It had now gotten into the afternoon in Vale and Ruby was starting to stress, they were getting nowhere closer and the feeling that things weren't going to get any better was palpable. She was trying her hardest to think of somewhere Blake would go that they haven't looked already, "I wonder if Yang and the others are having any better luck." She mentioned as she looked to Pyrrha.
"I'm sure that they're doing fine…They have Yang with them, if anyone can do this then they will." Pyrrha encouraged her as they walked towards the boardwalk, hoping that the dockside had any luck with where Blake was.
"Hey, there they are!" Nora would say as they saw Weiss and Yang in the distance before rushing towards them with the others in tow.
Yang looked like a bombshell went off in her brain and looked like she had been crying a little while Weiss was going through some conflicted emotions of her own and Penny was standing nearby them with a worried look on her face.
"Yang!" Ruby yelled out as she got her attention; "We tried looking everywhere in uptown Vale but we can't fi-Wait…what's wrong?" she would ask as she noticed that her sister wasn't her usual self and then looked around; she could see Weiss and Penny but no one else.
"Where's Jae? Is he in one of the buildings?" Pyrrha asked the two in confusion, but that changed to concern when she saw Yang's face drop and Weiss looking away.
"Weiss…Where is Jae?" Ren would ask as Penny stepped in to join them.
"If I may, Ruby…I can tell you what happened, though it may not be pleasing to hear." Penny explained as she looked to Ruby and Pyrrha who now looked substantially more worried.
"It's…Please tell them, Penny…" Yang said softly as the redhead nodded and recalled everything that happened when she met the three; from them finding out that Blake was a Faunus, Penny's observation and their discovery that Jae was a Demon, shocking Ruby and the remainder of Team JNPR before finally concluding with Jae's outburst and his eventual parting.
Ruby could see why Yang had looked so miserable earlier, while both Yang and Nora were trying their hardest to hold back a very, VERY furious looking Pyrrha from getting her hands on Weiss for the horrific things that she had said to Jae.
"ENOUGH!" Ren barked out and thrust the group out of their funk before clearing his throat; "As it stands, we have two problems to fix…We still haven't found Blake and now Jae's gone missing." Ren summed up while Pyrrha was glaring at Weiss: if looks could kill then Pyrrha's was a spear through the skull.
"We can fight and yell at each other later, but right now there are two people who need us…to be supportive and to let them know that we still care about them regardless of who they are or where they came from." Ruby followed up as she looked to Yang who seemed to smile softly at her little sister…no, her leader.
"Right now we've looked over every public spot that we know that she would've gone and turned up nothing…So maybe we should change up where we look, starting with the back streets and alleyways or just anywhere that can hide someone in plain sight." Pyrrha would say after she had calmed down.
"I know a series of dubious places we can look in the shady sides of town, we can start there." Yang offered as she got her trademark smirk back and dusted herself off; "Blake and Jae are alone right now, so let's go help them out!" Yang rallied them as they headed away from the docks and elsewhere.
—Meanwhile…Somewhere—
"So there you have it…A wanted criminal hiding in plain sight, all with the help of a little black bow." Blake would say as she used her ears to make the bow wiggle.
"So you think about telling this to your friends? If you tell them then maybe they can hear you out." A familiar blond haired boy with a tail suggested as he sat across from her; "You'd be surprised what can come about if you're honest."
"That's not the point of it, Sun…Not all of them are as open or as willing to listen to me as you are, the only person that I can possibly talk about this with is…Well, he's got enough to deal with as it is." She pointed out before hearing a Thump on the rooftop by their balcony and whether she could call it karma or some odd coincidence; she saw Jae sitting on the ledge and staring out towards the city. "J-Jae?" Blake would ask, more confused and surprised that he was here then anything.
"Hey, Blake…" Jae responded, his voice still hoarse from earlier and the lack of excitement about finding her seemed to be a good indicator to Blake that this wasn't intentional.
Sun meanwhile was surprised that there was someone who got out to where they were from outside; they were at a cafe on a high floor with no trees or light poles and not even trees nearby to get there. "I have….so many questions right now…."
"They can wait for now." Blake mentioned as she climbed over the railing and onto the roof side before sitting next to Jae; "So…Mind telling me how you got up here?" She asked him like it was normal to be sat on a rooftop.
"I jumped." Jae said plainly.
"You….jumped? Dude, this place is several floors up...I don't think anyone can jump that far." Sun pointed out as he noticed that the closest building was still too far for a regular person to jump but decided to let the two talk it out.
"What are you doing here, Jae…I'm not exactly in the mood to study right now…" Blake still managed to joke a little but noticed that he wasn't cracking a smile or even seemed like…Jae right now.
After Jae explained everything and Blake came clean about her life in the White Fang, it had left Blake with a lot of questions answered about both him and why he was so invested in Demons, while Sun with more questions than answers; "And as for the reason why I came here? I just wanted to be alone and think…about everything."
"Wait…So you're a Demon…But I thought those were just stories." Sun was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Jae was claiming to be part of a species that theoretically shouldn't exist.
"Not now, Sun!" Blake remarked, Weiss getting angry about her being part of the White Fang was one thing but this was not something that she had anticipated on hearing. "You shrugged off plenty of her remarks similar to that before…why was it a problem this time?" Blake asked him, knowing that Weiss often commented on his upbringing in a foster home or calling him a beast of a person in both personality and manners.
"Because this time she had an actual reason to know why I was like that…The others told me about why you ran off…not explicit details but just about you and the White Fang…" Jae explained to her; "So I think it's only fair that you know my whole story as well…"
"Jae…You don't have to tell us just because you feel like you need to." Sun mentioned; "You should tell Blake when you're good and ready." He would add, knowing that it made sense for him to tell her since he was Blake's friend after all.
"I know…But I'm done with hiding the whole truth about me." Jae would say but was stopped by Blake.
"We should find somewhere else, if someone hears us talking about this kind of stuff, it might raise questions." Blake mentioned as she took him and Sun with her off of the roof and towards another rooftop where they could be alone.
Once they were out of sight and away from any prying ears, Blake gestured for Jae to start.
"When I was 10…Back when I still lived with my birth parents, they didn't really hide the fact that I was a Demon child; it was their favourite thing to yell at each other when they were drinking and fighting with each other." Jae said sombrely; "To this day, I never actually know who I inherited it from? My mother would call him a "Demon Seed Spreading Bastard" while my father would call her a "Demonic Harlot" but whenever I asked them, they always say it was the other."
Blake was quietly listening while Sun looked mortified by what he was saying.
"One night, they were fighting like normal and then he knocked her down…and she never got back up. The police came by and the next thing I knew, I was on the doorstep of a foster home that knew why I was there but refused to do anything but keep me in four walls…" Jae finished as he looked up at the others.
"Damn…I can't even imagine…." Sun said as he flicked his tail restlessly; "So you don't know who you got the genes from?" Sun asked which made Jae nod in response.
"And what about them? Your parents, I mean…Do you know where they are?" Blake asked him as she dreaded the thought of what happened to his mom.
"Well…The police locked up my dad and he's been in prison since…My mom…I don't actually know." Jae mentioned as he still thought about it.
"You think that she…she might be…" Blake struggled to get the words out, knowing that coming to terms with that along with what he had dealt with already might be too much.
"No…I've seen him lay her out plenty of times…and she's fought back against him…I know she's out there somewhere." He would say, she may have enabled his father to undergo the spartan training that he was subjected to but she was still his mom.
Blake would nod, though there was still something plaguing her mind and Sun seemed to pick up on it.
"So what happens next? Are you two going back to your teams?" Sun asked the both of them, thankful that the two were now a little more at ease.
"No…Not until I can make things right, if the White Fang are the ones behind these robberies than I should be the one to stop them…But this doesn't line up with their usual tactics…They've never needed this much Dust for anything." Blake explained with determination as she stood up and helped Jae to his feet.
"Then maybe the way to prove it is to be at the next potential spot that they'd hit." Jae pointed out; "If we show up there and they don't show…then we'll know for sure that it's someone else."
"I think I might know somewhere that it COULD be…Back on that ship I came in on, I heard some of the crew talking about a shipment of Dust that was coming in to the docks tonight." Sun managed to think of something and snapped his fingers.
"You sure that's gonna be it?" Blake would ask him, wanting it to be a sure thing.
"Oh yeah, REAL big Schnee freighter…With something like that, anyone looking to steal it would be all over it like flies on stink." Sun remarked with a wide smile.
—Hours Later, At the Docks—
"I've been meaning to ask, Jae…All this time at Beacon and you never once spoke up about this to anyone or even me during our study sessions, how come?" Blake asked as both her and Jae were watching from afar as the freighter was offloading the containers of Dust.
"I told my Team about myself but the Demon part? I didn't want to say it and it turns out to be false." Jae explained; "Professor Ozpin caught wind of my "Maybes" and he's opted for some Atlas Specialist to get a second opinion…Once they get a look at me then they'll say for sure." He mentioned before pulling the binoculars back up to watch.
"You never knew yourself?" She asked, Blake found it odd that he put so much time into studying it and never put it into consideration that it was true; "I saw you take a punch to the face by Yang with her semblance active and set your broken nose straight afterwards…You can't tell me that a regular person with no Aura can do that."
"I guess not…I just wanted the hard proof is all…" Jae would mention off handedly; "Besides, that Mark on my arm was what made me start thinking about it in the first place…I'm just happy that I had someone to help me out with all this." He admitted as he looked to Blake with a small smile.
"I already told you, I was after a study partner and you're plenty smart to work with, the fact that you were interested in books was an added bonus." she would remark with a chuckle and softly punched his arm.
"That and you warned me not to flirt or try anything." He added as well; remembering the look she gave him when they first started.
"At first but that was because you were all awkward with your reasoning so I thought you were trying to get one over on me…But I guess if you want my honest opinion now…I guess you could say that you've grown on me a little." she remarked and shifted herself a little closer to him while he was watching the boat.
There was a noise from behind them as Sun showed up with an armful of fruit; "Any bad guys yet?" He whispered to them before they turned to him.
"Nothing, they're offloading the boat but let's not celebrate yet." Jae mentioned as he set the binoculars down.
"Well, in the meantime…I stole you guys some food." Sun cheerfully said as he handed Blake an apple and Jae a pear.
"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked him as she gazed up at him.
"Weren't you in a cult?" Sun retorted back though he balked when he saw the serious look she was giving him; "Okay, too soo-" He apologised but saw an airship fly overhead towards the shipyard, it slowly lowered itself towards the ground to let some soldiers off, ones that wore white masks and carried guns.
"I guess this means you were right…" Jae mentioned before he looked to Blake who sighed as she realised it.
"Yeah, but I wish that I wasn't…" Blake said as she climbed to her feet and then jumped down into the yard, sneaking over to the White Fang and to Roman Torchwick.
"Wait, what are yo-?! Let's just stop before she gets hurt, Jae…We can get down there and then grab her back before she…Dang it will you two stop doing that?!" Sun yelled in a hushed whisper as Jae quickly followed suit after Blake grabbed Torchwick and demanded they stop.
"Oh kid…if only you knew…." Roman sneered; "The White Fang opted on a joint business venture with me…But right now…I can't have you ruining the fun." He smirked as he dropped a small red Dust crystal and detonated it with his cane like a flashbang, sending Blake backwards onto the ground.
"Blake!" Jae yelled out as he helped her to her feet before glaring at the White Fang Mob and at Torchwick.
"Another one? You're a gutsy one for jumping in to save the girl, but you should think about walking away before you get hurt." Torchwick drawled as the soldiers trained their guns on him; "Because none of these guys are gonna hesitate."
"That's okay, because neither am I." Jae remarked simply as he rushed forward and began to use Fenrir to swat at and knock away the soldiers; trying to avoid using the spear end as he wasn't going to try killing them. Moving as fluidly as he could, he used the butt of the spear to knock around the soldiers and mixed in some swift kicks to gain ground.
Blake watched him fight and decided to jump in too; hopping over Jae and using her sword to take out the soldiers that were still standing, "Why are you stepping in? This is my fight to deal with!" Blake questioned him as she looked back at him after kicking away another White Fang.
"Because you're my friend, once you're in trouble then it becomes my fight." Jae admitted, making the spear in his hands disappear and decided to go bigger with something new as more grunts began to show up. "Alrighty, let's see what this bad boy can do…" He thought to himself as he focused on his hand and summoned what looked to be a shorthanded warhammer. The butt of the hammer was a bone white ornament modelled after an Ursa's head and aside from the red wrappings around the handle and white head of the hammer, the remainder was a coal black with a tint of red around the head of the hammer. "A Hammer…Neat." Jae grinned as he twirled it in his hand and walked over towards the next group who seemed to be laughing that they were squaring off against what looked like a kid with a small hammer.
"You should've picked up something bigger, kid…If you walk away, we won't shoot ya in the back." one of them sneered but that quickly changed to dread when he saw that Jae had essentially knocked one of the larger guys off of his feet with an almost lazy looking swing. "Okay this might be bad." He thought before grabbing his machete and ordering the others to rush him.
Jae smirked competitively as he ducked under the first swing and thrust the hammer's head into the first guy's chest, knocking the wind out of him and on his back. The next one rushed at him with an overhead swing, causing Jae to lift the hammer over his head in an attempt to block with the handle but almost like magic: The hammer grew in size before changing from a small hammer into a greathammer and caught the blade on it's shaft. "I think I'll call this one: Behemoth." He remarked as he then pushed off the blow and spun on his heels to send three men flying backwards with a giant swing.
Torchwick watched from afar while trying to fight off Sun and Blake as they tag teamed him; "Gotta say, kitty cat…that kid with that Grimm weapon over there's freakier than monkey boy and that's saying something." Torchwick taunted her while twirling his cane.
"A scumbag like you is the last type of person to talk." Blake growled as she split Gambol Shroud into their twin sword mode; "And I'm not gonna let you hurt either of my friends like this."
"Is that a promise?" Torchwick sneered as he aimed his cane's barrel up towards a hanging container and took a shot.
Jae in the meanwhile slammed the hammer down on a particularly heavy hitter to knock him out, "Yeah…I could get used to this." He said though his ears pierced with the sound of a whistling firework and a dull Boom! before he looked up, he heard the sound of metal creaking and a snap as an industrial crate came free of it's perch and on top of Jae with a very loud slam of metal on concrete.