Summary:

The mysterious connection between Raven and Adam is revealed.
P.S. Still posting art for this and other fanfics on my Instagram augurmay

Chapter Text

Arthur Watts watched the proceedings with marked interest, wondering what exactly the faunus boy had in mind with such a stunt. He wasn't precisely bothered because with or without the White Fang, he was certain of victory, especially since the Defender of Mantle was now in his grasp. Still, his curiosity was piqued, and he decided to hold his hand until Cinder's arrangements were in motion.

It should happen any time now,he said to himself in anticipation, smiling manically from his position in the audience. He seemed unmoved by the revelation of the gruesome scar.

xXx

Not everyone else accepted this reveal in the same philosophical manner, though. In the audience, those who had come to know Adam-or thought they had-were reeling from the shock.

Yang's lilac eyes went wide in horror at the scar, almost forgetting that he had said that he was of the White Fang.

Pyrrha's hand flew before her face in horror, her green eyes almost tearing up in pity at what her eyes landed on.

Ruby almost jumped into the ring herself, her worry overcoming the terror of the taurine student's confession. She was held in place by Blake, though, whose amber eyes stayed fixed on the face of her friend and mentor. She looked at that brand and she understood. She knew what this war meant to him.

Of all the reactions, though, the agonised "no" of the Schnee heiress was the most poignant.

Although she didn't have as close a relationship with the man as either Blake or Ruby, she had grown to respect his strength and maturity in the months that she'd known him. That wasn't all, though.

The Schnee family, and by extension the Schnee Dust Company, were integral to her identity. Though she accepted that they were imperfect institutions, she still believed that they were fundamentally a force for good.

In addition, she had suffered at the hands of the White Fang, suffered terribly. She loathed them even more than she loved herself, for the pain they had caused her. In her eyes, they were the ultimate evil.

To see this man, whom she had only known to be a good person, claim the identity of the White Fang while showing the Schnee family,herfamily, as the monsters in his story was world-shattering.

The shock was too much for her.

She swooned and gave herself over to unconsciousness.

"Weiss!" the shouts came from multiple directions at once, the voices of family, friends, classmates, and professors chorusing in worry for the white Atlesian Elite.

Before she reached the floor, though, her fall was arrested by the firm, gloved hand of none other than Adam Taurus.

There was a deep pathos as he held onto the reeling student with a delicacy akin to tenderness, as though scared that the young lady was a glass flower. That was only for a moment, though, and in the very next moment, he appeared before her father with a wicked smile, handing her over nonchalantly before retaking his place in the centre of the stage.

"As you can see," he said gently, his warm but detached and authoritative voice drawing all attention to him once more, "I don't mean any harm to the Schnee heiress. She was my classmate and maybe even my friend during my time here. I also don't mean any harm to any one of you in the audience. I simply intend to have my say before I am arrested for my many,manycrimes. It's my right as the winner of the Vytal Tournament after all."

There was a great deal of awe at these words; the people knew who...whatthe White Fang was. They were a group of monsters and fanatics, and they wanted death to all humans. This man, Taurus as he'd introduced himself, was in contradiction of all they had hitherto known of this violent sect, though; he was the class rep of the first-years at Beacon, a testament to his ability and virtue as it was a position vied for and not easily given, (they weren't aware that Adam had merely gotten it by chance since he had a habit of being early), in addition, in his fight against Weiss Schnee, he didn't attack with vitriol and even saved her from and Aura overdraft after the match.

"Let him speak."

An authoritative voice called calmly from above the audience. It was followed swiftly by the tall and firm figure of Remnant's greatest general, James Ironwood, landing in the middle of the stage. His Aura suppressed even the blazing Adam Taurus, making the taurine terrorist seem less impressive in contrast. This was the ability of a Headmaster.

"Once he's done, I'llpersonallydetain him."

"No pressure," Adam whispered ruefully as he composed himself once more and looked forward to the audience in the Amity Coliseum.

"Contrary to our masks, we're not monsters," he started, looking at someone in the audience. The person swiftly stood up, pulling down their long-necked apparel to reveal a similar brand mark on their neck. This one was from the Mistral Trading Company.

"We're not demons."

This prompted another person to rise, lifting off their hood to reveal their cow-like ears, one of which had been pierced. The hole was eerily similar to the mark left behind by a cattle tag.

"We're people who want to be seen as such. We want to be treated like equals. Not as slaves. Not as objects. Not asanimals."

With every utterance of his, more and more people stood up, revealing their scars, revealing their brands, revealing their marks.

"All we want is to be seen."

All of Amity Coliseum was silent.

The silence didn't stop at this boundary, though; it spread through all four Kingdoms. The people who watched the faunus orator were caught up in a spell by his firm words. Even Ironwood, a man scarcely moved by anything, looked in contemplation at the visage of the speaker, remembering what Perry had told him just hours before his execution.

"Is that all you want?!"

A heavy, but youthful voice sounded out from the stands.

"If that's all you wanted, then why do you target innocents, children?" Cardin's query broke the enchantment and brought a flood of headlines to the minds of the audience, with one glaring event from three years ago standing out in their memories.

The Mena Massacre.

The blood that day.

The carnage.

Those weren't the actions of people who just wanted to be seen, those were purely evil.

Adam looked at the now accusatory glances of the audience and the especially hate-filled expression of his former classmate, Cardin Winchester, with a sort of relish.

While their indignation reached a pitch, he did something that no one expected.

He laughed.

While his men stood in the crowd and his enemies sat in judgement, he laughed.

There was no mirth in this laugh though; it was cold and hollow and coupled with his blazing red aspect and the gruesome scar on his eye, gave the unmistakable feeling of madness.

"If we requit injury with kindness, what then shall we requit kindness with?" That was the question he returned to the audience.

"Shall we treat those who enslave us tenderly? Should we meet our torturers with open arms?"

"No!" he shouted, whipping out Wilt and making it glow a forbidding red, "We must requit injury with justice, and kindness with kindness. We must give wound for wound, scar for scar, eye for eye."

The last thing he said while gently tracing the outlines of his brand.

"You expected a reply like that, didn't you?" he asked humouredly, seeing that he had their attention once more.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the Fang are not monsters, we're soldiers. And all soldiers have but one mission: to bring their war to an end. Now, although both sides have suffered, both sides have shed blood, both sides have sinned, although we're no more criminals than the ones who did this to us, we are suing for peace."

"General James Ironwood," he said quietly, facing the man, "take me into your custody."

xXx

"Please remain seated," the voice of Penny Polendina, the Defender of Remnant, said sombrely.

Following the surrender of Adam Taurus and the rest of his subordinates into the crowd.

The contradiction between his extreme ferocity and submission left a deep impact on the crowd, and they could hardly stay still, many desiring to get as far away as possible as they could.

Watts couldn't have that, so he instructed Penny to calm the crowd down and keep them seated. She had a salutary effect on the crowd, and the stirs were kept down to whispers, anticipating what was next.

xXx

"You want what?" James Ironwood's voice of incredulity carried into the hallways outside of Ozpin's office.

Sitting behind his desk in an almost sedate manner was the man himself, and surrounding him were his most trusted aides, Qrow and Glynda, with Ironwood standing before them, interrogating their prisoners.

Adam was seated next to his co-General, Banesaw, as he calmly explained himself to Ironwood.

"I know it sounds incredible," he said softly, his smile radiant despite being deprived of his weapons and cuffed, "but it really is the truth; we were coerced into a partnership by a woman named Cinder who claims that she works for a certain Black Queen... I'm sure you know what that means more than we do. She intends to destroy Beacon and to use the White Fang as scapegoats (pun unintended). We have other plans."

"Explain yourself."

"If Beacon falls, then all of the Fang's goals fall along with it. We'd become public enemy number one and wouldn't survive. That seems to have been their plan, as they tried to usurp our operations in all the Kingdoms using assets like Roman Torchwick and also tried to compromise me using Emerald Sustrai. They wanted to frame us for their crimes, and reap all the benefits covertly."

James thought back to the inconsistent behaviour of the Fang a few months ago and their strange partnership with Roman, conceding that the explanation proffered by the red-haired rogue did account for a great many of the facts presented.

"So now you want to cooperate with us to take them down," he said gravely.

"Precisely," Adam said with a smile.

"Why should we trust you?"

"I told you once that I wanted the White Fang to be more than just some terrorist organisation," he said this to Ozpin, sincerely looking into his eyes, "I meant it."

"I can vouch for them."

As these words were said, a red rift appeared in the centre of the room and a black-haired lady in a Grimm mask walked out.

She was Raven Branwen.

Next to her was the White Fang general known as Red Rain and the Manus Dei, Lars Astree, leaning faintly on the other's shoulder.

James awaited her explanation, looking at her intensely.

"About eight years ago, I found these three in the woods of Mistral," she began, slowly pointing at Adam, Banesaw, and Sheena, "they were a miserable bunch, but they were full of fire, perfect for the Branwen tribe. I decided that it was worth it to take them in, so I did. They became akin to my own children."

This tracked with what they all knew about Raven. Perhaps due to being forced to give up her own daughter, she had an inordinate fondness for children and would often stay her own cold-blooded hand whenever they were concerned. She was also pretty quick to grow attached to them and had a flock of "children" in the tribe.

"Not too long after, about three years, there was a sort of civil war in our tribe, and in order to target me, they tried using these three. It was at this time that I asked a favour from my brother, Qrow. He conveyed them safely to Menagerie at my request."

Qrow acknowledged this with a nod, that was why he recognised the young man when he had seen him without his mask.

James wasn't satisfied, though. Raven's explanation covered a lot, for instance why the White Fang suddenly started wearing Grimm masks like the Branwen Tribe historically did, why the Fang had no operations in Mistral or the entire Continent of Anima despite it being the closest to Menagerie and finally, it explained the similarities between the White Fang general and Raven herself. From their weapons to their clothes to their fighting style, he felt as though he were looking at similar people when he saw them in close proximity. This didn't mean Raven could be trusted.

"You're not exactly the most trustworthy source," James said solemnly, "you left Ozpin's side to be with the marauders of your tribe. Why should we listen to you?"

Raven did not seem offended by James' frankness; in fact, it was one of the reasons they had gotten along back in the old days.

"Because, we were similarly recruited byherforces, I'm supposed to be one of the people who make sure Beacon falls tonight."

The statement caused shock in the camp, except for Ozpin, who merely nodded in acknowledgement at this and allowed her to continue.

"I plan on taking your side in this conflict, though. She's not to be trusted."

Before there could be any objections, Ozpin raised his hand up.

"Start an immediate evacuation of both the Amity Coliseum and Beacon," he said to James, "I want those people safe first and foremost."

"Ms. Glynda, assist him in this. I need to speak to Raven and Qrow before I head out."

Ozpin's uncharacteristically commanding tone didn't allow for any arguments, and James and Glynda filed out immediately, ready to do as they had been instructed.

Only Ozpin, the three White Fang Generals, and the Branwen twins remained in the moonlit office (Lars had been taken out at some point earlier).

"What else do you want to say?"

"There's another reason you should take the White Fang's offer to help... they have the Spring Maiden."