Our Thing

They had finally reached a settlement.

After walking for several hours through the forest, the trio was now among the civilization once more. The first thing that Ruby and Weiss noticed was that almost everyone seemed to be a faunus, with most of them being wolf. It caused the latter to feel somewhat unease due to her family.

"Huh, while I have seen faunus before – including Blake, this is the first time I see this many." The girl-in-red commented.

"Usually, there are settlements where all – or at least the majority – of its population is faunus." The girl-in-white explained. "They exist because of the…heated condition of interspecies relationship."

"I suppose that makes…" Ruby suddenly stopped before turning her attention. "Miss Skadi?"

During their conversation, Skadi decided to continue her walk. Seeing that they were now several feet away, the two huntresses-in-training gave chase towards her. Just like back in the forest, not even once she stopped so that they could catch up to her.

"She still doesn't care what happens to us, isn't she?" Weiss complained as they ran after her.

"Well, at least we're in a town." Her partner tried to look at the silver lining.

"A faunus-majority town. In case you forgot, I am a Schnee."

"Ah, right."

Due to following Skadi, both of them entered a market as she had chosen to take that route. It was nothing like what they had ever seen. Weiss had only ever visited the big shopping malls where the most prestigious store was located in Atlas and Ruby only went to weapon shops and grocery stores.

The merchants were selling not just from stands or buildings; some of them have modified their vans into traveling shops. There was also a lot of variety of products being sold. From perishable goods to the one that would last for generations. From the berries of the mountains to the fish of the sea. From antique artifacts to the latest model of bags.

"Whoa!" Ruby excitedly shouted. "Look all of them, Weiss."

"Indeed. For being a simple town, this is indeed impressive." The white-haired woman replied before grabbing her partner's hand. "Just don't get too excited and get lost in the crowd. Remember who is leading us."

"R-Right." She nodded before she turned her head to look at a certain store. "Huh, look at that."

The girl immediately recognized the place as a weapon store. She could see several types of weapons being exhibited – swords, axe, halberds, and more – along with parts that more complex weapon possessed. She observed as the vendor showed his customer a crossbow made from what appeared to be carbon fiber.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at that. While she knew some huntsmen who integrated a bow of some kind into their weapons, the normal bows had become quite rare with the introduction of guns. Usually, they were reserved for sports or hunting animals.

However, considering the armor-wearing mannequin that was in the store as well, along with two arrows embedded on it, it was clear what the purpose of the crossbow was.

In the end, she decided that it was none of her business if someone wanted to use a classic. She was a friend with Jaune, after all.

After a while, the trio exited the market and entered a more impoverished area. The buildings were more run down and the people wore clothes that showed signs of repeated fixing. The heiress couldn't help but felt nervous around them. Logically, she knew that many of them were ordinary people, but she had heard tales of how much the criminals love hiding among the less-fortunate.

"Why are we here?" She asked, which received no response, causing her to sigh. "Of course."

The two students then noticed a certain building. While it didn't look anything fancy, it appeared to be well-cared compared to the surrounding buildings. There was a logo on it; a triangle with a rook in the middle. Under it was the words "Rhodes Island."

That was the building that Skadi walked into.

"Ah, Skadi." She was greeted by a cat-eared faunus. The smile on her face turned into a frown. "And who are those two that followed you?"

"Lost people who don't know their way." The woman answered simply.

"And why do you bring them here rather than to the police?"

"Should I?"

The faunus simply sighed, likely because once again, she had to deal with Skadi's behavior. She decided to turn her attention to the problem that she could deal with.

"Welcome to Rhodes Island clinic!" She greeted the huntresses-in-training. "How can I help you?"

"Well, as Miss Skadi said, we're lost," Ruby replied. "So, we want to go back to our...city."

"The police should be able to help you." The faunus stated. "By the way, may I know your destination? Depending on it, you might only be able to depart tomorrow thanks to the weather."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked. "The weather's fine."

"Not for long." She shook her head.

"Ah, weather forecast." The girl in red said. "Anyway, we're heading for Vale."

"Which Vale?"

"Eh?" At that, both of them became confused.

"There are many Vales. There's one in Victoria and another one in Columbia, though the latter is called New Vale if I am not wrong. Kjerag has a city whose name can be translated as Vale. Oh, there's Rim Bilton..."

Both of them were no longer listening, focusing more on looking at each other.

Victoria. Columbia. Kjerag. None of them sounded familiar.

"Um, miss?" Ruby raised her hand, causing the faunus to stop talking. "By Vale, we mean the City of Vale. You know, the capital city of the Kingdom of Vale?"

They could felt the beatings of their hearts increasing as the woman raised an eyebrow, showing a confused face.

"I am sorry, but I never heard of that nation."

Blake couldn't help but felt suspicious about the building in front of her. It was the only building in the middle of what was basically nowhere. As if that wasn't suspicious enough, there was the fact that it has been set on fire, though that was no longer the case.

"Would you look at that? A building in the middle of nowhere." Yang stated, either stating the obvious or not realizing the sheer wrongness of the situation. "Do you think there's someone nearby?"

"I am…not sure." The faunus replied. "I don't know why, but this building is awaking some old memory."

"Well, there's nothing to do here anyway." The blonde walked towards it. "Maybe we could find a clue about where we are."

"You have a point." She commented before following her.

When they were closer and was about to open the door, both of them froze upon noticing the smell of something burning. For Yang, it reminded her of the time when her family was having a BBQ. For Blake, it reminded her of one of her missions back then.

The faunus took out her weapon in its firearm mode before slowly opening the door. She immediately took a step back due to the smell becoming stronger and the glimpse of what's inside. Her partner decided to take a look as well and soon regretted her decision.

Inside, there were many corpses, none of them remain intact. Heads, arms, legs, they were separated from the main body, which also did not remain in one piece. Very slowly, both of them entered the building, careful not to step on any body part.

"Damn. It's a massacre here." Yang commented. "Obviously not by Grimm."

Blake nodded in agreement. She then stopped walking upon noticing that there was something hard that she almost kicked. Looking down, she realized that it was a small crossbow; one that could be used with one hand only. The faunus knelt to inspect it.

It was made from carbon fiber and looked to be well-made, she had to admit. She was quite curious though on why there was a crossbow instead of a gun. She then became surprised upon noticing a certain scratch mark on it.

She recognized it.

She looked around, trying to see if there were other weapons. Blake's eyes focused on another crossbow that looked similar to the one in her hand. She picked it up and compared both of them.

"Same." She stated, before moving it a bit to see if there was the same mark.

There was. In the same place to boot.

"Shit." Blake cursed, knowing from her days in the White Fang why someone would make that kind of scratch on weapons.

"Blake, is something wrong?" Yang asked, hearing her curse.

"We need to get away from here." The faunus stated. "This…"

BBRRRRRMMM

The black-haired girl's eyes became wide upon hearing the sound of a vehicle approaching the building. Being a faunus, she could hear it earlier than Yang, who hasn't noticed it yet. Judging by how the noise became louder quite fast and the environment, there was no way for them to run away without being spotted.

They might be able to take them if the owner of the incoming vehicle proven to be hostile, but considering what happened at the dock back in Vale and Torchwick, she decided to not take the risk. At least, until they knew what they were dealing with.

"Hey, that sounds like a car." Yang finally heard it. "Maybe we could…"

Upon seeing an empty crate, the faunus immediately dragged her towards it.

"H-Hey, Blake! What's...?"

"Get inside!"

"Eh? But…"

"Just get inside!"

Had they were a second too late, they would be discovered by armed men who breached into the building.

"Damn it! They all dead!" A man exclaimed.

"W-W-What?! W-Who did this?! The Solano? The Angelo?" Another man spoke.

"Fool, there's only one person who did this." A woman replied.

"Yeah, her name is…I-I don't remember, but it started with 'L' or something."

"Isn't her family destroyed?"

"She survived. So now she's on a quest for revenge from what I heard."

Meanwhile, the huntresses-in-training remained silent inside the crate. Just as Blake suspected, these people were involved in things that the laws wouldn't agree with, not unlike Torchwick. Now, they just need to figure out…

"Eh, whatever. Just get the surviving goods to the truck and get the hell out from here."

While it was dark inside the crate, nonetheless both of them started to stare at each other. After a while, they could feel the crate being lifted and was brought to somewhere. When the movement stopped, they waited for several minutes before there was a sound of doors being opened, closed, and then an engine being started.

"Well, at least we could get back to civilization." The blonde whispered though she sounded rather unsure.

The black-haired faunus agreed with her. She could only hope that a settlement was indeed their destination.

Inside the clinic, Ruby and Weiss were sitting in a kitchen, each of them having a cup of tea in front of them. Yet they paid no attention to the drink at all, too busy thinking about their current predicament.

"So…" The leader of the team tried to speak up. "We're basically stuck, huh?"

"I…I don't know, Ruby." Her partner sighed before using her hand to rest her head. "It's…I want to say that she's making fun of us, that she actually knows where Vale is, but…"

"Yeah…" She nodded.

The gloom atmosphere in the room disappeared when someone suddenly entered the kitchen, which was revealed to be Skadi, who was without her sword and hat. She simply opened the fridge, took out a bottle, and drank the content. She paused for a while, looking at both girls, before walking towards the door, exiting the kitchen with the bottle.

"I know it's kind of obvious at this point, but…" Ruby commented. "It still surprises me at how much she basically doesn't care about us."

"Try to spend some time among the rich of Atlas," Weiss replied. "Actually, don't. Just don't."

"Aren't you one of them?"

"…Touché."

Once again, they were interrupted by someone entering the kitchen. It was the cat faunus that greeted them at the front door. She introduced herself as Calendula, which was it; only one name, like Skadi.

They wondered if it was the norm in here.

"So, about your situation, I contacted my superiors…" She spoke, sounding rather unsure. "And now I receive an order from Dr. Kal'tsit to bring both of you to Rhodes Island. The main HQ, I mean."

This caused both of them to be confused and somewhat worried about the demand.

"Is…Is there a reason that the doctor wants us to come?" The red-haired girl asked.

"Remember Skadi? Her situation is, well, not what you will find in a normal person." Calendula explained. "Your situation…I don't think the police could help you."

"What do you think, Weiss?" She asked her partner. "Should we?"

"Well, I don't think we have much choice." The heiress sighed. "We're basically somewhere completely unfamiliar to us. The people here have no idea where Vale is or other kingdoms for that matter. And if we're unable to go back by tomorrow…well, we don't bring much money with us."

"I see your points." Ruby turned her attention back to the medic. "We agree, Miss Calendula. However, we have two friends that are currently missing."

"Of course. We just need their descriptions and we could demand the police to put out Missing Person posters."

"Thank you! So, our friends are…"

The driver of the truck was clearly not even a decent one. Others agreed with Blake and Yang regarding this.

"Goddamnit! Must be Vito who's driving! Why the hell he's the one on the wheel?"

"Kid needs more experience."

"Can that happen when he's – UUUFF!"

"Don't just stop out of nowhere!"

"Hey, hey! Eyes on the road!"

Both of the students gritted their teeth, trying not to grunt out in pain and letting out their position. While their Aura ensured that they would not receive even a bump, it was still nonetheless an uncomfortable experience.

After at least half an hour of the uncomfortable ride, the truck finally stopped. Unfortunately, the stop was so sudden that the crate moved upward into the air before crashing down, causing the people inside to screamed. On the other hand, other people were screaming as well, so no one noticed the two extra voices.

"I swear to god if they put me with him again…"

It was followed by grunts from others. Blake and Yang could hear the footsteps of those people disembarking from the truck.

"Hey, what about the goods?"

"Just leave it there for a while. We need to report to the capo about the incident first."

"So, Blake." The blonde whispered. "Any idea on what to do next?"

"Well, obviously we need to wait until they're nowhere near the truck." She whispered back. "Then…"

SLASH

"UUAACK!"

Both of their eyes became wide upon hearing that. It was clear that someone was being attacked.

"H-Holy shit! That's…!"

"To arms! To – GYAAAH!"

SWISH SWISH

TWIING

BLAM

"N-N-No! No! S-Stay away!"

"Ahahahaha!"

Blake couldn't help but tremble upon hearing the laugh. The woman's voice did not match any that she heard during the ride, meaning that she was likely the one who attacked those criminals. For the lack of a better word, she sounded quite demented and possessing questionable sanity.

"Whoa, now that's one hell of a laugh," Yang commented, sounding quite nervous as well. "So, what…?"

KABOOM

The explosion was strong enough to shake the truck, almost tripping it off, causing them to yell in panic.

"A-Ah, she's still a – GYAAAH!"

"Nice try~"

"Let's get out," Blake suggested.

"OK." The blonde immediately agreed.

Wasting no time at all, the faunus opened the crate and dragged herself out, followed by her partner. As they adjusted their eyes after spending quite a time in the dark, they saw that they were inside a warehouse, bodies everywhere. Blake looked at the trail of blood heading towards a door, already deciding that she wouldn't take that route.

"Blake, over here!" Yang shouted as she headed towards another door leading to the outside. "Let's go!"

They almost got out of the building when they heard the sound of a window being broken. Before they could even try to find the source, a body suddenly landed in front of them. It let out a grunting voice, indicating that the person was still alive.

That was, before another person landed on top of him, driving a sword into the body.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman in front of them was the one responsible for the attack. The students noticed that she possessed an animal tail, likely a wolf, indicating that she was a faunus.

But when Blake set her eyes on the head, she realized that something wasn't right.

"Hey, Blake. Just asking, but…" Yang whispered as she prepared herself for a possible fight. "Do you recognize that faunus? Someone from White Fang?"

"She's not a faunus." The black-haired girl replied. "At least, not a normal one."

"What do you mean? She has…"

"Yang, do I have a tail?"

"N…" She finally remembered that particular part. "No, you don't. You never have one."

Each faunus only has one animal trait, be its tail, ears, horns, and others. Thus, the person in front of her was indeed not normal. Blake then noticed that there was something on the white-haired woman thigh; something that appeared to be some kind of black crystal.

"Hmm?" She turned her head, finally noticing both of them. "What do we have here?"

She smiled at them. Yet it didn't calm them down a bit. The fact that she was covered in blood certainly didn't help.

"Hmm, not a Lupo. Unlikely to be part of them." The woman spoke to herself. "Associates, perhaps? Nah, doesn't appear to be it."

"If you're wondering if we're with those criminals…" The cat faunus said. "Then the answer is no."

"Criminals?" Her partner asked.

"Their weapons have scratches that indicate the erasing of serial numbers. It's illegal to do that."

"Hmm..." She pulled her sword out from the corpse. "Well, goodbye then. My business is over."

The woman walked away as she sheathed her weapon. However, she only managed to take several steps before being called out.

"Hey, hold it!"

It was Yang who called her, causing her to turn around.

"Something wrong?" She asked her. "I am sure there's no beef between us."

"Not that." The blonde gestured at the corpse. "They might be criminals, but that doesn't give you right to kill them."

Blake admitted that it was somewhat hypocritical considering her history, but she kind of agreed with Yang.

In any case, none of them expected the kind of reaction that they would receive.

A mocking laugh.

"Man, you girls must be outsiders." She stated. "Here in Siracusa, the laws are more 'flexible' for certain types of people."

"Yeah? Well, guess what?" Yang punched her fists together. "Ours is quite 'rigid.'"

"Have you ever kill someone?" The woman suddenly asked.

"Eh?" She was caught by surprise.

"Have you ever kill someone?" The question was repeated.

"O-Of course not!" After several seconds passed, the blonde realized something. "Blake?"

The faunus had sweats on her forehead that was not there before.

"Ah, yes. I know that face." The white-haired swordswoman said, sounding somewhat amused. "Well, since you're not innocent, I suppose…"

WWIIIUUU WWIIIUUU

"Ah, forget it."

Both of them noticed not only the sound but also the red-and-blue light in the distance; indicators of approaching police. Yet the woman didn't show any sign of being worried.

She simply looked annoyed.

Answers to some reviews:

ptl: They still have their Aura obviously.

MSDeus: Well, Blake only has the ears. Though considering that Mousse has two tails, she would likely be considered a Feline with a "defect."

Also, considering their height, Ruby and Weiss could pass as Durin

Anyway, yeah. The race situation would be quite interesting.

TheLastSterling: ;)

VGBlackwing: All I can say is that they would learn fast enough.

EternalRecords: Well, I can say that fighting Reunion is simply part of their adventure. It would be more than that.

Also, Salem wouldn't be in Terra. A little bit spoiler, but Terra already has immortal causing problems for thousands of years.

Now, about the situation of Team RWBY that some of you guess, you're right. There's no Dust, meaning that their supply is limited. Furthermore, bullets in Terra are expensive. So, yeah, the gun-function in Ruby, Blake, and Yang's weapons would…let's just say, rarely used.

And that's not getting to Weiss.

But worry not. If you know Team RWBY, then their Aura and Semblances would be enough for them to compete.

Also, something interesting to think about. The villains in RWBY, Torchwick, Cinder, Adam, Salem, etc. can be called bad people. The conflict in the show is quite straightforward, of good versus evil.

So, imagine how the team would feel – especially Ruby – if they have to fight FrostNova and Patriot.

If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.

Review, please!