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To Live And Learn
CHAPTER 16
"Treat people like animals and they'll start acting like animals, then they'll be remembered as animals."
-Adria Shepherd, 'Fall of the Old Fang'
A day after that, it was now a Sunday morning and there was still no sign of Blake but that didn't stop her team from searching for her. They did not have any intention of stopping until they knew she was okay.
I didn't want to keep worrying about Blake during the last day before the break so I decided to spend some time with my team and enjoy our last moments together before this semester ends. Nora, Ren, and I went to Vale to hang out for a few hours. Pyrrha was still busy with something so unfortunately couldn't she couldn't come with us.
We went to an arcade. It was a ton of fun, Ren and I played a light gun game only using one of our arms and we were surprisingly able to do well with it. Although the game leans a little bit on the unrealistic side, the gunplay had enough weight that I was able to exercise my left arm when shooting so we both got a little practice as a bonus.
Nora meanwhile spent nearly all of her money buying tokens to eventually win a prize from the dreaded claw machine. Suffice to say, she would have spent a lot less if she just simply bought one. At least she's restraining enough not to break the machine and get us banned; her raw strength was enough to shatter the machine's glasses. I was already skeptical about getting her to play the strength test, something which she could undoubtedly break without even trying. But she couldn't bother to play that because she has been stuck on the claw machine since we arrived. Can't say I blame her though, I haven't won a single prize in my entire life from a claw machine myself, these things are so rigged against you that it led some people to believe that it's made for scamming people out of their money.
I eventually felt my scroll vibrate. I took it out and saw a text message from Blake, telling me to meet her on the second floor of Café Noir in Downtown and that I should go alone with my tracker off.
That got my plans to relax for the entire day thrown out the window but at least I was able to know where Blake was and that she was okay by the loos of it. Ruby and her teammates would be thrilled to hear about this, but I, unfortunately, cannot inform them about it at the moment. I wasn't sure what she's up to but I would have to honor her wishes because otherwise it just might make all this melodramatic bullshit worse.
It was only a short walk as the café was located only a few blocks away from the arcade. I went to the balcony on the second floor as Blake instructed, eventually spotting her as she sat on a table, wearing her bow again. She was with another boy who annoyingly almost has the same color scheme as mine, only missing something black on his top. He was also a monkey faunus, [1] seeing how he carried his cup with his tail.
I assumed that Blake's teammates would get the same message and also be present, but they were nowhere to be found. I found it strange how Blake would trust me over her own teammates. We still haven't talked to each other that much outside of that chance encounter at the library during the first week, even then our conversation, if you could call it that, during that day was rather brief. It's probably because I acted too nice that she ended up trusting me. Really, it's partially my fault that her teammates have been looking for her since Friday night.
"Oh good, you're finally here," Blake noticed me approach them.
"So, he's the guy?" The monkey faunus she was accompanying asked.
"Yes," She nodded before introducing us to one another. "Sun, this is Jaune. Jaune, I'd like you to meet Sun."
"Nice to meet you. Sun Wukong. Haven Academy." He offered his hand. He seems friendly enough that someone like Blake would even bother with him.
"Arc, Jaune Arc. Beacon, the same school as hers. Nice to meet you too," I returned the gesture and took a seat.
Blake looked a little puzzled from Sun's greeting. "Haven? That's an academy in Mistral. Aren't you from Vacuo?"
"Actually, yeah I am from Vacuo, but I study at Haven. I just went back there immediately after the break to meet up with my family before taking the first ship to Vale," Sun responded.
"Then why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Blake asked, somewhat irritated.
"You never asked," he shrugged.
Blake rolled her eyes and took a sip of tea before turning to me and giving me a menu. "Here, get yourself something to drink."
"So does this place have any tanna?" I asked while reading through the menu, it was literally the first thought I had. I believed I have been separated from its taste for too long and I could really use some.
She raised a confused brow. "What's tanna?"
I kept reading the menu and saw there weren't any. "Nevermind," I replied, feeling slightly disappointed. If there was any consolation though, I would be able to drink it again once I get home the following day. "So where are your teammates, Blake? Whatever you're about to explain, I think they deserve to hear it."
The cat ears hidden beneath her bow twitched slightly. "I think they already knew, which is why I couldn't bear to show my face to them. But I did promise you that I will explain everything."
Fair enough. I only wanted to know what was going on, especially if it also meant getting Blake closer to returning to her team so I don't have to be too concerned over their affairs anymore. "Well, by all means, shoot."
She took a deep breath before she began. "Alright, here it goes… Jaune. Sun. Are you familiar with the White Fang?"
Although the name does ring a bell for some reason I can't quite put my finger on it. I could recall hearing the name a few times, I just don't know when nor was I sure why it sounded familiar. "Can't say I have," I answered.
"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them." Sun spoke up. "Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. They think they could stop the racism against us when they could barely get the subraces put aside their differences. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me."
Blake took another sip of her tea. "I was once a member of the White Fang."
I looked at her with mild surprise. Sun meanwhile coughed that he almost choked on his drink that he dropped it. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!"
"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it." Learning that did make me slightly wary of her. If what Sun said about that organization was true, that this 'White Fang' were a bunch of violent thugs, then I should be careful around Blake. I did got myself to calm down, because if she was the criminal she used to be, then she would have stirred some trouble a long time ago. Then again, her aloof demeanor could always mean that she is up to something.
She began to elaborate more about her background. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people—and I was there, I was at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist."
A youthful optimist… I know how that one felt. Which was enough for me to know that this wasn't going to end in a happily ever after as if that wasn't clear enough.
"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor, and the worst part was—it was working. We were being treated as equals, but not out of respect... out of fear." She then finished her cup. "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress."
That was… eye-opening. Thankfully, it has disproved my suspicions that Blake was still associated with that group. Still, I'm disturbed that this was all happening because of racial divisions. Prejudices die hard, I suppose and by the sound of it, I don't think The White Fang is exactly helping with that regard.
"So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She looked up, wiggling her bow. It took me a few seconds to process what she said.
"So, have you told your friends any of this?" Sun inquired. Blake's expression and silence were enough to answer it for us. It really was that bad, and I wasn't going to let it affect her too much. I still needed my glorified meatshields to work properly which is why I was even there to begin with.
"I think you should." I asserted, letting her have my opinion. "White Fang or not, that's not the first thing that would come to their mind when they hear your name. No, no. They'll think of their teammate, Blake, that shy girl who wears a big bow and likes to read. Whatever you were before, it's now in the past. Let it go," I said in my best efforts in an attempt to coerce her into ending this needless drama.
"I wish it was that simple," she sighed. "I don't know, Jaune. Especially not with Weiss. She has a vendetta against the White Fang, since the SDC has been one of their major targets. I don't think she'll forgive me for associating with a group that has been sabotaging her family's company for a while."
Well crap, I thought. That explains the commotion that happened during Friday night, it made me understand why Blake was hesitant to return to her team. This turned out to be more complicated than I thought.
"Wait, so you're telling me that you're teammates with a Schnee? Man, talk about some bad blood." Sun remarked.
"This all started when we were strolling together in the city and saw a dust shop in ruins." Blake elaborated. "The police said that the White Fang was one of the possible perpetrators, and Weiss was inclined to agree. I couldn't help but defend the White Fang and tell her that they are misguided, that was when we started to argue. Eventually, it became heated enough that I slipped into associating myself with the faunus, I ran away and the rest is history."
"Wow," Sun remarked.
"So, do you still think that this is all just a simple dispute?" Blake questioned me, slightly raising her voice.
Although she did make the situation clear, it also raised more questions. "Look, I see what you're going through. But couldn't you just tell them that you don't want to do anything with the White Fang anymore? You already saw that they do more harm than good that you left. So why did you even bother defending them?! You didn't necessarily have to make this more complicated," I pointed out, faintly annoyed that all of this was happening because of tribalism on her part.
"Even if the White Fang took their actions too far, it doesn't change the fact that Weiss made discriminatory remarks on the faunus. People like her are why some of them join the White Fang!" She gripped her empty cup. For someone who left an organization out of disgust, she really does love justifying their actions. And I thought I was a pathetic hypocrite.
"But does that make them any better?" I snapped, dropping the courtesy that I have been holding on to these past months whenever I'm around my schoolmates and letting her experience the authoritative side of me. "You said that faunus were being treated as equals out of fear, right? I may be an idiot sometimes, but I know that's not equality, Blake, because what they're doing is very counter-productive. Do you really think that people take kindly to extremism? No, they instead gave them a good reason to fear you, to keep this stupid conflict going. Don't take this the wrong way, but humans aren't going to learn that you're more than just savage animals if you keep acting like it."
I realized that I have acted too much out of character but I was not in the mood on playing dumb and pretending that this was all okay. I knew that nothing good would happen if I just let this stand. Admittedly, I'm even not sure if I know what I'm talking about, I don't actually even care about any of this. For all I know, I could be making stuff up. I just want her to stop this fiasco, forget about all of this and carry on trying to make sure I get the best out of surviving Huntsman training.
On the bright side, the café's second floor and exterior are empty. I don't like people eavesdropping on a rather personal conversation, it would have made this more awkward.
Blake paused but she wasn't giving up just yet. "You may not see it much these days, but the faunus are suffering a lot more than you think. Some of them were never given a choice but to join the White Fang because they're their only hope! If humans won't give us peace, what do you think we are supposed to do?"
"By simply proving them wrong!" I bluntly retorted while remaining still and keeping a voice at a reasonable level. That was enough to take her aback. "Success was always the best revenge. I've met faunus who were able to flourish despite everything that they have to go through. They lived well enough that they were able to gain the respect of humans that they were able to learn that faunus can co-exist with them as worthy members of society. They can learn that you are people just like us and that mistreating you won't accomplish anything. You don't need to let the worse of us get to you, so instead of throwing violent, collective tantrums and giving humans a reason to hate your people, why not prove that you're better than that? I know it's not easy and it's a long road ahead, but I do know that it's worth it." I took a moment to breathe and I continued to coax her. "And I guess you're already trying to do that by being a Huntress. Remember why you've abandoned the White Fang in favor of this. Not everyone wants to put the faunus down, Blake, many of us are doing our best to give you guys a chance, so why make things worse for us both?"
As I said, I was mostly talking in pure intuition and I actually have no idea what I'm talking about and I didn't even mean to preach. But whatever I just said, it was enough to have her frozen, she looked down at her cup and pondered on my remark.
"I can't help but agree with him. He's made a good point." Sun said after silently listening to us for a while. Regardless of whether I was right about what I said or not, it's good to know that somebody, a faunus no less, was vouching for me on this. That's a sign that I did something right at least.
Blake sighed. "You're right. I guess the White Fang that I knew and believed in is gone. I don't even know what made me think otherwise."
I put on a relieved smile at the progress I was making. "There's still a chance to set things right, Blake. And by choosing to become a Huntress, to fight for human and faunus alike against creatures that want to destroy us all. You already are trying to make a difference."
She looked at her cup for a moment before brightening up. "I'll take your word for it then."
Finally, I was able to knock some sense to her. Thank Brothers, this is why I hate politics, you have to deal with loud-mouthed dolts who have very black-and-white views on complicated matters. It's a miracle that I was even able to convince Blake to stop defending her little extremist club. "Glad that's settled."
"So what's the plan now?" Sun asked.
"While there's no denying that the White Fang has been extreme a lot lately, I still don't believe they are behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before," Blake said. By the looks of it, we were unfortunately not done with the White Fang nonsense even after I persuaded Blake to stop sympathizing with them. If anything, I've only scratched the surface of the whole situation.
"But what if they did?" Sun questioned. "I mean—the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"
Blake shrugged. "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."
Fortunately, Sun had a figurative light bulb turn on above his head. "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."
That seemed to have caught her interest. "How huge?"
"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."
"You're sure?"
"Well, you said that the White Fang hated the SDC's guts. Think about it, if they do need that much dust, then what is the better way than to steal from the company they hate so much?" He said.
"Then we're going there now," Blake concluded after doing some thinking. "Jaune, are you coming with us? We could use an extra hand. We're going to need your help should things go wrong."
I murmured for a bit as I feared that it would come to this. But declining would only prove that I was a coward, and I couldn't have that, and someone from the school had to keep an eye on Blake. "Alright, but in one condition, after you're done. You'll go back to Beacon, and you'll apologize to your team and talk it out. Deal?"
"Can't really argue with that. Deal." she conceded. She looked at the sky and saw that it was getting dark. "Best we get going, the White Fang could attack at any time. We need to be there before they do."
We stood up and left the café. I sent a message to my team saying that I'll come home late. And that's assuming that if I even get out of this alive.
"Hey Jaune, I can't help but notice that you're kind of familiar, I think I've heard about you before," Sun asked as we were making our way to the docks.
Not again, I thought to myself, hiding my groan. People are still hanging on to that by the sound of it. I know El Segador was a big deal on Vacuo, but I thought we have reached the point where that stupid story has died down and everyone moved on from it. "I have no idea what you're talking about…"
He kept staring at me before he shook his head and carried on. "Eh, I'm probably going crazy. Sorry to bother you."
That was close. Somebody reminding me of that shameful event was the last thing I needed. Hopefully, it won't get worse from here. I just want to help out a friend to keep myself on Team RWBY's good side, but now I have to get involved in racial politics and participate in what more or less would be espionage. Hooray.
I'm starting to regret leaving the dorm that night. Blake acts so much of a cat that it felt I'm trying to herd a clowder of her.
=o=
1. He also happened to be the same faunus we tried to pursue in the previous excerpt.
They say that 'curiosity kills the cat,' and I spent the entire thing worrying that it wasn't going to be a figure of speech for long. Considering that we were about to face a group that is essentially a terrorist organization. I fetched my weapons and hoped for the best while preparing for the worse. I was hoping that Blake better have eight more lives if it doesn't go well.
I've seen Blake fight more than enough to know how to have her use her skills to our advantage. The problem is that her fighting style relies on stealth and surprise attacks because there's only so much you could do when your weapon is a katana[1]-slash-simple pistol with a cable attached to it and along a sheath that can be used as a second melee weapon. I don't know much about Sun. When I asked how he fights, he answered that he uses a bow-staff that can change into two nun-chucks that also shoot bullets. His semblance allows him to summon clones of himself, but unlike Blake's clones, they possess some mass, allowing them to have physical contact. Of course, like most other useful semblance, it takes up a lot of his aura, especially if he overuses it in one sitting. This leads me to assume that his role was suited for dealing with multiple opponents at once. All of these were in case things go wrong; our objective was to investigate dust robberies and see if the White Fang was truly responsible or not. Nobody said that we had to engage with angry faunus terrorists.
We've situated ourselves at the roof of one of the warehouses, staking out the docks for hours beginning at dusk and it was painfully uneventful. We could have fallen asleep once the White Fang arrived. At least Sun brought some cards for us to play while one kept watch. Though, playing Go-Fish for a couple of hours got old pretty fast.
Sun eventually got bored and decided to head out for a few minutes. By this time, the freighter carrying the SDC containers arrived and was offloaded. After that, the dock was closed and everyone working there went home, leaving the place empty. At first glance, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you realize that there suspiciously were no guards to be found. Not even a single one. Very odd considering the SDC containers looked very valuable.
"That would be their target, isn't it?" I questioned.
"It's definitely something they would take," Blake replied assuredly.
"Strange. You'd expect a huge corporation to have their stuff guarded especially if they're constantly attacked by a specific group," I pointed out.
"Now that you've mentioned it, something feels off." She said with a pause. "Anyway, your tracker is still off right?"
"Yes, it's still off," I answered. That didn't mean I couldn't turn it back on when things get out of hand. The only reason why I even bothered to keep it off was that Blake has proven herself to be stubborn enough that selling her out wasn't going to help. If I let her get what she wants for once, then I'll be able to take her back to her team without any more trouble (aside from trying to explain the faunus stuff) and I don't have to risk Blake's trust in me.
We stared at the containers for an amount of time. Needless to say, it was dull watching a bunch of metal boxes standing still and waiting for something to happen. Out of boredom, I ended up putting my gaze into admiring Blake's pretty backside as she was lying prone. While this admittedly threw me off focus, it did motivate me to stay for another while.
I quickly stopped and turned back to overlooking the docks after hearing Sun returned with some green apples. "Did I miss anything?"
"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat; now they're just sitting there," Blake replied.
"I stole us some food!" Sun showed some of the apples he brought.
"Uhh, thanks?" I took one of them and took a bite. It was strange that I accepted generosity on a stolen good. But then again, considering my tendency to scavenge, I wasn't any better myself, but at least I stole from those who I thought deserved it and I was inconspicuous enough to keep a clean record.
"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake remarked, and this was coming from someone who used to work with the same terrorist group we were currently investigating. [2]
"Hey, weren't you in some racist revolutionary cult or something?" Sun responded, earning her glare. "Okay, too soon!"
He went back into watching the docks while both quietly munched our apples. Few minutes in and there were still no White Fang lackeys to be found. I decided to check my scroll for a quick moment and I found out that I had several missed calls from my teammates and the other members of Team RWBY. Since I was in a stake-out I had to keep my scroll on silent mode until further notice and it looks like that my friends were getting worried about us.
I was considering on giving them a message telling them that I was okay when I heard Sun call me. "Hey, Jaune."
"Yeah?" I responded, hearing him out as there was little else to do while on a stakeout.
"Can I whisper you something?" He gestured me closer. I leaned near him for what he had to say. "Are you two dating?"
I was baffled by the question. While Blake was definitely attractive in her own right and I wouldn't have my eyes fixed on finer assets otherwise, I didn't see her anything like that especially since she recently made some very unwise decisions that only proved that she would make a very bothersome person to date with, and I think I had enough of those types of girls already that I don't need to add another one to my list. "What? No! What gave you the idea?"
He gave an innocent shrug. "I just thought I'd ask." Though judging by his expression and the faint blush I have managed to spot with my keen eye, there was definitely something more to that.
"Quiet, you two! I think they're coming." Blake pointed us toward a Bullhead arriving at the docks with its searchlights on. It descended near the containers as we kept our heads low.
The Bullhead's ramp opened, instead of workers or soldiers, a group of people in unfortunately familiar apparel emerged from the aircraft. They were wearing the same black and white uniform, and the same Grimm-like visors, and carried the very same emblem on the back of their vests as the 'bandits' I ran into a few months back at Forever Fall. I wished my mind was playing tricks on me—but it wasn't.
I just realized that the White Fang was indeed the group of criminals I encountered that day. Ren was right when he thought that what we fought were more than just bandits, and I never believed him, because I was too afraid to think so. This was not good, it meant that I ended up gaining the notoriety of a godsdamn terrorist organization hellbent on making humanity pay, with one of their ex-members being a part of my sister team. They are definitely going to murder me when they find out that I was the one that subdued, looted, and reported one of their bases to the authorities, maybe even casually killing a few of their members along the way.
"Oh no," Blake murmured, and my reaction was almost too similar.
"Gods, it's really them," I muttered to myself, still in disbelief that I crossed paths with them before. Although I tried to be quiet, it didn't stop Sun from hearing me.
"You've seen them before?" he asked, with Blake turning her head at me with suspicion.
I didn't feel like explaining how I first met them, and even if I did, there was no time for it. So I just needed to throw them off of it for a little bit. "Saw them in the news." I quickly lied without losing my cool or stammering and it seemed to have been enough to convince them.
"Deep down, I knew. I just didn't want to be right," Blake frowned.
I was about to suggest leaving and maybe call the police since we got what we came here for and there wasn't need for anything to complicate things further when a voice gained all of our attention. "Hey! What's the hold-up?!"
An orange-haired man with a white coat, bowler hat, and cane walked out from the Bullhead. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything off about him, maybe aside from looking like he came straight out from The Tangerine Cogsworth, until you realize that he doesn't seem to have visible faunus features. Granted, the faunus features of the other members weren't visible either, given that they wore uniforms that almost cover their whole bodies. I assumed that this one has his hidden beneath his hat, that is until he makes a statement that immediately contradicted that, making it quite clear that he was human. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"
From what I've heard so far, The White Fang was a bunch of human-hating extremists, which explains why that I was once called a 'humie' during that Forever Falls Fiasco so it was strange that the White Fang was taking orders from a human that had the audacity to call them animals. Blake was understandably just as puzzled as I was. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that."
"This is stupid! Why the hell did they put you in charge?! I didn't sign up to get pushed around by another lowly humie like you!" One defiant member stood his ground. It seems to me that they would but they weren't particularly happy about it.
"Disobedience, huh? That's a mistake," he replied before butting his cane on the member's stomach, making him fall to the ground. The others just stood back even if they were noticeably tempted to aim their guns at him. "You can go cry to Adam all you want, but as long we agree to keep collaborating, I don't think any of you sheep can do jack shit about it! Now, are we going to do this or what?"
"Adam? Collaborate? What's going on here?" Those words seem to have caught Blake's attention so much that she stood up, drew her weapon, and leaped from the warehouse.
Sun was shocked by Blake's sudden decision to storm out. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
"Blake, wait!" I cried out. We were not supposed to confront anyone. So much for being discreet. I pulled my scroll and turned on my tracker just in case. I thought it was now the time to let everyone know where we were especially knowing that this isn't going to go very well. "Don't move. Let her take care of this for now," I told Sun.
"Well, do you have some sort of plan or what?!" He exclaimed while keeping quiet so the White Fang wouldn't hear him since Blake told us that some of the faunus might possess enhanced hearing.
"I wish I had, but I'll work something out!" I said, he could only agree at the moment. We needed to quickly think about this first since further hastiness would undoubtedly make this worse.
Blake snuck behind one of the containers and peaked to get a view of the bowler hat guy yelling at a stooge who was holding some kind of rope. "No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" He yelled before Blake came out and put her blade on his throat. From the looks of it, the guy looks more annoyed than threatened. "What the—?! Oh, for fuc—"
"Nobody move!" Blake warned as White Fang thugs surround her with their weapons drawn.
"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady," The bowler hat guy said while being held by her, remaining rather calm for someone who is being used as a hostage.
"Blake Belladonna? Is that you?" One of the terrorists recognized her, causing her to feel a bit uneasy but remained firm nonetheless. I really should have taken to account if Blake was famous in the White Fang or something because I would have anticipated this exact thing happening [3]
"Blake Belladonna?" Mr. Bowler Hat laughed. "So you're the kitten chick that Adam won't shut up about. Guess he wasn't screwing around when he said that you are wearing such a ridiculous bow."
"Shut up!" Blake then removed her bow and exposed her cat ears. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?!"
"Why should we answer you, traitor?!" One of them retorted. This was exactly what I was worried about. I had to wonder what made her think this was a good idea. Then again, this is the same woman that ran away because she tried defending this organization even though she left them for being too extreme and then went on the trouble to investigate dust robberies because she didn't want to believe that they were responsible. Because of that, I feel stupid for letting myself agree to this. I'm starting to see why black cats are considered to be the symbol of bad luck and disaster.
"Oh, you really have no idea what's happening, do you?" The bowler hat guy remarked, remaining calm even with a blade on his throat that Blade tightened at that moment.
"Would you care to explain then?"
"Well, your old friends and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" He answered.
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation," Blake demanded.
Sun and I felt the wind blow against us and saw two more Bullheads fly past us and hovered above them. "Good luck with that, kitty cat." The bowler hat guy said shortly before firing a missile at Blake's feet, causing an explosion large enough to be seen outside the docks visible around nearby parts.
It was now apparent that my assessments have backfired on me once again, Blake's personal issues turned out to be a bigger liability than they should be. I should have known that snitching her location to her teammates sooner would actually have been less troublesome. This was going to be my worst Sunday night thus far.
=o=
1. A common mistake that even Ruby, a weapons enthusiast, is guilty of. Blake's weapon is actually closer to a ninjatō, also known as a ninja sword. They are similar to katanas only lighter and shorter, making them much more suitable for stealth. They're not to be confused with wakizashis which have a similar blade shape to katanas since ninjatōs have straighter blades in contrast to the slightly curved blades that other Mistrali swords are known for. The confusion was probably due to the result of katanas being interchangeably used to refer to anything resembling a Mistrali sword.
2. And partaking in many sabotages against the Schnee Dust Company™ no less. Though, it should be noted that I had Blake pardoned for her crimes against the company, shortly after I took over the position as CEO.
3. Not only that but she was also the daughter of Ghira Belladonna, the former chieftain of Menagerie and the leader of the White Paws movement before its militant faction took over and reformed it to the White Fang we all know. According to Blake's memoirs, which I am still going to spare readers from, she tried using her former reputation in an attempt to coerce the White Fang troops. As the following paragraphs show, this did not go as well as she would have hoped.
Editorial Note:
For the readers' convenience, I decided to add an excerpt here, which follows Ruby and Penny Polendina's search for Blake, before and during the incident of the docks occurred, just so readers won't have the same confusion as Jaune on their eventual involvement at the scene.
The Red Rose Diaries: The Search for Blake
It's been a whole day since Blake disappeared and she hasn't come back yet. We decided to go to Vale and look for her because she might never come back and I don't want team RWBY to be broken before this semester ends. It's going to be hard because Vale is rather a big city, and we couldn't track her down because she kept her tracker off.
We tried visiting the bookstore because it was one of the places she likes to go when visiting Vale. Sadly, the owner, Tukson, said that she hasn't visited lately, and the sushi restaurant, which was also one of her favorite places, said the same. Since we didn't want to give up, we kept looking for her. She can't just abandon us while we're about to finish the first semester. I'm positive that she'll come back to us, I just don't know how or when.
Weiss suggested we go tell the police, which sounded good, but then you realize that Weiss still doesn't trust Blake yet and could have her arrested because she could really be from the White Fang.
We met Penny again. When we told her we were looking for Blake, Penny said that she recognized her and that she was a faunus girl, which really proved that she was hiding something from us. There was always something fishy with Blake, but it turns out she's just a faunus, which isn't actually much of a big deal if you ask me. Everyone was welcome to Beacon and become our friend. Weiss just needs to stop being mean to her because of that.
Anyway, Weiss and Yang suddenly ditched me and I was left with Penny. I told her everything that happened. Penny said she didn't have a lot of friends, but if she did, she wants them to talk to her about things.
Same thing I also want…
I continued to look for Blake as we continued to talk more about things. For once, we managed to get some good news. When Penny and I went to Café Noir, the owner said that she had seen her and that if that's really her, then she arrived hours ago and was chatting with two blond boys. I don't know who are the blond boys she was referring to, Jaune maybe? I tried to call him but he wouldn't call back, so I called his teammates. Nora said that Jaune went to do something they don't know because he never told them and that his tracker was also off, which probably meant that he really was with Blake. But why does he need to turn off his tracker? Maybe Blake told him to, I dunno. But that tells me that he is with her; the only thing we needed to do was find them.
Since they were last seen in the café, they couldn't be that far. It was getting dark, but we haven't given up on searching just yet.
Suddenly, there we saw an explosion coming from the docks. Whether it's her or not we couldn't just stay there and do nothing. Someone might need help. So Penny and I decided to head there.
It turned out that we made the right move. But Blake and Jaune weren't the only familiar faces we've met there...