Chapter 2

Mouth still slightly agape, Blake quickly collected herself. "Oh… Hello, it is a pleasure to meet likewise." The wheels in her head turning of how this happened. She had heard stories about Whitley being much like his father. However everything she has seen and heard in the past fifteen minutes completely contradicts that.

Whitley, sensing Blake's confusion, broke the silence. "Now I am sure you must have a few questions. I will do my best to answer all of the obligatory questions. Yes we are engaged. We have been now for one year, two months, and…" looking to Amber "three days? Yes three days sounds right. Before that, we saw each other for about two years. No this isnt some trick or ruse. No it is not a publicity stunt. This is nothing more than two people having the luck to meet each other, and to fall in love shortly after. Well, for me it was shortly after," He said smiling "It took a bit longer for me to convince her I would be someone worthy of her."

Amber, having remained silent for the beginning of the conversation, spoke in her soft voice "Whitley here is being too flattering. But yes, everything he has said is true. I would be more than happy to answer any other questions that you could have. I am fully aware of how the Schnee's are perceived when it comes to our kind, which is one of the main reasons why we have kept this a secret for so long. Now with Jacques passing, Whitley is determined to make the Corporation turn a new leaf. There really is no better time than soon to go public with our engagement."

Having recovered from the initial shock, Blake remembered the cause for this conversation was a job for her. "Ah, so I can assume that whatever job I would be doing, guarding you two, would involve this going public? What better way to turn a new leaf, announcing your engagement to a Faunus, while having me, the leader of the White Fang by your side." She stated, putting the pieces together.

"Well, that is half right." Whitley interjected. "I don't intend to make the announcement while you would be under our contract. If it were to happen, I would make sure, at your request, that your services are discreet. But yes, by the end of this trip, we hope to go public. Which brings me to why Amber and I have sought you out. The purpose of our trip is to deliver a wedding invitation. It will be the first one we send out, but it requires a personal touch… and most likely a lot of convincing." He looks towards Amber, a bit worried.

"Oh, now I see why I was requested." Blake announced. "We are traveling to see Weiss, correct?" Both Amber and Whitley nod. "So having me, a dear friend of hers, travel and protect you two with the ultimate goal of me being an aid in this discussion?" She surmised. Seeing both of their faces, she had a good feeling that was what they intending. She slouched back in her chair, running a hand through her hair, to think. After a short pause, the engaged couple waiting for their would-be bodyguard's answer looked more and more nervous as time passed. The White Fang leader finally spoke. "Let me ask you two things. How did you meet? As well as who else knew? I would like to hear them both from Amber, if you don't mind Whitley."

Whitley smiled and nodded towards Blake. Then looked to his fiancé for the answer.

In her mind, Amber tried to keep herself calm. After so many years of this relationship in secret, having Blake say yes would be their first step towards not having to hide anymore. After a deep breath, she replied smiling "It's no matter at all Ms. Belladonna. First for as to who knew about me and Whitley, Klein, his butler, is the only one that knew. Without his help, meeting and going out would have been much more difficult than it already was. As for how we met, it was at a banquet that his father was putting on. To be honest, I don't recall the reason for it, but Jaqcues rarely required much to throw a banquet in his name. Well, that night…

'Whitley strode around the room, making small talk with those that passed. Out of the things he had to deal with, these parties were one of his least favorites. The multitude of people he had to meet, talk to, and butter up so his father could do business with them was just so tiring. He was already counting the hours until it would be permissible for him to dismiss himself. Just as Whitley's thoughts passed through his mind, he realize there was a girl, about his age, in front of him introducing herself. Right, the other part I dislike. People trying to further their name by marrying into our family… much like my father did. He kindly accepted her greeting, but managed to excuse himself before anything came from it.

He browsed the walls of art on display. Each piece selling in the auction for…. Whatever charity was the flavor of the month among the upper class. After asking one of the servants for a list of the wares, he browsed quickly over it. One entry stood out to him. Instead of a piece, a person's name was listed. Curious, Whitley made his way over to the listed section. Upon arriving, he was greeted by a life-size ice sculpture of Jaqcues Schnee and himself, standing side by side on what appeared to be a turn table.

The detail was quite incredible for it being done in ice, Whitley observe red. Then realizing, that the work was not actually quite done yet. The artist had started with their faces, and was currently working to finish their feet. Unable to see who was behind the sculptures, Whitley waited and watched, while the artist turned the sculptures round and round working with some sort of dust tool in order to chisel into the block. A flash of red was the first glimpse Whitley saw of the artist. Long hair, most likely a woman he thought. Being one of the hosts, he determined he would introduce himself to this artist to let them know that they were doing a wonderful job. Stepping under the cloth rope that held the bystanders back, he approached the other side of the sculpture.

Once there, he froze.

Sitting before him was a Faunus girl, who maybe slightly younger than his middle sister. She was wearing a pair jeans, a black apron, and a black long sleeved shirt which covered all but her shoulders. Her amber eyes glistened while watching closely what her hands were doing. She worked quickly, but precisely. Seemingly not ever missing a beat, she worked away on the ice. Her tail was swaying almost rhythmically behind her while she worked. She appeared to be listening to music while working. Whitley almost left then and there, not used to freezing when seeing someone. Just as he started to turn, she gave a quick glance towards him, and popped out one of her headphones. She continued to work, but was ready to listen.

"Oh… Uh… sor… sorry to disturb you from your work." Whitley managed to stammer out. Relax, breath. After a deep breath and remembering to smile, he continued. "The sculptures look wonderful by the way. Beautiful…. I mean the sculptures… they are beautiful. You are too of course, but…" He trailed off. The short spurt of confidence he found was snuffed out. Nervously fidgeting with one of his hands, he waited for whatever her response would be.

"Thank you" She replied, her soft voice just loud enough for Whitley to hear. "It's not often that the people I sculpt are kind enough to give me a living model to work off of." She said smiling, even letting out a small laugh. "Hehe, I am kidding, but I do appreciate the kind words." Sitting back, looking at her work, more specifically the Whitley sculpture, then to the nervous boy standing in front of her. Then, her face turning into a small frown. "I have tried to get everything as accurate as possible, but your smile for some reason has given me troubles. Would you be so kind to quickly strike a pose so I can get a reference?" Whitley does so immediately, shocking himself at how quickly he was ready to lend her a hand. "Ah why thank you, the smile seems so forced, I think that is the problem."

"Uh, pardon? I do not think that the statue seems forced at all. He… I look quite happy from what I can tell."

"I was not talking about the statue." She gave him a kind, knowing smile. A type of smile Whitley has not seen in a very long time. The type which lets you know that both they are sorry for whats going on, but also are more than happy to talk about it.

Just as Whitley registered what she said, a servant approached him, letting him know that it was time to proceed with the evens of the evening, and he was needed immediately by his father. "I… I must go, pardon my interruption, Miss?"

"Amber, Amber Ignis"

"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Ignis." Whitley managed to get out, before quickly heading to find his father.'

And that was the first night that we met" Amber finished telling Blake. "A few days later, he stopped by my studio to talk, as well as hire me for the next…. I guess almost every event since then. Jaqcues, I think, only permitted it because I am a Faunus. He enjoyed seeing Faunus 'serve' the wealth of Atlas. For each event, I would sell a sculpture or create one during the evening. Each time, here and there, Whitley would find times to talk to me. It went from there. Talking at the parties, then Whitley 'helping' to shut down the party while his father finished with his business. And so on." She finished, taking a deep breath, as well as stealing Whitley's cup to get her dry throat some liquid.

Both of their eyes turned to Blake, who had been listening intently the whole time. No one spoke for about a minute.

"Okay." She said.

"Okay?" Amber replied excitedly, looking towards Whitley who was smiling.

"Yes, okay, I'll do it. As long as it is understood that I will tell Weiss at the end of our trip exactly what I think of the two of you. She is a dear friend, so I will give her the best and most honest advice I am capable of. If you two are okay with that risk, then okay I will do it."

"Of course, of course" They both replied. "We wouldn't want anything besides your honest opinion to give to Weiss. When can you be ready by? We have been planning this for a bit now, so I can have Klein prepare our things, and will be set to go in the morning."

"That works for me. I don't require much. I will head back to the hotel you so kindly provided and pack my things. Thank you for having me. See you two in the morning." Blake said while standing from her chair. She let herself out of the door, past Tryst, to head out of the building. While on the way, Blake stopped for a second at the Schnee family portrait. Laughing to herself, she thought Weiss did indeed look miserable… Well, almost all of them besides Jaqcues look miserable. Whitley has grown quite a bit from this. Looks like he finally filled out a bit. Finally leaving the estate, Blake found her driver, which had been provided by Whitley. "Back to the hotel please." Quickly pulling out her scroll, she sent out a quick announcement to a few of the more important members of the White Fang. "I have accepted a huntress job. Not sure how long it will go, but if everything goes well, the White Fang will make leaps and bounds in progress." Blake exited the limo, headed to her room and gathered her things in order to be ready for the next morning.

Amber and Whitley both smiled as Blake left. "That went about as well as I could have hoped." Said Whitley "We now have a few things we have to get together for the morning. I will let Klein know to gather our things."

Still smiling, Amber nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me, dearest." Then her soft voice voice turned into a seductive growl "I'll be waiting for you in the bedroom" Giving Whitley a passionate yet brief kiss, she hurried off.

Whitley sat there for a moment speechless, then quickly realized that maybe he could let Tryst tell Klein. He has a previous… well on going engagement he must attend to.

/* End of chapter notes.

Hey there! Hope you are still enjoying the story. I know that this was another slow chapter, but since Whitley and Amber will be the main focus, I wanted to get the background of how they met out of the way. Things should be heating up soon ;). As for how often I will be updating the story. I honestly have no idea, but most likely the next chapter will be out sometime next week. */