(Volume 1) Chapter 9 - The Strays
City Of Vale
It is the next day as the bright sky overviews the streets of Vale being decorated in time for the Vytal Festival. Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons are proudly on display, and Team RWBY and SANR is strolling through it all with an awed Weiss in the front. A sign is being put up by the elderly that reads in bright red letters "WELCOME TO VALE!" for all the foreign newcomers from their respective kingdoms of Remnant.
Silver watches the festival is preparing as Ruby is looking around as well.
"First time Ruby?" Silver asked.
"Yeah, I can't wait for the Vytal Festival!" Ruby squealed.
"Thinking your team would win?" Silver asked again.
"Yep, I have already planned new moves for my team!" Ruby gleamed.
"Don't expect us to go easy because we are your friends." Silver smiled.
"Yeah..." Ruby giggled.
Weiss stops and raises her arms in amazement, "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" She gleamed.
Rusty sneaks besides Albus' ear, "She really likes these stuff." He whispered.
"That's Weiss for you." Albus replied.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby said then frowned a little, "It's kinda weirding me out..."
Weiss turns to Ruby, "How could you not smile?" She questioned, "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!" She explained as they continued walking.
"That is reasonable." Silver agreed, "It's supposed to represent all of Remnant."
"Exactly!" Weiss concurred.
"All I hear are constant chatter." Rusty replied with no interest.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang sighs, with her arms crossed.
"Quiet, you!" Weiss remarked.
The two teams stop near the docks as the sounds of foghorns are heard.
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asks.
Ruby was covering her nose, "Ugh, they smell like fish!" She complained.
"I'm pretty sure we should get used to it." Silver tries to encourage Ruby.
"Well, I know who won't mind at all." Nigel replied as he turned to see Blake who acted with a slight embarrassment.
"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss explained, "And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"
"I get the feeling that's not your true intention Weiss..." Albus doubted.
As Weiss starts walking away again, Blake decides to reveal it, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." She said.
Weiss immediately trunks around, "You can't prove that!" She immediately denied.
"And now I know." Albus replied.
"Whoa." Ruby notices something from the right as the two teams look at a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape of the Vale Police Force before walking over to the detective in front, who is writing on his pad.
"Someone broke in a dust shop." ALbus pointed out.
"We should investigate!" Ruby suggests as the two teams arrive near the scene.
"What happened here?" She asked.
"Robbery." The first detective answered, "Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." He walks over to his partner.
"That's terrible." Yang sighs sadly as Rusty felt a bit sadder.
"They left all the money again." The second detective replied to his partner.
Ruby turns her head when she hears this, "Huh?"
"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense." The first detective responded, "Who needs that much Dust?"
"I don't know, an army?" The second detective proposes.
"You thinking the White Fang?" First detective guessed.
The second detective removed his sunglasses, "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."
Nigel lowers his head when the two mention the White Fang, Blake notices it and tries to help him but just when things get worse.
"Hmph! The White Fang." Weiss crossed her arms and pointed her nose in the air with her eyes closed. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"
Nigel perked up when hearing this, looking hurt by Weiss' words this caused Blake to glare at Weiss.
"What's your problem?" Blake asked accusingly.
Weiss turns to her, "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." She responded.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake crosses her arms, getting serious. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
Nigel watches these two argue, he's starting to feel even more hurt by now.
"Misguided?" Weiss questions sarcastically. "They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"
"Weiss..." Albus tires to speak but Blake intervenue.
"So then they're very misguided." Blake raises her voice. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"
Nigel smiles by hearing this.
"Hmm... Blake's got a point." Ruby agrees. "Besides, the police never caught that guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."
"We have stopped him from robbing Dust." Silver added.
"Yeah!" Ruby pointed out, "So it would be him!"
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss still scowls much to Blake's growing anger. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"Ahem!" Rusty gestured to Nigel who looked sad by Weiss' words.
Albus was shocked, realising that Weiss' grudge against the White Fang is still here, there wasn't any mention since then until now.
"That's not necessarily true. We have Nigel who is-" Yang disagrees.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!" A voice called out which startles the conversation, the teams overhears the cry for help and rush over to investigate, a Faunus with a golden monkey tail is seen running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as the two sailors are about to apprehend him.
'Oh no...' Albus realised what is going to happen.
The monkey faunus looks back at his pursuers, "Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!" He laughs off and jumps and hits the dock running.
"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors yells.
The monkey faunus uses his tail to hang on a lamppost while he peels back a banana, "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" He said as before he eats it, one of the detectives down below throws a stone at him to get his attention.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" The detective shouted.
As soon as he said it a banana peel drops on the detective's face, who growls in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirls up to crouch on the lamppost, laughs in amusement, and proceeds to leap off and run away from the detectives. As he runs past Team RWBY and SANR, he winks at an astonished Blake as he continues to be chased by the officers Nigel notices this and stares at the monkey faunus in confusion and a small hint of jealousy?
Yang watches the Faunus get farther and farther away and turns to Nigel, "Umm... Sorry about that." Nigel quickly snaps out of it as she turns to Weiss. "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."
"Quick!" Weiss holding up a finger. "We have to observe him!"
Weiss, Yang, and Ruby give chase.
"Wait up!" Rusty shouts as he joins them along with Silver and Albus. Blake stands still, lost in thought.
"Blake?" Nigel's voice caused Blake to come back to reality.
"Hmm?" She replied.
"They are going." Nigel pointed out.
"R-right..." Blake said as she and Nigel followed their friends. The team rounds the next corner, but then Weiss bumps into someone and trips. She looks up only to see the monkey faunus jump on to a building and disappear from her view.
"No, he got away!" Weiss groans.
"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang points strangely at the girl underneath her teammate.
Weiss finally sees that she fell on a smiling girl, which startles the heiress and she hastily gets up.
"Sal-u-ta-tions!" The girl greeted while still down on the ground, smiling widely.
"Um... hello." Ruby greeted back.
"Hi." Rusty replied.
Albus watches the girl, something fishy is about the girl.
"Are you... okay?" Yang asks.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking." The girl replied.
The teams look at each other in bewilderment before Yang speaks up again. "Do you... wanna get up?"
The girl thinks about this for a moment before speaking, "Yes!" She leaps back on her feet while the team steps back a little. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby." Ruby introduces herself.
"Silver." Silver added.
"Rusty and these are Nigel and Albus." Rusty introduces along with his team.
"I'm Weiss." Weiss introduces.
"Blake." Blake does the same.
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang questions before Rusty hits her side. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeats the same thing.
"You already said that." Weiss said.
Penny pauses for a moment before replying. "So I did!"
Rusty whispers Albus, "That girl is confusing..." Which Albus nodded.
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologies as they turn around and start walking away.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby waves her arm. As soon as they get far enough away from a startled Penny.
"She was... weird..." Yang commented.
"You don't have to agree." Rusty agrees.
"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss looks around.
Just then Penny suddenly in front of a surprised Weiss, "What did you call me?" She asked.
All the sudden they panicked except Silver. "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Both Rusty and Yang apologize at the same time while raising their hands.
"No, not you." Penny walks through the group and leans her head down to Ruby. "You!"
"Me?" Ruby startled, "I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..."" She tries to speak.
"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?" Penny asks with an excited tone.
"Uuuum..." Ruby struggles for an answer as she looks over Penny's shoulder while her teammates motion to deny her along with Team SANR expect Silver which he shrugs, "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?" She said.
This caused Ruby's and Silver's teammates to comically faint, but Penny looks overjoyed and laughs. "Sen-sational!" Penny gleamed, "Another friend but it's a girl! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She gestured to Silver, this caused Rusty and Yang suddenly stood up with a shocked face of what she is talking about.
This caused Ruby to blushed as SIlver raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"I-I-I..." Ruby stutters trying to speak before releasing what she said, "Another friend?" She asked.
Penny nods, "You are my second one!" She explains with happiness, "Although you are the first girl friend I've met." Albus thought something familiar about this girl, it was mentioned before...
'Doh!' Albus shook his thought. "Maybe next time..."
"You mean a friend as a girl?" Rusty asks as he stands up which Penny nods again.
"Huh..." Ruby understood as Weiss stood up and brushed herself off.
Albus stood beside Weiss, "Is this like this when you met Ruby?" He asked his childhood friend.
"No, she seems far more coordinated." Weiss replied.
"So..." Yang smirks by Penny's comment, "What are you doing in Vale?" She asks.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny answers.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss is surprised.
"I'm combat ready!" Penny reported while saluting.
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss comments.
"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake retorts.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss refutes with her arms crossed.
Ruby speeds over to Weiss' side, "Yeah!" Weiss holds out her hand and Ruby low-fives it.
"Weiss, please don't defend this..." Albus groans.
"Wait a minute." Realization hits Weiss as she walks over to Penny and grabs her by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"
"The who...?" Penny questions.
Weiss holds up a poor drawing of the criminal-in-question which Albus was confused trying to figure out where did she get the paper from. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Please stop..." Nigel's voice trembles. This caused Weiss' attention to Nigel and Blake.
"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake yells, annoyed.
Blake walks over to Weiss, angry as Nigel still looks down. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss releases Penny, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" As she motions to objects around her.
"Stop it!" Blake shouted.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!" Weiss says.
Blake growls, clenching her fist. "You ignorant little brat!"
Weiss looks offended, but when Blake walks away, she follows. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"
"You are a judgmental little girl." Blake scowled.
"What in the world makes you say that?" Weiss questions.
"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake reasons.
Nigel watches Blake trying to defend the monkey faunus and hi, he doesn't know what to do.
Albus notices this and places his hand on Nigel's shoulder, "Sorry about Weiss." He apologises, "She has faced negative experiences towards them due to the White Fang and the Schnee Dust Company."
"And what about Nevada Industries?" Nigel asks.
"My father cares for the people and is willing to help them even to Faunus so I have no grudges." Albus explains, "I can't see the same to Weiss tho..." Silver listens to their conversation.
Yang sliding up to Ruby, looking uncomfortable, "Um, I think we should probably go..." She suggested.
"So much for a long trip." Rusty groans.
Penny popping up behind them, smiling, "Where are we going?" She asks.
Albus turned around, "I think you should go Penny." He suggests.
Rusty looked disappointed but thought something else, "Hey Ruby, did you talk to Silver?"
Ruby blushed again, "I speak to him about the Vytal Tournament."
"You're saying about which of us would win huh?" Yang questions her sister.
"Bet Cap'n says we are going to be the best of the best." Rusty states.
"Oh really?" Yang questions as this caused these two to stare each other with determination.
Silver joins up to Ruby as he sees Rusty and Yang glaring at each other with their smiles, "Is something going on?" He asks.
"Nothing..." Ruby replied as Blake and Weiss are still arguing.
"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!" Weiss said.
Blake: "That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Blake disagrees.
RWBY Dorm
The argument went in the afternoon near the docks. It is night time as they arrived at Beacon Academy as Team SANR went to their dorm while Blake and Weiss are still arguing.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss says.
"That is the problem!" Blake shouts.
Weiss gets up from her bed, "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" She claims.
Blake gets on her feet as well, "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!" She pointed out.
"People like me?" Weiss is offended by that.
"You're discriminatory!" Blake shouted.
"I'm a victim!" Weiss yells back as they stare each other down in silence, Weiss leans in close, leering as she speaks quietly, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? She leans against the bookshelf by the window, "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 ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." She bangs her fist on the bookshelf.
"Weiss, I-" Ruby was going over to comfort her.
"No!" Weiss shouted as she turned away and walked back over to Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" She stated.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake yelled.
Silence drops down on the scene again. A surprised Weiss backs away slowly, and Blake realizes her mistake as she looks around at her teammates.
"I... I..." Blake tries to speak but she dashes out the door.
"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby runs over to the door and calls to her down the hallway as Yang sits herself down and Weiss looks down.
Suddenly a door opens up as Nigel runs up to the hallway as Silver watches him go, joined by Rusty and Albus.
"What just happened?" Rusty questions.
"I think I know..." Albus grimaces.
"Where is Nigel going?" Ruby asked.
"...He's going to help Blake." Silver replied.
"Should we-" Ruby tries to help.
"No." Silver interrupted, "They've known each other longer than us." He explains.
Flashback
Meanwhile at SANR dorm, they were resting on their beds except Nigel who was sitting on his bed, his wolf ears perking from the left side of the room. Rusty notices him acting odd.
"Is he okay?" Rusty asks in concern.
"He's been having some time listening to them." Albus explained.
"Who?" Rusty asks again.
"Weiss and Blake." Albus answered.
"Ah..." Rusty nodded as he turned to Nigel, "How are they doing now?"
Rusty receives a silent answer, Albus taps Nigel's shoulder, "Huh?" Nigel perked as he saw Albus pointing to Rusty.
"They are still arguing." Nigel replied with a sorrow look.
"Damn... That Ice Queen is still frozen cold." Rusty scowls.
"Hey! She wasn't like this!" Albus refutes, "It's just her past life knowing these faunus are always negative, it's impacting her."
"Right sorry about that." Rusty sighed.
"But still she hasn't known why it happens, I haven't confirmed them yet..." Albus replied.
"Like what?" Rusty asked.
"In the Schnee Dust Company there are mentions of Faunus Slavery even reports of ancidents that led to death." Nigel sorely explains, "My parents were one of them."
This leaves Albus and Rusty with shocked faces.
"Nigel..." Albus tries to speak.
"It's okay, I don't hold grudges against them." Nigel interrupts, "I knew inflicting them back won't change anything. So I got to accept the past and continue on what plans are ahead in the future." He explains.
"Like becoming a huntsman?" Rusty gestured to where they are.
"Yes, becoming like them I can be these people that are willing to help anyone." Nigel describes his reasons.
"As we all do." Silver concluded leaving silence until Nigel's wolf ears stood up immediately, he realised what was happening as he ran towards the door.
"Blake!" Nigel fretted.
(Blake POV)
Blake runs outside and arrives at a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping, staring at the under the stone heroes in particular.
She closes her eyes and slowly lifts her arms up to her bow and pulls the string to release the bow from her hair revealing her Faunus cat ears. She wipes a tear away, almost on verge of crying, she becomes startled when she hears a familiar voice above her.
"Blake!" Nigel arrived at her, he took small breaths before speaking. "I've found you..."
"Nigel?" Blake said.
"I've heard what you said." He replied.
Blake sighs as she looks away. "I-I didn't know what to do..."
"You are running away from it..." Nigel sadly queried.
"Blake you have to learn that running away is not the answer." Nigel explains.
Blake looks down until another voice calls out: "I knew you would look better without the bow."
The two turn around and look up which reveal the same monkey faunus from before.
"Hey guys!" The monkey faunus wave.
Next Morning
The next morning at Beacon. Ruby wakes up from her beauty sleep, yawning in the process. She looks over at Blake's empty bunk, and groans sadly.
She walks out of her dorm, fully dressed; she knocks on the door next to her dorm which Silver already dressed has opened.
"Is Nigel here?" Ruby asks.
"No, and let me guess Blake isn't here too." Silver replied which Ruby nodded.
"We have to find them." Ruby suggests.
"Agreed." Silver nodded.
Later On
Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Silver, Albus and Rusty are walking through the empty streets of Vale.
"She's been gone all weekend..." Ruby says sadly.
"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself!" Weiss replied.
"Ice Queen is getting more and more colder." Rusty said, making Albus slightly growl, "Sorry." He quickly apologises.
"Seriously Rusty?" Yang questions as she turns to Weiss, "Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates." She defends Blake.
"Is she? We all heard what she said!" Weiss points out, "And if Nigel is helping Blake he must be-"
"Weiss." Ruby snaps.
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her and Nigel!" Yang replied.
"Yeah, they are our teammates!" Rusty agrees.
"Two members of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" Weiss says.
"Weiss please..." Albus exasperated, deciding now it would be a time to talk about this.
"I just hope they are okay..." Ruby mutters.
"They'll be alright." Silver assures as he places his hand on her shoulder.
Somewhere In Vale
Elsewhere, Blake is sipping a cup of tea and sighing along with Nigel with his cup of tea that has been untouched. They look at the monkey Faunus sitting across them, who holds his drink with his tail as his hand props his head up. He takes a sip when Blake puts her cup down, she looks at Nigel who nods knowing what she would do.
"So, you want to know more about me..." Blake said.
This is it. The second last chapter of Volume 1, let's just say this isn't my best writing and please layout the flaws I have here.
Right now Weiss and Albus will soon talk about the White Fang and Faunus mistreatment, while the others will be having their own conversations including more with relationships between Silver and Ruby and Yang and Rusty, etc. So thanks for listening and enjoy the story, feel free to tell me your opinion abut it.