RWBY: The Second Step

Chapter 6: Walk on the Wild Side

A/N: So a funny thing happened.

You see, the chapter posted here takes place, chronologically, the day after chapter 4 and 5, that is, Wednesday. However, this chapter was originally scheduled for release as chapter twelve. It was moved up, both to allow for some time to be spent with the actual team RWBY, and to improve the flow of the story. I may as well also note that this story has been centered primarily on team JNPR only because that team has the greatest number of undeveloped characters. The story will move on after they are done.

This chapter will focus with Team RWBY and specifically Blake, with Yang, Ruby and Weiss along for the ride.

And for those of you that want Bumblebee, let me assure you: Blake and Yang will hook up in a romantic way. Just not in the way you may think.

And on a side note, reading The Sin of Killing a Mockingbird before this chapter helps.

Disclaimer: um, yeaH. this StorY belongs to tHe AUThor. and my BESTEST friend Church!

Church: Alright, who let Caboose do the disclaimer? And for anyone wondering, Team VALR and specifically Argentina do not belong to the author. They are the property of Ttran2323. Additionally, Prof. Isaac belongs to H'te Rarpee.

(Tuesday Evening)

"Half Human - half Faunus children. Babies that shouldn't exist, outcasts from the Faunus for being 'that human's brat', outcasts from Humans for being Faunus. Children and babies that are unloved, alone-."

Ruby only just grabbed Blake in time to stop her from ripping Weiss's throat out. It was still a close thing though.

"Oh, you may have a pretty song Mockingbird, but I think the gods will make an exception to the sin of killing you." Blake's smile was a textbook example of 'Slasher'.

(Wednesday)

"Oh man oh man oh man oh man. Where is she?"

Ruby was presently doing her best to wear a hole in the floor of Team RWBY's dorm room, much to Weiss's private chagrin. Of course, neither she nor Yang could really blame her, as, for the second time in three weeks, Blake had disappeared. And, as it was last time, it was Weiss's fault.

"Oh, why did you have to do that Weiss? You know how Blake feels when you bring up Faunus." Ruby looked like she was going to cry out of concern for their missing teammate. Weiss had the decency to privilege that statement with an answer.

"What? I just gave her some advice. You don't need to crucify me over trying to help."

Yang raised an eyebrow from her position lounging on her bed. "You told her that half-Faunus children are alone and unloved."

Weiss spread her arms. "Exactly. Thank you Yang." Ignoring Yang's 'But I didn't agree with you,' Weiss went on. "Ruby, as the granddaughter of the Schnee Corporation head and heir to the same, I'm in the team's unique position to know exactly what I'm talking about in regards to half-Faunus."

"But what about, you know, the team's actual Faunus!?" Ruby asked. Weiss made no comment. "She's disappeared again now. Oh man, I hope she's alright."

Yang got off her bed and jumped down. "I think she'll be alright Ruby. This is Blake we're talking about. She fought off Roman Torchwick. She was part of the White Fang. She helped us take down a Nevermore. She'll be fine."

Ruby tried to articulate an answer, but only succeeded in making various noises, along with the discernible words of 'Not A Weekend' and 'Class'. Yang shrugged. "She can always make up classes. I take them with her."

"But classes start in one hour!"

"She'll be fine Rubes. Trust her."

Ruby dropped her arms to her side, looking thoroughly un-reassured. "It's just...the gravity of the situation. It's getting to me."

Weiss and Yang looked at Ruby, then each other, and then laughed. "Ruby, I don't know if you know, but between my sword, and your and Yang's guns, we laugh at gravity."

Yang kept giggling and had to lean against her bed for support. "Gravity, (hehe), wouldn't be caught dead near me."

Well, it's funny that she said that, cause right then, Gravity showed up.

And apparently, Gravity doesn't take well to beds stacked on books stacked on beds. Yang's bed fell over, Yang going with it.

Weiss and Ruby both sprang to help their fallen comrade and get her back on her feet, but when they did, Yang's only concern was for her bed. Specifically, all the magazines that had been underneath the mattress.

The three hadn't even started stacking them when Weiss actually saw the cover. "Guns and Ammo?" She pulled up another one. "Play girl!?" A third. "What the- Sexy time? Yang, what are you doing with porn in your bed!?" Ruby had the decency to drop the magazine she had picked up and turn a shade of red that she typically reserved for her cloak.

Yang, unconcerned by Weiss's condemnation, shrugged. "I like some light reading. Besides, that's not the problem. What are we going to do about my bed?"

Weiss pointed at the mess. "Forget your bed. That's not light reading. It's a porn stash. How have you been hiding this from everyone?"

"I don't see you searching Ruby's bed for porn. And that's not an invitation to!" Yang added the trailing exclamation to stop Weiss from digging through her sister's bed. "And I don't see what we're going to do with my bed." Yang directed the pair's gaze at her fallen bed, and for the first time, both saw that a large crack had split the bed in half, rendering it unusable.

"Where am I going to sleep?"

"That's not the point Yang! What are we going to do with all...this?" Weiss pointed at the magazines. "Unless you've forgotten, obscene materials are prohibited on school grounds. Ozpin and Goodwitch aren't just going to let this slide."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. They have better things to do with their time."

"Like what?"

"...Well I don't know. Teacher stuff. Paperwork. Personal training. Sleeping with each other. The point is, my bed is broken, and I am not sleeping on the floor."

Ruby took a moment from her embarrassment to chip in. "You could sleep in my bed Yang. We are sisters."

Yang grabbed her sister and trapped her in a bear hug. "I knew there was a reason I like you Ruby."

Weiss however was having a flash-forward of what exactly would occur if the two slept in the same bed. It involved creaking ropes and herself never getting a wink of sleep. "No. No. No no no. No. Shade no. No. No. I refu- no. No."

Yang and Ruby stared at her. Then: "So... your bed Ruby?"

Weiss's eyebrow twitched. "Fine. Yang, you can sleep in my bed."

Yang cheered, though Ruby groaned. Of course, no one brought up Yang sleeping in Blake's bed for two good reasons. The first was that Black and Yellow do not go together, unless you're a Bumblebee. The second was that no one wanted to sleep with Blake after what the team had all deemed The Cat Nap Incident.

Of course, the end of the conversation heralded the return of Ruby's worrying about Blake, something that Weiss found annoying and Yang figured was endearing. As the hour dragged on though, Team RWBY was forced to admit that Blake simply wasn't going to show up in their room, and changed into their uniforms for their first advanced Dust class.

The class was soon in session. Team RWBY, JNPR and CRDL were all in attendance, along with several others. A handful of women were eyeing Ren and Jaune, obviously wondering why they had been so attracted to the men deemed "Only Handsome."

Professor Goodwitch was also eyeing Team JNPR, but seemed more engaged in their interactions. The other teacher, Professor Isaac of Aura studies, was busy setting up and loading a chain gun on a podium. Neither made any particular effort to control the crowd, but seemed to exude an air of control that hemmed in the students. Finally, as Team FAIL raced in on the heels of the bell, Isaac began. "Whom here can tell me why Dust is such an important part of our society?"

The class was silent.

"Anyone? Anyone at all?" Isaac scanned the room and attendees. "Can anyone tell me why Dust, and not coal, or oil, or methane is responsible for catalyzing the growth of civilization on Remnant?"

Jaune raised his hand. After Isaac called him on it, he said, "Is it because we can use Dust in bullets?"

Isaac looked at Jaune and considered his answer. "No. Good answer, but no." Isaac climbed onto the podium he had assembled the chain gun on, swung it around to point at Jaune, and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, like it wasn't loaded. "Dust remains the only material on the face of Remnant that reacts solely to Aura. To fire your weapons, to fire any weapon that uses Dust as a propellant or weapon, you must first pass your Aura through the weapon or tool you carry."

Isaac stepped down and Goodwitch continued. "The inability for Dust to become chemically active when burned, melted, detonated with non-dust explosives, or when sonically induced has enabled it to become the premier energy source on Remnant. It can be handled safely by civilians and transported without danger of chemical decay or ignition. Following attacks by Grimm, entire rail cars can be salvaged containing dust. This property of inertness unless exposed to Aura-"

"Or a sneeze." Ruby murmured, to Yang's entertainment.

"-along with Dusts unique elemental properties, allows Dust to be the perfect weapon against the Grimm. Additionally, because only trained hunters with activated Aura can use Dust weapons, common criminals are incapable of harming civilians with them. Dust is, quite simply, a brilliant tool."

"Yeah, brilliantly annoying." Muttered Jaune. So that was why he couldn't use any guns when he had been searching for a weapon to take to Beacon. If he had known that earlier, he wouldn't be stuck with just a sword and shield, he'd have something like that chain-gun.

"Now, here we will be focusing on Dust combinations today. We will also be allowing a live demonstration of the applications of Dust."

Goodwitch started going down the list of known Dust elements: Fire, Earth, Wind, Acid, Ice, Water, Lightning and Energy, along with the most simplistic combinations, Air and Ice for gravity manipulation, Fire and Earth for barrier lock, Earth and Lightning for detonation, so on and so forth.

"Now, we've discovered many practical applications for Dust, alongside combat. Can anyone tell me what they are?"

A hand went up among team VALR. "We use them to make dirigibles fly."

"One of the simpler applications, yes. Any others?"

"Mining?"

Goodwitch nodded, keeping a passive look on her face, but otherwise very annoyed. No one was asking questions or trying to add anything to the conversation. She could see that no one wanted to be proven wrong and make themselves a fool, but they wouldn't learn if they never spoke up. Another hand went up. "Yes?"

"We use Lightning and Fire Dust to generate electricity and power most mechanical applications we use, instead of the old hand cranked methods from before the discovery of Dust."

Goodwitch nodded in agreement, but Team RWBY had stopped paying attention midway through the speech. "Blake! You came back!" Ruby evoked her Aura so thoroughly that she nearly teleported to Blake, and glomped her. "Where you been?"

"Oh, you know. Here and there. Hey Yang." Blake smiled at her teammate. "What I miss?"

"We broke Yang's bed!" Ruby was still glued to Blake, but the Faunus girl wasn't particularly mindful. "We're sorry about what Weiss said." Blake just waved it off. It wasn't her thing to apologize for.

"Ahem."

The reunited Team RWBY shared a confused look, (well, not Weiss) and turned to look at Prof. Goodwitch. And the rest of the class, which was currently staring at them in a sense of general disbelief. "Team RWBY, while you may think life is some sort of... television melodrama focused on you, I can assure you, it is not. Now please, settle down and return to your seats."

Yang and Ruby reluctantly returned to their table with Weiss, who was trying to look like she had never met them in her entire life. Blake rolled her eyes and went back to absorbing the lesson and taking notes. Goodwitch wrapped up her dissertation of Dust combo's and turned the class over to Isaac.

"Now, Dust has a number if properties that we don't quite understand. Certain strains of Dust react better to people with certain Aura's and Semblances. Additionally, we have been able to use Semblances to manipulate dust in unique ways. Formics, Metaburners, Polari, these people can all use their semblances to organize dust into different forms. Now, my roster sheet says that we have four Formics in class. May Russell Thrush please step forward."

Russell went down to the front of the classroom. "Please demonstrate a simple Formic glyph Russell."

Can't."

"As you can…what?"

"I don't use my semblance for Dust." Russell's Aura formed around him and became armor. "See."

"Well, this format for a Formic can still be put to good use as auto armor. Please take your seat Mister Thrush." Isaac turned back to the class. "Alright, may Miss Scarlatina come forward."

Velvet was down in front of the class in a moment, trying not to hyperventilate. Prof. Isaac asked her to create a basic Dust glyph. In a second, a white ring, with three entangled rings inside it, formed in the air. Isaac pointed at the construct. "This is a simple glyph. All glyphs are, in essence, shaped charges that detonate dust in specific ways to achieve specific results. This varies from, well, perhaps we can just have a demonstration of their applications, someone I haven't called on, please come forward."

The only other Formic in the room, Argentina, did a spectacular impression of disappearing, even though she wasn't a camo. Weiss tried not to look too reluctant.

"Please demonstrate the use of Dust seekers Miss Schnee." Goodwitch commanded. Weiss pulled Myrtenaster from its sheath and switched to the ice-water Dust mixture. Sweeping the blade in an arc, Dust evaporated from the tip and dispersed into the air. Several glyphs formed and absorbed the Dust and with a sudden jerk of compression, the Dust ignited, sending the seekers flying at the door. A blast later, the Dust seekers dissolved into icicles.

"Very good miss Schnee. Now, we all know that Formics can shape Dust, but one of the other Semblances, Polarity, can also manipulate Dust with ease, though the complexities of movement do limit their effectiveness." Goodwitch continued through the lesson, with Weiss, as always, taking notes while Ruby goofed off and drew large explosions and Yang calculated a new Dust mixture she could use to add lightning to Ember Celica's blasts without electrocuting herself again. Blake herself was lost in thought, thanking about what she had done last night...

(Tuesday Night)

Sun Wukong sat in utter silence. Around him, an array of candles and incense burned a mellow smell into the empty room. The flames puckered and pulsed to the rhythm of his Aura. Slowly, his heart rate dropped. His awareness dimmed out. His Aura expanded beyond his body, pushing out and engulfing the whole room. Slowly, Sun returned his Aura to his body, his soul returning to it's cradle. With a single breath, Sun expanded his Aura as inner peace brought complete control to his mind. His Aura grew, and grew, and grew until it completely encompassed the warehouse he was calling home. With a final push, Sun molded his Aura into it's semblance, his sensor semblance enabling him to see all, to know all within the building.

Okay, nothing quite that dramatic, but still pretty awesome. It was an exhilarating feeling, being able to see not just what was in front of him, but an entire building in three hundred and sixty degrees of X-ray vision. It was sweet.

It also let him see the ninja-cat that was making its way through the rafters. "Hey Blake."

Said ninja-cat nearly fell out of the roof. "How did you...?"

"The same way I found you the first time we met. I saw you." Sun shut off his semblance, stood up from the circle of candles and looked up at the black-clad girl. "Well, welcome to my humble abode. What can I do you for?"

Blake untangled herself from the maze of support beams and electrical wires and leapt down to the monkey boy. "Nothing. I just wanted to get away from it all."

"'It all' being your team right?" Sun brought his semblance up and examined Blake. Pain, annoyance, a touch of fear, all were fighting for supremacy on her pretty little face. That she kept said pretty face under such tight lock spoke volumes, either for years of training, or sociopathy.

It was probably the training.

"Oh, come on Sun, let's just go already." Blake grabbed Sun's hand and led him out of the warehouse. Under the cold night sky, neither needed to worry about missing anything in the dark. Both were suitably equipped to deal with the shadows. "So where first?"

Sun scratched his head. "Well, there's this dance club up a few blocks from here." Blake smiled.

"Lead the way Sun."

The pair navigated the alleys with ease born of either long practice moving through alleys in general or firsthand knowledge of the area around the warehouse. Both were soon in the club quite aptly named The Bears Den.

Inside, the place was rocking out to the beats of From Shadows (remixed) and the pulsing lights of the dance floor and the many bodies crowding it. Sun was soon deeply immersed in the crush of bodies, bobbing and weaving with the ability that saved his life against Roman Torchwick. Blake herself was soon listening to fascinating story of how a guy had tried to storm the building with over one hundred gang members.

The account itself was rather thrilling, with sexy ladies and badass guys, all apparently fighting valiantly against a force ten-times the size of the defenders. All true of it completely true and believable as well. Or at least that was what the various suck ups arrayed around the obviously drunk bar owner were all saying.

"And then, and then, and this guy props up and starts trying tah, tah, tah hit me. Yeah." The owner, Junior Xiong, knocked back another glass of whiskey. "We started ballin. He like, tried punching me. I grab him and pull out his, heir? Hair. He looses it and starts burnin up dah dance floor." Junior chuckled at his own joke, and the rest followed suit. Blake rolled her eyes, sneaking a video recording of the exchange on her scroll. It would be pretty funny to see it again later.

Sun stepped off of the dance and grabbed Blake. "Come on. We're here, let's boogie." And completely ignoring his spectacularly out of date vocabulary, Sun proceeded to drag his friend into the fray and dance. Honestly, between the weirdness and the dancing, Blake decided that she'd sit this one out.

Sun finally decided that the dancing wasn't working, and offered to treat Blake to some dinner. The caveat to the offer was this: Seafood. Maybe with Tuna, and I'll pay. "When did you find the money to pay for that sort of thing anyway?"

Sun smiled a little and winked. Blake was properly scandalized, but decided that if Sun was willing to stow away on a ship, he was willing to deal with the consequences of his actions.

The place he took her to actually wasn't all that bad. Nice clam chowder and some amazing breaded tuna. It also happened to be a filled to the gills with crabbers. At least a dozen were switching stories about how they'd almost died out on the sea. One, whom the discussion soon revealed to be named Sig Hanson, was happy to give Blake and Sun the graphic details of why King Crab fishing was the only job on the planet that allowed its workers to legally activate Aura.

Of course, all good things come to an end, and that end was when Sun said, "So, how's everything going with Weiss? She still think I'm a rapscallion?"

Blake didn't meet his gaze. "Can we please not talk about this."

Sun shrugged. "Honestly, I think that confronting a problem before it festers into something crazy and terrible is a great policy for life."

Blake took another bite of the clam chowder. It was really good chowder, made with biscuit bits instead of potatoes. "And if I don't want to talk to you about it?"

Sun shrugged. "Then I'll talk at you about it and eventually, you'll decide that I'm right and start listening. Look, whatever Weiss or Ruby or Yang said, they probably didn't mean it."

Blake popped another spoonful of chowder into her mouth.

"And running away from the problem won't solve it."

Blake choked. Sun helpfully thumped her on the back and waited for her reply. It went something like this:

"I didn't run away!"

Sun held up a finger. "You left your friends after something went wrong once before." Another finger went up. "You wanted to party, and avoid thinking about it." A third finger joined the first two. "And throughout the entire night, you didn't mention your team once."

The three fingers snapped together and pointed at Blake. "You ran away. You figured that sticking with me would solve your problems like it did when your friends found out you were a Faunas, so you came to me instead of trying to fix your problem yourself. Quod Erat Demonstrandum."

Blake glared at her friend. "Quod Erat Demonstrandum isn't how you end an argument. You need to prove your point through a demonstration to use Q.E.D."

Sun took his glass and gestured with it. "You didn't say I was wrong."

Blake wouldn't look at him. "I'm not running away again."

Sun thought about it, then said, "Prove me wrong then. Go back to Beacon and solve your problem like a normal person, instead of waiting for something crazy to come along and do it for you. I know you can do it Blake."

Blake ate another spoonful of chowder. Then some of the breaded Tuna. The bar had filled itself a little more since they had arrived. Apparently another Crabber, the Cornelia Marie, had just finished uploading its haul of King crab and the fishermen were celebrating. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"

Sun took a sip of his water. "I guess so. You have classes, right?" At Blake's nod, he decided that reconciliation could wait a little. "Hey, barkeep."

The barkeep groaned, and for the umpteenth time wished that someone would call him by his name of-

"Next round for the fishermen, it's on me."

A cheer erupted from the fishermen. Sun smirked at the noise, and then realized something.

"Hey, Blake. Were you running from your problems, or running to a solution?"

Blake bent over her chowder and kept eating.

Blake was snapped out of her thoughts by the bell. Most of the class was starting to pack up. With a bit of trepidation, Blake made her move. As her team tried to ambush her again, Blake slipped a note into Weiss's book bag.

If Sun wanted her to reconcile, then she'd reconcile.

Not that she'd like it.

Meet me on the roof of our dorms tonight.

-B

Weiss starred at the piece of paper again, then at the door to the roof. Classes were over, the sun had set, and she had finished studying for the night. Blake had gone back to the room with her, Ruby and Yang, and she had said she was okay, but Weiss could smell the bullshit she was shoveling them. Of course, she could also see that Blake at least wanted to be civil.

Granted, she still tried to attack her, but Weiss was willing to listen to her reasoning behind it. She was certain the former White Fang member was willing to negotiate.

About as certain about that as she was certain it would one day rain gravel.

But Weiss was as prepared to fight Blake as she was to listen to Blake. She why was she apprehensive about this again?

'Okay Weiss, just open the door. You're the heir to the Schnee Dust company, you've trained to fight the Faunas for years. You can do this!' And with that little pep talk ringing in her head, Weiss threw open the door, came striding out, opened her mouth...

...and was greeted with a complete lack of Blake.

"I've been stood up."

"No, you just don't know how to look behind you." Weiss nearly jumped out of her skin,as Blake closed the door to the roof. Weiss reached for Myrtenaster.

"How did you...?"

"You neglected to check behind the door. Not that you should have, it's a little too paranoid for someone like you." Blake leaned against the door, blocking Weiss's way out. "I think we both know why we're up here."

"You want to fight?" Weiss provided. Blake just gave her a blank stare and stepped aside from the door, leaving it open for Weiss to exit through. Weiss rolled her eyes. "Okay, we're up here to glare at each other, or you want to make up."

Blake nodded once. Weiss inhaled once and let it out, long and slow. "I'm not saying I'm sorry for giving you advice, but I don't expect you to apologize for trying to attack me."

"I'm sorry." Blake interrupted. Weiss almost growled. Almost.

"Well, I'm not." Weiss's face was twitching. "Unlike you, I was raised in to be the heir to a multi-million Lien corporation, and as such, I was taught all the ways people consciously and unconsciously organize themselves. And throughout it, the one way that almost every single group would orient themselves was against the other. Men and women, old and young, Faunus and Human. And here's something that I wasn't taught. Faunus may think that Humans are monsters, and Humans may think Faunus are animals, but they both think that Halflings are freaks. People don't want them. Their friends all think they're normal humans until they hit thirteen, when their Faunus features start growing. Faunus think they're all entitled little Humans that think they belong with them." Weiss stopped and took a deep breath. "Look, what I'm saying is that if you make that choice, they will never live it down. They may have you and their father, but they will always..." Weiss's momentum petered out. "You already know this. What do you want?"

Blake stared off into the dark night. "You say that we can't live together, that the distinction between Faunus and Human will always exist. What the White Fang was founded for was the idea of coequality, of unity against the Grimm. And, you know, I think that we might be able to do that. You treat people, you treated me, by the same standards that you treat everyone." Blake stopped smiling. "You hate everyone the same. You're lonely, and everyone that tries to get close to you is kicked away. You don't like me, and your only friends are Ruby and Yang, right?"

Weiss looked out to where Blake was starring. The stars twinkled beautifully in the backdrop of the deep sky. "Yang and Ruby are infuriating, annoying, and more then a little crazy. And they are the first people in my life that have asked me to be their friend without a single ulterior motive." Weiss groaned and sat down on the ledge of the roof. Blake soon joined her. "You don't like me and I don't like you. We tolerate each other until we can't, and that's all there is to our relation."

Blake looked at Weiss. "So, you're saying that, one way or the other, we can never be friends."

Weiss gave Blake a side long glance. "Pretty much. We're two people from completely opposite worlds Blake. We could chain ourselves together and lock ourselves in a closet for three days, and we'd still wouldn't be any closer to friendship the we are right now."

Weiss went back to looking off into the starry night. "I'm not sorry, only because I wanted to help you. The one thing I can say is that, one way or the other, we're stuck in the same team for a whole year. We'll just have to deal with each other for the time being."

Blake thought about it, the crossed her arms behind her head and fell back. "An agreement to disagree. Never being friends. Lets throw in shutting up when we get into an argument, and it'll work for me."

"Me two." Weiss stood up and left the roof. Blake sighed, and left after her.

They'd never be friends...

...but at least they'd never be enemies. For now, that was enough.

A/N: I guess that Blake and Weiss will never quite work it out between them, but they can settle for being quiet whenever the issue of the Faunus arises. These two are in for a very strange ride in my story.

Please, read and review.