"No personal space!"
SMACK!
"No concept of privacy!"
SMACK!
"And no sense of reading the room!" Blake yelled as she slammed the door behind her, leaving both her and Sun to talk on the balcony alone. "Haven't you done enough already?!"
"Ow…I'm sorry, okay?" Sun grumbled as he rubbed his arm from where Blake slapped him; "I know I deserved that but still, ow!" He admitted as he decided to at least try playing things cool; While he did have a good reason to intrude, the fact that the door collapsed while Ghira and Blake were having a Father-Daughter moment and he fumbled with an excuse made it even harder to salvage.
"Just…Why were you hanging around outside, Sun?" Blake asked him with a grimace on her face and an even shorter patience for Sun's increasing insistence to help.
"Look, I know that you don't wanna talk about it but you need to listen to me on this." Sun started to explain as he rifled through his pockets for his Scroll. "The longer that this goes on then the more that it could become a problem."
"Sun, I swear if this is about the White Fang again…"
"Just hear me out, okay?!" Sun reiterated as he looked around to the wider landscape of the house and then to Blake's face; "I was talking with your mom about stuff back at Beacon and she said something that I thought was weird; That the White Fang don't wear masks in Menagerie."
"And what exactly does that have to do with anything?" Blake asked as she was both confused at Sun's tangent but also trying to stay serious on the matter without snapping at him again.
"Nothing…Well, I thought it didn't at first but then I saw one of them in the market wearing one!" Sun detailed as he opened up his Scroll to show her the picture but she shut it just as quickly.
"Sun…I already told you, I'm not here to fight the White Fang! I'm here to recover, to see my family and to think about what to do next…You jumping at every shadow just makes things worse!"
"Blake! The Fang came to the school and attacked everyone with that Adam guy at the head of it all, if they know you're here then that'll become a problem whether you want it to or not! If I'm wrong then I give you every right to rub it in my face but right now...I can still help." Sun argued as his patience was starting to wear thin at having nothing to do on the matter.
"Sun, the last people who tried to help me lost an arm! AND got stabbed in the chest!" Blake finally snapped as she snatched the Scroll out of his hands and threw it into the forest patch that was surrounding her home. "So forgive me if I don't want your help!"
"Will you jus-"
"Ow!"
That sudden exclamation of pain drew the two out of what would've become a heated argument as the dark treeline started to look a little suspicious. It didn't take a Faunus' night vision to recognise that they were being watched but even so, there was something that made this person incredibly hard to see.
Once the spy realised they had been caught, they jumped out of the branches and deeper into the forest. The moonlight giving away a skinny figure clad in body suit and a long ponytail that coiled at the end, their presence slowly fading as they made a run for it.
"Hold on…They have ninjas now?!" Sun finally got the words to speak up after this momentary distraction pulled him away from the frustration he felt earlier before turning his head towards the sound of Blake jumping over the balcony edge.
"We need to catch up with them!" Blake said urgently as she followed the trail after this supposed spy and jumped in a more linear pattern since they saw where this person went.
"Hey, wait!" Sun called out as he tried to stop her from running off but Blake was too fast for him, "Damn it…If you're not gonna stop, then at least wait for me before you do something stupid!"
"Sun? What's going on?" Kali asked as she opened up the door when the commotion was heard, her normally serene face now had a look of mild worry as she was worried that Blake had gotten into an argument.
"I'll explain it all later." Sun said as he backstepped towards the railing; "But the White Fang is evil, I totally called it and I'm gonna bring your daughter back!" He promised as he flipped over the side and did what he could to try catching up.
"Please be safe…" Kali thought to herself as she then heard the door open behind her and turned to see Ghira standing there with concern when he noticed both kids weren't there.
"What's going on?" Ghira asked as he looked around; "I heard a commotion after that Wukong boy decided to eavesdrop." He stated as he then heard the rustling in the trees from the three that exited.
"I don't know…But get in contact the guards and the police, I think Blake might be in trouble." Kali suggested as she headed inside rather quickly.
"Brother Adam has arrived for his hearing, High Leader." A masked man said as he stood to attention in a grand hall where no one knew exactly where it was.
"Bring him in." Sienna Khan ordered as she assumed her position on the throne when she walked in; Sienna Khan was one of the most well known members of the White Fang and she was the one who made more steps as a revolutionary leader or the catalyst for the Fang's more dangerous actions depending on what people heard.
Adam Taurus walked into the hall and marched towards the guarded woman; He had been issued a summons to meet with her after his actions at Beacon but rather then receiving accolades and praise from the highest authority, she demanded answers. "High Leader Khan…" He greeted calmly before kneeling at the stairs leading up to the throne. "You had wished to see me?"
"Yes Adam, I have called you here because what I require from you needs me to meet you face to face…I want to know what you have been doing, where you have been taking our acolytes and more importantly: Why you have recently taken such direct and extreme actions." Sienna asked him as she kept a stern, almost reproachful glare on him; There was a lot of her followers that would follow someone as influential as Adam into battle but she still needed to prove that SHE was the one who gave the orders on who and where they are needed, not Adam Taurus.
Adam kept his head bowed since he knew that he couldn't deny involvement. "Our cause." He remarked with the most unapologetic yet equally determined tone, "Humans refuse to change in the face of our beliefs that Faunus deserve an equal chance, so this is their wakeup call…And once we march on Haven Academy, they will have no choice but to fall in line and accept our terms."
Sienna's stare never let up for an instance but she wanted a more definitive answer; "Adam…I will only say this once so listen very carefully; The White Fang will NOT be targeting Haven Academy." She said authoritatively and did what she thought would be a simple task of putting Adam in line.
"High Leader Khan, I am begging you t-"
"You should be begging for forgiveness and nothing else!" Sienna cut him off before he started talking again. "If you had taken the moment to honestly think on things, you would have noticed that the outright destruction of Beacon Academy and the fallout that surrounds Vale was NOT the grand gesture that you thought it was."
Adam looked confused, he had dealt a massive blow to humans by showing his power at the Vytal tournament but she showed nothing but reprehension for his actions. "I don't understand, we've shown humans that we are nothing to be trifled with…That we are more powerful than they are and that the Faunus deserve nothing but respect…All I did was follow your example, High Leader."
Sienna raised her eyebrow; "You are a symbol of our order, Adam. You are blessed with incredible strength and an unyielding will that makes you a valuable fit for the White Fang…But that doesn't make you infallible and you should be far more grateful that your punishment wasn't more severe in this matter, now tell me what example that you were trying to follow?"
"Strength…" Adam responded plainly before raising his head to look her in the eye, "And unwavering conviction…We've not had such an opportunity to fight back and we can truly show humanity what the Faunus are capable of for good."
"Fighting back was my main focus when I rose to take over from Ghira; The ability to stand our ground and push back when humans try to push us down." Sienna detailed as she stood up from her chair; "I can not and will not allow us to become complacent and accept what the humans deem is our rightful place…But what you are doing crosses far too much of a line; Thanks to your "Crusade" on Beacon Academy and the loss of their CCT tower, both humans and Faunus are targets for the Grimm, communications between our brethren has all but ground to a halt and the White Fang now has a bigger spotlight on it's back then ever before!"
"You're forgetting one important thing, High Leader. The Humans have all their focus on the Demons; Jae Cielo has drawn the attention of everyone around him because of his role in things and now he can't even show his face without someone drawing a noose for him." Adam said as a smirk grew and stood to his feet. "The fact that he has mercilessly attacked our brothers in the past and now that he is the Monster of Vale, it would do well to see if he will do the same at Haven.." He remarked and the hushed whispers broke out from the others who were present but not directly guarding Sienna Khan.
"Do not try to divert attention away from your own actions, Adam!" Sienna snapped and quieted the room again; "Regardless of this Demon, you have justified Humanity's campaign against us and for what? This batch of rumours I have heard about empty promises from humans that we know nothing about…I will allow you to aid in our fight for equality but I WILL NOT allow you to abuse your talents like this, your shortsightedness only threatens to make this decades long fight for Faunus Freedom be puppeteered into becoming a means to an end!"
This conversation was quickly turning into less of a lecture on escalation and more of a High Leader wresting back control where she could, Adam knew that he could have the upper hand but he wanted to keep things civil…For now at least. "If you are truly so worried about the Humans I have construed into our efforts, why not talk to them yourself?"
Sienna's ear twitched as she heard him say that and it didn't take much for her to realise his plan. "Adam, if you have brought a human to this location…No amount of respect that I have for you will spare you from punishment, especially when it violates our most ironclad of traditions."
"Then I don't understand…You wish to get equality with the humans but you won't talk things through when you have the chance." Adam said as he started slowly walking towards her and up the stairs to the throne. "You see, I've learned something at Beacon…No, I've learned it back when I saved Ghira Belladonna's life; Humans are not better than us, they aren't stronger than we are, they aren't smarter and they certainly don't have the drive to survive like we do."
"Step down, Adam." Sienna warned him as she gripped the arms of the throne, her patience very quickly running thin.
"No, I've kept quiet for too long…Humans are weaker, they fear us more than they respect us and I can honestly say that this is the way it should be." Adam ignored her as he was soon standing a few steps away from her and the throne. "You were right: "If humans attack us then the right way is to attack back." but I say we don't take this far enough…We have everything that they have and more, Humans shouldn't see us as equals…They should see us as masters, superiors…They should be serving the Faunus and be thankful that we do not cut them down for everything they've done."
Sienna sighed as she got to her feet, her eyes trained on Adam as he finished his tirade. "Adam, If you truly believe that then you are just as bad as the Humans who see us as a commodity…No, what you are implying is far worse." She remarked sadly as she raised her hand and listened as the guards stood to attention. "Guards, take him away."
But nothing happened…
Sienna prided herself on becoming High Leader through her willpower and her intuition, that her drive made her powerful and what lead others to follow her loyally. "I said take him away!" She said with a more authoritative tone but a chuckle from Adam very quickly derailed her belief and made her feel something that she hadn't felt in a while: Dread.
"I do have to admit, Sienna; You were right about me being a symbol and about my popularity…Which is why it surprised me that you hadn't considered how far my reach has spread." Adam gloated as several guards came in through the doors behind him and poised their spears at their "High Leader" with Hazel Reinart shutting the doors behind him and locking it. "Though it is a shame, I think we could have come to reasonable terms if you had just listened to me and talked this through."
"So this was your plan all along…" Sienna growled as she watched the guards from behind her turn around and moved to the front of the throne to block her way to him. "Are you truly so blind to how far you have sunk that you think that this won't go uncontested?!"
"Ma'am…If you would please hear us out, no one needs to die today…" Hazel rumbled as he stayed back in the hopes of being the modest emissary for his master. "All I really want is a moment of your time."
"As far as you are concerned, Human…This is far past hearing out." Sienna spat out as her voice remained even but a lot of people around her could tell that she was four steps away from losing it. "I still don't understand your logic in this, Adam…You're willing to undermine me and stab me in the back just so you can sit on the throne?"
"All I want is what's right for the Faunus…Ghira Belladonna was run out of his seat because he was too soft to lead our group but you were far more perfect to push us further." Adam explained with a superior smirk on his masked face; "But now you are starting to fall in those same steps that HE did, you waver on making the truly necessary steps to earn our place on top…And that is where I will step in as the White Fang's saviour."
"By destroying communication towers and putting Huntsman academies at risk? Your "Necessary" actions will not only cement us as another group of radical terrorists but you will also risk putting Faunus AND Humans in harms way of the Grimm when they start to show." Sienna argued back with more of her ferocity on show. "I may despise Humans for their cruelty and indifference but I would not demean myself to be harming them indiscriminately."
"Hazel's master understands our plight and is willing to shelter us from the Grimm in exchange for our loyalty to help her…You can still guide the White Fang but only at my side as-"
"I've heard enough…If you really think that I'm going to just hand over the leadership of the Fang to you as you are, you're wrong." Sienna Khan said with zero hesitation and a lack of fear in her voice since she knew that this was going to end in one of two ways.
"Your time's over, Khan!" One of the guards yelled from his position as he kept his spear trained on her. "You've gotten weak and Adam's the only one here who can truly be called a High Leader since he'll push where no one else will!"
Sienna had heard enough. "Then that says a lot about you if you can believe that this will be of benefit to you." She said with a barely audible growl.
The Guard decided that slandering Adam was too far gone as he rushed forward and thrust his spear at the throne where betrayed High Leader was, however by the time that anyone could blink; That spear had sunk into the throne and Sienna had already managed to flip over it and swung a kick at their head.
The guard was knocked to the floor as the others quickly followed suit to try and attack her but that left Adam in a conflicted moment; He knew about Sienna's Semblance and knew that the longer that they tried to attack her, she would just get stronger and more dangerous.
"Know your place, you ingrates! I haven't become High Leader purely for my politics!" Sienna roared as she unfurled her chain-whip from her sash and started fully going into attack mode to knock each White Fang usurper off of their perches before hopping to the ground in her stance.
Adam gripped the hilt of his sword as he was ready to fight her but then smirked when he saw other White Fang followers of his try to attack her. "Good…More of an ample chance to charge…" He thought as he watched the carnage but while he focused his energy into his sword, an epiphany crossed his mind.
Sienna was as fierce in her fighting as she had been in her arguments as one soldier after another was beaten, whipped or otherwise shot at by her weapon. Her only chance to try and garner attention from the outside was now or never; With a quick flick of her wrist, she shot off an orange segment of her whip which ended up getting evaded by the soldiers, detonating into the thick stone wall where the door was.
"You don't have to fight…Just calm down and let's talk this through, I would rather not do this." Hazel warned her as he stood in opposition.
"You've made the mistake of coming here under Adam's word, I can assure you that peaceful talk is null now." Sienna growled as she rushed forward towards Hazel.
The giant of a man cracked his neck and resolved himself to fight as he used his bare hands to strike and punch at Sienna while she dipped and weaved between her attacks, his Semblance was an ample aid in his fights but against someone who had progressively gotten stronger as she fought made it more of a challenge. He swung a large arm outwards to sweep out her legs before swinging a second punch to knock her back.
Sienna skidded across the floor but stayed on her feet as she refused to back down. Her eyes cautiously watching Adam since he was taking his stance to draw his sword, however it was increasingly difficult against this man who had proven to be very hard to knock down. "I have to stop him before his Semblance can get fully charged…" She thought to herself before starting to wildly swing her whip at Hazel with increasing speed.
Hazel on the other hand was readily blocking and attacking before he decided to counter her wild method by letting one particular strike sink into his arm and wrapped the chain around it. "My turn…" He grumbled before heaving Sienna towards him and then grappling her in a bear hug which then transitioned into a choke hold. "Apologies…I only wish that this could have resolved differently." He remarked again and squeezed tighter which made her Aura finally give out and broke into a dissolving brown mist.
Sienna was about to spit another venomous comment about his actions but all that could come out was a gasp as she felt a blade pierce through her; Glancing down in a growing horror as she saw the crimson tip of Adam's blade poking through through her stomach and glistening in the light with her blood.
"Thank you, Sienna. You were there when our people needed you but they need me now. I'm sorry you couldn't see this through to the end as it's leader…" Adam said with a tone that almost sounded apologetic; In her distraction and Hazel's lack of attention, Adam had driven his blade through a non-vital spot in Hazel from behind and impaled Sienna at the same time.
Hazel grunted as he felt this pressure for a brief moment before it vanished again, watching as Sienna collapsed to the ground and gasping for air as she clutched at her stomach.
Before any questions could be asked and before Adam could make another strike down at Sienna, the doors crashed open with more White Fang soldiers pouring in. "High Leader! We heard an explosion and the sounds of fighting, are y-" A female member of the group called out but then gasped as she saw the severely injured Sienna on the ground and Adam standing over her along with the numerous collapsed White Fang near the throne. "What do you think you're doing, Taurus?!"
Adam took a steadying breath and used a rag to clean off her blood from his sword. "High Leader Khan attacked us in a fit of anger…" He said with a remorseful tone and then looked to the group. "She said that a group of Humans had implanted spies within our ranks and then attacked the guards in this very room after I was summoned."
Hazel watched this man effortlessly manipulate the situation and quickly noticed that among the group were some unsurprised faces who most likely remained loyal to Adam.
"High Leader Khan hasn't been resting or even so much as taking a meal recently…" One of said guards mentioned as they decided to sow the seeds of doubt. "She has been constantly doubting Adam's efforts even though they have yielded more results than any of her actions recently, I think that being overshadowed as a lead figure must've driven her mad."
"Indeed." Adam said as he sheathed his weapon. "In her rage, she drew her weapon and had tried to end my life so I acted in self defense…Take her to the medical bay to be treated, then throw her in a cell while we can deliberate on her judgement." He declared as he looked to the group as they brought in a stretcher.
"No one in this room is to give details about Sienna Khan's condition, it will only incite infighting within our ranks and we need to remain strong if we intend to continue our work. I shall take over as temporary High Leader until we can find someone more suitable…But until then, I shall make myself responsible for overseeing Sienna Khan and ensuring that she receives the justice that she deserves for what has transpired." Adam finished and then dismissed the group as he looked to the other guards who were collapsed.
Once the group agreed to this vow of silence and left the two alone, Hazel turned to look at Adam as the now new High Leader made his way up the stairs and callously kicked one of the guards off of the side so he could sit. "When were you planning on telling me about any of this?" He asked with a reproachful glare at Adam.
"This is my business regarding the Faunus, not your's…And I think you'll find that this fits more perfectly with your master's requests." Adam remarked casually like he hadn't just skewered Hazel through the back to get at Sienna.
"It is OUR business now…" Hazel pointed out and then clenched his fists tightly. "And if you even think about trying to use me like that again, I promise that you'll regret it…Temporary High Leader or not."
"Think about it; Now your master no longer has to worry about the White Fang's decision to cooperate, she can instead rely on mine to lead the White Fang in the right direction…" Adam detailed as he decided to show a little of his hand in the scheme of things to Hazel but he was only met with a disgusted shake of the behemoth's head.
"Nobody needed to die today…" Hazel lamented quietly as he turned to leave, his work was done and he needed to inform Salem about this current turn of events.
"If it means that we can finally enact the justice that mankind deserves, then they have died for a worthy cause." Adam said as he grew a more sinister sneer once he was alone. "And with Sienna as my prisoner, I now have a greater advantage to not only secure my rightful place…I can also make sure that I get what I deserve as well."