Chapter 34 - Priorities

It had been over four hours and they showed no signs of stopping. Pyrrha, Yang, Ruby, and even Ren had tried to subtly get them to stop or change the subject. Even now that they were back at Beacon, Blake and Weiss were still making snide comments at one another. While the argument had not been continuous, the hostile feelings were. The entire time, everyone present was exceedingly uncomfortable. Any attempts at addressing other subjects were redirected with astounding efficiency.

At times, they were arguing normally. Then, they would spend vast amounts of time snarking one another. Both parties were clearly biased, though neither without cause, and neither knew how to argue effectively. Most of the argument consisted of generalizations and simple, or more commonly veiled, insults. While debate and argument was often a healthy process through which one could better understand the other point of view, this was not that. They were more hurling words at each other than trying to out-reason the other.

Ultimately, this continued even as they returned to the dorm. The group gravitated to team RWBY's room. Unfortunately, none of team MRPN managed to think of an excuse with which to extricate themselves from the situation and make it entirely team RWBY's problem.

In a transparently desperate attempt to shift the subject, Pyrrha had managed to get a separate conversation going with Yang and Ruby about Penny. It was carried in low voices and it was painfully forced. The palpable tension remained. Both teams were worried about how far this argument would escalate. Yet, no one was confident enough in their peacemaking skills to step forward and actually address the problem head on.

The Courier knew this could not go on forever. Something would have to be done. The only thing was, he hated the idea of getting involved as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so, considering his imperative to avoid a massive degree of scrutiny. While it would not be a hugely public action, whatever line of reasoning he chose in his intervention, as well as the fact that he chose to intervene at all, would undoubtedly provide at least some level of insight regarding his personality. While that was far from ideal, he was frankly running out of patience.

A substantial part of the problem was that there was no way that anyone could actually win this argument. Both sides were far too emotionally invested side to ever concede the point. This was never anything that even resembled an honest, open minded debate. These were issues that could not be resolved by a reasonable compromise or argument. Simply, neither side was actually looking for a solution. Which made presenting one substantially more difficult.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" White said.

In a way Blake was responsible for this entire debacle. It could have been avoided had she not decided to keep her species a secret. He supposed that keeping secrets had a price. Wasn't that a bad sign. If anyone had dangerous secrets, it was him. For his own sake, he hoped the trend of secrets causing problems stopped here, but he knew better than to expect it.

"That is the problem!" Blake said heatedly.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you?" White asked rhetorically, getting up from her bed, "The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake now too got to her feet.

"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!"

The Lone Courier knew for a fact that Blake was wrong there on several counts. Nothing that White or even Cardin did justified violence. The entire time he was here he had never encountered a single instance of Faunus being killed by humans. Far worse examples of ethnic conflict had been resolved without resorting to terrorism. The only real action he had seen against Faunus was some bullying. The White Fang had killed civilians.

True evil did effectively exist. Whether or not it technically did was a matter of philosophy. While the majority of the White Fang were not psychopaths, they nevertheless chose to join a terrorist organization and were complicit in the act of mass murder. The total destruction of the organization and its members was simply the only option available with which to address the White Fang. It was not a moral judgement, but simply a matter of necessity.

At the moment, Markus was unable to determine whether the White Fang were driven by revenge and blind rage or genuinely believed they were doing the morally correct thing. Either way, it did not overly matter. They were his enemy. They would kill him if they had the chance. In war, it was kill or be killed. And the Lone Courier had no intention of being killed. No matter how righteous his enemies thought their cause was.

"People like me?!" White said.

Markus had almost forgotten that they were still arguing.

"You're discriminatory!" Blake said.

"I'm a victim!" White finally yelled, causing a few moments of blessed silence as she leaned in closer to the other girl.

The tension increased dramatically. The Courier's attention was fixed totally on the actions of Weiss and Blake.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" White leant against the window,

"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."

Markus had not realized how similar his assumed identity was. The difference was, her father was running the company. Her statement insinuated that she had very controlling, potentially abusive parents. This further complicated resolving the argument.

White shared the enmity he himself held for the terrorist group, and for similar reasons. However, she was powerless to retaliate. This frustration had been directed towards all Faunus rather than merely the White Fang, making Blake's anger as understandable as White's racism.

Ruby went over to comfort her partner. An admirable attempt, but poorly timed. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" the heiress turned back to Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

Blake responded instantly. "Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

There was a second of deathly silence.

To say that this was unexpected would be an understatement. While Markus had suspected something, that a quiet teenager was part of a terrorist organization was something he had not anticipated. Evidently he had seriously underestimated what these presumably sheltered kids were capable of. He supposed he was lucky that his error in judgement had not proved more costly.

After the moment of stunned silence elapsed, Blake rushed out of the room, pushing past the members of both teams in an instant. Markus very nearly stopped her but ultimately decided against it. Physically restraining her would not be an appropriate measure considering the circumstances. He doubted either of the teams would be up for interrogating Blake. Though, he privately doubted that Weiss would object.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" yelled Ruby. Even Ruby, mindlessly optimistic as she was, had little hope that Blake would return.

There were another few seconds of uncertain silence after Blake disappeared. A mix of shock and disbelief filled the room. Everyone looked at everyone else with uncertainty.

"So what now?" asked the Courier, jolting everyone out of their shock.

"I guess we just wait for her to come back?" said Yang.

This even vaguely optimistic sentiment was enough to snap Ruby out of her momentary despondency.

"Yes! We'll wait for her to come back."

"What if she doesn't?" asked the Courier flatly.

"Then we'll find her!" she said, with unwavering confidence.

The Courier saw no need to introduce Ruby to the reality that finding a terrorist who did not want to be found was one of the more difficult tasks one could set himself. It's not as though she would do anything with that information.

The Blake crisis, would have to wait for the time being. His own plans took precedence. All the pieces were in place for his first counterstroke against the White Fang. That Blake was now counted among their number meant little. Perhaps it would be useful later in turning the teams to his advantage, but for the time being, he had his own concerns.

Now, he needed to defer his involvement in this matter and give a convincing excuse to disappear for a while. The former was easier than the latter. For once, maintaining his cover wasn't the most important thing. Despite Markus's better judgement, vengeance took precedence.