Descending the staircase underneath the staute, the two boys walked past torches and ever shifting walls, each of which carrying a weapon. The first to catch Jaune's eye was a very sharp sword of pure silver:
'A king built a might wall and protected the realm. This was his sword. It devastated foes with preemptive warp-strikes.'
Next came a double bladed battle axe, also of pure silver.
'A king performed great feats of arms, expanded his realm, and made his people prosper. This was his balberd. It weaks havoc with slow but mighty blows.'
A crossbow with what looked like dove wings then appeared
'A king was versed in myriad arts both martial and intellectual. This was his crossbow. The bearer skewers foes while flitting across the battlefield.'
Then came what looked like a bladed staff split into two.
'A king was quick like the wind and went where no man had gone before. These were his blades. Apart they rain fury-together they deliver thundering blows.'
Then a mace with handle of silver but bladed bludgeons of black and white.
'A king was gentle before his people but an ogre on the battlefield. This was his mace. It deals crippling blows to mighty foes.'
And finally, a full body shield, much larger than the one Croca Mors had, looking almost akin to towers in it's heights.
'A queen devoted herself to peace and was loved by all. This was her shield. It deflects blows and bolsters recovery when raised in defense.'
"So…what're all these?" Jaune asked.
"These, Jauney-boy…"
"Please don't call me that."
"Sorry. These are the Arc family Royal Arms." Ben explained. "Each weapon you see here belonged to one of your ancestors, the parents and siblings of Jamie Arc. All of them so powerful and just that they were hailed as kings in all but title until the Great War….where most of them died."
If Jaune already felt pressure to live up to a family legacy, it just got even more intense.
"Don't worry." Ben assured the blonde "The walls are…I guess you could say 'enchanted' to show weapons that the Arc in the room would be well akin to use."
"But I suck at archery!" Jaune pointed out. "And no offense, but a mace is…too brutal for me."
"Its not about the mastery of the weapon." Ben smirked. "It about the kind of person you are and the potential you have."
Jaune was taken aback by this comment. These weapons were suited for him?
"How come…?" He started.
"Your parents and sisters never told you about this? Well, mostly because the knowledge is very, very limited. Seems your great grandpa didn't trust the other kingdoms or future generations, especially not after what happened to his sister." Ben admitted. "On that note, approach that Winchester guy with care and unease; his dad's okay, but history tends to repeat itself."
"Huh?" Jaune asked.
"Never mind." Ben sighed. "So, Jamie and the king of Vale decided to hide the Royal Arms. I guess they thought underneath a school was the best place to do so."
The two boys pondered, admitting that there was indeed some merit to that line of thinking, but also…no, not really.
"So, what happens now?" Jaune asked.
"From what I've seen," Ben explained. "Your fighting style, all self taught, is about strong blows first and foremost, but you also have bursts of speed that aren't hampering your precision. With that in mind, I think the Swords of the Wanderer would be best for you…"
The split apart blade came towards Jaune, who tenderly reached for them, expecting a shock of some kind, anything to remind him he wasn't worthy.
No such event came.
He then took the blades and gave them a feel: It felt..more natural than Crocea Mors.
"We'll be trying everything until we find your niche." Ben smirked
" 'We?'"
"What, you think I'd just bring and leave you here to figure this out on your own?" Ben smirked, his hands glowing. "We'll only do one round tonight. But every other? Training. Oh and yeah, your team can probably know about this."
The two then raced at each other….
GUARDIANS
"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"
Team BWMM had joined Team RWBY and Jaune's team, JNPR, to take a trip to the docks of Vale. Ben and Momo were craving seafood, Maine needed to stretch his legs, and Whitley wanted to get more acquainted with his older sister's team, especially Ms. Ruby Rose.
"I've never seen Weiss smile this much," Ruby said. "It's kinda creeping me out..."
"Trust me, Ms. Rose, my sister only gets this way during special occasions."
"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss's said, her eyes having become giant sparkling stars as she looked out in the distance in pure glee.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring," Yang muttered as she crossed her arms, Nora Valkyrie groaning loudly in agreement.
"Quiet, you!"
The group of twelve continued walking around. Momo just looked impatient as can be, wanting to fill his stomach with delicious seafood while Whitley checked his Scroll every few minutes.
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang grumbled.
"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss explained with an air of superiority and haughtiness.
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake said simply.
Whitley laughed in agreement. "That does sound like her. Then again, it's a Schnee Family Trademark!"
"You can't prove that!" Weiss snapped.
"Excuse me, but I believe there is something that requires our undivided attention."
Hearing Sigma speak from Maine's AI chip caused everyone to turn and see a building with a shattered window, and yellow caution tape set up as police were investigating what was no doubt a crime scene.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked curiously.
The detective looked up at the group. "Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."
"They left all the money again." The other detective said to his partner.
"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"
"I don't know, an army?"
"You thinking the White Fang?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."
Ben and Ruby perked up, recalling the incident where they first met at From Dust, Till Dawn when Roman Torchwick tried to rob the place for its Dust. They were snapped out of their musings by a disgusted huff from Weiss.
"The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!"
"What's your problem?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss explained to Blake with annoyance.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths," Blake said seriously with her arms crossed. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided?" Weiss looked at Blake in shock "They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"
"So then they're very misguided." Blake defended though it was somewhat weak. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"
"Hmm... Blake's got a point" Ruby spoke up seriously. "Remember how I told you about my run-in with that Torchwick guy before school started? This is exactly what he did back then. He and his goons didn't go for the lien, they just took the dust, or at least tried to. It was probably him that did this."
"I can vouch for her, I was there." Ben chimed in. "I roasted his party good."
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss hissed angrily. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
"That's not necessarily true," Lie Ren said with his eyes narrowed.
"Yes, don't you think you're being a bit unfair?" Pyrrha Nikos asked.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
The group of twelve turned to see some commotion going on over at the docks and went to investigate. They arrived just in time to see a tan-skinned boy with short spiky light-blonde hair about their age running on a boat and avoiding the sailors who were attempting to capture him. They all saw the light monkey blonde tail that was waving around as he ducked and weaved through the sailors until he finally reached the edge of the boat and jumped off.
"Thanks for the ride, guys!"
"You, no-good stowaway!"
"Hey! If I'm a no-good stowaway I would've been caught long before we reached the destination or even left the ports in Vacuo." Sun defended. "I'm a great stowaway! You guys on the other hand are a no-good crew as you only now knew that I was on the boat so HA!"
Momo's eyes widened.
"I know that voice…" The Prince smiled happily. "SUN, YOU RASCAL!"
Unfortunately, Sun didn't seem to hear Momo, as he was now fleeing from the port authorities. He DID however, have enough time to wink at Blake.
"AFTER HIM!" Momo, Weiss and the port officers shouted, leading to a very…Benny Hill-esque chase.
(Mrotrax AN: I'm sorry, I cannot do such a scene justice, you'll have to imagine it in your head)
Eventually, the group split up to cover more ground…only to run and crash right into each other. Well, accept Momo, whose body split apart and who caught the fleeing Sun's feet, giving him a lift upwards.
"How could you let him get away?!" Weiss snapped as Momo gave her an annoyed look.
"It's okay, everyone, I'm okay..." Ben groaned.
"Um, Ben..." Jaune awkwardly said as the Son of Ozpin looked down to see he had run into a girl and was currently on top of her.
Their eyes remained locked on each other for what felt like an eternity as the girl gave a wide innocent smile, which is what served to snap Ben out of his trance as he jumped off her.
"OH MY OUM, I AM SO SORRY-!" The son of Ozpin leapt to his feet, bowing over and over profusely.
"Sal-u-ta-tions!" The girl beamed.
"Um... hello." Ruby shyly greeted.
"Are you... okay?" Yang asked.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."
"Do…do you wanna get up?" Ren asked uncertainly.
The girl seemed to have to actually think about it for a moment.
"Yes!" She answered gleefully. She leaped back on her feet while the twelve stepped back a little in shock. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
She had short, rather curly orange hair that came down to her chin with a pink bow on the back of her head. She had bright green eyes, light skin, and freckles. She was wearing an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.
"Hi, Penny." Ruby greeted lamely. "I'm Ruby."
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
"Jaune. Of the Arc Family, uh, last name is Arc."
"I'm Pyrhha. It's nice to meet you." Pyrrha smiled.
"Nora!" Nora cheerfully greeted as she pulled Ren in. "And this is Ren!"
"Whitley. I'm her younger brother." Whitley said, gesturing to Weiss.
"This is Agent Maine and I am Sigma, one of his AI companions designed to make sure he stays at peak performance." Sigma introduced Maine, the mountain of a young man growling in acknowledgment.
"Momotaro, just call me Momo!"
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before Blake hit her in the side. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"And, um...I-I'm Ben...Again, REALLY sorry about running you!" Ben said bashfully.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny greeted so happily it had to be honest.
"You already said that." Weiss pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"...So I did!"
"I like her," Ben whispered to Momo, who nodded his head.
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized before turning around to leave. The others follow her lead and begin to walk away as well.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby waved to Penny.
"She was... weird..." Yang said as they walked away.
"She seemed nice!" Nora smiled.
"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss sniffed as she looked around to look for the Faunus they were in pursuit of earlier...only to bump into Penny again.
"What did you call me?" Penny asked in wonder. Weiss looked back and forth in shock and horror.
"Whoa, she's fast..." Ben thought with a whistle.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized.
"No, not you." Penny corrected. She then walked through the group to Ruby and leaned down to look at her. "You!"
"Me?" Ruby asked, afraid.
"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"
Ruby awkwardly looked over Penny's shoulder to see Weiss, Blake, and Yang shaking their heads, Nora, Ben, and Momo nodding their heads, and Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Maine being neutral. Whitley shurugged.
Ruby looked back into Penny's eyes and couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity from seeing them; someone who probably had never had a friend before in her life and was too scared to try but just needed the right push.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?"
Weiss, Blake, and Yang comically fell over while Nora, Ben, and Momo gave Ruby a thumbs-up. Penny, for her part, was overjoyed.
"Sen-sational!" She yelled ecstatically. "We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like him!"
Penny pointed at Ben as she said that last part, making the Son of Ozpin look around before pointing at himself and silently mouthing "Me?" as if to make absolutely sure that she was referring to him.
"Is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss.
"No, she seems far more coordinated."
"Honestly, must you be so rude to Ms. Rose?" Whitley asked his older sister with a huff. Weiss said nothing, but Ruby shot Whitley a grateful look, which made the boy feel warm inside.
"So..." Yang began. "What are you doing in Vale?"
"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny answered.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked.
"Yep," Penny chirped before saluting. "I'm Combat Ready!"
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss snorted.
"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake retorted.
"It's a combat skirt! Weiss defended.
"Yeah!" Ruby said, sliding up and giving Weiss a high-five.
"Besides, looks can be deceiving." Momo pointed out. "I know back in Vacuo there are many people who might not look like it but are fierce warriors who have slain even the most deadly of Grimm."
"Wait a minute, if you're here or the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?" Weiss asked.
"He has a name, you know; Sun Wukong." Momo corrected with a frown, making all turn to him.
"You know him?" Blake asked.
"He's my best friend!" Momo declared proudly, before backpedaling. "N-not that you guys…!"
"Momo, its cool." Ben assured him
"Perfectly understandable." Sigma said as Maine gave a thumbs up.
"How did you meet?" Whitely asked, making Momo smile as he began to recall a tale:
"Well, 8-year-old me had snuck out of the palace to see the people. I took a wrong oath and found myself surrounded by thugs with knives. One at my thraot, one at my back and one at my..."
"PICKLES AND EGGS!" A wandering vender shouted. "GET YOUR PICKLES AND EGGS!"
'..."
"..."
"...Anyways, Sun happened to be passing my and leant me a hand. We fought those goons for hours before my guards found us. Sun and I have been best friends ever since."
Ben, Maine, Jaune, and even Whitley all were interested in learning more about this young man but unfortunately, Weiss and Blake began arguing.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss said in a not-so-sorry tone. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"Stop it!" Blake yelled furiously.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law." Weiss said as if this conversation was pointless. "Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"
"NO, HE WOULD NOT!" Momo roared, suddenly turning into an Allosaurus, towering over all as he focused on Weiss. "SUN LITERALY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF RACISM, NOR DOES HE FEEL ANY NEED TO HARM THOSE WHO HAVE DONE HIM NO WRONG JUST BECAUSE THEY SHARE THE TRAIT OF THOSE WHO HAVE!"
"Momo, calm down…!" Ben tried to sooth the enraged prince. "You're scaring Whitely and Ruby!"
"No he's not." The two younger teens said, only for Yang to point to Whitley's buckling knees.
"I WILL NOT BE SILENT TO THIS KIND OF TALK! IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTEN WIESS, I AM A SO CALLED ANIMAL, AS YOU SAY! WHY ARE YOU KINDER TO ME?"
Weiss faultered for a moment.
"….MY status?" Momo guessed as he changed back to normal.
Teams RWBY, JNPR, and BWMM couldn't help but look at each other in worry. Things were not looking good, were there.
GUARDIANS
Team RWBY had made their way back home and the fight between Blake and Weiss was still going.
"It's been 3 hours now!" Ben groaned as he turned to Whitley. "Whits, can't you stop her?!"
"Don't look at me, she becomes COMPLETELY unreasonable at this rate." Whitley retorted.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss shouted.
That is the problem!" Blake retorted just as loud.
"Oh for Oum's sake!" Weiss yelled. "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"
Blake got up from her bed and stood face to face with Weiss "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like YOU, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"
"People like me?" Weiss shouted in surprise.
"You're discriminatory!" Blake accused.
"I'm a victim!" Weiss snapped causing all the others in the room to back up at the outburst. It wasn't the anger that had thrown them off. It was the hint of hurt and sadness in her voice. Blake however wouldn't back down and continued to glare back.
"Weiss..." Whitley said softly, having known his sister long enough to pick up on that vocal cue.
As the two continued to glare each other down in silence, Weiss leaned in close, leering as she began to speak quietly. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with our family for years."
Blake still didn't look sympathetic.
"It wasn't so bad at first," Weiss continued. "Protests, strikes, union formations, and even the occasional threat. There were a few cases of vandalism and even strategic strikes but no one ever got hurt. I didn't mind those because they were peaceful and understandable. I remember one particular protest had gotten a bit violent and a few people got hurt and the White Fang had apologized."
Blake remembered that protest too. The previous leader had personally apologized for that. Her father had not been pleased with the direction the protest had taken.
"Then everything had changed 5 years ago," Weiss said. There was an edge in her voice. "There were no more peaceful protests, and no more apologies. Instead of spray painting and vandalizing company buildings, they blew them up. People were inside. Some of them didn't even work for our company."
Blake blinked. "What?"
"Then they started aiming for us," Weiss said in a faraway voice. "My sister was always strong and brave but her kindness was her greatest attribute. She was stern true but she was always there to cheer us up if we were scared or sad."
Weiss had a small, almost fond smile before it slowly dripped away.
"That all changed when the White Fang killed a group of her friends but left her alive."
"Oh god..." Ben muttered.
"It was a message," Whitley continued for his sister. "If you were friends with a Schnee you would pay the price. Our beloved Winter was never the same after that. She would put on a brave face for us but we would hear her at night crying or screaming in fright."
"I remember one time I was walking down the street and I met a young Faunus on the street tattered in rags and starving. I offered to help her get some food and pay for it. You can imagine my surprise when she tackled me to the ground and tried to bash my head in with a brick," Weiss said with a humorless laugh. "All the while screaming for me to die and her doing it in the name of the White Fang."
"I saw her myself. Father wanted me to see what happened to those who threatened our family...he had personally taken that girl to his personal room and tortured her. Whipped her, burned her, branded her with the Schnee Dust Logo...and then made me watch as he took out his prized hunting pistol and shot her in the throat, just so she would bleed out slowly and painfully." Whitley said in a harrowing voice. "I was only EIGHT when he showed me that."
Blake's eyes widened. She didn't know that.
"Over the past five years, I've watched family friends disappear, only to receive a video of them being tortured and killed a few days later. Including the children." Weiss continued, the edge in her voice had returned. "Watching the news to hear about board members being assassinated in their homes. People who I had sometimes seen just the day before or had always been kind to everyone including Faunus. There was one time when my sister and I helped an old woman cross the street while carrying her groceries to get to the bus stop. We didn't know who she was or anything. She just needed help, didn't even know her name… They sent her head to our front door a week later.
"They wanted us to hurt in every sense of the word..." Whitley growled.
Blake's breath hitched in her throat. That couldn't be true.
"An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And all of the guards and civilians who were on the train… well they would be found by others when the train arrived. Some of them would be Winter's classmates. Barely out of the academy," Weiss was whispering at this point. "And every day, my father would come home…furious!"
She unconsciously touched her right arm, as if to cover something up. Whitley also grasped at his shoulder, wincing as if he was feeling pain from it.
Blake's eyes widened. "No…"
"Aww, man..." Momo said to Whitley, putting a hand on his other shoulder. "Whits, buddy..."
Ruby walked over to Weiss and reached for her. "Weiss, I-"
"No!" Weiss snarled her anger back in full effect. She turned towards Blake and stalked toward her. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers! I don't care if you call them misguided or whatever! The fact is that they will justify anything for their movement for peace when in reality they're all just a bunch a FUCKING monster's who will attack anyone to get what they want!"
"WELL, MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE FUCKING ANIMALS TO BE BOUGHT, ABUSED, AND SLAUGHTERED!"
What? Blake's eyes widened as she realized what she had said.
Weiss's eyes widened in shock. No, don't look at her like that. Weiss began to back away slowly. No, don't back away in fear. Blake looked around her teammates and their wide eyes.
"I... I..." Blake began.
"Blake...?" Ben asked weakly but before more could be said, she bolted away.
"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby cried as she looked out the hall but Blake was gone.
"What happened?" Nora asked as Team JNPR peeked out of their dorm room, having heard just a bit of the argument from across.
"A lot, you guys...a whole fucking lot..." Momotaro muttered.
GUARDIANS
Blake ran. She ran and ran and ran. She hadn't meant for that to slip. They weren't supposed to know about her past. Now they would look at her with hate. Especially Weiss.
She eventually found herself outside in front of the statue in the Beacon courtyard; It was a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping, staring at the Beowolf under the stone heroes in particular. It was to show that humans could overcome. It was proof that the Grimm could be killed. That anyone could be a hero.
Yet Faunus huntsmen and huntresses were still discriminated against. In truth, they hadn't united. They were still as separated as ever.
Menagerie was proof of that.
She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arms up to the bow on her head and took it off. She wiped away a tear away as her now revealed cat ears twitched slightly at being exposed to the chilly night air.
"I knew you would look better without the bow." A familiar voice said, startling her.
Devil Dragon Stand Knight A/N:
We finally come back to this fic only to end the chapter on a CLIFFHANGER! How about that, eh?
Most of Weiss' rant was taken from UMPR (UMBER) by Drag0n5on because I feel like it gives Weiss a better excuse than in canon. Hope nobody minds that.
Alright Mrotrax, knock yourself out, buddy.
Mrotrax A/N
Great work as always DDSK. I handled the Momo and Royal Arms bit this chapter, which was probably heavier than many would expect.
Keep safe and warm!