Chapter 4 — Cause

Ilia and Weiss walked in silence, but it wasn't the tense silence of before. This silence didn't scream its presence. Breaking it didn't threaten to spark an argument. They were silent because they didn't need to talk, not because they couldn't think of anything to say.

It was still silence, though. They would hear any Grimm approach, any underground streams, and most importantly, any people.

That was what let them hear the explosion. It was almost silent, muted by the many cave walls. Ilia wondered if she had imagined it, but a look at Weiss told her otherwise. The heiress was frowning, her gaze centered on the direction the sound had come from.

Ilia opened her mouth to clarify what they had heard, when a distant shout interrupted her.

"—trying—killed?"

"You heard that, right?" Weiss whispered.

Ilia nodded her response. Looking into Weiss' eyes, she could see the glimmer of hope there. It was that which let Ilia smile, a warm feeling rising in her chest.

People. Civilization. A way out of the tunnels they had been trapped in for so long. Ilia didn't even think of why there were people in tunnels long abandoned. It didn't matter, not when she and Weiss could finally be free.

They glanced at each other, silent communication passing between them. A second later, they took off sprinting.

All traces of exhaustion vanished, and were replaced with a spark that raced through her entire body. The cave walls blurred past her, and any Grimm that dared stand in her way were destroyed. Neither she nor Weiss stumbled, despite how many pebbles littered the floor. Their feet weren't touching the ground long enough for them to have a chance to stumble.

Another shout echoed through the cavern, this one sounding closer than the last. With that, any fear Ilia might have had of not being able to find the people dissipated. Her pace increased until she was moving so fast, she sped past a few Grimm.

She could hear people. She'd made it! She was actually going to go to the surface! She was—

She was falling.

The tunnel ended, leading into a large cavern. More specifically, the top of a cavern reaching over thirty feet into the air, with no ground to give her warning until she was already falling to the bottom.

She caught movement, but the person was too distracted to notice her. Tucking her legs into her chest, she rolled forward in the air, pulling out her whip at the same time. Once positioned, she flung the whip forward, wrapping it around the thin center of a pillar. She spun around the pillar once, before flipping as she disengaged her whip, landing behind the pillar.

Safe behind cover, Ilia looked up. Weiss had fallen as well, but caught herself on a glyph half-way, safely making the rest of the jump down and next to Ilia.

"Did you hear that?" Both Weiss and Ilia stiffened at the masculine voice on the other side of the pillar. They had both been trained to assess a situation, rather than risk revealing themselves to hostile forces. And it was odd that there were people in the tunnels at all.

"What?" There was a shuffling movement as someone else turned around. "I don't see anything," said another male.

"It came from back there," the first voice said. "Go check it out."

The second person sighed. "You and your paranoia." Footsteps echoed throughout the cavern as he started walking toward them.

Ilia's eyes widened, and behind her, Weiss was in a similar state. Putting a finger over her lip, Ilia forced the smaller girl against the pillar, then blocked her body with her own. She changed colors, blending in with the darkness while Weiss pressed her arm against Ilia's back, making herself as small as possible.

Don't look too carefully, Ilia prayed. See that there's nothing here, and move on.

Why would someone be down here? Were they after a Grimm? Maybe they were trying to capture Grimm? Hopefully, it would be far less nefarious. If they were Huntsmen, Ilia and Weiss would have no reason to hide.

That was the thought in Ilia's mind when the man rounded the corner, staring face to face with her. Ilia had to keep herself from reeling back, or worse, making a noise in shock.

The man in front of her wore a Grimm mask.

White Fang. What are they doing here? Adam never told me he planned to send men down here!

The thought that they were looking for her passed through her mind. She dismissed it immediately. Adam was never one to dwell on losses. He would accept the loss of a powerful member, and make sure to put more training on the recruits to make up for it. He wouldn't even think of looking for Ilia.

But then, why were there White Fang here?

"I don't see anything," the White Fang member said. With Ilia's disguise working, all he saw was an odd looking, but unremarkable, extension to the pillar. He turned around to walk back to his companion.

"Let's check on the others," he said. "Adam will have our heads if we're not ready by the Vytal Festival."

Ilia waited until their footsteps faded before sighing in relief. She turned back to her normal colors, pressing herself against the pillar just in case.

"The White Fang," Weiss hissed from beside her. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know," Ilia whispered back. "Our plans beyond Mountain Glenn never involved returning underground." Ilia realized what she said a moment later, and winced.

"Your plans beyond Mountain Glenn?" Weiss sounded as if she could barely keep herself from shouting. "The breach on Vale wasn't your objective?"

Ilia glanced away. The attack on Vale had been only a distraction. It was fuel for the contempt against Ozpin. Contempt that would attract the Grimm, causing the fall of Beacon.

The temperature seemed to drop as Ilia looked up, seeing Weiss' narrowed eyes. "What were you planning?" the heiress demanded.

Faced with Weiss' cold anger, Ilia didn't even think about lying. "Adam," she choked out. "He . . . was working with a human, t-to make Beacon fall."

Weiss' eyes widened, and Ilia had to throw her hand over Weiss' mouth before she could shout. That only made Weiss glare at her, and Ilia dropped her hand, but rushed to explain.

"The Breach was to build negative emotions for the Vytal Festival. During the singles, the human Adam is working with will cause the matches to end in tragedies, making the emotions severe enough that Grimm will invade Vale. The White Fang will strike at the same time. That's Adam's plan." She stressed Adam's name, as if that would make Weiss any less furious at her.

Weiss' hand fell to Myrtenaster. "You . . . you knew about this? You helped them? " She all but growled the next words. "I thought you were better than them, but you're just as much of a monster."

"I didn't want this!" Ilia snapped. "I was supposed to stay in Menagerie. I didn't want to get involved!"

"Yet you still were willing to work with them, even knowing what would happen."

She had. Thinking about the Fall made her stomach churn, but Adam had said it would divide humans, while bringing Faunus together under the White Fang. The lives lost, even those of Faunus, would be worth the gain . . . wouldn't they?

What could Ilia say? Schnee or not, Weiss had still given Ilia a chance, something no human had ever done. Yet Ilia had kept such a large secret from her. She couldn't have risked jeopardizing the White Fang's plans by telling Weiss the truth, but she had a feeling Weiss wouldn't accept that.

In the end, all Ilia could do was fall back on old tactics. She glared at the Schnee.

"Humans have left me and too many other Faunus with nothing," Ilia snarled. "The White Fang is all I have left. I may not agree with all they do, but that won't stop me from fighting for what is right."

"And this is right?" Weiss challenged.

No, Ilia thought.

"Maybe," she said with a shrug. "Like I said, I don't know what Adam's planning down here. If this helps the Faunus, then it's right."

"I-I can't believe you'd . . . argh!" Weiss threw her hands up and stomped a few feet away from Ilia.

"And where are you going?" Ilia drawled.

Weiss whirled around so fast, she nearly fell over. "Your White Fang friends are right there. You might as well go back to being a filthy terrorist, if that's what you really want. With them here, an exit has to be near. I can handle myself from now on."

Filthy. Just like all Faunus were filthy to the humans. Ilia didn't even give her a response. The Schnee didn't deserve one.

Ilia spun around, blending in with the cave and walking away.

Betrayal. It was a concept Schnees were familiar with, though they were usually the ones doing the betraying. Schnees never got close to anyone, so they couldn't be betrayed. The walls they put up protected what little happiness they had. With them, a Schnee would never be vulnerable.

Weiss had lowered those walls, for an active member of the White Fang, no less. She should have known it would lead to this. Did she think Ilia would stop being a terrorist because a Schnee had talked to her? Of course not. The White Fang cared for no one but themselves.

Weiss told herself that. She pouted, fumed, and let her blood boil as much as it could. That rage gave her power. It was better than exposing her true emotions. It was better than letting herself realize just how much Ilia had hurt her.

How long had she known Ilia for? Barely more than a week, and they had rarely talked to each other in that time. Yet Weiss had opened up to her more than she had with her own teammates. It was easy to when she wasn't sure she would see anyone else ever again.

More importantly, she had so badly wanted to trust Ilia. By giving her a chance, and receiving the same in return, she had proved her father wrong. She had proved the war between her family and the Faunus didn't have to go on. If the Schnne heiress could make friends with not one, but two White Fang members, one of whom was still active when they had met, why did the rest of her family have to be targets?

She had told Ilia that her bodyguard, Aurum, was fired. That was true. What Weiss hadn't told Ilia was that out of the Schnee's protection, the White Fang had murdered him for saving Weiss.

So many family members, so many board members, even some potential friends, all executed. It was foolish of Weiss to think she could end such pain through kindness. A Schnee accomplished nothing through being kind. They walked over anyone who stood in their way, making themselves too valuable to touch.

Weiss had given Ilia a chance, and in return, Ilia had kept this from Weiss. A plot to destroy Beacon, to divide the world, to cause untold deaths. Ilia knew, she had helped, no matter what she said. And despite Weiss leaving herself vulnerable for Ilia, revealing parts of her past she had never wanted to, Ilia hadn't even had the decency to tell Weiss her friends may die.

Weiss hated this feeling. Vulnerable. Ilia hadn't even realized how much effort it took Weiss to put herself in this state, where Ilia could hurt her so much. Now, she felt more vulnerable than ever, like she would break down at the first sight of a friendly face.

She didn't want to think about what she'd do when facing one that wasn't friendly.

There was a light ahead. Weiss stalked toward it, wanting to just go home. Her skirt was covered in dirt, her hair was a bird's nest, and her skin was full of nicks still healing from fights with Grimm. To say nothing of how much her feet were killing her after walking in heels for so long.

If she could slip by the White Fang, she could find where they came from, and put this whole nightmare behind her. Ilia would be nothing more than a distant memory.

The light turned out to be from a dust lamp. There was a snarling Faunus holding it, reprimanding the cowering White Fang member before him. Unlike the echoing shout that had attracted Weiss to the area, he was hissing his words, practically spitting them in the grunt's face.

Not that far away was a crater in the ground. Even from a distance, Weiss recognized the patterns of the scorch marks in the ground. They marked an explosion caused by dust. She could fill in the rest on what had happened on her own.

The surrounding area contained steel crates large enough to contain a car. Even then, the crates shook as something bucked against the interior. The White Fang grunts guarding the crates leaned away from them, hands on their weapons.

Are they capturing Grimm? Ilia had mentioned the White Fang would attack Beacon. Releasing Grimm into the school would cause untold destruction.

After a quick scan, Weiss counted nearly three dozen White Fang soldiers, all near one crate or another. The one who had been reprimanding a grunt looked to be a lieutenant, taller and bulkier than the rest of them.

Her head darted from side to side, but there were no White Fang members looking her way. Knowing that wouldn't last long, Weiss launched herself off a gravity glyph, landing in a roll behind one of the crates. Snarling came from within, confirming that there were Grimm inside. It sounded like a Beowolf, yet . . . different, somehow. The noise was deeper, yet scratchier at the same time.

No time to dwell on that. She peered out of the crate, seeing that the coast was clear again. The next create was farther away than she would have liked, but if Weiss could keep the White Fang's attention off of her . . .

The glyph formed behind her. A white glyph, with four swords sprouting from the center. It spun rapidly as Weiss put more power into it. If there was any time for it to work, that would be now.

Or not, for the glyph slowed down, before dying out entirely. Weiss let out a bitter sigh. She was on her own.

Her only choice was to take the risk. She launched herself off another glyph, forming a second one in the air to increase her propulsion. A final glyph formed on top of the crate, which Weiss landed on as not to make any noise.

Weiss lied on her stomach, hoping that her lessons stating people rarely thought to look up when searching an area would prove right. Up here, she could at least get a better idea of what was going on.

"We got another one!" a voice called from the direction Weiss had come from. Weiss hated the sinking feeling in her chest. They weren't talking about Ilia, and even if they were, why should Weiss care? Ilia would be returning to them soon anyway.

The woman came closer, with her and three other White Fang members taking hold of one corner of a cage. Inside was a Grimm.

Weiss gasped at the sight of it.

At first, it looked like any normal Creek. Upon closer sight, it was anything but. Its normally white scales were green, and a green gas oozed from it.

"This thing nearly exploded on me," one of the grunts carrying the cage complained. "Why are we the ones who have to collect that human's creations from down here?"

The lieutenant Weiss had seen earlier walked up to the man and smacked him on the back of the head. "Quit your whining," he ordered. "Adam believes the human's work will help our cause, so we'll collect as many as we have to. If I have to keep you lot down here till the festival, then so be it."

Work? That was what they were calling that . . . thing? The White Fang were experimenting on Grimm? Weiss shuddered. Normal Grimm were bad enough, but how deadly would they be with the White Fang controlling them? Weiss' stomach churned at the possibilities that came to mind.

I can't sneak away now, she realized. If I do, the White Fang will get away with what they're planning. If this is how they're planning to bring down Beacon, I can stop it here.

That in mind, Weiss stood, holding Myrtenaster before her. The dust inside spun, until settling on fire. In her other hand, a small, red glyph formed.

She would have to make this quick. The moment she launched the first blast of fire, the White Fang would know of her presence. If she struck every crate, releasing the Grimm inside, she would cause enough panic to bring down the operation. In the chaos, she would escape.

She squinted, trying to calculate the best spot to fire at.

"Well, well, well," the deep voice came from directly behind Weiss. She began to turn around, sword raised, only for a sharp force to strike her side, launching her off the crate. She flew down, landing on the bumpy floor and rolling sideways.

Her momentum halted when a foot stomped on her stomach, causing her to grunt in pain. When she looked up, she saw it was the lieutenant keeping her pinned, his masked face sneering down at her. Based on the drill he was holding, he had been the one to launch Weiss off the crate. How had he caught up to her so fast?

Footsteps signaled the approach of the White Fang. They surrounded her, whispering among themselves. Weiss could see the smirks on their faces.

She reached for Myrtenaster, which had landed a few feet away for her, only for another foot to kick it away. Weiss tried to summon a glyph without dust, when the lieutenant took his foot off her stomach long enough to kick the left side of her face. Her scar screamed in agony.

The lieutenant signalled for two of his men to grab Weiss, one arm each. They lifted her up so she had no choice but to face the lieutenant.

The look he gave her was deadly.

"Never thought I'd get to kill an already dead Schnee."

"See anything?" the White Fang member asked his companions.

"Nah," a woman responded. "You would think a place like this would be crawling with Grimm."

"Maybe the freak's Grimm chased them out," a third member said. "Why the hell did that Merlot guy release Grimm down here, anyway?"

"You actually bothered to remember his name?" the woman asked. The only response she got was a grunt.

Behind the group, Ilia frowned. The White Fang were down here to collect some special type of Grimm? Why would Adam make such a risky alteration to the plan?

Ilia couldn't stop bile from rising in her throat at what she had listened to. These members had seen some of the altered Grimm, and discussed them among each other. There were Beowolf's with the resilience of a Beringle, Deathstalkers with the strength of multiple trained Huntsmen, and Creeps that even when defeated, would explode.

The White Fang had never been afraid to take advantage of Grimm. They were a natural part of the world, a threat everyone knew of. Of course the White Fang's attacks would inevitably attract Grimm. It had never mattered, as long as they got their message across.

But . . . this? Purposely giving more power to mankind's greatest threat? What would that mean for the future?

Adam had never been one to let a resource go to waste, especially not after it got him results. These Grimm wouldn't just be used on making Beacon fall. Adam would want to unleash them in future White Fang attacks. But if those Grimm didn't die . . . what would that mean to nearby civilizations?

Those Grimm would have no connection to the White Fang after the initial attack. They would slaughter innocent humans and Faunus alike, with no gain for the White Fang.

That didn't make sense. Everything they did was in the benefit of the White Fang.

Wasn't it?

"Ah, crap," one of the men said. "We have a code blue back at camp."

"Code blue?" the woman asked. "A huntress?"

Ilia's blood ran cold.

"Seems like it," came the response. "Come on, let's head back."

The group ran right by a wide eyed Ilia, failing to notice her camouflage. She let them go, her feet rooted to the ground.

Weiss. She was in danger. She was going to die.

Why did Ilia care? Weiss was racist. She was just another judgemental Schnee. She deserved the fate the White Fang had planned for her.

"I love Blake. I love Ruby and Yang, too. They're my team. And I will get out of here so I can see them again."

"I gave three people a chance who I never would have in any other circumstance, and it proved to be the best decision I ever made. I want to give that to you as well. And I hope you'll do the same for me."

Damn it. Ilia's feet carried her after the White Fang, at the same moment she pulled out and extended her whip.

What am I doing? Going against my brethren to help a Schnee? How can I call myself loyal to the cause if I do this?

The cause. What was it, at this point? Equality? Maybe Adam still saw it that way, maybe not. The humans he was working with? The one crazy enough to experiment on Grimm? Equality was the last thing on their minds.

No turning back from this, Ilia told herself, as if it mattered that point. Her decision had already been made.

It was time for her to save a Schnee.