The Burning Rose

by King of the unknowns

In an alternate universe, Summer lives and finds Cinder in Atlas. She decided to bring her back to Patch. Due to her traumatic past, Cinder is hesitant to trust the family, but after a close brush with death, she opens up to them and is eventually adopted by the loving family. After a few years of training, she heads off to Beacon to train to become a huntress!

69. Lionized

Hey! I'm back!

Sorry for the wait, I wanted to get this out in January, but Baldur's Gate is really fun, and very time consuming. And yes, I do believe that's a valid excuse!

Anyway all jokes aside, I'm going to let you know that if you enjoy this work, you're required to go and give a big thank you to the RWBY Dust Queen community. I've been a fan for a few years now, (man I feel old.) and the just recently released a fully animated trailer for a YouTube series about the story! Something that, without it, may have resulted in this story dying as I lack the motivation due to not knowing if the canon content is going to continue. I mean, I'm still writing it and probably won't ever stop, but I just don't have the energy to edit over 10000 words every chapter.

Anyway, I'll put the addresses of the YouTube trailer in the end notes. Go give it a watch once you're done here, (not before because it will make my work feel significantly less satisfying.) and show them your support! The work they put in is the kind of collaboration I love about this community and something I feel makes the Rwby fandom a special place as I can't think of any other community that has as many well done fan projects.

Seriously, even if you don't like the canon series, be glad if nothing else it inspires these new, future creators who will undoubtedly go on to make their own stories, tv shows, and movies. All of which wouldn't have existed without this wonderful series.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the next, definitely not sinister chapter of the Burning Rose.

---

The three trucks bumbled down the road, its passengers bouncing up and down with each hit of the rocky road, causing them to groan as they held onto the newly installed seatbelts.

It was the day after they were supposed to be on the road, with them having to stay an extra day in that shit hole of a town as they worked tirelessly to repair the damage done to the vehicles. And after one very late night, they had succeeded with…mixed results.

They had replaced the windows and gotten the seats to usable condition, but unlike the bulletproof glass they had used before, they had been forced to source local windows at nearly twice the price and for less than even a fragment of the safety their previous windows had cost them. Same with the tires they had managed to fit.

Bad as that was, the news somehow got even worse as despite having a suspect for the crime, local law enforcement didn't seem to bother to help a group of travelers passing through. And even though huntsmen and huntresses had the authority to make arrests with reasonable suspicion, Cinder and Blake had run around all day and couldn't find a shred of evidence or the stolen weapons, leaving over half their organization defenseless if a fight should break out.

Tapping his foot irritably, Adam looked at his squad once again, watching them cleaning the five low calibers handguns they had on their person the night of the robbery, resulting in those being the only weapons any non-huntsmen had. Which was not good considering the higher value target they were escorting who sat in the truck in front of them.

"Hey Adam? You okay?" Being drawn from his thoughts, Adam looked up to see Sienna sitting next to him, a worried look on her face. "You look pale." She said, reaching out and placing her hand on his shoulder. "Want to talk about it? We still have about thirty minutes before we reach the split up point. So until then, I'm all ears if you want to talk."

Smiling at this, Adam turned his attention back to the floor of the van, shaking his head in response to the generous offer as while he did appreciate it, he didn't want want to expose the woman he looked up to so much to the dark thoughts that had wormed their into the corners of his mind, thoughts he couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried.

"Later." He said simply, making the woman nod, taking her hand off his shoulder and turning back to face forward, ear twisting slightly indicating she was still keeping an eye on the young huntsman.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." She said calmly, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. "But if there's anything you want to talk about, anything at all. Now is the best time to do it. After all, when we make camp later, you know who is going to be snooping around making talking in private somewhat…difficult."

Raising his head at this, the young Faunus immediately felt himself get a bit defensive at this comment, straightening up as he turned now giving the tigress his full attention.

"What's your problem with Ghira anyway?" Adam asked. "I know you two diverged when you became the head of the Atlas division because he wouldn't give you the resources you needed, but you two were so close before that? I know his handling of everything wasn't perfect, but that's no excuse for going behind his back as much as you do or openly undermining his authority. What exactly changed to make you hate him so much?"

At this pointed question, Sienna let out a sigh, slumping slightly forward in her seat as she rested her arms on her legs.

"It's not that I hate him. Quite the opposite in fact." She confessed, giving the younger Faunus a playful side eye. "It's just that…how do I put this? He's so damn stubborn and I get frustrated…no. That's not it. This is hard." Leaning back in her seat, the Faunus woman looked up at the ceiling, watching it as they bounced up and down in their seats.

"I guess to answer your question in the most direct sense I can, it was when I saw how little humans were willing to change. Which all started sometime when I was running the Atlas branch of the White Fang." Sighing again, Sienna closed her eyes and began rubbing her temples. "Look, I get Ghira adopted you after you lost your parents in that mining accident. I get to you, his practically family. But you weren't there when the Atlas division fell, you don't know the struggle I've faced, the things I've seen. People who live in privilege don't want to give that up, and when you start challenging it, pointing out the hypocrisy in their actions, things tend to get violent fast. Very fast."

Opening her eyes, Sienna fixed Adam with a serious gaze, her mouth stiff as she spoke.

"When we first made contact with the kingdom, we did what we had been doing in places like Vale, Mistral. Setting up unions and trying to work with politicians to arrange a fair, non discrimination act for the kingdom. You know, the normal stuff. Unfortunately, things in Atlas are far from normal when compared to the other kingdoms."

"The terms act." Adam nodded. Everyone knew about the controversial law that made it the employer decision to allow unions in the business or not. Something that had, while shoved them into shocking new revelations in science and medicine, had come at the cost of a shocking wide gap in wealth between the CEOs and their employees. Something that to this day, many people on both sides still argued over.

"Yep. And guess what? A lot of rich, powerful people didn't like us trying to organize the labor force." Sienna let out a dry chuckle, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands in front of her face, looking darkly out the small window of the truck as she continued. "See, originally it was your standard resistance. Blocking us from talking to Faunus, firing those who brought up the topic, the usual stuff. But then, one day, everything changed."

Closing her eyes, Sienna brought her thumbs up, rubbing her face as she spoke with a heavy voice, tired voice.

"We got called into a meeting with the then people's elected officials. And there, we were offered an agreement. We could continue working on building our unions, but it could only reach those who registered as citizens of Managery, or who chose to have the as their representation from there. Which after cutting away all the fat, basically meant you had to give up Atlesian citizenship for proper union representation. Something most Faunus were more than happy to do." Chuckling at this, Sienna shifted her gaze, eyes flicking to Adam with an amused smile playing on her lips.

"At first, I thought this was a big win, that the kingdom which had so relentlessly fought us might finally see change. However, I was naïve, foolish believing people would change after seeing the error of their ways, that they would want to after living a life of nothing but privilege. And because of that, I idiotically walked right into their trap."

Shifting her gaze back to the floor, Sienna tightened her grip, knuckles going white. "I can still remember the headline covering the front page of every newspaper, plastered there in big bold letters saying, 'Outside Faunus from Menagerie receive union privileges at the expense of the people of Mantle. Is this the end of the great kingdom of Atlas as we know it!?' Ha! What a joke."

Shaking her head in disgust, Sienna leaned back, rubbing her temples as she did. "The article made it seem like the council had to choose between humans and Faunus when in fact it was because we fought for our rights where the human didn't, therefore giving us the right to express our opinions and get those privileges denied us normally. But the human population didn't see it that way. Instead demanding that the act be recalled and that all people get the same fair treatment. And when the human politicians doubled down on their law, well, you've seen the riots in Vale, that's a pretty accurate recreation of what happened in Atlas when the media continued to paint their human vs Faunus storyline and how outsiders were getting special treatment. Ironic considering I don't recall them being this opened to fairness when they got higher pay then their Faunus counterparts."

Pausing here, Sienna let out yet another sigh, her hand dropping to her side in an exhausted fashion.

"But that's what humans do. Expected privilege for themselves and fight tooth and nail to take it if others work their way to get it." The woman spat, her disgust clear in her voice. "And during the height of the riots, when I needed Ghira to send what I needed, to prioritize the situation in Atlas, when I needed my friend to help back me up, he said he couldn't give special attention to one kingdom over another."

As she said that last part, a dark look crossed through the woman's eyes. Bitterness and anger from the wound delivered that day was apparently still very fresh to Sienna, even if it had happened many years ago.

"We could have pushed back against the media's smear campaign, could have kept the unions and unity of the Faunus of Atlas if we just had those resources! But instead, the situation continued to spiral out of control until finally, General Ironwood stepped in, putting a stop to our cause and issuing an arrest warrant not only for myself, but any other high ranking White Fang leader, all while declaring us a terrorist organization and using his dual counsel seats to repeal our work, ensuring that the cruelty the Faunus would face at the hands of our abuser would end up being justified in the eyes of every single human in Atlas."

Turning to Adam, Sienna fixed the young man with a gaze as a furious, enraged smile slowly spread across her face, one that showed her teeth as her ears laid flat against her head, eyes narrowed and still burning with resentment.

"And so, as I was forced to flee to Vale, I made a promise to myself. I would never let something like that happen again. And so, I worked my way through the White Fang, took control of our military, and now send them where they're needed to go, when they need to go there. And when I see Ghira being stubborn or short sighted, I make it a point to try and correct him. And if that doesn't work, well, let's just say I have more forceful methods."

Relaxing a bit, Sienna leaned back in her seat, still looking at Adam as she continued.

"I know that what I do doesn't exactly make me very popular, but rarely are those who seek change are." She explained calmly. "The fact of the matter is, if you look throughout history, at any oppressed group or people, you'll find not a single one was able to bring about change by playing by the rules. Though those who call for peaceful protest only do so because they know anger inspires actions which in turn inspires change. So if they take away that anger, place both parties on the same level of blame then demand for civil discussion on only the civilian level, well then oppressors know that they can just leave things at that and continue to live in privilege at the expense of the oppressed. The fact the Ghira himself hobbles our cause because he can't get that through his thick skull is what infuriates me the about him."

With that, the two fell silent, both turning their gaze away from each other and instead toward the ceiling and floor, each one now wrapped up in their own thoughts.

And as his gaze fixed on a stain on the floor of the truck, Adam's mind began playing out what Sienna had said in real time, taking in the pros and cons of her philosophy.

Now, given what he had seen, he understood her argument. He might not be as well versed in history as Amber, but he still knew enough to know Sienna was technically right. The liberation of Vacuo from Mistral and Atlas, the Faunus rebellion during the Great War, Atlas' own civil war that saw the split, they were all only accomplished because people were willing to break laws, and spill blood. Back during the rebellion, many saw the Faunus as rioters, or agitators, it wasn't uncommon back then for cops to be called on gatherings even when no protest was planned.

However, despite all the bloodshed, Adam could think of one counter to defend his seragit father.

"The abolishment of the Mistral monarchy. That was peaceful." He said simply, trying to hide his concentration as he recalled what Amber had said to him on the subject. "Back then, when Emperor Bolin declared his plans to change the government system to one of an electoral one rather than one based on birth. And while there were definitely some bumps along the way, it was a massive success as it was not only the first to take up the radical idea of allowing the people to select who they wanted to rule, but spurred the other three kingdoms to follow their lead. All without any bloodshed. That's where Ghira pulls his inspiration from, his call for change."

At this, Adam turned to find Sienna staring at him, eyes wide making his inside purr at being able to leave the older woman stunned at his counter. Something he struggled to do during the entire time they had known each other.

However, that feeling faded fast as after only a couple seconds, the tigress threw her head back letting out a loud laugh that made some of the other Faunus look over at their leaders.

"Oh man, you really don't know, do you?" Sienna laughed, leaning back in her seat, pressing a hand to her forehead as she shock with merth. "Sure, that's the public story, but the reality of the situation is much deeper. See, Emperor Bolin may have ended the monarchy, but it was far from bloodless. In fact, his revolution was actually one of the most bloody in history. He just found a way to hide it."

Leaning forward letting her laughter die down, Sienna turned to the now stunned redhead as she rested her hands on her knees, explaining the part of the story Adam had tuned out during their history class.

"See, the good emperor was no fool. He knew if he abolished the structure giving the nobles power and privilege, they would push back, maybe even plan a coup. And given that his father had given them the task of developing new techniques of aura usage, he knew there was no way he could compete in a direct fight. So instead, he planned a cunning strategy to push back."

As she spoke, Sienna began fishing around in her pocket, trying to find something without breaking her stride.

"First, he went to the other noble families and told them he was planning on reshaping the government's structure. Then, he began publicly pandering to half of them while giving the other more territory and military power, all while telling both that he wanted them to rule by his side." Pausing here, Sienna took out her scroll and began typing something into it, continuing without looking up from her work. "This created a rift between the families, each one growing to distrust their neighbors more and more until finally, both sides reached a breaking point and turned on each other, conducting a war in the shadows to try and eliminate the others, turning the once peaceful countryside into a war zone where new bodies would be found every day, ensuring the others all knew someone had made a moved prompting them to joined in. Effectively tricking them to wipe themselves out. So, when he announced his plan, the other nobles had no choice but to comply or be executed, something that happened to many after he found them still supplying their knowledge to Atlas."

Raising his eyebrow at this, Adam straightened up, refocusing his attention to his senior.

"What do you mean? Supplying their knowledge to Atlas? What are you talking about?" The redhead asked, making the woman look up from her scroll, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Well, you see Atlas has always had a bit of a god complex. So, they began looking into new ways to use aura." She explained. "However, given that they had just been invaded by Vale, they didn't have the time to spend the resources to begin their research. So, they sent it to their ally, the ever artsy Mistral. Something their nobles were keen on getting in on. And it seems they were successful."

Passing her Scroll over, Adam looked down to see an old, famous, black and white picture of many well dressed people, standing in a line looking up at the camera as they lined several children up in front of them. The ever famous emperor Bolin resting in his mother's arms, still little more than an infant, staring wide eyed at the children surrounding him.

This was one of the first pictures ever taken, and the only one to exist of the noble families before the monarchy was abolished.

"The one on the right is the second to last emperor's right hand. General Shion. He was the one overseeing the entire project." Sienna explained, drawing Adam's attention to a grumpy looking man who stared up at the camera, a sour looking expression plastered onto his face, his own hand resting on the shoulder of a young boy, his grip obviously too tight even in the old image.

"When everything went belly up, he fled, managing to escape the main kingdom's territory with his son, loved ones, and a few followers. And when he couldn't get to Atlas like he intended, he took refuge in the criminal underworld so prevalent in Mistral. Becoming an assassin for hire using the skills he had honed for the snowy kingdom to rise to the top as the guild that never missed a target. They were so good in fact, they were active all the way up until a few years ago. When all their skills finally failed them and they probably found themselves wishing they had died with honor during the war."

Smirking at this thought, Sienna leaned back tucking her arms behind her head as she let her cheeky grin cover her entire face.

"A few years ago, while nobody knows what happened exactly, huntsmen were called to the city of Agrus, where a fire had broken out in a building on the outskirts of town. There, they found the charred remains of several dead human bodies as well as several contracts to assassinate high level military officers, CEOs, and politicians, all buried in the remains of the tower. There, they also found the corpse of a man they were able to identify as Hēilóng, a descendant of Shion and the leader of the Moonlight Dancers. He, just like all the others, showed signs of a struggle, with deep cuts all across his body and a missing arm. Apparently his cause of death wasn't the fire, but a blow to the chest where that penetrated his heart, killing him before the flames did. Shame too, I would have hoped someone like him would suffer for the crimes he committed and-. Wha?!"

Immediately Sienna was forced to break off as Adam leapt to his feet, dropping her Scroll and ramming his head into the ceiling, something he paid no mind to as he turned towards the woman, eyes wide.

"Wait! That was the origin of the Moonlight Dancers?!" He yelled, words tumbling out of his mouth so fast they were barely understandable. "They were former nobles of Mistral? Why didn't you say so sooner?! That girl I ran into on our way to Blackjack! She was one-!"

Screech!

Suddenly, Adam was cut off as the truck driver slammed on the brakes, sending the Faunus crashing to the ground as they came to a screeching halt, almost ramming into the truck in front of them. At the same time, the sound of tires screaming could be heard, followed immediately by two loud crashes, the first was something heavy hitting the dirt ground, the next the sound of metal slamming into something hard. This was followed immediately by the sounds of screams and scrambling feet.

"What's happening out there?!" Sienna bellowed, jumping out of her seat as the rest of the team scrambled off the ground, Fox and Ox quickly ruching over to help Adam, who had gotten his horns stuck in the back of the truck where he had sled during the emergency stop.

Luckily, this gave them just enough time to free him as Amber's panicked voice came on over the radio.

"It's an ambush!" She screamed. "On the left side! They're armed and dangerous! Don't-!"

But that was as far as she got as the next second, a bullet flew through the window, forcing Sienna to duck to avoid getting hit as the air was filled with the sound of gunfire, several pinging off the reenforced steel of the truck, giving its occupants the only bit of cover they had on the bare road.

But it didn't last long as a few more bullets came crashing through the windows, forcing those without aura to duck and scream as one ricocheted around the armored truck.

"Battle stations!" Without wasting a second, Sienna let out a bellow into the radio, immediately causing the members of the White Fang to spring into action. The ones in her truck opened the doors and bailing out, quickly running to the other side of the vehicles to take cover as Sienna and Adam followed, blocking and deflecting the rain of gunfire as they dove behind the truck, crouching behind the wheels for extra security.

As they did this, Adam saw the lead truck had driven off the road and into a tree, smoke billowing from under the hood, the impact being strong enough to knock the tree over, resulting in it crashing down onto the road, right next to another tree that had been felled right in the path, which was most likely the reason for the truck to swerve.

And as he watched, he saw Amber stumbling out of the passenger seat, her moment impaired as she struggled to help Ghira out, the man forced to lean on the younger girl as she bellowed orders to Cinder as she ran to aid her partner, firing an arrow into the ground between the shooters and her team leader, detonating them creating a cloud of steam, hiding them behind a smokescreen as the Faunus' aura flickered indicating just how severe the crash had been.

Meanwhile, the middle truck, a cry of anger could be heard as Blake and Illia rolled out, the latter running to cover as the former pulled her weapon from her back, changing into pistol mode as she took aim at the attackers.

"You're gonna pay that!" She yelled as she took aim at the people hidden in the trees. "I'm gonna turn you inside out and flay you alive for this! Stupid-. Wha!?" Was all she got out before Eric jumped out of the truck, scooping her up by her collar before she could fire a single shot before retreating behind the truck, using himself as cover both the girl and Mr. Naabhi as they too crutched on the other side of the truck.

Seeing everyone (reasonably) safe allowed Adam to let out a breath he had been holding. He had no idea what was happening, but it was a relief to see nobody had sustained any major injuries. Now they could turn their attention back to the bandits, or whoever had attacked them, and focus on-!

"Cowards! Come out and fight!"

Jolting, Adam found his mouth dropping open as a familiar voice called out from the tree line, prompting him to peer out from behind the truck, eyes immediately fixing on the attack with a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

"What's the matter? You animals can't fight unless it's on your terms?!" Harper yelled, firing his revolver through the back window of the van, forcing Adam to duck back into cover. "Not so fun when you're the ones being hunted, is it? You think you can just go around destroying the lives of hardworking, honest folks just for kicks? Well, unlike the spineless worms in the kingdom, you'll find we're not just going to lay down and take it!"

His words were meet with a cheer from the about half a dozen others he had brought with him, all armed with hunting rifles or handguns that they used to rain fire down onto the caravan, openly making it difficult for the Faunus to fight back, especially with only low caliber weapons to defend themselves with.

Fortunately, it seemed Amber noticed this pretty quickly herself, using herself to try to draw some fire by poking her head out from her cover, taking only a few quick seconds to scan the forest and take in what they were up against before a bullet bounced off the hood of the truck, forcing her back into cover to avoid getting hit.

"Okay, I got about seven in total. And from what I saw, one of them doesn't have guns." She called to her team, immediately pulling their attention. "None have an active aura, so we shouldn't have too much trouble taking them out. Adam! You and Eric split up and cover the Faunus who don't have an active aura to protect themselves! Cinder. On my signal, fire some arrows along the tree line, create a smokescreen so they can't keep shooting, then charge in and take them down starting on the right most side! I'll take the left! Just make sure to take them down carefully so we don't end up hurting-!"

"No!"

Jumping at the sudden, harsh tone, Amber turned wide eyed toward Ghira, completely taken aback by his sudden interruption.

"Stand down, team AACE." He ordered, calmly rising a little as he looked over at Harper and his men, eyes narrowed as he took in the situation. "We are not going to fight our way out of this! That goes against everything the White Fang stands for. We need to resolve this peacefully and without escalating the situation."

Staring up at the Faunus, Cinder was the first to recover her voice, grabbing him by his arm and pulling him back down as she let out a furious whisper.

"Are you crazy?! End this without violence? In case you haven't noticed, that ship has already sailed!" She said, voicing the disabled the rest of her team shared. "This isn't about race or equality, it's about survival! When under threat of bodily harm, you have the right to shoot to kill! And while I might be mistaken, I'm pretty sure dropping a tree in front of us is a planned assault more than matching the necessary requirements to-!"

"That's enough Ms. Rose!" The Faunus cut in, silencing Cinder. "I'm in charge. We do this my way!"

With this final order, Ghira slowly stood up, hands raised as he called out to the attackers, his voice trying to stay calm and steady as he spoke to them.

"That's enough! Please, let's talk about this!" He called as he slowly came out from behind cover. "I understand your anger, but this is not the answer! Please, let's try to work this out. You don't need to do this!"

Unfortunately, the answer he received was a bullet to the shoulder, causing him to let out a cry, dropping back behind cover, hand clasped over it.

"We're way past that, you senile old mutt!" Harper called back, taking a break from shooting to reload his revolver. "You animals ruined my life! So now I'm gonna return the favor! Hope you don't mind getting dirty, cause your all gonna end up in a shallow grave right next to those bestiality freaks you've brainwashed into your cult!"

Scowling at this, Amber quickly came to the realization that the young man wasn't in a listening mood, something that was reinforced as a bullet whizzed past her head when she poked it up to see if anyone was advancing on their position. Which they luckily weren't doing.

"Mr. Belladonna, please give us permission to act!" Amber cried as the man slowly got back upright, his flicking aura shielding him from bodily harm. "We need to take them down before Grimm shows up! Otherwise, we'll risk escalating the situation far outside our control! Please, we need to act now!"

Her words, while sounding sound to Cinder, were pointedly ignored by Ghira as he slowly came back out of cover, still trying to reason with the armed gunmen.

"Please, we meant no harm! We were just passing through!" He cried before being forced to duck down as a bullet split the windshield, sending spider web cracking across the glass.

"Well you animals passed through the wrong town!" Harper called back, tracing his gun across the windows of the truck, trying to get a line of sight on the large Faunus. "We're not the same brain dead idiots in the main kingdoms! We're fighters, each and every one of us! And we'll die before we let a bunch of stupid animals walk right in and ruin our lives! Time you people get taught a lesson!"

Noticing this, Amber immediately raised her hand, signaling to her partner to begin counter measures, prompting her to roll to the back of the truck, using her blades like a mirror to look out and try to get an idea what they were up against.

At the same time, Amber positioned herself right next to the hood of the vehicle, turning her staff in such a way it reminded hidden, her eyes flashing gold alongside her partner's as she activated her semblance.

However, before either could act, Ghira seized her arm, stopping her from jumping out with a quick snarl.

"I told you, stand down." He snarled as the dark skinned girl looked up at him incredulously. "It's not too late just yet. We can still end this without needing to resort to violence! You are to stay down until I say so."

With that, the Faunus turned away, ignoring the protests rapidly coming out of the girl's mouth as he slowly stood up again, hands in the air showing he had no weapon.

"Please, stop this!" He called. "We do not want to get into an altercation! There's no need for violence!"

Bang!

Immediately, Ghira dropped down to one knee, clutching his hand as his aura flickered out, a shallow cut on his wrist courtesy of Harper, who had whipped his gun around and opened fire without hesitation on the Faunus, managing to score a lucky hit that would make the next one fatal!

Finally having enough, Adam knew the time for words were over. Watching Amber pulling Ghira down next to the tires and seemingly arguing with him over what to do, he realized someone had to take action before someone got killed. And with both Cinder and Amber now having to protect Ghira and Eric guarding Blake and the client, he was the only one left to take action.

Glancing over at Sienna, they two exchanged a look, both immediately knowing what the other was thinking. And with a single nod of approval from the older woman, Adam wasted no time leaping over the hood of the truck, a dark snarl spreading across his face as a single thought entered his mind.

Why couldn't they just leave us alone?!

Landing in front of the truck, Adam immediately shot forward, charging towards one of the men as he pulled out a machete, which he swung clumsily at the approaching Faunus.

Without losing any speed, Adam effortlessly drew his blade, knocking the weapon from his opponent's hand before performing a jumping, roundhouse kicking him in the head, knocking the assailant to the ground out cold. Then, after only landing for a second, the Faunus quickly kicked off a nearby tree, propelling himself towards two of the other shooters, landing with a roll between as they both opened fire at him.

Without missing a beat, Adam was on his feet in a second, effortlessly spinning his blade around deflecting the bullets, one from each of them before launching himself forward, catching the leftmost shooter by her neck with the blunt side of his blade, slamming her up against a tree crushing her windpipe before dropping her to the ground, immediately rounding on her partner who was desperately trying to hit him.

However, she only managed to get a single bullet out before he, after deflecting it, throw himself at her, sweeping her legs out from under her before ramming his hilt into her stomach, launching her high into the air, giving her just enough time to let out a surprised cry before he jumped up, and summersault kicking her in the stomach, causing her to rocket back to the ground face first where she hit the earth and lost consciousness.

Rounding on his next opponent, Adam had to act quickly, deflecting two bullets from the duel revolvers the man held before charging forward, zigzagging left then right, dodging around his shots until he closed the distance and delivered a powerful kick to the head, knocking him prone, guns rolling out of his reach as he slammed into a tree, slumping against it coughing violently.

Spinning, Adam had just enough time to deflect another shot before lunging forward, charging straight at the shooter effortlessly deflecting the bullets before ramming straight into her, driving his pummel into her stomach right before the ribs, immediately hearing a crack as she was slammed into a tree, slumping just in time to let the Faunus turn and deflect another shot aimed at him.

Advancing slowly, Adam took a bit of sick satisfaction as he watched the panicked look in the young man's eyes as he approached, effortlessly deflecting any of the bullets fired from his revolver, not even bothering with his blade once he got in range. Opting to kick him in the face instead, knocking him to the ground where the Faunus stomped on his stomach, pinning him to the ground as his gun sailed away.

As he did this, Harper, who had taken cover behind a tree to reload, shakily closed the chamber of his revolver, fear gripping his chest as he watched the lone Faunus effortlessly take out his entire crew.

This was the first time he had seen a huntsman in action. He had no idea they were capable of this! Sure, he knew Grimm were dangerous, but he and his friends had gone hunting them in the past, easily leading them away from the town whenever they got too close. And while he had never actually killed one, he was confident in his ability to do so.

But this? This was on an entirely different level! To take out six people in an instant, that was impossible! No way these stupid animals had this kind of power!

Panicking, the young man looked over at the trucks again, his eyes fixing on Ghira as he stood up with the aid of Amber, turning to look at the rapidly ending fight.

Yes, that's right, this wasn't over yet! He could still get his revenge. The cat guy was weak! He just needed to land one shot and he'd go down like a ton of bricks! He wasn't out of options just yet!

Mustering his courage, Harper let out a roar as he pelted from his hiding place, firing blindly as he ran straight at Ghira, bullets flying from his gun as he charged.

Seeing this sudden shift, Amber acted immediately, sliding in front of the White Fang leader, arms spread wide as she used herself as a human shield, her aura absorbing the bullets that, while caused her to flinch, did minimal damage to her aura as she waited for the young man to enter grapple range where she planned to bring him take him to the ground.

However, that moment never came.

Being alerted by the young man's cry, Adam, looking up from where he stood still pinning a shooter to the ground, saw Harper running at his team. Eyes going wide behind his mask, without a second's thought, the Faunus reached down and grasped his sword as he activated his semblance, a quickly flash of darkness broken only be the red maring his form, he released a weak pulse of energy with a slash of his sword, launching it towards Harper at tremendous speeds.

It was supposed to be a light hit, just powerful enough to knock him to the ground, maybe fracture a few ribs, nothing serious. But Adam, so used to charging his semblance with the pistons on his scabbard, misjudged the amount of power to use.

And so, when the young man turned toward the red energy racing toward him, he didn't even have time to scream as the energy ripped through him, throwing his body against the truck so hard it gave a jolt, moving half an inch to the side from the force, a deafening silence falling over the clearing as his lifeless body slumped to the ground, a huge gash in his chest exposing his torn up organs as a thin trail of blood ran across the top of the truck, slowly dripping down toward the corpse slump against the tires.

Slowly, the other members of the White Fang came out, staring wide eyed at the body, nobody saying anything, simply staring at the dead body with differing reactions to what had just happened.

Blake was staring wide eyed, her mouth hanging open as she crawled out from behind Eric, looking from the dead body to Adam with a stunned expression mixing shock and disbelief before the green knight pushed her back behind him, doing his best to hide her from the sight. His own face strained and tight, trying to hold things together for the sake of his duty.

Amber had a similar expression, one of shock and surprise as she slowly turned towards Adam, her eyes wide as she slowly reached up, wiping a smear of blood off her face that had splattered onto her from Adam's attack, her whole body tenses to stop it from shaking as she took in the grizzly sight before her, slowly turning her head towards her teammate, the one responsible for doing it.

But despite her surprise, she didn't show any signs of contempt or disgust at his action, rather just a shocked surprise that it had happened. Something the Faunus would have found somewhat comforting. If he had been in a stable mindset to really read her expressions.

But right now he was just standing there, staring blankly at the still warm body laying next to the truck, watching blood start to pool around him, his heart hammering in his chest as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

He had killed someone. He had just taken his first life, something that should have made him feel sick, disgusted, or vile. He had seen and heard about White Fang members who had quit after being forced to take a life in self defense, or lived with incurable depression as a result. He knew how important each life was and that to take one was no simple feat. He understood all that perfectly well.

So why didn't he feel that way?

Sure, his mind was a mess right now, with all different feelings mixed up in there, but while he did feel shock at what he had done, he didn't feel shame or regret. Or at least not entirely.

Did he regret what happened, yes. To an extent he did. But he also knew if it came up he'd do it again. He didn't care what kind of reason someone gave, he wouldn't let anyone harm Ghira or any of the people he called comrades. Sure, this might have been resolved without taking a life, but he hadn't been the one to attack out of the blue. He hadn't been the one who charged at something trying to kill them. And he sure as hell wasn't the one who went chasing after a caravan into No Man's Land after getting himself fired from a job that he had used to fulfill a racist agenda that had nearly cost his clients their lives as-.

"You're all freaks!"

Looking up, Adam saw two of the gunmen had gotten up, sending one last horrified glance at the body of their friend before immediately turning and running back in the direction of the town.

Growling, Adam took an instinctive step after them, deep scowl forming on his face. Where did they get off calling him a freak? They were the ones attacking innocent people, they were the ones dropping trees on the road, they were the ones who had started the fight! How was it his fault if he had finished it?!

Hands tightening into a fist, the Faunus felt a sick feeling taking root in his stomach, but not for what he had just done, but rather how long it had taken him to do it. How many lives were lost every day because preventive measures weren't taken against those who sought to oppose his people? How many blind eyes were turned whenever a hate crime was committed against a Faunus? And how many slaps on the wrists did the culprits get when actually caught? How was it far to stand by and let them get beaten to death? If standing up to abuse was a crime in the eyes of humanity, then he wanted no part in it!

He should just give them a taste of their own medicine, show them what it felt like to be oppressed. Make them see their own cruelty aimed against them! That way, maybe then they'd understand even just a shred of what he was feeling right now. Of the horrors his people saw every day at their hands! It was only fair for them to get their just dessert for all the pain they caused the Faunus. That was justice! That was right! That was-.

"Natural!"

"Adam!"

Ghira's sharp voice drew the Faunus' from his thoughts. Turning around, he saw both his team and the rest of the White Fang approaching, the high leader at their head. And boy did he seem upset.

"Who gave you the order to engage?" He demanded, catching the Faunus by surprise. He had thought the man would have been pleased with his interference. He had saved his life, saved the entire mission! Yet for some reason the man's eyes burned with fury directed at him, as if he had been in the wrong. Couldn't he see this was self defense? That he had acted to protect everyone? Sure, he knew it had ended in a life being taken, but it was better than the alternative!

Or was that the problem? The fact he didn't feel like he should after taking another life. He definitely understood the importance of life so was his lack of remorse over it a weird thing? This was the first time he had killed, so he honestly didn't know. But the more he thought about it the more confused he became.

Shifting around uncomfortably, Adam wasn't sure how or what to say. All he did know was that Ghira was bearing down on him and he didn't like it. The disapproval in the older Faunus eyes stung him in a way he had never felt before and he wanted it to stop.

"I-."

"I did."

Adam froze mid sentence as a new voice rang out in the conversation, immediately snapping his head towards the person as she walked over, one hand on her hip as she glared at the high leader.

"I authorized Adam to engage." Sienna said, her voice booming out loud, easily drawing the attention of the others. "Because we needed to fight back against the people attacking us. Had he not done that, things would have gotten a lot worse. And while yea, this is an unfortunate event," she added gesturing to Harper's body. "I can say without a shadow of a doubt he did what was necessary to defend the caravan. And his people."

Narrowing his eyes at the tigress, Ghira straightened up, his breath tightening as his hands clenched. A slight shake noticeable in his arm as he stepped forward slightly, ready to face his opposition.

"That wasn't necessary." He countered, his voice a mask of forced calmness as he turned to gesture at the dead body. "If he hadn't jumped in, we might still have been able to solve things before they escalated. This, this is the very reason they think they can-."

"Ghira!" Sienna cried incredulously, practically throwing her hands into the air in exasperation. "He saved your life. Saved the entire mission! Can't you be even just a little bit grateful? He's a hero!"

"That's not-!" Said Faunus began, but before he could finish, fox (one of his teammates and heist cohorts.) stepped forward, coming to a stop to Sienna's right, facing the redhead with a huge smile on her face.

"She's right!" She said, turning to address her coworkers. "He saves the entire mission just now! I save that more than justifies removing one more racist from the whole considering how many will end up replacing him! I say good riddance!"

"That's right!"

"That was awesome!"

"Way to go Adam!"

Immediately, her words were echoed by a volley of support for the other Faunus, all of them cheering as they began walking over and patting the redhead on the shoulder and back as he looked up, eyes wide behind his mask.

"Were they really okay with what had just happened?" Adam thought as they started to crowd around him, congratulating and praising him with words of admiration and heartfelt laughs, making something inside of him purr as a smile slowly spread across his face. Sure, he still felt a bit bad about what had just happened and Ghira clearly didn't like it. But with so many people praising his actions, surely it wasn't that bad, right? Maybe it was Ghira who was in the wrong. Overreacting on a single incident from the stress of running the organization. It happened to the best of us, no shame in that.

Right?

But before he could think further on it, Ox, (another one of his teammates and heist crew.) draped an arm over his shoulder, raising his hand as he turned to address the crowd.

"Hey guys! Let's hear it for Adam! Hip, hip-!"

"Hurray!" They cheered, throwing their fists into the air as they joyously joined in the celebration! And with the atmosphere being so contagious, Adam found himself unable to not join in, throwing his own hand into the air, a declaration of victory for the Faunus and their own independence nation they would soon form.

However, in his jubilant mood, Adam, along with the others failed to notice the three Faunus who hadn't joined in.

Blake, who stood next to Mr. Naabhi, the latter keeping his hand firmly on the girl's shoulder as he turned her away from the dead body, an uncomfortable look on his own face as he steered her toward one of the truck, Cinder and Eric following close behind.

As for the other pair, while nobody noticed but Ilia in the form of a passing glance, Sienna and Ghira hadn't moved from their positions, both simply staring at each with different expressions relating to the situation.

The latter had a hard, stony set expression, with narrowed eyes and a tight mouth, his hands tightening into fists with each adoration the other Faunus sang in Adam's praise. His face becoming visibly more tense with each one.

Clearly, he hadn't moved on his position and was growing worried over the amount of positive attention his ward was getting. Something that was causing him understandable worry as, despite the corpse laying right next to them, nobody seemed to be paying it much mind or care, preferring to just let him rot.

Sienna meanwhile had her arms folded confidently, an "I told you so" look in her eyes as she smirked up at the high leader. Along with something else, something darker.

---

Later that night.

"Yeah, I'm gonna hit the sack!" Adam called over his shoulder, excusing himself from the celebration as he made his way toward his tent.

In the wake of the fight, despite Ghira's warning, his team was holding a party for the righteous justice he had delivered upon the humans who had attacked them. Complete with hunted game (meat) and whatever drinks they could spare, resulting in a fairly festive atmosphere that was still quite enough to not attract Grimm.

Despite this, Adam still felt like he had had his fill of the celebration. Much as he liked the attention, he knew at the end of the day, he had a job to do. And he intended to do it!

Making his way towards the tents, Adam came to a sudden stop as he spotted a certain female Faunus leaning against the trucks, arms crossed a small smirk on her face waiting for him.

"Hey, Adam." Sienna said as the Faunus approached, unfolding her arms and walking over to meet him. "What's the matter? The party is for you. Don't tell me you're going all shy, are you?"

Laughing at the joke, Adam calmly shifted his weight, entering into an easy stance as he came to a stop, his hands shoved into his pockets as he addressed his superior.

"No. Just getting an early start on my sleep. We're leaving pretty early tomorrow, right? Figured I should be well rested for the trip ahead." He explained calmly. "But if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here? Didn't Ghira want you and Amber in his tent to go over some plans or something? Why are you waiting all the way over here waiting for me when you're supposed to be in a meeting?"

Smiling, Sienna walked past Adam, shooting him a cheeky grin as she did, allowing her to circle him in a wide berth, her air of confidence radiating from her with each step.

"Ghira can wait, you're more important." She said dismissively. "Wanted to check on how you're holding up after today's…excitement? I know what you had couldn't have been easy. Are you-?"

"I'm fine, great actually!" Adam replied quickly, practically jumping up as he turned to face Sienna, a smile clear on his face. "I will admit, at first I was a bit…confused, but after everyone gave me all their support, I know I did the right thing. Self defense and all that. And while some of the guys definitely didn't approve of what happened even they understand this was the best outcome. I'll just make sure to keep my semblance under better control next time. You know, just fracture a few ribs instead of turning them inside out."

Smiling at this, Sienna walked over to Adam, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Well, no matter what anyone says, I want you to know I think you did the right thing." She said, running her hand across his shoulders as she continued to circle him. "I know how some people have a…black and white picture of morality, but they generally haven't seen real strife or conflicts. They don't know what it's like to fight on the front line or fight in a life or death battle, what's it like to have others live on the line based on your decisions, they just don't, so don't let them get you down. What you did today wasn't just a good thing, it was heroic. And if you want my complete opinion, the first step towards what needs to be done."

Sliding her hand off his shoulders, Sienna turned to face Adam, her expression now serious.

"Your actions today have shifted morale in the White Fang like nothing I've ever seen. Right now, people are more hopeful than they have been in nearly ten years. All because of what you did. You didn't let politics or outdated morality stop you from doing what's right. And that is the thing our people need to see, what they need in a leader."

Immediately, Adam felt his stomach drop as his heart stopped, his eyes going wide behind his mask as these eerily familiar words poured from Sienna's mouth, sounding more and more uncontrollably similar to another large cat Faunus from their organization.

"The Faunus need a new head at the helm, someone who has the strength to do enough to what's needed, to unify our people. And with the foundation of our own Faunus nation, there's the perfect chance for someone to step up and take that crown. And while I'm sure Ghira's name will be thrown into the ring, it's becoming more and more clear that that person most suitable isn't him or even myself." Looking Adam right in the eyes, Sienna took a step forward, extending her hand towards him, palm up.

"That person should be you." She said sincerely. "You have the respect of every Faunus everywhere, even if they haven't met you or joined the White Fang, they look to you as a beacon of hope for our kind. With you leading the new kingdom of Menagerie, Faunus will flock from every corner of Remnant to pledge their loyalty to the king of the desert island, giving us not only the population needed for recognition, but also taking the major labor force from Mistral and Atlas, robbing the two most kingdoms that constantly exploit our kind."

Taking another step forward, Sienna maintained eye contact as she brought her open hand closer.

"Think about how many people would join our cause from your name alone. Hundreds, if not thousands leaving their bondage and coming together to push back against the humans in the other kingdoms in a way they couldn't ignore. And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Taking another step, Sienna was now only a few inches away from the redhead, hand still outstretched. "Together, we could colonize the other islands surrounding Menagerie, then move into the mainland on the unclaimed land bordering Mistral and Vale, making it even easier for Faunus to escape their master's and come join us. And from there, with all of us united under one banner, one ruler, the skies the limit on what we could make this world into."

Coming to a stop before Adam, Sienna stared up at the younger man, her eyes burning with fierce passion, practically screaming her determination on achieving her dream. To her, this was it, the perfect solution to all the Faunus problems. All lied out right plain and bare to the redhead. All he needed to do was agree, and this long war of oppression would finally start to end.

Unfortunately, Adam wasn't quite so sure.

"What about Ghira?" He asked, taking a step back. "What about Blake? Kali? You know they're not gonna approve of this. What do you plan to do with them once they start speaking out against this?"

Caught somewhat off guard by Adam's argument, Sienna blinked once before recomposing herself. Her gaze still strong, but now holding different emotions.

"Well, to address each one individually, I don't think you need to worry about Blake." She said, lowering her hand. "Ever since you left for Beacon, she's been swinging more to my side than her father's. I suspect once we're ready for this announcement, she'll have fully embraced, if not a little apprehensive about, our understanding that peaceful, nonviolent protests aren't enough. A good thing too, if you ask me. Proves she's got a good head on her shoulders, not like one of those brain dead idiots who let themselves be used by a human."

"You mean Chesher." Adam stated, his mind immediately going back to the rogue White Fang who had tried to kill the Schnee brat. "She said the same thing you know, wanted me to take over the White Fang. All while believing that Howard actually supported our cause. And we all know how well that turned out."

Sighing, Sienna turned away, folding her arms as she turned her gaze to the ground.

"Chesher was a lot of things, bright wasn't one of them." She admitted in a dry tone. "She always was too impatient, too prone to take matters into her own hands. When she first approached me with the idea of working with the shipping king, I thought she had been duped. Well, I shouldn't really speak I'll of the dead. He duped both me and Ghira right up till the end."

Nodding, Adam felt his gaze fall to the floor, a bit of shame creeping up to him.

Despite the fact he had first met the man after he had flipped his car, Adam had always thought pretty well of the old man, his constant, generous donations to the White Fang and other Faunus rights organizations made him a staple in their culture. A prime example of a human doing everything in his power to help them get the freedom they deserve.

The loss of that trust had hurt more than the loss of his funding, resulting in several Faunus adopting the redirect that all humans were untrustworthy. Something that had driven a wedge between policymakers and every Faunus' rights organization from here to Mistral.

Now, more and more Faunus were turning to violence to get there message across, something not only resulted in more Faunus being jailed and their organizations being forcefully shut down, but wasn't even being covered by the news as they were too busy covering the sudden spike in attacks against Atlesian refugees and the like, which was apparently more important than Faunus losing more and more rights.

A sigh drew Adam's gaze up, snapping him out of his thoughts as he found Sienna's gaze back on him, her voice tired and somber as she spoke.

"Look, I don't agree or approve of what Chesher did. But I do see the reasoning behind it and what led her to take such drastic measures. Like it or not, Ghira's peaceful protests don't work. Company CEOs and corporate big wigs have made it their policy to just ignore the cries until the backlash dies out. And with the way people are, they lose interest quickly once something's out of the public eye, moving on to the next big thing to get outraged about. I wish it wasn't so, but at the end of the day, we need to change tactics, find solutions that make it clear we will not be ignored. Ghira doesn't understand that, and so, more and more Faunus get fed up with waiting and take things into their own hands. If something isn't done soon, the kingdoms will have enough evidence to officially arrest anyone who even begins to try and create a Faunus led organization. Time is of the essence, and we can't wait for Ghira."

Locking eyes with the redhead, Sienna once again offered her hand towards the boy, who this time didn't back away as her words filled his head.

"I'm not asking you to do this alone." The tigress said gently. "This won't be happening right away, and I'll be happy to run things in the background until you're ready. But our people need someone to lead them. And you have what it takes to do that. I'm not asking you to abandon Ghira and his family or anything, I'm just asking you to step up and become the person I know you can be. The person we need you to be."

Silence fell as Sienna finished speaking, her hand hanging in the air between them, eyes glued onto one another as Adam thought over her words.

It was bazaar, crazy even. Here he was, an eighteen year old student, being offered the chance of a lifetime, to be the first ruler of a brand new kingdom. One made of Faunus, for Faunus. No longer bound by the wills of humans who had tortured his mind for as long as he could remember. A chance to finally see true freedom!

Slowly, Adam reached out, hand opened ready to take Sienna's. Sure, he understood that to do something as ambitious as create their own Faunus nation would be incredibly difficult, with plenty of pushback from humans who profited off Faunus labor, but facing that was better than chasing their tail in circles trying to make policymakers see their plight.

As his hand neared the older woman's, Adam's mind, still jumbled with all kinds of different emotions and uncertainty, finally felt a wave of calm washing over it. As if he had seen a way forward out of the haze and into the light, forming a true change at tasting freedom from human oppression, for both him and his people.

All they had to do was-.

"Sienna!"

The loud, sudden, stern voice broke through their conversation, making the two jump apart, turning to see Ghira angrily making his way over toward them, Amber and Eric (who was no longer in his armor and wearing a bulky green t-shirt with a poorly drawn skull on it.) flanking him on either side, both making a point to stay out of his way as the angry Faunus descended upon them.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "I told you to come to my tent for a meeting thirty minutes ago. Where were you and what was so important that you decided to blow off a security mission over the safety of our client who was attacked this very morning?" Ghira's words weren't loud, but they still held his raw frustration over his partner's actions once again undermining not only his authority, but also his message. Clearly, something that was pushing him to his tipping point.

But despite this, Sienna showed the same nonchalantness she had shown whenever the high leader had gotten angry at her.

"Oh! Was that tonight?" She said, not even bothering to put any effort into her performance. "Sorry, I must have lost track of time while dealing with…how did you put it again? A misguided purpose?"

Bristling at the comment, Ghira's eyes narrowed to slit as he stared at her, hands tightening into fists.

"Sienna." He warned, drawing a long, annoyed sigh from the woman.

"Oh chill out Ghira. I was just checking on Adam to make sure he was okay after today. Don't get your pants in a twist." Sienna replied, rolling her eyes at the man, earning her a hard glare. "Fine, I'm coming, I'm coming. Geez, no need to bring out the angry eyes. You know, ever since the war ended, you've really shoved that stick too far up your ass. Seriously, it's gonna come out of your nose soon if you're not careful."

Ignoring her taunt, Ghira turned and began walking back toward his tent, Amber following a safe distance between.

As for Sienna, she too walked a bit in that direction, only to stop after a few steps, turning back to face Adam looking over her shoulder.

"There's no rush. Think about the offer." She called back to him. "Like I said, I'll be there every step of the way. As will everyone else. So, you know, no pressure. Do what you think is right."

Seeing the boy nod at her words, Sienna turned to face back forward and followed after the other two leaders, a small swagger in her step as she went. Leaving Adam to watch them walk back into the heart of the camp, disappearing into Ghira's tent, the flap falling shut leaving them completely out of even a four eared Faunus ear shot.

A moment of silence followed, then the green knight turned to his partner, raising an eyebrow at him as he rested a hand on his hip.

"So, what were you two talking about?"

---

"Wow. That's a lot."

Adam laughed softly at his partner's massive understatement. The two were resting on a couple fallen logs next to their campsite, well out of ear shot of anyone else there. Not that they had to worry much as apparently, Cinder, (because of course she had.) had decided to start an anything goes arm wrestling tournament to prove she was the best, because why not?

Still, judging by the laughter in the distance, it seemed everyone was enjoying it.

"Yeah, you can definitely say that." Adam replied as he leaned back, looking up at the shattered moon that had stars glistening all around. "I mean, another kingdom hasn't been founded since Atlas about a hundred years ago. And technically they just changed their name."

Beside him, the Faunus felt Eric shift, the young man crossing his legs as he too leaned back, looking up at the sky.

Eric was a pretty tall, muscular guy, so even without his armor, he was still the bulkiest of team AACE. Being only about half an inch shorter than Adam, the tallest. This would make most people think he was the most intimidating to approach of the team. However, thanks to his laidback attitude and the big, goofy grin he always seemed to wear, the opposite was actually true, being the easiest to approach with Cinder, the second shortest being the hardest. (Shocking.)

But ever since Music Fest, the knight's gentle appearance had changed,

Stealing a glance at his partner, Adam's eyes immediately dropped to the loose fitting shirt that hung openly around his neck, eyes immediately flicking to the scars that had covered his body.

The burn on Eric's chest had left a very noticeable divot, forming an ugly scar that nobody could miss. The snaking up to his shoulder which had a large, metal patch over it, one that had been added on as the doctors had needed to remove the bone and skin as the erosion had gotten in too deep, giving the young man a quiet literal titanium shoulder. And while the Knight's neck was still covered by the protective collar, Adam still remembered the exact pattern of the wound that had spun itself so deep into his partner.

"Does it hurt?" The words tumbled out of the Faunus mouth before he could stop them, the boy quickly tracing the area of his own chest up his shoulder when the green haired boy looked over at him confused. "Does it hurt? You know, after the surgery. I mean, we all got kicked around during that mission but only you had to get…what was it? Three surgeries?"

Laughing at this, Eric turned toward his partner, a smile on his face.

"Oh this? Naw, I'm fine." He joked, waving it off. "I mean sure, my neck does get kinda stiff, but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, what's a couple of surgeries for a badass scar that-?"

"Eric."

The knight broke off at the Faunus hard, set tone, his lighthearted smile shifting off his face for a second before it was replaced with a much more honest, gentler one.

"I'm fine, really." He said in a tone that carried none of his normal goofy persona. "I appreciate the concern, I really do. But trust me when I say I don't regret what I did for even a second."

Leaning back, Eric slowly reached up, gripping his metal shoulder, his face growing tight and rigid as he stared blankly in front of him.

"Don't get me wrong, I wish it didn't happen. I don't want to be made entirely out of mechanical bits, that sounds terrible. But I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to become a huntsman. That this was a possibility, so I have to take full responsibility for anything that happens to me. It's the least I could do."

Perking up at this, Adam fixed his partner with a steady, curious gaze, studying his face as he did so. Eric was a pretty private person, rarely talking about himself. And as a result, despite being his partner for a few months now, the redheaded Faunus really didn't know that much about the knight's personal life.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why did you choose to be a huntsman?" Adam asked, shifting forward slightly in his seat. "You told me about how you used to try to take what you thought was yours and that ended…poorly to say the least. But I would have thought that because of that, you wouldn't want the life of self sacrifice. Maybe even choose the path of revenge."

At this, Eric looked over at his partner, eyes wide in surprise for a few seconds before he relaxed, face shifting to his more calm expression.

"Sure." He replied, sitting up straighter, a smile spreading across his face. "I don't mind at all. Honestly, it's a far question."

Reaching behind him, Eric picked up his shield, setting it down on his lap to display the symbol on the front, a tree with two axes crossing in front.

"As I mentioned before, my father was a knight who switched sides, so I was raised with a strong sense of pride that is common within high ranking members of Atlas society. However, after I was chased from my home, I almost did abandon it."

Passing the shield to Adam, the Faunus took the large weapon and picked it up in his hands, examining the crest on the metal. It didn't line up with any family coat of arms he recognized, meaning it wasn't Eric's family's seal. Though that did little to help explain what it was.

"My time wandering the world was probably the darkest point in my life. As you observed, I did think about abandoning my pride and my father's teachings, choosing instead to look after myself and step on anyone else for a chance to get ahead. Had I been left alone I probably would have. Luckily for me, I met someone who not only saved me from abandoning my father's teachings, but also saved my very life in every way possible."

Looking up, Adam caught a small smirk crossing his partner's face. One that was practically designed to piss people off.

"What?" The Faunus asked, drawing a laugh from the dark haired boy, making the redhead even more confused. What was Eric on about?

After a couple seconds, the knight refocused, his attention returning to his partner after a quick glance over his shoulder, eyes slipping across the campsite making sure nobody else was in ear shot before continuing.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way or tell Cinder, but when I was at my lowest point, surrounded by Grimm and certain I was going to die. I got saved by someone who, much like yourself, had dedicated their life to the unification between two peoples. Only in her case, she wanted to see peace between Atlas and Vale. And while you are closer to achieving your goal than she is, I have to say, regardless of what the media says, I'm pretty sure she's the greatest star and brightest mind of our generation. Again, no offense, but she could probably take our entire team down by herself in an all out fight four vs one without breaking a sweat. I'm sure of it in fact."

At this Adam raised an eyebrow, his pride taking offense over the blunt statement. Someone from their generation who could take the entire team down easily? That was ridiculous. Not even the fourth years could do that, and he and Cinder were the best in their class with only Fang really competing. There was no way anyone could do something like that except for-.

"!"

Smirking at his expression as he realized who he was talking about, Eric turned back around, taking his shield and setting it in his lap, grinning ear to ear as he spoke once again, this time going slower to ensure Adam's shocked brain could keep up.

"Hit the nail on the head." He said with a hint of smugness. "That's right, I got saved by none other than the Sword Saint of the Snow. Or more commonly called by the folks of Vale, the White Sword Princess of Atlas, Sophie Geldhart."

Sophie Geldhart, also known as the White Sword Princess of Atlas, was a famous woman who had made a name for herself during the war. Despite being just a few years older then Adam, she was already called the brightest star of the northern kingdom as, during the war, she had single handedly held off an invasion force from Vale that had tried to take the coastline of the harbor city of Steelpeak, a city that had been used as the main fortress for housing all naval affairs for the monarchy after the southern coasts had fallen.

This act was not only impressive as it was a feat unheard of before, but had boosted her name to that of infamy as at the time, she had only been ten years old! Which of the records, not even Howard could do in his fifties.

This act had catapulted the young huntress into her military career, handing Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo defeat after defeat, even taking down the likes of Adelaide and even Howard himself repeatedly, both in tactical prowess and in one on one combat. Hell, she had even personally clashed with General Arc and fought one on one with the greatest member of the Starless Brigade, Tyrian Callows, both coming out with minimal injuries with many calling it a draw. Though that was debatable as the battle had only lasted about three minutes.

Regardless, thanks to her many acts, the people of the monarchy had looked to her as the future for their kind, a new hope as their defeat became more and more realistic with each passing defeat. As such, in order to inspire their forces, the king had made the decision to declare a betrothal between Sophie and prince Shiro, effectively submitting her as second in command below the royal family itself, ensuring that if their line ended, they would still have a way to continue fighting and a clement to the throne.

However, she had disappeared after the war, with both sides looking desperately for her, only for her to reappear right at the gates of Vale itself, offering herself unarmed and requesting an audience with Professor Ozpin so she could formally surrender to Vale. Something that when granted, allowed her to completely end the war and any hope the monarchy had of trying to continue the fight. After that, she had just faded away, making no appearance or public speeches, simply vanishing off the face of Remnant.

"You know the White Princess!?" Adam cried, rounding on his partner, eyes wide. "Why didn't you say anything before now! Where is she?! How do you know her?! And what is-!? Mph!"

Immediately Eric shot forward, clamping his hand over Adam's mouth as he shushed his partner as he looked back towards the camp, trying to see if anyone noticed his outburst.

"Shush! Not so loud!" Eric hissed, leaning back removing his hand from his partner's mouth. "Not everyone needs to know that I met the biggest boom the monarchy had in a decade! In fact, I'd prefer if people didn't know. Believe it or not, we are kinda close and she tends to like her privacy."

Adam, nearly choking on the last little tidbit Eric had let slip, bit back another shout of surprise as his jaw hung open limply, the Faunus staring at the knight, waiting for him to elaborate exactly on these outrageous claims.

After a few seconds, Eric was able to confirm that nobody had noticed Adam's outburst, or if they had, they weren't investigating, letting the green knight let out a sigh of relief as he slumped back down onto his seat, leaning back with a relieved look before turning back to his partner and continuing his story.

"Yeah, long story short, she along with a few other refugees were traveling through Vale seeking asylum. But upon realizing that anyone who applied through the kingdom's system were sent back to Atlas, they decided to head east, into the mountains where they set up just outside the kingdom's borders, only sending scouting parties back into the kingdom to get food and supplies from the main cities or smaller towns. It was on one of these trips that Sophie found and saved me, bringing me back with her to the place that would eventually become Gaius."

Pausing here, Eric glanced over at his partner to make sure he was still following, the redhead still struggling to process that his partner was friends with the most infamous (living.) person from the Atlas Monarchy, his slow brain only managed to spit out some garbled questions as he barely took in the new information.

"I thought Gaius was inside the kingdom's borders." He said dumbly, still not fully caught up on the conversation. "Wasn't it gifted to Atlas refugees as a way to appease those who remained loyal to the crown after the war ended? How did it officially end up part of the kingdom if refugees settled there first?"

Nodding at this, Eric picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt, making a diagram as he began explaining.

"The release of that territory was part of a deal Sophie made with Professor Ozpin, that she would surrender on behalf of the monarchy in exchange for it, as well as shipments of food and other supplies to be delivered monthly. Just enough to keep us afloat. On top of that, they would send shipments of dust back as a way to appease the other counsel members. Which looking back on it now is a really good deal. Unfortunately, back when it was first signed, I didn't see it that way."

Dropping the stick onto the ground, Eric leaned back up, looking over at Adam as he let out a soft chuckle.

"See, I was still angry at Vale, many times I thought about becoming strong and taking back what I thought I was owed. Killing other people's parents to make things even. But then one day, after my axe had broken from training to hard, Sophie approached me. And said something I'll never forget."

Turning back up to the sky, Eric slowly reached up, cupping his cheek with his hand as an uncharacteristically soft smile spread across his face, eyes becoming glazed as he no longer paid much attention to Adam.

"She said, if revenge is justice, then what's the point of justice at all? For all we'd ever do is trade lives forever." He quoted, chuckling quietly. "It's so simple honestly. I just couldn't see it. See, there are no real rules in the world, laws exist by the ruling class and are edited based on the era, what is illegal now might be legal one day. As such, we cannot allow the world to ever reach a point where revenge is viewed as justice. And our actions are what shape the world we live in."

Closing his eyes, Eric pressed harder against his own cheek, his own smile growing as he did so.

"After she said that, she took my axe and gave me a shield, telling me to give her way of thinking a try until she fixed my weapon. And while I will admit, I was reluctant at first. After a certain event, I realized she was right."

Lowering his hand, Eric turned towards Adam, his face hardening alone with his voice, carrying the seriousness of the situation.

"Four years ago, some members of the Eternal Dynasty came to Gaius looking to recruit loyalists to their cause. As our elected leader, Sophie went out to confront them alone as there were only two of them." As he spoke, a dark look overtaking his eyes. "See, our settlement has two entrances. One facing the mountain range where we hunt and mine, the other facing the train station, where we pick up supplies every month. And back then, we didn't have the defenses to protect them both. As such, when the inevitable fight broke out, Sophie was all by herself, and while she drove them off, she had sustained a bad injury, rendering her unable to move for a month."

Shaking slightly, the green knight tightened his hands into fists, his eyes filled with frustration and hurt as he continued, his voice reflecting his more emotional state.

"Back then, I actually looked up to those guys. Thinking they were like cool revolutionaries who fought against a corrupt government that aimed to suppress us. But on that day, when I went to go see the fight only to instead see my friend limping back to camp, covered in blood, I saw them for what they really were, a bunch of power hungry maniacs who can't accept change. And so, that night, when I sat outside the operating room, I put down my axe for good, swearing that from that day forward, next time she needed me, I would be there, standing at her side ready to protect her as her equal! And when the time finally came, I used all the money I had saved and the scholarship I had earned, and went to Beacon to train and become strong, so that when those freaks returned, I could stand side by side with her, and chase them off, protecting her as she protected everyone else. That is my dream."

Standing up, Eric turned away as he brushed off his the seat of his pants, taking a deliberately long time to finish upon which he turned back to Adam, extending his fist towards the Faunus, a big goofy grin on his face once again, showing no signs of the seriousness he had less than a minute ago.

"But I think I've run my mouth enough for today." He said cheerfully. "Either way, thanks to her, I know how difficult being a leader is and I know it's not a job I ever want. But you know what, once Menagerie becomes its own kingdom and you take the helm, that means I'll have a leader as a friend in both a snowy mountain and a tropical island. So, I'll make sure to keep in touch! Wouldn't want to miss the perks of having a friend like that, now would I."

Laughing at his joke, Eric opened his mouth to add more, but stopped shocked to find Adam on his feet, the same goofy smile on his face as well as he met his partner in the eyes, a sincere look on his face that was matched by his voice.

"Always know how to lighten the mood, don't you?" He asked, grinning as he held up his own fist. "That ability to make people smile even during the hard times, that's something invaluable in our world. So you just keep being you, alright. No matter what anyone says, because whether you realize it or not, you're already a way stronger person than me. And someone I'd be honored to have at my side for as long as you want."

Reaching out to meet him halfway, Adam gave Eric the purest, most honest smile he had ever shown, one that made his face shimmer in the moonlight.

"No matter what comes in our future, I want you to know that I'll always be your partner and your friend. We may go our separate ways after graduation, but know that you'll always be welcome at the kingdom Menagerie no matter what. I couldn't have asked for a better partner than you,

Eric stared at Adam for a second, then his own sincere smile spread across his face, his own arm extending to meet Adam's in a light fist bump.

"Right. Thanks." He said with a soft chuckle, that same smile not leaving his face. "I'm glad I ended up with you as my partner too. It was…and will be an honor to fight by your side. Both out now, and in the future to come."

Nodding, the two boys turned, heading back into camp enjoying each other's company as they made preparations for the next day, and beyond.

---

"Absolutely not! We're supposed to help Faunus/human relationships! Not hurt them! I won't allow such a crass message to come out of my right hand!"

"Oh please, don't you start with that wasn't necessary crap again! We were under attack! Using lethal force was more than allowed under both law and popular opinion!"

Amber bit back a sigh as she stood in the leader's tent, struggling to keep her temper under control as she listened to the two adults argue back and forth, again.

After finally getting everything ready for the meeting, they had begun to discuss their plans for traveling tomorrow, which had been fairly productive. As well as ration planning as they had brought a bit of extra incase of an emergency.

However, the shit had hit the fan when they had begun trying to figure out what to do about the events that had transpired today when Harper and his gang had attacked them as while they were within their rights to use lethal force under those circumstances, the morality of what had happened was a more icky matter.

"I'm not authorizing a smear campaign against BlackJack! Mocking and belittling the dead is a low blow and not what the White Fang is supposed to be about! We're supposed to support cohabitation with humans, not separation. That's something you should know considering you're one of the founding members, Sienna!" Ghira's bark made the cat-like woman roll her eyes, shifting her weight to her other foot as she folded her arms, fixing the high leader with a hard glare.

"It's not a smear campaign if it's the truth." She countered. "You saw how they treated Faunus, how they acted around us. We're just telling things how it is. A couple of low life, dick sucking, hillbillies attacked us, we fought back. And considering that they stole all our aromatic weapons, we're incredibly lucky the only one who died was some useless loser who wasn't going to achieve anything in his life."

Scowling at her dismissive position, Ghira walked over to the table in the center of the room, positioning himself so it rested between himself and his right hand.

"That's not the point." He hissed, hair raising slightly in frustration. "First, someone died on our watch, that's the important bit. Second, we don't know if they stole them or not. We searched the town top to bottom with help from local law enforcement and found nothing. Even just now when they attacked us, we have no evidence that they were the ones behind it! And call me crazy, but I don't think a couple of kids who think they could attack a caravan with huntsmen are bright enough to not use the military grade weaponry they had stolen."

"Oh please, you know as well as I do that those cops weren't even trying." Sienna shot back, slamming her hand on the table. "They were barely even listening when we explained the situation and sent a single guy to help us. If that doesn't scream we don't care, I don't know what does. And as far as using our own armory against us, ever since Mistral's underground stopped selling to Vale, the market for guns and ammunitions is through the roof. They probably arranged a buyer and didn't want to risk damaging the goods. And that's assuming they even were able to figure out how to use them."

As Ghira fired back, Amber leaned forward, resting her head in her hands as she rocked herself side to side slowly, completely invisible to the arguing adults as she fought against the waves of stress and anxiety that was starting to build in her stomach, squeezing her intestines making her feel ill. Why were such famous people always so hard to deal with?

"It's a forest! There's a lot of places to hide things! Besides, as I said, we don't know for sure who stole the weapons. We need proof before making any accusations. We can't just point the finger at the whole town and expect people to take us seriously."

"Of course we can." Sienna countered immediately, waving away his frustration. "Politicians do it all the time. We just need a bit of clever wording, throw a couple misleading statements out, spread a false rumor or two and boom. Suddenly we have a credible story that paints an interesting picture of the people. Even if there are a couple contradictions, as long as the main story's good, I expect people to continue buying it for a long time come. And before you start getting all moral on me, unlike the politicians, we're actually telling the truth."

"Except we aren't!" Ghira snapped, rounding on the woman. "You believe that the means justify the ends is a dangerously toxic reduction. What happens when things are taken to the next extreme? What happens when we burning businesses for refusing to serve us? What happens when our peaceful protests are replaced with organized attacks? What happens then, hmm? When politicians and CEOs can outlaw any protest citing fear of violence? Shutting us down for good. At that point we lose any hope of gaining equality at all! And even if by some miracle it did bring an end to our persecution, what will we tell our grandchildren when they ask us how we won our freedom?"

"That we say we fought long and hard and that we won." Sienna answered instantly, not missing a beat. "The way I see it, this is the perfect opportunity to go on the offensive. Let the entire world know this is the treatment we've suffered at the hands of humanity for as long as anyone can remember. Show them all that we are not going to stand for it any longer and that we're not afraid to show them who the real top dogs are."

Throwing his hands into the air, Ghira let out an exasperated groan, pacing back and forth behind the table that separated them.

"Not this stupid superior race theory again. I've told you a hundred times that this is not something I'm going to entertain." He cried. "Humans and Faunus have slightly different biological, yes. Nobody is arguing that. But just because we have our own strengths and weaknesses doesn't make one better than the other. You can't just base your argument on some kind of survival of the fittest idea that has long since been debunk-."

"Why not." Sienna cut in with a shrug. "Faunus are faster, stronger, have better senses, and near perfect vision in the dark. We have long since proven we can survive in difficult terrain humans could only dream of. Why can't I base my argument of factual-?"

"Shut up."

Immediately both Faunus broke off mid argument, turning in shock to face the speaker as she slowly looked up, her angry gaze visible from between her lowering fingers.

"Both of you, just shut up!" She screamed raising to her feet, slamming her hand onto the table as the two adults were stunned into silence at the outburst from the normally quiet, mellow girl. "All you two are talking about is nothing! Arguing about nothing! Someone just died today and you're treating him like he's a bad PR incident! Have you two both so completely lost the plot that you can't even see a person as a person anymore?! You're treating him like all his' another conflict between humans and Faunus!"

Blinking in surprise, Ghira and Sienna exchanged a glance, unsure of how to respond before turning back to the girl, the latter opening her mouth to give a reply.

"What happened was unfortunate, I'm not going to argue. But he attacked us, as such we had full authorization to use lethal force to defend-."

"You still don't get it. He is dead!" Amber cut in, rubbing her temples in exasperation as she fought back the urge to scream. How could such great leaders not see the issue here?!

"I know he attacked us, I know we had a right to use lethal force. But that doesn't matter! Lawful or not, someone was killed today. And you haven't even checked on the one responsible! Can't you see how important this time is for Adam?!"

Exchanging a look once again, Amber found herself panting from exertion as she looked between the two Faunus, her face red as her chest quickly rose and fell with each painful breath.

"I checked-."

Amber, not even wanting to hear about the half hearted attempt from the tigress, interrupted her by slamming her clenched fist onto the table, making a loud bang silencing her in a beat of her racing heart.

"You don't get it." She breathed out, face becoming dark as she spoke. "Killing someone isn't something programmed into our psyche. It's not a part of us we were made to deal with." Her voice, barely able to be heard, was a strained hiss as the people who were supposed to be looking after Adam displayed their complete lack of understanding.

"The time after someone takes their first life is vital to their mental health. They need support, love. To be told what they did was wrong but sometimes necessary. Or at least an empty promise that they won't ever be in that situation again. Anything like that!" She snapped, her hand moving up to clutch her broach, fingers tightening around Whinny's gift as she felt the metal dig into her hand, leaving traces of the blood that still stained her across the its metal surface, her breath becoming shaky with her hands as she forced herself to stay calm.

"I get that your work is important. But you need to look after your own first. A dream that sacrifices others isn't a dream at all, it's a nightmare waiting in the wings." She said, speaking with her raw emotions. "Right now, Adam needs support, needs comfort. I know the others are treating him like a hero, but if we still need to check on him, make sure he's okay. How someone perceived their first act of killing is vital to how they'll move forward with their life. And like it or not, that time is now for Adam."

Walking forward, Amber locked eyes with the two Faunus, silently confronting them as she came to a stop a few feet away, glaring daggers at the two as she remained still, not moving outside of a couple shakes of her arm as she tightly squeezed her broach.

"I know it's it ideal, but killing someone rarely is." She said in a shockingly soft voice, her gaze shifting from Sienna to Ghira. "Right now, we can shape how he proceeds because I promise you, if left alone to his own devices, there are only so many ways anyone would take. None of them good."

Taking one last step forward, Amber slowly lowered her hand, letting it rest right above her heart as she fixed the two adults with a firm gaze. With no trace of hesitation or fear in her eyes or her actions.

"So, let's try to shift him away from those options. Because if we don't, anything he does from here will be our fault as much as his."

---

So, that's to foreboding at all. Definitely not an indicator of where Adam's arch is taking him. No idea what you're talking about!

In all seriousness though, time for a real talk. Racism is complex.

Now, not to dive into real world issues, but one thing I wanted to show in this arc that I failed miserably at is how no matter which way you swing on the subject, extremism isn't helpful.

Both Sienna and Ghira are on the far side of their ideological. With neither giving an inch. As such, nothing is getting done and hostility and internal fighting is driving the White Fang apart. And now, Adam is paying the price.

And I think I'll leave you with that ominous thought before I spoil anything down the line. I hope you enjoyed. Hope to see you all again next time, until then, here's the address for the Dust Queen trailer and I'll be placing out. Bye!

watch?v=3o1KBDxkn-U