The Stray.
The streets of Vale are being decorated in time for the Vytal Festival. Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons are proudly on display, and Team RWBY and Team LSBL is strolling through it all with an awed Weiss in the front. A sign is being put up by the elderly Shopkeep that reads in bright red letters WELCOME TO VALE! for all the foreign newcomers from their respective kingdoms of Remnant.
Weiss stops and raises her arms in amazement "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!".
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss" Ruby frowns a little "It's kinda weirding me out...".
"Me too" Bernadetta agreed, finally being less shy, but still didn't talk any more than she needed to.
Weiss turns to Ruby "How could you 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!".
As they keep walking Yang sighs crossed her arms "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring".
"Name one thing that doesn't sound boring when she says it" Severa said, earning a chuckle from Yang and they fist bumped.
Weiss glared at them "Quiet, you two!".
"I don't know, I always find the way she explains things to be quite interesting" Lyre said.
Weiss smiled at her "Thank you, Lyre".
Lucina couldn't help but to smirk "Are you only saying that because she helped you study so you didn't fail that important test?".
Lyre blushed "N-No! That's not the only reason! But yes she did help me out a lot. Her patience with me was amazing".
"Oh trust me, if there is anything I've learned since coming to Beacon, it's patience. But you are welcome for that. And the foot massage you gave me afterwards was a nice payment for my help" Weiss said.
"Wait, you massage her feet?" Severa said, trying not to snicker.
Lyre blushed more "Well, she liked it...".
"Alright enough teasing them... for now" Lucina said with an amused smile of her own, as they stop near the docks and the sounds of foghorns are heard.
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked.
Ruby covers her nose "Ugh, they smell like fish!".
Lyre took a deep sniff "A wonderful smell, isn't it?... Oh man now I'm hungry".
"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 said as she starts walking away again.
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament" Blake translated.
Weiss scoffs at her "You can't prove that!".
"Wouldn't surprise me" Lucina said.
Ruby turns her head to the right "Whoa" The teams looks at a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape of the Vale Police Force before walking over to the detective in front, who is writing on his pad "What happened here?".
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle" The Detective answered as he walks over to his partner.
Yang sighs sadly "That's terrible".
The second Detective spoke to his partner "They left all the money again".
Ruby turns her head when she hears this "Huh?".
"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" The first Detective asked.
"I don't know, an army?" His partner suggested.
"You thinking the White Fang?" Detective 1 asked
Detective 2 removes his sunglasses "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough".
"Hmph! The White Fang" Weiss began while crossing her arms and pointing her nose in the air with her eyes closed "What an awful bunch of degenerates!".
Blake looked offended "What's your problem?".
Weiss turns to her "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane".
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths" Blake said, crossing her arms, getting serious "They're a collection of misguided Faunus".
"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss almost yelled.
"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 pointed out
"Hmm... 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 said.
"Yeah, he was robbing a dust store when me and Ruby met her" Bernadetta added.
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those..." Weiss began but paused as she looked at Lyre and tried to word her thoughts differently "Kind of people only know how to lie, cheat, and steal".
Lyre smiled a little, knowing Weiss didn't want to say something that could hurt her feelings. Shows Weiss has a very different view of her.
"Nice save" Severa said dryly, knowing full well what Weiss was originally going to say. And she also knew why Blake was getting angry over this, given she knows Blake's secret.
Suddenly a voice was heard "Hey, stop that Faunus!".
As the team overhears the cry for help and rush over to investigate, a Faunus with a golden monkey tail is seen running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as the two sailors are about to apprehend him.
The boy looks back at his pursuers "Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha!".
He jumps off and hits the dock running with a Sailor shouting after him "You no-good stowaway!".
The boy uses his tail to hang on a lamppost while he peels back a banana "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!".
Before he can eat, one of the detectives down below throws a stone at him to get his attention "Hey! Get down from there this instant!".
The boy drops the banana peel on the detective's face, who growls in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirls up to crouch on the lamppost, laughs in amusement, and proceeds to leap off and run away from the detectives. As he runs past the Teams, he winks at an astonished Blake before time speeds up again and he continues to be chased by the officers. Severa noticed the wink, and suddenly felt angry.
Yang watches the Faunus get farther and farther away "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes...".
Weiss holds up a finger "Quick! We have to observe him!".
"I'm with you on this one, Weiss!" Severa declared.
Severa, Lyre, a reluctant Bernadeta, Weiss, Yang, and Ruby give chase. Blake stands still, lost in thought. Lucina noticed this and stopped.
"Blake? You're coming?" She asked.
Blake comes back to reality and follows her friends. The teams rounds the next corner, but then Weiss bumps into someone and trips. She looks up only to see the monkey faunus jump on to a building and disappear from her view.
"No, he got away!" Weiss yells out in disappointment.
"Blast it!" Severa said annoyed.
"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang said as points at something underneath her teammate. Weiss finally sees that she fell on a smiling girl, which startles the heiress and she hastily gets up.
The girl was still down on the ground, smiling widely "Sal-u-ta-tions!".
"Um... hello" Ruby said.
"Are you... okay?" Yang asked.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking" The Girl said happily.
The teams looks at each other in bewilderment before Yang speaks up again "Do you... wanna get up?".
Penny thinks about this for a moment "Yes!" She leaps back on her feet while the teams steps back a little "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!".
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby" Ruby began.
"I'm Weiss" Weiss introduced herself.
"Blake" Blake said
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked, and Blake hits her side "Oh, I'm Yang".
"I am Lucina" Lucina said.
"Severa" Severa said.
"Lyre" Lyre said with a friendly smiled.
"And I am Bernadetta... but call me Bernie if you want" Bernadetta said shyly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated.
"You already said that" Weiss reminded.
Penny pauses again "So I did!".
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized as they turn around and start walking away.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby said with a wave which startled Penny. "
"She was... weird..." Yang said as the walked away.
"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss asked.
Suddenly Penny was in front of a surprised Weiss "What did you call me?".
Weiss looks back and forth in shock as she points with her arms. The others were shocked as well. How did Penny get in front of them so quickly without them even noticing?
Yang looks apologetic "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!".
"No, not you." Penny said as she walks through the group and leans her head down to Ruby "You!".
Ruby looked startled "Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh...".
"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?" Penny asked.
"Uuuum..." Ruby looks over Penny's shoulder while her teammates motion to deny her, but the others simply shrugged as it wasn't their call "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?".
Ruby's teammates comically faint, but Penny looks overjoyed and laughs "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!".
Ruby groans to Weiss as she brushes herself off "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?".
"No, she seems far more coordinated" Weiss answered.
"So... what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament" Penny answered.
Weiss looked surprised "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?".
Penny saluted "I'm combat ready!".
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part" Weiss said.
"Says the girl wearing a dress" Blake said, causing Severa to snicker.
Weiss crossed her arms "It's a combat skirt!".
Ruby speeds over to Weiss' side "Yeah!".
Weiss holds out her hand and Ruby low-fives it, before realization hit Weiss "Wait a minute" She walks over to Penny and grabs her by the shoulders "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?".
"The who...?" Penny asked confused.
Weiss holds up a very poor drawing of the criminal-in-question. When did she even make it? "The filthy criminal from the boat!".
"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake said, finally having enough.
Weiss turns her attention from Penny to Blake "Huh?".
Blake walk over to Weiss, very angry "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!".
"Oh, I'm sorry" Weiss releases Penny and motions to objects around her "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?".
"Stop it!" Blake snapped.
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other criminals in the White Fang!" Weiss said. She was doing her best to watch what she was saying, despite a few bad words still managing to leak out, but nothing that could hurt Lyre personally.
Blake growls, clenching her fist "You ignorant little brat!".
Weiss looks offended, but when Blake storms of, she follows "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!".
Blake stops and looks at her "You are a judgmental little girl".
"What in the world makes you say that?" Weiss demanded.
"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake said.
"One: I judged him for breaking the law, not his race! Ans Second: So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!" Weiss shot back.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Blake said.
Severa knew had the right to be angry, and she wasn't happy with Weiss, but even she knew this could not continue so she tried to step in and put a hand on Blake's shoulder "Alright enough you two. Blake you need to calm down before-".
Blake smacked Severa's hand away "Stay out of this Severa!".
Severa took a step back with mixed emotions. Everyone looked worried and Bernadetta looked really scared. They decided to head back to Beacon.
Back in Beacon, the sun had gone down, and darkness spread over Vale. Despite this, Blake and Weiss were still arguing, with everyone watching them. How they managed to keep arguing nearly non stop was unbelievable.
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss saisd while sitting on her bed.
Blake was sitting on her own bed "That is the problem!".
Weiss gets up from her bed "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The members of the White Fang are pure evil!".
Blake gets on her feet as well "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!".
"People like me?" Weiss asked.
"You're discriminatory!" Blake said
"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouts, as they stare each other down in silence, Weiss leans in close, leering as she speaks quietly "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust... some Faunus?" She glanced at Lyre who gave her a look to tell her it was ok. With that Weiss leans against the bookshelf by the window "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. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood".
Weiss bangs her fist on the bookshelf. Ruby tries to comfort her "Weiss, I-".
"No!" Weiss brushed of Ruby's hand, but she was not done yet as she suddenly grabbed Lyre's arm and pulled her closer to Blake "And want to know why I am nice to her? And prove I am not just a stupid racist!?".
"H-Hey! Leave me out of this!" Lyre said in fear.
Weiss ignored her as she kept a firm frip on her "The reason I tolerate her. No, not tolerate, but the reason why I concider her a friend. It's because she put a lot of effort in to proving she was not like the White Fang! She went out of her way to get to know me, despite how difficult I was to her! She was nice while I was mean! She wanted to be my friend when I wanted to push her away! And she even helped me with some emotional problems despite having no reason to do so! She never did anything bad! She was only trying to be good to me and she did a damn good job at it! She earned my trust! She worked hard for it! That's why I know I can trust her! That I rely on her! And why I see her as a good friend! A VERY good friend!".
"Weiss..." Lyre whispered. Despite being worried of the whole situation, she was really touched by Weiss' words. To openly admit what she thought of her in front of everyone like that really showed Weiss' trust in her.
Weiss let go of her before going back to Blake "But do you want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!".
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake snapped.
Silence drops down on the scene again. A surprised Weiss backs away slowly, and Blake realizes her blunder as she looks around at her teammates and friends.
"Blake..." Severa whispered in shock. She thought she knew Blakes biggest secret... turns out she didn't.
"I... I..." Blake said as she looks at Severa, trying to find the words to explain herself... but she couldn't and dashes out the door.
"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby shouts as runs over to the door and calls to her down the hallway as Yang sits herself down and Weiss looks down.
"Blake... NO!" Severa shouts before she runs out of the dorm, trying to catch up to Blake.
After she did, Bernadetta fell on her knees and broke down crying. Lucina quickly knelt down next to her and pulled her in to a hug. All this fighting and Blake's sudden reveal was to much for the small girl. Lucina didn't know what to say. All she could do was be there for her teammates.
Lyre joined in to comfort Bernadetta. She too was really worried what would happen now. Yang wanted to join in, but she knew Bernadetta needed her teammates more than her right now.
Back with Severa, she was running down the different hallways, trying desperately to find Blake. She looked out a window and got wide eyes. Wasting no time she opened the window and jumped out. She hit the ground hard, making her ankles ache a lot, but luckily they did not break. She ignored the pain as she continued running. But she was to late as Blake had already left Beacon.
Severa watched her fly away in the airship before falling on her knees "Blake... you said you trusted me... You said you trusted me!".
She gritted her teeth as tears began running down her face... She then covered her eyes with her hands, trying so hard not to cry... but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the sobs from coming out...
.
Well, this was a rough chapter. I did my best to change things up with Weiss. Since she is good friends with a Faunus now, and knows first hand not all of them are like the White Fang, she will now only judge those who break the law or do something that is clearly wrong. And while Sun didn't harm anyone, he did break the law, so Weiss wouldn't be quick to trust him. But Lyre earned her trust, so I tried my best to have her acctively trying to avoid saying anything to awful, but still said enough to make Blake angry.
It was tricky, but did what I could.
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Tell me what you think
