Previously, on Paragons of Virtue and Glory…
Class 1-A has now started doing Hero Patrols, under escort from Pro Huntsmen, and 2nd Year Team CFVY. But Bakugo's tendency to go with insulting nicknames comes back to hurt him, and the entire class has started to learn more about the Faunus. While Bakugo reflects and tries to work on changing his behaviour, Blake Belladonna has a talk with All Might, on mistakes of the past, and how to correct them.
Now, as things seem to be settling, the Villains in the shadows begin to make a move, and cracks in the foundations of team RWBY, threaten it's continued existence. From the shadows of our heroes' hearts and souls, secrets are about to be laid bare…
"PLAY"
Vale, Late at Night.
The Dust store's door was broken down quickly, and the thieves were already rushing in. "Remember; Collect all the Dust, leave the Lien." Roman said, walking in behind them, observing the White Fang as they swiftly and efficiently, collected all the available Dust. Roman, himself moved behind the display case where the cashier would normally stand, and picked up some 'Burn' Crystals, specifically uncut.
He checked a pocket watch, and frowned. "Thirty seconds and we are out. If you fall behind, you're left behind, got it?". The threat was enough for everyone to pick up the pace.
'I wonder what their leader is doing right now?' Roman thought, pocketing a few other crystals.
At that moment, only a few buildings away, overlooking everything on a rooftop, Adam Taurus, along with three personal lieutenants, kept watch, one hand resting on his weapon, the other holding on to his scroll. It was open, and he divided his attention between the robbery in progress, and the image that he had pulled up.
"I will find you," He said to himself. The sounds of distant sirens caught his attention, and he looked around in the direction they were coming, even as Roman and the others were pulling out with their haul. He smiled. As much as he would love to run the human scum through, the partnership was actually working out. He took one last look at the image on his scroll before closing it. And then he was moving, heading to the rendezvous where the airship was waiting.
Beacon Academy, Team RWBY's dorm
Blake Belladonna slept fitfully, even as Yang sawed logs above her, and the rest of her team slumbered in relative peace, her dreams were anything but. Almost as if on some instinctual level, she knew that something was amiss, and that it was close.
[Adam Taurus: "I will find you... Blake."]
A shudder passed through her, as she found no respite in this night's sleep.
[Cue Opening – Save The Day]
Episode 8: White Fang
Beacon Academy, Firing Range. Friday.
Gunfire rang out, as Izuku and his classmates went through the motions they had been taught. Izuku focused as he reset himself after every shot, readjusted his aim, and the fired again. The Grimm target before him, depicting a Beowolf, had a neat collection of holes around it's head, and chest.
To Izuku's right, Uraraka was adjusting to the SMG function of 'Sputnik,' firing in controlled bursts, with a strong and steady grip. In the first few days of learning about Gun safety, and how to fire one, she had been one of the few that had struggled with their aim, often missing their target until after three shots or so. Now she was pretty consistent. Izuku often found himself admiring Uraraka's dedication and spirit when it came to these sessions.
Beside her, Tokoyami, was using the semi-auto function of his rifle, and Dark Shadow watched. Much like everyone else when in the firing range, Dark Shadow had it's own protective visor and ear defenders, to the amusement of a few, but Mulberry was adamant that if Dark Shadow wanted to be 'out' while Tokoyami was using the range, the living Quirk would also wear protective gear. No exceptions.
To Izuku's left, Ashido was only now getting good at aiming with her weapon 'Bubble-gun.' The fluorescent pink and purple SMG, had a unique, flip-up sight, that Ashido had requested. Thus, allowing her to try out something new with her Quirk; making acid bubbles. While in order to make them, the acid couldn't be overly strong, Ashido was certain it could make a decent improvised, irritant, defensive barrier, that would at least slow down most opponents, and maybe the Grimm if it got in their eyes. Izuku had to give her points for unique creativity.
But while it had been made with the intent of being used one handed, she still needed two hands to better reduce the recoil of her shots.
Sero was beside her, his DMR weapon 'Box-Cutter,' without it's bayonet attachment that would allow it to Mecha-shift into a spear, pulled into his shoulder. Out of all of them, he was taking the longest with his shots, as he considered all the pointers that he had been given by both Ruby and Pyrrha. He was trying for the eyes of his 'Beowolf' target, but found he was pulling to the left, and had to adjust.
A room away, Bakugo was getting to practice with the Autocannon weapon that had recently been finished. He was handling the recoil with ease, a mad grin on his face as 30mm rounds punched through a much more armoured target at a steady rate.
A buzzer rang out, heard clearly even through the ear protectors. Everyone ceased firing, and immediately went through the process, of putting the safeties on, removing the ammo magazine, and setting the weapon down before steeping back.
"Good job, all of you." Mulberry's voice came out over a speaker, even as holographic screens popped up close by, detailing their results. "You've all certainly improved a great deal, even in the short time here. We'll get both of your teams onto the moving targets next time. I've already sent the results of this session to your scrolls, along with some notes on what to focus on. Get your gear packed up, and meet me back in the Workshop. I think Miss Rose has something she'd like to show you."
"Ooh, I wonder what that could be?" Ashido said, as she followed everyone out of the room. Only once they were out of the Firing Range, did they remove the protective visors and ear defenders. Uraraka put a finger to her lips as she thought about it.
"Maybe they've finally finished Apollo."
"Apollo?" Mina tilted her head quizzically. Uraraka smiled while rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah. Deku had this idea for something like a jet pack that would help with my speed and mobility when I'm using my Quirk on myself, but Ruby got really into it, and even managed to get Weiss to assist. They've been working on it for a while now, and I think they even asked Yaoyorozu to use her Quirk for some materials, as they started stretching the budget we all had to work with." She pulled her hand away and turned it into a fist, pumping it, with excitement. "I can't wait to see it! Ever since I learned about Gravity Dust, I've been looking at how it could help me when using my Quirk when in the field." Mina made a silent 'oh' as she listened, starting to feel some of the excitement too.
Sero looked over to Izuku and Tokoyami. "Wait... Can Yaoyorozu make Dust?" Izuku shook his head as he walked.
"No, not yet at any rate. Her Quirk allows her to recreate non living materials so long as she understands how it's put together at the molecular level, but despite researching Dust in the library and asking Schnee about it, there's apparently too many variables that make it impossible. For now at least."
Tokoyami nodded, letting Dark Shadow carry their weapon. "Dust is indeed a fascinating resource, and it's applications are almost limitless. I wonder what our own world would make of it?"
Behind him, Bakugo considered the question, before dismissing it as unimportant right now. He was focusing on some of the mental exercises that Wyndglade had given him, as Team BEAS leader, allowing him to push past his own ego and pay more attention to the world and people around him. It actually was helping, to his own surprise, though he still felt that much of what he was picking on was boring and pointless mostly.
There was this Vytal Festival Tournament coming up though. Apparently, Remnant's Kingdoms had this bi-annual festival to celebrate the end of the Great War, which was the biggest and most costly conflict this world had seen, comparable to Earth's World Wars of the ancient past. Only with a lot more swords and superpowers alongside firearms. The tournament was held at a different Academy each time, as he recalled the Pro Hunter telling him and his team, and Beacon would be hosting this year.
The Tournament itself sounded like it was similar to the UA Sports Festival, only with possibly a bigger audience and more historical significance as a celebration of the end of the war. Katsuki pondered if there was some way he and the other extras could compete in some way, though acknowledged that the probability was low. At least it would be interesting to watch and take notes.
'Wonder if Xiao Long and her team will compete? I think I remember overhearing that the Ice Queen is pretty keen to get as much of an edge as possible. Come to think of it, haven't seen their team fighting together since we first arrived here. They better not have been using helping us as an excuse to slack off…'
…
"Do you think she'll like it?" Weiss raised an eyebrow at her leader and partner. Ruby was almost bouncing up and down with excitement. Credit where it was due, the girl wasn't as much of a dolt when she was working on engineering and forging. Weiss had actually been quite impressed.
Behind them, was the result of many hours of work, overseen and assisted by Professor Mulberry. Weiss shook her head a little in amusement, before returning to her aloof demeanour and poise. "I'm sure that Uraraka will be very appreciative of all our hard work. As will Midoriya. His observations and notes on her Quirk definitely helped."
That brought up a thought that made her frown, though more from a sense of frustrated puzzlement. "That being said, I still don't get how her Quirk can be called Zero Gravity, when some measure of gravity is still affecting the subject under her Quirk's effects. And how does she somehow 'choose' to either affect a person's clothes, or the person, and their clothes?"
Ruby shrugged, having no more of an answer to the question than Weiss. "Beats me. Though I think Bakugo once commented that 'Quirks are...' something Yang won't let me repeat." She shook her head, annoyed at being treated like a child. "You could always ask her yourself, maybe even test some Gravity Dust out and compare it to her Quirk. How are you coming with ideas for self improvement?" Weiss, looked away, annoyed, though it was largely at herself.
"...There's an aspect to my Semblance that every other member of my family who has awakened it, has mastered. It's called 'Summoning', where we take the memory of a defeated enemy we've slain, or helped to slay, and we can summon an avatar of that opponent to fight for us." Weiss sighed and crossed her arms, "I've been having trouble with that part of my Semblance since before coming to Beacon, though admittedly, I don't have that many slain Grimm to focus on. As far as I'm concerned, my way forward is improving my use of my Semblance, which means mastering Summoning."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"...Thank you Ruby, but... I don't think you can help. Not with this." Ruby looked a little down at Weiss's words, but took some solace that the heiress wasn't being as cold and as mean as she had been at the start of the year.
The door to the workshop opened, and in walked Teams MOAT and BEAS. Ruby quickly checked to make sure that their 'surprise' was well hidden behind her before looking forward again. Her nervous excitement was building again. Weiss, merely gave a polite smile.
"Hey guys!" Ruby beamed, "how did things go on the range?"
"I might book a little more time there to be honest," Sero said. "I'm hitting the target, but I'm struggling with the precise shots." He rubbed the back of his head, as he dwelt on that thought.
"Me and Tsu didn't really do much other than watch the others," Kirishima admitted. Asui nodded, whilst also putting her finger to her chin, as she frequently did.
"Ribbit. I can see the progress everyone's been making, though Midoriya still struggles with firing both pistols at once."
"Yeah, that's true." Izuku nodded, taking the blunt statement in stride. "I should probably ask Ren if he has any tips, but right now, it's just easier to focus on firing one gun, and then switch to the other before reloading. Hopefully we won't have to do that in combat anytime soon."
"Knocking on wood!" Ruby declared before tapping her knuckles on the table behind her. That got some giggles from the 1-A girls. Bakugo merely stood back and observed. Uraraka moved up to Ruby with curious expectation.
"Professor Mulberry said you had something you wanted to show us. Is it what I think it is?" Ruby grinned, as she herself couldn't wait any longer, hopping out the way and making a presentation stance with her arms towards the white contraption behind her.
"Ta Da! Presenting, the newly finished, Dust Jump Pack... Apollo!"
"You finished it? That's great!" Izuku praised also coming over to inspect as Uraraka walked up to it and looked it over.
Apollo looked like a two part jet pack of sorts. It had a number of straps and harnesses, and the central body was fairly compact, only as big as a small back pack. It had three thruster vents, two of which were on either side of the central pack, with adjustable flaps. The lower part, was cylindrical in shape, and tucked neatly away from the central thruster, also connected to the lower back. While largely painted white, it had some pink highlights, as well as red warning instructions sprayed on in small print around various parts and intakes.
Ruby made a theatrical cough, before putting an arm behind her as she proudly began to explain; "Apollo uses both Gravity and Combustion Dust, with the intent of helping you manoeuvre better, whether you have removed gravity from yourself or not."
"The lower part is actually where the Dust is loaded to fuel the pack," Weiss put in, "and these..." she pointed at two hand grips attached to retractable cords, "...will be how you activate and adjust the thrust nozzles."
"You two actually made a jet pack?" Tokoyami looked over, impressed, along with Sero and Kirishima who practically had stars in their eyes. Ruby however shook her head.
"Nope, it's not made for thrusts that last longer than three – four seconds. Too much chance of it consuming all the Dust involved. It's intended to help give Uraraka a boost of speed, or a double jump when she isn't making use of her Quirk, and if she is…"
"...Then the pack will help her float through the air faster and with, ideally, more control than what she would normally have." Weiss finished. Uraraka lightly brushed her fingers over the pack, her eyes moistening as she was feeling very emotionally overwhelmed.
Bakugo looked it over and didn't immediately dismiss it. "Huh. So it's like a mini astronaut pack mixed with some video game mechanics. Kind of makes me think of that one game where you could call down mech-suits after you got a certain number of kills."
"You played that, Bakugo?" Sero asked, more than a little surprised. This was the first he'd ever heard of his team leader playing that kind of game. Ruby meanwhile looked fascinated and confused at the same time, her head moving back and forth between them, while Bakugo snorted.
"Nah. Saw some stuff online about them bringing back the franchise or something. Since I started Middle School, I cut back on playing games and watching TV shows so I could focus on my personal training to get into UA."
"Total dedication to becoming a hero; that's so Manly!" Kirishima wept whilst putting one arm up over his eyes.
Izuku turned his attention back to his friend and team-mate. "Well Uraraka, what do you think?" He blinked as she turned round, and everyone could see she was actually weeping tears of joy.
"I think it's perfect! Thank you guys so much!" She wrapped Ruby in a hug, and then quickly wrapped Weiss in one too, the Atlesian girl thrown off and surprised at the emotional response, though she was glad to see that all the hours of hard work had been appreciated.
"Um... you're welcome." Uraraka pulled back, wiping away the tears with her sleeve. Weiss took a breath and collected herself. "I've prepared some instructions, hand written, so you can go over basic refuelling and maintenance, as well as the basics of use, though I would recommend getting some supervised training time in one of the combat rooms before actively using it in the field." Ruby nodded her head at that. As excited as she was to see Uraraka make use of the gear, even she knew that it would take a little bit to get used to the weight of it and how to utilise it quickly. Uraraka for her part, got herself fully under control and listened intently.
"Do you want to try it on?" Ruby asked, and almost immediately, Ashido and Asui were also encouraging Uraraka to do so as well.
"Hey, Ice... Schnee." Weiss turned to Bakugo, thankful that at least he wasn't calling her 'Ice Queen' like her friends sometimes did to tease her. "Where's Xiao Long and Bow Hair... Belladonna?"
"They went to check in with Tai Xiao Long, and Gale. We'll be meeting up with them a little later."
…
"Are you sure you don't want to come in Blake?" Yang teased as she knelt down, watching Gale who was chasing Zwei around the room. Blake however poked her head around the door and gave her partner a lidded stare, while Tai watched with a small understanding smile.
"I'm fine where I am, Yang. I can see the cuteness from here, and that's fine by me." Zwei stopped momentarily and looked at her, before giving a greeting bark, before returning the game he was playing, Gale's giggles reached a high note as she started to catch up.
"There's no pressure," Tai said, arms folded as he leaned on the wall by the door. "If you can't help how you feel about dogs, we won't force you to sit with Zwei." Blake mouthed a silent thank you to him which made him chuckle before turning away, looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"Didn't think I'd ever see a power that would allow a person to talk to animals though. And it does seem like Zwei is keeping to the agreement reached thanks to Koda."
"Note to self; Must get Koda something nice." That comment from Blake had both Yang and her Dad chuckle good naturedly once again, as Zwei barked happily.
…
"As much as I would love to spend some more time with that adorable pooch, and the equally cute, Faunus girl, we do have plans for today." Weiss explained. Bakugo made a non committal noise, and started walking away, basically his way of ending the conversation. Weiss shook her head at that, before turning back to see Uraraka now wearing Apollo, and adjusting the straps.
"It's not nearly as heavy as I thought it might be, though I could always use my Quirk on it to make it lighter if I need to."
"Can you selectively choose what you return gravity to after touching it, or is it pretty much all or nothing?" Ruby wondered. Uraraka paused, then looked at her hands, at the 'beans' on her finger tips in deep thought.
"I...don't know... It's always been pretty much the latter for as far as I know, but maybe…"
"Ahem." Weiss coughed to get their attention, as she had plans, and Ruby had insisted that they bring some of their new friends with them today. "While that is something to look into, we do need to to be getting on, and Ruby had something she wanted to ask you."
"I did...? Oh yes! Sorry! Almost forgot!" Ruby apologised in a fluster before collecting herself. "Weiss wants to head into Vale for... something or other (she insists it's important) and we know you guys don't have any patrols today, sooo would you like to join us?"
"I don't see why not." Asui said, quickly giving a look to check on Tokoyami and Uraraka who gave a nod of approval. "It'd be nice to be able to just be in town without it being based on hero patrols for a change. Ribbit."
"Yeah, that sounds great, count Team MOAT in." Izuku said excitedly to Ruby who gave him and the others a thumbs up. She then turned to Ashido, Kirishima and Sero, but the trio shook their heads.
"Sorry Ruby," Ashido said, "but as much as I would welcome a shopping trip, Yaomomo's hosting another study group in the library today, and I really can't skip it."
"Yeah," Kirishima sounded a little depressed, hanging his head a little, "while our spoken English is pretty solid, our reading and written English need some work."
"I know you call it Valean here, but still..." Sero added.
Ruby understood. It was frankly a miracle that despite coming from different realities that they had pretty much the same languages, even if they were called different names. Slip ups occasionally happened, and more than once, someone reverted to Japanese, but thankfully Ruby and the others knew enough Mistralin, which was the closest equivalent, so misunderstandings in terms of language actually happened far less than people might have thought.
"No sweat. We can hang out with you guys some other time."
"So, where are we going in Vale?" Uraraka asked as she began to take off Apollo. Weiss turned to her with controlled excitement.
"We're heading to the docks." Weiss said with a smile. Everybody else looked at her with confusion.
"Huh?!"
…
"The docks?" Shoto looked at Yang and Blake in mild curiosity, as his team walked behind them down the corridor. Blake nodded while Yang put both hands behind her head, completely nonchalant about everything.
"Weiss wants to observe any students coming from the other academies to see if she can't come up with strategies to beat them in the Tournament." Blake clarified.
"Though Ice Queen won't, fully, admit to that," Yang added. "She'll probably put on airs and say it's so we can make a good impression on behalf of Beacon and Vale, or something like that."
Shoto gave a small nod of understanding while Iida behind him mused on what was said. "Hmm. In a way, it sounds similar to how some of the other Hero schools reacted to us just before the P.L.E. While I wouldn't normally condone such behaviour, I can at least understand the merits of gathering information ahead of time."
"Pretty sure the only one that was putting on friendly airs before the first round was Ketsubutsu Academy. And they weren't really fishing for information," Mineta commented, and Sato agreed.
"Yeah, the big difference was that thanks to the Sports Festival being broadcast across Japan, the other students were that much more familiar with our Quirks, which just made us a relatively easier target compared to others."
Yang gave a low whistle, as she looked over her shoulder at the big brunette in yellow. "Remind me to ask you guys about that later. It actually sounds pretty epic, the way you all talk about it."
"Which one?" Sato asked.
"The Sports Festival or the Provisional License Exam?" Mineta clarified. Yang simply grinned at the pair, cheekily.
"Yes." That got a groan from the two, while Iida politely agreed to give a run-down of both events. Shoto however, was dwelling on memories of the Sports Festival.
"It's yours! Your Quirk, not his!" He took a moment, closing his eyes for a second, even as he walked. He didn't need to think on that just now, no matter how important it had, and still was, to him.
The first day of patrols had everyone go out across the city, so that people could more quickly get used to the sight of him and his classmates, as well as quickly familiarise everyone with Vale's layout. Now patrols usually had one or two teams go out for a few hours in Vale, allowing the other teams to rest, and catch up on their personal training, and make up classes.
Today was his team's scheduled patrol day. They would be meeting their escort Pro, Whitewater, in Vale itself once they got there.
He looked at the pair of Huntresses who, along with the rest of their team, would be joining them on the Air-Bus down, if not on the patrol itself. Yang was still joking with his team-mates, but Shoto noticed that Blake looked... not nervous, but apprehensive about something.
"Belladonna," his voice caught her attention as they turned the corner, "is everything okay? You seem to be deep in thought about something?" Blake looked away and brushed her hair with her fingers, but Shoto noticed that Yang had picked up on the conversation, and there was suddenly a bit of tension and nervousness, as she glanced at her partner. It was very quick, but Shoto was sure he saw concern in her eyes.
"...It's nothing. Just, a disagreement between me and Weiss." Shoto pondered that for half a second before hearing Ruby Rose's voice call out ahead of them.
"Yang! Blake! We got Midoriya and his team joining us. How about you?"
"Team STRM's got a patrol so they'll be with us on the airship down at least." Yang called back. Shoto saw Ruby up ahead, and Weiss by her shoulder. Even from several feet away, Shoto could see a look in her eyes, that he recognised. He chanced a side look at Blake, and found that she had kept a straight face, but there was a tension there, he could pick up on. Of the rest of his team, only perhaps Iida, might have also sensed it.
"Did I hurt your feelings, son of Endeavour?... You may have changed a little, but you still have the same eyes."
'Those eyes... I'll need to try and speak to Schnee privately. I hope that while her team and Midoriya's are together, there isn't any trouble'.
…
Asui felt uncomfortable. She and the others had just met up with Yang and Blake, and were heading towards the Air-bus that would take them to Vale. Todoroki's team was a few steps behind her as they followed. What was making her uncomfortable, was the tension in the air between Weiss and Blake. Both were being civil, but there was also a purposeful distance the two were putting between themselves. A quick glance at her friends and the Huntress sisters confirmed to her that she wasn't the only one feeling it. She moved closer to Ruby, who like her, was walking at the back of the group, while Yang, Midoriya and Ochaco were at the front, followed by Weiss, and then then Tokoyami and Blake just before herself and the red cloaked scythe wielder.
"Ruby, is there something going on? I can't help but notice how Weiss and Blake are acting." Ruby released a heavy sigh, before speaking lowly.
"...It's complicated. Weiss thinks Blake crossed a line the other day, when she directly mentioned the controversies attributed to her family's company. Blake insists that it would be more wrong, not to have brought it up. The two have been on-and-off fighting since then. Today is one of the "Good Days", so far." Ruby brought up her fingers to make air quotes when saying that, before sighing again and shaking her head. "I don't know what to do, Tsu. Weiss is my partner, and she's been making an effort in not being as bossy as she was when we first started, but at the same time... Blake stood up for me when I had my explosive meeting with her on the first day. She makes really smart points too. Right now, I'm hoping that whatever happens today will lead to them burying the battle-axe."
"Ribbit. Don't you mean burying the hatchet?"
"Nah," Ruby shook her head, with sad amusement. "With how things stand at the moment, I'm more inclined to go with a battle-axe over a small hatchet."
Tsuyu Asui considered this as they boarded the Air-bus. Weiss Schnee made her think of a number of people in her own class. Momo Yaoyorozu was one for obvious reasons; both were smart, logical, well educated and raised in a high class family, and have ties to highly successful enterprises. There was also Shoto Todoroki; both had a tendency to favour ice attacks over other elements, and both sported scars over their left eye.
But Tsu could also compare Weiss to Katsuki Bakugo; Gifted with a versatile power, talented, but exceptionally aware of it, and had a large amount of pride and an arrogant air, that could make being around her difficult at times. When she referred to Ruby as 'Dolt', Tsu would be reminded of how Bakugo has always referred to Midoriya as 'Deku', before her friend Ochaco turned the insult around, and before Midoriya reclaimed it as his Hero name.
And then, there was Blake Belladonna…
The Past, Beacon Library
"Blake, do you mind if I ask you something? Ribbit." Blake lowered the book she was reading 'Truth in Fiction: Discovering the truth behind Remnant's Myths and Legends'. Tsu sat opposite her with her own notebook open, taking notes from a book on the more unique Fauna of Remnant that didn't exist on Earth.
"Isn't that itself a question?" Blake rhetorically replied, that momentarily stumped the frog Quirked teen, but then Blake smiled and nodded her head, acquiescing to Tsuyu's request.
"What made you want to become a Huntress?" Blake's smile disappeared, and she looked away, closing her eyes a moment before opening them and looking back at Tsu. "If it's too personal, I apologise. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Ribbit."
"No, it's..." Blake shut her book, and moved to the side as she leaned in, lowering her voice more, keeping the conversation more private in the, not really silent, but quiet atmosphere of Beacon's library stacks. "...Before I answer that, would you mind telling me your reasons to become a Pro-Hero?"
"Hmm," Tsuyu tapped a finger on her chin as she considered that question. "Ribbit. Honestly, I just figured it was a way I could help people whilst looking after myself. My parents work hard to support me and my siblings, though that also means they didn't have a lot of time to be around as much as they wanted to. I helped take care of my younger sister and brother, and I guess I figured that people would always have need of someone to help support them when things got tough, and that's what a Hero is supposed to do. Beyond fighting Villains, it's about helping people in need." She removed her finger and looked at Blake who was regarding her with soft eyes, and a small smile.
"That's, actually really beautiful. It would be nice if more people in this world were so motivated." Blake shook her head a little before refocusing on Tsu.
"Why did I become a Huntress? It is personal, and meaning no offence to you or anyone else, but I don't really want to talk about it too much. But what I will say, to answer your question; there is a lot of wrong in this world, and a while back, I tried fighting the world's injustice with a group. But after some time, I realised that we were doing more harm than good. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I still want to do better. The valour and nobility of Huntsmen and Huntresses is told across this world, so I figured I could start to atone for my mistakes, and try making things right as one of them."
Tsu was fascinated, but also concerned. She was concerned for her new friend. When Blake talked, she came off very genuine. To hear that she was trying to atone for past mistakes sounded noble, but Tsu couldn't stop her mind from wondering, what kind of mistakes she had made, that she felt that dedicating her life to fighting Grimm and bandits would help atone for.
Blake however leaned back, and picked her book back up. Before she went back to reading it, she looked back at Tsu. "Have you seen the section on the Flatback Slider?"
"Ribbit? The what, sorry?"
"Flatback Slider. It's a giant sand based Turtle that lives in Vacuo. Grow to massive sizes, but are rarely seen. Saw a picture of one once as a child, and I'll admit, it's kind of a bucket list thing, to see one for real." Blake suddenly had a twinkle of amusement in her eye. "Bet Koda would love to try talking to one."
"Let's see... oh here we go. Oh." Tsu flicked through the pages until she found the section she was looking for. Lo and behold, there was a picture of a giant turtle, bigger than the Vacuo settlement it had been photographed passing by. "Ribbit, ribbit!" Her response got a small chuckle out of Blake, who went back to her book in comfortable silence.
The Present, Air-Bus
Thinking back on that conversation, Tsuyu, was sure that Blake had deflected their talk away from prying deeper into her answer. Which kind of made her a little like Midoriya in a way, though without getting so flustered and jumpy.
Speaking of her friend and team leader, he was talking to Ruby and Yang about his new weapons, and who could best guide him in how to wield them effectively. Iida and Uraraka close by, as usual.
"Ren isn't the only dual wielder, though he is probably the best out of us when it comes to combining Aura attacks into his fighting style." Yang said, as Midoriya (unsurprisingly) jotted down these points and his thoughts in one of his notebooks. "You could also ask Fox for some tips. He uses bladed Tonfa that also incorporate pistols, so I bet he can give you a lot of advice."
"What about you, Todoroki?" Weiss said from the other side, standing with a hand on her hip as she addressed, arguably, the strongest student in 1-A "Are you going to be dual wielding as well?" Todoroki held her attention, with his usual deadpan expression. Tsu wondered if it was her imagination, because it almost seemed like he hesitated as he regarded her, before giving an answer.
"Unlikely. What training I have in kenjutsu was largely discipline drills meant to help focus the mind, whilst also giving me a physical work out. I'll likely stick to using whichever is more appropriate to the situation, though I will need additional assistance in training for the combined form, so I don't accidentally injure myself or anyone else."
'Ribbit? Combined form?'
"Schnee, if it's all right to ask, would you be willing to meet me later after this patrol, and your business in Vale is concluded? There's something I'd like to ask you, in private." Weiss suddenly had a small blush on her cheeks, but definitely looked happier.
"I would be delighted to do so, Todoroki. And please, call me Weiss."
"NO WAY!" Mineta yelled out, with tears in his eyes, pointing accusingly at Todoroki and Weiss, who, along with everyone else, turned to regard the dwarf. "Todoroki is actually asking one of Team RWBY out on a date?!"
"...I don't think I said anything about a date, Mineta." Todoroki just looked bemused and a little lost. Weiss however was giving Mineta the stink-eye something fierce.
"Dude, calm down," Sato bent down, trying to placate the shorter, purple clad boy. "I think you're jumping to a lot of conclusions…"
"To be honest though," Yang put in, ready to stir the pot, "it did kind of sound like that." She turned a cheeky grin on Weiss. "I had been thinking of lending you a few pick up lines, but it seems you don't really need them, eh Weiss-cream?"
"While normally I might have slapped Mineta, especially if I thought he was going somewhere perverted, I have to agree, it did sound like Todoroki asked Weiss out just now." Tsu put in, cutting off a retort from the heiress.
"I agree, it did sound like that," Blake commented with a wry smile.
Todoroki looked between his classmates and Beacon allies, his eyes wide as he took this in. "Did... it really come off like I was asking her out? There was just something I wanted to talk to her privately later, that's all."
"Yeah... sorry, but that's how it sounded to me too." Uraraka bashfully said. Weiss looked between everyone hoping for someone in her corner, desperately, while Todoroki, looked as if he was re-analysing what he said to try and understand how it could've been interpreted the way it had.
"Everyone! We should leave this matter between Todoroki and Schnee alone!" Iida chopped as he gently reprimanded his classmates, Blake and Yang.
"Thank you, Iida." Weiss said with formal politeness, though couldn't disguise the relief in her voice.
"So noisy." Tokoyami grumbled quietly beside Tsu, but that just made her giggle. Even as Iida, continued to give a lecture on respecting other people's personal affairs (a word that Yang leapt on, and continued to tease Weiss with) it did seem that the tension that had been present had lifted a little.
'Maybe I was worrying over nothing,' Tsuyu thought optimistically.
Vale, Dockside street.
Shota stepped away from the crime scene; one of a number of Dust stores broken into and plundered. He ducked under the tape barrier, pulling off the latex gloves and went seeking a cup of coffee. Thankfully, his partner for the day was Leif Gravell, who already had two re-useable, take-away cups to hand filled with the stuff.
"Thanks," Shota took the cup offered to him, and then turned and watched as the Vale detectives did their thing. He took a sip, and savoured the bitter taste.
"You're welcome, Erasure Head." Gravell respectfully used Shota's hero name. Considering he wasn't operating in his capacity as a UA teacher, and had been called down to help consult on this case, it felt appropriate to go by his Pro-Hero code name. It had gotten some funny looks from a few of the officers he met, and at least two rookies had tried to hide their laughter when they had heard it.
But Shota was all business, and people soon realised that he wasn't playing around. They quickly learned how experienced he was; He quickly deduced the order of events of how the robbery likely played out, with only a little more than a cursory glance, looking over the scene. It also didn't hurt that he didn't look down on the officers from the VPD, trusting them to do their jobs, and letting them know that he wasn't taking over the investigation.
Shota had gotten a call early from Ozpin. The headmaster had heard from the Vale Police department of a series of robberies that had been carried out across the city, focusing on Dust stores. Ozpin had him meet in his office to discuss the case, at least what details he'd been made aware of.
…
"I have concerns Aizawa," Ozpin had said, looking out the large window. "I'm concerned how people will react to this, so soon after we arranged and began the patrols with your students."
"You think there will be a backlash?"
"Possibly. And that worries me greatly, both in regards to the safety and well being of you, All Might, and your students, but also how that might reflect on the Beacon students here, and the current Huntsmen. A build up of negative emotions will bring the Grimm, and while Vale's defences are strong, the best defence is keep the populace as happy and content as possible, so it does not potentially invite an attack." Ozpin then turned round to face him.
"I'm calling in some of my most trusted allies to help, though given how far away they are and the missions they are already on that could take a while. I'd like your thoughts, on how to handle this."
"Get me in touch with the Commissioner, and lend me one of the Huntsmen from WLLW. I'll look into this personally. At the very least, seeing us work together and being pro-active will forestall the critics, whilst also tracking down the criminals responsible for this chaos."
…
"...Erasure? Are you listening?" Shota shook his head, as Gravell's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Apologies. What were you saying, Gravell?"
"I was saying, that it doesn't make much sense to steal that much Dust, and not also take the money." Gravell removed his spectacles and began cleaning them with a handkerchief, a frown wrinkling his brow. "You could sell the Dust on the black market for a lot of Lien, without anything getting back to the SDC, but if you're already in the process of stealing the product, why not take the store's profits as well, if it was available?"
"Hmm," Shota said, taking another sip of bitter coffee, whilst considering what Gravell had said. "It could be a way of making sure they could hit the same target again later, after it's repaired the damages and re-opened. Take too much of the profits, and the business is done for. Make sure it can re-open, then you could keep on hitting it over, and over, and over again."
Gravell shook his head, turning his neck to look at Shota. "While that has some logic to it, there's a few problems with that idea. And I'm sure you've already picked up on them too."
'True, repeatedly hitting a store like this, wouldn't work in the long run. Police could alter patrols to pass by more often, the owner could get better security, assuming they were able or willing to try and re-open at all. And it wouldn't make sense to do it and then hit three other Dust shops on the same night. It would be better to hit one, wait a while, then hit somewhere else, try and avoid making too much of a pattern.' Shota glanced around the street, as bystanders continued to go about their day, a few stopping to gawk at the robbed store, the police barriers, and assorted detectives and forensics teams.
"So, if you had to guess, based on your knowledge of this world, and your own experience, what would you say the reason for hitting the stores, but not taking the money would be?" Shota turned to look at Gravell, who held his gaze for a moment before tiredly looking away and taking a sip of his own coffee.
"What I guess, is what I fear. And what I fear, Erasure, is whoever is stealing all this Dust, it isn't for selling. It's to be used. And for the amount of Dust stolen last night alone, there's a lot of damage that could be done." Gravell was about to take another sip, when he suddenly noticed something and gestured with his cup ahead of them.
"Is that some of your students? With Team RWBY... I didn't think they were on patrol duty?"
"Team RWBY isn't part of the patrol roster, Ozpin would have let everyone know if that was the case." Shota frowned as he focused on the group approaching the barrier... 'Oh hell. It's Midoriya and his team.' With that Shota started striding forwards, determined to keep his students away from this case as much as possible.
…
Ruby was feeling like things were getting better. A little bit. Not much, but it was something. Weiss and Blake still kept a bit of distance, but they weren't as tense as they had been.
They had waved goodbye and good luck to team STRM as they, with Mr Whitewater, went to start their patrol in the industrial district. A short walk from the landing strip towards the docks, and Weiss was actually smiling! Ruby rarely got to see Weiss smile so genuinely, that wasn't a polite mask as she would do for teachers, or people who she wanted to get in good graces with.
"...The Vytal Tournament, is more than just a fighting contest between student teams. It's a cultural exchange, and a way for the Kingdoms to renew bonds of friendship and trade with one another, all while enjoying friendly competition." Midoriya and Uraraka nodded in synch as they listened to Weiss show off her knowledge.
Yang meanwhile, groaned. "Way to make something cool, sound boring."
Weiss pouted at her. "Perhaps you would like to explain the cultural and historical significance of the Vytal Festival to Midoriya and his team?" Yang held up her hands in defeat, flashing a cheeky grin, to show she was only teasing.
"Well, I know that regardless of everything else, team RWBY is going to win it for Beacon! Right gang?" Ruby's cheer also helped defuse the situation. She even caught a determined smile on Blake as she and Ruby locked eyes briefly. Midoriya and Uraraka also fist pumped in support. 'Do they even realise just how in synch they are right now?' Ruby couldn't help thinking.
Tokoyami, who had simply been silently listening as he accompanied everyone thus far, suddenly lifted his head as something caught his eye ahead. "What's that?" He pointed and everyone followed to see the Vale Police Department at work, yellow tape barriers already up.
"Don't know," Ruby said with a frown, as she diverted from their previous course, everyone else following. As she approached an officer though, a voice called her name, stopping in her tracks.
"Rose. Midoriya. What are you and your teams doing here?" Aizawa walked over to them, Mr Gravell just behind him.
"Mr Aizawa... I mean, Erasure Head, sir?" Midoriya stumbled as he came alongside Ruby. "Rose... Ruby and the others invited us to join them in town."
"We saw this and I wanted to investigate, sir." Ruby answered, while Blake leaned in to Uraraka.
"Why is Midoriya stumbling over his name?" Uraraka quickly turned her head to whisper back into Blake's ear, and Ruby barely caught what she said.
"At school, we call him Mr Aizawa, but whenever he's working as Pro, he's asked us to call him by his Hero name."
"Why are you here, if you don't mind us asking, Erasure?" Yang spoke up, and taking what she'd just overheard from the gravity girl, and quickly adopting the same practice. Aizawa closed his eyes for a moment as he answered.
"Ozpin got a call about a series of robberies across Vale last night, hitting multiple Dust stores. I asked to help with the investigation, both to actually lend my skills and aid as a consultant, but also so that people don't suddenly start accusing us of not doing our jobs while on patrol."
"Surely the public wouldn't go that far?" Tokoyami questioned, but Aizawa shook his head.
"Honestly, I don't know if they would or not, but as a Pro, you need to consider all the possibilities, including the worst case scenario." Asui ribbited uncomfortably at that, even as the group exchanged concerned glances.
"Any leads so far?" Ruby asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the reason they had come up in the first place. Aizawa gave her a hard stare, that made her tense up.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss this case without the VPD's permission, and if I have anything to say about it, none of you are getting involved, unless I think it's absolutely necessary, and clear it with Ozpin and the Council. You got lucky with your encounter with Torchwick, Rose. That you managed to keep property damage low, and prevented injuries to both the shop-keep and any other bystanders is commendable. But don't use that as an excuse for further reckless action. I don't want to see or hear about you investigating this on your own. Got it?"
"Yes, Erasure Head, Sir!" Midoriya, Uraraka, Asui and Tokoyami spoke as one, while Ruby dimly nodded, though a small part of her mind noted that Aizawa had praised her, in a round-about way.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" The voices of two detectives could be heard in the silent pause between the students and the Pro, and it caught their attention.
"I'm thinking White Fang. You?"
"Actually I was thinking we don't get paid enough…"
"The White Fang..." Midoriya repeated, cupping his chin, and frowning. Uraraka looked around at her friends, while Aizawa silently contemplated throttling the pair of detectives for saying something like that out-loud for the students to hear!
"Didn't we cover them in that class Oobleck gave us?" Uraraka asked.
"Ribbit. I think so." Asui put a finger to her mouth as she tried to remember.
"Yes," Tokoyami agreed, "as I recall, they were a civil rights group that battled for equal rights for the Faunus, though in recent years, they have gone from peaceful protests to violent activism."
"Hmph!" Schnee folded her arms and took on an imperious air. "The White Fang are a bunch of violent degenerates." That got a reaction from everyone in their group, and from Aizawa, and Gravell. Asui, Ruby and Yang looked nervous, Midoriya and Uraraka, confused and concerned. Blake and Tokoyami however, had frowns rivalling only the two Pros.
"What's your problem?" Blake asked accusingly.
"I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss responded.
"They're not a group of psychopaths, Weiss," Blake put effort into her tone to keep it level and not too combative. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided?" Weiss shook her head before levelling a glare at Blake for challenging her point, "They want to wipe humanity off the map!"
"Enough." Aizawa's growled response, shut down anything else from the pair, and from Ruby and the others as well. "It hasn't been that long since we had that incident from Bakugo. While I might not be as familiar with the White Fang as others on Remnant, I know enough that such a tone and language comes dangerously close to repeating Bakugo's mistakes. Don't make me bring you back to Beacon, Schnee, to have a joint talk with Goodwitch." Weiss actually looked surprised and angry, but she bit her tongue rather than retort. Instead, she bowed her head.
"...Sorry. Sir."
Aizawa still had a glare fixed on her, but eventually sighed and turned away.
"Go on back about your business. Whatever you were planning to do today, go and do that. And have fun."
'Kinda hard to get in the mood to do that, after that talk,' Ruby thought sadly, and it seemed her thoughts were mirrored by the others, if the looks in their eyes were anything go by.
Surprisingly, Blake recovered first, and offered a proverbial olive branch. "Come on. We were going to see if there are students arriving from Vacuo like Weiss thinks." Said heiress looked up, bemused at that, but Yang nodded, on board with trying to get the party back on track.
"Yeah, c'mon guys." And with that, the group started walking back towards the docks proper.
Ruby looked at Weiss, who still looked a little hurt and upset. She sighed, and gave one last look behind at the robbed store. She saw Erasure Head standing at the doorway to the store, looking back, and his gaze, could possibly be called, 'concerned.'
…
"I think it's Torchwick." Izuku turned to Ruby as she said that, her face scrunched up in deep thought, not normal for the girl, at least for as long as he'd known her.
"Oh?" He replied, a little unsure of still discussing the robbery at all after what had just happened, but at the same time, curious. "What makes you say that?"
"You have insight into Roman Torchwick's activities, Rose?" Tokoyami also asked. Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, and gave a nervous laugh.
"Just call me Ruby, Tokoyami."
"Apologies. Force of habit."
"And to answer your question... maybe? The whole reason I got into Beacon early was because Professor Ozpin scouted me after I prevented one of Torchwick's robberies, which had a pretty similar M.O. to what we saw back there…"
…
Ruby was minding her business, skimming through one of the magazines at the late night Dust store, listening to the rock track that had just started to play through her red headphones. Then there was a tap on her shoulder, and she turned, confused. There was sharply dressed man in a black suit and hat, red tie, tinted glasses (At night? Really? Though it does look cool...) and carrying a red bladed sword. He was gesturing to his ears while looking at her with a frustrated look. Ruby pushed the headphones to hang around her neck.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"I said, 'put your hands, where I can see them!'" The man said with exasperation leaking into his voice. And that's when Ruby realised that something was wrong.
"Are you... robbing me?"
"YES!"
"Oh," Ruby said, playing up being slow to keep the robber off balance. She was so glad she had brought her baby with her tonight.
And that is how it started; knocking that robber against the far wall, then dispatching the gun toting robber who followed him (she did feel bad about breaking the glass, but it was more important to get room for her to wield her weapon just then). Then she took on three guys at once, using her speed and all the skills Uncle Qrow had taught her, to take them down quickly one by one, until the only person left was their leader.
He seemed disappointed, but not overly concerned, more annoyed at how his henchmen were so ineffective against her, before aiming his cane, and firing an explosive dust shot at her, forcing Ruby to use a shot from her own weapon to evade…
…
"...Yeah, he was focused only on taking all the Dust in the store, but not the money." Ruby concluded. Izuku however, looked at her with open awe.
'No wonder she was admitted to Beacon early!'
Weiss meanwhile folded her arms, and made a 'hmph' sound worthy of Bakugo. "Be that as it may, I still think we shouldn't dismiss the White Fang as possible perpetrators."
"I don't believe any of us were suggesting that we ignore that possibility," Tokoyami looked over to Weiss with narrowed eyes. "The only problem was the way you referred to them, which also impacts other Faunus, regardless of intention."
"Could we not talk about this, please?" Asui put in, "this conversation makes me uncomfortable, especially since I'm easily confused for a Faunus by the people here, ribbit. And besides, Mr Aizawa already made it clear that he doesn't want us investigating this, so we should try to leave it alone."
"Tsu..." Uraraka walked over and took Asui's hand, which she appreciated. Weiss opened her mouth to speak, before thinking better. Yang decided to fill the silence that followed.
"Well, we're at the docks, so now all we have to focus on is incoming Huntsman students. No law breaking individuals here, Faunus or otherwise!"
"STOWAWAY! SOMEONE STOP THAT FAUNUS!"
Yang's forced smile fell immediately as she turned in the direction of the shout. "Sonofabitch! Really?!"
They gathered near the ramp to the pontoons, where a blonde haired teenage boy, with a slim monkey tail, and an open short sleeve white shirt, exposing a chiselled physique managed to cheekily stay out of reach of the Port authorities. After throwing a banana peel in the face of one man pursuing him, the Faunus bounded onto the docks proper, and ran past them.
Izuku didn't know if it was his imagination, or if in the moment as he let his Quirk's power surge through his body to take action he was simply fast enough to notice, but he could have sworn that the Faunus had looked right at Blake and winked at her.
'Doesn't matter... One for All, Full cowling! 8%!' Green lightning sparks danced across his body as he raced to get in front. In an instant he was there! His arms spread wide, and a determined look on his face. The newcomer looked surprised at that speed, and actually skidded to a halt.
"Woah! You're fast kid! Where did you come from?" he asked, though he didn't seem worried, just off balance and curious.
"I don't know who you are, or why you stowed away," Izuku declared, "but I won't let you just cause trouble so recklessly. So, please stop running."
"Damn, Green bean reacted quick," Yang whistled before looking at Ruby. "I think you need to up your training Rubes." The youngest Huntress squawked a little indignantly. Meanwhile Blake was just staring at the boy, barely blinking.
"Well Weiss, you wanted to get a look at the competition..." Yang said, which had Tokoyami and Asui give her their attention.
"You think he's a student?" Tokoyami asked, but before anyone else could speak, Weiss suddenly raised her hand, index finger pointed to the sky.
"Quickly! We must observe him!" She declared. The boy looked round, and grinned light-heartedly.
"Are you guys from Beacon? Interesting, lets see what you can do!" Izuku started to move forward to try and grab his arm, but before he could the boy flipped over him. "Sorry. Don't mean you any ill will, just don't want to deal with any lectures."
'Iida would probably have a fit over this kind of attitude,' Izuku mused as he turned to give chase to the now fleeing stowaway. 'I'm still faster. I will catch you!'
…
Something... shifted... A bald man with goggles, wearing a leather jacket and a bandoleer, turned to look right at him...
…
"Aaargh!" Izuku's right arm suddenly felt like it was on fire from out of nowhere. He stumbled and fell to his knees clutching his limb.
"Deku!" Uraraka was already running up to him in worry, Ruby right beside her. As Izuku lifted his head, he could see, the stowaway student getting further ahead. Asui and Tokoyami were approaching him and slowing down, and the rest of team RWBY, hesitated, looking at him in concern.
"D-don't worry about me! Keep going! Tokoyami, Tsu, help team RWBY catch up to that guy!" There was only a minor hesitation, a brief look between them, but the pair silently understood and obeyed, rushing forward to catch up. Weiss, Yang and Blake moved forward as well.
"Ochaco! Look after Midoriya! Ribbit!" Asui called back as she rapidly hopped on all fours at speed.
"I'll stay with them and catch up in a bit!" Ruby called as Uraraka answered in the affirmative. Yang half turned as she ran and gave a thumbs up. Ruby then turned her attention back to Izuku. "How are you feeling, Midoriya? Are you injured? Or was it a problem with your Quirk?"
Izuku gritted his teeth a moment, but after a few seconds, the pain in his arm receded. He took a deep breath. "I don't know. I was focusing on trying to catch that guy, when all of a sudden it felt like the power in my arms swelled and was burning me."
'And what was with that vision?' he thought to himself with concern. 'That man... I think I remember seeing him before... back when Ozpin unlocked my Aura! He was a vestige of one of the previous holders! But why? Why did I see him just now? And what just happened with my Quirk?'
"Are you going to be okay, Deku?" Uraraka asked, hand on his shoulder as she knelt down beside him. Izuku looked into her beautiful eyes for a moment before looking at his right hand.
"I... think so. But I should probably be careful using my Quirk for a bit. Maybe get Mr Aizawa and All Might to supervise in private as I test it out to see what the problem is."
"That sounds like a plan." Ruby agreed, reaching down a hand. Izuku nodded, and took it, letting her and Uraraka beside him, lift him back onto his feet. "So, feel able to catch back up with the others?"
"Sure. Uraraka?" Izuku turned to look at his best friend. She smiled and gave a determined nod.
"I'm right beside you, all the way Deku."
"Well then," Ruby stated taking a few steps forward, "lets go!" And with that, the three ran to catch up with their team-mates.
Meanwhile...
"Don't let him get away!" Weiss declared as she led the group, only a little annoyed that whatever was going on with Midoriya had slowed them down a little, though she was also curious as to what had suddenly afflicted him.
She wasn't the only one, as Tsu easily kept pace beside her, also hoped that her friend was okay. She did agree with his decision to keep going, trusting in both Ochaco and Ruby to assist him, while the rest of them ran on.
The Faunus boy rounded a corner, and they followed only for Weiss to run into someone and topple both of them to the ground. "Weiss!" Her team-mates slowed, but Blake made a silent gesture to Tokoyami and Tsu that they understood.
"You keep going. We'll handle things here." With her blessing, they sped on, as the Faunus boy began to display more of his athletic ability, as he used parkour to scale the walls of a building and jump to the roof.
"He's fast!" Tsu said as she used her legs to match his feat, while using her tongue near the top to wrap around Tokoyami and bring him quickly up to the roof too.
"Thanks," Tokoyami stated. As they focused on trying to find their quarry, they actually saw him not as far as they had feared. It seemed he had taken a pause to see if they were still following, and had actually been surprised, not only by the fact of they were still going, but also at the display of their Quirks.
"Wow, you guys are tenacious! Not to mention, you got to be the most interesting looking Faunus I've ever met, and I mean that as a compliment."
"Sorry, but Asui and I are not Faunus." Tokoyami stated, taking advantage of the fact the stowaway had paused and was talking. Dark Shadow began to emerge, which made the boy's eyes go wide, but Tokoyami caught Tsu's eye. After a moment she understood what he was trying to convey, and she nodded.
"Looks like there's at least one person who hasn't heard the news I guess." Dark Shadow cawed as he took a stance with Tokoyami, ready to act at a moments notice.
"Wait, wait, wait! Your Semblance talks!" The blonde put his hands to his head in shock and disbelief, only backing up a step or two.
"I guess you really haven't heard have you?" Tokoyami said stoically. "My classmates and I are not from Remnant, but from another reality entirely where the soul based powers of Aura either don't exist or haven't been discovered yet. Instead we have what are called Quirks, and Dark Shadow is mine, an ever present ally in the fight against injustice." He then took a dramatic pose as he loudly declared, "I am the Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi!"
"...Are you guys...? No way...! Are you actually superheroes?!" The stowaway looked like he was caught between disbelief and starstruck fanboying. "Okay. That is really cool! And what about your friend... hey where'd she go?" He suddenly realised that he couldn't see her and swung his head from side to side looking for her.
"RIBBIT!" A tongue wrapped around the blonde's body, snapping his arms to his sides and he was physically lifted off the ground.
"Wooah!" he declared as he followed the tongue to it it's source: a camouflaged Tsu, slowly becoming more visible.
"I'm Tsuyu Asui. Hero name: Froppy!"
"...How are you speaking clearly right now with your tongue out?" The blonde raised an eyebrow. Tsu just shrugged in response.
"Practice."
"...huh, makes sense." Suddenly a pair of clawed arms grabbed his shoulders, and the blonde started when he realised Dark Shadow had stretched over to take hold of him.
"I got him Froppy. He ain't getting away from me." Tsu ribbited an affirmative, as she let the blonde go, and retracted her tongue.
"Thanks for distracting him for me, Tokoyami." Tsu said as the raven headed boy came close, and Dark Shadow lowered the stowaway to ground level.
"It was no problem. I'm glad to see that our teamwork is still solid." He then turned his attention to the blonde. "As for you, who are you, and why did you stowaway on that ship? If you're a Huntsman-in-training, surely you could have arrived through... more legal means."
The blonde gave a helpless shrug, his surprise and concern already fading. "Well, the names Sun, and I am a Huntsman student from Haven Academy. I can prove it too! In my back pocket, left side, you'll find my scroll, I can show you my student license and ID." His tail curled and actually pointed at the pocket. Tsu went round, and indeed, found his scroll. Opening it, she brought it to Sun's hand, and he thanked her before tapping his PIN and then bringing up his ID.
"See? Just like I told you." Sun blinked in confusion as they took their time reviewing it. Tsu and Tokoyami had frozen as they stared at the ID, and then slowly looking at him with wide eyes.
"...You're full name is... 'Sun Wukong?'" Tokoyami breathed out.
"...Yes... Why? Is that a bad thing?"
[Prof. Port: "Introducing from Haven Academy's Team SSSN! Sun Wukong!
Semblance: Via Sun.
Weapon: Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang. They're gun-chucks that also combine into a Bo-staff. How creative!"]
[Present Mic: "He really is like the Monkey King from 'Journey to the West!'"]
"No. Just surprising, is all." Tsu said, handing the scroll back to him. "But you still haven't explained why you were stowing away."
Sun sighed, and some of his cocky persona slipped away. "Truth is, I wanted to get to Vale early, but while Headmaster Lionheart was covering the costs for flights out of Mistral for the Tournament, they wouldn't be happening for another week or so, and he wasn't about to cover the cost of a single student going by boat early."
"And what of your team?" Tokoyami asked. Sun gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"...Let's just say one of them absolutely refuses to travel by boat for personal reasons. He and the others were more content to wait a little longer." He shrugged. "You guys say you're not from Remnant? Then you might not know about Vacuo where I was born. There, outside of the capital city and Shade Academy, rules are more guidelines. Life can be rough there, and surviving isn't just about being tough and strong, it's being able to be flexible and adapt. If you're too rigid, that can be a detriment. Sooo yeah, slightly less concerned about issues about stowing away if it saved money. Well, at least until you caught me that is."
Tsu stared at him, whilst considering what he said. 'He doesn't seem like a bad person. And no Mina, I'm not saying that because he's admittedly handsome and kind of an adorable dork. Ribbit. Still, he really shouldn't be breaking the rules...' She shared a look with Tokoyami, before coming to a decision. "If you promise not to run off, we'll release you. However, you will have to explain yourself to the Port authorities. We're staying at Beacon right now, so we can probably get one of the teachers, like Ms Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin to help sort things out. Will you agree to that?"
Sun thought that over, before giving a cheeky grin. "It's kind of a pain, but sure. I promise. But you guys have got to tell me more about yourselves and your... Quirks?"
"Fair enough," Tokoyami bowed his head a moment in solemn reflection before lifting it to speak to Dark Shadow. "Very well, release him Dark Shadow. We'll need to head back to the others."
"Yeah," Tsu nodded, finger to her lip, "I hope Midoriya and Weiss are okay."
Some Minutes Previously...
Ruby, Izuku and Uraraka soon caught up with the rest of Ruby's team. Weiss was cursing herself, while Yang and Blake were trying to get her attention. "Weiss, you might want to look down..." Yang said, and the heiress did and then scooted back in shock as she realised she had not just run somebody over, but had been laying on-top of them without realising it.
"Sal-u-tations!" the person greeted, still on their back, but looking at everyone like there was absolutely nothing wrong or weird with the situation. Ruby came up behind, and beside her partner, getting a good look at the stranger. She had ginger hair, a pink bow, and had a nice green and white ensemble dress. She was also still smiling like she hadn't been knocked down just a moment before.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Midoriya asked, and Ruby nodded in agreement as she helped Weiss up.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking!" the strange girl replied, not making any moves to get up, which was... odd. All of this was pretty odd.
"Would you like a hand up?" Uraraka came forward and offered her hand, but the girl didn't take it, seeming to pause a moment before smiling back at her.
"No need, but thank you!" And with that she performed a back spring, swiftly landing on her feet, and stood up in one smooth action.
"Wow," Ruby got out, "that was pretty cool."
"We're sorry we ran into you," Yang apologised and Weiss gave a curt nod, "you sure you're okay? You didn't hit your head or anything?"
"I'm fine, thank you for asking!" Okay, Ruby was finding it even more odd, that she repeated herself in the exact same tone. She wasn't the only one, as Blake pointed out that she had already said that. "...So I did." the girl responded.
"Well... that's a relief," Midoriya said breathing heavy sigh. Uraraka looked about them and frowned.
"Did Tokoyami and Tsu go on ahead after the stowaway?" She asked, and Blake nodded.
"I indicated to them that we'd handle this, while they went on. I haven't heard any fighting, so I'm not that worried." Uraraka relaxed a little at the news.
"Well then we better catch up to them," Ruby said, taking charge. She turned to the strange girl and gave her a little wave and a smile. "Glad you are okay. Stay safe, friend."
"Yeah, please take care of yourself, it was nice to meet you." Izuku bowed, and with that the group started to walk away.
"Okay, did anybody find that all a little... weird?" Yang said quietly. Uraraka shook her head with an amused smile.
"Given the people I've met, and call classmates, I can safely say I've met weirder. Plus, she seemed nice."
"I find it hard to argue with either of those points," Midoriya said rubbing the back of his head with a smile.
"Never mind that," Weiss stated as she took the lead, "I want to catch up to that…"
"What did you just call me?"
"Gaaagh!" Weiss stumbled back, as the strange girl had somehow zipped past all of them without their noticing and appeared before them. Her expression was now... intense curiosity.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yang nervously apologised, thinking the girl was talking to her. "I didn't think you'd hear me refer to…"
"No, no. Not you." The girl gently shook her head before pointing at Ruby. Said girl now felt like a deer in the headlights, trying to figure out what she said that could have upset this girl. "You. You called me friend."
"Huh?"
"Did you mean that? Am I... your friend?" Again, this felt odd, but at the same time, as Ruby looked into the eyes of the girl before her, she saw a pure innocent soul staring back. Behind her, her team was trying to indicate 'no', but Midoriya and Uraraka was just watching the whole thing dumbfounded. Ruby then made up her mind.
"Sure. Why not." She then regarded her (staring at her with blank eyed, deadpan faces) team and her 1-A friends. "In fact, we didn't properly introduce ourselves before did we? Let's correct that. I'm Ruby Rose, what's your name?"
The girl smiled, and it was like the sun had come out from behind a cloud the way she beamed. "My name is Penny Polendina, and this is the best day ever! We can paint each others nails! Try out dresses, and talk about boys!"
'Oh boy. I hope I wasn't this bad when I first met Weiss.' Ruby thought.
'...This is almost like how and me and Ruby first started. Only I'd say this girl is FAR more coordinated.' Weiss thought as she face palmed behind Penny's back.
Throughout this Uraraka couldn't help giggling a little. Compared to the tension going on between the team members and the encounter with Aizawa, this was wholesome and a breath of fresh air. Midoriya however seemed to be having a crisis, judging by the look on his face.
"Oh no! That was so rude of us! None of us introduced ourselves before! Please forgive us!" He bowed deeply from the waist, his hands ramrod by his sides. "My name is Izuku Midoriya, first year student from UA Academy, Class 1-A! My Hero name is Deku! It's nice to meet you, Polendina!" The girl now known as Penny, looked at him with a smile, but her head tilt suggested confusion.
"There's no need to apologise. It is lovely to meet you too Izuku Midoriya."
'Come to think of it,' Ruby mused as Uraraka and the others introduced themselves 'Penny seems, a little similar to Iida. Maybe it's the fact that she comes across as so earnest?'
"Where are you from Polendina, if it's not too rude to ask?" Uraraka questioned. Penny put her hands on her hips, in a pose, puffing out her chest in response, never losing that smile of hers.
"I'm a Huntress-in-training from Atlas, and I'm here to compete in the Vytal tournament!" Yang raised an eyebrow, sceptical.
"You're really a Huntress-in-training?"
"I'm combat ready!" Penny stated with energy. Yang was about to question that, still not quite believing it, but Uraraka spoke up.
"Did you forget what Mr Aizawa said after Mineta's spar against Cardin, Yang?" The blonde's mouth made an 'oh' as she did recall it, and the principle lesson; Never underestimate your opponent, regardless of who they are, and what they look like.
"Wait a moment..." Weiss began to walk towards Penny, "does that mean you know that no good rapscallion who we were chasing moments ago?" Tension came back, though Penny seemed oblivious, never losing her smile, and tilting her head again with a 'huh?'. But Ruby started getting a bad feeling, and it was clear that the others were feeling it too. She chanced a look at Blake, and she saw the annoyance that Blake had with Weiss and her attitude return in full.
'Uh oh. Weiss overstepped.'
"You know! The filthy degenerate from the boat!" And Weiss just had to dig herself in deeper, as Blake finally snapped.
And surprisingly, so did Uraraka.
"STOP THAT!" Weiss looked up confused as she faced down the two who had stepped forward right into her space. Ruby didn't know what to do. This was rapidly escalating, and it was happening on the street. A chance look at Midoriya showed he was equally unsure how to handle this.
"What? What are you...?"
"Stop calling him a degenerate! Stop calling him a rapscallion! He's a person!" Blake stated, her amber eyes glaring daggers.
"Just because he broke the law doesn't automatically make him a member of the White Fang, Weiss!" Uraraka stated firmly. "What you're doing is profiling! And that's all kinds of wrong!"
"Excuse me? Should I stop referring to the trash can as a trash can, or…"
SLAP!
Gravity left Weiss as Uraraka's hand smacked her, her head almost going a full 90 degrees. A red mark in the shape of a hand, could clearly be seen against the Atlesian girl's pale skin. Ruby gasped and put her hands over her mouth in shock. Even Yang seemed surprised, not expecting that from Uraraka. Suddenly Midoriya was putting himself between his best friend and Weiss, trying to calm the situation down, while Weiss was... quite literally, left hanging in the air. Stunned, and speechless.
Penny stood beside Ruby, and the ever present smile had disappeared, her face now showing confusion and concern, and in an effort to do something, Ruby made sure to grab her fellow, combat skirt wearing, team-mate, and keep her anchored until Uraraka released her Quirk's effects.
Blake seemed as surprised at Uraraka's actions, staring in amazement, and possibly gratitude. Meanwhile, Uraraka spoke up over Midoriya's shoulder.
"I can't believe you would defend yourself like that! Bakugo can be an insulting, bullying, jerk! But he's at least got the excuse that he's like that with pretty much everyone, equally! And he's been making an effort to change, small as it is! But I expected better of you, Weiss!"
That seemed to snap Weiss back, and she came back furious! "How dare you?! Comparing me to that brute! I'm nothing like Bakugo! And what the hell do you think you're doing? This has nothing to do with you Uraraka! You and your wannabe hero friends shouldn't even be here to begin with!"
"Hey! Not cool Weiss!" Yang suddenly stepped forward, her eyes flashing red, as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Blake. "In fact, nothing about your attitude and words are okay! I completely agree with Blake, and Ochaco. You are out of line!"
"ME?!"
'HELP! Brothers of Light and Dark! Ash Bride! Dust Groom! Earth's deities, anyone! Please help stop this!' Ruby pleaded to the universe, tears beginning to fall from her eyes, as she saw the potential destruction of her own team from within.
'Crap!' Thought Izuku, 'What do I do? I'm supposed to be team leader, but this is getting way out of hand too fast! What would a Hero do right now?'
"Ribbit! What's going on? Why is Weiss floating?"
'Praise be to Froppy! Erect temples in her name!' Ruby looked behind and beyond Yang, as the duo of Froppy and Tsukuyomi returned, the stowaway right behind them looking at the situation with wide eyes.
"You caught the White Fang member?" Weiss asked, turning her eyes on the blonde.
'...Crap-baskets!' Thought Izuku.
'Dammit Weiss!' Thought Ruby.
"Woah, wait a hot minute!" The boy frowned and actually looked insulted. "Like hell I'd have anything to do with those stupid, holier-than-thou creeps! They once tried to recruit me and I told them no! Any Faunus with a lick of sense would know better than to be part of their group. They say they want to make things better, but all they do is use force to do whatever they want!"
That, actually seemed to shock and embarrass Weiss enough, that she stopped arguing, turning her head to the side. Strangely though, Ruby looked at Blake and saw that she looked uncomfortable and abashed herself.
"...Let me down. Please." Weiss was looking down at the ground as she spoke, finally not shouting or sounding hysterical. Uraraka looked at Ruby, and she nodded. A moment later, Weiss had gravity restored and was standing on the ground again. She then took a moment to look each of her team in the eyes, then everyone from MOAT, before walking away past them without a further word.
"Weiss! Wait, where are you...?"
"Just leave me alone, Ruby!" Weiss snapped back, stopping her in her tracks as she had taken two steps after her partner. "I need some time alone. Because clearly, I can't count on my so called team-mates to have my back." And without looking back, Weiss walked off.
"... I just want to help." Ruby quietly said, hanging her head. Midoriya stood back from Uraraka, his own frustration clear to see.
"Let her go Rubes," Yang said gently, "right now, giving her space is probably the best thing we can do." She then turned to Blake. "How are you doing Blake? You need a minute?" Blake turned and gave her a tired but grateful smile, resting a hand on Yang's shoulder.
"I'm... not great. Not after that. But thanks, to you and Uraraka for having my back. I'm just... I'm sorry that ended up exploding the way it did and getting all of you mixed up in it."
"You don't need to apologise," Midoriya said. "If anything, I feel like I should say sorry for not doing more to stop it getting that far."
"No, I'm team leader for RWBY," Ruby shook her head as she turned to look at him. "This ones all on me." She then turned to Blake. "I'm sorry I didn't do... whatever I could have done, I should have and..." Blake put a hand on Ruby's shoulder cutting her off, and then in an instant, Yang wrapped both up in a surprise hug.
"...I don't regret standing up to her," Uraraka said, calming down and looking a little abashed, "but maybe slapping her was not the best call. Guess I need to work on being calmer when things get hectic." Yang flashed a smile at her as she released her sister and partner.
"Maybe. But hey! It was one hell of a hit. You and me are definitely going to spar sometime, Uravity." That got a tired huff of laughter from Blake, while Uraraka just blushed as she awkwardly accepted the compliment.
"Ribbit. So this all spiralled out from the White Fang again?" Asui asked. Blake sighed and nodded.
"Weiss kept referring to... I'm sorry I don't know your name..." She turned to the boy who gave a sympathetic smile.
"Name's Sun."
"She kept using derogatory terms for a Faunus, and Ochaco and I, snapped." Blake turned back to Asui who looked uncomfortable with the situation.
"Belladonna." Tokoyami's voice caught everyone's attention, "you have very strong convictions regarding fair and equal treatment of Faunus. It is admirable, but you also seem to have personal feelings on the matter. So I have to ask, why do you think the White Fang aren't responsible for the Dust robberies?"
Blake hesitated, and Ruby wondered if she saw a moment of fear in her eyes, before Yang once again stepped by her side. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You're my partner and team-mate, and I'd like to think, friend. But whenever you want to talk, we'll listen."
"Yeah." Ruby said coming up to Blake's other side. "If you don't want to talk about this now, we'll understand, but we will be here when you are ready."
"M-me and my team can give you all some privacy if you want." Midoriya suggested, and Uraraka nodded vehemently in agreement.
"I can also leave if it makes you more comfortable," Penny said, her voice tinged with gentle compassion. "I can understand that as a Faunus yourself, this would be a sensitive topic."
Everyone turned to look at Penny in open surprise, but Blake was the first to speak. "H-how? How did you know I'm a Faunus?" And now heads turned back to her.
"Okay... bad start to this, but echoing the same question before anything else; How did you know?" Yang gave a small squeeze on Blake's shoulder to reassure the shocked girl before turning back to Penny with a frown.
"She has a pair of cat ears underneath her bow." Penny stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"...Ribbit. Oh. Now I understand why you like having Tuna so often at lunch."
"Wait, hold up a second here!" Sun waved his hands about to get everyone's attention. "I'll admit, I kind of picked up on it myself (and I honestly think you're cute, but you'd look better without the bow and just be yourself)" Blake blushed a little at Sun swiftly turning his head to say that to her before turning back to Penny. "But how did you pick up on it?"
"Yeah, none of us before... today... ever knew." Ruby stated, her guts churning at the idea that Blake didn't trust them with this detail about her.
Midoriya then frowned in deep thought, "Did you use a Semblance to find out?" Penny shook her head at that.
"No. I have yet to discover my own Semblance. I was just able to determine through observation." While Penny came off as very earnest, that no one doubted that she was telling the truth, they all felt there was more to it than that. But that could wait for later as they quietly and unanimously concluded to leave that be. Instead, they turned their concern to Blake, who locked eyes with each person. After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, she reached up and pulled off her bow.
Sun smiled, while everybody quietly stared at the, now revealed, cute black cat ears, sticking up and twitching. "Knew you'd look better without the bow."
"While I admit they're cute, trying to flirt right now is just bad timing. Ribbit."
"...You're kind of blunt when you speak to people, aren't you?"
Yang ignored that, and just locked eyes on Blake's. "Ready whenever you are. Partner." Blake gave a brief, small smile, of appreciation, before taking a breath.
"I'll try and keep this brief. The reason why I'm not sure that the White Fang is behind these raids, is because in the past, they have never gone after that much Dust before. And I know that because... I'm a former member." Despite no one drinking anything, there was a joint spit-take from all bar Penny.
Vale, Industrial Sector
Weiss didn't know how long she walked for. Her thoughts and emotions were churning and bitter. Her fists were clenched. 'Why? Why don't they see? Why are they all against me? Why…'
"Weiss?" She blinked just before bumping into Shoto Todoroki. She unbalanced and nearly fell backwards, but he quickly grabbed her arm. Steadying her, she pulled herself back upright.
"Thank you. Sorry, I was... in my own world there. I didn't see you at all." She said, dusting herself off. Todoroki frowned though as he looked at her.
"Are you all right? You look like you were slapped recently." Weiss blushed with anger at the reminder and blunt observation.
"Someone assaulted you? Who would do such a thing? And where is your team and Midoriya's?" Of course. Todoroki wasn't alone. Iida was just behind him, chopping his arms like a toy action figure, while the big guy Sato and the grape pervert stared. And there was one of the Pro Huntsmen. The Faunus Pro Huntsman…
"...I'm fine. Everyone is just fine. I decided I wanted to be on my own for a while. This is nothing to concern yourselves with." Todoroki's frown deepened, as he scrutinised her appearance and words.
"Are you sure Miss Schnee? Because it looks to me as if you're..." Todoroki caught Lance Whitewater's eye and shook his head, even putting his left arm up, and shaking his palm to cut off further questioning. Weiss felt gratitude for that, because she really didn't want to have a conversation with the Pro, in front of team STRM.
It had been pure luck that it had only been heard by her team and Midoriya's, along with that naïve girl, and the... the stowaway. She clenched her fist, at the memory of what he had said, as well as once again remembering Blake's and Yang's scolding, and Uraraka's outburst. And Ruby did nothing! She just... kept Weiss from floating away... which could have happened whilst under Uraraka's Quirk. And Midoriya had moved to keep his best friend from further attacks on her person, even if he, also, disagreed with her on how she profiled…
Gods, she had really screwed up, hadn't she.
"Sir, permission to talk with Weiss Schnee in private. I'll catch up to the rest of you in a bit." Todoroki turned his head a little to look at Weiss through the corner of his right eye. Whitewater considered the situation before slowly nodding.
"You remember where the Rail station is, yes?"
"I do."
"Then we'll wait for you there. Just don't take too long. If you don't show up, we'll come looking for you. Let us know via scroll when you're on your way." Whitewater then made a gesture with his head to the other members of team STRM, and they took the cue. Iida, Sato and Mineta all gave short bows to Weiss before walking on. Soon, it was just Weiss and Todoroki were alone.
"Todoroki, I..." He raised a hand to cut her off.
"Not here. It's still too to open. Follow me." And he began walking toward an alley-way. Normally Weiss would be suspicious of being led anywhere near such a dirty area of the city, but she trusted Todoroki, so she followed.
Thankfully they didn't go too deep down, just largely out of sight so that the talk would be more private. "...Thank you. This is... I hesitate to use the word 'better,' but it is certainly more circumspect than having a talk on the street." Todoroki nodded, as he stood opposite her, his back against the wall. He took a breath.
"I've been worried about you." Not how she thought, any, conversation would start with Todoroki. Her eyes were wide, before narrowing.
"And why exactly have you been worrying about me?"
"Because," he said, meeting her gaze with open honesty, "I too, used to bear the look of someone harbouring resentment." Weiss blinked, unsure how to respond, but Todoroki closed his eyes and kept talking.
"My old man is ambitious. Before he became number one after All Might's retirement, Endeavour had been stuck at number two for years. Despite all of his efforts, he was never able to take the top spot for himself, while All Might was a Pro. So he devised a plan to beat All Might vicariously, though his own children. Through me." Weiss felt her breath hitch, and her heart clenched. All the while Todoroki continued to talk…
Blake
"My father started the White Fang, as means to peacefully fight against injustice inflicted on our people. And I was there. At every rally, march and organised sit-in. But what changes were made weren't happening fast enough for many. There was frustration at not being able to retaliate when we were frequently attacked, stoned, and mocked, just for demanding equal and fair treatment."
"So, five years ago, a new leader took charge after my Father stepped down, and the White Fang's methods changed…"
Todoroki
"Quirk Marriages are outlawed, as they quickly became a problem in the early days of Hero society, as people tried to create children with particularly powerful Quirks. Endeavour used his wealth and influence, to essentially buy my grandparents, and had an arranged marriage with my mother, who possessed the complete opposite Quirk to him. An Ice type."
"Because he figured that a child that could combine the strengths of both fire and ice, could negate the weaknesses attributed to himself and my mother. And so, first my siblings, and then finally, myself, were born…"
Blake
"Now, if one of our protests were attacked, we could defend ourselves. If a business denied Faunus as customers, they were attacked, and the store was set on fire. And companies who utilised Faunus as cheap labour? We raided and stole cargo from them. And to myself and many others, it actually looked like it was working. More rights were given to us."
The group listened as Blake continued to tell her story, not one amongst them wanting to interrupt.
"I... ran away from home. Because I felt that this was the best way to help our people. Even when my Father objected to it. The Fang saw me as having talent and potential, so they put me under the wing of one of their most strongest and well respected fighters. Someone I, and many others, saw as a hero for Faunus kind."
Blake shook her head at herself. "I was so naïve…"
Todoroki
"I don't remember much about my eldest brother. He died while I was still very young, his own Quirk being more than his own body could handle. My other siblings, Natsuo, Fuyumi, had Quirks more suited to ice, so they were left alone and largely ignored by my Father. But when I was born, he declared me his masterpiece, and from the age of five, put me through gruelling, hellish training so that I could one day beat All Might."
"Wait a minute... Todoroki. What do you mean, exactly, by beating All Might? Did your Father.. expect you to actually get in a fight with him, or..." Weiss wasn't sure how to finish that question, because this was already terrible enough to listen to and imagine as it was.
Todoroki looked off to the side. "I doubt he planned, or expected anything like that. Though he did seem to focus on power a lot. So who knows…"
Blake
"After a while, I started to realise that the equal rights we were winning, wasn't from respect or from humans seeing us as equals. It was coming from fear. We were becoming the very thing we supposed to oppose. And when I brought this up with my mentor, he laughed and said that keeping the Humans fearful was good. Let them know what it was like. Let them know who their betters actually were."
Blake's fist clenched, and she wasn't the only one feeling strong emotions. At that moment, Asui had latched onto Uraraka's hand, the brunette keeping one finger outstretched so she didn't accidentally float her friend. Midoriya's wide eyes made clear his concern, while he too clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. Tokoyami was having to calm down Dark Shadow, the living Quirk having emerged and was very agitated, on Blake's behalf.
What helped keep Blake talking was the support of her team. Her friends. Yang held her hand, giving occasional soft squeezes, and Ruby was listening patiently and without judgement. Penny and Sun too, listened, enraptured by the tale.
"He... he controlled me. He took advantage of my trust, and preyed on my own doubts and insecurities. I thought he represented justice. I was wrong. He represented spite."
Todoroki
"Mom put up with a monster. He drove her to the point where she started to see him in my own left side. She called it 'unbearable.' Right before she poured boiling water over my eye."
Blake
"So, I left. I ran away, again. I heard tales of how Huntsmen and Huntresses where exemplars of nobility and duty, so I thought I could make amends for my past by becoming one. A terrorist hiding in plain sight. All thanks, to one little, black, bow."
Todoroki
"For years I hated him, and refused to use my left side. To use 'his Quirk' in battle. I still haven't forgiven him. I'm not sure I ever will."
"But in rejecting him, in rejecting my left side, I ironically ended up behaving just like him. I coldly brushed off people when they just tried to talk to me. I drove one applicant from the recommendation exam, to turn down his acceptance to UA, and instead attend another Academy instead. Because my eyes were the same as Endeavour's."
Todoroki paused, and Weiss was glad for it, because this was... so much to take in. She had tears running down her face, but she didn't acknowledge that. In that moment, all she could do was reflect and compare her own life, with the boy in front of her.
It was painful to see so many distorted similarities.
…
"I expect you, Weiss to pay attention and work diligently. As heir, you will have to uphold the family name." She remembered her father saying, not really looking at her at all from behind his desk, even as he had introduced her newest tutors.
…
"Winter! You will obey me and get back here this instant!"
"No Father. It's already decided and done. I'll be going to the Academy to become a Huntress."
"Foolish girl! If you go down this path, you will not see a single Lien from me, you hear?"
"Crystal."
As Weiss overheard the argument between her older sister and her father, Klein, good old Klein Seiben, came up and gently guided her away, promising to make her some hot coco. Weiss mumbled her thank you, even as she brushed away the tears in her eyes.
…
"Do you love me, or not?" Willow Schnee demanded, during Weiss's fourth birthday party. In front of everyone.
"You want the truth?" Jacques Schnee bristled, "Fine then. I never loved you. I only married you to get control of the company. Are you happy now, dear?"
Willow Schnee began her descent into alcoholism shortly after that. It soon became the norm to see her with a wine glass or a fine whiskey either at hand or close by…
…
"Wretched, stupid animals!" Jacques ranted as he paced, "A whole car... a WHOLE CAR! Gone! And for what? Filthy Faunus savages!"
Weiss was once again just outside his office. She had only been passing by, but he was ranting so loud, it was impossible for anyone in the immediate vicinity to not overhear him.
'Did someone else die...?' she wondered before getting her answer.
"Those fools!" Jacques snapped. "Counting themselves lucky to be alive. I wonder how lucky they'll feel when they're on the unemployment line for failing to protect what is mine! What a mess!"
Weiss quietly walked away. Relieved nobody died, but sad that those people were now fired by dint of her father's wrath.
…
She shook her head of the memories. She realised that Todoroki was watching her, a moment of concern on his face. She collected herself as best she could.
"S-so... what changed? You have used your fire, I've seen you do so." Todoroki nodded.
"During the sports festival, I challenged Midoriya. I saw him as someone I had to overcome, and if I could do so without my fire, it would further spite my old man. I even explained this to Midoriya himself, after the second round. Out of all of my classmates, he's the only one who knows about this."
He raised his left hand and stared at it. "But during our one-on-one match, he pushed himself to breaking. He re-used his own broken fingers to keep my ice in check. He could have won the match, but instead, he reached out to me. And with a few simple words, he made me remember something important: That this was my Quirk. Not my father's."
"It's yours! Your Quirk, not his!"
"You are not a prisoner of your lineage... always remember to stay true to yourself"
"I know what I want now... I'll be a Hero."
Closing his eyes, he lowered his left hand, and then opened his eyes once more to look at Weiss. "I don't know your life story. And I won't pry if you don't want me to. But I've seen it. For a while now, since Mulberry's class at the very least. The look of someone, drowning in resentment."
…
"New Resolve, and Cold Conviction?" Weiss mused. "Interesting that you've chosen the names before the weapon, though I certainly approve." Todoroki nodded, whilst studying the pale girl beside him. Her hair, so much like his mother's in colour, but behind those light blue eyes…
"Do you know what you can work with, in regards to a weapon?" She asked, and he nodded.
"I've had some training in kenjutsu, though I wouldn't say it's an art I've mastered by any degree. But if we're talking about weapons that I can use, then traditional Japanese katana would be best. I suppose i should be grateful for my Father for that, though he probably never thought I'd actually take up a sword"
There was a moments hesitation, barely half a breath long, before Weiss nodded, putting a finger to her lips as she mused on that. "I've studied only one other sword form before settling on my rapier, but I can at least give you some basic pointers." Todoroki nodded, but kept his gaze on her eyes.
'The moment I mentioned my father... it triggered something, though she hid it well. Is she... just like how I was?'
…
"I don't know what you're looking to achieve as a Huntress. But I know what I want to say. What I wish someone had told me, earlier in life; Look carefully at what you want to be. Remember why you started down this path, where you came from, and what you want to become."
Weiss Schnee listened to all of that, and did just that. She held up an imaginary mirror to herself, and in that moment, she found she could understand why Uraraka had slapped her. Because staring back at her from that mental mirror, was a version of herself closer to what her father believed was proper. And it scared her.
"...We should probably get going. Your team and Mr Whitewater will be waiting." Todoroki nodded and began to move, but then Weiss spoke again, stopping him. "Before that... answer me... two things, please? Why did you tell me all of this? And...Your father, what do you feel about him, about what he's done?" Todoroki mused on that, looking down at the ground as he formed an answer.
"As to the first question, a friend told me once, that meddling where you don't necessarily have to, is the essence of being a hero." A small smile briefly appeared on his face. Just for an instant, but Weiss saw it.
"And as for the second... I don't know if I can ever forgive him for what he did to me, and to Mom. But I've been able to visit her since the Festival, and she's been getting better, encouraging me. As for Endeavour; he says he wants to become someone I can take pride in. Not just as the number one Hero, but as my Father. Whether that happens, I'll have to wait and see. He says he wants to change. I'll have to judge his actions to see if he warrants anything." Weiss looked away.
"...I think, at the very least... your father sounds like he is trying to do better. That's more than what I can say about my own." Todoroki looked at her in mild surprise at that, but Weiss once again collected herself and walked out of the Alley. "Do you mind if I join you and your team until we get back to Beacon?"
"Sure, I don't mind." And with that the pair began to walk together in comfortable silence. Both did take a moment to pull out their scrolls and send a message. Todoroki to Whitewater to assure him he was on his way.
And Weiss? She sent a message to her team, and to team MOAT as well.
I'm sorry for everything I said. Meet me back in our room at Beacon. I owe you all an explanation.
…
"I'm disappointed in you Weiss." Her father leaned across his desk, his fingers laced together as he studied his youngest daughter. "I would have thought you would know better than to emulate your fool of a sister."
"There's no point arguing, Father." Weiss replied, her back straight, her hands held in front of her, as she was taught. "The paperwork is already done, and I've been accepted at Beacon."
"Dear, I'd wish you would reconsider. I'd hate to have one of my children hurt running around playing Huntress."
Weiss held his gaze. "I've already made up my mind." Jacques frowned, but then stood up and adopted the smile he tended to wear when talking to fellow rich Atliesians.
"Well if that's the case, I'll allow it. Under one condition. A simple test. Pass it, and you can have my blessing. Fail however, and you will give up this Huntress nonsense and work under me directly."
Weiss stared back at him, with unflinching resolve. "...I assure you Father. I won't fail."
Vale, Docks.
"So, that's my story." Blake looked around at the group around her. Ruby spoke first.
"I'm glad you're here, and that I got to meet you, Blake. And as your team leader, I will do what I can to support your efforts in all that you do." Ruby smiled softly as she said that, and Blake almost felt like crying.
"Yeah, no matter where you started, you're trying to do better, and I think we can all get behind that." Okay, now Yang's words were getting her misty eyed.
"I... I thought…"
"Did you really think we would reject you after hearing all that you said?" Uraraka said, almost scandalised. "No way!" Midoriya nodded beside her, adamantly.
"Forgive me for me for being blunt," Asui said, getting everyone's attention, "but we have a number of issues that need to be said out loud."
"First, while I like Blake, and think of her as a friend and admire her for getting out of a bad situation in order to atone by being a Huntress, she did just admit to all of us that she has a criminal past. Back home, if that happened, that would make her a Villain."
"I can counter that, Asui! I mean Tsu!" Midoriya piped in, even as Blake and team winced at the frog girl's words. "Most people don't know this, but I know that Miruko, one of the current top ten heroes in Japan, has a criminal background herself."
"Ribbit? Really?" Asui blinked and let her mouth fall open a little at that.
"I must admit to some surprise myself," Tokoyami stated, though Uraraka just grinned.
"That's our hero fanboy for you!" Midoriya tried to fight off a blush and continue.
"Yeah. It's not widely known, but after doing some research on which Pros did or didn't accept Work Study students, I happened on some old news stories back when she was around our age. It turns out before she even went to a Hero school, she was actually kicked out of one of her middle schools for being caught getting involved with illegal MMA clubs, and street fights. She was apparently a combat junkie, though her record is pretty clean after that. In any case, that in and of itself is proof that just because someone broke the rules and made a mistake, doesn't mean they couldn't become a great hero."
"While that is a good point, I feel it doesn't entirely dispel Asui's concerns," Tokoyami spoke up, while Dark Shadow hovered around his shoulders. "While I am sympathetic to Belladonna and her situation, that doesn't erase the fact that she was party to, and enabled, a number of crimes. Crimes more serious than just illegal fight clubs. At best, she might be charged with vigilantism. At worst, as she herself as stated, she would be treated as a terrorist"
"Then there's the second problem. Weiss. What are we going to tell her?" That gave everybody pause.
"...Maybe... don't?" Sun put forward, though he didn't sound sure himself. Blake shook her head.
"No. The way things stand, I'm not sure I could keep it from her. I do want to give her a chance, as infuriating as she can be. I know that she isn't her father, and Jacques Schnee is only person from her family I would have some harsh words with. I should tell her, but it might be an idea to handle that in private back at Beacon. Also see if she's calmed down a bit to actually listen."
"Very honourable, but that does that also extend to the teachers at Beacon?" Tokoyami asked and Dark Shadow nodded.
"Yeah, I mean, if anybody is going to fight in your corner to stay as a student, wouldn't it be one of them?"
Blake hesitated, feeling nervous all over again, but Ruby spoke up. "We'll all go to Professor Ozpin. Me and Yang will go with Blake and voice our support and demand that Blake be allowed to stay."
"Demand?" Tokoyami repeated. Ruby nodded, resolved. Yang pumped her fist, and Blake's nerves eased at the fact that her friends had her back.
Midoriya put his hand to his chin as he began to think things through. "Okay, so by going to see Ozpin, hopefully that will end up resolving the first issue, since it sounds like he has a lot of pull, given his seat on the Council. And if Weiss is willing to both talk calmly and listen, then hopefully that will not only remove any issues between her and Blake but also between everybody else, though she did say she felt that no one had her back…"
"Um... What is happening right now?" Sun asked. Uraraka waved off his concern.
"Sometimes when Deku gets really deep into analysis he starts mumbling like this. We're all pretty much used to it at this point."
"It does feel like classic Midoriya."
"Yep. Ribbit."
"Okay, but what about Erasure Head?" Dark Shadow's words brought Midoriya out of his mutter spell, and everyone turned their heads to regard the creature. Tokoyami bowed his head.
"Indeed. Our homeroom teacher would not be best pleased to know something this important was kept from him by ourselves."
"Why? What would he do?" Penny asked. The 1-A students shuddered.
"Expulsion sounds likely." Midoriya said with a depressed air. Sun winced.
"That's rough buddy."
"Nope." Heads turned towards Ruby who put her hands on her hips. "The plan is; We three will talk to Ozpin. Since Blake is our friend and team-mate, and a student of Beacon, Aizawa doesn't have much say in that matter. Even if he is displeased, we've still done right as students."
"And if he gets upset about Blake hiding the fact she was a Faunus, we can always point out, that only Blake has the right to announce her species, just like people shouldn't try 'outing' people for their gender or sexuality."
"Wait... Did I, when I mentioned Blake was Faunus... do something bad?" Penny suddenly turned all intense again as she looked at Blake, but this time she actually looked nervous.
"...While I would have preferred to be the one to decide to reveal the fact I'm a Faunus to everyone here, I know that what you did was a mistake, made without malice. So, you're forgiven." Blake was suddenly subject to a crushing hug from Penny.
"I am sorry, friend Blake. And thank you."
"Ow. Strong hugger."
"Okay, so can we all agree that this is a private matter for Blake and her team to resolve with Beacon staff, and not get anybody else involved since it doesn't necessarily concern them?" Uraraka asked. "All in favour say 'Aye'!"
"AYE!" Came the collective response.
"Well, with that settled, I guess the only other thing to handle is Sun Wukong and the Port authorities. Ribbit." Sun nodded at that, before noticing Midoriya and Uraraka staring at him with surprised open mouths.
"Okay, seriously? What is it about my name that has you guys look at me like that?"
Beacon Academy, Team RWBY's Dorm. Evening
Weiss took a deep breath as she stood before the collective group of her team-mates, and team MOAT. "I... I wish to apologise. For what I said back at the docks. I was angry, and upset that nobody seemed to be on my side, that you were all against me. I ended up... emulating my own father more than I would ever wish."
"I don't want to talk about my family. Not right now. But, I would like you to understand something. For as far back as I can remember, my family crest, that I was always taught to take pride in? It's been a target on my back. The White Fang have attacked my family. They've stolen Dust from us, family friends and board members, people I had met and knew, have gone missing. And those who have been found, turned up dead. And we know it's them. Because they haven't been shy in letting us know."
Weiss looked at everyone slowly, impressing her story, her truth, to all of them. They were looking back at her with pity. Normally she wouldn't want that. At all. Right now, she was relieved, a little, just to see that they did actually care.
"All of that, amongst other things, led to a very difficult upbringing. So... I've always been a little uncomfortable around Faunus who I didn't know, who hadn't proven trustworthy. Because I'm scared of being attacked, or perhaps worse, that I'll be used, somehow, to further attack the rest of my family." She bowed her head then.
"Uraraka. You were right, that I was acting just as bad as Bakugo did. I let my own fear and bias lead me to profile the individual from the boat. And what I said to you... and about your class was out of line. I apologise, and I promise to work harder. To do better in never saying, or even thinking like that again." Weiss lifted her head a little. Uraraka didn't look angry. She looked empathetic. She did set her face into a firm look as she locked eyes with Weiss.
"Thank you, Weiss, if it's okay to still call you by your first name. We'll hold you to your promise." Weiss straightened, grateful. She then turned and looked at Blake who looked... sad.
"Blake... I still have strong feelings about the White Fang, but I shouldn't have... I should have been more mindful of how my words hurt other people. While I don't fully grasp why you feel so strongly about this, I am sorry for hurting you too." Blake closed her eyes for a second, and then stood up from her seated position by the window. Yang, who was next to her, looked askance at Blake but the raven haired girl walked over to Weiss and took her hands in her own.
"Weiss. Thank you for your apology. It means a lot. But if we are going to move forward. As team-mates, if not friends, then there's something you need to know." Weiss looked at her with mild surprise, unaware of the bombshell about to be dropped.
8 Minutes Later
Weiss wasn't yelling. She wasn't backing away or making accusations. She was pacing, back and forth across the room, cupping her chin with one hand, while the other arm, wrapped around her waist. After doing this four times, she stopped, and took a deep breath, before turning back to the others, who were almost frozen. Sweating as they anxiously waited her response.
"I'm not okay. HOWEVER!" Weiss quickly thrust the hand that had been cupping her chin forward, her index finger held up, halting any words from the others. "...The fact, that you did tell me, after hearing my side of things... that means a lot. I don't like that you kept this from us, but I understand why you didn't. And it does mean a lot, that you told me. So thank you." It was like the tension was released like air out of a balloon, as almost everyone slumped in relief, heavy sighs accompanying. Weiss however kept her eyes fixed on Blake. "Does anybody else know?"
Blake nodded. "Penny and Sun know. And Ruby and Yang went with me as I told Ozpin." She tilted her head down as she mentally looked back on that. "The funny thing is... I think he already knew? Or at the very least suspected, based on how he answered. At the very least, he's not kicking me out." Weiss perked an eyebrow at that, before resuming her pacing.
"Interesting... though also reassuring in it's own way." She shook her head. "What happened with Penny incidentally?"
"Promised to keep this secret, and then said something about meeting up with someone... I think?" Ruby looked up as she tried to remember. A lot had happened so quickly, that some things stood out sharply in her memory, while other things blurred. "She said she would register at Beacon later, so I guess we'll see her around."
Weiss absorbed that, making a small 'hmm' sound, and then pushed the matter aside. "There is something else I want to ask." She turned once more and stopped in front of Blake, her hands on her hips. "While I... admit that I have bias affecting my judgement, I want to know; can you honestly tell me that you don't believe the White Fang are involved, in some way?"
There were groans from the rest of the room, as it sounded like, as much as she had promised to change, she was already back to her need to prove the White Fang were indeed the culprits. To say she was right all along. Blake however held Weiss's gaze, before sighing and turning to look toward the window.
"Honestly... I don't know. The chapter I was part of... They've never needed that much Dust before."
"Maybe we can prove or disprove it once and for all?" came Sun's voice as he suddenly hung upside down, right outside the window. Pretty much everyone jumped.
"Aaargh!"
"What the heck?"
"Wu-Wukong? What are you doing outside the window?!" Izuku asked, almost falling over in his shock. Sun looked completely nonchalant as he continued to hang from the nearby tree, that was close enough for him to pull off this stunt.
"I pretty much just came from... possibly the longest talking to I've ever had, outside of my own sister. Professor Goodwitch handled things at the docks, before giving me clear instruction to behave myself going forward. The homeless looking dude behind her, was giving me the stink eye the whole time too." As one, Izuku and his friends rubbed the backs of their necks, knowing full well who he was describing. "But I've been thinking ever since Blake talked to us back in the city. I might have a way to settle once and for all, who is behind the robberies."
Weiss narrowed her eyes at Sun, her arms folded. She was actually relieved to see Blake, and Yang, a little annoyed as well at Sun's manner of coming to them. Ruby had looked nervous, but now it seemed she was curious what he had to say.
"...I still don't know how I feel about you. That said, I'm prepared to hear you out." Everyone turned to Weiss in surprise, but Ruby nodded, pleased. And Blake appreciated that Weiss was making an effort here, that was clear to see.
"Tokoyami, would you let him in please, since you're closest." Tokoyami nodded once and then opened up the window. Sun smiled and with ease, quickly swung and flipped himself upright, and made his way inside. "Okay, Sun," Ruby said, taking charge. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well," Sun began, doing a surprising accidental impression of Iida as he held his arms stiffly, his palms vertical, like he was carrying a box, "the best way to prove that the White Fang are innocent of being the culprits, is to be where they'll likely strike next if they were! See?"
"Um, run that by us again?" Uraraka asked, but Izuku, Tokoyami, Blake and Weiss seemed to understand.
"You're talking about a stake out." Izuku said, and Sun gave him finger guns and a wink. Tokoyami tilted his head in thought.
"While not a bad idea in theory, where exactly do you think they will make their next strike?"
"When I was waiting for the best opportunity to leave the boat," Sun replied, "I overheard a couple of sailors talk about this expected Dust shipment coming in the next few days."
"Ribbit. The Schnee Dust Company?" Asui asked.
"Not much else it could be. Considering we own the monopoly on the Dust market. And with so much Dust lost recently, they might even increase the amount coming in, to help those stores recover swifter." Weiss, oddly enough, found herself actually agreeing with this idea.
"And the SDC, is always..." Blake hesitated a moment before pushing on, "...a prime target for the White Fang. Meaning that if they are responsible, it would be an opportunity almost too tempting to ignore."
"Exactly!" Sun exclaimed.
"Hold on a moment, ribbit." Asui spoke up again. "While it makes a level of sense, Mr Aizawa already made it clear he didn't want any of us to investigate this on our own. If we go through with this plan, we'll be...vigilantes." Izuku and Uraraka were once again reminded of that night they moved into the dorms. Of Tsu's confession of how she felt when she realised that Midoriya and the other members of the Bakugo rescue squad had still gone out, despite it meaning that they were breaking the rules.
Izuku frowned, and then stepped forward, getting everyone's attention. "Then we get Mr Aizawa to approve and organise the plan."
"Ribbit?" Asui looked confused, but Ruby caught on, and so did Yang.
"Aww Yeah! I see! We make this an official operation between us Huntresses and you Heroes." Yang fist pumped, while jumping on Blake, wrapping her right arm around her in a side hug. Blake rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too.
"We can even argue about making it an active Work Study or something!" Ruby said, "we give Mr Aizawa and Goodwitch the basics of the plan, and then they can direct it."
"How soon is this shipment coming in again, Sun?" Uraraka asked, getting excited herself, as she stood close to Asui.
"Next two days, from what I overheard."
Blake looked at Weiss, and the heiress stared back. "I think," Weiss said after a pause, "that I can be onboard with this plan. And if we can do it together, as Team RWBY and Team MOAT, that would be even better." She held out a hand, and Blake shrugged off Yang and took it.
"Then lets do it." Suddenly Yang's hand was on top of theirs. The Blonde was smirking.
"Together!" She declared, as Ruby walked over and put her own hand on top, looking proudly at her team-mates.
"Team RWBY." She stated firmly. Izuku then put a hand on top of hers, swiftly followed by Tokoyami's.
"I'm in."
"As am I."
Sun put his hand in as well, giving a grin that almost rivalled Yang's. Blake felt the urge to roll her eyes again, though her smile was not going anywhere.
Uraraka looked to her friend Tsu. She was looking down, with an uncertain expression. Uraraka put on her best reassuring smile, and held out her hand. Asui blinked when she saw it and looked up.
"Just like when we were at Ryukyu's," Uraraka said, "We stick together, and back each other up." Asui only hesitated a moment before taking the brunette's hand, and then let herself be lead over to the others, bodies shuffled over to make room, as both girls hands, completed the pact being made between them.
"Team MOAT. We all stand with you." Uraraka stated, and Asui ribbited in affirmation.
"Everybody!" Izuku said with a firm voice, as if he was about to make a solemn vow to himself and everyone there. "Let's all go beyond!" Ruby beside him, smiled big at that, and while Sun was a bit late to follow as he didn't quite understand, she and everyone else completed the UA motto.
"PLUS... ULTRA!"
…
Outside the dorm room, leaning quietly against the wall by the door, Shota Aizawa listened attentively, and pondered what he should do.
[Cue Outro]
1st outro for season 1 – Part 7: Weiss
[Juxtaposed next to a family portrait of the Schnee family, we see Weiss happy and playing with her family butler Klein.]
[Weiss receives lessons in how to wield a sword by her sister. Weiss takes note of seeing her mother drinking heavily. Far from her mother, Jacques walks proud and smug, with Whitley following and emulating his mannerisms. The portrait subtly changes with each image. The previous happy family, becomes less and less so, as all but Jacques and Whitley steadily lose their smiles, though Whitley's seems forced.]
[Weiss stands before a statue of her Grandfather, Myternaster in hand. It is clear she looks up to the man.]
[Weiss now stands with her back to the 'camera' as she faces off against the Arma Gigas. In screen flashes, we see her unmarked face, and then the appearance of the scar on her left eye.]
[Weiss runs with ragged breath through the darkness, before collapsing to her knees. She rests on all fours panting, before a hand appears before her. The hand belongs to Ruby who smiles, and behind her, Yang and Blake, even Jaune. Todoroki stands waiting with Iida, Sato, Mineta, and Yaoyorozu and Jiro.]
[Weiss stares at the hand for a moment, before taking it, and allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. She's suddenly embraced in a group hug by her team that she accepts with a small blush, even as the darkness vanishes and they all stand on a pleasant green hill with blue skies up above.]
Next Time on Paragons of Virtue and Glory:
[Tokoyami: From Shadow... we come to deliver the preview.]
[Blake: I want to make right what I've done in the past... but will anything ever be enough?]
[Tokoyami: You are shrouded in your own darkness, and yet still strive for the light.]
[Blake: And what if he is there...? Can I face him? Or will I run away. Again.]
[Tokoyami: This burden you carry, you needn't carry it alone.]
[Blake:...No. No more running, Blake. Now is the time to take the stand, that I should have years ago.]
[Tokoyami: Next time; "Blake Belladonna: Origin." Remember where you came from, and why you started down this path, my friend.]
[Blake: I WILL go beyond. Plus Ultra.]
NOTES:
Every Episode brings it's own challenges. Here I had to handle;
1) Weiss. Once again, I have to examine a character who was initially difficult to like. Weiss really does carry herself as a spoiled little princess in Vol 1. But, just like with Bakugo, I don't want this to be a bash session. Weiss has had a troublesome and unstable home life(despite superficial appearances) and while most of the SDC's crimes can be laid at the feet of her father, by virtue of her name and the emblem she carries, she has had to live in fear of attack, just for being a Schnee. And fear can make even good people do and say bad things. Balancing things out with Weiss, getting her to reflect on her attitude and words, whilst also acknowledging her own broken home, was difficult, but thankfully, it was always the plan to have a heart to heart moment with Todoroki. Because if there is anyone on the MHA crew who understands the desire to reject something, but be blinded to the point of making similar mistakes, it is him. And we know he can spot others suffering similar cases, as he also picked up on Iida's emotions prior to the Hosu incident. Now he gets a chance to open up, and take a lesson that Midoriya taught him, and use it to help Weiss.
2) Blake. Early on in planning, the original plot of this arc followed RWBY canon more, with Blake accidentally exposing herself (although it would've happened earlier than in canon) and then she'd once more end up running away, meeting up with Sun, and Aizawa would then begin sending search parties, before ultimately culminating in the dockside battle. In other versions of this chapter, she tries to run away, but is stopped, or the others catch up to her and convince her to come back. I'm glad I did things this way. While I'm sure some might argue that Blake wouldn't really be emotionally ready to talk as she did about her past (And that's an argument I've had with myself too) here she's already having to reflect more on her old way of thinking as shown last Episode. She has more emotional support from her team-mates, who have, now, the chance to hear her out, and can stand beside her in solidarity.
3) Backstories. The problem was, at several times writing this, things started to get difficult to read back to myself. Blake tells her story, then Weiss, and then at the end, Todoroki would pull Weiss aside for a private talk, where we get ANOTHER backstory! At one point I was even trying to add in some more backstory for my OC Gravell. It was too much! Even with abridged versions! Thankfully, I think moving Todoroki's tale to where it ends up, and jumping back and forth between his story and Blake's worked. Touching on similar themes of lost direction, of separation from family (Blake ran away from home, while Todoroki was kept from his siblings, and his mother put in a hospital. Even his rejection of his father could be seen as a separation, as he wanted to be recognised for his own efforts not his fathers) and of understanding the mistakes made by our own choices.
4) Tsuyu. I knew I wanted to get some more perspective from characters outside of Midoriya and RWBY etc. Asui felt right for a number of reasons. She's the one member of the class, who could more cleanly be mistaken for a Faunus herself, and she is someone who strongly believes in following the rules. So, she's sympathetic to Blake, absolutely! But she's also conflicted, because from everything she was brought up to believe, Blake would be considered a Villain for her past. I had to make sure I was doing her character right when put into a position she has never been in before.
It should be stated, if it wasn't obvious by what Weiss herself says ("I'm not okay") things aren't entirely resolved. Emotions don't always work so smoothly like that. Next Episode, besides going more into Blake's past, setting up for the battle of the docks, we'll be exploring how various characters are reacting to these events. Aizawa, Ruby, Asui, Midoriya, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Will Aizawa approve a mission based on Sun's idea? Is Asui okay working with Blake, after everything both have said? And is there something going on with Midoriya's Quirk?
Quick thanks to whoever it was who started a TV Tropes page for Paragons (as well as those who have contributed already) because I stumbled on that by accident, and it honestly made my day. Anyone who has an account who feels like there's anything that needs to be added, please do so, since I'm going to be focusing on pumping out the next few chapters to get this arc finished before Christmas.
Feel free to leave a review, and speculate as to what comes next. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated. Keep an eye on the updates on my profile as that will be where I'll announce the release date of each new Episode. Till then, take care of yourselves.
And LO! I shall see thou, next time!
