Author's Note:

And here goes another segment of this long story.

So, the story is reaching a peak, which, by my approximation, occurs during the dance scene. Keep in mind it is the peak, not the climax. Hell, there's way more to come.

The next set of powers are coming along with an upgrade again. Gravity, as you've already seen by now.

And that's about it, I hope that you all enjoy what I have brought to you so far.

- Lor

Chapter 17: Disaster Strikes!

Following that day me and Ruby continued to enjoy each other's company. Both of us found comfort in each other as she took me up to the roof where she had flown my armour. I smiled to myself as I began to think of those memories, forgetting the guilt that at any second all of this would be ruined. We sat together as we faced the ever green valley, "It is quite beautiful isn't it?" I began smiling as I chuckled to myself.

"What are you laughing about?" Ruby asked, a bit confused.

"I remember that time when you flew in my armour," I continued to smile. "You were so happy."

"That was, pretty cool," Ruby replied, smiling in return.

"Anyways," I said, standing up and stretching. "We should get back to the dorm; we've got a lot of work to do, especially you."

"Aw man! But can't we stay here a bit longer?" Ruby whined. "It was just getting nice."

"Nope," I said, as I opened my mouth Ruby caught what I was going to say.

"My mother once said," She mimicked.

"Hey, that's my line," I said, laughing.

"Hee," Ruby smiled with glee as she stood up with me. "Fine, let's go back in."

"Great," I smiled, with that we ended the night. It was coming up to the weekend and we had already made our plans. I was planning to take her to see the fireworks on the first day of the Vytal festival at night. It was going to be a great day filled with fun. I knew of several stalls which had games, but besides that we'd just simply enjoy each other's company for the time being.

It sounded like a great plan.

Except for one problem, our teammates had other ideas.

When we arrived at the dorm we were greeted with a very huffy Weiss. It seemed like Weiss would always be the same short fused person. We didn't mind though, we did deal with her and she dealt with us. And in the end, no matter the issue we were still friends. Ruby was the first to speak up, "Weiss what's the matter?" She asked, innocently.

"What's the matter? What, is, the matter?!" She asked, enunciating each specific word. "The matter, is that you two up and leave for who knows how long!"

"That's it?" I replied. "And here I thought that we killed someone." I jested.

"Oh lighten up Weiss," Yang interjected. "Those two were just spending time together."

Weiss took a deep breath before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fine," She uttered. "By the way, we're going into the city tomorrow afternoon."

"Well, that's new," Yang commented.

I moved over to where Yang was, "Really? What was she doing for the past hour?"

"She'd been pacing around exclaiming, I'm gonna kill those two, and, where are they?" Yang said, doing an impression of Weiss.

"I was not!" Weiss said, apparently hearing what we said.

"Well, either way, that sounds like a great idea," Ruby agreed. "It'll be a great time to spend outside of school for a change."

"Good," Weiss said regaining her cool in quick haste, "I was looking forward to spending time with you guys."

"Sounds like we have our day packed," I said. "Many adventures await, so tonight we must rest!" I continued, using a proverb. "One can only enjoy the adventures in store if their mind is both clear and awake!"

"There he goes again with his sayings," Weiss said.

"He does have a point," Yang commented.

"I suppose you're right," Weiss agreed. "What do you think Ruby?"

Ruby was smiling as she was getting ready for bed, "Hmm?"

Weiss face palmed as Ruby continued to look cheerful as ever. She hopped over to me before giving me a hug from behind. "Good night!" She wished me, happy as a bird.

I smiled as I turned around and ruffled her hair, "I'll be right back." I said to her smiling with affection.

"Hee!" Ruby giggled smiling with her eyes closed.

"Get some rest, tomorrow's a big day," I told her.

"Mmhmm!" She agreed.

"Those two really are perfect for each other," Weiss commented.

"Of course, I knew it right when I looked at them," Yang replied.

"I'm off to change!" I told them as I headed out.

That ended the night as we all prepared for the big day ahead of us tomorrow. Hopefully none of us will sleep in tomorrow. I thought to myself as that would only set us behind. Though it was a good feeling, knowing that you would spend time with your teammates, we so rarely had time to do anything together as a whole group as a lot of us were busy on the weekends. Though with the semester wrapping up and teachers assigning less homework to let us prepare for the exams it gave us more free time to be with friends.

Tomorrow's going to be an exciting day.

The following day I awoke up with Ruby's bright smile smiling over me. She was bright and chipper as usual, though I didn't expect her to wake up until much later. The sun was barely shining in as it was early in the morning. "Mmm?" I grumbled.

"Morning," Ruby greeted cheerfully while trying to hold a quiet voice.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking outside before pulling out my watch. I looked at the bright screen for a second before turning down my brightness before it killed my eyes from the intense light. I looked at the top of my screen; it was 5: 00 in the morning. "Ruby, why are you up at five in the morning?" I asked.

She was taken aback at my behaviour, "Sorry Al, I just couldn't wait for tomorrow."

"Come here, let's go to sleep a few more minutes," I said, pulling her onto the couch so that we slept together. She felt warm in my arms as we hugged, Ruby stiffened up slightly but I barely paid any attention. I was too dazed to even care and just wanted to get back to sleep. Eventually she rested warmly in my arms as we dozed off for a few more hours sweetly.

Yang was the first to awake followed by her partner Blake. She sat herself up and stretched her arms as she usually did. She looked around the room and focussed her attention on the couple that were currently snuggling each other in their sleep. Yang smiled as she watched the two of them. Of course I'm right, I'm always right about these things, she initially thought. Her thoughts drifted for a few moments before she decided to do some exercise. Her thoughts drifted back as she gathered her clothes to change in one of the change rooms in the school. As she left she took one last glance at the newly formed couple, I'm happy that you found someone to make you happy sis, especially after all you've been through.

When I finally awoke Ruby was still sleeping away so I decided to not move and just enjoy the moment that we had together. I would cherish any moment that I could hold on to, for every moment was precious to me. Not just because of my impending death, no, not that, but because these were truly timeless moments. Just being near Ruby made me smile in happiness and I could not ask for more than that.

I laid there for a bit until Ruby finally stirred, she stretched her arms as I moved back to give her some room. She then turned to face me, "Good morning," I greeted.

She laughed, "That's my line." She smiled in reciprocation afterwards. "Good morning to you too."

I kissed her on the forehead and she smiled yet again in reciprocation. We were interrupted with the opening of our dorm room door which was hastily and noisily opened with a bang. Ruby jumped up as she looked over to see who was entering, I sat up calmly. The noise shook the rest of our teammates awake as well, even the Heiress was awoken abruptly.

"Good morning!" Yang hollered as she made her entranced in her regular day clothes.

Weiss who was immediately shaken awake looked like she was ready to kill Yang. "Yang! You insufferable buffoon! Who told you it was a bright idea to kick down our door!"

"Why enter lamely, when you can enter with a bang!" Yang exaggerated.

"Ugh," Blake grumbled. "Did it have to be so loud?"

"Of course Blake-y, if you're making an entrance might as well be loud!" Yang smirked.

"Fine," Blake grumbled as she got out of her bed as gathered some clothes.

"Idiot," Weiss cursed under her breath as she also got out of bed.

"Welp, I'm off to change," I said taking my leave.

Coming back changed all of the girls were ready, Ruby was dressed in her usual black and red outfit as she sat down on my couch. I hadn't bothered to fold the blanket so she decided to wrap herself around it. It must've still been warm as we were just sleeping in it. I picked up one of my hats on the door which went along with what I chose to wear today and plopped it on my head.

"Now that everybody is here let's go," Weiss said.

"You seem chipper today," Yang commented.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's the first day of the festival!" Weiss said.

"But why are we going into town so early?" I asked, "It's not even noon."

"I have my reasons," Weiss replied, bringing her hands to her chest to show some attitude.

Blake raised her eyebrow but didn't comment on anything. She probably had some idea as to what Weiss wanted to see or look at before the first day of the festival began. Now that I think about it, I remember the teachers saying something about other schools. Though I can't remember what … oh well, let's just see what Weiss wants to show us.

After a relatively loud shuttle ride, filled with Ruby stuffing her face, Yang teasing her, and Weiss saying that we were idiots, we finally arrived in the city. I could swear that a couple of people who were also thinking about going into the city were looking at us. I smiled at them as they looked at us a weirdly. They must've been criticizing us in the back of their minds, especially at the state of this team. So in short, the ride was quite interesting, though I hope that the ride back wouldn't be this loud.

When we arrived back in Vale it looked similar to how it was when me and Ruby first met. Tall buildings stretched along the sides with various shops scattered around the place. Though what was new was the bustling atmosphere, the usual crowd of people walking on the streets was replaced with everybody on the roads. There were several uniformed men who were busy at a stall setting up. Lanterns were also being hung up in varying shades of the rainbow. The very town was getting ready for the festivities which were to follow in a two week festival.

This was one of the main attractions in Vale city. Around this time of year, the first semester for huntsman schools like Beacon were finishing. With it came the Vytal festival, a festival to celebrate the overcoming over darkness, where man first triumphed with the help of its warriors, eventually dubbed huntsmen and huntresses in the future. Because of it being a festival to celebrate the light of hope, many lanterns were being hung up to light the city up in vibrant bright colours. But not just lanterns were being lit up, several light bulbs would be strewn across the stalls in order to light up the city even more.

Weiss slowed down to admire the setting, "The Vytal festival! Oh how this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you so happy Weiss," Ruby commented.

"It's kind of strange," I added.

"How could you not? I mean, a festival celebrating the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! And the tournament!" Weiss took in the breath of the atmosphere before beginning to speak again. "Oh the amount of planning spent into this event!"

"It's not just about the cultures of the world," Blake commented. "It was originally about the light of hope, that's why lanterns are being hung right now, in order to wade off the dark."

"Ugh," Yang spat. "Well that just ruined a perfectly fun event."

"Quiet you!" Weiss scolded before she continued walking.

"So where are you taking us Weiss?" I asked.

"You'll see," She replied.

We continued walking as we passed workers and workers setting up the entire centre of the city for the festival, stalls with food were being set up along with stalls selling various trinkets and souvenirs. I couldn't help but admire the atmosphere that was around here as had Weiss said. It is simply breath taking, but not for what you think Weiss. I smiled to myself at the thought before noticing that Weiss was leading us to the docks.

"Weiss, you're bringing us out here, to see the docks," I said, unamazed.

"Actually, today is when students from Vacuo are coming in, and as a good Beacon student, I want to be the first to welcome them here," Weiss explained.

"She wants to spy on them to get an upper hand on them in the tournament," Blake finally brought out to light.

I laughed a bit to myself, "Seriously Weiss, you should've just told us what you really wanted."

We continued walking before I noticed that Ruby lagged behind, "Ruby?" I called turning around to see her staring at a broken store. I looked at the scene and found police tape around the scene as well as several bits of broken glass from the front of the store.

"Let's go check it out," Ruby told me.

The cops were murmuring to each other before Ruby went over to check things out. The other three realized that we stopped right in front of the crime scene. They met up with us as we went to go and ask the officers what had happened. The one at the front was dressed rather loosely with white dress shirts accompanied by a black tie. This was paired up with shades to block out the afternoon sun from entering their eyes, though I assumed that the shades had other functions as well.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked.

"Dust robbery, second shop this week," The officer at the front replied before leaving to investigate the scene again.

"They left all the money again," An officer from inside the shop said before stepping outside.

"Huh?" Ruby wondered.

"That doesn't make any sense, who would need that much dust?" The first cop said.

"I don't know, an army?" The second officer replied.

"You thinking the White Fang?" The first asked.

"Yeah …" The second cop began before going off into a tangent, "I don't think we're getting paid enough." He joked.

Weiss decided to speak up, "Of course, it's the White Fang." She said, incriminating against them.

"What's your problem?" Blake questioned, getting more intense.

"My problem?" Weiss asked, taken back from the remark. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"They're hardly insane," Blake retorted. "They're just a bunch of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss questioned. "They want to wipe humanity off of the planet."

Dear god, not this, Weiss, I thought that you had a bit more sense. I was about to open my mouth when the two of them went at each other again. I closed it immediately as it seemed to be a feud between them, and only a feud for now. I hoped that the situation would not escalate further.

"Then they are very! Misguided, but that still doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale." Blake retorted.

"She does have a point, besides, the police never caught that Roman Torchwick guy, maybe it was him?" Ruby replied, defusing the situation for now.

I breathed a breath of relief, thank you Ruby. "Anyways, so we were," I began before I was shut out by Weiss.

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

Blake seemed to be boiling in anger which irked me a bit. Why would she get so defensive about the White Fang? I mean, I know that they did some bad stuff and they're Faunus and all but Weiss hasn't said anything about all of us.

Right when Blake was about to shout at Weiss we heard somebody scream, "Stop that Faunus!" I turned to see a Faunus running away from two cops before he bolted past us in a blur. Since I had slightly enhanced senses I could just barely make out what he looked like. From what I could tell he had blond hair and was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. I could tell the shape of him though, he was definitely a monkey Faunus with messy looking hair.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes," Yang told her.

"Quick we have to observe him!" Weiss exclaimed before chasing him.

We began to make chase after him before I realized that he was running much faster than we could safely run on the streets, so I decided to take a detour into an alleyway which led to the street where the others were chasing him from. I came out on the other side but didn't seem to make much distance as I was just barely a half a kilometre from him.

"Wait!" I hollered before I saw a person who was walking across and looking at the ground.

I immediately halted, skidding on my shoes before coming to a stop inches away from the girl who continued to walk. I began to hear running from behind me and turned around to find the rest of them running towards me. Ruby was in front and was about to collide with the girl, she tried to slow down but couldn't and ran tumbling into the girl.

As the girl tumbled they eventually fell, Ruby on top of the girl. She immediately stood up and backed away, "Sorry!" She exclaimed.

"Salutations!" The new girl greeted still on the ground.

"Do you, wanna to get up?" Yang asked.

She pushed herself off of the ground and stood up, "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She greeted, though I found her tone a bit off. It seemed very robotic, though the voice sounded much like a human's. There's something up here, I thought to myself.

"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby," Ruby answered her.

"Allen," I greeted.

"Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head to hard?" Yang asked before Blake elbowed her forcibly. "I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" The girl greeted, repeating the same line.

Again, I found this behaviour odd, "You just said that Penny."

"Oh, did I?" She asked, turning to me.

"Well sorry for running into you, but we have to go," Weiss said hurriedly pushing us along.

"Take care friend!" Ruby told her.

We went off for a bit before we were out of ear shot, then Yang decided to address the girl. "That was odd."

"Indeed, that was a bit weird for a person," I commented.

"Never mind that, where did that Faunus riff-raff go off to?" Weiss exclaimed over our conversation.

I turned around and began to look around for any signs of where that Faunus went off to when I heard Weiss bump into something. "What did you just call me?" I heard a familiar tone and turned around to see Penny in front of us.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Yang apologized. "I definitely didn't think you heard that!"

"No, not you," Penny said before narrowing in on Ruby. "You …"

"I-I don't know, I, what," Ruby stumbled on her words.

"You called me friend," Penny replied getting into close proximity with her. At this point warnings were flaring in my mind. Penny at this point was still a stranger to me, and the fact that she was getting so close and up in Ruby's face was sending flares through the roof. So I began to make my way towards before she backed off to a safer distance. I stopped behind Ruby just to make sure that I was close enough if anything happened. "Am I really your friend?" Penny continued to press on.

"Umm," Ruby paused looking around to us. Blake, Yang and Weiss were all shaking their heads while I shrugged my elbows. I was unsure, but from what I could tell she was a very odd individual. And that was unnerving. "Yes?" She replied.

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and talk about cute boys and," Penny rambled.

"Heh, cute boys, as if Rubes doesn't already have one," Yang whispered to me, elbowing me lightly.

I chuckled, "Just let it roll." I said to myself. "So Penny, what brings you to Vale?"

"I'm here to compete in the tournament!" She replied, saluting me. Though, now looking back on Penny, she may be weird, but she didn't seem like a threat.

"I'm sorry, but you hardly look the part," Weiss commented.

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake retorted.

"It's a combat skirt," Weiss huffed, lowering her hand for a high five from Ruby who appeared next to her.

"Yeah," Ruby said.

"So, wait," I began. "If you're here to compete in the tournament do you know who that Faunus was?"

"Who?" Penny asked.

"That filthy faunus from the boat!" Weiss exclaimed.

I cringed on the inside when Weiss said that, though Blake was the most vocal about it. And it seemed to leave Ruby and Yang without words to say. "Stop calling him that!"

"Huh?" Weiss questioned.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion, a scoundrel, a degenerate! He's, a person!" Blake said, very vocally which was unusual, she was very passionate as her voice raised higher and higher with each expression.

I myself wanted to stay out of this as much as possible. First because I didn't want to get into an argument like this and second because of my nature. I myself was part Faunus and getting into this fight would not do me or the fight any good.

"Excuse me," Weiss exclaimed, appalled. "Would you like me to stop referring to trash as trash, or this lamp post as a lamp post!"

"Stop it!" Blake gritted her teeth.

"Stop what?" Weiss asked, taking a small step forward. "He clearly broke the law. Give it enough time and he'll join those other Faunus in the White Fang."

"You ignorant little girl," Blake growled.

"Ignorant?" Weiss flared. "How dare you call me that! I am your teammate!"

"You, are a judgemental girl," Blake scowled.

"What makes you say that?" Weiss huffed.

"The fact that you would sort that Faunus with a terrorist group solely based on species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake retorted.

"Um, I think we should go," Yang told Ruby and me.

"We better before we make a scene," I affirmed. "Penny, we'll be taking our leave."

"Bye friends!" She exclaimed as she waved us goodbye.

We went off while our teammates were still huffing at each other. They must have realized that they were beginning to make a scene but the fire was still there. Both of them were still angry and malicious towards each other. As we were taking the shuttle bus back Ruby tried to comfort Weiss and calm her down but she wouldn't have it. She just turned her away and huffed.

C'mon Weiss, you idiot, can't you see that what you're doing is wrong? Ruby seemed down as she looked down at the ground. I petted her head to comfort her and she turned my way to feign a smile. I smiled and she returned it, though it wasn't her usual cheerful shining smile. This was duller and it reflected the current mood of the situation. She must have been having a lot on her mind after that incident, after all, if you can't help any of your teammates in this situation what does that mean as a leader? Or even as a friend?

I sighed and looked back, Yang was having as much difficulties as Ruby trying to comfort Weiss. I myself was not one to comfort the ice princess. Sure, I can do that with Ruby but I can only do so much. I decided to ride out the trip, though the tension in the entire ride was enough to keep me awake. Such that I could feel the unease continue to boil, like a kettle of water set and waiting to burst.

When we reached Beacon the entire walk back to our dorm room was tense. As the two of them waited until we reached our room before boiling up completely. Walking down the hall we noticed team JNPR looking at us and how we were in a state of conflict. Jaune beckoned me over as the four of them entered our room before Yang began to lightly close it.

"What's up with you guys?" Jaune asked.

"Long story short, Weiss and Blake got into a fight," I explained to him.

"Really? Blake doesn't seem like the person to get into a fight," Jaune added.

"You're telling me, they've been on fire for the past few hours," I told him.

"I hope they're okay," Pyrrha commented.

"You ignorant little girl!" Blake yelled at the top of her lungs.

I cringed along with Jaune and Pyrrha, Ren was near Nora who seemed to be baffled. Though he didn't make much motion I could tell that he felt it. I sighed, "I better try to fix this."

"Good luck," Pyrrha wished me, "I hope that they can get along."

"Thanks, I hope that we don't disturb you any more tonight." I told the four of them before they closed the door gently. As I sighed I made my way to our dorm room. Why can't you two realize that you're both in the wrong! Sure, Weiss might hate the White Fang as they are now but they have a good reason. Many sources explained that it was because of how people treated their peace efforts. Ugh, you too Blake, you're trying too hard to make them not in the fault.

Taking one last sigh I opened the door just a jar I sneaked in and stood beside Yang. The scene was gruesome, Weiss and Blake were arguing and bickering much to Yang and Ruby's dismay. They didn't seem to be able to chime in at all, and this feeling of uselessness spread into me. My throat became a bit clingy as I could only observe what was happening.

"I don't understand why this is causing a problem!" Weiss shouted back.

"That is the problem!" Blake spat back.

"You do realize that you are defending an organization that hates Humanity don't you! The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think that they hate Humanity so much! It's because of people like you! People like Cardin who force them to do this!"

"People like me?" Weiss pardoned.

"You're discriminatory!" Blake said almost at Weiss' throat.

At this point my body kicked back into gear as it told me to interrupt the two. "You're both being childish!" I interrupted. Causing the two of them to flinch my way, both of them looked at me angrily. "Weiss, not all Faunus are evil," I began before I was cut off by Weiss.

Staring daggers into my eyes Weiss was the first to speak up, "Don't tell me that you're siding with Blake? I thought that you had more common sense!"

"I'm not siding with anyone!" I exclaimed getting closer and more into this argument. "But for the sake of our team both of you need to sit down!"

"The White Fang are not evil, you see that right Allen?" Blake was seeking my appeal in this argument. Thinking that it would help her, but I would have none of that. I wanted to be the middle ground at the time, the voice of reason that the rest of us couldn't be.

"No, I can't say that for sure," I commented. "But they have done wrong and that's all that matters right now. So both of you need to sit down and calm yourself."

"No! You don't understand! I'm a victim!" Weiss yelled silencing everybody in the room including Blake. Weiss looked outside of the window as she continued on. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang, why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years, war, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across their back as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed. And entire train cars full of dust robbed. And every day my father would come home, furious, that made for a very difficult childhood."

Ruby attempted to comfort Weiss but she wouldn't have any of it. "Weiss, I."

"No! You want to know why I hate the White Fang," Weiss began shifting her attention onto me and Blake. "It's because they're a bunch of murderers, liars, and thieves!"

Blake was enraged and lost control immediately which I couldn't blame her. I had a tolerance for anything to do with my race but that was reaching its limit with Weiss. "Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake had completely lost it. Silence ensued as Blake had revealed what she was hiding the entire time. Nobody had any idea what to say to that, only I knew that she was actually a Faunus like me. "I, I," She stuttered before dashing out of the door.

I looked at Weiss who was gritting her teeth as she watched what happened. I couldn't believe what had just happened, it felt like our team had a massive hit done to it. "Weiss, why did you do that." I said plainly.

"You see what happened! She's a Faunus, if she had nothing to hide there would be nothing wrong!" She remained by her stance.

"But you triggered it!" I said back.

"Why are you defending her all of a sudden?" Weiss retorted. "It's not like you're one of them!"

"Oh yeah?" I had had enough of Weiss' attitude. She was only making things worse and infuriating me. I raised my voice even higher. "What if I am?"

Weiss gasped, "Why, another Faunus, and another liar! Would you look at that!"

"Weiss! If you don't shut your mouth and learn to think for a change maybe!" I began before Ruby stopped me.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Ruby said getting in between me and Weiss.

"I can't stand this!" I hollered. "I'm spending the night with Jaune's team. At least they, have the common sense to not judge a book by its cover!" I finished, stomping out.

You've tested the limits of my patience Weiss. I stomped out and went over to team JNPR, knocking on their door Pyrrha opened it up. "Oh my god, Allen, what happened?"

My face must have been really heated as Pyrrha seemed very concerned. "Ugh, Weiss." I explained.

"It was that bad?" Pyrrha asked.

I sighed, "Yeah, I'll explain later. For now, can I stay here for the night?"

"Sure, sure, anything for a friend," Pyrrha replied, letting me inside.

The four of them had their beds lined up against the wall with the males against the far wall and the females against the other. The room was oddly more spacious than our room but it had the same familiar cozy atmosphere. Ren was lying on his bed while Jaune was lying down on his trying to fall asleep. Nora was up looking at her scroll while listening to music. One thing that stood out from the rest was that Nora wasn't her usual hyperactive self. Perhaps it's because of the night.

Jaune stood up and looked at me enter the room, my face was looking quite distraught as Jaune was shaken. "Whoa, Allen, what happened?" Jaune asked, concerned about my well-being.

I took a deep breath before explaining briefly what happened. "Weiss got into a fight with Blake, which then turned into a fight with me."

Pyrrha left us to talk as I sat myself down in center of the room. Jaune decided to get out of bed and sit next to me. "What was it about? Perhaps I can help?" Jaune said.

"Perhaps you can," I replied. "Mom once said that a friend will always be there in your time of need."

Jaune chuckled, "Heh, well I'm not that great."

"It's not just that," I replied, sighing while leaning back.

"So Allen, what exactly happened?" Ren asked.

I took a pause before beginning, "It's a long story."

"Wait, so Blake's a Faunus?" Jaune spat out.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"And, you're a Faunus?" Jaune asked yet again out of disbelief.

"Yes, but I'm only a half Faunus."

"I see, and Weiss had some difficulties because of Faunus," Pyrrha commented. "I did hear something about that. It would make sense how much she despises them."

"But I wish that she'd see that not all of us are bad," I commented.

"Yes, that is an important thing to learn," Pyrrha confirmed. "I hope that things can be fixed with your team."

"I have no worries about that," I replied, though truly in the back of my head I had no idea whether it could be fixed or not.

"Well Allen, you're welcome to stay here for the night," Jaune said. "It's great to have another guy here."

"I heard that," Ren commented.

I smiled before Pyrrha tossed me several blankets to sleep on the floor. "I'm sorry that you have to sleep on the floor but we don't have a couch or any other beds."

"It's fine, thanks for letting me stay here until things cool down," I thanked.

"You're welcome, good night Allen," Pyrrha wished before closing the light and making her way to her bed.

I sighed as I turned over, bringing out my watch I opened it to find several messages from Ruby. Turning down the brightness I began to read them.

Al, are you okay? 30 mins ago.

I'm really sorry about Weiss. Please, tell me that you're okay. 20 mins ago.

Al, I don't care that you're a Faunus, just please come back. 10 mins ago.

Can we please talk outside? 5 mins ago.

I sighed before closing the interface to stare at the ceiling. I do need to talk to Ruby, but, how can I when I was just blatantly furious. And, truly, I'm sorry about Weiss too, sure, she took it too far but it was understandable. Growing up like that must have been harsh.

I took off the sheets and headed outside, looking around I saw Ruby next to the wall. Her head buried into her knees. She seemed to be distraught but I couldn't hear any sobbing. She noticed me come out of the room and looked up. Her face was in tears but she was holding it back. Immediately I sat down and gave her a hug.

She sobbed as we held this embrace. "There, there," I said, patting her head.

"I'm, a horrible leader," Ruby sobbed.

"No, you're not," I told her.

"First, it was Blake, then, Weiss and you, and you left and," She began before bawling her eyes out.

"Ruby, things will get better eventually," I told her, in a quiet soothing voice.

She continued to sob pushing herself from me to look me in the eyes. They were watering as I could see the tears on them. "How, did I fail?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, not everything is fixable right away," I told her as I wiped away the tears. "Even the best of people have to fight in order to sort things out."

"Even you?" Ruby asked.

"Even me," I affirmed.

"But, why?" She asked.

"Mother, once said that there must be opposites in the world, whether that be hot and cold, or even love and fighting," I explained.

"I, I know," Ruby accepted, putting her head on my lap.

"It'll be fine in the end," I assured her while petting her hair. We stayed like this for several hours before Ruby decided to get up. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked softly.

Ruby rubbed her eyes one final time before looking back at me, "I'm fine," She said softly. "Are you coming back in?"

"I don't think that that is the best idea, it's probably best that I stay with team JNPR tonight," I told her. "I'll come back in the morning and hopefully things will be sorted out."

"Okay," Ruby agreed. It really is for the best. "And, I'm sorry about ruining our date."

"It's alright, this comes first before that," I told her. "We," I began before shutting myself. I was about to say that we have all the time but really we don't. But it's best not to worry her anymore.

"Hmm?" Ruby questioned.

"Nothing Ruby," I told her. "Good night."

"Good night Al," She replied before going of into our dorm.

I returned to the room to find that everybody was still sleeping. Lying back down I began to stare at the ceiling again. I don't know how tomorrow is going to turn out. I don't even know if everything will be alright. But, I have to keep hope, for Ruby and the others. If I don't, I know for sure that we would lose hope.

Right, hope is the last thing that we can ever lose. Even when everything falls and breaks down, it is the last thing to go.