Ah… Here we are again. Surprise! I came back from training for HBL (Holiday Block Leave) and I have two weeks to rest and decompress from the craziness that is basic training and AIT. I used up one of those weeks chilling out, but I want to get at least a chapter out for this story before I go back for my last three weeks. Think of it like a teaser for the future. I'm looking forward to coming back for real, because I aim to finish this story in 2022 if I actually stick to any of my previous plans Lol.

Happy New Years everyone, and Merry Christmas as well!

The Blind Huntsman

Volume 5, Episode 4

Motivation

Adam sat in a chair with a pen in his hand. It was a feeling he never got used to. A sword was what he preferred, he was a warrior and a soldier of the White Fang. But not anymore, he was the supreme leader of the White Fang, and like Sienna often complained about before, that led to paperwork needing signing off. This particular work was unpleasant, even if he was doing it for the sake of deception and for the greater good. This was an approval form, the thing that the Albain's needed in order to get his official permission to raise a small task force and use them to assassinate Blake's family. He took no pleasure in signing his name at the bottom of the sheet and refrained from mouthing off when the Albain's appeared so boastful upon witnessing it.

"My leader, you've done a great thing!" Fennec said, relieved at last. He looked like he had just gotten four years younger within the second. "I know it must have been difficult for you, but this is for the greater good, I promise you that."

"Yes… for the greater good," Adam said with a nasal sigh. He almost felt bad for the Albain brothers. Despite their many bloodthirsty flaws, they genuinely did want to help the faunus all around the world, and they thought this was the way to keep doing that. They wouldn't make it to the end of the night, but his guilt would be forgiven soon, he thought. "If we are going to be doing this, then I want to be a part of this task force." He said next, enacting the next part of the plan. "If I am to order the deaths of Ghira and Kali, I'd rather swing the ax myself than have one of you do it."

"Of course," Corsac practically beamed at the prospect. "You be the one to do it will only solidify your future position. People will dread you, and you will command respect with the act."

Where is the respect to be earned in slaughtering two of the most honorable people on this island? Adam kept the thought to himself. It just became another reason as to why the Albain's needed to be expunged. They were too dangerous, for the faunus and to himself. He could only imagine their backup plan in replacing him had he not been reluctantly going on with their plans as he was now.

"It took me some time to accept that…" He said instead. "I tried to think of other ways to do it, the Belladonnas weren't always my enemies, and they were the previous leaders of the White Fang before. I was holding myself back out of respect for them, for what they did, and tried to do, for all the faunus."

That at least got an understanding reaction out of the Albain's. He didn't know what he was trying to do for them, redeem them somehow? Redeem them by making them understand what they were doing? Perhaps Ruby was starting to rub off on him, though in her defense, she was right about Mercury and Emerald. They redeemed themselves in excluding themselves out of the wars to come and effectively banishing themselves from any normal society. If he could somehow achieve the same fate for the brothers here, then a lot of lives could be spared and blood wouldn't have to be shed at the end of this day.

"Yes, we were having similar thoughts…" Adam leaned forward, daring to hope that his tactic had worked the way it was intended. "But we have come too far to allow mercy and humble thoughts get in the way of what the faunus need. It is dirty work, we admit, but we are the only ones who can do it."

Adam internally sighed and nodded his head, accepting what was coming next. He could have tried harder, but if he did, then they certainly would figure out that something else was amiss. "Then let's not put this off any longer. Gather your other men, I will go along with anything you have planned, but if you will default to what I think we should do, then that is fine as well."

"That won't be required, thankfully," Corsac said, his usual smile coming back in force. "It is a quick and precise operation. We will strike late, so late that even Ghira and his wife would be sleeping. I've managed to bribe one of their key guards, and they've given us the posts of each guard all around the manor. He will be the one to let us in and will be the first to be let out when the fighting begins."

Adam would make a note of this turn cloak later so he could punish him himself.

"Ilia Amitola will also be leading this operation. Forgive me, Supreme Leader, but you don't strike me as adept at stealth. Her semblance naturally gives her the advantage, and if we have need of your strength…"

Adam listened absentmindedly to the brother's words. To think that they could presume to lecture him about strategy was insulting. But he held back his tongue for the time being. Ilia was telling the truth earlier it seemed, she told him that she was being approached by the Albain brothers and that she had agreed to their plans just to insert herself deep in their operation, to a point to where they were relied upon. The fact that both Albain's would be a part of this operation made it all the more important for them to make sure it all worked out. Little did they know that when the time did eventually come, they were being led right into a trap. The task force that they boasted so highly of consisted of above-average members of the White Fang who had earned the stripes on their masks. Adam just thought that since they had an aura, they were chosen to be a part of this. As he looked at them, Adam wasn't impressed. They looked like they could do well in an operation like this which required stealth and secrecy. But in an actual battle, he wouldn't doubt that he'd be able to destroy them all. Having aura made you naturally stronger and much more durable than any average person, but by no means did it make you immortal. He had learned recently that power in the wrong hands could turn any great person into a very ugly being. Like him, before he had regained his sense. To some small degree, Adam thought that he could understand what Blake must have thought of him before the attack on Mistral occurred. Only this time in his position, he knew for a fact that none of them would survive the night.

To the Albain's credit, they were right about how easy it would be. The manor's turn cloak guard let them in through a side lower entrance and was the first out the door after letting them in. Adam swore to remember his face, and one look to Ilia said that she would do the same. They followed the plan initially, but when they saw too many guards that weren't supposed to be in the position they were in galavanting, they had to take the scenic route. Ilia took them through the maze that was the Belladonna manor if you didn't know where you were going. The room they ended up in was dark and dimly lit by the orange light of candles dotted around on each pillar. Above them was an internal balcony, where he knew Ruby, Blake, and Taiyang were hiding. Ilia suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, the nervousness clearly written all over her face as she nodded her head, telling him that Blake had given her the signal that they were ready to ambush them on his move. Adam nodded back and sighed, turning and facing the Albain brothers, who had been growing more and more nervous as they spent more time inside the manor. The four other members of the White Fang that were with them were only keeping it together due to their leadership. But soon, they wouldn't even have that either.

"Why are we stopping here for so long?" Fennec asked, sharing the nervousness with the younger ones. "We need to keep moving or we're going to miss our window."

"I am sorry for this, Fennec." Adam said slowly, turning around to face them. The way he said it made Corsac furrow his brow in confusion at first, and then the realization dawned on him. He realized it faster than Fennec, who walked up to him with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean? Why are you saying sorry?" Fennec asked, oblivious to the way Adam had his hand on the hilt of his sword and Ilia had her weapon already out of its holster. "We're doing this together, aren't we?"

Adam closed his eyes beneath his mask. When he opened them again, so did Fennec's throat before he could activate his aura to defend himself. Adam was too fast, and his sword flicked through the air before anyone could react. Corsac screamed out of angered grief, catching Fennec as he fell backward clutching his throat. Ilia flipped over Adam's shoulders, her skin color changing back to normal as she threw the mask off her face. She whipped at the four other members of the White Fang, catching one of them and electrocuting them. That one was fast enough to activate his aura, so it did little but warn the others to raise their weapons and point it at them.

"This is your one and only chance to surrender," Adam said, his voice monotone and uninterested. "You don't have to die tonight. Life in a cell is better than being dead in the sand."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Corsac screamed, tears streaming down his face as he launched up and away from his dying brother, his weapons drawn and striking at him. Adam sheathed Wilt but knew he did not need to draw it to counter. A blur of red surrounded Corsac, encircling him in a flurry of rose petals. By the time Corsac knew what was happening, Ruby Rose had a knee in his back and his hands bound behind him. He was pinned down, and in the span of twenty seconds, the two biggest threats were removed.

Blake and Taiyang leaped from the balcony behind the other four members. Who saw them and thought that they still somehow stood a chance against them. When Ghira and Kali came next, standing over the balcony with disapproving expressions on their faces, three out of the four had the sense to surrender immediately, while the four took a little more convincing in the form of Blake kicking out his teeth and knocking him out cold. Everything went perfectly, Adam reflected later. Fennec was the better fighter and had the greatest chance of getting away, but he was more gullible than his brother, and trusted him too much, costing him his life. Corsac was the brains of the operation, so capturing him was the better ulterior than Adam using his semblance to kill him like he was almost about to do before Ruby got there in time to arrest the faunus. Blake and Taiyang were there just in case the others needed more convincing to surrender, but if they were foolish, then they would have died as well. All in all, for a plan that was prepared for the most amount of death, they got away remarkably unscathed. It was almost too easy…

"Taurus… how could you!?" Corsac asked as Ruby helped him back up to his feet. When he saw the situation unfold and the Belladonna guards enter the room, any fight that may have been left in him was snuffed out. "You'll be the death of all the faunus! Cinder is going to hear of this, and when she does, you'll be lucky if she sends you and everyone you love to their deaths!"

"Everyone I loved is already dead," Adam said nonchalantly. "I am very well aware of the consequences this may bring out, Corsac, but this needed to be done. Too long has Cinder been using the faunus as fodder. Too long have I let her reduce the White Fang from a revolution to a mercenary company."

"We have no choice!" Corsac screamed. "If not for her, then the Grimm, the people of Menagerie would fall to the Grimm!" He was desperate, Adam understood why. He felt the same way not too long ago. "We were doing it to protect the faunus! Please, kill me and my brother a hundred times over, but do not betray her! I-I can say my brother died in an accident, I can still feed her what she wants to hear! Please!"

"No, Corsac," Adam shook his head. He turned to Ghira, then to Ruby and Blake, they all nodded at him. Adam placed his hand on the hilt of his sword but had no intention of drawing it. "The White Fang will be born again, in the image of what it was supposed to be in the first place. But in order to do that, we will have to dirty our hands just one more time. This time, however, it will be Cinder's blood we will be guilty of."

"You can't seriously mean to…"

"I do," Adam nodded. He removed his mask, allowing the room to see his scar. The SDC brand made him hate all humans for a long time. "After it's over, I'll take the mask off one last time. I've done too much, killed too many, but at least I'd leave knowing I finally did something right."

"You have changed, Adam," Ghira said when Ruby and Taiyang escorted Corsac out of the manor, and to a nearby holding facility. "This is the third time I've seen it happen. The first when you joined the White Fang, the second on the day you saved my life, and the third just recently."

"It doesn't matter what changes I've been through," Adam said. "Have the faunus been told about what's happened yet?"

"Blake, Kali, and Ilia went to go speak with them. They will win them over, I'm sure of it." Ghira explained. Adam didn't know how it happened, but so quickly it seemed that Ghira and Adam were now alone in the room together. "Then we will sail to Haven, just like Cinder wanted us to to begin with."

"Right…" Adam found that his hand was shaking, the hand that was holding his sword.

'You're scared of her, aren't you?" Ghira asked when he noticed.

Adam's anger flared for an instant at the thought, but he refrained from doing something asinine. "Yes, I have been for a long time." He said. "But I can't let that fear stop me. We're already too far for fear to become a factor now. It's just… I could have killed her, a long time ago." He started. He didn't know why he was telling Ghira this, but for some reason, the timing felt right. "She came to recruit me before. Before she gained the powers she has now. Before she was strong. It was during a time where I didn't hesitate to kill any human that came near. But I let her go. I just told her to go away, and never come back. Then she returned with a power I couldn't hope to stand against on my own, and that was just the start…"

"You couldn't have known." Ghira clapped a large hand on his shoulder. "But think of it this way; if it's redemption you want, then it is well within your grasp. You must just reach out and take it. You can mend your own mistake. Cinder's life is one I can agree must be neutralized for the betterment of all society."

"Hmph, hearing that from you of all people…" Adam chuckled. "I will do my best, Ghira. Let's go, it's time to begin sailing for Mistral. If we make haste, we should make it within a week or so."

Malienna tumbled to the ground in a mess of her own sweat and ruffled hair. Her small body ached all over, her mouth felt dry, and it was hard keeping the tears back from the stress of it all. Her brother wasn't lying when he said that he wasn't going to take it easy on her forever. Just a few days into her training with him and he was ramping up the difficulty with each passing session. By the third day, she was still reeling from the effects of the first day. But she wasn't going to give up. Grasping a tuff of dirt and clenching it in her fist, Malienna gripped the discarded training sword at her side and pushed herself back up to her feet. Wielding the weapon with one hand and letting the other rest clenched against her side under the guise of favoring her chest.

"You're okay to keep going?" Her older brother asked. Tall and imposing, yet gentle and powerful. He never mistreated her and made every session clear that it was just training. It made the bruises ache less, but right now she was still mad at him just out of principal. He had Silver Ebony limply hanging from his left hand, his off-hand. It proposed a better challenge to him, he told her when she asked him once about it.

She spat off to the side and nodded her head. Then realized her mistake. "I can keep going!" She spat out, determined.

Kai smiled. "Good. You might not be seeing it yourself, but you've gotten stronger already." Then he frowned. "But you haven't tried using your semblance or eyes yet. You will never be able to beat me without them."

Malienna's face went red. "I can so!" She exclaimed, entering a form she remembered from Raven. "Just watch!" She leaped in and speared the tip of her sword through the air in an effort to tag her brother on the chest. Kai sidestepped and pushed her from the shoulder, almost knocking her off balance. Malienna caught herself by going low, driving her weight into her heels and using the momentum her brother provided her, and pivoting. This time, her small fist was thrown out toward her brother, but from a well-far enough range to not be able to reach him. She had just enough time to see Kai raise an eyebrow as if to ask her why she would try that. That was before a tuff of sandy dirt was thrown into one of his eyes. Kai cried out. Not from a lack of vision, as he never had that to begin with, but from the pain that anyone would feel having sand thrown into it. Victoriously, Malienna pushed off her front leg, feeling the burn in the muscles of her thighs as she threw herself toward her brother with her sword held in both hands, bringing it along her side and slashing at one of Kai's legs. A strong silver aura flashed, and the sound of what sounded like metal smashing against a brick wall made her ears ring. Her sword bounced off the aura and vibrated in her hands. It took all her strength to reign the sword back under her control, but it took too much time. When she looked back up, Kai was on her, Silver Ebony slashing down at her and smacking the sword out of her hand when she raised to block the attack. Her hands and wrists hurt, her eyes widened, and she let out a yelp. She waited for the next usual strike that would knock the rest of the aura out of her, but when it never came she dared to look up through cracked eyes.

Kai had stopped and sheathed Silver Ebony, groaning and rubbing at his eyes trying to get the sand out of it. He used his semblance to wrench the water out of some nearby plants, but he had seemed to assume that the session was over and he could do this freely. In that split instant, Malienna wondered if she should honor his assumption or take advantage of it. She decided on the latter, and picked her sword back up and swung at him.

While Kai was using the water to rinse out his eyes, he caught the dull blade with his free hand. Wrapping his fingers around it and holding onto it while she failed to try and twist it out of his grasp.

"That was a dirty trick," he remarked while he worked at his eyes. "Did Raven teach you that one?"

Malienna pouted and let go of the sword. Then crossed her arms and huffed. "Yeah… I guess."

"It could have worked on anyone else," Kai said next. "Hell, it almost worked on me, and I don't even need eyes to see. But that's the thing, some enemies you face will be unique. Some will be able to control fire, others will be fast or impossibly strong and some may be able to ignore aura entirely. You need to be able to adapt to anything like that just like this," he snapped his fingers. "You understand?"

"Yeah…" Malienna said, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

Kai sighed. "You're upset with me."

"Maybe…" It was Malienna's turn to sigh next. "Sorry… I'm just… I can never beat you. Every time we spar, I feel like the gap between us has grown so much more than I initially thought. You're just… too much."

"You know it's not fair to compare yourself to me." Kai pointed out. Touching her shoulder and gesturing for her to sit down next to him. She let herself be guided. "What I've been through and what you've been through can't be compared. Not yet. Besides, you're still very young. I'm honestly surprised you've been improving this much already. I did say it before, didn't I? You may not see it now, but you've gotten faster, better, and stronger."

"I literally bounced my sword off of you…" She pointed out.

"Yes, and how many strong attacks like that have you landed on me before?"

"None."

"Exactly." Kai smiled when she felt the smirk crawl itself onto her face uncontrollably. "As I said, it was a good trick, and as far as I know I'm still the only blind person who fights as I do. Do that trick against anyone else, and it'd work. But try not putting all your strength into a single attack like that."

"Why not?" Malienna inquired.

"When you hit me, your sword was vibrating. You still don't have the strength to control that. Against Grimm, it won't be a problem, as you'd either cut through them or be able to pull the sword out, against someone with aura it'd feel like you're smashing against a brick wall with a spoon."

"Do you even feel it then?"

"Oh, trust me, I did," Kai smirked as he pulled up his pant leg, revealing an angled dark purple bruise that to him was a throbbing pain. "It got a decent chunk of my aura, but it left you wide open as well. The next time you watch me spar against Raven or Weiss, you'll see that none of us ever try a full-strength strike unless we know that it will break their aura. Some people can do it no problem, but others can't. I don't expect you to be able to until you get older."

"Mmm…" Malienna nodded her head and yawned, letting herself fall into her shoulder. All of a sudden, she felt so tired and sleepy. All that accumulative training was catching up to her finally. "I think I get it now."

"That's good." Not for the first time, Kai picked Malienna up and carried her back to the camp. He put her down in her section of Raven's tent and left her there to rest and recuperate. She'd have more training to get through in the next morning. When he left her tent, he stretched his hands above his head, and felt the muscles in his shoulders and back and arms flex and tense as he did so. It was a familiar, recovering feeling. There wasn't anything quite like it after a sparring session. Though, he ought to listen to his own advice. He doesn't remember the last time he ever held back against a person with an aura outside of training. He found Raven near the gate of the camp, barking orders out at the bandits they were living with and he watched as they listened to her without flaw, save for a few with attitudes, which prompted a swift punishment from Raven in the form of a short and public beating to get them in line. He sensed in a different direction and found Weiss speaking to some of the more strategically thinking types of bandits, the ones that Raven used to scout and plan out raids on nearby villages. She also had a group of the younger men and women, some boys and girls as well, nearby. The ones that she was training herself to unlock their auras and be more than useless against the fights to come. She was doing a good job, the last he checked. He tried finding Neo as well, but as usual, she was nowhere to be found. When she wanted to see him, she came to him, he noticed ever since they arrived at the camp. She didn't like it there, Kai noticed, but knew that she would never admit it herself. After getting some food and water for himself he retired to his own tent, a new one that was made of fresh silk and cloth and hay that had never been slept on before stuffed into a sleeping mattress covered with fur blankets. He sat down at the makeshift desk of stone he had made for himself and laid his food and water across it. He downed the water first, replacing all of the water that he had lost to the heat and to the training session he had with Malienna, and quickly ate the slab of cooked pork spiced with salt and pepper next. Rich in protein and almost nothing in sugar. It was better than anything else he'd eaten on his way there by any means.

Kai didn't jump as he used to when he felt Neo's hands clasp his shoulders after he removed his shirt to wash it. Instead, he turned around to meet her, touching her wrists and feeling her weight lean into him as he supported her. He knew what she wanted, it was the only thing she went to him for nowadays. But he was tired and sore and he smelled, and he wasn't really in the mood for it this time.

"Not now," he said, taking her hands and gently taking them off him. "Too tired, had a long couple of days." Instead, he lied back and fell into his mattress, sighing as he felt the relief start to come to him almost immediately. Surprisingly, he felt Neo slide into the spot next to him, filling it with her warmth as she leaned against him, humming softly as her pink and brown soft hair splashed against his chest. It seemed she was okay with his current mood, which was a relief at any rate. They hadn't slept together in a while, he realized but welcomed the warmth without the need of furs. He felt Neo trace a finger into his chest, which was her way of communicating to him. He recognized the symbols she was making and heard what she was saying.

"Am I nervous for what is about to happen," he repeated when she traced. "Of course I am. If what Raven said is true, then we are going to be encountering Cinder soon. We don't know when which is making me anxious." He admitted. "But I know I can kill her. I almost did it once, I can do it again."

Neo bit her lip and traced something into his chest again, but didn't finish it.

"What?" Kai asked, sensing her sudden nervousness.

Hesitantly, Neo finished what she was saying.

I like this. She had signed to him. Kai took a moment to think about it as well. Nodding his head. "I do too." He said. "But it can't last forever," he added. "This is for us to rest up and get ready for what's to come next. There's no settling down until that happens…" He sighed and shut his eyes. "Speaking of such, I'm tired, so I'm going to rest up for a bit."

Neo nodded along with him, but there was something off about her when she did. Sensing what she was feeling was always trickier than it was with other people, but after all this time, he thought he had an understanding grasp on how she was feeling. In the present moment, she felt sad, and maybe a little lost. He felt for her, knowing the feeling well after his father died and Beacon fell a few years after that. But they needed to be strong. Not for themselves or the physical relationship they had, but for the future.

He felt sleep come to him, and when he woke up it was dark and Neo wasn't there anymore.

And there we go. The last chapter of 2021. I wanted to get another chapter for this story out before 2022, and before I went back to base to finish up my last 3 weeks of training. This is but a taste of what is to come. I also am gonna try a new style of writing. I wrote a lot in my personal notebook while I've been there, about all my fanfics, some personal thoughts, ideas, and of course about my upcoming book series I'm going to be working on alongside this. It's gonna be a real help throughout all this craziness that's going to be when I'm back for good. Until then though, enjoy the holidays!