The following day, Weiss came up with the idea of going to the city of Vale; so naturally we all went with nary a question. Upon arrival a large banner with 'WELCOME TO VALE' printed on the front was being hoisted up in the main street.
Weiss broke the long silence with an excited tone, "The Vytal festival! Oh this is absolutely wonderful."
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby noted. "It's kinda weirding me out."
"I have to agree on that." I took on a tour guides voice. "The smile of the Ice Queen is indeed a rare sight, but beware, for if you gaze for too long it will surely be your undoing."
She turned, "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world. There will be dances, parades, and a tournament." She returned to walking "Oh, the amount of planning and organisation that goes into this event is simply breathtaking."
"Speaking of breathtaking, maybe you should, y'know, take a breath." I piped up, smiling.
"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang scowled, arms crossed.
"Quiet you two."
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks."
"It's so boring here." I dragged out.
Ruby pinched her nose, "They smell like fish."
Weiss looked at a docked ship. "I've heard that students visiting from Vaccuo will be arriving by ship today, and as a representative", she placed emphasis on the word, "of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake translated.
Weiss scoffed, "You can't prove that."
The others went to investigate the break in at a Dust shop, I followed but quickly zoned out until.
"You thinkin' the, uh, White Fang?" One of the police officers asked his partner.
"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough." His buddy replied.
"Hmmph, the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." Weiss spoke aloud.
"What's your problem?" Blake responded with hidden animosity.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
This time I spoke up, "The White Fang are not nutcases; they're smart, resourceful and tactical."
"True, they're also a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake added.
"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet." Weiss retorted.
"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of Downtown Vale."
"Blake's got a point." Ruby entered the conversation. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him?"
"That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal. No offence." She directed at me.
"Oh, no. Why would I be offended when my entire race has just been prejudiced and insulted in front of me?"
"Yeah, Weiss. I mean, that's not necessarily true." Yang placed her input, trying to defuse the situation.
A voice behind us cried out, "Hey! Stop that Faunus!"
We turned to see a tailed teen around our age leaping from the boat Weiss was eying earlier, before running with the two detectives from the Dust shop giving chase. He ran past us before looking at us and winking at Blake, my hand involuntarily closed and I realised something. 'Am I jealous, of HIM?'
"Well Weiss," Yang spoke, "You wanted to see the competition. And there it goes."
"Quick, we have to observe him." The two of them ran off, followed by Ruby, while I stood with Blake. We looked at each other, then the others before following. I purposely lagged behind, intent on keeping an eye on everyone; this quickly failed as I lost sight of them and had to rely on smells and assumptions to find them again. By the time I found them Weiss and Blake locked in an argument. Ruby and Yang, accompanied by a new girl, 'No scent, interesting' stood silent and spectated.
"Stop calling him a rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate, he's a person" Blake said, angrily strolling to Weiss.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The Heiress' voice dripping with sarcasm before taking a serious tone, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan? Or this lamp-post as a lamp-post?"
I glanced at Ruby and Yang, "I'm leaving." I growled through gritted teeth.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Beacon so I don't do what I'm considering doing." Glaring daggers at Weiss' back before turning and walking away.
It was peaceful in the empty room at Beacon, I attempted to sleep but my brain was wired. It was soon dark and the room still empty. I heard the door open and acted as if I was asleep.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem." Weiss said voice angry but frustrated. 'Great they're still going at it.'
"That is the problem."
"You realise you're defending an organisation that hates humanity don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."
"There's no such thing as pure evil. Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take drastic measures." Blake's voice rising.
"If there is no such thing as pure evil, then explain him." I opened my eyes a fraction and was, admittedly, only mildly surprised to see Weiss pointing at me, I quickly shut my eyes again, and keeping with the ruse of being asleep, mumbled nonsense while slightly shifting my weight.
"Don't you dare drag him into this!"
"Think about it, what has he done since he came here? He doesn't care about anything but his revenge, he won't give us any information, won't talk to us. He's nearly killed a student without showing remorse and he can turn into a Grimm. The last Grimmshifters were killed long ago. They were dangerous; they couldn't control themselves and their minds fractured, Grimm instincts taking over. If that happens to Fang, we're all as good as dead, you've seen him, you've heard about his family, he's already dangerous to people like Cardin!" She snapped back.
"And if he hears you then I'm sure he'll be worse to a friend who betrayed him!" Blake shouted back, louder than Weiss.
"As if he can hear me, look at him, out like a light."
"Yeah if that light is the Sun." I sat up in the bed. "You have roughly five seconds to give me a reason not to throw you out that window for being a racist, discriminatory, judgemental bitch. One."
"This is what I'm talking about."
"Three." Getting out of the bed and moving towards her.
"I'm a victim." She blurted out.
"And that is my cue to leave you to talk about it. Blake, Ruby, Yang." I nodded to each of them, all of which were in a shocked silence. "I'll be just outside." I adopted a darker tone. "Weiss, I will be outside."
I exited and the moment the door closed the voices inside resumed. Moments later there was a Blake's voice, louder than the others, "Maybe we were just sick and tired of being pushed around!" This was followed by an abrupt silence before she ran from the room with blinding speed, dodging around me and disappearing from sight. Ruby was the next out, calling for her team mate.
"Ruby, what happened?" I nearly demanded.
"I-we-she-"
I placed my hands on her shoulders, "What happened?" She avoided my eyes and looked to the floor. "Yang?" I inquired. Her only response was a slight twitch of her eyes in Weiss' direction. "What did you do?!"
Her response was muted, "Nothing, she-"
"I will ask one more time. What. Did. You. DO!?" Silence followed as I stared at her. I glanced at the others and followed their gaze to my right arm, now similar to a Beowolf's. I stared in awe at the new addition to my repertoire, opening and closing the palm a few times, before smiling, satisfied that I could alter the potency of my Semblance. "I bet none of the Grimmshifters could do this, could they Weiss?"
She quickly recovered from the shock and replied with fear besetting her venomous tone. "Actually, the records say that one of the last things they learned before they went batshit nutso was that."
"Nah, it's cool." I shrugged allowing the arm to regain humanity.
"What?" All three responded in unison.
"The difference between me and them. I'm already nuts, this ain't gonna do shit. Now, where did Blake run off to?"
"I'm sorry, but you just threatened me, now you're acting all nice. Are you insane?"
"Pretty sure I just confirmed that less than ten seconds ago."
"Maybe we should wait out the night? See if Blake comes back by morning."
"Excellent suggestion Ms. Xiao Long. To bed!" I turned to enter the room but the door evidently closed meaning I more or less face-planted the door. Opening the door I repeated, "To bed" before entering and falling on my bed, falling asleep.
Late Sunday we went looking for Blakey in Vale, one last time. 'They still haven't explained why she ran away, they seem to avoid it like a plague'.
Yang's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Weiss come on, she's one of our team mates."
"Is she?" The Ice Queen's voice as cold as her nickname, "We all heard what she said."
"Weiss." Ruby's voice radiated disapproval and warning.
"Maybe she is, maybe not. What matters right now is finding her, she could be in danger." I entered the conversation.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what she was." Weiss shot back.
"Knew what? The fact that she's a Faunus. Knew it when I met her."
"A member of the White Fang, right underneath our noses."
"Knew that too."
"I just hope she's okay." Ruby mumbled.
"What do you mean, you knew? And you still trusted her?"
"Of course I trust her; she hasn't done anything to me."
"But you said they-"
I held up a hand to stop her. "I highly doubt she had anything to do with my family, Weiss, we're almost the same age, meaning she was eight or nine at the time, I really doubt she was involved. I accepted it; maybe you should too and just get over it."