Chapter 24:The Stray

After a long week, Team RWBY decided to go into Vale, as students from different kingdoms will be coming to the city for the festival. Bill had left early so that he could meet his sister in Vale. After arriving to the city, RWBY saw everyone decorating the streets.

Weiss stopped to look at a sign that said 'Welcome to Vale' and shouted "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby said. "It's kinda weirding me out..."

"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang then crossed her arms and said "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!" As they kept walking, they saw Bill slowly walking, looking miserable.

As they met up with him, Weiss asked "What's wrong. Everyone is supposed to be happy this time of year."

"Oh, I was happy," Bill started. "But that stopped when I started to look for my sister."

"Do you even know where she is?"

"Well, not exactly, but she did mention in one of her letters she sent that she had to wear power armor."

"Is that how she found out about us," Blake asked.

"Yes, but that's not the point. So I went to look for people in any type of power armor."

"And?"

"And I found someone."

"Aaand?"

"I want to kill myself."

"Why?!"

He then he started to point behind him, saying "That's why."

RWBY then looked behind him to see a person in blue power armor. The person's body armor looked new, while the helmet looked outdated.

"Hello," he said.

"Um… hi," Ruby replied.

"What's your name," Yang asked.

"Oh…my name is Caboose, but people like to call me Caboose!"

"What?"

"So, why are you in Vale?"

"Well…because I was invited to something, and I'm here for a big party!"

"You mean the festival," Weiss said.

"Festival! Where's the Ferris Wheel?"

Then, Yang whispered to Bill "I see why you're sad."

"I know."

"What are your people's names," Caboose asked.

"Um…Ruby."

"Weiss."

"Blake."

"Yang."

"Are we friends?"

"What," Ruby questioned.

"People usually run away from me. Especially girls. They. Don't. Like me. But you guys are talking to me. So, are we?"

RWBY all looked at each other, as Ruby said "Sure? So, you don't have any friends?"

"No…I have a best friend!"

"Wait…what?!"

"What's your best friend's name," Ruby asked, ignoring the confusion of her team.

"Ruby, don't-" Bill shouted.

"I don't tell other people," Caboose started.

"Why?"

"Because if I tell you his name, you will try to steal him!"

"I won't-"

"Don't bother," Bill said.

"He'll just follow you."

"Is that what he's been doing to you?"

"Yep."

"I won't let you steal him!"

"I not going to!"

"Yes you are!"

Then, he pointed behind Caboose and shouted "Oh my god! It's your best friend!" As Caboose turned around, Bill kept pushing his teammates away, saying "Gogogogogogo!"

As they left the area, they had reached their destination.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks," Yang asked.

Pinching her nose, Ruby said "Ugh, they smell like fish!"

Then, Weiss said "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will 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!"

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake replied.

"You can't prove that!"

Then, Blake started to walk away saying "I'll be right back. I need to go to the restroom."

As she left, Ruby saw a destroyed store.

"Whoa." As they walked to the store, they noticed two detectives investigating the crime. "What happened here," the red haired girl asked.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week." As he walked to the shop, he said "This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible," Yang said, sighing.

Then, Bill heard a yell. "I said, no!" They all turned to the voice. They saw Blake, yelling at a man. "I got it," Bill said, walking towards them.

"But, my sweet, you look so, beautiful! Please go out with me!"

"For the last time, no!" "I won't leave until you say yes," the man said.

Bill then went behind the man, and asked "Is there a problem here," he asked. "

"Yes," Blake shouted. "Please get this man out of here!" The man then spoke.

"If you got a problem with me," he then turned around to speak to Bill.

"Then you should-" But, the man's eyes went wide, as Bill recognized the man.

"Ah…Thomas. It's swell to see you again."

"No," Thomas shouted.

"Get away from me! Run, Mistress, run!"

He then started to run away, as Blake asked "Who was that?"

"Someone from my old school. Come on, let's go."

Team RWY saw the whole thing happened, as Ruby heard someone say "They left all the money again." Ruby turn to see the two detectives talking.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?"

"You thinking the White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmm! The White Fang," Weiss said loudly. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's your problem," Blake asked, upon her return.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

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

"Hmm... Blake's got a point," Ruby replied. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."

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

"That's not necessarily true," Yang replied.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" They all turn heard shouting and ran to the docks to investigate. They all see a monkey-tailed Faunus run towards the end of the boat, with two sailors following him.

"Thanks for the ride, guys," he shouted, jumping off the boat.

Then, one of the sailors shouted "You no-good stowaway!" The Monkey Faunus was now using his golden tail to hang on a lamppost.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway," he says, while peeling a banana. He was about to eat it, but he had to dodge a flying rock. He looked down to see the two detectives from the shop.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant," the bearded one said, as the Faunus dropped the peel on his face. He laughs as he jumps from the lamppost, and runs out of the docks. As he was running, he pasts Team RWB2Y, looks at Blake for a split second, and winks. Then, he started to run again.

As RWB2Y looked at the chase, Yang says "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss then went after the Faunus boy, with Ruby, Yang, and Bill following. Blake just stands still, lost in thought, before following her team. As they were following, RWB2Y rounds the next corner to continue following the chase, but stop as Weiss bumps into someone.

She looks, as the Faunus disappeared, and shouts "No, he got away!"

"Uhh... Weiss?"

Weiss finally sees that she fell on a smiling girl, which startles the heiress and makes her get up quickly.

"Sal-u-ta-tions," the girl shouts, still on the floor.

"Um... hello," Ruby said.

"Are you... okay," Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking." They all looked at each other, bewildered, as Yang speaks again.

"Do you... wanna get up?"

Thinking for a moment, she finally says "Yes!" She leaps back on her feet while the team steps back a little. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Bill."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" After Blake hits her on the side, Yang says "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Penny says again.

"You already said that," Weiss replies.

Penny pauses again, and then says "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!"

"Take care, friend!" As Ruby said that, Penny's eyes widen.

When they are far enough away from her, Yang says "She was... weird..."

"I really don't want to deal with another one," Bill said.

Weiss then said "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" They all stopped to see Penny appear in front of them.

"What did you call me," she asked, sounding angry. As both Weiss and Bill started to look back and forth, questioning life, Yang apologizes.

"Oh, I'm really sorry; I definitely didn't think you heard me!"

"I heard you!"

"JEUSUS H CHRIST," Bill shouted. After yelling, he turned around to see Caboose standing behind him. "How did you find us," Bill asked.

"I don't know…" Then, Penny continued.

"No, Not you." She walked by them, and stopped in front of Ruby. "You!"

"Me!?" Ruby, now startled, tried to say "I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..."

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?" As Ruby was trying to think of what to say, she looked over her shoulder to see her team silently saying 'no.' Finally, she said "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"

WB2Y then fell to the floor, defeated, as Penny began to laugh.

Then, she shouted "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby groaned, as she turns to her partner and asks "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

"No - she seems far more coordinated."

Then, Yang asked "So... what are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament."

Surprised, Weiss says "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?"

"I'm combat ready!"

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

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

"It's a combat skirt!"

Then, Ruby speeds next to her and says "Yeah!" Weiss then holds out her hand, as Ruby low-fives it.

Realizing what Penny had said, she goes up to her and says "Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

"The who...?"

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that," Blake shouted.

"Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop it!"

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

As she said this, Blake clenched her fists and growls "You ignorant little brat!" Weiss, now offended started to argue with her.

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl."

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

As they argued, Yang went up to Ruby and Bill and said "Um, I think we should probably go..."

"Where are we going," Penny asked.

"Yes! I would like to know too," Caboose following.

Bill then whispered to Ruby "I really don't want to deal with them."

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

She then turned around and said "We have to go back to our school."

"Could we come," Both followers said.

"No. No. But, you two can talk to each other. Bye." Team RWB2Y then started to walk away, with Weiss and Blake still arguing.

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

As they left, Penny said to Caboose "Hello there. My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you." Caboose then started to stare at Penny. Then, he spoke.

"Um…hello. My name is…Caboose. And, um…you have…pretty hair."

"Thank you."

"And pretty eyes."

"Um…thank you?"

After silence once more, Caboose says "You…look…pretty."

"That's a…nice thing to say. I have to go…it was a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, ok…bye." As she left, Caboose said to himself "Where are my other friends?"

Back at their dorm, Weiss and Blake were still arguing.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem," Weiss yelled.

"That is the problem," Blake yelled back.

"You realize 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 they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" She then started to stare at Blake and said "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" She leaned against the window and began. "It's because they've been in war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember.

"And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." Ruby went up to Weiss to try to comfort her.

"Weiss, I-"

"No!" She then went back to yell at Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Now, silence is in the room, as everyone is surprised to hear what Blake had said. "I... I..." Blake then dashed out of the room.

"Blake, wait! Come back," Ruby shouted.

Blake runs outside and arrives at a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping. She then started to stare at the Beowolf under the man and woman. She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arms up to her bow and pulled the string to release the bow from her hair, revealing her cat ears. On the verge of crying, she was startled when she heard a voice above her.

"I knew you would look better without the bow." She turned around and looked up.

It was the end of the weekend, and no one had heard or seen Blake since that night. RWBY kept going down to Vale to look for her.

"She's been gone all weekend," Ruby said, walking through the streets.

"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself," Weiss replied.

Yang then said "Weiss, come on, she's one of our teammates."

"Is she? We all heard what she said!"

"Weiss..."

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her!"

"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!"

"I just hope she's okay…" She felt a hand on her shoulder, followed by Bill's voice.

"Don't worry, Ruby. We'll find her."

"And she'll be a-ok," Legion replied. Ruby smiled, knowing that they've given her some hope.

Elsewhere, Blake was sipping a cup of tea and sighing. She looks up at the Monkey Faunus from the docks, sitting across from her, who holds his drink with his tail as his hand props his head up.

He takes a sip when Blake puts her cup down, saying "So, you want to know more about me..."