Kristofer was in awe as he looked around the city. The best description for his behavior would be the "kid in a candy store" analogy. He and his team had taken a trip down to the city of Vale on their day off to watch the preparations for the upcoming Vytal Festival.
Rachael couldn't help but laugh. "Kristofer," she tried, but he didn't hear her. So, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Kristofer, hey Kristofer!" Once she got his attention, she continued, "What's with you? It's like you've never been to a festival before."
Lowering his head slightly, he explained, "Well, that's because I haven't. We were always at war, there was never any occasion for such celebrations."
"I'm sorry," Rachael apologized, after receiving angry glares from her other teammates. "I forgot."
"It's alright," Kristofer said, looking up with a smile. "All of that's behind me now. Nothing but smooth sailing ahead."
The rest of the morning went rather smoothly. Despite the lack of any finished attractions, the team managed to have plenty of fun. As they walked past the docks, a ship horn caught their attention.
"Ooh!" Rachael exclaimed. "Some of the students from the other kingdoms are arriving! Let's go see!" No sooner had she said that than she had begun sprinting towards the pier, the rest of the team in tow.
Suddenly, Kristofer stopped, turning his head towards a darkened alley.
Ila, who was behind Kristofer, quickly sidestepped around him before coming to a stop. "Kristofer?" she asked. "What's the matter?" She received no response. Instead, Kristofer began walking towards the entrance to the alley. Looking around, Ila realized the others had already disappeared. Sighing, she started after him.
The difference between the alley and just outside was literally like night and day. While outside was warm and sunny, the alley was cold and dark. No sunlight reached the ground here. The place seemed flat out forbidding.
Nervously, Ila gripped Kristofer's arm. The latter, who seemed to be in a trance, did not respond. As they walked, Ila shrieked as a rat brushed by her leg.
Finally taking notice, Kristofer quickly grabbed Ila, covering her mouth with his hand. "Shhh," he said, looking down the alleyway. Then, turning to her, he noticed the sheer terror in her eyes. Quickly, he let go of her. "S-sorry. I didn't mean…" He lowered his head, embarrassed. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"N-no, I think I'm okay." Taking a step closer, she asked, "Kristofer, what's wrong?"
"I don't know exactly. It just fee…" Before he could finish his sentence, something leapt out of the shadows at him. Kristofer narrowly evaded, jumping above the attacker and landing behind it, pulling out his weapons.
As quick as she could, Ila pulled out a light, fumbling with the switch. When she finally got it turned on, it revealed a brown haired girl in a skintight black leather suit. Upon closer inspection, something seemed to be off. It was almost as if the girl wasn't quite there.
"Katie?" Kristofer whispered in shock. Before Ila could ask, the girl snarled and again lunged at Kristofer. Seeing that he wasn't going to move, Ila whipped out Coelestis, using it to slice the girl in two. As the two halves of the girl flew apart, they quickly disintegrated into wisps of black smoke.
"Wha…" Ila asked, eyes blinking in shock.
"Ila, behind you!"
Ila had just enough time to move out of the way as a man with a blade in hand fell from above.
Without wasting any time, Kristofer brought his cudgel down on the guy's head, knocking him out.
"Is he…dead?" Ila asked.
Kristofer crouched down, rolling the body over. Checking for a pulse, he said, "No, just unconscious. I wonder who he is."
Ila stepped closer and gasped.
"What is it?"
"His mask, and that slashed wolf marking on his chest. He's a member of the White Fang!"
"The terrorist group? Why would they want to attack Faunus like you and me?"
"I…I don't know…"
"Well," Kristofer said, standing up. "Regardless, we should report this to the police."
As the pair walked towards the other end of the alley, Ila couldn't help but think about what Kristofer said. Finally, she got up the courage to ask, "Kristofer?"
"Hmmm?"
"Who's Katie?"
Kristofer thought for a moment. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure. I know she's someone from before…well… Anyways, I feel like she was someone important to me, but, I don't know why."
By this time, the two had arrived at the end of the alley. As they left the darkness behind them, the pair found a store with evidence of breaking and entering that had been blocked off by crime tape.
"Well, that was convenient," Kristofer grinned. Walking up to one of the police officers, he asked, "Pardon me officer, I know you're busy, but could I talk to you for a moment?"
"Better keep it quick kid."
"My friend and I were just attacked by a member of the White Fang. We managed to knock him out and we left him in an alley back there."
This caught the officer's attention. "The White Fang you say? Are you sure?"
Both Ila and Kristofer nodded their heads.
Stroking his beard, the officer said, "I'll send someone to investigate. Thanks for letting me know." Then, as an afterthought, he asked, "Neither of you got hurt or anything?"
"No sir."
"Good."
As the officer walked off, Kristofer heard a familiar voice ask, "What happened here?"
Turning to look, he found Ruby and her teammates talking to the other police officer there.
"Robbery," the officer said. "Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."
"That's terrible," Yang whispered.
"They left all the money again," the first cop said.
"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense," the other replied. "Who needs that much dust?"
"I don't know. Ya know what I mean?"
"You thinking the, uh, the White Fang?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get payed enough."
"The White Fang again?" Kristofer asked.
The girls finally took notice of Kristofer and Ila.
"Oh, hey guys!" Ruby exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"We were attacked by a member of the White Fang," Ila explained.
"That hardly seems likely," Blake quickly replied. "How can you be so sure about that?"
"W-well, I, uh…" Ila stammered, holding her arm in embarrassment.
"He had the mark on his shirt as well as the mask," Kristofer stepped in. "Not to mention that he was a Faunus."
"Anyone could put on a mask," Blake shot back defensively.
"What's with you, Blake?" Weiss asked. "Why are you trying to protect that band of Faunus scum?"
"Now wait just a minute," Kristofer began, but was interrupted by a commotion coming from the loading docks. Running over, the group found a blonde haired Faunus with a long tail similar to Kristofer's hanging from a light above the pier.
"You no good stowaway!" one of the workers on the boat shouted.
The Faunus began peeling a banana. "Hey! A no good stowaway would've been caught," he quipped. "I'm a great stowaway." As soon as he said this, he had to dodge a rock thrown at him by one of the cops from the crime scene.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant," the cop said.
However, instead of complying, the Faunus threw a banana in his face. He then jumped down, laughing as if it were a game before running off, cops in pursuit.
"Well," Yang said to Weiss. "You came to see the competition, and there it goes."
"Quick!" Weiss exclaimed. "We have to observe him!" With that, team RWBY vanished in pursuit of the stowaway.
Kristofer and Ila just watched them go, dumbstruck at what they'd just seen. "Well," Kristofer said. "That was a thing."
