Blake didn't return during the night but Jaune didn't expect her to, even if he had hoped. He called off work for a second time but in the early hours of the morning, he still found himself by the old gates to the city, watching his co-workers haul crates from wagons. The sun was barely in the sky and there was a definite chill in the air, his breath misting as he waved at some familiar faces.

"Jaune!" Red exclaimed in surprise, grunting as he set down the crate he was carrying. It was smaller than the usual boxes they moved, so a single person was able to unload them, but they were still pretty heavy. He wiped sweat from his brow as steam rose from the top of his head. "What are you doing here? I heard you called off for the day."

His eyes dropped to the sword on Jaune's hip.

"Oh."

"I'm looking for someone," he said. "I thought maybe you and the boys could take a look, see if anyone here has seen her."

"Yeah, sure – let me just move these last few crates and I'll call them over."

It wasn't long until Auburn and the rest of his usual crew were looking at the picture of Blake as he held up his scroll for them to see.

"Has anyone seen this girl?"

Red peered closely but shook his head, his floppy ears swinging. "Can't say that I have, sorry."

They all murmured their apologies.

Jaune sighed. "It was worth a shot."

"Who is she?" Auburn asked, scratching at the base of his antlers. "She's a looker."

"A friend. She's on my team at Beacon. She's been missing since yesterday."

That got their attention.

"Missing? Has something happened to her?" Umber asked, outraged.

"Nothing like that. She had an argument with her partner and… well, some words were said. We just want to know if she's okay and try to convince her to come back."

They calmed down at his words.

"That must have been some argument," Umber said.

"Girl like that would be noticed around here," Red mused. "Humans stand out. You know that."

"Oh, uh – she's a faunus," Jaune corrected. "A cat faunus, I think?"

They stared at him.

"You think?" Red half-laughed. "Jaune, it isn't that difficult to tell. What are her traits?"

"Ears but I've never seen them," at their incredulous expressions, he explained. "See that bow? She never takes it off. I didn't even know she was faunus until a few days ago."

Auburn hummed. "Strange girl."

"You have no idea."

"Something about her is familiar," Umber leaned in closer. "I know I've never seen her before but something about her look… I don't know what it is."

"Now that you mention it," Red frowned. "I had that feeling as well. Like I've seen her on a poster before or something."

"You aren't into idols, are you?"

"What?"

"Someone I talked to yesterday said she looked like some idol…" at their blank looks, he sighed. "Never mind."

Another dead end but Jaune hadn't really expected anything. The chances that his co-workers had run into her were pretty slim.

Red clapped him on the shoulder. "Let us know if you find her, yeah?"

"Yeah, will do."

As he was leaving, Umber followed him out.

"Listen… I might have a place for you to check out," he began, keeping his voice low.

That didn't sound ominous at all.

"Anything would help," Jaune said seriously. "I'm pretty much out of options."

"A half dozen blocks away, there is a… I guess you could call it a runaway home, a place where a lot of strays end up. Kids that run away from home for various reasons, people that live on the street… it's run by some charity organization. They'll feed em and keep em warm, and even give em a bed to sleep in for a few weeks until they find something for themselves. It's run by faunus for faunus, so there is a possibility…"

It was obvious that Umber knew about this place from experience, his expression pinched. He was recalling something from his past, and Jaune wasn't about to pry.

Jaune gave him a grateful look. "I'll check it out. Thank you."

"Just be careful. If you go in asking questions, they'll just turn you away. They don't trust easily… and being a human, well," he didn't need to say it. The faunus and humans of Vale coexisted and even thrived, but these people were desperate and already on edge. Having a strange human turn up looking for a faunus girl wasn't going to endear him to them. "But I thought you could watch the place and you might catch sight of her. People come and go all the time."

Umber gave him the address and Jaune quickly found the building. Like the other buildings in this part of town, it was old but well maintained. Built with red brick that was slightly faded from age and exposure to the sun, it was about fifty feet high with four floors, and rectangular in shape. Dozens of windows faced the street, and it was gated off by a high brick wall with a black wrought iron gate. Even at this early hour, Jaune spotted a few people loitering inside the courtyard as he passed by.

Some of them can't have been much older than ten or eleven while others were in their late teens. What they all had in common were animal traits; he spotted dog ears, goat horns, feathers, tails, and scales to name only a few.

Across the street was a small bakery selling breads and pastries, the mouth watering scent of freshly baked goods making his stomach grumble. He'd left Beacon without breakfast, and it was as good a place as any to camp out at, so he made his way over.

"Good morning," the woman behind the counter greeted him, her eyes widening slightly as she noticed he was human. "What can I do for ya?"

The cabinet was loaded with golden pastries, some plain, others glazed and powdered, stuffed with fruit and even those drizzled with chocolate. Everything from buttery croissants to decadent cinnamon rolls, the various spices making his nose tingle pleasantly. There were even custard tarts topped with glazed fruit; strawberries, kiwi, and blueberries.

"I'll have an apple turnover, please," he ordered, and watched as she slipped it inside a wax paper wrap before placing it in a brown paper bag. "...and one of those custard tarts."

She smiled. "You've a good eye."

"I'm sure you tell all your customers that."

She laughed. "Guilty."

The bakery had some tables and chairs arranged on the sidewalk for those that wished to sit and eat, so Jaune picked the table partially hidden by the street light. If Blake were here, he didn't need her seeing him first. She might run and Jaune had little hope of catching her, even with his semblance. Not when she could duplicate herself and make it almost impossible for him to pick out the real Blake.

The turnover was soft and flaky, the apple softened and spiced to perfection. It melted on his tongue as he chewed, and he'd just found another place in Vale he would have to return to. It reminded him of his Ma's apple pie, and what he would give for a generous dollop of cream right now would seem ridiculous to others. Not just for the taste, but for the sense of home.

He missed his folks. He missed his sisters.

He devoured the pastry and started on the custard tart. The dough was soft and melted in his mouth, and the custard was sweet but not overly so with a soft vanilla taste that he enjoyed. The fruit was fresh, the strawberry the perfect amount of tartness, sweet with only a hint of bite.

Yeah, he was definitely coming back.

He made sure to take his time with it, observing the building across the street. As the sun rose higher into the sky, he saw more activity. Windows being cleaned and opened, blankets being aired out. The bakery was fast attracting more patrons but Sunday morning meant that there wasn't as much foot traffic as they probably usually saw.

He ordered another tart and even grabbed a newspaper from the next store over, just to make himself appear a little less conspicuous. The front page was plastered with surveillance footage from the robberies, and several articles had been written that went several pages deep. It was the hottest news in the city right now, so it was receiving their full attention.

There was more information that hadn't been included in the breaking news report. More footage had been uncovered, and a certain Gentleman's Thief was splashed across the pages for all to see. Unlike the White Fang members, he had no issues with having his face out, and he had even winked at the camera in one of the pictures, a complete lack of care.

Jaune browsed through the article. Torchwick had also been involved in a series of robberies that only targeted Dust, creating a common thread between him and the White Fang. Whatever crew he was using didn't appear to be White Fang, though. From the pictures, they were all human. They even mentioned the failed attempt that had been thwarted by Ruby.

This was just getting better and better.

Jaune spent an hour sitting in front of the bakery before he overstayed his welcome. He couldn't just sit there all day so he decided to look for a better spot to camp out at. Slipping down an alleyway not far from the bakery, Jaune eyed the fire escapes on the side of the buildings. They weren't as tall as the building he was watching but that didn't matter. Making up his mind, he kicked off one of the walls and grabbed hold, pulling himself up easily.

He ascended to the roof. From there, he had a good vantage point overseeing the whole street.

Just as he found a comfortable spot to sit, his scroll started ringing.

"Hey Nora," he answered, smiling as her face appeared. "Find her?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Just checking in. Guess you haven't had much luck either?"

"No one at work has seen her. Though Umber told me about a place where runaways like to come. Apparently it's run by a charity and they feed and house kids that run away from home. They're all faunus here, so I thought it might be a good place to watch. See if she's been using it."

"Right – well, Renny is with me. Say hi, Renny," Nora shoved the scroll in her friend's face. Ren rolled his eyes. "Hello Renny," he deadpanned.

"That's Jaune, you're Renny," Nora complained, and she must have done something because Ren jerked as if shocked.

"Nora," Ren scolded. "Don't do that."

"If you stop being dumb, I won't do it."

Jaune snickered. "Hey Ren. Thanks for helping out again."

Ren nodded. "No problem. We just finished walking the waterfront so now we're going to visit some of the delinquent hang out spots."

Nora pulled the scroll back to her.

"Some nice old lady told us about how they hang out in some of the older sewer tunnels, so we're gonna go check em out. Blake likes dark, damp places so maybe she'll be there."

Jaune shook his head, trying not to laugh. "I'll give you dark, but I don't think Blake likes damp spots."

"She's a real stick in the mud, so she definitely likes damp places. Trust me on this, Jaune-Jaune."

He heard Ren sigh in the background.

"Right, well – give me a call if you find something."

"Will do," Nora gave him a salute before opening her fingers in a sideways peace sign, opening and closing them over her eye before the call went dead.

At least she was in good spirits. Admittedly, Jaune felt more chipper after speaking to his partner. Nora had a way of lifting the mood of any situation. That's one of the things he loved about her. Jaune liked people that thought positively and wanted to share that vibe with others.

He'd thought it before but he was glad Nora had found him in the forest instead of her first choice, Ren.

His next call was from Ruby.

"Heya Jaune," she greeted.

"Hey Ruby. Got any news?"

"Yang thought she saw her in War Memorial Park but it was just some girl with a strange hairstyle," Ruby rolled her eyes, though the way her mouth was quirked up told him she found the whole thing hilarious. "They sorta looked like cat ears from a distance. She almost tackled her before realizing it wasn't her but the police saw her acting weird, so they wanted to question Yang."

Jaune closed his eyes, letting his head fall back as second hand embarrassment washed over him. "...are you with her now?"

"They're still questioning her," Ruby giggled, looking at something off camera before turning her scroll so he could see. Yang's face was beet red as two officers spoke with her, and he could feel how horrified she was even from there. Ruby reappeared with a huge grin. "How about you? Found anything?"

Jaune relayed the same information he told Nora to her.

"Right. Well, we're gonna go check out some of the homeless haunts beneath the overpasses. Yang said people often move in and out of those places since it's a good place to hide. Pyrrha is ringing every hotel she can find in the city, asking if she can speak to Blake Belladonna."

That was… actually really smart.

"Tell her she's the best," Jaune said, meaning every word. Despite whatever weird thing they had between them, she was going out of her way to find his teammate. "Keep me posted if anything changes."

As the morning progressed towards noon, the temperature rose steadily. Being on the roof meant soon enough, he was roasting beneath the harsh rays and decided to move, finding shelter in one of the corners behind a ventilation unit. Just when he was about to give up and start searching somewhere else, he spotted someone walking down the street that caught his interest.

What caught his attention was their clothes. They were dressed in tight black jeans and a purple hoodie, the hood pulled up over their head. With how hot it was, it seemed a little unusual, though it was probably cooler down on the street.

But once he saw them, he noticed other things. Wrapped around their wrist was something dark but he couldn't make out what it was, the sleeves of their hoodie covering most of it. But he would bet everything he had that it was a certain ribbon that a certain troublesome girl liked to use to swing around the battlefield.

Now he was calling her a troublesome girl.

Perhaps the biggest give away was the way they walked, though. Effortlessly graceful, and dare he say it – cat-like. She walked as if stalking prey, her stride smooth. And if he was being completely honest with himself, that ass was a dead giveaway. What could he say? It left an impression. All the girls at Beacon were so ridiculously fit and pretty, it was hard to ever mistake them for anyone else, and those jeans were tight.

Jaune watched as she opened the wrought iron gate and slipped inside, approaching the building.

Bingo.

She vanished inside and a part of him wanted to storm down there but he held off. He watched and waited, keeping a close eye, and she must have been inside for about thirty minutes before she reappeared.

Jaune followed her.

He had to be really careful. Blake was the best in their year in their Stealth and Security classes, while Jaune was… well, quite the opposite. He didn't have a stealthy bone in his body. He could stalk a stag through the forest and knew how to keep upwind, and he knew how to track animals and Grimm through a forest, but people were different. The city was different.

It wouldn't take much to spook her. He couldn't allow that to happen.

But first, he needed to confirm that it really was Blake. All the indicators told him it was but he needed to be a hundred percent sure. That hood needed to go.

Jaune remained atop the buildings, jumping from ledge to ledge, keeping out of sight. He wasn't the most acrobatic person but aura made it trivial to leap across the gap between buildings. Who he thought was Blake continued down the street for a couple of blocks before turning, making her way deeper into the faunus dominated section. The sun was coming at him at a good angle, ensuring his shadow stretched across the rooftop instead of down onto the street. It meant he could get closer.

She walked and he followed, five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen, Jaune climbing down to street level when the buildings started getting higher – until she finally came to a stop. It was a small hotel, easily missed. This part of town had little foot traffic, mostly apartment buildings and parks. A few children were playing in the park across the street, and some people were loitering outside the corner store a little further down but that was it.

Blake went inside and Jaune quickly followed. Stopping at the door, he peered inside and saw her ascending the stairs. There was no one at the receptionist desk, just a sign saying 'Back in Fifteen'. He waited until she disappeared before following her in, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

It reminded him of the place he stayed in before attending Beacon, his first day in the city. The staircase creaked from the weight of his steps, Jaune pausing, cringing, before continuing. He could hear her above him even with her light steps, continuing up to the third floor, and so he ascended higher.

But when he got to the third floor, the hallway was empty. A handful of doors met his eyes.

Which one was hers?

Jaune scanned the hallway for any clues and found none.

"Damn," he muttered.

He slowly made his way down the hall, listening for any sound. He could hear a television coming from one of the rooms, the muffled sounds of some game show. There were sounds of play from another, children; young, by the sounds of it.

As he was passing by one door, it suddenly opened. Jaune tensed as a hand seized his shirt and suddenly he was being flung inside, something silky looping around his neck. Jaune lashed out and heard his assailant grunt as his hand found purchase, striking them in the chest before his legs were swept out from under him.

He hit the floor hard, his head bouncing off it. Aura flared in protection as they mounted him, something sharp digging into his side as the material around his neck tightened enough to choke.

"Why are you following…" she began angrily before trailing off. "Jaune?"

The ribbon around his neck loosened and he coughed, reaching up to massage his neck.

"Nice to see you too, Blake."

Amber eyes peered from within the shadow of her hood in surprise, and when she tried to pull away, he grabbed her, fingers locked around her thighs. Blake tensed, and Jaune braced himself for some type of retaliation but none came.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice thin. Brittle.

"For you," he said, meeting her eyes. "Why else?"

She looked away, shielding her face with the hood.

"You shouldn't have."

"If you really thought I was going to ignore what happened and let you go, you don't know me as well as I thought you did."

Her hands shook slightly. "You have no duty to me any more. I'm done with Beacon."

"Is that what you want?"

"...It doesn't matter what I want."

Jaune sighed, releasing his hold on her thighs but she didn't move.

"You're an idiot."

Her head whipped back to look at him.

"What?"

"I said you're an idiot," he repeated. "Of course it matters what you want."

She glared at him. "No it doesn't. It's over!"

"It isn't over."

"How can I – our team is broken, Jaune. Weiss will – we're through!"

"Do you really believe that?"

"Yes!" she shouted.

"Then you really are an idiot."

"...She hates me… and I hate her…"

Jaune heard the falsehood. "I don't believe that for a second."

Reaching up, Jaune carefully removed her hood. Blake didn't fight him, letting it happen. Her face was filled with regret, her eyes swimming with tears – and atop her head, a pair of cat ears flicked as they were revealed to his eyes.

Nora was right. They were cute.

"It feels like I'm meeting you again for the first time," he told her, smiling.

She swallowed thickly. "This… they…"

"Don't change anything, Blake," he told her earnestly. "I don't care that you're faunus. Nora doesn't care. Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha, Ren – they don't care."

"Weiss cares."

"She was surprised, and angry," he admitted. "Things with her… well, they're complicated. Her life… isn't what you think it is."

Indignation rose in her, visible. "That doesn't give her the right…!"

She choked on her own words.

"Like I said – it's complicated," Jaune said softly. "You need to speak with her."

"Why would I speak to someone that hates me – that hates my people…"

"She doesn't. And you would know that, if you spoke to her."

Blake wiped at her eyes as her tears threatened to spill, "It doesn't matter. That isn't even the biggest issue."

No, it wasn't.

The White Fang.

"I'm willing to listen. That is… if you want to share your story with me."

Blake hesitated, a hundred different emotions filtering across her face. Jaune had never seen her so vulnerable. None of the cool poise she liked to shroud herself in was present, shattered completely. She was scared. Scared of judgment. Scared that he would turn away from her, disgusted.

"Jaune… I…"

"You're my friend," he cut her off. "I care about you, Blake. Please believe that. I want to help. I want to know."

Her shoulders shook as she rolled off him, facing away. Jaune slowly sat up, removing the ribbon from his neck before placing a hand on her trembling shoulder. He gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm ready when you are."

She told him everything.

"You could say I was born to the White Fang," she began, getting to her feet and walking over to the bed. Jaune followed, sitting next to her as she stared at her hands. "Some of my earliest memories are of attending rallies and helping to make signs. My parents… they were members, and so I was too."

Her hands flexed, fingers closing and opening.

"Back in those days, we handed out fliers and protested peacefully. We would gather in front of businesses that had reputations for mistreating faunus, companies that exploited faunus by underpaying them compared to their human counterparts. Sometimes tempers flared but spirits were good, and people were hopeful."

She then sighed. "While we made some inroads, the resistance in Mistral was… strong. They had a long history of anti-faunus sentiment, with many of the old noble families from ages past involved in slavery. While those families had lost much of their power and prestige following their crushing defeat by Vale and Vacuo in the Great War, they still had money. They still controlled much of the city, even with the royal family falling into ruin – and so, their way of thinking remained. Some of the things I heard people scream at us… some of the things they threw at us… rocks and rotten food was a good day."

He could hear the disgust in her voice as she recalled these memories, and Jaune had a good idea what they'd said and done.

"As I grew older, I…" she hesitated. "I started to resent humanity. Who wouldn't? When as a child, you are exposed to the worst of people, what else are you meant to think?"

"It was no place for a child," Jaune said softly and Blake nodded, ashamed.

"If you'd said that to me a few years ago, I would have taken it as an insult. But… you're right. My parents meant well and I don't regret my time there, taking part. I wanted to help – and I believed in the cause, even at that age. I still do. Equality… it is my dream. My most cherished wish for my people."

Jaune had seen her passion, first hand.

She then shook her head. "But I was poisoned by the hate directed our way, and as much as my parents tried to shield me from it, it seeped in deep. I grew angry. Why weren't we doing more? Why were we letting them push us around? Didn't we win the revolution? So why hadn't things changed?" she laughed bitterly. "I started to believe that the only way things would change is if we forced them. I started to believe we hadn't gone far enough."

Her hands paused. "I wanted them to feel what we felt. The fear, the anxiety, the pain – I wanted humans to feel that as well. Eventually, a new leader stepped forth, willing to take us across the line we had toed for so long. My parents… didn't agree. They stepped away and expected me to follow, but I didn't," she inhaled sharply before breathing out slowly, her body sagging. "I remained… committed to this new way of thinking. This new way of doing things. We still protested, we still handed out fliers – at least, at first. But when proof of wrongdoing was discovered, we would act to right those wrongs."

She went silent then for some time but Jaune didn't pressure her, staying silent as she gathered her resolve.

"The Mistral Trading Company was one of the biggest offenders, so we started by disrupting their operations. At first, we'd steal cargo and give it away to those that needed it. If it was something we could use to better our cause, we'd keep it. Weapons, Dust, ammunition – but things like clothing, food, we'd give to the faunus communities that needed it. That quickly escalated. Soon we were burning down warehouses, disabling their airships, sabotaging trains – anything to hit their bottom line. I was still too young to take part but my training had begun in earnest."

Her hands curled into fists, her knuckles turning white. "What I didn't know at the time was that things had gone much further. People were going missing. High level executives from the Mistral Trading Company. Found dead weeks later in the wilds surrounding the city. And it wasn't only happening there," her mouth pulled taut, a grim line. "The Schnee Dust Company were just as bad, and so they were targeted also. Operations in Mantle and Atlas picked up. People were sent in undercover… people died."

Her voice cracked.

"When I found out… I ignored it. This was exactly what I wanted, right? For them to feel the same fear, to experience the same pain… they would never view us as equal if they didn't respect us, and they wouldn't respect us unless they feared us… it was short sighted and stupid, but that's how I thought. And the worst of it was… it worked. For a time. Things got better in Mistral, stores stopped discriminating in fear of retaliation, people didn't dare turn away faunus…"

She began to shake, and Jaune placed his hand over her clenched fists. "Blake…"

"I don't know exactly what happened next but… we moved on some intel we'd received, that a shipment of Dust was being transported from Argus to Mistral by train. We faced harsh resistance and the train derailed… what we didn't know is that while it was carrying Dust, it was also carrying passengers. Civilians. A hundred and fifty three people lost their lives."

Jaune closed his eyes.

"That's horrible."

"I was on my way to Sanus at the time, so I wasn't around to see the fallout. The fear remained but Mistral was angry. Anger overrode fear, and things got worse than they've ever been. Many in the White Fang… they quit, unable to support the cause any longer. I should have… if I'd been in Anima still, maybe I would have… but I wasn't, so I didn't."

Jaune stroked her knuckles with his thumb in an attempt at soothing her anguish, and her fists loosened, hands turning over to cradle his own. She looked at him then, those beautiful eyes filled with regret.

"I was part of a squad that was led by a man called Adam Taurus. Our job was to observe the faunus situation here on the continent and infiltrate Vale while continuing to disrupt SDC and MTC operations when possible. We set up in smaller villages on the outskirts of the kingdom's influence and worked our way inward. This must have carried on for the better part of a year before… I defected."

"What pushed you to leave?"

Her fingers threaded between his own, her hands tightening around it as if it were her only lifeline.

"There was a train… carrying Schnee Dust Company equipment and Dust. Adam… he was my mentor, my friend…" she wavered. "More. Not quite lovers but… almost. But for some time, I had witnessed his growing anger, his rage manifesting in fits of violence. We boarded the train, we dismantled the security droids… all that was left was to uncouple the cars and make off with the goods, but he wanted more. He… wanted to make the people on that train pay. He viewed them as part of the problem and nothing I said would convince him otherwise."

The tears finally spilled out over her cheeks.

"I uncoupled the cars and left him behind," her voice was strong. "I fled to Vale and hid away here before deciding on my next course of action."

"Beacon," Jaune said.

She nodded, sniffing. "Yeah. Beacon. Become a Huntress, help people. Human, faunus – make the world a better place. I once called Ruby an idealist but I'm the biggest idealist of all."

"That is a fine dream, Blake."

"Most would call it stupid and naive."

"Well, I'd have to call myself stupid and naive too."

Blake released his hands to wipe at her cheeks and eyes, sniffling. Jaune didn't say a thing, and they sat in silence for some time.

"I know that the White Fang have fallen," Blake finally said. "But even their acts of violence had a cause. Even Adam, as misguided as it was. I see no cause in what they are doing here, Jaune. It doesn't make sense to target these shops – and to steal all this Dust. There are better targets, in both profit and ideology. They're even claiming that Roman Torchwick is working with them! Jaune, they would never work with him. Ever."

But the pictures were clear. The White Fang were hitting these stores.

"I need to find out the truth. Will you help me?"

Damn his bleeding heart but he could never turn down a crying girl.

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