Enjoy.


"I think that the other students could learn something valuable from the exercise, Glynda," Whitaker explained to the good professor as he fell into step beside her. They were walking back from the training room.

"Is that the only reason, Whitaker?"

He smirked. "And because I've been wanting to officially spar her for awhile now."

Goodwitch sighed. "Very well. But let it be known that I'm only approving of this spar because I want to see your progress against a ranged opponent, and how long you are able to sustain Lightning. I also expect a good fight." Glynda cleared her throat. "Please inform Ms. Adel of the spar."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thank you, Glynda."

"Don't make me regret my decision." She stopped at the door to her office. "Well done today as well, Whitaker."

"Thank you," he replied with a small nod of his head.

"As I'm sure you know, the Vytal Festival is fast approaching. Soon, my other duties will be too time consuming for us to keep up these training sessions. And your own training sessions will become more frequent and rigorous too, I am sure of it. All of that being said, tonight's session will be the last," Glynda explained.

"Of course. I sincerely appreciate your efforts so far, Glyn— Professor Goodwitch. Without you, I don't think I would have seen anywhere near as much progress as I have now."

"Do not doubt your own skill, Whitaker." A small smile danced across Glynda's lips. "Though, you are probably correct in the excellence of my teaching. Regardless, I hope you do not become a complete stranger, Whitaker. It has been a pleasure seeing your growth these last several weeks."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." Glynda opened her office door and took one step inside. "Have a good night, Whitaker."

"You as well, Glynda."

With a click, she shut the door behind her, leaving Whitaker alone in the hallway.

"I didn't think Professor Goodwitch was the type to have a rendezvous with a student," an all-too recognizable voice called out from the corner of the hallway. Coco Adel revealed herself to Whitaker, the emotion on her face unreadable. She wore a simple set of light brown pajamas that perfectly matched the brightness of her eyes. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seem to attract all manner of women to you."

"Coco…" Whitaker sighed. "Of all people, I think that Glynda would be the last person on that list."

Coco Adel strode forwards. "And the first?"

Whitaker's reply was instant— almost like he'd been expecting her to ask him the question the whole time. "You."

"Mmh. Good answer." Coco smiled.

"Didn't I tell you that Gly— Professor Goodwitch and I were having training sessions?"

"Is that what they call it now?"

"Coco…" Whitaker fought another sigh. She's really laying it on thick tonight. Coco Adel had always been a little flirty, a little touchy, but ever since they'd reunited at Beacon she seemed to have dialed it to an eleven. And he'd never been unreceptive of her advances. "Anyways," he said, glancing at her attire. "I'm surprised to see you in pajamas so early. On a weekend too."

She frowned. "My team decided to stay in tonight. How about yours?"

"I'm sure they're in the room. Ruby and Yang are probably playing video games, and Blake's reading." That was how the weekends usually went for Team RWBY. As cocky as it was to say, they were a bit ahead of the pack for their year. The only way they could actually have productive sparring sessions was against each other and, on a good day, against Team JNPR.

"Then, do you wanna hang out for a bit?" Coco asked.

Witt shrugged. "Why not?"

[;]

"Yeah! Get 'em, Whitaker!" Yang pumped her fist into the air. She stood up from her seat on the risers in Professor Goodwitch's classroom.

A barrage of bullets from Coco's whirling gatling gun impacted the purple barrier that Glynda erected to protect her students from the explosive spar between Coco Adel and Whitaker Ash.

In a display of pure acrobatics, Whitaker flipped himself over the barrage that Coco fired at him. He twisted and twirled his body around like a frantic gymnast— he danced through the air, weaving himself between bullets with what could only be described as practiced ease. And what he couldn't dodge, he deflected with Lightning, bullets pinged off of the blue blade with an almost satisfying ring.

The spar was less of a spar and more of a visual treat. Both Huntsman and Huntress were skilled, well-trained, and exceptionally talented in their own right. From Whitaker's gravity-defying agility to Coco's reckless yet somehow precise attacks.

The white-haired teen held Lightning before him, and Coco kept her eyes trained on him— her finger feathered the trigger of Gianduja, keeping the barrels spinning, but firing no bullets.

Whitaker clicked his tongue. That meant there was no way he could properly close the distance between the two of them. She would always be ready for an advance, and with her Semblance, there was no telling how powerful her next burst of bullets would be. And since Coco diligently trained, he was certain that her control of Hype extended to modifying the power every individual bullet.

He could take no chances with avoiding any of her shots.

"What's wrong, Witt? You're looking a little helpless there," Coco said with a smirk. Even though she wore her signature sunglasses, Whitaker knew that her eyes were sparkling with joy beneath them. "Need some help?" She hefted Gianduja in question.

Whitaker, in a split-second decision, decided to do something rather underhanded. "I can think of a few things I want you to help me with," he said, doing his best impression of a sultry, seductive man. Despite the fact that he thought it was a fairly awful impression, it seemed to have worked.

Coco's entire body froze. Her cheeks visibly darkened. "W— wh— what?!" Gianduja's barrels stopped whirling. "What do you mean?"

Glynda let out a small sigh as she rubbed her forehead.

With the snap of thunder, Whitaker separated the blade of Lightning into its two halves. Electricity sparked between the blades and across the front of Whitaker's body. He sped straight towards the still-stunned Coco, his swords leaving behind trails of blue sparks.

In a panic, Coco realized that she'd been played. "Whitaker—"

There was no time for her to even respond as Lightning easily cut through her Aura. The Aura monitor blared, signalling that Coco's Aura had been reduced to the red.

"That's enough!" Glynda ordered. With a flick of her riding crop, she activated her Semblance and separated the two students from one another.

Whitaker drew in deep breaths as Coco stared at him, utterly shocked that he would do such a thing. As Professor Goodwitch asked a number of questions regarding the fight to the rest of the class, Coco Adel's amber eyes glared hard at Whitaker.

I'm so screwed.

[;]

"What lame way to end a fight," Yang murmured. "You just flirted with her and she lost!"

"Definitely a little underhanded of you," Blake added. But a small smile lingered on her lips. "But, it worked, didn't it?"

"Thanks, Blake." Whitaker glanced at Ruby.

"Well, the fight's done. You won, so there's not much to argue about the results," Ruby decided.

"Guys?" Yang turned to face the other two girls on the team. "We're supposed to be on the same side here."

Blake crossed her arms. "We are. On Whitaker's side."

Yang let out a groan— and the rest of Team RWBY chuckled at her plight.

On a whim, Ruby decided to head into Vale to get some shopping done before the week started, stating that everyone needed to stock up on supplies before the Huntsmen and Huntresses from the other academies arrived. Even though Whitaker really only needed lightning Dust, the rest of the team actively used Dust, namely Blake and Ruby.

"Are you sure you don't need any other Dust?" Ruby asked as they walked through a weapon's shop. They might not have been officially licensed as Huntsmen and Huntresses yet, but a Beacon student I.D. was good enough for most weapon store owners. After all, there was no other way to get Dust or other ammunition. "I know you're mainly a close-quarters fighter, but it wouldn't hurt to have a spare firearm, right?"

They passed a display of numerous handguns of varying sizes. "I've thought about it," Whitaker said. He walked up to the display, eyeing one of the handguns. He'd seen the model before— a standard striker carried by most of the Atlesian police force, a blackmetal VP9. A model different from the one he used on his test. "Maybe I'll pick one up before the Vytal Festival."

Ruby hummed. "Do you want it?" She asked, her eyes on the same pistol.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it."

"Alright," she said. "I'll pick it up for you."

"Ruby—"

"No, no, it's fine." She smiled. "Think of it as a present."

"I'm not sure that I'm comfortable receiving a gun as a present from a fifteen year-old girl," Whitaker muttered, but it was still loud enough for Ruby to hear. Though it didn't seem to faze her.

Ruby merely rolled her eyes. "Doesn't change the fact that you want it, and that I'm willing to get it for you. Wait here, I'll go get a clerk." With another smile, she quickly found someone to help her unlock the cabinet and hand her the gun. Then, she walked it over to the front desk.

Whitaker trailed behind her, curious as to what she was doing.

"How much will this be?" She asked.

"Do you have an I.D. miss?"

"Ah, right." Ruby produced her I.D.

The clerk's eyes narrowed as he read the I.D. and then glanced at Ruby. Then, he simply shrugged and murmured something under his breath. He took the VP9 and ran it through the scanner. "That will be 899 lien, miss."

Whitaker nearly choked at the price tag. Now he just felt bad for letting Ruby buy it for him. But, as before, the girl took out a card and swiped it, swiftly completing the transaction. The clerk placed the VP9 in a black case, then handed the case and a receipt to Ruby.

"Is there an inspection table here?" Ruby asked as she hefted the weapon case.

"In the back-right corner of the store," replied the clerk. "Just find a free space for yourself."

"Thank you."

As they walked to the inspection table, Whitaker spoke up. "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you back for that or anything?"

Ruby shook her head. "I don't really spend my money on much else other than weapons and Dust. Of course, there are the occasional games or comic books, but…" She trailed off. Upon arriving at the inspection table, Ruby took a seat on a free chair. "If you really want to pay me back, just let me teach you how to use it properly. And that includes modifications."

"You're going to mod it? Here?"

"Not here. I don't have the stuff for it." Ruby placed the weapon case on the smooth black rubber surface of the inspection table. "I just want to see what we're working with."

She popped the weapon case open and freed the VP9 from it, moving aside the case and resting the handgun before her.

And in less than fifteen seconds, Ruby Rose disassembled the VP9. The slide, the slide's plates and locks, the barrel, the magazine, the magazine's catch, spring, insert, and follower, the trigger and its assembly, every part of the handgun laid on the surface of the inspection table.

See, Whitaker knew that Ruby was a weapon-fanatic. A gun-fanatic. He was certain that there wasn't a single person on Remnant that wouldn't have figured that out from first meeting the girl. He knew that she was obsessed with weapons, his conversations with her told him as much— as did Taiyang's and Yang's stories of her past. Even living as her roommate for the better part of four months, he knew that she still spent much of her time researching, understanding, and learning more about weapons.

But this was the first time that Whitaker had ever seen the fruits of those efforts. Fifteen seconds to completely take apart a handgun was something only machines should have been capable of. Or someone with superhuman speed. Ruby, however, hadn't activated her Semblance to complete the disassembly; her Aura didn't even flash. It was all completely natural. Something she'd done with her own two hands.

Ruby's voice pulled Whitaker out of his stupor. "You chose a good gun, Whitaker."

"I hoped so. They were standard-issue in Atlas, as far as I could tell."

"Makes sense. If you're using the right grain on the 9 millimeters, then this thing wouldn't jam in any blizzard. No matter how cold," Ruby agreed with a few nods of her head. "The manufacturers made a lot of room for modification too. We can fit a Dual-Action Dust mechanism into the loading chamber, that way you won't need to use different Dust magazines."

"And the trigger pull?"

"About five pounds."

"Any way to lessen it?"

Ruby eyed him. "Are you sure? Most pistols are around that weight."

"Nothing wrong with going a little lighter."

"Any lighter and you'll discharge a bullet by just blowing pressurized air at the trigger," Ruby argued. "I can make it lighter. But I'm not going any less than four pounds."

"That's fine."

"Why do you need it lessened, anyways?"

"Never liked putting too much pressure on the trigger. And force translates weirdly when I activate my Semblance. Even if it's just five pounds normally, the difference between four and five pounds is a lot."

"Fair enough," Ruby said. "Do you have any other requests?"

"An extended magazine."

"Afraid you'll miss?" Ruby cocked her brow.

"I'll be using it in tandem with Lightning. It's meant to be more suppressive, right?"

"Okay, fair enough." Ruby placed her hands on the inspection table and began to reassemble the gun. "How many rounds?"

"Twenty." It was a good amount. Not too much that the magazine would extend out from the bottom of the base pad.

"Okay, twenty it is." With the VP9 fully reassembled, Ruby returned it to the case and stood up from her chair. "Any preferences with the types of Dust?" She asked, falling into step beside Whitaker as they made their way out of the weapon's shop.

"Hard-Light and Gravity."

"H— Hard-Light? Do you even know how expensive that is?" Ruby questioned.

"My uncle is Jacques Schnee, Ruby," Whitaker said with a grin.

"Oh. I see." Ruby sweat-dropped. "Why would you put those kinds of Dust bullets into a gun?"

"Flexibility. I just need it to close the distance more than anything else," Whitaker explained. He glanced back at Ruby, extending his hand towards the black case. "I'll carry it for now."

Ruby nodded and gave the weapon's case to Whitaker. With that, the two of them left the weapon's shop to catch up with Blake and Yang.

[;]

"Took you two long enough," Yang commented as she looked at them. She eyed the case that Whitaker carried at his side. "You bought a new weapon?"

"Ruby bought it. And it's a pistol," he explained.

"It's a gift to Whitaker," Ruby said, shifting the weight on her feet. "For Patch and helping me out during the beginning of the semester."

"Fair enough."

"Any luck with Dust?" Whitaker asked.

"We were going to head there now," Yang said. "Blake wanted to do some of her own shopping, so we stopped at a bookstore for her. They had some cool comics. Nothing that I didn't already own or read before, though."

"Sorry for wasting your time," Blake teased.

The blonde blew a raspberry at her.

"Well, let's head on to the Dust store. Ruby, you said you knew one?"

"There's a few in Vale." Ruby hopped towards the front of their group. "But we can head to the closest one from here."

And head to the closest one they did, only to see that it was no longer a Dust store, but the scene of a crime. A line of police tape blocked the entire front area of the store. Shattered glass sprayed out onto the concrete, the door was smashed to bits, and the inside of the store itself was utterly devoid of Dust. Two police officers stood in the center of the crime scene, their Scrolls out as they discussed with one another.

"Any camera footage?"

"Only a few seconds before it was destroyed. Perps were clearly faunus though— most likely White Fang."

"How?"

"Masks, ears, and tails, sir."

"Fair enough. Send the footage to me. I'll file it in. Nothing we can do about it now except clean up."

"Right away, sir."

Whitaker clicked his tongue as Team RWBY walked past the crime scene. Some things never change. And he should have known that the White Fang's penchant for wanton destruction was one of those things. If they were collecting Dust in Vale, then they were likely collecting it for the same reason as they were in Verdant.

"Whitaker?" Ruby asked, placing a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just… thinking."

"About?"

"How unsurprising all of this is," he stated, motioning to the crime scene. "It's always the same with them."

"Them?"

"Faunus. The White Fang," Whitaker said. "I would let Ozpin know, but he probably already knows what they're doing in the city. The issue is that he's not doing anything about it— as far as protecting the stores go."

"And are we supposed to do something about it? We're just students, Witt," Yang said. "We're not trained, licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses. And I doubt we're ready for something like that."

At those words, Whitaker let out a small sigh. "Fair enough." As much as he wanted to do something to solve the problem, Yang was right. They really weren't ready to face an entire terrorist organization.

"What a generalization," Blake muttered— her golden eyes glaring daggers at Whitaker. "Thinking that all faunus are part of the White Fang."

Whitaker raised a brow. "That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that a vast majority of them are sympathizers."

"That's just not true. You sound just like—"

A gruff voice broke through the dispute, drawing every one of Team RWBY's eyes to the scene at the docks of Vale. "Hey! Stop that faunus!" A policeman pointed at a running monkey faunus with bright blonde hair.

The blonde faunus sped past Team RWBY, and glanced at every one of the girls before his eyes landed on Whitaker. Panic flooded his gaze, and he immediately sprinted away from them.

Whitaker was the first to act. He ran after the faunus, matching him in speed. He trained his sights on the faunus and refused to let him escape his gaze. Despite the fact that he wasn't getting any closer, the faunus wasn't gaining any distance on him. Frequently, the faunus kept glancing back at Whitaker, checking if he was still chasing him, and it was in these moments that Whitaker gained on the stowaway.

Of course, there was only so much room that the faunus had to move in the streets of Vale. So the faunus began to clamber up the sides of the buildings, navigating walls like it was as simple as walking. Whitaker clicked his tongue and followed after the faunus— using the fire escape rather than climbing up the wall.

When he reached the rooftop, Whitaker realized that the faunus had no intention of stopping his escape. No other way to do it, then. In a quick flourish, he freed his newly bought VP9, its case clattering to the stone roof. There were no modifications on the weapon yet, but it still had a single, usable magazine.

The faunus tumbled across the rooftops with Whitaker hot on his trail. Moments before the faunus could leap over the barrier between two roofs, Whitaker—

"STOP!"

Blake's screech shattered Whitaker's focus, and within a split second, the monkey faunus was completely out of sight as he jumped and leapt through the rooftops of Vale.

Whitaker clicked his tongue and turned around to find the rest of Team RWBY standing on the rooftops behind him. He glared at Blake. "Is there a reason why you stopped me there?"

"Why are you chasing him?" She asked. "He didn't do anything wrong—"

"He was a stowaway, Blake. Last I checked, that's a criminal offense."

She glared. "And if he was a human and not a faunus?"

"He wouldn't have gotten away," Whitaker answered. He sighed. "No matter. He'll either be long gone or caught within the week. Once a criminal, always a criminal, doesn't matter if he's got his Aura or not."

"Why are you so… so insufferable, Whitaker?"

"Why are you taking this so personally? You're not in his situation."

Blake scoffed. "You don't even know what kind of situation he's been in."

"And you do?" Whitaker retorted. "What sort of knowledge do you have about his past that I don't? Last I checked, you two met at the same time that we did."

"He's a faunus, Whitaker."

"I noticed that."

Blake angrily swiped her hand through the air. Her gold eyes flashed with annoyance. "You're missing the point."

"I fail to see what point I'm missing. He's a criminal. The police weren't able to catch him, so I chose to help. If you're a faunus sympathizer, Blake, just go ahead and say it," Witt said tiredly. "I don't want to dance circles around such an idiotic, illogical topic anyways."

"Wh— what?"

"I think sympathizing with the faunus is foolish. Especially the White Fang."

"How do you even know that he's White Fang?"

"He's skilled enough to evade policemen, even outrunning a Huntsman-in-training."

"And you genuinely think that the White Fang would seriously put effort into securing a stowaway?"

Whitaker shrugged. "Depends on how valuable the stowaway is. If he's got his Aura unlocked, then he's probably Huntsman trained, which also means that he has a weapon that's unique to him. Any target like that is dangerous."

"Target?" Blake seethed.

"If he presents himself as a danger, then yes, I think that would make him a target."

"So he's just something to kill now? To exterminate? To put down?"

"Blake, you're putting words in my mouth," Whitaker said. "But I suppose those aren't exactly wrong words to use either."

"I should have known that a Schnee would end up being nothing more than a racist prick, no matter how kind they present themselves to be," she spat. "Your bloodline is a disease meant to kill faunus."

"Now who's being rude?"

Ruby tried to step in. "Guys—"

"You are! You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place is because you wanted to go off and chase some faunus for just being a stowaway on a boat!"

"No, we're in this mess because you didn't let me catch him. If I'd caught him then—"

"Then he'd be given a sentence worth triple— no, quadruple the crime that he committed!" Blake stepped towards Whitaker, her tone dripping with poison. "You wouldn't even have to deal with the consequences yourself, just all like Schnees."

Whitaker's blue eyes hardened into diamonds. "Listen Blake, I've seen firsthand what the White Fang are capable of. I've seen the monstrous, diabolical lengths that they will go to wipe humanity off of the face of the Remnant."

"Like what?" challenged Blake. "Did you see another stowaway? How about a petty thief? What sort of terrible things have you seen, Whitaker?"

"Enough Dust in a warehouse in Verdant to blow it clean off of the map," Whitaker answered softly. "Faunus who only wanted to see civilization destroyed. Faunus who would have loved nothing more than to kill the very people who helped save them. Do you really think that my accusations are so baseless?

Ruby gasped. Yang held her breath. It wasn't the first time that either girl had heard the story, but it was impactful all the same. It wasn't every day that an eighteen year-old student was forced to deal with a terrorist attack.

Blake's body jerked before freezing under frigid Whitaker's gaze. "Th— that's impossible. We would never do something like that. It— it was never about violence, it was just about being treated as equals. As people."

"… We?" Whitaker asked, his throat as coarse as sandpaper.

Blake's hand drifted to the bow that… twitched on her head before she caught herself. Her gaze moved slowly from Whitaker, to Ruby, to Yang, and then back to Whitaker. "I'm sorry," she mouthed.

And in a blur of movement, Blake created several clones of herself and seemingly vanished into thin air— leaving no time for even Whitaker to react.

[;]

"What were you thinking?" Ruby seethed. "Actually, don't answer that. You weren't thinking."

"Ruby," Whitaker tried. "I was. The entire reason that conversation derailed is because of Blake, not me."

"Because you failed to see it from her perspective."

"From the perspective of a criminal?"

Ruby clicked her tongue and stabbed a finger towards him. "That's the problem. You're only seeing her as a criminal. You're only seeing that other faunus as a criminal. Not a person."

"That's—"

"This is your problem to fix, Whitaker." Ruby put her hands on her hips. Despite the massive disparity in their height, and the fact that she was looking up at him, it was Whitaker who felt smaller in that moment. "So fix it."

Whitaker shook his head. "Blake made her choice. And I made mine. If she was so willing to leave the team over her past, then maybe she never considered herself a part of the team in the first place."

Ruby's silver eyes narrowed into daggers that pierced straight through Whitaker. "Get out."

"Ruby—"

"Out! Now! If you won't go looking for her yourself, then I'm making you. The reason she's gone is because of you, Whitaker. It's both of your faults. And if you haven't realized that, then you better hope that you come back with her in tow." Her eyes flashed with power. The hairs on Whitaker's neck stood on end. "Or else."

"I…" Whitaker trailed off. "There's no other way, huh?"

"No," Ruby said softly.

Quickly finding his resolve, Whitaker shut his eyes. He drew in a deep breath. "Alright. I'll go find her," he said, measuredly.

"Thanks, Whitaker."

He met Ruby's gaze. "No problem. I… I feel bad about what I said to her as well." That was the raw truth of the situation. But he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Blake was previously a member of the White Fang, that she'd been hiding it from him— from Team RWBY all this time. It made Whitaker sick to his stomach.

"Then hopefully you two can make amends," Ruby said, turning her back to him and placing a hand on the doorframe. "Before our team breaks for good." She shut the door on him.

Whitaker stood alone in the hallway.

He sighed.

Truthfully, he liked Blake. He thought that she was a brilliant woman, a strong fighter, and someone that was dependable to their very core. But… if she was a member of The White Fang, then who knows what crimes she'd previously committed. The dangers that she'd put the people of Remnant in. The harm that she'd caused. The pain she'd inflicted.

"Whitaker?" A voice asked from behind him. It was Pyrrha, stepping out from her dorm. She was dressed in her tan pajama set and a light green eye-mask was pulled up into her hair like a headband. She rubbed her eyes and blinked them open. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded. "Just a small argument, I guess."

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked.

"Blake ran away. And Ruby told me to find her."

The warrior gasped. "Is… is she okay? Do you know where she is?"

"I hope she's okay," Whitaker found himself saying. "And I've got no idea. But I need to start looking for her."

Pyrrha, despite looking like she had just woken up, firmly nodded. "I'll come with you."

"Pyrrha, you don't need to. It's already night, and I don't want this to be a burden on you—"

"You're not a burden, Whitaker. And neither is your situation." Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder. "You always help a friend in need. No matter what."

[;]

Pyrrha Nikos and Whitaker Ash began their search that very night.

"Do you think we'll need our weapons?" Pyrrha asked.

"Better safe than sorry," Whitaker said.

Pyrrha frowned. "Last I checked, students weren't allowed to take their weapons out of their lockers unless authorized."

Whitaker pulled out his Scroll. "I can get us authorized." And he dialed Glynda's number. It was almost guaranteed that the blonde professor was awake, dealing with the mountain of paperwork that seemed to permanently exist on top of her desk.

Glynda answered his call almost instantly. "Whitaker?"

"Glyn—" Whitaker suddenly remembered that Pyrrha was standing beside him. "Professor Goodwitch, I need authorization to take mine and Pyrrha's weapons out of our lockers."

"For a spar?"

"I… messed up. Blake ran away. I need to go looking for her," Whitaker explained slowly. "I'll give you the full details later tonight, Professor."

After some time and a small sigh, Glynda continued. "Very well. Do not make me regret this, Whitaker. Your lockers are now opened and you're cleared for use outside of Beacon."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Do not forget to send me the details tonight. As well as your student I.D's. Will you two be staying the night in Vale?"

"Ruby kicked me out of the dorm."

"I… was not aware that Miss Rose was so harsh on you."

"And neither was I."

From the other end of the phone, Whitaker heard the clacking of a keyboard, and the final click of a mouse. "I've booked you for three nights at a hotel in Vale, the address of which I've just sent to your Scroll."

His Scroll vibrated against his cheek. "Miss Goodwitch—"

"I wish to see Miss Belladonna returned to Beacon, as well as your team. Stay safe, Whitaker. I am rather fond of you," Glynda muttered.

The brusqueness with which Glynda forced the words out of her lips made Whitaker snort. "Of course, Professor. Have a good night."

"You as well, Whitaker." And Glynda closed the call.

Whitaker pocketed his Scroll. "We're good."

Pyrrha stood beside him, her arms crossed. "I feel like I should be surprised that you're this close to Professor Goodwitch, but I'm not. This feels weird." She lightly scratched at the side of her neck. "So, what's the plan?"

"We've got a timeframe of three days and three nights in Vale to find Blake," Whitaker explained. "For now, just pack some clothes to cover that time span. After that, we'll talk about the plan as we're getting our equipment out of the lockers."

"Alright." Pyrrha nodded, and promptly re-entered her room.

Whitaker glanced at the door to his own team's room. And he sighed as he opened it.

Ruby looked up from her bed. "Whitaker, I—"

"I'm getting clothes," Whitaker interjected. "I'll be out of here in less than ten minutes."

"Wh— where are you staying?"

"Vale," he answered as he began to take out his clothes. "Three nights at a hotel there. That should be enough time to find Blake and bring her back." Whitaker folded up a set of pajamas and a set of outdoor clothes. Then, he packed up his bathroom supplies and stuffed it into his backpack. True to his word, he finished packing under the allotted time.

There was a knock at the door.

Ruby stood up to answer it, but Whitaker was already at the door. "Who—"

"Probably Pyrrha."

"She's… going with you?"

"She asked."

Ruby tilted her head, and then the realization seemed to hit her. She let out a dry chuckle. "Hah. Right. Of course. That… that makes sense. It all makes sense now."

Whitaker raised a brow, but decided to not comment on it. He had more important things to worry about right now. "I'll see you in a few days. I'll try and keep you posted, so just keep an eye on your Scroll."

"Right." Ruby nodded.

Whitaker glanced at Yang, who'd been silent during the entire exchange. Ever since his argument with Blake, and her subsequent escape, Yang hadn't so much as uttered a single word to him or to Ruby. As someone who was normally loud and rather boisterous, the sudden silence struck Whitaker as concerning. "Yang?" he called.

Yang strode forwards and grabbed Whitaker by the sides of his arms. She looked up at him, her lilac eyes covered in a thin layer of moisture. "Just… bring her back, Witt. Please," her voice cracked. "Bring my partner back to me."

Whitaker nodded. He reached his hand up to lightly pat the top of Yang's head. "I will."

Yang stepped forward and dropped her head down, pressing it against his chest. "Promise?"

"I promise," Whitaker avowed. "I swear on it."

"Good." Yang pulled away and raised a closed fist. "Stay safe out there, Witt."

Whitaker met the blonde brawler's fist with his own. "I will."

"Whitaker?" A voice lightly called out from the hallway. "Are… are you done packing?"

In response, Whitaker opened the door to reveal a patiently waiting Pyrrha, her backpack strapped on one shoulder. Upon seeing him, she smiled. The redhead spotted Ruby and Yang in the room, and offered the two sisters a small wave.

"Thank you for helping him, Pyrrha," Yang said. "I… appreciate it. More than you know."

"Of course, Yang," Pyrrha said.

Whitaker put a hand on the door. "We'll be heading out now." He looked back at Ruby and Yang with a small smile. "Next time you see me, Blake will be right next to me. I promise."

[;]

Whitaker and Pyrrha boarded one of the last Bullheads to Vale, much to the surprise of the pilot who eyed the two fully armed students with concern.

"Should I be worried?" He asked Whitaker, as the white-haired teen stepped into the cockpit.

"We're looking for my teammate," Whitaker explained. "And Professor Goodwitch gave us clearance."

The pilot tilted his head towards the front console. "Well, since you somehow got Goodwitch to give you clearance, I won't argue with that." He pointed to the cargo bay. "Take a seat. We'll be up in the air in a few minutes."

"Thanks." Whitaker returned to Pyrrha who strapped into her chair, her backpack between her feet. He sat next to her, putting on his own straps, a deep sigh escaping his lips as he did so.

"Tired?" Pyrrha asked.

"You could say that," Whitaker replied. "I just want to get this whole situation resolved. Put things back to normal. Whatever that means."

"So, what exactly happened between your team and Blake? It had to be something big, right? Your team had a good dynamic, as far as I could tell."

"Before Beacon, I guess, Blake was a member of the White Fang," Whitaker said slowly, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. But the feeling of betrayal stung, and it stung hard.

"She never told you?"

Whitaker shook his head. "I don't know why. If she'd told us, then I think my reaction wouldn't have been anywhere near as harsh?"

"And how did you react?"

Before Whitaker could answer, the Bullhead's engines rumbled to life, and lifted up from the landing pad.

The intercom clicked. "We will arrive in central Vale in approximately fifteen minutes."

"Whitaker?" Pyrrha pressed.

"Not well. I have a bad history with the White Fang, and faunus in general. I may have pushed it too far with Blake." Whitaker tucked his fingers underneath his straps.

"What did you say?"

"Some not-very-nice things." He laughed dryly. Whitaker fell silent for a moment as he thought about how best to describe the situation to Pyrrha. Lying was the last thing on his mind— he needed the other girl's opinion on his situation. He knew that he'd done wrong, but he still wanted, if only for a moment, for her to see it from his perspective. "I put the entire weight of the White Fang on her shoulders. I blamed her for everything that they'd done as if she had a personal hand in it all.

"But I knew that she didn't. I knew that she was just as young as I was— there was no way they would send a child on operations like the one my father and I dismantled in Verdant. I— I guess I needed someone to put the blame on, someone I could see, someone that wasn't just another faceless person."

"And for you, that was Blake?" Pyrrha asked.

"It was Blake," he confirmed.

"What happened in Verdant, Whitaker?"

"The worst thing that I'd ever done in my life."

[;]

When Whitaker and Pyrrha arrived in Vale, they walked to the hotel that Glynda booked for the two of them. Even from just the lobby, he knew that it was a higher-end hotel, but when the receptionist told him that their room was on the fifteenth floor, the surprise on Whitaker's face was as clear as day. After quickly checking in for the night and making their way up to the designated floor, Whitaker opened the door to their room.

"There's… only one bed," Pyrrha observed.

There was, indeed, only a large, single bed in the hotel room. The sheets and covers matched the simplistic walls and floors of the hotel, and it dominated the middle of the room, with a flat-screen TV on the opposite wall. On the window-side of the TV was a glass-topped desk with a simple desk lamp.

Beside the front door was a small black marble countertop for the refrigerator, the microwave, and the coffee-maker. And to the left of that was the door to the bathroom.

Whitaker sighed. "I don't even want to know why Glynda booked us a room with one bed." He tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice, but Whitaker, for all of his discipline, was still a hormonal teenager. The thought of sharing a room with someone as attractive as Pyrrha was more than enough to cause his heart to race and hammer against his chest.

"Y— yeah." Pyrrha was turning as red as her hair. "An— anyways! We should start to unpack." She placed her bag at the foot of the bed. "Do you have a preference for which side you want to take?"

"The side closest to the door," Whitaker said, dropping his bag beside hers.

Pyrrha stood in front of the window that looked out to the entire skyline of Vale. With both hands, she cradled herself, gently laying her hands on her opposite arms, and she let out a slow exhale.

"Pyrrha?" Whitaker asked. "Are you okay?"

She glanced back at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. I can sleep on this side."

While he didn't fully believe in her words, he didn't want to pry. He knelt down beside his backpack and took out his pajamas. "Pyr, I'm gonna shower first."

"Okay, I'll shower after, then."

After the two showered, they both sat on opposite sides of the bed. Whitaker, just because of the sheer nervousness that rocketed throughout his entire body. It was hard to not do his best to stare at Pyrrha, so he glued them to the blank television screen.

In the utter silence that filled the room, Whitaker suddenly remembered that he had to send Glynda the details of Blake's disappearance. He took out his Scroll and began to type up a quick summation of the events. There was a light shuffling of fabric— and he realized that Pyrrha was leaning over his shoulder, looking at his Scroll.

"I didn't point this out earlier, but you're very friendly with Professor Goodwitch. You even call her by her first name. And you have her Scroll information."

"I had weekly training sessions with her to get used to Lightning again," Whitaker explained. "Her Semblance helped me re-learn the amount of grip that I needed to properly use it. And she's been a good mentor for me at school."

"She didn't strike me as the kind to play favorites."

Whitaker chuckled. You have no idea, Pyrrha. "Well, I'll tell you now: she's definitely the type to play favorites." It was no secret, even to most of the students in their year, that Glynda Goodwitch wasn't the biggest fan of Cardin Winchester, especially his blatant racism and aggression towards faunus and those weaker than him. But, in the many hours that Whitaker had spent with the woman, even she struggled to keep up her professional appearance.

He chuckled at the memory of Glynda's very… vocal exclamations and complaints about some of the students. Of course, Whitaker wasn't going to divulge any names— not even to Pyrrha. The threats that Glynda placed on his shoulders during those days would've been enough to scare any Grimm into hiding.

Whitaker finished the rest of the report, and was surprised at how quickly Glynda responded.

Thank you for the report, Whitaker. I will notify the Headmaster of your situation come morning. Please keep me posted.

Will do. Thank you, Glynda. Have a good night.

You as well.

Whitaker closed his Scroll.

It pinged a moment later.

And wear protection.

Whitaker froze.

Pyrrha spoke up from her side of the bed. "Whitaker—"

The white-haired teen threw his Scroll against the opposite wall. He silently praised the Scroll's creators for making the thing so durable.

"Are you… okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yep," he replied flatly, not even so much as turning a single eye in her direction. Whitaker stood up from the bed and went to pick up his Scroll. He flicked it to its 'silent' mode and laid it face-down on the nightstand. Well. At least I know why she only booked us for a single bed.

He slammed his head onto his pillow and groaned. Whitaker could just hear Glynda laughing in her office.

"Well," began Pyrrha. "I'm not sure what just happened, but I wanted to say that we should try and think of a plan for tomorrow, considering we only have two more nights in this hotel to find Blake before we're out of a place to stay."

"True," Whitaker said. He adjusted himself so he was sitting upright against the headboard of the bed. There were a lot of possibilities for where Blake had disappeared to. Due to how late Pyrrha and Whitaker arrived in Vale, mostly every store was closed except for the late-night dives. Whitaker debated the chance that Blake would actually be in those dives, and while I believed that it was quite high, Pyrrha was of a different opinion.

"She wouldn't be in those," she stated. "If I were her, I would try and find a place where I felt safe above all else. When you run away from something or someone, you want safety. Security."

"You sound like an expert at running away," Whitaker said.

She gave Whitaker a small, sad smile. "We all have our demons, Whitaker."

The small statement sent shellshocks all throughout Whitaker. The shuddering reality that Pyrrha was still human, despite being possibly Beacon's strongest Huntress, was a reminder of Whitaker's foolishness for buying into the fictionalized character that Pyrrha Nikos had become to his generation.

He'd forgotten that she, just like the rest of them, was just another kid with their own problems, their own issues, and their own history. Even in the many hours they'd spent training together, Pyrrha never once talked about her life outside of being a Huntress or a warrior.

And because of that, Whitaker's image of her consisted of nothing but a lone warrior with enough talent and skill to weather an army.

The Invincible Girl is not so invincible after all.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha suddenly said. "I shouldn't be talking about myself right now. We have to focus on helping Blake."

"Don't worry about it." Whitaker glanced over at her. "Tell you what: after all this is done, you can tell me everything there is to know about Pyrrha Nikos. Not The Invincible Girl. Not the 'Pride of Mistral.' Not the four-time champion of the Mistral Tournament. Just Pyrrha Nikos. A normal girl with normal problems."

Pyrrha stared at him, her verdant eyes wide and shining. "R— really?"

"Why not?"

"It's just that… I didn't really expect you to say something like that."

"Why?"

"You struck me as the type of person who seemed much more interested in the 'me' that was advertised and paraded around," Pyrrha murmured. "You and everyone else."

Whitaker frowned. He would have been irritated at her assumption of his personality, had it not been true. Up until that moment, he'd been talking to Pyrrha purely because of her skill in combat. Nothing more, and nothing less. The fact that she'd realized that but never said anything about it made him feel queasy, it made his stomach twist and turn, and it made him realize just how terrible he'd been to Pyrrha, even if it was unintentional.

"I don't hold it against you," Pyrrha said. "I mean, I think that a lot of people at school think of me that way."

Whitaker shook his head. "That doesn't make it any better. If anything, it makes it worse, Pyr." He looked over at her. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I forgive you," she replied. With a small smile, she gathered up a pillow and pressed it against her chest. "So, let's get some rest? We have a long day ahead of us."

"But we didn't even talk about what the plan was."

"We'll figure it out." Pyrrha grinned— her mood brightened entirely. Though, Whitaker could see a hint of mischievousness behind her smile, an emotion that he'd never seen before on Pyrrha. And he had to admit, it looked good on her. "And besides, tomorrow will mark the first time that I ever skip a class."

Huh. "Me too," Whitaker said, suddenly realizing that they did have classes tomorrow. And weirder still, Glynda still approved of their trip knowing that. Though, it did make sense. Looking for a lost teammate would take priority over attending a class. "Well, let's head to bed, I guess. We can brainstorm a plan in the morning tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Pyrrha turned on her side, facing away from Whitaker. "Goodnight, Whitaker."

"G'night, Pyr."

And Whitaker flicked the light switch off.


Okay, I'm moving the update time to Wednesdays since apparently it's the exact day that I finish a chapter. I actually had to split this chapter into two parts because of how long it was going to end up being.

Also... relationships are weird and don't turn out at all like we expect. This is true in real life, and in fiction. So yeah, I think that Pyrrha and Whitaker will be the endgame relationship, with some twists and turns in between. It won't be a straightforward path for sure, and it'll be some time before the two become officially canon, but here we are. For those of you that were eagerly awaiting Ruby and Whitaker, I apologize.

Eeeveeobsesser - I'm sorry! After I realized it, I struggled to wrap my head around an 18 year-old dating a 15 year-old, and I didn't think that Whitaker would be okay with it either.

merendinoemiliano - Thanks!

As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter, it really means a lot!

Next Update: 4/28/2021