A Leaf Turned

Chapter 14
Missing in Action

Yang had to admit there was something to be said about someone who fought as loudly as Adam Bellladonna being able to disappear so utterly at the drop of a hat in repeated succession that just incredibly impressive. On the other side of the coin it was also extremely frustrating.

True to his word, Adam had returned the following day for classes, and during of which he had ignored their attempts to apologize and explain themselves, he'd glanced and seemingly listened but the moment class ended he stood and walked out into the next one...And come the final class he left Beacon again and disappeared again even with their best attempts to track him down. They'd even followed him to Vale...And then promptly lost him among the streets.

The former Terrorist was good at disappearing? Yang probably should have expected that.

It had been like this for three days, classes, then Adam was gone. And by now Ruby was simply distraught at the idea that they has pushed him away entirely. Even Weiss and her "give him time" strategy was beginning to show the signs of weariness for the Faunus' continued absence. His bed had remained untouched for three days and it just seemed so...Empty without him.

This had become evident when she woke up this morning and looked at his empty with the slightest bit of hope that he would be laying there behind the curtains.

He hadn't been, of course. But it was still a hope.

But what sealed it had been when he hadn't shown for classes the previous day and now today Ruby pulled herself from the distraught shell and declared that Adam was in trouble and needed their immediate aid with whatever he was doing.

They'd argued what he could have been doing before they settled on tracking down the White Fang, afterall Adam had said if they were anyone's' problem they were his. So perhaps he had bitten off more than he chew and was being held captive? Yang doubted he could be held captive but she too was tired of this waiting for him to return.

But this idea was just sorta dumb.

"So your great plan to find him is to go searching for the White Fang and just hope that instead of getting killed we actually find him and then bring him back?" Weiss summed it up with the voice of someone who was trying not to facepalm the further in they got with the summary.

See? Just sorta dumb.

"Yup!" Ruby nodded, crossing her arms and grinning. "Me and Yang will find some White Fang," She ingored Weiss' "how?" and continued along. "And super sneakily infiltrate their ranks and ask, subtly of course, if they have seen anyone with Adam's description!"

Weiss stared at them like they'd gone insane. "Okay, how do you plan to infiltrate an all Faunus organization? You're not Faunus."

"Yang! The disguises!" Ruby snapped her fingers.

The blonde grinned and turned, reaching into her pack and pulling out a pair of somethings that Weiss couldn't see.

And when turned their backs to her and bent over, seemingly fiddling with something onto their heads, Weiss rolled her eyes. "You can't honestly think a pair of White Fang masks is going to get you into one of their meetings, do you?" The Heiress honestly couldn't wait to hear their answer.

What she got was Yang and Ruby turning to her, wearing not only White Fang masks, but a pair of some...Pretty realistic feline ears atop their heads, the fur colors matching their natural hair ones. But was really stood out to Weiss was Yang's mask...

"Are you wearing Adam's mask?"

"Yuup."

"...Why?"

"Bee-cause he was an officer, if this is an officer's mask then maybe the grunts won't even question me!" Yang explained with a grin that Weiss assumed meant the plan was entirely fool proof and couldn't backfire in any shape or form.

This of course had the heiress facepalming. "Ruby, Yang. I just want to say that this plan feels not only incredibly racist, but also extremely brainless. You are literally putting your entire plan into a roll of the dice and the odds are not very good!" She stomped her foot. "And what if Adam isn't even there? Or if the mask decorations are unique to each member and they recognize Adam's mask? Seriously, Yang...And where even did Ruby get that other mask?!"

"Oh, I made it from papier-mâché!" Ruby supplied with a bright smile, proud.

The heiress had fought the urge and lost. She dragged her palm down her face. "Oh Dust and Legends..." She groaned and threw her hands up. "Fine! Since you're both dead set on this borderline suicidal mission, what exactly am I going to be doing during your infiltration?"

"Standing by and waiting for our signal to retreat or break in and provide awesome cover fire! Preferably in Slow-Mo." Ruby crossed her arms and nodded, Yang joining in.

Weiss was just wondering how long it took before she suffered an aneurism. "...How do I just make things Slow-Mo?"

"Time glyph? Duh."

Oh, right, Weiss totally could dilate time. She forgot about that particular detail. I should probably try to work on that. She noted, there was after all a lot of applications for time dilation. It was almost stupidly unfair with all the things they could do with that stuff.

"Alright, since you both have put so much..." idiotic brainstorming "Into this plan. I have but one more question." She narrowed her eyes. "How do you plan to even find a White Fang meeting?"

Ruby smiled and looked to Yang, who slowly began to grin. Weiss didn't like that grin. "Oh don't you worry about that, Ice Queen. I have an idea..."

"Oh," Weiss sighed. "Wonderful..."

Junior's club, twenty minutes later...

Weiss and Ruby stood outside the shady downtown club. Ruby humming and fiddling with her cat ears while Weiss just looked entirely too uncomfortable standing outside such a seedy den. "Do my cat ears look right to you?" Ruby asked, tilting her head.

"Adorable." Weiss replied dryly. "What even is Yang doing in there? Taking a survey?"

No soon when Weiss said that did the club's windows explode with a golden flare that couldn't have been anything but Yang's semblance kicking into overdrive, followed by the booming shout of "GIMME THE INFO, JUNIOR!"

"WHY ARE YOU WEARING CAT EARS?!"

A loud gunshot.

"WHY ARE YOU WEARING CAT EARS, WHAT?!"

"SIR! WHY ARE YOU WEARING CAT EARS, SIR!"

"BECAUSE INFORMATION!"

Ruby looked entirely nonplussed as the sounds of violence filtered out through the club's now shattered windows, too busy staring at herself in a broken shard of glass and trying to adjust her ears so they looked proper and blended in with her hair perfectly.

Weiss meanwhile just looked all too disturbed at the doorway to the club.

Ten minutes later...

"Yang, what the dust is wrong with you?" Weiss asked, staring at the humming blonde with newfound caution. Was she partnered with a sociopath?

"What? I told him if he ever needed to address me it should be as sir, and when I am on business he needs to remember that." Yang replied as she ran a hand through her golden mane, as if threatening a seedy club owner and his two dozen armed guards and pair of dancing fight twins...Weiss about tuned out in horror at the "I grabbed his nuts and told him to call me sir" part honestly. "Anyways, I got the information we needed so...no harm, no foul, right?"

"Yeh!" Ruby nodded, throwing her fist into the air. "The plan is back on track!"

What is this feeling? Weiss thought as she tried to define the way her body was reacting to this strange situation. It was like something was missing, or that she was missing something terribly...Like a home sickness? She wasn't sure...But if she had to hazard an outlandish guess it was that she was, ugh...Missing... Adam's down to Remnant ways and sanity. Because clearly Ruby and Yang were anything BUT sane.

"Oh my god I miss Adam..." Weiss whispered to herself. She missed the former terrorist.

Something was wrong in Remnant and it might just be her life. Definitely her life.

It wasn't twenty minutes later and definitely well past their curfew when they arrived at the entrance to an alley. It looked fairly normal, except for three scratches across the smooth stone of one of the buildings, perfectly matching a swiping claw scratch. Yang nodded, glancing to Ruby before looking to Weiss. "Remember, be ready to support us on the signal."

"You never did tell me the signal." Weiss said, raising her brow.

"Oh trust me, you'll know it when you see it. So just sit pretty and wait, if all goes well we won't even need it." Yang gave a thumbs up, slid on her broken White Fang mask, before turning and moving along. Ruby nodded to Weiss and put her papier-mâché mask on as well.

Honestly Weiss just ducked into one of the other alleys and got to the roof to listen for the eventual sounds of violence when this plan no doubt went all kinds of wrong. Adam mentioned something about Vale's water supply, I'm beginning to sorta understand that now. She thought with a sigh.

Yang and Ruby stepped up to the door, where a pair of Faunus stood, obviously lookouts for the meeting that was supposed to be taking place within the building itself and Yang gave them each a brief nod. "Comrades."

Ruby waved meekly from behind her.

The pair glanced at each other, then to their ears, then their masks. "Why is your mask broken?" The Boar Faunus on the left asked.

"And why is that other mask papier-mâché?" The Jaguar Faunus on the right added, looking at Ruby with plain suspicion.

"And how come your ears are so stiff and unreactive?" The Boar added before they could even get a word in.

Yang blinked, and she sweat. Damn...They were about to be found out! She needed to act quickly, and convincingly. "Are you questioning a superior officer who just wants to show her younger sister what it means to be part of the only force that fights for our rights as Faunus?" Yang asked slowly, putting a bit of force behind her voice while presenting Ruby, who meep'd and pulled up her hood, obscuring her face briefly. "And she has the mask because she made it herself. A devoted gesture, I'd say."

The two glanced at each other again, seemingly having a silent debate before the Boar responded. "Alright, but just to make sure, can we feel your ears? Just to be sure you're really Faunus-"

"Are you seriously asking to feel these young woman's ears?" Yang and Ruby jumped and about faced when there was suddenly a figure behind them. Hair black and tied back in a pony tail, gleaming silver eyes visible through the slits in the mask, a fluffy tail swaying back and forth behind him.

The man was dressed like Adam, though he didn't sport any rose patterns, and instead his coat was decorated with crimson along the sleeves up to the shoulders and he wasn't wearing dress pants or shoes, just simple boots and pants with a buckle. Along with gloves, the only visible signs of his almond colored skin were his jaw and ears, his lips curled into a friendly smile.

"The meeting is about to start, please, come on in. We're happy to have more White Fang spreading our message."

"But, Perc-"

"I am an officer now, Geralt, And you should remember that." The new Faunus smiled all the same. "Now!" He looked to Yang and Ruby, gesturing them in. "Ladies first." His eyes glinted behind his decorated Grimm mask, he really was an officer...And he was getting them inside.

Yang nodded, wrapping her arm around Ruby's neck and just tugging her sister in past the guards, giving one a small growl before passing and getting inside. The Officer behind them and the door closed. "Thanks for that, they were being a bit too...Touchy?"

The canine Faunus tilted his head, then broke into a grin and laughed. "Haah, good one." Ruby whined and said "no it wasn't" but went ignored. "And it's alright, They're just being cautious, they're not bad people. None of us are!" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're all just trying to improve our lot in life, yeah? So...What're your names?"

"I'm Ru-Ow! Ruuuubite! Rubite Rosso!" Ruby said, saluting and lowering her hood, smiling widely.

"And I'm Xiao Rosso." Yang offered her hand for a shake, which the canine Faunus took and squeezed gingerly.

"I'm Percy Almond," The Faunus replied, grinning good naturedly. "White Fang Officer, recently appointed." He pulled his hand back and crossed his arms. "I don't recognize you, Xiao. And I was told there was only going to be three Officers posted to Vale, and since I know the Lieutenant and Jaggerjack are already here. What brings you to Vale? And where're you from? Mistral? Atlas?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

Yang considered carefully, before she replied. "Oh, well me and Rubite here are sisters, obviously. And we actually come from Patch." Sticking closest to the truth made for the best lies. "And I'm an officer in Mistral, but I was in the city and thought I'd bring my sis here to the meeting to just...Give her a show into how we do things."

Ruby nodded, smiling. "Yup! Defending our rights and freedom! I wanna do that someday."

Yang almost cringed. Ruby's acting was terrible! We're so busted...

"Aww," Percy smiled and reached up, ruffling Ruby's hair dangerously close to her ears...But he didn't touch them. "Well, though you seem young, I'm sure in a few more years you will be read to do that, but for now, just focus on being a kid, alright?" They could see the wink beneath his mask. "You can always fight later, we've got things well in hand."

Yang and Ruby honestly couldn't bring themselves to believe someone this...nice? was part of a terrorist organization that inspired fear in Weiss...let alone be an officer when the requirement was apparently a high bodycount! "...Thanks, Percy." Ruby smiled.

"Not a problem, anyways the meeting is starting. So, eyes up front and enjoy." He patted her head and gave a nod to Yang before he turned and moved along to seemingly find his own place.

They followed his instructions, moving closer to the group of more casually dressed Faunus, obviously the new recruits, because the real members were all easily spotted by the fact they were wearing uniforms. "You see him?"

"No, I don't see him." Ruby whispered back, looking over the crowd best she could with her stature for Adam. "Do you?"

"No, but he could still be here somewhere. Just keep your eyes-Oh no."

"Wha-" Ruby stopped and stared at who stepped up onto the stage.

It was Roman Torchwick and he was being introduced as a very special guest. Some of the Faunus riled, calling out for answers to why a Human was at their meeting. And Roman casually smiled and tipped his hat. "Glad you asked, deery," He dubbed her with a name that would stick with her forever. "As you are no doubt aware Humans are the worst. I'll be the first to admit..." And so, Roman spoke, enthralling the crowd.

Ruby and Yang were just beginning to get uncomfortable. If Roman spotted Ruby their whole cover would be blown. So, Yang moved forward and block Ruby from view. While glancing to the tarped thing that had some short girl standing beside it, spinning her parasol like she would rather be anywhere else.

And just in time because Torchwick threw off the tarp to reveal...A mech suit? "Oh my dust that's a mech suit."

"Mech suit?" Ruby hopped up onto Yang's shoulders to get a better look and just in time for Roman to look over, spot that little red hooded cloak and narrow his visible eye. "Oops." Ruby dropped down. "I think he saw me."

"Hey, you there!" Roman pointed his cane. "Lilttle Red!"

Yang growled, "Fine, but I bet he can't see in the dark." She un folded her gauntlet and threw a fist, a single gunshot echoing out.

"Yang wai-" Crack! Flicker...And darkness. A moment of silence. "Yang we can't see in the dark either."

"Oh yeah..."

"Also, can't Faunus see in the dark really well?"

"Yeah," A voice from Yang's left supplied rather sheepishly. "We can."

Yang sighed. "Oh...Right." Well damnit.

End of chapter 14

There it is, chapter 14! A more RWY centric one, as the hunt for Adam continues and they launch their investigation to find the missing bull, and yes, I did skip the whole meeting with Penny, because honestly I didn't feel it was all that important to the story, and I've changed more than a few events, so this seemed fairly minor.

That said, thanks to all those who continued to show their support, I appreciate it! And to the guest who asked if Adam's suggestion about life changing adventures, yes, that was indeed a nod to Zuko from Legend of Aang!

Until next time, peoples! Take care and have a nice day/night!

PS. Percy is a Dingo Faunus.

P.P.S. He did not eat your babies.