One thing I was incredibly surprised by is the speed at which everyone assumes that Blake…

1. Was personally involved in the attack

2. Knew about the attack

3. Was still with the White Fang when the attack happened.

I'd explain further, but I'll let you run through the chapter first

"Blake?!" Jaune called out, "Don't run! Stop hiding! I know you're still here!"

"She's right over there your highness." Penny pointed over to some crates.

"Will you stop calling me that?" Jaune glared at the girl before turning to look at the crates, "Blake? Are you over there? Come on out, don't run anyway from me."

"Of course Prince Jean." Penny nodded, Jaune sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I mean stop referring to me like I'm royalty." Jaune corrected.

"Understood Jaune!" Penny saluted, meanwhile Ruby was shifting uncomfortably, she had a scythe at the ready, despite all the pleasantries Jaune was exchanging she wanted to be ready for the possibility that Jaune might snap and try to attack Blake. Even if he was a friend…no…especially because he was a close friend, she would definitely stop him if he was going to attack one of her other friends even if it got her injured.

There was also the issue of him being royalty.

"Blake…" Jaune began walking slowly towards the stack of crates, Ruby and Penny followed closely behind with Ruby's hand on Crescent Rose.

At the same time, Blake was agonizing over making a decision, her first instinct was to run for it and never look back, on the other hand…

"Well what're you waiting for?" Sun cocked an eyebrow, he was sitting beside her behind the crates, "It wasn't you right? You said it yourself you don't know of any attack on the royal enclaves right?"

Earlier that day,

"So... have you told your friends any of this?" Sun asked, Blake looked down shamefully and said nothing for a moment.

"No…" She finally answered, "But…"

"But?"

"But…there is…was one person, who knew I was a Faunus, his name is Jaune Arc, you might have seen him that time at the docks."

"Which one was he? There were like two guys with you gals right?"

"The blonde one."

"Oh, you told him?"

"No, he figured out I was a Faunus from the start, said he could tell because he had Faunus friends as a kid and that he played hide and seek a lot with them." Blake allowed herself a small smile, recalling the events of the night before initiation.

"Well then you should tell him! If he knows you're a Faunus he should understand-"

"NO!" Blake suddenly cried out before realizing that other patrons were staring at her, she quickly calmed down and composed herself as Sun looked quite taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"I mean…" Blake furrowed her brows and sighed, "He hates the White Fang." She said softly, "And he probably knows that I was from the White Fang already, one of my teammates probably told him." She went quiet again.

"You know I thought I had found a real friend in him," She started speaking again, "Someone who saw me for what I was and could understand me, I just…I didn't know he…" Blake stuttered and felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh…" Sun gave a look of understanding, "Do you know why he hates the White Fang so much?" Blake shook her head.

"There are any number of attacks that he could have been a victim of, like I said in the last few years the White Fang committed all sorts of terrible acts, although…now that I think about it…" Blake trailed off and looked up into the sky thoughtfully.

"What?"

"He's from Armorica…I don't remember of any operation done in the Royal Enclaves." Blake furrowed her brow.

"He's from the Vale SAR? The land governed by Remnant's only remaining Royal Family?" Sun raised both his eyebrows.

"Yes, he mentioned an attack two years ago…" Blake thought back to the first time they had seen Jaune have a panic attack, "But I don't recall such a thing at all, it must've happened after I left…"

"Then that's fine isn't it?" Sun smiled, "You couldn't have been responsible for it, and you'd already left by that time, so it should be fine right?"

"I…I did…but…" Blake shuddered a little, "I don't know if he cares about that."

"Yeah, you don't know, so why don't you find out?" Sun quirked an eyebrow, "You're not going to get anywhere if we just keep hiding like this."

"Blake I just want to talk…I…I just need to know something." Jaune cried out one last time.

Blake gave Sun a look, he nodded and gave an encouraging smile.

"Blake if you don't-" Blake shot up and stared right at Jaune.

"I'M SORRY!" She yelled and hung her head; Jaune paused and gave a questioning look.

"I know the White Fang hurt you…and your family, I'm sorry I couldn't stop them." Blake said.

"…What are you-" Jaune was interrupted when Blake started speaking again.

"When the White Fang started turning violent, I knew I couldn't stay with them anymore, so I left and abandoned them, I didn't want any part of that life, and I wanted to make amends for what little I'd done, so I came here, to Beacon, to become a huntress and use my skills for the better." She paused and looked up to face Jaune directly, he had his head tilted quizzically to one side and was watching her intently.

"If…if you want to blame me than that's fine, I know that you don't hate Faunus, so that's good enough, but I want you to know…" Blake breathed in, "I want you to know that I whatever happened to you, I wasn't a part of it." Jaune's expression did not change, so she continued talking, "I would not have targeted innocent men, women and children, not in a country that gives my people the equality and respect they deserve." She finished and everyone waited with baited breath for Jaune's reaction.

He had gone completely quiet, and looked down in quiet contemplation.

"Jaune I-"

"You're not a part of them anymore right?!" Jaune looked at her sharply; he was gripping his sword tightly, "They're not going to matter to you right?"

Blake swallowed hard before she responded, "I…" She took a moment to calm herself down and collect her thoughts, Jaune's gaze focused totally on her as Ruby and Sun watched a little uncomfortably, knowing that the two had to sort it out on their own.

"No, but I promise you I will stop them, I definitely won't allow them to cause any more suffering than they already have." Blake said firmly.

"Then that's…" Jaune took a deep breath, "That's fine…that's fine…" He repeated, almost as though he were reassuring himself.

"I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness, or beg for your mercy, but…" Blake trailed off and closed her eyes, "I-"

"It's alright," it was Jaune's turn to interrupt now, "I'll…if what you say is true…then…I'll take your word for it, there's nothing to forgive you for." Blake looked rather shocked.

"Besides," Jaune cocked a weak smirk, "I personally find begging rather demeaning, it doesn't suit you at all."

"But…why…?" Blake had expected him to yell at her, curse her, at the very least have some angry responses.

"I'm not going to let them take anyone else from me?" Jaune gave a weak smile; Blake's cheeks went a light pink on hearing this, "You're my friend first and foremost Blake, -sure, you're a rather cold, aloof friend- I'll be damned before I let you just go like that."

"I…I…" Blake stuttered, not quite knowing what to say, meanwhile both Ruby and Sun were grinning widely she finally collected herself and managed to say something, "You're…just going to let it go?" Jaune turned away when she said that.

"No I'm not," Everyone went a little tense when he said that, "I'll definitely have my revenge on the White Fang…one day…they'll pay for what they've done, I'll see to it personally if I have to." He looked at the sky wistfully while gripping his right fist tightly, everyone remained silent.

"When I think about it, it never seems quite so long ago…"

Two years ago,

"Wait up Kitty!" Jaune called out as one of the Arc triplets dashed forward to look at shelf of pastries and cakes lining the window to a bakery.

"C'mon big bro! You're slow!" Princess Catherine of Armorica -better known as Kitty Arc-and the youngest of the Arc triplets stuck her tongue out and wagged it at her elder brother of two years.

"Kitty calm yourself, you're stressing out brother." Princess Elizabeth of Armorica –sometimes known as Lizzie Arc- and the eldest of the Arc triplets scolded her sibling.

"Eh, it's not that bad Lizzie…" Jaune scratched his head as Lizzie folded her arms and maintained a stern expression.

At the same time Princess Victoria of Armorica –or more commonly, 'Vicky Arc'- clung to her elder brother's hand tightly as they walked down the street. Hiding her face shyly and trying her best to look as small and unassuming as she could.

All around them, the people of the royal enclave of Armorica were giving the royalty-in-hiding bemused expressions as the trio of identical triplets tormented and drove their elder brother insane in ways only little siblings could. The hyperactive and ever curious Kitty was constantly on the move, looking for excitement good and bad; shy, timid Vicky always clung to any members of their family while stoic and firm Lizzie was stood at the ready to put them back in line if they ever got out of hand.

Jaune sighed and scratched his head awkwardly as Kitty flitted about like butterfly from one place to another, excitedly

"Slow down Kitty I can't keep up!" Jaune called out and had to jog to keep up with the hyper little princess.

"And I said you're slow!" Kitty put her hands on her waist and pouted; Jaune walked up to her and patted her on the head.

"Yeah I am, but don't go wandering off alone alright? It's dangerous." Jaune explained firmly.

"That's what we always tell her." Lizzie folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"You're no fun Liz!" Kitty stuck her tongue out again.

"Stop doing that Kitty it's rude!' Jaune scolded.

"It was…supposed to be a normal day out, just an elder brother taking care of his younger sisters…that was…all it was supposed to be." Jaune seemed to go into a trance as he leaned on a nearby shipping container, not appearing to be talking to anyone in particular.

"My elder sister Marina had assigned a bodyguard detail for us, ten of the Royal Legion's best scouts in plainclothes to watch over us, the area we went to was near the frontline, but there's a whole mile between there and the city, we call it the 'watchful mile', in the event of a breach event it's the distance between the most rearward section of the frontline and the farthest populated area, representing the amount of time to get to designated safe zones in the city." He continued on, the others were all listening intently, Blake and Sun had moved closer so as to not miss out on anything he said.

"I think it was because we'd all gotten complacent…yes that must've been it, we'd never gotten a breach event before…but then again…" Jaune trailed off, "We'd never had to handle an attack from within before, a coordinated, simultaneous attack not just on the family but also on the militia at the frontline and the Royal Legion barracks." Jaune shook his head in dismay.

"It was total chaos and confusion, I…" Jaune stopped when he felt something drip off his cheek; he looked down and held out his hand, just in time for his vision to briefly blur before several more drops fell onto his glove.

Jaune let out a small gasp, he could feel cold tears running down his cheeks, a cold wind bit into his skin as the memories came flooding back. He propped himself up against the container and looked up at the shattered moon that hung in the sky, his eyes went wide as more tears rolled off his cheeks and onto the ground below.

"Jaune." He felt someone's hand tightly grip one of his own; he turned his head and found Ruby staring determinedly into his eyes.

"If it hurts so much, you don't need to tell us." She assured softly.

"No, I think you all deserve to know, at least you should know why I snapped that one time."

"Uh…brother?" Vicky shook Jaune's hand, Jaune turned to look at her with a smile.

"Yeah Vicky?" He smiled; the shyest of the group was looking nervous and a little fidgety, "Do you want something?" He asked with a smile.

"Uh…well…" She looked at something some distance away, Jaune followed her look and realized what she was staring at.

An ice-cream cart on the opposite side of the road some distance back where they had come from.

"Do you want ice cream?" Jaune asked.

"Uh…yeah…" Jaune could not help but smile, Vicky always had trouble asking for things she wanted.

"Aw, but I want to go to the bakery." Kitty made a sad face.

"Oh…well then I'll be fine." Vicky said a little dejectedly, and then Lizzie chose that moment to step in.

"Nevermind that, I'll take her; ten lien should do it." Lizzie said and held her hand out. Jaune stared at her for a moment.

"Are you sure? I don't want to split us up like that."

"It's just a short distance away," Lizzie replied, "Besides I can take care of myself, and her."

That you almost certainly can, sometimes I wonder how old Lizzie actually is. Jaune thought.

"Alright," Jaune took out his wallet and handed his little sister a ten lien note.

"We'll just be a moment, come on Vicky." Lizzie tugged Vicky away and off to the ice cream vendor.

"C'mon bro! To the bakery!" Vicky pulled on her elder brothers' hand and led him into the nearby bakery where the smell of baking bread and pastries filled the air. Jaune glanced behind them and took note of the two plainclothes guards, one of whom entered the bakery to stay with them while the other kept watch outside.

"So…what do you want?" Jaune asked as Vicky nearly salivated over all the different goods available for sale.

"Ooh this one! No wait how about this one? Uhh…" She looked about here and there, thankfully there were not very many people for her to disturb in the bakery. Jaune chuckled watching his younger sister move about here and there almost as though she were inspecting the shop.

Jaune turned his head to look outside the bakery as a loud screeching of tires against the road sounded, Kitty ignored it but Jaune watched as several masked men jumped out and ran away, one of them seemingly shooting a look at him as he did.

Jaune's eyes widened.

The guard outside realized what was happening, he was just able to shout, "Your highness! Get ba-"

Fire

Smoke

Darkness

"I don't know how long I was out when the bomb exploded," Jaune shuddered, "But it was enough for the Grimm to make it all the way into the city across the mile once the White Fang had breached the frontline."

Ruby looked like she was on the verge of tears.

Blake was hanging her head in shame.

Sun had his arms folded and was fidgeting nervously.

Penny kept her silence.

"Such an event…a breach in our defenses, it was completely unexpected, absurd even! I guess that it showed how complacent we'd gotten over the years." Jaune suddenly looked up and looked at them.

"Some losses are just inevitable, we'd come to accept that loss we would be a part of our life. And then some losses are just…" Jaune bit back a sob as more tears fell out, "completely unthinkable." He managed to hiss out.

Darkness

Can't see

Can't breathe

Pain

Pain

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtspleasemakeitstopmakeitstopthepainmakeitstop

Can't breathe

What is this smell?

Move you idiot!

Move? Move where?

Can't move

What happened?

There was…a fire? And then…loud noises?

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts

Why is it so noisy?

Can't hear anything

Have to do something

Wake up…must wake up…

Kitty, Lizzie, Vicky, where are they?

Wake up dammit wake up!

Your highness!

Me? Is it me you're asking?

Brother!

That's…Lizzie!

Must wake up! Must wake up!

wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup

Jaune forced his eyes opened while hacking and coughing, he felt a heavy weight on his body and realized that he was lying beneath a piece of rubble. Kneeling at his side was one of the guards.

"Hold on your highness! Let me help you!" He said as he began lifting the rubble, as he did so, Jaune felt himself breathe a little easier, he gasped as he tried to sit up, around them terrified civilians were fleeing left and right.

"There! I got it! Now-ugh!" The man was interrupted mid-sentence when a large black spike suddenly appeared right in the middle of his chest.

"Run…your…highness." Jaune's eyes went wide as the man collapsed beside him. Jaune roughly shoved the body aside and looked straight ahead, and then he realized why there was so much screaming.

Right in front of him, advancing menacingly, a large black beast, large black wings, a scorpion's tail, body and mane of a lion and the head of a human. He had heard of the Grimm and their many variations, but had never heard of anything like what he was seeing now, it was like something from the deepest, darkest nightmares given life.

It did not move quickly, instead it moved slowly and steadily, hurling spikes into unlucky civilians and bystanders and in the midst of this all…

"Brother! BROTHER!" He heard a young girl's distressed screaming; he turned his head slightly and saw his younger sister, Elizabeth was looking right and left frantically in a panic was holding her head in her hands.

"Liz!" He shouted back hoarsely.

"Brother!" She began running over to him, at the same time the beast began advancing menacingly, its attention drawn to the terrified young girl running to her elder brother

Jaune eyes widened in terror, as the beast made to flick its tail at Lizzie, he put all his might into his legs, every muscle screamed in protest at his actions but he did not care, every fiber of his being pushed the pain into the back of his mind, raw adrenaline surged through his veins, he was not about to let his family be taken so easily from him.

He jumped and stood in front of his younger sister with his arms outstretched right as the tail flicked forward, Jaune could only close his eyes and prepare himself for the inevitable pain.

To Jaune's complete surprise, it felt more like he was getting punched in the gut than anything else, besides the shock and the force of the impact there did not seem to be much pain.

"Brother!" Lizzie screamed as Jaune slammed into the ground on his back, his vision going hazy. He glanced down to see one of the spikes sticking out of him right through his stomach, Lizzie knelt down beside him and grabbed onto him.

"Run…Lizzie," Jaune mustered all of his effort to stare into her eyes, "Run!" He shouted weakly. Lizzie stood frozen to the spot, desperately holding onto her elder brother bleeding out onto the road, unable to comprehend what was going on. She could only watch in terror as the black shape moved closer and closer to them, knowing that its prey had nowhere to run or hide.

"I lost my life that day," Jaune said and looked up aimlessly into the sky and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, "The Manticore rampaged for over an hour before reinforcements finally put it down, in that time the number of dead was…too many..." He paused, "That was just the start of it though…" Jaune turned his attention back to the three, "My aunt, the crown prince's wife, the fox Faunus Princess Kitsune was also attacked, she survived, but the attack made her blind and paralyzed from the waist down from shrapnel, she also miscarried my would-be cousin."

Ruby looked completely horrified, Sun had a grim look on his face but was clearly paying attention; Blake on the other hand was keeping her face down refusing to meet Jaune's eyes, despite that Jaune continued speaking.

"The breach took a whole week of non-stop fighting to seal, in that time we lost dozens-no…we lost hundreds more, we almost closed up the breach with our own dead bodies." Jaune gave a sick, horrid and short laugh at that.

"A…a week…?" Ruby went wide-eyed.

"Wait, wait hang on a minute," Sun scratched the back of his head and looked thoughtful, "how could it have taken a whole damn week to seal the breach? There must have been at least a few hunters in the vicinity-"

"What hunters?" Jaune glared at Sun, "The royal enclaves don't have their own hunters Sun, we are –and always have been- on our own in the royal enclaves," Jaune explained, "we don't have any huntsmen of our own save for any who return home from traveling abroad, oh sure we get a few coming and going on missions, but we've always handled ourselves pretty well."

And my father and his team could've been there, but...they...were...away weren't they? Always off chasing something, no time to help out with the bleeding at home...

"Wha-then how…?"

"Like I just said, we closed it up with our dead bodies," Jaune hissed, "one of which…was Kitty, she was crushed by falling debris when the bomb exploded, the coroner told me that in the very least, it was quick." Jaune stopped before he continuing, "I and Lizzie were saved and brought to safety by another man, but even though she got away when Lizzie hid her when the attack started, she…" Jaune looked away wistfully.

"W-what happened to Vicky?" Ruby asked nervously.

"She broke, mentally, she has never been the same since," Jaune finished, "In the aftermath of the attack, a decision was made by the queen to scatter us to make us less vulnerable to a future attack, at the time two of my eldest sisters were already abroad, my twin sister went to Atlas, and I came here, to Beacon." Jaune continued on without stopping.

"I never wanted to be here." Jaune turned to look specifically at Ruby, who trembled a little under his empty, lifeless gaze, "You all each have your own reasons to be here, you want to be a hero don't you Ruby?" And then he turned to Blake, who still refused to meet his gaze, "Blake," He called out to her, and she finally turned her head to regard him, meeting his eyes bashfully.

"You want to atone for your actions," Jaune nodded,

"And you…" He looked at Sun.

"Sun, Sun Wukong's the name." Sun said.

"You're a hunter because…you want to have fun I guess?" Jaune smirked, Sun resisted flipping him off.

"But I never asked to come to Beacon, they gave me two years of training with the Royal Legion and my uncle –the crown prince- packed me off to Beacon. Ruby, you noticed I didn't come out of the airship the day before initiation right?

"Oh…yeah?

"Well it was through the crown prince's influence that Ozpin granted me early entry to Beacon." Jaune sighed and slid down the back of the container slowly to sit down and hugged his knees to his chest.

"Well shit, so here we are now, anything else you want to know? He asked as he dabbed his eyes lightly, to his surprise he found that at some point in his long tirade, he had stopped crying, only dried tears remained on his cheeks, he sniffed lightly.

"So…" Ruby began as she sat down beside Jaune with her back against the container; Jaune turned his head to regard her, she was still doing her best to digest all of the new information that she had been given, "About what Penny said, you're a prince?" She asked meekly.

"Affirmative!" Penny said for the first time in a long while, "His Royal Highness, Prince Jean of Armorica, fourth child of reigning Duke of Armorica Jacques and tenth in line to the succession of the throne of the House of Vale." Penny rattled off in an instant.

Jaune gave a sigh of resignation and looked away for a moment, there was no hiding it, while he had held out hope, he supposed that through some fortuitous event someone was bound to discover it anyway, and if it were anyone, it may as well be Ruby…and Blake…and Sun the monkey…and whoever 'Penny' was supposed to be, "Yes…what she said, that is indeed my title and…" He trailed off as he looked around them.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Can we just tidy up first, I'd feel better knowing that the rest of the White Fang isn't going to just spread the word." Jaune said worriedly.

"Not a problem Jaune!" Penny nodded and zipped away, a couple of bloodcurdling-scream-filled minutes later, and she was right back with them.

"All hostiles are now 100% combat ineffective." All four gaped at her.

I'm curious, but I probably shouldn't ask what that means. Jaune thought.

"So…" Ruby trailed off and began twiddling her thumbs, "Prince huh?"

"Yes, what-?"

"HOLY COW!" Ruby's eye bugged out and she suddenly squealed, "A REAL PRI-!" Jaune hastily held his hand to her mouth and covered it; Ruby ignored it however and continued excitedly mumbling unintelligibly through the cover while waving her arms.

"Ruby!" Jaune said harshly, Ruby went still and quiet in an instant.

"No one can know Ruby," Jaune hissed and then turned to the other three, "only headmaster Ozpin and Professors Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck know, no one else knows…and can know. So before I remove my hand, I need your assurance that you can keep this secret for me, ok?" Ruby nodded quietly and Jaune slowly withdrew his hand.

When he did this, Ruby immediately pulled her hood on and tugged it down, "Holy moley! A real prince! I'm talking to a real prince! I'm friends with a real prince!" Her voice was barely a whisper, Jaune could only muster a small chuckle in response, as much as Ruby tried denying it, she could still be quite childish.

"That goes for the three of you too," Jaune made sure to glare at each of them to emphasize the point, "This secret stays between us, no one else should ever know, and Sun if I ever get so much as a hint that you told anyone else…" Jaune trailed off to make his point known.

"You got it, don't worry your highness." Sun smiled, "Your secret's safe with me."

"Blake? How're you holding up?" Jaune asked, the person in question looked like she had entered some sort of trance, Jaune guessed that she must have been hit quite hard by the revelations from the way she was staring aimlessly at nothing.

A prince! In hiding! Here! Right next to me all this while?! Oh…oh this is just like one of my literature novels! Especially the one where…err…ooh…what was the title?! Was it a 'Bloody Rose'? No no that one was the one where it was the assassin that fell in love, definitely not really appropriate here…err…or was it the 'The Dark Shroud'? No that one was the one where it was the sole survivor that turned out to be an exiled prince, also not really appropriate here…err…oh darn what was the title of that novel…arrrggghhh I can't remember I can't remember what do I do what do I do…ok stay calm Blake, you're not responsible for his family's death, oh crap oh crap he going to hate you he's going to hate you oh wait didn't he just say he was ok with me but oh no if Adam finds out he's going to kill all of us but holy shit he's a prince oh real damn prince what do I say what do I say err maybe I should reintroduce myself? No no that would just make you look stupid holy crap I can't believe it but somehow it makes sense right I mean he's like the prince of beacon already isn't he isn't he I mean he's cool and suave and charming and why am I acting like this why am I acting like some high school girl who's about ready to fangirl over some stupid popstar and wait a minute that means he's related to the house of Vale that means that his family was the one who championed equality for the Faunus and that means that we might not have to rely on the white fang anymore to help level the playing field for us holy crap this is so huge I need to get on this somehow maybe I could convince him to get his family to start championing the Faunus cause for us I mean wow that would a game-changer an important family coming out to support us no one has ever done anything like that for my people before how awesome would that be-

"Blake!" Jaune called out in a slightly worried tone.

"Huh?" Blake snapped out of her long-winded train of thought and looked at Jaune in surprise.

"Are you alright? You didn't look so good for a moment there." Jaune regarded her with an empathic air.

That's…that's right, even if they could support the Faunus, why would they when we've hurt their own so badly? Blake's expression fell and she looked away.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about things." She curtly replied.

"Well now that I've revealed a few secrets of my own, perhaps you could sure one of your own." Jaune smirked, Blake turned to look at him with wide eyes.

What's he going to ask me? Is he going to pump me for information on the White Fang? But…but its been so long, I don't think I have any useful information to give… Blake thought sadly to herself.

"So what're you hiding under your bow?" Jaune asked, Blake gaped at him.

"Oh she's got cat ears on her head!" Penny remarked.

"Will you stop spoiling everything for everyone?" Jaune exasperatedly replied.

Blake sighed and exchanged a glance with Sun who retured it with a reassuring smile. She reached up to the top of her head and slowly pulled her bow away, allowing her twitching cat ears to come free.

Ruby's eyes widened, "Whoa…" She whispered.

Jaune grinned widely on seeing it, "Totally knew it was cat ears!"

Sometime later,

The whole group sat in silence as they watched several police cars enter the docks…

Followed rapidly by Teams (J)NPR and (R)W(B)Y.

"Remember," Jaune exchanged a look with all of them, "Not a word about your highness, I don't care so much about my past, but my secret stays a secret alright?"

"You got it." Ruby answered.

"No problem." Sun gave a thumbs up.

"Of course." Blake nodded.

"Your secret is safe with me!" Penny smiled.

No it's not. Jaune wanted to protest the last one.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha shouted and raced over at full speed towards her team leader. At the same time Weiss and Yang went over to Ruby and Blake.

"Pyrrha I'm kinda filthy-" She completely ignored his words and threw herself at him, wrapping both of her arms tightly around his body.

"Are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt?" She whispered softly as she held him close, it was a little awkward for Jaune, he was not generally used to being hugged so tightly by anyone other than his sisters or his parents.

"I'm fine, just fine Pyrrha…" He returned the hug and looked over and exchanged a knowing glance with Blake and Ruby who were getting chewed out by Weiss.

"You have a lot of explaining to do leader!" Nora tapped her foot impatiently, even Ren had a dark look on his face, and then Pyrrha pulled away from the hug and shot him a death glare.

I'm so boned. Jaune gulped.

Somewhere else,

"GAH!" Roman grunted in pain as he stumbled into a warehouse, his eye now had a bandage over it, although his aura was already beginning to heal the wound away. That kid's sword had hurt like a bitch, thank goodness he had stepped far back enough to avoid losing his whole eye, and it might make for a neat little scar.

"How very disappointing, Roman." A smooth voice like a dagger wrapped in silk sounded out.

God help me, I'm in absolutely no mood to deal with this now. Roman thought angrily.

He ground his teeth and turned to face it, recognizing the tall woman in a crimson dress and her two followers.

"What is it now?" Roman growled out, though he kept his tone measured, knowing that she could be the end of him at any moment, "Sorry I couldn't clean up a little more, I would've if I'd been expecting you." He gestured to the bandage around his eye.

"We were expecting a little more from you, though it seems you got even more careless this time." Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"Hey don't look at me!" Roman protested, "You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang." He mouthed off.

"And you will continue to do so." Cinder smiled and held out one hand, fire erupting and burning bright, "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is... a little cooperation."

"Yeah sure," Roman waved her away, and then he remembered something, "By the way…" He turned back to them as they moved to him, "I overheard something interesting." He said.

"Oh? Do enlighten us." Cinder raised an eyebrow.

"The kid that gave me this," Roman pointed to his bandaged eye, "One of the other ones called him 'your highness'."

Cinder's eyes widened momentarily before settling back down, "Explain." She said sharply, Roman swallowed hard.

"When they started running interference on me, one of them called this blonde kid 'Prince John' or some such thing and addressed him with 'your highness'." Roman explained as quickly as possible, Cinder's eyes widened again in surprise and curiosity, and this time they stayed wide as she looked away and took a few steps away from the group.

None of them could see the malicious smirk that slowly spread across her face as she looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression.

"Hm, I wonder what you are doing so far from your home little prince." Cinder grinned.

Whelp Penny, you really should've watched your tongue there, at least the secret will remain kept at Beacon...hopefully.

I never planned for that thought of Blake being personally involved, to start off with I already established that its been two years since the attack on the royal family, and so:

1. At the end of "Black and White" Blake states she hasn't been with the White Fang since she was 'younger' implying it's been a few years at least.

2. Earlier in the same episode, she states that she left, right after she tells Sun about the White Fang's change, suggesting there wasn't a big time difference. Note she also states that the leadership change took place five years ago.

3. In "the stray", the train robbery is the last thing Weiss mentions, either due it being the least personal thing to happen or that it happened some time ago but not that long ago.

4. In the Black Trailer, Blake doesn't give any warning to Adam that she's about to leave, Adam questions her thoughts about the crew, she appears a little out of it, and then BAM she goes away, if just not giving a damn about the crew was her limit it seems doubtful she reached her limit a long time after the new leadership took over.

With that in mind, I honestly never had the idea that Blake either knew of or would have been involved something going up to the level of mounting an actual assassination attempt on important figures, especially on a group that doesn't appear to have done anything against the Faunus.

Of course I acknowledge there are counterpoints and inconsistencies to this argument.

In "the stray", Weiss also claims that the SDC has been at war with the WF since she was a child with family members getting executed, making it a little difficult to reconcile Blake's claim that the leadership change took place only five years ago since she states that's when the organized attacks began.

Unless you subscribe to the belief that the personal attacks against Weiss's family were lone wolf attacks that were not actually white fang but were generalized under the "white fang" umbrella.

Or that it was a more violent splinter group that eventually took over the White Fang.

Jaune stared deeply into Ren's eyes as he caressed his cheeks, Ren's face heated up considerably as his cheeks flushed a deep red and he averted his gaze from Jaune directly looking into his eyes.

"Look at me Ren." Jaune dropped the volume and turned the charm up to eleven.

Ren's breath caught in his throat, he gulped nervously and was about to speak when Jaune suddenly swept him up bridal style and began carrying him to one of the beds in their dorm, eliciting a loud gasp from the dark-haired boy.

"J-Jaune?" Ren stammered out as Jaune dropped him unceremoniously onto the bed with a loud *POMF*, "What're we doing on the bed?"

"Well Ren..." Jaune trailed off as he hovered over the person in question with a dangerous look in his eyes, "You just lie there comfortably, and I'll show you the way..."

And then he ******* and ******** and then Ren ******** and the both of them ********** and after that they********** and Jaune *********** and Ren *********** and then once they were done with that the two of them **************************while Jaune was*******and then Ren did********* and then both*******at the same time Jaune **********while Ren was********

...

Blake snatched a cloth beside her notepad and quickly swiped off the blood that was dripping down from her nose before tossing it aside and returning to writing.

Blake writes slashfics and you will not convince me otherwise.

With this, I close "V1", I appreciate all your reviews, faves and follows.