AN: It's still September 30th in Hawaii, it still counts.

Velvet's footsteps echoed in the empty Workshop Hall. The morning has barely started, with amber rays shining through the windows. In her hand was some tea to shake her awake. Her bunny ears droop down in exhaustion as she places Anesidora on the table, before drinking her tea. Her aura protects her mouth from the heat as she places the cup down and shakes herself awake.

She looks at the clock, it is currently 6:10 AM. She should be coming in at any moment now. After 10 minutes, Silver enters the Hall carrying her weapon.

"Hey, Silver!" Her voice echoed in the hall. Silver notices her, and she gestures for her to sit next to her.

Silver walked towards her, before taking a seat from a nearby table and sitting next to her.

"Velvet~." She places a bag on the table and her weapon on the table. Her bag falls over and spills white bullet casings and dust. Some of which look strange. Silver mutters a curse in her language before cleaning up the mess.

"Thou require my presence~?" There are dark circles around her eyes.

"Silver, did you get any sleep?"

"Oh, no~. A nightmare woke me up… and Nora was clingy last night~. Couldn't sleep because of it~."

"Oh? What kind of nightmare was it?"

Silver looks away from Velvet. "I'd prefer not to say~."

"That's fine."

"So," Silver said as she grabbed some tools nearby. "What doth thou require me for~?"

"Well… I've been watching you do maintenance on Crescent Rose for a while, and I wonder if you have any ideas to improve my weapon."

"Oh…" Her face lit up. "Oh~! Sure~! Let's see thy weapon Velvet~!"

There was a pause when Velvet pats on Anesidora. Silver's eyes moved back and forth from Anesidora to Velvet several times. Her smile subtly grew slightly longer and forced, and her pupils quietly shrunk.

"How interesting~... Does it have anything special-~."

"It creates copies of weapons using hard-light dust, which combined with my semblance, allows me to dominate in a fight… for a short while."

"A short while~?"

"Yeah, I still can't find a workaround. The camera allows me to take pictures of weapons and copy the style of the wielder. For example, if I take a picture of Yang's Ember Celica, I can fight exactly like her. It's all a part of my semblance: Photographic Memory!"

"Interesting~..."

"But every time I use a copy, it's gone for good unless I can find the same weapon and retake a picture of it."

"Oh~! So thou use it for opportunistic strikes then~! When thy enemy is exposed, thy use a… copy to secure the kill~! But… I don't see thy weapon that… would allow for such opportunistic strikes in the first place~."

"Silver," Velvet said in a reassuring tone. "This is my weapon. Anesidora is the weapon that I have and use for missions."

"Hehehe, surely you jest~."

Velvet only stared at Silver.

"Surely you jest~!" Ruby worryingly said.

"I mean it's not that big of a deal-."

"It is a serious matter Velvet~!" Silver interrupted, before composing herself. "Velvet~. Art thou well~?"

"Huh?"

"Velvet dear~. You are with me, I assure you~. I can help thee with anything on thine mind~. Anything weighing heavily on thee~? Art thou suffering from any mental maladies~?"

"Wh-what?! No!"

"Then why doth thou only have… a camera for thy weapon~?! Art thou a death seeker~?"

"No! It's just my weapon." Velvet sounds offended.

"That's the issue~. It's thy only weapon~."

Silver sighed.

"I apologize~. My mother implanted the importance… of not being reliant, nay, dependent… on a singular weapon~."

Silver closed her eyes.

"She once told me of a family member~. They were reliant on their weapon~. They depended on that equipment as if their life revolved around it~. But one day, they pushed… too far~. Bandits ambushed them, and they were disarmed~. Their last moments were of terror and death~."

She opened her eyes.

"It happened before I was born~. But my Mother was horrified by what… happened~. She stressed the importance of… learning to fight with my body~. "Overreliance on a singular weapon will… lead to death." is what she would say~. I apologize again, but you must understand that… you're fighting monsters with… a camera~." Velvet was shocked when Silver dropped her formalities, her eyes were filled with worry.

"What happens when you don't have your team~? What happens when you are separated from those who can fight~?"

"What happens when you're all alone~?"

Silver's words carry weight, a weight that Velvet can relate to. Despite her semblance and the replication, it is still at its core a camera. But she quickly realized that something was wrong.

Silver's eyes were dull.

She slowly slumped back in her chair, her prosthetic middle finger was twitching rapidly. When Velvet touched her, she suddenly shot up, startling her. The shine in her eyes was back again.

"S-Sorry~! Just a…nightmare flashback~."

She looks at Anesidora.

"Let's finally work on thy weapon~." She grabs Crescent Rose and shifts it to its katana form. "Here, take a picture of it~."

Velvet perked up, before grabbing her camera and taking a picture of Crescent Rose.

"Ok, you said it uses hard light dust, yes~? Where is… that produced~."

"Atlas… and it's SDC exclusive."

Silver stared at her before giving an exhausted sigh. "I shan't complain about that~." She went through her bag and grabbed an empty, bone-white bullet case and a strange-looking dust crystal.

"This is custom-made by a blacksmith here, and only usable for my weapon… and this." She pointed at the crystal. "Is the secret to the powerful shots I inflict in combat~. It is dust, corrupted by a Grimm~."

"Corrupted by a Grimm?! How?"

"Grab a dust crystal and… 'jam it in there' as one of the hired Huntsmen that I acquired said~."

"Ooh, does Ozpin know about this? I'm sure Oobleck could-."

"I'm not sharing this knowledge with the wretches of this academy~." She harshly responded.

Lies. All lies, with traces of truth hidden within. With Silver controlling the narrative, the perfect lie makes Velvet inclined to believe her. The familial member? Mother told her that she won't end up like her grandmother. Huntsmen? Technically Huntsman in training, and Ruby can do some blacksmithing independently. The nightmares and visions though, are getting more vivid, and the white cloak figure seems to get closer to her each time.

At least she can clear her mind for now with weapons work.

"Now, let's discuss what dust you prefer~."

"What dust do I prefer?"

"Yes, Ice, fire, etc~. I want to figure out how… to make thee less reliant on that expensive dust~. You'd need to wear gloves to… protect thyself from the elements~. Aura wouldn't work~."

Velvet was quick to provide her suggestions, and the two of them began discussing how to improve Anesidora She grabbed her journal and began sketching Velvet's ideas and formulating at least some plan to upgrade her weapons.

Blake dodges a swipe using her semblance, before using fire dust to create an explosive copy. The Beowolf snapped towards the copy, crushing it in its jaws before its head blew up in a fiery explosion. Blake pivoted around and focused her aura on her blade before releasing an Aura Slash. The blade of purple light cleaves through several Grimm, killing them.

Blake has barely enough time to admire her work before she's suddenly pulled back. Half a second later a Borbatusk charges directly toward Blake's former position from the side, missing and colliding with a tree instead.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings!" Weiss said with an annoyed tone, the black glyph that pulled Blake away disappeared.

"Well excuse me, but I can't exactly stand from the sidelines and throw fireballs at the Grimm."

"I can fight in melee too! It's just my semblance that allows me to do more from a distance rather than up close, unlike yours."

"Yeah yeah. Just make sure you don't get surrounded." Blake loads another magazine into Gambol Shroud. More Grimm emerges from the forest. Weiss frowns at seeing this.

"That's strange, I thought we've just cleared this part of the forest from Grimm."

"Oh well, more work for us." Blake moves to engage with them.

"Wait." Weiss stops her from moving. "I want to try out something I've been experimenting with my Glyphs."

Weiss stands back and inserts a lightning dust vial into her rapier. She then sets the firing chamber to the lightning dust and takes a deep breath before plunging her rapier into the ground. Before Blake could ask what she was doing, a yellow clock symbol appeared below Blake.

"Uhhh, how does Yang say it? "Go buck-wild" or something like that?"

Time suddenly slowed for Blake. Everything around her was moving dramatically slower, even the audio was muffled. She sees the horde of Grimm rushing towards them in slow motion, and looking back at Blake, she can see her forming a red glyph with sparks of flame.

"Huh… This is new."

She crouches into a sprinting position, before running towards the Grimm horde. In the air, she sees some juvenile Nevermores and Lancer Worker Drones, they were thankfully close enough to the ground for her to attack with her weapon.

She grabbed hold of the ribbon of her sword and shifted it into a sickle. Jumping on top of an Ursa, she fired the pistol and swung rapidly at the swarm. She felt the sickle go through the Grimm, but she couldn't check to see if they were dead. Landing on the ground, she used her semblance to dash around the Grimm. A purple circle of death surrounded Blake as she danced around the numerous Grimm, some of them were slowly turning to face Blake. Her weapon ran out of ammo, and she grabbed it and shifted back to sword form. She quickly reloaded and jumped on the back of another Ursa and stuffed the barrel into one of its eyes, before unloading into the Grimm's head.

Time seems to slowly accelerate back to normal for her. Blake saw one of Weiss's fireballs hit a Grimm directly in the head, scorching the bone-white armor into charred black. Using the last moments she has under this strange spell, Blake dashes around leaving fire dust copies of herself before running back towards Weiss. She looks back at the horde. The flying Grimm were slowly falling apart into pieces, and many of the Grimm were starting to fall apart.

Time has begun to move normally again for Blake.

In an instant, all of the flying Grimm fell out from the air in pieces, her copies quickly exploded and spread dismembered Grimm pieces all around the surrounding forest. Barely any Grimm survived, and what few that did survive were quickly put down by ice shards from Weiss. An entire horde, utterly destroyed just like that.

"Three seconds… All of that happened in three seconds…" Weiss said in utter astonishment.

"Ugh…" Blake slumped down a little. "I feel weird."

"What was it like?"

"Like, time slowed down for me. Everything was in slow motion, even the sound. Well, everything except for me, certainly puts a lot of strain on my Aura though."

"Interesting… So time moved slowly for you, yet from my point of view. You just dashed towards the Grimm and utterly destroyed them in the blink of an eye." She stroked her chin in contemplation before her face lit up.

"Time Dilation! That's what I'm going to call it! I'll work on it later, I didn't expect it to be heavy on the Aura for the receiver."

"Glad to be your guinea pig." Blake sardonically remarked.

"Well, we're getting to work together as a team. A shame that I didn't get to use plan B…" She muttered, in one of her hands was a vial of dust. "So, how do you feel right now?"

"I feel very tired if that's what you're asking."

"Ooh…" There was a strange cheer to her words. "Well-."

Before Weiss could continue, more Grimm emerged from the woods. However, despite their appearance, Blake saw something strange about them. Unlike the Grimm that she just fought, these Grimm, despite their red markings and eyes. Their appearance looks… clean. While the previous Grimm appearance was wild and ferocious, these Grimm look like they're trying to mimic that, but couldn't deviate from that cleanness. Most strange of all, one of them had black tear streams coming from its red eyes

Weiss simply smirked at the Grimm before inserting the vial of Dust into her rapier. The Grimm slowed down, eying the pair.

The blade of her rapier started to glow a bright red, and it was quickly intensifying. Even Weiss was surprised as the color went from a bright red to a dark red with traces of black. The rapier shook in her hand, and the Grimm began to charge at Weiss. With a swipe of her rapier, she released the Dust stored in her rapier.

A wave of hellfire was unleashed from her weapon. The flames scorched everything in front of Weiss, and there was darkness within the flames. The Grimm screech in pain as the orange-black flames seer their flesh, and Blake sees how the flames just refuse to be extinguished. As if the flames were somehow a form of superheated glue that exists only to burn everything it touches to ash.

Weiss took a step back, before turning around and picking up Blake, her face with worry as the two quickly moved away from the blazing inferno behind them.

The two ran for some time before coming to a stop. Blake clearly showed exhaustion while Weiss slowed down to catch her breath.

"What was that?!"

"Another Dust experiment…"

"What kind of Dust did you experiment with?"

"I just mixed combustion, gravity, and fire dust. I didn't know it would react that badly!" She responded quickly, Blake seemed to buy her lie though.

Blake sighed. "Well… that was fun, should let me know about your experiments from now on though."

She leans on a tree to rest, her back towards the tree. Blake's right arm was in a position where she wouldn't harm Blake's body when she would subdue her. All she needs to do is wait for the perfect opportunity to freeze her arm. She moved the chamber to the ice vial, her face becoming determined. Her eyes focused on her and Gambol Shroud.

The traitor was now exposed. Good.

"Weiss?"

A glyph quickly formed and Weiss fired an ice ball towards Blake. The ice ball lands and Blake's arm is covered in ice. Her eyes widened and she tried to break free to no avail.

"WEISS?!"

Weiss calmly walks towards Blake, scanning her for anything she would do. She carefully takes each step. Her posture is in a position where if Blake pulls out a hidden gun, she will be able to respond faster than she would shoot.

"WEISS WHAT THE HELL?!"

Weiss was within arm's distance from Blake, she snarled at Weiss and tried to break free. Only to stop when her rapier was close to Blake's neck.

"I know what you are. White Fang." She utters the name of the group with disgust.

Blake froze.

"W-what?"

"You heard me. White Fang. You may have fooled everyone, but not me. I figured there was something wrong with you ever since you joined our team. But first things first, let's see what's really under that bow."

She moves to remove Blake's bow, Blake starts to hyperventilate as she undoes the bow, and exposes her ears.

"So the drawing was right. You are a cat faunus. Not… unexpected, but the Fang do like their cat assassins."

"H-how. How?! How did you know?!"

"Your partner."

"Huh?"

"Ruby Lusus."

"W-who the hell is Ruby?!"

"Stop playing dumb! I know everything, Blake. I know you were on that train, I know you are White Fang. I picked the Emerald Forest purely because I know the Fang wouldn't operate in a place so close to Beacon. So stop acting dumb. What is your plan for me? Were you planning to assassinate me at the ball or Vytal, to send a message to the world that Faunus shouldn't be oppressed?"

"Weiss… please… this is insane."

"Insane… Insane?! HahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm not insane! I'm acting completely rational! Half of my team are assassins, Ozpin won't listen to me and RUBY DESTROYED M-OUR REPUTATION! YOU…YOU…"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "No…I must remain calm. Rational. You dead won't do me any good."

"Blake, if that's your real name. I will do something that my father wouldn't do: Negotiate with a White Fang."

Blake was shaking heavily. "W-what do you want from me?"

"From what I've seen, you're reasonable. Understanding, quick on the uptake. Ruby, however…"

"You want me to get rid of Ruby?"

"And let you take the fall? You wouldn't do anything in trying to kill the beast. But… you can help me expose her."

She takes out her scroll. "She keeps a detailed record you know, I see why Ozpin has her working with the staff. She is meticulous, but that meticulousness will be her downfall. I'll be frank Blake. Ruby is dangerous, dangerous to all of us. If you agree, and help me subdue the beast, then I will ensure that you won't be exposed. Your secret of being a White Fang will be safe with me, and I can move some… resources to your account. You'll earn more than what being in the Fang would get you in your entire life."

"But, if you refuse." She chuckles. "I can't do anything to you." She places her hand on her shoulder. "Ozpin won't believe me, and if I kill you, even though you're an assassin it will be a complete disaster." She frowned.

Blake took a sigh of relief. "But… A little birdie can give Ruby's translated diary, which I have, to Lisa Lavender. And when she announces to the world that you two are Fang, well… I doubt it will be hard for you two to escape Beacon when you have an entire school seeking to arrest you."

She fiddles with her scroll a bit, before raising it to show her point. "So what's it going to be Blake: Honor in stopping an assassin and having a Schnee as an 'associate' or rotting in prison with the rest of your misbegotten kind?"

She gave a devilish smile, knowing she had her in a catch-22. Before Blake could respond. A juvenile Nevermore suddenly burst from the trees and attacked Weiss. She screamed and shielded herself as the Nevermore scratched and pecked her. Blake used the opportunity to try and break free with all her strength.

Weiss dropped her scroll, which stopped the Nevermore. It quickly flies to the Scroll and picks it up with its feet. Wiess and Blake see that the Nevermore is strange. It had no eyes, and no markings on its body. It was a pure Black and White color, with empty black eyes, and black tears streaming down its face. It looked nothing like any of the Grimm the pair saw. The Nevermore screeched at Weiss before flying away with her scroll.

"My scroll!" She tries to shoot it down, but it disappears into the trees. She curses silently right when Blake finally breaks free. She points her weapon at Weiss, but her hand is shaking from fear. Weiss showed no fear, at least she didn't display any fear.

"...You won't. You know what will happen if you do that. Even if you decide to run away. I'm a Schnee, they'll listen to me either way and you'll be exposed"

"...You're right… I… I'm sorry Silver." She lowered her weapon, a tear streamed down her cheek. Her voice was shaking in fear. "But it's me or you, and I don't want everything that I sacrificed to go to waste." She looks Weiss in the eye. "I'll help you get rid of Ruby."

"There we go." She smiled, and walked towards Blake, offering a handshake. "You've made the right decision Blake. Soon, she won't be a threat to anyone."

She shook her hand, her grip was weak, and she felt hollow.

The rest of the day was torturous for Blake. Showing a fake smile for everyone, listening to everything Weiss had to say. She wouldn't stop about Ruby, how she lied about her name, about her history. How she nearly got herself killed when she slapped Ruby. She focused on Ruby's strength, and how she could've won that CRDL fight had she treated the fight with the same ferocity as she treated Russel.

"She can and will kill us all." She would repeat when they were alone.

Gods, she hated Weiss, but she mainly hated herself for agreeing to get rid of Ruby. She already betrayed the Fang, but she never thought she'd have to betray someone close to her again, and so soon too.

Soon it was night, and the pair were back in their dorm. Yang was there too, and Weiss began small-talking her.

She couldn't wrap her head around what Weiss told her though. She went through Ruby's stuff and got someone to translate her diary. She violated Ruby's privacy. The hollowness grew stronger when Blake remembered that she did the same thing, but at least it was for a good reason. Weiss just wanted to eliminate someone she thought was a threat to her reputation.

Jaune and Pyrrha came into the room, she didn't know when she just sat in bed in a trance. Tomorrow she and Weiss will start planning to learn more about Ruby, and then expose and arrest her. She can't fathom how Weiss could act so… normal with them. Smiling and chatting as if she didn't threaten her and scorched a portion of the forest earlier today.

She only snapped out of her trance when the window of their dorm was smashed.

Jaune screamed like a girl, Pyrrha went into a combat stand, while Wiess and Yang stood there in shock. It took a moment for everyone to get their bearings together, and realize a strange-looking container was thrown into their dorm.

Weiss walked to the window and looked to see who would do such a thing. Yang, however, decided to open it.

"Woah. Weiss, you said you lost their scroll right?"

"Yeah, I lost it in the Emerald Forest. Why?"

"Well… it's in this box-." She stops mid-sentence, before showing the scroll for everyone to see.

It was an image of Blake… with her ears exposed and the White Fang logo below her image. Even Weiss was shocked at what she saw.

"Blake…" Pyrrha was the first to speak.

It was too late. She was exposed. She was exposed, they know. Whatever took Weiss's scroll knows, not only knows but it chose to expose her in front of her friends.

"NO!"

She bolted from her bed towards the door.

"Blake!" Yang shouted.

"GET AWAY!"

Vision blurry and narrow, heart throbbing. She ran across the halls, trying to escape her friends. Her breathing was erratic. She hits something.

"Blake~?" Silver, no Ruby asked her. "What's the issue~?"

Tears swell in Blake's eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" She used her semblance to dash behind Ruby and run away.

She ran out of the building, she only had one destination. The air dock. She hears shouting behind her, but she won't be caught. Her legs are burning, and her lungs are wheezing, but she can see it, the last bullhead to the city. From there, she can hide, find a hotel or safe house, and plan something.

She just wants to get away. Get away from everything in Beacon.

She boards the bullhead and enters the cockpit.

"H-hey!"

"Just go! I'm the only passenger you'll get!" She shoved some lien to the pilot, who quickly accepted and started to lift off. When Blake saw those doors close, and felt the bullhead lift off, she finally sat down. She sat down and laughed before her laughter turned into sobbing.

Coward. That's what she is at her core.

The Know is exposed, but they have turned another into a Know. Shame, it felt shame, but it did not expect the other Know to wield Ash Dust. It watched the Know blitz across the Darkborn and then exhausted themselves. The Darkborn they summoned would've dealt with them, but it acquired Ash Dust.

Was the Princess helping them? Doubt. The Princess wouldn't share a secret of the Kin to the Lightborn, especially to the second Know. Confusion. How did it acquire Ash Dust?

Unrelated. The Know is now exposed. They will be isolated, alone, and vulnerable. It must know more about the Know, to ensure it will eliminate the Know and return with knowledge about the Princess.

Blake Belladonna

No related results.

Blake Belladonna Faunus

Unrelated results regarding myths about Faunus and plants.

Blake Belladonna missing

Results leading to a missing bounties board hosted in Mistral

They moved the cursor and clicked on the link. The website quickly loaded, and they scrolled to see the plan placed by their Kin to attract the Princess in Mistral, and an important image.

MISSING: BLAKE BELLADONNA

200,000 LIEN FOR ANY INFORMATION ABOUT MY DAUGHTER.

POSTED BY: KALI BELLADONNA

The being smiled.

Kali Belladonna.

Results about Menagerie, Ghira Belladonna, and Kali Belladonna.

The being scrolled to a speech done by Kali. Perfect, it has a voice, it has the Know's number from the other Know before it wiped the knowledge it acquired on the Princess. The Know is now exposed. It can finally return home, and make its goddess happy.

It lets out an ethereal, sadistic laugh. Before grabbing a blood-stained scroll from the dead Lightborn whose home it had graciously decided to bless with its presence.