Chapter 14
Vale was covered with balloons and banners of different colors. Theodore was walking with Team RWBY through the city for the sites. Walking to a street, they saw a banister being hung up that read 'Welcome to Vale."
"The Vital Festival!" Weiss stated with a smile, "This is absolutely wonderful!"
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby said, "It's kind of weirding me out."
"You and me both." Theodore added.
"How could you not smile?" Weiss asked as they continued to walk through the city, "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."
"You really know to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang said.
"Quiet you!"
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked, everyone coming to a halt at the said location.
"Ugh, they smell like fish." Ruby said while holding her nose.
"Too bad I didn't bring my fishing pole." Theodore joked which earned him a glare from all the girls. He held his hands in defense saying, "It was just a joke."
"I've heard that students, visiting from Vacuo, will be arriving by ship today" Weiss said, "and as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
"She wants to spy on them so that she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake clarified.
"Isn't that considered cheating?" Theodore asked.
"You can't prove that!" Weiss stated, turning towards Blake.
"Whoa." Ruby exclaimed getting everyone's attention. Across from the docks, a dust shop was nearly covered in caution tape and with police. All five students walked to see what was going on.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked one of the police men. He looked to be 6'1", had dark brown hair and a beard on his face. His eye color was unknown because of the sunglasses.
"Robbery." He answered, "The second dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."
"Ugh, that's terrible." Yang said.
"They left all the money again." The other police officer said. He was the same height, but had dark grey hair and no beard. He also had sunglasses on his face.
"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense." The other officer replied, "Who needs that much dust?"
"I don't know. An army?"
"You thinking the uh…White Fang?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking to we don't get paid enough."
"Mind if I look around?" Theodore asked while passing the tape.
"Theodore Constantine." The bearded officer said, "Be our guest, just don't be to disappointed if you don't find anything."
Theodore continued into the shop to see if he could find anything that the police missed. Carefully looking around the shop, on top of shelves and under tables, he searched for anything that could give a clue to who robbed the dust shop. When he reached a specific table, he found something that didn't look like dust. Theodore swiped it up with his index finger and sniffed it. It wasn't dust at all. It was ashes from a smoked cigar.
"Torchwick was here." He said to the officers while walking past them. He rejoined Team RWBY to continue there walk but came upon a disagreement about to start.
"Humph. The White Fang." Weiss scoffed, "What an awful bunch of degenerates."
"Weiss, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Theodore asked, "Besides, it was Torchwick who robbed the dust shop, not the White Fang."
"What's your problem?" Blake asked Weiss.
"My problem?" Weiss asked back, "I simply don't care the criminally insane."
Why do I get the feeling an argument is about to start? Theodore thought.
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake retaliated, "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided?" Weiss replied, "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet."
OK. She is taking this too far. Theodore thought to himself, trying to keep his patience in check. Sadly, Blake wasn't as patient.
"So, then they're very misguided." Blake shot back, "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of Downtown, Vale."
"Blakes got a point." Ruby said. "Besides the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him."
"It was him." Theodore stated holding up his index finger, "This is a high quality, cigar ash. Only Roman Torchwick smokes something like this. He's going to kill himself one day if he doesn't stop smoking."
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss said, "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
Theodore was trying to keep his temper in check by counting backwards, starting from 100. Weiss was acting like a snobby racist and it was really ticking him off.
"That's not necessarily true." Yang said. Theodore hoped that would be the end of the argument and they could continue their day with everyone wearing a smile. He was wrong.
"HEY! STOP THAT FAUNUS!" Someone shouted. Turning to where the shout came from, all five students dashed to the railing that let them view the docks. The saw a boy run from the ships security, onto the edge of the boat.
"Thanks for the ride guys!" he said to them. He then leapt off the boat, onto the docks. He then ran to a pole and started hanging upside down. They all saw how he was able to do this by the tail he used to grip the pole. Upon seeing him closer, they saw he had blond hair and blue eyes. His shirt was short sleeved and was unbuttoned showing his chest and abs. He wore gloves that looked like they were from Tekken. Everyone deduced that he was a monkey Faunus.
"YOU NO-GOOD STOWAWAY!" one of the security guards shouted.
"HEY! A NO-GOOD STOWAWAY WOULD'VE BEEN CAUGHT!" the monkey Faunus shouted back, while peeling a banana, "I'M A GREAT STOWAWAY!"
He narrowly dodged a rock that was thrown a him by a police officer.
He should be fired for attempted grievous bodily harm. Theodore thought to himself.
"Hey, get down from there this instant!" The police officer commanded. His answer was a banana peel to his face. The Faunus laughed for a bit and then jumped off the pole, landing behind the police men. He then started to run up to the streets of Vale. The students got a good look at what pants he was wearing. They were blue jeans that were rolled up half way to his knees.
He ran right past the students, giving Blake a quick wink. Theodore gave quick chase before he lost him. He took to the rooftops hoping to cut him off. He was lucky when he ran down the alley, more like jumped into it. The Faunus looked back while running to see if he lost the police. Happy that he did, he turned his head back to look forward only to stop in his tracks. Someone was standing in front of him, blocking his path.
"Excuse me," the Faunus said, "Trying to see the sights here."
"I know," Theodore replied, "but I have a few questions I need to ask you."
"Yeah? How long will it take?"
"Just a few seconds, super Saiyan."
"Hm…OK. Ask away."
"Thank you. All right, have you seen- "Theodore didn't get to finish his question as he was punched in the nose. The monkey Faunus then jumped over him and vanished. Theodore held his nose with his left hand and check to see if it was OK. He saw blood on his hand.
"Guys got a good punch." He said to himself. He then started to walk back to Team RWBY hoping that the little incident they had earlier would have finally cooled down. He finally reached them after three minutes of searching, only to see Weiss and Blake still arguing. He walked up to Yang and Ruby seeing that they were keeping their distance.
"They're still going?" he asked them.
"Yep, they still are." Yang replied turning to face Theodore. She immediately took notice of his bleeding nose. "Theodore! What happened to you?!"
That got Weiss' and Blake's attention. They turned around to see Theodore with a bloody nose and ran right up to him. Weiss had a handkerchief in her pocket. She immediately reached for it and handed it to Theodore, who accepted it with his right hand and held it to his nose.
"Monkey boy sucker punched me." He answered.
"What did I tell you?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Weiss, I backed him into a corner. He had not choice, but to force me away. I'll have your handkerchief washed and given back to you by tomorrow. I'll go on ahead to Beacon to have my nose checked."
With that said, Theodore started walking back to Beacon but not before whispering something to Blake.
"Thin ice, Blake."
Blake stood frozen for a moment before remembering her conversation with Theodore.
Flashback
Theodore waited for Blake on top of the roof over the dorms. He had just finished his conversation with the professors after he had talked to Jaune. He heard the door of the roof opening. He turned around to see Blake in her normal attire, with a scared look on her face.
"How did you figure it out?" she asked.
"Simple." He answered, "I noticed your bow twitches when ever something surprises you, and flattens whenever you are mad. Also, can't forget your irresistible appetite for fish. With these facts, I concluded that your bow was really cat ears and that you are a cat Faunus. Nice way to hide your heritage by the way."
"You said you knew my secret but not why I was hiding it. What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is…why hide it? Why keep it from your team? Your friends?"
"I'm afraid of how they'll think of me if they find out what I really am, especially Weiss. Her family and the Faunus have some bad history between each other."
"That I do know, but Weiss isn't her father. Blake, they're your friends. I doubt they'll think of you any differently, even if you are a Faunus. You're treading on very thin ice Blake. You must be careful where you step. You need to tell them."
"Are you going to tell them if I don't?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice.
"No." he replied, "That's not my secret to tell. That's yours and yours alone. Please, don't lose the friends that you made by not telling them."
With the conversation ended, Theodore entered the building to return to his dorm, leaving Blake with her thoughts.
Flashback End
Theodore just exited the infirmary with a healed nose. His aura had finally kicked in and done its work. He was walking past Team RWBY's dorm when he heard shouting. Walking up to the room, slowly and quietly opening the door, he walked in. He then quietly closed it, walking right behind Yang and Ruby.
"They're still going?" he asked.
"Yup, sadly." Yang replied.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss said.
"That is the problem!" Blake replied.
"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you?! The Faunus, of the White Fang, are pure evil!"
"There's no such thing as pure evil! 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?!"
Blake, this is getting out of hand. Theodore thought, seeing that this argument was going south.
"You're discriminatory!" Blake stated.
"I'm a victim!" Weiss replied, "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 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 everyday my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood."
Your father brought that upon himself for mistreating the Faunus, Weiss. Theodore thought to himself, I wish you could see that.
Ruby walked up to Weiss, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Weiss, I- "Ruby tried to apologize, but didn't get to as Weiss shrugged off her hand.
"No!" Weiss exclaimed, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
"Maybe we we're just tired of being pushed around!" Blake retorted and immediately realized her mistake. She had revealed her secret under the worst conditions. The remaining three members of Team RWBY all had surprised looks on their faces, while Theodore was shaking his face with his right hand covering it. Out of fear, Blake ran, leaving everyone in the room with their thoughts on the matter.
"Blake! Come back!" Ruby shouted, running to the door. Yang had a sad look on her face while Weiss was angry. Theodore looked at her with an angry look of his own. He then stormed out of the room, trying to keep himself from slapping the heiress.
"She's been gone all weekend." Ruby said sadly. She, Weiss, Yang and Theodore were all looking for Blake. She had not returned that night or the night after. The three of the four group were getting worried, so they decided to go look for her.
"Blake's a big girl." Weiss said, "I'm sure she can handle herself."
"Weiss, come on." Yang said, "She's one of our teammates."
"Is she? We all heard what she said."
"Weiss." Ruby retorted.
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't." Yang stated, "Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her."
"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" Hearing that, Theodore was coming very close to slapping Weiss in the face, but refrained from doing so.
"I just hope she's OK." Ruby said, as everyone continued to walk down the street. Theodore lagged a bit to pull out his scroll and dial an unknown number. It rang three times before it was answered.
"Hey, I need you to look for someone." He said.
Blake was sitting at a café, with the newly acquainted monkey Faunus, named Sun Wu Kong, sitting across from her. Her mind was still on what happened that night.
Theodore was right, Blake thought to herself, by keeping it a secret I made things worse. I should've listened to him. All of this could've probably been avoided.
Looking at Sun, she decided to put Theodore's advice into action. The secrecy had to stop.
"So," she started, "you want to know more about me."