Note: Okay, so this took forever. I was busy last weekend so I couldn't update then, and then I was planning on uploading on Wednesday, but this chapter just kept growing and growing and growing. It's one of the biggest chapters I've ever written, and there aren't even any gory deaths in it! Ah well. I hope you like it all the same, and sorry for the wait. If you wanted to see a few sneak peeks of this chapter, though, you could have joined my discord! I release sneak previews there whenever I'm writing something, and it's free, and you can also point out my grammar mistakes before I embarrass myself. It's /CjAUaGZuBQ. I would love to have you around. Okay, enough delaying. It's long enough already. Enjoy.
Weiss held up three fingers. "Okay, last time. What are the three rules?"
Blake shuddered. God, why was it so hard to concentrate? It wasn't like she hadn't pulled all-nighters in the past. The dressing room was too bright. Her blouse itched against her skin. Her skirt felt an inch too short. The news channel in the background seemed to be blaring, even though she knew that it was barely louder than a whisper. Yang and Ruby were sitting on the couch, talking in disbelief about how they got away with another miracle. Blake's mind kept wandering to that night, that vision…
Weiss snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Hey, focus!"
Blake grunted, shaking her head. "Sorry…"
"Three rules. Come on."
Blake cupped her face and groaned. The Pelts, Skins, and Scales Society had been kind enough to offer her a dressing room before her panel. They told her who would be sharing the stage with her, but she honestly didn't recognize their names and forgot them instantly. She did remember that they expected a good turnout, something in the realm of seven to eight hundred people. That may not have been many people compared to her KnightsPage feed, but it was far too many eyes on her at once for the Shadow Girl to be comfortable. That was why she spent the last half hour cramming in debate prep with Weiss, the only woman she trusted to keep an argument straight.
Debate prep… oh, yeah…
"Rule One: It's not a debate," Blake stated. "We are having a peaceful, reasonable discussion with people I might disagree with. Don't argue. Don't provoke. Emphasize when other people make good points and find a compromise."
"Good," Weiss nodded. "Rule Two?"
"Rule Two," Blake said, sobering up. "I am not a Faunus. I don't speak for the Faunus. I don't say 'we' when talking about Faunus issues. I'm gonna be the only Human up on that stage speaking to an audience full of Faunus, so I should be extra humble."
"Great, and Rule Three? The most important rule of all?"
Blake's eyes narrowed. "Whatever I do… don't be myself."
Weiss smirked, resting her hand on Blake's shoulder. "That's my girl."
A few minutes passed before there was a knock at the door. A young Elk-Faunus opened the door, smiling nervously. "Miss Belladonna, the panel is going to start soon. Sylvius asked if you could make your way on stage."
Blake nodded tiredly. She gestured toward her teammates. "I'll try to spot you guys in the crowd, okay? Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Blake," said Ruby.
"Break a leg," said Yang.
"Don't embarrass yourself," said Weiss.
"Can't embarrass myself more than you do every day," Blake snapped back with a grin.
The young Faunus woman guided Blake through the backstage area of the Rise and Shine Center with nervous half-steps. Blake suspected it may have been the first time she had ever been next to someone so famous—or so Human. If only she knew. Blake's eyes wandered like her mind. The RSC was a standard community center, often rented for music performances or conventions. A gathering for the PSSS, an admittedly dwindling Faunus advocacy group, would fit well in the historic space, though there was apparently a boost in ticket sales after her announced arrival. The backstage was busier than she expected, then. There were massive stage lights lying around, catering tables set up, and mostly other Faunus just hanging around, waiting for the numerous other events of the day to begin. Blake felt their eyes graze her as she walked past. She hadn't been this close to so many Faunus in forever, and she tried her best to forget that life.
Its central auditorium could hold almost one thousand people, and as Blake was guided onto the stage, she saw that the crowd was filling in at an eager pace with ten minutes left until showtime. The seats sloped upward into darkness, and the walls of the theatre were so dim she couldn't see deep into its shadows. The actual stage setup was minimal, even casual. There were simply four lounge chairs set up in a half-circle, surrounding a small table with cups of water on coasters and a handful of microphones. The chair on the far left was empty, but the other three were already occupied. The first man she saw was some variation of Lizard-Faunus; balding, stout, skin covered in thin, flaky scales underneath a tweed jacket. There was a woman sitting next to him; a Panda-Faunus, dressed in traditional Jijusiut robe. She had a thick midsection like her namesake and long, stringy hair, and she greeted Blake with a slight smile that could be interpreted as a sneer. The third person on the stage actually stood up to greet her. He was older, his hair frayed and greyed and his face covered in spectacles. Two large protrusions stuck out from his nose; rhino horns. His skin was abnormally pale and rigid, but his smile was warm and colorful. She met him earlier in the day when he introduced himself. Sylvius Brimstone, Co-Vice President of the Pelts, Skins, and Scales Society. He shook her hand.
"Hello, Miss Belladonna," he said cheerfully. "We saved you a seat. Ready to talk about some politics?"
"Am I ever," Blake smiled back. "So, like, what's the format of this? I know we go an hour, but—"
"Oh, it's just going to be an open discussion," Sylvius explained. "I want to keep everything very casual. I think conversation is valuable in and of itself."
"Well, it looks very casual," Blake said, eyeing the empty seat behind her. She hoped she didn't doze off in that thing. "I just want to make sure I'm not going to talk over anyone."
"Just relax. Everyone here is so excited to hear you. It'll be really great," Sylvius said enthusiastically. "And I have a very special surprise I think you're going to love."
"As long as the surprise doesn't involve anyone shooting at me, I'm good," Blake joked. She noticed Sylvius force through a smile. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to crack shooting jokes in front of an audience that experienced large amounts of gun violence. Sylvius returned to his seat with only a nod and a wish of luck, and Blake wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Great start.
In the audience, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang filed into empty seats near the back of the theatre. The last thing they needed was more public attention after last night. Then again, Ruby wasn't sure if they could do anything wrong at this point. She checked her Scroll for the latest news. Aside from a couple of articles from unpopular anti-Huntress websites, the mainstream press was singing their praises. She legitimately couldn't believe how easy it was to lie to people. Watching the media fold like putty in her hands probably shouldn't have been this exhilarating; no wonder Ozpin did it so often. That being said, she was certain half of it was residual adrenaline from last night. It was a useful distraction from… other events. Events that she really should have told her teammates about already, but definitely, totally would the second she had a free moment…
"Hey, put that thing away," Yang scolded her. "What if it goes off? You'll embarrass her."
"Sorry," Ruby said hastily, tucking away her Scroll. "Just checking the news."
"I know, but we should all be focusing on supporting Blake," Yang insisted. "This is a really big moment for her."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Even Blake doesn't think this is a big deal…"
"That's just because she's nervous. Now, here's the plan." Yang talked pointedly, as if giving instructions to go into battle. "Whatever point she makes, we are going to cheer her. I don't care if she says the dumbest thing you've ever heard. We have to make it seem like she only makes the best points. If someone tries to argue with her, we boo the shit out of them."
"Wait a second," Weiss interrupted. "You think Ruby's Scroll going off will embarrass Blake, but booing constantly at other people won't?"
"Yeah, because we're teammates. We're supporting her," Yang claimed.
"That's not even remotely how it works," Weiss groaned. "Also, we're the only three Humans in the audience. I think we should try to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible."
"Why? Are you afraid they're going to attack us or something?"
"What—of course, not," Weiss stated. "This is a primarily-Faunus space. It's an area they deserve to feel safe in. If we're loud and belligerent, then it'll just be another case of obnoxious Humans barging in on Faunus environments and trying to disrupt them, which is the whole reason they're having a conversation in the first place. It's called showing respect to others?" Yang and Ruby stared at Weiss with some small shock, and after a few seconds, Weiss realized the words that came out of her mouth. She leaned back in her chair, stared straight ahead, and spoke softly. "Oh my Gods, I'm spending too much time with Blake."
The panel began momentarily. After most of the crowd filtered and settled down, Sylvius took one of the microphones and walked to the center of the stage.
"Good afternoon, everyone," he said, his voice slow and welcoming. "It is currently just past noon, so I think we can get started. I want to welcome everyone to our panel on Struggles in the Faunus Rights Movement. I'll introduce myself in case anyone missed our previous panel. My name is Sylvius Brimstone. I have been the Co-Vice President of the Pelts, Skins, and Scales Society for… wow, I think it's close to something like twelve years now. Our goal has always been to be the center of important discussions facing the Faunus community, and I think this might be… I'm not sure if it is the most, but definitely one of our most anticipated panels. We have a great crowd here today, and I am very eager to get going as soon as possible. We have invited a few different speakers from around the world to share their perspectives, and all I'm going to ask of you is to be as respectful to them as possible."
Yang pouted. Dammit.
"So, I'm going to quickly introduce our speakers, because I know you didn't come here to listen to me. Um, first up right behind me…" He gestured to the larger woman. "She is a writer and activist all the way from the Southern Spear in Vale. Her fifth book just came out, called The Willful Genocide, about the difficulties of preserving Faunus culture. And I think she is maybe the most prominent of the recent 'radical traditionalist' movement that I know has been catching on in some areas. So, please welcome Prescilla Vasyvelnich."
The woman waved to the crowd and was met with an eager smattering of applause.
"Next up—excuse me," Sylvius coughed away from the mic. "Next up, we are proud to welcome Dr. Denver Sage, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Vacuan Public University in Caino. He has given over three hundred talks about Faunus civil rights, and also assisted in drafting the Faunus Reconstruction and Justice Act, which is currently working its way through the Vacuan Parliament now, and… yes, I think we are very hopeful that can get passed through one of the chambers sometime this year." He looked back for approval, and the Professor nodded. "So, yes, please welcome, Dr. Sage to the panel."
More applause, slightly less than was for the other panel guest. The doctor didn't seem to mind.
"And lastly," said Sylvius. "We have all seen her meteoric rise to fame over the past several months, and I know she has impressed a lot of us by bringing conversations about Huntsmen reform directly to the forefront. She definitely is the most popular of us here on KnightsPage, but she, I think, is really more than just a popular speaker. I think she will carry a unique perspective on difficulties reforming the Huntsmen system as a Huntress herself. So, please welcome, of Team RWBY, the talented Blake Belladonna."
Blake smiled and waved toward the crowd. She didn't know what reaction to expect—and actually, she wasn't sure which reaction she got. Only about half the crowd actually applauded her, but those who did did so with such fervor it rivaled the responses of the others. She tried not to take too much offense to it. If she was in the audience and a Huntress came to lecture at her, she was sure she would feel the same way. Despite the mixed reception, she was starting to feel more confident. She now knew who she was dealing with. Her understanding of the radical traditionalist movement left her with little respect. A lot of talk. Little action. Constant complaining about a mythical past that didn't exist. In her eyes, they cared more about ideology than people and were some of the key figures in holding back Faunus culture from embracing truly progressive ideas due to their overly conservative and spiteful politics. If this Precilla lady knew that she had slept with two women, she probably would have walked off the stage. As for the other guy, she pegged him right away. VPU schools may have had the word public in the name, but they were rich people places, attended mostly by Humans. He was the elite, liberal professor type. Stuffy. Tended to overexplain things. The legislation he was trying to pass was designed to integrate more Faunus into positions of labor within Vacuo—fine, if the jobs weren't absolute shit and the inherent concept of capitalism wasn't a wealth-polluted death spiral. He saw short-term negative peace instead of long-term justice, despite whatever he claimed. Neither of them seemed well versed on Huntsmen, and neither of them understood her life. Chances were, whatever points they were going to going to make, she could counter them. Hell, she could crush them.
But that wasn't the point, was it? Rule One: This wasn't a debate. This was a discussion. She knew they were going to make some very dumb points, but maybe they would have some unique perspectives she hadn't considered. She thought she knew everything before, didn't she? With Ad—with him. Look how that turned out. No, she wasn't going to snap. That was the old her. She was going to play along, and approve, and smile, and listen, and be the nicest, most respectful panelist she could possibly be. This wasn't a competition, and they all wanted what was best for the Faunus. Today was about learning. She would lend her words and her ears to help her people—even if nobody knew they were her people.
Blake took a deep breath. It was time to have a pleasant discussion.
Or, at least, it should have been. Because instead of starting the panel, Sylvius Brimstone smiled into the microphone.
"Now, before we begin… I have a very special surprise for you all. Normally, during these panels, I act as the host and help guide the conversation. However… I did not actually set up this panel. Today's conversation is sponsored by a very special guest who actually selected all of our guests personally, and we both thought it would be appropriate if she led the discussion for today."
Blake's smile faded. What the hell was he talking about?
"I didn't want to announce her before today, out of both public safety reasons and her personal request…"
Blake looked around. What was happening?
"…but she is here, in the building, and I'd like to bring her on stage."
An excited murmur made its way through the crowd.
"She is a longtime friend of the Pelts, Skins, and Scales, and was a former speaker for us…"
Blake froze. Something tightened in her chest. It couldn't be…
"Speaking of meteoric rises, you all know hers has been unmatched, working all the way from an intern for Peter Grails…"
No.
"…to the Leader of the White Fang."
No no no fucking no.
The crowd gasped and rose to its feet. Blake's pounding heartbeat was overshadowed by the sound of footsteps coming onto the stage. Sylvius beamed brightly at the reaction and happily stepped aside as his voice gave away his excitement. "Everyone, please welcome—"
Blake's eyes went wide. The world started to blur. Every panicked, terrible emotion that she had suppressed came flooding back to her. Her vision. Her past life. Her awful misdeeds. The illusion that she could be anyone other than herself shattered as the woman took the stage.
"Sienna Khan!"
The crowd burst into excited applause as the Leader of the White Fang, dressed in elegant robes and jewelry, her fanged teeth stretched into a gigantic smile. She looked just like she did on the television: brash, bold, and full of youthful energy that could never be tamed. Both of the other speakers instantly stood up and applauded her, along with the rest of the Faunus in the audience. The noise would have drowned out the theatre, but Blake only heard white noise. She kept her gaze peeled to the ground, frozen in shock, as Sienna shook Sylvius's hand and took his microphone from him. He proudly left the stage, giving Sienna the moment to bask in the glory of the adoring crowd. Blake felt like she was going to throw up. Eventually, something within her told her to stand up, to stop sticking out like a sore, Human thumb. She didn't even notice that she had risen and that she started clapping until she had done so. She couldn't find Team RWBY's faces in the audience. There was only darkness.
Then, Sienna turned around, and their golden eyes met each other. And despite that smile, that pride, that charming, innocent, carefully constructed exterior, Blake could see the truth in those eyes, the resentment that burned like a raging storm. It was as clear as the morning sky.
Sienna knew.
She marched toward her, and Blake became paralyzed with doubt. Sienna refused to break eye contact until the two were mere inches apart, and the White Fang leader paused for what stretched into an eternity. It felt like the eyes of the whole world were upon them, and Blake wondered just how much of her fear was visible on her face. Then, Sienna extended her hand, her smile infectious.
"It's so nice to finally meet you," she said calmly. "I've heard so much about you."
Blake hesitated, but eventually, her hand clasped into Sienna's, and her words came out breathlessly. "Yeah. Likewise."
The corners of Sienna's mouth pulled back firm, then their handshake was over. Sienna went to greet the other panelists, approaching them with the same friendly demeanor. Blake slunk back into her seat, her mind swirling with terrible possibilities. She looked out into the crowd for her teammates, her only support, but she couldn't find them amongst the blurred, endless faces. Soon, the audience's applause died down, and Sienna took a seat in the remaining chair and brought the microphone to her lips.
"Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for the kind reception." Sienna had always spoken with a subtle lisp due to her misshapen teeth, but the words seemed to Blake more like a hiss. "It has been far too long since I participated in anything by the Pelts, Skins, and Scales. I am very happy to be back. I'm sure you are all wondering what I'm doing here. To tell you the truth, I actually have been wanting to host something like this for a very long time. I had spoken with Sylvius a few months ago about maybe setting something up, and the stars aligned perfectly, and here we are. A lot has happened recently that I know has drawn a lot of public attention. We had the Grimm terrorist attack, where several of the perpetrators that were caught happened to be Faunus, there are over fifty different pieces of legislation moving through various Kingdoms about Faunus rights, and honestly… this seems to me like we are at a very pivotable moment in history regarding our people. In these very difficult times, we need to decide the best ways to move forward, and that was why I wanted to speak with all of you here today." Sienna gestured to the panel. "You three represent very different perspectives and backgrounds, and you have a lot of diverging ideas on how to best help the Faunus movement going forward. I wanted to give each of you a platform to sort of explain where you come from, talk about what you see as the major problems we face going forward, and just bounce ideas off of each other. I think this is going to be a really interesting conversation, and I hope everyone here enjoys hearing these really interesting opinions. But first, before we get into any of that… I think there is an elephant in the room we have to talk about." Sienna pursed her lips, and her eyes fell to the teenage girl sitting farthest away from her. "Blake."
Blake shuddered. She couldn't even stand to meet Sienna's gaze. She was sweating under the burning spotlights. She knew what was coming next, and she didn't know how to handle it.
"How are you feeling?"
And Blake's head twisted on a swivel, totally caught off guard. "Huh?"
"You know… how are you doing?" Sienna said with a laugh. The audience laughed as well. What was going on? She hurriedly picked her microphone off the table and muttered into it.
"How am I doing?" Blake repeated.
"Well, I saw the news," Sienna explained. "You were busy last night. Just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."
It took another few moments for Blake to realize what Sienna was referring to. Her mouth moved on its own. Her instincts guided her. Play along. "Oh. Yeah. Um…" Blake stuttered. "I didn't really sleep last night, so… you know… not super great."
The audience laughed again. Blake's mouth twitched into a smile. Play along.
"Yeah, I can… I can kind of tell," Sienna joked. That malice that Blake thought she saw in her eyes was gone. Or was it ever there in the first place? She looked at Sienna again. She thought of their greeting, just moments ago. It was formal and innocent when it had no right to be.
Wait a second… did Sienna not actually recognize her?
She couldn't risk it. If she didn't realize it was her, she couldn't give her any more hints. Blake cleared her throat into a higher pitch, and leaned back into her chair, trying to seem as cool and casual as possible.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," she said earnestly. "This is not how I was planning this trip going. I thought it would involve less…" Blake gestured broadly. "Car chases?"
The audience laughed heavily at that. Even the other panelists snickered. Sienna curled up on the chair. It was the same relaxed posture she used when Blake first spoke with her in that hotel room so long ago. She was relaxed. At ease. If she did know anything, she wasn't interested in revealing it.
"But you're here! That's good. I hope you aren't too frazzled."
Blake looked around awkwardly. "I'll manage. Thank you for inviting me here, though." Quick, remember the rules. "And I actually just want to say, before we begin talking about anything: I know that I'm not the best authority on Faunus rights issues. I'm a Human who never formally studied any of this stuff. I don't want anyone to think I'm some know-it-all on this topic that doesn't even really affect me. I have a lot to learn, and I'm just really grateful that you invited me."
"I respect that," Sienna nodded. "But you shouldn't feel like you don't matter here. I invited you specifically because I think you have a very important perspective to share. You aren't an expert. You're a layperson, and the opinion of a layperson on these issues is arguably just as important because it's the laypeople who we have to appeal to. Plus, I do want to talk about Huntsmen a little—which is a very contentious issue, of course—and you've been doing a great job so far of speaking out on that. I'm very much looking forward to hearing from you, Blake."
"Um… thanks," Blake stated. "I look forward to participating."
Blake let out a breath that she had subconsciously been holding in. She still didn't really know what was happening. If Sienna really did know who she was—and that was a big if—she wasn't giving anything away. The crowd seemed to favor her, judging by her reactions. She guessed she didn't sound as nervous as she truly was. If she could pull off this attitude for the next hour, she would be in the clear. Of course, easier said than done.
"Well then, I think we can kick off the panel in earnest," Sienna said. "And I actually wanted to start with you, Prescilla. I just finished reading your book this last weekend, and I thought you made some really interesting points in it. Would you like to briefly summarize what it's about?"
Prescilla, the Panda Faunus, nodded, clearly glad to receive some attention. "Of course. First, thank you, Sienna, for inviting me. My latest book is called The Willful Genocide, and what that refers to is what I view as the purposeful degradation of Faunus culture as we continue our advancement of civil rights."
"Can you explain?"
"Certainly. So, I think we tend to view all civil rights movements as moving towards two goals. The first of those goals is a positive one: equity. We want to achieve the same status as Humans, from law to employment. Our second goal is a negative one: genocide. We want to avoid our elimination and our subjugation. A lot of the time, people view the first goal as sort of naturally offsetting the second. If we complete our task of merging with Human society, then we will be equal and can't be extinguished. But what I wanted to suggest in my book—and what I believe to be the case—is that the opposite is true. That, in taking steps to achieve parity with humans, we abandon our inherent Faunus culture, and ultimately, we eradicate it, much in the same way the Humans intend to."
"Give an example. There's one in your book about dress that I think highlights it."
"Yes, that's a pretty basic example," Prescilla stated. "So, if you look at what I am wearing, and what, say, Dr. Sage is wearing, you can see that we picked different styles of formal wear. Culture is, in many ways, a series of practices. How we cover ourselves is a basic practice, one some Faunus might not view as overly important, but it is reflective of who we are, of our history, of our roots. A lot of Faunus, like Dr. Sage, might not think it's valuable to continue wearing a Jijusiut robe because it sticks out in most Human spaces. He wants to adapt to the traditional Human style so that he blends in, becomes one with the Human. That's why he's wearing a tweed jacket. But if we truly do merge our culture with Human culture, if we fully latch onto their traditions and their values in an effort to achieve equity with them… how is that really any different than being wiped out at all? This is a pretty simple example, but if you extend that logic, you see it applies to everything. So much of the modern Faunus rights movement is built on compromise, from our behavior to our Traits to our religion, and I think there is a very thin line between assimilation and compromise. The concept of radical traditionalism isn't really radical; it's a call for us to preserve the heritage of our people, and not lose sight of who we are as we move forward into society."
Sienna continued as the audience politely applauded the panelist's point. "Dr. Sage, I think you've been called out directly. You have a very different approach to Faunus rights. Would you care to retort?"
Dr. Sage huffed. "Well, first of all… I like my jacket," he said to a crack of laughter. "But I think it's an interesting point, at least generally. What separates us from Humans, I agree, is more than just our Traits. Faunus culture is vast and historic, and I think it definitely should be preserved in some sense. Where I think Miss Vasyvelnich and I differ—and sorry, I have not read your book, so forgive me if I get things wrong—is that I generally think there is a strong difference between the normal dialectic fusion of two progressing cultures as they meet and intermingle, and the willful attempt of an oppressor culture to overshadow and destroy another. We have been making some really great strides in Vacuo for our rights. The Faunus Reconstruction and Justice Act is going to ensure that millions of Faunus in Vacuo will be able to access all public universities, be free from job and housing discrimination, and set themselves on the right path to begin generating some real generational power. And a lot of that involves us taking steps into traditionally Human areas and shining in them. We cannot really stay separate forever."
"Well, wait a moment," Prescilla interrupted. "I'm not saying we stay separate forever."
"You kind of are," Dr. Sage countered. "Whenever you have two groups of people mingling together, they are going to rub off on one another. When we speak, we transmit our ideas to one another. It's largely impossible to expect a merged Human and Faunus society to not feature strong overlap between our ideas. Culture marches to the beat of its own drum. Faunus are going to change in response to Human ideas."
"If they think that Human ideas are better, which they often aren't," Prescilla jutted in. "We live in a heavily Kingdomized world. The authority of Humans is represented in every facet of mainstream culture. In the very school you teach at, Human history is mandatory, but Faunus history is an elective. People often say, Oh, Prescilla, you don't want anything to change. I'm not saying we got back to the Age of Fire, for goodness sake. I like change! But what I like is change that is led by Faunus voices."
"Well, that raises a controversial point from your book," Sienna stated, guiding the conversation back under her command effortlessly. "You state at numerous points that you don't believe that Humans should be participating in the Faunus rights movement, at least not as emerging leaders. That's obviously going not going to sit well with all of us here…" Sienna gestured to Blake, and Prescilla cleared her throat. She addressed Blake specifically, though notably never looked in her direction.
"I am not a racist," she claimed. "That's probably the biggest misunderstanding of the radical traditionalist movement, is that we are a bunch of racists who want nothing to do with Humans at all. That's not true. I don't have a problem with Humans. What I have a problem with is Humans who think they know everything, who elevate themselves into positions of authority over actual Faunus because they've read a few books and think they've become experts on our experiences. The truth is, Miss Belladonna is never, ever going to know what it's like to be a Faunus, to experience the constant threat of elimination, and that constant, horrible judgment from others. She doesn't. And I think it is a little ridiculous that on this panel about Faunus rights, we have someone representing a Huntsmen Academy, where Faunus have been blacklisted since the dawn of time. In a culture where Faunus already have trouble speaking for ourselves, we don't need someone else speaking for us."
Blake smiled to herself. She felt like she had just been lobbed a softball. No one ever needs to start a sentence with "I am not a racist." Sienna chuckled as well and shrugged as she passed the ball.
"Well, Blake? Do you think that Humans should speak for the Faunus rights movement?"
Blake sighed, leaning back in her chair. Weiss's rules stuck out clearly in her mind. Time to prove she was ready for this. "Well… I already kind of said I shouldn't, so we agree there." The audience laughed with her. Just play it cool. "But Humans… I don't think I agree with that. Now, let me say to start off… I actually think that both of you have made some really good points. It's hard to maintain a Faunus identity when everything in the world revolves around Humans. It's hard knowing that there are Faunus out there who don't know anything about their culture because that opportunity was taken from them. I have… you know, Faunus friends… and they told me a lot of them don't even know how to speak anything but New Kingspeak because their own language was never taught to them. That really, really sucks. I don't have any fancy terms for it. That sucks. I really empathize with wanting to hold onto that. And so, I don't necessarily want to disagree with any of the broad points Prescilla made, because I definitely understand where she's coming from—even if she doesn't believe me. That being said…" Blake leaned forward, drawing in the crowd. "I think radical traditionalism as a whole is… kind of dumb and bad?"
The audience laughed again. Prescilla sneered at her, but Sienna pointed at her, egging her on.
"That is definitely a way to put it. Do tell."
"I mean, look," Blake said honestly. "I haven't read your book either, so maybe there are a lot of nuisances that I'm not understanding. And if there are, fine, I totally admit I'm at fault for that. But a lot of what I've seen from the radical traditionalist movement is not this subtle, finely-tuned, hey, let's remember who we are and where we come from stuff. I think that it's important for Faunus to value their heritage. Faunus struggled a lot, and remembering those struggles, and being proud of those struggles, and of what they achieved—that's important. Every time a Faunus can proudly where a Jijusiut robe is like its own little act of defiance against a Human supremacist system, and that's awesome. But I don't see RTs remembering their heritage; I see them worshipping it. They seem to latch onto literally any classical Faunus idea, and act like anything new is this intrusive, Human-led brainwashing. It's a lot of the problems I see in any broadly conservative movement. This longing for tradition and unwillingness to change is fine in some contexts, but it can also be really bad, for two reasons. Reason one: Sometimes change is necessary. I don't mean that in, like, a try new foods way. I mean, sometimes new, actually radical ideas are going to be necessary to achieve true justice. Rethinking of entire systems, challenging existing hierarchies, disruption. The old ways are valuable, but they are also, you know, ways that don't work. And to tie into that, sometimes those old ways are just not very good, and honestly, kind of deserve to be forgotten."
Prescilla sneered. "Which Faunus ideas do you believe we should just get rid of to placate you?"
"It's not about placating—"
"It seems a little like placating."
"Wait, wait, please," Blake said carefully, maintaining her composure. "I'm not trying to argue here."
"But this is what Humans tend to do that's s frustrating," Prescilla explained. "You come on the stage and start explaining how parts of our culture are outdated and backward, how we hold ourselves back by not moving with the times. I think that's pretty disrespectful for you to try to assert your values onto us."
"I'm not trying to push my values onto you," Blake insisted, growing more heated.
"Yes, you are," Prescilla challenged her. "That's why you called our values bad and dumb. It's why you are here. I want to know. Why do you think that you have the right to force your values onto the Faunus?"
Blake was close to exploding. The lack of sleep and the threat of Sienna had brought her blood to a boiling point. She had half a mind to smack down Prescilla so thoroughly that she would be embarrassed to ever speak in public again. However, before she had a chance to ruin her goodwill, Sienna chimed in as an unexpected savior.
"Whoa, let's calm down a little," Sienna interfered, easing Prescilla's nerves. "Prescilla, please. You are totally putting words into Blake's mouth. Remember: I was the one who invited her, okay? If I think that her opinion is valuable, then at the very least, you can respect my opinion. Okay? This is a friendly conversation, for goodness' sake. Let's not start throwing accusations. Go ahead, Blake, clear things up for our mutual friend."
Blake took a deep breath, feeling Sienna's confidence flow into her. Rules. Remember the rules. She didn't fully understand it, but she was going to take advantage of every second.
"Thank you, Sienna. Miss Vasyvelnich… I apologize if I came across like I was trying to force something on you. That is not at all my intention. And you know what? You are right. In a way, I am trying to push my values onto you. I think everyone does, to a certain extent. We all have things that we think are important, and all of us want other people to think they are important too, right? I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing to want people to value the things you do. However, what I want to emphasize is that if you disagree with my values, I'm not going to make you agree with me. No one here has to agree with me. I am going to explain myself the best that I can, and I would hope that people find my arguments convincing. That's all I'm trying to do." Blake saw people in the crowd nodding along with her, and Prescilla remained silent. She felt it was all right to continue.
"Look, I have a friend who is also very passionate about her beliefs. We argue a ton. Like, non-stop debating. And the thing is, she is Human. This is about Humans vs. Faunus. What I am interested in is the well-being of people—all people. I think that there are a lot of ideas—old ideas—that people cling to that are bad for us. A lot of religious beliefs, for example, I think are backward. I don't mean that to be offensive. I don't mind if you are religious at all. But when I see people who follow Decum Luna use their backward religion to justify mistreatment of others, I do get pretty annoyed by that." The crowd erupted in loud cheers, and Blake realized she accidentally stumbled upon the keyword to her success. Why didn't she just think to bash Weiss's former religion from the start? "I want change. Good change. And I think that when we cling to ideology over people and act like preserving the former is more important than defending the latter, that's when problems begin."
More applause. Quite a few cheers of approval. Blake basked in the crowd's appreciation. Was this what it felt like to have people listen to her? She would have to bottle up these emotions and carry them around forever. Prescilla accepted her defeat, at least for the moment, and Blake took a sip from her provided water to clear her throat. She didn't know how much time had passed, but if the rest of the minutes went by like this, it would be smooth sailing.
"May I just add," Dr. Sage interjected, "Faunus culture has also changed quite dramatically, often in very short spans of time. A great example of this, one we were just discussing in my class the other day, is trait wearing."
"That's a great example!" Sienna Khan. "I was actually just having a talk with some of my advisors about how we should deal with that at rallies going forward."
"It's a tricky issue, because a lot of it is generational," Dr. Sage explained. "A lot of people forget the context, but you know, it wasn't that long ago, only about fifty years ago. Almost all of the Kingdoms were attempting to pass Grooming Laws to restrict Faunus behavior in public, since the harsher penalties of slavery had been directly abolished. Around two-thirds of all providences in Remnant passed at least some Grooming Laws; the idea being that if Faunus wanted to be seen in public, they couldn't draw attention to their Faunus Traits. That was where the concept of trait-revealing clothing became prominent among activists at the time. It was a way of showing that they were not afraid of what made them different. And then that snowballed with Human activists at the same time who began wearing clothing with Faunus Traits on them as a sign of solidarity. We all know those famous pictures of the marches with Humans with dog ears and cat ears, standing next to their Faunus brothers and sisters. It was really a brave feat for the time, very transgressive. Of course, it became mainstream, and was parodied and challenged and such, and while it is still popular with a lot of Humans now as a means of support, there is a growing portion of the Faunus population—especially younger—who view it purely as a sign of appropriation and mockery. So, you know, even Faunus can't even agree on what values Faunus always have."
The doctor's point drew more applause, and even Blake found herself nodding along. She decided not to add any of her strong opinions on the matter, feeling they wouldn't be relevant to her current image. She was sure that Weiss was nodding in approval too—maybe not for the subtle dig at her politics, but at least for handling herself well. Sienna seemed proud of the evening as well because she clasped her hands together excitedly.
"Well, on that excellent point, I think we should change topics," she stated. "How does everyone feel about Vacuan politics?"
The rest of the hour flew by far smoother than Blake could have expected. They jumped between a dozen different topics. Education. Representation in government. Age-gaps. Clothing. Decum Luna. Inter-Faunus violence. Blake kept her mouth shut most of the time, letting the others guide the conversation. But, when she did speak, she attacked with charm and passion. Almost every sentence drew some kind of applause from the audience that was more won over by her with each turn of phrase. When she was challenged, she bowed her head and accepted her naivety, yet was still capable of holding her own. Surprisingly, she felt like she owed half of her performance to Sienna. Whenever she started to slip, get agitated, or drag on a point for far too long, Sienna would be there spotting her, boosting her up, and rephrasing her points to sound even better than when she said them originally. She was a master moderator, yet Blake couldn't help but notice her bias. When Blake was strong, she would let her go on for minutes, building her points to a feverish, rapturous crescendo, and Blake would nearly always get the final word whenever she requested it. It reminded Blake why she used to admire Sienna: that passion and intelligence were unmatched by anyone else in Faunus politics. Sienna had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. The hour was nearly up when the White Fang Leader approached their final topic for the night.
"Ok, I know we need to wrap up soon, but there is one really important thing I want to talk about," Sienna stated. "Huntsmen. I know I know… it feels like this point has been done to death a billion times, but Huntsmen are more prominent than ever thanks to the Grimm, and we do have an actual Huntress here to talk to us—"
"Huntress-in-training," Blake butted in with a smirk. "I am very much still terrified of taking my Huntress License exam, thank you."
The audience laughed at her humility, a now common sight. Sienna laughed as well.
"Close enough, close enough. But one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you—and this has been so refreshing to see—is that you are pretty critical of the idea of Huntsmen as a whole. You actively exposed the abuse by a very well-known Huntsmen professor, and you speak very candidly about being in Atlas Academy. Have you got any pushback on this?"
Aside from Ironwood threatening to shoot her mother in the head?
"I mean, yeah," Blake admitted. "I probably shouldn't talk too much about this, since it's pretty sensitive, but in general, Huntsmen have always taken this mentality of looking out for themselves first. There's this almost sort of dogmatic quality to Huntsmen in popular culture, you know? Heroes of Legend, and stuff like that. And I think that's generated this culture where abuse is pretty commonplace and people are kind of just expected to shut up about it and be thankful for the opportunity. You know, the old test they used to do in Beacon to make teams was to throw people into a forest and have them fight monsters on their first day of class. They only stopped that because one person was brave enough to file a lawsuit, but that took decades for someone to actually come out to fight it. Huntsmen are great at shutting down internal criticism, and one of the things that my Team has been really focused on is shining a light on those abuses. We are fortunate enough to already have the microphone, and I think that gives us a responsibility to highlight where things can be fixed. If we aren't gonna blow the whistle, you know, who is?"
The audience didn't lap up that answer as much as her previous ones, but Blake felt satisfied enough to slink back into her chair and accept victory as the familiar smattering of applause hit her ears. Knowing the time, that was probably her last real answer. She needed to start thinking of a closing statement as Sienna questioned the others. Something brief and fiery to end on a high note.
Except, Sienna didn't move on to the others. Instead, she leaned inward, her smile growing.
"Let's expand on that further, shall we?"
Blake shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm? Oh, sure. No problem."
"Because while internal Huntsmen abuses are certainly important… they aren't what we are here to talk about today, are we?"
"I guess not."
"So then, Huntsmen and Faunus," Sienna said bluntly. "What about it? Do you think that Faunus should join up into the Huntsmen?"
Blake considered her answer. "I mean, yeah, obviously. I think the fact Faunus are banned from Huntsmen duty is pretty dumb. If they want to join up, they should be able to. I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of Huntsmen in the first place, but—"
"What do you mean by that?"
"What?"
"What do you mean you aren't a fan of Huntsmen?" Sienna asked pointedly. Blake pursed her lips. An unforced error.
"I mean… I don't think anyone here is?" Blake said, trying to win the crowd back to her side. "How many awful crimes have been committed by Huntsmen against the Faunus, right? The way the system is set up, they are never held accountable for that. That's really what this all comes around to: accountability, to both the Huntsmen that serve and the people they try to protect."
"I got that, sure," Sienna said, speaking so quickly that she cut off any chance of applause. "But at the end of the day… You are a Huntress. You go on television and actively thank Ozpin for running Beacon, and the Atlasian military for hosting. You have spoken positively of the Vytal Festival, which is this really barbaric tournament where teenagers fight each other nearly to the death."
"Hang on, I never—"
"Let me finish," Sienna said sternly. "You can talk about accountability, but you were literally involved in a high-speed chase last night across Vale, where countless people could have died, and you are probably going to face zero repercussions for that, right? Because you are famous Huntresses, and that's what you can do."
Blake stuttered. "H-Hang on a second. That's different—"
"How is it different?"
"Because we… like, we had to do it. We—"
"You had to?"
"We were stopping an evil terrorist that had previously tried blowing up the city. That's pretty good, right? Right?" Blake turned to the audience for their approval, but she was met with silence. What the hell was happening…
"Did you have to kill forty people when doing it?" Sienna asked, her gaze narrowing. "I feel like that was lost in the shuffle of the news. Forty people died when you went on your secret mission—which, by the way, why are Huntsmen students allowed to go on secret missions with zero accountability."
"Hey, I wasn't even—"
"Do you not feel any remorse about that? I mean, sure, you stopped a terrorist. I'm not saying we aren't thankful for that. I definitely am. But you're talking about accountability, and now there are forty families out there without their sons and daughters."
"First, I didn't kill any of those people. Not personally."
"Your Team did. That's not really better."
"I mean, yeah, but—"
"So your Team killed a bunch of innocent people?"
"Wait, wait, who said anything about innocent? They were criminals. They were guarding a—"
"What did you just say?"
Blake froze. She tried to walk back the comment as fast as she could, but she realized it was too late. "I meant—"
"That's, like, the number one excuse given by Huntsmen, you know?" Sienna turned to the audience, drawing them in. "How many of us have been victims of Huntsmen or police violence? How many of us have lost a loved one because the Huntsmen abused their power? Every single time that a Faunus is victimized, what is the excuse that gets trotted out? We can all say it. They were criminals. If a kid gets shot by a Huntsman for stealing food, no one ever questions why a Huntsman is able to shoot a kid without consequence. All of the attention goes directly to blaming the victim and trying to justify why they deserved to die. That's assuming that they even did anything wrong at all, and the Huntsmen aren't just looking for an excuse to exercise their power on an innocent person. You're right in that I don't know what those people did. Maybe they did something really bad. Did they actively deserve to die because of it without any due process, killed by a bunch of Huntress students—students—that have more authority to act than they ever should? I'm sorry I'm dragging you for this, but you are supposed to be talking about accountability, and it's a little hypocritical to be preaching change while you are engaging in some of the worst Huntsmen practices and acting like it's fine."
There was no audience applause. There was no cheering. The lights had shut off. Prescilla and Dr. Sage were gone. All that was left on that stage were Sienna and Blake, staring at each other from across the stage. Every second stretched into infinity again. Blake was paralyzed, trapped in a web of her own making. It had gone wrong so fast that she wasn't even sure if she had actually succeeded at all. Something within her begged her to speak, to break the awful tension. Her voice was shaky when, after far too long, she mustered up a response.
"Look… I'm sorry. I… I was not clear at all."
Rules. Remember the rules, dammit.
"You are right. You are totally right."
Sienna's intense gaze didn't falter.
"Huntsmen have gotten away with way too many things for far too long. And you know, I apologize for getting defensive. I think you are totally justified in calling out my bad behavior—a-any bad behavior a Huntsman does. My Team, or our schools, or… or anyone really."
Breathe, just breathe. Fuck, why was her heartbeat so loud…
"That is something we need to work on. My Team has a lot to learn. We get that. And… and I know this excuse really isn't great. But sometimes… sometimes… Huntsmen need to be able to act. We need systems of accountability, definitely, and people abuse their power a lot. But… there are parts of being a Huntsman that are necessary, unfortunately. That Grimm attack—if we didn't stop it, a lot of people would have died. And you know, the Huntsmen need to be called out for screwing that one up. It took… like, it took way too long for them to respond to that, and we need… we need to fix that. Huntsmen should be reprioritized on the emergencies that really matter, and we need to reorganize, and we need to clear out corruption, and we need to stop defending our bad actions, and we need to… man, we need to do a lot of things. A lot of… just, a lot of things. I'm sorry if I came across wrong. I think Huntsmen are important… sometimes… yeah…"
Blake drifted off, and awkwardly glanced toward the floor. The audience was overcome with a dull chill as if the specter of Blake's identity had finally caught up with them. From within the crowd, Team RWBY was also silent, watching Blake desperately try not to implode in front of their eyes. The others on the stage looked back and forth between the flustered Huntress and Sienna, whose unreadable expression held firm like stone. Slowly, she brought the microphone back to her lips.
"Do you know who Ghira Kataliana is?"
Blake's stomach twisted in knots. All of the uncertainty was gone. She finally understood what Sienna was after. Blake refused to look away from the floor in front of her.
"I… I can't say I do."
"Come on, you don't have to be humble," Sienna prodded her. "You're a smart girl. You've heard of Ghira Kataliana… haven't you?"
Blake swallowed her fear, and her voice trembled as she gave her confession. "Y-Yeah. I have."
Sienna stopped for a moment, accepting the truth in front of her. She sighed deeply, resting her hands on her knees. When she spoke again, it was addressed to everyone. "Good Ghira was a Menagerie politician from a decade ago. He was a farmer, a hard worker, and above all else, a family man. He was committed to his community in a way few others can be. He was so dedicated to his community, in fact, that he tried to run for Governor of Menagerie. It would have been an unprecedented shift in power in our homeland. The Atlasian government must have known that too because they murdered him. They sent in Huntsmen in the dead of night, framed him for drug possession, and killed him. It's a pointed example of the problem with Huntsmen. They abused their power over him and covered it up in the name of justice. It's arguably the purest distillation of the relationship between us and the Huntsmen. I knew Ghira only because we were both speakers at the White Fang Civil Progress March the same year. We never had a real relationship, but a lot of Faunus around the world looked up to him like a father."
Sienna pursed her lips. "But, of course… he was only really a father to one person. He had a daughter."
Blake's knuckles turned white as her fingers tightened around the microphone. She closed her eyes shut, trying to block out the inevitable. She could see her father's face clearly in her mind.
"Blake…"
She tried to hold back her tears.
"…"
Her anguish consumed her.
"…did you know that?"
Blake opened her eyes. No. Of course. Sienna's plan wasn't to reveal. It was worse than that.
"…Yeah," Blake muttered into the microphone, holding back her pain. "I knew."
Sienna nodded, staring down Blake when Blake couldn't even face herself. "Right. Well, something that had been brought to my attention recently… something that I'm not sure anyone really knew… is that his daughter was with him the night she died. She actually had to watch the Huntsmen kill him. I honestly can't put into words what that must have felt like for her. When we talk here about Huntsmen accountability, that is what I think of. Because for every necessary Huntsmen mission there is, and for every excused kill, there has to be someone like that little girl, who had to watch her father taken from her because there were no excuses. I am very sorry to bring that up to everyone because I know it is such a sensitive topic, but what Blake just said really reminded me of that. And Blake… I can see that this is affecting you too, isn't it?"
Blake said nothing. She was trembling notably, and no one dared to disrupt her experiences. No one, except Sienna.
"Blake, I want to ask you something. You don't have to answer. I don't know what happened to that little girl… but let's say she was here. Let's say she was watching you give that answer, justifying the actions of Huntresses. What do you think she would be feeling right now?"
Her cheeks were hot from her tears. Fine. She would play along. One last time. "She would probably hate me."
"And what you say to make her not hate you?"
Sienna's question was genuine, and Blake finally mustered the strength to look into her eyes. She was expecting to see hatred herself. She didn't.
"I… I don't think there is anything I could say," Blake admitted hoarsely. "I would just let her know that… I'm sorry. For everything. And… I wish that never happened to her."
The dower silence hung across the theatre like a heavy curtain. The conversation had long stopped being pleasant, and the harsh memories had brought many of the audience members to tears themselves. Sienna watched as Blake brushed the tears from her eyes, and she let the moment linger. She checked the clock that was just off-stage. They had definitely gone over time. She had to wrap things up. But first, she had one important task to attend to. She slowly rose to her feet, walking across the stage with tender footsteps. When she reached Blake, the young woman who lost her father long ago, sniffled and rose to greet her. She was surprised when Sienna ushered her close and gently hugged her.
Sienna leaned into her ear. "Sorry to put you through that," she whispered. "Talk with me in my dressing room after the show, okay?"
Blake huffed into Sienna's shoulder. Obviously, her night wasn't over yet. She had failed at her game, but she still wasn't sure what she was even playing. She and Sienna had a long overdue conversation to have in private, away from the prying, ignorant eyes of others.
It wasn't going to be pretty.
