AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have tried to follow the naming rules Monty put down. Kuro (alt. kuroi) is Japanese for black, and Hellbrau is derived from German for light brown.

Leaving the alleyway, Yang led Blake to a small café on Shishno Street. Yang was a regular there, and the waitress quickly showed her to a secluded table in the rear courtyard. "Hey Barb! I'll have the usual. What would you like Blake?"

The Faunus girl considered the menu for a few seconds before speaking. "Can I have a tuna sandwich? And a tea, earl gray please." Blake handed her menu to the waitress, who departed with the girls' orders. "Yang, back there…" Blake's stoic demeanor faltered, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Her next words were barely whispers. "I was too late! All my training, everything I've given up, and for what? How can I be a defender of Vale when I can't save one little girl?" She began to sob, not caring as her concealing black bow fell from her ears.

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake's shoulders. "You weren't too late. I saw you. You threw yourself between that girl and danger without a thought to your safety. You heard the detective, Blake. Those punks were going to kill her! I'm proud of you, Blake, and you need to be proud of yourself." Yang's voice was at once firm and caring.

Yang's words and touch were soothing to Blake, who lifted her head and wiped her eyes. "Do you…Do you really mean that?"

"I do Blake. I mean that. If you could have seen yourself from my angle, you would have been impressed. All I saw was a flash of purple and those first two thugs were down! But Blakey? Leave some for me next time, alright?" Yang gave Blake a peck on the cheek. Blake blushed, composed herself, and retied the bow which kept her real identity a secret to the world. It was just in time too, as Barb returned with their orders. Blake's bleary eyes widened at the smell of fresh tuna.

"Two Tuna sandwiches, a tea and a Strawberry Sunrise. Need anything else ladies?"

"Thanks Barb, but I think we're good." Blake and Yang soon began to unwind from the tension of the fight. Yang made a few awful puns, and she was sure she got a smile out of Blake. By the time their lunches were finished, Yang and Blake's bellies were full and spirits restored.

They spent the next few hours crisscrossing downtown Vale. The town was surprisingly busy for a Sunday. People from across the four kingdoms were arriving by the hour, in advance of the Vytal Festival. Dusty shop windows were being cleaned, and posters for the tournament were everywhere. Each shop they visited had a few more items from Ozpin's list, until only the special ammunition was left. Yang decided it was a good time to see how her favorite shopkeeper was doing. Walking a few extra blocks brought the girls to From Dust till Dawn. The old shop keep was friendly, even giving Yang a bag of cookies for her sister. After a few minutes of conversation and a 500 lien purchase, Blake and Yang had everything on Ozpin's list. "Hey Yang! We still have a few hours before we're supposed to meet back with Ruby and Weiss. Why don't we catch a movie while we're in town?"

"Let's call it a date, Blakey!" Yang shouted from behind a shelf of dust crystals. Blake was glad the shelf hid her face, as her friend's choice of words made her pale cheeks turn scarlet. Don't get your hopes up. She doesn't mean it like that. She was just comforting you at lunch. Drawing her scroll, Blake ordered two tickets for a matinee showing of a new fantasy epic, Grimm Eclipse.

"Tell me, boy, why should I stay my hand? Why should I not liberate your traitorous head from your shoulders?" It wasn't the sword at his throat that made Kuro tremble. He'd fought too often in his years as a Black Talon to fear a blade. It was his master's voice that inspired fear. Lord Hellbrau spoke with a resigned coldness. No menace lay in his words, no threat; he was honestly asking his apprentice to justify his life.

Kuro weighed his options. Drawing a steadying breath, he began to speak. "Since the day of our founding, the Black Talon have desired one thing above all else-the death of the filthy animals which dare to live among us. The game I have played is over. It was, always, played to serve that goal. I did not inform you, and I did not involve you in my plans. For that, you would be within your rights to kill me. But I am not a traitor." For all his outward bravado, Kuro was a nervous wreck. He knew that his very life depended on his ability to appease his master.

Hellbrau lowered and sheathed his sword. "I am well aware of your little operation. You may have left me uninformed, but your compatriots were not so foolish. There is another matter, at hand, and for that you may still lose your life tonight. But I would be a fool to waste the fruits of your intrigue. Sit, and tell me this; Have you found it?

The icy fear which had nearly paralyzed Kuro receded. He collapsed into the waiting chair. It took a tall glass of Atlesian Brandy to regain his composure. "My lord, I do not yet possess the weapon you have sought for years. However, I have located its resting places."

The Black Talon leader set aside his cigar, intrigued by the response. "You did say places? Have you found more than one?"

"No my lord. The legends passed down from our founders were inaccurate. I first learned of a lost weapon in Forever Fall from several veterans of the Second Crusade. They showed me a map, and described a ruin they were ordered to guard. I could ill afford to waste men on a fruitless search, so I made a daring play."

"You tried to rob the Beacon Armory. Come now, I would call that stupid, not daring" I still have half a mind to kill you...Hellbrau's voice dripped of condescension.

"You think your favorite apprentice that moronic? The heist was only a front. The burglars were instructed to get caught and to tell their captors that they were ordered to steal the Coccum Exterminatus. Furthermore, that they had been given three possible resting places to search. Ironwood reacted as I predicted. He shifted half a division, including a squadron of Paladin-290 mechs, away from Vale. What could be more important to defend than the Vytal Festival?" Kuro's swagger had finally returned.

Hellbrau smiled. He had trained his apprentice well. Perhaps too well. ...and the other half agrees. I am killing him when this is all over. "The Exterminatus, of course. But you still haven't explained what you meant by places."

"A brother Talon in the Atlesian Guard lent me several sonic attenuators. They were meant to monitor the ground for burrowing Grimm. It turns out they make excellent eavesdropping tools. I was able to record several conversations from Ozpin's office before he needed them back. Ozpin told Ironwood of a catalyst, needed to activate the Exterminatus. While I cannot prove it, that catalyst is almost certainly the weapon the Crusaders mentioned guarding. The timeline fits."

"Very well Kuro. Hearing your reasons, I can excuse your choice to sacrifice your men. There is a fleeting opening for our brotherhood to achieve it's ultimate goal. I will orchestrate the retrieval of Ironwood's part of the Exterminatus. I grant you one mission to reprove your reliability. Assemble a team of killers. Even with no resistance, there will be an army of Grimm between you and the old ruins your Crusader friends remember. Find what's there. It goes without saying that this is a black mission. Kill anyone in your way."

A smile broke out on Kuro's face. The psychopath laughed, then downed another brandy. "It would be my pleasure!" With a dramatic bow, the Black Talon's foremost killer slipped from the room, out into the dark streets of Vale.