Chapter 11: Vytal

Team RWBY, along with Suzaku and Euphemia, walked down the streets of Vale with a skip in their steps. The reason why was obvious. The Vytal Festival was coming, and all of the city had gathered to prepare for this special occasion.

The Vytal Festival was a tradition that was set up by the four kingdoms of Remnant to show their friendship to each other, but it also had another role. It was a show of strength. The Vytal Festival was a tournament for Huntsman and Huntresses to test their mettle on the battlefield.

Suzaku had decided that he would participate in the tournament, along with team RWBY. Sadly, the tournament was months away. However, there was a silver lining. Suzaku, and, for that matter, team RWBY would have time to train… hard.

The group of six walked along the brick paths of the city, following Weiss as she led the group. The chatter among them was filled with wonder as a banner was raised reading "Welcome to Vale!"

Weiss spoke joyfully as her heels clacked after each step. "Oh the Vytal festival! This is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much before, Weiss," Ruby said with a bit of surprise. She was usually ice cold and, quite frankly, snarky and arrogant. "It's kinda' weirding me out."

"How could you not smile?" Weiss asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world!"

She did have something of a point. While Suzaku didn't know much, nor did Euphemia, they knew one final thing about the Vytal Festival which was so eloquently put by Weiss. The Vytal Festival was a meeting point of all the different cultures of Remnant. It was held annually in a different kingdom each year. It brought foods, clothes, and other fine merchandise.

Weiss continued on. "There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang sighed. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you!" Weiss retorted.

Suzaku was slightly curious about why Weiss was so fascinated by this event as well. Of course, she could always just enjoy the event, but something didn't add up. It just wasn't like her.

"Weiss, is there a reason you're taking us to the docks?" Suzaku asked. He noticed that Yang was about to speak before him. "Huh, guess she was gonna ask the same thing," Suzaku thought.

Ruby covered her nose at the revolting smell emanating from the location they were now in. "Ugh, it smells like fish."

Suzaku would have to agree. The smell was ghastly, but he didn't mind. It was far better than the smell of blood and death. He looked over to Euphemia to see that she was holding her nose to the smell as well.

On a side note, Weiss appeared to be surveying the docks, as if she was looking for something. "Don't worry too much about that. I've heard that student's visiting from Vacuo would be arriving by ship today, and as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom," Weiss said as she began to walk towards the stairs leading to the smaller wooden docks of the port.

Blake rolled her eyes, before turning to Suzaku, Euphemia, and Yang who were on her left. "She wants to spy on them so she can have an upper hand in the tournament," Blake said.

"You can't prove that," Weiss responded hastily, quickly turning to face the three of them.

Suzaku growled. He had just had to deal with Yang snooping on him and Euphemia, and now Weiss wanted to spy on complete strangers. Why did he have to be surrounded by a bunch of stalkers? At least Ruby was competent… actually, she was naive - but still!

"You know how I feel about that, Weiss," Suzaku said. Yang shuddered slightly in remembrance of the scolding she got from Suzaku. She felt like she was being scolded by her grandfather or something. He just stood there for five whole minutes just glaring at her before he even spoke a word. The entire experience was very nerve-wracking.

Weiss simply scoffed. "Like I said, you can't prove anything, and besides, even if I was doing it, this is like war. I would simply be gathering information on our targets, something I think you would understand," Weiss stated.

Suzaku's glare intensified. "This is not warfare. We must treat others as they would have us do unto them," Suzaku said, venom laced in his words, "And why would you think I would know about warfare?"

"You are a soldier, are you not?" Weiss asked, "I would expect you to be, because of your mech. It must be a different branch of the Paladin project. Or is it the Sentinel?"

Euphemia decided to speak up as she came closer to Suzaku. "It is neither. And besides, this type of behavior is highly inappropriate for an heiress," Euphemia said.

Weiss turned back to the docks. "If it's not against the rules, then it's fine," Weiss said plainly.

"I guess more of your father rubbed off of you then you thought," Blake said coldly.

Weiss was about to retort, but Ruby interrupted them. "Guys, look at that," Ruby said as she pointed to a rather plain looking dust shop down the road from the docks.

The shop must have been broken into. The door was smashed into the building, while the left window was shattered. From the direction that the glass shards were facing, someone must have broken the window from inside of the shop. There must have been a fight. The Vale police had already put yellow tape around the entrance of the building and had covered up both the front door and the smashed window with yellow tape as well.

Team RWBY, Suzaku, and Euphemia walked to the dust shop, before stopping at the yellow tape. Police officers were scouring the crime scene - searching for any clues as to who the culprits might be, or, at the very least, get an understanding of what happened.

Ruby spoke first. "What happened here?"

A rather grumpy looking detective wearing a pair of shades answered her. "Robbery. Second dust shop to be hit this week." The detective walked away from the group of six. "This place is turning into a jungle."

The group of six looked on with rather pitying expressions. "That's terrible," Yang said.

"Most certainly," Euphemia agreed.

Ruby didn't pay attention to what the two of them said as one of the police officers spoke. "Hey, they left all the money again."

The detective Ruby had talked to prior responded by saying, "It just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much dust?"

The police officer who spoke first replied. "I don't know… y'know what I mean?"

The detective lazily waved his pistol around in a motion that implied he was asking a question. "You the thinking the White Fang?" the detective asked.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough," the police officer answered.

"Hmm, the White Fang," Weiss stated, "What an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake looked over to Weiss with a tone of annoyance and spoke. "What's your problem?"

Weiss was a bit surprised by the question, but gave a quick reply. "My problem?" Weiss retorted defensively, before she continued. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

Blake crossed her arms. "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus," Blake said.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet," Weiss stated.

"So then they're very misguided," Blake responded, "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

Suzaku entered into this small debate to give his opinion. "Blake does have a point, Weiss," Suzaku said.

Blake really did have a point. Why would the White Fang rob a petty dust shop? The dust shop didn't appear to be one of remarkable stature that anyone would want to rob. It hardly stood out from the other shops. Then again, these attacks seemed organized. All dust shops that had been robbed recently didn't have any money stolen, so there was a connection. Maybe the White Fang was involved. Suzaku, and, for that matter, everyone needed more information.

"Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago… maybe it was him?" Ruby pointed out. Yet another possible culprit.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum, who only know how to lie, cheat, and steal," Weiss said.

Blake glared at Weiss. It was obvious that the subject of Faunus brought up some very negative emotions from Blake.

"That's not necessarily true," Yang said. Euphemia couldn't help but agree. After all, not all Faunus are bad, right?

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" a man shouted.

The group of six turned back to the docks to see a monkey tailed Faunus, with messy blonde hair and blue eyes. He had an unbuttoned white collar shirt and jeans that were cut at the knees. He wore a golden pendant and had yellow shoes and black and red gloves. He appeared to be running from two crew members of the large ship that was docked at the port.

The chase continued until the Faunus jumped off the edge of the boat and onto the wooden docks below. He ran to a light pole on the docks and decided to hang around using his tail.

Why did I make such a bad pun?

Back to our story. The two officers from the crime scene rushed onto the docks to arrest the Faunus, though the Faunus just, once again, ran away.

Suzaku saw the Faunus run up the stairs to the dock and turn to run towards them. Suzaku could have sworn he saw the blonde Faunus wink at Blake while he was running.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes," Yang said with mirth as Weiss began to run after the Faunus.

"Quickly, we must observe him!" Weiss said quickly.

She, and the rest of team RWBY sped off to chase the faunus, but before Suzaku could follow, Euphemia, who had remained quiet most of the trip here, grabbed his wrist.

"They can handle themselves," Euphie said with a small smile. "Let's go around town, shall we?"

Suzaku looked back to see team RWBY rounding a corner. No way he'd catch up with them now. Besides, this seemed like a much better option. He didn't have any interest in observing the competition.

On a side note. With the introduction of the monkey-tailed Faunus, Weiss's argument was seeming more valid every second. Maybe they are inclined to criminal behavior. He decided to remove such thoughts from his mind. No need to think about such unpleasant things.

Suzaku turned to Euphie and grabbed her hand. "Shall we?"

The two of them began to journey through the streets of Vale. Much of the preparation for the Vytal festival was clearly seen, with shops redecorating and refurbishing themselves to appeal to the incoming masses of tourist that would soon arrive for the festival.

"Look at all the wonderful dresses on display!" Euphie said, as she briskly walked over to a clothing store named Beauty's Etiquette.

The store was designed with corinthian pillars mixed with a touch of modern hardwood that gave the store a lovely polish. Large windows displayed the several dresses, along with several other types of clothes.

"Let's see what they have inside," Euphie said, "I think both of us need a change in fashion. Those garbs are far too formal for a casual day, as is my dress."

"Fair enough," Suzaku said with a shrug.

They had not had much in the department of clothing. The only clothes they actually had were the clothes that they arrived with and the school uniforms which they were provided.

They entered the store with a look of wonder. Everything was so polished and clean, much like the malls set up by Britannia back in Japan. Clothes were lined up in aisles, each one having its own space. Some clothes were on massive tables scattered about the store, and three changing rooms were available so that customers could try on their products.

"Hello, can I help you with anything?" Suzaku and Euphemia turned towards a familiar voice.

"Jaune?!" Euphy asked in disbelief.

Jaune looked surprised as well. He hadn't expected Suzaku and Euphemia to come into the place he worked. The situation was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

"Ok, how did you guys know I worked here?" Jaune questioned.

Suzaku and Euphemia just looked at each other, before Suzaku replied, "We didn't. We just got lucky."

Jaune smiled. "Well, I suppose the world really is a small place," Jaune said, "Now, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, there is. Firstly, why do you work at a clothing store?" Euphemia asked, "And secondly, can you help each of us find an outfit for casual wear?"

Jaune thought about what he would say for a moment, browsing over the various outfits of the store before answering.

"To answer your first question, my parents aren't really, uh… sending me any money, so I'm on my own. And to answer your second question, I have a few ideas about what might work."

(=+=)

"What do you two think?"

Suzaku and Jaune turned towards Euphemia's voice. They both stood in awe at how beautiful she was.

Euphemia wore a one piece dress with a strapless top that had a white trimming and a green top with an elegant flower design that blended with the top and moved down to the skirt which was loose hanging, folding into itself like the waves of the oceans, and reaching halfway to her knees. The skirt also faded into a white tone. The dress also had detached sleeves that were green but faded into white at the bottom, also elegantly designed with a flower theme like every other part of the dress.

She looked stunning with her pink locks cascading down like a waterfall. Suzaku was impressed and Jaune had a small smirk. Bingo.

"I-" Suzaku stuttered. "-I think you look marvellous, Euphie."

"Yes!" Jaune quietly said as he pumped his fist in success. "One down, one more to go."

Suzaku smiled as Euphemia moved over to Jaune to see what clothes he was picking out. Jeans, shirt, hoodie.

"Here, put these on," Jaune said as he threw all the clothes he had gathered over to Suzaku.

Suzaku nodded as he went into the changing room and put on his new clothes.

A few minutes later he stepped out of the room wearing a brand new pair of clothes. Euphemia was surprised at how good he looked.

Suzaku wore a dark green v-neck shirt with a white hoodie and a dark pair of jeans. Suzaku also got a pair of sunglasses for himself to help finish the look. The simplicity of it all made the outfit work.

"Wow," Euphemia said.

Jaune was very pleased. "Come on, I'll go check you guys out."

Suzaku and Euphemia followed him to the register as soon as they got their old clothes. Suzaku had strapped the belt around his waist and had holstered all of his weapons once again.

Jaune began to click a few keys on the computer, before the transaction was complete. "One-hundred and thirty-two lien, please," Jaune said.

Suzaku and Euphie were surprised. That wasn't a bad price for the types of clothes they got.

Jaune moved in closer, before he whispered to them. "I gave you guys a discount, but don't tell my boss, ok?"

Suzaku and Euphemia thanked him and paid the lien they owed. They then proceeded out of the store and back onto the streets of Vale.

"Well that was productive," Euphie stated.

Suzaku smiled at her as he brought her in closer. "You could say that," Suzaku replied.

Euphie gave him an inquisitive looked. "You're acting off," Euphie pointed out, "You're usually restrained. Why are you acting more… seductive?"

Suzaku was a bit taken back by the question. "Well… I-" Suzaku was interrupted by the sound of music coming from one of the open markets down the street. "Huh, what's that all about?" Suzaku questioned.

Euphie and Suzaku walked briskly down the street to see several people working on a stage for the Vytal festival. The speakers were playing music which had drawn a rather large crowd who were dancing to the beat.

Suzaku smiled as he grasped her right hand with his and his left hand went around her back. "Shall we dance, Euphie?" Suzaku asked expectantly.

Euphie couldn't help but smile. "I would be delighted."

And so Euphie and Suzaku began to dance. The song was solemn and so their movements were slow, but gave elegance as they twirled and stepped across the ground. Both remained in a state of bliss, encapsulated by the moment, never wishing for this wonderful song and dance to end.

A girl with mint green hair walked through the crowd, careful not to get in the way of anyone. The girl looked out upon the dancing crowd and prowled for her prey. Her red eyes fell upon our two lover, and so she began to slowly approach. She quietly, yet casually passed by Euphie and reached out her hand. Suzaku eyes widened as he saw this, and he knew what that thief was doing. She was trying to pickpocket Euphie!

Suzaku thought fast and, by instinct, pulled Euphie into a passionate kiss. Euphie quickly molded into the affectionate display, closing her eyes and absorbing every second, but Suzaku kept his eyes on the thief. Their dance never ceased as they continued on as if by nature.

The thief saw his glare and pulled her hand away, before disappearing into the crowd of people.

After the thief left his sight, he allowed himself to be overwhelmed with an array of feelings flooding into his chest. Passion. Love, ferocity - all the things that this kiss was. It was everlasting, but fleeting at the same time. How strange of wording, but it is the only true way to describe the joys of a kiss between lovers.

Soon, their lips parted and the couple smiled, however, Euphie backed away and gave Suzaku a questioning gaze. "Why are you being so… extroverted all of a sudden? It's not you," Euphie asked once again.

Suzaku thought about it for a moment and gave a sigh. "I'm sorry if you don't enjoy me being so straightforward, but I feel I should give you more of my time. We both love each other deeply and I feel I should be able to put forth some of my time to make this relationship work."

Euphie was rather surprised by the answer, but it was a welcome one nonetheless. Euphie gave another kiss, falling deep into the emotions of love and passion once more, before separating.

"Thank you… for loving me so much," Euphie said. "You, my knight."

Suzaku gave a jovial smile. "All for you, my princess."

(=+=)

Suzaku returned later that day to his dorm with Euphie. The two of them opened the door to their dorm and brought themselves into the room, before they began to prepare for bed. The day had been an exciting one, and they couldn't wait for what would happen tomorrow.

While the two lovers were heading to bed, another two were meeting, at least officially, for the first time.

"I knew you'd look better without the bow," a voice said behind Blake as she started at a legendary statue in the courtyard of the school.

Author's notes: I really need to speed this up. I wanted to get it all done in one chapter, but that has taken way too long.

Anyway, I'm planning on publishing another chapter to finish up all the chapters in volume one. I then plan to write a fanfiction on Fullmetal Alchemist. If you like this one, please do check out the new one I plan to write! I need all the support I can get.

Thank you for reading my book. If you like the book, please do follow and favorite it. If you like me, please do follow and favorite me. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.