Hey guys, chapter 12

'The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!' Weiss celebrated, just short of spinning on the spot. The five members of team RRWBY were currently standing in the middle of a street in the city, where decorations were currently being put up to celebrate the Vytal Festival.

'I don't think I've ever seen you smile his much Weiss, it's kinda weirding me out.' Ruby told the silver-haired girl, and Jaye nodded in agreement. Weiss whirled on the group.

'How could you not smile? It's a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There'll be dances, parades, even a tournament!' She whirled around again, bouncing excitedly down the street. 'Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!'

'You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring.' Yang sighed, crossing her arms.

'Quiet you.' Weiss told the blond girl. Jaye ducked as another person carrying timber (why on earth were there so many of them?! Were they building a house or something?!) nearly took his head off, and grunted in annoyance as yet another person jostled him from behind.

'Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?' Yang asked as the group stopped by the railing.

'Ugh they smell like fish.' Ruby complained, pinching her nose. Weiss looked towards a large cruise ship arriving at the docks in the distance.

'I heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom.' Weiss declared, skipping off towards the ship.

'She want to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament.' Blake translated, and Weis crossed her arms.

'Ugh, you can't prove that.' Weiss scoffed, glaring at Blake.

'Woah.' Ruby gasped, spotting something down the street. Following her eye, Jaye spotted a large shop cordoned off by yellow police tape. The group approached the crime scene, and were shocked by the sight. The shop windows and the door had been smashed, and it looked like it had been thoroughly looted.

'What happened here?' Ruby asked, and a sunglass wearing police officer looked up.

'Robbery. Second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle.' He told her, walking into the shop. Jaye stared in through the window. The place had been thoroughly ransacked of all its dust, every crystal stolen and every dispenser drained.

'That's terrible.' Yang said, making a sound of disgust. Jaye looked suspiciously at the seemingly untouched cash register, and a moment later his questions were answered.

'They left all the money again!' Jaye turned to see two of the detectives talking.

'Yeah, just doesn't make a lick o'sense. Who needs that much Dust?'

'I dunno, you know what I mean?'

'You uh…you thinking the White Fang?'

'Yeah I'm thinking we don't get paid enough.'

Weiss crossed her arms. 'Hmph, the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates.'

Blake glared at her, placing a hand on her hips.

'What's your problem?' She asked the heiress, and Weiss looked at her incredulously.

'My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane.' Weiss declared, flipping her hair nonchalantly.

Blake's anger seemed to rise, her bow scrunching up slightly. 'The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus.'

'Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!' Weiss shot back.

'So then they're VERY misguided! Either way, it doesn't explain why they'd rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale.' Blake reasoned, staring back at the destroyed shop.

'Hmm, Blake's got a point.' Ruby muttered. 'Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few month ago. Maybe it was him?'

'That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum.' Weiss declared stubbornly, crossing her arms. 'Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal.'

'That's not necessarily true.' Yang told the heiress, furrowing her brow.

'Screw not necessarily, it's not true.' Jaye cut in angrily. 'You have a horridly narrow viewpoint on things, Ice Queen. You can NEVER generalize people, everyone's different. How would you like it if I lumped you together with the humans who lie, cheat, steal, and blow shit up JUST BECAUSE you're human too?'

Weiss crossed her arms angrily.

'They're not people. They're Faunus. They're completely different from us.' She declared, picking at her nails nonchalantly. 'Name me one Faunus who isn't like that.'

Jaye raised his hand angrily, and Blake's eyes widened as he momentarily seemed about to point it in her direction. Instead, his hand settled into a fist, and he lowered it slowly.

'Velvet Scarlatina.' Jaye declared, and Weiss stared at him.

'Excuse me?' She asked and Jaye, turned away from her.

'Velvet Scarlatina. She's a second year in Beacon. Sweetest girl I've ever met.' He told her, staring the heiress down. Weiss opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a yell from the docks.

'Hey! Stop that Faunus!' The five charged down to the docks, stopping at the rail. They spotted a monkey boy hanging from a light post by his tail, peeling a banana.

'Hey, a "no-good" stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway.' He said cheekily, and flinched as a rock went sailing past his head.

'Hey, get down from there this instant.' The detectives from earlier approached the Faunus. The boy laughed, throwing his banana peel into one of the detective's faces. Swinging on top of the lamp post, he leaped off, flipping over their heads, charging up the stairs leading to the street.

He charged past the five members of team RRWBY, turning as he did so to meet Blake's eye. Winking at her mischievously, he took off down the street, the detectives hot on his heels.

'Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition. Well, there it goes.' Yang laughed, gesturing at the running boy. Weiss gasped, taking off after him.

'Quick, we have to observe him!' She declared, and the group, all except Jaye, took off running. Groaning, Jaye slowly jogged after them. This was not how he wanted to spend his Friday afternoon. Rounding the corner slowly, he was met with the sound of another argument.

'The mere fact that you would sort that boy with a terrorist group just because of his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be.' Blake argued, and Weiss rolled her eyes.

'So you admit it, the White Fang IS just a radical group of terrorists.'

'That's not what I meant and you know it.'

The argument continued, and Jaye groaned in frustration. He walked over to Yang and Ruby, where they were standing with a girl he'd never met.

'Salutations!' She called to him, waving enthusiastically, and he stared at her, confused.

'Uh…who is this?' Jaye asked Yang, and she shrugged.

'My name is Penny!' The strange girl, Penny, declared, and Jaye raised an eyebrow.

'Right…nice to meet you? I guess?' He said, slightly creeped out. He turned to Yang and Ruby. 'We should probably go.'

'Where are we going?' Jaye started as the girl, Penny, appeared over his shoulder. He looked at his two teammates, the girls staring back at him with pained looks as Blake and Weiss continued to argue.

Back In The Dorm

'I don't understand why this is causing such a problem.' Weiss told the dark-haired girl. Blake rolled her eyes.

'That IS the problem.' She shot back, and Weiss got up from the bed.

'You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!' Blake shot up from her seat 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 you, people like Cardin, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!'

'People like me?!'

'You're discriminatory!'

'I'm a victim!' Weiss yelled, and both parties froze. Weiss advanced slowly on Blake.

'You want to know why I despise the White Fang so much? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?' She asked, walking to the window. 'It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed.'

She placed a hand down on the windowsill. '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, fill of Dust, stolen.'

She clenched her fist, pressing her knuckles against the windowsill. 'Everyday, my father would come home furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood.'

Ruby walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

'Weiss, I–' She began, but Weiss cut her off.

'NO!' She yelled, her voice rising in pitch. She whirled on Blake, squaring up to her.

'You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, murderers!' She yelled, and Blake's face contorted with anger.

'WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!' Blake screamed. She froze, realization dawning on her face, as the other three girls stared at her. She backed away slowly, glancing at Weiss, Jaye, and then the door.

'I–…' She started, but gave up on the thought and dashed out the door.

'Blake! Wait! Come back!' Ruby ran to the doorway, but Blake had already disappeared down the hall. She turned, glancing back across the other shocked faces, only to notice Jaye's unsurprised look. The three girls looked at him.

'Jaye, do you know something we don't?' Ruby asked, and Jaye sighed.

'Maybe. I know something, but it's not my place to say.' He stated, pulling his shirt off and getting into bed. He rolled over, turning away from the girls.

'It's getting late. She'll be back eventually.' He mumbled through the covers, closing his eyes.

Jaye's Memory: Dorm Room

'Hey Blake.' Jaye called, and Blake, sitting in her bed, didn't even look up from her book. The two teammates were sitting in the dorm room reading, having chosen to hang back in Beacon while the other three girls went out. Jaye, sitting in a chair near the study desks, quietly monitored the locations of the other three girls with his scroll, having bugged all his teammates' scrolls for security purposes.

'Yeah?' She replied, flipping the page. Jaye stared at the book he was holding, observing her out of the corner of his eye.

'Is there any reason why you don't take off that bow?' He asked casually, and he noticed Blake tense up slightly.

'Not really, why?' She asked with forced casualness, and Jaye smirked to himself.

'Does it have anything to do with those ears you're hiding? Or is there something else?' He said, and smiled as he heard a book drop to the floor. In a flash, Blake was on him, Gambol Shroud pressed against his neck, almost tipping him over in his chair in the process.

'Easy now kitty cat, it was just a question.' He said, a broad smile on his face, raising a hand in surrender. Blake pressed the blade harder into his neck. Jaye's smile faded, and he wiggled his other hand, tapping Blake's side. Glancing down at it, her eyes narrowed as she noticed the knife pressed into her side by his unseen hand. Slowly removing the blade, she took a step back, letting the chair fall back onto all four legs.

'Wow, you're really protective about that, aren't you?' Jaye smiled, and Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud.

'How'd you figure it out?' She asked, and Jaye laughed, spinning the knife between his fingers.

'I didn't. I guessed. Your reaction told me I was right.' He laughed, and Blake reddened in anger.

'Don't worry, you probably fooled everyone else except me. I spent a large part of my life hanging out with Faunus, helps me distinguish. Besides, your ears make your bow move much more than you realize.' Jaye consoled her, flipping the knife in his hand. 'Though I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking for it.'

'So, what now? What do you have to gain from finding out?' Blake glared at him, dropping down on her bed. Jaye shrugged.

'Nothing really, just wanted to know. It was in the back of my mind, bugging me.' He said, picking his book back up. He waved his hand dismissively at her.

'Calm down lady, go back to your book.' He said, crossing his legs, tossing his knife onto the table. Blake, sat down cautiously, picking her book back up. She opened it, pulling her bookmark out, glancing over at the boy. She locked eyes with him as he glanced back.

'Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me.' He said, quietly returning to his book. Blake could tell; he was dead serious.

Blake turned away from him, staring back at her book. She glanced back, and watched Jaye read for a minute. She eventually decided that it was probably worth it to trust him, and carried on reading.

So guys, that's how Jaye found out about Blake's ears before everyone else. Have fun reading.