Akamu thought he woke up. It felt like it, he could feel his surroundings, but something felt off. He opened his eyes, only to be met with a pure black void, himself lit perfectly. The place looked familiar. Standing up, the ground felt like warm glass, but with no vibrations. Then, as he focused to try and figure out where he was, he heard something. He couldn't make out who it was, or what they were saying, but it was a male, voice light like Akamu's own. As he focused his ears, Akamu realized that he wasn't hearing, but instead it was ringing out through his head. 'Is this my semblance?' Feeling suddenly fatigued, he began stumbling before hitting his head on the ground.
Akamu felt his eyes open to the sight of his private quarters. His head hurt, and a quick check of his scroll showed that his aura was entirely depleted. The time read that it was later than he usually slept, but the alarm in the main room hadn't gone off yet. Standing up, he got dressed, loading Prelude with gravity dust. He stared at his scarf, it reminding him of his mother. Akamu wished he could remember her face. Avoiding melancholy feelings, he stepped out of the closet only to see the rest of his team, sans Blake, fully dressed.
A whole weekend of searching for Blake passed, with the result of finding nothing. Akamu was now extremely worried. While she was one of the better fighters in terms of their school, Torchwick clearly somehow got away from Ruby in the past, meaning he could very well have hurt her. Shaking the negative thoughts out of his head, he continued to stroll forward, head on a swivel for his faunus teammate. To be honest, he expected the other members to be calling Blake's name, but they were silent.
"I'm wondering if we should contact the police to help..." Weiss said, quietly.
Yang sighed. "The issue with that is they might find out her affiliation with the White Fang, and that could get her into deeper trouble."
"Yeah, I know." Weiss replied "I just think that we aren't getting anywhere ourselves."
Akamu felt a familiar feeling in his stomach. "I think we have a good chance of finding her today." He said, with a strange confidence.
"And I think that Weiss' hair looks stunning today!" A sudden voice said from behind Akamu.
Just about everyone jumped away, Ruby squeaking in shock. "Eep! Penny! Where did you come from!?"
"Hi guys, what are you up to?" Penny replied, ignoring Ruby's question.
"We're looking for our friend Blake." Yang explained.
"Oh, you mean the faunus girl!" Penny confirmed, everyone but Akamu staring at her, confused.
"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asked.
Penny pointed to her head. "The cat ears?"
Yang laughed a little. "What cat ears? She wears a... bow... ooooohhhhhh..."
Akamu looked at his team, befuddled. He could swear he saw a tumbleweed fly past in the time it took for them to realize.
"She does like tuna a lot..." Ruby whispered.
Penny broke the silence. "So, where is she?"
"We don't know." Weiss said, out of the blue.
"She's been missing since Friday." Ruby finished.
Penny gasped. "That's absolutely terrible!" She then approached Ruby, violating personal space. "Don't you worry friend, I won't rest until we find your teammate!"
Ruby looked like the definition of uncomfortable. "That's really nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Right..." Ruby looked back at her team which now only consisted of Akamu. "Guys?"
Akamu didn't even notice them leave, which was rather shocking. Again, he swore he saw a tumbleweed pass through the street.
"It sure is windy today!" Penny said, making Akamu realize that the tumbleweeds were real. 'We aren't anywhere near a desert! What!?'
Yang and Weiss exited a shop, still somewhat winded from legging it away from Penny. Yang waved over her shoulder and called a thanks at the shopkeep.
"Urgh, I can't help but feel like this whole search is worthless." Yang said, getting irritated. She then looked at Weiss, deep in thought. "To be honest, I thought you would've cared less about finding Blake."
Weiss snapped out of her thoughts to reply. "What!? I would've cared no matter what! Maybe less, sure, but I would've always cared! She's our teammate, Yang, and even though she hid some things from us I still care about her!" Weiss inhaled, obviously thinking.
"What's up?" Yang asked, somewhat concerned.
"It's just..." Weiss started, looking for the best way to word her thoughts. "All my life, I've been taught that 'The innocent never run!'" She said, making a fake male voice. "But, lately, I've been starting to doubt the things those person has taught me. And a certain other faunus practically pushed me over the line on that." She sighed, remembering Akamu's story. It didn't feel real, but the emotions on his face definitely were. She didn't know him for lying, just dodging conversation.
"So?" Yang asked, subtly encouraging Weiss to finish her thoughts while making her own.
Weiss inhaled. "So. I want to hear her out, but I'm worried about what she's going to do or say when we face her again. I don't want her to keep running, Yang." She said, a hint of emotion showing through her face. "She's one of the few real friends I have, and I don't want to lose that. She's important to me." Realizing what she just said, Weiss quickly turned around to face Yang, embarrassed. "You never, ever, repeat what I just said to any other person." She pushed a finger to Yang's chest. "Understood?"
Yang did her best to not laugh. "Y-yeah, sure, I promise."
Akamu, Ruby, and Penny walked down the street as the sun started to set.
"So, is Blake your friend?" Penny asked innocently.
Ruby sighed. "Yeah, she is."
"But you're mad at her?" Penny asked.
"Yes. Well, actually, no, nobody's angry at her. Weiss was, but I think that's changed." Ruby said, parsing her thoughts.
"Is she still friends with Blake?" Penny continued with her questions.
"Well, that's kinda up in the air right now." Ruby answered.
Penny paused for a moment. "But why?"
Ruby sighed again. "Well, Blake might no be who we thought she was."
Penny gasped. "Is she a man, Ruby!?"
"Wh- No!" Ruby answered, somewhat embarrassed. "It's just... We don't know who she is as a person and she didn't exactly talk to us before she ran off."
Penny paused again. "I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."
Ruby looked down, sadness written all over her face. "Me too, Penny... Me too..."
Akamu thought for the best way for him to comfort her. He simply brushed shoulders and did his best smile at her, which she responded with after looking at him. Again, he got the call of his semblance.
"Right, well, we should keep going. If anything, I need something to eat." Akamu said, now looking for the nearest food stop.
Leaving the sushi shop, Akamu sighed in relief, but noted that Penny hasn't eaten anything all day. She claimed she wasn't hungry, but that seemed strange. Again the small group set off looking for the other faunus of the team. A few minutes passed before Akamu suddenly got a very familiar ping, though not one he'd felt in months now. Out of instinct, he drew his sword and pointed himself towards wherever his semblance told him. He faced towards the dock.
Surprised, Ruby concernedly asked. "Akamu, what's u-"
BANG!
A massive explosion rang out from the docks, and smoke rose above the rooftops.
"Oh no..." Ruby said quietly, starting towards the explosion. Akamu and Penny followed, the latter following with much more ease than both expected.
The run felt like it took hours, Akamu wishing he could have been faster. Realizing no way but up, he launched Prelude. Realizing it wouldn't go high enough normally, he pumped gravity dust inside the dart to make it weightless, watching as the dart flew over the lip. Pulling himself over the edge, this time with much more practice than the first time he tried the stunt, Akamu turned back to his teammates. Ruby used her semblance to gain enough speed to launch herself up, while Penny jumped off some nearby boxes. Running over to the other edge of the building with his current compatriots, he saw a person that fit the description of Torchwick holding up the business end of a cane gun to the monkey faunus he saw friday.
He also saw Blake separated from the other faunus by a large dust container.
"Hey!" Ruby called out, trying to get Torchwick's attention. She also extended Crescent Rose with a flourish.
'Whoa... So cool!' Akamu silently thought, trying to hold his excitement at bay.
Torchwick turned to Ruby, waved, and smiled. "Why, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Ruby, are these people your friends?" Penny asked, approaching behind Ruby.
"Penny, get back!" Ruby yelled, turning away from the dapper criminal.
Watching as Torchwick lifted his cane, Akamu quickly stood in front of his team lead and focused. 'Come on, Akamu!' He couldn't tell if that was his internal thoughts or his newly comprehensible semblance. Suddenly, he felt his aura focus as he saw the bullet flying towards him. It was large, and the red tip led Akamu to believe it would blow up. If he dodged, Ruby would get hit, but if he parried the bullet, both would go flying, Akamu taking most of the brunt. The choice was clear.
Spinning his blade, the rocket hit, most of the impact winding Akamu than damaging him thanks to the blade taking most of the shrapnel. Ensuring he wouldn't land on Ruby, Akamu fired Prelude into the rooftop and pulled himself off to the side, tumbling onto his feet and sliding into crouched pose. Pulling the dart back to conserve ammo, he heard Torchwick.
"Ooh, and you got yourself a new friend! Hmm, looks like I have to delegate." Torchwick said, snapping his fingers as a group of White Fang separated to climb the building. Akamu watched as Penny's face turned from shock to anger. Akamu wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time Penny had actually felt angry.
"Penny, don't!" Ruby called, standing up as Penny shot a death glare at Torchwick.
"Don't worry, Ruby!" Penny said, pausing for dramatic effect. "I'm combat ready!" Suddenly, her backpack opened to reveal a blade that floated upwards, then separating into somewhere around ten blades, by Akamu's count. Launching herself off the building to deal with Torchwick, the White Fang sent before began pouring onto the rooftop.
"Ruby, we got a problem!" Akamu yelled to his team lead, her shooting him a knowing look. With a nod, both took off for opposite ends of the building to deal with their own problems.
Akamu ran at his opponent, a comparatively giant faunus holding a large axe. In almost all aspects, Akamu was outmatched, but he still carried himself forward. Predicting Akamu's movements, the big man wound up to swing at the small wolf. Following the wide swing, Akamu ducked under the axe, using his momentum to slide himself between the oaf's legs. What Akamu didn't account for was friction bringing him to a stop right at the large man's feet, a fist sending him flying back.
Thinking faster than he was flying, Akamu fired off Prelude into the edge of the building opposite of Torchwick, sending him flying below the lip. Spinning the pommel of Epilogue off his belt, he lined up the yellow marking with the rest of the sword and flew back over the top of the lip. Quickly, released the cable, sending him straight towards his enemy at a breakneck speed. Blocking with his axe, the large man steadied himself to prepare for another assault.
Predicting this, Akamu flicked the switch on Epilogue, sending a bright yellow light up the blade as he slammed the edge into the handle of the axe. As electricity suddenly flew up both ways on the axe, the large man suddenly found himself locked into place, while Akamu angled his sword to send him into a vertical spin, Epilogue marking the furthest point from him. Akamu didn't expect just how fast he would be spinning, but that proved to simultaneously also be a benefit as he felt the resistance of the man's aura as Epilogue threatened to split his head open.
Taking advantage of his high speed and opponent's stun, Akamu again fired Prelude to fling him around the edges of the building. As he flew around, he noticed as chunks of Bullhead flew into the water. As Akamu rounded the edge again, he launched himself towards the stomach, another slash landed. One last time, the wolf faunus fired Prelude to make another hit and run. However, this time, Akamu noted the large man moving, ready to try knock Akamu out of the air. Panicking, Akamu moved to ground himself, relaunching Prelude to arc himself onto the rooftop. Coming up with a different attack plan, Akamu span his pommel to a darker purple.
Following his momentum through, Akamu crash landed and tumbled towards the giant, managing to dodge a redirected axe smash. Noting his feet pointed towards the ground and his distance from the large man, Akamu jumped and flipped the switch on Epilogue, turning the edge into a dark purple. With a rising slash, most of his momentum put into the blade, Akamu felt as the previously immovable force gave and the giant flew into the air. Launching Prelude into the chest of the large man, Akamu pulled himself up towards the man, noting the suddenly huge weight of Epilogue. Finally, Akamu planted his feet aside the dart lodged in the armor before releasing said dart and using his new weight to kick the large man over the edge of the building.
With a posed landing, Akamu noted as his aura protected him from what would have been broken legs, and Ruby moving over towards him. A quick check of his scroll showed that his aura was almost entirely depleted. 'That explosion only should have knocked me down a quarter; how strong was that guy!?'
"Hey, you okay?" Ruby said, checking on her teammate. Both didn't notice the thud of a man hitting the street, unconscious.
Standing up, the wolf faunus flourished his sword, ready to use it again. "Yes, I-" Akamu was interrupted by the sound of a Bulkhead taking off, in the doorway was Torchwick. Akamu raised his hand to fire Prelude, but lowered it again. Even if he managed to get up there, he was at a severe disadvantage and would most definitely lose the fight.
"Woah, did..." Ruby started, looking out at the dockyards. "Did Penny do all this?" Several White Fang soldiers lay on the ground, curled in pain. Additionally, several cargo containers were strewn about the yard, along with the exploded wreckage of another Bulkhead. Strangely, Penny was nowhere to be seen.
Akamu sat on a crate, a cup of water in his hands and one earbud in. He had been mulling over what had happened in the past hour. After being questioned by both police and Ozpin, all he wanted was to go home. Suddenly, the bright clothing of the other half of his team caught his eye. Weiss and Yang both approached.
"Weiss, Akamu was right, she has kitty ears under her bow! They're actually kinda cute..." Ruby said, getting up to approach the Ice Queen. Weiss shot the team lead the tiniest smile and continued walking towards Blake who was now getting up.
Blake started before Weiss could open her mouth. "Weiss, I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I-"
"Stop!" Weiss interjected. "Do you have any idea we have been looking for you?" Weiss stopped, obviously counting by how her fingers were moving. "At least 24 hours of doing nothing but looking for you. And while I'm annoyed at you because it took so long..." She paused, regathering her emotions. "I don't care that you were with the White Fang."
"... Wait, what?" Blake said, shocked. "Y-you don't care?"
"You said you weren't with them anymore, right?"
"No, n-not since I was younger, I-"
Weiss held up a finger to silence Blake. "Nope! Don't want to hear it." Weiss took a moment and looked at Akamu. "Look, all I want to know is that if something this big comes up again you will come to your teammates. And not..." She shifted her gaze to the monkey faunus known as Sun. "Someone else. Especially him."
Blake looked at the rest of her team with teary eyes, all of whom looked at her with big smiles. "Yeah, okay." She said, wiping her face.
There was a large pause in conversation before Ruby spoke up again. "Aw, yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" She looked at Akamu for a second. "Sorry Akamu, gonna have to come up with a new team name, huh?"
The wolf faunus just laughed to himself before speaking with sarcasm thick in his voice. "Oh, wow, so first you call Blake's ears cute and not mine, then exclude me from the team acronym?" Akamu held his hands in front of his chest. "I am hurt, R-heh-Ruby" He said, not even managing to get the joke out without giggling.
The group laughed for a bit before Ruby remembered something. "Hey, wait, did either of you two see Penny?" She asked Weiss and Yang. Both shook their heads no. Ruby just make a 'Hrmmm' noise and looked around a little bit. The girl had been missing for a while, now.
"Oh, wow, I'm... I'm sorry that happened to you, Akamu." Blake responded as Akamu finished telling the same story he told the rest of the party, this time with far less emotion, leaning against the headboard on Blake's bed.
Akamu shrugged. "Meh, it's all in the past now. If anything, I'm kinda glad it happened. The hair's pretty neat, and while I didn't exactly..." Akamu paused for a moment, before restarting the sentence. "While I don't look fondly upon my time in the White Fang, I'm glad I learned what I did while there."
"I..." Blake thought for a moment. "I know how that feels." She said, looking at Akamu with a strange look in her eyes.
"It's still hard to believe, you know?" Yang said, sitting in her bed. "I mean, I know bad people are out there, but... How can they just do that?"
"Some people only care about money." Weiss said, looking down somewhat. Akamu couldn't make out what she said under her breath after that.
Ruby started to say something before restarting. "It... That's why there's people like us. Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't just Grimm hunters, you know. The most renowned ones out there fight for what is right." She paused for a moment before starting on a different topic. "So, Ozpin's supposed to give me an update on what's going to happen with us soon."
"This late?" Akamu asked.
Ruby yawned. "Well, we did kinda get involved in a giant investigation, and fought the White Fang. Guess he's gotta punish us or something." Just as she finished saying that, there was a knock on the door. Weiss stood up and opened it, revealing a still-dressed Ozpin.
"Good evening, students. May I come in?" He asked, his face as neutral as ever. Ruby scrambled to get out of bed, but Ozpin held up a hand to stop her.
"Uh, yeah!" Ruby said, to which Ozpin entered the room and pulled over the chair from the desk to sit down in the center of the room.
Clearing his throat, the Headmaster started. "You all have a week away from school." A confused gasp echoed through every teammate. "Officially, you all are suspended from all school activities for the next week, but unofficially, you all have some free time." A smile graced his lips. "None of your parents have been contacted, so as far as they know you're still in school. Any questions?"
Weiss spoke up. "Can we leave school premises?"
"Yes." Ozpin answered, followed by a pregnant pause. "Well, I suppose that's sorted. You all have a good night."
There was a strange silence as Ozpin placed the chair back to it's rightful place and calmly stepped out of the room. However, the second the door closed, Ruby and Yang shouted simultaneously. "Sleepover at our house!"