Tukson was just about to close up shop when he heard the jingle of the door opening. His eyes glanced over, noticing the distinct white hair of the girl who approached.
"Excuse me, have you met someone by the name of Blake Belladonna? She's a friend of mine and I've been told she frequents this establishment." The girl asked as he felt a tinge of annoyance.
Just when he was about to close up shop too, and worst of all it was a Schnee that stopped him. Now, Tukson wouldn't say he really disliked anyone, but the Schnee's had a reputation for being particularly cruel and hateful to the Faunus.
"Sorry, haven't seen her tonight." He lied, feeling suspicious of her.
She claimed to be a friend of Blake, yet the girl in question had never once mentioned being friends with anyone in particular; let alone someone with such a family reputation. Tukson couldn't help but wonder just what this girl was to Blake.
"Oh, well sorry for bothering you. You wouldn't happen to still be open would you? I'd like to make a purchase if you are." She asked as Tukson motioned to the isles.
"I was just about to close up, but I'll give you some time if you'd like to pick something out."
"Thank you."
With that she took to the isles. It felt strange in his own opinion, she'd been rather polite for all he'd heard of the Schnees. Yet he guessed it made sense, with his claws retracted he passed for an ordinary human. If he looked more like a Faunus he was sure her reaction would be different.
The door jingled again, this time a tired looking boy rushed in, panting as he caught his breath.
"Is *gasp* is this place still *gasp* still open?"
Tukson nodded. "Just in time, but please make it quick."
"Thanks man, you're a lifesaver!"
The boy moved to the isles, much like the Schnee before, but he seemed more focused on the comic display rather than the novels. From the way he rushed about it would seem as if he was looking for something in particular.
"Yes!" He pulled out one of the comics, a particularly colorful looking one at that. Tukson recognized it now, it was one of the newer releases, some type of superhero comic that was getting popular over the past few months.
The kid looked over the array of books once more, appearing to take one last glance for anything that may catch his eye. It was then that he seemed to notice the Schnee at the end of the isle, just where the comics ended and the novels began.
Things were about to get interesting and Tukson knew it. Unlike himself who could hide his Faunus traits, the boy had his monkey tail on full display. The Schnee seemed to notice his staring as she looked back at him.
"Can I... help you?" She asked, and without any noticeable scorn much to Tukson's surprise.
"Not really, actually, I was wondering if I could help you. You seem worried, or stressed, a little bit of both now that I look at you." He replied as her eyes squinted.
"And how could you possibly know that, we've only just seen each other. I don't even know who you are." She spoke with obvious threat in her voice, the boy seemed to ignore it completely.
"Sun Wukong, huntsmen in training straight from Vacuo. So it's kind of my job to help people in need you know." He spoke with a hint of playfulness in his voice.
The girl's eyes widened at this. "You're a huntsmen from Vacuo? That means you must be from Shade Academy right?"
"Yep, so wanna tell me what's wrong? I might be able to help." He asked again as the girl looked to think about it.
"Fine, I suppose I could use the company, and I can certainly do worse. We can talk once we leave." She said as she made her way back to the counter, books in hand.
"Cool." Sun said as he followed along.
Tukson punched in the numbers, accepting the payments and sending the duo on their way.
Maybe the Schnee was telling the truth. She wasn't all that rude to the boy, even though he was a Faunus. If she truly was a friend of Blake, then that would mean that the girl was making some progress in lowering the hate between the two races.
Tukson felt himself smile. Blake had left the White Fang to pursue a more peaceful means of obtaining equality for the Faunus, and if she managed to change the views of a Schnee then maybe there was hope after all.
.
.
Weiss stopped in her tracks, deciding that several meters from Tukson's was far enough to start her questioning.
"You said you wanted to help right? She asked as Sun nodded.
"Yep, so what are we doing?"
"Well, I'm looking for someone at the moment." She answered as Sun nodded slightly.
"Alright, so who are we looking for?" He asked as she pulled out her scroll.
She held it up, a picture of her team posing in celebration of their first class (Ruby's idea).
She pointed to the black haired girl. "I'm looking for my teammate Blake, our leader is worried and wanted me to check up on her."
Sun leaned in, his eyes seeming to light up at the picture. "I've seen her!"
"You have?"
"Yeah, earlier a couple days ago when I first arrived. She was walking with those other three in the picture. Now that I think about it I've seen her come down here every so often." He told as he scratched his cheek, looking deep in thought.
"Have you seen her at all today." Weiss asked as he shook his head.
"Not today no, I've been busy just looking around while I wait for the rest of my team to arrive." He admitted as she gave a quizzical look.
"You didn't arrive with the rest of your team?"
"Nah, I wanted to get a look around before they got here, map out all the things they might want to see, so I left a little earlier." Sun answered as Weiss decided to just accept it.
"Right... so you're here for the festival then?"
Sun gave a thumbs up. "Yep."
Weiss shook her head as she continued. "We're getting off topic. Is there anything you can tell me about Blake? Anywhere she might have gone?" She asked as he looked to be thinking again.
"I mean... I've seen her go into some shops every now and then, but she never buys anything."
"So what does she do then?"
Sun scratched the back of his neck. "That's the weird thing, whenever I ask about her they always tell me that she asked about the White Fang."
Weiss scrunched up her face.
"Really?" Her tone was flat as he nodded.
"Really. It's weird though, she's a huntress in training so what does she want with those self righteous jerks?" Sun said as Weiss' face took on a more curious look.
"You don't agree with them?"
Sun practically laughed at that. "Heck no! Those assholes always claim to be helping Faunus, yet all they ever do is make the rest of us look bad. I mean come on: kidnapping, murder, bombings, how does that help protect anyone?"
Weiss gave a nod of her own, a small smile hiding at the edge of her mouth. "Exactly, I couldn't agree more."
"I know right. I mean yeah sure, businesses aren't so quick to deny us anymore, but if anyone so much as whispers that you may be involved with the Fang then your life is pretty much over. Everyone suddenly decides to shoot first and ask questions never." Sun spoke as he took a breath.
"I'll be honest, I never thought I'd meet a Faunus who openly disagrees with the White Fang." Weiss admitted as Sun smirked.
"And I never thought I'd meet a Schnee who could be civil with a Faunus."
Her shock was visible on her face as his smirk grew, it was brief however as her eyes narrowed.
"You recognized me?" She asked as he pointed to her hair.
"White hair isn't exactly common, I just assumed you were a Schnee from the start." He told as she crossed her arms.
"Then why did you bother speaking with me? I'm well aware of my family's reputation, so why didn't you just ignore me?" Weiss asked as Sun knocked at his exposed abs.
"Call it a gut reaction, but I've learned to never fully trust rumors and stereotypes. The best way to get to know someone is to just talk with them." He said as he took on a more genuine smile.
Weiss looked to think about it. "I suppose that's true."
"Cool, so... since we're talking now can I ask you something?"
"You may."
"Right, so is it true that you and your family don't like Faunus." Sun asked as Weiss seemed to shift uncomfortably on the spot.
"I can't speak for the rest of my family, but as for me... well, I don't dislike Faunus." She said as Sun piped in.
"I'm sensing a 'but' here."
Weiss gripped at her sides. "I'm not exactly, let's say 'comfortable' around most of you."
"Mhm, alright, so I'm guessing there's a reason." He asked as she nodded.
"I'm a Schnee as you know, and with being a Schnee I'm naturally a priority target for the White Fang."
Sun's eyes seemed to light up. "Oh, so you're afraid that someone you know or get close to might actually be out to get you."
Weiss nodded, letting out a sigh. "The White Fang has already killed several distant relatives. Who's to say that they wouldn't try to sneak someone close to me? It's ridiculous I know, but I can't help but worry."
Sun waved his hands out. "No no, it's cool I get it! It's alright to be cautious, especially when there's a whole cult out to kill you. But think about this: if anyone from the White Fang was close to you, wouldn't they attack immediately? I mean, they aren't exactly known for their subtlety."
Weiss gave a short chuckle. "I guess so." She shook her head. "Now back to Blake, do we have any idea what she could be involved in? If it's White Fang based then there must be a reason."
Sun rubbed his chin. "Well, maybe she's tired of the rep they're giving us. She's a huntress right, so maybe she's trying to put a stop to them herself?"
Weiss shook her head. "Preposterous, she wouldn't do something so dangerous alone... wait, did you say 'us'?"
He nodded. "Yea, as in us Faunus, maybe she's tired of the rep they've given us."
Weiss' face went flat. "Blake's a Faunus?" She asked as he nodded. "Yep... you didn't know?"
She shook her head slowly. "I've never seen any traits on her."
Sun wore his own confused look. "You mean you never saw the cat ears?"
Weiss shook her head again. "No, I never seen any ears, I've only ever seen...her... bow."
She felt stupid now, even more so as she thought harder about it. Who even wears a bow that big? Whatever, she'd ask about it later.
"S-still, she'd never go off on her own."
Sun gave a questioning look. "I don't know, almost every time I've seen her she's been on her own.
Weiss opened her mouth to rebuttal, but paused as she thought about it. Personally she hadn't spent the most time with her team, but even in those short moments she could tell that Blake had always seemed distant. Would it be so strange that she'd try to do things on her own?
She felt a sense of worry overcome her, if Blake was in danger on her own then there was a very real chance of her...
"Sun, do you have any idea where she might be if she did try to go after the White Fang?"
Sun nodded. "I've heard rumors that there's a shipment of dust down at the docks. SDC dust, sounds right up their alley if you ask me."
Weiss narrowed her eyes as she nodded. "So if Blake were to go after them she'd-"
They were interrupted by the sound of an explosion, the duo looked to the trail of smoke filling the distant sky.
Sun whistled. "Guess that answers that question."
"Come on!" Weiss stated as she ran off.
"Hey wait for me!" Sun replied as he chased after her.
.
.
Ruby watched as Yang beat down another of the cultists, his skull shattering from the shotgun blast of her gauntlet. The corpse dropped to the ground as they rushed ahead.
She herself bisected two others, running past as they choked on their own blood desperately trying to pull themselves together. They didn't matter, none of them did, all that mattered was finding Blake.
They flew past the mold covered walls, ignoring the scent of bile and smoked flesh as they burst down door after door. There were three inside, they didn't last long.
"Where is she?! Where is Blake?!" Yang demanded, holding one of them by their neck.
The only response was a spit from the woman as she gave a defiant glare. Yang wiped the saliva from her cheek.
"Not gonna talk? Fine, then you don't need that dirty mouth of yours." She said as she reached up and gripped her jaw.
Ruby looked away as she heard the sickening tear, followed by a screeching whine. She heard a thump, opening her eyes as she saw Yang walk past her.
"Come on, she must be deeper in."
Ruby followed along silently, taking particular notice of how little care Yang seemed to have for the blood that coated her. Day after day she seemed to lose any sort of care for what was around her.
Of course Ruby couldn't blame her, she was the same way. She followed along anyway as they entered another room, this one more apparent with the 'ritual' of this cult.
Several bones and body parts were scattered around, still bloody and covered in various juices. The 'meat' was present on all of the plates that lined the tables, it looked like they'd managed to interrupt dinner.
None of the cultists were present however, probably already dead from their earlier assault; the three from before were probably the last.
Ruby held her nose, the scent was awful. Yang and her passed along, the older sister seeming almost unfazed by the excessive gore that surrounded them. They passed into another room, this one looking to be a closet of sorts filled with open boxes.
She recognized the contents: old video sticks, the kind used before wireless download became a thing, the same kind from when their dad went to Beacon himself. Videos were saved to the sticks and sold on their own, once bought you'd just plug it into the monitor and it would play the video.
At the end of the room was a single monitor, as well as rusted chair. Ruby walked in, picking up one of the sticks and reading the label.
"Feast #102, Honey bull soup."
Yang huffed. "Bastards are recording their kills."
Ruby let out a sigh as she shifted through the box, looking at the hundreds of sticks. They thought telling the world about Salem would get people to work together, cannibal cults in her honor weren't part of the plan. A hatred worthy of the Grimm, or so their documents said.
Ruby was about to suggest leaving everything to go back to searching when she noticed something. On the floor next to the chair was a single stick, newer looking than the others.
She picked it up, reading it's label.
"Feast #455, Cat roast."
Without wasting a moment she rushed to the monitor, sticking it in and hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.
The monitor sprung to life, fuzzing a bit before the image cleared. Ruby felt her herself break as tears rained softly down her cheeks. She watched every second: the cutting, the stuffing, the roasting, and finally the feast.
The family meal.
.
.
Ruby's eyes slowly opened.
Another memory, nothing but nightmares at this point. Can't I catch a break?
She tried moving, finding it just as useless as before. She was still trapped, and with no idea how to remove the chain she was slowly losing hope.
"Hey, you're awake. Shhh, hold on."
That voice...
She looked over to the bars, seeing the blur of someone working at something. Ruby heard a click before the door opened, the soft patting of feet coming closer to her as she struggled to make out the shape.
"P... Pebble?" She asked as she felt a grip around her leg."
"Shhh." Came the whisper, the sounds of rustling coming from the chain at her ankle.
There was a quiet 'click' before the weight around her leg seemed to drop. Ruby tried moving once more, noticing that her leg wasn't as restricted as before. Slowly she could feel her strength return, her vision clearing as she saw Pebble sitting before her.
"How... how did you find me?" She asked the young boy as he slipped what looked to be lockpicks into his pants.
"I was afraid when you left on your mission, so I followed. You didn't come out of the graveyard for a long time. I wanted to go in but I saw someone come out carrying you. They brought you out here in the woods."
"Do you know how dangerous this was? What if someone caught you?" Ruby whispered as Pebble looked down.
"I couldn't let them take you." His voice was small, almost quivering.
She let out a sigh as she moved closer, wrapping an arm around him.
"I understand, I'm just worried for you. Well, you're here now anyways, so let's get out of here. Just give me a moment to catch my breath."
She could feel her strength gradually building up.
It wouldn't be long now.
.
.
Blake found herself in a sort of dance, weaving back and forth as she made quick strikes at her opponent, with varying levels of success.
Some of her attacks managed to hit their target, others ended up being blocked on his sword, and some he managed to dodge. In a way it felt like he was somewhere on her level of skill, much more than the average White Fang troop.
"Doing great kid!" She heard Roman call out from behind.
The man was rushing with the others to gather as much dust as possible, not even bothering to have any of the other grunts attack. In a way it ticked her off, they weren't even giving her a second glance as they packed the stolen goods away.
She tried to chase after them, but each and every attempt was blocked by Adam's rumored favorite. He wasn't half bad she'd admit, although he was far from the most difficult person she'd ever faced; that title still belonged to Adam back when she underwent her own training.
However it was starting to get annoying as every exchange of blows felt stagnant, like she wasn't getting anywhere.
So far she had neglected to use her semblance, deciding to try and keep it secret so as to catch him off guard later. However that left her with just her basic skills to work with.
As far as she could tell she was faster than him, that was a bonus she guessed. Yet he seemed to have a leg up when it came to strength, as she found herself knocked away during physical clashes.
"You don't want to do this."
Great, now he was patronizing her.
She dashed back into the fray, trading blows as she picked up the pace and managed to score a few hits. Despite her best attempts so far he still looked unfazed.
Just how much can you take?!
It irked her more and more as she tried once again to make a move towards the others, yet he almost seemed to double in speed to keep her away. Every time she aimed her weapon towards them he instantly chose that time to strike, keeping her from even being able to shoot at them.
And the most brazen part about it: he didn't even bother to use his own semblance. She kept hers secret sure, but unless his was a more passive type she saw no reason for him to do the same, after all he was trying to kill her whereas she was trying to capture him.
She shot towards him, a new plan in mind.
As she neared she fired off a few shots at him, knowing he'd go to block them. Like clockwork he took his focus off her directly, and she was able to make her move. Ducking low she went for a slash at his legs, just as his focus returned to her.
She saw his blade move. He would try to block the slash, that's where she'd get him. Instantly she pulled down, choosing to instead flip her blade and drag it upwards into an uppercut.
For most people they would be too caught off guard to notice the change in attack, taking the full brunt of the strike, however this was not the case for her.
Blake herself didn't realize it until she felt the force of his sword against her own.
He blocked it... he actually blocked it?!
The hell?! He shouldn't have been able to react that fast, with his blade positioned to block her feint he shouldn't have had the time to change it... unless he didn't.
It clicked for her as she was knocked away again. What if he never tried to block the feint? What if he'd assumed it was a trick all along? It made sense as she thought about it deeper.
He was working under Adam, the same Adam who taught her that trick to begin with. It meant that all the little techniques she'd learned from him were useless against her current opponent, or at least severely limited. It all depended on how much Adam had taught him.
This guy, 'Vermillion' was more dangerous than she thought. It wasn't looking like she would have many more options now. She still had almost all of her aura so that was a plus, but the fight was dragging on too long. If things kept going the way they were Roman and the others would get away.
Blake jumped forwards, deciding she was done messing around. She made for a slash, waiting for him to start a counter. Just as his blade neared her she threw herself down.
He never saw this, instead his eyes were locked on the shadow clone which was frozen on the spot. A bit of dust mixed in with her clones allowed them to change their properties, in this case her dust of choice had been ice.
His blade looked to lodge itself in the frozen statue, halting his attack and getting caught in the ice. His eyes widened as she delivered several slashes of her own. Blake kicked him away, forcing him to be knocked back for once as he landed with a roll.
Her shadow dispersed as she made forth again. She got in close as he tried another strike, looking to hit at the joints as to break through should she use the ice trick again.
Blake made sure he wasn't so lucky this time, instead infusing the shadow with fire. It exploded as it made contact with his blade, blasting him into the shipping crates behind him. He dented them slightly, dropping to the ground as he stood again.
"C'mon kid! She's making a fool of you!" Roman called again.
Blake wasted no time as she aimed for the man, noticing his eyes widen as she was about to pull the trigger.
She never got the chance as her side was absolutely coated in fire. It was brief, lasting only a second or so, but it was powerful enough to knock her away. She tumbled across the ground, rolling a bit before coming to a stop.
She stood back up and wiped some of the dust from her eyes, gazing over and seeing Vermillion with his arm outstretched towards her.
What?
Was that his semblance? With the way he had his hand out she would assume that it was, unless he was hiding some dust bombs somewhere. She shook her head as she focused on him again.
He took a stance once more, this time with his blade in only one hand. She had to be right, he was using his semblance, meaning things were going to start for real now.
Blake watched as his body bounced across the pavement, rolling to a stop just before Roman and the others as the group looked down to the guy.
They blinked, she blinked, if Vermillion was standing he probably would have blinked.
"Heck yeah! Just in time!" Cheered the attacker, sporting both blond hair and a monkey tail. She recognized him from earlier a few days ago.
Blake had but one thought running through her mind.
What just happened?
.
.
What just happened?
I was just about to start fighting again when all of a sudden there was a pain across the side of my head.
Slowly I made to stand, looking over to see Blake being joined by two others.
"Blake, are you okay?!" Called the white haired one who'd currently taken a stance next to her, weapon drawn and pointed my way.
"Weiss?! What are you doing here?!" She answered as the girl gave a furious look.
"Saving you! What were you thinking?! Why did you think it was a good idea to pull something like this on your own?!" Weiss berated as Blake looked to shrink slightly.
"I-"
Weiss stopped her. "Save it, we'll talk about this later. Right now let's finish this!"
Blake nodded as she took her place beside her.
"Alright! Let's beat these suckers!" The yellow one called as they all rushed towards us.
"Can't anything ever be easy?!" I heard Roman say as I dashed ahead.
I was headed for blondie when a wall of ice blocked my path.
"Oh no, your fight is with me!" I turned, just barely managing to avoid the stab sent my way.
I blocked several close quarters slashes from the girl before I sent an attack of my own. I threw forth a fireball, right into the ground and causing a mini explosion to gain some distance.
It worked and I was able to by myself a few meters as I began dishing out more blasts, each setting off their own explosions. I was low on aura from my fight with Blake and I needed to end this quick.
"Hey hey, watch it kid! One wrong move and we all go up in flames! Agh!" Roman called out as he took a hit from the staff of the monkey Faunus.
"Whatever! Keep them off us kid, we got what we need so it's time to ditch this joint!" Roman called as he was being attacked again.
I sent one of my spells their way, forcing both to back off as Roman gave a bow of thanks. I couldn't celebrate long however as I felt myself being shot away again.
I stood, my aura now completely broken. I was able to seen Roman and Neo Shatter into pieces, as a massive airship rose up from the distance and looked to take off.
"I... don't think that's good for us." The blond boy stated as I turned back to the group.
I managed to get myself into a kneeling position as they looked back to me. Weiss walked forwards, leveling her blade at me as she gave a scowl.
"Well, since you're the only one left now I guess you'll just have to wait right here."
"Really?" I stated, staring into her eyes as I let some venom seep through my tone.
They thought I lost, they really did. I would laugh if it wasn't so grim.
"You're surrounded, I saw that your aura broke as well so fighting is out of the question." She stated as she slid the blade closer.
The others looked to have their weapons drawn too, no doubt ready to end my life should I choose to make any other efforts. This was bad, I'd spent the whole time trying to draw out the fight in hopes of stalling long enough to find a way around the situation. Yet it seemed like I had no choice now.
The others got away like I wanted, but they watched as I got kicked around. Problem was that this would be reported back to Adam. I needed to keep on his good side, he needed to want me on his side. After the show here I couldn't return without some type of success.
I needed to stay close to Adam, I needed to stay important, I needed to prove myself capable. At this point, after this type of performance, the only way to do that...
Is to kill.
I stared her in the eyes as I felt the smoke seep from my skin, getting a puzzled look from her and the others. It took a second, only a second before I let loose. I'd gotten faster with my transformation now, and the look of horror that adorned her face didn't even have time to fully form as I gripped her head.
"Then let's fix that." I stated as I raised her up.
Her head broke the pavement as I slammed her down, I raised her up and did it again, and again, and again.
"Weiss!" They both screamed as monkey boy rushed for me.
I tossed her up, catching her by the leg as I swung her like a club. He took it to the side and went flying through the air, crashing somewhere I'm sure; I never bothered to look.
Blake seemed too shocked to move, simply staring at me. She got over it and pointed her gun, only to falter as I held Weiss before her.
I delivered several punches to her gut before her aura broke, at which point I dropped her to the ground. She let out several coughs as she looked to me.
I got lucky when I caught her off guard, and I knew that my luck wouldn't last, especially not after this. I raised my blade as I looked her in the eyes, seeing realization start to take over.
We're done here.
Everything seemed to slow as I swung my blade for her neck. Blake started to move, I'm sure the blond did as well. But the most striking sight was the girl who was facing down her doom.
A mix of fear and longing, the loss of hope and a tinge of despair hung gently in her eyes. I felt a small flicker of regret fill me, regret for what I was doing, but it had to be done.
I'm sorry, but you have to die, along with the others.
And so my blade met her flesh, a single sliver of blood leaking as the skin finally broke.
"NO!"
Author's note
...
Huh, rapid fire chapter this time, still pretty sure the pacing is messed up. But whatever, it works I guess.
Action is still not my strong suit, but it works for now.
We've also got another of Ruby's memories too, definitely a dark one though, especially for her. Gonna have to start being careful too, otherwise I'll need to bump up the rating.
Also, I've been debating whether I should rewrite the first chapter. Not to add anything distinctly new, but just to have it match the rest of the story in terms of writing style and add a bit more flair to it (Or at least make it a little less cringe). It'll still have the same events, just written better.
So let me know what you think, see you next time.