Chapter Text
The pale moonlight illuminated the alley of the storage complex, aided by the light fittings that ran along the side of the building. Four individuals all were wearing bandanas over their faces and the symbol of the White Fang on their backs.
Three guys and one girl, each a different Faunus, walked down the alley and stopped at a set of breakers alongside a door. Above it was written "Dust Processing." One of the individuals opened one of the breakers and flipped a few switches to the cut power.
The first dog Faunus asked, "Alright, and you said no cameras?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there aren't…" the second Faunus man tried to answer.
The woman’s eyes widened “‘Pretty sure?' You work here,” having an agitated tone.
"I work in labor,” the first defended himself, “I’m not even allowed near processing.”
The final thief spoke up, "This doesn't feel right," causing the others to share his hesitation, slightly ashamed of their actions thus far.
the worker shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe we should just leave?"
"No." A voice spoke from the alley. A figure walked towards them; their shadow grew across the wall. "It's time to stand up for ourselves."
"Blake," the female thief said.
Blake placed a white and black samurai mask over her nose and mouth. "Our kind's been beaten, murdered, treated like dogs. Taking this Dust is only illegal in the eyes of the same people that call us animals."
"Yeah, you're right,” the tailed Faunus stated, his resolve strengthened, “Hey, what's with the custom mask? Kind of makes you look like a Grimm," he asked, noting the marking on the mask.
Blake closed her amber eyes and stepped forward. "We may not want them to know who we are, but we should make sure they never forget what we look like," she said, walking up to the door. The thieves looked at each other, "Now," she said, cutting the door's lock off, "It's time we got what we deserve." The thieves ran into the Dust Processing building.
Gunfire rang through the sunny forest as a small convoy of trucks was fired upon; one of the drivers jumped out and hid behind the car, hoping the firefight would be over fast.
The members of the White Fang were pinned down, cowering behind their trucks, unsure of what to do, simply hoping someone had an idea on how to get away.
Standing from cover, quickly ducking back down after a bullet hit the windshield next to his head, a man called out, "Please! We are just trying to pass through!"
"You animals passed through the wrong town!" called back the leader of the attacking group, his revolver aimed at the White Fang leader, Ghira, who lifted back up from his cover behind the trucks.
"There's no need for violence!" Ghira continued to attempt diplomacy, only to be shot in his hand by the leader's revolver, “Gah!”
Sienna Khan, a tiger Faunus, looked at a young man with red-ish brown hair, Adam Taurus, wearing a black eye patch with red markings and bull horns.
Sienna nodded, giving Adam the go-ahead to fight back against the attackers.
Adam vaulted over the truck's hood, drawing Wilt to deflect a bullet from his head.
Upon landing, Adam dashed to the nearest assailant, using his sheath to parry the machete, jumping back, buying himself a few seconds to sheath his sword, firing it out straight into the man’s chest. He struck the man’s head with a swift roundhouse kick in quick succession, knocking the human out.
Adam rolled behind a tree to avoid being riddled with bullets, waiting till the woman who’d changed targets to him had emptied the magazine, forcing her to reload. Then, pressing his little advantage, Adam grabbed his sword, firing the shotgun within the sheath, using the recoil to jump from cover and close the gap quickly.
The woman lost grip of her rifle as Adam swept her leg out from under her, combined with his weapon’s hilt to strike her head into the ground, knocking her out.
Two more human women turned their attention to Adam, opening fire. Wilt became a faint blur whilst Adam deflected most of the bullets, though a few got past, grazing his face as he moved closer, causing his Aura to flicker.
The first woman tried to hit Adam with the butt of her rifle, only for Adam to block her attempted strike with his sword whilst using his free hand to grab her shirt, throwing her into the nearby tree.
Sienna helped Ghira to his feet as they watched Adam swing from a branch, dodging another attack by the second woman. Adam landed, sweeping her legs before kicking her into the same tree.
Another man started shooting at Adam, but he dodged the bullets as he ran at him and knocked him out with a swift strike to the head with Wilt’s hilt.
Adam used his sword to block another onslaught of bullets before sheathing his sword and pulling the trigger to shoot it out at his assailant, knocking the air out of her lungs, rolling to the side to avoid being shot.
Before spinning in the air, Wilt collided with her stomach; Adam jumped to grab his sword to block some more bullets. As the shots died down, he pressed his advance until he was close enough to kick the shooter and knock him out.
While Adam was distracted, the group leader ran at Ghira and began to fire wildly, yelling like a mad man. Adam turned around, hearing the rapid gunfire, seeing the leader trying to hit Ghira.
Adam tried to keep his composure as he ran to intercept the assailant, but his Semblance flared, the world around him disappeared as his emotions took hold, letting loose the energy that his Aura had been stockpiling.
Regaining his senses as Adam stared at the blood splattered across the side of one of the trucks, his focus shifted to the corpse sprawled out on the ground, horror washing over his face at the imagery before him.
Ghira walked out from behind the trucks and saw the bloody mess before him.
"You're all freaks!" called on the former attackers as they all ran away. Adam looked away from Ghira.
Ghira narrowed his eyes, "That wasn't necessary.”
"I…I didn't. It…it just…." Adam stammered, his eyes glued on the corpse.
Ghira pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is the very reason they think they can treat-."
"Ghira," Sienna interrupted, "He saved your life; he's a hero.”
Adam stayed quiet as the other White Fang members all started to agree with Sienna. His only response was to lower his head in shame.
The glow of the sunset engulfed the two Faunus, a faint shadow growing over Blake. Adam sighed, looking out towards the horizon as the two stood upon the main base of the White Fang in Mistral. Adam stroked his chin thoughtfully, contemplating everything; it had only been a few months since he shed someone’s blood, but Ghira and Kali Belladonna had left the White Fang in that time. Now Sienna was the High Leader, and the majority of the council was becoming uncomfortable with the more extreme and violent methods, leading the regular members like Blake Belladona to follow suit.
"Adam," Blake said as she walked into view, though Adam did not turn to face her. "Adam, it had to be done," Blake said as she walked to Adam's side, her eyes staring at the eye patch.
Blake continued her stride, stopping in front of Adam, "The humans have to pay for what they've done to our kind, to you,” she stated.
"Blake, I know your heart is in the right place, but you can't do this anymore. We can't become what they think we are." Adam said, his visible blue eye staring into Blake's eyes.
Blake sighed, "Adam, I just can't let all that has happened go unpunished, but I'm worried you're losing faith, in me, in our cause," Blake explained.
"I'm not, but this is going too far. You can't let your quest for justice blind you to what's right." Adam responded.
"We are doing what's right,” Blake emphasized, “You cannot abandon our cause like my parents did. We will win this crusade. The humans that hurt us will pay!"
She walked away, leaving Adam to return to his thoughts, pushing him to one conclusion. One he would have to act on when he could, but he couldn’t just abandon Blake, could he?
He had to try one more time to get through to her. He could only hope Blake would listen.
“Just think about what we’re doing. Is what we’re doing the only option open to us,” Adam said.
Blake scoffed, folding her arms, “I’m doing what’s necessary for survival in this world, and you’re either with me or against me. So which side are you on?”
Crimson leaves fluttered to the ground, dancing through the air as the soft breeze carried them. The forest felt empty and almost unending, with nothing but trees seemingly going on forever and a white mist that lay across the ground, hiding the fallen leaves.
Adam stood in a clearing, staring at his blade. He contemplated what he was about to do, wondering if it was the right choice if Blake would listen. Then, returning Wilt to its sheath, he walked to a small bunch of rocks Blake was sitting on as she watched the leaves fall.
"Blake." Adam said, gaining her attention, "It's time." He finished as Blake nodded, putting on her black and white Samurai mask.
The two began to run towards their objective, kicking up leaves as they did until they reached a cliffside that overlooked a railway line. As they arrived, the blaring sound of a train horn echoed from below. The two looked down, seeing a train start to race past them, blaring its horn again.
Blake was the first to jump, followed only moments later by Adam. They slid down the side of the cliff, red-orange dust getting pulled from the ground as they prepped to jump to the speeding train, holding the hilts of their blades. Adam launched himself to the train's roof, using Wilt to cut into it and stop himself from being thrown off, Blake doing the same.
Once they regained their balance, the two ran along the top of the train cars, stopping at a hatch that led inside one. Adam cut the lock off, opening the hatch. Blake jumped into the open hatch, Adam following suit.
Upon landing, Adam noticed his leg tripped a small laser.
Blake rolled her eyes, "Guess we do this the hard way," she said, looking over her shoulder at Adam.
"Is there ever an easy way?" he retorted.
Numerous drones that lined the walls of the car illuminated with a neon red light; turning their attention to the two intruders, a faceplate came down.
The two stood from their crouched position, readying their weapons. The drones' forearms spun as they equipped the guns built into them.
"Intruder. Identify yourself." One commanded.
Adam remained silent before firing Wilt from Blush , disorienting the drone. Then, he dashed forward, grabbing Wilt and cutting through the neck and torso of the drone before it could regain its balance.
The drones looked at each other before drawing their blades and rushing Blake from behind; her eyes looked tired and bored as if what was happening was nothing more than a menial task.
Activating her Semblance, she kicked off from the ground dodging two drones' blades, simultaneously cutting through their torsos.
Blake dashed back to Adam as he sliced through another drone. Blake tripped one drone as Adam shot multiple behind her. The two started to switch between blocking and attacking.
Blake cut through the droid; when Blake deflected a bullet, Adam returned fire with far more accuracy. A gunner drone opened fire from the far end of the car, opting for a ranged attack rather than close quarters.
Adam used Wilt to deflect and block the barrage as Blake ran forward, avoiding any bullets that would hit her using Gambol Shroud and her Semblance. When she was close enough, Blake cut the gunner drone down, followed by cutting through the chest of a blade drone, splitting Gambol Shroud into its two halves to cut the legs off another drone, before flipping onto its back and shooting it, causing it to explode and send her further ahead.
Landing, Blake darted forward to strike another drone. Then, using her Semblance to push off, Blake continued slaughtering the drones. When Blake kicked the final drone into the air, Adam jump-kicked it through the car's door, opening it for them to pass.
Once outside, more drones started to swarm.
"Let's do this," Adam called as he ran forward.
Adam knocked two drones over and kicked them into the air allowing Blake to cut through them and knock them back to the ground, where Adam finished the attack by giving one wide swing sending the pieces of the drones flying around.
Blake threw Gambol Shroud , sending it past many of the drones, using the ribbon attached to the hilt to pull the trigger, sending it spinning and slicing through the drones it had just flown past. Blake continued this attack pattern, using Gambol Shroud's gun form and ribbon to attack at a distance, releasing a flurry of strikes and sending any charging drones to the scrap yard.
Adam sliced through the drones on the flatbed, making his way past them with Blake close behind. Blake and Adam continued to combo strike the various drones, finally making it to the next car.
Adam opened one of the crates revealing the Dust that the White Fang sent them to steal.
"Bingo," he said as he looked over the cargo.
Blake turned to leave, "I'll head to the next car; you set the charges,"
"And the crew members?" Adam asked, closing the crate, “what about them?”
"What about them?” Blake asked, looking over her shoulder, her intentions clear.
The car creaked and groaned; both Adam and Blake turned to face the cause of the noise. From the shadows on the ceiling crawled the culprit. A large grey and red, four-legged drone landed in front of the two and primed its cannons.
"There's no end to these things, is there?" Adam asked as he dodged the now relentless firing of the drone's cannons.
Blake charged the robot, attempting to strike its head, only for it to swat her away. The Spider Droid towered over Blake as she lay disoriented on the floor, ready to finish its job, until Adam let loose a barrage of slashes pushing the Spider Droid back enough to grab Blake and move her away from the robot's range as best he could in the enclosed space. Blake quickly got back to her feet.
"We need to move," Adam said as he sheathed Wilt .
Blake looked at Adam, confused, "We can take it.”
"Not what I meant!" Adam raised his voice as he reached to block with Wilt as the Spider Droid combined its cannons to form one supergun, charged and ready to fire.
Looking back at the Spider Droid, "Oh..." was Blake's only retort.
The Spider Droid fired its mega-cannon, sending Adam and Blake flying through the wall and onto the next flatbed.
The two got to their feet, reestablishing their bearings as the Spider Droid climbed from the previous car onto the flatbed.
Tossing a small packet to Blake, "We're gonna have to use the charges," Adam said.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Just do it; I'll draw its fire," Adam answered as he rushed the Spider Droid, stopping it from attacking.
Blake used her semblance to get close, planting the bomb on one of the main cannons before jumping back with Adam following her. The Spider Droid switched to charge its mega-cannon, moving the bomb right in the center.
"Get down!" Adam called as he bolted for cover, Blake following suit.
The Spider Droid tried to fire the mega-cannon, only to set off the bomb, blowing itself to pieces. Blake stood back up, looking around for Adam, standing on the next flatbed.
"Adam," she said as she noticed his tight grip on Wilt .
Adam made his choice; now, he hoped Blake would follow him, “Blake, I'm sorry, but I can't risk innocent lives. The White Fang is going down a path I cannot follow." But, he admitted, "It's not too late. Come with me. We can leave that destructive way of life behind."
"You're…abandoning us... Adam, you promised me you wouldn't abandon our revolution, that you wouldn't cower as my parents did!" Blake yelled, anger swelling from her voice.
"Blake, justice is blind. Killing people that have done nothing wrong is not justice; it's just mindless slaughter,” He pleaded as he reached his free hand out, “Please, Blake, come with me."
"You are a coward who can't do what has to be done!" Blake screamed as she reached for Gambol Shroud .
Adam lowered his hand and swung Wilt , cutting the train cars free from each other.
"I'm sorry, Blake. Goodbye," the last thing Adam said as the cars became further and further apart.
Blake screamed in a fury, but her cries were only faint echoes to Adam, who hung his head low.