Chapter 8: The Stray

"Oh man!!" Hazel was practically gushing as Team SHDW walked through the streets of Vale, "The Vytal Festival is upon us!!"

"Hazel," Dante smiled a bit, "I know that it's a huge deal and all, but there's no need to fangirl over it."

"Are you kidding?" Hazel turned to him, "This is the biggest festival... ever! How can someone not get excited for it?"

"Oh, I'm excited," Skyler said, "I just don't see the point in getting excited for just the festival. I personally can't wait for the tournament."

"That too! This is just the best!!"

Walker sighed, "Hazel, can you just keep fangirling to a minimum? We're attracting unwanted attention."

"Oh! Sorry..."

No sooner than she had stopped, he ran into somebody, knocking them both down. Dante helped her up as Hazel rubbed her head. When she realized what she did, she gasped.

"Oh!! I'm sorry!!" she told the girl she had bumped into, "I didn't see where I was going!"

The girl was still on the ground, seemingly not making an effort to get up. She wore a green and white dress, had orange hair with a pink bow, and had green eyes.

"Salutations!" the girl said cheerfully.

"Um... You gonna get up?" Dante asked.

The girl was quiet for a moment, "...Why, yes!"

The girl hopped to her feet, "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Um, hello Penny," Skyler replied, "What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing!" Penny smiled, "I'm just wandering around now! My friends had to leave!"

"Friends?" Hazel asked.

"Oh yes! My newest friend Ruby and her team!"

"Wait, Ruby?" Skyler asked, surprised, "You know Ruby?"

"Yes! Do you know who she is?"

"Well, yeah. We've been friends since childhood."

Penny gasped, "Sensational!! That would make you my friend as well!!"

"Wait, what?"

"Ruby is my friend, as well as yours! Logic dictates that that makes us friends!"

Skyler looked at his team, who all shrugged, "Sure... Why not? Say, Penny, why did Ruby and her team leave?"

"Oh, two of them got into an argument. I believe one was wearing a white dress and the other was a Faunus girl!"

"Wait, Faunus?" Dante asked confused, "Team RWBY doesn't have a Faunus on their team."

"Duh!" Penny exclaimed, "The girl in black! The cat ears!"

"Blake?" Skyler replied, "She doesn't have cat ears. She has a... bow..."

There was a moment of awkward silence among the five of them. Skyler turned back to his team.

"Guys, you don't think..."

"That seems pretty logical," Hazel admitted.

"Yeah," Walker agreed, "It explains why she got into an argument with Ice Queen. You know how Schnees are."

"But why would she hide it from us?" Skyler asked before realizing the answer, "Oh yeah... People like Cardin."

"Makes sense," Dante put in, "I guess she just wanted us to see who she was, not what she was."

"Do you think we should tell her about it?" Hazel asked.

"Tell who about what?" Penny interrupted.

The team jumped, realizing they nearly forgot about Penny. Skyler cleared his throat.

"Oh, um, nothing to concern yourself with Penny," he said, "It's just... Well, we need to go back to our dorm. See you some other time?"

"Oh, absolutely!" she said, her smile never fading, "I will see you again soon!"

And with that, the group left.

"Is it just me, or did she seem kinda odd?" Hazel asked.

XXX

"Okay, so that's the plan," Skyler finished.

"Got it," Hazel said.

"Agreed," Walker replied.

"I'm sorry, what was the plan?" Dante asked.

"Dante!!" Skyler scolded.

"I'm sorry!" Dante replied, "I kinda zoned out!"

Skyler sighed, "Okay, listen. We can't all go up to Blake and confront her about it. She'll feel threatened if we did. So, I say that only one of us goes up to her and tells her."

"And I say we put who that is to a vote," Hazel put in.

"Oh! Okay," Dante grinned, "I vote Skyler!"

"As do I," Walker agreed.

"Me too!" Hazel smirked.

"What?! Why me?!" Skyler asked.

"One: You're the leader," Dante said, beginning to push Skyler out the door, "Two: You're the one with a crush on her. Now get out there!"

Dante pushed Skyler out and shut the door. Skyler fell to the ground and heard the door lock. He got up and rubbed his head.

"Seriously?!" he yelled at his teammates, "Jerk move, guys!"

"Go get her tiger!" he heard Hazel yell back.

Skyler sighed. There was just no helping his team, was there? He made his way to Team RWBY's room (it wasn't that far) and he heard talking... that quickly turned into a single yell.

"-it's because they're a bunch of thieves... and murderers!" he heard Weiss say, presumably to Blake.

Skyler figured this probably wasn't the best time to knock.

Then Blake yelled, "WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!!!"

The silence that followed confirmed that Skyler came over at the worst possible time.

Blake stuttered, "I..."

Then like that, the door swung open and Blake ran right past Skyler and through the hallway. Skyler watched her go and then turned back to see Ruby, Yang, and Weiss standing there with shocked faces.

"So..." Skyler said, "Umm... I came over at the worst possible time, didn't I?"

XXX

"So what you're saying is," Skyler summed up after Team RWY explained what happened, "Blake accidentally spilled that she was a part of the White Fang because of her argument with Weiss."

"Yep, that's it," Yang confirmed.

"A criminal!" Weiss exclaimed, "Right under our noses!"

"Wow, Weiss," Skyler deadpanned, "You are just the epitome of racist right now."

"Wha-! How dare-! I'm a victim!!"

"And so is she. You just aren't willing to look at it from her point of view."

Weiss just growled.

"So..." Ruby then stood up, "Who wants to go find a teammate?"

XXX

Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual, but I hope it made up for it in entertainment. Till next time guys!