RWBY: Rise of the Beasts

Chapter 9: Good and Evil

Ruby was one of the first to wake up in the morning, sitting up as she stretched her arms with a yawned. And the first thing she did was check Blake's bunk, hoping her teammate had returned sometime in the night. But, much to Ruby's disappointment, she found Blake's bunk empty, with no sign that anyone had slept in it recently. Seeing this, Ruby only let out a disappointed sigh.

This marked the second day that Blake had been gone, and Ruby was starting to get worried about her teammate. And if that wasn't enough, she hadn't seen or heard from Airazor and Optimus either. And even though they said they shouldn't be worried unless they're gone longer than the weekend, that didn't make Ruby feel any better.

After Weiss and Yang finally got up and everyone got dressed, there was a knock at the door. Opening it, Ruby found both Rhinox and Cheetor standing in front of the doorway.

"Oh, hey guys," Ruby greeted.

"Morning, Ru-by," Cheetor replied with a yawn, clearly having woken up not too long ago.

"Still no Blake I take it?" Rhinox asked, looking past Ruby and into the dorm room, noting how Blake was still absent.

"Yeah . . ." Ruby answered, rather disappointed. "We're actually heading into Vale after breakfast to look for her. You two can join us if you want."

"We appreciate the offer, but we'll have to pass," Rhinox replied.

"We will?" Cheetor asked with a raised brow as he looked up at his teammate.

"They still have all of today before Primal said we should start looking for them," Rhinox reasoned before turning back to Ruby. "Besides, even if they get into trouble, I'm sure they can all handle themselves."

"I hope so," Ruby remarked before looking back towards Blake's empty bed with a frown. "But, the rest of us are still gonna go out looking for them."

"Well, if you find them, give them our regards," Rhinox asked as he turned to walk away. "See you guys, later." Ruby waved goodbye before shutting her dorm's door.

"Well, all in all, they seem kind of okay," Cheetor remarked as he walked alongside Rhinox. "Don't you think?"

"Not really," Rhinox replied, shaking his head. "Something tells me Weiss isn't exactly back onboard with having Blacke on their team yet."

"Well, there's a reason we call her Ice Queen, so . . ." Cheetor reasoned.

At this, Rhinox merely rolled his eyes. "Let's just go get breakfast."

~~~~~
City of Vale
~~~~~

Over a day had passed since Blake and the others left Beacon. After deciding she needed some time away from Beacon to think, and with Optimus and Airazor tagging along, Sun managed to get all of them out of Beacon and into the city. As it turned out, the monkey Faunus had a few tricks when it came to sneaking around.

Currently, all four Faunus were sitting on the balcony at a cafe in Vale. Blake and Sun sat at one table drinking their tea while Airazor and Optimus sat at a table next to them. For most of the weekend so far, Blake wasn't really interested in talking much, mostly just keeping her interactions short and simple. But today, Blake finally felt like she was ready to talk more about her past.

Sipping her cup of tea, Blake let out a sigh before looking up at Sun, who was holding his cup with his tail while his hands propped his head up. And as he took a sip, Blake set her own cup down on the table.

"So," Blake began, getting Sun, Airazor, and Primal's attention as they turned to her. "You guys want to know more about me . . .

"Finally! She speaks!" Sun said jokingly, his arms in the air for a moment. "Nearly two days and all you've given us nothing but small talk and weird looks." As he said this, Blake glared at Sun with a firm look. Though, Sun didn't seem to take the hint. "Yeah, like that."