It was a surprise for Blake to find out that she still had a little bright side among her bitter and resentful personality.

This evening, Ruby dragged everyone, including Blake, with her to a circus that visited recently. The circus was held on the biggest square in the City. It was crowded with people, and loud, and too much light. Blake had to struggle with her instinct which urged her to leave the place and hide somewhere safer. She kept the scarf covering her head close almost in a paranoid manner.

But, well, despite of all fear and nervousness, Blake enjoyed the show in the big tent. She gaped at the acrobatics performance and laughed at the comedic beast tamer and his monkeys.

"You know what's the best tonight?" Yang asked as the four of them left the square, walking back to home. The blonde winked at Blake. "Seeing you finally smile and laugh."

"Cheeeessssyyy," Ruby groaned, shoving Yang away. "Do you like it? The circus?" She asked Blake.

"Unexpectedly, yes."

"We should do this more often," Yang suggested.

"Remind me not to buy any apple candy at this kind of event," Weiss grumbled.

Even Weiss proved to be some kind of entertainment for Blake when her teeth stuck on the sugar coated apple she bought.

Yang put her arm around Blake's shoulder. "But, yeah, honestly, it's good to see your heart is not entirely … Blake-ened." The blonde chuckled. "Get it?"

"I hate you," Blake scowled.

"Aw, don't you think that one is nice?"

"No."

Blake had to admit she couldn't fully understand Yang. Their relationship was strange from the start: full of disagreement, a lot of different opinions about many things, and often harsh or cold reply from Blake, especially when Yang cracked another bad jokes. Despite of that, Blake trusted her. Yang was the first person Blake trusted after all this years. Ruby was the second and Weiss, although Blake had partnered with her the longest time, was the fourth, because Blake didn't feel like to place Weiss in the third place.

That was weird. Really weird. What kind of relationship could born from two opposite personality like Blake and Yang? From a gloom person and a bright one?

Talking about gloom, Blake noticed that someone was waiting in front of the Xiao Long's residence. That person wore a hat and glasses with dark lenses.

Oh no …

"What's wrong, Blakey?" Yang, apparently didn't realize why Blake slowed down and tried to escape to the nearest alley, put her arm around Blake's shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Let me go," Blake hissed in panic. The person with glasses had turned her head toward them.

"Yang!" Ruby elbowed Yang's ribs, mumbling from the corner of her lips. "Investigator Adel!"

"Huh?"

Feeling Yang's arm loosen up, Blake freed herself and ran to the opposite direction. She turned to the first alley she came into while her mind worked on nearest climbing spot and hiding place.

Inspector Coco Adel was a very bad news for Blake.

-x-

What Ruby hoped right now was that Investigator Adel didn't see Blake even though she was close enough. Her hope shrunk when she saw Inspector Adel fixed back her black glasses.

"What's wrong?" Weiss whispered, noticing the change in the atmosphere.

"I think Investigator Adel saw Blake," Ruby said.

"And why it's a bad thing? Blake already hides her ears and tail."

"Do you see Investigator's glasses?"

"Ah, yes. Glasses with black lenses are something strange."

"It has its purposes." Ruby tried to hide her nervousness. "Investigator Adel's eyes are specials. She could see aura and determined which person is a berserker, or werewolf, or magician, or … something else by the aura's color. Without that glasses, all she can see are colorful aura everywhere. The glasses help her to see normally."

Weiss frowned. "That's not good."

"Yang …?" Ruby turned to her sister.

"I'll handle this. Try to act everything's fine."

Yang casually walked toward the Investigator. "Investigator!" She called. "Why're you here? Did you wait long?"

"Not really. You guys seem to have fun this evening."

"The circus." Yang grinned and patted Ruby's head. "Ruby wants to see it and insists us to go together."

"I met Penny too," Ruby added. She did meet Penny at the circus. The girl had became part of the Investigator now. Ruby thought mentioning Penny would lead the conversation somewhere else …

"Haha, I know. Penny has been working hard. As I said to the Magisters, she is a great asset for us. She deserves some fun."

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

"Right." Investigator Adel lowered her glasses and looked at Yang and Ruby with her brown eyes. "So, where does your other friend go? She looks in hurry."

"She said she left something at the circus." Yang shrugged. "She is careless and kinda lightheaded."

"Right …" Investigator Adel put back her glasses. "Right."

Someone approached Ruby and the others from behind. Based on the tall shadow and the scent, Ruby knew that was Yatsuhashi, a bounty hunter who usually accompanied Investigator Adel in her job.

"You know it's no use trying to lie to me, Xiao Long." Investigator Adel shook her head. "I already saw your friend."

"Well …"

Fearing Yang's angry outburst, Ruby held her sister's elbow. Yang's anger would only make things worse. The Investigators had the authority to arrest any berserkers, werewolves, or magicians, that was deemed as a threat. Refusing to cooperate in their investigation was also considered as a valid reason to issue an arrest.

"She didn't cause any trouble," Yang said.

"Yang Xiao Long, the innocent won't run." Coco Adel shook her head again. "I will have a long conversation with all of you. Yatsu, assist Fox. I'll handle them by myself."

Ruby whimpered, fearing the worst for Blake.

-x-

Blake was on the rooftop now. She was hiding in the shadow. Someone stalked her and even though Blake moved fast, she wasn't sure the stalker lost her.

Maybe instead of hiding in dark places with few people, it would be better to blend in the crowd?

Blake located the circus. Beside the main tent attraction, there were many food and game stalls around the circus. Someone in the circus mentioned about the stalls being opened until midnight. There was four hours left before the clock struck twelve.

Blake jumped to the next rooftop. She caught a glimpse of her stalker and moved faster.

"Halt! Stop right there!"

Of course Blake ignored it. She ran and jumped for a while, trying to find the best spot to climb down and quickly blend with the crowd.

Unfortunately, before she found any good spot, her pursuer threw a weighted chain. Blake was too late to dodge it and ended up with tied feet. She fell with a heavy thump on the roof. To make things worse, it wasn't just one person who chased her, but two. The second one climbed to the rooftop and he was a tall, muscular man, with big sword on his back.

The first man approached Blake. It was easy to describe this man as a veteran fighter with a single glance. His weapons looked like a pair of gauntlet with a single long blade protruded from the wrist part and ended near the elbow. When he was close enough, Blake could see both of his eyes were white like a blind man. But his movement was swift unlike someone who couldn't see.

Blake hissed at them and unsheathed her cleaver-sword, but by the time Blake pointed her sword at the man who wore bladed-gauntlet, the big man already put his giant sword on Blake's neck.

"Coco's right." The man with bladed-gauntlet removed Blake's scarf, exposing her cat ears. "Not ordinary human."

When Blake thought she was done for, an unexpected turn of event happened: another guy barged in. The first thing Blake noticed from this newcomer was he had a short blonde hair.

"You guys seem to have fun. Mind if I join you?"

"What-?"

Without any question, the blonde swung his staff and landed a nice hit on his opponent's head. The blonde channeled his initial attack with more hit and thrust, cornering his the man with bladed-gauntlet to the edge.

"Fox!"

The fourth figure jumped over Blake and kicked the big man who ran to help his friend. That kick must be very strong because the big man staggered and losing a step, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Nice kick, Velvet!"

"Sun! Behind you!"

The blonde turned around in time to avoid the incoming attack. He vaulted over the man with bladed-gauntlet, making him lost his balance. Using this chance, the one called "Velvet" landed another strong kick, sending her opponent stumbled and fell.

"Come on! We have to go!" The blonde called "Sun", approached Blake and carried her on his shoulder.

"Wait! I don't need your help!"

But Blake's protest fell on deaf ears. Sun kept running through dark alleys, heading to the circus which originally was Blake's destination.

"You're going to get in trouble!" Blake said again. "Just put me down and go away!"

Both Sun and Velvet shushed Blake. That was the first time Blake had a clear look on Velvet and she couldn't believe what she saw: Velvet had a pair of bunny ears. Blake didn't realize that during the brawl since she prioritized her own safety and not the incoming saviors.

Looking down, Blake noticed that Sun had a tail with the same fur color as his hair.

"You two …?"

"Later, okay? We need to get back to the cage first. Velvet? Those guys?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Good. Let's go. I hope they lose us."

Sun and Velvet brought Blake to the back side of the circus, the restricted area for performers and the cages for the beast. Nobody stopped the three of them, Sun and Velvet even nodded politely to the Cannon Brothers, one of the circus performers.

"Whew." Sun put Blake down after they went into one of the circus' caravan, settling down in the furthest corner. "You're lucky we passed by. See, Velvet, strolling around a bit wasn't a bad idea. We saved a damsel in distress!"

"It's still a bad idea!" Velvet kneeled and helped Blake removing the weighted chain on her legs. "What if the city guard caught us?"

"Well, they didn't."

Velvet dropped herself next to Blake, still looked disagree with Sun. Sun just grinned and sat cross-legged in front of Velvet and Blake.

"I'm Sun, by the way. And this bunny girl is Velvet."

"You promise me not to call me 'bunny girl' …"

"Just kidding." Sun laughed and repeat the introduction. "This sweet bun here is Velvet. And you are …?"

"Blake."

"'Blake'." Sun repeated. "Nice name."

"What are you two?" Blake couldn't contain her curiosity anymore. "Bunny ears and what-tail?"

"Monkey." Sun curled his tail. "That question apply to you too, you know? And, more importantly, you have both cat ears and tail! I don't have monkey ears and Velvet doesn't have bunny tail."

"Sun!"

"What? I just stated the obvious."

"An old lady cursed me, years ago," Blake said. Sun's cheeky attitude irritated Blake. "In the Kingdom."

"Curse, huh?" Sun scratched his head. "I heard magic is strongly prohibited in the Kingdom and that old lady learned how to curse someone? What a waste."

"I agree with you about that." Velvet nodded. "She should've used it for something more useful."

"So," Blake crossed her arms, "what are you two?"

"Uhh, we're …" Sun looked at Velvet, requesting help.

"Lord Whitefang called us Homo faunensis, or, Faunus, in short," Velvet explained. "Part animal, part human. I can say we went through different way to end up as a Faunus. Sun and I born as a Faunus."

"Born?" Blake was confused. "Not cursed? No magic involved?"

"Maybe a little magic involved." Sun shrugged. "But as long as I remember, both Velvet and I born as Faunus and Lord Whitefang takes care of us."

"Lord Whitefang?"

"He is some kind of father for us," Velvet answered. "Lord Whitefang said our parents freaked out when we're born and he gladly took us under his wing. He is the one who believes that Faunus is a new hope for the Empire, even for the mankind."

Blake needed some time to comprehend this new information. This was the first time she heard about Faunus and about Lord Whitefang. Yang, the one who knew most things about the Empire, never mentioned those two, which was strange. Yang was the one who told Blake about avoiding the Investigators at all cost. If Faunus wasn't considered as a threat or something dangerous, why Yang told her to avoid the Investigators? And both Sun and Velvet said something about being caught by the city guards.

"Your Lord doesn't provide enough protection if you still worried about the city guards," Blake said.

"We actually sneaked out of the castle."

"Why?"

"It was Sun's idea." Velvet sighed.

"It's boring to just stay behind the castle's wall, Velvet. You said it yourself."

"It doesn't mean we could sneak out." Velvet's bunny ears flopped. "Lord Whitefang doesn't allow us to go out by ourselves. Faunus is still a rare case and not many people understands it. It's dangerous to be seen in the crowd when Lord Whitefang isn't around."

"He's currently going out," Sun added. "That's why we're going out with the circus."

"The circus doesn't afraid of you?"

"The ringleader is Lord Whitefang's close friend. The lord invited the circus to perform whenever he has a special guest. The circus crew already know about us. The ringleader even offered to introduce Faunus to the world with his circus."

"Huh … So that's how it is."

"Yeah." Sun grinned. "Hey, Velvet, I think we could bring Blake back to the castle. It's better that way for her. She doesn't need to be chased and hide anymore."

"Um … I see your point, but shouldn't we ask the lord first?"

"I think he's going to agree right away."

"Well … if you think so …"

"So, Blake," Sun turned back to Blake, "how's that? Do you want to join us and go to the Whitefang castle?"

A life without the fear of being captured? A place where she would be safe without hiding in the darkness?

It sounded like a dream. Too good to be true. It might be a trap.

But Blake was tired being pushed around.

"Alright," Blake said. "I'll go with you."

-x-

When Weiss heard the Investigator were going to put Ruby and Yang into custody for protecting and hiding unregistered non-human, she tried to take the blame. Weiss was the one who crossed the Empire-Kingdom border together with Blake. She was also the one who agreed to share her current living space with Blake. If someone was to take responsibility for all of this trouble, it would be Weiss.

But instead of simply making Weiss took the blame, the Investigator (from what Weiss heard from the sisters, the Investigator's name was "Coco Adel") decided to put all the three of them under house arrest. They weren't allowed to leave their own house until further notification. Several town guards were placed near the house to keep an eye on them.

Yang had been locking herself in her room since then. Ruby was afraid her sister was going to do "stupid-reckless-impulsive-usual-Yang's-things", like trying to run away. Fortunately, up until now, Ruby's fear wasn't proven. Yang vented her displeasure by pummeling training dummies.

Ruby didn't like the fact that she wasn't allowed to leave the house (she had to skip work, which meant no money for her until she was back to work), but despite of that, she wasn't too emotional about it. Ruby spent time in her room/workshop, building a new weapon and tinkering with Ember Celica, Yang's gauntlet.

"I'm removing the finger parts," Ruby explained her work with Ember Celica to Weiss. "Yang said she doesn't like it. It doesn't feel right when she balled her fist."

"But if you remove it, what's left for protecting her fingers and knuckle?" Weiss asked.

"I've said that." Ruby shrugged. "But Yang insisted. She said she could barehandedly destroy a mountain rock, so she would be okay."

"To be honest, I never know when she was boasting or when she was telling the truth."

Ruby chuckled. "Me too. I'm even thinking to make a spare pairs, without the fireball shooter, but with spikes, in case Yang suddenly realized her hands aren't that strong."

"If it doesn't take too long and doesn't cost you too much, why not?" Weiss added, "Better safe than sorry."

"I still need to get a pair of base gauntlets, which is ... impossible with our current situation."

Both Ruby and Weiss sighed.

"I wonder where's Blake going," Ruby said.

"Well, I've been wondering too." Weiss frowned. "She knows many hiding places all over the City, but after last night, I think the Investigator would look harder for her, even urging the town guards to help them."

"You're right …" Ruby flicked the gauntlet's finger parts across her table. "And I wonder what would happen to us … and to Blake, if they find her."

Weiss had an idea. And she didn't like it at all.

She knew where Blake might be hiding. If she tipped the authorities with the info, maybe they would let them out of the custody.

On the other side, if Blake wasn't there … the authorities would think the info was another distraction to let Blake slipped away.

"Let's wait for a little longer," Weiss mumbled. "And think what the best we could do to get out from this."

Author's Note:

A rather short update.

At first I planned to make the circus ringleader as the one behind Velvet and Sun's condition, but I came up with better idea with "Lord Whitefang" (sorry, guys, he's not Adam Taurus, sorry) and Homo faunensis (I know it's a lame name, but it's what I can come up with when thinking about the term "Faunus" in this AU).

And, yes, team CF(V)Y is here. I myself actually like the idea of Coco's ability and her glasses.