Rain.

Blake never liked the rain, it always left her in a gloomy mood, even when she was reading her favorite book. It was a remembrance of a time it left her awake in the middle of the night back at her family's cottage, the sound of never-ending droplets thundering against the windows, rattling the glass as she innocently feared that it was a monster trying to break in; but now, she hated the rain for obvious reasons: it was cold and annoyingly loud.

The rain dampened her clothes, it dulled her senses, and it slowed her down.

Overall, it made hunts more difficult, nevertheless, she ran.

As she swam through the darkness of the city, the streets were bare of any life. The unexpected downpour encouraged those that were still out to seek shelter or retire early. The empty city made it easier for her to run along the streets, rather than take the long twisting turns of the back alleys. Without the fear of being spotted by weary eyes, she didn't hold back. Shadows gathered around her as she strode, each step hastened by the shifting darkness beneath her feet. Eventually, her entire form was consumed, a jet black suit covered her from head to toe, with only the amber glow of her eyes piercing through.

Shadow Form - a spell that allowed the caster to absorb the shadows, greatly increasing their physical abilities. She didn't like using it because it came with a heavy price, but for what she was going to do tonight, she was willing to pay it.

The sight of the shipyard soon entered her vision. A large fence and a guard post blocked her way, but she made short work of them and jumped, knocking out the guards as she soared in the air, before landing past them. For once, she would have to thank the rain, for it drowned out the sound of her steps. As she made her way deeper into the shipyard, she noticed the screams of creaking metal and crashing waves. Then she saw them, her prey for the night.

Lines of Faunus struggled to move wooden crates off of a swaying freighter, all of them baring masks of the White Fang. Blake hid atop the nearest warehouse, and noted their various positions. She could see the grunts fighting against the rising winds and violent downpour — a storm was coming.

Her ghastly form stood over them, silent and still.

Blake contemplated — a part of her wanted to investigate what the White Fang was planning, while another part simply wanted to let her shadows wreak havoc on them. She knew how they worked, what they were willing to do for the sake the Faunus. The White Fang actively sought justice against Faunus discrimination, sparing no expense to dispense their sense of justice, so...

What the hell are they doing here?

Ever since the SDC turned pro-Faunus, Beacon City slowly had became a model example of progressive Faunus/Human coexistence.

Sure, there is still some tension among the locals and older generation, but that shouldn't be enough to make the White Fang take action. There is absolutely no reason for them to be here, she thought.

Blake gripped her fists when she saw one of the White Fang members break open a crate, revealing vials of explosive Dust and Dust-powered rifles. She almost lost herself right there, almost letting the shadows have a taste of the anger that raged inside of her. Of all the things that she didn't need in her life right now, it was this.

She didn't need the past come back haunting her, no less threaten the peaceful life she had built. The thought how the White Fang was here to endanger the lives of her friends only churned the fire that was brewing inside her even more.

Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the cold rain falling on her skin. She had to be calm. There was already too much at stake, too much factors to consider if she wanted this night to end well; there was no one else but her who could do this.

"Hurry it up people, we ain't got all night!"

Blake looked down, to see a shouting bowler-hat man.

That was the person Adam was talking to back at the club...

She observed Roman shout out orders as the White Fang members carried the crates to different trucks. Although they seemed to be making steady progress despite the rough weather, Roman grew more agitated as time passed, which was clearly visible to everyone by his annoyed expression.

Blake witnessed Roman reach his tipping point when someone dropped a crate, breaking open and spilling its contents.

"Hey watch it! Do you want to kill us all? There's a 'fragile' sign on the box for a reason." Roman sighed, pinching his nose.

A young deer Faunus, whose features indicated that she was too young to be out here, bowed her head in apology. "I-I'm sorry!"

Roman inspected the young girl before letting out another sigh. "Take care of it he says, it'll be fine he says, yet he sends kids, I can't believe it..."

The young Faunus looked him, confused, "Um.. sir?"

"I swear, what am I even doing? I should be at the club enjoying a nice tall cold glass right now, not out here stuck in the rain, babysitting his pets."

The surrounding Faunus immediately looked at Roman in disdain, some even reached for their weapons. They growled, baring their fangs as they unleashed their blood lust at him. Even from atop the warehouse, Blake could feel their animosity. It made her wonder if Roman was either brave, or just stupid, but after seeing his tired expression on his face, it became clear what it was — he just didn't care.

The young Faunus immediately fled after sensing the amount of blood lust in the air.

"Grrr. You're going to pay dearly for that joke, human," said a tiger Faunus. "I don't know why the leader told us to work with ya, but we're going to teach ya' some manners."

As the tiger Faunus stomped towards him, along with several other White Fang members, Roman took out a cigar.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned. "I would really hate to run behind schedule because of a few missing heads."

Needless to say, they ignored his warning, and proceeded to take out their weapons.

Roman sighed, before lighting his cigar. "You're boss ain't going to like this."

The surrounding White Fang members laughed. "Oh, I'm sure our leader would have gladly watched us show you your place."

Roman rolled his eyes. "Well, more like I ain't looking forward to him yelling his head off about why you lot went missing."

They looked at him in confusion. "How ya—"

"Neo, if you would please."

As if at his command, lightning flashed overhead, blinding everyone, and without any warning or sound, Blake saw several heads silently roll onto the ground.

Blake went wide-eyed.

W-What the hell just happened!? I couldn't see a thing.

She looked back at Roman, who was still standing there, letting out puffs of smoke as if nothing had happened.

No way, how did he-

Then she noticed a figure beside him, holding an umbrella over them — a girl with pink and brown hair.

Blake felt a chill run through her body as the hairs on her head stood at full alert.

"Alright, anyone else got something to say?" Roman asked.

The rest of the White Fang members backed away, their previous anger now replaced with fear.

"Then get back to work, I want all these crates at the warehouse asap, also, get someone clean up this mess, we don't want any sailors callin' the cops," Roman turned around, signalling the girl to follow, "Let's go."

As Blake watched Roman and the unknown girl walk away, she breathed a sigh of relief. Under no circumstance, did she want to fight that — that being the monster she just saw. Being a witch, she could see a person's flow of aura, and since aura was the representation of one's soul, she could quickly determine if a person was threat or not. In this case, there was only word that could help describe the aura Blake saw surrounding the girl, horrifying. The amount of black aura that radiated off the girl was enough to make her run, but what really scared her was that, on closer inspection, she could see silhouettes of haunted spirits and skulls flowing through it.

Blake gulped as she rethought her plan.

Shit! I never expected something like that to be here. Looks like I'm going to have to be quick if I want to ruin their plans. For now, I'll just follow them for now and see if I can find—

Just as Blake was about to move out, the unknown girl suddenly turned her head, and looked directly at her direction. Immediately, Blake dived into her shadow and hid. HOW!? How she can sense me from here!?

The girl stood there, still looking at the top of the warehouse.

"..."

Roman, feeling the rain hitting him, glanced behind, wondering why Neo wasn't following.

"Hm? What's wrong Neo?" he asked. Curious, he looked in the direction Neo was looking towards, only to see a small cat running along the rooftops of the warehouses.

Roman deadpanned. "Oh, just a cat. Come on Neo, I'm getting drenched. You can look at cats all you want later."

Pulling Neo by the arm, he continued his walk, making sure the umbrella was kept over him this time. Neo kept looking in the same direction, her eyes never leaving a particular pool of shadow, right up till she was dragged into one of the warehouses.

After Roman and Neo entered the warehouse, Blake popped her head out.

... Change of plans, just figure out where the supplies are stored, destroy them, then get out. I can't deal her alone, I might need— Blake stopped her train of thought. For a moment there, she was thinking of calling Yang for help.

No... I.. I can't ask for her help, this isn't her fight. I would just be putting her in danger.

She solemnly thought back to her days in the White Fang. Those days were anything but warm, with each day filled with nothing but pain and suffering; the riots, the destruction, the bloodshed — she didn't want to taint Yang with that kind of life.

She deserves someone better, not someone that carries around this awful past, if she knew...

Blake shook her head and exited her shadow. She stood up and surveyed the surrounding area. After spotting a couple of trucks driving towards a warehouse at the other side of the shipyard, she decided to follow it.

No, she'll never know. After tonight, no one ever will...

Fire.

Fire everywhere.

The air is full of smoke, it hurt to breathe. The entrance is blocked, the roof caved in.

The building is coming down.

There is no where to run, no where to hide.

Death is coming, the blade is here.

The ground is burning, the bodies is burning, the blood is burning

Everything is burning.

Must save her. Must save her.

It's too late, it's too late.

Must find her, must save her.

You can't find her, you can't save her.

She's already lost, no where to go.

No matter what, forever lost.

But don't worry, She was never yours.

She's ours—

— Yang.

"GASP"

Yang gasps for air as she sat up from her bed covered in cold sweat, fearfully grasping the sheets.

"Hah-hah-hah-what, where-" She frantically looked around, to find herself still in the dorm. "I... oh, I was, sleeping..."

Yang sighed as she wiped away the bangs of hair stuck to her forehead, all the while feeling the damp cold sheets around her. She looked over at the other bed in the room, worried if she had woken her sister, but smiled once she saw that Ruby was still soundly asleep, tightly holding onto Weiss, whose expression could best be described as 'in-pain'.

Heh, Ruby always did hug her plushies too hard.

Yang looked down at her shaking hands.

It's been awhile since I had a nightmare, the last time I had one was when Summer disappeared, and the one before that, Raven...

Rustle

Yang noticed that the bandages around her arms was starting to loosen, probably caused by her moving around in her sleep. She took one end of the bandage, and started to tighten them. She pondered; there was something off about her dream.

That dream, it felt so real, like I was actually there, but who else was there? And who was talking to me? They sounded so distorted, and cold, what was it trying to tell me?... Ugh, I'm getting goosebumps...

She looked out the window, watching as the raindrops hit against the glass.

I feel like I'm forgetting something important, what is it...

Yang scratched her head, before falling back onto the bed in frustration. "Argh, whatever, no point worrying about it now, I'll just think about in the morning."

She shivered. "Why is it so cold? I'm never cold..." Her hand instinctively roamed the bed for warmth, but failed to grasp anything.

Yang glanced to her side.

Hm?

After the trucks parked and started to be unloaded, Blake snuck into the warehouse through an open window. Once inside, she looked around the dimly lit space, and given the few light bulbs that was spared for the place, it was the perfect place for her to freely roam about. Blake carefully trotted around the mountains of wooden crates and racks that cluttered the entire warehouse, trying to find her way to the back where the scent of Dust was the strongest. As she made her way through, she couldn't but wonder why it was so quiet. So far, there wasn't anybody in the second half of the building, and the only people she'd seen was the White Fang members at the entrance.

Blake felt something in the pit of her stomach.

This is weird, where is everyone? Security shouldn't be this lax, right? Even if they don't expect anyone to come, there should still be a couple guards...

Reaching the back of the warehouse, she looked around, and again, there was no one in sight. Blake grew more suspicious, but since she didn't sense anything, she continued anyways. The scent of Dust led her to a large metal door. She gave the door a shove, but it didn't budge.

It's locked, hmmm...

Blake stretched and cracked her fingers before reaching her hand out.

It's been awhile since I picked a lock, let's see if I still got it.

Dark tendrils emerged from her arm and reached into the door's narrow openings. The tendrils followed her hand's every movement, twisting and turning as she felt the intricate mechanisms in the door's lock. She followed the sound of the gears turning, shifting her hands to the sound of clicks, until she heard a snap.

She smiled. "Haven't lost my touch."

Blake pushed the door open and stepped in. She expected to see a storage room full of Dust vials, weapons, and plans, but instead, what greeted her was oddly familiar — magic circles on the walls, scrolls with intricate patterns and runes sprawled out on the floor, and a giant crystal glowing brightly in the center.

"Magic!?" Blake picked up the scrolls and started reading through them. "Attraction spell, Dust manipulation, soul siphoning, disintegration rays!? What the hell is all this!?"

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know?" a voice called out.

Blake froze.

It can't be, that voice.

"I never expected to see you here of all places."

N-No, he can't be here, he can't!

"Did you miss me—"

Blake could feel the fear in her heart rise as she slowly turned around.

"— Blake?"

Blake gritted her teeth. "What are you doing here, Adam."

"I could ask you the same thing," Adam responded.

"Cut the bull, Adam," Dark tendrils grew from Blake's back, pointing themselves at the man. "Answer my question."

Adam took a step forward, making Blake slightly nervous. "Shadow Form? It looks good on you. It really reminds me of the missions we used to take, the justice we dispensed, our glor— "

CRASH

A dark tendril crashed into the ground next to Adam's legs, stopping him.

"Not another goddamn word, those missions were anything but glorious," Blake angrily said. "Now, why the hell is the White Fang in Beacon? I absolutely know for sure that they have no reason to be here."

Much to her disgust, Adam smiled. "Oh? How can you say that for sure?"

"Because I know Sienna would have never approved a mission into a city that is openly pro-Faunus. The only reason a unit would be out here is because of you. So, I'm going to ask you one more time—"

An array of magic circles surrounds the man, each one holding back a shadow arrow in place.

"— What the hell are you doing here?"

The man was silent, as if confused by the question. For as long as Blake has known Adam, she knew he was not a man of silence.

"... Ha... Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Adam bursts out laughing, making Blake feel uncomfortable. "What's so funny?"

"What's hilarious is your brave act. How many mission have we been on together? You should know by now that I can smell fear."

Blake takes a step back. "I'm not afraid of you." The magic circles close in on Adam, but his amused expression remained unfaltering.

"Since you want to know so badly what I'm planning, then here, let me tell you. A revolution is coming, Blake, one that will finally give the humans what they deserve for treating us like slaves, a revolution that I'm going to lead our people into, starting here in this city, where the head of all our hatred stems from."

"The head..." Blake went wide-eyed. "No — you plan on taking down the SDC directly!?"

Adam grinned. "Now what kind of fun would that be if I just told you everything?"

"Adam..." Blake growled.

"They're going to pay, all those humans are, with blood and fire!"

"NO, I WON'T LET YOU!" Amidst her anger, Blake lost control of the magic circles, letting them loose on Adam. The explosion of magic blasted debris and

SHIT! I didn't mean to let go, I—

"I'm disappointed Blake, did you expect something like that to kill me?"

Through the smoke, a red glow traced in the air as it's wielder stepped forward. "Did you forget that you enchanted this blade? I'm hurt, it feels like you're trying to forget me."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do," Blake readies herself for another attack, summoning multiple dark tendrils from her back. "I'm going to stop your little plan right here, right now."

"You can gladly try."

At the snap of his fingers, a group of White Fang members immediately enter the room, surrounding Blake. She looked around, and saw that they weren't holding the rifles she saw earlier, rather, they were now holding staffs and tomes.

"You've been teaching magic..."

"Of course, after you left, we lost a lot of firepower," Adam explained.

She looked grimly at him. "It's forbidden to teach magic to outsiders."

"I'm not about to give up such power because of some old rules," Adam pointed his katana at Blake. "We wasted enough time. Capture her."

At his command, the White Fang members charged at her. Blake swung her tendrils around, knocking out most of them while some stood together, chanting a barrier, but those also proved to be failures once she exerted more force behind her attacks. In a matter of seconds, the members surrounding her were all knocked out.

"What the hell was that, is the only magic you've been teaching them 'barrier?' I expected them to put up more of a fight," Blake mocked, as she looked back at Adam.

Adam stood there, unamused, "At least that amount of magic proved useful against regular enemies. I knew they had no chance against you."

Blake aimed her tendrils at him, "If you knew, then why?"

He brought his katana up into the air, "So that I can do this."

The katana glowed brightly, it's red glow almost blinding Blake. The next moment, a red aura trailed from the bodies of the knocked out White Fang members to the katana, dyeing it an even deeper crimson. When the glow ended, Blake saw that Adam was covered in a condensed amount of aura.

"It's easier to do this when their unconscious."

She looked around, and saw what he had done.

"Y-You took their souls," her voice wavered. "I didn't think you would stoop this low."

Adam smiled. "That's the only reason I taught them magic, so that their strengthened aura could fuel my power."

"This is no longer about the White Fang isn't it, or the Faunus, you just want power!" Blake launched all her shadow tendrils at him. When the tendrils was about to hit him, they crashed against the red barrier surrounding him.

"Don't you dare lecture me about the White Fang!" Adam yelled, "This is for all of us!"

He swung his katana, slicing the tendrils with ease.

"AHHH!," Blake screamed, feeling the pain of the tendrils as if her tail had been cut off. Before she could recover, Adam dashed and kicked her in the stomach, sending her crashing to a wall. The wall crumbled, knocking her into the next room.

Blake gasps for air, desperately trying to recover her thoughts through the pain. She fell to the flooring, coughing up blood as she tried to get up.

"Cough-cough, H-how? The shadows — "

"The shadows can't be cut, it should nullify the pain, right?" Adam looks at his sword, admiring the red glow that eerily radiated from it. "Beautiful isn't it? This power, this technique. Never in my life would I have thought that it was this easy to gain so much power, and how idiotic must I have been to think your magic was the greatest."

The red-haired Faunus walked up to Blake, lifting her up into the air by the head. "Now tell me, why are you here? Why are you trying so hard, is there something in this city that you're trying to protect?"

Blake looked at him in disdain, and spit in his face.

Adam grins. "I see, so the humans have corrupted you, tamed you."

He slams her head against the ground, hard enough to smash the concrete. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'll make sure you're still alive to watch as I burn this city to the ground, along with those humans you care so much about."

"N–... n–... no," Blake weakly said. "Y–...you... can't..."

Adam then leans down, and whispers into her ear. "Watch me."

Don't you think it's time?

N-no, I can still -

Take him? Not a chance.

Shut up! I don't need your help.

You have three broken ribs, a fractured arm, and internal bleeding, I think you need my help.

That's not enough to keep me down.

You will die if you fight him.

He can try.

Sigh~ Either way, I can feel your will waning, you won't have much of a choice.

Blake could feel her eyes grow heavy, as deep voice beckoned her to sleep.

You-

Shhh, go to sleep. I'll take over from here, it'll be over very soon.

"Hey, you still there?" Adam picked up Blake, surprised to see her passed out. "Heh, the pain must've kicked in. This is nothing compared to what I'm going to-"

A sudden surge of black aura knocks Adam back, sending him flying across the room. "What!?'

As he gets up, he see's Blake slowly stand up, her black suit peeling back to show her bruised face. The aura radiating from her was strong, enough to blow back the all the debris around her.

"So you still have this much power, huh?" Adam asked.

She doesn't answer and reaches into the air. A black book with a large seal appears in her hand, and instantly, the whole room begins shaking.

"T-that book, it can't be — " Adam stuttered as he watches Blake open the book, and start reciting a chant.

"From shadows, crushed by cruelness human rule, from shadows, hidden from unfair fate, there is nothing to separate us—"

"You think I'll let you finish!?" Adam yelled. He rushed forward, preparing to swing down on her.

"Fangs of hate, Fur like shadows, We are born both from shadows, so come to me—"

As the katana came swinging down, she chanted—

"GAMBOL SHROUD!"

A/N - 10/27/18 - Hey guys, whats up! It's been awhile.

Sorry for being gone for so long, been preoccupied with stuff, but I'm back to writing chapters, and hopefully the next one won't be too far away.

I'm super rusty on writing - but the ideas are flowing again, especially after going to the RWBY vol 6 premiere.

Also, not sure if you guy's know, but while I haven't been writing this story, I actually started two new stories - "From One Rose to Another," and "RWBY à la carte."

"From One Rose to Another" is a story about Ruby and Weiss as grandparents, trying to take care of their granddaughter.

"RWBY à la carte" is going to be the place where I will post my one-shot ideas - the first one-shot is actually a continuation of an omake from this story.

So yeah, come check those out, I'm happy I wrote those and would like some comments on how you guys feel about it.

Give thanks to Storystratos for proofreading as usual.

Critique and comments are appreciated.

Hope ya enjoyed it, and cya guys later.