"Mom? Is everything okay?"

Blake walked into her parents' bedroom and looked around at the décor as she stepped inside. The room was vast and heavily decorated with armor, paintings, furniture, and tapestries of the Belladonna emblem, all tied together by a massive bed with a canopy of deep purple silk. The plant motif of Ghira's office carried over into their living quarters, and several potted palms rested near the doorways to the room itself and attached bathroom. Kali was busying herself with inspecting one of the plants on the far side of the room, and remained fixated on her work with the plant as she replied.

"…I'll get over it, honey. I just didn't expect things to end up like this."

"With Dad getting involved again, you mean," Blake stated plainly as she began to walk forward. She folded her arms beneath her chest as she strode across the room, her ears wilting in much the same way that her mother's refused to stand.

"Exactly that." Kali fell silent and kept her back turned as Blake approached and came to a stop.

"He doesn't have to. Once we find a way to protect Haven Academy from the White Fang, I… I would be willing to take over. If we can't deal with Sienna and Adam, we could form a splinter group of our own, with supports. Maybe start a counter-revolution from inside…?"

Kali turned with a weary sigh. Somehow, the usual bags under her eyes looked heavier than ever, and Blake was taken aback by the fact that her mother looked old to her, for once.

"My little girl… I don't think you understand what being the leader of such a thing really means. Ghira is willing to step back in solely to protect you from that nightmare, and as much as I want to stop him, I won't, if it means saving you. You have so much life left. So much drive. I don't want to see you worn down in the same way that your father and I were, while running the White Fang. It drains your soul and crushes your spirit, even if you truly believe you have something to fight for. Leadership isn't easy, especially when you're not sure of the path ahead," Kali finished.

"None of this is easy, Mom. Watching Beacon fall wasn't easy, and neither was… leaving my friends behind," Blake said as she trailed off.

"All the more reason to let your father take care of things, after Haven. Your team needs you, Blake, as much as you might disagree."

"You don't know what happened to my team, Mom," Blake said with a look of disgust. "They suffered because of me. One of my…" Blake shivered, and closed her eyes. "…one of my closest friends lost her arm to Adam, because she was trying to protect me. After seeing that, I couldn't… I just couldn't stay. I had to come home, to see you, and…" Blake's lip quivered, and Kali brought her hands up to cup her daughter's cheeks.

"Blake. You can't take the blame for the actions of others, whether it's Adam, or your friend. They both made a choice. Yes, the choices were made because you were there, but there were other options. All you can do now is offer your support, instead of running away. Look at Sun. Look at how put together and cheerful he is… and think about how quickly he shattered, earlier today. I'm assuming you went and fixed that, in your own way?"

Blake couldn't help herself as a small smile crept across her features. "…I did, yes. He's feeling better."

"Now, think about how much your other friends could benefit from seeing you again. It's your responsibility to them to try your best to help. Let Sun assist you with rebuilding those bridges," Kali advised as she let her grip fall.

"I will. I… think you might be right. Running away probably only worsened things…" Blake sighed.

"There's no 'probably' about it. It absolutely did, but you can make up for it," Kali advised with a smile. "All in due time. For now, we have a plan, and we need your head in the game. Don't worry about me. I'll… find my fighting spirit again."

"Kali?" came a call through the walls, as Blake and Kali's ears both twitched up at the same time. Moments later, Ghira pushed his way through the bedroom door and moved to close the distance to his family. "There you are. I… have a request. An odd one."

Suddenly, Kali's face broke out into a dirty smirk as she straightened her stance and added her usual sultry pep back into her tone. "Ghira, not in front of our daughter," she teased. Ghira's face became flushed as he shook his head.

"Mom!"

"Oh, relax. I'm only joking," Kali let on as she trailed her hand into Ghira's chest hair. "What is it?"

Ghira spared Blake a look, before fixing his gaze on his wife. "While I do believe that our daughter and Sun can handle it with a little creativity… I think it might be best if you accompany them in confronting this Cinnamon woman. Just… on standby, as it were. You understand."

"Honestly, I'm all for that," Blake added. Her parents looked at her with surprise, as she clarified. "Sun's in decent shape, but… he's still injured, and I know he's not exactly at his best right now. I was planning on telling him to stand watch, while I went in."

"And you know he'll adamantly refuse to let you do so," Kali replied. Blake merely nodded. "If I go and keep him company, there's a decent chance that he'll reconsider. Alright. Count me in," Kali said with a smirk.

Ghira reached out and rubbed Kali's shoulder with a confident smile. "I knew I could count on you. It's been a long time since you've been out in the field. Will you be alright?"

"Of course she'll be alright, Dad," Blake cut in. "Mom's amazing."

"That she is," Ghira agreed.

"Oh, stop trying to butter me up. I've already made my decision." Kali moved past the pair and knelt in front of the bed, before beginning to fish around beneath it. She pulled out a small silver box inlaid with the Belladonna emblem, and flipped the lid open with a smile.

"Hello, my pretties. Time to see some action, once again."

Sun moved the leaves aside as he leaned forward, peering out of the bush at the three story home on the edge of the village. A wispy trail of smoke was rising from the chimney atop the uneven roof, coming from the only room that made up the 'third floor' on the far side of the structure.

"This is the place, I guess?" Sun mused. Blake put a hand upon his shoulder as she leaned over him and narrowed her eyes, taking in the layout of the wooden building.

"Seems like it."

"Well, she's got good taste," Kali added as she leaned against Sun's other shoulder. "It's a cute little place."

"Hardly little, considering some of the other houses around here," Blake replied.

"Doesn't matter. We've gotta sweep as much as we can, without getting caught… and figure out a way to take her down if we do," Sun stated.

"When we do," Blake stated pessimistically. "If she's Adam's right hand, I doubt she's stupid. She probably has security set up, especially if we catch her away from home. She'll show up, and we need to get her back to the mansion for interrogation. This is going to be quite an undertaking."

"Well, let's hope not. Time to move in?" Sun asked.

Kali gripped Sun's shoulder, as Blake gave him a look. "For me, yes. You are staying outside, and keeping an ear out for any commotion."

Sun's eyes widened as he tried to resist. "Blake, I'm not letting you go in there alone! At least take Kali with you!"

"And what if we see her outside? You're not being left alone, Sun. Not with injuries," Kali said with a tone of finality. "You and I are on standby, while Blake enters and finds whatever she can in the way of evidence."

"Blake…" Sun whined, only to be silenced with a passionate kiss. Kali whistled.

"Nice."

Blake rolled her eyes as she pulled away, and pressed her forehead against Sun's. "Trust me, Sun. Infiltration was my specialty, in the White Fang. I'll be in and out before she even notices."

"I hope you're right. Good luck, Blake. We'll move in closer and listen for any signs in case you need help," Sun said.

Blake nodded, and exited the bush with a sharp exhale. She kept her stance low as she darted across the grass, and to the side wall of the house. As she pressed her back against the wood, she closed her eyes and strained her ears to pick up on any noises from within the abode.

The crackling of a fireplace reached her ears as Blake focused, and she took a few calming breaths while she fixated upon the pleasant sound. She slowed her breathing and remained still as she waited for something, anything else to come, but heard nothing at all. Slowly, she turned and rose from her crouched position to peer into a nearby window.

The glass gave a decent view of a living area that looked relatively disheveled, and nothing at all like the one in the Belladonna manor. A single wooden chair was placed near an off-center table made of worn wood and sitting upon a deep red circular area rug. Across from the chair was a simple cabinet with a holographic television; the device was on, but muted as a reporter spoke to no one in particular in a silent voice. The space was topped off by a slowly whirling ceiling fan with an attached light bulb that rocked back and forth gently as it turned, and a dim, orange glow from the fireplace that Blake had heard at the far side of the room.

"…cozy, I guess…" Blake whispered to herself. She looked over her shoulder, and waved for Sun and Kali to join her. Both of them kept low as they followed Blake's path up to the structure, and remained silent as she worked her way around the perimeter and to the front door.

Blake sucked in a breath as she braced her back to the wooden wall and reached a hand outward to turn the doorknob. To her surprise, it was unlocked, and the door slowly slid open with a gentle push. Something about the ease of entry unnerved Blake even further, and she felt a shiver run up her spine as the door made a soft creak.

"Hey."

Blake's heart shot up to her throat as Sun whispered from her side, and she reflexively punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

"Ow! Watch it!"

"Sun! What are you doing!?" Blake hissed through grit teeth.

Sun rubbed at his still bandaged arm, and grimaced. "I just… I can't let you do this alone. Kali's gonna watch from outside, while we go in. I'm sorry, b-"

Blake pushed a finger into his lips with a stern look. "Fine. I'm not arguing with you right now, as much as I want to. Just stay quiet, and follow my lead. You see her, you point her out." Sun nodded, and she transitioned to face the door before quietly pushing her way through.

The acrid smell of gunpowder was overwhelming as Blake stepped into the entryway, and she brought a hand up to cover her nose and mouth as she fought back the urge to cough hard. Sun mirrored her actions as he followed her in, and closed the door behind them. Blake began to move forward with careful steps, and worked her way into the living room to look around.

"Gloves," Sun stated in a low tone.

"What?" Blake asked as she paused, her ears automatically flicking toward Sun.

"On the chair. They look like the kind of gloves you wear while welding, or metalworking, right?" Sun walked slowly toward the chair and picked up one of the aforementioned items. He turned it over in his hands, and brought it up to his nose for a sniff. "Definitely working with metal, or grease or something."

Blake nodded, and took another step forward. The floorboards creaked and she felt her breathing hitch as she prayed that the crackling fire was enough to mask the noise. Sun froze, and the pair listened as no response came from within the house.

Sun was the first to move as he made his way to the far side of the room, near the fireplace. He peeked his head through a nearby doorway, and looked back at Blake. "Kitchen," he whispered, before moving to the foot of a flight of stairs. "I'll keep an eye on these. Look around, see if anything is out of place or suspicious."

Blake nodded, and began to carefully inspect the features of the room. The off-center table caught her attention, and she knelt down to inspect the central support. The wood was notched and worn, and several indents in the carpet suggested that it had been relocated several times.

"Hm," Blake mused to herself as she got down on her hands and knees and went over the carpet with a critical eye. She ran her hand along the fringe and found the tassels in disarray, with a few compressed in odd places. As she traced the edge of the woven material, she felt her hand pass over a groove in the wood, and flipped the carpet back with a triumphant smirk. "Trapdoor," she whispered.

Sun shot her an encouraging grin. "Way to go. Is it open?"

"I'll have to move the table. It… might make some noise," Blake said with unease.

"Well, we came here expecting a fight. Might as well, I guess," Sun replied with a shrug. He turned to face Blake completely, with his back toward the staircase.

"Here goes literally everything," Blake quipped as she began to push the table across the floor, rumpling the carpet further. A loud scraping rang out through the room and echoed off the walls, and Blake felt the small hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she cringed. "I really hope she's not home…"

"Or anywhere in Kuo Kuana, after that," Sun replied. Blake knelt down and finished moving the carpet off the trapdoor, before pulling the latch upward and flipping it back to reveal a large square hole, leading to a dark staircase. "Want me here, or standing guard?"

Blake mulled over her options, and narrowed her eyes as she peered into the hidden basement. "Watch the perimeter of the room, I guess. I'll yell if I see her."

"Good luck, Blake." Sun rolled his shoulders as he began a slow, methodical patrol. Blake blew him a kiss, and began to walk down the stairs. Sun made an exaggerated motion to 'catch' the gesture, and Blake rolled her eyes as he disappeared from her view.

The smell of gunpowder intensified as Blake continued to descend, and she pulled the collar of her shirt over her mouth and nose to try to filter the air. She squinted as she made a slow, purposeful path forward into a large room, and held back a cough as the bitter taste of the air continued to assault her. Blake drew Gambol Shroud with her free hand, and left the sheath on her back as she made her way into the room proper.

Concrete walls formed a sizeable cubic space beneath the upper floor, and a table of the same material stretched almost from wall to wall in its center. Various tools for metalworking were attached to the ceiling, with the upper layer of concrete mostly obscured by a web of wires, plugs, and hanging lights. Blake decided to leave the room dark as she stepped over an empty metal bowl-shaped shell large enough to be used as a hat.

Carefully, she ran her fingers along the edge of the table, and pulled them upward to reveal her digits coated in a layer of fine powder. She brought her hand upward and took a whiff, only to recoil at the unfamiliar scent.

"Some kind of explosive…?" she mused to herself quietly as she leaned over the table to inspect it more closely. Odd piles of wires and discarded plastic wrapping lay scattered upon the surface, and Blake carefully selected a small collection of wires to stuff into her pocket.

"She was building something down here, and from the smell, it seems like a lot of it," Blake whispered. Almost as if in reply, the muffled sound of voices upstairs caused her ears to shoot straight upward. "Shit!"

Without hesitation, Blake whirled and began to sprint up the steps. She removed the bladed sheath from her back and grasped it tightly in her other hand as she reached the top of the staircase, only to find Sun facing her with another faunus stood behind him.

"Well, well, well," the figure began from her place behind Sun. A dark-skinned hand rested atop his shoulder, and Sun looked incredibly uneasy as he remained still. "The Belladonna daughter. Imagine finding such an important figure in my home, without even having to invite her," she mused.

Blake bared her teeth as she morphed Gambol Shroud into its pistol form and aimed the barrel just over Sun's shoulder. "Let go of him right now, or I will open fire!" she hissed.

"Whoa, now," the figure replied in a husky tone, not far removed from Kali's. "There's no need to be rash. Let's just talk, hm?"

The faunus stepped around Sun to stand beside him in the light, while keeping her hand on his shoulder. She was a muscular woman who stood taller than Sun by about a head, and wore an outfit consisting of a long white sarong with oblong orange splashes over a pair of matching shorts that barely reached her thighs. Her upper body was covered only by a simple orange top held up by crossing black straps, and her hair was kept in short white dreads, with a single orange lock in the back. The final telltale sign that Ilia had warned of consisted of a row of four long, dangerous looking webbed spines jutting outward from the triceps on each of her arms.

"Blake," Sun said with obvious tension in his voice. "She just wants to talk, and know what's going on."

"Bullshit," Blake spat as she took a step forward. The woman's expression turned into a frown, and she held up a finger.

"Don't," she warned, before bringing the hand back to her chest. "My name is Cinnamon Shoal. I know you, but who are you?" Cinnamon asked as she tapped her index finger on Sun's shoulder.

"Don't tell her anyth-"

"Sun. Sun Wukong. A friend of Blake's," he answered as Blake shot him a venomous glare.

"See? This can be easy," Cinnamon said as she stepped in closer to Sun, "or this can be difficult," she stressed, as she squeezed his shoulder in a tight grip. Sun cringed, but remained silent bar sucking in a breath.

"If this can be easy, then let go of him," Blake commanded as she remembered Ilia's warning.

"Hm… no," she countered as she gracefully slipped back behind Sun, to peer at Blake from over his shoulder. "The pair of you broke into my home, so we play by my rules. I'd like an explanation, before I let him go."

Sun closed his eyes as he began to speak, doing his best to keep his tone calm. "We received an anonymous tip that you were a member of the White Fang, and that there was suspicious activity going on inside this house. We were both at Beacon, when it was brought down. We know what the White Fang does behind the front they put on, here. We came here looking for evidence of anything illegal, or any plot against Kuo Kuana. We've already been threatened by one of your number just yesterday."

"So I've heard," Cinnamon said with a weary sigh. "Rest assured, I had nothing to do with that. That girl's name is Ilia Amitola, and ambushing the pair of you was her idea. Her men complained to me about it this morning."

Blake's expression turned furious as she cracked her neck. "So you're outright admitting you're with the White Fang?"

"I am, yes. So were you," Cinnamon offered. Blake growled, and Cinnamon rested an elbow atop Sun's shoulder while cupping her chin with a hand. "We're not the mustache-twirling types, and you should already know that. Sure, extreme measures have been implemented lately, but the humans in power need to wake up, and Adam is getting those exact results for us. I'm an 'ends justify the means' kind of woman, but lucky for both of you, I won't kill other faunus, as a general rule."

"But you're complicit in letting Adam slaughter our kind," Blake spat.

"When and where it's necessary, yes. You of all people should know that he can't always be talked down, so I stopped trying. So did you, unless I'm mistaken. He runs wild when he wants to, and I reel him back in after he's had his little hissy fits. I'm not about to try to talk you down from yours, either."

"Uh, ladies?" Sun interjected. "I'm really not loving this whole 'being an armrest' thing, so could we maybe just all sit around and talk this out, if we're not going to fight?"

"Well, your girlfriend is still pointing a gun at me, for one, and this is absolutely going to end in a fight, I can tell you that right now," Cinnamon replied in a bored tone.

Sun tensed at the words. "You told me you wouldn't hurt her, before she came upstairs."

Cinnamon chuckled as she slipped her elbow from Sun's shoulder, and kept her other hand on the opposite side. "Oh, I won't… but you will. Let's see what you can do, little man."

Sun immediately knew that something was wrong as Cinnamon tightened her grip upon his shoulder. An odd, electric sensation pulsed across his entire body as his aura flared outward, and he felt himself being drained of the precious resource as his semblance triggered without his consent. He watched in horror as two familiar, sparkling golden projections of himself rushed from his body and began to close the distance between himself and Blake.

"Blake, look out!" he tried to warn, but found himself unable to move as one of his clones leapt into the air and the other spun in place, building momentum as both threw out kicks at different levels.

Blake's eyes widened as she reacted with catlike reflexes, throwing her sheath-bearing arm up above her head to block the flying kick as she pushed the flat of her blade outward to deflect the grounded clone, barely catching both in time. The airborne double of Sun pushed off the sheath and flipped down to the ground, as the other recoiled and dropped back into a combat stance.

"Sun, what the hell!?" she yelled in frustration.

"It's not me, it's…!" he tried to reply, as Cinnamon snaked her other arm over his shoulder and covered his mouth with her hand.

"That's enough out of you, kid," she warned as a third copy erupted from his chest and charged forward.

Blake gripped the ribbon at the hilt of her weapon and slung it outward to sweep the room, and the clones ducked and jumped accordingly to avoid the whirling metal. With the precious seconds she had bought, Blake charged straight for Sun, only for Cinnamon to pull him with her as she skirted along the edges of the room. Sun elbowed her in the stomach, only to earn a laugh for his efforts.

"Oh, please. You think that's going to get me to let go? Do your worst."

Blake shifted her weapon into blade mode as Cinnamon kicked the chair over and into her path. Blake stumbled just long enough for one of Sun's copies to grab her from behind, and she twisted and wriggled before driving the blade into its stomach, causing the golden apparition to dissipate immediately.

"Good show!" Cinnamon complimented with an enthusiastic grin. Yet another double jumped forward from Sun as his aura flickered, and fizzled out. Sun had begun to sweat in her grasp, and trembled slightly as all three of his copies seemed to disappear into thin air. "…out of juice already? Well that's just plain disappointing."

"Let him go," Blake threatened as she leveled her blade at Cinnamon, tracking her while she continued to move her way around the room.

"I'd rather not, but if you insist… then slide your weapon across the floor, and turn around. Adam wants you alive, and I'd rather not inflict any unnecessary pain on either of you. I do mean that, regardless of whether or not you believe me. Of course, if you refuse…" she mused, as she slid her hand from Sun's mouth, only to curl her arm and level her spines at his stomach. "Do you know what lionfish venom does, Blake?"

Blake grit her teeth as Sun shook his head. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he looked absolutely exhausted from having his aura sapped away so quickly.

"Blake, don't. I'll be fine. It's not deadly, it just sucks."

Cinnamon smiled as she released Sun's shoulder and gently knocked a balled fist against the side of his head. "He's right, actually. Smart, hot, willing to take excruciating pain for ya… I'd say you've got yourself a keeper, Belladonna. Maybe leaving the Fang was a good move."

"Shut up!" Blake screamed as her outstretched hand began to shake, rattling Gambol Shroud. "Just shut up! This isn't a game!"

Cinnamon rolled her eyes and huffed at the statement as she brushed the tip of a spine against Sun's abs. "No, it isn't. You found nothing conclusive, nor would you if you searched this entire house. I'm not stupid, Blake, and anything that would've been explicitly useful to you has long since been moved out of here. If you want to start a crusade, you're going to have to get smarter. Work harder. Think about who you can trust, and who you think you can take on."

Slowly, Blake sheathed her weapon and held it outward as she looked past Cinnamon and Sun, to the window. She closed her eyes and calmly placed the weapon on the floor, before kicking it over to Cinnamon. "Fine. Now, let him go, and I'll come with you."

"Blake!" Sun yelled in disbelief. "What are you d-"

The sound of shattering glass and the impact of a flying body interrupted Sun as he and Cinnamon were knocked forward. Shards rained down into the living room as the pair fell to the floor, and Sun felt glass fragments pierce into his arms and chest as he hit the wood. He immediately scrambled away from Cinnamon as she braced a hand into the floor and whirled to slide backward. Her lip twitched as she stood straight once again, and stared down her set of three opponents.

Kali Belladonna stood in the room looking furious as she aimed a pair of customized gold and silver lugers at Cinnamon. Deep purple smoke began to swirl around her body as two ethereal arms of a matching color extended up and outward from her shoulders. A ghostly severed effigy of her own head dangled ominously from the hand on her second right arm, while the other extra appendage held a transparent, golden urn that seemed to radiate flickering specks of purple light.

"Stay away from them," she hissed.

Cinnamon grinned as she stood straight and dusted off her hands. "Well, this hardly seems fair… but that's what I'm used to. Let's rumble."

Author's Note:

Cinnamon Shoal's design can be found at (imgur) /a/t29s5ED. Just combine the two, and voila- lionfish faunus. Both the headshot and full body portrait were done by Squeefox on Twitter, who is an incredible artist.

Time for things to heat up on Thursday, the 7th.

-RD