Yang's outing to the Club went better than Blake had hoped. Another nine cells were now on their radar. She called both Simon and Thompson and four other group leaders that had joined the cause under her banner. Once started the reforming of White Fang was accelerating daily. After a week she didn't have to approach groups personally anymore. News of her was spreading. Some groups approached her directly now, or through her lieutenants.
That was one thing Blake made sure of: there was going to be a clear line of command, so if she fell the White Fang would live on. There were more groups now available than she had time to approach so she sent others in her stead. They went with her authority as ambassadors and that was enough, mostly. When it wasn't she would go as soon as she could.
They did run across groups who wanted to return to how it was under Adam. With them they were met with anger and violence. This was a good thing though. Her ambassadors called her and she called Velvet. Shortly after that the authorities arrived and that cell disappeared. This made the violent portion inclined to not be so violent. The demonstration of her authority among the humans was enough convince her people that she was the right choice for leader.
This call wasn't just to give them the new information she'd gotten. She could have told them via scroll as she had in the past, but it was time to do something else as well. Something that would tell her if this was truly going to work. All agreed, and a meeting of all of the White Fang was arranged for the next day. That it was still the weekend allowed most the opportunity to show under such short notice. That short notice was necessary. If it happened even a week later there was a chance that word of it would fall into the wrong ear. They were going to go public but the time wasn't right yet. A gathering that went violent could only be used against them.
The group was large enough that an abandoned building wasn't going to do. She could go with a warehouse, but she wanted something a bit grander. It would not only show that she had the authority to lead, but that it would be a legitimate movement backed by more than just words. That was tricky. It was a good thing she had gotten ready for this inevitable crossroad. She called Velvet. "Time to prepare the theater," she stated.
Velvet seemed surprised. "So quickly?"
"Yes, I think they are ready," Blake said with absolute certainty that hid the bundle of nerves beneath the surface. She'd been told by Weiss, and it was continually backed up when dealing with her movement leaders, that uncertainty only bred more uncertainty. "If I wait much longer I risk the humans knowing we are gathering, and they will assume it is so we can attack the world again."
When Blake had first started Velvet had volunteered immediately. That had surprised Blake at the time. Once she'd stopped hiding her ears Velvet had been angry for what she viewed as a cowardly act, or Blake being ashamed of her heritage. What Blake didn't realize was this crusade had redeemed her in Velvet's eyes. "Okay. I will let Ozpin know. When does it need to be ready?"
"Tomorrow night."
She was certainly all in with the movement as soon as she learned of it though. Velvet didn't know it yet but she was going to be second in command, assuming she wanted it. Blake was fairly sure she would. "You really are pushing things. It will be done though."
"Thank you." Tomorrow night was going to be the true beginning of the movement. I just wish Weiss was around because I could really use her advice on where to go with it.
The auditorium was a concert hall. It was one of the largest in Vale in fact. Ozpin was personal friends with the owner so he had arranged for it to be open to her.
Blake owed the Headmaster more than she could express. He was the one who aiding her with her emotional scars after the fight with Adam. He was the one who convinced her it was time to stop hiding she was a faunus. Her admiration of him was possibly higher than any other student at Beacon.
He had proven a hundred times over that he had no prejudice towards faunus at all. He was continuing to help her and she knew without a doubt he believed in her and her ability to affect real change. This was just a small showing of his influence for the cause.
The new White Fang was obviously impressed. This was worlds better than skulking about in abandoned buildings and deserted parks. Most showed feelings of validation on their faces. That was what she had hoped for. Without a word her lieutenants joined her on the stage. Each had been a leader of one of the fragments she had pulled together. They knew their people and had their respect. There was no reason to change that yet.
This was the first time all of them had been together. It was also the first time she had met some of them personally. The tension was hard to miss. "Let's get this over with first." She looked at each one, making sure she made eye contact. "I know before me none of you could work together for various reasons. Now that you are following me will that still be a problem?" To varying degree all of them avoided eye contact. All of them except for Thompson. He stood proud, smiling with his hands on his hips. She gave him an approving nod. "Alright, so be it. I'm okay with a little internal stress, for now. I know bad blood takes time to heal. It will heal though. For tonight I want you to stay with your people. This is going to be a rough meeting for all of them and your job is to keep them quiet and thinking. I don't want us tearing ourselves apart before we really get started, okay?"
One of them spoke up, "why might they get violent?" She recognized him as Slim. He was one of the ones she hadn't met yet but from the reports she had read he was also probably the smartest. That he spoke up was good. She didn't want a bunch of yes men.
"It's complicated. I don't want to repeat it twice. Believe me though, this is necessary."
"Good enough for me!" Thompson bellowed, heading out towards his people from the park. That seemed to give the rest more confidence. They nodded and headed out. A couple tried to salute her, which she stopped right away. They were not an army; they were not going to start acting like one.
After taking a couple of deep breaths, she concentrated on each tense muscle in her body and relaxed them one at a time, until she felt ready. She was about to walk to the center and ready the speech she had prepared. She sincerely hoped they would stay calm enough for her to finish it.
Her scroll alerted her to a call. She was tempted to ignore it and listen to the message after, but Yang's face showed and she answered it instead. Her teammate was aware of how important tonight was. She wouldn't call if it wasn't an emergency.
She should have waited.
It was pure panic in Yang's voice. The kind that Blake didn't think her friend was even capable of. "They're gone! Ozpin can't find them. Their transport went down between Patch and Vale, and no one knows why. They could be dead!"
'They' had to be Ruby and Weiss Blake knew right away. The implications overwhelmed her and the scroll dropped to the ground from nerveless fingers. "Blake, you gotta get back here. We need to go find them! BLAKE! Are you there? Get your ass back here now. We can't wait!" Yang was yelling loud enough to be heard even with the scroll nowhere near her face.
They had to wait. She had to wait. This night was the night that everything fell together or fell apart. She had to pull herself together and have faith in Ozpin and every one of her friends. None of them would fail to search. They would look until they found them both.
She carefully bent down, not trusting her own balance as the emotions filled her. "Yang." she said with dead calm, hoping that it would help calm her friend. It didn't, but she quieted for a moment. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Go, find our friends."
"What's more import," Blake hung up. There was no point. Yang would just continue getting angrier by the second that Blake hadn't dropped everything to go help with the search. Ruby was involved. To Yang there was nothing more important, not even this. Blake's priorities were different and though her heart ached she had a job to do. She hoped Yang could forgive her some day.
Turning her scroll to silent she squared her shoulders and walked out to center stage.
As she walked out she looked over the crowd. In truth the auditorium was too large for their group, but that hadn't been the only reason to use it. Presentation was everything tonight.
Nearly two hundred eyes fixed themselves on her. It was intimidating. "Brothers and Sisters thank you all for coming on such short notice," she started, her eyes moving from one face to the next. There were too many to commit to memory, but she hoped they each felt she had given them her direct attention, even if it was only for a moment. "We are at a crossroads. We are together now, and we are stronger for it. We will continue to grow, and grow quickly. We all know our cause is just, and have all felt the lash of oppression. I will not promise to get rid of that tonight, tomorrow, or next year. Hate runs deep on both sides of the line and it will not be easily defeated. We will, however, be the start so our children will know a better world than we have, and their children may know true freedom."
The speech was said calmly. Her voice projected well, as the stage was designed for, so even those in the back could hear her. "I am honored for the chance to head that fight, thank you."
"Our first step will be the hardest to swallow by most of you, and it hurts me to have to do it. Please believe that." A bit of grumbling came from the crowd, suddenly uncomfortable and worried by her words. "The White Fang, as we know it, must die." She could have honey coated it. She could have walked them slowly through it, and she had given that some serious thought, but right now speed was her concern. Though she considered the White Fang her first priority, that did not mean she was going to spend any more time here than necessary when Ruby and Weiss needed her the most. She looked at her lieutenants and noted that each was doing as she said to keep their followers calm. They were very good at it. "The White Fang will never again be seen as anything but a threat in the human eyes. We will not give them a chance. Our mission is too important to be delayed by meaningless controversy and strife. I am not proposing we disband. Look around, we are the heart of this cause, not the name. It is time we let it go and move forward. We will rise above the shadows and into the light. We will take wing above those who would chain us down. We will fly to our freedom."
She had been giving this thought ever since Jaune had pointed out the need. She wanted the name to be inspirational, beautiful, yet strong. She needed something that other faunus could identify with, and for the humans to understand the message behind the name. She hoped what she came up with would be accepted by all. There was no way to know until she said it though. The buildup had gone flawlessly, time to bring it home. "We are Phoenix."
She wasn't sure what she had expected. Anger? Joy? An attempted lynching? She got silence. Maybe she should have talked to Simon first. He was the orator. He could have given her tips on presenting this change. As the silence grew her nerves frayed a bit more. It was by willpower alone that she didn't show how on edge she was becoming.
And in her head time was ticking away as the chances of finding her teammates got smaller by the minute. She couldn't wait, but she couldn't rush this.
Then they started talking to each other. It was quiet at first, but getting more animated. There was a sense of excitement. The energy became infectious, making people even more ready. "We of the Phoenix stand with you!" Slick yelled for his group. It was followed by another lieutenant, and then another, until all had professed their loyalty under their new banner.
It was overwhelming. She had hoped for success, but never dreamed it would be this strongly accepted and expressed. She was the leader of these people. Her people. They will stand with her, and they will do whatever is necessary to get their deserved respect and place besides the humans who would hold them down. Next she needed to be sure that all understood this was not going to include the hate. And later, the hardest part of all, the acceptance of humans within their ranks. Equality wasn't going to be earned by one-sided battles. They needed to be shown as equals within their own ranks before they would be accepted as equals by the rest of the world.
The fight for control was over. The battle to maintain that control was only beginning.
And still that clock ticked away in her head. She could not be seen as running.
It was time to give them their first orders. "Go; find our brothers who would work towards that distant freedom. Bring them in under our wing." It was pandemonium. Cheering, laughing, and celebrating filled the auditorium. Blake realized that the name White Fang hadn't just poisoned the human's acceptance. It had also poisoned her people's minds. They were free now from being part of that hate and anger.
Achieving her objective she slipped out in the ruckus she slipped out unnoticed. Once on the street she moved as fast as she could towards Beacon, Yang, and all of her friends. They were probably already on their way to find their lost teammates. Opening her scroll she ignored the nine messages from Yang. She had a good idea of what they were about. She called Velvet instead. "Any chance you can help me get with the rest of the search party?" she asked, not wanting to waste any more time.
"Too late. All of the transports are already over the sea searching," Velvet said in anxiety laced tones.
Blake slowed down, and then stopped. It had been necessary, she repeated. One more set of eyes would not have helped in the search. None of that mattered. She had failed her friends. What hurt the most was knowing if it happened again she would do it again. "Head to the docks. There's a ship preparing to go out to help with the search. It'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. Think you can make it?"
New hope was found, and she turned and ran in the exact opposite direction. At that moment she would have given her right arm for just a touch of Ruby's semblance. "I have to make it. Thank you."
It was late so she could move with ease. The air rushed around her and made her trench coat flap from the wind made by her own passing. She had to use her semblance several times to avoid getting hit by a car. That barely slowed her down and didn't register at all. All that mattered was getting to the docks. She pushed herself so hard that by the time she got there she was panting and out of breath. The lack of oxygen to the brain made her light headed and her lungs burned with each deep breath she took. She scanned the docs briefly and found the one getting ready to launch. She'd made it!
The search, however, was fruitless. No sign of wreckage. No signs of life. As the hours passed a sense of dread became more and more present. When the ship ran low on fuel they were forced to turn around. The captain, whose name she never got, stuck his head out on the return trip. "They found the ship ma'am. They say it was intact, but it had sunk. They're working on getting down to it now."
It was intact. That gave Blake hope that they had survived and merely floated away with the current. That could easily be followed. Once they made port she headed directly to Beacon. That would be where the information would get to first.
All the other bullheads had returned except for the one at the wreckage. Yang was nowhere to be found, so Blake surmised that she was on that plane. Another hour, then two hours, passed before the lone transport landed surrounded by students and teachers alike. Blake had been waiting at the front of the crowd, given a spot of painful honor in reverence to her teammate's crisis. Team JNPR was with her, an honor guard holding silent vigil with her.
Yang was the first out of the bus and in her hands was Crescent Rose in its compact carrying form. Fear stole her voice, but she went to her. Yang purposely looked away and headed towards the academy without a word. It broke Blake's heart, and her friends tried to give her comfort. She couldn't accept it though. Two of her best friends were possibly dead, and the last was holding her to blame. Silently she agreed with Yang.
One of the flight crew exited and let the crowd know that all they'd found was the wreckage. The search would continue tomorrow.
I did the right thing, She told herself. The thought did little to ease the pain of Yang's rejection and her own guilt as she walked alone to their room.822Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3sWQx0gmD
