AN: This sadly isn't coming as soon as I liked but I do have an explanation. This took way too long and a hell of a lot of effort to get done. There's so much here that I wanted to get done and just couldn't get written down correctly. I'll go into more after the chapter. I hope you like it though. Let's continue for now though with:

Chapter 4: Black Repent

It was supposed to be a simple mission.

Sure Adam was still refusing to talk to her. She hadn't gone out of her way to talk to him either but he was the one being overly stubborn. She hadn't wanted the power of the jewel, she hadn't asked Lady Kahn to praise her constantly and give her the lead in Fang assignments. She'd be the first to tell you she hadn't wanted Sienna to proclaim that she was on a fast track to taking her father's old seat on the council. Ilia was right when she fat out said "He's just jealous."

But she could look past that. She had to. This was the perfect opportunity. When else would they be able to hijack a train carrying Jacques Schnee's wife and son to a statue dedication for Nicholas Schnee?Hijack the train and take them hostage and Schnee wouldn't be able to ignore them anymore. He'd have to give into their demands and so would the rest of the world. Faunus would be recognized no matter what. There's no way he'd be willing to sacrifice his family for his own corporate greed right?

But something seemed off even before the started. Why would the SDC advertise the train route where anyone could find it? Why would they take such a long route from the coast to Vale?Why even take a train at all when the SDC had plenty of air transportation?Sure it was to symbolize the route the Schnee founder had taken from Atlas to Vale but it seemed way too "common" for them to partake in.

But it wasn't the time to really worry about that now as she stared down at the approaching train. Now wasn't the time for Blake Belladonna, daughter of the former leader and partner(?) to Adam Taurus. Now was the time for the Fang's Shadow. the bane of all who opposed the White Fang. She was now a symbol of faunus rights, a rallying point for the oppressed to rise up and fight against those who would keep them down.

Below her the train approached the bridge and the mask came out of her pocket. As her brothers and sisters prepared, she reached up and untied the bow over her ears as the jewel in the mask glowed. Then they were airborne, shadows wrapping around her as she fell. There was a thud as she landed on the train car, her costume flapping in the winds around them. Words weren't spoken as the roof was blown open and she joined her brothers and sisters in the battle.

But things seemed wrong from the start. The train wasn't filled with regular passengers like they'd been told. The only beings hindering their progress to the Schnees' car were guards. This had been a regular passenger train that just happened to hold some high profile MVPs. Not fully armed guards clad in red and black and fully prepared to shoot them all. The guards were strange too, why weren't they the usual Atlas military the Schnees had used before? No one had heard of Jacques hiring his own private bodyguards.

Looking back she can see how futile the whole thing was. Adam seemingly was unable or more likely unwilling to listen to her concerns. This was his moment to shine. To prove to her, the other Fang members and Lady Kahn, and the world in general that he was the one in charge here. He had all the power, If it got the rest of them killed along with the human scum than who cared?

But a part of her had hope that things weren't going to go horrible. Yes the guards seemed somehow familiar, but they were canon fodder, just another bunch of mooks that posed little threat to her and the powers of the jewel. She was one with the shadows in the train, blending in and disappearing around them; reappearing out of nowhere to deflect the attacks and put the troops down. The dark was her real ally, able to take her mind off her worries and keep it in the moment, the rush of adrenaline as she fought alongside Ilia and the others.

It was fun while it lasted. They broke through the guards and into the final cabin ready to knock out the Schnees and disconnect the car from the rest of the train so they could make their mistake. But to their dismay there were no Schnees along with the lack of other passengers. Instead was a woman with black hair standing in the car waiting patiently for their arrival. She had an air of ominous calm, red eyes watching from behind an ominous mask. But Blake's gaze was drawn to the red and black jewel embedded in the mask's forehead.

"'The Fang's Shadow'. I was hoping I'd meet you."

Despite her earlier confidence Blake couldn't help but take a step back. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

"More importantly where are the Schnees?" Adam demanded. The woman glanced briefly at him before looking back and Blake.

"They were never here. It's almost sad that as confident as the White Fang claim to be they fell so easily for an obvious trap. Jacques Schnee for all his bull played you like a fiddle." Blake flushed behind her own mask while Adam snarled angrily next to her. "I was expecting better. At least my people will get well paid." She paced back and forth in front of them, drawing Blake's attention to her hand on an elegant looking sword sheath at her side. Blake's eyes widened as she recognized a stylized bird logo on the woman's red and black uniform.

"You and your men are members of the Branwen Birds military group!" she exclaimed. "The Schnees would stoop so low as to hire you?"

"Who cares who they are?" Adam interrupted angrily. "She's just in our way! We aren't stupid enough to let this insult stand!" The woman scoffed and Blake thrust out an arm, stopping him from attacking the woman.

"Adam stop, we have to think about this!" she insisted. "This isn't the usual Atlas grunts, these mercenaries aren't pushovers, we have to think about this-"

"At least the one who matters has a brain to her." the woman mocked. "Poor Adam Taurus, I could care less about you or your little crusade. All that matters to me and really everyone else is her and only her. Isn't that right Blake Belladonna?"

Blake barely had time to register the shock of the woman knowing her name before Adam shoved her away and charged at the woman, changing Blake's life forever.

Life certainly is different now, Blake thought to herself as she emerged from the shower. A year ago if you told her younger White Fang zealot self she'd one day be in the heart of Vale and no longer wanting anything to do with the activist group she'd probably punch you. She definitely wouldn't have believed that instead of Adam and Ilia she'd be spending all her time with the woman currently scowling at her scroll in the kitchen.

"Morning." Blake said simply and Raven Branwen only grunted in exchange. Anyone else she'd expect more but she'd learned quickly this was Raven's go to response for nearly everything. The two continued in silence as Blake started making her morning tea.

Really. Blake thought as she took her seat at the table, she couldn't complain about the woman's cold shoulder too much. After everything on the train and since Raven had gone out of her way to help Blake adjust to this new life as well as fully understand the world the jewels had brought her into. Sure she'd grumbled and complained during most of it but Blake had started to feel like that was a whole facade. You couldn't just drop out of leading a large militia to help a traitor without more than a few people noticing. But the woman had willingly done so and done more than Blake expected helping her set up a new life here in Vale.

"I'm going out." Raven announced suddenly, drawing Blake's attention to her as she stirred the tea.

"Ok...?" Blake responded. When Raven didn't continue Blake shrugged. "I most likely will be as well, it's my first day at Beacon remember."

"Don't bother me unless it's absolutely necessary. I have better things to do than watch you try and find that vigilante." Blake nodded again, this was Raven's usual demand whenever she did anything. She acted like she couldn't be bothered with Blake's odd quest here in town. But Blake had the feeling she'd bee paying way more attention than she let on.

"Of course. But I do think I'm onto something. It can't be a coincidence that the Yellow Phoenix showed up first saving that hostage group in Vacuo. They were mostly high schoolers. Plus a lot of the sightings here in Vale happen at times that students at the university wouldn't have classes. " Raven grunted again, but Blake definitely noticed a tightening of the woman's features. There definitely was something there.

"Do what you want, I don't care. Just don't expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows if you find her. Life never is." Blake sighed. "Not everyone wants to play nice."

They continued in silence for several more minutes before Raven closed her scroll and stood up. Blake watched her pocket it before putting on sunglasses and a Vale Wizards baseball cap. She was going to let her go with just a farewell but curiosity got the best of her. "So where are you going?"

Raven paused before smirking. "I'm going to go stalk my twin brother's bar before he harasses me about my prior mistakes in life while I drink myself stupid thanks to the guilt from doing so." Blake stared for several moments before Raven scowled. "You really are guilible. I said it before: I have no family." Raven emphasized each word and Blake knew it better not to argue. "I have connections that should point us to what the Fang are doing here in Vale. We find that out we can deal with it."

Blake watched her leave shaking her head. Yet another mystery. Would she ever trust her enough to explain everything? Everytime she thought she'd figured the woman out more questions piled on. But she wasn't going to pry. Raven didn't ask about her past, she didn't ask about Raven's. They only focused on the important things.

A few minutes later Blake adjusted her bow in the door reflection before stepping out of the apartment building and into the hustle and bustle of downtown Vale. A shadow passed above her and she glanced upwards to see a large black bird fly off over the buildings.

She'd grown up in Menagerie but she didn't thnk she'd ever get used to this amount of people in one place. How on Remnant was it possible for that many people to be out and about this early? It just didn't seem possible. She was tempted to activate the jewel nestled in the middle of her bow but decided against it. Having one vigilante running amok in the city wasn't really enough for people to ignore a wanted terrorist showing up in the middle of a crowded sidewalk. She wasn't that bothered though. As long as people ignored her, she could ignore them and fit in as if there was absolutely nothing interesting or memorable about her.

She paused at a stoplight and waited for the walk signal, allowing her a grand view down the street and to large structure in the distance. The Schnee Dust Company's Vale branch stood out large and prominent like a glittering sore thumb. Gritting her teeth she couldn't help but growl at the sight of it. Some things never changed, including her hate for anything associated with the building. She doubted anyone in that company understood what real hurt or difficulty was. None of them could have suffered like she did. How easy it would be for the Fang's Shadow to go into that building and- Blake shook her head, furiously trying to silence those thoughts. That wasn't her. That wasn't even her previous self. That was him speaking from the past. She wouldn't let him influence her any more. She had to keep the past silent. At least she could hope.

Lost in thought she barely remembered entering the coffee shop and ordering. She accepted her order and headed out the door. That was before Blake, you aren't like that... she reminded herself. He can't find you anymore and never will. Raven said she'd prevent that at least. You just need to focus on the now and finding- reality came back to her with a screech as out of nowhere a speeding motorcycle crashing down onto the pavement in front of her. She jumped back in shock, sending scalding tea out of her cup and all over herself.

"Son of a-! What the hell?!" Blake said angrily. The Fang's Shadow couldn't break that stupid motorcycle but she definitely could give the rider a piece of her mind. But before she could start the bike was off down the street, a girl in red waving apologetically back at her. "You have got to be kidding me..." she growled.

"Are you ok ma'am?" a voice behind her asked and she turned to see a police officer hurrying over.
"Barely! That nutjob nearly killed me!"

"Don't worry, I recognized the girl on the back, I know where they're going." the officer said as his partner joined them. "They go to Beacon High." Blake nodded, she knew where that was and there definitely was time to catch them if they were indeed heading there. The reasonable part of her brain said let the officers handle it but the Fang's Shadow was begging her to let out her wrath.

"Hey!" she shouted minutes later, catching sight of the motorcycle. The red haired girl quickly escaped through the gates of the school while the blonde looked resigned to her fate.

"Heh... hiya guys..." the blonde said, trying her hardest to look innocent as they stopped in front of her. Setting her helmet on the seat she flashed a nonchalant smile. "Fancy meeting you here..."

"Yang why is it when I see a motorcycle blazing like hell through the park and risking injury to who knows how many people as well as yourself do I think it's you involved?" one of the cops asked exasperated.

"Aww Miles, do you think of me alot? Whatever will we tell your wife?" she asked fluttering her eyelashes at him. As he stammered a flustered response Blake shook her head.

"Don't try it missy," the other officer snapped, elbowing his partner ("Sorry Kerry.") "You were going way too fast through way too many people back there. You're damn lucky somebody didn't get hurt!"

"As well as ruining a perfectly good shirt." Blake added and all three turned to her. Yang paused and made eye contact. There was an awkward silence and Blake could almost swear the girl blushed after several moments.

"Yeah I didn't mean to scare anybody. Or ruin their shirts. I guess I was going a bit too fast..." her embarassment was only temporary as it turned to outrage, seeing the officer pull out his notebook. "Oh come on, nobody got hurt!"

"You're lucky we don't arrest you for disturbing the peace." Miles said. "But wreckless driving and speeding should be enough for now." Yang grumbled but nodded in defeat. Looking at Blake he asked "Unless you want to file a complaint?"

Blake was about to heartily agree and was on the verge of doing so quite satisfied when she glanced at Yang again. And she paused. She hadn't noticed before but he girl's eyes were an amazing shade of lavender. There was something honest and sincere there, but also something darker. There was something there she sympathized with. This girl had seen pain, had seen the worst like she had. As well as something familiar. The girl's eyes struck something deep inside her, something she felt like she'd long forgotten but long searched for... She surprised herself as she said, "Know what? I think the fine and ticket will do."

"Really?" Kerry said surprised. Blake had said quite feverently that she wanted the driver thrown into jail as they'd hurried to catch up to her. The officers hadn't expected Blake to change her mind. Behind them Yang smiled gratefully at her."Your choice ma'am."

Miles could only shake his head as he ripped the ticket off and handed it to Yang. "Just keep the speed down and to the proper avenues kid I won't tell Tai this time but don't expect things to go so easy next time. You've gotten in enough trouble lately."

"Come on Miles, you know me. Always the honest citizen." she said cheerfully throwing the officers a salute as they started walking away. Once they were out of earshot Blake was startled again as Yang grabbed her hands and started shaking them enthusiastically. "Thank the brothers you're a life saver! My dad would've killed me if I got arrested! I'm eternally grateful!"

More than a little weirded out Blake pried her hands free and stared at the woman. "You're welcome...? It's not that I'm not mad, I'm plenty mad. I just..." frowning Blake wracked her mind for a reason. Why had she let her get away with this? Well there was a major reason now that she'd thought of it. "I don't need any extended interaction with local police forces" She could only imagine Raven's response if she'd found out Blake had gotten involved with police this soon into their Vale residency.

"Oooh a bad girl," Yang teased playfully and this time Blake blushed. "Right up my alley. What has a cute one like you gotten into lately?"

"What? No! I haven't... I never..." inwardly she was cringing. She hadn't acted this flustered since she and Adam had started-. And this definitely wasn't anything like that! When had it got to the point where a human could throw her off like this?

But Yang seemed well aware of Blake's inner turmoil, laughing at how much she was stuttering in denial. "Calm down, calm down. I'm just messing with you. Whatever you are or aren't doing isn't my business." From the school in front of them the bell rang, reminding them both of why they had come to this point.

"Well um Yang it's been... well it's definitely been something." Blake said hesitantly. "I've got to get going, my job starts today." Sitting back on the bike Yang turned to look at her, her interest piqued again.

"Really you're working here? Awesome! Staff's great and my little sister's still attending for a couple more years." Blake tilted her head.
"I thought she might be. I'll keep an eye out for her." Yang smiled, grabbing the helmet from where it sat on the handlebars.

"Have any problems or questions feel more than free to ask her. She's more than happy to help anybody." Raising the helmet to her head, a gleam of gold caught Blake's attention. A gold bracelet encircled the girl's wrist. There was something familiar about that bracelet... "Sometimes more than she should be. Girl is too nice for her own good."

But Blake was more focused on the bracelet. Was that a jewel in the dragon's mouth? "Hey Yang, where did you get that?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Snapping the helmet's straps in place Yang glanced at it. "That? Oh it's nothing. Got it from a friend." Reaching down she flicked the motorccyle on. Blake winced as it roared to life.

"Can I see it for a moment?" Blake asked and Yang's expression changed. Gone was the playfulness, replaced by caution. Blake instantly realized she may have stepped a bit too far.

"Yeah sorry I don't think so. Holds a lot of sentimental value you know. Reminds me of a lot of things. Important things. Painful things..." Yang looked away and they fell into silence, the motor rumbling. Blake wracked her brain, trying to figure a next step. But to her surprised Yang suddenly perked up, and she flashed a mischievous grin. "What I can show you in a coffee."

"What?" Blake asked confused.

"Coffee." Yang gestured to her. "You know the drink? Like the one I caused to be all over your shirt? I'd say I owe you another one don't I?"

"Uh, I guess so..." Blake admitted. How had things gone so far off the rails like this?

Yang grinned then winked at her before putting some sunglasses on. "It's a date then.
"Wait, what?!" Yang only laughed before kicking the stand off and setting off down the street.

"Later!"

AN: Yeah so Blake's chapter. This one was hard but it wasn't the whole thing. There were times I seriously wanted to skip this one and go work on Yang's chapter. That I have more of a full idea worked out for. Here it was the beginning flashback that I had so much trouble with. I went through so many different versions of it:

A version written from Blake's PoV as if it was coming from her unwritten autobiography. It would cover Blake getting her jewel, her training, and the breakaway from the WF and her friends.

Flashback showing Blake, Adam, and Ilia finding the Shadow Jewel in a museum and using it to escape. I just couldn't figure out the right way to write that out.

Flashback showing the meeting with Sienna where she tells everyone about the Schnee hostage mission. This would have shown more of the division between Blake and Adam and how she's become a more important member of the Fang than Adam. It would have led into the train mission and Blake breaking away.

Just the train mission and a conversation before it between Ilia and Blake where Ilia tells Blake Adam's jealous.

But I just couldn't get any of the scenarios to work out here as it did in my head. I couldn't find a good way to translate the images in my head to how it would read on the screen. So I shortened it down and focused more on Blake's thoughts as the train mission happened. I have hopes that I will show versions of these scenes at some point in this story somewhere down the line. There's definitely more there that has importance to everything else.

What I hope people will find more interesting is the fact I've now paired Blake and Raven of all people together. When I first started putting this story together I was planning to pair each of the main four with a mentor character we know. We've already see Ironwood with Weiss and I've hinted towards who Ruby and Yang will be with. I couldn't think of one until the idea of Raven with Blake hit me and I had to go with it. Both are seemingly loners and have a troubled past that they're trying to escape from and can't help but get pulled continues to be Raven and is hiding things but Blake has started putting the pieces together. It'll be fun since Raven's story is definitely going to cross with Blake's here and will definitely have big impact on both characters. Rest of the chapter kind of speaks for itself, and yes there are shipping hints there. You're welcome to those who approve and I'm sorry for those who don't. Was just too much a fun opprotunity to pass up.
Anyways, we've got yet another long AN so I'll cut things off here. Up next we get answers I promise! As I said before I have Yang's backstory and current story worked out and it builds on several things that I've set up in the other chapters. Next up, Chapter 5: Yellow Justice. Hopefully it'll be out quicker than this one was. I'll try. R&R!