Author's Notes:

This is it. We're down to the final plot arc of Volume 1. The fat lady is doing her vocal exercises in the dressing room backstage. Now it's almost about time to prepare to hear her sing.

Blake kept running until she reached the courtyard. She looked up at the massive stone statue. Did she fit better as the Huntress at the top, or as the monster that lay defeated down below? She reached up and carefully pulled off her bow, revealing the cat ears beneath.

She heard a voice behind her, "I knew you'd look better without the bow."

She turned around to see the monkey boy, the one who had winked at her on the docks.

Blake turned back around, "What are you doing here?"

the Faunus boy answered, "Well I couldn't just walk by and let a pretty lady cry by herself in the middle of night. But if you must know, I'm a student from Vacuo, here for the tournament."

Blake asked, "If you're a student why did you stow away? Don't they give free transport for people participating in the festival?"

He shrugged, "I thought it'd be fun. I was right. But enough about me. I wanna know more about you."

Blake brushed a tear away from her eye, "No, you don't."

The monkey Faunus walked around in front of her, "Oh, come on. You're story's sure as hell a lot more interesting than mine, at least from what I've seen, which isn't a lot."

Blake laughed lightly, "You talk a lot."

The boy looked contemplative, "Do I? I guess I do, don't I. I mean it's working though, right? You're cheering up a bit, I think, maybe."

Blake nodded, "Yes, I'm much better now. Thank you."

He gave a satisfied smirk, "Well there ya go. Talking a lot isn't so bad now, is it."

Blake looked up at the boy, "I never said it was bad."

He looked shocked, "Oh no! Where are my manners. I forgot to ask for your name."

Blake held out her hand for a handshake, "I'm Blake."

The boy took her hand and bent over to kiss it lightly, "Sun Wukong, at your service."

The next morning, Ruby awoke in their dorm to find Blake still missing. She quickly awoke her two teammates, "Guys, wake up. Blake's been gone all night. We have to find her."

Weiss waved it off, "She's a big girl. I'm sure she can take care of herself."

Yang hopped out of bed, "Weiss, come on. She's our teammate. Besides, I think I have an idea for how we might be able to know where she is."

Weiss sat up, "How do you plan to do that?"

Yang walked over and lifted Clark out of his basket. She put him in a sitting position in her lap.

She looked at Ruby, "Go stand out in the hallway."

Ruby walked over and opened the door to their dorm. She then stepped just outside the door.

Yang nodded, "Good, now close the door."

Ruby closed the door.

Yang looked down at Clark and asked him, "Clark, can you find Ruby for me?"

Clark's arm shot up and pointed at the closed door.

Weiss put her hands on her hips, "What's that supposed to prove? He's just pointing at the last place he saw her."

Yang looked over at Weiss and shouted to Ruby through the door, "Ruby, walk a bit down the hallway for me. Left or right doesn't matter, but don't tell us which." After a few seconds had passed Yang looked back down to Clark and said, "Ok, Clark, can you find Ruby again?"

Clark's finger pointed diagonally, off to the left.

Weiss looked at the baby with amazement.

Yang set Clark down in his basket and walked over to the door. She opened it and stuck her head out, "Ok, Ruby, you can come back in now."

Ruby entered the dorm. "What was all that about?"

Weiss answered, "Apparently Clark can see through solid objects."

Ruby looked at Clark, "What, like X-Ray? in the comics?"

Yang nodded, "Exactly. After Blake left last night he watched her running even after she was out of sight. I know he was watching her because he said her name."

Ruby looked horrified, "I missed his first word!?"

Yang patted her sister on the back, "Sorry Ruby. I know how much you were looking forward to that."

Weiss directed them back on topic, "Ok, so how do we use this to find Blake?"

Yang answered through actions. She picked up Clark's basket and leaned over to speak to him, "Ok Clark, I'm gonna need you to do this a couple more times. Find Blake for me. Can you do that?"

Clark pointed and spoke, "Blake!"

The team quickly packed up and left their dorm. They walked in the general direction that Clark had pointed for several minutes and then asked him again. He pointed a slightly different direction. They kept following his lead until they eventually saw Blake sitting next to the monkey-tailed Faunus boy and sipping tea.

Blake sighed and looked up at Sun, "So, you want to know more about me."

Sun's response was interrupted by Ruby as the rest of Team RWBY walked up to their table, "Blake! Where have you been? You had us worried sick, running off like that. What were you thinking?"

Blake sighed again. She spoke to her three teammates, "I think you all should take a seat."

The three new arrivals pulled chairs up to the now rather overcrowded table for two.

Blake started to explain, "I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun did a spit take, accidentally ruining Weiss' dress. He almost started talking until Ruby held up a finger to indicate that he should let Blake finish.

Blake continued, "Actually, I was a member for most of my life. Back then, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity. But despite being promised equality, we were still subjected to discrimination, hate. The White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there, at the front of every rally. Then, a new leader came. Our peaceful protests were turned into organized attacks. We were finally being treated as equals, but not out of respect, out of fear. So I left. And here I am, a criminal, hiding with the help of a little black bow."

She wiggled her ears to show her teammates what she was talking about.

Blake looked to Weiss specifically, "Weiss, I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. That being said, I-"

Weiss interrupted, "Stop! I don't want to hear it. You're not one of them anymore, so I don't care. I just want to know that the next time something this big comes up, you'll come to your teammates."

Blake gave an uneasy smile, "Of course."

Yang tried to sway things towards a less emotional subject, "Well now that the team's back together, why don't we try and figure out who's behind all these Dust robberies? I think the best way to start would be to try and disprove the White Fang as a suspect. If we can't, then I think it's safe to say they did it."

Blake shook her head, "I still don't think it was them. Why would they need that much Dust?"

Sun gave his idea of a plan, "But what if they did? I mean, the best way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place that they would most likely be if they were to have done it, and not find them there, right?"

Weiss dropped her head down into her hands, "I think that just might be the worst plan ever, of all time."

Ruby responded, "I think it might be the only one we have."

Penny said, "And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today! Although there's a big stain on her dress. You might want to get that washed before it becomes permanent."

Everyone looked at the sixth chair that had mysteriously appeared at the table without anyone noticing.

Ruby asked, "Penny, when did you get here?"

Penny responded, "Just a few moments ago, when Sun was telling us his plan. So what are you up to?"

Yang answered, "We're trying to figure out who's behind the Dust robberies that have been going on the past few months."

Penny thought for a moment, "Well it seems to me like if you could predict when and where the next robbery would take place, you could go there and see who shows up to steal the Dust."

Sun nodded, "Right, that's what I said."

Weiss snarked, "Except that she sounded remotely intelligent when she said it."

Penny saluted with a smile, "They don't call me Brainiac for nothing!"

Sun frowned, "I think I might know where the next heist will be."

Blake asked, "Where?"

Sun smiled, "Well I overheard some guys on the ship talking about a big shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

Weiss nodded, "That's a Schnee Company freighter. I remember hearing about it a few weeks ago. It's supposed to be arriving at midnight, tonight."

Ruby smiled, "Then it's settled. We'll be at the docks tonight to catch them in the act. Then we'll find out once and for all who's responsible for these crimes."

Author's Notes:

So the fight at the docks is still gonna happen. It's just that this time, RWBY is gonna be a bit better organized about the whole thing. But as Less Wrong says, you can't make Frodo a Jedi unless you give Sauron the Death Star. In other words, don't think that the battle is going to be as one-sided as you might be tempted to expect.

New chapters out every week or so. I'll see you then.