I OWN NOTHING
"Blake!"
"Blaaaake!"
The voices rang out on the streets of Vale as the students looked for their friend. Jaune….. honestly wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. He had figured out early on that his corner buddy was a faunus. It might not have been immediately obvious to their teams but the signs were there if you knew to look for them. Like the way her bow never actually blew in the wind but would suddenly twitch on its own out of nowhere or the way it would take her a moment to react when the lights went out or things got dark all of a sudden. Like she forgot that she shouldn't be able to see. That had been a big one for Jaune growing up as his sisters had never been particularly shy about using their night vision for pranks, or 'intensive training' as Verde called it.
No, her status as a faunus was both no surprise to Jaune and also none of his business to be spreading out. If Blake wanted to hide her nature and heritage that was between her and the One Who Lived in the Shallow Sea. She definitely had to have her own reasons and Jaune respected that. The White Fang though… Jaune would hold his tongue and his decision until he found her and they could talk things out properly.
"Jaune I'm starting to get worried." Jaune heard Nora speak up from his right. When they had grouped up with the rest of team RWBY to find their missing teammate they had split into three groups of three to cover more ground, he, Nora, and Gui had been one. "She ran off last night, we've been searching most of the day, and there's still been no sign of her. What if Blake, like, actually ran away for real and not just to cool off?"
Jaune felt a bone weary sigh bubble up from inside and made no effort to hold it in as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I am too Nora," Jaune responded honestly. Blake was a trained huntress but bad things could still happen and there had been no news at all. It was getting scary for all of them and only becoming more so as time passed, but they needed to keep hoping. "I don't think she'd do it though, at this point I'm pretty sure Beacon is home for all of us. We just need to be patient and keep looking yeah?" Jaune reassured the carrot top as he reached out an arm and wrapped his girlfriend(? Still weird to say or think that, gave him butterflies in his stomach.) in a hug as they walked.
The ensuing silence was comfortable and warm in spite of the tension the two felt at the situation and lasted maybe half a minute before it was broken by a loud growl from behind the two of them. Turning Jaune found Gui rubbing his stomach in embarrassment as he looked at the both of them sheepishly. Jaune would've teased his brother over it if his own stomach hadn't started rumbling immediately after.
"Heh," Jaune laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his freehand. "It has been a little while. Maybe we could stop and grab some lunch?"
"...I dunno Jaune," Nora responded quietly, well quietly for Nora. "Feels kinda wrong to stop and grab a bite while we still don't know if Blake is okay or not…" The normally boisterous ginger trailed off.
"I mean… yeah it kinda does," Jaune acknowledged, still holding the girl in a side hug as they walked or, well, she was more holding him at this point. "But we need to eat sometime and we're not helping Blake any better if we fall to pieces looking for her. Maybe we could hit two birds with one stone? There's that coffeeshop that Blake mentioned a while back that we could check out?"
"The one on eighth?"
"Yeah it should be on the route anyway." Jaune confirmed as the two maintained their pace and he scanned the streets for any sign of their missing friend.
"Yeah, that sounds good Jaune-Jaune." Nora said as she pulled him in just a bit tighter into the hug before letting go and drifting apart, still holding his hand and Jaune couldn't help blushing a bit. He was gonna need to get used to a bit more physical affection it seemed. It was… nice, just different and he really shouldn't be thinking about how Nora's hand could feel so warm and soft while being so calloused when he should be focused on finding his missing, possibly terrorist, friend.
The group continued their slow, meandering walk through the city with their new destination in mind, while still keeping an eye out for their friend. As the group reached the coffeeshop Jaune sighed in relief as he caught sight of a familiar head of black hair…. and quickly quirked a brow in confusion as he caught sight of a familiar head of blonde hair… and a face… and abs…
"Sun what are you doing here?" Jaune asked incredulously as his group closed in on the two, Nora and Gui quickly grabbing seats at the table. From the corner of his eye Jaune caught a glimpse of Nora going in for a hug with a wary and slightly embarrassed looking Blake while Gui quickly grabbed a menu and started flipping through it. "Better question, why are you here? Is Sham with you?"
"Hey dude! Long time no see!" Jaune could feel the confusion covering his face even as Sun stepped up and wrapped him in a hug that Jaune awkwardly returned. "Hey Blake, this is my buddy Jaune!" Sun said to the quiet girl cheerily as he slung an arm across Jaune's shoulders. "He's with the Vale branch of the DHI. Have you met him? He should be in your year."
"We've met once or twice." Blake responded sardonically as Jaune fought the urge to roll his eyes, she looked tired. Apparently the last night had been a bit rough for the faunus girl and Jaune felt the worry that had faded over the course of the day surge once again even as she waved off Nora's attempts to fuss over her and make sure she was alright.
"Really good guy!" Sun followed up as he shook Jaune back and forth with the grip around his shoulders. "Kinda awkward and tends to puke on airships but still really solid. If you ask him for anything he'll try and follow through as best he can, like that one time during the conference in Argus when Neptune met that one girl but there was another guy chatting her up so Jaune's sister put him in a dress and-"
"THANK YOU! SUN!" Jaune certainly did not screech as he had a deep, commanding, manly voice that certainly did not crack when he was panicking or embarrassed. No sir. Anyway what was more important was, "Sun you still haven't told me what you're doing here. Where's Sham? Where's Neptune?"
"Oh they're back at Haven!" Jaune felt his eye twitch at the admission from his monkey faunus friend.
"And why are you here without them?" Jaune asked, already dreading the answer. Sun was amazingly good people, and genuinely smarter than people gave him credit for at first. But…..
"I decided to head out to Vale early to take in the sights before the Vytal Tournament. You gonna be competing too bro?" Sun asked with his usual cheer as Jaune sighed and did his best to ignore the giggling coming from Nora and Blake at his expense. At least they were laughing.
"So you left your team and digimon partner behind without saying anything to travel halfway across the world by yourself. How did you even afford the tickets?"
"Oh! I remembered to leave a note this time! Then I stowed away and did freebie hunter work for the ship on the way over! They decided to call the cops on me when I arrived anyway though since I was still technically a stowaway. Kinda a dick move but what can ya do?" Jaune wanted to be able to act surprised at the omission. He wanted to be able to get angry at the flippant way Sun brought up and subsequently disregarded what had happened. He wanted a lot of things at the moment. But he would settle for slapping his, usually, long distance friend up the back of the head. "Ow! Dude!? Why!?"
"Sun that's a real dick move bro. You know Sham and Nep are gonna be worrying about you. Even with a note if you went by boat how long did it take you to get here… Sun how long ago did you leave? You know Sham's gonna be stupid worried about you dude. Plus I think as a member of the DHI taking off and leaving your partner behind like that along with the stowing away thing might actually cause an international incident if we don't go talk to the Doc and Ozpin. Like, today. The sooner the better" Jaune's voice didn't rise as he dressed down his friend even as Sun began to look properly ashamed. That didn't stop him from using his ultimate move though. "Sun, dude, I'm not even mad about this anymore. I'm just kinda disappointed."
"...I'm sorry man…" Sun quietly said as Jaune watched his shoulders and tail both droop. "I just wanted to take a trip on my own for a bit…"
"And I can understand that dude, but still you have a team now and need to make sure you're on the same page as them." Jaune did his best to reason with his friend. "You can't just run off solo anymore, what's your team leader gonna think?"
"Oh! I'm actually the leader!" The monkey faunus piped up cheerfully and Jaune was taken off guard by the shift in attitude well enough that what his friend actually said almost didn't process.
"...You left your team and your partner by themselves with only a note to explain and no warning AND you're the leader?" Jaune just deadpanned back at his friend. He couldn't even muster the energy to be surprised anymore.
"Yup! Leader of team SSSN! Best team in Mistral." Sun grinned as he shared the news of his leader position on a team that shared his own name.
Jaune… Jaune would just need to handle the rest of that later and get Sun to call Sham and his team after getting him checked in with the Doc and the Headmaster. For now he should probably address the actual reason they were out there. "That's great bud. I'm happy for you. Truly. Blake is there any chance I could talk to you real quick? Just the two of us?" Jaune asked awkwardly, changing the subject as he rubbed the back of his head.
"...sure…." Blake responded neutrally, her guard back up from the momentary levity and Jaune flinched. He hadn't meant for that to happen, he just wanted to talk to her.
The two stepped away from the table as Jaune offered what he hoped was a reassuring nod and smile towards Nora and Gui. Jaune rounded the corner near the coffeeshop, following Blake and the two stopped once they felt they were completely out of ear shot. The two simply stood there a moment, Blake staring up at Jaune, tension clear in her frame while Jaune scratched at a cheek awkwardly as he tried to pick his next words carefully. As the moment began to drag on though Jaune decided that just maybe, honest and blunt would be the best way to approach the situation. "Are you okay? You don't look like you slept well."
"Is that your idea of breaking the ice?" Blake snorted back at Jaune as the cat faunus looked at him in vague disbelief. "I expected accusations and anger."
"I'm not mad Blake," Jaune said softly as he looked down the alleyway away from his friend, not willing to meet her eyes. "I've just been worried… and kind of scared if I'm being honest."
"Well nothing to be scared about." Jaune heard Blake grind out behind him. "I'm perfectly fine, just a bit tired and hungry. I forgot my wallet in the dorm when I left to get some air."
"Getting air huh? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" When his attempt at a joke was met with sullen silence Jaune did his best to push through and continue on with the conversation. "I wasn't scared for you Blake, or well I was but not just scared for you. Mostly since I found out about the White Fang thing I think I've kinda been scared of you a little bit and that's not fair to you, so I wanted to have this talk if that's ok?" Jaune finished awkwardly as he crossed his arms in front of him. The words had come out jumbled, and he'd stumbled over them, but the sharp intake of breath he heard from Blake told him she had heard what he'd said.
"Afraid of me?" Blake asked in a half shout and Jaune flinched at the surprised offense in her tone. "Jaune, why would you be afraid of me? You're part faunus too!"
Jaune rubbed the back of his head as he looked down to the raven haired girl next to him before starting his explanation. "Well yeah Blake, part faunus. My family has had… an awkward relationship with the Fang since well before I was born because of it. I... this is probably gonna be a long story if that's ok?"
At Blake's nod Jaune leaned against the wall of the building and began his story. "So you know my uncle fought in the faunus wars and that's how he and my dad met and how dad met mom right? Well after that all went down my uncle actually joined the White Fang back when your parents were in charge, mom would have too if she hadn't been focused on starting a family with dad and pregnant with my oldest sister Cerise."
"What do you mean my parents? I have no idea what you're talking about." Blake defended as she tried to wave off his comments.
"You're not related to Kali and Ghira Belladona?" That had actually surprised Jaune, "My bad, I mean you kinda look just like both of them and have the same last name. I just kinda assumed you were at least related, sorry."
"I mean… they're not, not my parents?" Blake flinched before awkwardly ducking her head at the admission and Jaune couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up and out of him at her reaction.
"Anywayyyy," Jaune laughed as he continued his story. "My family has kinda been tied to the faunus rights movement for a long time, pretty much up until your parents stepped down. Then things kinda started taking a turn and tolerance and equality turned to revenge and supremacy. People who my mom and dad were both friends with started treating them differently, didn't want to interact with my dad and looked down on my mom for not being with a nice faunus boy and having two human daughters."
"The White Fang isn't like that!" Blake insisted and Jaune looked down to see his corner buddy glaring up at him part with anger and part with something that looked a lot like desperation to Jaune. "The Fang is about equality for everyone! Peaceful protest just wasn't working so we needed to make humanity listen."
"Blake, I'm not gonna pretend to be educated on everything about faunus oppression," Jaune admitted freely as he rubbed the back of his head. "But I do know the things I myself have experienced and the things my uncle has told me when I asked him about all of this, and the way he explained it to me was when you radicalize a movement you by default welcome in people with radical opinions and ways of thinking. People who start to take the lead and take on positions of power. It makes me feel better to hear you say that, but are you sure the White Fang isn't like that? Or is it just that you aren't like that?"
"We just wanted to be left alone and treated equally... " Blake insisted, still bullheaded and stubborn.
"And I just want to visit menagerie without having to worry about being on the receiving end of a hate crime." Jaune shot back at his feline friend. "And I can't say I have it much better with humans when they find out. You were there with the whole Cardin thing, you know what it was like. I just... faunus are people just like humans and digimon, yeah? Well that means all of them are perfectly capable of being assholes." Jaune paused to take a breath and tried to let the tension bleed out of his shoulders. Pent up frustration with both sides was bleeding through and that was in no way fair to Blake.
"On the one side I've grown up with humans who treat my mom poorly and act like she used my dad to try and marry up with whispers about whether my faunus sisters were actually dad's daughters." Jaune muttered as he began pacing back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Blake's face twisted in disgust, and it looked like she wanted to say something but Jaune gave her no time to do so.
"On the other side I had FAUNUS that treated our family as a problem, my mom and uncle were race traitors and me and my sisters were abominations." Jaune's hands we're moving now, it was a bad habit of his. Whenever he got animated or particularly agitated he had a tendency to speak with his hands, waving them in the air in front of him. It was why he had trained himself toward rubbing the back of his head instead, but these were old wounds being unearthed and it brought back old habits.
"You'll never be human enough for the humans and you'll never be faunus enough for the faunus." Jaune growled as he picked up the pace in their little alleyway. Blake looked torn and uncomfortable like she wanted to chip in or say something but couldn't decide what it was she wanted to say and Jaune couldn't bring himself to stop now anyway. Things he'd let build up most of his life were pouring out and he couldn't couldn't even try to swallow it back up.
"I grew up with the traditions and know them better than some actual faunus. I grew up following the faith of the Shallow Sea and it was never and will never be good enough." Jaune said, hands waving in front of him not in wild swings, but directly in front of his chest like there was too much nervous energy and the frantic gesturing was the only way to release it. "And if I'm ever lucky enough to actually have kids there's a chance, small mind you but still a chance, that even if I end up with a human girl, even if things between me and Nora work out amazingly and she doesn't finally get sick of me, that we'll have a faunus child. And what's that gonna be like? What's that gonna be like Blake? What's that gonna be like for whoever my future wife is, when people look at her cross eyed since I don't look faunus? People who will start whispering and assuming things."
Jaune looked at Blake, his friend's face torn as she looked at him in some mix of horror and sympathy, Jaune let himself slump back against the wall and quietly admitted a fear that he had never once vocalized to anyone. "Blake, what's that gonna be like for the baby?"
Jaune let loose a ragged sigh as he finished the tail end of his rant. That had gotten... intense. More so than he had intended and now he was just left tired, drained, and a little worried at Blake's reaction. Turning, Jaune looked to see his corner buddy taken aback and seeming unsure of what to say. Eventually though she seemed to gather her thoughts and opened with a simple question, "So when did you and Nora finally make it official?"
"...Really Blake?" Jaune deadpanned as he mock-glared at his friend.
"I mean you guys have been doing the dating-not-dating thing for a while now. Yang was talking about running bets for how long it took you two to finally figure it out." Blake defended, hands up in front of her and a nonchalant look on her face.
"Yang can talk about my love life when she finally asks out Pyrrha," Jaune muttered sullenly before speaking up. "I was making a point you know?"
"I know Jaune, and I believe you've met some of the bad apples from the Fang but I can't believe that the whole Fang is like that. There are good people there who just want equality, something we shouldn't have to fight for in the first place. Why would they be robbing dust stores in Vale Jaune? How does that further the cause? The Fang aren't like that, we can't let ourselves be like that. And I'll prove it to you. I just need a little more time." The black cat faunus pleaded as she stared up at Jaune, fierce determination in her eyes alongside that same desperation that he had seen before. Jaune sighed to himself in resignation, he would never be able to convince her like this. Her mind was already made up.
"Fine," Jaune relented, "But Nora, Gui, and me are coming along too. Now come on." Jaune said as he stepped away from the wall and back around the corner.
"Where are we going?" Jauned heard Blake ask in confusion from behind him.
"Back to the coffee shop to pick up the others." Jaune explained as he continued walking. "Plus, I still wanna eat lunch before we start hunting down a cell of radicals that hate my guts. I'm starving."
-HoH-
"Blaaaaaake!"
"Where ya at Blakey!?"
Pyrrha scanned the crowd of the busy street looking for her erstwhile friend. The news about Blake being a faunus had been a shock and her being a member of the White Fang was even more shocking still.
Pyrrha honestly wasn't entirely sure why the bookish girl felt she needed to hide her nature in the first place. A fear of prejudice? Running from her past? And when she got to know them why keep it a secret from them? Velvet was a friend to all of them, Jaune was half faunus, Gui and Demi were much stranger and got along just fine with the group, and some people liked to assume things since she was Mistrali but Pyrrha had very nearly been raised by Coach Chiron. The old horse faunus was very nearly a father to her after her own had died when she was young.
There were dozens of possible reasons and Pyrrha had no clue which was the correct one, it had been running through her mind all day and she was no closer to something resembling an answer than when she started. Compounding that, Pyrrha was getting worried about the other member of her team in the search. Yang had been fine at the start when they had first split up but the normally cheerful and upbeat girl had become quiet as time passed. Shifting between nervous energy and sullen silence in waves Yang was obviously distressed. Pyrrha had to do something to help, but she wasn't quite sure what that should be.
Maybe something to distract Yang and take her mind off of it? But what could she suggest? They had just done lunch an hour ago so food was out. Shopping and a lot of the other things they liked to come out to Vale to do were out of the question while Blake was missing. Pyrrha could try just straight up asking Yang what was wrong but wouldn't that be rude or intrusive? What if Yang just got defensive and closed herself off more? What if-
"So are you okay Yang? You've been kinda off since we left your team earlier?" Pyrrha's thought processes performed the mental equivalent of a record scratch as her partner went through with the course of action Pyrrha had just finished deciding was a terrible idea.
"Yes? No? I'm not really sure…" The blonde bruiser admitted as she rubbed her right arm and refused to look Pyrrha or Demi in the eye. Pyrrha felt something in her own heart wrench just a little at seeing this out of character, vulnerable, Yang.
"Do ya wanna talk about it?" Demi asked with a closed eye smile and his hands behind his head as he faced Yang, face tilted up. The three had stopped walking now and Pyrrha was panicking. This was a terrible idea! She had just decided against this very course of action! Why did Demi always do this kind of thi-
"Sure." Yang answered, voice dull. What?
"Are you sure? I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with." Pyrrha responded, genuinely surprised that the little mon's attempt had worked… again… Pyrrha really needed to stop being surprised. He was much more perceptive than anyone ever actually gave him credit for.
"It's cool," Yang responded in that same dull tone as she continued to rub her right arm. "Thinking about it hasn't exactly been helping any. Maybe saying it out loud will."
"Then we're here to listen," Pyrrha promised, feeling something cold and resolute flow through her and nestle in her spine, giving her strength that she lacked before. Her insecurities were not more important than what was bothering Yang and she refused to let them stop her from being there for someone she cared about.
Pyrrha waited patiently as Yang was quiet for a moment, the girl seemed to be gathering her thoughts or trying to pick the right words or, maybe, she was just deciding whether or not she actually wanted to go through with the conversation. "It's just…" Yang opened slowly and quietly. "Why hasn't she come back?"
"Blake runs off all the time, that's nothing new." Yang continued as Pyrrha nodded in acknowledgement, the Belladona girl had a tendency to wander off and disappear for random amounts of time. "But she always came back too. I thought last night she would be back to the dorm after cooling off and we could all talk it out, but she never came back. I waited up to try and make sure she made it home safe, and she never came back. I kept calling her scroll, and she never picked up. What… what if she just never comes back to the team?"
"Then that would be what Blake chooses." Pyrrha answered honestly, surprising herself. "It might be rough Yang but Blake is a grown woman and she has the right to just decide to leave if she wants to. But I don't think she'll do that."
As the look on Yang's face changed from stricken to confused at what Pyrrha had to say, the invincible girl was doing her best to continue her train of thought and praying to whoever would listen that she didn't screw this up. "All of you as a team and all of us as friends have grown so close in the past few months. I can't see Blake just running off on all of you like that Yang, on all of us. She's your partner right? And friends fight and sometimes people handle the stress from that in different ways. I don't know Blake as well as you, Jaune, and Nora do, but she obviously prefers to keep to herself and process things on her own. Maybe she just had a lot to process this time?"
"I mean… yeah," Yang admitted quietly. "But the look on her face Pyrrha, she looked so mad and so scared at the same time, and Weiss was saying some messed up stuff that I can tell she kinda regrets too but she's too proud to admit it and what if the whole team falls apart right when we had finally gotten comfortable? …..Right when I had finally gotten comfortable?"
"Yang…" Pyrrha opened slowly as she leaned in closer to her companion, concern spreading across her face. "Is this really all about Blake?"
Pyrrha watched as Yang grunted, shifted from side to side, and finally sighed while rubbing her right arm. "Will you be mad if I say no? It's just… something old and really personal. I'll tell you what it is someday, just not now." The blonde bruiser asked quietly, not meeting Pyrrha's eyes.
"You don't have to tell me at all if you don't want to." Pyrrha responded honestly, and moved to explain herself at Yang's surprised look. "It's not my business Yang and this is obviously something important to you that also hurts. If you want to tell me, I'll listen, and if you don't that's fine too. I'll still be here for you." Pyrrha promised as she pulled Yang into a hug and if there was a slight dampness on her shoulder where Yang's head rested Pyrrha would refuse to ever acknowledge it. It was time to be there for Yang, just like Yang was there for Pyrrha months ago.
"Thanks Pyr," Yang whispered before pulling away and smiling and if her eyes were a different kind of red from usual, well, Pyrrha wasn't going to say anything about that either. "Ughh, I'm a mess."
"You're fine," Pyrrha assured her fellow huntress. "You've had a rough day as it is, you don't need to be a hundred percent put together all the time. I promise."
"Thank you again Pyrrha," Yang said with a gentle smile up towards the gladiatrix that Pyrrha returned. Things obviously weren't perfect or really fixed but Yang was definitely looking better. Now they just needed to find Blake and they could all head back-. The thought was cut off though as Pyrrha heard the sound of a distant explosion and saw smoke rising over the city from the direction of the docks.
"Five lien says that's where Blake is." Pyrrha heard her digimon partner quip as she stared dumbfounded at the rising smoke.
"Bum odds," Yang snarked.
-HoH-
"BLAAAAAKE!"
"Blake where are you!?"
Weiss snorted as her partner shouted out looking for the imposter. They should be calling the police for that… that… terrorist! She was probably waiting, waiting for the right time to strike. To tear her head off as a prize for the Fang as their most feared assassin…
Except assassin's didn't leave their target unharmed for three months when sleeping in the same room together every night did they? They didn't help their target with literature homework because how was she to know what pretentious symbolism their professor was trying to shoehorn into the narrative that was fairly simple and completely fine the way it was. She was even more certain that assassins didn't enjoy tea time with their targets multiple times a week because their other two teammates were heathens, that couldn't be bothered to enjoy a proper tea time.
No, the Belladonna girl probably wasn't an assassin, but even then she could be there for intelligence gathering or something. Maybe she was planning to go after SDC shipments from things Weiss had let slip? What if they were targeting her family back in Atlas? What if they went after Klein or Winter? What if? What if? What if?
Weiss groaned as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, her logic was faulty at the moment and she didn't like it. The heiress lacked the information to properly come to a conclusion on just how and why Blake Belladonna had come to Beacon and made her way onto Weiss' team and Weiss did not care for it. Things were easier when they could be fit into boxes and archived, but her teammate had managed to shred her box from the inside out in minutes the night before and there wasn't enough tape in the world for Weiss to begin putting it back together.
Something of Weiss' mood must've shown on her face, because the normally silent member of her group decided to speak up, "A lien for your thoughts?"
Weiss turned up to see the stoic face of Lie Ren looking down at her, not unkindly, just the man wasn't expressive at the best of times. "I am… conflicted." Weiss admitted as she looked at her friend? Acquaintance? She liked Ren just fine but they had never really properly spoken before… huh? That was odd considering how much time their teams spent together.
"That makes sense." The green gunslinger said as he nodded slightly in what Weiss assumed was understanding and then promptly said nothing else.
Well that was… anticlimactic. What was the point of that? "It's just…. My family has been under almost constant threat from the White Fang for as long as I can remember. One time when I was 12 they firebombed a refinery that I was touring alongside my father. I don't know if they knew we were there or not but I still remember the heat and have a scar on my stomach from that day and it wasn't the only time. It's just the time they got closest." Weiss trailed off, uncertain as to whether she was being a bother as she looked to her quiet companion while Ruby continued to shout for their missing teammate. Weiss was honestly grateful for her partner's loud nature for once, if it allowed her to have a quiet conversation with some separated from the situation for advice.
"I see," the quiet gunslinger said, and as Weiss waited for him to continue or say anything else really he simply turned and gave her what Weiss assumed was a questioning look which she took as her signal to continue the story.
"But Blake is the same age as me, so she couldn't have been one of the ones to do it right? Surely they wouldn't have her running missions that young? But she was still one of them and it's not like that was the only attack against my company or family." Weiss slowed as she kicked the ground with her toe as she considered something she wouldn't have admitted outloud to any of her teammates.
"Are they even wrong to attack us?" Weiss whispered as she slowly shuffled along, not looking at Ren. "I know what they say about our company, and while some of it isn't true, a lot of it is. I know my father has made the SDC powerful at the expense of dragging its name through the mud. He treats low level employees terribly, both human and faunus alike, even if faunus get the worst of it. I know he uses company towns to keep them in debt and compliant and it's disgusting. I just… can't do anything about it yet."
"Weiss," she heard Ren open slowly, picking his words. The poor boy sounded uncomfortable, oh no Weiss had made it awkward and made him feel uncomfortable hadn't she? Oh no, that wasn't what she had wanted. Oh he was talking again now, "This has told me a lot about how you feel about the White Fang and your company, but it still doesn't say much about what exactly is bothering you about the Blake situation personally."
Weiss furrowed her brow as she considered his statement before answering, "I think I'm afraid... that she was never actually my friend." The snow haired girl admitted quietly. "That I was just a target that she was playing a long con on. And if I was just a target would she even be wrong in the matter? I know logically that it's more than a bit unlikely but…"
"But you're still scared." Ren finished quietly as Weiss chewed nervously on her thumb nail and nodded. "I think it is unlikely as well that she would fake this convincingly the entire time, and just because your father did bad things doesn't mean you're required to pay for his sins. Most importantly though Weiss, trying to think it out obviously isn't helping so maybe it would be better to go to the source for your answer when we find her."
"So just… ask her?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"Yes." Ren answered simply as he nodded down at her.
THAT! Honestly wasn't a bad idea… was it actually that simple? "Just go up and ask her: Belladona are you still a member of the White Fang and secretly planning to attack, kidnap, or interrogate me for information?" Weiss asked Ren as she looked up at the gunslinger in surprise. The thought had honestly never occurred to her.
"Maybe not using those words but yes," Ren nodded. "You have little to lose and much to gain by simply asking honestly."
Huh, "Thank you Ren," Weiss muttered quietly as she reached a hand up to awkwardly pat the boy on the shoulder as thanks for his assistance. She was genuinely appreciative to have someone a little less close and loud to talk to about this. As much as she appreciated her teammates, they just didn't get it, they knew Blake but they didn't know the Fang, not really.
Well that and Ruby wanted to think the best of nearly everyone. An unbiased viewpoint her team leader was very much not. Actually… where was… "Ren where's Ruby?"
"She left with some girl with orange hair that she seemed to know saying they were going to split up to cover more ground." Weiss blinked owlishly at the answer. Had she really been paying that little attention?
"Well if that's the case I suppose it's fine," Weiss muttered. "It's probably that Penny girl from yesterday and she seemed nice enough, if a little awkward. I can't see them getting into too much trou-"
At that moment there was a sound like thunder nearby and a smoke started billowing from the direction of the docks. Weiss groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose again before breaking into a run. The odds were decent that at least one of her teammates was there and directly connected to the explosion.
-HoH-
Blake wasn't quite sure when things had taken the wrong turn they did, but things had definitely gone sideways. When she had gone to talk to the other members of the Fang and found out they actually had been working with Torchwick to steal dust, that had been a rude awakening. The Fang actually drawing weapons on her when she had commanded most of them not that long ago was even worse. The shot from Torchwick that Jaune had deflected off of his shield and had bounced into a crate of dust causing an explosion had definitely been a problem. Mostly now Blake was wondering why she was looking at a very large, tawny back as a fist roughly the size of her own torso swung for Torchwick.
"Get the dust! Don't harm the children!" The lion digimon roared as he and his cohorts lept into battle and things devolved into a three way brawl. Blake watched as Jaune, Nora, and Gui moved to protect the dust crates from digimon and White Fang members alike even as Blake dashed in to fight against Torchwick alongside Sun.
Everything was pure chaos and it wasn't supposed to be like this. The White Fang was supposed to be a force for change, for equality! They weren't supposed to be two bit thugs robbing random shops in Vale. They weren't supposed to be working for a thug, a HUMAN thug like Torchwick this way. They weren't supposed to prove Weiss and all the other things people said about them right.
The distraction almost cost Blake as she rolled to the right to avoid a blow from Torchwick, leaving behind a shadow clone as she attempted to dash behind him and strike using the distraction of her clone. Or that's what should've happened. To the raven haired girl's consternation her shadow clones were nearly worthless against Torchwick as the gangster seemed to always be able to tell where she really was. He had to be used to fighting someone with a semblance like her own and at this point Blake's clones were all but pointless.
Blake broke away as Sun stepped in to take her place. She needed something to change the dynamic of the fight, something, anything. Blake blinked dumbfounded as she saw Torchwick go horizontal midair as a bright red boxing glove flew in out of nowhere to catch Torchwick in the jaw as Pyrrha's shield slammed into his legs…. that would work.
Turning her head, Blake saw Pyrrha, Yang, and Demi run onto the field from the edge of the rift as Pyrrha used her semblance to call her shield back to her arm. "Blake! What's going on?" Yang shouted, eyes flashing between red and lilac as she readied herself for battle.
"Weiss was right, White Fang has actually gone bad, working for Torchwick, Digimon appeared." Blake rattled off rapidly as she moved through the battlefield and ducked under an errant ball of fire that a yellow dinosaur had spat into the air. "The digimon are fighting the Fang and trying to avoid us, Jaune, Nora, and Gui are trying to protect the shipment from both the Fang and the digimon, and Sun and I were taking the fight to Roman Torchwick." Blake bit out as she caught an overhead blow from a pipe between her sword and cleaver.
"Who's Sun?" "Jaune's penpal?" Yang and Pyrrha asked at the same time before each of the girls blinked and turned towards each other.
"The monkey faunus from yesterday and yes, I think so." Blake answered each question before diving forward to catch the body of the monkey man in question as he dropped in front of the group.
"Ughh, I feel like I just got run over by a goliath," Sun muttered with a shake of his head as Blake helped him to his feet. "So how are you ladies? And digidude?" He amended as he caught sight of Demi and joined the group as they tried to group back up on their other friends.
"Hello! I'm Pyrrha, it's nice to meet you as well. I think you're friends with my team leader?" Blake just watched as the gladiatrix said this in the most laid back manner possible as she simultaneously lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick, catching a Fang member in the temple and raised her shield to block a bolt of energy flying in from one of the digimon.
"Who's your leader?" Blake just felt her brain go to white noise as she sidestepped a claw from a bird digimon while continuing her march. Were they really doing this?
"Jaune Arc." Pyrrha answered simply as she threw her shield out like a frisbee catching that same bird digimon between the wings and dropping it before calling it back to her hand.
"Ohhhhh! You're on Jaune's team!? It's good to meet you! He's a solid dude, he been treating your team right? I got to meet his girlfriend earlier, she seemed really sweet." Blake groaned internally, they really were doing this. Small talk in the middle of a battlefiel- oops. Blake hopped quickly over the body of one of the Fang members… was that Deery? What was the poor girl doing wrapped up in this mess? She had been one of the more moderate members of their cell.
"He's been a wonderful leader and a good friend. And I don't think they're officially dating yet? Maybe they are, if so it's brand new. They've been "dating" for a couple months now though." Pyrrha actually took a moment out of the fight to do the air quotes on the word dating. Blake could feel her sanity slipping. Why was this her life now? She must have picked the wrong corner the night before initiation. Any other would've kept her separate from Jaune and the insanity he carried with him.
"She introduced herself as his girlfriend at least. I think you're right about it being really new though, she blushed and got kinda giggly when she said it." Sun said as he fired off four rapid shots from his gunchucks.
"Dammit, I thought it was gonna take them until second semester at least. I owe Ruby two dozen cookies now. Good for vomit boy at least." Blake felt her opinion of reality drop lower as he partner and teammate joined in the conversation. There! There was Jaune and Nora and Gui and the sweet siren song of people that hopefully had good sense.
Jaune was glowing white from his semblance with a greatsword made of hardlight in his hands as he clashed blades with the lion digimon. Even as he held his ground though Nora and Gui were losing theirs. As far as Blake could see all the White Fang members were unconscious and now two other animalistic swordsmen, one lizard and the other a bird, were pushing back against the two, while the smaller ones dashed in to grab as much dust as they could.
And then they just stopped. The three digimon swordsmen broke away from their respective partners and grouped up near a pile of rookies offset from the group with a small pile of dust crates, all bearing the logo of the Schnee Dust Company. Blake moved to intercept as Jaune tried to rush the group as well, but both were brought to a halt by a single sentence.
"Stop please," the soft, resonant voice of the lion-like digimon said. "You've done well today but we need these supplies just as you need to get stronger. Plus you seem to have your hands full with your enemies here." He said, with something that was in between a chuckle and a purr in his voice.
"Let us go in peace." The lion mon said even as they all began to fade away and the rainbow tinted mist dispersed.
What happened next was kind of a blur to Blake. The VPD and emergency services were waiting right outside the rift when it fell and they moved about the docks restraining and arresting the White Fang members that hadn't been able to crawl away and escape in the confusion. To Blake's complete lack of surprise Torchwick was still missing. He was a slippery bastard already and she wouldn't be surprised if he had his own help waiting after the rift fell. Now Blake found herself in a side alley for a private conversation, twice in one day, with the Schnee heiress.
"Weiss you need to believe me, I had no idea the White Fang had slipped this far. I have no idea why they're even working with a human criminal like-" Blake's explanation was cut off though by an upraised finger from the heiress though as she gave Blake a stern look. That felt like a bad sign.
"I only have two questions for you Belladonna." Blake cringed at the last name usage from Weiss, that was a bad sign, she was definitely not happy.
"Are you still with the White Fang?" The heiress asked imperiously as she pointed a finger up at Blake with more presence than one would expect from the tiny girl.
"No Weiss, I left them when they started-"
"Ahpupupup," Weiss cut off Blake's explanation before she could even start. "You said no, that's all I needed to hear. Now for my second question, we're friends right? I wasn't a mission so you could get at my family or hurt me?"
The question was so quiet and out of left field Blake had to take a moment to process what had actually been said to make sure she had heard right. The heiress was withdrawn and more vulnerable than Blake had ever seen the proud girl before, "Weiss what are you talking about? Of course we're friends. Do you think I would put up with you as much as I do if we weren't? There isn't a single mission that would pay well enough to do it otherwise." Blake awkwardly did her best to joke as a way to lighten the mood.
It seemed to work as the pale girl smiled, reaching in for a quick hug before separating and heading back to join the rest of their team. Blake had honestly expected that to go much worse than it actually had. A reunion with the rest of her team later and Blake found herself making her way back up to her dorm room for a much needed shower and sleep in a real bed.
Blake had to hide a snort, three months of creature comforts had softened her up a bit it seemed. A quick nap before dinner couldn't hurt with the day she had just had right?
As Blake laid her head down on the pillow and slipped an arm underneath it she felt something hard and metallic bump against her wrist, that was odd. Blake pulled off the pillow to see something that resembled that stopwatch of Jaune's except this one had a purple and black theme. That was weird, where had it come fro-
Blake's train of thought was cut off by a knock at the door of her room and as Blake moved to open it she was met with the face of true evil staring up at her with more intelligence than it had any right to.
"Good evening madam, I believe I've been looking for you for a long time now." A smooth, cultured voice said with perfect diction.
Blake shrieked and clambered back up onto her bunk as quickly as she could while the monstrosity looked at her, confusion spread across it's disgusting face.
"If this is about the fracas earlier this evening madam I am terribly sorry for my part in it but for whatever credit I may be due I did properly belt that scoundrel you were fighting. Surely we can use that as a basis going forward in our partnership?" Said the blue furred, canine digimon with bright red boxing gloves.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Hey y'all, sorry it's a day late. I hope you enjoyed the chapter as we finally finish out volume 1 of RWBY lol. So just a heads up I'm gonna be taking a hiatus from uploading for the next few weeks. I'm gonna be taking a break for the holidays, partially because, ya know, holidays and partially because I've been writing with no buffer ever since I started and trying to get stuff out every Friday is kinda exhausting even if I still love writing lol. So yeah I figured a holiday break would be just what the doctor ordered. I observe Three Wise Men's Day so y'all should expect to see me back with uploads on January 8th. I hope you all have a great day and a happy set of whatever holidays you observe, and remember, don't forget to love each other.