The life she had built was falling apart.

It didn't matter that it had only existed for a couple of months. It was meant to be a new beginning, a new chapter in her life, one she could look back at proudly when she was old and withered, waiting for that next great adventure called death. She'd done many things in her life that she wasn't proud of. She wasn't perfect; far from it. But she'd really thought that coming to Beacon could help erase some of those mistakes. That becoming a Huntress and helping people, truly helping those in need, human or faunus, that is what would make her life mean something.

But it wasn't to be. It was crumbling away, sand sifting through her fingers and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it.

How could she have been so damn stupid?

Why had she risen to the bait? Blake knew she was better than that, better than this – but when she'd heard Weiss go on and on about how the White Fang were criminals and implying that all faunus were the same? It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before but hearing it from Weiss Schnee of all people?

She'd snapped.

The arrogance, the ignorance… though what hurt the most, perhaps, was that Blake had been beginning to like her. Her opinion of Weiss had been low when they'd first met. No, scratch that – low wasn't enough to describe her feelings for the Schnee heiress. That first day when she'd seen the white haired girl berating Ruby, it had only confirmed all the opinions she'd already formed about that family.

As the weeks went by, however… Weiss had shown her another side of her, one that Blake couldn't help but grow to appreciate. Things in life were never so clear cut. Black and white didn't exist, only shades of gray. Life in an ivory tower wasn't all that it appeared, even though Blake only surmised much about Weiss' past. The girl wasn't exactly the sharing type.

It had been enough.

Blake's opinion had shifted.

Then… disaster.

Disaster in the shape of a blond haired monkey faunus stowaway.

To think that the day had started innocently enough. They'd made the trip to Vale to scout out some of the coming competition for the Vytal Festival, even though Weiss denied vehemently that this was their purpose. They all knew why she'd been so excited to visit the city when usually, she was more than content to spend her weekends on campus. Weiss hadn't been the only one excited about it, either. Ruby and Yang were just as pumped, though for different reasons. For Ruby, she wanted to see all the different weapons people would be bringing from across the globe. Yang wanted to know which fighters to look out for; basically, she was scouting for a good time.

Ever the thrill seeker, her partner.

Even Blake had been excited by the prospect. She'd never taken part in a tournament before and the Vytal Festival was a symbol of unity, an agreement between nations when the world had been at its lowest. It meant something – to both humans and faunus. It was a reminder of their mistakes and of their triumphs, and how they should never forget their past unless they wished to repeat it.

Though not everyone took those lessons to heart.

Blake cradled her head, sitting at a small booth in a nondescript cafe in downtown Vale. After her fight with Weiss, she'd run without thinking. She had nowhere to go, no one to go to, and had just let her feet take her wherever they wished. She'd fled Beacon in the middle of the night and that was how she ended up here the next day, alone with nothing but a cold tea that she'd ordered but not touched, lamenting the loss of her new life.

It had been short lived.

She could still hear those scathing words from Weiss, as if she were here with her. That filthy faunus, she'd said about the stowaway. Criminally insane, she called the White Fang. Every word out of her mouth had been laced with bigotry, discrimination. She'd compared Weiss to Cardin, and she wasn't wrong. They were the exact type of people that the White Fang was created to combat.

...they were just misguided now, going down a path that wasn't ideal. It wasn't their fault!

Blake sighed.

Even she couldn't tell how much she believed it.

Hadn't she left them for exactly that reason? That they'd lost their way and were going too far over the line? Targeting innocent people, maiming and murdering… Adam wasn't the only one within the organization that felt the way he did. Many of them wished to hurt humans just because they were human.

But had they really fallen all the way? Were they really robbing stores like petty criminals now? Stealing Dust for… what, exactly? It wasn't to sell. They hadn't taken any money…

What was she going to do?

Her scroll was set to silent and so she didn't notice at first. She'd been ignoring any and all messages and calls, knowing that Ruby and Yang were desperately trying to contact her. It was by pure chance that she checked the time and saw that someone was actively attempting to call her at that very moment.

Blake felt her mouth go dry.

Jaune Arc's name blinked at her, alongside a picture of the blond boy she'd snapped when he wasn't looking.

Their friendship was a strange one. They'd gone from barely interacting to knowing each other's deepest, darkest secrets within a small span of time, and then… they'd become friends. It wasn't anything special, they just hung out together sometimes, trained at others, nothing different than things she already did with her team.

But he knew.

And he didn't care.

Jaune had been the first to know and instead of spilling the beans, he'd come to her. From there, he had revealed a damaging secret about himself. From that moment on, as much as she didn't like to admit it, her trust in him had been unshakable.

Jaune… was a good person. A little silly, a little naive, but a good person.

And now he was calling her.

He must know by now what happened. There was no way Ruby wouldn't have told him. If there was one person that would understand, it was him.

Right?

She answered before she could convince herself otherwise.

There was a long silence, as if her picking up had shocked him, and when she saw his face, it was plain as day in his expression – but then she saw him sigh, sounding so relieved that it made her chest hurt, just a little.

"Blake," he said softly.

"Jaune," she replied, feeling her eyes tear up. She wiped at them furiously. What the hell was wrong with her? "You've heard."

He didn't bother denying it. "Yeah, I've heard."

"I didn't mean to," she tried to explain, unsure why she felt the need. She hadn't done anything wrong! "I just… she was saying all these nasty things and I – I snapped. I couldn't take it any more. It was stupid and childish and I… I just couldn't."

"I don't care about any of that," he said sternly, frowning. "Blake, I've been trying to call you since last night. We heard your fight across the hall. We've been worried sick!"

Guilt pooled in her stomach heavily.

"I – I'm fine, I'm just… I found a place to stay, some hotel – and now I'm at a cafe," she said lamely.

"Are you?" he asked. "Okay, I mean?"

Blake looked away. "No… not really."

What else could she say?

"Blake… I know you won't want to hear this right now," he started tentatively. "But you should really give Ruby a call. They're really, really worried about you."

Blake grit her teeth. "I bet Weiss isn't worried."

Jaune gave her a gentle look. "Don't be like that."

"Like what?" she snapped, suddenly incensed. "Are you going to defend her because she's your Snow Angel?"

Blake felt rotten as soon as she'd said it.

"I'm not going to defend anything," he replied, face serious. "Whatever she said, whatever you said, that doesn't matter to me. It isn't my business and is between you and your team. I just want to know if you're okay and when you're coming back to Beacon."

Blake looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Jaune… I'm not coming back to Beacon?"

"What? Why?"

"What do you mean why?" she glared at him. "How can I when they know? It's over! Finished! I – I messed up."

"Ruby and Yang don't care," he tried to say but she cut him off.

"They will when they understand what it actually means!" a few people glanced her way, and she hunched over, lowering her voice. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Weiss will want me gone, there is no way she is going to accept me back. My time at Beacon is finished."

"Do you really believe that?"

She didn't want to. But she'd heard the venom in Weiss' voice, had seen the anger on her face. To Weiss, Blake was the enemy. Blake could understand; she viewed Weiss as the enemy, too.

"I do," she said with faux calm.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Jaune…"

"I'm coming down to Vale, just let me know where you are and I'll meet you."

She couldn't tell him. As much as she'd appreciate meeting up and seeing a friendly face, if she told Jaune where she was, there was a zero percent chance that he kept it a secret from Ruby.

"Give up on me."

"The hell I will!" he snapped and Blake leaned back, surprised. He'd never spoken to her that way before. "I'm not just going to turn my back on you, are you insane? What kind of friend does that?"

Blake scowled. "You don't owe me anything."

"It isn't about owing anything," he said, and Blake knew he meant every word. "This is what friends do, Blake. If I was in your position, wouldn't you help me?"

She wanted to say no, she wouldn't – and maybe if this had been a month or two ago, that would have been true. Hadn't she witnessed Cardin's rough treatment of the blond and turned a blind eye? She hadn't known the specifics of the situation but even she could tell things hadn't been right. But Blake had ignored it, angry that he hung out with such a disgusting, bigoted prick.

If that had been happening now, though?

No. She wouldn't turn her back on him. If it had been happening to Ruby or Yang, or even Weiss before all of this had blown up… she wouldn't have ignored it.

"I…" she hesitated.

"I always knew you'd look better without that bow," a voice said from behind her and she jolted, spinning around in her chair.

A familiar face grinned at her, cocksure. It was the blond haired monkey faunus, the stowaway that had caused this entire mess unintentionally. Wait, what had he said…?

"What…?"

Without her bow?

One of her hands darted to her head, feeling around. With dread, she realized that her bow was missing. She'd forgotten to put it on. Had she really been so out of it?

Blake spun back to face her scroll, furious. "Why didn't you say anything!?"

Jaune blinked at her. "Er – why would I? I thought you had decided to stop wearing it after what happened with Weiss."

Blake mouthed stupidly. "W-Well – I didn't!"

"Okaaay?" he said, confused.

Her cheeks burned hotly.

"Oh, hey," the monkey faunus leaned over her shoulder, smiling. "What's up?"

Jaune appeared surprised. "Ah, hey?"

Blake shoved him away. "What do you think you're doing?"

The stranger shrugged. "Just being polite."

"Looking over someone's shoulder isn't polite!"

"Listen, Blake—"

The interloper perked up, cutting Jaune off. "Your name is Blake? I'm Sun. Sun Wukong. I've come all the way from Haven for the Vytal Festival. Pleased to finally meet ya~!"

He puffed out his chest, hands on hips as his slender tail curled behind his back. Blake stared at him.

Sun remained that way for a few seconds before he sagged. "No good?"

"Do you need help?" Jaune asked and she almost gave in. Shaking her head, she took a steadying breath.

"I'm hanging up."

"Don't you dare!"

Blake forced her voice to remain steady. "Goodbye, Jaune."

"Wait!"

But she wouldn't. Ending the call, the screen went black. After a few seconds, it began ringing again but she ignored it, collapsing her scroll and putting it in her pocket.

"Uh – was that your boyfriend?" Sun asked.

Blake glared at him.

"No," she said coldly.

"Ex?"

"We're just friends," she swallowed thickly, the word catching in her throat. Jaune didn't care what she was, what she had been.

"So why'd you hang up on him?"

"I believe that is none of your business."

Sun opened his mouth and then shut it again, thinking. "Yeeaaah – you're probably right. Sorry."

Blake wasn't expecting that and she didn't even react as he plopped himself down on the seat opposite her. He waved down one of the staff.

"I'll have what she had," he said, pointing at her cold cup of tea. "Want a new one?"

When she didn't answer him, he shrugged. "Make that two, thanks."

When the waitress left, he leaned back in his chair, rocking back on the hind legs. "Lien for your thoughts?"

He wasn't leaving, then.

Blake did her best to ignore him but he just didn't take a hint. When their new tea arrived, he sipped at his cup while she stared blankly at her own. There was a good chance that Jaune was on his way down to Vale and if his words were to be believed, then Ruby and Yang were also probably looking for her. It wasn't like she wanted to leave, but she didn't have a choice! Weiss was never going to accept her, not unless she could prove that her careless words about the White Fang were wrong.

But how could she do that?

Weiss believed that the White Fang were responsible for that crime scene they came across. The Dust store robbed of all their Dust. Blake didn't think so because it didn't make sense. The White Fang were no strangers to stealing Dust but they stole from the Schnee Dust Company. They intercepted shipments and took from the source. Targeting the end of the chain didn't help anyone and only punished innocents. Blake knew that Adam had stepped across the line but ultimately, he had still been targeting Schnee Dust Company employees. As twisted as it was, Blake understood the why of it.

This? This was completely senseless.

If she could prove that it was someone else, then maybe…

"That's an interesting face," Sun commented.

She ignored him. "I need to prove that the White Fang aren't behind these robberies."

He shot her a confused look. "Uh, come again? White Fang? Robberies? Why are we talking about those psychos?"

Blake opened her mouth but paused as the waitress returned, delivering their drinks.

"Thanks!" Sun beamed and Blake waited until she left before speaking.

"I used to be a member of the White Fang."

Sun had been mid-drink and inhaled sharply, choking. He almost spilled his tea, thumping on his chest as he set the cup down, coughing.

"Woah, woah, woah – you were seriously a member of the White Fang?"

"That's right. I dedicated my life to the White Fang. I was born into it."

Sun looked at her incredulously. "Blake – they're insane! Are you kidding me?"

Blake tried not to feel hurt by that. "They weren't always like that. We weren't always like that. But five years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. She had a new way of thinking. Our peaceful protests turned into organized attacks," she sighed, looking down into the fresh cup of tea. "We set fire to stores that refused to serve faunus and stole cargo from companies that mistreated their faunus labor. The worst part was… it worked, or so we believed in our delusion. Humanity came to fear and hate us."

Fear wasn't equality. Fear wasn't unity. Fear was fear. Acceptance could never be achieved that way.

"That's why I left them. I stopped using my skills to aid in their violence. I decided to dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress instead."

Why she was telling this stranger all this, she didn't know. She was spilling her guts and Sun was some random guy she'd just met. Was it just because he was also a faunus? Could she not be this honest with a human?

With Jaune?

Even though he knew everything already? Okay, not everything – not the specifics. Blake feared him knowing those. But he knew enough. More than enough.

Maybe it was because it made her ashamed, and she didn't want Jaune to look at her like she was a monster? This boy who'd stumbled upon her past and hadn't shunned her. Instead he had befriended her and not judged. Hung out with her, read with her, trained with her.

Blake felt her hands curl into fists.

She didn't want to lose that. She didn't want to lose Yang's stupid jokes and Ruby's optimism. She didn't want to lose their warmth.

"So… what?" Sun asked. "You want to prove the White Fang aren't hitting stores? How are you going to do that?"

Blake had no idea. "I don't know – but I just don't think they'd ever need this much Dust. When we stole cargo, it was less about what it was and more about who we were taking it from. These stores haven't done anything wrong."

As far as she knew. Blake had only been in Vale a short time but she'd been pleased to see that none of the stores she'd visited or had seen in passing had signs that disallowed faunus. In that way, they were miles ahead of a place like Mistral where that was common practice. Vale wasn't perfect but they were much more accepting of her people.

"Hmm," his tail slithered up and stroked the underside of his chin as he thought. "To prove that the White Fang didn't do it, you should go where they are likely to hit next, right? If they don't show up, then it means they're probably innocent."

Wasn't that a little too convenient? Though maybe Sun was onto something. Pulling out her scroll, it didn't take long for Blake to find several articles written about a spree of robberies in the city, all of them targeting Dust shops. Strangely, the only lead they had was Roman Torchwick because he'd been seen at a failed robbery dated right before the Beacon school year began.

So if she could prove that it was Torchwick all along and not the White Fang…

How did she do that, though? She had some ideas. Foiling a robbery in progress would be one such method and Sun was right, if they just showed up at the most likely target, then there was a good chance something might happen. It wasn't a foolproof plan but it was all she had.

"I can't think of where they would try and hit," Blake confessed.

Sun frowned before perking up. "Uh, come to think of it, some guy on the ship said that a huge shipment of Dust was coming in from Atlas."

Blake felt her heart stop. "How huge?"

"Huge," Sun gestured widely with his arms. "It's coming in on a Schnee Company freighter."

Could this really be the lead she needed? It almost felt too good to be true. Such a shipment would be impossible to ignore if they really were stealing Dust. Stores only held so much stock due to the volatility of the product. Even if you hit every store in the city, it would only be a drop in the bucket of what could be hauled in on a freighter. Why the White Fang – or anyone – would need or want this much Dust, Blake didn't know. All she knew was that whatever it was for, it couldn't be good.

"Do you know when this shipment is coming in?" she asked.

Sun shook his head. "Only that it was coming in today sometime."

When was the last time she took part in a good ol' fashioned stake out? Blake sighed.

She finished her tea in silence, no matter how often Sun prodded at her for a conversation. If she did this and found out that it wasn't the White Fang, then she could take the proof to Weiss and prove their innocence. But that didn't change all the other things they'd taken part in.

But what if they were there? What if they were the ones stealing all the Dust? That Weiss was right in her assumptions? What then?

She didn't know. She'd have to deal with that when it come.

Standing without warning, Blake approached the counter and paid for her drink. Sun scrambled after her as she left, paying for his own order before catching her down the sidewalk.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked. "Where are you going?"

"The docks. I want to be there when the shipment arrives."

"Need company?"

She wanted to say no but having an extra pair of eyes couldn't hurt.

"Fine," she said sternly. "You can come but this is serious. We aren't messing around."

"Serious, gotcha," Sun said in a voice that didn't inspire much confidence. "I'll be on my best behavior."

Blake somehow doubted that.

The docks were easy to find. Where else would they be but where the city met the sea? Blake watched through slitted bars as dock workers moved around the concrete wharves, the sound of heavy machinery deafening as they unloaded and sorted cargo containers, stacking them several crates high. A quick glance around the perimeter showed plenty of cameras and a handful of security guards. It wasn't the toughest place she'd ever snuck into but it wasn't a cakewalk, either.

It didn't help that it was still the middle of the day.

Sun took one look around and said, "Right. Follow me."

Blake startled as he jogged down the fence line about fifty yards and then leapt straight over. The last thing Blake saw was his tail as it slipped over the top and out of sight.

"Sun!" she hissed, outraged. A quick glance showed that no one on the street had seen, though there were plenty of people around, walking and driving, or sitting at the waterfront cafes. "What do you think – argh!"

Making sure no one was watching, she followed him, vaulting over the fence easily. Landing in a crouch, she saw him dart between containers. Already committed, she dashed after him, finally catching up to him when he paused at the end of the long line and was peeking around a corner.

"You idiot," she snapped. "Anyone could have seen you!"

"Nah, it's fine," he waved away her concern. "I never get caught."

Blake glared at him hotly. "Like on the ship? They were chasing you."

He opened his mouth to deny it before remembering she saw it happen. "Okay, sometimes I get caught – but not often!"

"Great," she shoved past him with a hand on the chest, moving him aside. Peering around the corner, she saw a forklift moving a pile of pallets. She waited until he was out of their line of sight before moving, sprinting towards the nearest building while keeping an eye out for cameras.

She spotted two on each corner but thankfully, they were pointed in different directions. They slipped between their blind spot and finding the nearest downpipe, began scaling the building.

"Don't look up," she warned him when she heard his shoes clatter against the corrugated iron sheets of the walls. Peering down through her legs, she saw that he was doing the exact opposite. Blake scowled. "Perv."

"Hey, it's a little hard, okay? I need to see where to place my hands," he defended himself but she was already moving, climbing swiftly before swinging herself up on top of the roof. Keeping herself low so the men in the cranes couldn't spot her, she moved between air circulation units to break line of sight.

There was a building next to the one she was on with a slightly higher roof and more coverage, so she leapt across the gap effortlessly. A few seconds later, Sun landed beside her.

"You move pretty well."

Blake hummed and approached the edge, laying down on her belly. Crawling until she could see over the lip, her eyes traced along the containers, looking for anything that could identify their cargo. From personal experience, she knew that Schnee Dust Company freighting containers were all well labeled. They needed to be, considering their contents.

She couldn't spot any.

"I don't think it's arrived yet," she said.

Or if it had, it hadn't been unloaded.

It was a waiting game now.

Cat gonna cat.

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