Damn, was a little disappointed that this Thursday didn't release an episode of RWBY Volume Two other than a quick video about the origins of Dust and all but I guess we'll just have to wait until the latest episode comes out for next Thursday. So yeah thanks again for reading this Fanfic and I'll see ya'll around!
Chapter Ten: The Stray and the Truth...
It was a beautiful day in the city of Vale. The streets were filled with many friendly locals, store owners were putting up banners on their places of business, and there were excited faces on the visitors of the large city. It was nearly time for the Vytal festival and everyone was getting excited for it. Not only that, Beacon's Hunter's Fair, which allowed visitors from other schools to visit the prestigious academy and see what they have to offer, was happening just shortly before the Vytal Festival, meaning that Vale is going to have a lot of visitors.
Fairy Tail OST: Lucy Theme...
Along with the excited citizens of Vale, the students of Beacon Academy were very excited for the upcoming festivals because of all the different events that will happen, including dances, parades, team specific events planned by the students during the Hunter's Fair and even the fighting tournament during the Vytal Festival. Among the excited Beacon Students was Team RWBY, who were wandering around town checking out the sights and decorations. Team NSRGW however were not present for the time being since they've decided to look around on their own and possibly start a fight with any sort of criminals that decide to show themselves.
"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss exclaimed happily as she spread her arms out in amazement.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss, it's kinda weirding me out." Ruby laughed jokingly, both of her eyebrows cringing lightly.
"Hah, how could you not smile!?" Weiss exclaimed softly while laughing to herself before turning towards Ruby. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into these events is simply breathtaking!"
"Wow, you really know how to make a good thing sound boring, huh?" Yang teased her white haired friend.
"Oh quiet you." The heiress countered in a mock-scolding tone, taking the teasing good naturedly.
"Remind me again as to why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang questioned the heiress with a sigh leaving her lips
"Ugh, they smell like fish!" Ruby said, clenching her nose so she wouldn't have to take in more of the bad odor.
"I got hear that student visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss explained, turning back to her teammates. "And as a representative of Beacon, I felt it was my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have an upper hand on the tournament." Blake spoke up as she walked pass the heiress.
"Ugh, you can't prove that!" Weiss said while her arms were crossed, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed.
"Whoa..." Ruby said as her attention was shifted elsewhere, seeing this made the other girls look towards the direction as to where Ruby was staring at.
In front of them, they saw that a store down the street was broken in to. The window was broken and covered in yellow caution tape set up by the Vale Police Force. Surrounding the store was a couple of detectives, causing the girls curiosity to reach their point as they tread way to the store with mile interest on their faces. The hooded girl already leading the others as she approached near the yellow caution tape, staring at one of the detectives.
"What happened here?" Ruby spoke up as she and the others walked up to the detectives.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop that was hit this week." The bearded Detective Burns explained before turning back towards the shop. "This place is turning into a jungle…"
"That's terrible." Yang sighed sadly, her hand resting on her hips with both of her eyebrow raising up slightly.
"They left all the money again." A messy dark haired detective, Heyman, spoke up to his partner, catching the attention of Ruby as she let continued listening to their conversation with one another.
"Yeah, it doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" Question the detective.
"You thinking the White Fang?" The bearded detective suggested, causing Blake to flinch slightly.
"I'm thinking that we don't get paid enough for this." Heyman sighed as he removed his sunglasses.
"Hhmph, the White Fang...what an awful bunch of degenerates." Weiss muttered darkly as her arms were crossed with her head pointing upwards while closing her eyes, causing Blake to stare at her angrily.
"What's your problem?" Blake questioned the pair.
"My problem!? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss answered back to Blake with a blank expression.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus" Blake stated sternly as she crossed her arms.
"Misguided?" Weiss exclaimed confusingly, now causing her to form a frown on her face. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the earth!" She shouted in response.
"So then they're very misguided..." Blake relented somewhat before looking back at the scene. "Either way, that doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale…"
"Hmmm...Blake's got a point." Ruby spoke up. "Besides, the police still haven't caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago…Maybe it could be him."
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum..." Weiss muttered once more, much to Blake's anger. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal."
"Weiss, that's not necessarily true…" Yang spoke up.
"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" Shouted someone.
Hearing someone shouting, the five teens turned around and rushed back towards the docks to see a pair of sailors chasing a monkey tailed Faunus with tanned skin, spiky blonde hair, an open white jacket with no shirt underneath, red wrist bracers and a pair of blue pants with a chain on them. The energetic monkey man kept running until he jumped on the edge of the boat, where he turned towards the sailors chasing him with a cheeky grin.
"Thanks for the ride guys!" He said cheerfully before jumping off the boat and began to run for a bit once he landed on the docks before jumping again, much to the annoyance of the sailors.
"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors shouted at the Faunus, who was hanging on the lamppost with his tail while eating a banana like the monkey he was.
"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway!" The monkey taunted before turning his head to dodge an incoming rock. Looking down, he saw Burns and Heyman looking up to him with annoyed faces.
"Hey! Get down there this instant!" Burns ordered, only to receive a banana peel to the face as a response, causing him to growl in annoyance.
The Monkey Faunus laughed as he spun himself to the top of the lamppost. He then leapt off his perch and started running off towards town, the police right on his tail. As he ran, he passed by team RWBY, The Faunus already giving Blake a flirt wink that made her somewhat surprised as he ran, much to their confusion.
"Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition." Yang commented as she pointed at the disappearing Faunus and cops, "And there it goes…"
"Quick, we have to observe him!" Weiss exclaimed before rushing off to follow the monkey man, prompting the others to do the same.
Blake stood quietly for a moment in confusion, eventually snapping herself out of her subconscious and eventually joined the other three girls on tracking down the Faunus. All four teens nearly caught up to the Faunus and police until they turned a corner and Weiss ran into someone, causing them both to fall to the ground. Looking up, the heiress could only watch in frustration as her competition jumped up a nearby building and proceeded to climb it, allowing him to escape his pursuers.
"No, he got away…" Weiss muttered, still unaware of the girl underneath her, until her blonde teammate spoke up.
"Uh…Weiss?" Yang said awkwardly as she pointed down, causing the heiress to look below her and finally see the girl she knocked down.
Startled, Weiss immediately jumped off of her and everyone could fully see the appearance of the downed girl. She had curly hair that was as red as Nora's hair with a pink bow on top, green eyes and freckles on her face. Her clothes consisted of a blouse with a black and green collar, a short pair of overalls and a pair of black stockings with green highlights on them like her collar. The girl didn't try to pick herself up after Weiss got off of her, but instead beamed brightly at the teens.
"Salu-ta-tions!" The girl exclaimed happily.
"Uh…hello." Ruby greeted unsurely.
"Are you…ok?" Yang asked curiously.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking!" The girl replied cheerfully, causing the girls to stare at each other unsurely.
The girl thought to herself for a moment, much to the surprise of the teens, before replying happily. "Yes!" She then leaped up to her feet, which caused the five hunters-to-be to step back a little, and proceeded to introduce herself "My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you!"
"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby," Ruby introduced herself, prompting the others to do the same.
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang questioned before Blake elbowed her on the side. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny grinned, making the others to stare at her strangely.
"Uh…You already said that." Weiss pointed out.
"…So I did!" Penny nodded after a short pause.
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized as she and the others began to walk away.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby waved.
"She was…weird." Yang muttered to the others.
"Now, where did that simian riff-raff run off to?" Weiss muttered to herself as she looked around, not aware of Blake glaring at her.
"What did you call me?" Penny asked curiously as she stood in front the five teens, causing them to look at her in surprise.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized, surprised that the carrot top girl was in front of her so quickly before Weiss was looking back and forth in shock.
"No, not you." Penny shook her head before walking up towards Ruby and leans over, much to the scythe user's confusion. "You!"
"Me? I-I don't know…" Ruby stuttered, startled with Penny's actions.
"You called me friend!" Penny exclaimed as she now loomed over Ruby, much to her discomfort. "Am I really your friend?"
Ruby simply stared back at Penny, unsure of what to say. She looked over the green eyed girl's should and saw that her team were all gesturing her to say no. She then gave her best friend a quick glance to see what he thought they should say, but all she got was a shrug in response. After a moment, Ruby turned back to Penny and smiled awkwardly.
"Um, y-yeah sure! Why not?" Ruby answered.
Penny became ecstatic at the two's acceptance while the other girls ended up face-faulting in disbelief.
"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like him!" Penny cheered.
"Is this what it was like when we first met?" Ruby groaned as Weiss stood up beside her.
"Not really. Nothing's exploded so far, so that's a good sign." Weiss replied as she dusted off her jacket.
"So…what are you doing here in Vale?" Yang questioned.
"I'm here to see the fair and fight in the tournament!" Penny responded happily.
"Wait…you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss questioned incredulously.
"I'm combat ready!" Penny responded with a salute.
"Forgive me for saying this, but you don't really look much like a fighter, Penny." Weiss said.
"You're one to talk, though, Weiss. You fight in a dress." Blake stated, her left eyebrow raised.
"This isn't a dress! It's a combat skirt." Weiss argued with Blake
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed with her partner, and the two preceded to low-five each other.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Weiss suddenly spoke up before grabbing Penny by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"
"The who?" The freckled girl questioned.
"The no good stowaway Faunus from the boat!" Weiss explained while holding up a badly drawn picture of the felon in question.
"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake exclaimed, causing Weiss to look at her curiously. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him degeneration! He's a person!"
"Oh I'm sorry, would you prefer for me to stop referring the trash can as a trash can! Or this lamppost as a lamppost!?" Weiss explained, gesturing towards the objects as she did so.
"Stop it!" The shadow ninja yelled, fed up with the heiress's attitude.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law!" Weiss shouted back. "Give him time and he'll join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang."
"You ignorant little brat!" Blake growled, greatly surprising her teammate.
"Why in the world would you call me that?! I'm your teammate!" Weiss questioned, offended by the accusation.
"You're a judgmental little girl, that's what you are!" Blake hissed angrily.
"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species." Blake exclaimed. "It makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"
Yang began to sliding up to Ruby, looking uncomfortable. "Um, I think we should probably go..."
Suddenly, a smiling Penny popped up behind Ruby "Where are we going?"
"So you admit it!" Weiss yelled to Blake. "The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"
"We're back from our tour around Vale!" A familiar voice of a certain individual shouted out towards the girls.
Team RWBY eventually tilted their attention towards the source of the individuals, seeing them to be none other than Team NSRGW made up of Natsu, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel and finally Wendy making their way towards them. Ruby mouth slightly watering after seeing Wendy eating on some Cotton Candy while her older brothers were too busy feasting on some Pizza's that they've managed to buy for the four of them to eat on. The Pizza's themselves being slightly larger due to have only cutted the freshly baked Pizza into four large pieces so that it would take at least several minutes for them to finish.
"Hey guys, how was that tour of yours?" Yang wondered as she eyed Gajeel for a moment.
"Kinda boring..." Muttered the Iron Dragon Slayer.
"Oh well...sorry to hear that..." She said as she turned away from Gajeel.
Wendy than approached Ruby with something hidden behind her back, slowly revealing another role of Cotton Candy just for Ruby.
"For me, thank you." Ruby thanked Wendy, gracefully grabbing the Cotton Candy from Wendy and had already began digging into it.
"So...wanna tell us what those two are arguing about?" Sting asked Yang before approaching beside her.
Yang turned her attention towards Sting with a blank look. "Well..." Before she had a chance to say anything, the heiress interrupted her with a sudden yell.
"YOU FOUR!" Wiess shouted towards Natsu's group, the ends of the Dragon Slayers hairs standing upwards in surprisement as Weiss approached the four males. "Have any of you four seen this Faunus!?" She demanded, showing them the poor excuse of a drawing.
"Seems poorly organized..." Muttered Rogue who continued eating his slice of Pizza.
"Dah screw this, gimme that!" Said Gajeel who was already annoyed.
Black Steel soon snatched the sheet away from Weiss who yelped from the reflex of the Dragon Slayer, seeing as all four males had already began to analyse the drawing with their best intention. Than it slowly began to make sense as to whom it was that was drawn on the picture.
"Hey guys, doesn't this picture look like Sun?" Sting wondered as he looked closely into the picture with his hand rubbing his chin.
"Yeah now that you mention, it kinda does." Natsu replied to his brother, who too was looking at the picture.
"Wait, wait, wait!? You know him!?" Weiss yelled out with her arms flailing in the air.
"Sure do, the dudes name is Sun Wukong and I gotta say. He's pretty awesome hang around, not to mention that his fighting style is kinda badass." Sting grinned with his arms crossed while staring down at the drawing.
"Yeah, shame I didn't get the chance on asking him if he wanted to have a decent brawl with me." Natsu said with a disappointed tone clouding his words while sighing.
This basically left the heiress jaws drop down completely at how ludicrous these two were, to have simply allow themselves to let a stowaway Faunus to simply leave without any of the Dragon Slayers at least putting him under custody or at least restraining him for the heiress to observe him.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU JUST LET HIM GO!?" Yelled the heiress with an angry comical look.
"Yeah we did, he was a pretty decent guy to know when your around him." Natsu responded to Weiss with a deadpanned face.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU CAPTURE THAT FILTHY CRIMINAL OF A FAUNUS, WE COULD HAVE OBSERVED HIM AND FIND OUT SOME CLUES IF HE'S ON PAR WITH THAT ROBBERY!" She yelled in the Dragon Slayers face, to which he seems to be slightly annoyed.
"Meh, seemed like a decent guy." Natsu muttered once more as he continued eating his Pizza til there was none. "And besides, for a Faunus he sure does have a strong heart as well."
"BUT HE'S A CRIMINAL AND A LIAR!" Shouted the heiress once more.
"Now your just making assumptions, how would you know if you didn't even know him?" The White Dragon corrected the heiress as he looked down on her with both of his arms crossed while holding onto the half eaten Pizza.
"I can't even...arg! FORGET IT!" Weiss yelled in submission as she slowly began to storm herself away from the group of Mages.
"What's up with Ice-Princess?" Gajeel wondered with a confused look on his face.
"Beats me..." Sting responded, already finishing his Pizza.
/...Time Passes...\\
"I don't know why this is such a problem!"
"That is the problem!"
Ruby and Yang as well as the rest of the Dragon Slayers who remained in the room shared an uncomfortable glance at each other before turning their attention back to their teammates. It was evening now and the nine of them were back in their room at Beacon, however Weiss and Blake had yet to stop. It made the sisters and the Dragon Slayers upset to see their friends fighting like this, with Ruby and Yang having no valid idea as to how they can break these two apart from their argument.
"You realize that you're defending a group that hates humanity, don't you?! The Faunus of the White Fang are nothing more than a pack of horrendous monsters!" Weiss shouted.
"You seem to be taking that a little too far Ice-Princess." Gajeel muttered, noticing that the situation was about to tense up.
"Be quiet, I wouldn't expect you to know since you and the others don't even know the Faunus of the White Fangs true colors." Weiss barked at the response of the Dragon Slayer.
"They are not a pack of monsters!" Blake retaliated heatedly. "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, and from what I see, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures! You're no different than the monsters in your family!"
"What did you say!?" Weiss shouted angrily, very offended that she was being called a monster like her family.
"You're discriminatory, just like every other member of your family!" Blake reiterated.
"I'm not discriminatory! I'm a victim!" Weiss countered, causing the room to go silent immediately. It was after a few seconds that Weiss let off a deep breath and spoke calmly, walking towards the window as she did so. "Do you know why I hate the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus that associate with them? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. Actual war, with bloodshed and everything. My grandfather's company had a target painted on its back practically since its creation. Ever since I could remember, I've seen family friends disappear, board members executed, and even a train of Dust stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." She hissed as she clenched her fist tightly.
The scythe user slowly approaches near Weiss, in an attempt to show some comfort to ease the pain that seems to be eating at her. "Weiss, I-"
"No!" Weiss turns away and walks back over to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
"Okay stop right there, Weiss!" Natsu intervened with a stern look as he approached Weiss. "I get the idea that you had a rough time during your childhood and I understand that you've got allot of pent up aggression towards those who did your family wrong, but don't go making assumptions that all Faunus of the White Fang are murderers!" He yelled at the heiress very angrily while clenching his fists.
"And I wouldn't expect you as well to understand on what sort of world we live in, your just an outsider so don't go jumping into our affairs!" She hissed back at Natsu. "The White Fangs are our enemies, simple as that!" She said as she crossed her arms.
Than came the Shadow Dragon Slayer who appeared beside Natsu with his arms crossed. "Placing all your hatred on a group of Faunus to which you assume to be all murderers seems to be somewhat selfish for you to be thinking that way. And to think of it, it seems almost too childish of you." He stated with a frown creeping on his face.
"Rogues got a point, all that hate your building up will one day be your downfall." Sting added as he approached beside Rogue.
"Gonna have to agree with the White Dragon here Ice Princess, that anger issue of yours with the White Fang is pretty much gonna mess you up big time, so learn to grow up with that fact because you can't stay angry at them forever." Gajeel stated, already having vague memories of the time he and his brother were part of the Fairy Tail/Phantom Lord War.
"And who are you to criticizing me!? I've made my point, and the fact still remains that the White Fangs are simply savages and killers!" She stated as Weiss pointed her finger at Rogue and Sting.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake countered angrily, not realizing the consequence that she had displayed.
"…We?" Yang repeated in shock as Ruby and Weiss stared at the shadow ninja with wide eyes.
Even Gajeel and the other Dragon Slayers eyes were widen as well, however not out of shock from the words Blake had spatted out towards the heiress. But these expressions that they were forming were that of uneasiness and sudden concern as their secret with Blake was finally out for the other girls to hear. Ever since Natsu had discovered her secret before anyone else, he wanted their promises that they would not expose Blake on who she truly was. And he was fortunate to know that they kept their end of the bargain. they knew who Blake truly was. But now the truth has been spoken, causing Natsu to slowly approach beside Blake with his hand shielding her.
Fairy Tail OST: Kizuna...
"W-Wait guys, she can explain... she's not what you think she is...really..." Natsu muttered nervously as the other three girls began taking a few steps back. However even he knew that this was not going anywhere.
"Blake...your a..." Ruby whispered in utter shock.
Realizing that her identity has just been uncovered, she stared at them briefly and soon turned her attention towards Natsu with sadden eyes.
"I'm sorry..." And with those words now piercing through Natsu's heart, she was gone. Causing the Dragon Slayer to sprint his way towards her in an attempt to get her back.
"No! Blake, wait! Come back!" Natsu yelled out Blake. However the ninja girl was gone in an instant, causing him to lower his head down in defeat. "Damn it...DAMN IT!" He roared tensely, slamming his fist against the wall with Ruby flinching back from the force of the Dragon Slayers frustrations.
Yang said nothing as she stared at her sister with a sad expression before turning to Weiss, who was sitting on her bed with shock still on her face.
/...Meanwhile...\
'Please...don't look for me, Natsu!' Blake thought to herself as she continued to flee the with a tear streaming down her left eye.
After a while she slowed to a stop, right in front of the iconic statue of a sword wielding huntsman, accompanied with an axe wielding huntress, standing over a body of a dead Grimm. Staring at the statue for a moment, the shadow ninja removed the bracelet from her right arm and placed it next to the Beowolf image. She then stepped back and slowly undid her bow, revealing the cat ears on her head. The now revealed Cat Faunus tried to wipe some of the tears that were about to fall when she heard something below her.
A familiar voice asked, causing Blake to turn behind her in shock. "I knew you look better without the bow."
/...Time Passes...\\
It's been two days since Blake disappeared and the remanding members of Team RWBY was worried about her. Ruby tried to find her by using the tracker bracelet that she made for the shadow ninja a few months ago, but became heavily disappointed when she saw that Blake left it behind at the statue in the courthouse. Without an effective way to find their teammate, the three teens set out on foot to find her in the city with little luck. Hell, even they weren't the only ones in search for the Faunus girl. Natsu on that very day was the first to search for her from day to night without ever gaining some sleep, as though he was desperate on searching due to being so concerned for his friend in need as he was pushed to the breaking point to find where Blake was located.
"Its hard to believe that Natsu's so determined on finding her, guess she must mean something special to him." Yang said softly as she watched a familiar salmon haired boy accompanied with his brother searching for Blake.
"She's been gone all weekend." Ruby sighed worriedly as she and her sister and partner wandered around the streets of Vale.
"She'll be fine, Ruby. Blake can take care of herself until we find her," Weiss said with a mild bitter tone in her voice.
"Watch it with the tone, Weiss. You know that she's our teammate first." Yang said sternly.
"I know, but you heard what she said." Weiss pointed out, causing her leader to groan out her name in exasperation.
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way we have to find her…" Yang said seriously.
"I know…sorry..." Weiss muttered.
"I hope she's ok…" Ruby muttered sadly, with her teammates nodding in agreement.
/...Meanwhile...\
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Fairy Tail OST: Kizuna Ends...
On a rooftop café, Blake was there drinking her tea with the Monkey Faunus that snuck into Vale a few days ago, who introduced himself as Sun Wukong. Blake had her bow back on and a new bracelet on her arm to replace the one her leader made so she wouldn't be found by her team. She was also positioned on taking dire choices of having to throw off a whole new different set of scent so that she wouldn't be tracked down by any of the Dragon Slayers high sense of smell due to having Dragon Slayer Magic flowing within their veins. She didn't want Natsu to find her, at least not yet. She soon turned her attention back to the Monkey Faunus, seeing as her tail held onto the cup of tea.
"So, you want to know more about me…" Blake stated as she set her cup down.