RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, of which I am not a part of.

What are scheduled updates? I've never heard of such a thing.

Also, I forgot to put in Blake's talk with Ozpin last chapter. I've edited it in if you missed it, though it's mostly just Blake being understandably paranoid about her headmaster (and being strangely trustworthy of Weiss… hmmm…)

I've been proof-reading my own work and editing out grammar mistakes to the best of my ability. No need to comment on a mistake unless it's glaring; I'll have hopefully fixed it sooner than later.

Volume 2, Chapter 3, 'A Minor Hiccup'


Weiss couldn't help but look down at her scroll all throughout Port's class. Today was the day and the upcoming operation had occupied her mind throughout all of her classes. They were going to begin after the end of this period. She checked her scroll again. Just one more minute…

"Hey, Weiss!"

Uuugh.

Weiss didn't acknowledge JNPR's leader as he slid over to her, a nervous smile plastered across his face. Instead, she furrowed her brows, hoping she might be able to speed up time with her mind.

She briefly considered using a time glyph on the clock.

Or an acceleration glyph to launch the blonde boy through the roof.

Somehow, in the span of a minute, Jaune asked her to go out to THREE separate events with him. Never mind the fact that she had something of major importance to do today, she could barely stand him sitting next to her for that period alone.

"Uh, Weiss, did you hear me?"

The heiress shot a glare at the love-struck boy, making him flinch. She stressed her words even as they came out as a hushed whisper… well, more of a hiss. "No to anything related to going with you after class. Yes to hearing every…" she managed to bite back her language, "word you just said."

Thankfully, the bell rang and Port managed to wrap up the class he was… supposed to be teaching, even though he treated it like story time. Weiss passed by the blonde boy as his head fell onto the desk.

"I've got a thing to do with Blake and the rest of my team. Maybe you should ask Pyrrha. Or someone else on your team. I'm sure they'd love to go with you."

Weiss didn't want to encourage him to think he had a chance, but she didn't want to leave without at least making his mind to focus on something else. If Jaune kept thinking about her, he'd likely just keep up the pestering and flirting.

And who knew? The red-haired ace and her wimpy partner/excuse for a leader (at least HER OWN partner/leader could fight well and understood her responsibilities, even if that didn't always seem to be the case…) have already been training most nights on the dorm's rooftop. Weiss felt that if anyone could remove his unhealthy attachment to her, it was the boy's own team.

As she walked out of the classroom and back towards her dorm room, her thoughts on flirting went back to Neptune. Even if he was smarter than most, as Sun claimed before, Weiss still had standards. Or at least a type.

Intelligent. Mysterious. Calm. Thoughtful. Trustworthy.

"Hey, Weiss!"

Weiss turned around as Blake caught up to her. The girl was smiling, which was surprising given recent events. The energy she gave off was even more so.

It managed to make Weiss smile as well.

"Today's the day. Time to put that criminal in his place!"

"Whoa, slow down Belladonna." Weiss eased the girl's uncanny excitement, even if it was doing a good job of raising her own spirits. "First, we need to figure out where he is and what he's planning. We might not even find anything today."

"I know, but we're bound to find out something. To me, that's progress and it means we'll be closer to putting that maniac behind bars."

The heiress was starting to get concerned at how obsessed Blake was getting with chasing after that Torchwick guy. Sure, she likely wanted revenge for the shipyard incident, but still…

Well, it's making her feel better compared to their episode yesterday. Weiss felt that was enough.

Looking up, she saw Blake walking over to Ruby, the younger girl similarly surprised at Blake's beaming attitude.

Weiss still couldn't believe that this was the teammate that she'd had a falling out with last semester. How could she have believed that a pair of cat ears would have made Blake any less… well, less of a person? Sure, they had BOTH been in the wrong, but the fact that they'd gone from that to their close friendship now… after Blake had put so much trust in her…

Weiss stole a glance at the white ribbon in her cheery teammate's hair.

…it made the heiress feel more than a little happy.


Back at their room, the girls were slipping into their stakeout outfits, each designed to at least throw off their foe as to who they were in the event they were compromised. Blake finished tying one of Gambol Shroud's ribbons around her left wrist and paced past Weiss's bed as the heiress holstered Myrtenaster.

Weiss didn't dare look up at the Faunus; her blush was still obvious against her pale skin from embarrassing herself only minutes ago. She'd suggested that the two of them work together today since they had managed to get along so well over the past few weeks. Blake had simply given her a confused look and reminded her that she was the only one who would be able to gain access to the White Fang meeting. Needless to say, bringing a Schnee anywhere near it would be asking for trouble.

Weiss's mind still reeled in her own mortification. Why hadn't she thought of that? What did she think they would be able to accomplish together?

More specifically, why had she brought it up after only thinking about Blake for a minute?

The team's leader spoke up. "All right, guys! Today's the day! The investigation begins!"

Ruby leaped off of her bunk, having apparently taken the excitement that Blake possessed before, as the Faunus had since calmed down. Weiss pulled herself out of the careless girl's path with a small cry. "I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," she deadpanned, her face returning to its normal scowl.

Yang spoke up from her side of the room, still laying on top of her mattress and locking Ember Celica into its safety mode. "Hey, we've got a plan. That's… moderately serious."

Weiss wanted to snap something back but opted instead to give the brawler a glare that said as much.

Ruby nodded to her elder sister's statement. "Right. Everyone remember their roles?" she inquired, her gaze looking her teammates over.

Weiss gestured to her leader as she restated her orders with a small smirk across her lips. "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."

Of course, Ruby wouldn't be doing much. Weiss had considered just giving her the job alone, with her being able to cover as a 'request from her partner while she was busy.' She had really liked that idea because it meant not having to risk talking to her father. Though, that idea had been cut short when her plans to tag along with Blake had fallen apart.

The Faunus herself moved her hands behind her back as she stoically explained her part, though her expression still showed her anticipation. "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."

The rest of her team had been nervous to give this job to Blake. This was, of course, overridden by the lack of available alternatives and the brunette's own shining desire to undertake the task, claiming that, even if she came across someone she had known before, her ears would still be rather unnoticeable in a crowd of Faunus.

Yang crossed her arms as the roll-call rounded to her, confidence radiating off of her. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

Similarly to Blake's situation, the other members were slightly opposed to such a risky operation, but considering the fact that she could handle herself and that Ruby seemed to have an idea of who this 'old friend' was, apparently lacking the ability to beat the brawler, they'd given her the go-ahead.

Satisfied with these arrangements, the team's leader pumped a fist to her chest. "Great, we'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found. LET'S DO THIS!"

"Yeah!"

All four girls instinctively took a step back and swung their heads towards the unexpected interruption. Sun was hanging upside down by his tail, right outside of their window.

"Sun!" A rather obvious input from Blake.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked, lacking her usual nonsensical tone to pose a serious question. She was genuinely curious how the monkey boy managed to find their room from the outside.

"Ah, it's easy. I do it all the time." Sun replied, somehow managed to leave the question unanswered.

While slightly annoyed by the boy's lack of feedback, Yang was nowhere near as furious as Weiss was at hearing this. "YOU DO WHAT?" She practically shrieked.

"I climb trees all the time!" Sun answered, like it was the most obvious question in the world.

This didn't placate the heiress as she narrowed her eyes, her suspicion rising due to the boy's complete ignorance the implications of his statement. The blonde Faunus flipped into the room, barely acknowledging the angry look being thrown his way or the air of awkwardness coming from the other three girls.

"So," he started, apparently inserting himself into their previous conversation, "are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

"We," Blake countered, taking a step forwards and moving a hand back at the rest of her team, "are going to investigate the situation." She paused before stressing, "…as a team."

Ruby gave Sun a shrug and an appreciative look. "Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

The blonde boy waved this off, scoffing. "That's dumb. You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." He threw a thumb over his shoulder and back out the window.

The four girls all give each other confused looks before moving over to the window and looking out, being incredibly shocked to see the blue-haired boy, somehow gripping the brick wall of the dormitories.

Neptune acknowledged Team RWBY with a nod. "Sup?"

Only Ruby managed a response. "How did you even get up here?"

The boy flashed his pearly-white teeth. "I have my ways." He answered smoothly and received four stunned looks in return.

Suddenly, he caught a full view of the three-story drop. His next input was far less incredulous. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're, like, really high up..."

After practically embarrassing himself by scrabbling into the room, Neptune joined the circle of students, having arranged themselves into pairs as the boys refused to be left out of the mission, claiming a need to get involved in the action and adventures of their new school.

Since Sun was also a Faunus, he was to go with Blake to the meeting. The brunette appreciated the help, as it also served to calm the concern coming from the rest of the team in knowing she'd have close support. Neptune was given to Yang as she was the only one not yet paired up. The Mistral native had other plans, however.

"Say," he spoke up, bringing inquiring looks to him, "maybe Ruby should go with Yang. You know, since they're sisters."

Yang arched an eyebrow. "But… then who would go with Weiss?"

The blue-haired boy smirked. "Well… I suppose I could accompany her."

After a few exchanges of glances and a pleading of eyes from Weiss, Yang waved off the boy's request and dragged him out of the room, sputtering about suddenly being manhandled by a girl. The remaining four simply exchanged looks.

None of them expected Neptune to survive the journey.


Students roamed the courtyard at the foot of the tower, many running off towards whatever afterschool activities they'd arranged with their teams and friends.

"Wow!" Unfiltered excitement escaped, or rather squeaked, out of the cloaked girl's throat as she threw her head back to stare in wonder at the architectural marvel in front of her. "I forgot how big the transmit tower looks so close!"

The heiress followed her leader with an expression of unbridled pride. Even if she didn't appreciate her family's influence on the world, she still had a healthy amount of patriotism concerning the accomplishments of her nation. "You should see the one in Atlas." Weiss smirked as Ruby turned around to engage her.

"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."

"Oooh, look at me. My name is Weiss. I know facts! I'm rich!"

A giggle escaped Ruby's throat as her partner turned around, an amused look plastered across her face as she arched her eyebrow. "Ruby, you… do realize all of those are compliments, right?" Even when she felt her leader was being foolish, the younger girl's airheaded humor was still at least a little charming.

Ruby didn't seem to hear her as she got out her scroll, looking back up at her teammate with a smile. "Blake just sent a message. She and Sun made it in without an incident."

Weiss threw her ponytail over her shoulder as she whirled back towards the tower, the black ribbon in her hair flapping in the breeze. As much as she agreed with Ruby on the building's incredible design, she would much rather be back in the library making the call, rather than walking across campus with all the wind and clamor of other students.

She now understood why Blake enjoyed the sanctuary so much.

Weiss turned her head when she heard a cluster of sputters come from Ruby, just as the girl in question stumbled past her trying to catch the phone that she'd somehow managed to drop. Suddenly, the phone went flying through the air and landed at the feet of a redheaded girl.

A redheaded girl who happened to be wearing a rather familiar pink bow.

"Oh." Penny bent over and picked the scroll from the ground, extending it back towards Ruby. "You dropped this," she said with a warm smile.

Ruby's response was to gape at her. "Penny?!"

The odd girl's face fell and she took a step back, her green eyes wide. "Uhhh…"

Ruby didn't give her a chance to escape, grabbing her arms and giving Penny a worried look. "Where have you been?" She asked, her voice laced with concern. "We haven't seen you since the night at the docks!"

The redhead managed to pull herself from Ruby's grip, causing the other girl to step back in shock. "Y-you must have the wrong person." She replied, rubbing her wrists.

Penny let out a hiccup, throwing the scroll she was holding to fly into the air. Ruby scrambled to catch it, her mouth still open. Weiss simply stared at the other girl with a blank expression.

I knew this girl was odd, but… is this actually serious? She couldn't have forgot Ruby after the night at the docks, at least considering what she told us about her.

"Uh, I've got to go."

Ruby extended a hand outwards as Penny twirled around and ran off, sprinting as though she was late for something.

Weiss threw a glance at her leader. "What was that about?" She asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

Ruby didn't give her a reply, instead shooting after Penny, leaving a trail of petals behind her.

"Wait!" Weiss cried out after her partner before growling as the red blob disappeared from view.

Great, now I have to do this alone.

As endearing as her leader may be, she REALLY wished she could've just gone with Blake.


Life is hard. No set chapter release schedule. More delays approaching. Deepest apologies.

Difficult chapter ahead. Expect epic fights and explosions. And combo moves. Soon. Definitely.

probably.

at least by next Monday.

hopefully.