It had been roughly 2 months since the trip to Forever Fall and Team RWBY was starting to get along better after team CFVY put them through numerous tasks, ranging from training with each other's weapons, which went about as well as one would expect with Blake and Weiss barely being able to handle the recoil of their partners weapons, Yang hitting herself constantly with Gambol shroud and Ruby nearly breaking Myrtenaster with her rough handling of it, piggyback racing that Ruby totally cheated with by using her semblance and just plain sit down talks, that Weiss and Blake barely contributed to, but at least contributed a little to, still not delving much into their personal lives.

But today Glynda Goodwitch had called all of the students into the amphitheater for an important assembly.

"Now as I'm sure all of you are aware, the 40th Bi-annual Vytal Festival is coming to Beacon this year." Professor Goodwitch began. "The first wave of visiting students from Haven are to be arriving today, stay on your best behavior and remember students, you're representing all of Vale." with that Professor Goodwitch dismissed the assembly and all students exited the amphitheater. Ruby and Yang were notably giddy at the thought of the festival and participating in the tournament, Nora seemed more eager than ever and Jaune seemed eager to prove himself.

Weiss smiled, stopping in front of her teammates. "I've decided. We're going out into town today."

"Aww, really Weiss, what for?!" Ruby seemed excited.

"She probably wants to spot the competition for the tournament since they're coming in." Blake stated as she now had another book in hand already.

"Y-You can't prove that!" Weiss sweated nervously. "Look, the point is lunch is on me, so are you in?" she asked.

"YEAH!" Ruby beamed as she rushed ahead of everyone.

"Should we tell her the docks are the other way?" Weiss asked.

"Eh... Let her figure it out." Yang shrugged her shoulders.

It would be then that Alix would approach the group.

"Hey, you girls got room for one more?" he asked eagerly.

"Sorry Alix... This is a team thing only." Yang stated. "But you're welcome to go student spotting by the docks with us afterwards."

"Oh, actually that's kinda what I was hoping for." he admitted. "I wanna know who we might be dealing with during the tournament. I figure, it might be good to get a head start and all. Although, one member of my team is kinda flaky on the whole... Tournament thing, they kinda don't really care for that stuff. But Erika and I wanna give it a go so we're trying to convince them. Maybe if they meet some cool transfer students their opinions might change!"

"Right, well if you wanna meet with us, be sure to meet us by the docks after 2." Yang nodded before looking back to her team, Ruby finally realizing she went the wrong way.

"You guys... Could have... Told me..." the girl was regaining her breath.

"Oh and I know just the place we can go!" Yang smiled.


The four girls would soon arrive in Vale and Yang would lead the group towards the restaurant.

"Um Yang..." Weiss began. "This is a construction site."

"Yeah, I know, most of this area is closed off except for the pedestrian walkway. I figure we can cut through here to get to the restaurant a bit faster." she explained as the four continued through the construction site.

One of the crane workers was startled when an alarm went off signifying his lunch break, realizing it was his lunch break, he lowered the crane onto the roof, to finish this load while slowly unwrapping his sandwich, his mouth watered at the sight of it. "Finally..." he leaned back to take a bite. However, it was in leaning back he made himself too comfortable, accidentally kicking his feet up to rest and making his crane move, forcing him to drop the sandwich as he fumbled to try and get control of the crane back. For whatever reason it wouldn't stop moving and now knocked several girders off the roof and towards the walkway.

Team RWBY was just walking through when the crane had knocked the Girders down and now the girders were flying towards the girls.

Weiss instinctively made a glyph appear in front of them when suddenly several arrows came flying out towards the girders, upon impact the girders were blown up, much to Weiss's surprise as she lowered her glyph. However, the last girder finally tipped over the roof and was falling towards Ruby when suddenly a figure leaped up and with two swords in her hands cut clean through the girder twice, the girder crumbling into ashes as the new stranger landed right in front of the team.

She was wearing a Haven academy uniform, her hair was a raven colored and upon turning around her one visible eye appeared to be yellow.

"That sure was close." the girl stated in a slightly worried tone as she put her weapons away on her back.

"Whoa... That... WAS AWESOME!" Ruby cheered eagerly as the girl could only chuckle a little bit at Ruby's own eagerness, stopping only upon making eye contact with the girl.

"That uniform..." Blake noted. "You're from Haven?"

"Yes, I'm here with my team for the tournament." she explained. "My name's Cinder. Cinder Fall." she greeted with an outstretched hand and a welcoming smile.


Feeling grateful for her actions, Team RWBY saw it fit to reward Cinder for saving them by inviting her for lunch with them. Yang and Ruby ordering burgers, Weiss sticking with a salad, Blake having some fish and chips, and Cinder like Weiss having a salad.

"So..." Ruby began, trying to break the dead air. "What's it like at Haven?"

"Oh, Haven is simply beautiful, even more so during the Spring time." Cinder began. "They have beautiful gardens all around the campus that are tranquil and a great place for meditation and the cafeteria only offers the highest quality and healthiest of foods." she explained.

"Sounds nice." Yang remarked. "Well at Beacon we got pretty..." she paused for a moment, remembering the slop she had a few days ago. "Good food." she chuckled a little awkwardly.

"Their food leaves much to be desired, but they can at least accommodate people with more sophisticated tastes if need be." Weiss explained, observing how well mannered Cinder seemed to be at the table.

"So, where are the rest of your teammates?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Oh, they're getting our stuff off the boat right now. You know how complicated baggage checks are, especially when there are huntsmen involved and all. I went on ahead of them to go look around."

"I see... Might I ask you the name of your team?" Blake pondered.

"Certainly. We're team CMNE(Carmine). Led, by your's truly." she pat her chest with a smile before she continued eating her food. "Headmaster Lionheart was very eager for us to go."


After a couple of minutes of silence, the five had finished their meals and Weiss paid with her card as they exited the restaurant. "Well, it was pleasant to meet you, Cinder." Weiss stated.

"As was it to make your acquaintance, Ms. Schnee." Cinder bowed which just made Weiss blush a bit at how formal she was being.

"Please, there's no need for the formalities. I'm a student just like you are." Weiss shook her head.

"I apologize... I just didn't know how to greet someone of your... caliber..." she lingered on that last word for a moment before shifting tones again. "Anyways, it was pleasant to meet you four. I'm certain if Beacon has a team like you around, Team CMNE will certainly have tough competition in the tournament!" she chuckled a little bit.

"Oh, you better watch your back! Because we'll sweep the floor with all the competition!" Yang boasted. "And We'd be more than happy to go against you and your team!"

"We wouldn't have it any other way." Cinder put a hand on her hip before her scroll rang and she picked up. "Oh?! On it, I'll be right there!" she hung up. "It appears we have to part ways right now. My teammates are having a little... Trouble with their bags. See you around!" she ran off into the distance.

The four girls all very impressed with her.

"If Haven has students like her... It kind of makes me wish I went to Haven instead of Beacon." Weiss remarked as the team started to walk towards the docks.

"Oh come on, that's just one student. I doubt they're all gonna be like her!" Yang stated.

"So... Weiss, did you take notes on her abilities?" Blake asked. "After all, isn't that part of the whole purpose of this trip?"

"I-I... Didn't." Weiss hung her head.

"Well I mean she had a bow, explosive arrows... Oh and her bow could turn into those cool swords! I should have asked her to show me!-" the team was cut off when they came upon a crime scene. A dust shop had been robbed, it appeared to another one from the "From Dusk Till Dawn" chain of stores.

"Another robbery?" Ruby asked as she approached the two detectives.

"Yeah... No money was stolen, just dust." the bearded detective explained.

"It was probably... Those White Fang mooks." his clean shaven partner reasoned.

"Of course it's the White Fang." Weiss agreed. "I hope this store registered this incident with the Schnee Dust Company." she glared at the two detectives who sighed.

"We'll ask the store owner." they walked off.

"Of course it'd be those degenerates with the White Fang." Weiss scoffed.

"What's your problem with them?" Blake asked a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"What's my problem?! I don't deal with the criminally insane." she crossed her arms.

"They're not just psychopaths..." Blake argued. "They're just a group of misguided faunus who only want what's right for their people."

"If by right you mean, they want the extinction of the Human race." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"So then they're VERY misguided faunus! Either way, this wouldn't answer why they would steal all the dust from a shop in the middle of downtown Vale." Blake reasoned.

"She does have a point." Ruby added. "They never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a while back. It could be him again."

"That doesn't change the facts. All the faunus know how to do is just lie, cheat and steal." Weiss put a hand on her hip, glaring at Blake.

"That's not necessarily true, you know." Yang interjected.

"I-" before Weiss could argue more the sound of yelling came from the docks.

"Hey, Stop that filthy animal!" a man's voice called out as a blonde haired boy with a monkey tail Jumped out onto the edge of a docked boat, he wore a white shirt that was open enough to show his abs, and a pair of jeans and sneakers along with finger-less gloves that seemed to have a bit of armor plating on them, perhaps alluding to the fact that he might be a fighter.

"Thanks for the ride!" he laughed as he leaped off the ship and ran down the docks.

Team RWBY immediately ran over to see what the commotion was about.

"YOU NO GOOD STOWAWAY!" the boat's captain yelled at him.

"Hey, I'm a GREAT stowaway, a no-good stowaway would have been caught!" he laughed while eating a banana and throwing the peel onto the face of one of the sailors that attempted to approach him.

He laughed more before jumping off the lamp post he was hanging off of and running, jumping up a wall and onto the street level before continuing to run past Team RWBY... Where in a brief moment of eye contact he winked at a surprised Blake before continuing to run.

"Well Weiss, I'm willing to bet that was some of our competition for the tournament." Yang chuckled.

"Quickly, after him!" Weiss insisted as they ran in pursuit of the blonde haired faunus. Just as he leaped up a wall while turning a corner the entire team crashed right into an orange haired girl, slamming her into a trash can that rolled over with her inside of it.

Weiss shook her head. "Come on! We have to continue-"

"Uh, Weiss." Ruby pointed to the downed girl.

"Oh my gods!" Weiss immediately went with her team to help the girl out of the trash can.

"Salutations!" she greeted with a smile and a wave.

"My name is Penny, it's a Pleasure to meet you!"

"Uh, hi..." Ruby greeted. "I'm Ruby." she introduced herself.

"Weiss..." Weiss waved. "Are you alright?"

"Blake." Blake greeted flatly.

"Yang!" Yang waved as well albeit a bit awkwardly at the weird girl.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You already said that." Ruby stated.

"So I did." Penny nodded. "I'm here for the tournament!" she explained.

"You do? You hardly look like someone who's fit for combat." Weiss noted.

"Says the girl wearing the skirt." Blake scoffed.

"It's a combat skirt!" she huffed in defense.

"YEAH!" Ruby appeared beside her in a blur of rose petals for a pose and a quick hi five that Weiss quickly shook her hand of.

"I'm Combat Ready!" Penny assured as the four girls looked among each other.

"She's a lost cause." Yang rolled her eyes before noticing Team JNPR along with Alix in the distance.

"Hey guys!" she called out approaching them, the rest of her team slowly following in suit.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." Ruby smiled. "Take care friend." she waved as Penny's eyes suddenly lit up as Yang was already talking to the group, clearly pointing at Penny.

Right as Ruby turned around Penny appeared in front of her.

"Did you call me friend?!" she asked. "Am I really your friend?!" she seemed eager now.

"Um..." Ruby looked behind her to where literally everyone else from Beacon she was currently friends including her teammates with were waving their hands as if to tell her to refuse. "Sure!" Ruby smiled.

Everyone but Penny and Ruby simultaneously passed out on the floor.

Penny cheered eagerly. "Sen-sational!" she took Ruby's hand. "We could do all sorts of friend activities! Like paint our nails... Or maybe try on clothes! Or maybe um... Talk about boys?" she asked.

"Ugh..." Ruby grunted a little now. "Is this what it was like when you met me Weiss?"

"Hardly." Weiss scoffed. "She seems to have more of a grip on things than you did."

"Gee thanks..." Ruby deadpanned for a moment as Team JNPR greeted Penny.

"Hello!" Pyrrha smiled as Penny also waved.

"Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!" she greeted.

"Oh you know of me?" Pyrrha asked.

"Of course! Atlas does love to keep track of up and coming huntsmen! Especially with someone with as much potential as yourself!" Penny smiled.

"Oh... Uh thanks." Pyrrha nodded.

"Wait a second, I thought it was just Haven students showing up today." Alix remarked.

"Oh, it is. But my father paid for me to come here early to observe the festival!" Penny explained. "He thinks I should get out more..." she looked down sadly for a moment.

"Ugh..." Weiss groaned and started off from the group again.

"Where are you going?" Blake asked.

"I'm going after that... Faunus rapscallion! That Faunus Riffraff... That Filthy stinking Animal!" Weiss explained.

"Can you not call him that?" Blake stood her ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to not call this trash can a trash can?" she pointed to the garbage they had knocked Penny into. "Or this lamp post a lamp post?!"

"Just STOP!" Blake yelled out angrily, which turned everyone's attention away from Penny and onto her.

"Stop what?! I'm being truthful! Just give him time and he'll join up with the rest of those terrorists in the White Fang." Weiss raised her arms up.

Blake grit her teeth, now visibly upset. "You... Racist... IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT!" she stormed off.

"How DARE you talk to me like that! WE'RE TEAMMATES!" Weiss stomped after her.

"You are a judgmental little girl who has no idea what she's talking about!" Blake argued.

"You guys might wanna go..." Yang looked back towards everyone who were all starting to back away from this. Everyone but Penny who leaned in.

"Can I help in any way?" she asked.

Ruby just let out a sigh and shook her head. Penny, getting the message backed off with the others.

"I can't believe you'd defend scum like him!"

"Stop calling him that! Calling him scum makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

"So you're willing to admit it then? That the White Fang are all just a bunch of psychopaths that want nothing more than to murder and steal!"

"You know, I didn't say that! You're just putting words in my mouth now!" Blake grit her teeth.

Ruby and Yang couldn't do much apart from watch them argue as they kept arguing into the late afternoon, Ruby looking to her scroll and pointing at the two of them, looking at Yang who took a deep breath.

"Just cut it out for a second you two!" Yang interjected, her eyes and hair flaring up in anger. "Look, arguing like this is going to get us nowhere! We're going to miss the last shuttle back to Beacon if you two don't cut it out right now!"


The two remained quiet during the entire trip back to Beacon, not a word shared as this shuttle back to Beacon was dead silent... The four teammates not making eye contact with one another. Ruby and Yang were scared any sudden action would start up the argument again and the dead air was held between the four till they got back to their dorm room, the door slamming shut behind them when Weiss spoke up again.

"I don't see how I'm wrong." she stated.

"That's exactly the problem!" Blake interjected.

"You're defending the White Fang! They're pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake grit her teeth now. "It's because of people like Cardin, people like YOU that force them to act in such irrational ways! If you had the decency to treat them like people then-" she was cut off as Weiss interjected.

"Do you know why I hate the faunus?! They've been at war with my family for as long as I can remember. Actual war, as in real bloodshed. I've had a target on my back my whole life." she began. "For as long as I can remember my grandfather's company has been the target of The White Fang. I've seen videos and messages of board members and family friends kidnapped or executed. Transports of dust... Stolen."

Blake looked down when Weiss mentioned this.

"Every day... My father would come home furious and that would make for a very difficult childhood." she balled her hand up into a fist.

"Weiss..." Ruby wanted to speak up, putting a hand on her partner's shoulder but Weiss continued.

"NO!" Weiss stormed back over to Blake. "Do you want to know why I hate the White Fang?! Why I hate the faunus?! It's because they're all just a bunch of liars, thieves and MURDERERS!"

Blake was shaking now as her eyes narrowed at Weiss. "WELL, MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

she stopped at that moment when her emotional shaking had caused her bow to slip off her head, revealing a set of cat ears.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang all stopped and stared. "I...I...!" Blake picked her bow back up and immediately sprinted out of the dorm room.

"Blake!" Ruby ran after her, using her semblance to try and tackle her, but only hitting a shadow clone as Blake ran off and down the hall.

Weiss's eyes were wide. "This whole time... Right in plain sight..."


Blake hid herself, sobbing by the air shuttle docks, covering her head as she couldn't focus enough to tie her bow before a voice spoke up. "I knew you'd look better without the bow." the familiar voice of the monkey faunus from earlier stated. "The name's Sun." he offered a hand to her.


Commentary: It is time to kick off the Final arc for Volume 1! And what a way to start it. Not only do we have Penny and Sun's introduction here and pretty much the events of "The Stray" from the original. But we also have another new introduction, Cinder Fall, the kind and charismatic student from Haven. This version of Cinder has more personality than her canon counterpart and can pull of the "Friendly face" act real good. She's not always evil sounding. Apart from that, most of the events played out the same with some obvious extra inclusions here and there. Next Chapter the search is on for Blake as she's gone missing.