"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

The Four Horsemen and Ben had joined Teams RWBY and JNPR on a trip through the streets of Vale. Already, people were setting up decorations in preparation for the Vytal Festival. And, strangely enough, Weiss was actually the most excited out of the group.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby noted, before she quickly frowned. "It's kinda weirding me out..."

"Usually when she's smiling, she has ulterior motives." Fury huffed.

"I do not! And I completely resent that statement!" Weiss snapped, pointing a finger in Fury's face, mere centimeters from the Nephilim's nose, but she quickly pulled back when Fury threateningly clicked her teeth. The heiress then turned to Ruby. "And how could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" She gushed.

Yang huffed and folded her arms. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." She said.

"Yaaaawwwwn..." Nora groaned. "Why are we even here again? It smells like fish!" She complained, blocking her nose.

"What's wrong with fish?" Blake asked.

"Nothing, as long as it's cooked and fresh," Ren said.

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss proudly explained.

"And you want to get a head start spying on the other teams," Death noted.

"How dare you accuse me of that!" Weiss called out indignantly.

"That's not a denial~!" Nora sang out.

"What's going on over there?" Ben suddenly asked as everyone looked to see a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape from the Vale Police Force.

"Whoa..." Ruby muttered as they approached the scene. "What happened here?" She asked one of the detectives as they passed.

"Robbery. Second Dust Shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The detective investigating the scene explained as he walked over to his partner.

"That's terrible..." Pyrrha said worriedly.

"Ah, stuff like this happens all the time." Strife shrugged. "If it didn't, there wouldn't be any need for us."

"They left all the money again." The detective's partner noted as he looked over the scene.

"Wait, why would they not take the money?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense." The detective agreed. "Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?" His partner half-jokingly suggested.

"You thinking the White Fang?"

His partner sighed. "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"The White Fang?" Ben asked curiously.

"A group of Faunus terrorists." Death explained, having learned about it from Ozpin along with the other Horsemen. "But what could they possibly need the Dust for?"

Weiss huffed. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's your problem?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss explained to Blake with annoyance.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths," Blake said seriously with her arms crossed. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided!? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Then they're VERY misguided!" Blake reworded her previous point. "But they're message is still trying to get better treatment for the Faunus and not be called or treated like monsters!" Blake insisted.

"By terrorizing humans while wearing Grimm masks?! Oh, what a BRILLIANT way to NOT be seen as monsters!" Weiss said mockingly. Blake took an annoyed step forward at this, with Weiss responding in kind so as not to seem meeker or like she might back down...

... But the two then found themselves being pulled away from each other as Death put an arm in front of Blake and moved her back as Fury grabbed Weiss by the collar of her jacket, lifting her like one would a kitten and pulling her away. "Enough, both of you." Death told them both.

"Indeed. Aren't you the one always trying to act prim and proper, Weiss? That's rather hard to do when you're going off on a racist tirade." Fury pointed out to the pale girl while setting her down.

"Both of you have some good points, both sides have done plenty of wrong, let's just leave it at that. If you really wanna continue this, join the Debate Team." Strife said sarcastically.

"And regardless of who is right or wrong, your arguing solves nothing. All this infighting will do is create a divide between you and harm your teamwork and therefor, your team as a whole." War reminded them, knowing this lesson better than anyone.

Both girls looked at the Horsemen for a moment, looking down to the ground to contemplate a moment, before admitting they were right and looking to their teammate. "I... guess you have a point. Sorry, Weiss." Blake said.

Weiss tried to be stern and say something assertive to be the dominant one in the situation, but could bring herself to do so. "Well... I suppose... I could've been a little less harsh with my criticisms as well. My apologies." Weiss said, offering a small bow... before turning to Fury with a glare. "But I won't soon forget you holding me like a cat, Nephilim!" Weiss declared, "Nephilim" being what the Horsemen had told the group what their last name was, rather than their species. Fury simply rolled her eyes at this.

"Wow. You guys are really good at team management." Jaune praised.

"Yeah. You all could probably make a killing as couples therapists." Yang said jokingly.

"We've been a team for a long time. And we know the consequences of teammates disagreeing and fighting." Death explained.

"Yep. Not to mention, we have to deal with Fury all the time, so we're used to dealing with angry people." Strife added.

"Do you wish to see my anger right now, brother?" Fury threatened, readying the Talons of Scorn.

Thankfully, there was an interruption before the middle Nephilim could fight. "Hey, stop that Faunus!" A sailor on one of the approaching boats called out.

Everyone turned to see a Monkey Faunus boy with a golden tail running down the length of a nearby boat and leaping onto the edge as two sailors chased after him. "Thanks for the ride, guys!" The boy laughed as he jumped off and hit the dock running.

"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors called out.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" The boy retorted as he hung by a lamppost with his tail and peeled a banana, eating it before tossing the peel on one of the sailors' faces when he tried throwing a stone at him before running off.

The boy ended up running past Teams RWBY and JNPR and gave Weiss a passing wink and double finger guns as he made his escape from the police officers who arrived at the scene. "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..." Yang said.

"That guy was like, super cute, right?" Ruby said to Blake.

Blake nodded. "No joke."

"QUICK! WE HAVE TO OBSERVE HIM!" Weiss shouted, her face bright pink.

"OMG, Weiss..." Yang laughed silently.

And so, the group was quick to chase after him. Ruby rushed in first, trying to use her Semblance to simply tackle the boy, but he managed to jump and twist to perform an aileron roll in the air, dodging Ruby. Fury then tried to catch him with her whip while he was still in the air, but Sun managed to smack the whip away with his tail, causing it to actually catch Ruby's foot, causing Fury to be pulled forward and Ruby to be pulled back by the sudden jerk on both of them, causing them to fall face down to the ground.

"The boy has more skill than he lets on." War said, impressed.

"Then why don't we show him ours?" Death suggested.

Pyrrha threw her shield, causing Sun to duck as he looked back and saw it coming at his head. She then used her Semblance to stop her shield and turn right-side up, basically making it a floating stop sign for his face to crash into. But he continued to avoid it by giving a small hop and baseball sliding under it. Nora growled at this and looked to Jaune. "Hey!" She called to him, causing him to look to her as she spun while deploying her warhammer, readying it for a swing at the blonde boy.

"Nora, what the!? Wait, wait, wait, wait-!" He cried frantically, just barely managing to pull out and deploy his shield to protect him, but still sending him rocketing down the street towards the monkey-tailed boy. However, Sun smirked at this and simply leapt up into the air, allowing Jaune to fly under him and crash into a nearby vending machine. War and Death both repeatedly shot their grappling devices at him, The Abyssal Chain and Death Grip respectively, but Sun once again managed to dodge or weave these two attacks, until eventually managing to smack the Abyssal Chain with his tail as he had done to Fury's whip, causing it to be snagged by Death Grip, the two reeling each other in and causing Death and War to stop and have a minor tug-of-war to untangle them, much to their irritation.

"Alright. I've had enough of this. Let's ride, Mayhem!" Strife declared, leaping into the air as the White Horse and riding after the stowaway. He actually almost managed to catch up to the boy, but luck seemed to be on Sun's side as, right after he passed an alley, a young couple stepped out of said alley, blocking Strife's path, forcing him to pull back hard on Mayhem's reins in order to stop him from trampling the couple, the horse actually rearing back too far, first causing Strife to fall, then Mayhem to fall on top of him immediately after.

"Enough of this!" Ben declared, using wind to fly, almost as fast as Ruby, rapidly chasing down Sun as he ran around a corner, but as Ben followed him, he crashed into something, causing him and that something to fall to the ground, looking up just in time to notice Sun leap up onto a roof and disappear.

"No, he got away!" Weiss cursed.

"Well, he's out of our reach now." Strife shrugged.

Ben sighed as he picked himself up off the floor, opening his eyes to see a pair of bright emerald green ones staring back at him. He then looked down to see it was a girl with orange hair done in curls with a pink bow on her head.

With a yelp, Ben quickly jumped off her and backed away as everyone else came over to see what the commotion was about.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!" The girl greeted, a bright smile on her face.

"Um...Hello." Ruby awkwardly greeted.

"Are you...okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."

"Do…do you wanna get up?" Ren asked uncertainly.

The girl seemed to have to actually think about it for a moment.

"Yes!" She answered gleefully as she leaped back on her feet while the thirteen stepped back a little in shock. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

She had short, rather curly orange hair that came down to her chin with a pink bow on the back of her head. She had bright green eyes, light skin, and freckles. She wore an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.

"Hi, Penny." Ruby greeted lamely. "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Jaune. Of the Arc Family, uh, last name is Arc."

"I'm Pyrrha. It's nice to meet you." Pyrrha smiled.

"Nora!" Nora cheerfully greeted as she pulled Ren in. "And this is Ren!"

"Death."

"War."

"Fury."

"Strife."

"I'm...Ben...just Ben," Ben said, seeming to be transfixed on the girl.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before Blake hit her in the side. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny greeted so happily it had to be honest.

"You already said that." Weiss pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"...So I did!"

"I like her." Strife chuckled as he turned to War.

"Apologies if we disturbed you." Death said. "We'll be on our way then."

"Take care, friend!" Ruby waved to Penny as the group took their leave.

"She was... weird..." Yang said as they walked away.

"Says the girl with flaming hair whose eyes change color when she's mad?" Strife questioned.

"She seemed nice!" Nora smiled.

"Now, where did that riff-raff run off to," Weiss muttered.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you seemed quite fancied by him," Fury smirked as Weiss blushed and was about to make a retort...only to bump into Penny again.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked in wonder. Weiss looked back and forth in shock and horror.

"She's impressively fast..." War silently noted.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang apologized.

"No, not you." Penny corrected. She then walked through the group to Ruby and leaned down to look at her. "You!"

"Me?" Ruby asked, afraid.

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"

Ruby awkwardly looked over Penny's shoulder to see Weiss, Blake, and Yang shaking their heads, Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune nodding their heads, and the Horsemen and Ren being indifferent.

The Rose Reaper then looked back into Penny's eyes and couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity from seeing them; someone who probably had never had a friend before in her life and was too scared to try but just needed the right push.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang comically fell over while Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha gave Ruby a thumbs-up as the Horsemen and Ren simply nodded their heads. Penny, for her part, was overjoyed.

"Sen-sational!" She yelled ecstatically. "We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like him!"

Penny pointed at Ben as she said that last part, making the Son of Ozpin look around before pointing at himself and silently mouthing "Me?" as if to make absolutely sure that she was referring to him.

"Hey, congratulations, kiddo!" Strife laughed as he patted him on the back. "Already got yourself a girlfriend!"

"Is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"No, she seems far more coordinated."

"So..." Yang began. "What are you doing in Vale?"

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

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Hyde asked.

"Yep," Penny chirped before saluting. "I'm Combat Ready!"

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

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake retorted.

"It's a combat skirt! Weiss defended.

"Yeah!" Ruby said, sliding up and giving Weiss a high-five.

Ben cleared his throat as he looked at Penny. "S-so, where are you from, then?" He asked, interested in the girl for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

"Oh. I am from the Kingdom of Atlas." Penny answered.

"Hey! Just like you, Weiss!" Jaune noted.

"Oh, that's very interesting. I've heard their very high tech and high class." Ben said. "And, are you here on your own?" He asked.

"Oh? Why? Are you hoping her parents are here with her so you can ask for their blessing?" Yang teased.

"Dang, man. At least ask her out to dinner first." Strife joined in on the teasing.

"Wait, should I?" Ben asked, actually considering it.

"That seems like a MASSIVE rush into things. That is not recommended." Ren told him.

"I actually do not eat very much, but I wouldn't mind spending more time with you." Penny said, also feeling a strong interest in the boy.

"Well, that sounds lovely and all..." Weiss began, sliding between the two of them and looking to Penny. "But if you are from outside of the kingdom, does that mean you're familiar with that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?" She questioned.

"Weiss, not again..." Pyrrha groaned.

"The who?" Penny asked.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss exclaimed, holding up a VERY crude drawing of Sun.

"When did she have time to draw that?" Strife asked, slightly shocked and bewildered.

"I'd say she has plenty, considering it doesn't look like she spent any length of time on it." Fury told him.

"Even I draw better than that." Nora said.

"Stop doing that!" Blake cried out.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake insisted.

"A person who broke the law! Most people generally tend to call people like that rapscallions or degenerates." Weiss countered.

"I just call them criminals. It has one less syllable than either of those." Ruby said.

"Hearing 'rapscallion' just make me think of onions." Yang admitted, visualizing scallions in her mind.

Weiss and Blake were about to start arguing again, but all four of the Horsemen stepped between them. "Enough! This bickering gets us nowhere." Death told them both.

Fury placed a hand on the heiress' shoulder. "Weiss, I understand your concern, knowing that the boy committed a crime by stowing away on that boat. But considering how we all attacked him and he made no attempt to fight back, I'd say it's clear he meant no harm." She told her.

"But your reactions to the Faunus are simply not normal. This apparent hatred CANNOT be sustained. And it is a very dangerous mindset for you to have. We MUST discuss this." War declared.


And so, the three teams bid their farewells to Penny and returned to Beacon. From there, the Horsemen took one of the two feuding members of team RWBY to a different dorm, with Fury and Strife taking Blake to the Horsemen's dorm while War and Death took Weiss to team RWBY's dorm, while Ruby, Yang and Ben were invited to Team JNPR's dorm. Which is how the two middle Nephilim stood before Blake asks she sat on Fury's bed. "Why are you guys keeping me here? Shouldn't you be talking to Weiss? She's the one with the problem!" Blake complained.

"Okay, not gonna lie, that is true, but you know who else has an issue? The one defending a terrorist organization." Strife said.

"I already said it in town! Their methods are misguided, but they just want what's best for their people!" Blake told them.

"I understand. It's only natural to want what's best for people..." Fury said, walking around behind Blake. "Especially your OWN people." She declared, activating the Stasis Hollow and putting a hand on Blake's shoulder, slowing her movements to a snail's pace, allowing Fury to pull away the bow with one quick movement.

After a moment, the stasis ended and Blake was shocked at what happened, quickly putting her hands on her head and indeed feeling her fluffy cat ears, no longer covered by her bow. She tried to run to the door and escape the situation, but with a wave of their masters' hands, Mayhem and Rampage rose out of the floor and blocked the door. "Whow, whoa, whoa. Blake, chill out!" Strife exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him. "We're your friends. We like you for who you are, so it doesn't matter WHAT you are." He told her, putting his other hand on her other shoulder, looking her deep in her eyes.

Blake was shocked at this, looking at Strife in disbelief. She looked closely at his eyes, but even through the lenses- and despite the fact his eyes are pure white, she saw nothing but sincerity in them. She then looked to Fury to see if her words or expressions would tell a different story. But they only told her the exact same story. "It's as he said, Blake, we are your friends. No one has the right to judge you simply for what you are or what your people may have done. Least of all us." Fury told her.

The Faunus girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's not just what my people have done. It's what I've done." Blake told them. "I was once a member of the White Fang." She told them.

This actually shocked the two Nephilim. "Okay, I saw this going a few ways... That wasn't one of them." Strife admitted.

"My father was actually the founder of the White Fang. After the Faunus War, we were promised equal treatment, but we still faced discrimination and hate. So, my father created a group with like-minded Faunus to be a voice for our people, shine a light on the inequality we were facing and try to gain compassion and understanding from people so we would be treated the same as everyone else." Blake explained, remembering all the times her father had stood up for Faunus being mistreated or taken advantage and how she was with him all that time, trying to do just as much as he did.

"Sounds like a far cry from the White Fang we've seen and heard of." Fury said.

"That's because it was. There were a few in our group, especially a Tiger Faunus named Sienna Khan, who thought my father's ways were too soft and not getting the results they wanted. She was more forceful, pushed back a lot more than my father did and she wasn't afraid to fight people if they didn't give us the treatment we wanted." Blake told them, showing them a few pictures of Sienna on her scroll, including some of her beating people in the streets.

"Yeah, because what better way to stop people treating you like an animal than to attack them like a rabid dog." Strife said sarcastically.

"It was wrong, yes, but it got results. Whenever Sienna got involved in these conflicts, they stopped and people gave us what we wanted. And other members of the group saw that was working and pushed for my father to make that our modus operandi." Blake said, remembering all the times members of the White Fang basically demanded her father take greater actions.

"That would make you nothing more than a violent street gang." Fury said.

"That's what he told them, but they just kept insisting. The worst part... Even I was insisting on it. I even called him a coward and told him he wasn't willing to do what needed to be done." Blake said, starting to tear up a bit.

Strife quickly put a hand on her shoulder and wiped a few tears away as they fell. "Hey, hey, easy now. Why don't you take a break to calm yourself down? Not like we're going anywhere." He suggested, sitting down with her on his bed.

Blake let out a few soft sniffles while trying to compose herself, with Rampage even coming over and nuzzling the girl and allowing her to pet him, finally calming her down enough to continued. "And so, my father saw his people weren't supporting him anymore, so he stepped down, making Sienna the leader to take his place." She explained.

"And thus, the White Fang became what it is now." Fury realized.

Blake nodded. "Protests became violent attacks on places that wouldn't serve us. Boycotts on companies that used cheap Faunus labor turned into setting their stores and factories on fire. But even during all of that, no one was killed. So that's why I stayed. That and because Adam Taurus, who was like a mentor to me, was one of Sienna's closest and most loyal and dedicated supporters." She explained.

"But then something must have changed, right? Otherwise we wouldn't be having this SUPER FUN conversation." Strife said.

"She sent Adam and I on a mission to rob a train full of Dust. From the Schnee Dust Company." Blake began.

"Weiss' company." Fury noted.

"Exactly. We wanted to hit the Schnee's where it hurt the most. Their precious money. We got on the train and found the cargo we were looking for, but then Adam told me to start setting up charges for bombs to destroy the whole train." Blake explained.

"No way that train didn't have some passengers. There had to be people onboard to keep track of the stock and unload it when the time came." Strife said.

"That's what I told him, but he didn't care. That's when I knew we crossed a line, so I left." Blake said.

"Quite the extreme change, fighting humanity for the sake of the Faunus, then joining a school to become a warrior for humanity." Fury said.

"I felt that's what I needed to do. I would be a huntress to right the wrongs I made in the past, stand up for humans and Faunus and make a name for myself to prove that their are Faunus out there who only want what's best for people." Blake explained.

"Hard to do that when people think you're just wearing a bow." Strife pointed out.

"That was the point. I'd build up a reputation first, show people WHO I was instead of WHAT I was. Then, when I gained a following and people accepted me, I would show them I was a Faunus all along, but that wouldn't change everything I'd done for them." She told them.

"But you gained this trust by deceiving them. You would be playing a ruse on them all this time, playing them for fools. So how would they ever trust you again after you reveal to them you'd been lying for YEARS, at minimum?" Fury questioned.

"I..." Blake started, but couldn't think of a response. "I don't know..." She admitted.

Strife put a hand on her shoulder once again. "Hey. It's alright. You started out in a good place, that's what matters. You were just lead astray by people you looked up to and trusted." Strife told her.

"Once again, we know that feeling all too well." Fury added.

"Exactly. But we learned we were in the wrong and so we course-corrected. You did the exact same thing, that's the important part." Strife assured her. "But you've seen what's wrong with the White Fang and, even though you left them for that reason, you're still defending their actions." He pointed out.

"I guess... I just don't want to believe that they're doing what Weiss is accusing them of." She explained.

"But you know what the organization has become and how they operate with force, theft and threat now. Even if it was once a group made by your father, even if it is run by people you admired, you've recognized they are in the wrong. So if they're actions are wrong, you must stop showing them your adoration or support. Because that's exactly what you're doing by defending them, which to them is proof that what they are doing is right if they have people who will stand up for them." Fury told them.

Blake wanted to argue, but once again, she couldn't find any fault in their logic or reasoning. "You're right. I'm sorry." She said, looking down at the floor in shame.

But she looked up when she felt a hand on her should to see Fury smiling at her. "You don't have to apologize. You've done no wrong by us." She assured her.

"Now, Weiss, on the other hand... Yeah, you've done quite a bit of wrong by her. Heck, you were part of a mission to mess with her family's company, you know how much pride she takes in that. I'd say that definitely warrants an apology." Strife told her.

"Ugh. Do I have to? I've basically only given her ammo for her argument." Blake groaned.

"Not to worry, Blake. I have faith Death and War have gotten to the root of Weiss' issues as well." Fury told her.


"I still don't see what the problem here is!" Weiss complained.

"The problem is your attitude towards Faunus in general. You believe them all to be degenerates or criminals who will run off to join terrorists at their first opportunity." Death told her.

"Indeed, yet you seem to forget the Faunus who are trying to do the right thing, who have come to this school to become defenders of humanity. Do you believe Velvet would become a member of the White Fang at any moment?" War questioned.

"What?! No, of course not! You're misunderstanding me completely!" Weiss told them.

"Then why don't you help us to understand?" Death offered.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with our family for years." Weiss declared.

"We're listening..." War softly said.

"It wasn't so bad at first," Weiss continued. "Protests, strikes, union formations and even the occasional threat. There were a few cases of vandalism and even strategic strikes but no one ever got hurt. I didn't mind those because they were peaceful and understandable. I remember one particular protest had gotten a bit violent and a few people got hurt, but the White Fang had apologized."

"I see..." Death nodded. "But then things changed, didn't they?"

Weiss gave a bitter sigh. "Yes. Everything had changed 5 years ago. There were no more peaceful protests and no more apologies. Instead of spray painting and vandalizing company buildings, they blew them up. People were inside. Some of them didn't even work for our company."

"Extremists..." War noted. "It seemed they eventually lost their way."

"I have an older sister, Winter..." Weiss began. "She was always strong and brave but her kindness was her greatest attribute. She was stern true but she was always there to cheer up me and our little brother Whitley if we were scared or sad."

Weiss had a small, almost fond smile, before it slowly dripped away.

"That all changed when the White Fang killed a group of her friends but left her alive."

"Why?" Death asked.

"It was a message. If you were friends with a Schnee you would pay the price. Our beloved Winter was never the same after that. She would put on a brave face for us but we would hear her at night crying or screaming in fright."

Death and War both tensed. They had seen their fair share of cruelties but somehow, it still surprised them.

"I remember one time I was walking down the street and I met a young Faunus on the street tattered in rags and starving. I offered to help her get some food and pay for it. You can imagine my surprise when she tackled me to the ground and tried to bash my head in with a brick," Weiss said with a humorless laugh. "All the while screaming for me to die and her doing it in the name of the White Fang. Later, my father brought me to his private office and revealed he had taken her to be tortured. Whipped her, burned her, branded her with the Schnee Dust Logo...and then made me watch as he took out his prized hunting pistol and shot her in the throat, just so she would bleed out slowly and painfully."

War's eyes narrowed in anger. He was getting a clearer picture of Weiss' home life and it was not setting well with him.

"Over the past five years, we've watched family friends disappear, only to receive a video of them being tortured and killed a few days later. Including the children." Weiss continued, the edge in her voice had returned. "Watching the news to hear about board members being assassinated in their homes. People who I had sometimes seen just the day before or had always been kind to everyone including Faunus."

"They were killing indiscriminately..." Death growled out. "They are acting no better than the animals people decry them as..."

"There was one time when our sister and I helped an old woman cross the street while carrying her groceries to get to the bus stop. We didn't know who she was or anything. She just needed help, didn't even know her name… They sent her head to our front door a week later."

That made War and Death's blood boil. They had slain demons less cruel than the White Fang.

"An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And all of the guards and civilians who were on the train… well they would be found by others when the train arrived. Some of them would be Winter's classmates. Barely out of the academy," Weiss was whispering at this point. "And every day, my father would come home…furious!"

Death placed a hand on the heiress' shoulder and looked at her sympathetically. "It is truly a shame this happened to you, Weiss. Such cruelty should never befall anyone, let alone someone as young as you were for all of this. But even so, sou can't judge all Faunus for the White Fang's crimes. You know there are Faunus out there that wish for nothing but to do good in this world, such as Velvet." The eldest Nephilim told her.

"Or Blake." War declared.

Weiss looked at his incredulously at this. "W-what are you talking about? Blake isn't a Faunus!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, she is. Have you never thought it strange that her bow moves on its own on occasion without her moving her head? Or her extreme fondness for Tuna? Perhaps maybe how eager she can be to catch flies buzzing around her?" Death pointed out.

Weiss slowly put the pieces together, her eyes widening in realization. "How could I have missed something so obvious!?" She cried out. But she then realized something else. "Wait. So you've known this already and you're only now telling me!?" She demanded.

"We've known from the first time we saw her. We saw her bow twitching as we approached her and Yang in the Emerald forest and we knew something must be beneath it. But we said nothing to respect her privacy." War explained.

"But then, why would she hide this from me?" Weiss questioned.

"After how you've responded to the monkey boy from earlier today, as well as seeing how Cardin's treated Velvet, you still need to ask that?" Death questioned.

The heiress was shocked and slightly horrified at this realization. "She's been hiding who she really is since she's been here at Beacon... Because she's afraid of how people would treat her if she were to show her true self. And I've only added onto her reasons to hide it." She said, guilt starting to weigh heavily on her, looking to the floor in shame.

But Death lifted her chin to look him in the eye. "You've done things that have most likely hurt her. But they came from a place of traumatic experiences, not genuine malice. And you've seen the error of your ways now. Now you must talk with her, tell her what you've told us and listen to her side of the story. That is the only way you will be able to understand each other and move on from this disagreement to repair the rift you've started to place between yourselves." Death told her, all while War had been messaging Strife on his scroll.

After a knock on the door, War opened the door to allow Blake and the middle Horsemen into the dorm. "Dammit, War. Were you texting with your big, fake paw? I could barely make out what you were saying." Strife complained, pulling out his scroll to reread the message. "'bvnreoung Bvlkaskle hjewrtew'." He read the text War had sent him, what should have been a simple message reading "Bring Blake here" now unintelligible due to the extra letters accidentally pressed by War's giant gauntlet.

"Regardless. Say what you must to each other." Fury told the two, gently pushing Blake towards Weiss, before the Horsemen backed away into another corner of the room.

Blake and Weiss both sat on the heiress' bed, looking at each other, unsure of what to say. But after a few moments, Weiss simply took a deep breath and decided to speak. "I'm sorry." She admitted, surprisingly Blake somewhat and gaining her full attention, which she took as a sign to continue speaking. "I know I shouldn't have treated that Faunus boy like that, or assumed he or any other random Faunus would just join the White Fang. Especially now that I know you are one." She told her, shocking Blake as the one person she had hoped wouldn't learn her secret now knew it. "And... It's POSSIBLE that I might have been SLIGHTLY too harsh on the White Fang, but it comes from a place of terrible, painful personal experiences with them and Faunus that support them, as well as how their criminal actions had a negative effect on my father, which in turn had a negative effect on my childhood. I lost personal friends because of them, my sister's been forever scarred by their actions and I've seen things I'll never forget as long as I live because of them. But that still doesn't give me the right to speak about all Faunus as harshly as I did." She explained.

Blake was shocked at this. She knew the SDC was one of the primary targets of the White Fang and they aimed to hurt the Schnee's in any way possible, but she had always assumed they had only caused them financial pain, MAYBE a bit of excess stress at worst. But seeing Weiss say what she just said, no hint of exaggeration or drama in her voice, as well as her shedding genuine tears, told her that every word the heiress spoke was true.

So, she took her own breath and prepared to tell her side of the story. "I... I'm sorry, too, Weiss. I just wanted to stand up for Faunus because it's what I've been doing my whole life. And I wanted to defend the White Fang because, just like you, I have personal experiences with them, but mine were almost all good ones." She explained, leaving Weiss shocked. "My father started the organization back when it was a group of peaceful protests. Then, I followed when the group became a violent one because it was getting results and I didn't think people were getting SERIOUSLY hurt. But then I was on a mission that would've cost SO many people's lives and I finally saw what the organization had become, so I left. But I still had hope that there was some good in the organization and they wouldn't just senselessly kill or hurt people or cause such terrible crimes like the one at the Dust Shop. But after all I've seen and heard, I know it's too much to believe that they're innocent or doing nothing wrong. I should've opened my eyes to it a long time ago and been aware of the people we've hurt. So I'm sorry." She said.

Weiss had slid a bit further away from Blake at the reveal she had been part of the White Fang, but gripped her bed sheets tightly to prevent herself from getting up and storming out or even attacking Blake. But she took some deep breaths and allowed saner heads to prevail. "That's... Quite a bit to take in." She admitted, before looking deeply and hardly into Blake's eyes. "But you said you're not with them anymore?" She questioned.

Blake leaned back a bit at the glare, but kept a resolute look on her face. "Yes. I've severed all ties with them and I never plan on returning to them." She confirmed.

"Well, then... I can't say I'm happy with all this, but I will accept your word and trust what you have just told me." Weiss said. Then, after a moment, the two of them shared a hug.

Upon hearing some noises from just outside the door, Fury lashed out her whip at the door handle, turning it and pulling the door open, causing Ruby, Yang and Team JNPR to fall to the floor inside the dorm. They all groaned at this, but then looked up in shock at Blake and Weiss standing over them sternly. "Oh, hey. You guys made up! I'm so happy for you!" Ruby said, giggling nervously.


After that, everything soon settled down and everyone returned to their own dorm. "Man, talk about a crazy day. All that could've been an episode of Dr. Hill or something." Strife said, referring to an overly dramatic talk/therapy show Ren had shown him.

"And there's still more to the story, brother. You've heard Weiss say she had personal experiences with the White Fang, but you didn't hear the details. So here they are." War began, before explaining Weiss' story to the middle Horsemen.

Once again, to say they were shocked was an understatement. And to say they were furious was the understatement of the century. "Such miserable cowards. Even the sins and their mind games weren't as horrible as what the White Fang has done to that girl." Fury said angrily, the Flame Hollow having activated in her anger, the flames practically engulfing her.

"Indeed. We are four who hunt down and smite the wicked. And I can think of few more deserving than the White Fang." War declared.

"But let's not act like Weiss' father is innocent in all this. I've done some research on the guy and, besides being a Grade-A racist, he business strategy made Hall Mart back on Earth seem like saints in comparison. He runs any competition he has out of business and makes money by barely paying his workers anything. And the conditions he's got them working under is BARELY better than slavery." Strife said.

"Indeed. There had to have been a root cause to make the White Fang take such drastic measures. And I can think of no better root for such hatred and anger than that man. The White Fang will pay for their crimes, but his will most certainly not be overlooked as well." Death declared.


A/N: Man, that was intense! Props to Knightmare Lord for the more darker and edgier additions to Weiss' backstory, as well as making Jacques Schnee feel like an actual threat. And, of course, the blossoming romance between Ben and Penny. I know some people weren't happy with the introduction of an OC, but thanks to him, Penny will have a bigger role in the series moving forward. And that's definitely something to look forward to!