Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any references in this story. I would like to thank the RWBY Wiki for their informative website, which was beneficial in developing this story. Basically I decided to write my first fan fiction from a first-person perspective. This is merely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy.
Also, before we begin Chapter 11, I'd like to announce that I've decided to do a Questions and Answers part at the end of the Carbon series. Ask me anything about the story, me, future stories, etc. There's no limit per person. Just leave questions in the reviews section or you can send them to me in a private message. I'll make sure to answer all of them once the series is complete.
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
The next morning, I get up and have breakfast with the team, but none of us are in the mood to speak to each other. We're all concerned about Blake and her safety. While I eat, I think about why she was taken, and who took her. I decide that I should pay Donovan a visit. Maybe he'll know something.
After breakfast, Weiss, Yang, and Ruby head to Grimm Studies, while I break off from the group and head to the Industrial District on the other side of Vale. It takes me a couple hours of walking, but I eventually make it to the Police Precinct, and I'm greeted by the desk Sergeant as I enter.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I'm here to speak with Sergeant Donovan Hollis–" as I lean against the tall desk. "–It's very urgent..."
"Give me a second and I'll page him," as he picks up the phone and calls him. Within minutes, Donovan appears in the lobby.
"Shane–" as he reaches out and shakes my hand, "–I heard what happened. Come with me." We head up stairs to his office and sit down to chat.
"Have you found anything yet?" I ask with urgency.
"No, we're still gathering as much information as we can on who took Blake..."
"Well, we can't keep dawdling. We need to find her."
"Shane, we're doing everything we can. We just need to be patient."
"Surely, you've got something. Come on Don, I'm running into a brick wall here." I'm slowly becoming irritated.
"Well, I've got this," as he pulls out a file and hands it to me. I open it to find mugshots of Cinder Fall, and a badly disfigured Roman Torchwick. "Look familiar?"
"Yeah, they're the ones who were responsible for the attack on Beacon Academy."
"And you helped us put them away..."
"Right, so what's the deal?" I look at him with curiosity.
Donovan pauses for a moment, before letting out a sigh, "They've escaped..."
"What?" I'm in shock.
"Two days ago, somebody assaulted the Precinct in the Residential District and busted them out. They were being detained there until they could be transferred to a maximum security prison. Who ever helped them get out nearly wiped out every living soul there – Cops and civilians."
"Casualties?"
"Over two dozen dead, and five seriously injured – Three of which are currently in comas."
"Jeez...what did you get from the other two survivors?"
"Well they said some guy kicked in the front door and began to slaughter anybody and everybody in his sight. When the attacker and the prisoners stepped out of the precinct, they ran into responding units who had set up roadblocks to contain them, but they were forced to retreat when a Nevermore swooped in and started attacking the cops. It eventually landed, and the perps escaped by riding on it. We figure the White Fang's responsible since the attacker was a Faunus, and the fact that he busted out two prisoners who are affiliated with the organization. We've got the entire attack on video."
Donovan grabs the computer monitor and turns it to face me. On screen, I see the perspective of the security camera that overlooks the front door, with the Desk Sergeant's back in view. For the first few seconds, nothing happens. Suddenly, the doors are kicked in, and a guy, armed with a bow and arrow, launches a bow at the Sergeant and sends him flying back out of the camera's view, probably nailing him to a wall. The attacker then forms a pair of sickles out of the bow, and begins to slash at other officers and civilians. After everybody in the room is on the ground, either dead or wounded, he heads down one of the halls, out of view from the camera. I can only sit there and cringe at what I just saw.
"That's just the first part, but I see that you get the idea. The bottom line – This guy means business." Donovan pauses for a moment to examine me, "You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost..."
"That guy...in the video. That's the guy who took Blake."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely, the hood...the bow and arrow, everything matches" as I clench my fists in anger.
"Alright, I'll put an APB out on this guy right away."
I lean back in my seat, "So, Don...you mean to tell me that you've lost two of the most dangerous and notorious criminals that the VPF has arrested in just a few days?"
"...Pretty much. Yeah." as Donovan bows his head in shame.
"You know, I just came up with an idea; If the White Fang somehow knew about Blake and I, maybe this is their way of getting payback at me."
"Maybe, especially when you helped repel the attack on Beacon, but we don't have enough evidence to confirm that."
"What other evidence do you need? You've got visual proof of a Faunus slaughtering cops and civilians, and busting out people affiliated with the White Fang. I just said he's the guy who took her as well. We've even got a reasonable motive. Come on, surely something can be done..."
"As soon as we find anything else, you'll be the first to know." as Donovan tries to keep me calm.
"Don't give me that crap, Don. I know how the system works." I begin to raise my voice at this point.
"Right, then you know that like any other missing persons case, we have to gather as much information as we can before we have a chance of finding them."
I slam my fists down on the desk in anger, leaving a dent in it, "Damn it, Don, this is Blake we're talking about here!" I yell. Donovan looks away for a moment in silence, then sighs.
"Alright, look." He pulls out a map of Vale and unrolls it, "One of my undercover officers, Amber, is embedded with the White Fang, but we lost contact with her the other day. We don't know whether she went dark, or she's dead. If we can get in contact with her, she'll probably know something and can help us narrow down the search. The White Fang's got a load of hideouts all across Vital, so Blake could be anywhere."
"Hmph," I begin to stand up and head for the door, but Donovan comes around his desk and grabs my shoulder.
"Where you going?"
"Where do you think? To find Blake." as I shake his hand off my shoulder, and glare back at him.
"Shane, I get it. You care about Bla-"
I spin around to face him,"YOU'RE F'IN A RIGHT I DO!" I yell at the top of my lungs, and get up in Donovan's face. "HOW COULD I NOT?!"
"Shane, calm down," as he calmly pushes me away.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" By now, every cop in the precinct is watching through the window to see what's going on. "You're just sitting here telling me to wait for YOU to do something? Really? Sit around and do nothing, while you screw around and Blake gets hurt...or killed?! You're not making my situation any easier!"
"Shane..."
"You don't get it Don! Blake – She...she is the one thing left in my life that...humanizes me."
"Shane..." Don raises his voice.
"What?!" By now, I'm at the point where I'm ready to rip Donovan's throat out with my bare hands.
"If you wanna go and find her yourself, fine. I'm not gonna stop you." He comes up to me and rests his hand on my shoulder, "Just don't go and get yourself killed." I then storm out of the precinct without uttering a word.
As I walk through the streets back to Beacon, I decide to pay a little visit to one of my street contacts, Victor. He usually keeps he ear to the ground, so he's gotta know something. Victor and I met each other in Boot Camp, and he's good people.
I head over to his usual hangout spot – a bar in the center of town. I enter, and there's only a couple of people around, including the bartender. I walk over to the bar and take a seat next to Victor, who's about 5'6" tall, has short blond hair, eyes to match his hair, and is dressed in torn black jeans, brown bomber jacket, and a pair of tattered work boots. As I sit down, the bartender offers me a drink, but I turn it down, and that's when Victor takes notice of me,
"Look who's still alive..."
"Yeah, how you been Vic? It's been a while" as I pat him on the back.
"Eh...same crap, different day. What about you? I heard you were dead."
"Long story short, White Fang took me prisoner, and I got out. I came back here and enrolled into Beacon. Been going there to train to be a hunter for a while now.
"Yeah, I can see they hit you pretty good, eh?" as he gestures to the scars on my face.
"You don't know the half of it...and I'd rather not talk about it."
"Copy that" as he takes a drink of his beer.
"Listen Vic, I need your help." as I look up and meet him eye-to-eye.
"What do you need?"
"Information."
"About?"
"I'll give you the short version. A Faunus attacked the Precinct in the Residential District the other day, and he busted out a couple of members of the White Fang. I have reasons to believe this scumbag is the same person who kidnapped my girlfriend yesterday while my team was on a mission in the Emerald Forest. We got ambushed by Grimm, and she was snatched when we weren't looking. I chased him, but he got away with her by flying away on a Nevermore, and don't ask me how that's possible cause I don't have the slightest clue. I'm beginning to suspect that this guy's got some sort of vendetta against me."
"Damn...that's rough, bro. So what exactly do you need from me?"
"A name for this guy. I also need to know if there's anything relating to the White Fang north of the Emerald Forest; that's the direction the Nevermore was heading."
"Hmm..." He pauses for a moment to think, "...I did catch a whisper in the wind about a new Lieutenant in the White Fang; goes by the name 'Ulysses...Strider' or something like that."
"Good, now what about a location?"
"I heard there's a stronghold out there in Forever Fall. Something to do with an underground lab...but the joint's heavily guarded. The best way I can put it – Security's tighter than a Drill Sergeant's poop chute."
"Alright–" I begin to stand. "–Thanks, Vic." As I start leave, I leave some Lien to pay for Victor's tab; It's the least I can do for him. Now that I have a location and a name, I gotta make a move.
I head back to Beacon, and by now, the sun is already beginning to set. As I enter the dorm room, I'm greeted by the rest of the team.
"Hey Shane, have you heard anything yet?" Ruby asks. I just remain silent as I walk to my chair. I look over to see Blake's weapon, Gambol Shroud, resting on her bed. I let out a sigh, and the girls look to each other with worried expressions.
"Shane?" Yang says as I take a seat, still remaining silent. I then close my eyes and go to sleep. I don't even bother to change into my sleep attire. It's not that I've got a grudge against the girls at the moment, but it's just my mind won't allow me to speak.
When I awaken, I find the girls asleep. I slowly get out of my chair, grab Bangalore and some extra ammo, then head out the door without awakening the girls. The only reason why I'm not telling the girls what I know is due to the fact that I don't want to put their safety on the line. Aside from that, that Faunus made it personal when he decided to take Blake, so it's just between him and I.
As I leave the school grounds, it's past 2:00am, and I know that I have a long journey ahead of me. If Blake is at the Stronghold, I will find her, even if I have to tear the place apart with my bare hands to do so. Maybe I can find some answers to what this is all about when I get there.
*NOTE: If you could take a moment out of your time to check out my good friend "redjoker27," that would be greatly appreciated! Him and I are now beginning a crossover with his story, "Genesis III Project." We have been working diligently in order to prepare for this, so stay tuned for more to come from the both of us! In the event that he is unable to release other chapters in a timely manor, do not fret as he is currently busy with both school work and personal matters, but he will do his best to write and complete his story as soon as he can.
Also worth noting, "The Assassin's Mentor" is requesting OC ideas for his story, "Ghosts of Remnant: United Offensive," which is a RWBY and Call of Duty: Ghosts crossover. I'd appreciate it if you could check him out and lend a helping hand with ideas of OCs to add to his story. More information will be at the end of Chapter 4 in his story.
Other than that, that's all for this week. I look forward to posting the next chapter next week. Until then, farewell...