En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 65: Blood Hound

Blake and Qrow ran out of the office and heard Jacques Schnee close the door behind them.

"Whatever happened down the hall didn't sound good," Blake gulped.

"It never is, is it?" the government agent scoffed. "Do you have anything to defend yourself with?"

The Faunus shrugged. "Only the extra pistol you gave me. To be honest, I haven't handled a gun very often, but I know how to work it, and my aim is decent."

Qrow grunted, "That'll have to do."

Before either could exchange another word, a wall of white smoke billowed into view and quickly approached them. "Smoke bomb," the older man muttered.

Blake's sensitive ears picked up a clicking sound, and she pulled herself and Qrow to the floor. A mighty pop echoed through the hallway, and a tiny object whizzed over their heads. It hit the door and nearly drilled right through it, but the wood was surprisingly bulletproof.

Two more shots came forth at greater accuracy. The protagonists rolled in opposite directions and managed to dodge them both. Qrow sprang up and launched himself into the mist before Blake could stop him, and she quickly found herself alone.

The cat Faunus stood up, ears at attention, and slowly made her way to the edge of the smoke. A surprised yelp, followed by a succession of grunting sounds, notified her of her ally's location. Blake prepared to form a shadow decoy and pushed on.

Soon, she could make out a few black figures. Two were retreating slowly, and the third was a mass of fighting. Certain that the two further behind were reloading, Blake decided to distract them by making use of her borrowed pistol. A couple quick blasts shifted their attention to her.

Blake wasted no time in forming a decoy and ducking behind the grappling pair. She reloaded as quickly as she could while sneaking towards the fighters. She got close enough to identify which silhouette was Qrow and focused on the other target. When they came closer to her, she stuck out her leg and successfully tripped them. Then, she leapt up and fired again at the figures in the back. An angry cry told her that at least one of her bullets hit their marks.

Meanwhile, Qrow knocked out his assailant with a good kick to the head and came side-to-side with Blake. "Nice shootin'," he muttered. The unpracticed Faunus smirked and rushed with him towards their leftover enemies.

Just as soon as they would've been in view, the figures vanished. Qrow recoiled in shock, but he realized what was happening too late. They were in a position where the hallway made an L-shape, and the real attackers shot at them from the other direction. Blake felt a bullet skim her ear and hissed in pain. The second shot miraculously missed Qrow.

"That was a pretty dirty trick!" the cocky old man called out as the smoke began to dissipate.

"And yet you still fell for it, bird brain!" cackled a voice down the hall.

"Torchwick," the older man grumbled under his breath.

From the smoke emerged a man about Qrow's height, with side-swept orange hair and heavy eyeliner around his mischievous green eyes. Complete with an odd-looking cane and bowler hat/suit ensemble, he looked like he just came back from a Halloween party in the early 1900's.

"Who's he?" Blake inquired.

Qrow tensed up for combat. "Just a common thug who happens to stand out from the rest," he replied under his breath. "Stay on your toes, 'cause he always has a lackey or two at his back."