Weiss Schnee – Remnant of the Ice General
Chapter 10 – Past Always Catches Up
The Vytal festival was one of the biggest events in all of Remnant. It was a festival to celebrate the end of the Great War and show unity between the four kingdoms. But the pragmatic reality was that it was created to boost morale and ward off the grimm.
The main event was the Vytal tournament, where the students of each combat academy faced off against one another and show the strength of future generation of huntsman.
The irony of celebrating peace with a huge fighting tournament was not lost on Weiss.
The white-haired girl walked through the streets of Vale, the rest of team RWBY alongside her. Ruby was eagerly observing the preparations for the Vytal Festival and Yang had to stop her from running off to different stands and shops, especially those that were weapon related.
Soon they reached the harbor where they saw a large cruise ship that arrived from Mistral. On board weren't just tourist, but students from Haven Academy as well, their main reason for coming here.
As they came closer, Blake took a long sniff of the air, enjoying the smell of the harbor.
"Smells like a rotten fish in here." Yang said, having entirely different opinion on the smell as she made a disgusted face.
"There are far worse smells, than expired fish. You better get used to it." Weiss couldn't help herself and threw a verbal jab at the blond, trying to rile her up.
Yang looked ready to retort, but Ruby stepped in between them before it could escalate.
"Look, here they come." The younger girl said, pointing at one of the ramps where the students from Haven were gathering.
"Why do I have the feeling you came here just to spy on the competition." Blake asked, looking at Weiss.
"Knowing is half the battle." Weiss admitted, but the only reason she bothered coming here was because of Ruby, who wanted to take a look at the foreign student's weapons before anyone else.
Personally, she doubted there would be anyone that would give her a trouble at the tournament. Besides, they would have much more time observing their competition during classes.
Weiss looked at the group more closely and caught sight of someone familiar, but before she could focus there was a sound of running footsteps and loud shouting.
"Stop him!" Shouted one of the guards and Weiss turned her attention to the scene.
She saw a boy getting chased by the guards. He was around her own age, with light blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing white jacket, red fingerless gloves and blue jeans.
But the most eye-catching thing about him was that he wasn't wearing any t-shirt, displaying his sixpack-abs to the world. That and the fact he had a monkey tail.
The monkey Faunus weaved through the crowd skillfully avoiding collision, before he jumped on a nearby lamp, laughing at the guards chasing him.
"Get down here, you no good stowaway." One of them shouted, pointing his baton at him.
"Hey, I take offence to that. I'm a great stowaway." The boy said. He pulled out a banana from his back pocket, threw the peel at one of the guards and devoured the banana in two bites.
He soon jumped down from the street lamp, leaving the two guards in dust. He ran up the stairs and pass team RWBY, but not before winking at Blake, before running into the city.
The four girls stared in his direction, not sure what just happened.
"Shouldn't we stop him?" Ruby asked, being the first one to shake off her surprise.
"Aren't you the team leader? It's your call." Weiss said, not caring about some stowaway. If the guards couldn't catch him, it was their problem. Besides if Ruby was to come to her own as a leader, she will need to make her own decisions.
"Right. Let's catch him!" Ruby decided, shooting after the rapscallion with her semblance. Both Blake and Yang joined Ruby in pursuit of the stowaway.
Just as Weiss was about to follow her teammates, she noticed someone in the crowd. She blinked twice, making sure she wasn't seeing things. There, among the Haven students, dressed in the school's uniform was none other than Cinder Fall.
Just like in the picture Roman showed her. She was a bit taller than Weiss, a bit older as well, with raven black hair and bright amber eye.
'Just what was she doing in Haven Academy.' Weiss thought.
Cinder's eyes snapped to her location, almost as if she could feel Weiss' gaze on her. Despite the distance, Weiss could see the slight way Cinder's eye twitch at seeing her, memory of their little skirmish still fresh on her mind.
Weiss wanted nothing more than to follow the woman, wait until she was alone and then drive her sword through her back. But now wasn't the time and her team was getting away.
It didn't take long for Weiss to catch up with her two teammates, only Ruby managing to outrun them with the use of her semblance. Just as the trio was about to turn a corner there was a loud crash.
Weiss rounded the corner, one hand already on her weapon expecting a fight. But her worry seemed to be unfounded as she took in the scene. Ruby was laying on the ground, the monkey faunus nowhere in sight. What's more, there was a ginger-haired girl laying beneath Ruby, seemingly cushing her fall.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there and wasn't fast enough to stop. Are you alright?" Ruby apologized, getting off the ground and looking at the girl.
"Apology accepted and not to worry, I'm quite more durable than I look." The girl responded with a smile on her face.
The strange girl looked at each of them, content with laying on the ground.
"Is the floor comfortable?" Yang asked sarcastically, but the girl actually seemed to consider the question.
"No, not particularly." She responded, Yang's sarcasm going over her head.
"How hard did you hit her?" Yang whispered to Ruby, only to receive an elbow to her side from her sister.
"Don't you want to get back up?" Blake asked after a while.
"Yes, I probably should." Said the girl and with an impressive display of agility she jumped back to her feet.
Weiss took a second look at the girl. She looked young, closer to Ruby's age than her own. She had bright-green eyes and short copper-red hair. She was dressed in a white and gray blouse with neon green highlights and black stockings and boots with the same green highlights.
Penny likewise looked at each member of team RWBY, her eyes pausing on Weiss for a moment with a look of recognition.
"Have you seen a boy running away from here?" Weiss asked, getting to the point. "He was tall, blond, with a monkey tail."
"I did not." The girl shook her head, but then her expression light up. "But I can help you look."
"That-" Ruby started, but Weiss cut her off.
"Won't be necessary. We missed our chance and have more important business than searching the city for some stowaway." Weiss said, knowing that looking for him now would be almost impossible. "We should go back to the docks, if we're lucky we can still observe the competition."
And by competition she meant Cinder Fall and her team.
As the group turned around, heading back towards the docks, Ruby turned to the copper-haired girl.
"Once again, sorry for bumping into you. Guess I'll see you later, friend." Ruby said, before turning around and following her team.
"Well, she was a bit weird, don't you think?" Yang asked once they were out of earshot.
"What did you call me?" The girl suddenly spoke up behind them.
"I-I thought you wouldn't hear. Sorry." Yang stammered, her face flushing red.
"Not you." The girl shook her head her eyes turning towards Ruby. "You just called me a friend. Did you mean it."
For a moment Ruby looked puzzled. Her mouth opening and closing several times, not knowing what to say. She glanced at her teammates, looking for help, and while both Yang and Blake were shaking their heads, Weiss merely shrugged.
"Yeah, of course I meant it." Ruby answered after a while.
"Sensational. We can shop together, paint our nails and talk about cute boys." The girl exclaimed; her eyes almost sparkling. Ruby had to wonder if this is how people saw her when she was excited.
"Anyway, I'm Ruby and these are my teammates; Yang, Blake and Weiss. We are huntresses at Beacon." Ruby introduced them, despite Blake and Yang's earlier protests.
"Really? I'm also a huntress at Atlas Academy. So I hope we will see each other in the Vytal Tournament." The girl said, but then she gasped as if she realized something. "But I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me. My name is Penny. Penny Polendina."
None of her teammates recognized that name, but Weiss herself did a double take.
"Polendina? As in Doctor Pietro Polendina, one of Atlas' best researchers?" Weiss asked, looking more closely at the girl.
"Yes, he is my father. Do you know him?" Penny answered, not shying away from Weiss' gaze.
"My brother worked for him during his internship. Never mentioned anything about him having a daughter and you don't look very much like him." Weiss pointed out, keeping a close eye on the girl.
"You could say I was recently adopted." Penny answered, nervously shuffling her feet.
Weiss narrowed her eyes at her, she could detect some sort of deception, but perhaps not an outright lie. But why would an old, crippled scientist adopt a teenage girl?
There was no use for trying to push for information, so Weiss decided to file that information for later. For now, she would simply keep a close eye on the girl.
Penny visibly relaxed when Weiss decided to not pry any further and team RWBY plus Penny headed back towards the docks. Suddenly, Ruby stopped as she noticed a familiar Dust Shop, at least what remained of it.
The glass was broken, pieces laying on the ground. The pristine sign with the words 'From Dust till Dawn' was shattered in half, one part laying on the ground, the other hanging on by a treat. It was even worse inside of the shop, everything was burned down. Every weapon magazine, every shelf, even the walls were covered with burn marks.
Ruby gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. The police on the scene said something about Torchwick and his string of Dust robberies, but she already knew Torchwick was behind this.
But this wasn't a simple robbery; this was a show of force. He didn't simply take the Dust like before; he burned the place to the ground. Torchwick decided to take revenge and maybe send a warning to anyone else who would resist.
Then a horrible thought settled in her mind; was this her fault? If she didn't foil his robbery, would he just take the Dust and leave?
"Don't blame yourself." Ruby was brought out of her thought by Weiss' touch. Her delicate fingers gently pressing against her shoulder.
Weiss was right of course. She had done what was best in the moment and she shouldn't blame herself for an action of a criminal.
"But still, the shop might have been better if I didn't get involved." Ruby said, not looking at Weiss.
"Maybe, but then Ozpin wouldn't invite you to Beacon and we would never meet. Would you want that?" Weiss asked.
"No." Ruby protested almost immediately.
Being invited to Beacon two years earlier was the best thing that ever happened to her. She was glad to be on the same team as her sister and the opportunity to make friends with Jaune, Blake and even Weiss. She would probably lose on all of those things if she was still stuck back at Signal. She wouldn't exchange Beacon for anything.
Was it selfish to think that way? That despite her actions leading to destroying an innocent man's living, she didn't regret them?
"Honestly, it's the shopkeep's fault. He should have invested into security after almost getting robbed." Weiss said, as if trying to alleviate some blame from Ruby's shoulder, but going about it the wrong way.
Once more Ruby was reminded of her partner's less than pleasant world view. To Weiss if you weren't strong enough to protect yourself, then you deserved what was coming.
But Ruby didn't agree with that. She wanted to make the world a better place and protect those that couldn't protect themselves.
"No, it's not the shopkeep's fault. I shouldn't have let Torchwick escape." Ruby retorted.
She shouldn't blame herself for Torchwick's actions, but she could blame herself for letting the thief get away.
"I guess there is some truth to that." Weiss said, slightly tightening her grip on Ruby's shoulder.
The redhead was reminded she wasn't the only one who Torchwick escaped that night. She wondered just how much did that bother Weiss.
"But don't worry, I'm sure we'll have another opportunity to catch him." Ruby didn't know how Weiss planned to do that, but considering she probably saw his escape as personal defeat Ruby had no doubt Weiss was eager to rectify her mistake. And Ruby decided she would be there to help.
"Although, now that I think about it, this could've been job of the White Fang, rather than Torchwick's." Weiss mused, her fingers sliding off of Ruby's shoulder.
"Why would White Fang attack a small Dust shop?" Blake asked, a hint of edge in her voice.
Weiss paused for a moment. Ever since they became a team, Blake has tried to hide her distain and unlike Yang, she has kept her comments to a minimum. The fact she was willing to challenge her now, on behalf of the White Fang no less was a surprise, but a welcome one.
"They've always been stealing Dust. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a hand in those recent Dust robberies." Weiss said. She already knew that Torchwick and the White Fang were already working together, but she could use that to rile Blake up.
"They only target shops and companies that discriminate against Faunus, such as the SDC." Blake fired back.
Blake actually bought Dust from here, even before wearing her bow. The shop owner didn't say anything about her being a faunus, didn't even raise the prices as she feared. The White Fang would have no reason to target 'From Dust Till Dawn'. They didn't steal from innocent people.
"That's rather romanticized version. In reality they are nothing but terrorists who don't care who they hurt in their blind pursuit of their so-called justice and equality." Weiss said and Blake bristled.
"Of course someone from Atlas would see it that way. Your people have been mistreating faunus ever since you lost the Great War. And when they decide to fight back, you label them terrorists and animals." Blake almost snarled, looking at Weiss with disgust.
"You forget it was Atlas that gave Menagerie to faunus, allowing them to establish their own government and kingdom. So far, the only thing we received for it were destroyed mines and blow upped factories."
"Please, Menagerie is uninhabitable desert infested with Grimm. If the White Fang didn't provide protection for the few towns there, everyone would already be killed by grimm." Blake argued and Weiss saw her anger rising. Perfect.
"Why are you so set on defending them, Blake? One might think you're a member after hearing your words." There was a loud silence after Weiss said those words.
Blake's hand was inching closer to her weapon and she looked like she was ready to start a fight right in the middle of the street. Weiss mimicked her movement, mocking the black-haired girl with a sly grin.
She hoped this would be the moment Blake snapped. She tried to bait the girl into attacking her before, but Blake never took the bait. Even when her back was turned to the black-haired assassin, even when Blake had her weapon in hand she never took the chance.
She started to consider the possibility that White Fang Commander attending Beacon with her was just a coincidence. Perhaps she wasn't sent here to kill her, maybe she was sent here to search Beacon for whatever it was that Cinder wanted. If that was the case, she could get the information out of her, any means necessary.
"You're paranoid Schnee." Blake said, forcing her hand away from her weapon.
"It's hardly a paranoia when every faunus wants me dead, and you seem to be on their side." Weiss said and contrary from Blake, she didn't remove her hand from her weapon.
"Maybe if your company didn't let hundreds of faunus die in the mines each year things would be different."
"I'm not the SDC and I can't influence how my father runs the company." Weiss dismissed and that made Blake even angrier.
"Yet you have no problem with the lifestyle the company provides you. As if that wasn't enough, you've been escorting Dust to Vale for a while before coming to Beacon. I've heard what you've done to the faunus that attacked your shipments. You're just much of a monster as your father."
Those words ignited Weiss' fury. Who was Blake to judge her? She didn't start those fights. Her enemies were out for blood, she only returned the favor. Or did Blake wanted her to just stand back and watch as they steal her Dust and kill her subordinates?
A memory, unbidden, forced its way into her head. A burning mine, derailed train and her sister, lying defeated and surrounded by those animals. The look of disgust and fear Winter gave her after the battle. Did she expect her to stand back as well!
That memory drove her anger to a new height. She glared at Blake with unmatched fury. Now she didn't care about Cinder Fall, she didn't care about the White Fang or even the SDC. She just wanted to expose the hypocrisy of the murderer standing before her.
"If you want to talk about blood, how about we start with the one that's on your hands, Belladonna." With those words Weiss took a step forward and ripped off a bow on top of Blake's head. The same bow that covered her cat ears.
Ruby and Yang gasped in shock and confusion. Only Penny, who was still with them, seemed unaffected.
"I know you helped Sienna Khan rise to power. I know you helped her radicalize the White Fang. And I know it's you and your boyfriend who are leading the Vale branch of the White Fang." Weiss said, her words like venom. "I know a lot more about you than you know about me. So don't even try to pretend you're the victim here!"
For a moment Blake was paralyzed with fear, but then she gathered her courage and met Weiss murderous gaze. "Maybe I was just tired of us being pushed around."
With those words Weiss snapped and drew her blade. She swung for Blake's neck, even as Ruby tried to stop her. However, when her sword made contact it simply passed through the girl's neck as if it was nothing but mist.
'An illusion?' Weiss didn't get to ponder for long as 'Blake' suddenly exploded into fog that covered the entire street, blocking their vision. Weiss didn't waste a single second as she spun the Dust chamber on her rapier and blew off the fog with a burst of wind.
However, when the fog cleared, Blake was nowhere to be seen.
'Well, that was stupid of me.' Weiss realized as she sat on her bed back in Beacon. She wanted Blake to finally lose her cool and get under her skin, instead it was the other way around and she attacked the girl in broad daylight.
So, there goes her chance of catching one of the most important members of the White Fang and any potential information about Cinder Fall. That made her blood boil, but this time she only had herself to blame.
She took a look at her teammates. Yang was sitting on the bed opposite of hers, looking ready to say something, but even she knew better than trying to provoke Weiss in her current state.
"Why have you done that!" Ruby half yelled; her own frustration clear on her face as she starred down at Weiss.
"You've heard Blake, she all but admitted to being part of the White Fang." Weiss said.
"So you decided to try and cut off her head?" Ruby asked with disbelieve. "What were you thinking?"
The simple answer was that she wasn't. Blake's hypocrisy coupled with her own memories made her see red. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to kill Blake Belladonna. And that had backfired on her.
"Don't lecture me Ruby, if you knew about the atrocities the White Fang has committed, you would have done the same." Weiss said as she stood up from her bed, to be on the same level as Ruby.
"Blake can't be a part of the White Fang. She's not like that." Yang spoke up for the first time.
"You met her few weeks ago, you don't know what she's like." Weiss said, while looking down at Yang with a cold glare.
"And you do?" Yang shot up from her bed. "You didn't have a single conversation with her without mocking her in some way!"
"I didn't want to waste my time on a terrorist." Weiss shot back and Yang looked like she was about to start a fight, perhaps thinking she had an advantage when they were both without weapons.
"Stop it! Wasn't there enough fighting today already?" Ruby asked, getting between her sister and Weiss. "I don't want this team falling apart before the first semester is even over."
"That's too bad, because I don't think Blake's coming back."
"If she doesn't come back, we'll go looking for her tomorrow." Ruby said with a tone of finality that Weiss ignored.
"I doubt we'll find her." The white-haired girl said with a dismissive tone.
Ruby didn't let that slide. She took a step closer towards Weiss, stareing into the older girl's eyes. "Then we'll go looking the next day, and every other day after that until we find her."
Ruby was so close Weiss could see her own reflection in those intense silver eyes. The younger girl's mind was set, and deep-down Weiss knew there was nothing she could say that would change her mind. Doesn't mean she wouldn't try.
"You do remember that she's part of the White Fang, right? She would probably try to kill us on sight." Weiss said, still gazing into Ruby's eyes, looking for a sign of weakness.
Part of her wanted Ruby to back down and listen to her. But another part hoped that she wouldn't and continued to stand her ground. It was a paradoxical feeling she didn't know how to feel about.
"Blake is my friend and teammate first and foremost. The least she deserves is a chance to explain herself." Ruby said without a sliver of hesitation and that 'uncomfortable' feeling in Weiss' stomach only grew.
"If that's what you desire..." She said, before making her way out of the room.
She needed a breath of fresh air. Fresh air and a cold shower were just what she needed right now.
Alarms blared inside a Schnee Dust Refinery. Gunshots and shouting could be heard echoing through the halls.
Luckily the refinery was located in an isolated part of a forest, too far from any city that help wouldn't arrive even if the Mistral authorities wanted to bother with protecting Atlesian property.
That was the only positive Blake could find about this whole thing. Currently she was dressed in black tail coat with purple highlights and purple shirt underneath, black shorts and her black-purple leggings. However, the biggest difference was that there was no bow covering her cat ears, only a bone-white mask that covered her face.
Blake cursed under her breath as she ducked behind a corner, avoiding a hail of bullets from the security robots that were pursuing her.
This was supposed to be a stealth mission dammit. The plan was simple, Ilia was supposed to sneak in, her chameleon trait giving her a natural advantage. Then it was a simple matter of knocking out the guards and disabling the cameras together with the security robots. Then the rest would come in, they would steal as much Dust as they could and destroyed as much equipment as possible, making sure this refinery wouldn't be operational for another month or two.
Unfortunately, the stealth approach was out of option when the alarms started blaring all across the facility. Apparently, her friend needed a lesson in stealth. But the scolding would come later, once she was assured Ilia was alright.
Just as the group of battle droids was nearing the corner, Blake jumped out of her cover. She drew her blade and sliced of two heads off the droids. The automatons were too slow as she sliced through half of them before they could even react.
Once they did, they drew their own swords, but even that barely slowed her down. These cheap, mass produced Atlesian knights couldn't keep up with anyone who had their Aura unlocked, let alone someone with an actual combat experience.
She parried their attacks, spun around them, before impaling them from behind. Just as she dealt with the group, a door at the back of the hallway opened and five more droids appeared, machine guns in hands.
With no way to close the distance fast enough, Blake transformed her sword into its pistol form. With five precise shots to their heads, they drop to the ground.
Blake started to move forward, but stopped when she heard sound of metal scraping off the floor behind her. She turned her head, just in time to see a barrel of a rifle pointing at her. One of the robots she impaled was still standing on its feet, despite the hole in its chest.
Before she could move out of the way, a crimson katana pierced it from behind, before splitting it in half.
"Kept you waiting huh?" A familiar voice called out and Blake snickered despite herself.
There, in the hallway, stood Adam Taurus her closest friend and partner. He was good few inches taller than her, her forehead barely reaching his eyelevel. He had spiked red hair that gradually faded into brown. He was dressed in a black tail coat with red highlights and his emblem on his back, a wilting red rose. He had red shirt underneath and a pair of black leather pants. His eyes were covered by the same mask Blake wore, only his had red markings.
"What took you so long?" Blake asked, looking at Adam and his small group of White Fang members.
"Someone activated two Spider Droids near the entrance. That slowed us down quite a bit, but nothing we couldn't handle." Adam said, sheeting back his katana.
"And that's why you don't send a droid to do a man's job." One of the White Fang members grunted. "Takes all the fun out of it too."
"We are here for Dust, not to have fun." Blake scolded him, not a fan of his attitude.
He was a tall man, a head taller even than Adam. And he wasn't just tall but bulky as well, his biceps the size of her thighs. She couldn't tell any other defining feature besides his buzz cut. He was dressed in the standard White Fang uniform, the crimson emblem embroidered proudly on his back.
Blake didn't know that much about him, not even his real name, only the nickname everyone seemed to call him; Bane-saw. It was given to him thanks to his weapon; great-sword combined with a blade of a chainsaw. She only knew two things about him. First; his family was killed by SDC, that was a common theme in their group. Second; he absolutely despised humans.
Truth be told she didn't like him all that much. He was too violent for her tastes. She would have probably kicked him out of the White Fang if Adam didn't vouch for him, saying they needed him. And he wasn't exactly wrong, Bane-saw was one of their best fighters, being able to go toe-to-toe with even a trained huntsman. They simply didn't have enough experienced soldiers to turn down people like him.
"Did you see Ilia? She still isn't responding." Blake asked, turning her attention back to Adam.
"No, she must be deeper in the facility." Adam said, looking at metal door where the robots came from.
"Let's go then, we have no time to waste." Blake said and their little team continued through the refinery.
It didn't take them all that long to find Ilia. The chameleon faunus was in a warehouse filled with dozen crates of Dust, all neatly lined up in rows. She wasn't alone, there were at least twenty Atlesian knights searching the warehouse for her, another dozen lied already on the floor, disabled.
Unfortunately for the girl, she was barely able to keep standing on her legs. Her Aura was already gone, and she had a few cuts on her body from too many close calls. Even her White Fang mask, customized with horns, was cracked. She specialized in stealth, not a front-line fighting.
And she was pretty good at stealth. Unfortunately, she got caught off guard by a prototype unit of an Atlesian knight equipped with heat vision, making her ability to camouflage herself completely useless.
Just as she was at her wits end her friends rushed in to save her. Blake ran in first, shooting down few knights with her pistol before closing the distance and mowing them down with her sheath-cleaver.
Bane-saw was next, cutting down knights two at a time with wide swings of his chainsaw-blade and caving in their face-plates with his punches.
If Blake cut down droids with speed and precision and Bane-saw with strength and brute force, Adam was a combination of both. His sword cut through them like a hot knife through butter, meeting no resistance whatsoever, all the while avoiding incoming sword-strikes and blocking bullet fire.
All in all, the fight ends before the rest of the White Fang can even join in on the fun.
"Ilia, are you alright." Blake is already at her side, checking for injuries. Blake was always so fiercely protective of their group. That's what Ilia liked about her.
"I've had worse." Ilia shrugs, pulling on a brave face. And she quickly regrets that when she feels a sharp pain in her shoulder.
"You've been shot." Blake says, a tone of panic in her voice.
"Huh?" It takes a while for Blake's words to register and when she looks at her shoulder, she sees the hole in a shape of a bullet. Adrenaline's hell of a drug.
"Go back to the trucks, we should have a medic on standby." Blake said, helping Ilia get back on her feet.
"No, I'll be fine. Go ahead I'll catch up to you once my Aura regenerates a bit." Ilia said, picking up her rapier with her other hand.
"Not going to happen, go back and have a medic look at it. That's an order." Blake said with authority and Ilia chuckled.
"Pulling a rank on me? I thought we were friends." Ilia joked around, but ultimately decided to follow the order, Blake sending another two members to escort her.
Once Ilia was gone, Blake took a look around the warehouse. Despite it being a small refinery, there was a lot of Dust. Enough to supply a small town for at least a month. That's something Menagerie desperately needed.
"The gate's locked." Bane-saw's voice brought her out of her own thoughts. She took a look at the heavy metal gate, thick enough that she doubted even Adam would be able to cut through it with his semblance.
"They probably have to be opened from the command center." Blake said, pointing to the glass dome overlooking the warehouse.
Adam, Blake and Bane-saw made their way towards it. The door was locked, but it was nowhere near as thick as the gate and Adam had no problem cutting through it. The trio readied for another fight, but found something different in there.
"Stay back!" A panicked voice called out to them and Blake saw a single human, dressed in the SDC uniform, standing at the opposite side of the room.
Blake knew there would be humans, no matter how automated the refinery was, there still needed to be someone to actually oversee the complex. That's why they attacked at night, hoping that the number of humans would be lower.
Adam, seeing that there was only one person in his way took a step forward, sword still in hand. Before he could take another step, Blake pulled him back, feelings chills run down her back when she noticed what the human was holding in his hand.
A detonator, no doubt connected to the crates below them. The SDC must really be getting desperate if they would rather see their own Dust blown up, rather than in faunus hands.
Blake put her hands in the air, taking a careful step forward, putting herself ahead of both Bane-saw and Adam.
"You don't have to do this." She said, doing her best to sound calm.
"I-I want you to get away from here and don't come back!" The man said, but his voice was shaky.
"Your hand is shaking. Put down the detonator and we can talk." Blake tried to persuade him.
"Put it down? So you can kill me the next second!" He accused her.
"We're not here to hurt anyone. We're simply here for the Dust, nothing more." Blake said taking another step forward.
"I can't let you have it." He said almost automatically.
"Why not? The explosion would destroy all the Dust anyway. Not to mention it would kill you too as well. Is the SDC really worth your life." Blake asked.
"That doesn't matter. My boss will kill me if I let you leave with all that Dust." He said, truly sounding afraid.
"He's bluffing, he doesn't have the guts to press the button." Bane-saw growled, sensing the man's weakness.
Blake sent him a glare to shut him up, she didn't need him to make the situation worse.
"We can't leave without that Dust, we need it." She admitted taking another small step forward. The man didn't seem to like it as he reached for his weapon and pointed it at her and Blake took a quick step back, despite noticing the safety of the gun was still on.
"Why? So you could pillage and raid towns here in Mistral!" The man accused her.
Not for the first time Blake cursed the Grimm-like design of their masks. It was design to instill fear in their enemies, it didn't exactly leave them with any sympathies.
So, Blake reached up and pulled the mask off of her face, her bright amber eyes revealed to the man.
"Don't trust the things Atlas says about us. We're not bandits or raiders. We don't use that Dust for pillaging, we need it to protect our own towns back in Menagerie." Blake said, taking another step forward when he lowered his gun. "If you blow us up, you wouldn't just be killing us. You would be sentencing innocent people to death; they need this Dust to survive."
"I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice and we don't have to die here. I'm sure there's someone waiting for you back home." Blake said, trying to get on his good side.
The man didn't respond, but Blake could see the hesitation in his eyes.
"Then give me the detonator and we can all walk out of here alive."
"But the SDC-"
"Will be too busy to be looking for you. I can promise you that." Blake took another step forward. She was close enough to a point where she could cut off his hand before the man could react, yet she remained still.
"How do I know this isn't a trick. That you won't kill me the second I give you the detonator?" He asked, sounding desperate.
"Nothing's going to happen to you, you have my word." Blake said, slowly extending her hand.
She could see the panic in the man's eyes, his desperation and indecision. But ultimately it was the self-preservation that won and he gave Blake the detonator while his other hand lost its grip on the gun and it fell to the ground with a metallic clank.
For a horrifying second, the man thought he made a mistake. That he gave his last line of defense to the enemy and now there was nothing stopping them from killing him.
But instead, Blake gave the man a thankful nod. "You've done the right thing."
"Bane-saw, take the man outside and make sure the others won't do anything to him." Blake ordered and Bane-saw growled, but ultimately decided to follow her command.
With only the two of them in the room Adam moved closer to Blake who was looking at the control panel, looking for a way to open the door.
"That was risky." Adam said, but Blake remained silent and for a moment he thought she didn't hear him.
"Everything we do is." Blake responded after a few seconds of silence, not bothering to look at Adam.
"You should have let me handle it. I could have cut off his arm before he would react." Adam said and Blake turned around to face him.
"That wasn't necessary." Blake retorted.
"This time. Next time things might be different." Adam countered.
"Next time I will do what I think is best, just like today." Blake answered and Adam relented.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you, Blake." He admitted and Blake stepped closer and reached up to gently stroke his cheek.
"Don't worry about me. Everything will be fine as long as we stick together."
After they managed to find the right lever to open the gate, several trucks came in and White Fang members started to load up the Dust, while others placed charges around the facility.
They didn't have enough explosives to blow the whole building up and they certainly didn't want to use any Dust they stole, since that would defeat the purpose of obtaining it in the first place.
But just a few explosions would be enough to destroy the expensive machinery and it would take a while for the SDC to replace it. That would have to be enough.
Blake leaned against the building, content with letting the grunts handle all the heavy lifting. Ilia was standing next to her, her left shoulder covered in bandages and now that the adrenaline wore off, she was in a lot more pain. Stubbornly she refused to take any painkillers, saying that they didn't have enough and that they should use them sparingly.
Sometimes Ilia was really giving her a headache. Blake reached inside her right pocket and found her lighter, but when she reached into the left one, she came up empty.
'Damn, must have lost them during all the fighting.' Dejected, she rested her head against the stone-cold wall of the building, that's when her ears picked up something.
Blake heard a commotion from behind the corner of the building she was leaning against. Curious, she decided to check out what was happening and soon spotted several guys standing around, Bane-saw among them.
That wasn't so unusual, what was unusual was the dead human with a gaping hole in his chest and pool of blood beneath him.
Blake took in a shaky breath, her hand already clutching her weapon before she even realized it.
"He probably tried to resist." Ilia said, but even she had to knew how weak of a justification that was.
Blake ignored her as she focused on Bane-saw, he didn't see her, his back turn to her. That was just fine with her. She would make it quick; it would be the only courtesy she would give him.
Before she could make it far, someone grabbed her by her wrists. The grip was too strong for it to be Ilia.
"Let go, Adam." Blake warned, not in a mood for games.
"And what are you going to do?" Adam asked, keeping her in place.
"Something I should have done a long time ago!" Blake snapped, turning on Adam.
"Let it go. You know what the SDC has done to his family." Adam defended him and with fury Blake ripped her hand out of Adam's grasp.
"That doesn't excuse anything! That human did nothing to him and he killed him in cold blood. How can you even ask me to just let it go?" Blake asked in disbelieve.
"You don't understand how it feels to lose your family." Adam reasoned and Blake frowned beneath her mask. She knew he lost his family as well, but he wasn't running around killing every human in his sight.
"It's you who doesn't understand. I promised that man he would get out of here alive and Bane-saw made me a liar." Blake said, not backing down. "I can't just let it slide."
"We can't do anything stupid now." Adam insisted. "We've been doing this for months. Our group raided more facilities than any other on the planet. Sienna has to give us promotion any time soon. We can't afford a mess up like this now."
"For now, let me deal with him. He won't disobey you again. I'll make sure of it." Adam said and Blake gave him an unsure look.
That day, she should have stood her ground. If not kill Bane-saw outright, then chain him up and let the humans deal with him or maybe bring him back to Menagerie to be judged.
"You promise?" Instead, Blake deferred to Adam.
"Yes, I will take care of it." Adam promised.
But he never did.
Blake rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, knowing full well she had black circles under them. She couldn't catch any sleep last night, couldn't stop herself from thinking about Yang, Ruby and even Weiss, about Beacon and how she wasted her second chance.
All this because of some Dust shop and her need to defend the White Fang from one off hand comment made by Weiss. If only she kept her mouth shut. Then again, it probably wouldn't matter. Weiss knew who she was from the start, she probably only waited for her to slip up.
When she finally managed to fall sleep, she dreamed about her time with the White Fang, after waking from those dreams she didn't want to fall back asleep and just stared blankly at the ceiling.
A yawn came next and she didn't even bother trying to cover her mouth. Instead, Blake reached for the books on her trolley and started to sort them into a bookshelf at snail's pace.
"You know, you really don't have to help me with that, commander." A man behind the counter said. He was tall, with short brown hair and side burns on the sides of his face. He was dressed in red jacket and brown jeans. All in all, the man looked inconspicuous. Perfect for an informant of the White Fang.
His name was Tukson and he was an owner of Tukson's book trade, a book shop located in downtown Vale. Not all that popular, but in Blake's opinion it had pretty good assortment of books.
"If not for you, I would be sleeping on the street. It's only fair I help you out." Blake said. Besides she would rather be doing anything else other than having to think about her life and what a mess it was.
Turning her back on her family and joining Sienna Khan, only to then do complete one-eighty and leave the White Fang, join Beacon and become a Huntress. It sounded like a bad joke and she was the punchline.
Hour flew by relatively fast as Blake helped out in the store, alphabetically sorting the new titles and rearranging the old ones. It was monotone and repetitive work and didn't occupy her thoughts as much as she would like.
She pondered on what she's going to do now, she couldn't go back to Beacon, considering Weiss probably wanted her dead, or locked up in some Dust mine in Mantel.
Perhaps she could stay here, keep working for Tukson. If not, she could go ask to the local library, perhaps they were looking for a librarian. It sounded like a boring job and maybe that's what she needed. There was already too much action in her life.
Then again, it was too dangerous to stay in Vale, considering Weiss was still here. But where else could she go? She couldn't go back to Menagerie; she didn't even want to imagine how her parents might react if they saw her. Mistral was also out of the question, the White Fang had too big of a presence in there. She didn't even consider Atlas, prejudice would be the least of her worries. If they found out that she was part of the White Fang, they would send her to a mine and she wouldn't see the light of the day for the rest of her life. That left her with Vacuo and Blake sighed, she never liked sand.
"You alright commander? You look tired, maybe you should take a break." Tukson said, sounding concern.
"I'm fine and… you don't have to call me commander anymore. I left the White Fang a while ago." Blake said, hanging her head. Now that she was thinking about it, Tukson was risking a lot letting a deserter stay at his place.
"Well, you're the one who got me in, so you'll always be a commander to me." Tukson said, giving a good-natured chuckle.
It felt good to see someone still on her side, someone more loyal to her than Adam. Perhaps if there were more people like Tukson, she wouldn't have to run away.
"There is something I was meaning to ask; is the White Fang responsible for the recent Dust robberies." Blake couldn't help to ask; the thing's been bugging her ever since her argument with Weiss.
"Truth is; I'm not sure." Tukson admitted, a serious look on his face. "Adam's been pretty secretive about operations ever since you left, nowadays everything is on need-to-know basis. Gods know what's going through his head. The only thing I can say for sure, is that we haven't delivered any Dust back to Menagerie."
"What? That doesn't make sense." Blake was caught off guard. She and Adam always delivered more Dust to Menagerie than all the other branches combined.
The reason was simple; trying to steal Dust from Atlas was suicide. The mines and refineries were protected by a small army and trucks were escorted by a full team of huntsmen, at the very least. Only Dust they managed to steal was through small hit and run tactics and infiltrations.
For Vacuo; most of it was a desert filled with Grimm. Unfortunately, most of the mines were located in that desert and any skirmish could result in attracting a horde of Grimm to their location. Not to mention, Vacuo's only income came from mining Dust and contracts they had with the SDC, so they were the most desperate when it came to protecting their Dust.
Mistral had different problem entirely; bandits. The police were corrupt and barely moved finger when something was happening outside of the capital. So, when you decided to hit a Dust shipment, you were more likely to run into gangs and raiders, going after the same price as you. It happened to her more than once when she was working in Mistral.
Vale was just the easiest target, that's why they were transferred here in the first place. So that they could gather more Dust for Menagerie, that they could expand their cities and not just hide behind their walls from grimm.
So, why did Adam stop sending Dust to Menagerie?
"And Sienna is ok with this?" Blake asked not really believing that.
"I don't think Siena knows about that." Tukson said and Blake paused.
"How couldn't she know, the moment she receives reports from Menagerie she would know something is up."
"And if those reports were falsified?"
Shudders ran down Blake spine. If they truly were falsifying reports, that would mean that whatever was going on, the Menagerie cell was in on it. Blake realized this was more than skipping duties and not sending Dust, this sounded like a treason against the high leader. Just how many people were in on it?
"Blake." Tukson called out, breaking her out of her own thoughts. "Just so you know, I can't say anything for certain, I'm just speculating."
"Still, if Adam is planning something…" She trailed off, letting that linger in the air.
"If he is, you're not going to do anything about it today. So, why don't you go in the city and grab something to eat. You must be pretty hungry." Tukson said.
Blake wanted to protest, but then she remembered she didn't eat anything since yesterday and her stomach clenched. Going out to eat wasn't going to kill her and Vale was a big enough place that her team wouldn't find her. Then again, Ruby and Yang probably wouldn't bother, she doubted the sisters would want anything to do with a former member of the White Fang.
With a nod and a quick thanks Blake walked into the streets of Vale. She only made it few blocks before encountering another problem, money. Blake patted her pockets, but beside a scroll she deactivated, she came up empty.
Her wallet, together with everything else she owned was back at Beacon. Granted, it was only a few clothes and books she 'liberated' from library that was shutting down.
Once again, for the third time in her life, Blake found herself with nothing. But this time, there would be no White Fang nor huntsman academy that would take her in. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, simply focusing on getting something to eat.
She could go back and ask Tukson, but from the looks of it, the man was barely staying afloat as is, selling books didn't exactly land you a fortune in this day and age. But she still wanted to eat.
Blake looked around, looking through the people in the crowd. She leaned against a wall and for a minute Blake didn't move, waiting for the right moment. When the time came, she pushed of the wall. Blake didn't even make it two steps before someone slammed into her.
"Watch where you're going, stupid brat." A wealthy looking man barked.
"Sorry." Blake said meekly and beat a hasty retreat.
Once she was far enough, Blake hid in an alleyway and opened her clutched palm, hoping to find a wallet with enough lien for her to order some food.
But when she looked down at what she snatched, something inside her broke. She didn't want to believe it at first, thinking she was just seeing things, unfortunately what she was seeing was real.
Despite it, or maybe because of absurdity of the situation, Blake snickered. That snicker turned into a chuckle, and that chuckle turned into a downright hysterical laughter. She threw her head back, only to hit the wall she was leaning against. For some reason, that only made it funnier.
When she left the White Fang, she swore she would try harder to be a better person. She would focus on her shortcomings and become the best version of herself. For that she swore off crime and any illegal activity. Coincidently she also decided to quit smoking as well.
It was only right that the first thing she stole would be a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.
Blake wanted to cry; this world really has a fucked-up sense of humor.
Without really thinking about it, Blake opened the pack of cigarettes. She popped one in her mouth and lit up the end with the cheap lighter. When she inhaled, she barely stopped herself from coughing up. She almost forgot how awful it was.
For the next few minutes everything was calm as Blake focused on the repetitive motion of bringing the cigarette to her lips, taking a breath and then exhaling, her eyes focusing on the white clouds of smoke. After just one cigarette her mouth tasted like coal, her throat felt itchy and lungs felt like someone lit a candle in them. Despite that, she reached for a second one, desperate to prolong her moment of peace.
But before she could even light it someone snatched the cigarette from her fingers.
"You know this will kill you, right?" Someone asked.
"What's it to you?"
"I just think it would be a waste for someone like you to die." He said earnestly, forcing Blake to look up.
Much to her surprise, it was the same blond monkey faunus from yesterday. And he was still dressed in the same white jacket, still shirtless and with the same blue jeans.
Blake's mind was going a mile a minute. Was he part of the White Fang? Did Adam send him? Did Sienna, considering the ship he arrived on came from Mistral? Did he know who she was, he did winked at her yesterday?
"Who are you?" Blake settled on asking.
"My name's Sun Wukong, first year student of Haven Academy. Nice to meet ya." Sun said, sounding cheerful.
"I thought students were supposed to have free tickets. So, why did the guards chase you for being a stowaway?" Blake asked, already suspicious.
"I thought it would be more fun that way." Sun explained and Blake was incline to believe him, simply because it sounded so stupid to be anything but the truth.
"And what do you want, Sun?" Blake asked, still not letting her guard down.
"You know, where I'm from its normal to introduce yourself when you're interrogating someone." Sun quipped, but Blake wasn't impressed.
"Blake. Now answer my question."
"Geez, tough crowd." Sun joked, but then his expression turned almost apologetic. "Well, the truth is I heard the argument between you and your teammate and wanted to apologize."
"For what?" Blake asked, not knowing what he should be feeling sorry for.
"If I didn't lead you on a wild goose chase, you probably could have avoided the argument."
"That was hardly your fault, Weiss was probably just looking for an excuse to finally expose me." Blake said, not blaming Sun for anything. "Besides, how did you even hear us? I thought you ran away."
"I was hiding in a trash can." Sun said proudly and Blake snorted.
"Well, for what it's worth, your apology is accepted. Now excuse me, I need to get something to eat." Blake said, leaving the alley. She still didn't have any money so she would have to resort to dine and dashing. She didn't want to risk any other pick-pocketing; if she got catnip next she would probably lose it.
"What a coincidence, I was just going to have lunch myself. We can go together." Sun offered and Blake raised a single eyebrow.
"Why?" She asked, looking suspicious again.
"First; I would appreciate the company. Second; from what I saw, you don't have any money. Unless you pick-pocketed that guy because you wanted to have a smoke, which I doubt." He said with a smile. "I'd say it's a win-win."
Blake looked at him for a moment before hanging her head in defeat, resigning herself to her fate. "Fine then, lead the way."
"Blake!" Yang called her partner's name as she, Ruby and Weiss were looking for her.
The trio has been searching the city for the last three hours, asking random passerby if they saw their teammate, but unfortunately none of them did.
Ruby, despite the conviction she showed yesterday, was starting to look worried. Weiss, on the other hand, looked mildly annoyed to be here, and Yang felt like punching her in the face just because of that.
"You could try helping, you know!" Yang said to her white-haired teammate, but Weiss just shook her head.
"Considering she ran away from us yesterday, I'm not sure shouting her name is such a great idea." Weiss countered, that smug look now plastered on her face.
"Then what do you suggest?" Ruby asked, carefully keeping her tone of voice neutral.
Ruby knew she took a gamble yesterday, standing up to Weiss so directly. But if there's one thing she learned about Weiss, it's that she values strength. Begging her for help would lead nowhere, not that Ruby would lower herself to begging. And in the end, her gamble seemed to pay off as the heiress accompanied them in their search for Blake.
Then again, Weiss relented far too easily, so perhaps that's what she wanted to do in the first place. Maybe this was another test, just like with Cardin in the forest. Ruby wasn't sure.
"I told you that looking for her would be like looking for a needle in a haystack." Weiss said at first, but then she thought about their options. "But if she's still in the city and she's on her own, she probably had to stop somewhere to eat. So, we should start asking around in restaurants."
"Except she left her money back in Beacon." Yang said and Weiss had a sudden urge to strangle the girl.
But instead, she took in a deep breath. "I don't think someone like her is going to bother with paying for her food."
"But leaving a restaurant without paying would be a crime." Another voice called out, one that did not belong to either one of the trio.
The three of them turned and found Penny looking at them with a smile on her face. "Hello there, friends."
"Penny? How long have you been standing there?" Ruby asked, looking surprised.
"Around a minute, I was looking for the right moment to let you know I was here, but I could not find the right timing." Penny admitted. "Are you looking for your teammate that's also a member of the White Fang?"
"She isn't-" Ruby started, but realized there would be no point in lying. "I mean, we would really appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about what you heard yesterday."
"Is this like a secret between friends?" Penny asked.
"Yeah sure, let's called it that." Yang said and Penny beamed.
"This is amazing, I'm keeping secrets with friends. Wait, does this mean I have to share one of my secrets, so we can be equal." Penny asked, looking puzzled and Ruby quickly shook her head.
"You don't-"
"Sure, let's hear it." Weiss interrupted, looking at the ginger-haired girl intently. She had a sense there was something off about the girl but couldn't say what.
Penny opened her mouth but closed it again when she realized what she was going to share. "I am sorry, but all my secrets are classified, I do not think general Ironwood would be happy if I shared them with you."
"You know Ironwood's secrets?" Weiss asked, now finding the girl much more interesting.
Penny shuffled her feet under Weiss' intense gaze, so Ruby decided to step in.
"You don't have to tell us anything, Penny. It's not like you're going to blackmail us or anything, right?" She reassured her fellow redhead, going so far as to place a hand on her shoulder.
"I would never do that. Actually, let me help you find her. I am sure you can use an extra hand." Penny said, her excitement returning.
"That's great, but we don't have time to be just standing around. We should get going." Weiss said, walking between Penny and Ruby, forcing the latter to drop her hand from Penny's shoulder.
"Maybe we should split up, that way we can cover more ground." Penny suggested and Ruby's eyes widen.
Penny was right; it was the sensible thing to do. Problem was, splitting up meant she would end up with Weiss. That meant more prodding question from the heiress and even more of her tests. Ruby wasn't sure she had enough mental fortitude for that.
She could send Weiss to go with Penny, but that sounded like a bad idea. She didn't want Weiss traumatizing her new friend. And since she didn't want to deal with Weiss and she also didn't trust the girl to not fight Blake the second they see each other, Ruby was left with only one option. An option Yang would hate her for, but one she would have to make none the less.
"Okay, me and Penny will check out restaurants on the west side of the city, while you and Yang will check on the east side, if you find anything, call immediately." Ruby ordered, but she didn't miss Yang's look of betrayal for teaming her up with Weiss.
Weiss on the other hand, did not protest. And if she was disappointed she didn't let it show.
"So, I couldn't help but overhear you were part of the White Fang." Sun said casually and Blake almost choke on her tuna.
"Do you really think we should talk about that here?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"Why not? Not like there is anybody else around here." Sun gestured to the empty terrasse where they were having their lunch. "Besides, I've heard it helps if you talk about your problems."
"What is there to even talk about?" Blake asked, looking at her empty plate, rather than meeting Sun's gaze.
"Why don't you start from the start? Why did you join the White Fang?" Sun asked.
And wasn't that the million-lien question. There was a lot of reasons why people joined the White Fang. Some wanted revenge against the SDC for taking away their loved ones and letting them die in their mines. Others joined because they wanted to strike back against humans that discriminated against the faunus. Some just joined the Fang because they had nowhere else to go.
But Blake? She knew she was privileged kid. Her father may no longer lead the White Fang, but he was alive. Not only that, he was a chieftain of Menagerie, meaning he had money to spare and house worth more lien than others could earn in their life.
She could live like a princess. She could live without having to work a day in her life. She could live without ever touching a sword, without ever seeing a grimm or having to fight.
For some reason, even thinking about that live made her want to throw up.
"My father founded the White Fang." Blake said, meeting Sun's gaze.
"He made you join?" Sun asked, almost looking horrified.
"The exact opposite actually. He tried to keep me as far away as possible, afraid that something could happen to me." Blake admitted, reminiscent of those days. "But ten-year-old me didn't listen and snuck aboard one of the ships to join protest in Mistral. Not even five minutes there someone threw a rock at my face. That should have probably discouraged me from coming, but seeing how faunus are treated outside of Menagerie made me want to do something even more, funny thing really."
That was also the day she met Sienna Khan. The tiger faunus cleaned her wounds and unlocked her Aura, since that was the fastest way to heal her broken cheekbone. Blake could still remember the scolding Sienna gave her for leaving without her parents' knowledge.
But she must have impressed Sienna, since after the incident she started to teach her how to fight. Her parents couldn't say anything against that, since her Aura was already unlocked and grimm were more attracted to people with Aura. Eventually they would relent to her joining the White Fang and coming to the protests and rallies.
"So why did you leave the White Fang if you were so keen on joining?" Sun asked, trying to understand the mysterious girl sitting across him.
For a long moment Blake didn't say anything. She thought back to her failed mission, the dead bodies of both faunus and humans lying on the ground.
"I just wasn't comfortable with the violence. So, I thought I could help people by becoming a huntress, but that option is off the table now." Blake hanged her head, thinking about her unsure future.
"Who knows, maybe if you explained it to your teammates they would understand." Sun said, trying to remain optimistic.
"If you believe that, then you don't know Weiss Schnee." Blake said, discarding that idea almost immediately.
"Then tell me something about her."
"When we first came to Vale, we had no trouble stealing whole shipments of Dust. Then came Weiss Schnee and started to personally escort SDC shipments to Vale. Singlehandedly she managed to thwart several of our robberies and kill over fifty of our people." Blake said, a serious look on her face.
"She isn't going to forgive me just because I said; sorry, my bad. Best case scenario she sends me to a Dust mine for the rest of my life." Blake said bitterly.
"Okay, so not that. Have you thought about what you're going to do?" Sun asked.
"Didn't come up with a plan, yet. But I'll figure something out." Blake shrugged, trying not to show her insecurity.
"You know there are ways you can still help people without being a huntress or joining the White Fang." Sun said and it was clear he had something specific on his mind, if that slight grin of his was anything to go by.
"Like what, be a vigilante? That's not going to pay my bills, you know." Blake said, even if she wanted to help others, she was still a realist. Before anything, Blake first needed to help herself.
"It does pay when there's a reward for it." Sun said with a grin. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a sheet of paper, before sliding it towards Blake.
Blake looked down and her eyes widen as she read through it. 'Roman Torchwick wanted dead or alive, reward 500 000 lien,' it read. That was a lot of money, enough for Blake to pick herself of the ground. Enough for her to start a new life. But still…
"The whole police department is looking for Torchwick and they can't find him. I don't even know where I should start looking." Blake said, bud she didn't refuse the idea outright which was enough for Sun.
"When I was stowing away on the ship, I overheard someone talking about a big SDC shipment that is supposed to arrive today at night. If it's really Torchwick behind those Dust robberies…" Sun trailed off, looking at Blake.
"Then that would be his next target." Blake finished.
"Bingo, now we just need to set a trap for him and; Boom! Half a million is ours!" Sun cheered, but Blake looked at him skeptically.
"Why are you helping me? If you want the money, why don't you tell this to your team and catch him yourself?" Blake asked, trying to understand his motive.
"My team? Those guys would probably chew me out for even suggesting something so reckless." Sun admitted with a smile. "Besides, I don't care about the money. I just believe fighting here and now again makes a life more interesting. Don't you think?"
No, Blake didn't think so. To her, fighting was nothing but a means to an end, not something to be enjoyed. If she did, that would make her no better than Weiss. Then again, she couldn't look a gift horse into a mouth.
"Fine, I think it's worth a try. We can always turn back if it's too much." Blake said and Sun gave her a confident grin.
"Look at that, she wasn't here either." Weiss said, her tongue darting out to lick the ice-cream she bought just a second ago.
Yang's eye twitched, much to her delight. The blond was extremely easy to rile up.
"Of course, she wouldn't be in an ice-cream shop. That would be the last place where she would be right now. You're not even trying to find her!" Yang accused her, to which Weiss merely shrugged.
"Why would I bother looking for someone like her?" Weiss asked.
The only reason why she joined Ruby's wild goose chase was because if they actually managed to catch Blake, then both sisters would realize that Blake was nothing but a spy pretending to be their friend, that her true allegiance was still with the White Fang. Then, Weiss could force the girl to answer some of her question regarding the White Fang and Cinder Fall.
"Because Blake is our teammate, isn't that worth anything to you?" Yang asked, glaring at Weiss.
"She pretended to be our teammate. She's no different from the rest of the White Fang." Weiss countered.
"Maybe the White Fang has a point, if there are so many people are willing to join them." Yang said and Weiss paused for a moment.
Yang thought she managed to crack that façade of nonchalance Weiss has built up around herself.
"Maybe they do have a point, but it doesn't change the fact they are stealing my Dust. They don't have any sympathy from me." Weiss shrugged and Yang bristled.
"Oh my god, you really are just a heartless bitch. Is there anyone you even care about?" Yang questioned and Weiss gave a humorless chuckle.
"I care only about those that matter." Weiss waved her off like a speck of dust.
"Like Jaune and Ruby? I saw how you pushed Ruby into confronting Cardin and for what? So you could swoop in, start a fight and act like hero for protecting her from situation you created! And I'm willing to bet you did something similar to Jaune. You don't care about them; you're just using them! Manipulating them!"
This time, Weiss did stop completely, her posture rigid.
"It would be smart of you to keep your speculations to yourself." Weiss warned, her voice cold as ice.
"You're just a spoiled princess from Atlas who gets everything she wants thanks to her daddy's money." Yang didn't listen to her warning, so proud to finally get a reaction from the heiress that she didn't even register the ice-cream falling out of Weiss' hand.
"Everything you are is just thanks to someone else." Yang taunted, unaware of the true effect of her words. "Don't you realize that people only care about you because of your family's wealth and fame. If not for that, no one would even bat an eye at you."
Weiss took in a deep breath, last line of defense before the damp would break.
"It's no wonder you can't empathize with people when you live in that white castle of yours. When your life is so much easier than everyone else's-"
Before Yang could finish her rant, Weiss spun around. She grabbed the blond girl by her neck and slammed her against a wall, her grip ironclad against her throat. Yang tried to defend herself and attempted to activate her gauntlets, but Weiss trapped her hands and legs in her glyphs leaving her defenseless.
What did Yang know about her life! She didn't know what it was like living with a controlling megalomaniac of a father. Living with a mother that decided to drown herself in alcohol instead of facing her problems. Sister that wanted her lock in an asylum.
What did she knew living life with a bounty on her head. From angry faunus workers and gangsters in Mantel, SDC rivals and mobsters in Atlas, to overzealous terrorists. Most of them wanted her dead or use her for political game.
But she didn't only survive that; she thrived! Her own father now chose his words carefully when talking to her. Her mother and sister knew to avoid her. And any criminal in Atlas would think twice before crossing her path. A girl like Yang would just give up and hide in that 'white castle' she described. Who was she to judge her!
Yang looked into Weiss' eyes and something in them send shivers down her spine. She poked the wrong bear; she realized that now.
"Weiss, I c-can't b-breath…" Yang gasped out, hoping she would release her.
Weiss could kill her; it would be so easy. Just a flick of her wrist and Yang's lungs would fill with ice. She could already see it, the blond rolling on the ground, gasping for air that would never reach her lungs, while she would just sit back and enjoy the show.
Weiss felt the power running through her veins. The tingling sensation in her fingers, as it begged to be used. Just a little bit more and-
'No.' Weiss violently ripped her hand from Yang's throat and the glyphs holding her up shattered and the blond fell to the cold ground, part of her surprised she was still alive.
Weiss felt a tremor in her right hand, the Demon's Extract within her roared in protest at being denied its prey. She looked at her hand, trying to stop it from shaking, but it refused to listen. In anger Weiss clenched her fist finally getting it under control.
Yang noticed the shaking, however. That was something which only infuriated Weiss further. Her rule number one was to never show weakness so she doubled down.
"But you were right about one thing." Weiss said, looking down at the weakling with distaste. "I am used to getting what I want. So don't stand in my way."
Weiss turned around, walking away from her teammate. But Yang got back to her feet fairly quickly. She should stay silent, just stay put and continue to look for Blake on her own. But for a single moment she saw Weiss' hand trembling and decide to latch onto that.
"You think Blake is still with the White Fang. That she was sent her to spy on you and the academy. But what if you're wrong?" Yang asked making Weiss stop. "What if she didn't come here because of you or the White Fang?"
"Then why would she come here?" Weiss asked.
Yang thought about it. She once asked Blake why she came to Beacon, but the black-haired girl didn't give her straight answer. But still, even though she spent only a few weeks with her partner, Yang was sure Blake wasn't a bad person.
"What if she just wants to start over. What if this is her second chance?" Yang asked and her question seemed to resonate with Weiss.
The white-haired girl contemplated the idea, only to discard it the moment she looked at her right hand, the same hand that was just a moment ago around Yang's throat.
"People don't change even if they want to. The more they try, the more they remain the same." Weiss said, shaking her head.
"And what if you're wrong about that as well."
This time Weiss did turn around, her blue eyes not meeting Yang's usual lilac ones, instead she was met by a pair of red-crimson irises. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her scroll beeped. She reached inside her pocket and pulled it out.
Her eyes widen when she noticed a message from her brother. A large Dust shipment would be arriving this night to the city of Vale. It was rerouted at the last moment, something about a bad weather. That meant there would be minimal security on the ship. That makes it a perfect target for the White Fang, perfect place for Blake to regroup with them and coincidentally also the perfect bait for Weiss to take advantage of. So, without another word she walked pass Yang and towards her destination.
"And where are you going now?" Yang asked.
"The docks. And if you want to see firsthand that people don't change, I suggest you follow." Weiss said, even if deep inside she hoped Blake would prove her wrong.