A/N Okay. I did not expect such outrage that I said Percy and Weiss might have been harsh. Most people actually argued that this was gentle. Well, I used the word "Might" for a reason. I have zero tact for social interactions. Maybe it's my slavic blood acting, but I am rather blunt most of the times. Because of that I have to actively tone down on it to not offend people over the internet. In real life it's not the problem because it's usually met with similar bluntness. Anyway, it was a note so people don't scold me on being too harsh. Welp. Didn't expect it the other way around. Anyway, next chapter!
Team RWBY and PALD walked through city of Vale.
"I still don't understand why you are dragging us to the port at such an ungodly hour Weiss." Percy moaned.
"It's friday afternoon." Blake stated confused.
"Exactly! Do you know how many better things there are to do than being here?" He countered.
"Stop complaining. It's the Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Atlesian girl beamed.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." "Ruby frowned. "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!" Weiss was pretty much jumping in excitement, but without actual jumping. She wasn't a barbarian after all.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang complained.
"That's why she has me to make it sound unboring." Percy smiled. "After all now we can dump all the planmaking on her and quote her excitement with it."
"I like the way you think water boy." The blonde brawler grinned at the idea.
"Quiet, you both!"
"Ugh, they smell like fish here!" Ruby frowned and covered her nose.
"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!" White-haired heiress looked over to see the docks.
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Adam said unceremoniously
"You can't prove that!" Weiss looked sideway and rose her head high.
Ruby for a moment ignored them and turned around to look at the crowd that gathered at the end of the street. "Whoa." Others also turned to check what got Ruby's attention. The dust shop had windows shattered and a door full of yellow caution tape of the Vale Police Force. Two officers were analyzing the whole place. Two teams walked closer. Drake stayed back and instead started to go the other way. Lily noticed that and also separated to see what's up with her partner.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked the officers.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The one with black aviator glasses and rich beard answered before walking to his partner.
"That's terrible." Yang cried out loud.
"They left all the money again." Detective number two noted.
"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?" When the detective number one said that, Percy and Weiss immediately tensed visibly. Especially Percy's demeanor changed. Any trace of smile left his face, replaced with something on the border of anger and sadness. he clenched and unclenched his fist several times.
"Hmph! The White Fang." Weiss crossed her hands in front of her and pointed her nose in the air while closing her eyes. She looked like she didn't want to ever have anything to do with that group. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"
"What's your problem?" Blake snapped. Adam gripped her hand and squeezed it, trying to calm his girlfriend.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss got irritated.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake got out of Adam's grip and crossed her hands in front of her too. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
Percy turned to her and Adam. "Misguided?" He said in angry voice. "You call attacking defenceless, innocent civilians misguided? If they could, they would wipe humanity off the face of earth!"
"So then they're very misguided." The black-clad girl accented the word. "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. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him." Ruby supported the other girl's claim.
"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." Weiss got pissed. Her partner was supposed to be by her side instead of defending bunch of criminals.
"That's not necessarily true..." Yang tried to calm down the situation without appearing one-sided, but just then they heard a cry for help from the docks.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
Both teams (minus Drake and Lily who were nowhere to be seen) rushed to where the call originated. A monkey Faunus jumped from the ship and waved to the two crewmen.
"Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!"
"You no-good stowaway!" One of them called after him.
The Faunus was now hanging from the lamppost and eating a banana "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" before he could consume his treat, the cops from the nearby crime scene came running. One of them tossed a stone to get his attention.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!"
Instead of answering, the stowaway tossed a banana peel at the detective and started running away. The two cops followed him, but he was far more agile. As he passed the line of students he winked to Blake, completely obvious to Adam who was standing next to her and holding her hand. The girl blushed pink, which only irritated her boyfriend more. He was tempted to fire his wilt and deal with the idiot.
"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..." Yang said, not exactly sure what to think of it.
"Quick! We have to observe him!" Before Weiss could follow up on the call, Adam was first to start chasing him, barely avoiding crashing into her. She was sent spinning. The rest quickly followed him, not wanting to lose their query, also almost crushing into Weiss. The Atlesian girl stood there confused before chasing after them. "Wait up!"
Just as she caught up with the rest when they were cutting the corner she crashed into someone. To her disappointment she was just in time to see the Faunus jump on something and climb to the rooftops. "No, he got away!" She cried disappointed.
"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang pointed at the girl Weiss crashed with. Immediately, the heiress jumped up, but other person did no such thing.
"Sal-u-ta-tions!"
"Um... hello." Ruby said, not exactly sure. Percy noticed who the girl was and his face immediately twisted into image of pure horror.
"Are you... okay?" Yang asked.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."
"Do you... wanna get up?" Adam asked. Percy cursed. He tried to hide behind the Faunus. He prayed to the brothers that she didn't notice him. Luckily for him, Penny did not. Or at least she gave no signs that she did. She did jump up in one swift motion and was back on her feet.
"My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby." The team leader introduced herself.
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake"
"Adam"
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" After a weak elbow to the side she quickly added. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"And the one hiding behind Adam is-" Weiss started before Penny beamed.
"Percy! It's good to see you! Your father will be coming soon." She smiled. Percy was visibly uncomfortable.
"Uh... Hello Penny. Does your father knows you are here?" He asked carefully. Last thing he needed was another outburst of happiness. His bones still hurt from the last greeting.
"Sure. He allowed me to walk around to recognize the area."
Others noted the uncomfortable silence. Weiss finally started. "Well, sorry for running into you!" This was a cue for everyone to turn around and go away. Percy was of course first to do so. It's not like he didn't like the girl. She just really really really really weirded him out. And she gave almost literally bone crushing hugs. Good thing his Aura was unlocked.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby called as they were disappearing behind the corner.
"She was... weird..." Yang commented once they got away. "How do you know here Perce?"
"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss and Adam said at the same time, choosing to forget the weird girl. Once they realized they said it at the same time they glared at each other with slight irritation. They tolerated each other, but tolerance only went so far.
"What did you call me?" While others were distracted by Heiress and Faunus, Penny somehow appeared in front of them.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized while looking kinda ashamed.
"No, not you." the strange girl dismissed blonde and instead walked between them toward Ruby. "You!" Percy mentally facepalmed.
"Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..." The small reaper was startled.
"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?" The redhead beamed.
"Uuuum..." She looked over Penny to see everyone else making a head-cutting motion. "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"
Everyone else facepalmed. Percy did too, only he fainted right after.
"Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Penny looked overjoyed.
Ruby leaned to Weiss. "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"
"No - she seems far more coordinated." The heiress answered while Adam and Yang were trying to wake Percy up.
"So... what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked once Percy finally opened his eyes.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament." The redhead smiled.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
Penny saluted (strangely, to Percy) "I'm combat ready!"
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." The heiress commented.
"Says the girl wearing a dress." Adam snarked.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss argued with her arms crossed.
"Yeah!" Ruby zoomed next to her. The white-clad girl held out her hand which the red reaper low-fived.
"Where do you know waterboy here from?" Yang asked, pointing to where Percy fainted a minute before.
"Who?" Penny asked confused. "There is no one there."
Everyone turned to see that indeed Percy was gone.
"Nevermind her." Weiss dismissed quite irritated Yang. "Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"
"The who...?"
Weiss pulled a hastly-made drawing of a monkey Faunus. "If you came on the boat you must know this criminal. The filthy Faunus stowaway!"
Adam huffed. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" The heiress asked, not understanding.
"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Before Adam could answer, Blake exploded. Usually she was reserved and did not care, but Weiss stepped on her toes one too many times today.
Adam was about to try and calm her down when there was a puff of smoke next to him and suddenly someone pulled him. They disappeared in another puff of smoke before the Faunus even realized what was going on.
When he landed on the rooftop, Adam stumbled and almost fell on his face until Drake caught him. This came with a growl from the bull Faunus.
"Let go of me." He shouted. Drake nodded and released his teammate. Adam too late realized his mistake as his face met the concrete of the rooftop.
Lily bursted into a fit of laughter. Percy tried to keep straight face and succeeded for about three seconds. Adam got up, but he looked less than stellar.
"Now can you gits explain why you kidnapped me? I was having a perfectly fine afternoon with Blake." He complained, which earned another fit of laughter from Percy and Lily. Drake chuckled under his breath.
"You call... arguing with Weiss... a perfectly fine afternoon...?" Percy managed to say between two laughing his ass off.
"Fine. What is it that you want to do?" He relented easily. Truthfully he did not want another argument regarding White Fang.
"Team bonding. Mandatory. This time with Drake. We are going to the nearby antique market, then we will visit the arcade and at the end Yang gave me an address of really nice club downtown. She knows the owner." Lily beamed.
"And then we will ride to the land of happiness on rainbow Grimm flying on the sunbeam." Drake added. He wanted to spend the day avoiding cops alone, but apparently his teammates had different idea of alone. The blue-clad girl jabed him with the elbow lightly. It was strong enough that he knew to shut up, but light enough that he wasn't hurt. "Ouch!"
"Shut up you meanie! It's been few months since we started here and you never spent time with us. We are a team and we will do it together." She stomped down and left no place for discussion.
"It can be fun." Adam agreed, albeit unconvinced.
"Fine. Whatever." Drake relented. "As long as you don't make me paint my nails and talk about cute boys."
"Do you honestly think so little of me?" Lily faux-frowned. "I would never let any of you touch my nails. Maybe Adam. He shows some competence." She giggled. Percy also chuckled on his friends behalf.
"Let's just go." Adam pleaded.
The visit at the antiques market was mostly for Lily and Adam. Drake had little interest in old stuff and little money to spend on expensive junk. Percy on the other hand had quite big allowance, but just as little interest. He did got curious at the sight of an old sword on one of the displays. It had a leaf-shaped blade. A memory flickered in the back of his mind.
He was in a cave. Grimm surrounded him and Weiss. They were slowly circling them from the shadows. He had barely any training and his best friend had none. He just unlocked her aura by using almost all of his own. He dashed side to avoid a monster jumping at him. He landed in water and found an old sword. It had something written on the guard. In the darkness he could recognize only some letters. " o". Others were too dirtied. He christened the blade Andromeda after a princess from a story he once heard. Not that he had much time to spare. He started to fight back. He had little training behind him, but it didn't matter. he wanted to protect Weiss. He had to protect his best friend.
Now he was looking at very similar sword. This one had no words at the guard, but looked mostly like the one he used years ago to defend Weiss' and his lives at the cave. He shuddered and instinctively clenched his left hand.
"How much for this sword?" He asked the owner.
"Ah! This is quite an exquisite piece of ancient weaponry. My friend works at the history institute. He said that such swords were used back before the Great War. It is at least twice as old as your grandfather." Shopkeeper chuckled. "As for the price, I think we can come to a reasonable agreement."
After almost five minutes of discussing the price, Percy left the stall as a happy owner of the old sword. He also bought a porcelain teacup for Weiss. Only after he turned around he noticed that the rest of his team was nowhere to be seen. He suddenly realized they must've not notice he stopped to look at the sword and walked ahead. With that in mind, Percy also went down the aisle to try and find them. He could scroll them quickly, but where was the fun in that? He could swear he noticed Lily's feathered hat at some point in the crowd, but before he got there she was long gone. His ADHD did not help. Once in a while he got distracted by something at one stall or another. Finally, he heard an argument somewhere ahead. One of the voices definitely belonged to Adam.
"...Look, I don't care. It says clear as day on the note here!" Someone shouted. "I reserve right to refuse service."
"On what basis!?" Adam shouted angrily. Drake and Lily stood right by his sides and sent the shopkeeper death stares, but said nothing. Lily was too shy to go on such runt at random stranger and Drake didn't really have any idea what to say.
"You look suspicious with the weapon and black clothes! For all I know you lot can be from white fang! And that mask is too similar to what they wear!"
"Like you are the one to criticize my clothing choice!" The Faunus huffed. "You are just a racist scum that's who you are!" He lost his cool.
Percy tried to get to them through the crowd, but then he noticed two other people walk to them. The crowd separated for them and two detectives from earlier stepped into the clearing among quite the large gathering of people.
"what's going on here?" Detective Bearded asked.
"Sir! This man first refused to even acknowledge me at first and then started to insult me." Adam said through gritted teeth.
"I don't do business with White Fang! Just look at his mask!" The shopkeeper argued. The cops looked at one another.
"That's a pretty serious accusation. You are under arrest!" Detective Two said and pulled three sets of handcuffs. He also whispered to his companion silently enough that most people wouldn't eavesdrop. Adam's acute sense of hearing allowed him to realize what was said. "Do you think we can pin the robberies on this lot? Maybe we will have a promotion."
Percy finally managed to push his way into the first row and looked at the scene. He heard enough of what occured to know that his friends were not to blame for anything. He quickly walked just as the cop put handcuffs on Lily. Adam and Drake looked ready to flight/fight, but they knew that this would only worsen their situation. Drake was especially unnerved. He had no idea if he was actually wanted or not, but definitely he would not trust this lot. They gave him a lazy and/or corrupted cop vibe. He knew that kind all too well. The less paperwork the better.
"What's going on here?" He asked the cop who was about to cuff Adam. The look on Faunus' face told the Atlesian that he was barely holding back on his anger.
"Get lost kid." Detective Bearded scolded Percy. The teen scoffed at that. He was few months short of adulthood and it irritated him when they called him kid. Teen he could swallow. Kid? It irritated him.
"I don't think so. Unless you uncuff my team that is." He countered.
"Look punk. I don't know who do you think you are..." The other cop started, but was cut off when Percy pulled a scroll from the inner pocket of his coat. This was different than the ones usually seen in vale. It was slightly thinner and had blue button instead of yellow. When it unfolded, it showed an ID similar to Huntsman Card.
"Perseus Ironwood. Adept Junior Atlas Operative." Percy said without flinching. "Son of General Ironwood of Atlas Military." He added with a troublemaker grin.
"Atlas holds little power here." The first detective said, but with less conviction this time. That was above his paygrade and he didn't like it.
"My teammates and I are students at Beacon Academy. As it happened, I am at the same time also honorarily enrolled at Atlas Academy and so is my whole team. This means they are under jurisdiction of Atlas Military, which I am a part of. I can demand information on the reason of their arrest as well. Better have good reason for that." He added with a wink. "I have my dad on speed dial."
Both cops gulped. This boy was pretty sure of himself and the ID was for sure real. They also saw very much a resemblance to famed General. "Look. I believe this was just a misunderstanding. We didn't know they were hunters in training." One of them quickly apologized while the other opened the cuffs. "We will leave you to it." They said and quickly disappeared from the place. The crowd cheered a bit and dispersed. The shopkeeper also took advantage of the situation to close his stall and get lost quickly.
Percy let out the breath he just now realized he held. "That was close. I was sure they would call my bluff."
"You... bluffed?" Drake asked bewildered.
"Half in half." Percy nodded. "I do hold Adept Junior Operative rank... theoretically. I kinda lost all the benefits from it the moment I signed to Beacon. And we are not really honorarily enrolled at Atlas Academy. Plus the jurisdiction was a total scam." He snickered. "Still, it was funny to watch their reaction."
"You bet." Lily joined him. "For a moment I was actually worried."
Drake wanted to just disappear just to be safe, but fought against his instincts. Percy saved his ass today and least he could do was humor him some more. "What now, 'Punk'?" he joked, calling him same as the cops.
They were on their way to the club when Lily's Scroll started to vibrate. She picked up and saw Yang calling him.
"What is it Yang?"
"Get your team to the academy. We need Percy and Adam!" The blonde almost screamed through the speaker.
"Slow down. We are going there. Now what is it about?"
"Weiss and Blake are still going on at it. Get the two boyfriends to deal with them."
"I am not her boyfriend!" Percy shouted from behind. He was actually blushing a bit. It wasn't that visible on his tanned skin, but the light of streetlamp actually underlined it enough that they could see it. Drake and Adam snickered. Payback was always sweet.
"Whatever waterboy. Just get here!" Yang shouted irritated. It's clear that this was going on for quite some time before there was a Crash! in the background and she ended the call. There was a silence for a moment until Percy finally spoke.
"Race you to the Academy!"
"You are finally here!" Yang exclaimed tiredly. "This's been going on for hours now." She opened the doors wider to let them see Weiss and Blake shouting at one another.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"
"That is the problem!"
"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss stood up from her bed and started walking around. Percy and Adam were torn between intervening and letting the girls sort it out. They both would rather avoid becoming the target of combined assault. They knew them well enough to know that if they give them a common enemy (themselves) they will unite for the time being and then return to bickering.
"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!" Blake shouted in response to Weiss accusation.
"People like me?" The heiress asked surprised and offended.
You're discriminatory!"
"I'm a victim!" Weiss walked to the window. Lily and Drake both decided that this was personal and they had no place here. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" She asked rhetorically. "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 its back for as long as I can remember. And not just that..." A tear formed in her eye. "When I was a child... They came after me!" She shouted. "White Fang kidnapped and tried to kill two innocent kids because of their twisted idea of 'Equality'! If it wasn't for..." She didn't finish. It was not her story to tell. Percy walked to her and pulled her in a hug. His best friend needed him.
He remembered the nights after the incident. After he woke in the hospital. She was there to comfort him. They comforted each other. His father also helped. If dad wasn't there, he would probably crumble. He was only eleven when his childhood crumbled. At least with Weiss he had some of it back. They were inseparable, always together. That experience strengthened the bond between them.
"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss shouted once she calmed her emotions a bit. The sadness faded, but her righteous fury was not quenched.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake screamed at them. The silence that fell was deafening. The clock on the wall loudly counted seconds. Blake took a look at everyone in the room. Adam was standing in the corner. She couldn't see his eyes under the mask, but she knew that look on his face. It was the same look he had when he did something wrong, only now it was ten times worse. He was ashamed. Ashamed of himself. Of his actions. "I... I..." She wanted to defend herself, but in the end she just dashed out of the room.
Adam was torn. Most of him wanted to chase her, but he couldn't move. He remembered his time in White Fang. His actions costed lives. He always justified his deeds as working for the good of Faunus. Now here was the daughter of greatest oppressor of all Faunus. He used to believe her to be a pampered princess, surrounded by wealth and luxury, living a trouble-free life. Just how much pain they caused? How many families he destroyed during his time at the White fang?
"Is that true?" Percy asked. "Are you two really from White Fang?" His voice revealed that he was not angry. Only hurt.
"I am so sorry! I... When I was alone they actually showed me kindness!" Adam shouted trying to defend his actions. What pained him most was that Percy did not rage at him, did not shout. He was just... hurt.
"Kindness? You call kidnapping two eleven years old children and dropping them into pit full of Grimm to watch them die kindness?! Or maybe when they miraculously survive and get out the kindness is shooting them with a rocket!?" This was what he expected. The anger, the sadness. And yet he was more and more hurt. "Oh! I know. Kindness is when you first torture those kids for the sole reason that they were born into a wealthy family. Or because their father was appointed general." Percy collapsed next to Weiss. The Heiress remained silent. Now it was his time to get it out of his system. She had her own thoughts to deal with, but offered him a silent comfort.
"I..." Adam bowed his head. "There is no justification." He relented. He could not change the past. He made mistakes and he could not just make it go away. "If it's worth anything, I regret my mistakes..." He paused gathering his thoughts. "So do Blake, even if she doesn't show it."
"Why?" Weiss asked. "Why would you join such a foul organization?" She wanted to know this. She needed to know.
Adam looked at her for a moment before taking off his mask. Over his left eye was a large scar. A large S.D.C stared at her. Weiss gulped. She heard rumors that some workers were branded in the mines, but they were always proven false. Up until today. Percy was also surprised. As long as he could remember, Adam always wore this mask or a black blindfold. He was a bit curious, but never asked. He always had a long sleeves and glove on.
"Does that answer your question." He more stated than asked.
"Looks like both sides have their own truth." Percy said. He pulled off his coat. Underneath, his blue armored ves ended on the shoulders. What startled everyone was his left hand. It was all metallic. It was a prosthesis. The design was sleek and almost impossible to tell the difference between his left and right. Percy flexed it a bit and a compartment on the side opened to reveal several relatively large dust containers. "That's the 'souvenir' I got from my first encounter with White Fang." He chuckled at the joke. Yang left just a moment ago to look for Ruby and Blake, leaving the three alone. Weiss was already aware of this, being there when Percy first received the prosthetic arm. "Peace?" Young Ironwood extended his mechanical hand to Adam, who took it.
"Peace. Partner."
"Partner." They both smiled sadly. As many as their differences were, they could look past that. An almost silent agreement formed. They would look past anything to see the good. "Now let's go look for your girlfriend."
A/N Welp. Finally gave Drake a sense of humor. Channeling all my sarcasm into one character is a blessing. Well, not all because there is also Persassy and Adam. And Lily... Dam! Team PALD is more like team SASS...
I am totally winging the revelation moment. I had something different planned, but it didn't bode well with the characters and how I portrayed them. Maybe OOC for them, but that's the best I managed.
