Don't be afraid of her… The more often Weiss thought about it, the more afraid the heiress became. During and between the lectures there were several opportunities to tell Yang and Blake what had occurred back in the forest to the north east. However, she managed to let them slip away by apathy – every single one of them. Now she was sitting inside one of Beacon Academy's Bullheads, heading to the very warehouse that had been the scene of the battle between White Fang and the Emerald Ghosts.
Professor Ozpin intercepted the three members of team RWBY in front of Oobleck's classroom, and asked them to investigate the events at warehouse #12 of the Schnee Dust Company. His reason seemed to be an assumption, the heiress had herself: The Emerald Ghosts were the former members of Ms. Grey's old squad. Even though preventing a terrorist organization such as White Fang from finishing a heist this size, Huntsmen going rogue still meant bad news and reputation for the Academy, not to mention every other Huntsman and Huntress.
He placed Weiss herself in charge of this investigation, and she felt very uncomfortable with it. Surely, involving her would make getting into the storage facility of her father's company a lot easier, but leading an actual mission for Beacon Academy, gaining either prestige or shame – depending on the results and performance – for herself and her team in the process was a responsibility; the heiress was not ready for that. But on the other hand, neither was Ruby, when Professor Ozpin made her leader of team RWBY, but this decision turned out to be just the right thing for the team. Maybe it was the same with the current one.
As the bullhead approached a landing site not far from the facility, Weiss and her 'subordinates' could take a look at the battlefield from afar. Containers had been thrown around like toys, most of them damaged, but the contents still inside, while some Dust had been scattered around the storage area outside the warehouse itself; shattered vials and broken crystals.
"So," Yang finally broke the silence, "why exactly are we here again? These guys could have gone gods know where by the time, we arrived here."
"First of all, the Professor wants to know if it's actually the three remaining members of the old squad lead by Ms. Grey or somebody else, I think," Weiss answered to the complaint. She questioned the use of this endeavor herself, however. All they could possibly find were traces of Dust powered weaponry, or maybe a bullet case – if the police did overlook such a thing, that is. "And secondly it's about the reason: What White Fang needs those amounts of Dust for?"
"So, what's the plan, princess?" Yang asked, while they were approaching the warehouse. Blake walked at the brawler's left side, as close as possible, while Weiss went in front of her team mates.
"First, we get inside the warehouse. There, we will look for anything – and I mean literally anything – out of the ordinary. We'll note everything, taking pictures, and take those back to the Professor. That shouldn't take too long, I hope," Weiss explained, stopping and turning to the other two while doing so. "After that, we'll perform the same procedure in the outside storage area surrounding the warehouse itself."
"A solid plan, actually," Blake commented, and Yang just nodded in acknowledgement.
"Let's get to it, then." Weiss proceeded towards the gates of the storage facility. Getting access was as easy as the heiress had anticipated: Exchanging a few pleasantries with the security officer in charge, explaining the situation, and they were already inside warehouse #12. The remnants of the battlefield in front of the building had already been picked clean by the law enforcing authorities, as expected. On the first look inside the warehouse, though, everything seemed to be in order – except for the forensic unit still doing their job. The officer in charge took a look at the three girls, as they entered the scene.
"You're the Huntresses?" he asked harshly.
"Yes, sir," Weiss answered politely. He is just doing his job, Weiss. Leave him be.
"Well, alright. We're almost finished, and as soon as the report is ready, your Professor shall receive a copy of it. So, why did he send you here, regardless?" the man asked.
"We are tasked with looking for evidence regarding the whereabouts of the Emerald Ghosts, if I may call them that." Weiss tensed up. The officer did not like the meddling of the Academy, for obvious reasons, and Weiss could see it in his face.
"You really think they are Huntsmen, don't you?"
"I'd prefer not to talk about assumptions, sir."
"Alright… You can go, and do, as you please," the man said, "AFTER we're done here. So, would you please enter that break room over there, and wait for about an hour? And don't leave it, unless it's necessary."
Without any sort of protest, team RWBY followed the order of the police officer, and waited for their turn to take a look around the warehouse.
"Weiss, can I ask you something?" Blake spoke up suddenly.
"Of course," the heiress replied, while already taking a look at the surroundings through the windows of the break room, which did not have a ceiling of its own. Blake and Yang were doing the same. The three Huntresses in training were looking at a gigantic hall with at least eighteen enormous racks in it. The racks were all painted in the colors of the Schnee Dust Company, and filled with pallets of boxes, which contained the stored wares in them: Dust.
"Is there… Something else stored in here, except for Dust?"
"No. My father likes to keep everything ordered, especially as far, as Dust is concerned. Other wares of the company are stored in the other warehouses."
"I wonder if there will be anything for us to find, when they're done," Yang said, while getting a coffee out of the vending machine inside the break room.
"I hardly think so," Blake answered, "But in all honesty: I think we're looking for something specific here," the Faunus added, earning curious looks of both her girlfriend and Weiss.
"How come?" Yang asked, and sipped on her coffee.
"It would be a complete waste of time, otherwise. The Professor wants us to find something the forensic unit here wouldn't bother even looking for."
"And what could that be, Blakey?" Yang asked again.
"I have no idea, Yang," Blake answered, and leaned on Yang, who had taken a seat next to her. Weiss had nothing useful to say during that part of the conversation. Blake was right, though: There had to be something inside the warehouse the Professor wants. And he must have been sure that they were able to find it, even though there was a whole forensic unit investigating the scene. After thinking about this for a few moments, she had something useful to add to the conversation.
"If that is the case," Weiss stated, "we will have to look for… The thing in unusual places."
"On top of the racks?" Blake asked.
"Yes, on top of the racks, for example."
"Oh, really? Climbing?" Yang complained once more about the one thing she was not really good at.
"That's strange, for someone, who likes to be on top…" Blake teased the blonde, and Weiss could feel her face getting warm, while Yang almost choked on her drink. No time for that, lovebirds, we've got a job to do… Weiss thought, but could not resist the urge to tease Yang with her inability to climb. "I do believe there will be plenty of places for you to investigate, Yang, that don't involve climbing."
"Well, in that case: Blake goes up!" Yang exclaimed hastily.
"Excuse me?" Blake asked in acted protest, as the two loving partners started an argument about literally nothing, but were having fun while doing so. Brawler and Faunus ignored their fill-in leader completely, as the heiress tried to calm them down again.
About one and a half hour later, the forensic unit of the police had finished their investigation, and left the warehouse to the Huntresses in training, who now started to look for something, they even did not know the shape, color, or size of. However, they started to look for the thing on top of the racks. Blake did so, to be precise, since she could get up there easily, and without risking any damage to anyone or anything inside the warehouse.
They still had to find any sort of evidence, yet, when Blake seemed to notice something. She tensed up visibly, and before Weiss could even start to ask, what the matter was, the Faunus fled the top of the racks, and whispered: "Hide!"
"Fr-hmmm~" Yang tried to ask, but was silenced by Blake's hand on her mouth. "We've got company…" the Faunus added, still whispering. Weiss pointed at the break room, and the team used the filled racks as cover to get there.
"Oi! Be quick aboot yer bisniss down ther," a scratchy voice, female though, spoke up from above, where the windows were.
"Yeah, yeah…" a man answered, as he and another person were climbing down the racks, by the sounds of it. The other one sniffed from time to time, as if he was sick. Weiss, Yang, and Blake were hiding behind the vending machine, one of the benches inside the break room, and right behind the open door, using it as cover, as they listened into the ongoing conversation.
"Do you smell anything?" the man asked, which was answered by the sniffing one.
"Bunch of humans, remains of the forensics, I think. A tone of Faunus, aaaaaand Dust, Dust, and Dust, honey," the same voice answered, but in an almost happily excited tone, rather than the serious one, who asked. Either that or the man was talking to himself, since the voices differed hardly.
"You shouldn't have called me that, while he was around, darling," the other one laughed up, and earned a growl as an answer. "Anyway, let's find it and be gone, before-""Ouh, shiny!" At least it was now clear that two different male individuals were involved in this.
Weiss tensed up, while literally cowering behind the vending machine, in order to stay out of sight, since the door was open. The Dust smell inside the warehouse seemed to conceal the presence of team RWBY for the time being, but it would only be a matter of time, before the intruders would look for 'it' inside the break room. While the happy man was singing about some secret tunnel of some sort, the heiress could hear him moving away from their position. What are you doing? The complaints of 'honey' – the other, more serious man – gave away his position from time to time. He was moving relatively close to the break room, sometimes coming closer, sometimes moving away. What do you want? What Weiss did not know, however, were the whereabouts of the woman on the roof. There were no sounds of her entering the building, or any yells in her accent, which would give away her position. Where are you? The longer the heiress tried and failed to find at least one of the intruders, the more tension built inside Weiss' body.
Yang dared to rise behind the bench, carefully peeking out of the break room window next to her. It looked like she was trying to get a view of the men, or the woman maybe. She did not dare too much, though; she could give away her team's hiding spot. And a fight inside a warehouse full of Dust could result in disaster.
Blake on the other hand stayed behind the door, and looked focused. The Faunus had taken off her bow, and her ears were twitching and turning, as far as Weiss could see. It seemed she tried to hear them, as Weiss did, in order to locate them. The heiress was thinking of a way to get some control of the situation, when suddenly a sharp whistle came from somewhere, Weiss could not make out. Is she still up there? Did she see us? Weiss was literally looking at one of the windows up top, staring at it in surprise. Why did she not think about the non-existent ceiling of the break room? The woman must have seen them.
Silence befell the warehouse. None of the Huntresses in training dared to move out of hiding for the better half an hour. Then, Blake slowly closed the door of the break room, as silently as possible, and finally sighed out in relief, after the door shut.
"What are you doing?" Weiss whispered, still cowering behind the vending machine. "What if they're still here?"
"They're not…" Blake answered quietly, which Yang took as an opportunity to stand up again.
"Eh…" Weiss started, after she had come out of her hiding spot as well. While Blake put her bow back on her head, so that it covered her second pair of ears, as usual, the heiress realized why her Faunus friend was so sure about her statement.
"Well… That was a thing…" Yang said, approached Blake, and put her right arm around the black haired girl's shoulders.
"Intense, I would say…" Blake added, but looked at the heiress in concern. "Weiss, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's get back to the job, before they decide to come back," the heiress ordered, her voice was shaky, though. "Did any of you get a look on them?"
"Nope, sorry. Couldn't see anything," Yang answered, as the team left the warehouse.
"Just a silhouette, sorry. I came down, as soon as I realized they were coming in," Blake explained, as the team left the break room, and continued their search. That's how their name came to be, I suppose. They're just like ghosts. Weiss thought while looking around the facility one last time. Maybe she missed something. Maybe the Emerald Ghosts were watching. "Guys, I found something over here!" Yang yelled all of a sudden. Weiss and Blake joined their team mate near a fire exit in the back area of the warehouse, where the brawler seemed to have stumbled over a black piece of wool. After closer inspection by the trio, the item turned out to be a mask with a stylized skull painted on its front side.
"Is it one of their masks?" Weiss asked, and realized how unnecessary that question was.
"Certainly looks like the guy in the news described them," Blake acknowledged the heiress' assumption, and Yang just nodded. "Should we take it with us?"
"Where did you find it, Yang?" Weiss asked the brawler, who pointed at the closest rack.
"It was under that thing, looked like woolen hat at first, but…" Yang explained, and shrugged afterwards.
"Okay… So, Blake, why should we take it with us? This is clear evidence, why would the police even… Miss this…" While Weiss was speaking, she realized what may have happened in the warehouse. "You think those three placed it here, don't you?" Weiss inquired. Blake nodded in response.
"Yes, and I also think they want us to deliver a message with this mask."
"Okay, let's get back to Beacon. The Professor would want to know what happened here," Weiss commanded, and called the Academy for a pickup. While the three girls were leaving the storage facility, the heiress could not stop thinking about what the strangers seemed to have done, who they were, and why it was so important, that they broke into a warehouse in the middle of the day. Yang kept the mask in one of her pouches, as they left for their pickup. Weiss did not even bother looking around the outside area, as she had planned. She just wanted to get away.
The next chapter: Messengers