#wf!sienna

[sageywritings]

Call

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER USES LANGUAGE THAT SOME MAY FIND OFFENSIVE AND TOUCHES ON SENSITIVE TOPICS THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND UPSETTING. (fw: slurs, suicide)

READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

One call in progress. "I hate phone calls."

Long overdue, here is chapter 12 of Flames of Change. A lot of my time away I've spent rewriting the first three chapters and uploading them to AO3. I'm in the process of uploading all the chapters there, so if you would rather read that version, check it out under TheOneCalledSage. But, I'll continue to upload here. Me and my irrelevant blog against the world, baby. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

The Ospreay family belong to me

Sienna Umberon belongs to @gruntnuker-rwby

Dusty Millaray and T belong to @wetsliceofbread

The door flinging open with a loud slam did very little to disturb Dash. He was already awake, and although sleep had evaded him for the past hour at least, he still laid curled up hoping it would embrace him soon. But, his body was too acclimated at this point to the same confined surroundings, and seeing the same guards watching him for what felt like the millionth time, and the same early wakeup call from the medic Sienna sent to check his vitals. Dash rolled over and creaked his eyes open, still trying to maintain the facade of sleep even though the racket meant it was pointless. It was like he was begging the alarm before class for five more unattainable minutes. He was expecting the medic to kick the bars and bark at him to wake up any second now. 

But instead, all he saw through squinted eyes was Sienna pacing back and forth in a crazed hurry. She was mumbling in a hushed tone, too quietly for Dash to make anything out. On about the seventh or eighth cycle of turning toward the door, she finally noticed three or four Fang soldiers in the doorway, each with important questions or paperwork for Sienna but none of them daring to be the first one to present it to her.

“I need this place to myself for a while. So everyone OUT!” Now the guards were tripping over each other to see who could get away from Sienna’s flame-bearing teeth the fastest. Dash could hear the tornado of papers being abandoned from his cell. The last one out didn’t want a reprimand finding its way up the chain of command. Or worse, a reprimand from Sienna in the form of fire being flicked their way. Once left alone, Sienna put two fingers to both her temples and rubbed with an excruciating groan. Now she talked louder, but still as if Dash couldn’t hear. “They have to know by now, right? They have to, one of them had to tell them. How does this keep happening? Why do they keep showing up now of all times?! What am I, haunted??” Dash sat up on the bed, with Sienna unaware, her back turned in search through a cabinet for the next stashed bottle of booze she would claim as a victim.

“So. How was he?” Dash finally spoke up. Sienna’s spin cycle of rumination halted. Dash wanted to add a comment about how it was a bit too early to drink. But he didn’t want to test his possibly sleep deprived warden’s barely existent patience. Otherwise the next bottle of whiskey would be aimed right at his head with speed and precision that would’ve made him jealous on the baseball field.

“What?” Sienna said angrily.

“Sol. You saw him, right? Did you make sure to tell him hi for me?”

“You think this is funny? I keep running into your fucking team!”

“And that’s my fault?” Dash said, unable to contain a disbelieving laugh. “Oh look! It’s the consequences of my own actions! I thought they’d never catch me here!” Sienna snarled and suddenly reached in between the bars to snatch the heir by the throat. Dash gasped and tried to prop his foot against a bar to try and pull away, but Sienna kicked the bar, sending pain reverberating up to his already damaged knee.

“You don’t get to talk about actions! Look where your actions got you! Forgotten by your precious family name that you defended at any cost no matter how many lives had to suffer in your shadow!” Dash was choking for mercy. His legs were starting to give out. In a last ditch effort, he reached out to try and pry Sienna’s hand off of him, just for her other searing hand to lock onto his forearm. “It’s your fault you're here. It… it's your fault we can't be together!” She suddenly let go, and Dash dropped onto all fours in a vicious coughing fit. It was like Sienna was brimming with so much rage she couldn't transfer it to her muscles. So instead, she settled for an alternative and grabbed her own arm. She grimaced but didn't let go as the skin around her fingers began to glow red.

“What… what are you doing?” Dash asked shakily, his voice raspy in between coughing.

“Like you care,” Sienna mumbled with ears down. She was right, part of him didn't. Part of him wanted to watch her self-destruct. But part of him remembered what she told him. How she was the reason he and Dawn were still alive. He felt care in between the pulses of pain throbbing through his arm and his neck. He wanted to tell her to stop, to knock it off, although the chances of her actually listening were somewhere between slim and none. The door flying open again, however, did the trick and she let go. The White Fang rookie that drew the short straw scrambled in.

“Boss!” he called.

“I told you I didn't wanna be bothered! This better be good,” Sienna yelled. He nodded sheepishly and outstretched his hand to offer up a phone. After a moment to let her fingers cool, she took it for inspection. The screen was dark at first, but then illuminated to reveal a call with an unknown number already in progress. “I hate phone calls,” she thought to herself, surveying it a little longer as if someone else was going to take it from her if she waited. But, she put it up to her ear and spoke bluntly. “Speaking.” The voice on the other end was calm, almost scarily assured, like it was nothing more than a standard business affair.

“Where are my kids?”

An uncontrollable grin took over Sienna's face. This was exactly what her spirits needed. The voice she had been dying to hear grovel and beg.

“Well, well. Hello Toney. I got one of them with me right now,” Sienna said with a triumphant chuckle. She hoped the sense of victory in her voice oozed right into Tone's wounded, defeated pride. Dash was already perked up before she held the phone up to him. “Say hi to the daddy that forgot about you.”

“Dad?! Dad whatever you gotta do, just do it and get me and Dawn outta here!” As his volume raised, so did the irritation in his throat before he was cut off by another loud cough. “I haven't heard from Dawn in weeks. We've been here long enough, we gotta get her out! Just do it!” He couldn't hear his dad respond before Sienna put the phone back to her ear, thanks to the racking coughing fit that doubled him over. He didn't even know if there was a response to listen to.

“See? He's alive,” Sienna sang into the phone. “No thanks to you. It's been damn near a month now and you've done nothing to try and get your kids back? Not even a whisper from you, just your cronies. It's almost like you want your kids to die. Don't blame you, your son is annoying as hell.”

“I see,” Tone said. If any of Sienna's attempts to get under his skin worked, he didn't show it. He was still in negotiation mode. It was the complete opposite of Dash's silent panic. “And what, may I ask, are you planning on doing with him and my daughter?”

“Oh Toney. I don't want anything but to see your nice little family reunited. But others in the White Fang? Well, they have a looooot of plans involving your children. So what happens is entirely dependent on what you do next.”

“So what do you want from me?” Tone asked. Sienna found his unwavering stony demeanor disappointing. She really wanted to hear one of Remnant's most powerful oppressors pleading at her feet for mercy, not acting like he was trying to get her to cut to the chase. But, that didn't stop her from letting out a hellish cackle.

“What I want? Your obituary,” she said. Again, no vocal response. She wished she could see the face on the other end of the call. “But we'll settle for some reparations. To pay us back for the trouble we went through getting little Dawn and Spicy, you will transfer five million lien to a specified bank account. Once the payment is received, we'll provide you their location and you can head back to your cute little estate or take a vacation to some private island to destress, whatever rich people do, I dunno. So, we got a deal?” 

There was a pause. A long pause. The seconds ticked by long past uncomfortable lengths. Sienna tapped her foot impatiently before silently scowling. “C'mon, clock's ticking Ospreay. Otherwise that begging you heard will be the last words you'll ever hear from your son. I know you got enough brain cells in that dying skull of yours to know how blackmail works, so why don't you-”

“You're a fucking idiot.” Sienna's eyes flared with shocked anger as she slowly stared at the phone, only to be met with the call runtime. Her eyes then shot at Dash as if looking for an explanation. But he merely shrugged, alarmed and lost. “It's obvious I've worked in this world longer than you have. You're out of your depths. I have been working to make sure you are fucking sorry for ever stepping foot in my home, you stupid, pathetic mutt!”

“Ooooooh mutt, that's a new one. I don't know, I enjoyed stomping my muddy feet all over your clean floor. Might have to do it again some time,” Sienna replied, stubbornly refusing to let him shake her confidence. Her disobedience knew no bounds. “And for being so full of shit, now your kids cost ten million.” Dash's eyes widened at Sienna's gall, silently mouthing his worry even though it fell on “deaf” ears. There was another pause.

“Bold. I would almost commend you. Almost. You see, I have a reputation to uphold. My business is a stalwart amongst Atlas. If I didn't hold myself to being a beacon of strength and consistency, then who knows what else in Atlas could fall? So with talk of this renegade ‘bounty hunter’ coming onto my property and making off with my kids without consequence, that would most certainly be a sign of weakness.” Another pause, though this one shorter and much more tolerable, until uttering just two more icy words.

“Sienna Umberon.”

Sienna's ears instantly pinned back. For once, her body went cold. Even her blood was frozen with fear in her veins. She glared at the phone as if he could see her through it. Then she spun around looking at every corner of the room. Was something bugged? But, not even the piercings or mismatching eyes would give her away to him. “How the fuck does he know that?!”

“It's that reputation I wanna destroy. Remember, do anything too brash and I'll start sending you back your kids IKEA style.” Sienna refused to acknowledge he nailed her identity. However, the threat that had Dash keeping a grateful eye on all ten of his fingers in his cell only produced a light chuckle from his father.

“I see you haven't grasped the gravity of the situation. You think I'm still bluffing.” The phone dinged in her ear loud enough where she had to tilt her head away from it. The notification was a text message. It was a picture from the night of the Ospreay raid taken from under a table by a frightened partygoer of Sienna sauntering right to Tone's face. “I know who you are. I know your marks.” Two more messages came in quick succession, kicking the first photo she was still studying up the screen. The first one was a screenshot from the Vytal Festival TV feed of Team JASR lined up for their first round match. One of Sienna’s hands was on Amber’s shoulder to ease her anxiety from the massive crowd while the other was claws out, ready to fight. The second came from a social media account that set off sirens in her head - DownTheFoxxhole. It was Alex’s account, and the picture was a selfie her brother took of them. “And I know who you hold close.”

Sienna grit her teeth and made sure to turn her head away so Tone couldn’t hear her seething. Her tail flicked sparks in every direction. The next sound the phone made caused Sienna to cock back like she was going to spike it, but instead of more “evidence” it was just an excessive heat warning. She grabbed a bottle to unload her semblance in order to spare the phone. All this time he was simply building a case. This wasn’t life or death to Tone. Nothing could be to a man who thought he was the definition of untouchable. This was just another trial in a litany of defense cases against himself, except this time he didn’t need the skeezy but insanely skilled lawyer the Schnees gifted him upon forming their alliance.

“So you will return my children,” he went on, “or I will make sure these photos end up on every scroll in Remnant. It would merely take a couple of phone calls. I’m sure every news station would want to have the inside scoop on the identity of this kidnapper that has captivated their headlines.”

“I know you’re not bluffing. I’m not fucking stupid! Congrats, you and your little bootlickers can use the internet.” Sienna could no longer play cool and stifle her resentment. The stress relief bottle was getting softer, melting and sagging where it touched her palm.

“I’m sure you have enough dying brain cells to understand how blackmail works. So, do we have an understanding, Miss Umberon?” Tone said. His self-satisfaction came effortlessly, and it was enough to stop Sienna’s heart due to the fury it was causing. She didn’t come this far to back down now.

“Shut down everything you run, make a public announcement acknowledging the number of faunus you’ve killed and endangered for the sake of money, and never go into business again. Then we’ll have an understanding.”

“Fuck…” Sienna said, barely anything more than an emotion riddled sigh. She pressed her clenched fists to her forehead until no amount of aspirin would make this headache go away easily. She closed her eyes. She wanted to cry. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to burn the whole world down and start something new in its ashes. Something alone. But instead, all she could do is scream. “FUCK! I’M GONNA KILL HIM. I'M GONNA SO KILL HIM!”

“Hm,” Tone hummed, unmoved. “Speak with your higher ups. I have a feeling I will be hearing from you very soon. And remember, if you cross my deal, I will make sure to personally bash that blonde little faggot’s head in and mount his tail on my wall.” It was a good thing the “negotiation” was over because that was the last thing that phone would ever do. Smoke and sparks poured out of it before Sienna finally sent it hurtling into the concrete. Whatever parts weren’t liquified bounced and shattered into pieces.

“What the hell happened?? Is he paying the ransom or what?” Dash finally worked up the courage to make his presence known again. Sienna paid him zero attention. She was too busy going back to pacing the floor again, now at double time thanks to the frenzy she had worked herself into. She was kicking aside pieces of broken phone as she did so. “Sienna, what happened?” Dash called again louder to get through her mumbling of wanting to kill him over and over again.

“No! Your daddy is too worried about his precious bottom line! Is that what you wanna hear? I was fucking right and you didn’t wanna listen! That’s the reason you’ve been left here to rot for weeks!”

“Quit with the bullshit already and just tell me what happened!” Dash said. To his heartbreak, there was no snarky comment, no shit eating grin, no teasing at his expense. Only a deadpan stare as she pushed her hair aside with a glowing red arm, the same as Dash's. His sternness trailed off. “You're… you're not joking.” His heart sank. His eyes widened before glazing over into a blank stare. He knew Sienna's asking price was steep, but still easily affordable for Ospreay Industries. So to be stuck in this hell with seemingly no end, and left to wonder what his sister has been going through. Did the money really matter that much? Was his dad's pride really that important to him? “What did he actually say?”

“That he's gonna make me regret breaking into your house, crap like that. Nothing about ‘saving’ you and Dawn. He's just focusing on blackmailing me.”

“And how’s he planning on doing that?” Dash inquired. No reply from the bent over fox faunus as she searched for her next dose of firewater for her nerves. “C’mon Sienna you gotta suck it up and use your words!”

“It’s for me to know and for you to find out at the side of your dad’s deathbed! Sorry I’m just full of disappointments for you today, Strawberry Shortcake,” she said without turning around. Then she mumbled on to no one besides herself in particular. “Typical medic bullshit, telling me to slow up, she better not have hid it.”

“Lemme guess,” Dash said after a moment of contemplation. “Your teammates. Or your brother. Knowing my dad, probably both. He likes to be thorough.” The loud crashing and tossing of the cabinet’s contents that weren’t Sienna’s sole objective came to a sudden stop.

“Lucky guess,” she grumbled.

“It’s not much of a guess. You only like four people, Sienna.” She finally spun around, causing Dash to recoil, until she saw the smile on her face at finding the bottle she had been yearning for. 

“That’s not true! … It’s five people. Leo’s a cool brother-in-law,” she said, ears lowering a little.

“Wait.” Dash’s stare grew far away, a thousand yards past Sienna inelegantly tearing off the top of the bottle. His eyes moved like they were calculating something, dots being connected. “If he goes after your team, then mine won’t be that far behind! Sol will try to defend Amber, and Sapph will help. And anyone that helps them, he’s just gonna go after them too!”

“Yuuuup. Glad to know we’re in this sinking ship together!” she said, raising her glass in a mocking toast.

“Sienna you gotta let me outta here!”

“Like hell I do! You and your sister are my only way out of this mess! I gotta talk with the High Leader. Ugh that fuckin pain in my ass. He’s gonna be pissed at me if we kept you alive this long and get no ransom money out of it. I kept trying to tell him the reward would make everything worth it. Now the reward is just keeping my identity safe. That bastard is gonna try and sell me out.”

“Our reward is keeping our friends safe! We’re the only ones that know what’s going on! We can warn them! I can maybe get my dad to stop, he might listen to me. But that’s only if you let me out to talk to him.” Sienna shook her head during his whole explanation, only stopping to down another swig. “Does your chain of command really mean anything to you if they’re just gonna view you as a ‘necessary sacrifice’?”

“And what about you?!” Sienna said with renewed indignation. “You’re the one keeping all your dad’s business secrets safe. You keep thinking he’s the victim here when he clearly left his own kids here to die! If you had just helped me like I asked and let me have it my way, he woulda been dealt with by now!” 

“For a woman who swears she doesn’t kill, you sure sound ready to murder,” Dash said. Sienna stayed dead silent. Not because she had a lack to say; there were a thousand words ready to spill past her lips. But, she kept them pursed shut. Nothing she had to say would’ve been worth wasting her breath on him. Instead, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to compose herself as much as the internal whirlwind she was facing would allow her. An uphill battle if there ever was one. But, she figured the last thing she needed was to scorch her insurance policy.

“You still don’t get it. You’re still blind to the world around you. Do you even know where you are right now?” Dash paused. He hadn’t a clue where he actually was. The only answer he could come up with was hell, and Sienna was the personal demon assigned to him. After going unconscious in his garage, he woke up in this cell. He couldn’t even guess what continent he was on. Sienna got tired of waiting for an answer. “You’re in an abandoned factory that used to have your name on it. Tore down part of the forest for Ospreay Industries’ latest state of the art crime against humanity. The White Fang converted it into something useful. Guess your loss is our gain.”

“Tsuyukusa?” The town name came to Dash almost instinctively. A small town in the snowy north of Mistral, where Atlas’ influence was stronger than their own home kingdom’s much further away in the south. No one besides the locals or the biggest of geography buffs in Remnant would know this place if it wasn’t for its lone claim to infamy. The reason Dash prayed he never ended up on the path to this town. He prayed he was wrong, up until Sienna nodded her head.

“You automatically knew.”

“I remember the headlines well,” Dash said meekly.

“Oh, you remember them? You remember the people that died here? Or do you only remember what dear old dad wanted you to hear while he was throwing money at his latest PR mess. Shutting this place down and relocating somewhere new for a show of “good faith” to get the journalists off his ass while in reality changing nothing. The new place is run the exact same way. And if the workers couldn't relocate with the factory, well sucked for them.”

The truth was Dash remembered this incident very well. He remembered all the headlines his father let past his filter, and this one was far too big to hide from his son forever. His dad would always explain how the headlines were always blown out of proportion. The papers were just looking for some explosiveness to generate more readers and get them riled up. He was told those same things for so long that he believed them, and he would spout them over and over at Beacon. All the smear campaigns, the threats from the White Fang, his family were the victims here. Dash could've and should've felt more victimized than ever with the beatings he had been taking while held captive. But, he didn't feel like his family were the ones suffering. Not equally at least.

“I heard it all. I even heard a few of the workers left behind from the move jumped from this very roof. That's… not true, is it?”

“Wanna see the memorial built for them?” Sienna asked, back turned and arms across her chest. Dash closed his eyes. He had always clung to that plausible deniability. If he didn’t see it personally, maybe it didn’t happen. But now, he was face to face with the truth he spent his whole life avoiding. He was living in it. It was all around him. Only a small clinking noise got him to peek in between his fingers without removing his hand from his face. A freshly poured glass of whiskey sat in between the middle bars of his cell.

“Figured you might need that right now,” Sienna said, still facing away. She was about to take her leave before Dash stopped her once more.

“Sienna. You gotta at least do me one favor.”

“I don't have to do anything.”

“Tell Dawn what happened here. Tell her the truth. She deserves to know.” Sienna sat motionless before her shoulders raised and fell with a deep sigh.

“Fine. And by the way, I wasn't kidding Dash. If it means saving my friends and my brother, I will make your father's skull my personal cup.”

{some time later}

Why was this so hard? It was just a White Fang captain having to tell the bounty she scored that her dad left her here to die. Not like it was anything she couldn’t have figured that out by now. And not like Sienna was supposed to care. No one else wearing her mask would. But, it still ate away at her as she rehearsed what she was going to say in her head at least half a dozen times, just to shake her head and start over each time. The damned walk there wasn’t helping matters. It was already long enough to make Sienna wish to sink her butt into a bean bag chair every time she took it; the dread was only making it feel longer.

It seemed like no one hardly noted Sienna’s arrival into the room upon first glance. Dusty was leaned back in his chair, his mask doing the job of trying to obscure that he dozed off for a nap. The typing from the fennec fox faunus sat across from him was too soft to stir him. Their double monitor setup illuminated pale skin, a sandy reddish pixie cut, and a pair of fox ears that were the only thing getting them to clock over 5 feet tall. Even if their head was plain to see and not buried in work, they would fuzz even the most attuned gender radars. Dawn was actually the first to spot Sienna, though she did so silently. She stopped scribbling in her sketchbook, which was at least a couple dozen pages more filled than the last time Sienna noticed it.

“Finally relieving us from our post, Captain?” T asked without pulling their eyes away from the screens.

“Not yet. Just came to check on the girl,” Sienna replied before looking around. “Where’s Karma?”

“She got tired of doing action poses for the kid’s drawings, so she subbed me in. Kept telling me I’d make a good muse,” Dusty spoke up, revealing he’s awake.

“Yeah, if the brave hero needs to defeat someone sleeping on the job, then consider me inspired.” Sienna rolled her eyes. Her comment did little to rouse the Tango Squadron leader apart from sitting his chair back on all four of its legs. She wanted to expect more from both of them while on watch duty, but she knew she wasn’t going to get it. So, she ignored them and turned to Dawn, trying to play off the fact her heart was beating out of her chest. “Still not gonna talk to me?” Dawn shook her head. Sienna was just hunting for anything she could use to stall for time, even though she knew she should just rip the bandage off. Why now of all times was her trademark bluntness failing her? Eventually, her eyes fell to Dawn’s book, which the young socialite had lowered from her guard without realizing. On it was a drawing of her brother, the #1 on the back of his jersey proudly - or a lot of times, arrogantly - bolstered on his back. But instead of fighting some goon in a White Fang mask vaguely in the shape of her or Dusty or Karma, it was a man armed with a sword and shield that Dash stood over in victory.

“Wow, you’re getting better each time I see you. You really nailed your brother. Who’s the other guy though, an original character or something?” In a jolt, Dawn immediately pulled it back to her chest. Sienna sighed and dismissed her own question. Conversation was going to get her nowhere even if the small talk did work. “So… I heard from your dad just now.”

“Y-you did?? So he’s finally coming to get me and Dash?” Dawn said, finally perked up enough to speak. Sienna swallowed hard.

“Um. Yeah. Soon,” she awkwardly sputtered out. She wasn’t technically lying. She knew in her head one way or another, this was going to end soon. Neither the White Fang hierarchy nor her father were patient enough to wait on this for much longer. But, she couldn’t face Dawn with anything more than a mere half-truth. Not even Sienna’s claws could match the sharpness of the truth. However, there was no bright surge of optimism evident on Dawn’s face. Instead, her face mirrored her falling heart.

“Soon…? Th-that’s it? All he gave you is soon?” she said. She hung her head, hiding her face underneath her bright red locks. “I… I shouldn’t be surprised. Why would I be a priority? I haven’t been one since Dash left for Beacon. And dad hasn’t pulled himself away from his work since then.” At first, her words weren’t burdened with the weight of untamed emotion. She sounded unsurprised, more resigned to her fate than anything, which honestly hurt Sienna worse. But as she kept talking, the cracks became more visible. Her words trembled as tears began falling and staining the artwork in her lap. “I-I’m no heir. But Dash.. why would he leave us? Why would he abandon us to be left with terrorists??” Hearing this from her gutted Sienna, and it even brought Dusty to remove his mask and look over with concern.

“Is that really all they told you is soon?” T asked with a disgusted groan. “I knew this plan was a mistake, expecting the capitalist machine to pay up their precious money. We shoulda just offed the two of them.” Dawn finally looked up, her teary eyes now filled with a feeling none of her captors and even none of her family had seen from her before: defiance. She hummed a crayon over Sienna’s shoulder, drilling T in one of their fox ears. “You brat!” they growled after a flinch before rising from their chair. But the moment T took a step toward the cell, Sienna stood up with her hand aflame. Dawn reeled back and closed her eyes, but her fear of punishment was abated slightly when she saw Sienna was glaring daggers at her comrade.

“You lay a fucking finger on her and not even the High Leader is gonna stop me from turning your ass into fucking barbecue, got it?! She’s my responsibility! And I’m gonna handle it.” Dusty stood between the two of them, lightly pushing T away as their cue to leave. He knew even all 7 foot plus of him wouldn’t stand a chance of stopping the fiery fox. No one outside of the deep circles of hell did. Neither of them needed to, however, as she stormed out the room, leaving no one more astonished than Dawn at her surprise savior.

[strqyr]

it's blake's turn for a messy sketch (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

[constantvariations]

I have to wonder if the White Fang throne room was so big and empty because the original idea was to have a proper fight between Adam and Sienna but it got cut for budgeting/time reasons

[thisdonutguy]

💔 wf goon​ 3 x adam taurus is my otp now

[unofficialadamtaurus]

Au where Blake confronts Adam in volume 4/5 on Menagerie and Sienna during the finale of volume 5 (with an actual fight not smacking her on the back like in the canon)

That is certainly an AU

[sageywritings]

Firesale

90% off all office supplies at your nearest White Fang hideout! Everything must go! Act now while supplies last!

The latest chapter of my RWBY OC fic Flames of Change. Make sure to see the pinned post for the chapter list in order.

Dash Ospreay belongs to me.

Sienna Umberon belongs to @gruntnuker-rwby and @wetsliceofbread

Although he had lost track, Dash was fairly certain it had been a few days since he had last seen Sienna. Or at least it was a few sleep cycles since then. But, between the days and nights blending together from inside his hellish prison cell, and his body demanding rest from a combination of pain, exhaustion, and boredom, there was no guarantee he was right. When she eventually did return, she looked more irritable than usual. Which was saying something. Dash watched as the other White Fang troops did their best to stay clear out of her way. The ones that were forced to interact with her received their orders with complete compliance, no questions and words kept to a minimum besides a succinct "Yes ma'am." Every time her gaze found Dash out of the corner of her eye, her scowl intensified. Dash had no clue why. He knew Sienna well enough to know something was bothering her, but trying to pinpoint what would've been sheer guess-work.

"I'll be in my office. If you bother me, it better be real important," Sienna told the soldiers before retreating behind her office door. It was down the hallway but in plain view from where the caged heir sat. Another unknown amount of time passed. Time might as well have had no meaning to Dash at this point. It was long enough for him to wonder if having Sienna around was better or worse for him compared to the revolving door of faceless Fang cronies. Despite the time, he couldn't come up with an answer before a loud thud from the other side of the door derailed his train of thought. Staggered, stumbling stomps grew louder and closer until the door swung open. Sienna wobbled in place in the doorway with a goofy grin until the door bounced back from its hinges and thwacked her in the shoulder.

"Owww motherfucker!" she cursed at the door before giving it a big two-handed push. The door came back at her again so she inelegantly dodged, nearly tripping over her own two feet in the process. "Fuckin' feet always failing me," she mumbled to herself. Somehow managing to stay upright, she entered Dash's room and her grin curled into something more mischievous. He noticed after light investigation the half finished bottle of whiskey in her hand.

"Helloooooo," she cooed at Dash with a playfully evil undertone before, to Dash's surprise, unlocking the cell door. However, the shock was short-lived once he laid eyes on the chain leash and collar wrapped around her other hand. "I'll be taking the toy into my office. I'll make sure he's fed," she called out to any Fang member within earshot. Dash tried to tilt his head and move away to make it difficult. But, one harsh grab by the chin from Sienna was correction enough so she could snap the collar on with ease.

"But Sienna, ma'am," a particularly nervous looking new recruit spoke up, instantly drawing Sienna's death stare. "Er, Commander, uh.." Sienna's eyes burned two holes through him. "H-High Leader Taurus said the prisoner is to remain in his cell at all times."

"High Leader Taurus can suck my fat cock!" Sienna exclaimed, leaving the rookie perplexed on multiple levels. "The prisoner knows to not even dare try to escape on me. Isn't that right, Spicy?" Dash sighed instead of rolling his eyes at the name. It was one of many used to irk him at Beacon. A quick yank on the leash curtailed him though and brought him closer to Sienna's side.

"Watch the lungs, red. I heard that," she said. A brief moment of PTSD powerlessness gripped Dash and caused him to break into a cold sweat. Sienna then began leading the way, with Dash lagging behind, outside his normal confinement and into a new one. Thankfully the walk was short. In Dash's mind, the less people that saw him like this the better. Even though Sienna was already too much. "Ya know if you ever make it out of here, you're gonna have a serious pet play kink thanks to me." Her loud, uncontrollable laughter was like nails on a chalkboard to Dash. As he trudged along behind her, Sienna kept flicking the end of her tail so it brushed against Dash's face enough to tickle him. Well that's one to be told to pick up the pace. With his hands cuffed and unable to turn his head, the only way he could avoid the relentless tail tickling was to speed up. Sienna snickered again, this time punctuated by a snort. 

Once inside her office, Dash took a survey around as Sienna locked the door behind them. A beautifully crafted dark oak desk sat as the master centerpiece to the room. On one side of the desk sat a messy stack of almost late paperwork with her mask on top of it as a paperweight. Her claws were hung up on a display stand behind her chair. As Dash wondered how Sienna swindled a stylish place like this, Sienna forced him down into a sitting position where he stood. She hooked his bindings to a pipe running along the wall, leaving him very little wiggle room. But, it was still a nice step up from the blanketed shelf he had been sleeping on.

"I don't think you'll need that. It's more for in case someone knocks," she told him while knelt down. Once he was secured, Sienna got up and sauntered toward a counter on the left to begin preparing the inmate his dinner. She had been the one who set his eating schedule during his time here, but it was the first time he watched her actually make it. Or rather he watched what wasn't obscured by her body or the insane amount of fluff on her tail. After a couple moments of eyeing her as she casually went about her business while fighting her drunkenness, she sat down a hot meal in front of Dash - in a doggy bowl. Dash glared at his warden.

"Gotta be able to eat without hands somehow. Now quit giving me that look and be a good puppy." Her words dripped with an infuriating amount of mocking impishness. Dash didn't want to give her the satisfaction of being even more of her obedient dog. He left his food untouched. It was a strategy he had already tried to employ against his captors. It hadn't proven very effective though, and every time he would eventually crack and give his body the scraps it had been begging for. "Suit yourself. Only hurting you."

Sienna turned back toward her desk, whipping her tail into Dash's face one more time in the process. Jumping into her comfortable office chair, she kicked her feet up onto the desk before leaning too far back and nearly falling backwards. She did recover, albeit clumsily. Dash sat in disbelief that this one of the White Fang's fiercest and most capable, the one who stormed into Atlas and got out with him. "So," she went on, "I heard your daddy's little speech." Dash grumbled as his eyes fell away from her and toward a wall. "In the damn near month - fuck has it been that long already? - guess how many times your dad has contacted us personally. Or how many times he's tried to break you out by force."

"You already know the answer," he finally mumbled after a minute of Sienna patiently waiting. He really didn't want to say it. He had already heard it once.

"Yeahhhhh. But I wanna hear you say it," she said. Still, no reply. "Come onnnn, I'll give you a drink if you answer." Sienna waggled the whiskey bottle she had just taken another swig out of. Only silence followed. But, Sienna's stubbornness was only amplified without her sobriety. Dash was learning quickly that there was nothing more frustrating than a happy in-your-face kind of drunk to deal with when you can't leave. "I know you know the answer. You're gonna hate it."

"I get it! It's zero, alright?!" Dash snapped.

"Ayyyyy," Sienna said. "Strawberry shortcake want a drink?" Again with the names. If he didn't like them at Beacon, he fully detested them now. Somehow, the grin that always accompanied them was even more annoying now than it was then. Shrugging him off, Sienna started to rummage through the obscene amount of drawers in her desk. "So much shit in here," she muttered to herself.

"Where is Dawn?" Dash asked.

"She's fine. A different crew is looking after her. I've been keeping in touch with them. They're ones you can trust," she said before her head popped over the desk again with an unopened bag of pens. As she tore into it with her teeth, she met Dash cocking an unsure and faithless eyebrow. Sienna rolled her eyes. "She's got coloring books to keep her busy, and her own personal grunt to make sure she always has crayons. She's broken a few throwing them back at him, just for him to give her more ammo. Poor bastard doesn't know what to do." Dash smiled slightly. It was the first warmth he felt inside in a long time knowing that Dawn was being so strong. He knew she was tough. The smile faded, however, when the first pen was thrown in his direction, even though it sailed over his head.

"Damn!" Sienna remarked. "So when are you gonna learn your daddy doesn't care about you?"

"That's not true," Dash said lowly. Sienna lobbed another pen, this time nailing Dash right on the forehead. He flinched at first, but couldn't turn his head away, before growling and kicking towards Sienna. But he was a mile away, and he only kicked the air before the chains tugged him back to his spot.

"Bullseye!" Sienna laughed. "But it's true. He's too worried about his precious profits to pay the ransom and get his own kids back. He’s either too dumb to realize you’re being held hostage by a group who have wanted you dead for years, or he just doesn’t care."

“If he gives in to the White Fang’s demands, no matter what they are, money or whatever, then they win. Not to mention it can’t be easy coming to the table to negotiate with a side that only wants you killed.”

“Man, he’s got you brainwashed real good,” Sienna said while shaking her head. Her mismatched eyes looked down at Dash, simultaneously stunned and expectantly disappointed that this was his line of thinking even in the situation he’s stuck in. It still didn’t stop the next pen from raining down and getting him right in the nose. “But hey, that last part’s fair. I think everybody wearing these masks want nothing more than his death certificate. Myself included.”

“Yeah, I bet you wanna be the one to personally do it,” Dash grimaced as the next pen tomahawked at him clipped him in the ear. “And are the pens really fucking necessary?? Quit it!” This time at least he kept the thrashing to a minimum so the collar didn’t painfully remind him of his place.

“Still got that hot head. Don’t think anyone will ever beat that out of you,” Sienna said. Dash eyes glanced upward in thought for a moment before he nodded in concession. “And yeah, I’d say the pens are necessary. Let’s see. The first one was for when we first met and you called me a ‘punkass faunus wastelander’. The next one was for the time you tried to pin the argument on ‘faunus like me’ when thirteen people died in an accident at one of your factories. And the one I'm about to throw is for the time you tried to pick a fight with Riley just cause she stood up for me! Actually-". With each accusation, Dash shrunk and shriveled more and more in his place before the sounds of more drawers opening and closing brought his attention forward again. Coming back up, Sienna was reloaded, this time with a box of paper clips. With one heated up in the palm of her hand via her semblance, she chucked it at him. He made no effort to try and dodge, letting it burn where it hit him.

"And to answer your other thing. I want him dead, yeah, but I don't wanna be the one to do it. I don't kill if I can help it," she continued.

"How noble of you. Want a medal? Want me to rub your feet?" Dash scoffed.

"Ohoho," Sienna chuckled, "you even think about touching my feet and I'll make an exception and ship you back to your dad in more pieces than IKEA furniture." Stopping mid-breath, Dash was briefly paralyzed. He wasn't sure if it was a bluff to call her out on. But it sounded like the most real threat she's delivered yet. Guess she wasn't the type to get foot rubs from Riley. Sienna laughed loudly and took one of the last swigs the bottle had left. Slowly, Dash exhaled and let his arms drop. Once the laughter ceased, Sienna caught her breath. "You should be thanking me, ya know."

"Thanking you? For what?? The privilege of being an insane fox's plaything? Or that you don't have anything bigger to throw!" Dash said incredulously almost like his tone was instinct. Another searing office supply smacked him in the forehead, only further proving his points.

"Ooooo maybe I could find some ball bearings, that's an idea for next time. But I'm serious. You should be grateful. I'm the only reason you're alive."

"Uh-huhhhh. You're totally my savior and not the reason I'm in this hell to begin with, right?"

"Think about it, Spicy. You think that hit at the party only happened cause of me? You’ve been on the hit list for a long time, and that party gave them the golden opportunity. They were gonna crash that mansion and come after you anyways. And all the people guarding you while I was gone, you think they have the patience to deal with some trust fund kids? If they had their way, they woulda offed you and Dawn and sent back your corpses in exchange for the ransom money.” A cold snap rocketed up Dash’s spine. It was partially for his safety, but mainly due to the image of his little sister meeting her end like this. It was an image he couldn’t erase. “So I told them I knew you, knew you too damn well, and they offered me the job in a heartbeat. I took it, cause yeah, I wanted to get back at you for all your cocky prick bullshit and for all the times you defended your dad. But also cause… I didn’t wanna see you dead. Same goes for your sister.” Dash squinted at the fox faunus like he was trying to peer through some mirage. “So yeah, think about that next time you wanna call me trash or whatever. I’ll be expecting some more obedience from my pet.”

“So what’s the endgame?” Dash questioned, dismissing Sienna’s cackling and cutting to the point, all the while suppressing a groan.

“It was supposed to be have your sperm donor fork over the ransom and get you two back home safe, but he hasn’t gone for it yet. So now I don’t know.” There was a momentary pause, Dash studying Sienna as she offhandedly fidgeted with a clip.

“And what about you?” he spoke up, causing her fox ears to flick slightly in confusion. “How do you see this ending for yourself?”

“Probably when everybody we went to school with come to put me six feet under,” she said. Her response was quick and seemed to carry no care on the surface, but Dash noticed her entire demeanor shift. Her ears lowered. She sat more leaned forward in her chair. She dropped her makeshift fidget spinner. She instantly sobered up.

"What does that mean?" Dash asked.

"It doesn't matter how it ends for me," she replied, not really answering Dash about where their friends from school came from or how they fit into this.

"Sienna what do they have-"

"Oh for fuck's sake you still just talk way too much! After all this you still can't keep your mouth shut! I said it doesn't matter so drop it!" Sienna swiped her bottle just for her growl to magnify when she realized only the last drops of her bourbon were left. Tossing it aside on her desk, her right hand wrapped around her left forearm, leaving a glowing red mark. Dash took note of her manner. It mirrored the mood she was in when she first arrived today. There had to have been something more to it under the aggressive exterior. Was it stress? Worry? Fear? Sienna wouldn't reveal that even to her most trusted friends, much less him. Whatever it was, it didn't stop the next scalding paper clip from coming at him with renewed vigor, although her aim was wayward. Dash released a heavy sigh. Something in his mind was clearly weighing him down, something he had no idea how to begin to articulate it. What were the words to say here?

"I'm sorry, Sienna." Sienna's ears shot straight up and she stopped mid-windup of her next throw.

"What?" Sienna had no idea that those words were even in the Ospreays' vocabularies. Was that the first time Dash had admitted guilt about anything? It was like a baby saying his first words. It was awkward and lacked confidence. But, she couldn't dwell on it too long. The clip in her hand started to melt and burn her fingers, prompting her to fling it against the wall. "Fuck!"

“What’s the look for?” Now it was Dash’s turn to be befuddled.

“The fuck? Where’d that come from?” Sienna furrowed her brows, convinced he was joking. She almost wanted to lob another pen at him for the audacity of lying to her face like that. Or to make sure he was real and not some alcohol-fueled hallucination.

“For all the shit at Beacon. I’m sorry,” he repeated. He sounded genuinely sincere, but that made it all the more baffling and unbelievable to Sienna. “Believe me or not, I don’t care. You’re not getting it out of me again.” Now that was the Dash she was more than accustomed to. That braggadocio that gave him a very punchable existence. She folded her arms and intently glared at the trapped heir. After an excruciatingly long moment, Sienna unsteadily rose from her chair. Still struggling with coordination, she made her way to the counter without faceplanting into the floor and withdrew a fork from one of the cabinets. Dash’s electric eyes widened in panic.

“Whoa whoa hey hey now what are you planning on doing with that?? Let’s not be rash here, we can be more civilized about this,” Dash said with a nervously petrified fake chuckle. Sienna didn’t answer and kept approaching. He tugged hard on his restraints as the instinct to put his hands up and block his face kicked in. He fruitlessly tried to scoot away before closing his eyes and awaiting the pain of a fiery utensil meeting his skin. However, he kept waiting. And waiting. Until his arms were suddenly able to fall to his sides in their natural position. Unsure how or why he wasn’t bleeding, on fire, or both yet, Dash opened one eye to see his bowl of food placed in front of him now complete with a fork to eat it with. Then, his gaze raised upward to Sienna towering over him, twirling the key to his binds.

“Eat.” The command was stern, frighteningly so. It was still coming from the woman who held the fate of his life in her hands, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Dash rubbed his wrists, hesitating to break eye contact until his grumbling stomach won out. The food was still warm. It was nothing fancy, but every bite he took felt like heaven. The subsequent bites after the first one came quicker after the previous as his body cried in gratitude. After a moment, Sienna dropped down to one knee in front of him. “You know. You can help us.”

"You expect me to help the White Fang?" Dash said with a mouth full of food before swallowing. "The info I've given up already isn't enough."

"You can do more. Give us more, do what we ask, and do it all without having me to beat you into submission, and it might just be your ticket out of here. And our ticket to end all the pain your family"s caused."

"And condemn my father to death?"

"He's doing the same to you right now."

"I can't do that to my own flesh and blood, Sienna. How do you expect me to sleep well at night doing that?"

"Uuuuuugh," she groaned. "Definitely getting something bigger to throw at you next time." Before Dash could escalate the argument any further, something he had a talent for doing, a knock on the door cut them both short. Dash froze before his next bite, petrified if someone heard them or saw him somehow. But, Sienna just groaned louder. "Now whaaaaat?" Rising once more, she went to the door and opened it up just enough for her to stand in the doorway. She blocked any vision of Dash from the outside, and vice versa. But, Dash could still hear a Fang official's voice.

"Commander Umberon."

"Yup, that's me."

"We have received intel that significant progress is being made in repairing Vale's CCT tower. The crew working on it is supposedly close to a major breakthrough in restoring communications." Dash perked up at the mention of at the current state of his old home, but luckily it went unseen. “We need those comms to remain offline so we can continue to operate with less secrecy as we have been. We are sending Tango Squadron to make sure our great strides will not be halted, but they could use an extra bit of firepower. And since you are so familiar with Beacon Academy, the High Leader suggested you.”

“Tango Squadron, huh?” Sienna said before pausing to think. Not like she was pondering not doing it, it was just taking a moment for her buzzed mind to catch up with the rest of her. “Yeah, I’m in.” As she was being relayed all of the important mission details, most notably that this was happening tomorrow night, she nodded rakishly through it all. “Yeah, yeah, got it. And hey tell one of the grunts sitting on their asses to get me some more booze, would ya?” Dash couldn’t see the response, only the door shutting and Sienna spinning to face him once more with a smirk.

“Did you hear that? I get to visit our old stomping grounds! This should be fun! Oh and don’t worry,” she said while crouching next to Dash. She caressed then pinched Dash’s cheek with enough power in her semblance to cause a light sting. With his hands now free, he was able to swat at her arm and push it away. “I’ll be back for you much sooner than my last trip. Then we can continue our little conversation.”

[sir-adamus]

the volume 6 character short went out of its way to establish that Adam was already in his late teens or older (he has different outfits but the same base model throughout) even before he was directly working with the White Fang, including in scenes when Ghira was still leading the White Fang (so when Blake was ~12 or younger), and was propelled into a leadership position by Sienna after she became high leader (when Blake definitely was 12), which would again suggest he's old enough to take on that responsibility

so the entire time he knew Blake, there was a significant age gap where he was already an adult, and she was a teen throughout, as she left the WF when she was 16/17 (we're not given a clear indication how much time passed between Amber getting attacked, which coincided with the Black trailer, and when the first semester at Beacon started)

so while the show doesn't explicitly spell it out, it's very clear this was an adult taking advantage of a girl in her early teens - everything about Adam is fucking disgusting

[uncaught-coolfish]

Something about how, after Sienna calls him a hero for killing the supremacist & basically saving Ghira, we see probably the most interesting bit of emotion we’ve gotten (and will ever get) from Adam ever— his demeanor shifts instantly, from staring at the ground as he’s reprimanded to looking up and… looking quietly shocked. This small moment clearly indicates that, at least to interpretation, Sienna means something to Adam.

And it’s after this scene that we get Sienna and Ghira having a Trapped in the Drive-Thru moment, where as other WF members walk past, all facing the direction they’re walking, we get Ilia looking at something offscreen, likely Adam himself. This is the only possible time they’ll ever even notice each other in the whole show, outside of them fighting together in the same short, which they basically do separately. One who was able to hide her identity to pass by, the other whose very identity bound him to slavery. But both damaged by the same entity, the SDC, in different ways. “In all sorts of ways.” Still hate that fucking line but whatever. And in this shot she’s got that same expression he had moments prior—

quietly shocked.

[bestworstcase]

So, I recently read your post regarding the Adam short, the WF and Remnants broad sweep of treating children more like tiny adults ETC and found a lot of it deeply insightful and interesting!

However, I feel its worth noting that even before killing that guy Adam was already building a splinter cell/personality cult in Ghira's White Fang with Sienna no where in sight. One rooted in making Faunus resemble monsters to create terror.

Also the comics definitely make it clear Adam was specifically targeting and grooming Blake from day one I feel. Kali & Blakes interactions on that front were really good as well.

i haven’t read the comics myself so i don’t have an opinion on how they handle the characters or the specific dynamic between adam and blake.

wrt to adam and the grimm masks, though: while adam was definitely the one who started it, it’s shown to be something that was not a secret (except for ghira and sienna, all the WF characters are masked in the next scene) and it’s also strategically a good idea to hide your face while engaging in direct action. & the reasoning blake recounts to sun in V2 (“humans wanted to make monsters of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters”) is an echo of what oobleck says of the WF in v1 (that bigotry and persecution is what pushes people subjected to it to resort to violence).

the point of the grimm masks isn’t to cause terror but rather to demand attention and make a statement without sacrificing the anonymity that keeps the members of the white fang safe: it’s “if fighting back makes us monsters, then monsters we will be.”

(there are also perhaps deeper underlying cultural narratives about grimm and faunus being tapped into—“among beasts and monsters” and all, the dehumanization of faunus is intertwined with the cultural belief that grimm prey upon humans specifically with faunus being at best caught in the crossfires; so i’d argue the grimm masks are motivated in part by reclaiming that narrative and turning it into a weapon for the faunus)

all of which is especially salient to adam because a human literally branded his face. his choice to cover the scar with a grimm-like mask carries a lot of emotional weight; he is taking what humans did to him and turning it into a symbol of the faunus cause that will make it impossible for humans to look the other way—as humans no doubt looked the other way when he was attacked.

that’s why i think narratively it’s important that adam came up with the grimm masks before the turning point that incited his gradual corruption into someone driven by spite and hatred; ghira accepted the adoption of grimm masks by rank-and-file members because because they served the narrative and the strategic ends his white fang was trying to advance. it’s only after ghira leaves and adam increasingly loses that strategic focus and becomes consumed by spiteful vengeance that the red detailing begins to appear on the masks as a visual symbol for the corruption of his original purpose. bc there’s a difference between saying “if you’re going to treat me like a monster for defending myself, i will proudly continue to defend myself because you are wrong” and “anything i do to you is justified by what i suffered.” and adam’s arc is about the slow corruption of the first thing into the second.

[razorblade180]

Hot Take: If Adam's character wasn't so split between being a toxic lover and a spiteful extremist, but rather focused on one over the other, he'd be several degrees better as a character. Like imagine if in the final showdown with Blake, he said "I didn't pursue you in Forever Falls, I let you leave at the Fall of Beacon. You proceeded to meddle in all my plans afterwards and ruin them all. And for all your preaching about "letting go for my own sake" you seemed to be awful quick to mobilize Menagerie against me. So this time I'll make sure you won't be capable of meddling." rather than centering it on his desire to control her. Alternatively, make his entire arc be about wanting to seize control over her. When Blake describes him at first, have her specifically mention he always wanted control and just pretended to want equality. Give us scenes of him gazing at a picture of Blake, rather than that whole "What about her" when he was told she was at Beacon in V3. Hell make him that much more of a creep with her if his character's gonna be about his obsession to her - he controls a good chunk of the White Fang, have him send people to look for her rather than the plot where he kills off Sienna. He'd be more menacing if the WF Lieutenant mentions she's to be brought alive. If he ignores the students and Atlas Soldiers to search for Blake, and his appearance is him calling out to her rather than just kind of killing random people before she stops him, that'd get the "obsessive ex" angle much better off.

I do and also don’t agree. Personally I think they shouldn’t have made him a toxic ex or have a romantically implied relationship with Blake at all.

For starters, it doesn’t do anything when the point and conflict of Blake’s story was fighting racism. Second, Rooster Teeth never took the time to make a comprehensive timeline of when certain events happened and the ages of the characters; so it always going to be a recipe for disaster for fandom and perception unless has always been no more than a year older than Blake.

Part of what attracted me to RWBY in the beginning was how it felt like they took a few tropes and flipped it on its head enough to be different but address important messages. If they wanted to add themes of toxic relationships, domestic abuse, and important, Cinder’s treatment of Emerald was right there. Not to mention Willow and even Tai could’ve been used. Giving that situation to Adam and Blake just feels like a waste when there’s more compelling drama with a conflict of differing ideologies and perspectives.

[tsff21]

There are so many problems with the Faunus and WF arc that don’t revolve around Adam but everybody only focuses on gust but who was mostly handled fine

Although to be fair he was likely branded by an SDC worker so his actions aren’t “entirely” black and white, but that doesn’t mean he was in any way in the right.

Exactly! Like, the way Sienna Khan was treated was FAR worse, but all the critics focus on Adam for some damn reason

[sageywritings]

Down in the Second Period

Number 21 of the Devils, 5 minutes for fighting

Chapter 11 of my RWBY oc fic Flames of Change. Check out the pinned post for the full chapter list if you need to start from the beginning, and hope you wingers and web scrollers enjoy!

Auburn Vulpes belongs to me

Team JASR belong to @gruntnuker-rwby

Rin Aozora belongs to @solar-moon-byul

Shadow Stalvinge belongs to @shdwsprtn11

Riley sat in her locker with head down, focusing on twirling a puck between her fingers. The passing by of teammates discussing gameplans hardly fazed her. It was second intermission in front of a packed house tonight, even though a sizable chunk of the crowd were just looking for a brief escape from Vacuo's desert heat. Regardless, it made it all the more frustrating for the goaltender that with 20 minutes left to play her team was facing a 3-1 deficit. The offense was struggling to find a consistent rhythm, so she kicked herself a little harder for giving up a pair of goals she thought she should've easily had covered. But she'd never allow herself to be pulled out of the game. They'd have to rip her away from her position kicking and screaming.

“Hey goaltender.” The voice coming from the doorway that followed a knock Riley was too zoned in to hear brought her eyes upward for the first time in minutes. Sienna stood there, ears down a little. Her usual grin was present, but a bit more muted with a soft tenderness that replaced her loud brashness. Riley smiled back in turn, but it was fleeting.

“Hey she can't be in here! Team personnel only! We don't need distractions!” one of the team's defensemen Aurora growled at the fox-tailed punk. Sienna scowled and stuck out her tongue. Making sure to stare at Aurora the whole time she willfully ignored her, Sienna stepped inside and sat right next to Riley. The heat naturally radiating from Sienna made Riley want to curl up next to her like under the covers on the rare cold night, but she fought the urge.

“God is she always such a bitch?” Sienna asked, semi-hushed.

“She just wants us all to stay focused,” Riley answered in defense before finishing her thought in a mumble. “She and I both know I really need it right now.” Sienna frowned. She knew better than anyone how chill Riley was under pressure. Ice in the veins, especially when it was game time. But she could tell today was different. Riley was bothered, but she couldn’t figure out why. One of Sienna’s hands came to rest on Riley’s thigh, rubbing gentle circles on it.

“Hey, chin up. 3-1 is the worst lead in hockey, right? You got this. And if you don’t, then I’ll just fight the other goalie. If he tries to chirp you, I’ll just get him with a pipe wrench to the kneecap.” The casual madness brought a more long-lasting smile to Riley’s face, which in turn broadened Sienna’s own smile. It did way more to help than vague platitudes of optimism ever could. Just Sienna being Sienna. What could make her happier? She wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulders for a supportive side hug, and Riley nodded with renewed determination. “Whatever happens, Riley, you know we’re in it together.”

“Hey, sorry we’re late.”

Riley sat on a bench with head down, focusing on twirling a puck between her fingers. The passing by of teammates discussing gameplans hardly fazed her. It was just past dusk, but she could still feel herself being pelted by Vacuo’s desert heat. She paid it as much mind as she did with Auburn and Rin’s arrival. In fact, despite everyone’s wear, the only one who seemed to mind was the approaching husky faunus, slick with sweat after the run there with her jacket tied around her waist. Auburn waved a hand toward Riley’s face after her apology drew no reaction, but again the redhead sat silent. Jade filled the uncomfortable void from behind her.

“Glad you made it.” Amber accompanied her with a soft wave hello. While not as low as Riley, it was obvious neither of them were in top spirits either. They probably spent the past day racked with emotion, and none of them good. But it also appeared to make the three of them equally determined. Auburn gave a nod before turning to face a building across the street.

“This is the place?” she said. The building she eyed was a small and unassuming brick fixture. Nothing about it from the outside screamed it was run by the so-called “force of revolution” White Fang. Though that was probably by design. But, Auburn's dad was sure it was the place, and she knew better than to doubt him. “So what's the plan? We just head in there and bust some asses till someone gives us something useful?” Her right fist met her left palm as she went on.

“Is everything just a bar fight to you? Not only are you gonna ruin an actual soup kitchen, but you're also gonna throw us in a situation where we don't know what to expect,” Riley finally spoke, doing very little to conceal her irritation. Jade placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her, even though she was just as displeased with Auburn's “plan”.

“Hasn't stopped us before,” Auburn mumbled under her breath with a shrug. Riley shook her head before looking up and meeting the green eyes of her team leader.

“What's the plan?” she asked her. Jade recoiled her hand back in surprise. She was always surprised when they asked her, like it was still a shock she was an actual team leader. Despite internally wondering if she should ask someone else, her team always looked to her and trusted her to lead nevertheless. 

“The White Fang have these kitchens all over Remnant. It was an initiative the Belladonnas pushed for during the previous regime. I remember there being one in Vale where I grew up. While it was primarily for faunus, they'd give a human a free meal too if they looked down on their luck enough.” She rubbed down the back of her neck until her fingers curled around the ends of her hair. Amber reached a hand out to her, but quickly drew it back when she continued. “Now I doubt they'd be so tolerant. Only a faunus is gonna be our ticket inside.”

“Problem with that,” Rin interjected. “Auburn and I just fought with some Fang guys. What if we get recognized?”

“Not to mention everyone on these streets is gonna know my face by now. It'd look suspect if I just strolled in asking for food,” Auburn added. She was right. With how notorious the leader of the Leash was, no Fang mask could hide her from the dusty, maze-like streets of her hometown. Before Jade’s brainstorming could go far though, someone crashing into her from behind nearly took her off her feet. A scaled reptilian faunus trucked through her before turning back with a scowl like it was her fault. While he was in normal street clothing, the hoodie marked with the red claw marks of the White Fang insignia made it clear who he was with. No mask required.

“Ugh move it stupid human! I’m already late enough!” he said nastily, only slowing down just enough to scold Jade. Auburn’s crimson eyes flared with the trademark rage that usually came before a quick and decisive combination of punches. But before she could pick her fight, Jade acted first. Her face didn’t express anger; it expressed the light bulb above her head going off. In a flash, she drew her weapon: two bladed pistols bound together by chain. She wrapped the chain around the mouthy faunus’ throat, effectively clotheslining him onto the dirt below. Jade followed up with a blow to the temple to render him unconscious, all before the other four girls could even question what she was thinking.

“Help me with this,” Jade said, strained as she began to try and drag the man’s body into a more secluded alleyway. Riley was first to snap out of the stupor and spring up to help her. Rin looked around in hopes they weren’t attracting too much unwanted attention. Not that most Vacuoan citizens cared enough to rat them out to someone that was supposed to stop them. Meanwhile, Auburn was just jealous Jade stole her KO. Once out of sight, Jade fished around through his hoodie pocket and found the missing piece to his ensemble - his Fang mask. The man probably wished he was wearing it. At least it’d cover the nasty bruise under one of his shut eyes. Jade held up the mask to her friends. “I think we just found our ticket inside. The girls then understood. Handing it over to Amber, she then started pulling the hoodie off of him with Riley’s assistance, all while Rin and Auburn stood guard.

“We’ll make sure to keep an eye on you while you’re in there,” she told Rin.

“Wait what? Me?? Why am I the one going in there? You’re the one always showing off how well you know Vacuo,” Rin said, flabbergasted.

“Yeah that’s the problem. Like I said, this whole kingdom is gonna recognize me, and they know I’m not gonna go anywhere near a Fang establishment. Besides you’ve been here long enough. You got this.” But before she could offer any more objection, Riley threw the hoodie at the husky girl. In her mind, they had already wasted enough time. She unfurled it so the Fang emblem across the chest was glaring back at her. Even as just a disguise, it felt… wrong. It felt like something she was grateful Shiina and Hikari weren’t here to see. But, she dismissed those thoughts and put it on, covering up the chain L logo of the Leash  on her tank top. She grimaced slightly at that awful heat. How could the others be so used to this weather they can wear leather jackets or hockey jerseys? Then, Amber outstretched a gloved hand and gave her the mask. It was nothing more than a monotone standard grunt mask, but now it was outfitted with a radio piece Amber had retrieved from her backpack.

“Damn, you did that really fast. You must be a tech wiz. I gotta call you next time I’m having computer problems,” Rin said with a soft smile. Her cadence was rocked with nerves she was trying to play off. If anything, the compliment and attempt at humor was to ease her own tension more than anything. But it backfired when all it drew was a shy nod from Amber. Again, Rin couldn’t figure out this girl’s deal.

“Let's go,” Riley said to get them back on track. Rin slid the mask on and tried to readjust her vision through only the tiny slits it provided. With one last pat on the back from Auburn - one Rin didn't see coming - she unsteadily made her way down the alley toward the back entrance of the kitchen. After struggling to find the handle, she let herself inside. Hopefully there would be an actual Fang agent back here where she could get some answers from. So long as she didn't fall on her face in front of them. Outside, Amber tapped her scroll a few times and synced up to the radio she gave Rin.

“Hey Snowdog, ya got me?” Auburn asked into the phone.

“How the hell do they see out of these things?!” Rin came back in a vexed whisper. All she could do was carefully stagger down the hallway toward a faint commotion. It grew louder and louder until upon opening the next door, then the noise blasted her in the face. A cacophony of shuffling plates and volunteers barking for what food needs to be made next. Rin scanned around, overwhelmed without the slightest clue of where to go or who to go to. That was until a panther faunus that was doing most of the directing pointed Rin out.

“You're late!” she said. It took Rin too long of a pause to register she was talking to her not to be awkward. She was just praying she wasn't in trouble after ten seconds of being there.

“Um y-yeah, sorry. Got caught up in a… sandstorm.”

“Doesn't matter, you're here now, we're down on workers and need you serving. And ditch the mask while you're inside,” the panther replied, practically pushing Rin along. Between not listening to her excuse and being allowed to stuff the mask away into her pocket, Rin was at least a little relieved. She was brought behind the counter, behind several different serving options. Spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken noodle soup, bread rolls, a plate of brownies for dessert. She didn't have long to get situated, however, before her first patron greeted her with a soft “how do you do, sweetie?” She was a short, elderly badger faunus whose white hair and face weathered with wrinkles told she had been through hard times. But, her smile was a genuineness Rin had hardly seen before. She reminded Rin of a grandparent who always looked forward to sharing stories of an exciting long time ago to the grandkids. Rin smiled back before filling her outstretched bowl with soup.

“Thank you so much, my dear. I don't know what I would do without you guys’ efforts here,” she said.

“Hey. It's like I always say. Us faunus gotta stick together,” Rin said. It was something she had said plenty of times in her life, but they lacked her usual gung-ho vigor. It just didn't feel right. It didn't make sense. To be wearing this hoodie, to have this mask, and see not shock or horror or outrage, but gratitude. And as she served more people, that continued. Endless gratitude. Full hearts to go along with full bellies. People giving thanks amidst endless swearing that “the scumbag rich in that floating city would never do this” and that’s what it makes it special. Rin couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, no matter how sick or twisted it could be when viewed under certain lights. She was doing something right, but for the wrong team. Eventually, the dinner rush died down and that same panther dismissed Rin and the other workers so they could get plates of their own. While scanning for a place to sit, a ram-horned woman in the same hoodie Rin was in tapped her on the shoulder. She had been working next to Rin all night, but it was the first time she spoke to her.

“You seem lost. Come sit with me and a couple friends.” Rin nodded and followed the girl, whose striking blue curls made her easy to spot. They ended up next to a pair of faunus clad in Fang garb of their own. There was a girl with panda ears chatting away with a silver-haired man with a goat tail, along with a couple patrons that blew in from the street next to them.

“Ooooooh I haven’t seen you before. You must be new,” the panda faunus leered at Rin, who barely had the chance to set her tray down.

“Um yeah. I just signed up a week or two ago now,” Rin said, trying to play natural.

“We’ve been getting a lot of new faces around here lately,” the goat faunus said. “Seems like the recent publicity spike is inspiring the next generation. That Ospreay raid was a hit.” Rin fidgeted in her chair a little. The thought of people being “inspired” by such headlines wasn’t one that sat easy with her. At least it took the focus off of her, and meant she could dodge questions for at least a few more moments. She knew she was here for info, and now was her chance.

“What did you all think about that raid?” When no one immediately responded, Rin’s ears shot straight up. Did she mess up already? “I-I mean, you’re right it’s what got me to join. Seeing the Fang do that, that was just something else, man.” The Fang trio exchanged glances before each of them had a smirk grow on their faces until the point of laughter. It sounded triumphant, well-pleased, much more so than the shaky chuckle Rin mustered up to join in.

“Those capitalist bastards finally, finally got a taste of what they deserve,” the goat said, reclining away from his almost empty food tray.

“So many faunus have suffered just in the name of making their bottom line a few pennies bigger,” the ram spoke next, her tone carrying a more solemn weight to it. “So many lives destroyed, condemned to the lowest rungs of the ladder.

“A friend of mine worked in one of Ospreay’s factories as a kid, like age 9 or 10. She lost both her parents in an explosion there, and it caused her to get dust particles infused in her eye. She’s blind in that eye now. Know what the supervisors told her? Get back to work, you’re wasting company time.” Rin couldn’t find anything to say. Nothing she could say could make it any less appalling. Nothing could justify it, not to her, and even heartbreakingly less so for the four girls listening from outside. They all sat in uncomfortable silence. Jade pulled her hood over her head. Amber looked like she wanted to plug her ears. But no one was it feeling it worse than Auburn. The empire her team leader was set to inherit, the one he spent most of their time at Beacon flaunting. It was no secret this is what it was built on. It led to many fights between herself and Dash, shouting matches their neighbors JASR could attest to. But despite Dash’s seemingly endless shtick of playing the victim, despite all the yelling at his stubborn brick head, she kept coming back to that phone conversation at Amity. Him standing up to his father for her.

“Personally, I think they shoulda killed Tone’s brats already. I don’t get this whole ransom play. The only way they’ll understand us is through fear. Eye for an eye,” the goat said resentfully. Auburn stared at Amber’s scroll like she was ready to smash it. She marched forward, ready to vent into it loud enough for everyone to hear through Rin’s earpiece. But thinking quickly, Jade clasped a hand over her mouth.

“So they’re still alive. Alright,” said Rin. Auburn pulled Jade off of her and, after a staredown, her shoulders relaxed. She was happy to hear they were alive. Jade was happy Auburn kept her mouth shut. The next few minutes passed uneventfully, just casual back and forth among friends that Rin couldn't add anything of substance to. She was too deep into reflection of what they said about Atlas’ cruelty anyways, right up until they began rising from their chairs. It was nearing closing time, and most of the cleanup was done.

“So new girl. If you don't have any plans, you're welcome to come with us. We're heading to the Estates to watch the Underground fights tonight,” the ram offered. Rin froze as she stalled in search for an answer from the whispering voices secretly in her ear.

“What's that?” Amber said.

“A fight club that goes on at the Sunshine Estates every week. Bounced around in ownership a bit recently but still always a reliable show. Or a way to make cash, if you can win,” Auburn said. None of them needed to question how she knew all this.

“I don't know, guys. Maybe we should call her back. The longer she's there the more likely she gets figured out,” Jade stated.

“No! She's hardly learned anything yet! We need to see if we can get any lead on Sienna,” Riley retorted in defiance to her leader.

“Uh hey. You in or what?” the ram asked again.

“Uhhhhhh yeahhhh. Yeah I'm in.” After a moment of just stammering, Rin took it upon herself to make the judgment call. She wasn't too worried about being caught. But she couldn't shake a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind Jade had a point. Despite that, the crew was on their way to the Estates, excitedly led by the panda faunus. Rin brought up the rear. Meanwhile, Amber and the others were being confronted by the soft but growing hum of static.

“Guys, this radio isn't built for long distances. I didn't expect her to be moving,” Amber said. Auburn motioned for them all to follow as she assuredly started leading her own trek. They followed behind the Fang pack by about a block, keeping their distance but still close enough to see Rin lagging behind. She was trying to find an opportunity to radio back to them, but there was no way to do it inconspicuously.

“We need more. Get anything you can, please,” Riley pressed despite the husky's attempts at contact. Her ears lowered, though they snapped back up when the ram girl slowed up to wait for her. She wrapped an arm around her to bring her forward, questioning what was on her mind.

“Sorry, I just… can’t get what you guys said at dinner out of my head. All the crap about the Ospreays. I gotta know, since that’s why I’m here, how do I get missions like that?”

“Pay your dues, work your way up, and show undying devotion, and trust me you’ll get noticed,” the ram smiled at Rin’s eagerness. “Besides that, I really don’t know specifics. The big missions like that are kept completely under wraps. Those probably never leave Mistral HQ. But I did hear a rumor that the person who led that mission is from Vacuo. Granted, I also head they were picked because they knew an Ospreay, but still means there’s hope for you.” Riley deflated, to the point where she almost slowed to a stop. Jade had to make sure she kept walking. Her mind raced too much to focus on keeping her legs moving.

“Could that be… Sienna? No, there’s no way. The Sienna I know wouldn’t do that. She might not have liked Dash, but… No, it has to be someone else.” Jade swallowed hard, while Amber kept herself glued to the screen. It unfortunately lined up with what Auburn had told them. Even more unfortunately, they never had the chance to share that news with Riley. Even if they wanted to, after last night, how could they tell her that? A short jaunt later, they arrived at the former gated community the Sunshine Estates. Inside the small checkpoint building at the entrance was a lone guard, the last one of his kind appointed by Vacuo public officials to keep loiterers and trespassers out. Those same officials, however, had very little power to stop his pockets from getting fatter from all the bribes he was accepting. The truth was every crew in the city had him under their payroll, and that included the White Fang. They passed by, only receiving a downward head nod for their troubles. Then, it was the girls’ turn, with Auburn still leading. The man stood up from his post and directly in the middle of the path inside.

“Auburn,” he spoke directly with a gravelly voice. Auburn smirked, her tail swishing. She seemed entertained more than anything by his attempt at intimidation. His size difference to the average person would have most thinking twice. But Auburn wasn’t most.

“Heya, Blaze. Glad to see the new owners kept you around. How’s the bank account looking these days?” The guard gave a small nod in acknowledgement that business was good, but he didn’t budge. “Look, I already got a date here to see the fights, but if you wanted to join, you just had to ask.” She pointed to Riley on her right at the word “date”, drawing an eye roll from the hockey star turned huntress.

“You know the drill. No weapons,” he said firmly. Riley stepped forward, almost instinctively squaring up to push her way through. She was already tired of wasting time they didn’t have. Auburn’s hand meeting her chest stopped her. “Hm. I see why you picked her as a date.”

“What can I say, she has a thing for abrasive fox faunus. So, this ‘no weapons’ thing. You told the same thing to your Fang buddies up there?” The man kept his ground and gave no answer. Auburn did the same. No one moved a muscle, apart from slight trembling from Amber. Leaning over slightly, she could see the submachine gun he always kept stashed under the desk of his office. With a sigh, she yielded and withdrew a stack of lien from her jacket, the same lien she had won from pool earlier in the day. This finally granted them access to join the growing audience.

Between two of the buildings led them to a packed courtyard. It once housed a playground and blacktop basketball court in view from plenty of rooms from their balconies to watch their children as they played. But today, it held a makeshift ring encased by a sea of rowdier growing spectators, and those same balconies served as viewing platforms for tonight’s main event. A lot of them of the ones watching from above were doing so behind White Fang masks, here to support one of their own. Auburn stretched to her tippy toes to look over the heads in the crowd, first spotting a wolverine clawed faunus in a specialized Fang mask of his own. In the other corner sat a familiar eagle faunus; Shadow was staring bullet holes into his opponent. Auburn figured he needed to make up for his losses. She found no sign of Rin though. Meanwhile, Amber had ducked away under a balcony along a graffiti coated wall.

“It’s too loud, I can hardly hear!” she shouted to the rest of her party. As if on cue, the problem got worse as chants of “Kick his ass!” broke out after ring introductions ended and the fight got under way.

“I lost her. Anybody know where she is?” Auburn said. Riley, using her height to her advantage, tapped her and pointed to the other side of the crowd, . They saw Rin, too busy taking in her first experience to do any investigating. She watched as Shadow ate a punch to the cheek before firing back a retaliatory shot. After a moment of playing with settings, Amber got the audio to come in a bit clearer, though it was still a struggle to put the noise aside.

“There's so many people! Are these fights always this packed?” Rin said.

“No, it seems like every crew in Vacuo is here tonight,” the ram said back before hollering in response to a vicious looking left jab from the dark-haired eagle faunus.

“What do we think of these other crews? Are they cool or?” Rin asked again.

“Depends on if they're smart enough to realize the White Fang is out of their league and stay out of our way,” the goat faunus said from behind them. “Some are, but then you get the few that wanna play big shot. Like the Leash.” Rin went rigid. She tugged on the bottom of her hoodie a little, just to make sure the Leash shirt underneath stayed hidden. “I swear the chick that runs them is dumb as hell. Likes to think she runs this city. She beat the shit out of me cause I was wearing Fang colors in her daddy's little bar. I'd love to kick that bitch's ass back to that excuse of a huntsman school she went to.” He had hardly finished what he was saying before Auburn started pushing her way through the crowd. Her blood was scalding hot. Amber tried to call out to her, but she either couldn’t hear or didn’t want to hear. All she saw was red.

“Auburn! Uhm guys?!” Jade and Riley, who had their backs to them to watch the fight, both spun around and instantly noticed the missing fox. Riley cursed loudly and started trying to chase her down. But it was in vain with how much of a head start Auburn got. The goat faunus felt a tap on the back. He turned around. Directly into a teeth rattling uppercut from Auburn that sent him flying into the rest of the Fang, Rin included. It also had the side effect of grabbing the attention of the section of people around them. And the attention of some of the Fang-affiliated onlookers above.

“You lookin’ for me? You wanna talk shit? Well here I am,” Auburn yelled.

“Auburn?!” Rin said impulsively before catching herself. Her tail tucked between her legs. Oh shit…

“Where the hell did you come from?!” the goat said, holding his jaw on unsteady footing. “How did you- wait, you know her??” He, the ram, and the panda, who were all squaring up ro defend themselves, all turned around to face Rin. Rin backed up protectively until her back bumped into someone else in the crowd. Rin shot a look for Auburn’s way hoping she had some kind of a plan of attack. No escaping now. The Fang member looking down from behind her had no intention of letting get that far as he drew his rifle and aimed down sights at the back if Auburn’s head. Jade and Riley saw this too. Jade drew her pistols, but had no clear shot. So instead, Riley took a puck from her pocket that was glowing red in the center. Pulling out her stick, she lined up her shot like it was a goal before tossing it to herself and smacking it at the bottom of the balcony. If the iconic sound of stick meeting puck didn’t alert everyone, the resulting explosion destroying the balcony sure did. Everyone turned around and collectively gasped.

“Thats the plan. Fuck it, bar fight!” Auburn called to Rin. Confusion reigned for a moment before panic set in. Some blitzed for the exits. Others began fighting amongst themselves. It was a full brawl, with Auburn at the center of it. The panda girl growled and brought out a collapsable bamboo styled bo staff, pointing it right at Rin’s throat. Rin flicked her wrists, snapping her arm blades out as she stood side by side with her Leash sister. The goat angrily charged Auburn with a few sloppy haymakers. She easily dodged and shoved him into another brawler, who turned around and decked the haphazard goat back toward Auburn. Drawing her new chain, she wrapped it around his wrist and used that momentum against him by kicking him away in the back.

The ram faunus paired off with Rin, unable to put her visibly distraught feelings into any words when she clashed with Rin’s blades. So she instead made her emotions clear with a hard headbutt to Rin, causing her to stumble back to. Back to a pole that once held a basketball hoop, Rin’s eyes widened before barely sidestepping a punch aimed at her nose. The ram’s knuckles met unforgiving steel, allowing Rin to kick her aside for the moment. Two more onrushing Fang members armed with swords were coming at her next, so she decided it was time to try out her upgrade. Her blades detached into two boomerangs. She threw them at the two assailants, with the left one sweeping one guy’s legs, while the right one initially missed only to nail the other guy in the back of the head on its return course. Rin caught them and they locked back onto her arms.

“Ditched the crossbow?” Auburn called out.

“I wanted to leave the sniping to… someone else,” she said. The panda faunus came at them with a war cry but Riley intercepted her, hooking the blade of her scythe on her staff. Auburn could feel the frost from the cold shoulder and supplementing unfriendly glare. Auburn wrinkled her nose a little, before a kick to the gut put her on her back. The wolverine faunus that was once one half of the show’s main event had climbed out of the ring to aid his Fang brethren. He had been trying to keep one eye on his opponent, but Shadow had mysteriously disappeared, faded from his peripheral vision into a dark corner. However, as the wolverine tried to stand over Auburn, Shadow materialized from the unlit shade along the building and cinched in a tight sleeper hold. As Auburn dusted herself off and got to her feet, the two exchanged a nod before she left Shadow to collect his winnings. Meanwhile, Jade was trying to keep the marksmen up top busy by firing pot shots at them. But, she saw two more on the ground charging toward Amber.

“Amber! Agh!” She groaned as a bullet struck her in the shoulder, her aura flickering green around her body, absorbing most of the blow. Amber froze in the middle of scrambling to pull something out of her bag. Right as the two goons got close, she brandished a handful of knives between her fingers. She yelped and chucked them at the attackers, but they all missed. They laughed in Amber’s face before one of them backhanded her, dropping her to her hands and knees. They taunted over her, until she raised a gloved hand that began to glow with orange circuitry-like webbing, and the knives retracted back to her, striking the goons in the back like hail.

The ram honed in on Rin again, but this time Auburn stepped in. Suddenly her chain split in two, each half locking onto a metal bracer on her fists. One hand wrapped its chain around the ram’s horn. She widened her stance and held serve, so Auburn used it as leverage to propel herself to her, nailing her with a superman-esque punch. The goat and the panda, now reunited, tried to coordinate a combined attack that would isolate Auburn. Riley knelt down, though, and activated her semblance. With a wave of her hand, the ground they ran on suddenly became a 20 foot long sheet of ice. As they slipped in place, concentrating all their effort in just staying upright, Riley deployed skates from her boots. With no grip, neither of them stood a chance. Slash after slash, she dashed back and forth like it was a practice drill, unleashing more punishment with every swing of her scythe. With both down for the count, Riley skated over to the goat. She towered over him with a terrifying glare.

“I’m done with games tonight. If you don’t recognize the name Sienna Umberon then you better point me to someone who does,” she bellowed. The pained goat faunus tried to a menacing scowl, but it fell flat. He tried to frantically move away, but the ice just kept him slipping in place.

“Wh-who?” was all he could croak out in genuine bewilderment. Riley lifted her skate so the blade was lined up right between his widened eyes. His thrashing intensified, but he still couldn’t get away. Auburn and Rin looked equally shocked.

“Hey whoa!”

“Riley!”

SLAM! She brought the skate down. After a moment of expecting to see the heavenly glow of the pearly gates, the goat opened his eyes to see her foot a mere few inches from his left ear. Riley turned and glared again at Auburn specifically, before a swift kick to the side of the head knocked the White Fang member out cold. She knelt down and started rummaging through his pockets, drawing confused glances from the rest of her team looking on. After grabbing his phone, she walked away and past Auburn. Again, the shoulder made Atlas feel like the desert.

“Did you really think I was gonna kill him?” she said icily. When Amber approached, she handed her the phone so she could store it away in her backpack. “Now let’s go. We need to get out of here.” The sirens they could hear advancing only served to prove Riley more correct. All the girls broke into a full sprint. Out the courtyard, out the Estates, past the armed guard who was too busy preparing for his own police troubles to care about them. Using Auburn’s extensive knowledge of the city’s layout, they kept to the back streets, making sure to steer clear of any main roads. Their pace did not waver all the way to a hideout Auburn knew would be empty and secure enough to lay low for a bit. They barely made it in the door before the toll of the run caught up with them. Amber was bent over, huffing heavily. Jade was still holding her shoulder where she got shot. Rin stripped off the hoodie and threw it at the wall in disgust before laying on the ground.

“Well. Coulda gone worse,” Auburn said, still somewhat chipper. Riley, still using her stick to steady herself as she caught her breath, slowly, frightening slowly, brought her eyes up so Auburn couldn’t deny the seething frozen fury in them. Auburn’s head tilted slightly.

“That’s all you have to say? ‘Coulda gone worse?’ Tonight was a disaster! We didn’t even learn anything about Sienna yet!” Riley said with an unnerving amount of rising anger.

“Eh we weren’t getting anything else from those foot soldiers anyways.”

“So that just means blow our cover? All you wanted to do since the night started was pick a fight. You were itching to do it, and it’s the only reason you thought tonight went ok. Cause you got what you wanted!”

“That’s not true!” Auburn fired back, showing her teeth. “I learned my team leader is still alive, and probably in Mistral.”

“A massive continent half the world away. Good job, Auburn, you sure found him.”

“What the fuck is your deal? We got what we could tonight.” By this point, the two had inched closer and closer so they were in each other’s faces. Jade tried to squeeze between them with her shoulder, focusing on keeping Riley back. But Auburn wanted none of it. “Nah Jade if she wants to keep acting stupid then let her find out what happens.”

“You really think I’m supposed to be calm about this? I haven’t seen the woman I love in months. I didn’t even know if she was alive! Now that I know she is, why should I stop? You just think I have to always be the calm one because I’m not as ‘chaotic’ as her.”

“Well you weren’t dumb enough to join the White Fang so.” Riley immediately slammed Auburn with a right hook to the chin. It was fueled by rage-driven instinct, one she had broken out a few times before when she was prepared to visit the penalty box. Jade jumped in further, as did Rin, who sprung up and hooked Auburn’s arms to prevent her from fighting back. She was too stunned to do so yet, but Rin knew it was coming.

“Why aren’t you more worried about her?! You two were best friends at Beacon! You were closer to her than you were to Dash, but now he’s your only concern? I heard all the arguments you two had at school, but now you’re all buddy-buddy with him? He’s been missing for weeks, but now you decided you’re motivated enough to do something about it?”

“We fought together. He stood up for me. And he didn’t abandon us!” Auburn’s voice was a nasty growl, as she still held her bottom jaw.

“He finally got you to believe his victim playing routine?”

“You saying he deserves this?!”

“No!” Riley snapped before pausing. She came down a little, the adrenaline subsiding momentarily with a deep breath. “I’m not. But don’t act like he’s our only priority.”

“Like you’re not doing it with Sienna? Sorry I have more sympathy for the kidnapping victim than the woman who carried it out herself!” She shook her head and looked away in refusal. She thought Auburn was just trying to provoke her more. Half her mind wanted to shove Jade aside and hit her again for saying such a thing. “I heard it straight from Sienna’s mouth. Just ask Jade and Amber.”

“Enough!” Jade screamed, her voice rippling. The argument finally ground to a halt, at least for the present second. She sighed. “Okay look, we’re all tired, and we’re all missing people. Why don’t we just rest so cooler heads can prevail tomorrow.”

“You’re right. But Auburn’s right too,” Rin spoke up.. “That’s not an excuse to let our emotions get the best of us. Like you said, we’re all missing people.”

“Amber’s been missing Sol for all this time, you don’t see her fuckin’ going on a rampage about it!” Auburn said.

“That hasn’t stopped me from trying though.” Amber’s voice was still soft, and her body language was reserved. Her eyes were cast downward. “Every day I work to get comms fixed again just so I can see his face. It’s selfish, but I’m doing it cause I miss him. I love him…” She was desperately trying not to cry at this point. “He made me feel like I didn’t need to be so shy at the world. But so does JASR. Sienna is a big part of that. She thought she could face anything, so when I was with her I thought I could too.”

“When I came to Beacon,” Jade stepped in to alleviate some of the pressure off of Amber’s shoulders, “all I had was my weapon and the clothes on my back. I didn’t know anyone, so when I got picked to lead a team, and that team put their confidence in me, I swore to give them my everything. Cause they were all I had.” She stopped as if to correct herself. “My friends are all I have. And that does include Dash. I stood up for him, I thought there was good deep down in him, and I still do. I want them both back.”

“See though, you can have these feeling and not be a cheap shotting bitch about it,” Auburn reiterated, never breaking eye contact with Riley.

“There you go just assuming I’m always the chill one. You realize I was always by her side right? I loved her fun mischief because it made Sienna Sienna. I never stopped her,” Riley said, calmer than before, but not by much.

“If you did maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!” The silence that followed Auburn was as deafening as a grenade. They could hear a pin drop. Everyone in the room turned to Riley, but she met none of them. Her head fell downward, her face now hidden to Auburn under her jewel-toned hair. Her fists were clenched to the point where her knuckles changed colors.

“So it’s my fault…”

“Riley you know I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just-”. Riley didn’t think she deserved the luxury of being heard out. She had decided whatever Vacuo police presence was outside was more favorable than being here any longer. She stormed out the door without another word. Amber looked back just enough to see the crestfallen tears on her cheeks before she rushed after her teammate. Lastly, Jade’s eyes pierced the fox faunus harder than bullets from her pistols before making her exit. Rin turned to Auburn. She wanted to ask Auburn if they should go after them. She wanted to hug Auburn or pat her back or tell her to lie down. But she knew Auburn wouldn’t accept any of the above. So, she stood there, statuesque, left alone to wonder where their friend group from Beacon, the same one that thought they could take on the world and all the grimm in it, fell apart so badly.

[asm5129]

Like, we literally see ghira getting mad at Adam for fighting when their convoy was attacked.

And he gets to be placed in charge again with nothing to suggest he’s changed his methods.

So yes, I hope we see what’s changed soon in v10 or something. I agree that it would have been better if they left us with knowledge of tangible change in the white fang. Personally I would have established Ilia as his right hand lieutenant, I think that would have gone a long way towards indicating a more united and nuanced approach.

HOWEVER. RWBY pretty thoroughly explored that Ghira’s former strategy was a failure, including highlighting way back in v1 that Sienna’s approach was getting Faunus more rights despite it causing a lot more fear than was maybe ideal.

Not to mention Ghira is going to have to contend with leading former followers of Adam and Sienna and integrating them into the reclaimed WF, and they won’t settle for his old strategy.

My point is—technically you’re right. But with a lot of this context, the idea that the goal with the new white fang would be to go back to Ghira’s old strategy just doesn’t seem likely to me.

[dragynkeep]

What bothers me especially in that scene is that Adam is clearly upset he had to resort to killing someone in self defense. But that’s just glossed over! Like??? You have this dude who is the victim of slavery and hate crime, who didn’t WANT to kill but had to inorder to protect his friends/family.

Like? RT don’t be fucking brain dead challenge: impossible

like the expressions on the show are dogshit anyways but this does not look like someone who's happy to have killed someone. he looks worse when ghira starts admonishing him for not just standing there to be shot at like his loser ass & it's only when sienna & the other wf members are congratulating him that adam looks shocked.

no part of him took joy in this except for when he started fighting back & was handling things nonlethally. he shoulda just let ghira die for real, would've saved me a headache when watching v4&5 tbh.

[citadelofmythoughts]

You'd think that for all of their complaining about how badly Sienna got shunted aside, that there'd be more people willing to give her fan content and animations instead of constantly giving focus on Adam.

The general lack of it really makes it seem like they only cared about the "racist" aspect as a gotcha rather than an actual thing that they would at least try to fix or something.

(Note, this doesn't mean that there wasn't issues with the WF; it's just noting that there's a lot of hot air blown about it, but shockingly very little actually done about it.)

I'm not gonna say the WF arc was perfect but I don't think it was as bad as certain people make it out to be,

I feel like about the only time it gets trotted out is when it's time to crap on Blake.

[lunatriense]

This, but also you have to ask yourself, why did the SDC have a branding iron in our around a dust mine? Dust is famously explosive. The SDC doesn't use livestock (and have no reason to, considering that vehicles would be far cheaper, especially when they supply their own fuel). We've seen the crates they use, which appear to be metal (and thus unbrandable) and even if they were using wood or plastic or whatever, paint would be far safer (not too the employees, who they couldn't give a fraction of a shit about, but for the mine itself that they presumably don't want to explode).

There's literally only 1 (one) reason for the SDC to have a branding iron on site: branding slaves. Even if they're was another reason, the only way Adam could've been branded that way, with clear lines on a curved surface, is if he was very securely held — whether by several people, strapped to something, or whatever — otherwise it would be extremely messy.

thinking about the points ilia brought up, the fucked up-ness of adam's brand, and how seemingly ineffective the white fang was at the time in terms of helping the faunus around the world—or, at least in atlas / mantle:

"where was their help when the dust companies treated our people like slaves?! where was their help when kingdoms hunted faunus just for being who they are?! where was my help when my parents were killed in a dust mine?!"

if ilia, whose parents wanted better for her and managed to get her into an atlas prep school, who could pass as a human as long as she didn't change colors ( i.e. suppressed her faunus trait ), didn't get any help ( from the white fang, at least, which would have been under ghira's leadership at the time ) after her parents' deaths, then 1. what the fuck, and 2. what chance did adam have?

he was a child slave branded on his face. hiding his faunus trait would have already been fairly difficult, hiding his scarred face without drawing any attention to it after he managed to escape even more so.

who would even risk helping him? if what ilia said was correct, faunus were still hunted by the kingdoms just for who they were while the white fang already existed; now add the fact that the faunus who's being hunted down is a runaway child slave with a brand on his face—i.e. someone easily recognizable by anyone, good luck hiding him—, and the chances of anyone taking a risk of helping him and putting themselves in the line of fire is pretty darn low. a few brave faunus might ( and i wouldn't fault the already discriminated for not doing so when the possibility of being hunted down for just existing is there ), but humans certainly would not have; just look at cinder, a human child slave—no one was rushing to help her so there's no chance in hell that anyone was jumping to help adam.

all it would take is one wrong person seeing adam and his brand, even just suspect that he's hiding it underneath any cover he might have worn at the time, and that person calling it in to some authority, and oop. the gig is up, and now anyone caught helping him is in hot water, too.

with one single brand, adam could have very easily been ostracized by everyone, so it's no wonder he kept it hidden.