PART I

Chapter 1: Discovered Attack

It was a dead night in Atlas. Snow was falling, the glittering city in the valley permeating the surrounding tundra, blinding the stars from the sky. The moon peeked through the sporadic gaps in the clouds of smoke.

It was disgusting to look at. The smoke billowed from the factories and mines in the distance. There were probably dozens of Faunus in those factories and mines, working their lives away for far less Lien than Humans. How could they not see? How could all of those Atlesian Humans ignore the pain and sorrow they caused?

Blake Belladonna's mask covered her fiery glare as she looked down at the city from atop the mountain. The darkness surrounded her, her black stealth uniform blending with the dark. Her mask was black, diagonal purple stripes slashed across it. Behind her stood four other White Fang members, wearing matching stealth uniforms and similar black masks.

Blake turned to face them, the Shattered Moon behind her. "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang. This is our most important mission ever." She looked over her four followers. "By following me to the city, you accept the risks. You may be captured, injured, or even killed, but if we are successful, the world will understand our true power." She looked to the left three members of the group, the first two being wolf Faunus and the third, a fox Faunus. "Brother Eikel, Brother Trisk, Sister Mira, you are to reach the catch point we discussed and wait for our arrival with the target." Blake then turned to the girl on her right. "Sister Ilia, you're with me."

The chameleon Faunus nodded. "Captain, if I may, I learned of the security measures at this event with my reconnaissance earlier tonight."

"Tell me more on the way," Blake told her. "Let's get moving." She nodded to the group, and the Catch Team went on their way, traversing their way down the mountain parallel to the city edge. Meanwhile, Blake and Ilia made their way down the mountain towards the city.

"Each entrance is heavily guarded," Ilia began explaining to Blake as they hurried down the snowy mountainside. "There is a door on the roof leading to the staircase. There is no security there whatsoever, but the building is the tallest in the area, so reaching the roof won't be easy."

"That's obviously our best option," Blake told her. "Where can we find the target?"

"The dinner is on the ground floor. That's where we'll find her. It will be crowded, but the ballroom has many alcoves and windows."

"So we make our move when she is out of the way and near a window," Blake summarized.

"Yes, Captain." Ilia nodded. "She will not be armed, but neither are we, so we need to watch out for her Glyph abilities."

"We'll hit her immediately," Blake suggested, pointing to her wrist band. "I'll use my Sleep Shot on her and knock her out."

Ilia smirked. "You always have an answer, Blake."

Blake chuckled. "That's 'Captain' to you."

Ilia elbowed her with a chuckle as they continued their descent down the mountainside. The bitter cold was beginning to eat through Blake's clothing, her muscles starting to tense and shiver. She kept running, hoping to keep her body temperature up just long enough to get to the city.

Blake was nervous. This was by far the most dangerous mission she had ever been on. She had all sorts of doubts about whether their plan would succeed, whether kidnapping Weiss Schnee would even do any good. Blake didn't like it. Schnee or not, kidnapping was a step too far, but Adam had her convinced that if this operation went as planned, it would be a huge step towards justice. Blake didn't like the direction the White Fang was heading, but if their methods worked, she wouldn't question it.

They reached the city edge and took to the shadows, weaving through alleyways before climbing a fire escape. Now atop a four story building, they began to run from rooftop to rooftop, gradually approaching a large resort hotel called The Acronon near the Eastern Forest. Blake expected the Catch Team to be ready by now, situated in that forest, prepared to subdue and help transport their target to the airship that awaited them just past the mountain range.

Blake looked ahead at the hotel, towering thirty stories high, lit up with orange and yellow lights. Their best bet would be to fire a grappling hook towards the roof and ride up the cable. There was a high risk of being seen that way, but it was their only option.

Once they reached the roof of the nearest building to the hotel, they made a quick scan of their surroundings. Between them and the base of the hotel was a intricate garden filled with snow-covered bushes and trees. Wandering about the garden were five security guards, each armed with Dust rifles mounted with flashlights.

This was going to be easy.

Blake and Ilia found their way to the ground and hurried to the nearest bush, ducking behind it. They stayed crouched down as they moved through the maze-like paths, keeping a watchful eye on the guards and their flashlights. Little by little, the two navigated through the garden without stirring the attention of any of the guards. After ten tense minutes, they reached the base of the hotel.

"You're a better shot than I am," Ilia whispered to Blake, handing a grappling hook launcher to her. Blake took it and pointed it up. She took five meticulous seconds to aim before firing, the metal cord unraveling as the hook rocketed into the air. Blake and Ilia stared upwards until the cord became tense, the hook catching on the roof.

Blake clipped the launcher to her belt. Just then, her sensitive ears picked up a voice. "There was a weird noise that way."

Blake hurriedly pulled Ilia towards her. "Hold on." She held Ilia by the waist with her left arm while pressing the trigger of the launcher with her right hand. They began to lift off the ground, the launcher drawing the cord back in.

Flashlights were shined on the wall just below them. "Must've been nothing," a guard said. One second slower and they would've been caught.

Ilia looked down at the guards, none of them looking up. She had her arms wrapped around Blake's neck instinctively. Instead of moving her arms, she played it off jokingly. "My hero. You saved me."

Blake chuckled, smirking at her. "You better be grateful."

Ilia sneered at Blake jokingly, though under her mask, the spots on her face were involuntarily turning pink. Even at night, Blake's honey-colored eyes gleamed.

They reached the top of the building. It was dark and deserted, just as Ilia said it would be. Blake unhooked the grappling hook from the roof's edge before they both headed towards the access door. "How many people are supposed to be here?" Blake asked Ilia.

"About two hundred," Ilia answered. "Mostly SDC executives and old rich guys."

"Figured so," Blake nodded as she opened the door. There was a staircase, no one in sight.

They hurried down the stairs until it became a spiral staircase, red carpet on the floors and brass railings lining the edges. Blake looked over the edge and could see all the way to the ground floor. "Alright." She turned to Ilia. "I have a plan. You drop down to the second floor and find your way into the ventilation system. I'll drop to the ground floor. Use your GPS beacon to follow me as I move throughout. Once I get the target in an acceptable position, I will engage, and you immediately drop down, find the nearest window and get it open."

Ilia nodded. "Talk to me through our comms so I can get your signal."

Blake gave her a thumbs up before hopping onto the staircase railing. "See you down there." She then stepped off and began to fall.

She used the grappling hook to slow her descent. She snagged the hook on a railing as she fell and engaged the brakes on the hilt of the firing device. She abruptly but safely slowed down until she let go of the hook and dropped to the ground. She could see the dinner through the nearby doorway, dozens of businessmen and women talking about their money, their clothes, their problems. Blake instantly felt agitated by the sight, wanting to knock some sense into every one of them, let them know what really mattered.

Ilia landed on the second floor, having retrieved Blake's grappling hook for her. She looked down at her captain. "There's a vent right here. I'll be ready on your signal."

Blake nodded, pointing to her wrist to remind Ilia to use her wrist communicator to talk to her. Ilia nodded and then began to focus on entering the ventilation system.

Blake looked back at the dinner. The room was covered in maple-colored wood and bronze fixtures. White-clothed tables and matching chairs were strewn around. It appeared that the ballroom also doubled as a library, with shelves of books lining the perimeter of the room, small notches in the edges of the room to serve as reading nooks. That's where she needs to be, Blake thought. She needs to move to one of those alcoves.

"Uhh, pardon me. Are you a guest?"

Blake flinched at the sound of the voice. She turned to see a young brown-haired lady in a black dress. She was a waitress. A terrified waitress. "Wait. You're...one of them," the girl whispered in horror.

Blake thrust her right hand towards the girl. From her wristband sprung a small needle, and Blake drove it into the girl's neck. The waitress gasped sharply, grabbing at Blake's arm desperately, but she was losing her strength fast. Her eyes floated shut, and she collapsed to the ground.

"Dammit," Blake whispered, looking down at the unconscious girl. She looked around to see if she had drawn any attention. It seemed the party was continuing on like normal. "Dammit," she murmured again, cursing at herself for panicking.

"What just happened?" Blake heard Ilia's voice through her wrist comm. The volume was turned so low that only Blake's sensitive cat ears could pick up on it.

"I was spotted and I panicked. I used my Sleep Shot on a waitress. My cover isn't blown, but I have no means over knocking out the target," Blake explained, dragging the limp waitress to a nearby closet.

"What do we do?" Ilia asked worriedly.

"We need a new plan." Blake said. "I need to find a way to get to...the girl..." Blake froze and looked down at the waitress. "I have an idea."

"You always do," Ilia said with a flustered chuckle.

"I'm going to disguise myself as a waitress," Blake explained as she hurriedly opened the closet door and pulled the girl in. "I'll be able to get close to the target. Then I'll lure her to an alcove. You drop down quietly and open the window. I'll wait until you do and I'll push her out. We'll use mace to blind her." Blake shut the door and turned on the lights. She was in a janitor's closet, the walls lined with mops and brooms.

"How are your improvisational skills?" Ilia asked her jokingly.

"I'm a Specialist Captain." Blake let that speak for itself. "Just hang tight for now. I'll contact you when I'm out and about again." Blake then began to quickly strip the dress off the waitress, who was still out like a light. "Sorry," she mumbled quietly. The poor girl would have an unpleasant time when she'd wake up, but that wasn't a concern for Blake right now. Once she'd gotten the dress off of her, Blake began to take off her stealth suit. She knew she'd have to ditch it, so she saved the utility belt and her wrist band. Once the uniform was off, Blake wrapped the belt around her upper right thigh so she could still access it while keeping it concealed. She also attached the wrist communicator to her bra strap so she could still talk to Ilia without the comm being out in the open. She then put on the dress. It fit surprisingly well. The matching shoes did not. Blake had to squeeze her feet in, her toes crammed at the ends.

Blake removed her mask and hooked it to the belt beneath her dress. She then took some black ribbon and fashioned a bow around her cat ears to hide her true self. She stuffed her stealth suit in a garbage can and pushed the half-naked, still very unconscious girl into the corner of the closet. She took a deep breath and reemerged into the corridor.

"Alright, I'm out," Blake said to Ilia.

"Okay. Play it cool," Ilia told her.

"Not helping," Blake whispered as she casually entered the ballroom. The low droning of people's conversations filled the room, the occasional laugh or cough breaking the din. Blake carefully scanned over the many faces, searching for the target.

"Seen her yet?" Ilia asked.

"Yes," Blake whispered. On the other end of the room was the target. Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, stood alone near a buffet table. She held a glass of something but obviously wasn't enjoying the drink.

"What are you going to do?" Ilia asked.

Blake began to walk around the mass of tables, making her way towards the Schnee. Blake chuckled. "I'm going to use our prior knowledge of her to my advantage," She whispered.

Ilia didn't respond, instead waiting for Blake to do whatever she meant.

Blake came closer and closer, studying the heiress carefully. She looked bored, appearing to be in thought. Her white hair was pulled back into an off-the-side ponytail, a blue and silver dress hugging her petite frame. She was beautiful, just as expected. Blake might've actually admired her if not for her name.

Gotta act like it, she told herself.

Blake cleared her throat as she approached the girl. She folded her hands behind her back, bowing her head a bit in an effort to seem submissive, just as any waitress would towards someone of Weiss Schnee's significance. Blake drew air into her lungs and prepared to speak, but the girl spoke first.

"No, I don't know where my father is," Schnee said pointedly to Blake, shooting her a glare.

Blake coughed a couple times to clear her throat, glancing to the side in a timid manner. "Ma'am, I was only going to ask if I could get you anything," she said respectfully.

"You are good." Blake heard Ilia say through the comm. Blake certainly sounded believable.

"Oh." Schnee sighed, looked away from Blake. "Sorry. It's just I've been asked that quite a number of times tonight." She glanced back at Blake. "And no, I don't need anything. Thank you."

"Of course, Miss Schnee." Blake nodded. She remained silent for a moment before speaking again. "I just...couldn't help but notice how you were just standing aside, alone."

Schnee looked at her, her eyebrows going down. "I don't think that's any of your business."

Blake shook her head. "It isn't my business. It just concerned me." Blake sighed, willing her nerves to remain calm. "You just seem to be..." she looked around the room. "The only one your age here. It must be rather boring to not have anyone to talk to."

Schnee sighed, her blue eyes shifting downward. "I'm used to it."

Blake looked back at Weiss. "I..." Blake fake-hesitated. "If you'd like to talk to me, I'd love to listen."

"Damn, playing cute," Ilia said. "I like it."

Schnee seemed rather surprised by Blake's offer. She shook her head. "You have work to do. I shouldn't distract you–"

"It's worth the risk of being disciplined if I may talk to you, Weiss Schnee." Blake smiled softly. "If I'm being completely honest, I've always admired you."

"Barf," Ilia murmured.

Schnee's mouth dropped open a little bit. She blinked a couple times before smiling. "That's very sweet of you to say."

Blake shook her head, chuckling with faux shyness. "I'm flattered you think so."

Schnee grinned. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Blake," she answered, extending a hand.

"Blake," Schnee repeated, shaking her hand. "Very nice to meet you. If you don't mind my asking, what's your surname?"

Blake hesitated. I can't say my real last name. She might recognize it as the name of the founder of the White Fang. What do I say?!

"Don't say Belladonna," Ilia spoke the obvious.

"Amitola," Blake blurted out.

"Uhhh," Ilia dinned.

"Blake Amitola." Schnee nodded and smiled. "How nice."

"You think so?" Blake chuckled.

"Of course." Schnee smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"And to you, Weiss Schnee." Blake nodded. Well this is going well.

"Just call me Weiss." Schnee waved a hand. "I must admit, most people my age don't just approach me to say hello. Being the hieress to the SDC, I probably appear to be outside of everyone's league, so to speak."

"I've just always wanted to meet you," Blake told her. Heap on the flattery, bait her ego. "You're an inspiration to me."

Schnee covered her mouth as she laughed. "How so?"

"You wish to become a Huntress. You want to protect people like me. That's very very admirable."

Schnee shook her head. "There are hundreds of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Why am I special to you?"

"Because I just..." Blake took a deep breath. This next line would either scare Schnee off, or reel her in. "You're special to me because...you're just...special."

Schnee's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean?"

Blake blushed, mainly because she was embarrassed to be saying such things to someone she was supposed to despise. In all fairness, this girl didn't seem that bad. "I mean...you're beautiful, and strong, and...I can't help but feel drawn to you."

"Oh, shit," Ilia interjected. "You're really goin' there." Talk to me like that sometime, will ya?

Schnee was blushing badly. She looked down, her hand fiddling with the shoulder strap of her dress. "Wow...thank you." She smiled nervously. "That's very sweet, Blake."

"I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds," Blake stammered. "I just...I had to talk to you. I wanted to–"

"Hey," Schnee interrupted, smiling softly. "Would you want to go for a walk with me?"

"What." Ilia said.

"What?" Blake asked.

Schnee laughed, face still very red. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt." She grabbed her own wrist, looking down. "No one has ever said things like that to me." She looked back up at Blake, the sweetest of smiles on her face. "And without my father here, there's no one to stop me. Maybe coming to this dinner was worth it after all."

Blake felt like she was beginning to lose her grasp on the true situation. In reality, she was trying to lure Weiss Schnee into an ambush (and was succeeding at that very well, admittedly), but she couldn't help but think about how the situation appeared on the surface. Weiss Schnee had just asked to go for a walk with her, and she was really nice about it, too. Blake had legitimately flattered Schnee to the point of making the girl fall for her just a little bit. Am I that good at improvising? However, Blake couldn't help but feel like she'd let a bit of her true emotions seep into her conversation with Weiss Schnee. She seemed...nice.

But whatever she felt right now, the bottom line was that the plan was working.

"I would...love to." Blake nodded to her. "Thank you so much!"

Schnee grinned. "Fantastic! Let's get our coats and walk in the garden!"

Blake hesitated. The garden is crawling with guards. We can't go there! We need to go somewhere alone...wait, that's it!

"Um, actually..." Blake raised a hand. "I think it would be nice if we went to the roof, perhaps?"

"Oh?" Schnee asked quizzically.

"I've been told the view is amazing, especially at night," Blake tried to convince her. "And we could be alone, to talk?" She added quietly, trying to seem bashful.

Schnee blushed at the proposal. "Being alone would be inappropriate," she stated. "But..."

"I think it would be romantic," Blake said lowly, not looking directly at the girl.

Schnee inhaled suddenly, freezing. She looked at Blake, seemingly as embarrassed as anyone could ever be.

"Fuck," Ilia huffed incredulously.

"Don't you think so?" Blake whispered to Schnee, stepping forward a bit, keeping her head turned down, her amber eyes peering up at the heiress.

Schnee swallowed, setting her drink down on he nearby table. She folded her hands in front of her, leaning forward a bit. "We'll need to be subtle. People would find it strange for me to head upstairs with a waitress."

Blake nodded, looking down. "I know I may not be...of your stature...I just–"

"No! No, that's not what I mean." Schnee waved off her own words. She then gingerly reached for Blake's hand, holding it softly. "Waitress or otherwise, I find you...very attractive." She smiled.

That made Blake legitimately blush. She's complimenting me? Blake wasn't expecting that at all. "Do you really mean that?" She whispered.

Schnee nodded sincerely. She smiled at her. "I'll go get our coats, and you can go ahead and head to the roof. I'll meet you there." She let go of Blake's hand and began to head to the front door. She waved at her before turning away, her high heels clicking on the wood floors as she left.

Blake waved back with a smile. Once Schnee was a considerable distance away, Blake began to hurry to the staircase, failing to stave off a bit of nervousness. Did that seriously just happen?

"So you and your racist girlfriend are heading to the roof," Ilia quipped. "Meet you there?"

Blake huffed. "Yeah. Wait up there with me. Once she arrives...we'll take her." Blake honestly had forgotten the objective for a moment or two. Seeing Weiss Schnee smiling at her and calling her attractive was surreal, and flattering. Blake felt...good. Of course, she knew she wasn't thinking straight. She was a Faunus of the White Fang. Weiss Schnee would never find the real Blake attractive.

Before heading back upstairs, Blake stopped at the janitor's closet. She opened the door to see if the girl was still there. She still sat in the corner, but she seemed to be coming to, bobbing her head wearily, groaning. Blake quickly grabbed her stealth suit from the garbage bin and shut the door. She hurried to the elevator, stepped inside, and hit the button for the top floor.

As she ascended, she changed back into her stealth suit. She returned her belt and wrist band to their proper places, and returned her mask to her face. She removed her bow, freeing her ears just as the car arrived at the top floor. The doors opened to an empty hallway. Blake hurried out of the elevator, stuffing the dress and shoes under her belt. She found her way back to the stairs leading to the roof.

Blake emerged into the cold air atop the hotel. Waiting there for her was Ilia, arms crossed over her chest. "Hey, babe magnet." She greeted with a lopsided smile.

"Impressed?" Blake asked, smiling back.

"Impressed at your luck." Ilia chuckled. "You had that girl falling all over you. How'd you know she'd go for it?"

"Honestly?" Blake asked. "I winged it. I was planning to just seem friendly. With her being the only teenager there, I figured that would work. But then it became obvious that she was...not looking for a friend." Blake shrugged, laughing uneasily.

"You winged it." Ilia shook her head. "We're relying on luck quite a bit here."

"It's not luck. It's skill." Blake smirked.

"Right." Ilia laughed.

Blake's ears suddenly perked. She heard footsteps. High heels, clicking rhythmically up the stairs just behind the door. "She's coming," Blake whispered.

Ilia nodded, hurrying around the door, hiding around the corner from it. Blake did the same on the other side.

The door opened, and out stepped Weiss Schnee, wearing a white coat. "They said they didn't have your...coat." Her voice trailed off when she didn't see Blake anywhere. "Blake?" She called, taking a few steps forward. "Blake Amitola?"

Ilia quietly approached her from behind. From her belt, she detached a pack of mace. Schnee still faced away from her as she came up right behind her.

"Bla–" before Schnee could call out again, Ilia slapped her hand over the girl's mouth. Weiss let out a muffled scream as she whirled around to look at her attacker, only to have mace sprayed in her eyes. Schnee screamed even more, falling to the ground, her hands going to her face. "Blake!" She yelled desperately.

Ilia quickly rolled Schnee over, holding her face-down and straddling her. She took a zip tie from her belt and secured Schnee's arms behind her back. "Let go of me!" She demanded.

Blake came over, helping Ilia get the girl up to her feet. As soon as she was up, however, Schnee swung her leg back, connecting with Blake's knee. Blake grunted, stumbling away as sharp pain shot down across her shin. Schnee then tried to kick Ilia, but as she lifted her leg back to wind up her kick, Ilia grabbed her ankle and pulled it out from under her, sending her to the ground head-first.

"Ahh!" Schnee exclaimed when she hit the ground, only to begin to lose consciousness when her head knocked against the concrete. As she faded, the last she remembered was a voice calling out, "Blake, are you okay?"

"Blake," Weiss whimpered, her vision spotting out. "Blake..." her voice faded, and so did she.