6 - |

It was Monday now, Blake still having not returned all weekend, with the Rest of team RWBY, even Weiss, having been searching for her. I figured I should go find her and see how she's doing.

Well that and make sure Sun hasn't attracted any more trouble.

Again.

I walked up the stairs of the rooftop café, waving a hello to the waitress from before as I did so, before spotting Blake and Sun sitting where I was sitting with him before.

Suddenly a thought struck me. We still hadn't done that yet. Granted Sun had run away before we got a chance bit still.

I walked over to my two Faunus friends. "Hello there Blake, how are you feeling?" I said dragging a empty chair to the table.

Blake saw me and started stammering slightly. "J-Jaune what are yo…" she began to ask before she was interrupted by Sun.

"What no hello for me Jaune?" Sun said teasingly. "I'm wounded."

I turned to my smirking friend before letting loose a grin of my own. "We haven't done that yet Sun." I said cracking the knuckles on my right hand.

Sun caught my drift immediately. "You're right," he acknowledged, standing up himself and walking around the table slowly. "We haven't yet have we?" he mused coming to a stop in front of me, cracking his own knuckles as he did so.

I drew back my right fist. "On three?" I said, my eyes narrowed in concentration.

Sun let out a laugh. "Same as always." He said drawing back his own fist in preparation.

One, two…

Blake stood up looking at the two of us. "Jaune, Sun, you can't…" she began but nothing was stopping us now.

Three!

Our fists shot forward.

Paper.

Rock.

I pumped the air victoriously as Sun dropped to his knees. "I am victorious!" I proclaimed, pumping both fist. Sun punched the ground lightly, despondent.

Blake looked like she'd been thrown for a loop. "What happened?" she muttered looking at Sun and me act like children.

I pulled up Sun with a laugh, Sun regaining his own grin as we sat down. "It's an old tradition from when we were kids. Whenever we'd meet up after a long time we'd play scissors-paper-rock."

Sun picked up his teacup with his tail again. "We weren't old enough to spar then so that was the best we could do, but it kinda stuck around even when we were." Sun said, taking a sip of his tea.

That reminds me, I need some tea myself. I waved to the waitress from before and ordered another cup of jasmine tea.

Sun and I sat in silence while we waited for Blake to talk, Sun's teacup moving lightly with every twitch of his tail. The waitress returned with my own jasmine tea and a smile, before leaving us alone again.

Finally the silence broke "So." Blake said exhaling, putting down her tea cup. "You want to know more about me."

"Finally she speaks." Sun exclaimed throwing out his arms. "Nearly two days and all you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks."

Blake narrowed her eyes at him with a frown.

"Yeah like that." Sun said, gesturing with his tail.

"Who could blame her, it's you." I said under my breath.

Sun dug his elbow into my ribs. Guess he didn't appreciate that.

Blake rolled her eyes at our antics. "Sun, Jaune," She ventured before pausing, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing. "Are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake asked, still looking hesitant.

Oh boy. Okay now, Jaune nice and easy now, a delicate approach is what's required here. Too bad Sun didn't get the memo.

"Of course" Sun said leaning forward placing his teacup down, "I don't think there is a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them." Sun said.

Okay Sun good now just leave it at that.

"Stupid, holier than thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me." Sun finished his tail flicking around animatedly as he talked.

Damn it Sun. I dug an elbow into his side. Sun turned to me mouthing "what?" before taking a sip of his tea.

Blake lowered her tea cup. "I was once a member of the White Fang." Blake said bluntly.

Well…that was a bit more direct than I was expecting.

Sun choked on his tea, coughing loudly before raising a hand. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?" Sun asked stunned, before shaking it off and turning to me. "Wait how long have you known?"

Blake seemed surprised at my lack of shock as well. I shrugged. "I always suspected Blake was a Faunus. There were just too many coincidences for her not to be one. " I said taking a sip of my tea. "I didn't know about you and the White Fang until a few days ago, you confirmed it later that night."

Blake was stunned. "How did you know?" She asked quietly, her yellow eyes locked on mine.

I shrugged again, scratching the back of my head. "The way you walk was my first clue, that kind of natural stalk that all feline Faunus seem to have. As someone who's spent the better part of my life raising a few, it kinda stuck out." I said thinking back on it. "Then there's your bow." I said pointing at Blake's perpetual piece of fashion. "Do you know your bow twitches whenever you ears move?" I asked smiling slightly.

Wait Jaune, stay on target.

"Forgetting about that, I'm guessing you were part of the original White Fang." I said waiting for Blake to tell her story.

Blake nodded. "That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually." She said as she seemed to reminisce about it. "You could almost say I was born into it. Back then things were different. In the ashes of war the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between the humans and the Faunus. Of course despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so the White Fang rose up, as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist. Then five years ago our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. A new leader with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organised attacks, we were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labour. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals, but not out of respect, out of fear."

Blake put down her tea cup and looked at us, Sun's face a far cry from its usual joviality. "So I left." Blake breathed looking down at her tea and continuing on. "I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence and instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress." Blake finished closing her eyes again before opening them to look at Sun and I. "So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view all with the help of a little black bow." Blake said twitching her ears and making the bow move.

Sun spoke up. "So, have you told your friends any of this?" he asked seriously.

Blake looked away from us before standing up and beginning to walk away. I quickly drank the last of my tea, and followed after her with Sun while also making sure I filled him in. "They found out a few nights ago under circumstances that were…" I hedged searching for the appropriate term. "less than ideal." I finally decided on.

Sun raised an eyebrow, gesturing for me to go on.

"One of her teammates is the Schnee company heiress." I said bluntly.

Sun thought about it for a moment before wincing. "Ouch, now that is a family with no love lost with the White Fang." Sun said shaking his head.

I shrugged my shoulders. "She's a bit cold most of the time but in general she's got a kind heart. As you said though, the White Fang hits close to home for her." I said defending Weiss. I mean it would have been a hell of a shock.

Sun sighed running a hand through his hair. "You always seem to fall into situations like this don't you Jaune?" Sun said, shaking his head with a smile.

I looked back with exaggerated disbelief. "This coming from you of all people? I should feel insulted." I said in mock outrage.

We both looked at each other and laughed quietly before we caught up with Blake once more, walking along the sidewalk in silence.

Sun spoke up. "So what's the plan now?" Sun asked, both hands held behind his head as he walked.

Blake sighed before speaking up. "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before." Blake elaborated as she came to a stop.

"That being said whether or not it is the White Fang, whoever it is going out of their way to collect a great deal of dust, much more than just some vandals. They're organised and most likely have members to spare." I mused drawing from what we already knew. If they're not selling the Dust elsewhere then I have to wonder what on Remnant would require that much. My gut tells me it's nothing good.

"What if they did?" Sun questioned playing devil's advocate. "I mean the only way to prove they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they'd most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there. Right?" Sun said gesturing all over the place as he did so.

I gave Sun a look going to reprimand him for his idea before stopping. "That actually makes sense." I said thinking about it.

Blake however raised a problem with our idea. "The only thing is I have no idea where that would be." Blake said looking back at us.

"Well," Sun said placing his hands by his sides, "While I was on the ship I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

I raised a brow. That seemed promising. Even though Sun was probably doing something he shouldn't have been doing at the time to overhear it.

"How huge?" Blake asked gesturing with her hand.

"Huge." Sun promised throwing out both arms to illustrate just how huge it was, "Big Schnee company freighter."

Bingo.

"That's stacking the deck in our favour." I said scratching my chin before continuing on. "Not only do we have a huge stack of dust, which the thieves will want to take anyway but if it is the White Fang there's no way they're going to leave the Schnee company alone."

"You're sure?" Blake asked disbelieving at our good luck.

I patted her on the shoulder. "Trust me, when it comes to stuff like this, Sun's the best delinquent there is." I said honestly.

Sun nodded for a moment before stopping and glaring at me. "Was that supposed to be an insult Jaune?" Sun asked eyes narrowed.

I looked back at him with a smirk. "I didn't know I could insult someone with something that blatantly obvious." I said wryly, chuckling at the look on his face.

Sun punched me lightly on the shoulder before returning his attention to Blake. "Okay, from what I saw earlier we can get a good view of the shipping yard from atop one of the warehouses nearby. You and lanky over here go set up a position, I'll go pick up some food."

And with that Sun was off, dashing away to be lost within the crowd of people with a heartbeat. Typical Sun.

It was dark now, the docks quiet aside the sound of crickets chirping. Blake and I took positions low to the roof, so as to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun's voice rang out behind us, the sound of his shoes landing on the roof's surface and we turned to see Sun there with an armful of apples.

I looked at him questioningly. "What took you so long?" I asked, wondering what the heck caused Sun to be delayed this late.

Sun's expression froze and his eyes avoided mine. I sighed. "On second thoughts something tells me I don't want to know." I said shaking my head.

Blake answers Sun's original question. "Not really, they've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." She reported before going back to look at the containers emblazoned with the Schnee company logo.

"Cool." Sun said looking out over the docks before looking back at us. "I stole you some food." Sun said offering Blake and I an apple.

Oh God I feel a headache approaching.

I raised a hand to massage my brow.

"Damn it Sun." I swore quietly, taking the apple anyway. Hey it's not like we can return it, so I may as well not waste the thing. I took a bite out of the apple. Plus it is a damn tasty apple. You get a pass this time Sun. Next time however, you're mine. And you'll be begging for the Old Bastard when I'm done.

"DO you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked Sun reproachingly.

Sun struck back. "Hey weren't you in a cult or something?" he responded.

I snorted at that before supressing my laughter as Blake turned her death glare on me. Not half bad. Solid seven and a half out of ten. Not a Goodwitch level glare by any means but pretty close.

Sun promptly realised the minefield he'd jumped into and backpedalled. "Okay too soon." He said apologetically.

He might have gone to say something else before a massive gust of wind picked up behind us, sending our hair flailing about, the sound of jet engines letting out a dull roar filling the air. I looked past the blinding glare of the searchlights beaming down to make out the plane. It was a Bullhead, and not a civilian one either, this thing had weapons. Whoever these guys are they've got a lot of resources behind them.

The Bullhead swiftly manoeuvred around, killing the bright searchlights and landing in the centre of the docks, the pilot killing the engines as well. Even as the jets died down the landing ramp was flung open and a group all bearing identical uniforms walked out, bearing either rifles or blades.

"Oh no." Blake said despairingly. Looks like Blake was wrong this time.

"Is that them?" Sun asked, focusing his eyes on the figures exiting the Bullhead before turning to Blake.

"Yes, it's them." Blake affirmed quietly, unable to deny the evidence before her as one of the figures turned to reveal the emblem of the White Fang emblazoned on the back of his uniform.

In the quiet the voices of the White Fang in the docks carried easily to our position. "All right, grab the tow cables." The White Fang member remaining in the ship ordered, gesturing with his gun, the others quickly setting about they're various roles.

Blake looked on at the scene at a loss, unable to understand why the White Fang were here. Sun spoke up quietly. "You really didn't think they were behind it did you?" he asked looking at Blake as he crouched.

"No," Blake denied surprisingly, "I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

I went to give my own bit of support when a new voice rang out in the night, loud and demanding, drawing out attention back to the docks.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" The male voice called out from inside the Bullhead a new form striding out not wearing the uniform of the White Fang. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment so why don't you animals pick up the pace?" The man in the black hat commanded, gesturing with both his cane and his hands as he did so.

Wait a minute I recognize that guy!

"Roman Torchwick?" I said confusedly. What was Vale's most wanted doing with the White Fang? They have nothing in common.

Blake shared my opinion. "This isn't right." Blake said shaking her head as she looked down at Torchwick insult the White Fang squad. "The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one like that." She finished with narrowed eyes, having stood up and drawn her blade walking forward.

"Hey what are you doing?" Sun cried out, as Blake jumped off the buildings edge.

"Blake!" I hissed after her but she was gone having landed silently with her feline Faunus agillity and sped off towards the thieves.

I sighed. So much for subtlety. "C'mon shorty." I said to Sun before I made my own jump off the roof, rolling forward as I landed, Sun landing smoothly on his feet next to me as we dashed off after Blake in the darkness.

As we came up to the towering wall of containers we split up, Sun vaulting off me to push himself up to the top of the shipping crates while I stayed on the ground proper. I edged around the corner, my eyes scanning the area. Okay Blake, where are you?

Suddenly there was a blur of Black and Blake was behind Torchwick holding her blade to his throat. "What the…Oh for F…" Torchwick grumbled quickly realizing what had happened.

"Nobody move." Blake called out commandingly, keeping her blade from just cutting the man with the orange hair's neck as the White Fang members moved forward raising their rifles and drawing their swords.

Torchwick seemed entirely unconcerned by his seeming impeding demise. "Wa-ho, take it easy there little lady." He mocked his one visible eye darting about. More of the White Fang's team showed up standing in front of Blake.

I drew my blade and extended my sheath into its shield form bracing myself for combat. Something tells me this is going to go south in a major fashion.

Blake looked at the White Fang members surrounding her before her free hand darted up to her bow and pulled it free, revealing the evidence of her faunus heritage. "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" Blake implored them, the White Fang thieves lowering their weapons upon seeing Blake's cat ears.

Torchwick laughed. "Aho, kid, didn't you get the memo?" He said lightly, his lip curled into a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded, her sword still pressed tightly to Vale's most wanted's jugular.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a little business venture together." Torchwick informed her, with the same level of importance one would expect to hear when asking how the weather is.

Blake pressed her blade deeper. "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Blake threatened, her voice cold.

But even now I felt my hackles rising, my hairs standing on end. This is not a man who thinks he is in any kind of danger. Torchwick knows something that we don't.

Suddenly the sound of more jet engines filled the air and a new wind buffeted me. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Torchwick remarked as he looked up at the two new Bullheads floating above us.

Oh you've got to be kidding me. Where does he even get these things, out of his hat?

I swore. Wait, Torchwick!

I turned back to the hostage situation to see Blake's focus occupied by the new arrivals, the sudden wind from the engines distracting her further. I saw Torchwick's lip turn to a grin, his cane moving almost imperceptibly before a loud explosion rang out, sending Blake flying away.

What was that? A detonator? No wait…His cane is his weapon?!

Blake shook her head from where she landed, shaken slightly before Torchwick levelled is cane at her and pulled a hidden trigger, sending a barrage of sparkling balls of energy at her, with a whistling sound that somehow reminded me of fireworks or a flare.

Blake's eye caught site of the impeding assault and she threw herself forward, rolling out of the way of the projectiles, which crashed into the pavement and exploded, sending fragments flying. I ran forward shield up and ready, to get between Blake and Torchwick. Blake blurred behind me, leaving the afterimages I'm assuming are her semblance in her place as she moved, while I blocked another stray projectile with my shield.

Torchwick narrowed his eyes at me. "Outta the way, kid." He commanded before he launched another barrage of shots, this time at me. I moved, weaving between the blasts until the last one approached. Payback time. The moon flashed before me, and my aura spiked, the shield reflecting the last blast backwards.

Torchwick swore and dodged out of the way, the projectile crashing behind him. He snarled at me before suddenly a banana peel landed with a splat on his bowler hat, knocking it askew. He threw it aside quickly, looking up only for his eyes to widen in shock as he caught sight of the descending feet of Sun Wukong slamming into him, knocking Torchwick flat, Sun flipping over to me. And Judge Arc grants contestant Sun a ten for his flawless dismount. "Leave them alone." Sun demanded hands by his side.

The cargo doors on the Bullheads above us opened, and new squads of White Fang soldiers jumped for the planes, encircling us as they landed. Eight new soldiers, two of us. Suddenly I caught sight of another Bullhead having one of the Schnee containers attached to it by a group of White Fang soldiers.

"You got this?" I muttered to Sun twitching my head towards the warriors around us. Sun just grinned. Okay then. Time to clear a path. Let's hope this works. "Close your eyes." I told Sun before I raised my shield above my head, a bright flash of light shining out. The White Fang fighters cried out, grasping at their eyes. Fun fact: Faunus night vision can be quite a disadvantage when encountering sudden unexpected blasts of light.

Looks like my training with Peter paid off.

I ran forward towards the Bullhead, slamming the hilt of my sword into one of the blinded White Fang members as I passed by them. As I approached the four members affixing the tow cables, spotted me and abandoned their attempt to instead confront me. The first one ran forward to greet me, his twin blades arching around to strike me upon the chest. Instead of blocking the blade or stopping instead dropped, sliding under the attack slamming the edge of my shield into the Faunus' ankle sending him to collapse to the ground.

One down.

I forced myself up from the ground, charging the most potentially dangerous of the three remaining, the one with the rifle. My sword lashed out, cutting the rifle into two separate pieces before on the return swing I smacked the flat side of the blade against the man's head, making him collapse bonelessly to the ground.

Two down.

With a yell, one of the Faunus swung at me with his curved blade, which I caught on my shield, the force on my blow sending me back a step. My senses roared at me, and I caught sight of the final fighter going to attack me from behind.

Time to improvise. My blade flashed out, stabbing into the foot of the White Fang member in front of me, causing him to cry out in pain. I turned, leaving the blade impaled in my opponent's foot, before I weaved out of the way of my other opponent's own stab. My free hand lashed, grabbing him by his armour and pulling him forward to smash into my head butt, his mask shattering from the impact. He dropped to the ground, so I turned back to the other, withdrawing my blade from the whimpering Faunus before I sent my foot to crash into his cheek knocking him unconsciousness.

That's all of them.

Note to self, head-butting someone in a mask is a bad idea.

I turned back to check on Sun to see him finish mopping up the last of the White Fang members with his staff. I went to re-join the fight when the sound of jet engines starting up filled the air. I turned back to see the Bullhead slowly flying up, the cables attached to the plane becoming taught.

I did not go through all of that just for them to make off with the Dust when my back was turned.

I ran forward, using one of the crates on the ground to jump atop the shipping container with a thud. My sword cut through the cables like a hot knife through butter and the crate dropped the short distance to land with a loud clang, my knees bending with the impact.

I suddenly heard Blake call something out and saw her run forward her blades striking out at Torchwick. Torchwick easily kept pace with Blake, his cane dancing all over his body as he spun and twisted, either blocking or deflecting Blake's strikes. Eventually Torchwick struck during a gap in Blake's rhythm and with a quick combo knocked her backwards, Blake hitting the floor loudly.

At that Sun came flying in with kick, knocking the criminal away from Blake, before Sun pressed his advantage. He detached his staff, now wielding it as the dual nun-chuck/shotgun. The whirling metal and occasional gunshot pushed Torchwick back, Sun increasing the tempo of the attacks as he got into his rhythm, Torchwick still cleanly blocking or deflecting each strike.

I'll give him one thing, he's certainly no pushover.

Sun finished his combo, not landing any hits but leaving him open for Blake, who slashed Torchwick across the chest. At this point I finally re-joined the fight, and slammed a lariat into the flying criminal with my shield arm, sending him spinning to the ground. His aura held, so he's not got any serious injuries from our little tag team attack.

"What took you?" Sun asked hands holding the triggers to his gun-chucks tightly before quickly snapping it back into its rigid staff form.

"Had to stop one of the planes from making off with the Dust." I responded, my gaze still fixed on Torchwick.

Torchwick swiftly got up and fired another projectile from his cane, not at us but above us. We all looked up to see the projectile slam into a suspended container, knocking it loose from its restraints. I dived sideways, Blake flipped backwards and Sun threw himself forwards as the Schnee Dust container slammed into the cement.

I got up to see Torchwick with his staff levelled at Sun, holding him dead to rights. I growled. I couldn't provoke him into shooting Sun. From that close it's unlikely he'll miss and that thing has a lot of power behind it.

But then something else cut in.

"Hey!" a familiar voice cried out in the distance, drawing our attention.

Ruby appeared on the roof of one of the warehouses, her scythe impaled into the ground with a flourish.

Looks like Torchwick remembers Ruby from their earlier encounter. "Why hello Red, isn't it past your bed time?" he asked walking forward.

Suddenly Ruby turned her head talking to someone else on the roof behind her. Torchwick grinned and fired off a shot at the unsuspecting Ruby, the explosion flinging her backwards. Torchwick laughed before turning his cane towards Sun and firing it. I slid into place in front of him just in time making us of my shield's ability to reflect the projectile back at point blank range, sending him tumbling back with a loud 'oof'.

Torchwick got up, his eyes narrowed at me. "You're beginning to annoy me kid."Torchwick growled before something else drew our attention. Blades flew from the air, sending members of the white Fang flying and then Penny landed. Albeit not the Penny I was familiar with. There were no awkward movements here. This was a warrior's walk. And her weapon, she wasn't even holding it, a series of blades that spun and danced behind her.

Penny lashed out with an arm, and the blades followed her movements sending the White Fang flying with slashes and thrusts before returning to become a spinning shield of cutting steel. She did a sideflip, the blades moving in concert with her before her launched them forward like a disk, knocking the White Fang soldiers down like bowling pins.

Wait I saw something there. Something from the blades.

"Whoa." Sun called out in amazement before dashing off into the fight once more. I soon found my attention drawn by a series of attacks from some more White Fang soldiers, each wielding a single blade.

I dodged the first strike, spinning around the man's swing until I was behind him and kicked him into his comrades, knocking them down. My sword and shield rose up, blocking two simultaneous strikes from either side, while my right leg kicked up into the crotch of the White Fang in front of me.

Rather than try to have a contest of strength with the other two, I instead let go of my sword, sending the one I was blocking stumbling forward off balance. I quickly grabbed him with my now free hand and threw him at the other man I was blocking before slamming my shield into them for good measure.

The sound of rapid fire high calibre round rang out and I looked up to see three new Bullheads firing on Penny, who was blocking the rounds with her spinning blade shield. Suddenly her backback slid open, and two blades were launched from within, soaring backwards to impale into the wall of the warehouse far behind her. I saw what appeared to be wire's extending from the backpack go tense and Penny flew backwards, her swords following after her.

Okay then Jaune, how are we going to take down the military grade vehicle? I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise and turned to see Penny holding a giant ball of flashing green energy before her. I saw her arms move and the ball turned into a stream of lasers that danced out over the docks, shining over two of the Bullheads, which then simply fell apart into two pieces, the occupants falling from the sky as the wreckage crashed into the water.

I felt my jaw drop.

Seriously who the hell is this girl?

Then with a flourish of her arms Penny sent her floating blades soaring skywards to be imbedded into the side of the Bullhead floating above attempting to take off with a container of dust. The near invisible wires from before, akin to the strings of a puppet reappeared and Penny walked backwards, dragging the jet with every step she made, not an inch of strain showing.

This is starting to get ridiculous. Seriously what is her semblance supposed to be? Super strength with a side of green laser beams?

The engines on the Bullhead roared loudly, the pilot attempting to break free from Penny's grasp to no avail. Penny then heaved at the strings and the Bullhead was sent crashing into a pile of the shipping containers, one of the engines sent flying from the crash.

Wait, where's Torchwick?

I spun and spotted him jumping into a Bullhead, its engines already letting out a dull roar, nearly ready to take off. I pumped my legs, tearing after Torchwick before he escaped in the plane. I saw Torchwick's eye spot me and he raised his cane once more levelling at me. But then his eye spotted something else and he moved his cane to a different target, firing another whistling ball of explosiveness.

What the hell was he aiming at? Damn, Penny! I slid to a stop before sprinting perpendicular to my previous path, dashing to get between the unsuspecting Penny and Torchwick's attack. I leapt forward, twisting in mid-air so I could intercept it. C'mon aura, don't fail me now. I reached deep, the flash of the moon fracturing I my mind, ready to reflect the attack. But my aura did not rise.

Going to be feeling this one in the morning.

And with that the whistling projectile crashed into my shield and detonated sending me tumbling backwards through the air, the world spinning madly. Then I felt my head impact with one of the metal shipping containers, the loud clang reverberating through my ears as the world went dark.

"Jaune?"

Urgh…

"Jaune?"

Go away…

"Jaune?"

Sleepy…

"THINK FAST LADDIE!"

"I'm up!" I said, the words speeding out of my mouth as I rolled away from whatever the Old Bastard had thrown at me this ti… wait a minute.

My eyes refocused to see Blake her bow back in place, Penny and Ruby looking down at me in shock on their crates, while Sun nearly fell off his as he roared with laughter.

I glared at Sun. "You're an ass." I said shortly, before standing up slowly. He head throbbed painfully and I bought a hand up to grab it. Oh that stings. I quickly took a seat on one of the crates, the pain receding as I felt my aura kick in, slowly erasing the injury.

I looked around seeing police cars scattered around the scene, with members of the Vale police department canvassing the area, the police radio crackling away with garbled reports.

"Are okay Jaune?" Ruby asked, concern evident in her eyes.

I nodded even as the movement caused a fresh jolt of pain to appear. "I'm fine, just sore. What happened? Where's Torchwick?"

"Torchwick and some of the White Fang escaped in a couple of Bullheads while you were unconscious." Blake informed me, her eyes showing her own worry. "Are you sure your fine? That was quite a blow you took." Blake asked while her eyes were scanning me for any obvious signs of injury.

Sun scoffed. "Trust me, he's fine. One of Jaune's few redeeming qualities is his hard head." He remarked wryly.

Thank you for the great compliment you paid me Sun. I shall have my vengeance for this and it shall be swift and without mercy.

…

The moment my head stops throbbing anyway.

I turned to see Penny's face before me, inches before mine. I yelped and fell from the crate as I moved backwards, my head smacking into the ground. A new wave of pain arose in response. I bit my cheek to refrain from swearing. Again with the bloody head!

"Why?" Penny questioned as she looked down at me. "Why did you jump in the way of that attack?" Penny looked truly puzzled as to why I had chosen to do so.

I fought my way through the pain and shrugged. "That's just what friends do, I guess." I said pressing my hand to my head in an attempt to ease the pain.

I heard Penny exhale as if shocked. "Friend?" she murmured.

I suddenly felt two arms seize me and lift me into the air. It was Penny spinning me around as she laughed joyously. I have completely forgotten about the pain from my head. The new pain from my ribs as Penny squeezes them is much more pressing. Super strength, her semblance has to be super strength, no-one is naturally this strong. "Sensational!" Penny crowed, "I have gained yet another new friend."

"Penny." I gasped with what little oxygen I had left. "Air." I gasped as I tried to regain my breath.

Penny loosened her grip and I fell to my knees, my chest heaving as I tried to refill my lungs. Just my luck that I would get more damage done to me after the fight rather than during it.

I heard footsteps approaching us and saw Yang and Weiss walking towards us. Makes sense that they'd find us, our little encounter with the White Fang wasn't exactly subtle. What with the explosions, the squadron of Bullheads flying about firing machine guns, and giant green lasers shooting into the sky.

Ruby saw Weiss and stepped forward to talk to her. "Look Weiss it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing, you see she doesn't actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and they're actually kinda cute." She gushed, not taking a single breath but Weiss walked right past her to stand before a suddenly unsure Blake.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang, back when I was with them." Blake began, going to explain before Weiss cut her off.

"Stop." Weiss said simply her eyes focusing on her faunus teammate. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Weiss asked as Blake stood their silently. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about all this. And in that twelve hours I've decided…I don't care." She stated firmly.

Blake looked confused. I didn't blame her, what exactly didn't Weiss care about? "You don't care?" Blake probed, stunned at her teammates reversal from before.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss questioned bluntly.

"No, I-I haven't been since I was yo…" Blake started before Weiss cut her off again raising a hand in protest.

"A-bu-bu. I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates and not some…someone else." Weiss finished her gaze drifting over to me and Sun.

I nudged Sun with my elbow. "Well I feel appreciated." I murmured to him quietly, Sun flashing back a grin in response.

Blake looked to her teammates before raising a hand to wipe a tear from her eye. "Of course." Blake agreed with a nod. The mood was kind, yet held a kind of seriousness to it as it the two team members of team RWBY reconciled.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby squealed, dancing and pumping her arms.

I let out a laugh. Trust Ruby to shatter that serious atmosphere. We all stood up, Sun supporting me with one arm as I was still a bit unsteady.

Weiss turned on us pointing at Sun. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you." Weiss stated her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Sun, who laughed nervously, before she directed her attention to me. "And you. You annoy me." Weiss said as she stared at me with a glare.

I rolled my eyes. "The feeling is mutual princess." I said with a smirk, as I looked at Weiss' face begin to go red in frustration.

Then Ruby's voice interrupted our impromptu verbal sparring match. "Hey wait a minute." Ruby said turning from side to side. "Where's Penny?"

I turned to see Penny had indeed vanished, having made use of her mysterious stealth once more and was nowhere to be found.

In all honesty, I couldn't be bothered to care about Penny now. All I wanted was a shower.

And then bed.

Yeah that sounds pretty nice right about now.

I sat down on one of the bench's in the locker room with a sigh, closing my eyes. Well that was a hell of a night. Kinda wish I'd bought the rest of my team along with me. Then again Nora on a stealth mission? I shook my head. Maybe it was best they didn't come.

I drew my sword from its sheath, opening my eyes to stare at it. All this time after I gained my aura and still my sword does nothing. Is it only the shield that has abilities? I sighed again. Who knows?

As I went to slide the sword back into its sheathe I saw something on the side. I pulled it back to where it was before. There, running down the blade, there's something there. Text maybe?

But how am I meant to read it, it's the same colour as the metal surrounding it. Wait, maybe that's it. I summoned my aura once more, feeling it flood down my arm into the blade. Letters now shone out, illuminated from within by white light.

My eyes adjusted for the newfound light and saw what was written on the blade. What I'm guessing is the name of my sword. The text was old and cursive but I could still make out the letters. One that rang with a dull familiarity in my mind.

CANDIDUS MORS

END OF VOLUME ONE

INTERLUDE I

(3rd Person P.O.V)

Ozpin examined the scene on his scroll, watching as his students conversed In the aftermath of their battle with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. Ozpin frowned minutely. They were getting more bold with each passing week. Then his scroll chimed informing him he had new messages. The first was from Qrow, his team name blacked out as always. The message had only where words within it.

QUEEN HAS PAWNS.

Ozpin let out a contemplative 'hmm', at this latest development before going to the next message. This one was not from Qrow, but was still one of the few people Ozpin would be willing to give the entirety of his trust. It bore another coded message.

WHITE PAWN NEARING PROMOTION.

Ozpin sighed and cradled his head with his free hand. They were running out of time.

Suddenly a loud hoot rent the air and the owl known as Spot landed before Ozpin a letter tied to his leg. Ozpin removed the letter and opened, his eyes scanning over its contents. A small smile appeared on his face.

Now there is an idea.

INTERLUDE II

(3rd Person P.O.V)

Roman Torchwick walked into the empty warehouse that served as one of his impromptu hideouts, armoured briefcase in one hand, his cane in the other, the sound of crickets chirping in the night the only accompaniment. He walked up to desk and placed the case on the top of the desk, letting out a groan as he placed his arms on the table top to support him.

"How very disappointing, Roman." A female voice called out from behind Torchwick, the tone deceivingly seductive but Roman knew better than to let his guard down around this woman. People who did often did not get the chance to do so again. The sound of the garage door, spinning open echoed in the darkened warehouse.

Roman spun, letting out a "Whoa!" in surprise before chuckling nervously. "Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon." Roman said looking upon his surprise visitors. Two stood back in the shadow, behind one of the few people that Roman actively feared.

"We were expecting…more from you." The woman in red stated, her dark hair hiding her left eye from sight, while the one on the right gleamed at him in the darkness, the unnatural yellow-orange sending a shiver down Roman's spine.

"He-Hey. You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang." Roman said defending himself, gesturing with his cane as he did so.

The woman in red laughed. "And you will continue to do so." She said bluntly, a crackling flame appearing in her left hand. "We have very big plans for you Roman." She stated as she walked forward, her eyes glowing in the darkness now, both being revealed as she turned her head slightly. "All we ask is…a little co-operation." She decided on her, her gaze focusing on him.

Roman fought to keep himself from shaking. The two behind the woman, the male and the dark-skinned girl were dangerous in their own right. But the woman?

She was something else entirely, a class of her own, a monster even among monsters.

No one got in the way of Cinder Fall without dying, screaming and writhing in absolute agony afterwards.

Cinder spoke up again. "Your next task." She said drawing forth a photograph from behind her back and giving it to Roman.

In the picture was a familiar form, covered in blood and scars, unaware of the camera looking at him. Roman remembered him, the blonde kid with the shield at the docks. He felt his teeth grit together and forced himself to relax them.

"So what, kill him, kidnap him?" Roman asked putting forward a sense of faux casualness, trying not to betray the fear that coursed through him.

Cinder shook her head chuckling darkly. "No, you're going to put him under surveillance." Cinder ordered before looking down at the photo, a terrifying smile appearing on her face. "What happens after that depends on what we find."