It's How You Play the Game

Sorry in advance for this chapter. I was suffering from a bit of writer's block as I tried to stretch out the Volume 1 arc, and I hope that this chapter hasn't suffered too much because of it. I honestly have the general outline of the plot set up for this fic stretching into the early parts of Volume 4, so I have little intention of abandoning this fic any time soon.

With that said, let's begin.

Disclaimer: Monty Oum owns Rwby and Toei owns Kamen Rider

It had been a few days since the Bugster attack and Team RWKBY was taking advantage of a free weekend to spend some time in Vale. All around them, decorations were being put up as the people of Vale prepared for the upcoming Vytal Festival, with much excitement being shared in the civilians and students, as the festival was going to be quite the event. Team RWKBY found themselves walking by the docks as ships came in with students and faculty from other Academies, all intent on participating in the Festival events.

"he Vytal Festival!" exclaimed Weiss happily with arms stretched up in glee, "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," said Ruby with a frown as she edged away from her unusually happy partner, "it's kinda weirding me out…"

"You're not the only one," said Kazi, "I don't think I've ever seen her smile this much…or for this long."

"How could you not smile?" exclaimed Weiss as she rounded on her teammates, "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!"

"She does have a point," mused Kazi.

"But it sounds so boring now," groaned Yang.

"Quiet you!" snapped Weiss.

"Why are we visiting the docks again?" asked Yang as she looked around.

"Yeah," said Ruby as she covered her nose, "they smell like fish!"

"It's not that bad," muttered Blake as her ribbon twitched slightly.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," huffed Weiss, "and, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"

"Translation, she wants to gather intel on them for the tournament by spying," deadpanned Blake.

"You have no evidence!" scoffed Weiss.

"In any case," sighed Kazi, "getting some recon isn't the worst idea."

The rest of the team shrugged and continued on their way, but as they walked, something caught Ruby's attention.

"Hey guys," said Ruby, "look over there."

The group turned in the direction their red-clad leader was pointing and saw a taped off Dust Shop that had the windows smashed in.

"What happened over here?" Ruby asked as she ran up to one of the officers.

"Robbery," said the officer, "Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

"They left all the money again," said the other officer to his partner, "just like all the other ones."

"Huh?" said Ruby in surprise.

"Yeah," agreed the first, "doesn't make any sense. I mean, who need's that much Dust anyways?"

"Dunno," said the second, "an army maybe?"

"You thinking it's the White Fang?" asked the first officer.

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough for this," sighed the second as they walked off.

"Hmph," scoffed Weiss, "the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

"What's your problem?" asked Blake angrily as Kazi leveled an icy glare at the heiress.

"My problem?" huffed Weiss, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"I beg your pardon?" said Kazi in a tone that would freeze water.

"The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths," said Blake seriously, "they're just a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?" asked Weiss indignantly, "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"Who the hell told you that crap?" asked Kazi angrily, "If that's what you think, then you know NOTHING. The White Fang fight for equality, as opposed to the discrimination and oppression that we face now."

"Oh?" retorted Weiss, "Then why all the violence and destruction of private property?"

"They're just misguided!" said Blake, "Besides, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"Blake does have a point," said Ruby, "and they never caught that Torchwick guy. Maybe it was him?"

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," said Weiss angrily, "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

As if to verify her claim, an angry shout could be heard from one of the ships as a blond teen with a monkey tail leapt off the desk and onto the ground with surprising agility.

"Hey thanks for the ride guys," laughed the blond Faunus.

"You no-good stowaway!" yelled one of the sailors.

"Hey now," said the Faunus as he hung from a lamppost with his tail and ate a banana, "a 'no-good' stowaway would be caught. I'm a great stowaway."

The simian Faunus then leapt to the ground, tossing away his banana peel, before running off, prompting several officials to give chase, leaving Team RWKBY just standing there.

"…well Weiss," said Yang after a moment, "you wanted to observe the competition, right? Well there he goes."

This snapped Weiss out of her stupor real fast, "Quick! We have to chase him!"

The teens quickly gave chase with Weiss leading the charge, but it was no use. Adding injury to insult, as the heiress turned a corner, she slammed into a surprisingly solid figure and knocked them both to the ground.

"No!" groaned Weiss, "He got away!"

"Um, Weiss," said Yang as she pointed to the figure that the heiress had run into, causing her to look and see that she was practically straddling an orange haired girl wearing a grey and green outfit. Upon noticing this, the heiress quickly jumped to her feet and smoothed out her outfit.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!" said the girl happily without moving from the ground.

"…Hello?" said Ruby hesitantly.

"Are you…ok?" asked Yang.

"I'm wonderful," said the girl happily, "thank you for asking."

A beat passed as the team looked at each other before Yang elected to address the Goliath in the room, "Do you…want to get up?"

The girl seemed to think about if for a moment before smiling again, "Yes!"

Leaping to her feet so quick that the group stepped back in surprise, the girl stood tall and addressed the group, "My name is Penny Polendina. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi Penny," said Ruby, "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss," said Weiss.

"Kazi," said Kazi as he raised a hand in greeting.

"Blake," said their black clad teammate with a nod.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" asked Yang, prompting Blake to elbow her in the side, "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Penny with a smile.

"You already said that," said Weiss.

"…So I did," said Penny.

"Well…sorry for running into you," said Weiss as the group turned to leave.

"Take care friend," said Ruby as she waved goodbye.

"She was…weird," said Yang once they had walked a bit.

"Now," said Weiss, "where did that Faunus riff-raff go to?"

Suddenly, Penny practically appeared in front of them, causing the group to jump back in surprise.

"What did you call me?"

"Oh," said Yang, "I'm really sorry. I didn't think you heard me."

"No, not you," said Penny before pointing to Ruby, "You."

"Me?" said Ruby in surprise, "I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh…"

"You called me 'friend'!" said Penny, "Am I really your friend?"

"Ummm," said Ruby, glancing over Penny's shoulder to see Yang, Weiss and Blake giving 'deny deny deny!' signs, while Kazi just shrugged, "Y-yeah, sure! Why not?"

"Sen-sational!" said Penny happily, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"So…what are yoi doing in Vale?" asked Yang, trying to change the subject.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," said Penny confidently.

"Wait," said Weiss, "You're fighting in the tournament?"

Penny nodded and saluted, "I'm combat ready."

"You hardly look the part," said Weiss.

"Says the girl in the dress," commented Blake.

"It's a combat skirt," said Weiss as she crossed her arms.

"Yeaah," said Ruby as she slid up next to her and gave her partner a low-five.

"Wait a minute," said Weiss, ""If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"

"The who?" asked Penny, tilting her head in confusion.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" exclaimed Weiss.

"Why do you keep saying that?" asked Blake angrily as Kazi gave the heiress an icy death glare.

"Huh?" asked Weiss as she turned to Blake.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion!" said Blake angrily Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh I'm sorry," said Weiss sarcastically, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Then I guess I should start calling you a self-absorbed, spoiled brat of an heiress then?" retorted Kazi icily, "I mean that is what we're doing right?"

"Why are you angry at me?" asked Weiss, "He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

"You are an ignorant little bitch!" growled Kazi.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" exclaimed Weiss, offended, "I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl!" snapped Blake.

"What in the world makes you say that?" demanded Weiss indignantly.

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" snapped Blake.

"Ruby," said Yang as their team, continued to fight, "we should probably go."

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!" said Weiss.

"Sure," said Kazi, "but only if you admit that you're a judgmental little bitch whose family's actions and views on the subject are the reason Faunus feel the need to resort to such drastic tactics."

"Why you…!" growled Weiss.

xXsceneXx

That evening, the argument was still going on, with Blake and Wiess still yelling, and Kazi having opted to give the heiress the cold shoulder as he worked on his computer.

"I don't understand why is causing such a problem!" protested Weiss.

"That is the problem!" snapped Blake.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you?" said Weiss as she rose from her bed, "The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" yelled Blake, "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?" said Weiss indignantly.

"You're discriminatory!" said Blake.

"I'm a victim!" snapped Weiss.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" she asked in a low, angry voice, "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. 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 full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

"Weiss…" said Ruby as she moved to comfort her partner.

"No!" exclaimed Weiss angrily before rounding on Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" yelled Blake angrily before she could stop herself.

The room was silent at that outburst as the revelation it gave began to sink in. Weiss could only stare at Blake and took an involuntary step back as her Black themed teammate looked around in horror as she realized what she had just let slip. Before anyone could stop her, she rushed out the door, leaving the room silent.

"But…I," began Weiss before a loud slam was heard and Kazi rose to his feet, having slammed the lid of his laptop closed.

"This is what I was talking about, Schnee," he said in a tone that would make a winter in Atlas feel like a blistering desert heat, "you act all high and mighty, yet you know NOTHING!"

"Oh, and you know so much about the White Fang," said Weiss angrily.

"Yes," said Kazi, causing Weiss to blink in surprise, "I do."

"Wh-what?" said Weiss in surprise.

"I've told you about my father," said Kazi, "it's time you hear about my mother. To sum it up, she was a member of the White Fang, or at least what the group was before their current leader changed them and their motives. She believed in peaceful protest without violence in order to bring equality between humans and Faunus, and my father agreed with her, even offering funding to help them in their efforts. When the group changed in leadership and became a group willing to use violence, she continued to work within their ranks to bring forth equality. My point being, the White Fang isn't only a group of terrorists and psychopaths that want death and destruction, and not all Faunus want that either. Some of us just want to be able to walk down the street without people judging us as animals."

With that, he pulled the curtain around his part of the room and turned in for the night, leaving Weiss with a lot to think about.

Ok, I know Kazi's views on the White Fang's manifesto are a bit off, but there's a reason for that. In canon, their motives are always unclear. Roman Torchwick, a human that is a liar and a crook, who sees the White Fang as a bunch of rabid animals, says they want to have humans locked up or exterminated. Weiss Schnee, an heiress who has probably grown up being fed a biased view from her father, says they want the total extermination of all humans. Sienna Khan, the current leader of said group, simply wants Faunus to gain a presence through humanity fearing them. Add this in and the fact that Kazi's mother worked with the White Fang when Blake's father led them as a peaceful protest group, and you see where his views come from.