A few days later, Vale was beginning to set up for the Vytal Festival. Teams LEMO and CMSN were in town, as they'd finished up with classes for the day.

"Why are we spending the afternoon at the docks?" Cinder asked.

Neo pinched her nose in disgust. "It smells like fish here." She said via her Scroll.

"I heard that students from Haven were arriving and wanted to welcome a close friend of mine when she and her team arrived." Lapis said and kept her eyes on the ships from Mistral.

"And scout out the competition." Ember muttered to Onyx.

"I heard that and don't entirely disagree with you."

Soon enough, Lapis saw four girls walking and smiled when she saw a girl with what looked like scaly skin, gray eyes and brown hair in a ponytail.

She pulled out her Scroll and opened her messages to the girl. "Look at the rail." She typed up then sent it to her. The girl looked at her Scroll then looked at the railing and smiled when she spotted Lapis. She ran past her teammates to her and the two hugged each other.

"Come here to welcome me?" She asked.

"Of course, Ilia. Why wouldn't I?" Lapis said then turned to her friends. "This is Ilia. She's the friend I mentioned." She said, signing to Magenta.

Ember extended her hand first. "I'm Ember, one of Lapis' teammates." She said as the two shook hands while Ilia's team arrived.

"Salutations, everyone!" The girl with bright green eyes said with a smile. "My name's Penny!"

Magenta looked at Lapis as she translated.

"I'm Cinder." Cinder said.

"My name's Emerald." Emerald said.

"Mercury." Mercury said.

"People usually call me Neo." The speaker from Neo's Scroll said.

"I'm Magenta." Magenta said/signed.

"I'm Onyx." Onyx said.

Ilia and Penny's teammates introduced themselves as Carmine Esclados and Amethyst Watts, Teams CMSN and LEMO turned to the fourth member of Team CPIA (Sepia).

"Dr. Watts never mentioned anything about a daughter." Cinder said.

Amethyst and Penny turned to each other but Penny shook her head before Amethyst turned to the other two teams. "I'm...not exactly a girl who was born...so much as I was built. I'm a synthetic person who can generate an Aura."

Penny immediately became nervous and Onyx picked up on it.

"...You're the same thing...aren't you?" Onyx asked and Penny immediately grew more nervous, giving herself away.

"How did you know that?" The orange haired girl asked.

"You and Amethyst aren't the only... unique girls here. I'm a hybrid of Faunus...and Grimm."

Team CPIA were shocked to learn this before Carmine smiled softly. "We'll keep your secret, Onyx. Right, girls?" She asked, getting affirming replies.

Onyx smiled and nodded in thanks.

Ilia turned to a nearby Dust shop with crime scene tape on it as the three teams walked to it.

"There's been a string of robberies here in Vale lately." Lapis said to Team CPIA.

The twelve first years heard mention of the White Fang and Ilia tensed up.

"The White Fang. A bunch of scum." Emerald sneered.

"What's with you?" Lapis asked.

"I have no care for insane criminals."

"They aren't psychopaths. They're misguided Faunus."

"They want humanity extinct."

"Then they're very misguided. But that doesn't explain why they'd rob a Dust shop in downtown."

"She's right. Maybe this was the Black Rose gang. They've been behind a lot of the robberies." Cinder said

"That's doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are scum. They lie, steal, cheat, and kill." Emerald said, unaware of Lapis getting angry.

"...I used to be a member." Ilia revealed and all eyes turned to her. "But I left. High Leader Belladonna's been hunting me since."

"She'd heard about my heroics and said I'd inspired her to leave the White Fang." Lapis said.

"One good apple doesn't excuse the bad ones!" Emerald said.

"Argh! You are a stubborn brat!" Lapis snapped then marched away.

Emerald and Lapis got into a heated argument that went on into the night in Team LEMO's dorm. Team CPIA were already set up in their dorm for the night.

"I don't see the problem!" Emerald said.

"That's the problem!" Lapis said.

"You're defending a terrorist organization that want to wipe out humanity! They're pure evil!"

"Pure evil is not a real thing! Discriminatory people like you and the Malachite Twins are why the White Fang takes such extreme measures!"

"I'm not discriminatory! I'm a victim! The White Fang slaughtered my entire village when I was a little girl! I'm the only one who survived! Face it, Lapis! The White Fang are liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"WELL, MAYBE WE'D HAD ENOUGH OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!" Lapis shouted.

The entire room was silent as everyone looked at Lapis in shock before the silver eyed girl bolted out of the room.

"Lapis, wait!" Cinder called, but their friend was already gone.

Emerald looked down in guilt.

Lapis ran until she was in front of the statue in the courtyard. Once there, she sniffled as she slowly took her helmet off to reveal wolf ears on her head while she cried on her knees.

"I take it they know now?" A voice said and Lapis turned to loom behind her with a small smile.

A couple days later, Magenta looked at her leader's empty bed and sighed. "Now I'm officially worried..." She whispered to herself.

Ember and Onyx took notice and were equally worried.

"This is bad, girls." Ember said, signing to Magenta.

"She's been gone all weekend." Ember said as she, her teammates, and Teams CMSN and CPIA walked through Vale.

Emerald kept her eyes to the ground and Onyx put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "None of us knew she was part of the White Fang. We'll find her and you can apologize to her then."

Emerald just nodded.

Sitting down at a cafe, Lapis had a cup of tea in her hands as she sipped it...with Ilia sitting across from her.

"Illy...there's something about me you need to know." Lapis said.

That's chapter nine

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