A Leaf Turned

Chapter 11
Descend from Shadow

Adam firmly believed in the White Fang, he had always believed that they would be the ones to raise the Faunus to their rightful place in Remnant and that they would be imfallible knights to the common masses and spur them all on the take up arms for the rights and equality they and their forefathers fought for and had been cruelly denied it bar on the sheet of paper that was signed.

He believed he would be such a knight to his kind.

But what he was seeing, what he was watching transpire down on the poorly lit docks was nothing short of petty and disgraceful. He could see them, in the poor lighting his Faunus eyes afforded him perfect sight and he could see them, roughly twenty of his former comrades in full uniform, picking up Schnee Dust crates and moving them onto the Bullhead they had descended from.

How they all fit onto that single bullhead was beyond the bull Faunus but that was hardly the point. No what had the blood in Adam's veins sizzling to a boil was who they were obeying without so much a word of dissent.

Roman Torchwick.

Adam knew the name and face. Ruby had of course told the story of how she "Fearlessly thwarted" one of his robberies before invited into Beacon, Adam admitted the additional karate motions were adorable and they were amusing when she judo chopped the Schnee's plate of cookies resulting in a mess that had the bull chuckling at the time, and he knew full well this was a man willing to kill a little girl to escape the scene of the crime.

But that was all Ruby's intel. Adam himself knew Roman was a two bit thief who fancied himself a master criminal but settled for taking the safest scores unless the risks were outweighed by the gain on a four to one scale. And such opporunities seemed rare in Vale...But then the sudden string of Dust thefts and now the apparent working with the White Fang?

If he had been calmer, the bull Faunus might have smelled a rat but as it was. All he needed to hear was "Listen here you animals, we're not exactly the most inconspicuaous criminals around tonight so maybe you can pick up the pace a little." To really understand why he was about to metaphorically, and possible literally, disembowel the fancily dressed criminal tonight.

"Disgraces to the name of White Fang..." Adam growled to himself, he reached over and curled his fingers over Wilt's handle and with a screeching hiss the blade the slide from its housing, glowing a feint red as if reacting to the anger coursing through it's wielders veins. "Each and every single one of you." He stepped towards the roofs edge and dropped down.

He had some twenty Faunus to handle and Roman Torchwick...he couldn't let a single one of them live to tell who was about to disrupt to their operation.

Adam! Blake's voice echoed in mind, a worried and distressed sound as he bolted forward, sliding into the shadows between two shipping containers towards his first target, some unsuspecting lapdog to a Human they should be crucifying. Don't do it! Don't fall into that anger again! "Blake" continued to warn him from the searing anger burning his blood.

He ignored her voice. They were all traitors in ways he and Blake could never be. They had betrayed the very ideals the Fang had been founded on. They deserved, and would get, no mercy!

Working for Torchwick sucked.

That was the unanimous thought of most Faunus who were transferred to Roman's "unit" to help the Human steal Dust for their leader and "benefactor" as they were told. Which rubbed him the wrong way that all the newbies more or less got this duty for a week or so, until they actually saw some real White Fang activity. And to think...Just a few days ago he was living in blissful ignorance.

Happy until his nephew had been hurt in a protest, a peaceful protest, the Fang weren't even involved and still...Now his nephew was in the hospital and for what?! Human bigotry?! "He hasn't even woken up yet..." The bear Faunus muttered to himself, grabbing another crate and hefting it up.

There was a thud and he turned, looking to where his partner had gone off to get more Dust crystals. "Hey! Careful, you idiot, you drop a crate and it goes off we're going to take the entire dock with us!"

There wasn't a response from the shadows...His eyes narrowed and he set the crates down, reaching for his machete at his waist. "Hey, Bill are you-"

A blur of red and black slid past him. And he felt nothing as his vision was suddenly skyward, as if he had been thrown, he couldn't even cry out as his lips parted to utter a gasp...no sound came out. He couldn't even feel anything now...

Adam rushed past the body before the head could even hit the ground, The scent of blood would alert his brethren shortly and he wanted to eliminate as many of them before the heavy fighting really started. His eyes narrowed and he snarled when two more Faunus appeared following the scent of blood. Their weapons were drawn.

They saw him, eyes glowing, the red of his body beginning to glow as well and that sword, still covered in blood, rushing them. One gasped... and the other began to raise his rifle in defiance.

Adam was on them, he swung with Wilt, the rifle in the left Faunus' hands split into two...And he staggered back with a spray of crimson from his chest that likely bissected his heart and lung. The right was treated to the barrel of Blush pressed into his chin as Adam spun past.

A trigger pull and the container beside them was decorated with gore.

Adam!

"They're all disgraces!" He snarled and leapt forward, "They don't deserve to wear the Fang's colors if they're so ready to break its ideals!" He was on another, jumping forward and impaling the female to the container behind hr, she gasped up blood onto his face and he snarled as if she insulted him. He twisted the blade and jerked it free, leaving her to bleed out from the wound to her heart.

All of them, they're worthless. He thought.

Adam, please stop!

"Silence!" Adam growled as he leapt into the air over a container, Wilt sheathed and ready to be drawn to spill more blood. Only to see he'd jumped right into the line of sight of the Human who so ignited his rage. Roman Torchwick.

And said Human was aiming right at him, smirking for all the smugness in Remnant to admire. "Well that's just rude." He sneered, "I haven't even said a word yet." And fired.

The bull Faunus grit his teeth and swung Wilt, the blade and explosive shot colliding with a blast as Adam was thrown back over the crate, smoking and slightly pained...Only slightly. He could hear the shouts of Roman telling the others to load up the Dust and for them to get rid of their "new friend'.

Adam growled and forced himself up onto his hands and knees, his coat singed and his hair a touch frayed. But the anger in his veins was enough to lessen the burning pain already. When the first few turned the corner and raised their weapons to gun him down, Adam leveled them with a harsh glare.

They stopped short, some outright almost dropping their weapons. There was obvious recognition. "It's Taurus." One whispered what they all thought, a few stepped back, others were now shaking. A few were steadily aimed, ready to carry out their order...But even they hesitated. Adam had been their leader months ago, and stories had been spread about him. He had been everything the Fang had wanted, powerful, loyal and imfallible.

He had also been terrifying.

"Disgraces..." Adam snarled as curled his fingers around Blush. "You bow to Humans like Torchwick?" He hissed, standing and glaring at them all. "How far the Fang has fallen...And this will be entirely my pleasure!" He leapt forward.

The White Fang members raised their weapons and fired...and among the gunfire and sounds of metal rending flesh there were screams of terror.

Roman Torchwick calmly lit a cigar.

He'd successfully, not that he would have failed to hit such a huge target mid air mind you, shot down his new arrival and made it all the easier for the animals to do their job. Now they just had to finish putting him down and they could get back to stealing the Dust before the authorities arrived.

"Honestly, Perry. I feel like you're the only one I can rely on." Roman confided in the bespectacled Faunus who was sitting in the pilot seat of the Bullhead. "And I mean that, they send me newbies every week and it just seems like they get stupider then the last batch!"

"Truly dismal." Perry said as he adjusted some controls.

"It's truly insulting!" Roman corrected, taking a long draw from his cigar and exhaling the cloud of smoke, outside of course because the "No smoking" sign on the hull. "They expect me to steal Dust in these amounts? Sure, give me a small crew of professionals or even a handful of competant hands, but a bunch of fresh off the boat recruits? Hah!" He sneered. "It's a bigger hassle than finding the Dust! But not you, Perry. You perform well."

"Thank you, sir." Perry didn't turn away from the cockpit controls. Merely turning one of the dials.

"It's worse because they get bolder when Neo isn't around to scare them into-"

That was when the gunfire sounded off, nodding to himself. Took them this long to put down a wounded animal? He rolled his eyes, animals. The gunfire continued, then the screaming started and Roman blinked before frowning. "Ooh-kay..." That's a little concerning.

He turned to Perry. "Get us ready for lift off." Before turning away and hopping out of the Bullhead and seeing what the commotion was.

He was greeted to the sight of some of the White Fang running from where the interloper had been flung from the shot, yelling about "He's a monster!" or "It's Taurus!" And one "Our toast has been burned!".

He didn't bother to try and guess what the last one meant. And what on Remnant was a Taurus? As one Fang ran past him he turned and caught him by the back of the hood with his cane and tugged him back. "Whoa there doggy." It was Canine Faunus. "Where do you think you're going? We have a job here." He warned, just a little threatening.

But instead of the fearful obedience that would be granted to him he was instead shoved at as the Faunus tried to escape his, something behind him, and that was all Roman needed to see before he twisted around with speed and put the dog between himself and the interloper he'd shot down.

The dog was cleaved nearly in two and Roman was left staring into the bloodied, snarling face of a Faunus who's red hair, black horns, pale skin and bloodied clothing gave him all the appearance of some demonic Grimm straight from nightmare.

That was a little more concerning. Almost as much as the way those red eyes seemed to glow and stare at him as if he was the worst sort of person.

Neo, you pick the absolute worst days to call in your weekend vacation. He thought, before getting ready for a fight that would probably be more than a little messy. He swung Melodic Cudgal and knocked the Faunus back, bringing the weapon back down and firing off a quick shot to hopefully end this before it got too heavy. More time spent fighting meant less to escape cleanly.

The Faunus dodged and Roman grit his teeth with a sigh. Of course he didn't go down that easy. The first slash came and the criminal parried expertly...Only to feel the vibration bite of the force of the strike behind that sword...And see the cut in the shaft of his weapon.

How damn strong was this Faunus?!

Adam saw red, and as racist as such a thing would probably be, he couldn't deny the saying was apt right now. Blood dripped into his left eye as was pressed back from Torchwick when the man swung that cane of his. The bull Faunus landed and sheathed Wilt, glaring as he ducked right to avoid the follow up shot before he jumped forward and closed distance again.

He slashed, and Torchwick parried, albeit wth a flash of sparks as they began to trade blows and parries. Keeping the Human on the defensive, and Adam could keep up the vicious one handed strikes as long as he needed before he saw an opening.

He just had to whittle away at Roman's defenses and then he'd make the Human suffer.

"Adam!"

The bull's blood chilled and he turned his head, spotting Ruby atop the warehouse he'd been observing from. What is she doing here?! She and the others were to wait for him back at Beacon!

He spotted the awkward girl too, who spoke...And Ruby turned away.

His brief lapse in concentration was enough for Roman to plant a boot to his gut and kick him back, before turning to Ruby and aiming. "Sorry, Little Red, but this party has been crashed way too much tonight." He fired.

And Ruby turned and watched, like a damn moron, as the shot approached and Adam twisted mid stagger, turning and jumping forward. "Move, you fool!" He shouted.

Ruby blinked and curled her legs to try and jump away...A second too short and the shot connected, Sending her back with a cry, Adam's heart skipped and he bolted forward, hopping up just as the awkward girl stepped forward and past him, looking determined.

They past...And he landed on the warehouse roof, moving towards Ruby. Who was laying there, covered in soot and smoking. He froze, her body overlapping with Blake's briefly, as if a nightmare was coming to life before him. Blake lay there, unmoving, unbreathing...Bleeding...

He blinked and she was Ruby again, a bit smokey but otherwise unharmed thanks to her Aura, and he slid down to her side."Ruby!" He leaned down, placing his ear to her lips. Listening for any breath-

She coughed right into his ear. He could feel saliva had gotten there.

"Owie..." She groaned, looking up at the sight of Adam, bloodied, and instead of horror...She was concerned. "Adam! Are you okay? You're hurt aren't you!?" She sat up and quickly tried to assess him for injuries.

She was shot directly and she's worried about me? Adam couldn't comprehend that. Couldn't comprehend the girl in the red hood named Ruby Rose. "You fool" He shouted, stopping her mid search. "I told you and the others to wait at Beacon!"

"But we just wanted to he-"

"You could have died." He added, tone lower as his eyes narrowed. "You don't turn your back on an enemy. You're lucky you had Aura." If she hadn't, she'd have been...Gone.

A green light the sky and Adam turned sharply, preparing to fight more when he saw a number of Bullheads go down, cut from the middle as beams carved them into two. They struck the crates and exploded, causing the contents to detonate too, creating a series of multi colored and element riddled explosions. The bull moved forward and watched as the last Bullhead flew off, likely carrying Torchwick. Roman Torchwick had gotten away.

He growled and his hold clenched tightly around his weapons. He'd gotten no answers, nothing from this little act of heroism other than more questions! Who was Torchwick working for? What were the Fang doing with Torchwick?

Had he done anything noteworthy tonight? Or just spilled the blood of his former comrades? Who he killed because they hadn't followed the ideals, Ideals that he too betrayed?!

What sort of person am I? He asked himself, sheathing Wilt. He looked at Ruby, who seemed mezmerized by the explosions and the sight of the awkward girl standing there, swords floating behind her. The only good thing about this desruction? The bodies would be disposed of...and Ruby need not see what he had done to them.

Ten minutes later the authorities arrived and secured the now ruined dock site. Ruby, himself and Penny, she had introduced herself AGAIN while they waited, stood with the remainder of team RWBY, Ruby informing him that they had been searching for him since he'd left.

He in turn told them what he had been doing. But when he reached the current nights events. He looked to Weiss. "You were right," He muttered. "It was the White Fang, they're working with Roman Torchwick...They've been stealing the Dust." Adam also felt no need to mention that he had...Killed quite a few Faunus.

Weiss was silent, his stance was tense, but not aggressive, more tired. And instead of the verbal boasting and mocking he had been expecting she said. "But you stopped them, right?"

He was surprised, and he showed it with a blink. "To...The best of my ablities, yes." He'd killed almost all of them, and any left had been caught in the explosions, likely dead as well then. He and Blake's secret was safe. Torchwick didn't know him.

Blake would remain safe.

"Then I guess, in the interest of teamwork and your efforts, that I can...Trust you, as a teammate," Weiss said, looking as uncomfortable as he felt. "I know I can be difficult."

He snorted.

"Ahem! Trying to be sincere here!" Weiss huffed, "You are such an-" She stopped when he began to chuckle, blinking. His chuckles turned into low, deep laughter and finally, he began to calm down. "...What was that?" The heiress asked, briefly weirded out.

"Me laughing."

"Why?"

He smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You...I...Agh!" She threw her hands up into the air. "You are impossible, Adam Belladonna!" She accused, poking him in the chest and glaring into his red eyes. "Absolutely impossible!"

The bull Faunus just chuckled despite how heavy his body felt. "Yes, well. I am a bull, and we can be very stubborn."

"Aww..." Yang stepped forward, wrapping one arm around Weiss and the other around Ruby, pulling them into a hug. "Teamhug!" She announced, grinning at Adam.

Ruby looked delighted, and wrapped her arm around Yang, while leaving the other open for him. Weiss, after a moment put hers around the blonde as well before giving him an expectant look. The RW and Y eyed him, waiting. Yang waggled her eyebrows, Ruby just smiled widely and Weiss arched an impatient brow.

Adam rolled his eyes, stepping forward and into the embrace. His arms half heartedly around the Schnee and Ruby as they formed a full team RWBY hug. "Idiots." He muttered.

"You love us." Yang smirked. Ruby elbowed her in the side and said "Moment, ruining it". Weiss just huffed.

Adam decided he could worry about Roman later, and get his answers as well...For now, he'd take Blake's advice and try to be a student, and learn to live with Humans. It might be easier now, since he had such an...interesting team to do it with.

"Hey, where's Penny?"

Adam blinked, glancing around. Huh...Where had she gone?

Probably not important, right?

End of Chapter 11
And A Leaf Turned Volume 1!

Welp. There it is, the end of the first Volume of A Leaf Turned! And a glimpse into the Darkness that Adam hides beneath his mask of control and apathy. Scary, I think. Anyways, the next chapter, should I post it as a next chapter or just another story? Hmm, I dunno! I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Anyways, thanks for following this far and I hope to see you all again when I next post up the continuation of A Leaf Turned.