Chapter Text
No one could believe it. Ruby had to rub her eyes twice, but the scene didn’t change.
“What…was that…?” Nora whispered, watching at how the Grimm dissipated into the air, leaving a crumbling skeleton in its wake.
“It was…a person…” Ruby breathed. A person. Trapped inside a Grimm. Merged with it. No one could believe their eyes, not even Adam, who leaned over the balcony, his left foot on tip-toe as he peered down.
Behind the newly formed pile of ash, stood Mercury. Ruby’s veins went cold as she recognised him.
“You!” Yang roared, hair igniting, as she jumped over the balcony, landing with a thud.
“Yang wait!” Blake shouted, using her weapon to descend. Ruby looked at Weiss who sighed before summoning a large glyph they could use to jump down, though Ruby was happy just Petal bursting to the ground.
Vermillion and Diamond walked over, eyeing the intruder precariously. “Who’s this?”
“A guy who’s about to have my fist shoved down his throat,” Yang hissed, pulled back by Blake.
Mercury stood there, silent, eyeing the members in front of him. His eyebrows raised slightly as he saw Adam and Gray, even when looking at Diamond and Vermillion.
“What are you doing here?” Nora growled, Magnhild raised. His eyes trailed down the group until they finally rested on Ruby.
“Nice to see you again, pipsqueak,” he smiled, one that didn’t match his eyes. Adam growled, ready to unsheathe Wilt again, but Ruby held out a hand, her own face schooled with scepticism.
“What do you want?”
“…Amnesty.”
“What?”
Mercury turned fully toward them, shocking everyone as he carried a bleeding Emerald in his arms. “I’m seeking Amnesty.”
Emerald lay limp in his arms, her face swollen and blue, matching the rest of her skin. She wore Mercury’s jacket, but her trousers were scorched and ripped into shorts, and she was bleeding from multiple areas.
“What… happened…?” Ruby asked quietly.
Mercury looked down at her, his mouth twisting with fury. “Cinder.”
“What?” Jaune arched a brow.
“There’s no way,” Yang snapped. “She’s Cinder’s loyal lackey. We all know that. Pick a better lie.”
“It’s not a lie!” Mercury hissed, shocking them with the ferocity in his voice. “She’s gone mad! You think she’s faking these injuries?!”
“…Even so,” Ren said, stepping forward, calm but firm. “Why come to us?”
Mercury shot a glance at Jaune, eyes flicking to the dried blood on his face. “Noodle boy over there has a healing semblance.”
“Excuse me?!”
“I was going to call you blondie, but you’re not blonde anymore.” His gaze slid to Adam. “And you look a lot like… what are you even doing here, Taurus?”
“None of your business,” Adam hissed.
Mercury rolled his eyes and refocused on Jaune. “Look, I didn’t come here to beg. I came to strike a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” Ruby asked.
“You heal Em,” he said flatly. “And I’ll give you the farm boy.”
“You have Oscar?!” Blake exclaimed.
“Oh, hell no,” Yang growled, clicking her gauntlets.
“I’m the only one who knows where he is,” Mercury shot back, tightening his grip on Emerald. “And I won’t say a damn thing until you heal her!”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve to come here and start demanding—”
“Yang!” Ruby snapped, looking at Emerald. Her blood dripped onto the cold cobblestone, and looking closer, Mercury was sporting similar injuries.
“I’ll heal her,” Jaune said, stepping forward. “Only after we know that Oscar is safe.”
“That kind of nullifies my leverage over you,” he glared.
“Tough shit,” Gray answered. “You gotta give something to get something. You ain’t exactly the one calling the shots here.”
Mercury glowered as the gang all stared back at him, expectant. Finally, he relented.
“I packed the runt in that shed over there,” he said, jerking his head to where the powershed was.
“You what?!” Nora yelled, running to the shed.
“It’s freezing out here,” Ren snapped. “What would happen if he froze to death—”
“If you lot spent so much time chatting to me, then maybe,” Mercury bit back. “I don’t care now. I upheld my end of the bargain, now heal her.”
Jaune stepped forward, looking ahead to where Nora was now fireman-carrying Oscar. Sighing, he looked back to his friends. “Well, let’s not wait for hypothermia to catch us all.”
Whitley didn’t know whether he was dreaming or not. To his left, a White Fang Lieutenant. To his right, the ex-high leader of the White Fang. Sipping cocoa in front of him and wearing his mother’s fur coat, were more White Fang members. And, if he remembered correctly, his sister’s black-coded friend was also ex-fang.
There were more Fang members than people in his drawing room, and he was sitting in the middle of two high-ranking members…drinking cocoa?
Klein and his mother were opposite him, tending to the two stowaway members. His mother, the absent woman he’d barely talked to for years, was filling up the rat Faunus’ cup for the third time.
Adam grimaced at the cup in front of him, eyeing it suspiciously.
“Not a fan of cocoa?” He piped up, earning a scornful look that sent Whitley cowering.
“In this current mood, I think some vodka would be nice,” he muttered.
“Hear hear,” Gray echoed, head propped on his fist as he watched Jaune and the others circle around Emerald. Mercury hovered close by, Gray remembered him from when the Fang was still prominent in Vale. When Adam was running the shots.
It was almost unnerving at how, despite everyone’s differing gripes, they were all sitting down in one room, calm. To be honest, there wasn’t much Gray wanted to do after having his ass handed to him so embarrassingly by the mutated Grimm from Hell.
Whitley shifted uncomfortably in his seat, cursing himself for choosing this place of all places to sit down. He finally had the courage to stand up when his Scroll beeped. “That’s the signal for the ship!”
Vermillion and Diamond looked at him, the latter sighing as she got up and stretched. “Well, that’s our cue to leave.”
Ruby looked back, face breaking. “You’re leaving?”
“We’ve got a job to do in Mantle. Despite us going a bit rogue, we’re still popular. But don’t worry, Red. We’ll meet again,” Vermillion winked, pulling her into a hug.
Whitley could feel Adam’s eyes burrowing into him, or more specifically, into Verm, who was in front of him.
Diamond joined, pulling away only to lay a kiss on her cheek. “It was fun seeing you again, even if you were asleep majority of the time.”
“No, I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I should have stayed more in touch.”
“Seriously, Red?” Vermillion laughed. “With how much crap you lot are going through, I’m surprised you have time to breathe.”
“True that,” Diamond agreed. “But it’s alright. While you’re out here saving the world, we’ll do our best to shuffle the others into place. We’ll meet again on Atlas, hopefully.”
“Definitely,” Ruby smiled, scooping them into another hug before they finally parted.
“By the way, Red,” Verm said, sticking his head out through the doorway. “Looking good for seven months!”
“Verm!” Diamond hissed, pulling him back. Ruby’s face shone a deep red as she watched Diamond headlock Vermillion. Whitley looked back, shaking his head in defeat.
“What?! It was a compliment! She looks so fire, I’m so willing to be the dad who steps up if there’s a chance!”
“He’s dead,” Adam growled, getting up from his seat. As if sensing the danger, Diamond pulled him down the hallway, but not fast enough to stop Vermillion from blowing a kiss Ruby’s way. Whitley, Klein and Willow followed them, with Whitley shaking his head as he sighed.
Adam was on his feet now, but when he tried to walk, a painful hiss escaped from him.
“Are you okay?” She asked, alert.
Adam exhaled through his teeth, the sound thin and involuntary. He had half-risen before reality caught up with him, pain detonating up his leg in a way that stole the breath from his lungs. His hand flew out to brace against the table, knuckles whitening.
“I’m fine. Just a bit sore,” he bit.
“Are you sure?” She murmured, watching as he slumped back into his seat and downing the hot cocoa like it was water.
“Never better.”
She opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a groan that rippled from Emerald.
While healing Emerald, Jaune had filled her in on most things that happened while she was asleep. Oscar was sat between Nora and Ren, currently being filled in on all he’d experienced while at Salem’s HQ.
He looked rough, unbelievably so. A black eye, multiple fractures according to Klein, and bruises that ached every time he breathed a little too deep. It was unfortunate, but he had to stay like that for a while.
After all, Jaune was being worked overtime – pouring all his aura into healing Emerald, who, surprisingly, had even worse injuries. Though the rest of RWBY tried to shield her body, including Mercury who turned the other way, Emerald’s skin was littered with scrapes and burns.
Jaune, who wanted to preserve her dignity as much as possible, had Blake guide his hands to the areas that needed it the most. But still, even with all the aura that he’d siphoned from Ruby, there would most definitely be long-lasting scars.
“And then Mercury parked the ship somewhere in the agricultural area. We, or…more accurately, he carried us all the way here,” Oscar finished, taking another sip of his cocoa.
“Seriously? How’d you manage manoeuvring around all the Grimm?” Weiss asked.
“We took the subway… It was…crowded, to say the least…” He replied, downcast. Grimm were still terrorising the city, and despite Ironwood’s official orders for evacuation, there wasn’t much hope. After all, where would they go?
Yang shot a glare at Mercury, who was still perched against the table, back turned to Emerald. He fiddled with his glove, waiting for Jaune to be done.
“So,” she started, arms crossed. “Gonna tell us why you decided to switch sides?”
He stopped playing with his glove, but made no other move. Yang was particularly agitated by this.
“Um, hello?!”
“I heard you, Blondie. Sheesh, you’re so freaking loud,” he grumbled.
Yang eyes blinked red. “Excuse me?!”
“Yang,” Blake sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, before looking at Mercury. “Emerald looks like she’s been through a nightmare. We just want to know what happened.”
“It’s like I said,” Mercury spat, clenching his fist. “The bitch went mad.”
His sudden cursing attracted stares from the group, who exchanged weary looks.
“Cinder?” Ruby asked carefully.
“When wasn’t she?” Yang clicked her tongue, earning a judgemental nudge from Weiss.
“When we attacked Vacuo…Cinder got Summer’s powers.” That sentence dimmed the room. No one had forgotten about the thousands of Vacuan refugees stranded in the Tundra, nor about how it was hinted that the military had pulled out. It was always a thought in the back of everyone's minds, but no one wanted to say it out loud.
Blake gulped as she spoke. “So, she now has two maiden powers?”
“And half the sanity she had before,” Mercury cackled, hollow.
Nora arched a brow. “You’re speaking really cryptically—”
“I’m speaking perfectly clear,” he hissed. “She went crazy. Batshit. As soon as she got the powers, her…mind? Body? I don’t even know. But she’s not the girl you know, I don’t even know if she’s really a girl anymore.”
“Excuse me?” Ren raised.
Mercury crossed his arms even tighter, looking down at Emerald, who was still bathed in Jaune’s soft yellow glow.
“Salem…saw what happened to Cinder. Said it must be like an overcharge of power, something that she can’t really fix even with intervention.” He exhaled sharply. “So she wanted to transfer the powers to Emerald.”
“What?” Weiss breathed.
“She wanted to do what she did with Cinder, to Emerald. But like, better. An update. I don't really know the kinks but...When Cinder found out, she got… so mad.” He shuddered at the memory. “When I got there, Cinder was choking her. It was only when Tyrian intervened and they got into a huge fight, that Salem finally showed up—”
“Salem?”
“Their fight ended up burning a hole through the side of the whale Grimm. Salem was…” Colour drained from Mercury’s face as he shook his head. “When they were distracted, I managed to take her, poach farmboy from his cell and steal a ship to here.”
“Because you honestly thought we’d welcome you with open arms after what you did?” Yang narrowed her eyes.
“More so that farmboy put his life on the line for it,” Mercury sneered. “He said if I delivered him to you, you’d help us.”
“Stupid decision, really,” Adam said, leaning back into the chair.
Mercury looked at him with fire in his eyes. “What?”
“Adam,” Jaune warned.
“What? I just don’t get why we’re helping rusty over here with a problem he actively contributed to.”
“Big words from you, Taurus. Or am I misremembering when you also helped us take down Beacon?”
Adam straightened, his earlier calm cracking into irritation. “I did what I thought was good for my people. You did it for your own selfish gain.”
This earned an incredulous laugh from Gray, who covered his mouth quickly, though not quick enough.
“Got something to say?” He grit.
Gray shook his head, lips twitching as he extended a mock-inviting hand. “No, no. Please. Continue.”
“I don’t think this is helping,” Weiss cut in sharply.
“She’s right,” Ruby added, glancing at Jaune, who looked one bad breath away from snapping. “We don’t have much time before we have to answer Ironwood, which is…?”
“Twenty-four minutes,” Ren said.
“Right.” Ruby drew in a steadying breath, then looked between Gray and Mercury. “What we have now is a common enemy. We need to work together to stop Salem.”
“Stop Salem?” Mercury echoed, laughing outright.
“Something funny?” Yang growled.
“You haven’t changed since Beacon.” His grin vanished. “You really think you can beat her? Kill her?”
“Killing her isn’t the only option—”
“Yes, it is,” he snapped. “An enemy isn’t gone until they’re six feet in the ground. Salem can’t be stopped. She can’t be killed. She’ll just keep coming back until she gets what she wants.”
“So what’s your genius plan?” Nora asked flatly.
“Me?” Mercury scoffed. “Once Emerald’s stable, I’m gone.”
“Gone where?” Blake demanded. “There’s nowhere left.”
“I’ll figure something out. Anything’s better than sitting on this floating rock waiting to die.”
“You’ll die either way,” Blake shot back. “If Salem gets the rest of the relics, it’s over for everyone.”
“Then what do you want from me?!” Mercury roared, stepping into her space.
Yang reacted instantly, shoving him back, fist raised. Nora and Ren were on her just as fast, hauling her away before she could swing.
Mercury wrenched free, chest heaving. “You can charge headfirst into hell if you want. I’ve seen what she does to people who stand against her. And I’d rather the world end in a blink than fight her for a future that doesn’t exist. You don’t know what she’s capable of.”
“Yes, we do,” Ruby says, the heaviness in her voice drawing his attention. “We’ve seen it. We’ve fought it. And we killed it, with the help of you.”
She turned her focus to the rest of the room. “Salem’s only gotten this far because she’s been successful at dividing us each and every corner. But if we all stick together and work together, then we can do this.”
Mercury’s eyes sliced into her. “Save it for someone who believes that kumbaya crap.”
Gray hummed, looking Mercury up and down, must to his irritation.
“What?” He grit.
“So…if I’m correct, you’re one of Salem’s lackeys. Salem is coming to destroy the world, and you’re heavily implying she’s a master at torture,” Gray surmised.
Mercury looked at him with confusion. “What are you babbling about? Who even are you?”
“I’m just a bystander here, technically, who was thrown into this and is now trying to decipher the situation. And if I’m not mistaken, you’ve just betrayed Salem and run off with two things she very much needs to finish her grand, apocalyptic scheme.”
Mercury was not amused in the slightest at his interested tone, as if explaining the lore of some comic book.
“And?”
“I’m just wondering, if this Salem has such a bad rap and a known streak of revenge, then what makes you think she’s just going to leave you alone until the end?”
Mercury’s face hardened at the statement, which only amused Gray even more as he whistled. “Hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”
Mercury’s glare could cut steel. Gray smiled as if watching a comedy.
Neither blinked, fixing their gaze in a silent battle, broken only by Emerald stirring. She let out a stifled cry, writhing on the table as her eyes shot open. Mercury spun around, eyes locking with Emerald. For a second, no one spoke.
Then tears formed.
Large, uncontrolled droplets spilled down her cheeks as her voice cracked, a grating wheeze escaping.
“Emerald!” He exclaimed, shaking hand hovering over her, undecided on what to do. Weiss was quick, unbuttoning her blue overcoat and covering Emerald’s chest as she helped the girl.
Emerald pushed her away, arms flailing as she shrieked. Mercury was glued in place, eyes darting to Weiss and Blake who held Emerald down as a wild leg kicked Jaune in the gut. He keeled over, groaning as he clutched his abdomen.
Ruby and Nora soon joined in, locking each leg down as Emerald let out what was best described as a strangled scream. Ruby could see the terror on her face, and the increasing frustration that came with being unable to express it.
Turning her head, she shouted at Mercury. “Wake up!”
Her words hit Mercury like a hammer to a bell. He surged forward, wedging himself between Weiss and Nora, hands firm as he turned Emerald’s head toward him.
“Emerald. Em. Look at me,” he said, voice rough. “Wake up.”
She wheezed, eyes glassy, confusion scraping across her features as his grip tightened. He shot a fierce glare at the others.
“Let her go.”
“Ah…” She croaked, her voice sore and rough. Her hair was now tangled, strands everywhere and no longer covering her neck. Ruby gulped as she saw a necklace of patterned blue decorating her neck, with angular V cuts centering the middle, like a statement jewel.
Cinder had dug her nails in deep enough to imprint; the cuts a deep red, speckled with dried blood.
“We’re okay. You’re okay,” he whispered. Emerald wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt as more tears came. He enveloped her, arms wrapped protectively around her back.
No one spoke.
They watched in silence, solemn and uneasy, as if afraid that breathing too loudly might break the moment.
Ruby took a hesitant step forward, eyes flicking down to the floor as though courage might be hiding there. She cleared her throat. “We’ll… leave you two alone.”
“Ruby,” Yang warned softly.
“It’s fine,” she said, already turning away. Her gaze landed on Jaune, who was slumped slightly, Ren steadying him by the arm. “Are you okay?”
Jaune lifted a trembling thumbs-up, letting out a long, exhausted breath.
Truthfully, none of them wanted to stay in that room any longer.
Gray was already halfway down the corridor, his usual careless grin replaced with something quieter, more tired.
“Are we seriously just leaving?” Adam muttered as he was ushered towards the door.
“You think it’s a good idea to stay in there?” Nora shot back, pulling the door shut behind them.
“They’re Salem’s top mutts,” Adam scoffed. “They can’t be trusted alone. What if this is a trap to lower our guard?”
“She’s hurt,” Weiss said sharply, clicking her tongue. “Bruises like that aren’t performative.”
The door closed with a soft, final click.
Blake nodded. “And they’ve clearly been through a lot together, we should give them some time—”
“We don’t have time,” he hissed. “We’ve got less than thirty minutes to make a plan before we’re all screwed!”
“Maybe less,” Ren muttered, voice low. “If Ironwood starts feeling desperate, then who knows what’ll happen.”
“He doesn’t exactly have a track record with keeping promises,” Nora said, kissing her teeth.
“It’s not his fault,” Oscar sighed, his words catching everyone’s attention. “He’s scared. Everyone is. I guess those two, most of all.”
“Really?” Yang arched a brow.
“I was mainly tied up with Hazel while held captive. But, despite being on opposite sides, Emerald still lingered around. I think she knew Hazel went softer when she was around.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down. “I don’t know, I guess she pitied me or something. But…I think that being in close proximity to evil like that perhaps made her doubt her cause, even just a little.”
“I still can’t believe Cinder did that to an ally,” Blake murmured.
“Well…with how extensive her damage was, I wouldn’t want to know what would happen if she were her enemy.”
“But she is…”Weiss said, voice small. “She’s not… I mean, Salem wanted to use her as the new maiden host. It just makes you wonder how bad Cinder is for it to come to that. Not to mention what Mercury said about her.”
It was hard to speak, harder to think. What did Mercury mean? Cinder isn’t Cinder? Was he being metaphorical or literal? And if the latter, to what extent? Ruby gulped as the damning image of the Hound flashed through her mind.
She couldn’t tell with the others, but she was very on edge. The last thing she saw before she woke up was Cinder. With her monstrous Grimm arm and her heavy bloodlust that made it hard to breathe.
She didn’t know everything that happened when she was asleep – there was no time to explain. But waking up to see Jaune on top of her, blood spilling from his nose. Adam, chest torn open, on his knees.
Her friends, splattered everywhere around her, like a horror movie where she was the final girl.
And the Hound. The monster. The demon. Jagged, protruding teeth, humungous, overbearing body. And silver eyes.
“Ruby?” She looked up to see everyone staring at her, worry in their expressions. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile as she swallowed back the urge to gag. “I think I’m just a bit… out of it. Slightly hungry, if anything.”
“Not surprising,” Nora said, her frown easing. “You’ve been asleep for hours.”
“Some food would be nice,” Oscar added with a shrug.
“Are we seriously talking about food when we have a deadline?” Weiss crossed her arms.
“A five-minute break won’t make things worse than they already are,” Ren said calmly. “And it’ll give those two some time alone to sort through things.”
“I’m with Ice Queen on this one,” Adam cut in. “We shouldn’t leave them alone to their own devices.”
“I also agree with that,” Yang said, raising a hand.
“Well then, let’s do both,” Jaune suggested. “You three can stay here and keep watch while the rest of us go and make some sandwiches for us all.”
“Why does it always feel like we’re splitting up?” Blake muttered.
“Doing both ideas at once isn’t splitting up,” Ren replied. “It’s keeping the peace. And there isn’t much of that going around right now.”
“I think it’s fine for the moment,” Oscar said, hesitating. “But what about—wait. Where’s that guy?”
They looked around.
Gray was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh fuck,” Adam sighed.
The room was torn into shreds, far from its prior splendour. Gray whistled as he stepped over the debris of the broken wall and splintered wood, standing in the middle of the guest room he had previously been tied in.
He didn’t come here on purpose; when he was unceremoniously slashed in the chest by Adam’s blade back in the warehouse, he’d managed to evade the onslaught of Grimm and sneak into the cargo hold of the ship.
The decision hadn’t been brave or clever, just practical. He knew there would be medical supplies onboard. What he hadn’t anticipated was the ship taking off, nor carrying him all the way to Schnee Manor. Still bleeding, light-headed, he’d infiltrated the estate with modest hopes. A blanket, perhaps, something to tear into bandages. Or, if fortune smiled on him, a supply room.
He wouldn’t have put it past the Schnees to have a private medical ward tucked somewhere into the mansion. The place was vast enough to function as a small hospital on its own. He hadn’t missed the greenhouse either, occupying an entire quarter of the estate like a monument to excess.
Thinking on it now, the contrast was almost laughable. The pinnacle of opulence he’d once imagined had been reduced to rubble and scorch marks. More unsettling still was the realisation that despite being painted as the demon of Faunus folklore worldwide, none of the Schnees, save for Jacques, seemed to know what truly kept the lights on.
He hadn’t entertained that thought, hadn’t thought it was possible. Frankly, the idea that no one in the family knew of Jacques Schnee’s sins was absurd. Were they really that stupid, or did they revel in ignorance?
After meeting Willow Schnee, he didn’t think either were true. She knew more than her children. She had to. She was Jacques’ wife. And yet her demeanour was that of a barely lucid woman. Hollowed out. A look Gray recognised all too well from the Faunus girls whose sparkle had been stolen.
He’d seen it constantly back in Vacuo. Girls who lost a piece of themselves each day, whether it was dignity or sanity. His mother had sold the former. The latter was torn from her with every transaction.
His had been taken too, in a sense.
Cut from him and polished into jewellery, now resting comfortably inside a plush velvet box. He could tell at a glance that the fabric was expensive, that a skilled craftsman had shaped the case from rare, sturdy wood.
It was almost laughable how much lien must have been sunk into the box alone. All for the sake of carrying what remained of his tusk. The tusk of a filthy, Faunus nobody.
The memory of the operation burned deep in his chest. They hadn’t bothered with anaesthetic for the first part. It was only meant to be shaved down into a knob. Enough to pay the debt. Enough to let it grow back.
But they wanted more.
Everyone knew the most malleable part of Faunus ivory lay beneath the skin, at the core. And Gray had always been bigger than most children. He towered over others his age. By twelve, he was as tall as his mother.
Maybe if he’d looked younger. Smaller. Weaker. Maybe then his pleas would have tugged at something resembling a conscience.
Instead, he’d been given an adult dose of anaesthetic and left with a scar the size of his hand carved into his face.
He didn’t remember much after that. It took a week for him to become lucid again, or so he was told. His mother wept over him constantly, a permanent frown etched into her features as she held him.
It was bad for business.
Her customers didn’t care for the grief of a Faunus night worker. A month after he was maimed, she died. Whether from sorrow, malnutrition, or some venereal disease, he would never know.
He hadn’t had the money for a grave, let alone a coroner.
It struck him, sometimes, how different the world was for people like her.
In this world, women like his mother weren’t supposed to exist. Human women didn’t need to sell themselves to survive. They were helped. Supported. Their skills nurtured. Their dignity preserved. The hurdles placed before them were fewer, if they existed at all.
They could become who they wanted to be.
Because they were human.
The only way a Faunus girl could ever achieve something similar was if she became a Huntress. Huntresses were revered, regardless of who they were. But that path was near impossible. To be a Huntress meant attending a specialised Academy, institutions notorious for rejecting Faunus applicants.
To nurture skill, you needed education. And who wanted to teach a stupid Faunus?
To have dignity, you needed to know what respect felt like. Or so a passing merchant had once told him, a man who had also happened to be one of his mother’s last customers.
But how did an ant ask a lion for respect?
How could Faunus reclaim their dignity from humans who viewed them as interchangeable commodities?
The answer was always obvious.
Fear.
One ant could be crushed beneath a lion’s paw. But a thousand ants? A hundred thousand?
When he was fifteen, he joined the White Fang. They had come through Vacuo rallying recruits. Before that, he’d worked as a freelance labourer. If he kept his bandana on, he could pass as human and earn better pay.
Some Faunus resented his ability to blend in. Even he found it useful, though he missed the part of himself that had once defined him.
Then he met Adam Taurus.
A man who stood tall and unyielding, even beneath the sweltering sun. His teeth were pearl-white, his hair a clean crimson red. He didn’t look like the scrappy Faunus of Vacuo at all.
He looked like someone who had never learned how to bow.
Gray wanted that. Gods know he wanted it, so much so that despite the risk of being killed or imprisoned, he joined. He left the only place he knew and travelled alongside the Fang, under Adam.
Everyone told him he had potential. It was no surprise that he rose to the rank of Lieutenant, even when he was a new recruit. He was exemplary. And he had Adam to thank for that. That was why he had followed him into Vale. Why he had listened and defended him when he struck a deal with Cinder.
Why he had followed him into Beacon.
Adam was the change the Fang finally needed. Until he wasn’t.
“Hello?” Gray pulled away from his thoughts to see Ruby standing near the doorway. She was an unknown entity of her own. He hadn’t known much about her. Hell, he was being interrogated about her when he didn’t even know she was in his custody.
She was talked about with so much importance, he was expecting something similar to Weiss’ tiger sister. But she was nothing like that. She was cute, in a way. With a long red hood that covered most of her frame and large silver eyes that shone brightly in the light.
Gray clutched the box tightly, hiding it behind his back. “You must be Ruby Rose.”
Ruby mustered up a small smile, twiddling her thumbs as she stepped forward. “And you’re Gray, right?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“What are you doing here?” She asked, looking around. Her expression screamed with curiosity of what happened here, but honestly, not even Gray knew. He was still reeling from the earlier revelation.
Not much scared him. But that did. It scared every inch of him.
“I just dropped something earlier,” he lied, smoothly. Ruby pursed her lips, mulling over his words before nodding, as if choosing to believe him.
“I don’t think we’ve formally met. Hi! I’m Ruby Rose. I know you’ve met my team, and I kind of got filled in with some things that happened but…” She trailed off, not knowing what to say. What could she say? He didn’t know how much she knew, but even if she did, how she would react was anyone’s guess.
Not that he cared, really. Yes, the broadcast was a task best described as ‘tedious’, some would say deplorable, but he viewed it as necessary. If he was given a choice, he’d do it all over again, because someone had to.
“I’m sorry, I’m kind of blanking out right now,” she muttered, ruffling her hair.
“Was there something you needed to say to me?” He prompted.
“Um, no, not really… We were all just surprised that you disappeared suddenly and what with everything that’s happening and the Grimm that’s coming and I just…” She inhaled deeply. “We just wanted to know where you were and if you were okay.”
He smiled faintly, almost amused. “I’m not sure if everyone shares that same sentiment.”
She looked down, toe scuffling into the ground. “I um, heard a bit on what happened with the White Fang.”
“Oh,” he said simply.
“While I absolutely don’t forgive you for what happened to Weiss,” she continued carefully, “I also want to say thank you for helping us earlier.” She unclasped her hands from behind her back. “I think you understand at least some of what we’re dealing with right now.”
“More than I’d like,” he admitted.
“You’re strong,” Ruby said. “And while I haven’t spoken to everyone yet, I get the feeling most of my teammates are at least… civil with you and—”
“Are you trying to recruit me into your band of heroes?” he arched a brow.
“It’s not really a band of heroes,” she said quickly. “We’re just people trying to save what we can. And we’re losing.” The words landed heavier than she seemed to expect. Gray watched her expression darken, then lift again a moment later. “But the more people we have fighting, the more we rally together, the more chance there is that—”
Ruby faltered mid-sentence.
Gray moved on instinct, catching her as she swayed, her legs giving out beneath her. He cursed under his breath as he steadied her, one arm firm around her shoulders, the other gripping her wrist to keep her upright.
It was on cue that he remembered she had just woken up from what he heard was a coma, and had some other debilitating condition.
“Gods, are you okay?”
She held a hand to her mouth, gulping deeply before nodding her head.
Gray was about to inquire further, but the cool touch of a blade pressing into his neck interrupted him.
“I’ll give you one second to get away from her,” Adam ordered, his voice calm, nothing like the chained fury he was hiding underneath. Gray rolled his eyes, letting out a deep sigh.
“She’s not feeling well, she needs—”
“You don’t know anything about her needs, you overgrown animal.”
The vein in Gray’s temple throbbed as he turned his head, Ruby still braced against him. “Care to repeat that?”
“Adam,” Ruby said quickly, lifting a hand as she found her balance. “I’m fine. I just felt dizzy.”
The shift was instant. Adam withdrew Wilt and sheathed it in one smooth motion, storm giving way to sharp, frantic concern. He stepped forward, reaching for her, only for her to push his hands away.
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “I’m just hungry.”
Adam froze, jaw tight. After a moment, he nodded, slow and stiff, one fist clenched behind his back.
“You shouldn’t be alone with the likes of him,” he said.
“I was just talking to him. He wasn’t doing anything—”
“Because he didn’t get the chance to,” Adam snapped. “He’s dangerous—”
“He’s standing right here, you know,” Gray cut in, folding his arms.
Ruby shot Gray an apologetic look before turning back to Adam. “Adam, I’m fine. I was just talking to him. And why did you—”
Her sentence was cut short by her Scroll buzzing.
She groaned, glancing down at the pop-up. “Yang?” A pause. “What? Me? Okay, no, wait. I’m coming. Hang on.”
She pocketed the Scroll and looked back at Gray. “I really hope you think about what I said. We could always use more people.”
Gray didn’t reply, watching her leave. She paused at the doorway, turning back one last time.
“Adam?”
“Yes?” He snapped his head up.
“You should apologise for what you said,” she said evenly. “That wasn’t cool.”
Then she was gone.
For a heartbeat, the room was silent.
Gray broke it by laughing.
Not a chuckle. A full, unrestrained laugh that echoed off the torn walls.
Adam’s jaw tightened. “Shut your mouth,” he growled, “or I’ll shut it for you.”
Gray laughed harder.
Adam drew Wilt in one smooth motion.
Gray didn’t even blink.
He stepped forward and caught the blade in his bare hands.
Adam froze.
Gray’s fingers tightened around the edge, blood slicking his palm as his eyes bored into Adam’s. His voice was low, steady, terrifyingly calm. “Watch yourself, Taurus. Don’t think you can beat me.”
“It would only take a fraction of energy to cut you down here,” he spat.
“Maybe so, but not with that leg of yours.”
Adam growled as he pushed back. He wasn’t surprised Gray had noticed, he was mad that he didn’t hide it well.
“I guess not even that Jaune guy could heal a broken bone. But I gotta say, it’s commendable how you’re still walking on it and acting like everything’s fine,” Gray sniggered.
“I knew you’d show your true colours sooner or later,” Adam snarled, yanking against his grip. “You can’t hide forever like a rat—”
“I’m not the one hiding,” Gray cut in, leaning closer, close enough that Adam could smell blood and iron on his breath. “Watching you act like this almost makes me gag. Especially over her.”
He tilted his head, the corner of his mouth curling into something slow and cruel. “Oh… don’t tell me.”
Adam reacted on instinct.
He kicked Gray hard in the chest, forcing space between them, Blush snapping up into firing position.
Gray staggered back a step, then another. Then he straightened, laughter spilling from him, breathless and sharp, like it hurt to keep it in.
“Are you serious?” he scoffed. “This is what you’ve become?”
Adam’s jaw clenched. “I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”
“Understand what?” Gray snapped back, spreading his hands. “Why you abandoned our cause for something like this?”
“I never abandoned our cause—”
“Bullshit!”
The word cracked through the room.
“I had the knowledge of the entire fucking world dumped into my skull,” Adam roared, advancing again. “I clawed and bit my way back from the middle of nowhere just to get back to the Fang!”
Gray laughed, sharp and incredulous, throwing his hands up mockingly. “And what did you do when you finally found us?”
Adam hesitated.
“You vanished for half a year,” Gray pressed. “And when you finally showed up, you wanted the crown you left behind.”
“I never left it,” Adam said, voice low, dangerous.
Gray stopped laughing.
The air between them went cold.
“No,” he said quietly. “It’s worse than that. You obsess over it. Even when it was never yours to begin with.”
“I was High Leader—”
“You were a self-serving, back-stabbing bastard,” Gray cut in, stepping forward again. “You betrayed the last High Leader for the sake of humans who double-crossed us each chance they had. Everything you’ve done since Beacon has been about you.”
Adam’s lip curled. “Careful. You worked under this ‘self-serving bastard’. You were right beside me at Beacon.”
“Because I thought you were fighting for Faunus,” Gray bellowed, the restraint finally cracking. “I thought you were doing this for us!”
He jabbed a finger into Adam’s chest.
“But it was never about justice,” he snarled. “It was about revenge. You used me. Us. Because you had a bone to pick with the Belladonna girl—”
“Blake isn’t fucking relevant to this.”
“The fuck she isn’t,” he scoffed. “Your ‘promise’ to her? How Fennec died to carry out your orders, don’t think we don’t know about that. And let’s remember most recently when you shot Yuma.”
“That fucker attacked me!”
“He was your subordinate! For four years! He looked up to you!” Gray’s shouts calmed into silent fury. “There were so many in the White Fang who looked up to you. You had dozens killed during Beacon. Hundreds have been arrested in Haven. The few that are still fighting had one chance during the broadcast to finally show the world the injustice that was dealt to us, and you ruined it. All for what?”
“I wouldn’t have had to stop your little broadcast if you hadn’t taken Ruby,” Adam spat.
“Again with the condescending tone.” Gray grit. “We planned that for months. We finally did what the Fang had wished to do for years. What was once a fun little dream was made real because of us. Now, people will know what was done to us!”
Adam pulled the trigger, watching as the bullet shot past Gray’s ear and shattered the window behind it. His face burned at the earlier feeling of shame, creeping down his back. “I never wanted people to see that.”
Gray staggered back a step, breath catching, eyes wide with something like shock. Then they hardened. “You never cared about our liberation.”
Adam stiffened. “What?”
“Every time there were talks of equality, you talked over them,” Gray said, voice cold now, deliberate. “You drowned them out with your rhetoric about Faunus supremacy. I thought you were just a passionate activist.”
He let out a sharp, humourless laugh.
“But now I see it. When you talk about supremacy, you’re only thinking of yourself.”
“That’s a lie,” Adam hissed, fingers tightening around Blush.
“Oh really?” Gray challenged, stepping closer, undeterred by the gun. “Then prove me wrong. Say something that discredits what I’m saying.”
He stopped just short of Adam’s reach.
“Do you really believe all Faunus are better than humans,” he asked quietly, “or is that only true when you’re standing above us?”
His gaze burned into Adam’s.
“Tell me,” Gray said. “Are we ‘animals’ to you?”
Adam loosened his grip on Blush, bringing it back to his side. He looked up at Gray, matching scars on their faces, matching expressions.
Gray let out another laugh, humourless and void. “You are the worst thing that’s ever happened to the Fang. Someone as selfish as you can never have anything nice, you will just smother it until it’s dead.”
He pushed past Adam, who stood there.
“Including her.”
He was alone before he knew it. His grip on Wilt tightening until the hilt screamed under the pressure.