Dread in the Air.

As the cargo ship flies over Lake Matsu, Weiss and Bernadetta are still somber over being unable to help the Mistralian cargo pilots. Suddenly Weiss notices to her right a series of landmasses floating in the bright blue, partly cloudy sky, with what appears to be black crystals jutting out from the bottom of the rock formations. Puzzled, she and Bernadetta then decides to head into the pilot's cabin. The doors open.

"Where are we?" She asked

"Nowhere good. Passing by some of Lake Matsu's floating islands. The gravity Dust that forms in these things is giving us a little turbulence. Nothing I can't handle, but the islands sometimes hide some nasty Grimm"As Weiss walks toward the pilot, outside, an airship is seen quickly heading towards them, on fire, and leaving a giant trail of smoke behind it "I'm just betting on our friends in distress keeping them preoccupied".

Bernadetta glared at him for his insensitive comment. They should've saved those people, that's what huntresses do. They don't just run away and leave people to fend for themselves.

Weiss notices to her right the approach of the heavily damaged airships "Look out!".

The airship comes barreling from their right, narrowly hitting their cargo ship and forcing the pilot to pull upward to avoid it. The doomed craft, bearing a white symbol for Mistral on its sail, proceeds to collide into one of the floating islands.

"You've got to be kidding me!" The pilot then decides to switch back to the radio, listening in for nearby transmissions.

The Mistral Pilot was heard "By the gods, we've lost Percy! Help!".

Another Mistralian airship, pursued by a swarm of wasp-like Grimm, is suddenly hooked from multiple directions by their extendable stingers, which leaves them trapped and unable to move.

"We're hooked! We're hooked!" As the pilot makes a frantic call, the wood on the ship's exterior begins to crack, as the insects grappling on the ship pull very tightly "Everyone, abandon ship!".

Capitalizing on their fear, one of the Grimm somersaults into the air and dive-bombs into the top of the ship, as the pilot and everyone on board perishes in the ensuing explosion. Bernadetta and Weiss looked horrified at the carnage they should've stopped. The rest of the Grimm following this turn their attention to and pursue their airship.

"Lancers, freaking Lancers! Alright buckle up- Huh?" The Pilot turns to speak to the girls, only to see them jump down a hatch into the cargo hold, as they are determined to stop the swarm "What are you doing?".

"What we should've done in the first place! You're carrying Dust, right?" Weiss asked.

"Officially, no. Actually, yes" The Pilot answered.

Weiss opens a large container of vials of powdered Dust and loads her weapon Myrtenaster with six of them "Then when I tell you, open the rear door!" She then looks at Bernadetta who was also loading her bow's chamber with dust "Ready Bernie?".

"Yes!" Bernadetta confirmed.

"Better make it quick!" The pilot makes multiple evasive maneuvers, but the Lancers gain on the ship and begin to shoot their stingers at it "Kids, we're cutting it close!".

Weiss Summons a black glyph underneath her and Bernadetta to keep them stuck to the ship as she readies her sword in front of her "Ready!".

The cargo doors open and the battle begins. Using glyphs and Dust, Weiss succeeds in eliminating one of the Grimm. Bernadetta takes careful aim with an ice arrow before firing it right in to a Lancer's eye, cuasing it to crash and die.

"Haha! Hold on!" The Pilot cheered as he continues avoiding the swarm of grimm.

The girls eliminates five more while the pilot continues to do evasive maneuvers. Weiss gets knocked off balance when the cargo ship rocks "Ah! What was that?!".

The upper level of the cargo ship has Lancer stingers sticking in through the ceiling.

"We're hooked!" The Pilot answered.

The outside of the airship has two Lancers firmly planted on top of it before the rest of the swarm gains on the cargo ship once more, with some of the Grimm flying alongside it.

"I got an idea! Hold on! Literally!" The pilot accelerates the ship toward one of the floating islands, waiting until the last possible moment before suddenly diving and using the remaining forward momentum to throw the Lancers on the ship off into the side of the rock formation "Ha ha!".

"Can you find a pair of islands we can fit between?" Weiss asked.

The cargo ship is turned and travels toward a pair of closely adjacent, interconnected islands "Kid, you are reading my mind!".

As the cargo ship narrowly avoids the close islands walls and the attacking Lancers, Weiss fires three fireballs from her glyphs to destroy an overhanging rock formation. The attack causes debris that kills the attacking Grimm, but also awakens an unseen Queen Lancer.

"Yeah! Great going, kids! We are in the clear!" The Pilot said happily.

Immediately after Weiss exhales in relief, a Lancer significantly larger than the rest suddenly appears outside the cargo doors "It's a Queen Lancer!".

"What?!" The Pilot asked loudly.

"Oh no!" Bernadetta said, of course, where there is a swarm there is a queen... She hates bugs! The Queen Lancer attacks and the two girls are unable to stop it.

"Do something!" The Pilot shouts as Weiss uses most of the Dust crates to explode against the creature, but it survives unscathed "I can see the shoreline! Gods, we're not gonna make it!".

Regaining her composure, Weiss had a plan "Bernie, I need some time"

Bernadetta nods as she fires a lightning arrow in to the Queen Lancer's eye, causing it enough pain to slow it down. But no enough to stop it as it continues after them. Bernadetta exhausts most of her dust supply to barely keep the large insect grimm away. Bernadetta was almost about to fall out due to the bumpy ride. But she was suddenly grabbed by a large hand. Weiss had Summoned her Arma Gigas, and it pulled Bernadetta to safety.

"Pull up, now!" Weiss shouts.

The pilot causes the cargo ship to pull up and ascend further into the air, before maneuvering to have the vehicle upside down. During this, the Arma Gigas leaves the vehicle and dives toward the Queen Lancer. Once it has begun to dive, Weiss moves her head down toward her weapon and closes her eyes to concentrate. After its initial dive, the Arma Gigas turns in the air, summons its weapon, and reenters the dive again with its blade ready.

Soon after the cargo ship regains its normal orientation, Weiss concentrates and Resummons the Arma Gigas in order to change its position from above the Queen Lancer to underneath. From its new position, it ascends to attack the Queen Lancer from behind, before then being Resummoned multiple times to different positions adjacent to the Grimm to attack it from multiple angles. After its last attack in the combo, the Queen Lancer fires its stinger at the Arma Gigas, which it deflects causing the stinger to heavily impact one of the wings of the airship. The fight concludes after the Queen Lancer's attack, with the Arma Gigas slicing the Grimm one last time, causing it to dissipate. A large amount of smoke trails from the cargo ship, its alarms blaring. Weiss, realizing the state of the vehicle and the Pilot's lack of control, summons multiple large black glyphs in the path of the cargo ship in an attempt to slow its sudden descent and lessen the impact of its subsequent crash.

However it wasn't enough, as they crashed and everything went black.


Inside the White Fang headquarters, Adam kneels before Sienna Khan, High Leader of the White Fang, who is sitting on a throne flanked by two guards on either side of her, and the Black Knight was there as well.

"Adam. I'm not going to repeat myself, so I want you to listen when I tell you that the White Fang will not attack Haven Academy" Sienna said.

"High Leader Khan, I am begging you" Adam said, but the High Leader was having non of it.

"You should beg for forgiveness and nothing else! The assault you led on Beacon was not the great victory you clearly think it was, and you should be more grateful your punishment was not more severe. You are a symbol for many in our organization, but that doesn't make you infallible" Sienna said in a dangrous tone.

"I was merely trying to follow your example, High Leader" Adam said.

Sienna raised an eyebrow "And what example might that be?".

"Strength. Strength and unwavering conviction. The humans have seen that strength now" Adam said.

"I was one of the first to suggest violence where violence was necessary. Peace bred complacency and acceptance of our place in the world. I will not allow humanity to push us down without pushing them back. But the destruction of the Huntsman Academies crosses a line! The loss of the CCT has brought global communication to a crawl! And the White Fang is more of a target now than ever before! You have justified humanity's campaign against us, and for what?! Empty promises from a group of humans? Humans we still know nothing about, and come and go as they please! These are not examples of strength, Adam. They are examples of your talents being diminished by shortsightedness!" Sienna said, her dissaproval clear as day.

"If you want to know more about the humans, then why not talk to one of them yourself?" Adam rises and turns toward the entrance to the room "Hazel!".

Hazel opens the doors to the large room "Took you long enough".

As Hazel enters, Sienna rises from her seat and her guards all point their spears toward Hazel, and Black Knight grabs his sword "What is this?!".

"Apologies. I don't aim to cause any trouble" Hazel said.

"Then you shouldn't have come here" Black Knight said coldly

Sienna glares at Adam "You've brought a human to this location?".

"You should hear what he has to say" Adam said.

"This is grounds for execution!" Sienna said in anger.

"Ma'am, please. Nobody needs to die today" Hazel said before kneeling "I'm just asking for a moment of your time".

"The longer you stay here, the less of a chance you have of leaving alive" Sienna said.

"Leave. While our High Leader still allows it" Black Knight said, pulling some of his sword out of it's sheath, though not completely as it was just a warning... for now.

"I'll take those chances, if you don't mind" Hazel said as he looks up. Sienna glares but sits back down, her guards and Black Knight return to their neutral position and Hazel rises again before continuing to speak "You don't like me. You have no reason to like me. But you don't have to like me to get the results you want".

"I'm starting to doubt either of you fully comprehend what it is that I want. I want humanity to fear the Faunus, to know that we demand respect! I do not want to start a war with the humans that we cannot win!" Sienna said, losing more and more of her patience by the second.

"That's where you're wrong" Sienna and Hazel focus on Adam who begins to advance toward Sienna while continuing to speak "We can win a war against the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus".

"I've had enough of this conversation for tonight. Guards, take them away" Sienna ordered, but The guards remain stationary "I said, take them away!

"I will admit, Sienna, you were right about my popularity. My followers in Vale already see me as the true High Leader. And many here in Mistral feel the same" Adam said Four armed White Fang soldiers enter through the main doors and stop, pointing their weapons into the room as Sienna rises to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Hazel demanded.

"What's right for the Faunus. From this day forward, I will be the one to lead the White Fang" Adam declared as Four more soldiers reveal themselves with their weapons drawn, two on each side of the room, as Sienna's guards point their weapons at her.

Sienna quickly judges the situation, though taken by surprise. Her eyes narrow darkly "If you think I'll just step aside and follow beneath you, you're wrong".

Adam moves swiftly to impale her with his sword... Only for Black Knight to pull out his own sword and countered Adam's sword, causing him to stumble back. Sienna looked shocked at what almost happened... If Black Knight hadn't been there... Adam would've killed her.

"I never trusted you, Adam Taurus. You sicken me beyond anything else" Black Knight said in an cold yet angry voice.

Adam glares at the armored warrior "Step aside, Half Breed! Even you are no match for all of us".

"For your smug sense of superiority, your arrogance knows no bounds. I harbor no doubt I could butcher everyone of you traitors. But unlike you, I don't kill my own people. And if you believe you have us cornered, you are wrong" Black Knight said before he grabbed Sienna and stabbed his blade in to the floor, causing a glow to cover them.

"NO!" Adam shouts as he rushed forward, swinging his blade but cut only air as bot his targets were gone.

He let out a shout of rage.


A good distance away from the headquarters, Black Knight and Sienna reappeared. Sienna took a moment to gather herself as her stomach felt strange.

"Sorry, my semblance can be jarring for those who experience it for the first time" Black Knight said.

"Your Warp Semblance really is useful... You were right all along... Adam was to unstable... to dangerous... If you hadn't been here..." Sienna whispered.

Black Knight removed his helmet before gently grabbing Sienna's shoulders from behind "My loyalty will always be to you, Sienna... You are the one who gave me a place to stay, and a purpose to live for... When both human and faunus saw me as nothing but a half breed".

Sienna relaxed slightly "Thank you... Zelgius".

"What do we do now?" The Black Knight, who's real name was now revealed to be Zelgius, asked.

Sienna sighed "There is only one thing we can do... But it will not be easy".

Zelgius knew what she meant... And she was right. It won't be easy.


The cargo ship has crashed in a forest. Weiss is lying injured on the ground with clothes dirtied as two bandits approach her.

"Help... please" She begged.

"What do you think?" One of the bandits asked.

Raven approaches to take a position between the two bandits and directly above Weiss "I think... we just hit the jackpot".

Weiss' face turns to one of concern as she looks up at Raven, who stomps on her face, causing her to lose consciousness. Bernadetta noticed this as she crawled out of the wreckage. She gasped as she quickly pulls and arrow, ready to fire. But Raven only smiled and motioned behind the young huntress. Bernadetta turned just in time to be hit in the head, knocking her out.

"Well done, Mareeta" Raven said with a smile.

The one who knocked out Bernadetta was a young girl, roughly around Ruby's age, a year older at most. She had dark hair... and silver eyes.

She looks at Raven and smiles back "Thank you... Mother".

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Dun dun duuuuuun!

A double update for this story as I gained a strong inspiration to do it. Sienna dying always bothered me and I worried I wouldn't be able to find a way to save her. Then I remembered Black Knight hasn't been seen in a while, and given his canon ability to warp just about anywhere he wants, and the fact he is a half human and half Laguz (The animal people of Fire Emblem), he fit perfectly.

And this also allowed me to finally reveal an idea I've been planing ever since I began writing the story. Yes, Raven has another kid in this story and don't worry, there will be an explanation for it.

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Tell me what you think.