ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 3

Nothing says another day at Beacon than having my dorm ceiling be the first thing I see after waking up. Classes were resuming this day so it was the time for me to prepare myself and begin taking them more seriously since this semester was said to be more demanding than the last.

Classes were the same as the last semester with the same respective teachers. One of the few differences is that the subjects were expanded. Grimm Studies now teaches survival lessons and Grimm biology; even then, it was still mostly about Professor Port's tall tales, which I still doubt are true, if not exaggerated. History and Humanities now have economics and Remnant geology. Dust Studies now teach us the more advanced use of dust, meaning that it now has even more complex equations to drive my brain insane. Combat Class was more or less the same, physical exercises, weapon maintenance, combat tactics, the occasional swimming, and of course everyone's favorite—sparring.

I was usually the first to be finished maintaining my equipment because of how simple they are, especially considering how everyone else tends to have more intricate weapon hybrids and dust clothing, but now I'm spending extra time so I could make sure my laser pistol won't ever end up bursting at my face.

The day ended after Professor Port's class, which felt rather slow because it was just another session of dull storytelling, no surprises there, and being the last class for the day while anticipating for it to be over dramatically slows down time; the fact that it was two hours didn't help.

Since I vowed to myself to have a better study ethic, I tried going to the library after class to gain some insight into some of the lessons that were taught this day and relax once I'm done, and maybe go to Vale and watch that new Spruce Willis movie everyone won't shut up about. [1] However, there was a change of plans after meeting with Sun and his friend, Neptune Vasila-whatever on my way there.

"Yo, Jaune, what's my favorite knight-in-shining-armor doing?" Sun greeted me with a wide grin.

"Oh hey, Sun, Neptune. Just going through today's notes." I said, stopping in my tracks for a moment just to be courteous. "How's Beacon treating you?"

"It's nice! I could get used to a place like this." He answered before grabbing my shoulder to get me near him. "So listen, we kinda need your help."

"With what exactly?"

"I have been… let's just say, 'observing' Blake and her team and by the looks of it, they seem to be very focused on something, and I don't think it's related to school, because seriously, who cares about what's inside a Beowolf?"

"Yeah, boooring," Neptune remarked, his arms folded.

"Weiss would," I sneered, snickering at my own joke. Though to be fair, Grimm biology does have some useful pointers, such as telling you where the Grimm's weak and vulnerable parts are located, if only they didn't make it sound so boring. "I noticed that too, I'm sure it's nothing serious, it's probably just team business."

"I want to believe that too, but they seem to be so awfully quiet outside each other. I feel like they're up to something," Sun responded.

"And as gentlemen, it is our obligation to lend a helping hand to these ladies at whatever they are planning," Neptune said.

If he really considered himself a gentleman, he would have respected her business. "Well, whatever it is, I think they'll be fine without us."

"I know, but Blake's been stubborn a lot lately. I've been watching her for a whole day and something's going on that isn't normal."

At that point, I think that he was being more stubborn over this than it was bordering on being too suspicious. "Sun, are you stalking Blake? That's really creepy, man. Keep that up and maybe I'll start stealing her for myself." I sarcastically stated as tried to continue moving forward, hoping that would be enough to prove my point.

"What? No! Listen Jaune, I'm doing this as a concerned friend. I'm telling you—I think it's something about the White Fang. Do you really think she'd just stop after what happened at the docks? I think she's going after them again."

That shocked me enough that I stopped in my tracks, immediately remembering how well that turned out last time. "Wait, what? Are you being serious right now?!"

He nodded and held a serious expression on his face. "I am, dude. I heard that she got her team to help and that they're heading to town today. She'll need all the help they could get if she's going after them again because there's only so much they could do as just four Huntresses in training."

I sighed, it turned out that his concerns for her were not unfounded. The White Fang were more trouble than their worth and Blake really needed to let go of them if she knew what was good for her. Because otherwise, they would only continue to bother her in return. Both of us even experienced how hectic the encounter was and we would prefer that it doesn't happen again.

So I decided to go with Sun for the time being with the intention of convincing Blake out of it before she caused more trouble and make the White Fang a problem of mine again. "Fine, but I'm doing this for Blake, not for you."

"Awesome!" Sun exclaimed. "Now follow me."

I followed the duo to the back of the dorms before seeing Team RWBY's conveniently open dorm window on the fourth level of the building. Glancing at the nearby tree, I knew exactly what Sun was thinking.

"Are you sure about this, Sun?" I questioned before stating a less strenuous alternative. "You know, we could just knock on their door like normal people."

"Yeah, I know, but that's the boring way, and we'll do it my way—the Sun way!" He grinned playfully.

Oh, I get it, I murmured to myself, trying not to groan. Blonds seem to have a penchant for making bad puns every now and then. [2]

"Now follow my lead!" he then effortlessly climbed on the tree and leaped to the level of the story where Team RWBY's dorm was located. He hung back there and waited for us.

I had experience climbing trees back home, so it wasn't much of a problem, but I could still remember falling off one when I was younger and I didn't have aura back then; it was an unpleasant memory. Luckily, I did manage to make this one and got to the ledge of the building. The ledges were a foot tall, and it was rather high, so I remained still and hugged the walls tightly, doing my best not to look down while waiting for Neptune to follow.

"Hey, are you coming?" Sun asked his teammate.

"Just give me a sec." It took Neptune some time for him to climb the tree. He visibly had some difficulty, but he did manage to do it eventually, he was training to be a Huntsman after all.

We then carefully moved next to Team RWBY's dorm window, which was conveniently open, making it easier to eavesdrop on them while the three of us continued to hold still at the ledges.

"Right! Everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked her teammates in her indistinct high-pitched voice.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." A voice proudly uttered, unmistakably coming from you-know-who.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning." Blake said, which indeed confirmed that she was going to make another risky investigation on the White Fang and put herself into trouble again.

"Let's just say there's an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale," Yang proposed, "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard especially what happened the last time I visited there."

Ruby spoke again. "Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this!"

Sun suddenly jumped and hung his tale at the top of the window frame, surprising me enough that I could have let go of the ledge and fallen. Gee, he really should warn me the next time he pulls something like that while I'm holding on to something. "Yeah!"

That understandably startled the girls, especially Blake. "Sun!" He was lucky that none of the girls pointed their weapons at him, or worse, opened fire out of reflex seeing as they were all armed then.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.

"Oh, it's easy—I do it all the time," Sun cheerfully answered as he continued to show off.

"You do what?!" Weiss apparently misinterpreted his statement in the wrong way.

"I climb trees all the time!" he clarified, flipping inside the dorm room, giving us room to adjust near the window. "So, you planning to go after that Torchwick guy?"

"Yes, and we are going to investigate the situation... as a team," Blake made sure to emphasize those two words. While I'm glad that this team was finally getting along and working together. And I'd normally let them be, but I was still not a fan of their decision to attract more trouble from the White Fang with just the four of them and I was rather appalled that her teammates all agreed into helping her with this and get their names into the White Fang's hit list.

"Now now, don't be like that! You're goin' to need some extra backup with whatever stunt you're planning to pull, and I'll be happy to provide you girls that!" Sun replied though it felt like that wouldn't be enough to convince those girls.

They apparently wanted to make this exclusively a Team RWBY activity, so my solution was bluffing them into letting us in; it worked before, seeing how they couldn't resist getting my help that night. It's not that I intend to actually join in with this nonsense, I just want them to let us in already because I didn't want to stay in the ledges for too long and I thought that reverse psychology would be the best way to convince them.

"Sorry Sun, you already heard her. This is team business. Now let's go back before we bother them even more." I said, leaning at the room's window. I saw that they were wearing different outfits from their usual ones. Yang, in particular, was wearing relatively modest apparel while still having her thighs and cleavage exposed, because why wouldn't she?

"Jaune, you're here too?" Ruby said before a short pause. "On second thought, you guys are welcome to help!"

Got 'em, I smirked.

"Hold on! I thought we agreed not to involve friends if we don't have to?" Weiss questioned.

"I said we don't have to force anyone to help, but if they want to give us a hand, then why stop them? Besides, the more the merrier. We can trust Jaune and maybe those two to help us." Ruby responded with a grin, not that it made Weiss any more glad.

"I'll have to agree with her on this." Blake chimed in. "The White Fang's ploy could be even bigger than we anticipated that we're going to need all the help we could get. Jaune's skill and experience would do a lot for us; I haven't seen him lost to anyone yet."

I don't know if I should be flattered by that. Of course, I was only considered skilled because I had to prepare for the worst and take everything to my advantage when possible and I wished that I didn't have to use any of them that day.

Weiss sighed before conceding with her teammates. "Whatever you say then."

"That's great!" Sun cheered before calling us. "Hey Jaune, Neptune, I think you two could get in now."

Finally, I thought. I was wondering how long I was going to hold on to those tight ledges.

"How did you guys even get up there?" Yang asked after Neptune and I got through the window and into her team's dorm room. Now that I think about it, this was the first time I found myself to be inside Team RWBY's dorm. I've already seen them from the outside a few times last semester, I've just never had the opportunity to step in before.

"We have our ways," Neptune replied as he almost knocked over a two-tier bookshelf that was placed in front of the window when vaulting in.

"You know you could just knock," Weiss pointed out with an unamused glare.

"Yeah, it's not like I suggested that earlier or anything." I scoffed before turning to Blake, remembering why I was even there before anyone could become even more encouraged to go with this foolish plan. "Blake, you need to drop this. If you keep lingering on your past with the White Fang, it would only continue to haunt you. Just let the authorities do their thing against them."

She unfortunately shook her head, remaining insistent on what she was about to do. "Look, as much as I want to do that, this is something I cannot ignore. Torchwick and White Fang are obviously up to something and they're not just going to stop after that robbery at Vale's docks. We have to put an end to what they're planning; the Valish police won't be able to do much, they don't know the White Fang better than I do."

That wasn't enough of a reason why I should let her go through with it. "Blake, have you learned nothing? Did you know what happened the last time we had to follow you in your obsession with the White Fang? We've almost died and cops were close to detaining us for the mess we've made!"

"I haven't forgotten!" She yelled as she continued to object to my reasoning. "But I'm not going to just stand here and wait for my license to do something about this. I'm trying to do my responsibility as a Huntress here, to fight for peace for real this time, just like what you told me that night. And I'll be sure to be careful this time. I can promise you that!"

Dammit, I never knew I would hear those words be used against me. It almost made me regret even telling her that. And even if she was careful, going after the White Fang while we were barely halfway through our first year was still too much of a risk. And I should know because I have experienced too many risks that no Huntsman student deserves to go through that it's almost amazing that I was still alive. I doubt that they would have the same luck as I had. "You're not a real Huntress yet, Blake, the same way why I'm not a real Huntsman yet either! None of us are! If you end up dying because you chose to be reckless again, you might never get that chance!" I vehemently pointed out.

"But you've fought against criminals and saved lives even before joining this Beacon," she suddenly retorted. "Does that not make you a true hero?!"

By that moment, I was at a loss for words. I was so focused on her own heedlessness that I wasn't prepared to hear that at all, especially since I just dealt with Ozpin bringing it up the previous night. "That was… different. Whether I was a Huntsman or not had nothing to do with it."

"And yet you've still chosen to take action, even though you didn't have any sort of duty or authority then. How is that different here? Are you really going to just stand back and let something happen even though you know you could stop it unlike before? Are you even the same person then?!" She said to me passionately. I've never felt her be this emotional since I've last spoken to her on the rooftop that night.

She had utterly struck my heart with that. I wasn't able to think clearly to make a rebuttal to that remark that won't make her doubt my reputation any further. I was afraid that she might be even aware of what was beneath this façade. And worse, her words also reminded me of one particular day that shaped me into what I am. "I…."

"Please think about all the lives of those who are at stake right now, Jaune." Blake continued. "I'm not doing this for my own selfish agenda, I'm doing this because I care about the future humans and faunus have with each other. If I can't do something about this then who else will? You're a hero, Jaune. So please think like one right now. I know deep down you understand what we're trying to do."

Weiss moved closer. "Jaune, I understand what you're trying to tell her, but Blake obviously isn't going to stop no matter how hard you try to convince her. Trust us, we tried, so maybe it's best you'll just let her be for now. Don't worry, we'll make sure she doesn't try anything too reckless while she's at it."

I palmed my face and groaned quietly. I guess it couldn't be helped. Walking out of here would only prove that I was a fraud when Blake was already starting to question me for objecting to her plans and I need to make sure that I wouldn't make myself look too much of a timid coward. So I was left with no other choice than to give them the benefit of a doubt and hope this won't end up as disastrous as before. "Fine, I'm just worried that's all. We might not be as lucky as we were last time."

Ruby stepped in to give her reassurance. "We'll be alright. We're trained to take these kinds of risks and we don't even have to fight, we just need to snoop around until we have what we're looking for. If things go wrong, we'll be there for each other unlike before."

Well, hopefully. I thought. The last time I helped Blake snoop around, we ended up crashing three Bullheads, destroying a few dust containers, and incapacitating several terrorists, maybe even killing some of them in the process, and we would have probably been less successful if it weren't for an unexpected aid. She better have learned her lesson from then.

"C'mon, you have faith in us, right?" Yang asked, slightly more cheerful than the others.

Sort of, I was hoping for the best while still expecting the worst. And since I was dragged in here and became part of the crew, I couldn't walk out from it anymore since leaving them is only going to lower their opinion of me. So I thought that I might as well go with it and try to help them speed things up and make this a little less complicated while staying in their good graces. "Maybe you guys will be alright," I answered with a soft sigh. "So what's the plan?"

"Oh right. Weiss and I are going to the CCT to read some records, Blake is going to some recruitment meeting with the White Fang, and Yang is going to the shady part of town to ask some questions." Ruby replied before facing Neptune. "Neptune, you will go with us, seeing how you were smart enough to beat us yesterday, you should be able to help us with the records. That, and Weiss seems to like you."

"Hey!" Weiss nervously blushed while Neptune winked at her.

"Nerd," Sun sneered.

"Intellectual," he replied.

"Sun, you will go with Blake since you're also a faunus; you sure to fit in as well." Ruby continued before turning at me. I remembered Blake mentioning that she'll be infiltrating some sort of recruitment meeting, thankfully since I'm a filthy human I'm not assigned to that. It sounds like the most dangerous task in this investigation. I could only wish her and Sun good luck with this and pray that they don't get any unwanted attention. There was still one issue bothering me which I would bring up in a minute.

Ruby looked at me as she continued, "And you will go with Yang, since you are so good at fighting, she's going to need some extra muscle."

Yang went beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. "Yeah! Let the Blonderhood assemble!"

Oh hell no, I thought. I wasn't going to Vale's criminal underground with Yang of all people, that would mean guaranteed trouble and more terrible puns from her, and I was not having it.

"How about I go with you and Weiss? I had experience with examining records and catalogs and did some investigating in the past, so looking into some papers won't be that hard for me." I suggested to Ruby. It was the one that involved the least amount of risk and I would be able to contribute to this investigation without having to worry about any potential threats (aside from Weiss's nagging which I could take). I didn't care if I had to go through a tedious process of scrutinizing records for hours, I was better off fighting boredom once again than risking my life by visiting a place full of thugs accompanying a feisty girl with a literal hair-trigger temper. I know she'll be alright by herself anyway, her semblance was powerful enough to guarantee her survival should things go wrong.

"Unfortunately for you, it has been decided." Weiss asserted with her arms crossed and her eyes closed like the haughty heiress she is. "Neptune will be coming with us to the CCT and his assistance will do nicely."

"Hey, I actually don't mind trading places. The shady part of Vale sounds more exciting than looking at a bunch of papers—I'll leave that one to the experts..." Neptune chimed in, much to Weiss's shock and chagrin.

"Well, hop in," I grinned, giving each other a low-five as we swap our positions. "Sorry Yang. Looks like the 'Blonderhood' would have to assemble some other day."

"That's a shame. I was hoping to see more of the not-so-wimpy Vomit-Man and sick skills." Yang said. "Eh, there's always next time. The new guy can't be that bad." She continued before grabbing Neptune's collar. "I still haven't forgiven you for yesterday."

Neptune just nervously chuckled and grinned as Yang put him down with a cheeky look on her face.

"I for one, don't mind Jaune joining us," Ruby grinned at a disappointed Weiss.

"Shut up, Ruby."

"Just one problem," I said before turning to Blake once again, finally bringing up that one issue that was worrying me about her infiltrating a White Fang meeting. "Are you sure they won't recognize you? They did find out who you were the second they saw you at the docks and it's pretty obvious that they won't forgive you for what you did that night."

"Why do you think I'm wearing a different outfit then?" She answered, gesturing to her clothes. "Besides, I'll be wearing a mask, and it's not like I'm the only feline faunus girl with dark hair to ever exist." [3]

"Fair point." Well, that makes sense, it was not a bad idea; those new clothes look good on them anyway.

"Alright, is everyone all set?" Ruby asked everyone in the room before we all nodded. "Let's do this then!"

Here's to a good mission, I muttered, hoping that we won't end up wasting time, blood, and sweat on a wild goose chase. We just started classes this semester and I was already involved in precarious situations. Being a Huntsman really is this stressful. At least all I had to do was stare at words while the others did the heavy lifting. What could possibly go wrong?

=o=

1. That film was known to be rather controversial since it depicted Spruce Willis's character as a human vigilante, who kills criminals he comes across, including faunus. It was accused of promoting fascism and violence against faunus, with the White Fang threatening violence to theaters that screen the film. It should be noted that the film was not well-received by critics, either due to the controversy, threats from faunus extremists, the quality of the film itself, or the combination of the above.

2. Look who's talking.

3. Blake was supposed to be the only one wearing different clothing during the investigation, but Ruby and Yang liked the idea of wearing different outfits during the occasion and had me follow them even though it wasn't necessary for us.

The Vale CCTS Tower wasn't far ahead, in fact, it was a very brief walk since it turned out it was not only on the campus, but it was in the Beacon Tower all along. I thought it would be located somewhere in the city where it would be much more accessible to the city-goers. [1]

I still can't believe that this was the very same tower that had a blackout that caused me to go to Podunk just to occupy myself when the net was unavailable and said blackout prevented anyone from calling (real) help when the bandits attacked the town. A lot of problems were made just by the brief lack of CCT activity alone, hopefully, it doesn't happen again for anyone's sake.

"Wow! I forgot how big the tower looks up close!" Ruby squealed.

"You should see the one in Atlas," Weiss added.

"That was the first one, right?"

"Correct. Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War," she explained. Thanks for the tour guide, I thought. It wasn't like I crammed history to learn that for the fiftieth time. [2]

"Oooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!" Ruby playfully mocked.

Needless to say, Weiss looked annoyed. I was so amused by this that I decided to join her teasing. "Like yah, I'm such a classeh womahn. Don't make fun of meh 'cause I'm perfect and you're not, ya' dolts." I did my best impression of a snobbish upper-class valley girl, causing Ruby to giggle.

"Why does everyone think that I'm obsessed with that word?! I only remember calling Ruby that only once when we first met!" Weiss angrily remarked, almost as if she was about to flail her arms around like an adult having a tantrum. "Let's not forget, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library."

"I know, but it's so cool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!" Ruby pulled out her scroll. Unfortunately, it slipped and ended up landing in front of someone interesting.

"You dropped this." A familiar voice said, which belonged to none other than the eccentric wonder-girl from the city's docks two weeks ago. It was quite surprising as I honestly thought I would never see her again.

"Penny?!" Ruby screamed, shocking her the moment she recognized our faces.

"Oh, it's you," Weiss said nonchalantly.

"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since that night at the docks!" Ruby questioned.

"I'm still not sure how it was you that saved the shipment that night." Weiss made an off-hand remark.

Ruby gave her partner an annoyed look. "Weiss, not now."

"S-Sorry. I believe you are confusing me for somebody else." Penny said before making a hiccup that caused her to throw the scroll that Ruby was able to catch.

"Are you alright?" I asked Penny, stepping in. It didn't sound like she was well.

"It's okay. I'm fine! It was merely a minor hiccup." Penny replied before making another hiccup. "Uh... I've got to go!" she said as she bolted away from us.

"What was that about?" Weiss questioned.

"Beats me," I answered, being as confused as both of them. I knew next to nothing about her and she still hasn't explained anything yet and I was still surprised to see that Ruby made enough of a friend in her to care about her that much.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Ruby said before going to where Penny was headed. "You go make your call! I'll meet up with you later."

"Wait!" Weiss called, unfortunately for her, Ruby was already out of sight by then.

Since Penny was a part of the incident at the docks and was a rather major player during that event, she was technically part of this case. There was more to her than meets the eye, and I still had a lot of unanswered questions from her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Weiss asked as she saw me following Ruby's trail.

"I'm going after them. I still need to know what's up with her. Go ahead, we'll meet you later." I told her before I continued following the two.

"And what's that supposed to mean?! I thought you came with me so you could help me with the records!" she whined as I went further from her. "Jaune!" she yelled before I heard her groan in defeat. I never wanted to stay with her so we could stare at papers for hours anyway. Getting information from Penny became my top priority and I could use this as an excuse for not helping with the investigation. After all, she does count as one of the mysteries in the Docks incident.

I spotted the two red-haired girls below the steps. Penny was noticeably trying to brush her off without being rude. Ruby continued to follow her, sliding down the handrails and stopping her from walking further.

"Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me! Those bad guys at the docks are planning something big! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night! Please...as a friend"

I took the steps down and Penny turned around and saw me. She looked anxious and didn't know what to say.

"It's okay. You're not in trouble. We just need some things cleared up." I vouched.

Penny just stared at me until Ruby held her shoulder and reassured her, "You can trust him; Jaune is the nicest guy I know." That indicated that I have been doing a good job upholding this act so far and I was able to gain people's trust so easily because of it along with my fraudulent reputation as a shining hero.

She looked down and took a few seconds to ponder. "Friends…" she muttered before turning back to Ruby. "It isn't safe to talk here."

"So where exactly can you tell us then?" Ruby asked.

"Please follow me." She led us both into a Bullhead that leads to the city. Whatever she had to say, it was sensitive enough to be heard at a crowded place like Beacon. I couldn't care much because I have a desire to know what was going on with her.

There's something strange about this girl that she is not telling us. Something unnatural. And I don't know how to accurately describe it.

=o=

1. There were already several communication stations around the city that were connected to the CCT so that people don't have to necessarily travel to the Beacon Tower to use the communications. The main Valish CCT Tower was only located in Beacon for strategic and security reasons.

2. You didn't have the best memory when it came to history, so it was my pleasure.