Author's Notes:
-To Guests CRWBY is gay and Testingyourbutt; Wow, you guys are too kind, both of you! (blushes and vanishes in a puff of smoke)
-Also, wow, I can't believe this has been going on for a whole year. Happy one-year anniversary, Everlasting Light! I know most of my longer stories last for a year or more, but I never thought that when starting this project that I'd be taking it this far. Then again, who knows how far I'll go?
Now then, let's get back to the story.
Athena looked at the calendar through her scroll as she stood in her tent. She scrolled upwards to the month of September and clicked on the 7th. That was the day Sanctum Academy had been attacked. She looked at the current day; January 2nd. The winged faunus groaned as Ares entered the tent, not noticing his entrance.
"Is something troubling you, my queen?"
She pocketed her scroll and turned her partner in crime. "You flatter me, Ares. But yes, something is bugging me. Maura hasn't been caught yet. It's been almost four months since the Storming of Sanctum and she's still out there."
"That is true." Ares responded. "But we are both aware that the price on her head is ever-increasing and with it, the number of people searching for her has increased. Her days are numbered."
"It's not fast enough." She sighed. "We need to speed things up."
"You think so? According to recent intel, the price on Maura's head is now 200,000 Lien. That's pretty high, isn't it?"
"It is, but it's not high enough. So far, progress towards my goals has come to near-grinding halt. I know that patience is a virtue, but the fires of ambition are dying down. I can't let them go out completely." She threw a drawstring bag over her back, tightening the strings so that they wouldn't be caught in her wings mid-flight. "Which is why I think it's time we pay Tawny a visit." The two walked out of the tent, the other four remaining specialists watching. "Ares, get the others to pack up camp and meet me in Argus within four days. I will fly ahead to inform Tawny so we may formulate a plan to destroy the prison and free our allies. I'll see you in four days time."
"Athena, wait!" Ares grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him to steal a kiss from her. As he deepened the kiss, he let her wrist go and snaked his arms around her waist and she threw her arms around his neck in response. She slid her tongue into his mouth and his tongue motioned in response. The others saw the two passionately making out before they broke the kiss. "For luck."
She smiled while playfully rolling her eyes at him. "Thanks Ares."
Athena took to the skies, her wings carrying her through her the clouded moonless night. The scene went back to Ares, who looked at his remaining faunus companions.
The first was Aoi, a faunus with blue scales, had light blue eyes and black hair in a bob cut. She wore a blue mini skirt paired with a dark blue tank top and a black belt. She wore black wedge heeled boots and a sapphire bracelet.
The second one was a fair skinned faunus a long lizard tail, named Cola, who had green eyes to match the scales on his tail and dark brown hair. He wore black cargo pants that were ripped up to the knee on the right side along with a green t-shirt with a pine green lizard leaping upwards on his chest. He wore a green wristband with the words, Never cave in. Always resist. written in white font.
The third one was named Gilford, a murderer and thief with bat fangs. His skin was very pale and he had jet black hair paired with red eyes. He wore a black suit with black dress shoes and socks. He wore a black and red striped necktie and a long black cape behind him. On the ends of his sleeves, he wore red cuff-links.
And finally, there was Marrok with sheep ears. He had pale skin, pale blond hair and blue eyes. He wore jeans and grey hoodie with black and white sneakers. As his hood lied down, revealing his white sheep ears for all to see, Marrok smiled. He seemed nice. But little did the others know what he had done...
"My brothers and sister," Ares addressed them. "Athena has declared that is it time to pack up camp and move to Argus."
"Now?" Aoi asked.
"Yes now."
"Are you sure that..." Gilford tried to ask.
"Get moving!" Ares commanded.
The others frantically started to pack up the camp. Cola looked the ram-horned faunus curiously as he collapsed his tent. "Are you sure that this will work?"
"To be honest, I'm rather worried about this." Ares confessed. "I think she's moving too fast. But, we must press on. After all, once Athena has a plan, no one can stop her." He went into his tent and started to pack his items into a suitcase, thinking about Athena as he spoke to himself, "I hope you know what you're doing..."
Meanwhile, Sienna Khan continued her search for Maura. Still wearing the black cloak, masquerade mask and bowler hat to disguise herself, she walked through the woods, silently musing to herself.
This hasn't been going well at all. Things could be better, but I suppose they could also be worse... Sienna sighed aloud, knowing that no one could hear her. This place has turned into a jungle. Three villages I've come across were embroiled in this civil war. Although most of Athena's followers were with her at the Storming of Sanctum and arrested alongside her, it seems that as a result of that attack she's gained even more followers. These followers have clashed with Maura's loyal agents. Not to mention that some of Maura's followers have deserted her in favor of Athena. But I don't get it. Why are they going to her?
The high leader of the White Fang remembered what happened after she jumped from the ledge...
As the undisguised Sienna fell down to the village with her chain whip in hand, she used it to strangle and slay the nearest Grimm, a Beowolf, before swinging it back to herself as she landed before more Grimm came her way. She jumped up, landed on the back of a Beowolf and released her fire dust blade from the rest of the whip to let it fly towards the head of a nearby Ursa and she punched an incoming Beowolf from behind with her right arm as she heard it growl and come towards her. A fiery explosion was heard and both dead Grimm faded away as she proceeded to jump upward several feet in the air, taking the ice dust blade and sending it flying towards the Beowolf she punched earlier, dealing a fatal blow to its head. She rolled and grabbed her fire and ice dust blades but she failed to see the Ursi coming at her and was knocked down as it swiped its claws at her.
She skid back-first against the ground, growling as the other Grimm came for her. She quickly jumped from the ground and struck a few blows against the creatures of Grimm with her chain whip. The biggest Beowolf tried to bite at her chain whip, but missed it by a few mere inches. The tigress backflipped and as time briefly slowed down, she strangled an Ursa in midair and as she landed on the ground, normal time motion resumed and she beheaded it as she tightened her grip. Shortly thereafter, green laser shots were fired at the remaining two Grimm, knocking the Beowolves down, allowing for Sienna to take the blades she retrieved and directly stab them into the skulls of the Grimm.
"Are you alright?" a voice asked as the last two Grimm faded.
Smiling, she turned to him and answered, "I had them, but thanks for the aid."
"High Leader Khan!" exclaimed a White Fang member with a green ribbon on his wrist. He gave a swift nod in courtesy. "Athena's followers are here! But unfortunately, in the midst of the war, the Grimm have come as well!"
She reattached the blades to her chain whip. "Is there any way to tell who follows who?"
He calmed himself and pointed to the ribbon on his wrist. "Maura's followers are wearing green ribbons on some part of their body. Usually the wrist."
"Good to know." She wrapped the whip around her right wrist. "Who's leading the charge on the loyalist's side?"
"No one that I know of."
"Well then, let's fix that, shall we?"
The high leader and her loyal follower went to the main site of the battle, a part of the village that had not yet been burned by the flames of war. The tigress could see several gunshots being fired on both sides as several White Fang members fought. She saw those with owl feathers on their White Fang masks and those with green ribbons on their wrists. Members on both sides fired guns, held swords and other weapons in their hands and some fought with their bare hands. Some pairs of enemies tried to push the weapon out of their opponent's hands. To the left, some sets of enemies were killed in various ways, including being gruesomely beheaded, stabbed in the chest, and in one case, an arrow to the heart. To the right, she saw White Fang specialists fighting against each other with their weapons, such as whips, swords, bow and arrows and a pair of sais.
"Brothers and Sisters of the White Fang!" Sienna called out. All eyes turned to her as the fighting came to a grinding halt. "I believe we all know that Maura Celandine is true leader of the Mistralian White Fang. She is the one I appointed, and she is the one I trust. To those of you who have chosen to follow Athena Bruna, you need not follow the false preacher's footsteps. She has lied to you and deceived you. Maura never attacked Sanctum Academy. That was the doing of Athena and her army. I currently don't know why she chose to take such extreme measures, but it was unnecessary act of malice and betrayal. If you side with us, you'll be on the right side of history when we bring this civil war to an end."
A woman with dark skin, hair and bear claws glared at Sienna. She wore a black and white dress with black boots and a dark purple belt. Like the other traitors, she wore an owl feather on her White Fang mask. Out of the corner of her eye, Sienna saw her wearing a claw pendant necklace. Sienna silently raised her eyebrows in shock. "We will never surrender." the woman declared. "Maura has been holding us back for far too long. Athena will bring a new age, in such faunus will truly topple the status quo. You and your loyalists won't last forever! The revolutionists will change the world!"
"Uh, what do we do about Sienna Khan's presence?" a revolutionist asked.
"Bring her to Athena." the leader answered. "I'm sure she'd be glad to have her."
Sienna unfurled her whip. "Loyalists, attack!" As the fight resumed, the tigress went straight for the clawed woman. "You don't have to do this, Negra."
Negra smirked. "And why shouldn't I?"
The duel between Negra and Sienna began with the former punching the high leader in the face, followed with a punch to the gut before Sienna used her chain whip to grab the clawed woman's arm and swung her whip to release her and toss her into the building. She got up from the brick wall and quickly got out her weapon, a battle axe with fire dust and threw it at Sienna to distract her as she charged forward and tried to kick her in the gut, only for Sienna to dash back and use her whip to throw her into the wall again.
"You'd be a traitor! You vowed to be loyal to the Fang no matter what! You swore to it!"
The traitor got up and threw knives at her to distract her as she retrieved her axe. As Sienna finished dodging the knives, Negra swung her axe creating fire dust waves for Sienna to dodge.
"I did swear loyalty to the Fang, High Leader." She kicked Sienna in the gut and knocked her down. "But what you fail to see is that Maura is weak. Maura has been leader for close to five years and during that time, we've gotten nowhere." Sienna got up. "The fact that she ran away and hid somewhere proves it."
She to tried swing her axe down on her, only for Sienna to block it with the grip part of her weapon. "She was wrongly accused for a crime your leader had done of her own free will! Tell me this, Negra, if you were wrongly accused, wouldn't you run?"
Negra was shocked. This allowed for Sienna to grab the clawed woman and throw her into the wall, breaking it as she was buried under the rubble. Holding her hand to her head as she got up, Negra began to show signs of fatigue and she widened her eyes in terror as something happened behind Sienna's back. "It's over, Negra."
The clawed woman looked around her. "On the contrary," she said smiling, "I believe that it is only the beginning."
She threw a smoke bomb and disappeared. As Sienna looked around, she realized that the rest of the revolutionists had disappeared as well. Sienna said no words, but instead sighed sadly.
As the tigress returned to the present, she continued to collect her thoughts.
Kunchinashi shouldn't be too far from here. Only a day's worth of walking. Assuming I don't encounter any trouble, I should be able to make it there by tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, Maura's messenger was not specific in where exactly she chose to hide herself. Once I get there, how am I going to find her?
As Sienna walked through the forest, she found herself growing more weary by the minute. Eventually, after walking for nearly another hour, she found herself slowing down. She yawned and decided it was time to retire for the night. A few feet later, she stopped and set up a black tent for herself. Leaning on her left side, she closed her eyes, placed her head to her pillow, her left hand under it as she used her other hand to drape an orange blanket over herself.
Don't worry, Maura. I'll be there soon.
In the southern edge of Mistral, Ilia had just arrived at the White Fang base. This particular base was where Maura used to be, and where the White Fang was centered before they moved to Menagerie.
Ilia opened the doors to the building and her associate followed her lead. Her cohort, a male Faunus with yellow eyes, brown hair and dark scales on his tanned skin, looked around, his eyebrows raised. "I thought Maura Celandine was supposed to be here."
As the two walked through the deserted hallway, the chameleon faunus quipped, "She is. Maybe she's here somewhere. Check the hallways. I'll look in the throne room."
Her associate nodded his head and followed her command. As Ilia came up to the black and red doors marked green slash marks, she opened the doors and entered the room, only to find it empty and dark. She turned on the lights and looked around, trying to see if anyone or anything that could lead to Maura was still lying around. As she walked on the black carpet up to the throne, she saw a small folded sheet of paper on the seat. She went up to the throne and picked up the paper and unfolded it.
The top of it read,
For Sienna Khan's eyes only;
A few lines down, she read the main message.
High Leader- I have to leave this place. The authorities are looking for me. I can't stay here without risking being caught, and possibly executed, for something I didn't do. I have left a clue for you to find me if need be. I can only hope that your eyes will see this. You once told me that you were smart and could unscramble words. I have a keyword written out for you. Unscramble it and it is the name of the city where I have gone. Once you arrive, look for a White Fang messenger with green stripes on her mask. She usually hangs around the southern edge of the city and she's the only one that knows my location.
Best of luck and regards, Maura
Keyword; Uchinakunshi
Ilia set the letter down, took a picture of the message with her scroll and pocketed it as the male faunus walked back into the room. "It seems that she has disappeared." he said to Ilia. She refolded the paper and placed it down as if it had never been touched. "Do you think maybe that's why Adam left his hiding place? To look for Maura?"
"I guess. But why? And that still doesn't answer the question at hand- where in the world is he?" Ilia asked in response.
Unbeknownst to her, Adam and his cronies were in Wind Path, standing outside the plane.
"Alright boys, we have a lot of ground to cover. Split up to discover more territory. And remember- this may be a city of fugitives, but try to avoid being seen in public or drawing attention to yourself. We don't want to cause a scene. If you find her, summon us with a group phone call and we'll be there."
A montage began, showing Adam standing from a rooftop with a pair of binoculars in his hand, looking for buildings marked with the secret White Fang symbol- the image of three white claw marks slashed in a vertical pattern. He sighed, not finding anything.
The Lieutenant snuck around the alleyways, looking in deserted and abandoned buildings.
The first White Fang goon, without his mask, walked through the streets of what was an area under construction.
The second White Fang goon, also without his mask, walked through a residential area, looking through the windows to see if Maura was there.
The third White Fang goon saw a young teenage girl with long green hair in a ponytail and emerald eyes to match. She wore ivy green jeans and a forest green turtle neck and lime green tennis shoes. She also wore a blue headband in her hair and a backpack slung over her shoulders. He looked closer at her and saw that she held a few letters in her hands.
"Note to self; get a satchel for letters that is separate from the backpack." she spoke to herself in an emotionless voice.
Thinking that she might have been hired to deliver messages instead of a White Fang messenger, he decided to follow her in hopes of finding Maura. The messenger walked up a circle path to a few houses on top of a mountain. The White Fang goon hid behind rocks as he followed the girl, unaware that she was being followed. He hid behind one rock, then another, and yet another. When the messenger got to the top of the mountain, she stared straight at the house in a middle of a small cul-de sac. In the middle was a wooden house painted light blue with a dark grey roof. To the left was a brick house while to the right was a house in the midst of construction or repair, with wood pieces scattered on the floor. The girl looked around and noted that there was no mailbox or P.O box. The faunus hid himself behind a tree as she chose to walk forward to the blue house and knocked on the door.
After two seconds, the door opened, revealing a blonde haired woman in a light blue skirt and dark blue blouse. "Hello?"
"A message for you." the messenger answered.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Here." the woman gave her a tip. "for all your troubles."
She pocketed the lien. "You are too kind, madam."
"It is the least I can do. Messengers have a very dangerous job, and I feel that they deserve more appreciation for it, regardless of whether or not they're first or second class. I presume by your attire and lack of weapon that you're second class."
"If by second class, you mean someone who has no weapon and little to no combat training, then yes. I may identify as a second class messenger, but the labels that society puts on all second class messengers is an inaccurate way of describing me. I know the risks I am taking and have prepared for them to the best of my capability."
The woman smiled and raised an eyebrow. "So you're a smart second class messenger?"
"That's one way of putting it." She took a step back. "I'd stay and talk, but I have more messages to deliver."
"Well thanks again, Ms..."
"Arc. Emerald Arc."
Emerald ran off, not noticing the faunus who spied on her. He saw the two other letters she held in her hands. He didn't see the names, but he did see the settlements that were part of the address of each letter.
Zephyros, Argus
Neither one of those were places that Maura was suspected to be hiding. Damn it. He lost thirty minutes following this girl in hopes of finding something, but he found nothing. He sighed heavily.
I suppose maybe it couldn't hurt to check the other two houses.
The third White Fang goon decided to check the other two houses. Peering in through the window of the brick house, he saw a young child playing on a rocking horse. Maura didn't have any children, so that one was out. He then looked at the one under construction. Judging by the fact that many of the walls were missing, he amused she wasn't there.
He groaned. "Oh..."
The scene transitioned to him, his cohorts, the Lieutenant and Adam Taurus standing in the plane nearby the cockpit.
"I can't believe this." the co-pilot complained. "All this waiting around guarding the ship just to get nothing."
The third one answered, "Nothing helpful anyway."
"What did you find?" the pilot asked. "Now I'm just curious."
"I saw a messenger. A human messenger, a girl, about maybe 16 years old, clad in green. The strange thing about her was that she spoke with absolutely no emotion. Her face was completely calm too. Kinda creepy if ya ask me."
"Why were you following her anyway?" Adam asked.
"I'm not sure. I guess for some strange reason, I thought that Maura might have been hiring human messengers instead of White Fang messengers."
"Do you think that emotionless messenger is working for Maura?" the pilot asked.
"It couldn't be her. She didn't lead me to Maura. And the other letters she held in her hands were for recipients in Zephyros and Argus." the third guy answered.
"Why would Maura even hire a human? She hates humans." the first mentioned.
"Well, Maura is at odds with Athena. If a White Fang member asks her messenger where she is, she might lead Athena or her followers to her by mistake. If she were to use a human messenger, she could led Athena and her devotees off her track." the lieutenant answered.
"You have a good point there, Douglas." the pilot began. "Aren't most of Athena's followers in prison though?"
"They are, but a few escaped before they could be captured." Douglas responded.
"And of course, Ares returned to save the leader." the first one added.
"Good to know, but we're still no closer to finding the Mistralian White Fang leader." Adam groaned. "I don't get it. Where exactly is Maura hiding?"
Unknown to those searching for her, on a high mountain far from the main city of Kunchinashi, Maura stood on top of a rooftop of a wooden cottage.
This is bad. I know that I'm safe here. For now, but how long will that last? She went through the the trapdoor to the inside of her house, climbing down the step-stool before jumping ground and landing on ground. With the ever-increasing bounty on my head, the hunt is increasing. I know I have my responsibilities as Mistralian White Fang leader, but how can I manage the White Fang while I'm hiding? I have to find a way to prove my innocence and end this manhunt, but how?
She made her way to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water before adding some ice cubes to it.
I need help. She took a sip of cold water. But whom can I possibly call on? I need someone outside the White Fang. She blinked in realization before grimacing. It may not be the best idea, but it might be my only option.
Maura began writing a letter as quickly as she could while still keeping it legible. She put it in an envelope, wrote the recipient's address which was blurred out, and the scene transitioned to her standing in the forest in front of a teenage girl dressed in common clothes, wearing a purple hooded jacket to keep warm. Ms. Celandine handed her the letter and a good amount of lien to the messenger. After she was satisfied, she nodded in approval and ran off.
Hopefully, she'll answer my plea... And man, that was not cheap. 450 Lien to deliver the message, plus 500 in hush money. The messenger's also second class. Maybe I should have hired a faunus messenger outside the White Fang. Little I can do now but pray. Please... if you get the message... answer me... Help me...
Four days later, Aoi, Cola, Gilford and Marrok stood on the mountaintop with their White Fang masks on as they looked at the city down below.
"Are you sure about this?" Gilford asked.
"Ye have little faith. We will succeed." Athena answered as she placed herself in front of her followers.
Ares came up to her and asked her, "So you were able to come up with a plan?"
The owl nodded in confirmation. "I have."
"Well, what is it?" Cola asked.
Sometime later, Athena had finished explaining the plan to her comrades.
"Are you sure about this? What if this backfires?" Cola asked.
"It will work." Athena looked more determined than ever. "It's over for them. It's time for them to move over. We'll set this pain up in flames." The wise woman smirked. "It's time to burn it down."