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To Live and Learn
CHAPTER 17
"How many faunies lived and died,
In the Great Faunus Maaa-sacre?
Too many lived and not enough died,
In the Great Faunus Maaa-sacre!"
-Banned Atlesian Military Cadence
The bowler-hatted thug proceeded to fire miniature missiles at Blake, who did her best to dodge every single one. The recently arrived Bullheads opened, revealing more White Fang terrorists. Meanwhile, Sun and I were still on the roof as I tried to come up with a plan on how to deal with this.
"Okay, you go handle the White Fang goons while Blake keeps the human in the bowler hat busy. I'll stay back and provide supporting fire on enemies you can't reach. Try to find a way to get rid of those choppers. I'll try to shoot the pilots if I can. I suggest taking some dust from the containers and using them to create explosions for the Bullhead. It shouldn't hurt spending some of the dust we are trying to protect. Did you get all of that?" I glanced to my side, only to see that he wasn't there. "Sun?"
I looked around until I found him on the ground facing the human with the bowler hat. "Leave her alone!" After seeing that, I couldn't help but palm my face. There went my chance of making this less complicated than it should be. I was starting to wonder if Huntsmen even comprehend the concept of being subtle.
"'Oi, I think that's 'im! Let's get 'em, fellas!" One of the Fang members on the Bullhead shouted. I put my head back up, puzzled at that statement, as they all jumped off and surrounded Sun. They attacked all at once, barely giving him a chance to fight back. I watched in horror as Sun lay on the ground, getting ganged up by a bunch of terrorists who had some vendetta against him for some reason.
"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?" Mocked the bowler hat guy.
This was the best opportunity for me to bail out, but as much as I wanted to take it, I won't be able to peacefully sleep at night knowing I just left Blake and Sun to suffer in the hands of terrorists and Blake's team wasn't going to appreciate me leaving their missing teammate in danger after I found her, so I had to do something.
I took the stairs down and hid behind one of the crates as I pulled my sword and laser pistol. I blasted off one of the White Fang goons with my laser pistol, alerting them and diverting their attention to me.
"Stall the ball fer a minute, this ain't a human!" One of them said after they stopped beating down Sun and saw his monkey tail.
Sun quickly recovered and swept the legs of all the hostiles around him before standing up and pulling out his bow staff. "You think?"
"I couldn't see shite in this mask!" A White Fang member retorted.
"Another feckin' pet! [1] Get rid of 'im—and the humie too!" Another one of them yelled, rallying the others.
"Hey, don't call us that!" Sun said, attacking the White Fang lackeys around him.
I went back to shooting down the ones trying to get to me. Not one was able to stand close save for one who tried to flank me. I deflected his sword with mine just right in time and our blades pushed against each other. He took a closer look at me and seemed to realize who I was. "Oi, aren't ya the feen that—?" He tried to inquire when I kneed his nuts, stunning him before taking the opportunity to slash him out.
"That's the one! That's the blond 'untsman we've been warned about!" Another set of White Fang was storming toward me. I got the feeling they recognized me and remembered what happened at Forever Fall. I probably made it to their hitlist which could explain why they tried to beat up Sun after they thought he was me since we wore almost the same colors, it doesn't help that he was a blond like me.
There was no turning back from this. I holstered my laser pistol and raised my shield, blocking the gunshots from the incoming terrorists. I thrust myself toward them and slammed my shield at the first terrorist. I spun my sword around, hitting all the terrorists nearby. I proceeded to slash them away and then collapsed my shield back into a scabbard and pointed my laser pistol at the last two terrorists standing.
"He's mine!" Blake yelled. I glanced at her to see her clashing with Mr. Bowler Hat. Despite her agility, he was able to block her every attack and even managed to hit her several times that she knocked her back. Sun came in and changed his bow staff into two nunchucks. The two traded off some blows as Sun swung his weapons while firing them, causing bullets to fly around. Blake suddenly returned and slashed him back. The bowler Hat Guy lay on the ground when he looked up and shot a rope carrying a container above Sun and Blake. Blake flips back behind it while leaping forward to the ground before meeting the barrel of their opponent's cane.
I quickly fired at his hand, causing it to deflect and shoot at the side. He angrily glanced at me and shot a missile, which I managed to block off with my shield at the last second, dragging me back for a few inches. I put my shield down to see him lunge at me. I found myself clashing weapons with Mr. Bowler Hat. I proceeded to deflect all of his attacks as he does the same with mine. This went on for half a minute.
"Hey guys, could we just all attack at the same time?!" I yelled at my two faunus companions, being rather irritated that we were not utilizing some of the advantages we have and that we are only prolonging a fight that didn't even need to happen.
"We're kinda busy here!" Sun responded while he and Blake were dealing with another wave of White Fang soldiers. One must wonder how many terrorists did they bring to carry some containers.
A flurry of missiles came toward me as I blocked every single one with my shield but not without slightly knocking me back. I pulled down my shield and began returning fire with my laser pistol while shooting some of the goons attacking Sun and Blake. Mister Bowler was hit with one of the blasts and staggered back. I ran back to him and swung my sword, only to be blocked by his cane. "You kids are really getting on my nerves!" He fumed, trying to push me back. "I appreciate the challenge and all, but would you learn not to stick your noses on where it doesn't belong?!"
While we were at it, a familiar voice suddenly called, "Hey!" Glancing at my side, I saw Ruby standing at the top of the warehouse with her scythe in her hand. While I was wondering where was the rest of her team, I was glad we were at least getting some backup.
"Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your be—oof!" He tried to taunt her when I seized the opportunity and whipped his face with my laser pistol while he was in the middle of it before kicking him to the ground. I aimed my gun at him with my finger near the trigger. "You know, that wasn't very nice of you," he growled as lied down.
Ruby leaped off the building, landing next to us and joining me as pointed her weapon's sniper form toward him. "Give it up, Torchwick! We got you now!"
"Seriously, you again? What the hell do you want from me this time?" snarled Mr. Bowler Hat or Torchwick—according to Ruby.
I raised my brow at the apparent fact that the two had some familiarity with one another. "You two know each other?"
Ruby grinned while making a faint shrug. "It's kind of a funny story." [2]
"Look, as much as I would love to stay and beat both of you up for being stubborn brats, I'm afraid that I have more pressing matters to attend to," he remarked, as he turned to see three Bullheads coming towards us and started firing its mounted guns.
"Get down!" I pushed myself and Ruby down to the ground and shielded us from a barrage of bullets coming from the Bullheads. Torchwick got up and ran from us while we were down.
"Hey! You almost hit me, you morons!" he yelled at the Bullheads. Considering how he treated his underlings, I wouldn't be surprised if they did try to kill him and make it look like an accident.
As we both got up. I started thinking of a way how to deal with three bullheads, several terrorists, and one crime boss all at once. Little did I know, the answer was right behind me. "Salutations!" An inappropriately enthusiastic voice suddenly greeted. I turned back and saw a short, freckled green-eyed, orange-haired girl with a pink bow behind the back of her head. She was wearing a grey blouse and a greyer slim backpack and her voice had this strange mix of professionalism and cheerfulness. There was something peculiar about her that I couldn't put my finger on. "You must be Jaune. Nice to meet you!"
I was too dumbfounded by seeing a happy girl in the middle of a tense situation to make a verbal response. Ruby ran to her and it appears that they also knew each other. "Penny! What are you doing here? I told you to stay back."
"I came to help," Penny answered, seemingly without any concern for the perils of what was happening at the dockyard.
"No, Penny, it's too dangerous!" Ruby cautioned.
"Don't worry, Ruby!" A blade came out of Penny's backpack before multiplying into several blades while they fly behind her back. "I'm combat ready!"
She dashed towards Sun and Blake, who were still fighting off yet another lot of White Fang troops. Penny came in and knocked out multiple terrorists with her blades. Sun and Blake could only stand by and be shocked as they watched her dispose of the remaining terrorists. The last wave of White Fang soldiers were entering the scene. Penny made a wheel out of her floating swords and it threw to them, making them all fall like bowling pins.
The three Bullheads started firing at her. Penny uses her blades to deflect the bullets from her while sending out two of them to stick at the warehouse before they both get attached by strings coming from her backpack and pulling her to the warehouse. She then used her blades to create a rotating ring and used it to charge and fire a large beam powerful enough to cut two of them in half, with White Fang members visibly falling as the sliced Bullheads crashed into the water, while the third Bullhead just cowered away.
I stood by in amazement while these questions hover in my head: Who the hell was this friend of Ruby? Where did she come from? How was she doing that? What the hell was going on?! This was all unexpected but at the same time, I was rather glad that she was her to turn the tide of the battle.
Penny pierced her blades at the last Bullhead, which was carrying a container. She used her string-attached blades to tug the Bullhead with inhuman strength as she walks back with bare difficulty.
"Woah. How is she doing that?" Ruby remarked. I was asking the same thing myself.
The Bullhead tried to fly away in vain but remained being pulled by a petite girl who looked no older than Ruby. Penny eventually threw the Bullhead down, making it crash to a stack of containers. While saving the containers wasn't exactly an objective, as we were only here to investigate the White Fang, not exactly protect what they're trying to steal, I was rather anxious about the damages we might have to pay for the reparations after all of this was done.
We got too distracted watching her that we didn't notice Torchwick get in a Bullhead. "Hey!" I shouted. The Bullhead flew away as I tried to shoot him down before he closed the door and the Bullhead boosted away. And the only thing left for me that I could do was watch him fly away scot-free. "Crap." He was definitely going to remember this and I wasn't able to get rid of him to make sure the new enemies I made won't be much of a problem for long. Now, I had to prepare myself in case I ever meet this guy ever again.
Penny's blades all swirl back into her pack in an orderly fashion. "The area is secure!" She stood up straight, her smile still hasn't left her face nor did she show any sign of tiredness; I couldn't even see her sweat! She acted like all of this was nothing.
"Penny… that was AMAZING! How did you learn to fight like that?!" Ruby squealed.
"I'd be happy to tell you! But sadly it's a big secret so I can't," she replied. Yeah, I can see why, I thought while looking at the crashed Bullhead, with one of its members barely crawling out. Which reminded me...
I went to the crash site and stomped at the downed White Fang terrorist unconscious before searching the body for any valuables and then taking them. I went back to the duo who was still holding a conversation. Sun and Blake soon stepped in.
"Blake!" Ruby dashed to her teammate, hugging her. "I'm so glad you are okay!" After letting go of her, she noticed something odd on her head. "Blake... you have…"
"I know. Ruby… I'm sorry for making you worry about me, and for hiding this from you for this long." Blake apologized. "Just so you'd know, I'm no longer with the White Fang; they're not the same movement I knew anymore. Would you please forgive me?"
"Of course. We're friends, Blake. Friends look out for each other no matter what. And so what if you were with the White Fang? You're my teammate now, and that's what matters." Ruby said before turning to Sun. "Hey, aren't you that monkey faunus from two days ago?"
"Yep, that was me!" Sun boasted, looking a little tired from the previous fighting. "Sun Wukong. So, you're Blake's team leader?"
Ruby nodded. "Yes, I am. You're from Vacuo, right?"
"Mistral. Studying at Haven. I used to live in Vacuo though. I'm also a team leader myself!" Sun replied.
"Oh, nice! Jaune is a team leader too." Ruby beamed.
"Really?" He turned and grinned at me. "It's no wonder why you're smarter than you look. Erm. No offense."
"It's fine," I reassured. To be fair, I didn't look like much. Appearances can be deceiving and I wanted to use that to my advantage, seeing that it was able to benefit me a few times before.
"And you!" He gestured to Penny. "Man, you were so awesome! I've never seen anyone do that. You kind of saved all of us."
"It was my pleasure. It's nice to meet you all. My name is Penny Polendina of Atlas!" She responded still as chirpy as I first saw her a few minutes ago.
"Well, Penny. It's good to have you on our side." I said, looking at her handiwork. Had she not intervened, this would have been a lot more complicated. I doubt that even one of us would survive.
Penny then stared at me for a moment before identifying who I was. "Wait... are you Jaune Felix Arc? The son of former-Commissar Caiaphas Kaine Arc?!"
Unsurprisingly at this point, here is another person that recognized me thanks to me being born to a somewhat nepotistic family of famed warriors and largely because of an achievement that I got from choosing to run some errands at the wrong place at the wrong time. It did impress me that she was able to refer to both me and Dad with our full names. Rarely anyone called us that way, even to those who were aware of it. It's probably because she's mentioned hailing from Atlas, and most of my father's fame usually comes from there since it used to be his home before settling down with Mom. [3]
"Yes, I am." I nodded modestly at her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! Your father has done a great service not just to the kingdom, but to the rest of the world as well! And I hope you'll be able to continue doing the same and follow in his footsteps," she said with a wide grin.
"Thanks, I really appreciate that," I smiled at her. She was just so cheerful that it was rather infectious. It almost made me forget that she slaughtered the rest of the White Fang forces on the premises and pulled down a freaking Bullhead all by herself.
Well anyway, we managed to foil the White Fang's robbery, seeing how they left without a single container. Well, with the cost of some of them. I hope the SDC doesn't mind losing a few dusts if it meant not giving their adversaries any. Above all, Ruby has finally found her missing teammate, the only thing left was how were they going to explain this to Weiss and Yang.
Regardless, I was relieved that I was able to survive the White Fang a second time now, though the bad news was that I just gave them another reason to be angry at me. And with that, this unfortunately won't be the last time I encounter them and the same probably goes for Torchwick as well. Dammit, I never thought Blake would end up putting me in just as much trouble as Cardin did. Now I had to watch my back even when outside Beacon.
Thank gods the break was starting the next day because I needed a vacation after all of this.
=o=
1. A derogatory term mostly used by faunus towards human-sympathizing faunus. The White Fang also had a penchant for using this towards faunus who refuse to join or support their cause. While originally used by humans as a term for faunus slaves/servants, it's now more commonly used by radical faunus to label 'race traitors' of their own kind.
2. Torchwick was the one in charge of the Dust shop robbery that Ruby foiled on the night Headmaster Ozpin found her and recruited her into Beacon.
3. Interestingly enough, the Arcs are somewhat known for their certain pattern of Atlesian-North Sanusian interbreeding starting with the original Arc wielder of the Crocea Mors, Sir Harry 'The Flash' Arc, who was native to Vale and married an Atlesian woman where they would conceive a son who would be raised as an Atlesian that would marry a wife of North Sanusian descent, who would then be raised more as a Sanusian who married an Atlesian and so on.
Half an hour passed after the first responders arrived and set up a perimeter. The cops and the paramedics took in every White Fang member they found and my only hope for them was that they didn't mind wondering why all of them have almost empty pockets.
We were told to stay still and sit down because they still need us for questioning, so we sat by silently, waiting for the authorities' next instructions. Blake was wearing her bow again and told Ruby everything. She also told all of us not to tell anyone about her previous association with the White Fang as it might cause more unwanted complications, and I was willing to agree, but only because I already faced enough trouble since she ran away and I don't want my much-needed semestral break to be ruined much further if I was still able to have it.
After a few minutes of waiting. A dark-skinned man in a suit and a beige trench coat approached us, followed by two men in white dress shirts and black pants. "I'm Detective Shawn Huntley of the VPD." He flashed his badge and he probably had the tamest Albionic accent out of all the Valish locals I've met these past months. "I just want to inquire some questions regarding this incident. I advise that you all cooperate if you want to keep this brief. Am I clear?"
We all glanced at one another for a second before silently nodding. The detective seemed pleased at our agreement. "Very well. First off, what made you go investigate the recent dust robberies and how did you manage to correctly find out that it was the White Fang and their next robbery would take place here?"
Blake's cat ears turned forward. "I… uh…"
I decided to intercede since fast-talking my way out of things was my expertise. "Let me handle this, Blake," I interjected before clearing my throat and using almost everything I learned these past days to make up a believable alibi.
"Earlier this day, she heard about the dust robbing spree and rumors that the White Fang could be involved. Sun here also overheard that there was a freighter full of SDC dust containers arriving, we knew that if it was really the White Fang who was behind the robberies, then it would be their next target, especially since their history with the SDC. It turned out we were right." It was mostly true, all I did was left out Blake's membership with the White Fang and her personal matters with her team so technically I wouldn't say I was lying to the authorities.
"I see," Detective Huntley cupped his chin. "I've been hearing reports that the wanted criminal—Roman Torchwick—was present at the scene. While it would make sense for him to be involved in the robbery, given his record of raiding dust shops. Why would he work alongside the White Fang, an organization known for hating humans to the extreme? And why would the White Fang allow him to work with them? It doesn't make any sense."
Blake spoke up, only this time, she had the confidence to answer. "We don't know exactly why, but I overheard him talking about an agreement with Adam Taurus."
"Adam Taurus?" The detective raised his brow. "The Adam Taurus? The leader of the White Fang's Valish cell according to evidence? Wasn't he known for his extreme anti-human sentiments? He must be desperate enough to even agree to collaborate with a criminal who is known to be heinous even to other humans. This just keeps getting interesting…"
"You tell me," Blake murmured.
The detective continued to ask another question, only this time his voice became more blunt. "Last question: Why exactly are you Huntsmen-in-training conducting an investigation involving the most serious and dangerous criminals known in the kingdom? You could have informed us about this. While I'm genuinely impressed that you can dispatch this many White Fang members, you have no authority to use force against any criminals with or without bounties outside of self-defense since none of you are licensed Huntsmen. [1] This only makes your actions against them unfavorable to you. Do any of you have anything to say in your defense?"
This is exactly what concerned me the most regarding this fiasco. I knew we were going to face this exact kind of repercussion one way or another if we weren't careful. We all glanced at each other before I gave Blake a reassuring nod and spoke up. "It was self-defense, sir. We had to fight because we were attacked before we could call for help and things ended up escalating since they didn't want witnesses like us to get away. We didn't have much choice. As for the investigation, we wanted confirmation first before informing the police so we wouldn't get you to spend any resources if it turns out to be nothing." I pointed out.
I've always been are of the risks and I knew we weren't supposed to try and stop the heist from taking place. If only Blake didn't act too recklessly that things got out of hand that we had to fight our way out of there to see another day. It was thanks to Penny's surprising skill that we managed to get out alive and even prevent the White Fang from getting any dust.
The detective hummed skeptically. "I still find it dubious that this all led to a few containers and three bullheads getting destroyed but it's better than letting it fall into their hands I guess. Knowing how rich the SDC is, those containers of dust are easily replaceable to them. At least thanks to you, we now know the fangies have a role in the recent chain of dust robberies over these past few months. But alas, even if your actions were justified, we still have to take further account of your unauthorized vigilantism. I'm sorry, but I don't make the rules. It looks like you're gonna have to stay with us for a little longer."
We could only regretfully look down in disappointment, this meant that we won't be able to enjoy our break as we'll be too busy making up for whatever damages we caused. I was even thinking of using one of my family's connections to get us out of this punishment or maybe even convince Weiss to use hers since we're the ones who saved her company's dust from the terrorists that hated them.
Then all of a sudden the detective's scroll rang. He walked out, facing away from us before coming back after a few minutes. "Good news for you lads. The chief just called, he said your Headmaster would take care of things from here on out and that you're free to go. You can forget about what I just said earlier. You're lucky Ozpin himself is bailing you out of this."
I couldn't describe how relieved we were upon hearing that. It's almost as if some sort of miracle just happened. I was still not fond of The Great & Powerful Ozpin but I was at least grateful that he was willing to do that for us.
"Still, I advise you all to let the professionals handle it next time." The detective continued. "Try to be more careful in the future; stay in school and out of trouble. Not that I'm ungrateful for your contributions, but for what it's worth, you kids are going make very good Huntsmen. Just don't let it go to waste."
"Yes, sir…" Ruby said while we all nodded.
"Good. I must be going. You're now free to leave if you please." He then left while the two other detectives still stood by.
"Oi, monkey boy." One of them called.
Sun gulped. "Yes…?"
"We still have our eye on you," he said as they both glared at him.
He nervously chuckled. "No problem, officers."
The detectives then left. I knew that stealing those apples was going to end up biting us back but that thankfully wasn't a major issue that was worth it to them. We all sighed in relief as we were now alone with ourselves. "This is going to be one heck of a story to tell when I get back," Sun said.
And it surely won't be the last, unfortunately.
Ruby and Blake's two other teammates soon arrived. Ruby stood up and tried to reason with them as she stepped in. "Look, Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..."
Weiss just walked past her and confronted Blake. The two silently stared at each other for a few seconds before Blake spoke up. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the—"
"Stop!" Weiss interrupted. "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" Everyone just nervously looked at the two as Weiss berates Blake. "Two days. Two days. That means I've had two days to think about this. And in those couple of days, I've decided..."
Blake just stood in shame as she waited for her to finish her sentence.
"…I don't care."
"You don't care?" she was surprised by her unexpected remark.
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss inquired.
Blake tried to answer. "No, I-I haven't been sincer—"
"Ah-ba-ba-ba-bap! I don't want to hear it." Weiss hushed. "All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up…" she paused as Blake just stared at her. "…You'll talk to us and not some..." she paused and looked at Sun and carefully reconsidered her words. "…Someone else."
Blake looked at her teammates and beamed and wiped a tear off her face. "Of course."
Weiss smiled that they finally made up. Yang walked in and patted Blake on the shoulder. "Good to have you back, partner."
"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheerfully raised her arms. Good to know that all of this team drama is finally over, for now. I'm still somewhat bitter at Blake for all the trouble she caused but for what it's worth, we got a happy ending and I don't have to worry about my sister's team being divided again, but now I had to worry about Torchwick and the White Fang and I honestly wouldn't get myself involve if I knew it would all lead to that.
Weiss looked back at Sun. "You're the faunus from the ship a couple of days ago, am I correct?"
"Yeah… that would be me." Sun scratched the back of his head.
"Well, at least I know you're not with The Fang. Just clean up and don't steal from me." Weiss stated. Sun gave a nervous chuckle as a response.
"And Jaune..." she called, turning to me. "Thank you for looking after Blake, I guess."
"No problem. Just doing what a good friend would do." I replied. I don't think I deserved that compliment though. I let myself get dragged here and only agreed to help because I felt guilty about letting Blake run away and getting involved probably turned out to be the worst decision I made the past couple of days.
"And thanks for saving the shipment," Weiss added. "Now I don't have to hear my father flipping over this when I get home tomorrow."
"You're welcome. But I think that goes to Penny. If it weren't for her, the White Fang would have left with one or more of the containers." I said, deliberately leaving out the part where she destroys a pile of them for that to happen.
"Wait, Penny was here?" Weiss confusedly asked, apparently having met Penny at the same time as Ruby did.
"Yeah, Penny…" I looked back and saw that she was suddenly nowhere to be found. "Where is she?"
"She was just here a minute ago," Ruby said, just as perplexed as I was by her abrupt disappearance. For a cheerful-if-bizarre girl, it was strange for her to simply leave without telling us.
"So, you're telling me that the weird girl from earlier was responsible for saving the shipment belonging to my family's company?" Weiss skeptically said. "I find that hard to believe."
I don't blame her. That girl was pretty good at hiding what she had to offer. If anyone told me that she was some sort of powerhouse who could control multiple floating swords before witnessing it, I probably would have told them to stop sniffing dust particles. What was she anyway? And how did Team RWBY even manage to find a girl like her? These questions will sadly be left unanswered for the moment and might have to wait a little longer if I wanted to know more about her if we were even to meet her again that is.
"C'mon. Let's get outta here." Yang said. There were no objections to that. My team has been worrying about me for a while now so it was about time that I get back to my dorm.
With that, we all left the docks, Sun bid us farewell before we took the Bullhead back to Beacon. This trip was full of close calls but it was finally over. The only thing I wonder was if I just made things more difficult for me or not. Regardless, I wasn't going to take the break for granted, that's for sure.
=o=
1. In Vale, only licensed Huntsmen and law enforcement are permitted to apprehend—or if authorized, eliminate—wanted criminals on sight. However, Citizen arrests against indictable offenders are also allowed provided that certain conditions are properly met.