"I can't believe we're spending our weekend at a crime scene." Aracel groans
Team LLAK stood outside of the dust shop, which had become a crime scene overnight as it's goods were stolen. As a detective, Lilly was already inside the shop, searching for clues leaving her team outside waiting for her to finish. Aracel was restless and on the verge on closing her eyes, as she tried to patiently wait for Lilly. The ursa cub, that Layla had named Thor yesterday, rested on top of the pinkette's head since no member of team LLAK felt comfortable leaving him alone in the dorm.
"Did you steal my clothes?" Aracel asks, pointing at Layla.
Layla wore a deep pink tiger-striped shirt with a black, open studded mini jacket over it, an orange scarf around her neck, reddish-orange biker gloves, a yellow belt around her waist, black leggings with deep pink tears, and open-toed shoes with pink laces and wedges. She looks at Aracel and shrugs while smirking, which added on to the obvious confirmation that she did steal her clothes.
"It looks purr-fect on me, so I couldn't resist raiding your closet."
"You could have just asked." Aracel says
"Where would be the fun in that?" Layla asks
Klaus begins to tune them both out, as he focuses on the two detectives that were in the middle of a discussion.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The first detective says
"They left all the money again." The other detective says
"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" The first detective asks
"I don't know, an army?"
"You thinking the White Fang?" He asks
His partner removes his sunglasses. "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."
Nearby, team RWBY also approach the crime scene having been drawn in by the robbery. As they come near, Lilly exits the scene and goes over to her team.
"Hmph! The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!" Weiss crosses her arms
"What's your problem?" Blake asks
Weiss turns to her. "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss says
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake crosses her arms, glancing at Layla.
"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!" The heiress exclaims
"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"
"Hmm... Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."
"Funny that you should mention Torchwick because I just found this inside." Lilly says, holding up a plastic bag with a cigar butt inside.
"That's Lampwick for ya', he can't ever seem to stop puffing on those cigars." Aracel says
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"That's not necessarily true..." Yang mumbles
"Shut up!" Layla yells, much to everyone's surprise.
"Excuse me?!" Weiss asks, glaring at Layla.
"How dare you judge the faunus collectively like that when it's only a select few who act in that manor?! It's stereotypes like those that you're spouting out that prevent the faunus from living peacefully." Layla says
"The faunus-"
"Shut up! You're a privileged little girl who's never known the true meaning of hardship in her life. I've had enough of people like you walking all over us, if you want to talk shit, then let's go! Pull your sword out and prove that you're not just all talk!" Layla snarls, jabbing a finger in Weiss' chest.
Weiss is shocked both physically and emotionally. Klaus comes in between them and pulls Layla aside. The angered faunus, continues to spark out, until Lilly puts her hands on her shoulders. The soothing tone of her voice calming her down slightly.
"Layla, take a walk and when you've cleared your mind we'll talk. Okay?"
Klaus let's Layla go and Layla glares at the heiress, with such hatred and intensity to the point that she should be dead right where she stood. The tiger faunus walks off and Blake is stunned. She didn't expect such outburst from Layla of all people since she was mostly always composed. But given the fact that Weiss was a Schnee, the very family that Layla loathed, it all made sense. Especially considering that-
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
As the two teams overhear the cry for help and rush over to investigate, a Faunus with a golden monkey tail named Sun Wukong is seen running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as the two sailors are about to apprehend him.
"Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!" He jumps off and hits the dock running.
"You no-good stowaway!" The sailor shouts
Using his tail to hang on a lamppost while he peels back a banana."Hey A no good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" Sun says
Before he eats, one of the detectives down below throws a stone at him to get his attention.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" The detective says
Sun drops the banana peel on the detective's face, who growls in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirls up to crouch on the lamppost, laughs in amusement, and proceeds to leap off and run away from the detectives. As he runs past Teams RWBY and LLAK, he winks at an astonished Blake in slow motion before time speeds up again and he continues to be chased by the officers.
"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..." Yang says
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss holds up a finger.
Weiss, Yang, and Ruby give chase after him. Deciding to go after Layla, Lilly and Klaus begin to head towards the direction in which they saw her walk off to. Aracel stays behind with Thor, she glances at the ravenette to see her still in awe. She sighs and runs after her team. Blake stands still, lost in thought, then comes back to reality and follows her friends.
"Where could Layla have gone?" Lilly asks
Klaus shrugs. "She could be anywhere, after all we don't know her very well."
"That seems to be the case with all of you." Lilly mutters
"What's that supposed to mean?" Klaus asks
"I've opened up to you all, but I haven't exactly received the same courtesy from my teammates. If we're going to be stuck together for four years, the least we can do is try to get to know each other a little better." Lilly says
"We have a right to our own privacy." Aracel speaks up, catching up to her teammates.
"I never said that you didn't, it would just be nice to have some friends around here-"
"That's what teams RWBY and JNPR are here for, so that you can be "friends" with them." Aracel says, cringing at the word friends.
"You don't want to make friends? Won't you eventually get lonesome?" Lilly asks
Aracel laughs sarcastically. "No, I like my solitude. And I'm not about to give that up just because you want to braid each other's hair, hold hands, and sing kumbaya." The pinkette says, walking ahead of them.
Lilly sighs, feeling absolutely hopeless about reaching out to Aracel.
"And you?" Lilly asks, glancing at the hybrid.
"What about me?" Klaus asks
"Don't you want friends-"
"I don't have friends, only family. And they're not here anyways..."
"So, what? You plan on being alone just because you refuse to open up to anyone-"
"Yeah, I'm a monster... And if isolating myself from everyone is what keeps people safe then that's okay with me." Klaus mutters
"She went this way." Aracel says
"Klaus-"
"It's best if we get back to looking for Layla." Klaus says, walking after the pinkette.
The blonde sighs. "It's going to be a long four years until we graduate."
Lilly stayed back and watched her two teammates from a far. She just didn't understand why they were so distant. It seemed like they each had their own secret to hide or perhaps they just didn't like her. Lilly felt that vibe from both Layla and Aracel, at least Layla made it known. Aracel was just plain mean about it and Klaus was ironically just a lone wolf.
"Are you coming or not oh, gracious leader?" Aracel asks, impatiently.
"I'll be right there!"
Life in the mines was the earliest that Layla could remember when it came to her past life. It was all dark and cold, but the humans still expected you to work no matter the conditions. Perhaps because their labor was cheap and they could see in the dark unlike the humans, but it was still no excuse for the poor conditions they were forced to live in.
The young tiger faunus, despite her age, was quite the dreamer. An admirable trait that the humans would soon strip away from the innocent youth. She didn't understand why her kind were disliked so much and often at times, the young tigress would find herself daydreaming about a world in which both the humans and the faunus could live in harmony.
"Child, I told you time and time again to focus on the job."
Layla looks up at the dragon faunus, her ears drooping down. He was a tall man with graying black hair, dark brown eyes, and a red dragon tail poking it's way from underneath his robe. Fu takes one hand off of his pickaxe and places it on top of Layla's head, he ruffles her orange hair for a bit then goes back to work. When Layla had been initially brought in, Fu began to look after her and pretty soon the two had developed a father daughter like bond. In between shifts, Fu took the role of mentor and began to teach Layla how to fight. Which in turn had developed a schedule for them, one day he'd teach her combat and the next, the two would meditate so that Layla could ease her mind and to help her unlock her semblance.
Layla didn't question him and went back to work. "Why do we have to do this?"
Fu didn't have a good answer for her because even with all of his wisdom, he wasn't so sure himself. He knew that the humans saw them as scum that beneath them, but he didn't want to tell Layla that, after all she was merely a child.
"We can discuss that later Layla, our shift is almost over."
Nearby, a small redhead blue-eyed bull faunus is knocked down, as one of the guards pushes him to the floor. The second guard brings down his weapon, just as Layla drops down her pickaxe. In a flash, the tiger faunus throws herself in between them, shielding the bull faunus from his attacker.
"Get away from him!" Layla snarls
She's easily picked up from her shirt and moved away. Her claws retract and she slashes the guard that grabbed her across the face. The other guard stops before he can hit the boy, to tend to the bleeding guard. Layla inches closer to them, her claws still out. The guards scurry of before anything else can happen to them.
"Are you okay?" Layla asks
The boy nods. "T-thank you." He timidly speaks
"My name's Layla, what's yours?" She asks, helping him off the ground.
"Adam."
"Want to be friends?" Layla asks
Adam eagerly nods. "I'd like that."
"Layla." Fu says, approaching the two.
He gives Layla a stern look to which Layla sheepishly smiles at in return.
"You could have been hurt or worse."
"But... I wasn't. This kitty still has her nine lives intact." Layla smiles, gesturing at herself.
Fu sighs. "Our shifts over, come now before they start looking for you."
Fu walks off, expecting Layla to follow, but she stays back with Adam. He smiles at her, a few of the tears that had formed earlier, beginning to fall freely down his face. Layla's claws are drawn back in and she inches closer to wipe away Adam's tears. Her name is called out by Fu and Layla goes to follow, but her hand is grabbed, holding her back. She blinks in confusion and looks back at Adam.
"I want to show you something." He says
Layla nods. She looks over at Fu, who was watching the two. She gives him a hopeful gaze, the older man sighs and relents gesturing her to go on. He didn't want to hold her back, she was awfully young and already experiencing how cruel the world can be and he didn't want hatred to be the only thing that Layla knew. She at least deserved a bit of normality in her life. Though he was worried for her sake, Fu trusted that Layla wouldn't get into any further trouble.
Meanwhile Adam and Layla exited the mines, as he led her to his secret spot. This particular place held such special meaning to Adam since it was his temporary escape from the mines. The one place he could look up at the sky in between shifts, the one place that gave him hope for something better beyond the mines. Adam lies down on the ground and Layla follows his lead and does the same, as they proceed to look up at the sky. She gingerly reaches for his hand and he doesn't pull away, clasping their hands together.
"Did they hurt you?" Layla asks
Adam shakes his head. "Not this time."
"If they try to again, I'll be there." Layla says
"Promise?"
She smiles. "I do. I'll always be here for you Adam."
"I'll always be here for you too Layla." Adam says
"Promise?" She asks
"I do." Adam says, gently squeezing her hand.
Back in present day, Layla sits on the rooftop of the dust shop that had been robbed the night before. She hopelessly gazes up at the sky, dreadfully missing her lover and fearing the inevitable conversation that would take place later.
"Little kitty on a roof all alone without-"
"Layla! Come down from there!" Lilly shouts from the ground.
"Macavity isn't coming down." Aracel says
"Well, we already spent the whole day looking for her and it's dark out I can't use my semblance to get to her anymore." Lilly says
Klaus sighs and with a flick of a wrist, Lilly, Aracel, and Klaus are brought up to the rooftop. Layla turns around, standing up while Lilly runs up to her. The blonde stops at a respectable distance from Layla knowing that she wasn't one for physical contact.
"Layla, are you feeling better now? I'm sorry for what Weiss said-"
Layla holds a hand up, stopping her from continuing. "Don't apologize for her ignorance, you did nothing wrong. But I did and it's time that I come clean ."
"What do you mean?" Lilly asks
"My intentions for being here at Beacon aren't exactly pure... You see, I'm actually a member of the white fang."
Lilly gasps while Klaus and Aracel stare at her in shock. Layla's ears droop down, thinking the worst of the situation.
"I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. I thought I could come here and complete my mission, but being amongst you guys and learning-"
"How do you learn if you're always asleep in class?" Klaus asks
"And you're always sketching Yang over your notes, it's practically the same thing!" Layla snaps
"I don't draw her!"
"Plus Rajah at least steals Sunny's notes while she's sleeping so that she can copy them." Aracel says
"At least you're covering the material, but you really could have just asked me to lend you my notes." Lilly says
"Sorry..." Layla mumbles
"It's really no big deal, they're just notes-"
"Actually, it is. I know that I haven't treated any of you well and you guys probably think I'm just some lowlife criminal but now... I actually think that I want to be here that I want this, to be a huntress. If you'll still have me that is." Layla says
"Of course, we wouldn't be team LLAK without you Layla. But what about the white fang?" Lilly asks
"I'll end my ties with them."
This time Lilly can't help herself and she hugs Layla. The tigress looks at the back of blonde's head in shock. It had been a long time since anyone else other than Adam had cared about her. And to receive any sort of affection was an odd feeling, but she kinda liked it... She closes her eyes and hugs Lilly back, savoring the moment.
As the day and the argument goes on, Yang and Ruby continue to observe their teammates. Now in their dormroom, the two sisters continue to feel awkward by just observing the fight drag on.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem?!" Weiss asks
"That is the problem!"
Weiss gets up from her bed. "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"
Blake gets on her feet as well. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!" Blake says
"People like me?" Weiss asks, taking offense.
"You're discriminatory!"
"I'm a victim!"
The two stare each other down in silence, Weiss leans in close, leering as she speaks quietly.
"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss explains, banging her fist on the bookshelf.
"Weiss, I-" Ruby moves to go comfort the heiress.
"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss says
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake exclaims, exposing her secret.
Silence drops down again. A surprised Weiss backs away slowly, and Blake realizes her mistake as she looks around at her teammates.
"I... I..." She stops and dashes out the door.
"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby calls out to her.
Ruby runs over to the door and calls to her down the hallway as Yang sits herself down and Weiss looks down.
Blake runs outside and arrives at a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping, staring at the Beowolf under the stone heroes in particular. She closes her eyes and slowly lifts her arms up to her bow and pulls the string to release the bow from her hair. She wipes away a tear away as the camera pulls up to reveal her cat ears. On the verge of crying, she becomes startled when she hears a voice above her.
"I knew you would look better without the bow." Sun says
She turns around and looks up at him.
Elsewhere as the days pass by, Blake is sipping a cup of tea and sighing. She looks up at Sun sitting across from her, who holds his drink with his tail as his hand props his head up. He takes a sip when Blake puts her cup down.
"So, you want to know more about me...?" Blake asks, looking at him intently
"Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you gave me nothing but small talk and weird looks!"
Blake gives Sun a firm look.
"Yeah, like that."
Blake rolls her eyes before closing them and looking at him sadly. "Sun... are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake asks
"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!" Sun says
Blake sips her drink tea. "I was once a member of the White Fang."
Sun promptly goes cross-eyed and chokes on his drink, making him put it down and wipe his mouth as he holds up a hand to process this information.
"Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!" Sun asks
"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it... Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist. Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."
Blake puts down her teacup in front of a stunned Sun, who was in the middle of processing the information.
"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." Blake says, as she wiggles her cat ears beneath her bow.
"So... have you told your friends any of this?" He asks
Blake merely looks down in shame and says nothing.
"Blake!" Ruby shouts
"Blake!" Yang also yells
Team RWBY and LLAK walk through town searching for Blake while Ruby and Yang called out for her in vain. Aracel looked down at the ground, holding her arm with her other hand. She had doubts finding Blake, especially after Layla had informed them about her past, but there was still much that she needed to say to the ravenette. Her mind wandered off to the faunus, as her eyes drift from Klaus then back to Layla. The movement was repeated as Aracel contemplated the hardships of being a faunus. Sure, she'd never be able to fully understand what it was like, but she wanted to try. As a human, she knew that she somehow had to open up the eyes of those who were ignorant, like Weiss, without speaking over the faunus. She had it easy as a human and it should be the same for the faunus.
"Why are you guys here? Blake is our teammate and we'll find her ourselves." Weiss says
"She wouldn't have run off in the first place if it weren't for you!" Aracel says
"Oh, what do you care Mikaelson?!" Weiss says, rolling her eyes.
"If you weren't so much of a racist, then Blake wouldn't have run off. But of course you can't control yourself now can you ice queen?" Aracel asks
Weiss shut her mouth, knowing that she would never win an argument with Aracel. Lilly walks beside Layla and glances at her a few times. She takes notice and looks over at her leader, raising a brow.
"What?" Layla asks
"I'm just checking in. Are you okay being around Weiss? What she said last time wasn't cool at all and as team leader, I wanted to make sure that you were okay." Lilly explains
Layla rolls her eyes. "I'm feline okay, you shouldn't worry. I don't really care what Weiss has to say anymore, besides if she decides to open her big mouth again, I'll just get Aracel to fight her."
"How does that fix anything?" Lilly asks
Layla shrugs. "Aracel's been itching to fight Weiss and find Blake, amongst other things that is."
"Meaning?" Lilly asks
Layla chuckles. "Figure it out detective."
"Blake! Where are you!?" Ruby yells
"Blake!" Yang shouts
"Guys, you're not helping!" Ruby whines
"You're not either, the only thing you're helping at is giving me a headache!" Aracel lashes out
"Don't be too hard on her Aracel, she's only concerned for her friend." Klaus says
Lilly turns to Klaus, she hadn't expected him to come to Ruby's defense after what he said the other day. Klaus saw the blonde from the corner of his eye, knowing exactly what she thinking. He didn't want to admit it, but these past few days Lilly and Yang were having him start to question his past beliefs. It felt off to him that all it took were two blondes to get him to start questioning everything. He saw Aracel and noticed the way that life had turned her bitter and cold, something he didn't want for himself. But it's not like he could just be like the others. He couldn't have friends or a significant other like everyone else, he'd only end up hurting them. But he longed for the feeling of love, but was it worth the risk? Lilly made it seem so, but Yang... despite not knowing her all too well made him want to risk it all.
"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!" Penny exclaims, popping out of nowhere.
"Oh hell no..." Aracel groans, becoming a bit pale.
"Aaaah! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby asks
Penny cheerfully ignores the question. "Hey guys! What are you up to? Wait... a minute." Penny says, looking at the pinkette.
She actually waits a minute.
"Aracel! It's really you!"
"No!" The pinkette says, turning to run off.
The hybrid grabs her from from the back of her jacket and raises her up in the same manor that a wolf would carry it's pup. Even though she was restrained, Aracel still attempted to run in midair until she realized she wasn't going anywhere. She sighs and dejectedly looks down.
"Curse you little legs. I hate being small..." Aracel pouts
"Aracel, it's so good to see you again!" Penny says
"I wish that I could say the same Penny, but I can't. Literally."
"That is so nice of you!" Penny smiles
"Uh-huh." Aracel says, being put down.
"So, why did you leave Atlas-"
"Actually! I have something much more pressing to get to at the moment. We can get to that later, a lot lot later, possibly never if that's an option. I'm very busy right now, I'm looking for..." Aracel hesitates
"We're looking for our friend Blake." Yang says
"Ooooh, you mean the Faunus girl!" Penny says
Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Lilly stare at Penny in shock at her revelation. Layla, Klaus, and Aracel are un-bothered since they already knew the truth.
"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asks
"Uhh, the cat ears?" Penny points at her head.
Yang laughs a little. "What cat ears? She wears a... boooohhh..."
The realization leaves them in silence as a tumbleweed blows through in the wind.
"She does like tuna a lot..." Ruby whispers
"How did you not know? You guys live with her." Aracel says
"How did you know?" Lilly asks her
Aracel points to her nose. "Faunus have a distinct smell that's different from humans. I just didn't say anything because it wasn't my place and clearly Blake didn't want anyone to know seeing she always hid them away." Aracel explains
"So, where is she?" Penny asks
"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday." Ruby says
Penny gasps. "That's terrible! Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!" Penny assures
"Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Really! Right, guys?"
She looks over Penny to direct her question at Yang, Weiss, Klaus, Layla, and Aracel who's blinking outlines are all that's left of their sudden departure from the company of the strange girl. Lilly is the only one that remains, a tumbleweed blows past them again in the quiet.
"It sure is windy today!" Penny comments innocently
"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asks, as they walk down an alley.
"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before." Blake contemplates
Sun's eyes widen. "What if they did? I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?" Sun asks
"The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."
"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about off loading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas." Sun recalls
"How huge?" Blake asks
"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."
"You're sure?" She questions
Yang comes out of a shop with Weiss and Klaus. She waves to the person inside, as the trio leaves.
"Thanks anyways!" She says
The three walk off from the store, heading elsewhere to ask around.
"This is hopeless." Yang sighs. "Are you sure that you can't sniff her out?" Yang asks Klaus
"I-"
"That's ridiculous! Why would Niklaus be able to do that? He's a human."
"Not exactly." Klaus says
The hybrid's ears rise up and he removes his cape to expose his large fluffy black tail. Weiss' hues go wide at the second revelation, she could barely handle Blake's but a second revelation made her almost want to pass out. Yang looks on, appearing pleased that Klaus was comfortable enough to show his true features. He bashfully rubs the back of his neck, the feeling of confidence being new for him to experience. Yang found herself smiling thinking back to their first night at Beacon when she had seen him shying away. It was uncertain of his confidence would last, but because she had so much of it to spare, she would take it upon herself to help him out. Plus, he was very very easy on the eyes.
"You're a faunus?" Weiss asks
"Faunus hybrid, I'm the only one of my kind actually..." Klaus admits "Is there a problem with that?" He asks, crossing his arms.
"Of course not... so long as you're not like the others." Weiss says, looking around nonchalantly.
"Weiss, do you even care if we find her?" Yang asks
"Don't be stupid; of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her. The innocent never run!" Weiss says
Yang looks down in thought, as Weiss takes the lead. Klaus puts a hand on her shoulder, looking down at the brawler blonde.
"Come on, we have to find Blake and we don't want to be out too late at night." Klaus says
Yang instantly perks up. "What? Is the big bad wolf afraid of the night?" Yang asks
"No, I don't particularly fear anything or her." Klaus says
"Because that would be howl-ariously ironic." Yang snickers
Klaus cringes lightheartedly, but even he can't stop himself from laughing at Yang's pun.
"I'm usually not one for puns, but that wasn't the worst I've heard." Klaus says
"I got more where that came from." Yang winks
"I don't doubt it."
"Stop flirting! We're in the middle of searching for our lost teammate!" Weiss scolds them
"We weren't flirting." Klaus corrects her, him and Yang catching up after the heiress.
"We were kinda flirting." Yang remarks
Klaus clears his throat. "Weiss is right, we should focus on our task." Klaus says, choosing to walk ahead of the girls.
"So, is Blake both of yours friend?" Penny asks
Ruby sighs. "Yes, Penny."
"She's actually friends with all of us, even with Aracel which is quite the shocker." Lilly says
The blonde looked at the ecstatic, but strange, redhead contemplating if she should ask her about the pinkette. She seemed to know her well, but Lilly didn't know if it was the right time. Then again if she didn't ask now, would she ever get another chance to find out about her other mysterious teammate.
"Penny, how do you know Aracel?" Lilly asks
"We're both from Atlas and it's no surprise that Aracel is friends with Blake. The Mikaelson and Belladonna families are quite intertwined. Why do you ask?"
"Well, she's just as quiet as Blake when it comes to their personal lives. I guess, I'm just trying to make sure that she's not hiding anything this big from us." Lilly explains
"Aracel hides nothing, but why?" Penny asks
"Well, you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was... I think Lilly is just trying to avoid the same thing." Ruby says
Penny gasps. "Is she a man?"
"No! No, Penny. She's... I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off." Ruby says, sighing again.
"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." Penny says
Ruby turns her gaze downward sadly. "Me too..."
With Aracel and Layla, the two suffered in silence. The atmosphere was still tense since the day that they picked up the relics in the emerald forest. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but Aracel preferred to be with Layla rather than having to deal with Penny. She knew too much as it is and while Aracel would never personally take her out, that didn't mean that she wanted to be around her. She knew how Penny could get when excited and that could accidentally cause her to reveal something. With the tournament coming up, Aracel was prepared to avoid Penny at all costs no matter what especially with Lilly trying to find information.
"So... do you care about Blake?" Aracel asks
"Not particularly, at least not anymore." Layla says
"Why's that?"
"She left without telling any of us about it. I guess I thought that I knew her better than that, but as it turns out the only one I can trust is Adam."
"Taurus?"
Suddenly Aracel is pushed against the wall by Layla. She grabs at the collar of the pinkette's jacket, keeping her in place.
"What do you know about him?" Layla growls
"What don't I know would be the better question. I know everyone to some extent." Aracel says
Layla puts Aracel down. "Then that means-"
"That I know you? Yeah, pretty much."
"Then how come you haven't turned me in? And that day that I told you all my secret, you were shocked." Layla says
"One, it's not my business to turn you in neither is it my business to do someone's job better than them. Two, sometimes you have to play the role of the actress. Of course I knew that you were in the white fang, how though is what I won't reveal." Aracel says
"Wow... you're a lot more resourceful than I thought you were." Layla mumbles
"What I'd like to know is why you saved me the other day? You said it yourself, "humanity wasn't worth saving", then for some reason you went and saved me, a human. Granted I would have eventually been caught before falling I could fall to my death, but you really spared me some time." Aracel says, flipping her hair aside.
Layla shrugs. "I'm going to be blatantly honest, I was hoping for some reward, sue me! Actually, don't sue me. But you get the idea." Layla says
"When we find Blake, you're not going to get revenge on her are you?" Aracel asks
"Why do you ask?"
"I just worry." Aracel responds
"Your interest sounds more than professional." Layla says, inching closer to the pinkette.
Aracel shrugs. "I've known the Belladonna family for a long time so I'm allowed to worry about them."
"Hmm... well, to answer your question, it's still too soon to tell."
Amidst the chirping of crickets and darkness of night, Blake lays flat on her stomach on the rooftop overlooking the shipment of Schnee dust containers.
"Did I miss anything?" Sun asks, dropping down to her right.
"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." Blake says
"Cool. I stole you some food!" Sun says, holding out a green apple.
Blake gives him a questioning look. "Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" She questions the monkey faunus.
"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun fires back
Blake delivers an angry glare at him.
"Okay, too soon!"
Just as he says this, the winds blows all around them, and they look up to see a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around for a landing spot, descending in the middle of the cargo containers and extending a ramp for a black hooded individual with a metallic fanged mask to come out of.
"Oh no..."
"Is that them?" He asks
Blake stares at the bloody wolf on the back of the man's outfit. "Yes... It's them."
"All right, grab the tow cables!" A white fang instructs the others, while motioning with his rifle.
"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"
"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." Blake mumbles
She closes her eyes in despair, only to open them suddenly when she hears a new voice.
"Hey! What's the holdup!?" Roman asks impatiently.
The soldiers look up at Roman gesturing widely and coming down the ramp.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"
"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that, Layla would never allow for this to happen."
Blake stands up and unsheathes the katana of Gambol Shroud before walking off the edge of the roof.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Sun asks, alarmed.
Blake falls to the ground in a crouch, then continues on to hide behind one of the containers, peeking around the corner to see Roman berate a White Fang member holding a coil of rope.
"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman exclaims
As the redhead is looking around, Blake suddenly appears behind him with her blade at his throat.
Roman rolls his eyes. "What the- Oh, for f-"
"Nobody move!" Blake says
The White Fang soldiers ready their guns and equip their swords in response.
"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."
As the White Fang soldiers close in on her, Blake uses her free hand to go for her bow and remove it, causing the ribbon to fall away exposing her cat ears to everyone present.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" Blake asks
The White Fang members lower their weapons a little at this development, unsure of what to do, when Roman laughs.
"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?" He asks, mockingly
"What are you talking about?"
"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" Roman explains
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Blake says threateningly
Suddenly, the air is filled with more turbines blowing the wind wildly around the holdup.
Roman looks up."I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation..."
Two more Bullheads are hovering above the heist, and as Blake watches in horror, Roman smiles and manages to fire his cane at Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion. Blake, dazed but relatively unhurt on the ground, quickly rolls and runs out of the way of Roman's continued attacks, flaming missiles destroying cargo behind her as she retreats behind more containers.
"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..." Roman taunts, approaching slowly.
His taunt is interrupted when a banana peel lands on his head, causing him to look up and growl at the assailant. Sun leaps from the container above Roman and drops down on the criminal's face feet-first, rolling up and readying himself to fight.
"Leave her alone!" Sun says
The Bullheads open to let more White Fang members descend on the scene, standing by Roman as he gets up and surrounding Sun.
"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?" Roman asks
With that said, the White Fang charge at the monkey faunus, but he manages to dodge slashes and get some of the soldiers with his fists and kicks until he rolls out of the way, pulling out a collapsible red staff. He quickly uses this to beat down on each opponent that nears him, falling each one in a single flaming blow when he twirls, even creating a scorching shockwave to beat the last of them. Blake peers around the corner of the container to watch Sun jump around and beat more White Fang soldiers, causing one to fly over Roman's head. The crime boss growls in annoyance and aims his cane at Sun, firing a shot that he defends himself from just when Blake leaps into the action.
"He's mine!" Blake sneers
Blake goes in close and becomes a blur of afterimages as she slashes both blades at Roman, who backs away and deflects each would-be blow with his cane at unbelievable speeds. Blake continues to dash, hop over, and slide around Roman to try and find a weak spot, but her enemy, while barely deflecting the attacks, lands a few hits on Blake until one final beating with his cane causes her to go down. Just as Roman deals with one opponent, Sun appears right behind her and disconnects his staff in two spinning circles of flame-firing shotgun nunchucks that only slow down once to show the audience what they are before becoming twin arcs of offense again. Sun swings each gun at Roman while firing everything he as at him, but even with the rapid series of shots and flying bullets, Roman manages to defend himself against every bullet and hit until a millisecond-long pause allows Blake to get a slash in and knock him back. On his back, Roman notices a container hanging by a crane right above the two warriors, and gets up to fire his cane at its supports. Blake leaps behind it, but Sun barely misses when he jumps forward, ending up right below the nozzle of Roman's cane. Just as he's about to fire, his and Sun's attention are drawn to a familiar voice.
"Hey!"
Ruby appears on the rooftop overlooking them, Crescent Rose extended and ready for action.
"Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman asks
Penny approaches Ruby. "Ruby, are these people your friends?"
"He is no friend of ours, he's a criminal." Lilly says
While Ruby's attention is diverted, Roman snarls and fires his cane at her, launching the young huntress-in-training back from the explosion's force and sending her scythe flying away.
"AAAAAH!" Ruby shouts
Lilly runs to her to check up on the silver eyed girl to make sure that she was okay. Roman gives off an evil laugh at his attack on the young girl. Penny turns her head toward the criminal and gives her first glare, walking forward while Ruby tries to get back up.
"You need to back down!" Lilly says
"Penny, wait! Stop her!" Ruby raises her hand in a futile attempt to stop her.
"Don't worry, Ruby. I'm combat ready!" Penny assures her
Her backpack mechanically opens up, and from its dark depths comes a single sword that extends and multiples into several blades hovering over Penny's back. Leaping from the rooftop with the weapons acting as wings, she sends three of her swords to knock two White Fang soldiers down before even landing on the ground, where she proceeds to fling the swords at one enemy, impale another to a wall, create a barrier of spinning steel against a running attack, leaping over a goon with her swords in tow, and finally making a wheel that she throws to knock multiple faunus off their feet. Three Bullheads come from the skies and open fire on the battle, but Penny merely forms a shield and launches two of her swords into the wall behind her, which in turn pull their wielder back with their strings. When her swords swirl around her again, she commands them to open their points and build up a large glowing ball of green light. With a punching action, several bright lasers crack the pavement when they fire at the transports and slice each one in half, causing several of the White Fang members inside to fall and letting Ruby watch as Bullheads fall in pieces behind her. Stunned, she turns back to Penny as she aims her swords at the remaining Bullheads holding the crate of dust and pulls back on their wires, tugging the aircraft with them.
"Whoa... How is she doing that?" Ruby asks in awe.
"She's better than I thought..." Lilly mumbles
Seeing the Bullhead's flight fall under Penny's control, Roman grimaces and turns to run towards the last transport. Penny, after her large green pupils dilate for a second, pulls with all her might on the strings, and the aircraft crashes into a stack of crates, causing an explosion as a result.
"These kids just keep getting weirder..."
With his observation made, he uses his cane to close the doors, and the jet lifts off, flying away from the lost battle. Later, a handful of police cars are at the docks, where Ruby, Blake, Sun, and Penny are sitting on boxes in silence. That is, until Weiss, Yang, Klaus, Layla, and Aracel appear on the scene.
"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..." Ruby tries to explain quickly.
Weiss brushes her off, ignoring her leader and going to square off with Blake.
"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"
"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" Weiss pauses. "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..."
Yang, Sun, and Ruby look on, worried.
"I don't care." Weiss finally admits
"You don't care?" Blake asks, surprised.
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asks
"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"
"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." Weiss looks at Sun. "Someone else."
Blake wipes a tear from her eye, as she nods. "Of course."
Weiss smiles and nods. The moment is serious for a second more until Ruby decides to ruin it.
"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheers, waving her arms wildly.
Weiss points at Sun. "I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!" Weiss tells him
Sun laughs nervously, but stops when Weiss turns to adress Layla and Klaus.
"I hope that you can forgive me for the things that I said about the faunus without knowing that you were one of them." Weiss says
"There is nothing to forgive, so long as you learn to grow from your mistakes." Klaus says
"I will make sure of it." Weiss smiles proudly.
Then the heiress turns to Layla.
"You terrify me, but I hope that we can put our differences aside and forget the things that I said. And if not, I just hope that you won't kill me." Weiss says
"Baby steps." Layla tells Weiss, but it was mostly directed at Blake.
The cat faunus catches her gaze and sighs, but then she gives her a small smile. She knew that it would take a while to regain jer trust, but she was willing to work for it.
Ruby looks around. "Hey, wait a minute... Where's Penny?"
"She just disappeared all of a sudden." Lilly says
Aracel looks off into the distance at the limo, knowing that Penny was to be taken away for now. From the darkened back seat of a limo, Penny watches the group of friends reuniting with each other.
"You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."
Penny lowers her head, sadly. "I know, sir."
"Penny, your time will come..." Her driver says, before driving off.
Meanwhile, Ozpin is seen holding a Scroll showing a "LIVE FEED" of Ruby at the docks. He closes the video and opens up a communication with Qrow, whose team name and other information is left blank and his only message is: "QUEEN HAS PAWNS."
"Hmmm..."
《☆☆☆》
When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold
When your dreams all fail
And the ones we hail
Are the worst of all
And the blood's run stale
I want to hide the truth
I want to shelter you
But with the beast inside
There's nowhere we can hide
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
When the curtain's call
Is the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl
So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made
Don't want to let you down
But I am hell bound
Though this is all for you
Don't want to hide the truth
No matter what we breed
We still are made of greed
This is my kingdom come
This is my kingdom come
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go
Your eyes, they shine so bright
I want to save their light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how
When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Don't get too close
It's dark inside
It's where my demons hide
It's where my demons hide
Roman walks into a large warehouse with a shadowy interior. He goes over to a table and places down a case of mysterious contents, sighing in tiredness.
"How very disappointing, Roman."
Roman turns around suddenly when he hears the voice and their noisy entrance. "Whoa! Hehe... I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon..." He says
"We were expecting... more from you." The ravenette with amber eyes says
Roman laughs a little before getting serious. "Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."
She chuckles darkly. "And you will continue to do so."
The ravenette summons a fireball in her hand and steps out of the darkness with her three companions. One a grey haired man, the other man was blonde and he had blood red eyes the bottom half of face covered, the third and last companion was a mint-haired tanned woman with ruby red eyes.
"We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is... a little cooperation." She says, smiling evily.
END OF VOLUME ONE