the guards, before jumping up and pulling a scroll from his pocket, hastily typing, he flashed a smile at Blake, "Don't worry, the offer still stands, come find me any time", the door split with a crash, the guards charging with a shout, only to stop when they realised the doorway was empty.
Then one of their number dropped, his throat opened from ear to ear, and they panicked. swinging their weapons with hopeless abandon as they were cut down by the unseen assailant. Adam slid his scroll back into his pocket and drew a sword, not wilt and blush, but a long black blade, with a feral roar he rushed forward, the sword singing through the air, his strikes parried by some unseen force, which only served to fuel his a flurry of blows he threw himself forward, crashing down with his attacker, causing her to finally flicker into existence. She growled, rolling away from him. As he jumped up to give chase a short sword took him through the stomach, pinning him to the wall, at which point electricity racked his body. The woman prowled towards the fallen Faunus. stopping at his feet, she pulled a revolver from some unseen holster and fired point blank, the shot ringing through the small room. Adam jerked violently, his body shaking and writhing. It reminded blake of a butterfly pinned to a board, strugglingly hopelessly to free itself. Two more shots rang out, and the mock adam gave a metallic groan, sparks flying from its torn carcass before it fell slack.
It was only when the woman turned to her that Blake remembered she was still sitting dumbly in the chair. She moved to stand but strong hands seized her, and she was lifted into the air. The woman stared at her intently, her Aura stank of Anger and Hatred, but now there was a hint of relief. holding Blake with one hand, she picked up the Mask with the other. she studied it for a moment, before dropping it to the ground and violently stamping on it, until naught but shards remained.
"Try not to give in so easily" she grumbled, walking across the room with the Faunus in her grip. Blake nodded briskly, the woman's right eye was twitching and her other arm was shaking. Blake thought it best to stay silent. "And you really must get more confidence in your team, cat." ordered the woman, pressing something Cold into her hands, and dropping her outside the door. she turned to walk down the hall but stopped. glancing over her shoulder, she chewed on her lip, "good luck" she said finally, before flickering out of existence and leaving Blake sitting in the middle of a blood soaked hall studying the intricate engravings on the ring. which was how Yang and Ruby found her a few minutes later, studying the engravings in the light of the setting sun.
She dragged herself through the arch, the waste had claimed her leg yet she went on, she had to see it once more before...
Before the end.
She had entrusted it all to the Faunus, her mission was over, yet she didn't want to go, she feared the end. The sight of the shrine calmed her, they had always told her not to be afraid, that there was never anything to truly fear. She knew they were right. She wondered if they were waiting for her, she hoped not.
As the sun set and team RBY (in absence of SDC C.E.O. Weiss Schnee) flew back to beacon with a ring and a message, Rossa died thinking of her knight.