Chapter 34
Black, White and Gray
"Finally, she speaks!" Sun exclaimed. "Nearly two days giving me nothing but small talk and weird looks." Blake then gave him a smug look, "Ya! Like that." Sun reply. Blake let out a small sigh and began to speak, "Sun... are you familiar with the White Fang?" She asked.
"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-then-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me " He answered.
"I was... once a member of the White Fang." Blake said. Sun then choked and coughed on his coffee before replying, "Wait a minute, 'you' were a member of the White Fang?" Sun asked.
"That's right." She answered then continue, "I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus.
Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjugated to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people.
And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I actually thought were making a difference... but I was just a youthful optimist... Then, five years ago, our leader step down, any new one took his place.
A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly are peaceful protests were being placed with organized attack. We were setting fire to shops that refuse to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor.
The worst part was? It was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."
Blake then set her coffee cup down as she finished her story and said, "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of the little, black bow." She said while twitching her cat ears under her bow.
"So... have you told your friends any of this?" Sun asked.
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While Blake and Sun were talking, Ruby, Yang and Weiss were out looking for her.
"Blaaake?!" Ruby cried out. "Blaaake?!" Shouted Yang. "Blaaake?! Where are yooouuu?!" Ruby cried out again. "Blake!" Yang shouted again. Ruby then turned to Weiss and said, "Weiss, you're not helping!" She whined.
"Oh! You know who be able to help?" Weiss asked sarcastically, "The police." She said in a serious tone. "Ugh. Weiss..." Ruby retorted. "It was just a idea!" Weiss responded defensively. "Yeah, a bad one." Ruby responded a little angrily.
"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions." Yang said. "I think when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right." Weiss reply.
"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!" Said a familiar voice. The three girls then turned around in surprise and saw Penny, wondering where she had come from.
"Agh! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby asked in surprise.
"Hey guys." Penny replied then asked, "What are you up to?" "Uuuhhhhh..." Was Ruby's only response. "We're looking for our friend Blake." Yang answered. "Oooh! You mean the faunus girl!" Penny responded.
The girls just stared at Penny in surprise. "Wait. How do you know that?" Asked Ruby. "Uh, the cat ears?" Penny answered a little confused. "What cat ears?" Yang asked. "She wears a... bow..." Yang said as the realization came to her.
The group was silent for a moment until Ruby whispered to Yang, "She does like tuna a lot."
"So, where is she?" Penny asked. "We don't know. She's been missing since Friday." Ruby answered.
Penny then gasp in walked up towards Ruby grabbed a hold of her and said, "That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate." She said, while Ruby smiled nervously.
"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, un, but we're-we're okay. Really. Ruby replied nervously. "Right guys?" She asked her two teammate's, but found out that they were gone. Leaving Ruby alone with Penny.
There was then a gust of wind, "It sure is windy today." Penny responded.
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Meanwhile, Blake and Sun were walking the sidewalks of Vale in silence, Sun then decided to break it. "So, what's the plan now?", he asked. "I still don't believe the White Fang is responsible for the robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before." Blake answered, "Or money." Sun responded. "That to." Blake reply.
"What if they did?" Sun asked, Blake stared at him as he continued to speak,"I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely to go if they were do it, and not find them there... right?" Sun explain.
"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be." Replied Blake. "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a 'huge' shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas." Sun told Blake, "How huge?" She asked.
" 'Huge'. Big Schnee company freighter." Sun answer. "You're sure?" Blake asked.
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Elsewhere, Yang and Weiss continue searching for Blake, the two were leaving the building, and asked the door began to close, Yang said, "Thanks anyways!" She then let out a small sigh. "This is hopeless." She said to Weiss, "You really don't care if we find her, do you?" Yang asked.
"Don't be stupid. Of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her. The innocent never run, Yang." Weiss said.
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Somewhere else, Ruby and Penny, were looking for Blake as well, as they did so Penny was asking Ruby a lot of questions.
"So. Blake is your friend?" She asked. Ruby let out a sigh and said, "Yes Penny." Answering her question.
"But you're man at her?" Penny asked, "Yes! W-well, I'm not, Weiss is." Ruby answered. "Is 'she' friends with Blake?" Penny asked again, "Well that's kind of up in the air right now." Ruby answered. "But, why?" Penny asked yet again.
Letting out a sigh Ruby began to answer the orange hair girl her question. "Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was." Ruby answered. Penny then let out a gasp then whisper to Ruby and asked, "Is she a man?"
"No, no, Penny, she's n- I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she ran off." She explained.
"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk about things." Penny said to Ruby.
Ruby stared at Penny and said, "Me too." They then continue to walk.
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It was now nighttime. Blake and Sun were on the roof of a warehouse at the docks watching the shipment of Dust that had come, and to see if it really was the White Fang responsible for the robberies.
Right now, Blake was alone but then Sun showed up holding some apples. "Did I miss anything?" He asked. "Not really. They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just standing there." She answered.
"Cool. I stole some food for you." He said, as he and her an apple. "You always break the law without a second thought?" She asked. "Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun replied. Blake however just gave him a mean stare, "Okay, too soon." He said.
Suddenly, a burst of wind struck from behind kicking up dust, the two looked up and saw a Bullhead with a searchlight on. The Bullhead then landed on the docks, a ramp then open up and soldiers of the White Fang started to come out.
"On no." Blake said, "Is that them?" Sun asked. "Yes. It's them." Blake answered.
A White Fang, soldier was giving out orders to the troops, "Alright. Grabbed the tow cables."
As Blake watch this, Sun began to speak. "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" He asked. "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." She answered. She then heard a man's voice.
"Hey! What's the hold up?" It asked, the man then revealed himself to be none other than Roman Torchwick.
"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, sooo why don't you animals tried to pick up the pace." Roman said.
"This isn't right." Blake said, "The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that." She then got up on her feet and jumped down from the building she was on and headed towards the White Fang.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Sun shouted after her, but Blake ignored him.
Blake snuck around the docks, in his or herself behind a container, she watched as Roman talk to a single White Fang soldier.
"No you idiot! This isn't a leash!" He said. Suddenly Blake was behind them and had her sword pressed to his throat. "What the-? Oh for f-" Roman said but was cut off when Blake shouted, "Nobody move!"
White Fang soldiers came up to her with their weapons drawn and pointed at her. "Woah! Take it easy there little lady." Roman said.
Blake looked at the soldiers around her then took off her bow, revealing her cat ear's. "Brothers of the White Fang." Blake said, "Why are you aiding this scum?" She asks them.
The soldiers then lower their weapons and look at each other, as they did this, Roman took this time to answer Blake's question.
"Hen, oh kid. Didn't you get the memo?" Roman asked. "What are you talking about?" Blake reply, "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." He answered.
"Tell me what it is", Blake demanded, "or I'll put an end to your little operation." She threatened. Then another Bullhead came into view blowing up more dust.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Roman said as more Bullhead's came into view. Blake saw this and couldn't believe what she was seeing, while she was distracted Roman or his came to the ground and pulled the trigger firing a small missile and blasting Blake away from him.
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While somewhere else in Vale, Ruby and Penny heard the explosion, and looked up and saw the black pillar of smoke rising into the sky. Ruby then said, "Oh no." In both her and Penny ran towards the direction where the smoke was coming from.
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Blake started to get up from the ground, as Roman fire another missile at her she quickly dodge of the way and began to run as Roman fire round after round at her.
Blake then ran towards cover, as Roman slowly walked towards her direction. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." Roman said. But then a banana peel landed on top of his hat. Roman grabbed the banana peel and threw it to the ground.
He then looked up only to be dropped kicked by Sun, Roman landed on the ground as Sun rolled up to his feet. "Leave her alone." Said Sun. White Fang soldiers then jumped out some Bullheads and join Roman and surrounded Sun.
"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya kid?" Roman said. The White Fang soldiers then charged at Sun.
Sun however dodge their attacks and quickly dispatched a few of them with physical combat, he then took out his weapon and took out the rest of them.
He flung one soldier at Roman who quickly ducked down. Roman then fired off his weapon, only for Sun to block the blast with his staff. Blake then jumped in front of Sun and charged at Roman, "He's mine!" She commented.
She then attacked Roman, but he easily blocked her attacks, even when she was using her shadow clones.
Even though Roman was a criminal mastermind, he knew how to handle himself in a fight. Eventually he was able to get a few hits on Blake and laughed as he did so. Sun then jump to hurt aid, and transform his staff into a pair of nunchucks, that were capable of firing Dust rounds.
Roman and Sun blocked each other's attacks as they fought, when suddenly Blake struck Roman and knocked him to the ground on his back. Roman then saw a shipping container being held up by a crane, he lifted up his cane and fired off a round and shot the cables that were holding the container off.
The container fell Blake and Sun dodge out of the way in time as it hit the ground. Sun came to a rolling stop, only to face the barrel and of romance weapon. Before Roman was able to pull the trigger he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey!" Ruby shouted. Roman then face the red cloak girl and said, "Oh, hello red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman asked mocking. Penny then walked up next to Ruby and asked, "Ruby? Are these people your friends?" Ruby turned around towards Penny and told her to get back.
Roman then lifted up his weapon and fired a round at Ruby, the blast sent Ruby flying she screamed. Roman began to laugh evilly. Penny saw Ruby go flying and turned her attention towards Roman.
She began to walk to the edge of the roof as Ruby got up, "Penny, wait stop!" Ruby said, Penny turn towards Ruby and replied to her by saying, "Don't worry Ruby. I'm combat ready."
With that, the backpack Penny's back had opened up to reveal a sword, which then split into more sword. She then jumped off off from the roof and onto the ground. Penny began attacking the White Fang soldiers, and dispatch them easily.
Sun was impressed by what he saw, but ran when he heard Bullheads with Gatling guns beginning to open fire. The Gatling guns fired upon Penny but she easily deflected all of the rounds by spinning her swords in a wheel.
Two more swords then shot out from a backpack and anchor themselves into a wall of a building, the swords then pulled her towards the building and she landed on the ground. She then turned the swords she was using as a shield into a long range energy beam cannon.
She then fired the energy beam, the energy cut the Bullheads in half, causing the White Fang soldiers on board to fall to the ground, and the Bullheads to crash land. Penny then launched her swords at a Bullhead holding a container of Dust.
Her swords struck the Bullhead and she began to pull the Bullhead with incredible strength.
Ruby stood on the roof and stared at Penny in amazement, "Woah. How is she doing?" Ruby asked herself. The Bullhead tried to lift off but couldn't.
Roman saw this and began to retreat to a nearby Bullhead, as he was retreating Penny finally pull the Bullhead to the ground, which then crash landed into some containers.
"These kids just keep getting weirder!" Roman said to himself. He then closed the hatch to the Bullhead and retreated.
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A few minutes later, the police arrived began asking Ruby Blake Penny and Sun some questions, after they had given them their statements Yang and Weiss came to the scene.
Ruby then began to explain Weiss about Blake, "Look Weiss it's not what you think she explained the whole thing you see she doesn't actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and their actually kinda cute."
However Weiss walked past Ruby and towards Blake. Weiss stared at Blake, as Blake began explaining herself. "Weiss. I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with-" but she was caught off by Weiss, "Stop." She said. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Weiss asked.
"Twelve hours." She answered. "That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours I've decided..." Ruby Yang and Sun all watched and waited for what was to come.
"I don't care." Weiss said. "You don't care?" Blake asked. "You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss responded. "No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-" Blake tried to answered but was cut off by Weiss.
"Upupupupup! I don't wanna to hear it." Weiss said. "All I want to know, is that next time something this big comes up you'll come to your teammates, and not some... someone else." Weiss was going to say something differently but she caught herself in time, as she was telling this to Blake.
Blake then looked at Sun then her teammates, and said. "Of course." Ruby then look side to side then shouted, "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" The team then gather up each other, until Weiss turned her attention towards Sun, and said, "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!"
Sun then gave out a nervous laugh. "Hey, wait a minute. Where's Penny?" He asked.
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Inside a car, Penny watch through the window of the seat she was in, watching team RWBY, looking sad.
"You should know better than to go running around a strange city." Said the driver. "I know sir." Penny replied. "Penny. Your time will come." The driver said.
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Back at Beacon Academy. Ozpin was watching a life feed of the aftermath of the events that had transpired tonight, when he got a message from Qrow.
Ozpiz, stopped watching the feed and open the message. All the message said was, 'nothing new.' After reading this message, Ozpin-for the first time in years-began to feel an overwhelming sense of dread.
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After Qrow sent his message to Ozpin, he ordered a drink. As he was waiting for his drink, a man wearing a hood came right next to Qrow and place two cards next to him. The man then walked away, leaving Qrow slightly confused.
He then looked at the cards, and was shocked when he saw what was on them. The two cards had drawings of two of the four creatures that had attacked the maidens.
One card said 'Magician' while the other said 'Emperor'. Qrow then jumped out of his seat and tried to look for the man. But the man was gone, and all Qrow had were two cards.
A/N. This took forever to make.