Hey guys, here is the next update of this fanfiction.

Enjoy the read.

Chapter Cover: Ruby and Weiss seating together around a table as the smaller girl was smirking and Weiss had a light blush upon her face.

Chapter Fifteen

Burden of the Past

Vale

Undisclosed Location

Blake walked through the underground base they had settled in the few days since they arrived in Vale. The young woman was dressed in a sleeveless shirt upon her form that hugged her body quite nicely, showing her curves as she walked. She had one sort pants with long stocking and short heel boots. She also had sleeve upon both of her harms, dark in color just as black as her hair and upon her back was, her weapon was seating there in a horizontal form behind her.

What was most curious about this young girl were the two cat ears that stood upon the top of her head and they moved lightly at the girl's mood. Their operation was going smoothly thought it might have gone a lot smoother if the Schnee girl was killed but…

The girl reaches the room where the messenger had said that the young man was and he found him getting dressed. The young man turned to face her.

"Good, you're here," he said, "There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Did you come up with some other plan for the operation?" Blake asked him, not keeping her curious tone from her voice.

Adam shook his head.

"No," he said, "I'm going to leave the operation to you."

Blake stared at him, not keeping the surprise from her golden eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, "We're just about to start one of the biggest attack upon the Schnee and you're backing out…?"

"I'm not backing out," Adam told her with a single from, "I'm simply going meet up with one of our friends…"

Blake narrowed her eyes.

"You mean that Torchwick guy don't you?"

Adam nodded, "Yes."

"I don't understand why we need his help," Blake told him, "We can take care of our own problems."

"Blake," the young man said, "Torchwick had given us a lot of Intel upon the Schnee Family. Thanks to it we have managed to find where the Schnee Family had sent their daughter."

The young woman crossed her arms across her chest. While the dealing they had done with Torchwick had given them quite a good bit of information, she didn't trust the man. Blake had found that she couldn't trust the man at all. The man had given her a bad feeling ever since she and Adam first came across him.

And he stunk of cigars and with her sensitive nose, it only lowered Blake's opinion of the man even further. And his little companion with the umbrella just creep her out with the sadistic grin the girl kept sending her way during that meeting.

"What is that meeting about now?" she asked.

"Something that could turn the tide for the White Fang," Adam told her with a smirk.

Blake was worried for him.

"Adam..," she started.

The young man placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"You know the plan better than anyone Blake," he told her, "I'm leaving it up to you to take down the Schnee girl."

Blake stared at her for a few moments before nodding.

"And I don't trust Torchwick either," Adam said after a few moments, "but his kinds are easy to manipulate, after all, the man only cares about money. As long as we continue to pay him, he'll be loyal. It's a necessary evil we all have to deal with."

Blake actually looks a little happier at this.

"As long as you feel as I do," she said.

The duo stepped out of the room and into the large underground open way that was in front of them. The group around them stood up and stared up toward the approaching duo in front of them. Upon the wall above the group, a flag was seating against the wall and upon it was the head of a wolf with three claws mark beneath them.

"Everyone," Adam announced, "I will be leaving for a meeting with an important someone about our cause and I will not make it back in time for the start of the operation that will take place in three days. I have let Blake in charge of it as my second in Command."

A Doorway appeared behind the man from thin air and it was glowing a deep green color. It had a large forest like texture upon it as two other White Fang members walked toward Adam.

"So give this victory to our fallen brothers," he said raising his fist in the air.

A loud cheer echoed within the room as the members stood up in the air in front of the two. Blake stared at them, her golden eyes shining.

"Death to the Schnee," a voice yelled.

Another loud roar echoed within the room.

"Death to the White Clan," another voice yelled.

Adam turned toward Blake, drawing the latter's attention toward him.

"I'll see you when this is over," he said.

"Watch yourself out there Adam," Blake told him.

The man gave her a smirk before stepping into the Doorway along with the two men that went with him. Blake was worried about him but she also had a purpose. The young woman had a operation that is going to take place in three days, and she is going to be ready for it.

And in three days, the White Clan will be one Schnee short.


Schnee Manor

Yang and Ruby were staring at the young man across them. The two girls couldn't believe what the young man had just said to them and the gravity of the situation seems to become even graver just by that revelation alone.

"Kill…everyone of Weiss's family?" Ruby repeated shocked, "But why? Why would someone want to do something so cruel?"

The young man's dark eyes went toward her.

"While I have never met any of the Schnee family members specifically," he said, "I can honestly say they are far from the saint you are imagining them to be. They have made a lot of enemies over the years ever since the War…"

"War?" Yang said.

The young man nodded.

"Yes, a war against the Faunus Clan," he said, "While I can't speak for whoever had fired the first shot or who strike who first, I do know that one of the man more directly involved because of it and that was Weiss's grandfather, Illus Schnee."

"The Faunus Clan?" Ruby said.

"The Faunus Clan is a clan that originated in the Forever Fall Forests," the young man told them, "They were a quite content of living their lives in the forest. They were a powerful clan and they are one of the main forces behind Aura control. Those Aura Spheres you used during your earlier training were created by the Faunus Clan. They created a lot of weapons as well as many clothing…in their Prime, they were as powerful as the Schnee family is today."

"They were destroyed too?" Yang said.

"Yes," the young man said, "By the White Clan."

A shocked look crossed Ruby's face.

"The White Clan was a rival Clan in those times and the two Clans were always in opposite side of each other," the man told them, "But in the least, there was some mutual respect between them whether out over the realization that they were the two most powerful clans in existence…but then, something happened to change that and that man Illus Schnee, Weiss's great-great-grandfather was responsible for it."

He looked up at them.

"Whether it was jealousy or fear," he continued, "When that man becomes the Head of the White Clan, he declared that the Faunus Clan was nothing but animals and that they couldn't be trusted. Because of those accusations, The Faunus Clan retaliated with their own choice of words at them…well, you can tell how thing went from bad to worse from here."

"They went to war with each other?" Yang whispered.

"Yes," the man told her.

"But why would he say something like that to the Faunus Clan?" Ruby asked.

"The Faunus looked different than you do," he said, "The Faunus whether it was of how connected they are to nature or Aura itself, it made them different. Some of them have animal parts such as ears, fangs, claws or tails, depending on what type of animal that Faunus draws from."

Ruby looked down.

"During the war a lot of Faunus villages were captured and were forced to become slaves," the young man continued, "More than ten thousands Faunus lost their lives during that war and the at each of the slavery camps, the flag of the Shnee Family stood proud to remind everyone who was responsible for them…and that's because why the White Fang was formed…to take revenge on all of those people who died at the end of the Schnee Family by killing every member of the entire family."

Ruby looked at him.

"They want to kill Weiss just because of that?" she said, "She hasn't done anything to those people?"

"She is a Schnee," the young man said simply, "That's reason enough for the White Fang."

Ruby looked down from his intense gaze, her shoulders shaking. Yang had stayed quiet through out the entire story. It sickens her as to what the Schnee Family had done and she can't say she understood the White Fang's feeling about this but trying to kill Weiss for something that.

"This is just…" she said unable to finish.

"That's what it means to be a member of the Schnee Family," the young man told them, "I'm not surprised if Weiss had already figured out it was them."

"She knew that they were after her?" Ruby said.

"She is Schnee," the young man shrugged his shoulders, "I'm sure that her father had managed to tell her about them when she still lived with them."

Ruby looked down as an image of the white haired girl reading a book appeared within her mind.

Just how much were you hiding from us Weiss? She thought, Is this why you never opened to anyone at school…is this why you've never had any friends…because of what these people I have been doing to you?

"Anyway," the young man continued, "Because of what you guys have done tonight and helped Weiss escape from their mercenary, you are now targets of the White Fang…"

Ruby and Yang looked up toward them.

"Unless of course," he continued, "You'd rather stay out of this entire affair."

"Out of the question," Ruby instantly said.

"Ruby," Yang said staring at the girl.

The young man stared at the girl in front of him from under the shadow of his hat. The small girl had some tears falling out of her eyes as she stared up at him, her eyes burning with anger. There is no way that she is going to let Weiss face this entire thing by herself.

"I'm not abandoning my friend," she said.

The young man stared at her.

"You heard the reason why the White Fang is hunting her," he told her, "Your sister faced one of those today, a mercenary and she would have been killed hadn't I interfered. That's just show you how dangerous these people are."

"I don't care," Ruby yelled, "I'm not going to let them kill my friend when I know I have the power to stop it. I can't just stay away knowing all of this."

The young man stared at her in front of him, his dark eyes observing her silently for a few moments. Ruby didn't know what was going on inside the young man's mind but she wasn't backing down from this.

"Why would you do this?" the young man asked her, a tinge of curiosity in his voice, "You don't know anything about Weiss."

"I know I don't," Ruby said, "I don't know anything about Weiss. I don't know anything about her at all. I don't know what's her favorite color is, her favorite music or what she like to do for fun? I don't know what she likes or she dislikes, or evens her favorite brand of foods or drinks or anything…and if I simply stood aside and let those White Fang people come and kill her, then I'll never be able to learn those things about her."

Ruby's gaze becomes even fiercer.

"Weiss may be related to that man you spoke of," she said, "But she is her own person, and if those White Fang people are too blinded by their hatred to see this, then I am going to beat them over their head with my Scythe until they see it."

Yang and the young man stared at her. Yang with surprise at how strongly Ruby felt about this and the young man at the bold declaration. He stayed silent for a few seconds before a soft chuckle escaped from his lips until he was bellowing with laughter.

The two sisters stared at him completely taken aback as to what he laughing about before his laugh was subsided.

"I'm sorry," he said, noticing their stares, "Its just the way you said it…beating over their heads…oh, my god my stomach hurts…"

He continued to giggle and snort over what Ruby had said and the small girl was sure that blushing at how the guy was laughing at what he said.

"I like you Ruby," he said when was done laughing, "I wished the world could be as innocent as you are. I'm forgetting that the two of you didn't grow up with your Clan. It seems that the two of you because you live in the normal Human world, you see people for what they are individually and not by their names."

"I'm guessing your name means a lot," Yang said.

"For a Clan, every great action done by someone bearing its name carries the Clan's success and defeat along with them," he said, his voice taking a serious tone, "It's why the White Fang continue to target Weiss and her Family. Despite Illus Schnee having died years ago, his clan still bears the Sins of the past, and to the White Fang's eyes, Weiss might as well have been the one in Illus Shnee place and caused the thousands of deaths."

The young man stayed silent for a few moments.

"Now, it's late," he said, "Why don't you two go up and get some sleep in your old room and meet me tomorrow at the old shack were you trained?"

"Why?"

The young man smirked at her.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," he said, "I'll call Qrow and let him know you two are going to be staying here for the next few days."

Ruby nodded at him and the young man left them and walked away leaving the two girls to stand behind. Ruby turned toward her sister giving her a small smile.

"Look like we'll be staying here again," she said.

Then she noticed the look upon Yang's face and the young girl could feel confusion seeping through her.

"Yang…?" she said, "What's wrong?"

The blonde stared at her.

"Don't you realize what you've just done?" she said.

Ruby blinked.

"You've just signed yourself up to fight against people," Yang told her, "How am I supposed to protect you if you're going to fly headfirst into danger like that."

"I don't need you to keep protecting me Yang," Ruby answered, "I am as strong as you are now…"

"And these people are even stronger than I am," Yang told her, "They even managed to take Weiss down someone who is stronger than the two of us combined. How do you expect to even stand a chance against them?"

Ruby stared at the girl in front of her.

"So you're saying that I should just let them kill Weiss," the small girl told her.

Yang shook her head, "I didn't say that."

"You're implying it," Ruby told her.

"Stop twisting my words," Yang snapped, "I'm just worried about you Ruby. I don't want you to get into something that you can't handle."

"And you think you can handle anything that was thrown your way?" Ruby retorted, "Somehow it feels like we've had this argument before….Oh yeah, we did. You are acting the same way as the time when we first started to train to become Huntresses and look, we did become Huntresses."

Ruby looked took a deep breath, to calm the anger that was rising within her.

"Yang" she said, "I'm doing this. I'm going to fight against those White Fang and protect Weiss. I want to know I have your support in this battle, and if you don't want to help, you know where the door is."

Ruby turned away from her and walked off leaving the blonde to stare at her retreating back. Yang let out a soft sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, glancing up toward where the room Weiss was resting in.

She stared at the door for a few moments and then turned away from it.

Ruby had decided to fight against the White Fang...but Yang is...

Next Time: The Power in a Name

Jacques0 out.

R&R