The reviews, follows, and favorites keep coming, so thanks to all who have been reading my story. Now we reach the next part in the story. As a heads up, after a few more chapters, I may have to TEMPORARILY hold off on this story because I have some things to take care of in the coming weeks, but this story is far from over. Anyway, I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter thirteen. Enjoy.


Chapter 13: Tension

After Velvet's one-sided butt kicking of Team CRDL, the four idiots finally left Team RVWBY alone, much to the pleasure of the five girls. Video of the fight spread throughout the school, earning the team some fame. As a bonus, many students, especially the Faunus students, would drop by to offer their thanks for Velvet putting them in their place. Receiving all that praise was something Velvet was not used to, so she'd try to avoid it if she could and let her teammates handle the fans. Though this fame quickly became an issue. Each member of their team reacted differently to this. Yang, of course, was loving it, Blake would make a short comment before ignoring them, Ruby felt a little embarrassed, but liked it anyway, and Weiss really just wanted them to be left alone so she could study in peace. However, Velvet had a problem with this as suddenly, a lot of guys, and some girls, started trying to ask Velvet out for a date.

They would either ask her directly, or leave cards and flowers in front of her door. Honestly, it was starting to drive her nuts. People coming to kill her; that she could handle no problem. People asking for your hand in marriage (whatever made some of them do that, Velvet will never know); yeah that was a different story…

"I swear this is starting to get ridiculous," Weiss says as she enters the room, carrying some love letters to Velvet and throwing them in the trash. "Believe me, I'm glad Velvet put those punks in their place, and honesty I'm used to getting this kind of attention because of my family, but this is too much," she notes as she sits down on her bed with an exhausted sigh.

"What's wrong, princess? Jealous because Velvet's getting all the love and you're not?" Yang jokes while on her bunk.

"Oh please, I'm actually glad that's not happening to me. Back home, men would of course want to be in a relationship with me, but that was only because they either want the perks of my last name, or they want to get under my skirt. It was revolting. I feel bad for her for going through this. It's not as much fun as you'd think," Weiss says.

"Yeah, it is a little weird. It's hard to get around without being bombarded by confessions of love when you're with her," Ruby adds.

At this point, Velvet enters the room…carrying eight bouquets of flowers with her, and an irritated expression on her face.

"I swear, the next person who asks me out is gonna get my blade shoved through their face," Velvet says as she throws the flowers into the trash. She then activates her demon claw and conjures a small fire arte to burn the trash to ashes. "I think I liked it better when people tried to stay away from me," she says and topples down on her bunk.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. I mean, I had plenty of guys back at Signal ask me out, though I turned them all down. That, and they quickly stopped that when my dad and uncle, who are teachers there, had a little 'chat' with each of them," Yang says.

"Whenever a girl tries to get together with me, I at least try to let them down gently since I know they mean well. Whereas the guys, I know EXACTLY what they want, and so I have no problem showing them the door. The only problem with that is that they don't give up. I think the only way they will is if I shoot them where the sun don't shine," Velvet replies, left arm resting over her eyes.

"Good luck with that. It's like they say; you can't cure stupid," Blake notes, making Velvet sigh again.

Ruby then gets an idea, "… I know, how about this Friday afternoon we all head to Vale for some fresh air? Getting away from here for a little while should help, don't you think?" Ruby suggest.

"If it gets me away from these wackos, I'm in," Velvet agrees as she sits up.

"Yes, I think a change of scenery would do us some good," Weiss adds.

"I'm down. How about you, Blake?" Yang asks.

"Sure," Blake replies.

"Great. Then we'll head out after classes Friday and take a walk on the town," Ruby declares.

Just then, someone knocks on their door. Velvet gets up to answer, but when she opens up the door, she finds three guys standing in the hall way, all carrying flowers in their hands.

"Velvet Crowe, will you go out with me?!" They all shout as they offer the flowers to her.

Weiss and Blake facepalm, Yang snickers, and Ruby laughs nervously while scratching her cheek. Velvet looks on with a deadpan look and gives them the most logical answer.

"…No," she deadpans and slams the door in their faces. "Friday better get here quick," she mutters.

Friday eventually gets here, much to Velvet's relief, and the five girls quickly make the airship ride to Vale for a girl's day out. They walk through the city, noticing all the banners and decorations being hung up for the upcoming Vytal Festival that will be starting in some months.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss cheers.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss…It's kind of weirding me out," Ruby says.

"You're telling me," Velvet mutters.

Weiss turns to Ruby, "How could you guys not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss excitedly says as she turns and they continue their walk.

Yang sighs, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring," she says, crossing her arms.

"Quiet you!" Weiss quickly retorts as they make their way to the city docks, hearing a ship horn nearby.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asks.

"Ugh, they smell like fish," Ruby says while pinching her nose.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today, and as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom," Weiss explains as they walk closer to the steps leading to the docks.

Blake crosses her arms, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake points out the truth.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss scoffs.

"You denying it is proof in itself," Velvet counters.

"Hmph," Weiss pouts as she turns her head away.

Eventually, Ruby turns further to her right and gasps, "Woah," she says.

They all look so see a dust stop with the windows broken, and crime scene tape spread out blocking off the scene and on the windows in a cross-shape design. They walk up to the scene to see two detectives wearing a white buttoned-up shirt, black tie, straps, and pants, and black sunglasses, checking over the scene and writing down notes in their note pads.

"What happened here?" Ruby asks one of the detectives.

"Robbery. Second dust shop to be hit this week," The detective answers before walking back to the broken window. "This place is turning into a jungle," he mutters.

"What a mess," Velvet notes as she looks around.

"They left all the money again," the second detective points out.

"Huh?" Ruby mutters.

"Yeah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that must dust?" the first detective says while waving his gun by his side.

"I don't know, you know what I mean?" the second detective says.

"You thinking the, uh, White Fang?" the first detective suggests.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get payed enough," the second detective says, taking off his glasses.

"Hmph, the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates," Weiss coldly says while crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"What's YOUR problem?" Blake questions, irritated by her comment.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane," Weiss says, waving her right arm.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus," Blake retorts, crossing her arms.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet," Weiss says.

"You can't exactly blame them, after all, humans have made them out to be monsters even before they got violent," Velvet sides with Blake, knowing the truth.

"You mean you would take the side of those terrorists over us?" Weiss asks, flabbergasted.

"Not exactly. But as I hope YOU remember, I was seen as a monster back home, in case you'd forgotten. I don't really like them, but I can understand their predicament," Velvet retorts, glaring at her.

"Yes, they're just VERY misguided, either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale," Blake points out.

"Hm, Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him," Ruby defends Blake.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal," Weiss badmouths the White Fang.

"That's not necessarily true," Yang retorts.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" they hear a voice back at the docks and look back.

They all run to the docks to see a Faunus boy on a docked ship, running from two crew members. The Faunus boy is a monkey Faunus, shown by the money tail on his butt. He has tan skin with short, spiky light-blonde hair, and dark grey eyes. He is wearing two red wrist bracers and an open loose collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, showing a muscular physique. He is also wearing blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. He has on white bandages on his legs, and has a chain hanging from the belt loop on the right side of his pants. The Faunus boy gets up on the side of the boat.

"Thanks for the ride, guys. Haha," he laughs before jumping off the side of the ship and landing on the dock walkway below, and then starts running before jumping up into the air.

"You no good stowaway!" one crew member shouts out.

The Faunus boy is seen hanging on a lamp post upside down by his tail, unfolding a banana.

"Hey, a no good stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway," he says before moving his head to avoid a rock being thrown at him and looking down to see the two detectives from earlier walking up to him.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant," one detective says, only to end up with a banana peel on his face and growling at the Faunus boy.

The Faunus boy swings onto the top of the lamppost, laughing before he jumps over them and lands, rolling on the dock, before he starts running away from them. He races up the stairs to the street and runs over to where Team RVWBY are. As he passes by, he gives Blake a quick wink before running away with the detectives on his tail.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes," Yang points out.

Weiss raises a finger in the air, "Quick! We have to observe him!" She says and they all start running after him.

They begin to catch up as the Faunus boy and the detectives run around one corner on the street. The group makes the turn as Weiss accidently runs into a person walking on the street and they both fall onto the ground. Everyone else stops and looks at the crash scene while Weiss raises her head to see the Faunus boy jump out of her sight as he evades the detectives.

"No, he got away!" Weiss shrieks.

"Too bad," Velvet says, not caring.

"Uh, Weiss…" Yang points to the person underneath Weiss.

Weiss looks down to the person, a girl around their age, smiling at her. She flips out, quickly getting back on her feet.

The girl on the ground has short, rather curly orange hair coming down to her chin, and has a pink bow on the back of her head. She has bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She is wearing an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. She also has on a small and thin backpack.

"Sal-u-tations," the girl says, waving her left hand at them while still on the ground.

"Um, hello," Ruby hesitantly replies.

"Are you…okay?" Yang hesitantly asks.

"I'm WONDERFUL. Thank you for asking," the girl replies, still not getting up as she continues to smile at them.

"Do you…wanna get up?" Yang nervously asks again.

The girl thinks for a moment, "Yes," she says before pushing off her hands, jumping, and landing on her feet. The action makes everyone take a step back from her. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you," the girl introduces herself as Penny.

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby," Ruby introduces herself.

"I'm Weiss," Weiss says.

"Blake," Blake adds.

"I'm Velvet," Velvet says next.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asks, only to have Blake hit her in the gut. "Oh, I'm Yang," she quickly corrects herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Penny says again.

"You already said that," Weiss points out.

"…So I did," Penny replies.

"Well, sorry for running into you," Weiss apologizes as they all turn away from Penny and walk away.

"Take care, friend," Ruby says, waving at Penny as she walks away.

"She was…weird," Yang comments about Penny.

"Aren't we all," Velvet mutters.

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss questions as they continue their search for the Faunus boy from earlier…until they all look to see Penny standing right in front of them.

"What did you call me?" Penny asks.

"Oh, I'm really sorry! I definitely didn't think you heard me," Yang quickly apologizes while Weiss quickly turns her head back and forth, pointing at where Penny was before and where she is in front of them now, all with a shocked look on her face.

"No, not you," Penny says before walking past everyone and right up to Ruby, "You," she says.

"Me?! I-I don't know, I-," Ruby stutters.

"You called me 'friend'. Am I really your friend?" Penny hopefully asks.

"Um…" Ruby starts and looks behind Penny for help. However, everyone is telling her 'No'. "Y-yeah, sure. Why not?" Ruby says, making everyone behind Penny fall on the ground in disbelief.

Penny pumps her fists into the air, "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" she cheers.

Ruby groans as Weiss shakes the dust off her clothes, "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby barely asks in a whisper.

"No, she seems FAR more coordinated," Weiss replies.

"So, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asks.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny answers.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss questions, unconvinced.

"I'm combat ready," Penny says with a salute of her right arm.

"Forgive me, but, you hardly look the part," Weiss comments.

"This from the girl in the dress," Velvet replies.

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss defends her attire.

Ruby immediately shoots over to Weiss' left, "Yeah!" she supports Weiss, and gives her a low high-five.

"Wait a minute," Weiss says and walks up to Penny, grabbing her shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed…rapscallion?" Weiss questions her, making Blake angry.

"The who?" Penny asks.

Weiss pulls out a poorly drawn picture of the Faunus boy, "The filthy Faunus from the boat!" she says.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake angrily asks, her patience growing thin.

"Huh?" Weiss asks.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake defends the Faunus boy as she walks up to Weiss.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?!" Weiss taunts her as she gestures to the two inanimate objects.

"Stop it!" Blake yells at her, getting even angrier.

"Stop what?! He clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang," Weiss says.

Blake clenches her left fist, "Ugh, YOU IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT!" Blake screams and walks away, shocking Weiss.

"How DARE you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!" Weiss yells back as she walks up to Blake.

"You are a judgmental, little girl," Blake criticizes her.

"What in the world makes you say that?!" Weiss asks.

Yang moves over to Ruby, "Uh, I think we should probably go," she says as Weiss and Blake continue to argue.

"Agreed," Velvet adds.

"Where are we going?" Penny asks, smiling as Ruby can only close her eyes at the argument before them.

"-solely based on his species make you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake argues at Weiss.

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!" Weiss points out.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Blake argues back.

Back at the dorm, the argument continues.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss argues.

"That IS the problem!" Blake points out.

Weiss stand up, "You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss says while crossing her arms.

Blake now stands up, "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 such drastic measures!" Blake yells back.

"People like me?!" Weiss questions her.

"You're DISCRIMINATORY!" Blake shouts back.

"I'm a VICTIM!" Weiss quickly retorts.

Everyone is quiet for a moment from Weiss' declaration.

"You want to know WHY I despise the White Fang. Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus," Weiss says as she walks to the desk in front of their dorm window, placing her hands on it. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. WAR, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust, stolen," Weiss sadly mentions. "And every day, my father would come home, furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood," she angrily says, clenching her right fist and hitting the desk with it.

Ruby walks up to Weiss and places a hand on her shoulder, "Weiss, I-," she starts, but Weiss quickly turns around, furious.

"NO!" she yells and walks back to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang. It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and MURDERERS!" she angrily yells at Blake.

Blake had had it, "Well, maybe WE were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake yells back, but a moment later realizes that she just revealed her secret as Weiss steps back out of shock, as Ruby and Yang look back in shock.

"I guess now's the time," Velvet thinks.

"I-I…" Blake stutters, stepping back for a moment before she tries to run off in fear.

However, Velvet quickly grabs her with her demon arm and absorbs enough of her strength to prevent her escaping.

"Not so fast," Velvet mutters.

"Velvet! She's part of the White Fang! We have to-," Weiss begins before suddenly a shot rings out.

Wide-eyed, Weiss slowly turns around to see a bullet hole in the wall behind her, just an inch off her face. She looks back at Velvet in shock, seeing her gauntlet aimed at her, while Velvet looks displeased.

"Velvet…" Ruby mutters.

Velvet lets go of Blake and closes and locks the door.

"I never pegged you for being a hypocrite, Weiss. Guess I was wrong," Velvet says.

Weiss shakes out of her stupor, "Velvet, what are you doing?! Why would you shoot ME?! And what do you mean I'm a hypocrite?!" she yells.

"You told me you don't really agree with the way your father has been running the family business, right?" Velvet retorts. When Weiss doesn't quickly answer, she presses her. "RIGHT?!" she asks again.

"Y-y-yes," she stutters.

"And yet, here you are, practically acting just like him. Now, I'm sorry you had to go through all that back home, but this is not about you. Truth be told, Blake told me a while back about her past, ALL of it. And yet, even with that knowledge in mind, we still got along," Velvet explains.

"You KNEW?! Why didn't you tell any of us? She's the enemy, just like the White Fang, and all the other Faunus-," she starts until Velvet slaps her.

Everyone looks on in shock as they are unable to say anything.

"Like your family is completely innocent in this. Answer me this, do you like it when people see you as just like your father? To put you in the same box as his?" she asks.

Slowly getting out of her shock, Weiss looks down, "…I…No, I hate it when they do that. I am NOT my father, and I don't want to be like him," she admits.

"That's also why I called you a hypocrite. You hate it when people see you as something you're not, and yet you immediately make Blake, and any Faunus that isn't with the White Fang, the same as them. If you really don't want to be like your father…Then listen to Blake's side of the story. Let her tell you the truth, and then make your decision about her," Velvet says and steps back.

Weiss thinks upon Velvet's words and slowly looks at Blake, who stands up, worried. Weiss eventually sighs and decides to take Velvet's advice.

"Alright Blake. Tell us your side of the story. Tell us what you told Velvet…Please," she tries to ask calmly.

Blake look at Velvet, who nods, and then at Ruby and Yang, who nod with supportive smiles as well, and then back to Weiss, and nods herself.

"Okay…" she says.


Whew, that was longer than I thought it'd be. Either next chapter or the following chapter will be the end of Volume 1, but not the end of the story. I didn't want Blake to run because I've always seen her as a coward who runs from her problems and fears rather than facing them, and I HATE cowardice. Also, I just couldn't resist having a little fun with Velvet at the beginning of the chapter. What will become of our team next chapter? Until next time, please Read and Review.