KINDNESS

Blake

Ezra sat in Dad's office with nothing but his cargo pants and white tank top on. He massaged his arm where Ilia's weapon electrocuted him. The discoloration of the scar left behind was unsightly, though he felt no shame revealing them to me and my parents. I couldn't help but stare, I had to force myself to look away, unable to bear the consequences of my association to the people I used to call my friends.

"Ezra, I..."

I try to reach out and apologize, but he stopped me halfway with a flash of his childish smile. He quickly put his clothes on and donned his cape and armor. After stretching his arms, he stood up and made his way to Dad.

"Well Mr. Belladonna? Any luck?"

Dad sighed then punched his desk. He looked up to everyone embarrassed before composing himself.

"Apologies, but no luck. I unfortunately do not have the technological resource to hack a scroll with such encryption. It's going to take at least a couple days."

Mom stood up and made her way towards Ezra, clinging to his arms, almost begging him.

"Do you have any sort of way to make the encryption go by faster?"

But Ezra simply shook his head.

"I normally would conduct operations with a field team with all the necessary gear. Unfortunately, since the Fall of Beacon, my faction scattered throughout Remnant and I do not know where most of them are. I have no access to such amenities for now."

The Nest huh? I guess that part at least of Ezra's life is true. They may be criminal but they still are people... family to him.

"What now?"

I ask.

Mom crossed her arms and put her hand on her chin and smiled.

"If there's nothing we can do but wait, we might as well use that time to help the people."

Ezra put his helmet back on before folding it back to his hood.

"What do you have in mind?"

Mom moved closer and gave me and Ezra a flyer.

[Clementine's Caravan]

Dad stepped away from his desk and filled us in.

"I need everybody to centralize here in downtown Menagerie. Grimm activity is at an all time high. I need you two to escort them while we wait. Can you do that?"

Without hesitation, the two of us nodded.

The following day...

The job was to help a caravan traveling through the islands of Menagerie, owned by a woman named Mrs. Clementine. They had cargo after cargo carrying all their equipment and family members in them, most of them kids, which is why they needed protection.

"Blake, look after the caravan, I got this!"

I nod in agreement as Ezra rushed the three headed canine grimm. He pulled out his katana's hilt and waved it across in front of him. He took a deep breath and yelled.

"Sing! Amaterasu!"

Instead of the usual ice blade, a torrent of flame came bursting out of his handle. Ezra swung his weapon downward on the gnarling grimm, cutting it in half while incinerating it at the same time. The kids behind me roared and cheered for Ezra who confidently gave a thumbs up at me and the caravan while flashing a big smile.

"Good work."

I raise my hand up and greeted him. He casually slapped my hand back and tucked them right back back inside his cape.

"What?"

Ezra asked. It would seem he noticed that I was staring at him, though I really didn't mean to.

"Oh nothing."

I answered, but quickly took it back, not wanting to let go of the opportunity to ask.

"It's just I've never seen you use fire before except during your fight with Adam. Something to do with your Semblance? With your endurance maybe?"

Ezra shrugged his shoulder.

"Yes. I didn't use it simply because I haven't the strength to do so before. Ever since I lost the fight against Cinder, I've been training my Semblance every single day so I can get to the point where I can use my full power."

That makes sense, but the other thing...

"How about that thing you always say, the sing? Dance? What are those?"

He scratched the back of his head, with a dumbfounded look on his face, as we both begin walking with the caravan.

"It was a technique our clan thought to us to focus our power. If we gave our Semblances names, then we can easily manifest it by calling out to them. I named my Semblance Shirayuki... it means Snow White in ancient Mistralian language, and my fire variant Amaterasu- the sun goddess. The names usually relate to something that happened in our lives, usually at the moment we discover our semblance."

Curious.

"Snow white? What kind of memory does that relate to?"

Ezra softly smiled then closed his eyes.

"My mother. She was a foreigner, not native to clan Snow. We called her Esmeralda, but her real name is Shirayuki. I discovered my semblance when I was young, it created a hell of a snow storm inside my room. I was scared, crying, and freaking out. I remember my Mom carrying me while she danced. It's one of the most beautiful memory I have of her."

W-wow. I don't know what to say. All this time, every time he fought, he had his mother with him... and her wishes when she died in Mountain Glenn.

I was lost in thought, contemplating the how rude I've been to him, not realizing how much Ezra has been carrying to. Just then, as I was deep in thought, the head of the caravan came to the two of us. She wore a worn out navy blue dress and a mean scowl on her face. Her long blonde hair swayed with each step she took till she's standing squarely in front of us.

"So, where exactly are we heading? We only asked for an escort to the neighboring island, why are we taking the long route?"

She asked with a stern voice. Unfazed, Ezra responded.

"Ghira Belladonna asked everyone to centralize in Menagerie proper for now. Suspicions of the White Fang's activities have risen within the islands- The Vale faction, in turn increasing grimm activities as well. We're the only help you'll have for miles. It's safer this way."

Clementine squinted her eyes and simply walked away, seemingly content with Ezra's explanation. It was right around that time, when me and Ezra was staring at each other in confusion that the two children riding in the back of the carriage popped out of nowhere kicking and screaming with joy.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!"

The young boy yelled.

"You smashed that grimm's face in! Like really smashed it in."

The other kid added. All I could do was laugh at their innocence and lack of understanding of what dangers Ezra just eliminated.

"It's just a face mask." I replied. "It's not really its face, it's just a faceplate like-"

Before I could finish, the child stopped me in my track.

"Like a White Fang mask!"

Hearing her say that made me silent and afraid, but Ezra was neither. He casually leaned against the carriage and jokingly asked the kids.

"Oh, you guys know the fang?"

The young man nodded and pouted, shifting his attention to Ezra who sounded more enthusiastic to hear their musings than I was.

"Yeah! We hate the White Fang! Adam Taurus led a raid that killed our uncle Jett in a dust mine."

W-what?

"A-a raid? On a dust mine? When was this?"

The two kids looked at me with a face full of anguish. I didn't know children could make such a face, but the fact that they are able to means their innocence have long been stolen.

"Two years ago in the Harbor of Haven."

Two years ago? There's no mistaking it then. A cold gust of air ran through the back of my neck, I knew exactly what raid they were talking about, because not only was I with Adam back then, but... I might have shot these children's uncle, possibly killed him. No, I remember it all too well, I definitely did. I never would have shot a faunus unless they were working for the same people that was oppressing us to begin with, and there's not that many of them. That night on that raid, there was one- a faunus working for the SDC.

I stole something very dear from them. Trapped with that thought running around in my head, my hand instinctively grabbed a hold of Ezra's arm, dragging him into the nearby bushes.

"Blake? What's wrong?"

"Ezra. That family in the wagon I-"

Fear began to engulf my body, as Ezra tried to calm me down.

"What about them?"

I hesitated for a bit, but I decided on telling him anyways.

"When I was still with the Fang, Adam led a raid on one of the mines in the Haven harbor and..."

Ezra was also there when the two kids blurted out their hate for the Fang. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together; he immediately knew what was going on.

"Did you shoot their uncle then?"

I looked away... it didn't feel like I was looking at Ezra, I was looking at a mirror. After everything I accused him of...

"Ez, I wanna ask you something."

He stood there in silence, staring at me deep in thought. It took him a few seconds to acknowledge but he eventually did. I wonder what it is that's going through his head right now. Maybe Mom was right, I am no different from Ezra, and judging by the way he's looking at me right now, maybe he thinks the same way. I honestly wouldn't blame him if he thinks I'm a hypocrite.

"What's driving you right now? This whole thing, the White Fang, Beacon, me?"

Ezra sighed and turned his back on me, opting to focus his gaze elsewhere. How can I blame him? I verbally abused him for days on end, slapped him, and treated him like trash, only for the tables to be turned on me. I don't blame him relishing this opportunity to shun me.

"You wanna tell Mrs. Clementine do you? That you might have killed her brother."

I wish I could shrink and vanish, but I refuse to run... no more.

"Yes. I do."

Ezra swung his whole body back towards me, but to my surprise, he had a smile scrawled all over his face, not the mocking kind, but the kind that just makes you feel light, the kind that eases your worries away.

"The realization that you've done something wrong, and knowing that there's nothing you can do to make it better, yet still resolve yourself to try. That's the kind of courage you need to go through with your apology. That's the kind of courage I see through you right now."

He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and began to walk away.

"As for what's driving me? It's everyone that I've hurt, everyone that believes in me still, and you, Blake."

I know he's trying pump me up, but his crypticness has done nothing to alleviate my anxiety and concerns, and what does he mean by courage? Resolve doesn't usually mean one's courageous. All he did was leave me alone. Wait...

"Alone, huh?"

Is that what you've feeling all this time, Ezra?

I watched the days go by as me and Ezra escorted the caravan back to the main island. Ezra stayed silent the whole time, though only around me. He was a rockstar with the kids. The cloud above us began to darken, and the smell of rain flooded my nose, and so did the caravan. We decided to park the wagons and settle for a makeshift camp to await the end of the coming storm.

As brutally cold the rain was, and as loud the howling winds were, both of them were no match to the storm brewing inside me that of which I can no longer hold in.

"Nothing will ever happen if you just sit still Blake."

I softly whispered to myself, taking a peak at the sleeping Ezra to see if I woke him up. With the sight of his childish sleeping face ensuring me that I haven't spilled the beans, I grabbed my cloak and made my way to Mrs. Clementine's tent. I've been staring at her tent for days on end, rehearsing what I wanted to say, but despite all that, nothing can prepare me for the real thing.

I gently approach the tent and opened it up a little, only to be met by the smiles of two laughing children, and Mrs. Clementine, who offered me a sandwich.

"Here, Blake. I bet you haven't eaten yet."

I stood there speechless while I stare at the food Mrs. Clementine shove in my face. I tried to decline, but she wouldn't let me, so I reluctantly accepted. Mrs. Clementine had a look on her face that I can't help but feel that she had something to say, but couldn't, like she was waiting for me.

"Mrs. Clementine, I need to talk to you. Privately, please."

Upon hearing my request, she stopped preparing the sandwich who I assume was meant for Ezra. She looked away at first, and sat in her spot motionless before finally turning her head my way.

"Sure."

I led Mrs. Clementine away from caravan and into the jungle with no set destination in mind. We kept walking, only because deep down, I knew I wasn't ready. I thought I was.

"Blake."

Mrs. Clementine whispered.

"This is far enough..."

Surprised, I stopped and forced myself to look at her. She stood still with her arms crossed, the expression on her face was serious and heavy, almost too heavy for me to bear. I struggle to find the resolve to say the things that I need to say, but the longer I delay this conversation, the more painful it'll be for the both of us.

"Uh, I need to tell you something. I was there, when Adam Taurus-"

Before I could finish, Mrs. Clementine cut me off.

"The night you shot my brother. Yes. I know."

I was shocked. I didn't know how to react. Mrs. Clementine on the other hand, went from silence to absolute rage.

"You came to my home, what little scrap of a caravan is. Enjoyed my hospitality, and ate my food, all the while knowing I could have poisoned you. Yet you still came."

I frantically wave my hand, trying to calm her down.

"You- you have right to your revenge."

Hearing that, Mrs. Clementine clenched her fist.

"And if I demanded my revenge right now? Drag you outside back to the caravan in front of my people and declare that here stands the my brother's murderer!"

I won't lie, the thought is absolutely terrifying, but she deserves that much at least.

"Then I... I would ask what you require of me. To have you believe how completely, how utterly I regret the pain I caused. The loss of it all."

I tried to make my case, but she never wavered.

"And if I asked you to die? To pay for his life with yours?"

Mrs. Clementine furrowed her brows in anger, the sight of which was absolutely terrifying, but something about the things that she just said doesn't sit right with me.

"Then... I wouldn't have believed that you really loved your brother."

She gritted her teeth and pulled out her knife.

"YOU DARE!?"

Again, I frantically waved my hands and backed off.

"If you ask me to offer my days to a cause, to constantly use it to do something good in order to atone... then I would. But asking to repay death with more death seems like a very ugly way to remember him. The price you're asking for doesn't seem like it was born out of love at all."

She sighed and put away her knife.

"You should have been more afraid to come see me, Ms. Belladonna."

The tone of her voice began to soften, and the anger started to fade away.

"I-I know. Nothing I tell you will convince you of the depth of my remorse. Of my disgust for the person I was when I was with Adam and the White Fang. How much I hate myself now, how much I want others to hate me for it."

She watched silently with curious eyes as I pour my heart out to her.

"Or how much I have tried to do good with my life in the days since I left Adam."

We both fell silent, deep in our thoughts. Mrs. Clementine clenched her other arm and looked away before she began talking.

"You didn't kill my brother..."

Wha-what?

"That night, he came home healed, drank and snarled at the children. He spent the rest of that night swearing and cursing the faunus for hating him, and the humans for using him."

The look of regret in her face was visible, and grew worse with each passing second.

"The SDC hiring him is proof of the fact that the company didn't think all of us as vermin. However, working for a company that treats his own kind poorly didn't really sit well with the faunus, nor did his human co-workers really liked him all that much either."

She gave me a quick glance, before she fully resolved herself.

"He fell from the bridge he was walking on on his way home from the liquor store. Died of a broken heart... or a broken neck."

She began walking towards a bush not far from where we were standing and began to ran her hands along the lone flower that vividly popped throughout all the greenery. A lone rose.

"We begged him not go work for the same people abusing and exploiting the faunus for me, but he took it anyways, because we never really know how stories would end. You were a part of his story- our family's story, and you left. And now you're back."

Mrs. Clementine reached out for the rose, but held back at the last second.

"You didn't know who we were at first. You played with my children, saved us from the grimm, not because you wanted forgiveness just because. And when you learned who we were... you didn't run."

My knees began to buckle and drop, weakened and surprised at the very thought and realization that I never really killed Jett. But what really hit me straight through my soul was when she mentioned me not running. All my life all I have ever done is run away, and for somebody to finally validate the courage that I mustered...

"My brother was not a good person, Blake. In the end, he was responsible for the suffering of our own people, but his death put an end to any hope of change. That is the saddest part about his death, that he may have yet become a better person had he lived."

She reached out her hand, as I lay on the ground on my knees.

"A good person... as you have become."

She knelt down on the ground and wrapped her arms around me.

"I forgive you Blake Belladonna. I am not first, and I truly believe I will not be the last."

When I called Mrs. Clementine out of her tent, forgiveness was the last thing I expected, yet here I am on the ground, being forgiven by the person I thought I had taken everything away from. I don't think I deserve it, but it was given to me nonetheless.

As I close my eyes and bury my face onto Mrs. Clementine's shoulder, the image of Ezra began to pop out of my head.

Forgiveness... Maybe mother was right. Who's to say the things I've done with the fang wasn't any worse than the things Ezra has done. How has the pain he has caused any different from the pain I caused? I may not have killed Jett directly, but my actions started a chain of events that eventually led to it. By the same token, Ezra never killed anybody, but the actions he took eventually led to it. How am I any different from him?

We are one and the same... I see that now.

In the forest of Mistral, The Branwen Tribe...

Yang

I figured the fastest way to get to Ruby was to take advantage of Mom's semblance. I know for a fact that Uncle Qrow wouldn't dare leave Ruby to herself, so it's faster to just go to Qrow than to scour Anima for my sister. I hate to admit it, but thanks to Ezra, I was able to find my mother... and a nice surprise along the way.

Me and Weiss sat inside Mom's tent, listening and questioning what she claims to be the 'truth'. Ozpin's immortality and his war against the leader of the grimm, Salem. It's all honestly too much to wrap my head around, but me and Weiss decided to entertain her if it meant being able to see Qrow and Ruby again.

Though, I have to admit, what she said did put a lot of things in my head that I wasn't too sure how to process. But all of that stuff wasn't enough, Mom claimed she needed to show me and Weiss something else so she led us to the back of her tent.

"Mom? Are you there?"

Still concerned, Weiss began to question me.

"Yang, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine once we can get her to take us to Ruby."

She relents while I continue to look around for Mom, but she's persistent.

"It's okay if... you're not okay."

Why would I not be? unless...

"You didn't believe what she said, right?"

She paused for a second, making me think that a part of her does. I'd be lying if I didn't partly believed her either.

"I... of course not. Well, not all of it. It's all just too crazy. We have Dust, Semblances... But, I mean, there's no such thing as magic."

Just then, we hear a bird caw, suddenly appearing and gliding smoothly in front of us.

"A raven?"

Yeah, and it looks familiar.

"I've... seen that bird before."

"Maybe it belongs to your mom?"

We continue to watch the raven fly in the dusk-colored sky, till it descended, flying and weaving between the trees, before shapeshifting into Mom herself. Raven lands back on the ground on her feet, the two of us too shocked to say anything.

"How... did you do that?"

But Mom did nothing but smile and nod her head.

"I could explain it to you. OR..."

She draws her sword and slashed the air behind her, creating a portal.

"You could ask Qrow and Ozpin yourself."

After all this, she was planning on letting us just go?

"I'm giving you a choice, Yang. Stay with me and I'll explain everything you need to know. Or go into the portal and fight a losing battle with the foolish Qrow and Ozpin. Just know that the moment you step past this portal, I may not be so kind the next time we meet."

Kindness huh?

"You weren't kind this time around either. All I care about is making sure Ruby is safe."

Raven took a deep breath and sighed, disappointed at the choice I just made. Me and Weiss scramble to drag our stuff and pack them in the back of my motorcycle before Mom decides to change her mind. One last time, me and Weiss looked at each before we attempted to drive past the portal, but before we could, Mom raised her sword and blocked our path.

"Before you resign yourself to your doom, tell me one thing. How did you find me? Not even Qrow knows where we are know, so how?"

I guess that'd be one of the questions she would have as a tribal leader. I wanna say I'm not inclined to answer that, but she did create a portal to Qrow. I owe her one, in a sense.

"With this."

I pull out from my pocket the box Ezra entrusted to Jaune, and in turn to me. Mom stared at it for second, but when the realization came to her what it was she was looking at, her eyes widened in shock at first, then it turned into fear the moment she saw the three white feathers embroidered on the box.

"Snow."

Ezrael Snow, yes, Ezra's real name, but how does she know that?

"You know him?"

I ask.

Mom tilted her head, her eyes refusing to blink. All the while she never lost sight of the feathers in my hand.

"Him? I don't know what you're talking about. Snow, I meant tribe Snow... Yang, who gave you that?"

Me and Weiss looked at each other, confused at Mom's sudden change of demeanor.

"I don't- it's hard to answer that question. He's- somebody that I used-"

I struggle to form a concrete sentence to describe what Ezra is to me, but Mom never gave me the chance to.

"A youngling. Fresh."

Now I'm even more lost.

"Why are you so afraid?"

Hearing the word afraid jolt Mom's senses back to normal, almost as if she was insulted.

"You don't know do you? What those three feathers mean."

Yes. Yes I do. I still remember it clearly.

"Love, Kindness, and Faith. The three foundation needed to for a family to strive."

Raven could only laugh at what I just said.

"What are you talking about. Child, those feathers are the Snow clan's symbol. It means: Power, Fury, and Authority."

She sheathed her blade and made her way towards me till we're both face to face with each other.

"What you have right there, are the feathers of a youngling from tribe Snow. White means purity, uninitiated. They become a fully pledge member once the feather is properly coated by blood. Usually of their first victim. We've been at war with them for centuries, till your grandfather overthrew their last regime."

I had no idea. If that's the case, then why did Ezra give this to me?

"I know they're still out there somewhere, regaining their strength. Yang, if you want to survive, you need to do two things. The first one is STAY AWAY from their Matriarch. If you think I was unkind today, then you have no idea what their tribal chief is capable of."

Cool. Noted, stay away from female tribal chiefs. Already planning on getting away from one, guess it's two now.

"Alright, what's number two?"

With an ominous look, Raven stared back at me.

"Kill whoever gave you those feathers, before he kills you."