74

Chapter 74

Day 2:

Morning dawned over a mostly-silent ruin. The sunlight filtered between the crumbling skyscrapers of Mountain Glenn. The sound of the wind passing between the buildings mingled with the chirps of birds and the calls of small animals and insects. The night had been uneventful, none of the pairs on watch seeing anything out of the ordinary. A few Grimm had been spotted in the distance, but they had always been moving away.

When morning came, the last pair on watch, Penny and Yang, roused the others. From there, they breakfasted lightly on trail rations, before setting out in search of more signs of White Fang activity, while also preparing the face down the waves of attacking Grimm that the day was sure to bring.

Except...there were no Grimm. As the two teams and their Huntsmen moved out, searching through the early morning, they didn't encounter so much as a single Creep or Beowolf. That would have been a relief, normally. No Grimm were the best kind of Grimm after all. But the contrast between this day and the previous one was nothing short of unnerving. The previous day, the Grimm had been waiting behind every corner, lurking within every building, and always in ridiculous numbers. When they had called it a day, the searchers had taken it for granted that they'd probably barely put a dent in the Grimm numbers of Mountain Glenn, in spite of all the heavy fighting they'd done. At the very least, they'd expected another day of hard fighting ahead of them.

But now, the streets were deserted. Every single Grimm, from the smallest Nevermore to the largest Goliath had apparently vanished off the face of the earth.

"Okay...this is seriously creepy," said Piper, rubbing her arms, while ignoring the wan look Nora was giving her. "Where the heck are they?"

"An important question," declared Oobleck, pausing for a moment. "For the Grimm, atypical behavior is dangerous behavior, no matter how benign that behavior may be at first glance. The Grimm do not simply abandon a territory for no reason."

"Do you think that something might have drawn them off?" asked Blake worriedly. A terrifying thought forced its way into her head. "What if...what if something happened in Vale, and they were drawn by the surge of negativity?"

"It would have to be something extreme in order for that to happen," said Oobleck.

"Like say...unleashing eleven Paladins in the middle of a population center...?" suggested Yang worriedly.

They all shared uneasy looks at that idea. The whole reason for their being out here was to locate the Paladins in the first place, with what evidence they'd uncovered from their previous investigation suggesting that the Paladins were out in Mountain Glenn. But that wasn't a guarantee. There was always the risk that they could have gotten something wrong, misread some detail. And, if that was the case, there were any number of things they could have gotten wrong too...like the timing for the White Fang's attack. That was reasoned speculation on the part of Ozpin, with him assuming, naturally, that the White Fang would want to strike when the Kingdom was at its most vulnerable. However, there was nothing that said that the White Fang had to ascribe to that logic. They could launch their attack whenever it suited them.

And, worst of all, they were essentially blind to what was happening in Vale, out here. They were out of range of the CCT and any of its relays. If something had happened, there was no way for them to hear about it, short of traveling a fair distance to find a signal, which would put a severe dent into their search-time, if the White Fang hadn't done anything yet.

Qrow stretched his arms up over his head, before bending back, his joints and vertebrae issuing several pops. "Well, I can give it a check," he said.

"How?" asked Yang, looking at him in confusion.

"I've got my ways," said Qrow. "Be back in a tick. The rest of you, split up and get lookin'. If the Grimm aren't around, then that means, at the very least, we have the time and energy to spend on looking for the White Fang. Until we've got evidence to the contrary, we keep working as though everything's going the way it should be."

"He's right," said Oobleck. "Split up. We'll keep moving through the southern quadrant. Let's try to avoid making too much noise now. It's one thing, when there are battles going on all around, but it will be much easier for any enemy scouts to pick up on our intentions than it was before."

The students nodded in acknowledgment, breaking up into pairs once again, this time working with their regular partners.

Meanwhile, Qrow stepped discreetly around the corner of a building. A few seconds later, a crow fluttered into the air, winging its way in the direction of Vale. A single raven, perched on the sill of a shattered window, watched it go.

"This is so strange," said Blake softly, casting her gaze around the empty streets and buildings. "Where did they all go?"

She'd expected something from Yang, a guess, even a joke. But instead, all Blake got was silence. Confused, she turned to look at her partner, only to see a strangely pensive look on Yang's face. "What is it?" Blake asked.

Yang blinked, then seemed to only just realize that Blake was talking to her. She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I was thinking about something...something Ruby told us."

"What's that?" asked Blake.

"Well, she was talking about..." Yang's voice trailed off again, her gaze drifting upward. The look on her face was a strange combination of confused, concerned, and unnerved.

"Now what?" asked Blake, following Yang's gaze towards a black object perched on the peek of a ruined fountain. For a second, Blake worried that it might have been a Nevermore. However, another second's observation told her it was just a raven. "What about it?" she asked.

"It's just...I'd swear that's the same one I saw yesterday," said Yang, staring at the bird, which, without a doubt, was staring right back at her. "It's been watching me."

"Are you sure you're not just imagining things?" asked Blake warily.

"Pretty sure," said Yang, her frown increasing. "Except..."

"Except what?"

Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Maybe I am just imagining things, but I think I've seen that raven around before, not just in Mountain Glenn. I've seen it in a few places, from time to time, or one like it."

"That sounds very unusual," said Blake skeptically. "That could have just as easily been any raven you happened to see at a given time. They're not exactly uncommon after all."

"Maybe you're right," said Yang. "I've just got this feeling..."

They both jumped reflexively when the raven before them blared out an especially harsh and loud caw. The sudden noise was such a disruption to the pervasive silence that it was all the more jarring. Yang had no doubt. The damn bird had made them jump on purpose.

She started towards it. However, the raven took off in a flurry of beating wings, its flight brief, before it alighted on the twisted remains of a fire hydrant a block down from its original location. It turned and looked intently at Yang once more, before letting out another loud caw.

With a growl, Yang broke into a run, chasing after it.

"Yang!" shouted Blake, reaching out to forestall her partner. But she was too slow. For all that Yang was the close-range bruiser on their team, it was easy to forget that she was fast, maybe nowhere near as fast as someone like Ruby, but fast enough to throw people off, even people like her partner, who should have been accustomed to her speed by now.

Yang had cleared more than half the block between her and the raven, before it took to the air again, flying back and darting around the corner of a building. Yang quickly followed it, dashing out of sight.

Blake lowered her hand, before breathing out a heavy sigh. "She couldn't blame me if I made a joke about 'watching the birdy', right?"

Still, Yang was Blake's partner, and Blake needed to keep close to her, however birdbrained (Ha!) Yang's current actions were. Blake leaned forward, lifting one leg up to break into a run after her partner. But then a rock clattered against the broken asphalt in front of her.

Blake's reflexes kicked in, and she automatically jumped back away from the stone as it clicked and bounced along the street, its movements indicating it had been thrown from the building immediately to Blake's right. She whirled about, pulling Gambol Shroud off her back, drawing her sword and holding her sheath at the ready.

Sunlight gleamed off the white surface of a familiar horned mask, right before it and its wearer pulled back out of sight. Blake's jaw dropped as horrified recognition surged through her. Ilia!

Panic surged up, and Blake broke into a run, charging into the building at full speed, her mind whirling in worry as the realization of their situation sank in for her. I'm such an idiot! Of course someone from the White Fang might recognize me. Forget being a former member, I've already disrupted their activities on two separate occasions. They'd have an entire dossier on me, if they didn't already have one. There's no way that one of them, least of all Ilia, would see me out here with the others, and not realize what we must be trying to do!

Those thoughts brought a whole sequence of terrified speculations running through her brain. What if the knowledge that she was out here, looking for them, had prompted the White Fang to jump the gun, and launch their attack early? What if that was the reason the Grimm were curiously absent? Had the White Fang's attack produced enough negativity to draw all the Grimm into Vale?

Charging into the building, Blake was ready to drag Ilia out of the shadows and demand an answer. Only then did the more rational part of her mind catch up with her, bringing her skidding to a stop.

Wait! she thought. Ilia threw that stone to get my attention. Why would she even do that?

If the White Fang really were onto the real reason behind RYNB and CPPR's mission, then there was no reason for their spies and scouts to broadcast their presence. And, if they were going to give themselves away, it was better to do it with bullets than a thrown rock. Why would Ilia deliberately signal to Blake that she was watching?

Blake's answer came a few seconds later, when Ilia stepped out of the shadows, the black of her skin fading back into its normal tan color. At the same time, Ilia raised her right hand up, and pulled the mask away from her face, revealing her gray eyes staring mournfully at her former-comrade. Then, to Blake's surprise, Ilia raised both her hands slowly into the air, keeping them well clear of the weapon holstered at her waist.

"Ilia?" Blake asked, tilting her head.

"Blake..." said Ilia, her voice husky with nervousness. "...we need to talk."

Panting for breath, Yang rounded another corner. Every time she laid eyes on that bird, it took off again, darting out of sight, until Yang passed whatever obstruction it had used, at which point, she caught a glimpse of it, before it darted off again.

In the back of her head, the more rational part of Yang's brain was calling her ten different kinds of idiot. There was no questioning the raven's actions now. It was obviously leading her on, drawing her away from the others, isolating her. This had all the hallmarks of a trap, if ever there was one. Whoever was behind this, Yang was playing right into their hands.

But, despite that, something within her refused to allow her to stop now. There was a nagging need, a pull exuded by a strange sense of familiarity that she couldn't place. She had to know what was going on here. Now, if only she could catch up to that damn bird.

Then it happened. The raven alit on the twisted bracket of a mount that had once held up a sign of some kind, the sign itself long torn down. There it rested, waiting longer this time, allowing Yang to close the distance with it. Then, just as she was almost directly beneath it, the raven cawed again, spreading its wings and taking to the air, flying into a ruined window above.

"Dammit!" shouted Yang, breaking into a run again, rushing through the ruined doors of the building, finding herself in a lobby. Slowing down, Yang turned her head back and forth, taking in the scenery. The carpet that had once covered the floor had been mostly eaten away, leaving the concrete surface beneath it. Ahead of her, Yang saw a pair of ticket booths, flanking another set of doors...what was left of them. They'd been wooden ones, probably very nice ones at one time. But now, all that remained were a few broken chunks, suspended from rusting hinges.

Stepping forward, Yang carefully walked through the doorway, ducking her head slightly to keep from catching her hair on the cobweb that decorated one corner of it.

The doorway led into a larger, much more open space. This had once been a theater; not a movie theater, but a live theater. Yang found herself walking down an aisle between rows of folding seats. Off to her right, the remains of a lighting rig rested amidst the splintered chairs it had fallen upon. To her left, a hole in the wall led to another section of the building, the nature of the hole, and the devastation in its immediate vicinity, making Yang think that an Ursa might have crashed through the wall there, a Major, if the claw marks on either side of the hole were any indication.

Ahead of her was the stage. It was mostly intact, though the curtains that would have fallen across it were nothing more than tattered swatches of cloth, after so long had passed. The entire auditorium was filled with a pervasive gloom, which the beams of light streaming in through the holes in the roof did little to alleviate. One such beam stabbed down, almost dead-center, at the stage, like some kind of forlorn spotlight. For some reason, there was something about this place that spoke to Yang about the devastation that had fallen upon Mountain Glenn. It was rather fitting that a place like this, one that had probably seen all manner of performances, would exude such a sense of tragedy.

As distracted as she had been by the scenery, Yang had momentarily forgotten about the raven, until it chose to announce its presence again, its harsh call making Yang jump, whirling around to look back the way she'd come, before looking up in search of the source of the sound. She found herself staring up into an upper gallery, looking just as ruined and dilapidated as the rest of the theater. She very much doubted that the floor up there was structurally sound, even if she could figure out how to reach that position.

The flutter of wings was especially loud in this more silent and enclosed space. Yang could hear the bird taking off and settling down, darting from one position to the next. At times, she thought she could see the fleeting shadow of it, but could never nail down its exact location.

And then it really hit home for her. Here she was, in a completely enclosed space, isolated well away from her team, surrounded by darkness...if this was a trap, then here was the place to spring it. Yang tensed, sinking into a crouch, Ember Celica unfolding along her arms. Slowly, she swept her gaze about the auditorium, her eyes searching every nook and cranny for any sign of ambush.

It was then that she became conscious of the presence at her back. It made her spine tingle, and Yang was suddenly beset by horrific images of a ghost looming behind her, before her mind told her imagination to cut it the hell out. Despite that, Yang couldn't help the goosebumps that spread across her skin as she turned back towards the front of the theater.

There, on the stage, standing right beneath the light leaking in from the hole above, stood the woman.

Yang's mouth went dry at the sight of her. The woman exuded an almost inhuman presence, standing atop that stage. Yang had no idea where she'd come from. She hadn't been there one second, and now...there she was, her sudden appearance really making her seem like some kind of paranormal spirit. The woman's look only enhanced that impression.

She was dressed in a red, long-sleeved, short-skirted dress with a black skirt and a broad stripe of black across her chest. The sleeves of her top ran all the way down into the red, plated gauntlets that ran from the back of her hands to her elbows. Her hands were covered by black, fingerless gloves. A red belt or sash ran around her waist, with something that looked like either a tuft of black feathers or fur hung from the right side of it, while the handle of a sword, inserted into a bulky-looking sheath, protruded from the holster on the left. A number of beaded necklaces were draped around the woman's neck.

It was her head that featured the most prominent aspect of her appearance. The woman's face was covered by a white mask, decorated with veins of red, which encompassed the entirety of her face, even stretching over the top, making it something of a cross between a mask and a helmet. A set of four slits were opened in the mask, creating the image of eyes. Yang could have sworn she saw a pair of red orbs gazing out through the lower pair of slits. Long, black hair stretched out behind, falling down her back in a wavy cascade.

On the whole, the woman's appearance was utterly inhuman. With that white mask, and its resemblance to the creatures of Grimm, Yang's first thought was that the woman was another member of the White Fang. But that didn't really make sense. Above all else, she couldn't shake the strange, sickening sense of familiarity that rose up at the sight of the woman, as though Yang was staring at someone she'd seen before, but she could not place her mental finger on when or where.

But, above all else, the one impression that Yang had of this woman was that she was dangerous. Whoever she was, her posture and bearing spoke of tremendous confidence. Yang considered herself no slouch, and as someone not to be underestimated. But she could tell this woman wasn't intimidated by her in the slightest.

The eerie silence stretched out between them as the two women stared each other down. Neither seemed willing to make a move...or perhaps the woman on the stage was simply willing to bide her time, and wait and see how Yang reacted. For her part, the only thing Yang was certain of was that she couldn't move carelessly, a feeling she rarely got, given her usual nature.

Finally, Yang's patience ran out. "Okay," she said skeptically, "I'll bite. Who are you, and what do you want?"

Her question elicited a strange reaction from the woman, who almost seemed to flinch slightly. Then, slowly and deliberately, her left hand rose up, her hand cupping the collection of angled surfaces that formed her mask/helmet. Just as slowly, the woman pulled, lifting the mask up, before pulling it clear of her head, and revealing her face. The sight of of the woman's countenance stopped Yang's breath in her throat.

It was like staring into a mirror. The woman had her face...Yang's face...albeit seeming just a tiny bit more gaunt and angled. It was the kind of face that Yang could imagine herself wearing after a couple more decades of hardship. And those eyes, those bright-crimson orbs that stabbed outwards, seeming almost faintly luminous, were plenty familiar too. They were the exact same eyes that Yang herself had, when she was riding the high of her Semblance.

It can't be! The sight of the woman's face snapped some kind of barrier to one of Yang's oldest memories, the memory of the discovery that had touched off that fateful trip through the woods so many years ago, the act that had wound up healing her family, before sundering it all over again. Yang remembered the picture, an image of four people lined up, three of whom she knew well. There had been her father, Taiyang, looking younger and handsomer, missing his facial hair; her mother, Summer Rose, who had been so completely enshrouded in the white cloak she perpetually wore that only the slight profile of her face could be seen; her Uncle Qrow, looking pretty much as he did now, virtually unchanged, maybe missing a little stubble and a few wrinkles; and one other person, a woman...this woman.

It was the picture that had led to Yang discovering the truth about herself. Summer was not her biological mother. Instead, Yang had been born to her father and the other woman in this picture, her real mother, who had disappeared years ago, without Yang having so much as a single recollection of her face.

"Raven..." whispered Yang.

Raven Branwen favored her daughter with a slight smirk. "Shouldn't you be calling me 'Mom', Yang? We have a lot to talk about."

Blake's jaw dropped. She could scarcely believe her eyes. Peering through the window of a ruined building, its glass long since shattered and its frame decayed beyond recognition, she stared out of the subterranean structure, which overlooked the hive of activity one of Mountain Glenn's largest underground caverns had become.

It had been stunning to learn that the crumbling city above actually stood over another crumbling city below. It was the kind of discovery that made Blake wonder if Mountain Glenn had been built upon the remains of another, even older settlement. However, it had quickly become apparent that that was an erroneous notion. The buildings below were of the same architectural style as those above, showing many of the same signs of decay, albeit fewer from being hidden underground, and away from many of the environmental factors that had eroded portions of the structures above. On top of that, Blake saw a few buildings that stretched up to, and through, the cavern roof, making her suspect that they were practically basement portions of the skyscrapers above.

It was Ilia who had explained the history of this place to her. When Mountain Glenn had been overrun aboveground, while Vale had collapsed the tunnels and sealed the settlement off, the people of Mountain Glenn had made one last desperate attempt at survival. They'd retreated into the caverns, sealing themselves off from the Grimm above, and tried to survive underground. Such a daring act might have worked, had not one of their excavations opened a hole into a cavern that had been packed to the gills with even more Grimm. The resulting disaster had turned this underground section of Mountain Glenn into a single, giant tomb.

As disheartening as it had been to hear that, Blake wasn't really able to spare too much thought for it, focused as she was on the fact that her former-friend and comrade was the one explaining this to her, while leading her right to the heart of the White Fang's operation.

And what an operation it was. Before them, resting on its tracks, was a large, multi-car train. It was an older model, probably restored from the ones that Mountain Glenn had used for transport between the settlement and Vale. Those tracks stretched off down a tunnel. It had been hard, keeping her bearings in this underground space, but Blake was fairly certain that that tunnel ran in the direction of the Kingdom. In fact, even before Ilia confirmed it, Blake was sure that that was the very tunnel that had once served as the vital artery between Mountain Glenn and Vale, once collapsed...and now reopened.

There were the Paladins too, all eleven remaining ones. Eight of them rested on flatbed cars that rested midway along the train's length, while the remaining three tramped around the encampment, carrying pallets and crates, many of which Blake didn't doubt were filled with the stolen Dust, accumulated through the numerous thefts throughout the Kingdom...and more besides.

Directly behind the locomotive were a series of cars that appeared to be for cargo, with multiple crates being loaded onto them. Though she could only catch the tiniest glimpse of the interior through their doors, Blake thought she could see racks of weapons and munitions. Behind them were the flatbeds for the Paladins. Behind the flatbeds were another series of cars. These ones were simple boxcars, their broad loading-doors thrown wide open to reveal empty interiors, empty...except for a single device in each one, said device featuring two large Dust-chambers, one red, one pale-blue. Blake recognized those devices easily enough from her own time in the White Fang. Bombs...and powerful ones at that!

The thought made Blake's stomach churn. This was beyond her most pessimistic imaginings of what kind of operation the White Fang were running down here. She could have imagined that the Fang had reopened the tunnels leading into Vale. She could have imagined them marching the stolen Paladins down those tunnels, and using them to break out into the Kingdom on the other side, blasting away at everything in their sights with complete abandon. But she'd never imagined an operation like this.

"What are they doing?" asked Blake. "Are they going to detonate those bombs while attacking?"

Crouched beside her, Ilia shook her head slowly. "No," she said, "it's worse than that. Those bombs are for farther down the tunnel, while the train is still outside the Kingdom."

"They're trying to bring the tunnel down behind them?"

Again, Ilia shook her head. "They're trying to open it up, create pitfalls to the outside. And when that happens, you know what will be coming in."

"Grimm...!" whispered Blake, horror flooding through her voice.

Her throat bobbing, Ilia nodded uneasily. "As the train heads down the tunnel, the boxcars at the back will detach, one by one, and detonate, opening up the tunnel and letting Grimm in. The Grimm will automatically start following the train, all the way down to the end of the line. They've reinforced the armor at the front, so that the train can ram right through the barrier at the other side."

"They're going to create a breach!" gasped Blake, her body beginning to shake. "They'll flood the Kingdom with Grimm...right in Vale's center."

"And, at the same time, the Paladins will go on the attack," added Ilia. "Those other cars have enough room and armaments for a small army."

"A breach, executed alongside a full-fledged attack!" gasped Blake. "God! They'll slaughter hundreds!"

Ilia nodded, her skin paling in a way that had nothing to do with her faunus trait.

Blake took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, before turning to look inquisitively at Ilia. "Why are you showing me this?" she asked.

"Because you were right," said Ilia, a faint sob making its way into her voice. "We can't let this happen. Adam is taking things way too far. If the White Fang pulls this off, it'll probably mean the end of human-faunus relations in Vale as we know it.

"And Adam would count that as a win. Because of this attack, backlash against the faunus population will be tremendous, which will drive God-knows how many of them into the White Fang. The odds of coexistence will slip down the drain, not just in Vale, but across all four Kingdoms."

"He's trying to incite an all-out war," whispered Blake. "But that's...insane. As strong as the White Fang's become, there's no way we could win that kind of conflict."

Ilia nodded again. "Adam thinks our allies will help turn the tables, even if he doesn't like them."

"Allies?" asked Blake, her ears perking upright beneath her bow.

"A woman named Cinder, and her minions," said Ilia.

"Cinder!?" gasped Blake.

Her mind snapped back to that day at Beacon, where they'd come across the new arrivals from Haven, walking down the student-dorm hallway. She could scarcely imagine the amber-eyed woman as being the mastermind behind the strange alliance between the White Fang and human criminals, like Torchwick and Neo. But why is she in Beacon, and posing as a student?

"She's...different," said Ilia, shivering, running her hands along the bare skin of her arms. "She can do things that we can't explain. She's been the one holding the reins of this whole thing, even if Adam is the face of things on the White Fang side. The changes in recruitment rallies came from someone on her end too."

That knowledge raised so many more questions. Who was this woman? Why was she helping the White Fang...or...rather...why was she subordinating the White Fang to her will? What was she planning?

Those questions could wait. Right now, what mattered was that this operation of the White Fang had to be stopped. "Where's Adam?" Blake asked. As the most dangerous member present, knowing what to do about him was their highest priority.

"We don't know," Ilia admitted, to a shocked gasp from Blake. "It's really strange. Someone from Cinder's end, a man that we only know as Jester, came and took him, said something about retraining him...or something...We don't know. All we do know is that Adam's not here now."

That was confusing and troubling. Blake would have counted Adam's whereabouts as critical information, not to mention the complete unknown this other person, this Jester, Ilia had referenced represented. Still, if Adam wasn't here now, then that at least meant that they had a better chance of putting a stop to this.

"We need to go back to the others," said Blake, thinking of her teammates and Team CPPR, not to mention Qrow and Oobleck. "Now that we know what's going on, we can call in Ironwood's forces-"

"You can't!" Ilia exclaimed, barely managing to keep her voice to a harsh whisper. "That train is ready to go, right now! If they get so much as a hint of anyone coming to attack, they'll send it off, even if they haven't loaded all the armaments. Even if it isn't fully loaded, the train's still equipped to do plenty of damage, not to mention the Grimm."

Blake could see that. It was exactly the kind of thing that Ozpin had warned them about, in fact. While a group of Huntsmen and students sneaking into the cavern to find the White Fang was one thing, sending in a trio of warships and hundreds of troops in an all-out attack was another, the kind of thing the White Fang would see coming a mile away. They needed another approach, one that would ensure that the White Fang couldn't still launch their attack, before they were rounded up...which begged the question of just what approach to take.

In either case, there was one thing Blake knew for sure. She needed to report back to the others and let them know that she'd found the White Fang's operation, the missing Paladins, and learned their plans. From there, they could figure out what course of action to take, beyond reporting back to Ironwood.

"How long do we have?" asked Blake, looking to Ilia again.

"The operation is scheduled to begin early next week," said Ilia. "It was supposed to be earlier, but we kept encountering...delays."

Blake couldn't quite keep from smirking at that, considering that she and her friends had undoubtedly accounted for at least some of said delays. She was just glad that they had a few days' grace-period with which to act. "Do you know why the Grimm are gone, up above?"

"I...don't," said Ilia, looking discomfited. "I mean, I didn't really think about how quiet things were, but it's strange. All I know is that we don't have anything to do with it."

"Okay..." said Blake frowning. So it appeared that the White Fang had no idea why the Grimm were absent as well. At least she didn't have to worry about it being because the organization had already launched their attack. But that left one more mystery to nag at them. If there was a benefit to this, it would be that, if the situation persisted, the White Fang's efforts might not lead any Grimm into the Kingdom itself, though that was only a small boon to the situation, considering that the Paladins, soldiers, and armaments could cause plenty of damage on their own.

Finally, she looked back at Ilia, her expression plaintive. "I need to report to the others about this," she said. "We'll decide what to do then. But...would you come with me?"

"What?" gasped Ilia, giving Blake a shocked look.

Blake sighed. "My own team might back me up," she said. "But I can't imagine that Team Copper, or our Huntsmen, would believe me right off the bat. I need proof...and you're basically it." She gazed at Ilia. "Please! It's our best chance at stopping this."

Ilia was silent, staring pensively down at the floor in front of her. Finally, she looked back up, meeting Blake's eyes. "All right."

Before Ilia could react, Blake lunged at her, seizing the chameleon-faunus in a tight hug.

"Thank you," Blake whispered, feeling gratified that she wouldn't have to fight her old friend on this.

Ilia returned the embrace awkwardly, glad that her head was currently resting over Blake's shoulder, which kept Blake from seeing the pink tinge that spread across her cheeks at the close contact between them. Finally, Blake released her, and Ilia pulled back, averting her eyes slightly. "So unfair," she muttered.

"What?" asked Blake, not quite hearing what her friend had said.

"Nothing," grumbled Ilia, turning to look at Blake again, this time with determined eyes. "But, I want to make one thing clear. I'm not leaving the White Fang. This isn't some defection on my part. I just need to make sure that we stop the Vale branch from inciting an all-out race-war. That's why High Leader Khan sent me in the first place."

"She did?" gasped Blake.

Ilia nodded gravely. "High Leader Khan was hearing some odd and...troubling...things from Vale, entirely second-hand, since Adam stopped sending proper reports. She used your abandonment as an excuse, and sent me. The official reason was that I'm here to try and convince you to come back. But the real reason was to find out what Adam's really been up to. I know that High Leader Khan would never agree to these kinds of methods. So, by helping you, I'm actually carrying out her will."

Blake mulled that over for a moment, before nodding. "At this point, I'll just take what I can get to put a stop to this. Let's head back."

"Right," said Ilia softly, the two of them withdrawing as quietly as they had arrived.

Behind them, the gloom that shrouded the empty room they'd been spying on the White Fang's operation from peeled back like a curtain, revealing a pair of mismatched eyes that stared after them.

"I'd only call you 'Mom' if that's what you actually were," countered Yang harshly, her eyes narrowing in an angry glare at the woman in front of her.

"I was the one who birthed you," Raven pointed out.

"And the one who ditched us," Yang retorted. "Let's get this straight, Raven. I have a mother, and she's not you."

Yang expected a harsh rebuke, maybe an angry outburst of some kind. However, instead, Raven was silent for a few long seconds, before inclining her head in the barest of nods, like a fencer conceding a point. "Fair enough."

Yang frowned, somehow feeling upset that Raven had given up on Yang acknowledging her as a mother so easily. A long time ago, she had entertained the notion of finding Raven, believing, in her child's mind, that finding the missing parent, who had abandoned them so long ago, could somehow mend their broken family. It was a childish fantasy, and one that Yang had quickly abandoned in the face of harsh reality, especially after Ruby had fled from home. It was the pursuit of that fantasy that had prompted the sequence of events that had led Ruby to running away in the first place, the idiocy that her father hadn't hesitated to remind her of, time and time again. No, Yang had given up looking for her biological mother a long time ago.

To be faced with her now, after all this time, when Yang hadn't even been looking for her, was only all the more disconcerting. "What do you want?" asked Yang.

"Like I said...we have a lot to talk about," replied Raven, her eyes narrowing, betraying some frustration with the curt tone her daughter was taking with her. "I need to tell you a few things."

"About what?" asked Yang.

"First...you shouldn't trust Ozpin," said Raven. "If you follow him blindly, it's only going to lead to tragedy. You and all your friends will suffer, if you allow him to manipulate you into fighting his battles."

"What does that mean?" asked Yang. She had to admit that there were times she felt something that...unsettled her...about Beacon's mysterious Headmaster, however amiable and approachable he might have seemed.

"This is all just a game to him," explained Raven, stepping forward, out from under the light streaming down from above, her eyes gleaming dangerously in the gloom beyond. "To him, you and your friends are nothing more than pawns, lives that he's throwing away for a battle that you have no hope of winning. You aren't the first, nor will you be the last. After all, he threw away your so-called 'real' mother in much the same way."

"What?" gasped Yang.

"I'm guessing that no one told you about her final mission," said Raven. "Well...it hardly matters. Summer trusted Ozpin, and look where that got her."

Yang felt a chill run down her spine. Granted, she shouldn't have been surprised. At the same time, her rational mind rebelled at what Raven was saying. Of course Summer had died on a dangerous mission. That was the risk intrinsic to being a Huntress, whether said mission came from Ozpin or not. Unless... "Are you saying Ozpin sent her off on some kind of suicide mission?"

"Let's just say that he knew the chances of success were...Grimm," said Raven, chuckling at her own morbid pun.

"And is that all you're here for?" asked Yang, frowning. "You're gonna spout off some cryptic bullshit about Ozpin, and pretend that makes up for the seventeen years of my life where you weren't there? You come out of nowhere, talking like that, and expect me to take you at your word? Why should I believe you anymore than I believe Ozpin?"

Raven's smirk faded. "Well...I guess I should be proud that you know better than to take something you were told at face value." She sighed. "But that's not the real reason I'm here."

"And what is the real reason?" wondered Yang bitterly.

"The real reason I came to you was to warn you of the one person you shouldn't trust, above all else," said Raven, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "In fact, if you have any sense in your head, you'll consider her an enemy from now on."

"And who is that?" asked Yang.

"Ruby Rose," replied Raven, "your so-called sister."

Another silence fell between them. A second later... "What!?" Reflexively, Yang dropped into a crouch, brandishing her gauntlets. "Why should I see Ruby as an enemy?"

Raven smirked. "You hold her in high regard, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Yang protested. "She's the person most-earnest about becoming a Huntress that I've ever met. I respect her and love her."

"But I wonder if she returns those feelings," mused Raven.

"Of course she does!" Yang protested again, before her heart abruptly shuddered in her chest.

Did Ruby love her...really? On the surface, Yang really thought so. She remembered their emotional reconciliation, the closeness they enjoyed afterwards, that Yang had wanted so desperately for so long.

But, Yang also remembered the hostility before, the boiling resentment that Ruby had expressed through her words and looks. Before their reconciliation, Ruby had hated Yang, holding Yang at least partially responsible for all the things that had ultimately forced Ruby to abandon their home. Had Ruby really let go of that resentment?

Abruptly, Yang shook her head and clapped her hands against her cheeks. Stop that! she admonished herself. Even if Ruby had been resentful, it had been for real reasons. Just who was this woman, the one who'd run out on her husband and newborn daughter, to question what was between Yang and her sister? Besides...

"It doesn't matter," said Yang. "I love Ruby because she's my sister. I don't hold those feelings for what I can get out of it."

"Foolish," grunted Raven, her eyes narrowing. "So you would stand behind your sister, even though she's a cold-blooded killer, who claims a complete monster as her kin?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yang.

"Oh...I'm guessing your little sister hasn't told you all the things she's been up to, since she left home," teased Raven, smirking again.

Yang canted her head slightly. Ruby had given her general rundowns of several of the things she had been through over the years. But going over detailed recollections of absolutely everything she'd done hadn't been something they'd had time for. Yang did remember Ruby telling her the story of how she'd accidentally killed that bandit and Barrowdown, back when she was only nine. If Ruby had killed someone besides that, it had probably been under similar circumstances.

"Your little sister is a murderer," declared Raven imperiously. "She and her family have all but wiped out my people. Now we live on the very brink of destruction, clinging to survival with the last of our strength."

"And who are 'your people?'" asked Yang skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "I know Ruby well enough. I know that she wouldn't kill without reason, or even just because she didn't like someone. Hell, she was prepared to risk her life to protect someone like Roman Torchwick, when he was about to be offed. So I know for a fact that, if Ruby really did kill 'your people', then there was probably a good reason for it."

"You don't know her nearly half as well as you think," growled Raven. "You have no idea of the kind of monsters she associates with, what they've done to her, what they've made her into."

Yang folded her arms. "You know, I think the one not telling me things is you. You want me to take your word over Ruby's. You talk about your people, but the people who should've mattered, like Dad and me, you ditched. At least Ruby had a good reason for running away. What's yours?"

"That has nothing to do with this," Raven growled.

"I think it does," said Yang. "After all, you talk about how I shouldn't trust Ruby, but you haven't given me any good reason to trust you."

A dry chuckle echoed through the abandoned space. "Looks like Firecracker's gotcha nailed down pretty well, Sis," rasped a familiar, gravelly voice.

Yang looked over her shoulder to see Qrow slouching into the auditorium, coming down the aisle behind her.

"Stay out of this," growled Raven, glaring at her brother.

"Why should I?" asked Qrow. "I can't help but notice you haven't answered Yang's question. Just who are 'your people'? I wonder...what were they doing when they got on Ruby's bad side...or...what did she stop them from doing?"

"Shut your mouth," snarled Raven, attaching her mask to her belt, so that she could reach her right hand across to close around the handle of her sword. "You abandoned the tribe, your family."

"And you abandoned your husband and daughter," Qrow countered, his hand drifting to the handle of his own sword. "And now you just show up out of the blue, spouting off half-truths, pretending she belongs with you, just because you suddenly have a use for her. Don't make me laugh, Raven. You have a very skewed idea of what 'family' means."

"What is she talking about?" asked Yang, looking to Qrow. "Who is this tribe?"

"Bunch'a thieves and murderers," replied Qrow. "This is the first I've heard of them being on the ropes. Whatever Ruby and her brother did must'a messed 'em up something fierce." He smirked, though there was nothing but pure fury in his eyes as he looked at Raven. "The weak die and the strong survive. That's your philosophy, right? I guess you and yours were the weak ones this time. How's that philosophy working out for you now?"

Raven bared her teeth in an angry grimace.

"So, what's it gonna be, Raven?" asked Qrow, his tone becoming mocking. "Are we gonna throw down?"

Raven's gaze drifted back to Yang. "If you put your faith in that red brat, you'll wind up regretting it." She released her hold on her sword's handle, slowly extending her right hand out to Yang. "I know you've been curious, Yang; that, despite all your questions, Tai and Qrow haven't told you a thing. If you come with me, I can answer those questions."

"No thanks," said Yang, her gaze hardening. "I haven't bothered with those questions for a long time. I'm staying with my family, my real family. Besides, I get the feeling that what I'd really regret is throwing them away and putting my trust in you."

Raven huffed, lowering her hand back to her sword. "If that's the way you feel...fine. But Ruby Rose will pay for what she's done. And, if you get in my way the next time, I won't be so kind."

"You weren't very kind this time," Yang retorted.

Raven drew her sword, a blade of bright crimson. As it cleared the sheath, the sword's length nearly doubled, going from katana-length to O-dachi length in an instant. Rather than attack Yang and Qrow, Raven instead turned and slashed downward. Her blade left a red streak in its wake, like a cut in the fabric of space itself, which swiftly opened up into a swirling vortex of red and black. Throwing one last glare over her shoulder at Yang and Qrow, Raven walked into the vortex, which then collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace behind.

Straightening up, Qrow wiped his forehead with his forearm. "Phew...glad I made it in time."

"What was all that about?" asked Yang. "What's this family and tribe she was talking about?"

"It's a long story," said Qrow, frowning.

"One you've never told me," Yang noted.

"Yep," said Qrow. "I'm not gonna pretend Tai and I had good reasons for not telling you. Back before we lost Summer, we didn't want you to worry over how much Summer loved you. Maybe that was silly, but that kinda doubt can destroy a relationship between kids and their parents. After Summer...well...it was just too personal...for me and Tai both. Raven hurt us pretty bad, running off like she did. And we just didn't want to talk about it.

"But you found out anyway. But, after that one mistake you made, you just stopped asking. I guess we just assumed you let it go."

"I kinda did," admitted Yang. "Ruby was supposed to be the one who mattered, and I couldn't put her in danger like that again." She looked up at Qrow. "You asked why I wanted to be a Huntress, yesterday. Well...before Ruby ran away, it was so that I could look for Raven. I figured that I'd become a Huntress, and that I'd finally be able to really look for her, that I'd be able to track her down and find her. And, I wouldn't have to worry about what happened before happening again, because Ruby would be..."

Yang's voice trailed off, and a wave of nauseating guilt rose within her stomach. She shivered. "A-anyway, after Ruby ran, that's when my goals switched. By the time I found Ruby, I just...I just didn't care about Raven anymore. It wasn't worth it to find her. I guess...I guess I still don't have a real answer for why I'm here, except to back Ruby up as best I can."

Qrow clapped her on the shoulder. "You'll be a fine Huntress, kid. You're already better than I was, at your age. I guess it's time you learned the truth about your mother. But it's gonna have to wait just a little longer. Things are getting real."

"Real...?" Yang froze as those words sank in. "Wait! Is Vale...?"

"Nah, Vale's still standin'," said Qrow casually. "But your partner came back...with a tagalong...from the White Fang."

"What?!" gasped Yang.

"She's got the intelligence we need" said Qrow. "But the situation's a bit worse than we thought, so we're probably going to have to be a bit more proactive than just bringin' Ironwood a report on where his machines are."

He began to lead Yang out of the theater. "Let's meet up with the others, Firecracker. We've got a pretty tough job ahead of us."