RWBY: Team DUSK

by HolyKnightX

Hailing from the four kingdoms, four aspiring huntsmen with different pasts, ideals, and goals enrolls into Beacon Academy. These four huntsmen-in-training finds themselves on the same team and living under the same roof as one another. Does this new team have what it takes to unite with one another as friends, allies, or even the family that one another needs?

27. Black and White

Welcome to the next chapter of RWBY: Team DUSK, before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:

altajir95: Thanks. Yep, this time it's all about the situation regarding Blake's background and leading down to the end of Volume 1, in canon. I'll be sure that it's a good one.

---

Black and White

Elsewhere, the members of Team RWBY were out scouring for their missing teammate, knowing the members of Team DUSK were aiding them. But, none of them were aware that Daniel was aware of Blake's current location at the moment. Nonetheless, the trio of young women continue with their search for their missing partner, with the utmost intent on finding her today.

""Blaaaake!""

Both Ruby and Yang were shouting out loud, hoping that Blake would be capable of hearing her, attributed to the fact that she might have heightened hearing too.

"Blaaaaaaaake! Where aaaare yoooouuuu!?"

"Blake!"

"Weiiiiss, you're not helping!"

Noticing that Weiss wasn't helping, or more from the fact that she wasn't screaming with them and looking visibly worried. Though, on the inside, she was worried about what was happening with Blake herself, but didn't show it on the outside.

"Oh! Do you know what might be able to help? The police!"

"Ugh, Weiss…."

Ruby replied to Weiss' suggestion while crossing her arms visibly irritated.

"I didn't mean it like that," Weiss replied, crossing her arms herself and matching her partner. "I mean that the police might be more help in finding Blake. Instead of running around town and screaming hoping that she'd hear us again. I walked around town with you two for two days over the weekend and we kept the same routine."

"Yeah, maybe. But, we have Team DUSK helping us too."

Ruby countered.

"I doubt that Sandra would go around screaming Blake's name."

Weiss stated.

"Be that as it may," Yang stated, following behind Ruby and turning to Weiss. "I think that Blake might even take it the wrong way if we involve the police in this. So, I think that we should find Blake and hear her side of the story before jumping to further conclusions. Dani said it himself too."

"Humph, you're right. But, I don't think that I'm prepared for that."

Weiss stated, saying the last part under her breath.

"Well, I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"

Suddenly, a new or familiar voice caught their attention as the three young women turned around to find Penny right behind Weiss. Each of them had stepped back surprised about the sudden appearance of the ginger-haired young woman from Atlas making a sudden appearance.

"Aaaah! Penny! Where did you come from!?"

"Hey guys! What are you up to?"

Penny seemed to be too happy to notice the question about where she came from and instead wanted to know what her 'new friend' was up to.

"Uhh…."

Ruby almost didn't know what to say with Penny's optimism, which almost surpassed hers.

"We're looking for our friend Blake."

Yang decided to assist Ruby and stated.

"Ooooh, you mean the Faunus girl?!"

Penny stated, recalling Blake and bringing up the fact that she was a Faunus, something which caused the three young women to stare at the young woman surprised.

"Wait, how did you know that?"

"Uhh, the cat ears?"

Penny replied to Yang's question, then noticed the ginger pointing at the top of her head.

"What cat ears? She wears a…booooowww…."

At first, Yang looked amused about that comment but then realized that the black bow must' be the obvious way of hiding cat ears. At that realization from the three young women who were rooming with Blake, but never came to that truth, in the silence a tumbleweed seemed to blow passed them.

"She does like tuna a lot…."

Ruby whispered to Yang and Weiss, both of whom agreed with that.

"And she did seem the most excited after Dani made that fish meal."

Yang added, recalling that incident too.

"So, where is she?"

Penny asked, seeming curious about the incident itself.

"We don't know. She's been missing since Friday."

"That's terrible," Penny asked, then approached Ruby, who looked uncomfortable. "Well, don't you worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammate!"

"Uh, that's nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Really! Right, guys?"

Again looking uncomfortable, Ruby looked back toward her older sister and partner but found that both of them left the area without informing her. Again, a tumbleweed blew right passed them from the silence in that instance, further signifying the situation.

"It sure is windy today!"

Penny stated, looking unfazed by the situation, unaware of the situation concerning Team RWBY.

---

At around the same time, Blake and Sun looked surprised to find Daniel sitting there at the same table as them. It wasn't within Blake's expectation that one of her friends would find her considering this wasn't one of the spots their groups frequented.

"Daniel, how did you find me here?"

Blake decided to ask that question first.

"Hm, well, I don't tend to do this," Daniel pointed out, seeming to be more honest about that comment. "But if I see a friend of mine making that face, then desperate times come for desperate measures."

"What does that…?"

Before Blake could finish, Daniel pointed at her wrist, causing her to notice and look as if runes could be seen right on them. She then came to realize that it was the same wrist that he grabbed onto before escaping from him via her Semblance, Shadow.

"Sorry, about that. I'll be taking it off now."

Daniel apologized, then made a gesture with his fingers as the runes faded off Blake. If it was anyone else, then it would've been doubtful that it was gone, but seeing as this was Daniel, she decided to believe it.

"So, you knew where I was the entire time."

"Yeah, as long as you didn't do something like leaving Vale, then I wouldn't have been able to find you. It's a pretty nifty rune when it comes to finding people and things people stole from me. And I know that it's also really creepy to have something that makes it possible to track you."

"Just a little bit, but I get how that kind of power is nifty to have."

Sun agreed, leaning forward as his tail picked up his teacup and drank from it.

"You didn't try to come and bring me back to Beacon."

Blake stated, doing the same thing, and found herself drinking from the tea in her cup.

"I get wanting to be alone for a bit. And thinking about whatever is troubling you," Daniel stated leaning back. "I get that there are people that would want to be your support in difficult times. But, some things are difficult for you to talk about and might need a lot of time before feeling as if you're feeling strong enough to talk."

"…yeah."

Blake couldn't give another response aside from that, almost glad that Daniel could understand that.

It wasn't that surprising considering the things that Daniel went through, at least, most of which were whatever their group was aware of. As if reading the air between them, Sun found himself standing right up from his seat, then a bright smile could be seen on his face.

"Alright, I'm going to head off to the bathroom."

Sun declared, then started walking from the air.

"What a considerate person, despite not even knowing him for even a week."

Daniel stated, wearing a smile which was something that Blake could agree with.

"…yeah. I can tell that he's one of the nosiest people that I've ever made too," Blake pointed out, seeming to finish drinking her tea. "So, knowing the situation, I can imagine that Weiss and the others talked about what happened after I left the dorms."

"To some extent, none of them mentioned much. But, then it clicked that it might have had something to do with the fact they found out you were a Faunus. Of course, immediately after that I said that I knew, I suffered from a typical torture and interrogation session from those three," Daniel explained, causing Blake to listen to whatever happened, but then found him beginning to sulk. "They were so mean to me without you around, Blake. Especially Weiss and Ruby. I didn't do anything aside from finding out that someone I was close to was a Faunus. But, I guess that's what I get for playing detective."

"…Daniel."

Blake almost tried stopping herself from laughing at the thought of Daniel being under the thumbs of Weiss and Ruby of all people. It made her think that Yang found herself laughing the entire time before recovering. Right in that instance, Daniel could see that Blake wasn't in the right mood for jokes, no matter how well-intentioned.

"Yeah, but I guess that this isn't the time for my typical sense of humor, right?"

Daniel asked, leaning his chin against his hand.

"Right," Blake agreed, wanting to have a causal laugh, but realized that the situation was too serious for different reasons. "So, seeing as this is you we're talking about. You figured something out for yourself, Daniel."

"Yeah, though if you promise not to mention this to the others," Daniel stated, finding himself scared of telling the members of Team RWBY he figured out their secret in moments. "Well, if it was simply you revealing yourself as a Faunus, then that might've caused you to run from the dorms. But, the reactions from Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were too serious and unsure. If it was simply finding out you were a Faunus, then it would've been different. Kinda the same as telling a friend a secret you never shared with them. They'll feel awkward about it at first but then come around to it. But, Ruby and Yang didn't know what to talk about when I asked. And Weiss was a little bit emotional about it. So, considering the situation, I came to one conclusion."

"…."

Blake didn't utter a word, instead knowing what that conclusion was and could understand the reasons that were behind it.

"You were a part of the White Fang. Being a Faunus is one thing, but to Weiss, the White Fang is more or less one of her deep-seated triggers."

"Yeah, that's right," Blake replied, finding herself leaning forward with a complicated look. "I told Sun about it just before you got here. But, I don't know how much you heard. Do you want me to tell you too?"

"Maybe during our next book talk. I know that saying something for the second time might seem a little bit nerve-wracking," Daniel stated, with Blake surprised that he was thinking about having a 'book talk' despite how serious it was for a former White Fang member to be in Beacon Academy. "Trust me, if it's about you being a part of the White Fang, I highly doubt that our sarcastic, but silent black cat is violent. I mean, aside from the time she…."

Kick!

Underneath the table, Blake had kicked Daniel's knee, while wearing an unamused look, causing him to flinch as his face scrunched up.

"Yep, that's about it."

"You were asking for that one," Blake stated, crossing her arms and staring at Daniel with a deadpan look. "Daniel, you don't have an issue with me being a former member of the White Fang."

"Blake, the White Fang didn't start as a militant group. It started as an organization meant to spread peace between Humans and Faunus, which continued until things seemed to reach a crossroads. In situations like that, it would have sparked internal conflict. But, even after the White Fang changed, I can imagine that you still saw that there might be something that you could do to hold onto what it represented. An organization of Fauns, who just wanted to be recognized as equals."

Hearing Daniel's words didn't hold falsehood or attempts at making her feel better in this situation. However, all those words affected Blake, who felt nerves being calmed down.

"Thanks for that Daniel."

"Besides, I'm not in any position to condemn anyone for making decisions that don't particularly adhere to the rules of society. Plus, when it might concern the actions of certain Faunus I happen to be related to," Daniel said, then moved on himself. "Also, I don't know if you noticed this, but I make a habit of breaking rules."

"Oh, I never would've thought that THE Daniel Norden is someone who breaks the rules."

Blake sarcastically stated, having a laugh at that moment, being one of the few moments where she could forget about the situation in question.

"This is nice and all, but I don't know what to do in regards to Weiss, Ruby, and Yang."

"I don't think that you'll need to be worried about that. Did you think they wouldn't be out looking for you?"

"No, I mean. I thought…no, it sounds like them. But, I wouldn't know what to tell them…. I left without even saying a thing to them. And I wouldn't know what to say to them…and Weiss."

"Hm, well, I think you're underestimating your teammates a bit. None of them are as shortsighted as a lot of the people you'd meet anywhere else. All of them are just worried about you. You don't have to tell them every single thing immediately, but just tell them what you're feeling."

"You make it sound so easy, but I'll take that advice," Blake stated, finding herself feeling more content in talking with Daniel. She then looked to notice the bag that Daniel was carrying around. "Also, what's in the bag."

"Oh, this. I thought that you haven't been eating much or haven't had a decent meal lately. So, I brought lunch for you and Sun."

Blake looked surprised about that, not being able to smell what was inside of the box for some reason. But, the thought of eating one of Daniel's meals made her look forward to whatever was inside.

"Daniel, you didn't have to."

"Yeah, but I wanted to," Daniel stated, noticing the time, and stood up from his seat. "Well, I don't want to keep Sun in the 'bathroom' any longer. And besides, I don't think that you're quite mentally prepared to deal with both of our personalities at the same time. So, I'll be going to do what Daniel Norden does."

As Daniel was standing up from his seat, he stopped as he felt Blake grabbing onto his hand and causing him to look towards her. He could then see the genuine look of appreciation on her face, almost as if she wasn't used to the amount of support she was receiving in that instance.

"Daniel, thank you. I truly do appreciate this more than you'd ever know."

"Don't mention it. That is what friends are for."

Daniel returned Blake's truly appreciative smile with a kind smile of his own. Realizing that both of them right now was pretty much holding hands, Blake's face turned red as she retrieved hers and allowed Daniel to head off. As soon as a minute of calming herself down passed, Sun ended up returning from the 'bathroom'.

"Well, that must've been one long talk. Oh, what's this?"

Sun pointed out, returning to his seat to find the two bags in front of them.

"It's some food that Daniel prepared for us."

"Oh, wow! That's awesome of him! I thought that guy was thoughtful the moment we met!"

Sun was looking forward to the free meal in front of them, finding that the two items inside them were a box and a lidded bowl, both of which had their names on them. Blake took the box, whereas Sun took the bowl, then opened them up to discover a pleasant sight. For Blake, it was sushi and for Sun, it was homemade ramen, both of which matched their tastes.

"I never thought that I could be so happy to know someone that I met while running from some cops."

Sun stated happily.

"…."

Blake couldn't utter a single word, instead being solely focused on the sushi in front of her, almost as if none of her previous worries mattered.

During the meal brought to them by Daniel, Sun soon noticed that there was a small note added to the bag that contained the individual containers. Not knowing what it was about and wanting to finish their meals, he decided to leave it for later. For now, both the Faunus, who met one another after the start of the weekend enjoyed their meals with a content look.

---

Elsewhere, the duo consisting of Weiss and Yang continued with their search for Blake through far more subtler methods. Neither of them was mad at the other for having the same idea of leaving the new girl that their team met to her 'new best friend'. As Weiss was waiting outside one of the book shops, which Blake seemed to be a frequent customer of. Inside the shop, Yang was talking to the store owner, who seemed to have shaken his head in response.

"Thanks anyway," Yang called out while waving at the store owner. On the inside, she found herself having yet another disappointing find. "This is hopeless."

As Yang said that, she looked to find that Weiss was standing around in the same position, nearly looking around with a casual look. Despite the situation, both she and Ruby were worried about Blake, but it seemed as if Weiss wasn't concerned at all.

"You don't care if we find her, do you?"

Yang asked, staring at Weiss.

"Don't be stupid. Of course, I care about finding Blake, no different from you and Ruby," Weiss replied, showing her teammate a more emotional look. Almost feeling as if the accusations that she didn't care about Blake at all were a bitter pill. "I'm afraid of what she'll say when we find her. I got to know Blake during our time together as a team. I might've reacted differently if it was just the fact that Blake was a Faunus. I have some deep-seated feelings for the White Fang. But, I got to know more about Blake since we first met. But, I experienced painful memories due to the White Fang. And those two things are making my feelings towards this situation complicated."

"Complicated, huh?"

Yang asked, finding herself thinking about the amount of time she heard the word: 'complicated' from Daniel and even Weiss from time to time.

"What does that mean?"

Noticing the oddness of that particular comment, Weiss found herself staring at Yang, almost noticing that there was some other meaning behind it.

"While you were taking a shower, Ruby and I talked to Dani about what he thought about the situation concerning Blake," Yang started, as Weiss listened with interest. "We thought that despite liking Dani so much, you never met or mentioned his dad before. And apparently, his brother isn't a part of the conversation."

"…."

Hearing that Weiss made a complicated look, then turned around.

"See, there's that look," Yang pointed out, getting in front of Weiss. "Weiss, I get that you could have complicated feelings towards the White Fang for what happened. But, I mean, Daniel told us all the time that the team that his mom, dad, aunt, and guardian were a part of was one of the best teams to have ever graduated from Atlas. So, I don't know the reason that you would feel complicated around him."

"You…wouldn't…," Weiss looked as if talking about that particular incident wasn't something that she could talk of without some kind of permission. "It's…complicated."

"Well, we haven't made much progress in finding Blake. So, please tell me."

Yang said, looking straight at her teammate and partner's older sister, who showed a determined, but concerned expression on her face. Thinking about the situation and feelings building up within her chest, Weiss decided to take yet another step in sharing her feelings. After that, deciding that simply standing around wouldn't be the best option for this personal talk, the duo decided to walk as the civilians' numbers dwindled.

"Daniel and I talked last night after I finished showering. He was right, I never had a good opinion about Faunus, because of the White Fang. I never met one, but never thought there could ever be a good Faunus. But, then I met Daniel, who talked about his dad. There wasn't a child in Altas who never talked about Team NOIR, the best team to become Huntsmen and everyone Atlesian Huntsmen's role models. But because Richard Fenris was a Faunus, despite being Natalia's partner, I never heard much about him until I met Daniel," Weiss started, thinking about those talks from childhood. "Daniel talked about his training, getting disciplined, and his cooking. To be honest, I was a little bit jealous. Even the times he'd talked about his brother, he seemed to like the fact the two could spar with one another. Daniel just seemed so happy. It even made me think that maybe there were good Faunus."

Yang listened to Weiss as she spoke about what happened in the past, which sparked these complicated feelings concerning her thoughts on Daniel's father. She could tell that it was going to get more serious based on the expression on Weiss' face.

"But, everything changed after Natalia's death, Daniel's life started changing too fast. His dad stopped their training, barely talked, and became reclusive. It reached the point where Daniel took care of things in his stead, he cleaned up and even ensured he'd eat," Weiss revealed, causing Yang to pause as that sounded almost too close to home for her. "Please don't take that the wrong way. I could never blame his father for that. He lost his partner and the mother of his child. No one should ever blame him. Daniel never lost his smile and one day said that Richard recovered enough to talk more. It was even possible that they could start training again."

Despite the story sounding as if it were getting better, Yang knew better than that considering that this was all leading to the worse part.

"But, that was almost over four years ago. And then after that person almost killed Daniel, his dad disappeared."

Weiss revealed, causing Yang to look stunned about that.

"…what?"

Yang asked, stunned about whether or not.

"Some time after that person almost killed Daniel, Richard left. Daniel hasn't heard from him since. It was the second time that I saw him when Daniel was in the hospital. And as far as I know, it was the last time anyone saw ever him," Weiss said, getting emotional in that instance. "I don't know the reason. Seeing what happened, I'd imagined that he'd gone after whoever did it. But, he left Daniel behind in the process. Daniel always helps everyone. Daniel is always there for everyone. But, who was supposed to be there for him? That never crossed the minds of people like me and his cousins, who became almost dependent on him until he was gone."

Standing there, Yang could hear that Weiss felt strongly about this, and upon hearing that she could understand a lot of those feelings. She couldn't help thinking about the circumstances behind her family. After Summer Rose, Ruby's mother whom Yang believed to be her mother died, her father suffered an emotional breakdown. And her biological mother for whatever reason left behind her family. But, even in that situation, Yang and Ruby had a father, and even their uncle looking out for them.

Having said those words out loud for herself, Weiss almost felt as if that knot in her stomach was loosening up a bit. It was among the things that became something that remained in the heiress' mind for the longest time, but it wasn't something that she could share. But, having told someone about it, even in this situation almost felt as if a weight was released.

"That was a long time ago, but talking about it made me feel better. But, none of that matters now," Weiss stated, then turned around to face Yang with a more emotional look, which showed off more of what she was feeling in that instance. "Let's find Blake, alright? And we'll hear her out."

"Right."

Agreeing with that, Yang and Weiss continued with their search for Blake. But, what she heard from Weiss was something that remained on the blonde's mind. There were several things that she felt as if Daniel and she had in common, but hearing about this cemented that feeling.

---

In another location, Ruby found herself walking around the populated streets with her new self-proclaimed friend, Penny. Despite finding the situation, she found herself talking about the situation with the orange-haired girl who already knew that Blake was a Faunus. However, as with Daniel, she left off the fact that Blake was a part of the White Fang. However, explaining the situation to Penny seemed to have been wearing on the black-haired girl's mind and emotions.

"So, Blake is your friend?"

"Yes, Penny."

Ruby replied while sighing as the two walked down the sidewalk.

"But you're mad at her?"

"Yes. Well, I'm not. Weiss is."

"Is she friends with Blake?"

At Penny's question, Ruby couldn't come up with a response as from their conversation from before, it was kinda a hard question to say yes to.

"Well, that's kind of up in the air right now…."

"But, why?"

Penny asked again.

It was an odd conversation, for Ruby, it sounded almost as if Penny was trying to learn about the entire situation, almost as if everything was a new experience. However, she wasn't one to speak because if she were in the same position, the same questions would be on her mind too.

"Well, you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was…."

"…." Penny gasped, placing her hands in front of her mouth. "Is she a man?"

Hearing that question, Ruby almost burst out laughing much to the surprise of Penny, who didn't understand the reason she was laughing. To her, it sounded to be an honest and reasonable question. Ruby soon calmed down after a couple of seconds and then turned to Penny.

"No! No, Penny. She's…." Ruby replied, before switching to a somewhat more somber look. "I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off."

"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

Penny said in a sad, then switched to a more upbeat tone.

"Me too…."

Ruby agreed, finding that to be something that she wanted Team RWBY to do together.

Things proceeded well enough, there were some rocky steps down the line, but together their team steadily became what seemed to be a close-knit group. She didn't know what would happen if either of them reunited with Blake, but neither of them could leave her alone without hearing her reasons.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask this question before. But, I was so happy that I made my first friend here that I had never got to ask it."

Penny stated cheerfully, catching Ruby's attention.

"What was that?"

"Do you all know someone named Daniel Norden?"

Penny asked, causing Ruby to stop for a moment.

"Eh?"

"Oh, Daniel Norden. I don't know his current measurements, but I believe he would be a little taller than me," Penny thinking that Ruby didn't know him, inched her hand around the same height as Daniel. "He has black hair, and silver eyes, and wears a silver necklace. And…."

"Wait, wait wait! I know Daniel! But, how do you know, Daniel?!"

"Oh, that's wonderful! You do know him!"

Penny seemed to have been happy that Ruby did know Daniel.

"Yeah, Daniel is one of the first people that I met here and became one of my best friends," Ruby stated, wearing a faint smile, but was surprised that Penny knew him. "But, how do you know him?"

"Oh, my father is a well-respected scientist who also runs a shop in Mantle, where Daniel apprenticed. I heard it started as a school project, but Daniel kept coming back. I heard Daniel helped around since no one else worked there and learned about engineering. My father was almost always impressed by his imagination whenever it came to designing some inventions. He was a real huge help in my dad's shop."

"I can imagine that. Daniel does seem like the type to help someone out when he doesn't have to," Ruby said, but then thought about the designs of Daniel's weapons. "It explains the reason why Daniel's weapons look so well-made and awesome. I didn't think that he apprenticed at a scientist's shop."

"Oh, there was this one where Daniel thought of making an exoskeleton for soldiers to wear. I often look at the blueprint Daniel drew up in my father's office."

Penny pointed out, something which caused Ruby's eyes to sparkle and marvel at the imagination of such a thing being created. She was always someone who loved comic books and thinking about such a thing was almost as if it would be the greatest weapon.

"That sounds awesome," Ruby enthusiastically exclaimed, imagining that. "So, why did you never meet Daniel? I'm surprised you never met one another if he was that close to your dad."

"Oh, um. I was a rather sick child and never went outside much. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I could go out and start training," Penny immediately replied, almost as if that was a line rehearsed. "…*hiccup*."

For some reason or another Penny hiccuped after saying those lines.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I don't have that much experience with talking to people. So, I read whatever book that I could about talking to people and making friends. But, Dad said that Daniel was a great person who would want to be my friend. So, I learned as much about him as I possibly could."

"Oh, like what?"

"He is the son of Natalia Norden, Atlas' Golden Child, and Richard Fenris, Mantle's Monster."

"So, that's what his parents were called?"

"His birthday is on March 21, making him an Aries."

"That's awesome. I didn't know when his birthday was. I think we'll…."

"But, he was particularly born approximately at midnight on the dot as a home birth."

"Penny, how do you know that?"

Ruby glanced at Penny confused about the fact that she managed to find out that information.

"He weighed about seven pounds."

"Uh, Penny."

"He was a universal blood type of O negative."

"Penny, you're starting to scare me."

Ruby pointed out, thinking about the fact that Penny knew all this information about Daniel, which wasn't the kind normal people should be privy to. If anything, then it would be more or less confidential information, which makes it a little frightening she would have access to it. That conversation lasted for almost a minute or two with Ruby still walking right next to Penny, who seemed to have finished.

"And that's about it when it comes to what I know about Daniel," Penny stated almost proudly about it, with Ruby not knowing what to do or say in that instance. So, what do you think, Ruby?"

"I think that I know some stuff about Daniel that I don't think I should know. I thought that knowing that he used to have bad handwriting was the weirdest thing."

As they walked, Ruby almost forgot what she was doing in the first place. But, their conversation seemed to have calmed her down a bit, which was surprising considering how Penny acted in some instances. It all did as if Penny wasn't used to interacting with people, but sounded as if she was trying her hardest to fit in. And that alone was a reminder of what Ruby went through when she tried interacting with Blake.

"Hey, Penny…."

"…."

As the two walked, Ruby called out the orange-haired girl but looked to find Penny looked a little nervous.

"Hey, Penny. Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yes, I'm perfectly fine…*hiccup*."

"Are you sure about that?"

Ruby wasn't aware that the whole hiccuping thing was a telltale that Penny wasn't being the most honest about something.

"Um, well, I was just thinking."

"About?"

Ruby asked, wondering what was wrong considering how nervous Penny was looking in that instance, even while messing around with her fingers. Since the first time that they met, Penny held the upmost excitable air but now looked genuinely concerned.

"Well, I'm a little nervous and worried about meeting Daniel."

"How come?"

"I mean, I heard a lot about him. And I'm happy that there's someone that my dad has such a high opinion of. But, I don't know whether or not Daniel would think I'm weird and won't like me."

As Penny spoke about her concerns about meeting Daniel at some point, Ruby could hear that those feelings about it were all honest. If that wasn't enough, she could see the nervousness practically on the orange-haired girl's face, while she continued messing around her with fingers. Noticing such a thing reminded Ruby of the first time that she was worried about not being able to make friends at Beacon.

"I don't think so. I've gotten to know Daniel and I can confidently say there aren't many things that he dislikes," Ruby stated with strong belief, going off all that she knew about Daniel. "I mean, aside from bullies, boring things, Team CRDL, burning food, our tickle torture, and clowns. Besides, I can't imagine Daniel not liking you. I often hear him saying he likes cute and awkward girls, whether or not he's teasing them. Wait, was that directed at me too?"

"Really?!"

Penny turned towards Ruby excitedly with clenched fists, not catching the last parts of what her friend said.

"Yes."

"Sensational!"

Penny replied, thrusting her hands upwards and spinning around.

Ruby couldn't help finding herself beginning to enjoy Penny's company more and more as things continued in their interactions together. She looked so happy about such little things that it was completely adorable, which caused a familiar feeling within her chest. Ruby thought about all the times that Daniel would often tease her in a lot of situations, calling out the things she did "adorable".

"Huh, I wonder if this is how Daniel feels?"

Ruby asked while continuing to watch Penny finding herself in a joyful mood in that instance about not being a person that Daniel would hate.

---

Elsewhere, in another part of Vale, Daniel reunited with the other members of Team DUSK, all of whom waited for him to finish meeting Blake. Their team found themselves sitting outside a cafe where the four ordered drinks of their own and for Daniel. Sitting down, Daniel took the first sip of his coffee before setting the cup back on the table, then proceeded to speak.

"So, I met up with Blake and she seems to be doing well enough."

Daniel stated, wearing a casual look.

"That's good to hear."

Alyssa added, being glad that Blake was at least doing good enough in this situation.

"You know, the fact that she was a Faunus never crossed my mind a bit."

Sandra pointed out, leaning her head against her opened hand.

"Well, that could be because a certain someone didn't care about what someone else did at first."

Alyssa stated, finding herself smiling as she drank from her coffee, while Sandra turned her sharp eyes at her. It, however, wasn't something that Sandra couldn't deny.

'I kinda figured out Blake was a Faunus about a day or two since we met.'

"Well, that isn't that much of a surprise, seeing as our darling little Hunter has a keen eye."

Alyssa stated, finding herself leaning a little closer to Hunter, who looked flustered about the sudden praise. But, to him, it was about the same as Daniel figuring out that Blake was a Faunus. Several key points led to that conclusion and the fact that, because of his father's training, Hunter could almost notice small traits in a person. Although, such things were meant to track and locate targets.

"So, I'm guessing that you slipped that little tip to Blake."

Sandra said, wearing a curious look.

"Yeah, a large shipment of Dust coming from Atlas tonight. So, considering that the White Fang for some reason is stockpiling Dust for whatever reason, that'll be something worthwhile to check up on. And there's the fact that it'll be from the Schnee Dust Company."

Daniel explained, speaking out openly, as no one else can hear them, with or without using his runes block to out the discussion.

"Having someone related to them happens to be a good thing, huh?"

"I do have other connections that aren't related to the Norden Family's connection with them. There's also the fact I didn't particularly have the luxury of using it in Mistral, because it's kinda defeating the purpose of being there."

"And are these connections legal?"

Alyssa asked.

"I mean, they're not illegal per se."

"You know that tends to be illegal?"

Sandra pointed out.

"Yeah, but anything not considered ethical tends to be the most efficient. And besides, it's not like I roughed up a person to get it…at least, this time."

Daniel stated.

"Well, we've all been there at least. You wouldn't believe how much Yang roughed up some guy and his people at a bar after she told me about it."

"A guy and a bar, huh? Well, I'll ask about that one later."

Having heard that comment from Alyssa, Daniel was immediately reminded of the destruction caused at the bar and nightclub, Junior's. And considering the destruction and the fact that he'd seen how Yang fights, the answers to the questions started being potentially answered.

"Same here," Sandra added, finding herself drinking coffee, then looked at Daniel. "So, I can guess that continuing to steal Dust isn't going to turn out well. So, what do you think will happen, Daniel?"

At that question, Alyssa, Hunter, and Sandra turned their attention to Daniel, who continued drinking out of the drink in his hands.

"Well, if things continue at this rate, then Vale's supply of Dust will continue dwindling at this rate. If that ends up happening then the demand will increase, because the supply is decreasing. As Dust is an essential tool in all the people's fight against the Grimm, it'd be the same as losing your main aid against them. If that's the case, then at some point the Vale Huntsman won't be able to gain much Dust if it continues accelerating."

"I mean, that is an elaborate plan. I heard about some of the White Fang has done, but this is a little different."

Alyssa pointed out, having heard some of what the White Fang had done.

'Most actions have been in self-preservation for the Faunus. If not a bit more on the violent side, but their actions were for what they believe is for the Faunus.'

Hunter signed.

"Hunter's right, stealing Dust and giving it to Faunus is one thing, but doing so to raise the price is different. So, is this really due to the White Fang, this goes against most of what we've heard. Are we sure that they're not just planning something big with the Dust?"

Sandra stated, tracing her finger around the rim of her coffee cup.

It was a thought that neither of them would have thought about if it wasn't for the fact that Daniel explained the situation to them. Aiding in searching for Blake over the weekend, the three of them found out she was a Faunus which was an obvious enough reason for Weiss to react like that. But, the fact that she was a member of the White Fang wasn't an outright reveal. However, there was the fact that Hunter, Alyssa, and Sandra knew that such a reason wouldn't be enough for an argument between her and Weiss. So, the three of them guessed that Blake, a Faunus would be related to the White Fang.

"You're not wrong. Based on the current leadership of the White Fang, here and in Mistral, this is too elaborate of a plan, which holds no benefit to the Faunus. So, that leads to one conclusion," Daniel stated, earning much more of their attention. "Do you guys recall the incident that led to Ruby being enrolled into Beacon Academy?"

"Right. You mean that incident with Roman Torchwick?"

"Ah, right that criminal was stealing Dust instead of taking the money. But, if you're suggesting that he's working with the White Fang, then that's weirder."

"You're right, in no situation would the White Fang decide to work with Humans, more so if you consider the one who's running the faction in Vale," Daniel pointed out, leaning in the chair while staring straight into the air. "Also, I heard somewhat about Torchwick in Mistral. Based on what I heard he isn't a team player and doesn't work all that well with Faunus. But, the connections between the White Fang stealing Dust and Roman doing the same the first time he crossed paths with Ruby isn't a coincidence."

"Ugh, aren't we supposed to be students? Why are we getting involved with this stuff?"

Sandra groaned, leaning forward, thinking about the fact that their entire group was getting involved with things that would require Huntsmen.

"Technically, we aren't getting involved with it yet. I mean, we can't leave Blake and Sun alone with this. But, that does beg the question of whether or not we should inform the remaining members of Team RWBY."

"Ah, about that…."

Daniel found himself visibly affected by that idea.

"You don't want to get tickle tortured, don't you?"

"Of course, not. I tell them, I get tickle-tortured. I don't tell them, I get tickle-tortured. It's a lose-lose situation for me. But, because of the situation, I'll text them about the location as soon as we notice anything irregular. There's still a chance that none of them will be there in the first place."

Daniel explained, seeming as if that was enough to convince them of the idea.

Daniel did think about the whole situation as seriously and practically as possible, not wanting the members of Team RWBY to come in guns blazing. Thinking about the fact that the plan itself involved them waiting there under the belief that something would happen, which was fifty-fifty. If anything happened, then he could inform all three of them about Blake's location ahead of time. Explaining how Daniel was aware that that would end up, as expected with a potential tickle torture. However, there was something else on his mind.

"Hm, I can't imagine that guy working with a human, no matter the circumstances. His mind would be directed at the well-being of Faunus. Also, Roman Torchwick, based on what I heard. I can't imagine him working with a partner, let alone Faunus…his viewpoints are about the same as most," Daniel didn't show it on his face, but deep thoughts were running through his mind. "For a single branch, isn't this a little bit too much Dust? There's no way two dominant leaders hate their opposing races. If that's the case, then there has to be either a real incentive or out of fear. This person has to be major enough for this branch to go behind Sienna Khan and scare someone who betrayed the Spiders."

Daniel picked up his coffee again, then looked to find that the three of his teammates were looking somewhat far more casual together while drinking. At the same time, he could even see that Sandra was taking some glances in his direction, almost waiting for a response.

"So, when are we leaving, Daniel?"

Alyssa asked.

"Hm, seeing as the dirtiest business happens at night. We should head out as soon as it gets late," Daniel said, while wearing a casual smile and the three agreed with them. "Hm, things are going differently from what I initially thought when I came here. Too many things are happening at the same time, but seeing as Blake's situation was revealed. I should find a good time to tell everyone about why I came here. I'd rather nothing come up and then a rug ends up being pulled from underneath them."

With that in mind, Daniel decided to focus on the situation in front of them instead of adding more weight to the things happening around them already. Having finished their drinks, the group decided to move forward with their intentions for the upcoming night.

---

That night, Blake found herself lying down on her stomach out of sight on top of a roof, while watching the Dust being shipped in on crates belonging to the Schnee Dust Company. It was ironic to be in this situation, as under normal circumstances she would be doing this in an attempt to steal it. But, there she was sitting around waiting to see whether or not the White Fang would do that. Blake was doing this in an attempt to prove that they weren't the ones responsible, but somewhere deep down she knew that wasn't true.

All the tension and silence didn't ease Blake in the slightest, the things that seemed to be the loudest thing to her in that instance were the crickets in the distance. She heard movement in the distance but knew that it wasn't an enemy seeing as there was one more person there with her.

"Did I miss anything?"

It was Sun, who had been her sole support during this time. However, that could be because he could never stop getting himself involved in her business and continued following her around. As he landed, Sun immediately got in the same position as Blake so they didn't get caught.

"They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

Blake replied, turning her head somewhat to the side to see him.

"Cool," Sun replied, pulling out a green apple. "I stole you some food!"

"Didn't Daniel give us that meal? It hasn't been that long since we last ate," Blake stated, staring at him with a rather questioning look. "And do you always break the law without giving a second thought?"

"I don't think that Daniel is the type to follow the rule either. I was surprised that he managed to get information on something that I heard about on the same ship. I don't even know how he learned about that. Also, weren't you in a cult or something," Sun asked something which he likely shouldn't have in that instance. In response to that, he'd received a glare from the black-haired Faunus beside him. "Okay, too soon!"

Just then, a strong wind blew around them, catching their attention as Blake and Sun felt the force, and then looked to find where it originated from. It came from a Bullhead, whose searchlights could be seen flashing, looking for a landing spot. Having found one, the Bullhead descended in the middle of the cargo containers, extending a ramp; coming down from them were the members of the White Fang, most of whom were hooded.

"Oh no…."

Blake found herself uttering in disappointment, as her worst fears were coming true in that instance.

"Is that them?"

Sun asked, but the question itself was obvious enough for their watching.

"Yes…," Blake replied, wearing a sad expression at the scene in front of her. "It's them."

At the bottom, there was a member of the White Fang holding a rifle in his hands, while surveying the surrounding and ensuring no one was around.

"All right, grab the tow cables!"

At that, all the other members began working on preparing to haul in the cargo full of Dust, while the two Faunus kept their eyes on them.

"You didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

Sun asked, glancing in Blake's direction with sympathetic eyes.

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

Blake found herself closing her eyes, feeling the despair and sadness caused by realizing that her brothers and sisters from the White Fangs were responsible for this. But, what snapped her out of this sudden realization was a new and unrecognizable voice.

"Hey! What's the holdup," Blake looked down to find someone else, a Human, Roman Torchwick as she witnessed from the news shown on the Bullhead, while she was heading to Beacon Academy there. And seeing that Roman was there, the surprise of the White Fang working with a Human was the most shocking thing. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that."

Resolving herself, Blake found herself standing up, unsheathing Gambol Shroud before walking off the roof edge, something which sparked immediate surprise from Sun. He wasn't expecting that Blake would end up reacting, to the point of deciding to leave their hiding spot. It was supposed to be confirming whether or not the White Fang was involved, not deciding to attack them.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

Sun asked in a hushed tone to not attract attention.

Ignoring him, Blake leaped down to the ground in a crouching position, then continued moving from place to place, using the containers as cover. She arrived at one which was the closest one to the situation, peeking around the corner to find Roman continuing to berate the White Fang member hauling a coil of rope. His tone and the fact he was showing nothing but disrespect for the Faunus sparked more feelings within Blake.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash," as Roman continued speaking derogatorily to the Faunus, Blake appeared right behind him without being unknown until he placed Gambol Shroud at his throat, surprising him. "What the…?! Oh, for f…!"

"Nobody moves!"

Blake cut Roman off mid-sentence, her appearance caused the surrounding members of the White Fang to point their guns and prepare their swords.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."

Roman stated calmly, wearing a casual expression despite having a sword at his neck.

As the members of the White Fang closed in, Blake used her free hand to undo her black bow, causing the wind to blow it away. As such, this unveiled her cat ears, causing the members of the White Fang to realize that she was a fellow Faunus. Blake didn't know whether or not the people there were new or old members, deciding to go with the former as neither of them recognized her.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

At Blake's passionate comment, the members of the White Fang seemed to pause for a moment, but then Roman ended up laughing at that.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

Roman asked snidely.

"What are you talking about?"

Blake asked back, finding herself looking at Roman, while tightening her grip on him.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"

Roman declared out loud, as the members of the White Fang were preparing themselves more and more without concern about the situation before them.

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

Blake asked threateningly while pressing Gambol Shroud much closer to her not-so-innocent hostage's throat. In that instance, there was more wind being blown widely, catching Blake's attention as Roman smiled victoriously.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation…."

Roman declared as Blake found herself looking on horrified as the situation was turning more serious than she thought. He smiled, seeing this as a chance for him to escape from the black-haired young woman's grasp, pressing his cane, named Melodic Cudgel at Blake's feet; resulting in a large explosion right at her feet. Knocked backward from the explosion, Blake quickly recovered her senses, then continued rolling and running as Roman kept firing off different explosive flares from his cane. In avoiding them, she made use of her Semblance to avoid a lot of them, then hid behind one of the containers.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty…."

Roman maliciously taunted Blake, continuing to move over toward the place she hid and spinning around Melodic Cudgel in his hands. She stood in the same position preparing for whatever Roman would do in retaliation, but it was interrupted when a banana peel was tossed on top of his head. In response to this, the criminal smacked the banana peel off his head and then looked up.

"Woohoo!"

Sun shouted out loud, leaping from on top of the container and then propelled off of the criminal face, resulting in him stumbling backward. After tumbling off of the ground, then getting into a prepared stance, he looked right at Roman with a prepared look.

"Leave her alone!"

Sun stated, turning around to face Roman.

Just then, the arriving Bullheads arrived, opening up and allowing multiple members of the White Fang to descend on the battlefield. Surrounding Sun, each one of them was armed and prepared to fight against the sole Faunus, whom they just surrounded.

"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?"

Roman snidely stated.

"He might not be the brightest in the bunch. But, isn't that the reason there are so many in the bunch with him."

In that instance, Roman turned around to find out there was another voice that caught his attention, as Sun was in the process of fighting against the other members of the White Fang. It was a new voice for Roman, but it was a familiar voice for Blake, who was hiding where "his" voice was coming from. It was revealed to be Daniel, sitting there legs crossed while wearing a casual smile.

"Daniel?"

Blake said in a hushed tone, surprised about his presence.

"Oh, great another teenager?"

"Well, you're missing three more."

Daniel replied, holding up three fingers.

"Eh?"

Roman seemed confused about that.

Just then, Sun was fighting against the White Fang members who arrived around him, dodging their attacks, in addition to attacking with punches and kicks. As one of them was preparing to strike Sun from behind using their sword, he leaped to avoid it. However, just then, someone came in from underground almost like a ghost, blocking it using their red spear.

"Oh, Sandra."

Sun recognized the person coming from underground as Sandra, who didn't turn to face him.

"Focus."

"Got it! Haha," in response to that, Sun found himself pulling out a collapsible red staff, then started using that to beat down the White Fang members closing in on him, combining his athletics. He then proceeded to unleash flaming attacks from the staff, which he called Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang. As the members gathered around him, he slammed the staff into the ground, producing a shockwave that knocked them down. "Hah, impressed."

"No."

Sandra stoically replied as she was dealing with the White Fang members in front of her, handling the red spear with a good deal of finesse. Two more members rushed towards her in an attempt to attack them, in response to that, Sandra stepped forward. She thrust her spear forward, passing through the first White Fang member, which surprised him at first. However, the spear didn't do the slightest damage, but the spear's point struck the member right behind him, knocking him backward. Sandra used her Phasing to make the spear pass through the first one but removed the phasing on the spear end.

Still, under the assumption that the spear was run through him, the White Fang member was surprised. Making use of that chance, Sandra removed the spear from the side and then struck him from the side. Just then, another White Fang member, bigger than the other members came from the side. It was the same Cannon user who fought against the Wolf days prior. Having his weapon in its axe form, he swung the weapon straight at Sandra, but Alyssa leaped down from her position.

Holding Gwyn Ddraig in her hands, she blocked the axe without being pushed back by the Cannon user, her arms shined a golden light. And then Alyssa ended up pushing the Canon user back, causing the two of them to enter a close-range fight against them. Handling weapons with strength behind them, there were notable sounds, which came from their clashes. However, in terms of maneuverability, Alyssa had the edge compared to the Cannon user and could avoid attacks. She managed to avoid the attacks with a much wider swing, then countered using her own, which caused him to stumble.

"It was supposed to be an easy job."

"Was it though?"

Daniel asked casually, suddenly appearing beside Roman.

"Tsk."

Roman clicked swinging Melodic Cudgel right at Daniel, who blocked it using the attack using Retribution, while it was still inactive.

"He's mine!"

Blake suddenly declared, causing Daniel to knock Roman in another direction and make it easier for her to begin her attack on him.

At that, Blake started initiating close-range battle against Roman using afterimages as she attacked, blocked, and countered attacks from the criminal, who attacked at high speed. She used a combination of her natural speed, reflexes, and Semblance, however, it was surprising as Roman was capable of handling the onslaught of attacks without panicking.

"Hahaha!"

Roman laughed as he managed to land some blows against Blake, but before the last one could land, there were several arrows fired in his direction. It ended up knocking Melodic Cudgel off its initial course, then the others almost caused Roman to lose his grip on the weapon entirely. Blake looked at the corner of her eyes to find that Hunter was stationed on top of a roof.

Just as Roman recovered his grip on Melodic Cudgel, Daniel came in aiming a front kick at the criminal, who held up his weapon to block it. But, same as most, he wasn't expecting that kick to have enough force to knock him a great distance backward. As the criminal recovered, he looked to find Daniel with Retribution active, dragging its edge against the ground. Recovering his bearings, Roman stood up and then used his cane to block the greatsword, but it still knocked him back a bit.

Firing off another flare from his weapon, Daniel raised Retribution to block it using the flat of his sword, which gave Roman enough time to charge forward. He swung his cane at Daniel, who blocked it by positioning the blade to meet it. Despite the difference in weapons, the two kept on swinging their weapons at one another, each one countering the other without managing to get a single hit on the other. However, the difference was that all those times Roman tried firing off a flare at close range, but Daniel shifted his body to avoid them.

"Ugh, such a pain in the ass."

"I've been told that so many times that it's almost a compliment."

Daniel countered Roman's comment about him.

"Black hair, silver eyes, a sword, and a necklace," Roman stated, maintaining his causal side while continuing with the attack. "You know if it wasn't for the last two, you'd remind me so much of the last one that I met when I was taking a stroll around Vale. But, I take it that you're the infamous Daniel Norden, the one that everyone talked about back in Mistral. Oh, what a pleasure to have one of Atlas' elites standing right before me."

"Alright, which mod boss back from Mistral has been trash-talking me this time," Daniel asked while going along with whatever role Roman tried playing. "And being classed an Atlas elite is something that always makes me cringe."

"Oh no, there's a special someone who talks so much about how much of a pain in the ass you are."

"Oh, how nice," Daniel said, having an irked smile and imagining who that was. "Could you give that special person a very important message for me?"

"Oh, I'm always happy to answer the request of another irksome person," Roman said sarcastically while leaning on his cane. "So, what's the message?"

"…this."

In response to that question, Daniel gave out a middle finger, while wearing a sarcastic smile, but not directed at Roman instead this 'special person'.

"Well, that'll be a fun message to deliver. Not that I don't enjoy all this, but I do wonder if the little kitty hasn't lost interest."

"I'd be careful, a 'kitten's' claws aren't for show."

After that, Daniel discreetly held out his free hand behind him, which was a signal for the 'kitten' in question, who decided to not let it slip. Feeling Blake taking his hand, Daniel found himself making a rather fluid motion, turning himself and Blake around before using that to fling her toward Roman. Going with that momentum, Blake landed a strong slash from Gambol Shroud, which knocked Roman backward a great distance on the ground.

"Ugh!"

Groaning from the attack, Roman found himself looking up at the container hanging right above Daniel and Blake, then pointed his cane at its support. Not taking too long to realize what the criminal was aiming at, Daniel ended up reaching into his pocket and then pulled something out. Blake leaped in another direction but didn't look worried as she knew the person standing there. Holding out a Dust Shell in his hand, Daniel tossed it straight at the falling crate and touched the bottom.

"I might not be able to do complicated stuff yet, but I can at least do this," Daniel said, retrieving Vanir and aiming it at the Dust Shell, which contained Gravity Dust. He shot the Dust Shell in a manner that would release the Dust contained in it. "Enchant: Float."

Around the Gravity Dust close to detonating violently, there were several runes gathered around it, which shined a purple light. Proceeding being Enchanted, the runes became inscribed on the metal crate, resulting in its descent slowing down until it seemed to almost float in the air.

"That's awesome!"

Sun's voice could be heard as he was still fighting against the White Fang members.

"Yeah."

Alyssa agreed as Sandra almost smiled herself.

"You know, if you're going to be a criminal mastermind. You should be a little bit careful with the product. What if there was Dust in there?"

Daniel asked, while walking from underneath the crate as it landed on the ground are a moment.

"Well, he was right. You are a pain in the ass."

Roman stated, preparing himself for another round.

---

"Hey!"

A familiar voice came up, catching Roman's and the other's attention.

Appearing on the rooftop was Ruby, who was looking down at the entire situation with Crescent Rose, in addition to Penny beside her. She'd received a text message from Daniel about the location of this place and then looked to find the White Fang and Roman there.

"And there's my favorite pain in the ass," Roman called out while waving at Ruby mockingly. "Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Ruby, are these people your friends?"

Penny, who wasn't too knowledgeable about the situation looked around and surveyed the area and could see the people around them.

"Penny, get back," Ruby looked back at Penny, taking her eyes off the battle, before wearing a faint warning from Daniel and Blake, who called out: Ruby lookout. Turning back around, she saw that Roman fired off a flare right at her in that instance, blowing her back due to the explosive force, and dropped Crescent Rose. "AAAAAH!"

In response to that, Roman gave off an evil laugh, after managing to attack Ruby, compared to the last time that the two met. Daniel and Blake sent a glare in the criminal's direction, but those two weren't alone. Penny, who just witnessed her friend being attacked and laughed at by the criminal, caused her to glared at Roman. She proceeded to walk forward as Ruby started getting back up.

"Penny, wait! Stop!"

Ruby tried stopping Penny from fighting against Roman and the White Fang, but she looked to find that her friend wasn't stopping and instead looked confident.

"Don't worry, Ruby. I'm combat-ready!"

At that declaration, her backpack opened up, releasing a single sword that extended and caused multiple ones to hover around back. Her weapon and appearance surprised the people there, not expecting such a thing. Using her weapons, Floating Array as wings, leaped off the roof and proceeded to assault the White Fang. Before either of them could react, Penny sent out three of her swords, knocking the White Fang soldiers down before landing on the ground.

Noticing the threat the young girl posed, more members of the White Fang continued moving in to fight and apprehend Penny. However, Penny was that simple of an opponent, using her swords which she controlled as if they were parts of herself and linked to wires. Either aligned together or spinning together, as if they were saws, such actions sparked immediate impressions on the people watching her.

"Whoa!"

Sun couldn't hide his surprise.

"Now, that's impressive."

"She's quite strong for such a slim-looking girl."

Sandra and Alyssa were the same people interested and impressed by how Penny was fighting. It looked as if her movements caused the ground to either break or crack under the pressure.

"I didn't think that Penny would end up being that strong when we first met."

Even Blake couldn't hide her surprise, not expecting to witness such things from her.

"Yep, that's the Doc's daughter," Daniel stated, impressed as the situation continued, then noticed the situation was continuing to progress. "As much as I love a good show, I've never been the type to sit around."

Just then three more Bullheads arrived from the air, each one hauling around other members of the White Fang, who were reinforcements. In response to the onboard artillery being fired at her, she formed a shield out of those floating swords. Penny's backpack opened, firing two additional swords from behind her, causing them to fly into the wall a far distance from her current position. After that, the swords swirled around her again, causing them to shift into more firearms. Together, all these weapons generated a large green sphere, then proceeded spinning in unison. Followed by a punching action through her fists, it propelled green lights with such force that it cracked the pavement, splitting the three Bullheads in half, and causing the White Fang members inside to fall out.

At the same time, Ruby witnessed the split Bullheads falling passed her and into the water behind her, causing a large amount of water to splash into the air. Descending back to the ground, she looked at these beyond-amazing feats performed by her new friend.

"Whoa…. How is she doing that?"

Ruby watched in awe while asking herself.

Just then, she noticed Daniel in the air using his runes to stand on the air, causing runes to wrap around the White Fang member's bodies. As the small groups landed on the ground, they were unable to escape from the bindings, causing Blake, Sandra, Alyssa, Hunter, and Sun to apprehend them. Other members managed to escape all the confusion, but the situation got worse in that instance. During this, Penny attached her swords to the last remaining Bullhead, which was attempting to steal the last Dust container.

As Penny managed to drag the Bullhead down, the White Fang members onboard were attempting to regain control of their aircraft.

"What the hell?! How is one girl managing to pull an entire aircraft?!"

"It doesn't matter, she shouldn't be capable of managing to hold us for long!"

"Forget fighting back, just shoot…."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Suddenly, the members of the White Fang inside the Bullhead heard someone tapping on the window. Looking up, the members saw Daniel standing on top of the Bullhead tapping the window using Retribution. Staring at him, all of them could see him waving while wearing a casual smile and pressing Retribution against the metal.

"Enchant: Lightning."

Using Runes, he sent a charge of electricity into the vehicle, causing the White Fang members to lose all control of the Bullhead.

"What the hell?!"

"This is getting worse and worse!"

Realizing that they lost all possible control of the Bullhead, making it impossible for them to even escape from it, something which forced them to realize that there was nothing they could do. As Daniel stood on top of the craft, with Retribution beside him, he looked down as Penny found herself staring at him. For a normal person, seeing Daniel from that distance might be possible, but Penny had a clear image of Daniel. Aware of that, Daniel found himself sending a friendly smile and waving in her direction.

Thinking back to what she talked with Ruby about and about the things she heard about Daniel from her father, a happy appeared on Penny's face. Witnessing that their plans fall hard, the criminal mastermind decided to leave the area without deciding to continue from there.

"These kids just keep getting weirder…."

Having said those words, Roman found himself escaping in the last aircraft there, while the teenagers who ruined his plans were preoccupied with that business.

---

Once things were done and finished, the collection of teens there ended up rounding all the captured White Fang members. Due to the situation and what was happening around the town, the police arrived to apprehend all the captured members and questioned those involved. Deciding that capturing the White Fang was more important, the people involved, the members of Team DUSK, Blake, Ruby, Sun, and Penny were waiting there, deciding to leave it to their teachers at the Huntsman Academy considering the seriousness.

"Penny that was so awesome! I didn't know that you could do all that with your weapons!"

Ruby couldn't hide her excitement from the situation at hand.

"Oh, that was due to my Floating Array, something that my father helped me design," Penny said with pride, soon becoming more sheepish. "Well, my father designed most of it. I just have my general preference."

"Well, still those moves were so awesome. I didn't think that you'd be that strong to do all that."

"Well, I just trained a lot. You know, push-ups and lifting weights…*hiccup*."

Penny stated, before giving another hiccup.

"She's strong and adorable. What a perfect combo."

Alyssa said, wearing a small smile.

"So, this is the daughter of that scientist from Atlas you mentioned. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect but she isn't a pushover."

Sandra added something that Hunter could agree with.

"Yeah, no kidding. I never met her, but the Doc certainly did an amazing job raising her with the time he had, with being a scientist for Atlas," Daniel said, before walking forward in front of Ruby and Penny, both of whom seemed almost finished with their conversation. "I didn't expect for our meeting to be during stopping an attempted Dust theft here. Well, whatever, I think that it was awesome that we managed to meet nonetheless. It was great to meet you, Penny."

"…."

At that, Penny looked forward nervously and intensively as Daniel held out his hand for a handshake, something which she read about as being a sign of trust, respect, and equality. Looking up at Daniel and down at his hand in anticipation about this moment. It was something simple for most, but for Penny, this was an amazing moment that she hadn't experienced before. Calming herself down, Penny extended out her hand and carefully clasped it around Daniel's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Daniel. My name is Penny Polendina."

"It's good to meet you, Penny."

Both Daniel and Penny had their first time meeting with one another.

"Aw, this is so adorable."

"Yeah, but I think that she needs to work on her handshaking skills."

At Sandra's comment, it looked as if Penny was taking the handshaking a little too seriously as she was shaking his hand up and down, almost to the point where their hands seemed to blur. Despite the situation, Daniel didn't seem to mind that at all as something as simple as this made Penny happy.

"Blake!"

At that familiar and loud voice, Blake found herself being tackled into a bear hug and onto the ground as Yang ran up to her. Groaning, the black-haired Faunus found herself in a strong yet comfortable hug from her blonde-haired partner, who looked nothing short of worried and relieved.

"Ugh, Yang, I'm fine. At least, I was."

"Oh, I missed your blasé sarcasm!"

"…Yang."

"Don't you dare go worrying me like that again, alright?!"

At Yang's genuine request and compassionate tone, Blake found herself thinking about the things she heard from Sun in this situation. About trusting and confiding in the friends that she made there, all of whom were among the people she found herself the most comfortable with.

"I'm sorry, Yang."

Blake apologized to her partner and friend, then ended up returning the hug in a surprising show of emotion from their usually stoic friend. Followed by Yang, Blake looked to find Weiss standing there wearing a calm look on her face while looking at her friend and teammate.

"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute…."

Ruby seemed to have taken the silence from her partner and tried explaining things to Blake, but Weiss walked passed her partner. Not a single person said a single word as Weiss and Blake stood in front of them, viewing the situation as something the two needed to settle for themselves.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the…."

Blake started to explain the situation and her life, even in this situation, where there were police around them who were handling the situation. But, Weiss held out her hand and stopped her from speaking.

"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. Hours to listen to the advice that was given to me. Hours to think about my past and my personal feelings. And in that twelve hours, I've decided…," a faint pause came from Weiss as the others waited to hear what that response was. "I don't care."

"You don't care?"

Blake seemed surprised as Weiss didn't care that she was a part of the White Fang, which had a hand in causing all those bad memories and feelings for her.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger…."

"Ah-bahp-bahp-bahp! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up…you'll come to your teammates. And not someone else," Weiss stated, mentioning Sun as more of a person rather than simply Faunus. "And, rather than feeling as if you're forced into talking about it, because of what started happening here. If the time comes when you feel truly comfortable to talk about it without being forced, we'll be there to listen to you."

Hearing those words from Weiss, caused whatever complicated and warped feelings Blake was feeling right then and there to immediately clear up. And instead, a feeling of happiness and elation welled up inside of Blake, to the point where tears began welling up.

"Of course."

Blake agreed on something that had caused the black and white duo of Team RWBY to initiate a comforting hug with one another. Both of them managed to get over the things that were binding them this weekend, resulting in a good amount of closure for them. Noting the comforting moment between them, the two half-sisters couldn't help wearing warm smiles on their faces. And then after those feelings settled, there was one thing that the leader of Team RWBY could announce in that instance.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

Ruby announced as Sun found himself getting into the circle of friends, alongside Team DUSK, who seemed to be glad that their other team of friends managed to come together. Seeing him caused Weiss to turn towards him as a questioning look was aimed at him.

"I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!"

Weiss stated, causing Sun to give a nervous laugh at that comment.

"I'm sure he gets that a lot."

Sandra pointed out, as Sun couldn't help scratching the back of his head.

"I can tell that it'll take some time to get them to like me, right?"

Sun asked, causing Alyssa to wear a faint smile.

"Yeah, trust me, it's a work in progress to fix their serious personalities."

At Alyssa's nonchalant comment, Weiss and Sandra sent serious eyes in her direction, causing Alyssa to stick her tongue at them teasingly. However, as the groups were beginning to get either accustomed to or re-accustomed to one another, Ruby noticed someone was missing. Looking around, she could see that Penny was missing with a more confused and worried look.

"Hey, wait a minute…. Where's Penny?"

Ruby asked confused, looking around and couldn't find a single sign of Penny around them.

"Remember when I said that Penny was the daughter of one of Atlas' most important scientists," Daniel ended up gaining their attention as he tried explaining Penny's abrupt disappearance. "Well, because of that, Penny has to more or less keep herself out of situations like this at the moment. She can't pay much attention to her right at the moment. I'm sure you noticed her weapons aren't normal. Don't worry, Penny is doing fine."

"Oh."

Ruby looked as if she could understand that being a reason. Plus, most of what she saw from Penny wasn't a normal girl even by the standards of typical Huntress-in-Training. It seemed as if that explanation was enough for them, more so considering that none of them knew anything about Penny or her father aside from Daniel.

"Don't forget, she's coming in for the Vytal Festival. So, you'll see her again," Daniel explained, causing Ruby to let go of it for the moment. "That isn't untrue, I doubt that General Ironwood would want Penny to be out here and gain this much attention before the tournament officially starts. Rather than her weapons being the focus. To them, Penny is the weapon herself. Well, to the Doc, more than some weapon, Penny is his daughter. I don't care what Atlas is planning on doing with Penny. But, it's her and her father's wish to have a social life. And I'll be happy enough to oblige that."

"Oh, that brings up another point."

Weiss suddenly said, turning her attention to Daniel with a casual look.

"Oh, right."

Yang stated, having the same thing.

"And what would that be exactly?"

Daniel asked, finding himself feeling a nervous sensation from the two young women in front of him. And felt the need to almost run for his life.

"We received a text message from a certain someone that Blake happened to be here," Weiss started. "And it could mean two things. I could mean that one, you found out that Blake was here."

"Or two, it meant you already knew where Blake was. And we spent the entire time looking for her worried."

Yang ended with her eyes turning red for a moment.

"Wait, that's right."

Due to the situation about being worried for Blake, Ruby found herself thinking about the same thing.

"Yeah, you're right."

Daniel started, feeling three intense eyes on him, from Weiss, Yang, and Ruby, though for the last one, there's still the adorable factor added onto it. Smiling at the hilarious scene with Daniel being under the women's thumb were Hunter, Sandra, and Alyssa, with the addition of Sun.

"Wait, guys don't take this out on Daniel," deciding not to let Daniel take the blame for that, Blake decided to move in between him and her teammates. "All of this started because I didn't want to see anyone and because I didn't want to think that the White Fang was involved in the current robberies. I didn't want to get you guys involved which was the reason that Daniel did what he did. So, if you want to blame someone, then blame me."

Seeing Blake's intervention in this situation and giving her reasons, caused the three of her teammates to almost relent because of that.

"Alright fine, we'll let it go this time, because of what happened," Yang stated, glancing to the side. "Well, we were a little bit mad that Dani knew where Blake was in the first place. But, Dani being Dani was considerate of Blake's feelings on the situation. So, you get a pass, but don't let something like this happen again. Seeing one of my friends isn't something that I like seeing, you know?"

"Sorry about that. I was considering Blake's feeling the most."

Daniel replied, showing an honest expression of the situation.

"Well, as an apology how about an embarrassing secret from Daniel?"

Ruby suddenly brought up an odd question to the group, her team, in particular.

"What, you want me to tell you an embarrassing secret?"

"Nope. I'll tell my team an embarrassing secret from you."

"Is this a tease? How would you know…?"

Daniel almost thought that Ruby was simply around joking in this instance, but then looked to find the younger silver-eyed girl's typical victorious smile.

"Oh, my little sis knows one of Dani's embarrassing secrets."

Yang seemed interested in that instance, as her attention seemed to have become aimed at Ruby.

"Let's go, Team RWBY and talk about Daniel's embarrassing secrets!"

At Ruby's declaration, interested, the members of Team RWBY proceeded to walk in another direction, leaving the members of Team DUSK and Sun there. In that instance, Daniel found himself paused right then and there unable to move from that spot.

"Oh, I wonder what Ruby knows."

Alyssa said out loud and found herself looking on in wonder.

"Hey, Daniel is there something that embarrassing…."

Sandra was about to ask, then found herself looking at Daniel's face and was surprised to see that it looked red in embarrassment. Hunter and Sun looked surprised to find someone as calm and collected as Daniel was looking flustered.

"Which moment does Ruby know about? There are some things that Weiss knows about, but it isn't like she knows about everything. If Ruby knows one of my embarrassing secrets, then did she learn about it from Penny? I did tell the Doc about one thing, but…I doubt that he'd tell her anything and it isn't that bad. And it isn't that bad. So, who could've told Penny anything about…me," Daniel wondered, but then one person came to mind who would've been at least involved with Atlas' business. But, more than that same person would have a reason to have met Pietro at least once. "Dammit, Auntie what did you tell Penny about me?!"

Daniel couldn't keep up a casual look at thinking about his aunt, who would have at least one reason to talk to Penny's father and thus meet Penny there. And seeing his aunt's laughing face in his head made his face turn a bright red.

---

Meanwhile, inside a black limo, which was driving off from the scene of Team RWBY, Team DUSK, and Sun, who'd all been reunited with their friend. Sitting in the back seat alone, while watching them all was Penny, who looked a bit saddened for leaving like that. She wanted nothing more than to make friends and there were nine people that she could befriend, counting Ruby and Daniel, who she got to meet. But, due to her particular situation, there were some serious complications for Penny to be out without permission.

"You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."

The driver stated seriously, that someone from the Atlas Military was sent to pick up Penny from the situation, in which she had gotten herself involved. Her existence wasn't something that the military planned on being revealed yet, with the Vytal Festival being something more of an introduction to Penny's performance.

"I know, sir."

Penny replied sadly, looking down at her feet.

"Penny, your time will come…."

The Driver said while driving off in the direction where Penny was being held in Vale until the official start of the Vytal Festival.

She and the driver rode around in silence without the slightest conversation or interaction, with the man simply doing his job in retrieving Penny. During which, Penny looked down to find that something had fallen out of her pockets from the sudden motion, finding the object sitting beside her.

"…what's this?"

Penny wondered silently, moving her hand to pick up the object, a small folded-up paper.

She looked to find that the driver was still focused on doing his job instead of looking behind to see whatever she was doing in the pack. As silent as possible, Penny opened up the piece of paper in her hands, then noticed there was a name and number on it. It was Daniel's name and thus his number.

"Oh," it took time for Penny to realize what she was looking at in this instance, realizing that it was a number, but it had more significance than that. She trembled at the thought of that entering her mind as she held the paper in her hands and almost wanted to squeal. "I got a number. I got a number! I got a number! I got my first number which isn't my dad's number! I got Daniel's number! I got a boy's number! I even got a cute boy's number! Awesome! Incredible! Spectacular! Sen-sational!"

Penny found herself experiencing a multitude of emotions in that instance, all of which were contained inside of herself. She wanted to jump around right in that instance but kept up wearing a smile on her face without moving around in that spot. Looking at her in the mirror, the driver could see that Penny was smiling, which to his knowledge was for no reason.

"What an odd girl."

The driver stated wearing an odd expression, but continued doing his job and simply allowed Penny to continue just smiling away.

---

A/N: Well, this is the end of the next chapter of RWBY – Team DUSK, this one was the end of the dilemma which was concerning Blake and the White Fang. There were several conversations between characters before the final parts of the chapter: Daniel and Blake, Weiss and Yang, Ruby and Penny, and Team DUSK. I think that aside from the first conversation, where Daniel consoled Blake; I think the reveal that Daniel's father vanished left an impact, on Yang, who experienced something similar in her life with Raven. I would like to inform I wanted this to show that Weiss had complicated feelings for Richard for leaving him and held complicated feelings because of it, but didn't outright hate him.

Ruby and Penny ended up having their conversation, which moved onto the things the fact that she knew who Daniel was. During this, Penny revealed that she was aware of a little too much about Daniel, surprising and disturbing Ruby a little bit, because of it. But, in the end, Penny was still nervous about meeting him. And the talk with Team DUSK, the three find out about Blake being a Faunus and having some connection with the White Fang, but Daniel, in the end, has some personal thoughts on the situation, thinking about telling them all something.

There was the confrontation with Roman and members of the White Fang, with the members from Team DUSK being involved in it too. I hope the changes ended up being entertaining, with Daniel and Roman having a rather interesting conversation. In the end, it looks as if Daniel is getting punished in the form of Ruby revealing one of his embarrassing secrets, which his aunt might be responsible for. And Penny ended up getting Daniel's number, something which made her happy.