The shattered moon was as beautiful as always, its light illuminated the darkness, but Adam wasn't paying attention to that, he received a call from Leaden, after all. He didn't have time to appreciate natural beauty, he only focused on his goals to achieve.

But that wasn't important now, as he was listening to Leaden for a couple of seconds now, and he couldn't help but notice something.

Adam figured that there was something wrong about Leaden, and it bothered him. It wasn't because Leaden was acting strange or anything like that.

Adam was bothered by the fact that he immediately sensed something was off about him. He didn't like the fact that he understood him to some extent. For one, Leaden had to be something out of Remnant; he was so weird that even Adam didn't want to be around him even if he were to be a faunus.

Secondly, he was a human. The idea of being acquainted with a human was outrageous to him. His rage against humans still existed inside him, even if he understood that not all humans were the same. Therefore, Leaden's mere existence was unacceptable to him.

However, this same unacceptable existence also saved him and caused the conflict within himself, all because of his pride that wouldn't let it go.

So, you might ask, how exactly was Leaden acting out of the ordinary? Well…

"I found out where Blake is."

He quickly got to the point. Adam noticed how Leaden didn't dance around the topic as he usually did and was straight to the point.

And he wasn't cheerful.

"I'm listening." Adam guessed that maybe that was the case he called, so he wasn't surprised.

There was silence for a couple of seconds before Leaden spoke. "She is in Beacon academy."

"I see."

"What, that's it?"

"What did you expect me to say?" Adam scoffed.

The truth was, Adam had a feeling she might be there. The White Fang respected the huntsmen and Adam's father himself was one before he died. Blake wouldn't give up; she would want to make a change in her own way and, at the same time, be safe as she knew that the White Fang had nothing against the academies. Hence, they wouldn't look there, it was a good place to hide in.

Adam knew all of this, and he wanted to be proven wrong. It would be better for him if it turned out he didn't know Blake as well as he thought. That's why he had asked Leaden to find Blake.

But he was right, and Adam didn't know what to do with her. She was the daughter of someone he respected a lot, someone who had freed him from the Schnee mines when he was a kid. He probably would just give her some hell and be done with it and leave her alone.

He couldn't forgive her without her paying the price, and even then, he wasn't sure he could. Adam was prideful; he couldn't just let things go. He was a model for many faunus. He was a leader and commander of his own branch. He carried all the burdens of his race, and he was determined to lead them to equality - to a world without discrimination, hate, racism, and fear of becoming slaves. With such big responsibilities on his shoulders, he couldn't just let Blake go.

But he was also afraid. Afraid that Blake wouldn't be the only one, that a second would follow, and then a third, and so on. He feared that he wasn't as great as his people thought he was, that he wasn't up to the responsibility given to him, that he couldn't be their savior. He was afraid that it was all just a coincidence, and that he didn't truly deserve his position.

Adam heard Leaden's soft laugh in response to his question. "Nothing, forget it. This isn't all, though. Don't be mad when you hear this," Leaden said. Adam narrowed his eyes, wondering what Leaden could possibly mean. "One of Blake's teammates is Weiss Schnee."

Silence.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

He only saw red. Adam's hand holding the scroll clenched so hard, the scroll was about to shatter in his hand.

"What do you mean Schnee?" he said slowly, gritting his teeth. Leaden could hear the growl when he said Schnee.

"What you exactly heard, but listen, my sisters are also in this team. I'm not stopping you from doing what you must, but my sisters better not be hurt, you hear me?" Adam could hear the hint of aggressiveness in his voice.

That snapped him out of it. "I have no business with your sisters," he said simply. "But should they stand in my way, I will not be nice. I will make sure they don't have any permanent injuries if that is enough."

"Good. I wouldn't expect anything else," he laughed.

It was fake, Adam thought.

They ended the call, and Adam was left with raging emotions. If he had said earlier that he would go easy on Blake, that didn't remain. He didn't care if she was the daughter of someone he respected. He didn't care if he had saw her as a companion before. He didn't care about anything.

He would kill them both.

If Blake was fine with being acquainted, no, if she was fine with being in the same school as a Schnee, then he would gladly make her join the Schnee in grave.

He took a deep breath.

"But first."

But first, he had other matters to take care of before that.

"Adam, are you ready for today?"

Adam turned to see his second in command, Casper, call him. "I am," he said, walking past Casper to the building the prisoners were kept in.

Wherever he looked, he saw green. He missed this scenery. Contrary to the red fields of the Forever Fall, Mistral was where he felt at ease, which was ironic considering it was the place that caused them the most problems.

Yes, He was currently in Mistral.

He secretly came back for a while. He had some business to do without Sienna, the Vale branch or anyone else knowing.

This was his branch in Mistral before he was transferred to Vale. Fortunately, Sienna made Casper the commander after Adam instead of bringing someone else from outside the branch, which made it easier for Adam as he trusted his men to keep his return a secret.

He also knew that it could mean that Sienna didn't need to bring someone in from outside, as she may have already had someone inside the branch who only answered to her.

He would find out soon enough if that was the case.

Casper speeded his pace to walk beside Adam. "We took his family too, I thought it would serve as a pressure card."

Casper had brown hair and tanned skin, but what was noticeable about him was his White Fang mask. The mask covered all but his right eye, revealing a scar that ran from top to the bottom of the eye. Fortunately, the eye was undamaged. His eyes were that of a cheetah, they also had the black tear marks that extended down to his face.

Adam nodded. "Good job. You can leave the rest to me now," he said, patting his shoulder.

"Glad to be of assistance."

They were now within the abandoned town they made their base in. Mistral's land mass was big, so big it wasn't uncommon to find abandoned villages and towns there, and this was one of them. Due to Grimm attacks, bandits or whatever, this was the result.

This White Fang branch consisted of a hundred men and women, each occupied with their own thing. Some were sharpening their weapons, some were training, some were sleeping, and some were even playing and having a good time.

Casper led Adam to the building the prisoners were kept in. It was a police station which was the perfect place for the job. The members guarding the entrance nodded in respect to Adam.

"I'll go alone."

# # # #

The police station was somewhat large, with a custody suite containing many rooms, one of which held the very man Adam was meeting with. He was in his forties, with hair that was almost gray.

He was blindfolded, his hands and legs were tied to the chair, and bruises covering his body, but not his face or hands. His lips were chapped.

It was dark in there, one candle's light wasn't enough.

The man heard the creaking sound of the door being opened and shivered in fear. This had been happening a lot in the last couple of days he had been in there. He would hear someone opening the door and feel them coming in, but they wouldn't speak or make any noise. Then he would hear the door open again. It had put him on edge.

His breath was ragged, so he couldn't speak well, "P-Please. Let m..me go," but he tried his best.

The footsteps rang in the man's ears as Adam walked closer. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Cletus Flyn himself."

The man perked up in surprise as it seemed that Adam knew him. "Y-You know me?"

Adam held a water bottle in his hand which he made the man drink.

He then dragged another chair to the front of the man and sat. "I know a lot of things, but you will tell me yourself."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"I knew you would say that," he said, pulling his scroll, and made a call. "What were your wife's and son's names again?" Cletus's eyes widened. "Oh yes, put Martin and Sandra on the phone."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence, but then a child's voice was heard. "Dad? Please help us, I'm scared." The sobs could be heard through the scroll. "Dad, are you-" Adam ended the call.

"That's enough." Adam then removed the blindfold off the man, he could see tears coming from his eyes. "Are you ready to cooperate?" The man nodded. "You worked in the Schnee mines, your job was to keep the workers in line, correct?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about the Schnee mines."

"It was horrible."

Adam's eyes twitched under the mask. "Horrible? Just horrible?" his tone indicated that one wrong word and it would be over. "You speak as you were a mere spectator." Adam clutched his already torn collar and pulled the man closer, pulling the chair with him. "You were one of the reasons it was 'horrible', you fucking piece of shit."

The man was in pain as his limbs tied to the chair were forcibly pulled. Adam continued, "The grin you wore as you branded a child will never leave my memory!" Adam then threw him, along with the chair, to the ground.

Cletus groaned in pain, but he didn't stop the tears coming from him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I regretted my actions every day. There was never a day without nightmares. Everytime I look at my son, I imagine him being through the same hell I put on other kids, and it really broke me. That's why I ran away from Atlas! I came here for a new start, where no one could find me, where I could live peacefully with my family. My son even has a faunus friend. I was really happy I thought I turned my life around." He couldn't stop sobbing and crying through all of it.

Adam's face darkened. "Regretted your actions? Wanting to live peacefully? Turned your life around?" He laughed as if he heard the funniest joke ever. "And you get to decide that? You decided for yourself that it's okay? No, I get to decide that. I'm holding the burdens of all faunus on my shoulder, and on behalf of them, I reject you, I reject your pathetic attornment."

Adam didn't care if Cletus became good and redeemed himself. If he forgave himself, that didn't mean others should.

"I will do anything but please, don't kill me and my family!"

Adam paused. "Anything?"

"Yes!" he desperately said from the ground.

Adam approached the man on the ground, and pressed his foot on his chest. "You will reveal everything about the Schnee mines and the slavery tomorrow to all of Remnant. If you do it, I won't kill you. You have my word."

He raised his foot from his chest and walked away. The man coughed and took deep breaths. "Thank you."

Adam closed the door behind him, and left the man in his position on the ground tied to the chair. The man probably would stay in that position until tomorrow.

Casper was waiting outside the police station and welcomed his commander with a smile "How did it go?"

Adam sighed. "It was really hard, but it went successfully at the end," he smiled.

Casper nodded.

# # # #

Leaden was having his breakfast with his father when his scroll beeped. Leaden checked and to his surprise, Adam had sent him a message.

Adam: Be sure to be near a TV this noon. You will see something interesting.

Leaden didn't know what to make out of this. He had called Adam yesterday night, and told him about Blake and the Schnee. 'Did Adam already manage to capture them?' he thought, and even though he knew it was absurd, he didn't rule it out.

Leaden: Alright.

He put his scroll away and continued to eat the scrambled eggs his father made. Speaking of his father, "What, you aren't going out today? You are eating your breakfast slower than usual," he said, giving Leaden a smirk.

Leaden cringed. "You know, your ability to notice these details gives me the creeps."

Tai put his hands behind his head. "I'm right. I'm always right," he said, laughing like a true villain. "I'm curious on why though. Did it have anything to do with the message you just received?"

'Scary.' Leaden cleared his throat. "Quite but not totally right. I had business to do, and once I finished, I didn't need to go out anymore. I'm still going out at night, though."

"You know, being vague doesn't really help. What business are you talking about here?" Tai raised his eyebrow.

"Forget about it for now, and I will spend the day with you, how about it?" He gave an innocent smile.

Tai stared at Leaden with a blank face for what seemed to be forever. Leaden didn't mind telling his family anything, that's why he didn't lie but evaded the question. Being exposed didn't really matter when it came to his family.

Tai's expression darkened. "Did you really expect I would accept that?" He then did a complete change as his face lit up. "Because if you did, you are absolutely right!"

Leaden stared at his father blankly in complete silence.

# # # #

"Then she said that wasn't my sister, that was my mother!"

Tai and Leaden laughed hard. They were watching a comedy show together, and Leaden had to admit that he was missing out a lot.

"Oh man, that was so funny," Tai said, still laughing a little.

"I agree. Wow, I didn't think Valean shows were that good."

Tai snorted. "You are just being biased."

"I'm not. At least, I don't think I am."

"Exactly."

Leaden sighed, but suddenly the TV's screen glitched and turned black like it was turned off.

That got Leaden's and Tai's attention immediately. "Umm, is something wrong?" Leaden said.

Tai stood up. "I don't know, that never happened before."

Leaden got an idea on what was happening, and checked his scroll.

It was noon. 'that must be it.'

The screen started glitching again until slowly and slowly started to show a clear image. Leaden and Tai watched in silence, they both knew what this meant.

The image showed a man sitting in what seemed like a living room. From his face and choice of clothes, Leaden guessed he was Atlesian. His look had the "You are below me" vibes.

"My name is Cletus Fyn. I'm from Atlas."

'Heh knew it.'

"I used to work in the SDC mines. First, the way SDC gets their workers for the mines is through slavery. The slave trade is a network that originated in Mistral, but quickly reached the rest of the kingdoms. The slave trade mostly consist of faunus as the ones in charge made use of the discrimination against faunus to make profit. Only those involved in the underworld one way or another heard of this at least once.

"And the SDC made a deal with the traders, they gave them slaves for free in return for assisting with their dust supply. It was a win-win situation. The company and the traders would easily make up their loss because they had high demand. The way those workers are treated in the mines is inhumane, the lack of food, water, and bed to sleep on is the least of their worries. They get beaten, mocked, raped, and finally die of overworking. It's simply hell, and the people there only think of them as not humans, so it's fine if they die.

"Unfortunately, I used to be one of them, but then I had a family to take care of and understood how messed up it is. I took the decision to flee Atlas, they keep an eye on people like me to make sure I don't say a word. It was truly a miracle. I decided that I would live my life differently from now on. I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry for all the horrible things I did."

The broadcast ended, and the black screen returned again. "That was something," Leaden said. He knew that it was messed up but not this messed up. It was no different than what happened to this girl he met, but add the work.

Tai sighed, turned off the TV, and started heading to his room. "This guy is done for."

"What?"Leaden turned to his father, he figured his father noticed something he didn't as usual.

Taiyang merely shook his head. "He was uncomfortable, the way his fingers didn't rest and was constantly moving, the way he looked tired too. I don't know what is happening exactly, but to me, he seemed under threat. That's why I said he was done for. If I'm right, they wouldn't risk him exposing them."

Leaden nodded. Tai wasn't necessarily wrong, but he failed to consider the identity of the ones responsible. The White Fang wouldn't care if they were found out they were behind this, because it wouldn't change a thing, on the contrary, some would give them praise for revealing this. They would definitely get mixed opinions, but it wouldn't get worse. It would be perfectly fine for the White Fang to let him go.

Tai was right about one thing though.

# # # #

Adam watched the whole thing, and was finally relieved that it was done with no problems. Adam looked at the man, and then looked at the others that were captured with him. Excluding his family, the White Fang captured him and his co-workers who fled Atlas with him.

The man looked at his friends being held by White Fang members, and approached Adam. "What will happen to them? I know I might be exceeding my limits here, but can you show them mercy too?"

Adam shrugged. "That depends on them, I will give them a choice," he flatly said.

Cletus's face lit up and turned to them. "Please, cooperate with them too!" They seemed hesitant and unsure on what to do.

That's until Adam nodded to the members behind Cletus, and they immediately held Cletus in place. He couldn't move from their strength.

His face quickly transformed from the hopeful expression he wore to sheer horror and panic. His widened eyes turned to Adam. "What's the meaning of this? You promised!"

Adam closed the distance between them until they were both face to face. "I did, and I'm planning on keeping it. I won't kill you." Adam smirked at his confusion, and said loud enough for the others to hear him, "There are a lot of things worse than death, you dumbass." He enjoyed watching his face lose all color. "I, no, we will make you wish death, we will make you regret the day you didn't choose a merciful death."

He was a man of his word.

Adam ran his hand across his face, and began slapping his face softly but hardly, and continued, "You didn't notice how we beat your body but didn't get near your face or hands? Well, that's your fault for not realizing it was all part of the plan."

The day Cletus got captured, Adam kept visiting him but without making any sound. He needed to control his emotions for the plan to work or he would just kill him on the spot, so he kept visiting and only stared at him until he was able to carry out the plan.

He, of course, needed a certain level of aggression to make it believable. To make the other person not doubt the chance given to them. It was hard for Adam, but he was able to do it. He was even close to killing Cletus when he talked to him the first time.

Adam looked at him with a smile that you would think he graduated or something. Adam realized how being rational brought more satisfaction. This was way better than just killing him, he enjoyed watching the despair on his face. "Don't worry, your family will be in our care."

That was the last straw for him, he simply was dead on the inside, the situation couldn't get any more worse. The two holding him took it as a cue to take him away. Adam then turned to the other co-workers, their faces paled.

"Do you want mercy or do you want to not die like him?" he coldly said, his face returned to its natural state of blankness.

They couldn't stop the tears streaming down knowing their fate. "Mercy," they all answered with no second thoughts.

Adam nodded, and turned to Casper. "Let the wife and the kid go, our business with them is over. Make sure to tell them that the piece of shit saved them."

"As you wish," Casper said, nodding with a smile. He couldn't hide his gratitude towards Adam, they all couldn't. He was really their savior, the one capable of getting them revenge, and they all believed with no doubt that he could lead them to victory, and to achieve equality.

Oh I forgot to mention that the custody suite in the police station was soundproofed.

A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot. What do you think of Adam's characterization? Did I do an okay job? This was the first Adam centric chapter and it won't be the last one. I don't know when but it's definitely not the last. When Adam talked with Cletus the first time, the man who branded him, I felt there shouldn't be any narration but just their conversation to set the mood and also not to dive into Adam's head because it would ruin the surprise. Casper is a new character that I enjoyed making his design. This chapter was only his introduction as it was Adam's chapter, but I want to give him some action in the future.