The duel began with Lieutenant Wycliffe firing his laser gunshots towards Blake. Quickly cartwheeling backwards, she evaded his attack and the advances of the other White Fang members. She converted Gambol Shroud into its gun form and fired away with it, quickly knocking down the dog tailed faunus, almost smirking as he was knocked out against a wall.
These guys should be easy. Blake thought to herself. Wycliffe charged towards her, a switchblade in hand as she barely missed having her palm cut by his weapon. The blade got stuck in the wall after Blake's sidestep. Ok, maybe not.
The mouse tailed faunus came up to her, lashing out with her bare hands as she blocked the scratches and punches with her weapon. Not realizing the dog eared faunus was slowly creeping up behind her, she was taken by surprise upon being kicked in the back, sending her flying before crashing on the ground. She growled as she got up, now weaponless. The cat faunus starting running towards her weapon in a diagonal curve, all the baddies on her heels. Lieutenant Wycliffe continued to fire the laser gun at her as she ran. They struck her multiple times with their weapons or bare fists, only to realize it was a shadow of her each time.
"Ah-hem!"
The three turned their heads to the stray cat faunus, smirking with her sheath and katana in her hands.
"There you are, you filthy cat!"
The dog tailed faunus slowly woke up as the mouse tailed woman got out her weapon- a sword with electric dust, and charged towards the traitor, attempting to shock her. As electric dust shockwaves came towards her, they didn't travel too far before the dust hit her, causing her to be shocked with several lightning bolts, stunned in place before she was knocked to the wall with the mouse tailed woman grabbing her right wrist and hovering the sword only inches away from her neck. Blake put her left hand, the one with the sheath in it, behind her back, pressed to the wall as Lieutenant Wycliffe and the two dog faunus approaching her.
"Whatever you had planned, it ends now." Wycliffe stated.
"Ha! Did you really think that one woman like you could take down the entire White Fang?" the mouse woman asked. Blake didn't answer. "Also, why are concealing your ears with that bow?"
"Isn't it obvious? She wants to hide her history, her heritage." the dog tailed faunus answered.
"But does she really believe that she can hide the truth from the world forever?" the dog eared faunus asked them. "She's just a foolish traitor!"
He tried to swipe her ribbon, but Blake got out her sheath from behind her back, knocking the sword out of the mouse woman's hand and punched the incoming opponent in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. The catwoman picked up her sword and, using enough aura to glow for a second or two, broke it in half with her knee. The mouse tail woman gasped in terror as Blake cast the pieces of the broken weapon aside. She kicked her down with more force, knocking her into her two fellow soldiers.
Wycliffe groaned and sighed. "I hoped that I wouldn't have to do this, but I don't have much choice."
He pointed the gun in his left hand to her along with his switchblade on his right. Somewhat reluctantly, he charged towards her, ready to take her down, but she countered the attack by using the sheath with full force against his head, knocking him out. She quickly tied them up with some nearby rope and as the White Fang members all woke up, proceeded to glare menacingly at them.
"I'll ask you again- where is Adam Taurus?" Blake interrogated.
"You'll never make us talk! Never!" the mouse girl proclaimed.
"Just tell me what I want to know, and no one else gets hurt."
"We're not talking!" the dog eared faunus exclaimed.
Blake held up her katana in front of the prisoners. "I won't hesitate."
"You' you'r... you're bluffing!" Wycliffe stammered.
"I'm not bluffing." She slowly moved her sword towards his neck. "I'll ask you this one last time; where is Adam Taurus?"
"Okay, I'll talk! He went to Mountain Glen!" he confessed.
"Got it." She drew back her blade, sheathed her weapon and strapped it on her back before beginning to walk away.
"Wait!" She suddenly stopped. Wycliffe looked at her sadly as she slowly turned to face him."Why are you doing this? I remember you when you first became a fighter for the White Fang. You were but twelve years old. You did everything a White Fang member would do with joy and pride. You were so loyal, you went above and beyond. What happened?"
"I've changed. Sorry, Dave. Those days are over." Blake folded her arms. "I'm not going to aid you or your organization in your ways of violence anymore."
"Is that why you left? Is that why you're trying to find and presumably kill Adam Taurus? To weaken us? Or is it because of something he may have done to you?"
"It's not what he did to me." she answered. "It's what he did to my friend." She tightened her fists and held back a few tears. "For all he's done, I'll never forgive him! And there's nothing you can say or do to stop me!"
She turned and began to walk away once more as the mouse tailed one cried out, "You will never succeed, Blake! Never!"
"Do really want this, little flower?"
She secretly widened her eyes in concern to Wycliffe's question, but she kept her resolve as she walked forward. "I do."
The stray cat faunus left the warehouse and put her back to the wall. The memory the lieutenant mentioned came back to her. When she met him for the first time... David "Dave" Wycliffe was a blacksmith and weapons engineer/technician situated in Menagerie. If you were part of the White Fang and wanted your own custom weapon, Dave was your guy. Many of the specialist and elite agents went to him for weapon creation and repairs. When Blake agreed to become a fighter, Adam took her to his workshop to make her own custom weapon. Man, that was a long time ago... Long before he became lieutenant, long before Blake betrayed the White Fang.
Adam, seventeen at the time, wore a plain black jacket as part of his attire, along with a plain Grimm mask. Blake, who was but twelve, wore black shorts and a white t-shirt with her hair in a ponytail. The two opened the door to a dark beachside cottage, seeing in the darkness a bookshelf overstuffed with books and pieces of scrap metal on the top. In front of them was a desk with several unfinished weapons on its surface.
"I always forget that he keeps this place dark..." Adam mumbled to himself. "Hey, Dave?" He looked around. "Where are you?"
"Right here." He answered as he turned the lights on with the flick of a switch. Lacking a mask, his oblong smiling face and blue eyes were seen by the two faunus. "Hello there, Adam. Long time no see. Traded your shades for a mask, eh?"
"I'm helping to be sure that the ones who oppose us don't see who we are, yet never forget what we looked like."
The man looked at the adolescent girl. "And who are you, young one?"
"Blake Belladonna." she answered. "I came to you to ask for your help in making me a weapon."
"This little flower seems a little young to be White Fang combatant." Dave turned to Adam. "How old is she?"
"Twelve. Closer to twelve and a half, actually." He looked disgruntled. "Don't worry, Dave. I'll be sure that nothing happens to her."
The weapons engineer looked at Blake, who was smiling brightly. "I'd hate to see something happen. But if she's ready and willing, I'll see what I can't do."
"I'm ready!" Blake exclaimed.
A few brief images of the blueprint of her weapon Gambol Shroud appeared in her mind before switching to him melting down the metal to make her weapon, assembling the pieces together and then handing it to Blake.
"Thank you, Mr. Wycliffe!"
"You're welcome. Please, just call me Dave."
Adam turned to her curiously. "So, what will you name it?"
"Gambol Shroud." she answered.
The bull-horned faunus smiled. "How appropriate for your fighting style. And personality."
"Good luck out there, little flower." Dave said to her as they left.
"Thank you!"
She returned to the present and started to make her way back to where she never imagined herself returning to... Mountain Glen. As she did this, she thought on the friends and allies she had in the White Fang that she left behind, particularly Dave.
He may have built my weapon, but I owe nothing to him. The chords are cut. The bonds between me and current White Fang were already severed. Now that I know where Adam is, I will stop him, no matter what, or who gets in my way.
The next day, back at the Arc family home, all household members (save for Tangerine), were having family dinner around the table. Pyrrha sat next to Jaune, slowly feeling like she actually belonged here.
"How is it?"
She took another bite of tuna noodle casserole before answering, "It's really good. Thanks again for letting me stay here."
"Well why wouldn't we?" Azure asked.
"It almost feels like... I'm intruding in on your lives."
"You are not intruding, Pyrrha." Jaune said. "You are always welcome here."
The gladiator girl smiled and resumed eating her meal. "So... Emerald. You said that you would tell us soon what your desired job choice was. What is it?" Roux asked.
The bookworm said nothing as she took another bite. "Come on, Emerald. Spill the beans." Azura prodded.
Acacia looked at her worriedly as she took a drank of water. "Emerald, is something wrong?"
She put up a finger as she chewed her food before swallowing and answering, "Well... The reason I've been reluctant to tell you of my desired career is because I'm scared that, no wait. I know that most, if not all of you won't like the idea that I have in mind."
"Well don't keep us hanging! What is it?" Indigo asked.
"Alright. I have thought long and hard about this decision for many weeks- and I have decided that... I want to be a messenger."
Gasps were heard all around the table. Azura nearly choked on her water and Rouge choked on her tea.
"Uh, that was unpleasant. It went down the wrong way. I hate when that happens..." Rouge grumbled to herself.
For a moment, everyone sat in stunned silence. That is, until Jaune asked five seconds later, "Are you insane?!" He then added, "No wait, let me rephrase that; You're insane!"
"Why would you do this?" Acacia asked.
"You have no combat experience! If you run into a Grimm, you'd be toast!"
Emerald kept her neutral expression even as some the others started arguing as to why they thought it was a bad idea. "Guys, stop!" She sighed. "I knew you guys were going to react like that. I may not have combat experience, but I do have something else that no one else has that makes me a perfect candidate for the job. Think about it."
The room was left in silence for more than a few seconds. "I think I can comprehend Emerald's reasoning behind her decision." Pyrrha began. "With the ability to lock her emotions, she believes she can avoid the Grimm because she won't feel fear, sadness or any negative emotion and be able to do her task without interference."
"That is correct. With the emotion lock, no Grimm can find me, and no Grimm means no problems, big success and lots of money."
"Hmm... When you put it that way, I suppose it makes sense." Rouge stated before taking another bite of food.
"You can't really be supporting this, can you? That's just nuts." Jaune protested.
"I don't know. She does have a valid point." Azura added.
Jaune growled and said nothing, continuing to look angry. After dinner, he and Pyrrha spoke in the living room. "Jaune, what's wrong?"
"I just can't believe that they easily support her. When they learned of my decision to forge transcripts for Beacon, I was scolded to no end for being reckless. Now Emerald has that same recklessness and she gets praised? Ugh!"
"I... I understand your pain. But then again... Emerald didn't do anything illegal or immoral. She's just doing something dangerous and risky. She does believe she can avoid it with her semblance."
"That's true. I guess maybe I was a bit jealous of her getting all the praise. Despite my accomplishments, I get no praise, no reward. Only punishment."
Pyrrha looked at him sadly. "Really? Nothing?"
"Absolutely nothing. With this, with my punishment... with Rouge... I feel like crawling into a hole and fighting her at the same time. This bad paradoxial feeling isn't helping matters."
She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure things will get better. Eventually."
He wasn't sure if he could believe her. Later that evening, Jaune was fighting against his older sister. As the dueled raged on, Tangerine attempted to pin him to the tree with the kama scythes in her hands, nearly denting the armor he wore, but he used his sword to knock them out of her hands before kicking her down.
Tangerine smirked as she laid there with her arm bent, before getting. "Well done, Jaune. You have certainly improved. And now you know it as well."
Pyrrha smiled at her beau. "You have really improved under her tutelage, haven't you?"
"Yeah, Tangerine has been making me work very hard with these combat lessons. Then again, I knew what I signed up for."
Wearing a prideful smirk on her face, Tangerine turned to Pyrrha, "Your job was to help him get good quickly. My job is to help him get better."
The sound of a door being slid open was heard, distracting Jaune from his train of thought as Azura and Rouge entered the backyard, Azura shutting the door thereafter. "Good evening, ladies and gentleman." Rouge greeted.
Tangerine gave her a skeptical glare. "What are you doing here?"
"We're here observe. I want to see his improvement, or lack thereof."
Azura nodded in affirmation as she stood by her older sister. Jaune softly growled. The training session continued smoothly, as Jaune went through more duels and dodging exercises.
"Well done, Jaune!" Pyrrha cheered.
"Thank you, you're too kind!" Jaune responded.
"So you really are in love?" Rouge asked him.
"Yeah, we are. What makes you doubt that?"
"Oh nothing.." She quickly added, "It's just that... you've been naughty. You've done it."
Jaune looked at her like she had grown two heads. "Done what?"
"Don't lie to me, I know you and Pyrrha have done it."
Jaune knew what she was implying and glared at her. "I have not done it!"
"Uh, I don't know what 'it' is, but whatever 'it' is, they have done it." Azura awkwardly chirped.
The fashionista smirked, pumping her fist slightly. "I knew it. I really don't understand what's going on in that crazy, demented head of yours. First you forge transcripts for Beacon Academy, take your great-grandfather's weapon that you have no idea how to use, somehow acquire the money to go to Beacon, likely through illegal or immoral means, and then while you were at Beacon, you try and seduce one of the most gifted warriors in the whole world!"
"I did not seduce her!" Jaune truthfully exclaimed. Azura was still confused as ever. "That is a load of garbage and you know it!"
"True or untrue, I just don't understand why she would willingly aid you and adore you. You've done nothing to deserve her help, or her love. You don't deserve to be where you are now. You owe your success, as minor as it is, to her, and it is a debt you can never repay. So I'm trying to understand- why would she do this? Did she just forget about your sins? Or did she really just not care? The only reason I can see why she could possibly help you, agree to train you, or even fall in love with you, is because she is just as much of a fool as you are."
Jaune stood up angrily, pointing at his eldest sister. "That's it! That's the last straw! I challenge you to a duel!"
Pyrrha and Azura gasped. Even Rouge looked at him in surprise for a brief moment. Tangerine's eyes opened wide in shock, before turning to her younger brother concerned. "Uh, Jaune..."
He did not notice her concerned look as he continued, "I've had enough of this! I've had enough of you treating me like dirt! You've been insulting me, ridiculing me, criticizing me, and knocking me down for far too long! This is the final straw, Rouge! I will fight you and prove to you that I'm worthy of becoming a huntsman!"
She laughed at him. "I accept your measly challenge. When and where?"
His glare intensified. "Tomorrow, out here in the yard, at sunset."
"You're on." She smirked. "You're going to get beaten, and once I shove your face into the ground, you'll realize just how right I am!"
She walked away, leaving him even more angry and determined than ever. Tangerine facepalmed at his action and sighed deeply. "Are you done?"
"Yes." he said, annoyed.
"Now then. Let me respond with this." She breathed in deeply before booming in her loudest voice, causing everyone present to cover their ears. "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?! YOU JUST CHALLENGED ROUGE TO A DUEL! I WOULDN'T EVEN CHALLENGE HER AND I HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND!"
"I know, I know, this is bad! Are you done lecturing me?"
She sighed again. "At least you're smart enough to realize what you've done."
The other Arc sisters, save for Rouge, came rushing to the yard. Acacia quickly slid the door open and frantically examined the scene, quite worried before her eyes met with those who were already present. "Are you guys alright? We all heard this loud scream coming from the yard. We were worried someone might have attacked."
Jaune sighed. "No, Tangerine was scolding me for doing something stupid."
Emerald looked at him accusingly. "What did you do?"
"Nothing." Azura and Tangerine glared at him. Even Pyrrha gave him a questionable look. He sighed, holding his hands in surrender and caving in to the truth. "I challenged Rouge to a duel."
Gasps were heard from Indigo, Acacia and Amethyst. Emerald, however, was not surprised. "So the camel's back has been broken." She wrote something down on a notepad with a pen. "My prediction has come to pass."
"You're not really going to fight her, are you big brother?" Amethyst asked, almost pouting.
"I have to, little gem. Rouge has been treating me like dirt since basically forever, now more than ever with my return from the devastated Beacon, she has ridiculed, shamed and humiliated me to no end, and now she's insulted me and my girlfriend! She's trying to say that I'm not worthy of the knowledge I've gained or the love I've received from her! I'm going to fight that overconfident queen bee, and I will show her just how far I've come!"
A timer on a scroll went off. "Well, I'd continue the lesson, but we're out of time." Tangerine turned off the alarm before turning back to her brother, sighing heavily. "I hope you know what you're getting into."
Aggravated to no end, Jaune left without saying a word, and Pyrrha followed him. Tangerine looked at the blond warrior as he walked away sadly with fear. "Oh, this won't end well..."
"I have to agree." Indigo said.
Azura folded her arms. "I'm beginning to wonder if Rouge just used me as a pawn to ignite Jaune's temper and humiliate him. Was this her plan all along?"
"That's... not outside the realm of possibility." Emerald noted.
"Either way, this is bad." Acacia said.
"Agreed. Very bad." Amethyst added after a moment of silence.
The six youngest Arc sisters stood there in somber silence, each concerned at how the conflict between Rouge and Jaune was going to hell in a hand basket.
The two lovebirds walked through the kitchen and living room, leaving the sight of the Arc sisters behind, and went up to his room. Behind him, Pyrrha asked, "Are you alright?"
"No, I'm not. This is just too much..."
"You're going to need all your skill for this match. And probably a lot of luck too."
Jaune started climbing up the steps to the second floor, slightly annoyed but trying not to display it in his voice. "Why do you say that?"
"You just challenged a professional huntress, Jaune! This isn't the same as fighting Cardin or an average Beacon student. You're going up against the real deal."
The realization of the situation hit him like a ton of bricks and as he reached the head of the stairs, his eyes widened in horror. Both of them knew that he was scared. "What have I done?"
The captain glared at the sailors as Blake stood in front of them, her arms in front of her as she looked nervously at the captain of the ship. "What have I told ye? No bringing strangers aboard me ship unless it's recruiting season!"
"I'm sorry captain, but I found this one stranded at sea. She looked like she was ready to drown! I couldn't just do nothing!"
She inspected the girl. "Hmm.. This lass looks like me. She could be a doppelganger. Oh wait, she has amber eyes vs my ocean blue. Oh well, still an interesting lookalike. Cute bow, lassie."
"Oh, um, thank you." Blake smiled nervously.
"Remind me, how did you get lost at sea again?"
Blake quickly replayed the events in her mind since she left the warehouse-roaming around to find no airport, hiring a pilot to take her to Mountain Glen, the engine of the helicopter failing and her and the pilot being forced to jump into the ocean before the pilot went another way, never to be seen again before finding the nearest ship and climbing on top of it.
"Long story short, I'm on an important quest to defeat Adam Taurus. After roaming around for weeks, I found and interrogated White Fang Lieutenant Wycliffe, and discovered his location. But alas, the helicopter I was hitching a ride on malfunctioned in midair, forcing me to jump down into the ocean."
"Blimey! What bad luck! Well, you're safe here. This ship won't be sinking anytime soon." the captain reassured her. "Although, you mention the location of the Vale White Fang Leader. Where is he?"
"In Mountain Glen, a ruined settlement in Vale."
"Hmm... Thanks for the information, Ms..."
"Belladonna. Blake Belladonna." The raven-haired beauty looked at her lookalike. "And you are?"
The captain smiled. "Noire. Corvina Noire."
"Thank you, Captain Noire. Would you be willing to take me back to the mainland so that I may continue my pursuit of him?"
"I would be more than happy to assist you." She cupped her hands and looked to her crew. "Avast ye, me hearties! Adjust the sails and set a course for mainland Vale!"
"Aye-aye, Captain!" one of the sailors exclaimed.
The sailors followed Corvina's orders without hesitation.
"I can't thank you enough for lending me your aid."
"It be no trouble, lassie. Xanthe!" A young man, about Blake's age, stepped forth before the two raven-haired women. He had an average build and height, he was a man with blond messy hair and red eyes. He wore black jeans with a flame design on the bottom of the left leg and a black button up dress shirt that was slightly too big for him with yellow sleeve cuffs, rolled up to show his hands. "Arrange temporary living quarters for the young lass."
"Aye-aye, Captain Noire." He turned to Blake. "If you would kindly follow me."
Xanthe and Blake left to arrange Blake's new quarters aboard the ship. As soon as the sailor and the stray lass left, Corvina smirked and thought to herself, Thanks for the information, Miss Belladonna. Adam's death will cause the White Fang to slowly crumble. And when the White Fang fall, the faunus race will fall thereafter!