RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monty Oum.
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RWBY: Destiny of Remnant
Chapter 29: Animals
It had been over a week since Beacon had been retaken by the Hunters of Remnant, while many had went back to their villages and homes, to the next mission, or to just wander the world looking for a chance to do good some, including all seventeen members of Team Beacon stayed behind to help protect the dozens of construction workers who had arrived to rebuild the school and restore it to magnificence. Ironwood and Admiral Nemo had both left as well, as the Admiral needed to be out at sea protecting the various islands and sea towns from the aquatic Grimm, as well as dealing with pirates, while General Ironwood returned to Atlas' headquarters, leaving Ozpin and his staff in charge of Winter and the remaining Atlas forces and the Hunters who stayed behind.
Currently Teams RWBY and CFVY were on guard duty, protecting the workers who were fixing up the cafeteria, which was no easy task after all it had endured. Blake sat on a bench, reading from a book as she glanced up to see several ships hovering around the top of Beacon tower, which had many men and women atop it, working hard to rebuild it and thanks to her ears Blake could hear the tools hard at work, even from so high up.
It would take a while but it would be worth it.
She looked over to see Ruby dashing off towards the school building where Glynda and Qrow were overseeing the reconstruction as well as protecting the workers from any Grimm stragglers. She wondered what her leader was running off to them for but decided she'd just ask later.
The Cat Faunus looked over to see Yatsuhashi and Yang helping the workers lift up a heavy piece of stone and lift it into a hole in the wall, once it was inside the workers quickly began to seal it in, making it seamlessly blend in with the rest of the wall.
"Thanks kids." A workman said gratefully.
"No biggie." Yang said as she wiped the large amount of sweat from her brow. Blake couldn't help but blush as she stared at her partner, clad in a dark yellow tank-top. She had done the same thing with a shirtless Sun the other day while she watched him spar with Neptune.
Did she just have a thing for hot blonds?
Wait... did she just think of Yang as hot? Well there was no denying the fact that Yang was an incredibly attractive girl...
"Yo Kitty Cat, you okay?" Coco asked, snapping Blake out it.
"Yes, I'm fine Coco, thanks for asking."
She knew the Coco was savvy enough to know what she had been thinking about but luckily the fashionista was good-hearted enough not to joke about it.
Coco gave her a sly look before getting serious. "Yang, Big Y! You two and Kitty Cat are gonna want to come see what Fox found before Ruby gets back with Goodwitch and Qrow." She said.
Yang and Blake exchanged glances before Yatsuhashi asked "What did he find? Another Grimm?"
"No, if it was we wouldn't need help dealing with it. Blake, I think it's safe to say we found one unlucky White Fang soldier." Coco revealed.
Blake's eyes widened and she shot up. "Take me to the body." She said, knowing right away what they had discovered.
Yang stepped forward and put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Blake, are you sure you want to see this?" she asked.
Blake looked at the blonde brawler and simply answered "Yes."
Coco led the trio to a small passageway leading into the rear entrance of the kitchen, which had yet to be dealt with as the portion of the building that had been smashed open by the Goliath was taking precedence.
"They'll be working on it tomorrow so we decided to check it out. Fox looked into one of the spare pantries and found his or her body, nothing but bones, the Grimm sure had a good fight." Coco muttered darkly.
Blake shook her head as she turned around a corner to see Weiss, Velvet, and Fox all hanging back from the small pantry closet where the body no doubt was.
Weiss looked to her teammates, her eyes betraying her horror she felt at the sight. Velvet didn't even try to hide her emotions, as her ears were slumped over and her eyes quivering. Fox stood aside with his hand in his hair.
Everyone on Team Beacon knew about Blake's past with the White Fang, though not the whole story as she had yet to tell anyone, not even Yang or Sun, the full story about her past with them.
"From the looks of it he was left behind after the Fall. He carved a message on the wall." Fox said quietly, getting Blake's attention.
The fact that a White Fang agent had been left behind was not surprising; the things Adam had done, what he had become... it didn't shock her that he'd leave his own soldiers behind. She had heard rumors that some White Fang troops had been left behind in the hurried retreat and most had died trying to escape from the Grimm but to actually stumble across a body was shocking nonetheless. She saw the door could swing open and had marks on the knob, meaning that an older, therefore intelligent Grimm must have opened it up, she took a breathe and looked inside the small room; the items the soldier had used to barricade the door hadn't held at all.
"Blake, don't go in there." Weiss warned her.
Blake ignored the Schnee heiress and peered inside to see a skeleton torn apart. There was nothing left of the flesh or blood, the Grimm had been very thorough. The white and black uniform was torn apart as well, the rifle torn in half and tossed aside, and blood stains all over the floor and walls. The left arm was missing and nowhere in sight, most likely torn off by a Grimm along with the lower right leg, which was also gone.
Whoever he or she
"I feel sorry for them; even if they were with the White Fang they didn't deserve to die." Velvet said quietly.
"This shows the true colors of the Fang, they have neither honor nor courage. That will be Adam's downfall." Yatsuhashi stated.
Blake absentmindedly nodded, knowing that the Elite Guard of the White Fang would object to that rather violently, as she looked to the wall on the right to see a message carved into it.
"If anyone finds this it is too late for me, those damned beasts will have gotten to me and my body is probably going to be devoured. Damn Adam Taurus, he is the one who condemned me to this, he left some of us behind and I've seen my brethren of the White Fang be eaten alive by those monsters. Adam kowtows to that witch, does her bidding because he's afraid of her. He has betrayed us, the White Fang cannot be the pawns of her, we must fight for the rights of all Faunus! Taking this academy was a foolhardy disaster, so many of us died because Adam couldn't be bothered to properly lead us. He was off searching for his traitorous lover because he's an obsessed fool! To whoever discovered this, be you human or Faunus, let it be known that I"
The message ended there, the dagger still embedded in the wall. Apparently the Grimm had made their way through before he or she could name themselves, leaving what was left of the body anonymous.
Had her departure truly changed Adam that much? He had become ruthless before but the knowledge that he had left one of his own soldiers behind was worrying to say the least.
"What about the crew members?"
"What about them?"
Blake shivered at the memory of that day; the apathy in his voice, the revelation of just how little he cared about the lives of humans had made her realize what he had become but then the Fall of Beacon happened and...
She absently placed her hand over her stomach where he had stabbed her.
Yang noticed this and placed a comforting metal hand onto her partner's shoulder. "We'll get him Blake, I promise he'll pay for what he did to us and to people like this Faunus." Yang said.
Blake nodded once again and said "If Professor Goodwitch asks tell her I cannot identify him. I need to go think about this."
"We understand Blake." Velvet said gently as the Faunus walked out of the hallway.
As soon as Weiss was sure Blake was out of earshot, which was hard to ascertain with Blake's superior hearing skills, she looked to Yang.
"You need to talk to her about them." She stated.
"About the White Fang? I've tried, so has Sun, she doesn't like talking about her past or about him." She said, spitting the last word venomously.
"You have to try harder, both of you. Look, once we're off duty you can go get Sun and we'll make Blake tell us how she got involved with the Fang." Weiss said, hoping to know more of Blake's shrouded past.
"Are you sure a confrontation is really the proper thing to do?" Velvet asked doubtfully.
"Velvet is right, if Blake wants to keep her past a secret you can't force it out of her, you have to let it come out naturally." Yatsuhashi agreed.
"We deserve to know how she got mixed up with that thug Adam. I'd like to know more about him if we are ever to fight him again." Weiss argued.
Yang nodded, "You're right." She looked at her arm and muttered "I want to know more about the asshole who did this to me."
Just then Ruby, Professor Goodwitch, and several Atlas guards arrived into the hallway. "Children, please leave and return to your duties, we shall deal with the body." Glynda said calmly.
Coco nodded and said "Okay boys and girls let's get out of the way."
Glynda waited as Ruby and Coco led their teams out and once they were gone she walked into the room to examine the body that had been picked clean.
"What do we do Professor?" asked a guard.
"We take it and bury it off of the school's grounds tonight." She answered. She looked to a different guard and said "Stay here and guard it, I don't want anyone disturbing it, even if it was an enemy."
The guard nodded and stayed behind as Glynda and the other guards left the hall. Glynda sighed, rebuilding Beacon was far from an easy task and the fact that they had found a skeleton within one of the buildings made it worse. If she was a superstitious woman, which she wasn't despite everything she had seen in the last year, she would consider this a bad omen.
Later that day as the sun began to set Team Beacon returned to the hotel in Vale where they and many others were staying while Beacon's reconstruction was underway. The Bullhead that would take Team Beacon, as well as a few dozen other Hunters, back to Vale landed and the Hunters who served the nightshift of the guard duty disembarked from the ship.
While RWBY and CFVY had simply been on guard duty Teams JNPR and SSSN had gotten stuck with the task of going with Professor Port and other Hunters into the underground tunnels created by the Colonists to eliminate any Grimm that still remained there. Luckily, thanks to Pyrrha's abilities, they were able to cage two dozen Grimm for observation and so Jaune could learn to use his own Grimm Commander abilities which he hadn't gotten a hold of yet.
All in all they had taken seven Beowolves, five Colonists, four Boarbatusks, two Tarantula Widows, three Creeps, one Beringel, and two King Taijitus, all caged an incapacitated thanks to Pyrrha and with permission from Ozpin and Ironwood she would begin to train Jaune to hone his new skills tomorrow.
"You sure they can hold those things?" Nora asked.
"Of course, I was with the Grimm Keepers so I know what materials they used to contain them, it'll be fine." Pyrrha assured her friend as they walked onto the Bullhead.
"Are you worried about tomorrow Jaune?" Ren asked.
"No, not with Pyrrha there and certainly not with everyone else looking out for me." The blonde knight answered with a smile.
As the ship took off Yang looked over to Sun who nodded, she had told him about their plan earlier and he agreed with them; Blake had been too secretive about Adam and her past and he and the rest of RWBY had decided that they deserved to know the truth.
Some minutes later the ship landed on the recently built landing pad and the various Hunters left the vessel to return to their rooms to get some rest or to spend the rest of the day however they wanted to.
"Hey Sun, we're heading over to the hall to play 'Ringworld', you in?" Neptune asked.
Sun laughed as he knew that his team, himself included, had become rather fond of a video game that was among the collection in the recreation hall that had been set up in a restaurant down the street from the hotel for the Hunters, workers, and guards to enjoy.
"Nah man, I've got something more important to do." Sun said as he gestured over to Blake who was talking to Ruby.
Neptune gave him a nod and said "I understand, it couldn't have been easy seeing that body earlier. Let me know how it goes."
As Sun followed Team RWBY into the hotel's main lobby he could hear his girlfriend talking to her younger leader.
"Listen Blake I know this is really sensitive for you but..." Ruby didn't get to finish before Blake interrupted her.
"You're right Ruby, it is sensitive to me and I'd rather not talk about it."
"Blake, we're worried about you, okay? It's been months since we got back together and you still haven't told us anything about Adam." Sun pointed out.
"And let's face it Blake, we are going to fight him again, it's only a matter of time. When we do fight him we will need to know more about him." Weiss said sternly.
"I... this isn't easy for me. When I left the White Fang, when I left him I made a promise to myself that I was done with them. I'd become a Huntress, something that felt right to me, but if I ever saw the White Fang again I would keep a safe distance. Adam's choices since then have changed that." Blake said darkly, remembering what she had seen the White Fang do at the Fall, how they had caused the Breach, working with Torchwick...
Just how far was Adam willing to go? And how much of it could be blamed on her?
She felt Yang's organic hand grab her shoulder; she turned around to look her partner in the eyes.
"Blake, please tell us. After all we've been through together we deserve to know more about you, haven't we earned that?" Yang pleaded.
Blake sighed and looked down. She knew that deep down they had earned the right to know more about it. They had given her a new family, one that she could trust, they had given her faith in humanity and a new hope for equality for the Faunus race. After all they had done together she knew that maybe it was time to tell them.
She looked to Sun, she could see his admiration for her in his eyes, something that had been absent in Adam's cold, obsessed orbs.
"Okay, I'll tell you all in our room, okay? I'd prefer not to talk about it out in the open." She said.
Sun and the rest of Team RWBY nodded in agreement and with that they stepped into the elevator.
Once they arrived at Team RWBY's room Yang closed the door behind them as Weiss said "Now as I recall you once told us you were practically born into the White Fang."
Blake nodded as she sat down on her bed, and thankfully this room had four beds as opposed to just two, while Sun took a seat on a wooden chair. "The White Fang was founded over a decade before I was born by a friend of my mother's named Claudandus Pirinci..." she stopped briefly at the mention of the her old mentor, she had told them about his capture but had so far kept them in the dark about her contact in the White Fang trying to find him.
"I know you're worried about him, but I'm sure he's alright." Ruby assured the older girl, not too sure herself.
"I can only hope for now. Claudandus created the White Fang with support from several prominent figures from the Four Kingdoms, including Ozpin. It was meant to be a sign that the wars between the two races were over and that equality for all was within reach but you all know how that turned out. My mother, Esther, was once a members but it attracted many Faunus who held bitter grudges against humanity, one of them being a man who would become my father; Kurt Belladonna."
The other four in the room glanced at each other, Blake had rarely, if ever, mentioned her parents and when she did it was only in passing and had ignored any questions about them.
"My dad was a kind man from what I remember but apparently he hid a darker side from me. From what Claudandus told me my father was a White Fang recruitment agent and convinced many to join our cause but eventually he tried to rally the members of the White Fang away from peaceful protests, he felt it made us look weak and didn't get results fast enough and my mother was one of the few who was taken in by his charisma, as were other who felt disinherited by the lack of progress they had been making thus far. They left and formed their own group, got married, and a year later I was born. My parents had become controversial figures at the time; their methods of attracting attention were criticized by many pro-Faunus organizations including the White Fang, which had grown exponentially at that point. However, many agreed with my father, especially as the rumors about the Schnee Company's slave mines began to surface." She looked to Weiss who winced but didn't seem to get angry.
She continued, "I was often out there with them at the protest rallies holding up a sign in my hands and shouting as loud as I could, I can still remember the times when it got violent... the hoses they used when we began throwing things at the guards..." she shook the unpleasant memories away. "One day it got bad, really bad. I was there but I can't remember what really happened. I know someone from the Fang attacked a police officer, stabbing him in the eye and killing him and then a full blown riot began. I lost both my parents in the chaos but before she died my mother managed to get me back to Claudandus at his home..." Blake stopped as tears began to fall from her eyes.
This prompted both Sun and Yang got up simultaneously and bolted over to Blake's bed, both of them putting comforting arms around her.
Ruby looked to Weiss, worry evident in her eyes. Weiss looked at her and shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Ruby sighed as a doubtful thought of maybe this was a bad idea began to creep into her mind.
"Blake, I'm so sorry to make you do this. This was a terrible mistake..." Ruby began before Blake once again cut her off.
"No, I've been keeping all these secrets pent up for too long. I need to talk about them." Blake stated firmly.
Ruby gave Blake a look, asking if she was sure about this which Blake confirmed with a nod.
"My mother died from her wounds within the hour and the White Fang took me in. I learned from their more peaceful methods of protests and negotiating for equality but nearly a year after I joined the Fang took in an orphan who hid his face from everyone else with a burlap bag he wore over his head. I was only seven years old when he came to our headquarters for shelter and for three days he locked himself in the small room he had been given. Claudandus got worried and encouraged me to try and connect with the boy..."
"It was Adam, wasn't it?" Sun guessed.
Blake nodded in confirmation as she began her story of her first official meeting with Adam.
11 Years Ago
The young new arrival walked into the small room the members of the White Fang had given him. It was narrow and the bed was old, but it was much better than the harsh conditions he had been forced to live on the streets of various cities for the past eight months. He had managed to make it to this city via stowing away on boats and trains, it had been an incredibly hard journey but so far it was worth it.
At least everyone was leaving him alone.
As he shut the door behind him he began to take off the bag that covered his face but he was startled to hear a young voice from behind him say "Hello?"
Adam jumped up in fright and quickly yanked the bag back down, even though he knew the intruder had most likely gotten a glimpse of the back of his head by now. He turned to face her and saw that she was the little girl the old Cat Faunus was always keeping around, Blake.
"What the hell do you think you're doing in my room?!" he demanded.
Blake's yellow eyes widened before she quietly said "You shouldn't cuss."
"Cussing? 'Hell' is a pretty small time cuss word, girl, and trust me I know enough about it. Now what are you doing in my room?" he repeated impatiently.
"Well... Claudandus is getting worried about you, he thought that maybe I could get you to come out of your shell, so to speak. He was some scars on your arm so he got worried and wanted me to try and be your friend." Blake offered.
"I'm fine. They gave me a room and they give me food, that's all I need until something better comes along." Adam said bitterly as he approached her. "Now get out."
Blake huffed and said "I'm under orders to get you to talk, I mean he didn't order me Claudandus is just worried about you, a lot of people are talking about you, wondering what's behind that sack you wear on your head."
"You don't want to know and if anyone ever finds out they'll regret it. I'm only here because they're nice enough to help me out, I'm not a fan of the equality crap." He said darkly.
"What do you mean by that? If losing my parents taught me anything it's that violence only makes things worse." Blake said sadly. This, however, managed to get the young man's attention.
He looked at her and asked "You're parents are dead too?"
Blake recoiled from the blunt directness of the question but nodded. "Did you lose yours?" she asked.
"I don't really remember my dad, he died when I was just three years old so my mom had to take care of me." He answered.
"What happened to your mom?" Blake asked.
Adam was dreadfully silent before he whispered "She got sick, they said she was too weak to work..." He stopped himself and said "I don't want to talk about this anymore, okay? Just please leave."
Blake didn't leave, she stepped forward and gently took hold of his hand. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Blake."
"... My name is Adam Taurus." He relented, he now knew that this, admittedly cute, younger girl wasn't going to leave without a fight, something he didn't want.
They sat down on the bed together so Blake could ask him more questions.
"So where do you come from?" she asked.
"My mom said we're from here in Vacuo but I was born in Atlas." He revealed.
Blake's eyes widened, the treatment of Faunus in that kingdom was notoriously poor.
"We were forced to work, after my mom died they shut the place down and that was over a year ago. Ever since then I've been making my way across Remnant to find a good home and this is my best option right now." Adam told her.
"It is, Claudandus says were making progress and I think he's right. In a few years everyone will be equal, especially in places like Vacuo and parts of Mistral." She said optimistically.
Adam snorted, "Equality? That's not enough, not after the wars, not after what they did to... to..." he stopped himself and Blake's ears easily picked up the hints that he was about to cry.
She placed a comforting hand on his and grasped it tightly. "What happened to you? To your family?"
Adam responded by clenching his hands tightly.
"They call us animals, those stupid, evil humans! You think equality is enough, Blake?! You think we can all just get along, forgive and forget?! How can I forget what they did to me?!" he shouted as he ripped off the bag to reveal what he had been hiding.
Blake gasped in horror at what she saw on his forehead. She fell backwards off of the bed in shock.
"There! The mask is off so I hope you're happy! Take a good long look at what those humans did to me! They did this to me because I was trying to stand up for others! I was trying to stop them from beating weak Faunus! This is my punishment!" he ranted as tears of anger and misery now freely flowing from his eyes.
He broke down crying and covered himself with a blanket, hiding the mark on his forehead from the world as Blake tried to recover, getting on her knees.
She couldn't help but cry with him; humanity had taken his family, possibly enslaved him, and had marked him. They had taken her family so had her mother not saved would she have suffered a similar fate?
Was Adam right? Was equality not enough? Doubt and conflict began to fill her mind but she ignored it for the time being, deciding that Adam was more important right now. She climbed back up to the bed and wrapped her arms around the older boy in a comforting hug.
"I'm so sorry, no one should ever suffer through what you did. I... I'm so sorry..." she cried as she held him. He hugged her back, holding onto her for dear life. "Maybe one of our healers can..."
"No, I've already tried that, they said it's permanent, I will have it for the rest of my life unless I can afford a surgery to remove it and I know I can't."
"What about a mask?" Blake asked, "One that will cover your forehead but will let you see better than this bag. We can talk to Claudandus..."
Adam was silent for a few moments before answering "That sounds nice. Blake, will you be my friend?"
Blake smiled and said "Of course, I think we could both use one."
Blake finished her story and Yang instantly asked "What was it? What kind of scar does he have under that mask of his?" .
Blake looked to Weiss, then to Ruby.
"I'm sorry, I'd rather not say what happened to him, what humanity did to Adam..." Blake said quietly.
"Was it that bad?" Sun inquired.
Blake met his eyes and answered "If you knew what was under his mask you might feel sorry for him."
"So what? Just because something horrible happened to him when he was young doesn't excuse for the abominable things he has done." Weiss stated.
"She's right, so he has a sob story, so do all of us." Yang pointed out.
Ruby nodded and said "Yeah, he hurt you and cut Yang's arm off! I can't just feel sorry for him because he has a scar or something on his forehead."
Sun sighed and said "I feel bad that the guy lost his parents but he's lost any sympathy he would have gotten from me after what he did at the Fall. You don't have to tell us what was on his forehead Blake, just go on."
Blake smiled at him and said "That night we showed Claudandus what the humans had done to him, a few days later Claudandus had that mask made for Adam so he wouldn't have to hide his face for the most part. Once Adam took over the White Fang the mask became a symbol, something for humanity to fear. Adam said it would symbolize their sins coming back to haunt them. As the years went by Adam told me more about the place he came from, the White Fang was growing with more and more Faunus who resented humanity for past sins and eventually Adam had enough followers, myself included, to overthrow Claudandus and make it into what it is now. If only I had known the things he would do, the lives he would claim, I would have stopped him before his insurrection."
"Blake, you can't blame yourself for what he did." Ruby said.
Weiss nodded before saying "She's right, I now know a lot about what was done to the Faunus race and it sickens me, but I do know that it's not justice Adam wants, it is revenge."
"And that's exactly what we're gonna get." Yang voiced darkly.
"Yang! You can't think like that!" Ruby objected.
"He took my arm Ruby! He hurt Blake! I don't want him to hurt anyone else, especially you!" Yang shouted.
Sun sighed and said "Despite my name I'm not the smartest guy around, but I do know that Adam is nuts and needs to go down. We don't have to kill him, just beat him. I think that'll be enough."
The four girls looked at the Monkey Faunus and Weiss confessed "I have to admit Sun, you are smarter than you think and much smarter than I thought you were when we first met."
Sun smiled as he wrapped an arm around Blake. "Hanging out with a smart girl like her rubbed off on me."
Blake giggled as she leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek.
Yang couldn't help but smile as well and said "Well, one thing's for sure; if and when we fight Adam..."
"We are gonna kick his butt." Ruby finished.
Everyone laughed at the prospect, but deep down Blake was still worried about what Adam could do to her new family.
Blake wasn't the only one reminiscing, at the White Fang's new headquarters hidden in Vacuo's vast desert Adam sat on his small bed in his modest room, reflecting on the past.
"Goodbye"
He saw her section of the train roll away down the tracks, a sorrowful look in her beautiful golden eyes.
He remembered the duel at Beacon... he tried to decapitate her.
She deserved it.
She betrayed him, she betrayed the White Fang, betrayed their entire race for the damn humans!
He held up two pictures; in his left hand was a photograph of the two of them when they were younger, shortly after he had received his mask. They were sitting on a bench as the sun was setting and she was fast asleep and leaning into him. He remembered that day, it was one of the happier times in his life, it actually looked like his past was behind him and he had a family. But families will always leave you. They either betray you, leaving you for dead or they are taken from this world by the merciless hands of death.
That is what Adam had learned about families.
He looked to the picture in his right hand, the one his new allies had given him shortly after the Battle of Haven. It was a photo of Blake kissing that street rat Monkey Faunus Sun Wukong with the rest of her team nearby, smiling at the sight.
He looked at Blake's partner who now had a robotic arm to replace the one he had cut off, did she truly think that was enough? Making herself a freak of nature and technology was enough to undo the damage he had done? He would have to teach her a lesson the next time they met.
'Maybe she will get the message if I cut off all four limbs off.' He thought darkly.
He looked to Weiss and his anger grew. 'She is on a team with a bitch from the damned Schnee family! If Blake had any respect for our race she would have killed that white-haired harlot the moment they were alone! It's just proof of how far gone she is!' he mentally ranted.
Then he looked to Ruby and thought 'This little brat is your leader? How desperate are they?! Even if what Cinder claims is true her little eye power won't have any effect on me. I will slaughter this child easily.'
Then he looked back to the happy couple, Blake and Sun, and snarled as he crushed the picture.
"When I find you I will slaughter this pathetic replacement and force you to watch my love! And once they are all dead... I will make you mine again, whether you like it or not. You will be mine, body and soul." He said to himself.
All of a sudden there was a knock at the door and the voice of Lieutenant Hui called "Sir! I can hear talking in there, are you conversing with someone?"
Adam put the photos away and said "No Lieutenant, I'm fine and I am alone. Leave me be."
"Sir, we have visitors, Sustrai and Black." Hui reported.
Both of them? That was interesting. After her defeat at the Battle of Haven Cinder Fall had been reclusive, he had only ever heard her voice since then and the amount of times could be counted on one hand, not to mention the fact that whenever they received a visit from Cinder's underlings it was usually just one of them, so if both of them were here it must be something important.
Adam got up and took up his sword, "I'll go talk with out guests, let's see what they want this time." He muttered.
A couple of minutes later Adam and Hui arrived in the large room that served as the main room for the base of operations. Emerald and Mercury both sat on chairs usually reserved for high ranking officers as they waited for Adam.
Mercury had taken his defeat at Yang's hands to heart and had begun training to make sure he wouldn't suffer a loss like that again. His arms and torso were now somewhat more muscular and his hair had grown down to neck length. He now wore mostly black with the exception of a gray shirt under his jacket.
Emerald's hair had grown a little longer as well and from what Adam had gathered the illusionist had become very talented with her Semblance and she no longer had as many restrictions as she once had, thanks to the training she had gone through. She now wore a beige shirt that was cut off to show her midriff and she had stitched on two kimono-like sleeves to cover her arms while her legs were glad in dark green trousers that ended at her knees.
Mercury saw Adam come out of the hallway and said "Well if it isn't the notorious leader of the White Fang. About time you got here, I was getting impatient and I get..."
"More annoying than usual." Emerald finished, provoking an annoyed look from her partner.
"To do I owe the pleasure? It's nearly been a month since we last heard from any of you." Adam said directly.
"Well Taurus that's about to change." Mercury stated.
"Where is Cinder?" Adam asked.
"Training, she took her defeat pretty hard... I take it you're aware of the recent battle at Beacon?" Emerald asked.
"Yes, I know they took it back. I still don't understand why we didn't interfere." Adam growled.
"From what we know it was their move, but now it's ours." Emerald told him as she walked over to the computer and plugged something in.
"What are you doing?" Adam barked.
"No need to get upset, I think you're aware of our true benefactor?" Emerald asked, to which Adam nodded. "Well she thinks it's time you met her." Emerald pushed a button and the pale face of Salem appeared on the large monitor the overlooked the room, her red eyes staring right at Adam.
"Hello, Adam Taurus."
Everyone in the room, after hearing all of the rumors, dropped to their knees to bow to the Mistress of Grimm, afraid of invoking her wrath but Adam was slow and hesitant to do so but soon he got down on his knees as well He hated submitting to these humans and whatever Salem was, but it was a necessary pain until he could efficiently operated without their help.
"Mistress Salem, I have heard much about you. I am grateful you saw it fit to ally your forces with my own." Adam said.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Adam. Your fight against the oppressive regime of humanity is an admirable one and it will become a fight you can win in the not too distant future. Now shall we get down to business?" she asked.
"I will be happy to serve you." Adam forced himself to say.
Salem allowed herself a smirk before saying "Excellent, now rise, all of you."
Everyone who had bowed to her got up again as she continued. "Cinder tells me you have captured the founder of the White Fang and are holding him prisoner somewhere."
"Yes, but not here, at an offsite location where we keep all of our prisoners." Adam stated.
Salem nodded and said "Before they recaptured Beacon Ozpin united Teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, and CFVY into one single unit; Team Beacon."
"Good, that'll make it easier to destroy them all, saves the time of hunting them down." Adam said defiantly. Emerald rolled her eyes while Mercury nodded in agreement.
"Perhaps, but I believe that you and your organization are crucial to our next move, as is your prisoner." Salem voiced.
"What can that old cat do for us?" Adam asked.
"So small-minded." Emerald muttered.
Adam glared at her but Salem got his attention again with "We want you to use him as bait to lure Team Beacon out and capture them."
"How would they even know unless we directly told them where he's being kept?" Adam asked.
"Adam, do you truly believe that everyone in your organization is loyal to you? You use brute force and intimidation to command them, but you do not combine it with the occasional kindness, glimmer of hope, and promises of rewards. If one of your soldiers truly wanted to he or she could tell our enemies about Claudandus' location. That way not only can we capture them, you will also weed out any traitors." Salem pointed out.
Adam sighed, he knew it made sense but it wouldn't be easy. Razor and the Elite Guard would have to be in on it for a plan like this to work and while Adam admired Razor for his brutal fighting skills the Boar Faunus he found himself annoyed by the man's code of honor. But Adam had usually been able to find away around that and if this plan involved capturing Blake, as well as Nikos who technically betrayed Salem's forces then Razor could easily be talked into it as he despised traitors.
"It sounds like a good plan and I have just the task force for it." Adam said.
"Your Elite Guard, I presume." Salem guessed.
Adam nodded and said "If properly motivated they are a magnificent fighting force, as Razor recognizes our cause as a noble one..."
"Even if you have to keep some of the darker things you do a secret from him." Salem interjected.
Adam looked at her and nodded, "Codes of honor will more often than not prevent great warriors from doing what needs to be done."
"True, but that's what lies are for." Salem said.
Adam nodded and inquired "Can I know a little more about this plan?"
Salem smiled and said "Of course. Where is your Elite Guard now?"
"Razor is leading a group out to do a little freedom fighting, to make us look better."
Elsewhere in Vacuo, in a place where forests and deserts met there was a large building that had once been used as a mine but had been shut down years ago. Now it was used for something else.
Slavery.
Despite the fact that slavery was firmly outlawed in every part of Remnant imaginable the concept of forced servitude of the Faunus, and occasionally the human, race wasn't done for yet.
Screams, shouts, and moans could be heard from within the building, as punishments and rewards for the guards were underway.
This particular group of slavers led by Madame Fatalea mostly dealt in sexual slavery for the rich and powerful in places such as Atlas as slaves for physical labor were harder to hide and the slave mines were now scarce and well hidden. The slaves within the building were nearly all Faunus, but there were two or three human slaves, those who had fallen in love with Faunus or had simply stumbled across an abduction and tried to stop it. Most of the Faunus slaves were female but there were some male ones as well to appeal to the occasional sadistic mistress who wanted to buy a slave.
The lifestyle of a slaver was a dangerous one, as it was obviously highly illegal, and you needed to keep it entirely secret and be as careful as possible and those who were competent enough to capture and guard the slaves were paid very handsomely.
Outside of the building two men stood guard, jealously listening to the sounds the female slaves were making.
"I cannot wait for my turn tomorrow." the first guard muttered.
"Tell me about it, they're in there, having all that sweet Faunus pussy while we get stuck with this boring ass job." his partner stated.
"Ugh! How the hell did Madame Fatalea find someone with enough lien to pay every single slave?! I mean who the hell has enough cash for that?!" the guard ranted, more to himself than anything.
"Probably someone high up in Atlas, those dickheads are loaded... do you hear that?" the second guard asked.
The first guard stopped and heard an odd musical sounds coming from a few dozen or so meters away in the forest.
"Come on, we'll check it out." the first guard stated as he walked into the forest.
A moment later they came across a very odd sight: A small teenage Mouse Faunus girl was in the forest listening to music on a radio she had on her shoulder. She was a petite girl about the size of one Reese Chloris who wore a white T-Shirt with torn up jeans, which had a hole so her long tail was free, and a gray and red hoodie, as well as a dark red scarf around her neck.
The two guards looked to one another and both shrugged.
"Should we do something?"
"Let's take her in, we don't have any this young." the second guard said.
The first guard looked to him, confused and said "What did you say?"
"I said we should take her in."
"What?"
"Are you deaf or just stupid?"
Then there was silence. The second guard could see his partner's mouth opening but no noise could be heard, he looked over to the Mouse Faunus who now looked very pleased with herself.
"What did you do to us you little...?!"
Just then a heavy weight slammed down on both guards, knocking them to the ground. The second guard looked up to see another Faunus with bat wings on his arms. The winged Faunus took out his weapon and bashed them both on the head, knocking them out cold.
Alessandro Kane smiled at the young Faunus girl and said "Nice job Piper." After he had been demoted by Adam, Razor had recruited him into the Elite Guard as he felt Kane deserved a second chance and he needed more flyers. In that time he had come to appreciate Piper's sound Semblance.
Piper nodded and turned off her music as Kane took out a radio.
"Razor, the rear guards are down, you and the others can move in." he said.
"Excellent, we're coming up now." the deep and raspy voice of Razor, leader of the White Fang Elite Guard stated.
A few moments later Razor, a large and muscular Boar Faunus with the sharp and pointy dark brown hair of a Razorback standing out as his animal trait. His eyes were a dark yellow and on his belt was the sheath of his sword. His face was scarred, showing hints of past battle he had fought long ago.
Kane looked to the relatively small number of troops. "You sure this is enough to take this place down?"
"We are more than enough to wipe these monstrous slavers out of existence." Razor assured Kane as he took out the radio. "Jinty, make sure the missiles don't damage the building."
"Don't worry boss, I won't hit the building, just give 'em one helluva scare!" a voice of Jinty, a Weasel Faunus from south Atlas, his accent giving him away.
"Fire." Razor commanded.
Inside of their ship Jinty opened fire and a cluster of missiles rocketed out of the jungle and soared down, exploding with the desert floor a hundred meters away from the slavers' base. Alarms began to sound off from within the old mine building and guards were rushing out.
"Attack!" Razor shouted as he charged forward, his group running after him.
A thug looked at them, saw the symbols they wore and cried "Oh shit! It's the White Fang!"
The slavers began to open fire on their Faunus attackers but it didn't do much good. A large Gorilla Faunus slammed his fist into a slaver's gut, which he followed up by grabbing his leg, throwing him up, and slamming him down, the harsh impact breaking the slaver's leg hard enough so his aura couldn't heal him fast enough.
"Good work Kong!" Razor shouted as he whipped out his deadly sword and slashed a slaver's gun in half. He rammed his blade through the slaver's gut but it was nothing aura wouldn't heal but Razor knew the cretin wouldn't survive the night. He looked up to see Kane now on the roof with his weapon out, blasting the guards down from above.
Razor grinned as he blocked an attack from a swordsman slaver. "Amature!" Razor snarled as he kneed the man in the gut, slashed him across the chest, and slammed him to the ground. Razor moved on, eviscerating a slaver, spilling blood and aura.
"White Fang! Damn you all!" yelled a female voice. Razor looked over to see a middle-aged woman in a business suit wielding a whip. "I'm about to make the sale of a lifetime! I will not let you damn vermin ruin my early retirement!"
Madame Fatalea no doubt. Razor made his way towards her as she began to attack his troops with her whip, which he noticed was electrified.
"Witch!" he shouted as he ran at her with his sword.
"Dumb animal." she muttered as she slammed her whip down on him, he endured the shock enough to try and cut the cord but it his enemy was quick to pull it away from him.
"You're doing me a favor! Less guards and workers means more money for me!" she yelled as she slammed the whip at him. The whip wrapped around his sword and she used her surprising strength to pull it down.
"You think you can really beat me?!" Fatalea asked.
"Yes I do, and I will." Razor answered as he pressed a small button on the hilt of his sword and then small things resembling the 'teeth' of a saw popped out of the sides of his blade.
"What?!" Fatalea cried.
Razor grinned as he used his chainsaw-sword he had dubbed 'Kill-Master' to slice through the cord of the whip.
"No!" she cried as slashed Razor across the face with her nails. This managed to distract Razor enough for her to jump away from him. "Fall back! Don't let them get in the base! A million lien to whoever kills that one!" she yelled as she pointed at Razor, whose facial injury was already gone thanks to his aura.
Various slavers and guards began rushing towards Razor, only to be shot down by Razor's troops or cut down by him personally.
Fatalea ran back into the base, knowing that all her men outside were as good as dead now, she had heard about the Elite Guard of the White Fang before and they had a reputation for being brutal killers. She ran past a cage in which a nearly naked female Rabbit Faunus was uncomfortably stuffed into. "We're saved! Oh thank the gods above! They have answered my prayers!" she cheered. Fatalea growled but ignored the girl, while making a mental note to hook a shock collar on her neck if they made it out of this.
As she ran to her office she could hear the cheers of the slaves. "Shut up! All of you shut..." she couldn't continue her yell before a loud sound blast hit the building hard enough to break the windows.
"No, no, no, no!" she muttered fearfully as she made it to her office, locking the door behind her.
She looked out the window to see her men get slaughtered in a variety of ways as her men were being rendered useless by something as they were all covering their ears as if under attack from some sound based weaponry. She took up her shotgun as she watched the White Fang execute her guards.
If these animals wanted to kill her they were welcome to try.
Damn it, and after that big sell, that old fool in Atlas was giving her enough money to buy her own island. Why did these stupid Faunus have to ruin it?!
Just then the Kill-Master slammed into the door, the chainsaw portion cutting it down. She screamed furiously as she fired at the door, blowing a hole in it. Razor had dodged the blast, but the knowledge that she had a weapon and was still up for a fight made it all the more interesting.
He slammed into the door, smashing it open and he ran towards Fatalea who kept firing at him. He took a hit to the shoulder and forced himself to ignore the searing pain as his aura began to heal the wound. He slammed down Kill-Master on her gun just as she pulled the trigger again, resulting in a bright burst of Dust as the gun was destroyed, the bullet hitting the blade, and the recoil sending Fatalea into the wall.
Razor slammed Kill-Master into her gut, mortally wounding her. She screamed in pain as he aura tried and failed to heal her.
Razor smirked and said "This is a fitting death for a woman such as you. You sell off innocent people, my people, for profit! You force them to work against their will, you make them into sexual toys, you disgust me!"
She glared and spit on Razor's face. "You disgust me too, you pig. You don't get it, the Faunus are meant to be enslaved! It's the natural order!" she growled.
"No, this is the natural order..." Razor said as he withdrew Kill-Master and went to work with the chainsaw feature of his deadly weapon. The screams of Madame Fatala could be heard from inside, as could the coppery scent of blood.
Outside Kane led several other Elite Guard troops in freeing the slaves from their cages and cells. He aimed down and shot off the lock of the caged Rabbit Faunus who had been cheering earlier. He opened up the cage and the young woman ran out and glomped him, ignoring the fact that she was naked except for a pair of panties. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said with happy tears in her eyes as she kissed Kane.
"Whoa! Nice ti... um... all a day's work Miss." he said, blushing.
"Oh Kane you are such a ladies man." teased Selena, the Raccoon Faunus who was the only member of his old regiment still with him. While Jake had been assigned to a minor post but Selena had been allowed to join the Elite Guard due to her above average records and the fact that she had captured Claudandus.
"Oh shut up and get this girl a shirt." Kane groaned.
As Razor finished dismembering the cruel leader of the slavers he looked to her computer and took out a flash-drive. He plugged it in and downloaded the computer's files, hoping it could lead to any human who had purchased the slaves, lead to the location of any slaves already sold off, or the location of other slaver bases.
Later that night the old mine building had been evacuated and blown up, destroying the bodies of all the slavers who had been killed.
Back in the forest the slaves were now boarding the Elite Guard's large ship, which would take them to a city where they could find a way home.
Kong looked to a human female slave and said "What're we taking the human ones for?! We should leave 'em to rot!"
One of the freed male salves, a Wolf Faunus, got in front of the woman and said "Lay a hand on my wife and I'll rip out your damn throat!"
"Calm yourselves! Kong, we shall not harm any of these slaves Faunus or not. Even if they were human they are victims too." Razor said sternly.
Kong looked down, somewhat ashamed, and muttered "Understood boss."
As Kong walked away the Wolf Faunus said "Thank you so much for saving us, we'd only been there a week. I honestly don't think I could have gone on a few more days."
"You are welcome brother, when we land at Oshatuk you and your beloved will be free to resume your lives. Unless you wish to join the White Fang." Razor offered.
The Wolf Faunus sighed and said "I'm sorry. I am grateful to you but I have no desire to join the Fang, not after Beacon."
Razor sighed as well before saying "We had nothing to do with that. We did not stop our leader but didn't join in, I found it distasteful." He had been the only high ranking officer who had opposed the attack of Beacon. Adam had been angry with him but agreed to let the Elite Guard sit it out.
"Then maybe you guys are in the wrong crowd." The Wolf Faunus offered.
"I think not, after everything humanity has done to us the White Fang need to stand up, to show that the Faunus race hasn't been beaten into submission." Razor argued.
The man nodded and simply said "Humans like my wife are becoming the rule, and the ones you just killed were the exception. Things are changing, but if the White Fang keep attacking innocent people and cities then you're giving our naysayers proof."
Razor couldn't argue with that as it made sense, but he had also noticed that humans no longer pushed innocent Faunus around so brazenly anymore.
That was progress enough for him.
As Razor made his way up to the bridge he met Jinty. "Boss, Adam's calling us."
"What is it?""
"He says he has a job for us but I dunno what it is, he wants to talk to you."
Razor shook his head but said "I'll talk to him in my quarters, once everyone is onboard and the ship is refueled I want you to take us to Oshatuk so we can drop these people off. Hopefully they can return to their normal lives."
"Yes sir." Jinty said with a salute.
"Oh and take this, I downloaded Fatalea's hard drives, maybe they'll help us find some more enslaved Faunus and some humans who need punishing." Razor said as he handed Jinty the flash drive. Jinty nodded and walked back to the bridge.
Razor made his way to his room, running into Piper on the way.
"Good work out there my student. You make us all proud." he praised.
Piper grinned and hugged the larger Faunus before rushing off to her room. Razor smiled as he opened his door and went inside his average sized, rather plain dwelling. He placed the Kill-Master on it's holding place upon the wall and turned on the monitor next to it, which had Adam's face on it.
"Razor."
"Commander Taurus." Razor said as he saluted his leader.
"How went your slave-freeing mission?" Adam asked.
"Perfectly sir, the slavers are all dead and we'll lift off soon." he answered.
"Good, now Razor I have a mission for you, one that will be of great use to the White Fang."
"What is it?" Razor asked curiously.
"How would you like to help me and our allies catch some very dangerous enemies and a traitor?" Adam inquired.
Razor allowed himself a small smile before he said "I'm listening."
Finally, a chapter focusing on the White Fang... four chapters into a story arc about the White Fang. And Adam, Emerald, Mercury, and Kane are all back and we can properly meet Razor, and I hope you like his weapon.
Sorry this took so late and is so short, relatives were visiting, work to be done, trees to be cut down, kittens to be rescued (and no I didn't make those last two up) but the reason this chap is so short is because I wanted to try giving a smaller chapter a go.
While we have had a lot of development to the BlackSun part of SunnyBees we've yet to truly develop Bumblby, but that changed this chapter. Hope you shippers are happy.
Next Time: A New Mission, more Fotia and Wyvern flashbacks, Jaune training with the Grimm, and the story arc finally begins properly.
If you enjoyed this and you're on FF. net then leave a review and fave and follow. If you're on Ao3 then leave a kudos and a comment, please give me feedback, tell me what you liked and what you didn't so this story can improve. Thank you all so much.