Winter's breath feels so cold
Calling chaos from control
Depths of madness to unfold
As my inner demons feed

A battery that's charged inside
Powering my redrum ride
Dr. Jeckyll quickly turns to Hyde
Now there's no blood left to bleed

Born of anger
Blinded by the rage that burns in me
Born of anger
Driving me insane I can't break free

He just stood there, staring at the note; motionless, expressionless. Kage Okami? The Shadow Wolf? Who knew? It was probably nothing and truth be told he was confident that if the end result of turning up to the pier was an ambush. He was sure that he could handle his business. All the pieces fitted the proverbial puzzle. "Come alone" is the universal bad guy language for "We're going to jump you". He still couldn't help but wonder if that's what it really was. Maybe it was someone trying to help him. Could it be? "No way" he thought to himself. The possibility is still there but it can't be them. The more he thought about it, it really came down to a 50/50 scenario. Either whoever is at the old pier is trying to help him; or they want to kill him. He was going to bring The Razor's Edge anyway, just to make sure. He had enough dust to take on an army but he wasn't going to bring full crystals to the fight. He had to think of a way to not only have them grinded down into actual dust but get more capsules. Both of those tasks are difficult. He didn't exactly have time to ask his dad about it. Before he had time to really think about it. His concentration was broken by two quick beeps on his PDA. It was Sun. Kage lifted his wrist and opened the message.

"Come to Signal. There's someone here that wants to talk to you. –S"

Why not? He has plenty of time left so he might as well stop by. He put the note away and grabbed his jacket, slipped on his jet black ski boots that he used for grip and headed to the training floor to wake himself up. He stood at one end of the floor and proceeded to sprint back and forth across the ground. If anyone else was there with him they would have seen one big blur. That blur started bouncing off the walls and swinging off the support beams. Kage was easily one of the fastest people out there. He quickly came to a screeching halt. He felt like himself again. He clipped The Razors Edge to his belt and hopped out a gap in the ceiling, kicked off the top and launched himself into the sky and towards Signal Academy.

After leaping between buildings and narrowly avoiding a flock of birds Kage landed smoothly down the street, out of sight. He turned a corner, at the end of the road he saw Sun talking to Velvet, the Faunus girl that they helped out the day before. It was a Saturday so she wasn't in school and was dressed in her casual attire with a light brown bag to her side with the long handle draped over her shoulder. Sun noticed Kage from the end of the street and waved him over with a smile. After Kage arrived he fist-bumped Sun and gave Velvet a light hug.

"How are you feeling, man?" Sun started. Kage shrugged and jutted out his bottom lip

"M-alright. I was feeling funny not too long ago but I'm feeling good. Looking forward to kicking some White Fang ass this evening"

"We don't even know it's them yet."

"It's gotta be; makes too much sense. Unless Junior is planning on taking his revenge" Kage chuckled as Velvet looked on.

"Maybe it's Detective Cole" Sun replied

"Hmm I don't think so; otherwise the note would have been for you"

"Is there anybody you guys haven't pissed off?" Velvet finally interjected herself in the conversation.

"I don't know. You seem pretty cool with us" Sun retorted.

"Well you did save me from getting my bag stolen by those bullies yesterday. Thank you, by the way"

"All in a day's work;" Kage looked over at Velvet with a nod. "but I get the feeling that's not why you guys invited me here"

"Not at all. In fact I actually have good news for once" Sun quickly replied "Actually, Velvet does"

"Fire away, Vel" Kage turned to Velvet.

"Well, Sun was talking about you wanting to get your dust crystals grinded down so they can be used to power your weapons. Well as it happens the Schnee Dust Company's head office is right here in Vale. If you get friendly with the boss perhaps they can make it happen"

"Sounds like a plan. Where is it?"

"Seriously?" Sun and Velvet both asked looking unimpressed.

"What?" Kage pulled a confused look as both Faunus' pointed to the big eyesore of a building standing out in the distance.

"Oh…I knew that; just testing to see if you remembered"

"Sure, Let's go with that" Sun joked. "Let's go"

Kage, Sun and Velvet all made their way to the Schnee Dust Company building, upon arriving they all looked up took on in the massive structure.

"It's hardly an "Office" is it?" Kage quizzed.

"Okay so maybe I didn't choose the right words" Velvet said back still looking up

"Alright…Here goes nothing" Kage looked ahead of him and walked into the building, Sun and Velvet not far behind. He takes a few glances around him and looked almost shocked. This was the cleanest building he's ever been to everyone was in suits and their lives actually had a purpose. His amazement was quickly cut off by somebodies voice

"Can I help you?" The male receptionist said looking almost disgusted. Kage turned around and looked at him, He was staring him up and down, clearly judging his style choices

"Actually you can" You could almost hear the receptionist roll his eyes, he places a hand on his hip and raises his eyebrows with a slight pout. Kage caught on early that he has an "Alternative" way of thinking and if sass could be used as fuel this guy would power a rocket.

"You know who owns this place?"

"Once again the receptionist rolled his eyes and before he could open his mouth he looked behind Kage and saw Sun and Velvet just standing there.

"Are you the cleaning staff?" The Faunus kids didn't know if he was being serious or just rude maybe both but they didn't want to hinder Kage's chances of seeing the man in charge so they were forced to be nice against their will and not kick his ass"

"No…we're with him" Sun could just about make eye contact he felt that if he had to look at his stupid face for any longer than he has to he would jump over there and slap the fake tan straight off his face.

"So you're just standing around with no purpose? Ew" The receptionist paused and made the shooing motion with his hands "Go..."

Sun and Velvet both looked over at Kage and he looked back and just simply nodded. They both turned around and reluctantly left.

"Racist scumbag" Velvet muttered.

"I don't know why you're still standing around. You may not be… Like them; but you still don't belong here so you can get out of my sight, you're stinking up the place"

Kage was literally seconds from snapping but to his luck he was cut off by the very man that Kage came here to see in the first place.

"You can cut that sassy mouth right there because this man is a hero"

"He is?" The receptionist didn't really know what to say except look over at Kage try and decipher what the hell he did that was so heroic. Kage was just as confused as he was.

"I am?"

"You ARE the guy that took out the White Fang chopper right?"

"Oh you saw that?"

"Yes!" The boss exclaimed excitedly "come to my office we must talk business"

"Eerm if you say so" Kage looked back to see the receptionist scowling at him to which the supposed hero of the day simply replied with a shrug and a smug grin. He then followed Mr. Schnee into the elevator and made a journey that seemed like forever. Mr. Schnee didn't say a word. He wanted to wait until Kage was fully relaxed so he could take in what he was going to say to him. The awkward sound of cheerful elevator music made the experience even more uncomfortable for Kage. Thankfully the doors opened up before Kage had time to find a way out. (Yeah, he was that uncomfortable) Kage and Mr. Schnee made their way out of the elevator upon reaching the top floor. It was a lot smaller than he anticipated, still much larger than anywhere Kage has ever lived but for a multimillionaire the office was pretty small.

"Maybe it's so he isn't distracted. Nobody would think that the big boss would work here" Kage thought to himself as Mr. Schnee walked to his side of his desk and sat down with a pretty pleased smile on his face.

"I must say, when I was looking out of my window to take in the beautiful scenery I certainly wasn't expecting to see a helicopter fall out of the sky." Mr. Schnee started.

"They started it" Kage retorted.

"However it happened. It was definitely impressive. Just a guess but you must be in your mid-teens?"

"15 to be exact"

"And you have the fighting skill of a warrior. I've never seen anything like it. Given I've never been on the violent side of the Schnee's war with The White Fang but nevertheless you're a one of a kind fighter. Who trained you?" Mr. Schnee asked, finally offering Kage a seat

"My father, Kurai Okami." Kage stood in front of the chair and took a seat. "He trained me for years" Kage wasn't used to calling has father by his full name. He shivered as he had yet another reminder of his parent's cruel fate.

"Kurai Okami? Wow! I haven't heard that name in quite a while. So that would make you his son. I must say I'm honoured." Mr. Schnee smiled and took a sip of water. "So what's your name?"

"Kage." He replied. Not wanting to waste another minute with this stuck up, jackass. Kage proceeded to ask the question but before he could get a quarter of the way through, he was cut off but said stuck up jackass.

"Anyway, the reason why I came here is to ask if—"

"Ahh; not just yet. Me first"

Kage looked down as he didn't want to show the rage building inside of him. He hated being cut off. He simply smiled and laughed it off under his breath and looked back up to focus in on what Mr, Schnee was saying to him.

"I really think you have a future with us. You see; The Schnee's and The White Fang have been battling for a while now and you, my tall haired friend could be a vital tool in taking them down for good. You hate The White Fang, I hate The White Fang" Mr. Schnee gestured that they become a unit by swapping his pointing between both Kage and himself. "We hate The White Fang. I have no doubt in my mind that you have the skills to wipe that Faunus scum off the face of the planet. You just need the guidance, a direction, you need us and we need you"

There was a small silence in the office before Kage decided to dignify this conversation with an answer.

"You know; that sounds good and all but I think I'll pass. I'm not really one for being somebodies henchman. However I do need your help with this–"

Mr. Schnee cut him off yet again and went back to trying to convince Kage to work with him.

"It does sound good, doesn't it? You're already half way there. Trust me; this isn't an opportunity you don't want to miss out on. Quit wasting your time by taking out the small-time goons. They're interchangeable, easily replicable. Why shoot fish in a barrel when you can take on the sharks? Join us and you can really make a difference."

Kage gritted his teeth and tried his hardest to remain calm.

"Again; this is more of a personal battle that I'd rather fight on my own. I just came here to find out where I can get dust crystals grinded down? Nothing else"

"Is that what you want? Here." Mr. Schnee pulled a business card out from a drawer in his desk and threw it to Kage. I own a small workshop just outside the city that'll get you your dust to how you want it. Real low profile, your kind of thing. Now then; Back to the matter at hand. Your contract."

Kage took the business card and tucked it away in one of the many pockets on his jacket.

"I've told you before. My decision is final. I don't want to work for you"

"With me" Mr. Schnee corrected.

"I don't care. This is something I have to do alone"

"Oh come on. What's it gotta take? I'll give you a generous salary, an expensive house, all the weapons, armour and dust you can imagine." Mr. Schnee leaned forward and winked. I'll even let you marry my daughter." Thankfully he was joking and made it obvious with a nudge to Kage's shoulder. To which the now pissed off half breed simply looked at his shoulder and then back at Mr. Schnee. Not wanting to make a scene by throwing him out of the window and onto the asphalt below Kage just stood up and turned his back to him, but before he could walk out; Mr. Schnee had cut him off yet again."

"You can't just leave. Do you know who I am?" Mr. Schnee raised his voice"

Kage snapped and spun his body back around to face the owner of the Schnee dust company and aggressively slammed his boot to the desk between them and pushed forward, trapping Mr. Schnee between the desk and the wall. Kages smirked and lifted his arm to talk into his PDA.

"You can stop recording now guys" Kage said to Sun and Velvet who were at ground level who now had Kage and Mr. Schnee's conversation on file. The Faunus' smiled and stopped recording their call and hung up.

"Now here's what's going to happen. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology my friends are going to create an…altered version of our conversation with what you said about practically giving me your daughter on a plate taking centre stage. It would be a real shame if that got out to the press wouldn't it? I'd hate to think what that would do to your reputation or even the relationship between you and your daughter, who I assume is a lovely girl but I'm not ready to commit right now so I apologise if I broke her heart. Maybe you can buy her a pony to fill the hole."

"You wouldn't dare.." Mr. Schnee could barely get his words out due to being crushed by the desk"

"You want to figure that out for yourself? All of this can be avoided if you forget this conversation ever happened. You wouldn't have said that you offered for me to marry your daughter if we never even spoke right? Do you see where I'm going with this? I know you're a powerful man but that won't get you anywhere with me. You don't send your rich lap dogs in suits after me and save me the trouble of whopping them all over Vale and I don't tell my friends to send that tape to Lisa Lavender. Do we have an agreement?"

Mr. Schnee just nodded in pain and tried his hardest to push the desk away from his ribs but to no avail.

"Good. Now I suppose you want me to let go of you right?"

Mr. Schnee nodded again but even quicker; desperately wanting to kill the pain.

"Yes, damnit"

"You sure?" Kage pushed against the desk some more. The look of pain on his once smug face was pleasing him a lot.

Mr. Schnee screamed in pain and hung his head down, tensing up as much of his body as he can to avoid breaking anything

"If that's what you want." Kage finally let go and started to walk out. "It was nice talking to you. Thanks for the business card."

"Meanwhile, Mr Schnee rested his beaten body on the floor, clutching his stomach. Knowing that he has been beaten; by a kid no less. It was a good few minutes before he was able to lift himself from the ground and try to go about his day in embarrassment and bitterness.

Back in the hallway and Kage was on his way out. He called for the elevator with a wicked smile and quickly called Sun on his PDA.

"I got what I needed. Some sketchy little workshop outside town. It doesn't even have a name. It can't be legal"

"Legal or not. We're only getting the dust grinded down and then we're gone. It's our only shot at this point. We don't have time to find somewhere else" Sun quickly responded

"Do you guys ever take the moral high ground?" Velvet asked, cocking an eyebrow. Kage; being quick witted as he is replied without missing a beat.

"We're against the clock Miss. Scarletina. Morality doesn't come into the picture. It's about which way is quickest. Plus I helped an old lady across the street when I was 12 so I'm allowed this one."

"You think so? You think you're entitled to this?" Velvet retorted. The sarcasm was filling the air.

"You're damn right, I am. Besides it's done now. Nothing I can do about it"

"Alright, lovebirds. Get a room. We have work to do" Sun interjected to break up the banter and get everyone's focus back on track.

"Oh please" Velvet rolled her eyes "He's not my type"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Anyway, I'm nearly out. See you losers in a minute"

Kage hung up as the doors were opening and on the other side he saw a girl around about the same age as he is. Her hair was white like snow and she had it in a bun and ponytail her clothing wasn't too different either. She had an ice white skirt with matching jacket; the inside had velvet which made the colour of it stand out like a sore thumb. She looked up and made eye contact with Kage as he was walking out, they crossed paths and he winked as they were side by side before making his way to the reception desk, slapping the pen out of the receptionist's hand and strutted out of the door, turning to the right and down the alley way to meet Sun and Velvet.

"Aaaand Mission Accomplished" Kage held up the card between his middle and index finger before passing it to Velvet.

"It says here that the workshop is located in Westbourne. Why would the Schnee Dust Company have business set up in such a beat down place?" Velvet questioned.

"Who cares? Said Kage. "We're not going to be there for long. We'll bring the dust, tell them that it's high priority and that Mr. Schnee sent us. We'll be out of there in half an hour and if any trouble comes our way then we'll handle it."

"Alright. Let's not waste any more time than we have to" Sun cracked his knuckles and made his way out of the alley "You coming, Vel?"

"I can't. I've got to get home and study. If I'm to become a huntress then learning the craft needs my full attention"

"I gotcha" Sun quickly jogged back and hugged Velvet with one arm before letting go, Kage leaning over to do the same.

"I'll see ya soon, Velvet" Kage let go of the hug and followed Sun to the end of the Alleyway.

"Good luck, guys"

"I think we'll be fine. No need to worry about us" Kage smiled a little and walked with Sun back to the factory to pick up the dust crystals and then make their way to Westbourne.

Westbourne is a small town right outside Vale. For the longest time it was actually a part of Vale but when it became a run-down ghetto filled with crime and dirty streets. The mayor decided to cut it off from the rest of the city in order to keep its integrity. Before long the town got even worse; only the poorest of the poor lived there and it was a very dangerous place to be in; especially if you're an outsider. They really don't like outsiders. The last guy that passed through didn't make it out in one piece and if you're a human then forget about it. Westbourne was filled with Faunus residents; mostly young degenerates who aspire to be members of the White Fang. They would give everything and take every opportunity to be noticed and be scouted by them and wave the White Fang flag high no matter the cost. The scenery was not a pretty one. The roads and paving were heavily cracked; there were at least three broken lampposts on every street and trash littered the neighbourhoods. It made Turnpike look like Disneyland.

Kage and Sun paced through the almost completely empty streets; which was weird because it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. They both looked behind them every quarter of a mile to see if anybody hostile was following them. The last thing they needed was getting in more trouble. Kage had a tight hold of the case of dust. He'll be damned if he loses it now.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Sun quietly asked with a nervous look on his face. He wasn't scared, just taken back at how unusual the situation is

"That there's hardly nobody around on a Saturday afternoon? Yeah, it's not right" Kage looked around slowly.

"I'd have thought more people would be around. All I can see are houses and apartment buildings. Man, Some lazy people living here"

"Or maybe they're too scared to leave their houses" Kage said in a low tone looking out for the workshop"

"Don't say stuff like that, man. It creeps me out"

Both Kage and Sun turned a corner where they saw the workshop towards the end of the street, it didn't look like it was taken care of very well, it was beaten up, the windows were smashed and it had rats the size of your head living there. As they slowly walked up the front door they could see In the corner of their eye a group of six Faunus boys in their late teens, hanging around the porch of one of the houses. They didn't say anything they just watched Kage and Sun as they approached the front door of the workshop.

"Who the hell are those guys?" Asked Sun.

"Don't know. Let's not worry about them, let's just get this done and get out"

"Agreed. This is one sketchy neighbourhood " Sun kept watch, leaning against the door as Sun pushed the button on the intercom which was still working much to his surprise. There was a small pause before someone answered.

"Simmons, Did you get locked out again?"

"Eerm, Hello?" The sound of Kage's voice was enough indication to the voice on the other side that it wasn't his workmate.

"Who's this?"

"My name is Kage. I was told that you could help me get some dust crystals grinded down?"

"Who sent you?"

"Mr. Schnee himself gave the referral"

There was a heavy sigh before the door unlocked, allowing both Kage and Sun to enter the small workshop. They slowly opened the door and briskly walked in, looking around the run-down establishment.

"This place stinks like… I don't even know what it smells like. It's nasty whatever it is" Sun pinched his nose and swatted the air in front of him. Kage simply nodded in agreement. Just then, a Faunus male appeared in a stained, torn lab coat emerged from the shadows and scared the holy high hell out of the boys with his presence.

"Alright let's get this over with." The rather tall man muttered.

"Jesus, don't' do that!" Kage jumped back, clutching his chest as Sun let out a little whimper.

"You want dust grinded down? Hand it over so we can make this quick. You don't want to be in this area any longer than you have to"

"I'll take your word for it" Kage reluctantly handed over the case of dust and walked with the unnamed worker with Sun not too far behind.

The work floor was about as ratty and dirty as you can get but the thing that hit a nerve with Kage and Sun was the fact that all of the workers here were Faunus, every last one of them, working their fingers to the bone for next to no money. Kage gritted his teeth while Sun looked on is disbelief.

"So you all work here in these conditions?" Kage asked in shock and anger.

"Pretty much. What does it matter to you? You're just one of Mr. Schnee's business partners. The disgruntled worker spat with venom.

"Actually to get here I slammed his desk against him until he co-operated."

"Really? You did that?" The worker turned around to face Kage with his eyebrows raised to which the wolf simply nodded

"Wow, you could have said so. I'll bump this bad boy up to the top of the list. It'll take 15 minutes tops"

"Whoa, really? Thanks." Kage couldn't help but smile a little and he turned to Sun who just shrugged at him with a grin.

"Well you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." That scumbag has us working crazy hours for next to no money. I'm glad I could help stick it to him"

"Why don't' you just quit?" Sun stepped forward and stood next to Kage.

"There's no way we could. We have families to feed, bills to pay. That'd be foolish."

"I understand" Kage nodded "I'll let you get on with this. Thanks again"

"The pleasure is all mine" The worker patted Kage's back and took the case of dust crystals to grinding floor as both Kage and Sun sat down.

"Well that was fortunate." Sun chuckled a little and put his hands behind his head. Kage hung his head down and laughed with Sun.

"Man, you think? We'll be out of here in no time, which is just as well because this place is a dump"

"This whole town is a dump. I've been here for ten minutes and I already hate it with a burning passion." Sun exclaimed.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before I come back here again"

"I hear that" Sun nodded in agreement "Since we're doing nothing we should probably call Velvet and keep her posted"

"Good idea" Kage lifted his wrist in front of him and tapped on the PDS a few times, calling Velvet. There was a few rings before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Vel? It's Kage. Just checking in with you. We're at the workshop now, turns out the workers here hate Mr. Schnee as much as we do. We've been bumped up on the to-do list. They're grinding the dust now"

"That's great news! Do you have a place to put it all?"

"Velvet has a point." Sun turned to Kage. "I don't think the case will be enough to hold it all"

"What those containers that you get at dust stores?" Kage asked.

"Bingo! Velvet, can you call Dust to Dust? The owner owes Kage one for stopping a robbery." Sun looked over at Kage again with a nod and smile.

"On it! I'll get back to you soon."

"Thanks, Vel. Bye!" Kage was about to hang up when he was cut off by Velvet.

"Oh! One more thing, guys."

"What?" Sun asked.

"Try and stay alive. Please?" Velvet pleaded. She couldn't stand to lose her only two friends.

"Don't worry about us. We can handle ourselves." Kage reassured his friend.

"I'll try not to. Thanks, guys; and good luck"

"Thanks, Vel. Talk soon" Kage hit the red button on his PDA to end the call, sat back and looked up at the ceiling, waiting until the worker was done with the dust.

EDITORS NOTE: I apologise that this chapter took so long. Personal issues have stopped me from coming up with anything good and I wanted to take a step back and wait. I didn't want to put out anything shitty. This part of the chapter isn't very thrilling but it is a build-up for things to come and with a bit of luck your minds will blow at how this story unfolds. Thank you for your time.

-Sulli