Adam Taurus walked out in the open, wearing his mask that marked him as a member of the White Fang. Unlike the others who wish to hide behind their masks so that they could live out their lives, he along with a few others wore theirs with pride. If those that oppress them would make them akin to monster, then so be it. The White Fang will be like the very monsters that they are so afraid of. It is the only way in which humans will ever recognize the faunus as equals—no—as superiors. That is what Adam Taurus believes in and what he fights for: the supremacy of the faunus.

It angers him though, knowing that he has to fight for someone else. Being forced to acknowledge a human as his superior, brings him rage. That is only because of power though. If he were stronger, he was certain that he wouldn't cower. The other members of the White Fang, those who were with him especially, can attest to that. They needed Dust, and it had gotten difficult to come by these days so they had to find it elsewhere. With Roman Torchwick out of the picture, responsibility for that falls unto the White Fang.

Of course, he had no reason to lead the charge personally on this one. But he wanted to deliver a message: that he is the one in charge and that he is not the kind of person who would back down in a fight. By his side was his sword and Adam knew that he was one of the greatest swordsmen of his time, perhaps even in history. While others were slacking away, he studied the blade. While the others delved themselves in politics and fanciful speeches, he mastered the blade. While the great warriors that he had once admired withered away due to age and time, he perfected the blade. In his scarred eyes, there is no one who could possibly challenge him on that end. That was until he heard about a particular individual among the circles of the White Fang.

It wasn't the first time the White Fang had been sent to this Dust shop. The earlier one had a group mostly of recruits getting some experience but were mostly there to play lookout or intimidate the humans into submission by their sheer numbers. While most others had run for their lives, the shop keep was apparently calm and locked the door, leaving the White Fang outside. Why didn't the White Fang simply charge in? There was a lone human that stood between them. Adam's fingers traced the handle of his blade when he had heard their description. What he had heard made him desire to see it in person.

From what he was told, the human that stood in their way was a swordsman, similar to himself. One difference in their blades was that the human had a longer one, around the length of a drying pole for one's clothes. With such a size, it should have been difficult for the human to move at any great speeds. Yet, they had said that the human could move at incomprehensible speeds that none of them could see the sword leave the scabbard. Adam scoffed at the notion that someone could be faster than him at the blade. He who had honed it for years knew that such a feat would have been impossible unless they had trained in a similar time. His was also hardened by battle. For a human to achieve such feats without being a known name to the White Fang? Such things could only be reserved for the movies.

They spoke about what had happened to their comrade at the time. A faunus whose features were that of a swallow's wings; some would argue that said comrade was a Vacuoan swallow as opposed to a Valean one, Adam personally never knew about the difference and the only reason he even knew there was a difference was because he had one who desire to avenge his Vacuoan comrade under his command. The human was said to have cut through the swallow faunus with such ease that it must have been instinctual, honed to a point to those forms that one learns in traditional martial arts.

Then, that is when Adam Taurus made to pause. There can be no mistaking that the human he was looking for was there. It was so easy that it was frankly insulting. His outfit, clearly inspired by the Mistral, had no resemblance to that of Mistral; it was much closer to being inspired by Mistral than it is something authentically from that place. The human had a sword in his back and had his hands in his sleeves like those martial teachers in the movies. He stood guard of the dust shop called "From Dust Till Dawn" and appeared to be in some kind of meditative state.

Personally, Adam was furious. Not only was this human an absolute insult to genuine Mistral by taking on the appearance of some ancient master, he also had the audacity of trying to portray his actions as such. The same kind of nonsense that only those cheesy movies could have done. Not like the dark reality that Adam has known as a warrior. This? This was the one whom the White Fang had feared? He could only see red like the bull faunus that he is.

As if sensing his anger, the human opened his eyes and locked immediately with his. No. He did not sense the anger, he heard all the other civilians running for their lives at the sight of White Fang. The human only chose to do so in some vain attempt to make himself appear like those fakes in the movies. The two stood in a stand-off, their hands rested on the hilts of their blades. Neither changed their stances and was waiting for the other to move.

In that moment, Adam Taurus breathed. His comrades were with him as well, they stood there anxiously as if anticipating a great fight that would ensue. The human, either in arrogance or some sense of duty, drew his sword and readied his own stance. Any civilian that stayed behind stood still and watched as the two readied their stances. Their knees bent and their feet shuffled, adjusting only so little as they readied to spring into action. The heat of the sun caused both of them to sweat but neither paid any mind.

Adam will give the human this. While his outfit may have been an attempt at genuine Mistralian culture, he took the way of the blade seriously enough. His stance was textbook perfect. Deep down, underneath all of that hate for humans, Adam will admit some level of admiration for the one in front of him. His grip was relaxed and the focus in his eyes was clear. There was only the fight ahead that filled the human's mind. Everything else was absent. He was breathing too, further calming his mind as what little else was left was being cleared from it.

However, his comrades had gotten too high on emotion and charged in. The Vacuoan faunus flew with incredible air speed as he went straight for the human. Although he didn't move his feet, Adam saw that the eyes caught and locked on the flying faunus in an instant.

It was there that Adam saw it. It lasted only for a moment and he doubts that anyone else were able to see it with how swift it was. But as a swordsman, Adam felt a change in him that he never thought possible: he felt humbled.

"What do we do, Adam?" asked his comrades, panic filling the tone of their voice. Adam did not blame them. Even by his trained eye, the swiftness of the swordsman was far too great that he could only barely keep up.

The speed was so high that he would not even call what he had seen afterimages. No. It was more accurate to say that the speed was high enough that the man's blade was in three separate places at once. His comrade, foolish as he was, was cut perfectly that nothing would have remained. Even the bloodstains would not have reached the ground. They were cut with such precision that none remained on the blade itself. It was best to say that the swallow faunus ceased to exist. The worst part about it was that Adam knew it was only the best possible image that his mind could conjure up. The human—nay—the master had reached a level that Adam had not.

Adam dropped his blade and got on all fours. His forehead nearly kissing the ground as he said only one word: "sensei."

/-/

"That doesn't explain why you turned yourself in, Adam," said Blake. Never in all her days could she imagine that Adam Taurus would willingly turn himself in. Yet here he was across her on the telephone separated only by a glass barrier.

She had never seen the man like this. The Adam she knew was prideful, egotistical and driven by his sense of justice. Here, he was humble, meek, at peace even. When he had retold the tale, Blake didn't believe it for one bit, even more so that it was a human that made him this way.

"Forgive me," he said. "But it was the most fantastic piece of art that I have seen. The most beautiful thing that has ever graced these scarred eyes of mine." He was chuckling to himself. "If I'm lucky, perhaps he will take me as a student. You may not like it, Blake, but that man is the peak of swordsmen."

For a moment, Blake found herself gulping. If this human was as good as Adam described, what would he do with such power? "And after?" she asked, nervously.

"I do not know," said Adam. "For such swordsmanship is a pinnacle that I do not believe I could ever achieve. But to get close to it, even a little, would be enough for me."

Blake's visiting time had come to an end. Despite the concern of Adam improving his skills further, there was a strangeness to him that Blake felt was unlike before. It was as though Adam had made peace with his inner anger. Not once did he even tell her about her betrayal. He never begged her to return nor did he make any threats to hurt her. Instead, he only found a different path and he wished to find it. In this way, Blake felt herself calm and confident that nothing bad would happen.

Outside, Yang Xiao Long, her partner in Beacon, was waiting for her. "So," she said. "Ready to go partner?"

"I'm ready," Blake replied. "But where the others?"

"We're here," cried out Weiss Schnee. She was with someone else and together, these four formed the team known as team RWBY. Yang, Blake, Weiss and the leader of the team, Rolf, have all gathered here at the request of one of the members.

Now that Blake thought about it, it really should have been a problem to be working with a Schnee but considering that this was Rolf, it made sense. Rolf has always been a favorite back in Menagerie. Weiss not getting along with him is more unbelievable than what had happened with Adam.

"Alright, Yang," said Rolf. Easily, he commanded leadership but was also kind in his voice. Team RWBY was immediately getting traction as a popular group especially among leaders. In fact, with Rolf around, team RWBY was slowly rising as a favorite to win in the upcoming Vytal Tournament. He just has a way that commands respect while also being a good friend. For today, he was more chill. "You wanted us to meet your sister?"

"Yup," she said, popping the p. "Operation RWBY meets Ruby is a go. She's going to love you guys, I promise."

"I'll be sure to make a good impression," Rolf replied.

"With you?" Yang said, as if hearing a joke. "Who wouldn't?"

Team RWBY continued on with their banter. It was mostly Yang talking about how great her little sister is and how she was looking forward to having the first dedicated fan of RWBY. Strangely but expectedly, Yang was alright if Ruby would have been more of a Rolf fan. It was Rolf, after all. They passed by a dust shop in Vale where Rolf gave a nod—the kind one gives as a greeting—towards a security guard who had a sword on his back. Said individual greeted back. Team RWBY had an excellent outing afterwards; the best that they ever had.

AN: There were different directions I wanted to take Adam's chapter so I decided to combine them. Only things missing are a bridge, and a quest for the holy grail.