Roots 2.r

"Fast enough. I'll see you there." Blake closed her Scroll, automatically ending the call as she stood.

Ruby was gone.

Blake had never met Raven in person, but she'd heard things about her from Yang, Oscar, and Qrow. She saw the world in terms of power alone - if you were strong, you deserved to live, and she couldn't care less about you if you weren't. She was paranoid, overdramatic, and antisocial, and while Blake was self-aware enough to identify these as flaws in herself as well, at least she was working to fix them. Raven seemed incapable of admitting them as flaws and viewed everyone who didn't see the world as she did as somehow lesser.

Blake shuddered as she remembered someone else who saw things the same way, who had vanished years beforehand and never reemerged.

Nevermind him. He was in the past, time to deal with the present. As Blake left the room, she began running through her mental checklist. That call required a re-ordering of pretty much everything on it, and a whole lot of things just became completely irrelevant. She'd already gotten in touch with her father, and he'd be taking over her daily issues. Down the hall, the third doorway on the right to reach the elevator bank. That left the individual meetings and discussions, which she'd have to deal with on a case-by-case basis.

The elevator opened with a ding and Blake stepped out into the lobby of the White Fang's brand-new HQ. Construction of the first two floors had been completed less than two weeks ago, and it was continuing upward as quickly as it could be constructed. It had been collaboratively funded by the Councils of all five Kingdoms, an effort that had taken an absurd amount of convincing and politicking. A grand gesture to the people of Menagerie, as thanks for their help and that of the White Fang during the War on the Grimm. For her, it was yet another way to prove their organization's legitimacy to those who still denied it.

She approached the reception desk, where an automated camera had already confirmed her identity with brand-new facial recognition technology, and the man behind it gave her a smile and nod. "Captain Belladonna," he said, referencing her brief-lived military rank from the Grimm war. "What can I do for you?"

Blake didn't bother smiling back. The people here either knew her or knew of her well enough to understand that a lack of a smile didn't mean unhappiness. "I need you to find people to take over all of my projects that you can. I'm leaving, and I'm not sure how long I'll be gone for."

The man's eyes widened. "Leaving? Why- no, nevermind. Classified, I assume." He began tapping away on his terminal as he talked. His name was Noel, and he had been a blessing to find while the hiring for this building had been underway. There were only a handful of people willing to work through the noises of construction with the Faunus' enhanced senses, and Noel was serving as the secretary to the entire building and managing to do it competently. "Let's see. This can be ignored, we can ask Simmon to handle the Vacuo delegation… actually, there isn't much that can't be done without you." He paused. "Wait, no, I didn't mean-"

That brought a smile out of her. "It's fine. What do I still need to do?"

Noel refound his composure after a moment and continued. "There's a meeting with the SDC that you probably want to attend yourself-"

"That shouldn't be a problem, I'll ask Weiss to cancel."

He jerked his head up to look at her in surprise, thrown off his game again. A deep part of Blake felt a hint of amusement at the disruption, but she quashed that as soon as she noticed it. That wasn't exactly the way someone in her position should be acting. Noel continued, "Right. Umm, the Gull corporation has a representative here, who's expecting to at least see you, and- ah, your mother would like to speak with you. She apparently felt the need to send a request for a meeting."

Dammit, mom. "Of… course she did. I'll go see her. Thank you for all your help, Noel."

"Blake! It's wonderful to see you, dear. How have you been?" Kali Belladonna wrapped her arms around her daughter as if they hadn't seen each other in months.

Blake returned the hug with an eye roll. "I'm doing well, which you could see for yourself if you actually visited. Is there any particular reason you scheduled an appointment to talk to me instead of just coming up and talking to me?"

"Why Blake," Kali responded with mock offense written all over her face, "you know that I'm getting on in years! It's a long walk over there, and up all those stairs!"

Blake was unconvinced. "That building is closer to this house than the market you visit every week, and there's a working elevator. Admit it, you just don't like the noise."

Kali shrugged, struggling to keep the smile off her face. "Well, maybe that plays a small role. I do enjoy being kept up on the latest gossip, though."

Blake watched her mother's hopeful expression and sighed. Kali was influential enough that she'd get whatever info she asked for eventually, confidential or not, so she might as well give her something juicy here. She knew the importance of keeping things secret, and she certainly deserved to know more than Blake usually told her. "Alright, fine, but this doesn't leave this room, okay? Tell Dad if you have to, but only him. We need to keep this quiet."

Kali's eyes narrowed in a way that reminded Blake of a lion stalking its prey. She realized at that moment that her mother hadn't actually expected to get anything important, but it was much too late to backtrack now. As much as she loved her mother, she knew that the woman would never let go of something she'd latched onto. Blake had just built a trap and then fallen into it, and Kali was taking advantage.

Blake preferred to ignore how common of an occurrence this was. It was easier that way.

"Alright. You remember Ruby Rose, right? She's my team leader, you would have seen her at Haven, briefly?"

Kali nodded. "We spoke, I believe. She's a smart young woman. Didn't I hear that she was responsible for that witch's-"

"Yes, that's her," Blake interrupted. "She doesn't like it for that to get spread around, but it was her. Since the Grimm pools were scattered, she's been working as a more typical Huntress, and she ended up fighting someone she couldn't beat. We think she's still alive, but…"

"Blake! Long time no see! How are things down there?"

"Hello, Sun," Blake responded. "Things have been going well on our end… for the most part."

He was quick enough to pick up what she wasn't telling him. "What's going on?"

"Is your line secured? We need to keep this quiet for as long as we can, or things might get out of control."

Sun cocked his head to one side and responded, "I can get it secure, one sec." The call cut out.

Blake had… complicated feelings toward Sun. He liked her, and he knew she knew it. The problem was, he hadn't ever been incredibly clear as to what, exactly, that meant. They'd been encountering one another sporadically ever since Haven, and he was technically working with the White Fang, as an occasional security contractor for the Vacuo branch. She could hardly deny that he was attractive - hell, Ilia would admit that much - but she really wished that he'd make his intentions clear.

They were both professional enough to keep whatever their relationship was from impacting their work, at least. She received another call from Sun a moment later, and the conversation continued.

"Alright, so what's up?" Blake could tell he was nervous now, no matter how well he tried to hide it.

She responded, "Have you ever heard of a woman named Raven Branwen? She's Yang's biological mother, you may have heard us talking about her at some point."

Sun had to think for a second. "I think I've heard her name. Some tribe out in Mistral, right?"

Blake nodded. "That's her. She's had access to…" did Sun know about the Relics? Blake wasn't sure. Better safe than sorry. "Something classified that we need back, and Ruby wound up accidentally tracking her down. Ruby's now missing in action, and it sounds like Raven took her somewhere."

"She beat Ruby?" Sun whistled. "She's pretty strong, then."

"She was helped by the thing she stole," Blake responded, "but that's not really relevant. Her Semblance lets her create transportation portals over continental distances; she could be anywhere on the planet by now."

Sun took in that information and nodded. "You need me to keep an eye out for her?"

Blake smiled. "Quick as always. I doubt she'll be coming back to civilization anytime soon, but if she does, I'd like to keep an eye out. Like I said, keep the stuff about Ruby quiet. Give your contacts Raven's description from our files and tell them to keep an eye open; and most important of all, tell them not to engage unless they want to get themselves killed." The last thing she needed was for some random Huntsman to die over this and draw more attention to the whole mess.

Sun slammed his fist into his hand, giving his trademark cocky grin. "I'll have every Huntsman in the Kingdom watching out for her. You can count on me!"

Still confident. As confusing as Sun was, he knew how to get Blake to smile if nothing else. "Thank you, Sun. I'll have to see if I can come to visit once this is all over."

His grin shifted from cocky to goofy. "Sounds perfect!" A second later, his face fell and he spoke more seriously, "What will you be doing?"

It was a sign of how well they knew each other that Blake didn't even blink at the apparent non-sequitur and was able to follow his train of thought. "The gang's getting back together. I'm leaving for Mistral to meet up with team Juniper, and Weiss is picking up Yang before flying out to meet us."

"Where are you headed after that? Am I gonna need to keep an eye on scroll signals to see when you enter a tower's range, or will you be staying in contact?"

Sun knew as well as she did that information could get outdated within minutes, and the time it took for her to receive a message on Raven's location could be long enough for her to portal somewhere else. "That's not something we can really help," Blake said. "CCT coverage is expanding without the Grimm, but it's not everywhere, and I don't see Raven venturing into scroll range very often. I'll have to see if Weiss has a solution - if not, I'll contact you whenever we get into range."

Sun nodded, grinning once more. "Yes, ma'am! Stay strong out there, and good hunting!" The call ended, and Blake closed the line.

Sun wouldn't be enough help, and Blake knew it. He could watch Vacuo, Weiss' people could keep an eye on Atlas, and she could assume that Oscar and Glynda would be watching Vale, but her assets in Mistral were still relatively weak. On the upside, she wasn't the only person in Menagerie with an interest in keeping an eye on things. The downside, of course, was having to interact with people who were paranoid enough to want to keep an eye on things without having seen most of the things that justified said paranoia.

That was why she'd sent an apparently innocuous message to an unlisted Scroll number, pre-determined typos entered along the way in a particular pattern that her spelling checker absolutely loathed, then received an equally-innocent response containing a similarly-annoying code for her to crack. That, in turn, was why she had entered one of the nicer areas of Kuo Kuana - still rather quaint by the standards of somewhere like Vale, but the height of luxury for the citizens here. It was also, she assumed, why a man with patches of fox fur around his eyes and hands sat down at her table at almost the exact same time she did, as if they had planned to meet here.

Which they had, Blake supposed. Just not in the manner any normal person would choose to do so in.

"Ms. Belladonna," the man started. "It's an honor to meet you." As he spoke, he tapped the table with his middle finger, and Blake saw a glow of Aura flash across it. It took her a moment to figure out what he had done. Every conversation she could hear from the surroundings was incomprehensible, as if the participants were speaking a totally different language. She assumed that the same would be true for any others attempting to listen into their own conversation. She saw the utility immediately and made a mental note to try and find someone with a similar Semblance.

Blake responded, "I wish I could say the same. Unfortunately, I have no idea who you are."

He only smiled, in an infuriating way that she'd seen few people that weren't part-fox manage. "That's the idea. Now, I believe you had a request for us?"

Blake would have sighed if she could, but she suspected that was exactly what he wanted. She did it internally instead. "Yes. I need any information you have on a woman named Raven Branwen. She's Human, the leader of a bandit tribe that's typically active on Mistral. I also need to be alerted as quickly as possible if she's spotted, on that continent or any other."

The man nodded, taking it all in stride. They likely had a good amount of information on Raven already, since she was one of an increasingly small number of real threats remaining in the world. Not that they'd tell her everything, but she or her teammates almost certainly already knew anything they were keeping from her. She needed the basics and most recent activity, nothing more.

It wouldn't do to tell them that, though. Ostensible allies they may have been, but the White Fang and the Menagerie Intelligence and Surveillance Team were far from friendly.

"You should be receiving the files now," he said, and Blake didn't miss the implication that he'd either already known what she would be asking him or had people listening in to the call. It was the latter, of course. Blake could hear the barest impression of a voice coming through his admittedly subtle earbud, though she doubted that anyone without a Faunus Huntress' senses would have done the same. "I do hope you will remember this favor, the next time we request the help of your own organization."

"Within reason, of course."

"Of course," the man responded, smiling again. Overconfidence, on his part. Surveillance skills aside, his group didn't have nearly as much clout as they liked to imagine. Overconfidence was fine with Blake, though, so she wouldn't argue too much. As it stood, the two groups were allies. If they tried to make a move that she didn't like, she'd put them in their place.

They both stood simultaneously, coming to a mutual understanding that the meeting was over. The man tapped the table again, and the surrounding voices came back into focus as clear Vytalian.

"It really was a pleasure to meet you, Captain Belladonna." The man turned, and vanished into the crowd within moments.

Blake had been awake for over an hour by the time the airship's landing gear shook the craft as it came into the station, though she could hear the shuffling of people being woken up through the walls. She imagined that the company would be receiving some complaints about the choppy landing, but that was hardly any of her business.

He bags were packed and she was the first off the ship. Mount Haven stretched into the sky a quarter-mile ahead, and she could see the walls that had been damaged by the old White Fang in her last visit, repaired at some point over the intervening few years. She might have liked to visit, perhaps explore an academy that she hadn't really had the chance to see outside of combat, but she had other places to be.

The city of Mistral was built atop the steepest mountain range on the planet. Some Huntsmen were dexterous and tough enough to scale the sides of the mountain, and Blake was among their number, but far easier methods of moving from place to place had been created. Elevator shafts ran through the center of the mountains, connected to buildings on the outer edge, and crowds of civilians used these to get to different levels on the mountain. The address Blake had memorized on the flight was on the next mountain over, several layers below her current position, connected to a spot nearby on this mountain by one of the more impressive bridges in the city. Shops and market stalls lined the bridge walkway to her left and right, with Dust, traveling supplies, and weapon maintenance services making up most of the sales this close to Haven Academy.

Blake reached the other side, then moved through an intra-mountain tunnel to reach a pavilion on the opposite face. There, decorated in typical Mistrali style, was a series of holoboards, lists of Huntsmen and possible missions displayed across them. The majority of Huntsmen would visit places like this fairly often, and though Blake had rarely found the chance, she knew that team JNPR would be using them on a regular basis. This board, in particular, was for the area to Mistral's southwest, centered around the ruins of Kuroyuri.

As expected, Blake found their names quickly. They were on assignment in Oniyuri, on a fact-finding mission - or not. As she watched, the mission crossed itself out and their names disappeared from underneath it as the mission was marked as a success. She turned around, spotting the names reappearing on the board for hireable teams, and heard a paper door sliding open on the floor above her.

They're here? Now?

Sure enough, a blond man outfitted with more plate armor than was worn by most Huntsmen teams stepped through the door, followed by a young woman in white, pink, and gunmetal and a man in green with a distinct Southern Anima cast to his features. The leader turned to talk with the other pair without looking down, but the woman spotted her, and Blake could see her eyes widening in excited recognition.

Blake braced herself for impact.

"Blaaaaaake!" Seconds later, she was struggling to stand as Nora Valkyrie practically hung off her in a deep hug, having jumped the twenty feet down from the ledge like it was nothing. Jaune and Ren hadn't spotted her before seeing Nora jump, but followed up moments later.

"Blake! I thought you were in Menagerie!" Jaune stated the obvious, as usual. Still as thick as ever.

Ren, meanwhile, got straight to the point as Nora finally released her. "Are you just visiting, or are you on assignment?"

Blake winced a little, recovering from… well, Nora. "Unfortunately, neither this time. There's a situation, and it's one that you're going to want to help with. We probably shouldn't discuss it here, though - are you staying somewhere? If not, I can set something-"

Jaune interrupted, "You don't need to do that, we've got an apartment. If you're sticking around, you can stay with us."

"No, it's fine, I can find my own-"

"You're fine, Blakey! Now come on, if you have something to tell us, then let's get going! We can catch up on the way."

Blake sighed. Nora had noticed that something was wrong immediately, of course. It almost made Blake wonder how she'd ended up close enough to people that they could read her like this. Or had she just gotten more obvious? "...Right. Okay. Let's go. Weiss and Yang are coming too, but they'll be a few days. I don't guess you've heard from Qrow, have you?"

So the whole 'getting the story posted to Spacebattles' thing didn't actually happen in the last couple of days as I hoped. This chapter is even a little later than I'd hoped, thanks to things suddenly getting busy for me this weekend. Probably should have anticipated that, it being Christmas and all, but I didn't. I'm gonna try and get it up sometime in the next week, but we'll have to see how it goes.

But yeah! Blake's doing things and trying too hard, as per usual. For those who are reading Ward, she almost reminds me of Kenzie in her tendency to overwork herself, albeit with more of a focus on her own guilt than on pleasing others. She's setting up a lot of stuff, here. I feel like this chapter could be better than it is, but if I tried to fix it I'm pretty sure we'd end up with another Seed 1.i scenario, so I'm putting it out there now and I'll maybe fix it later.

I think that's everything. As always, thank you all for reading (and maybe reviewing), any constructive feedback you want to give is appreciated, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!