Team RWVBY
Chapter 8
"Blake?"
Blake panicked; she was supposed to be alone why was anyone out this early. It was still dark out and why had the voice sounded familiar. Turning her head, she saw the blonde leader of JNPR. He didn't look like he was confused, he looked worried.
"Blake are you okay?" She didn't answer. He had to have seen her ears, he can't have missed it.
"Ruby's been worried about you, where have you been?" This time she did answer.
"I had a fight with Weiss, it got bad. I couldn't come back, I still can't." Now he looked confused.
"What do you mean can't?" How had he not said anything yet.
"Jaune? Are you really going to say nothing about it?" Her eyes flicked up.
Jaune seemed to clue in on what she was asking and said, "I.., I mean I'm a surprised but that's hardly the most important thing right. Ruby sounded really upset. We thought you were hurt or something." He sounded like he genuinely cared.
"You don't care that I'm a-" He didn't let her finish.
"Why should I?" The response shocked her. "It's not like it changes who you are." How he said it so casually she couldn't believe, then she remembered what he said after helping out Velvet. Perhaps Jaune really was just that good of a person.
"Thank you." She felt relieved.
"Oh man." She watched as he took out his scroll. "I gotta call Ruby and tell her I found you." Panic set back in again. Blake lunged for the scroll in his hand taking it away from him.
"You can't!" She turned off and pocketed his scroll.
"Why not?"
"You just wouldn't understand!"
"Then help me understand." He wasn't giving this up. She wanted to run, on any given day she could lose him easily, but right now she was tired, barely able to have gotten any sleep.
"Fine, but not here." That seemed to ease him. Jaune nodded and followed Blake.
…
The sun had risen as Ruby was second to wake up. Still in her pajamas, she stepped out into the common room and saw Cassian sitting on the couch. His eyes on Blake's door. Weiss and Yang stepped out not too long after.
"Do you think she came back?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know. I knocked but no one answered. I didn't wanna just open the door either." Cassian said.
Ruby approached Blake's door and gave it a gentle knock. Hearing no response, she tried again this time knocking harder.
"Blake if you're in there, I'm sorry." Ruby said as she opened the door slightly and peaked in.
Ruby closed the door and turned to her team and shook her head "She still hasn't come back yet."
"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself!" Weiss didn't sound worried.
"Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates." Ruby could hear a hint of annoyance in Yang's tone.
"Is she? We all heard what she said!" Weiss shot back.
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way we don't know the whole truth yet. What we do know is that she's missing, and we should go find her." Cassian spoke up.
"A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" Weiss didn't acknowledge his statement.
"Weiiiiss, you're not helping!" Ruby said.
"Oh! You know what might be able to help? The police!" Weiss' arms were crossed.
"Ugh, Weiss..." This wasn't the help she was thinking of.
"It was just an idea!"
"Yeah, a bad one." Ruby mumbled.
"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions." Cassian nodded in agreement with Yang.
"I think that when we hear it, you'll all realize I was right!" Yang was a second away from eyes turning red. Tensions were rising and Ruby could tell. She didn't need more arguments happening, not now. She had to think of something fast.
"Maybe it's best we split up in vale to go look for her. Weiss and I can take Northern Vale. Yang why don't you take Cassian and check out Southern Vale." Weiss humphed in her corner at Ruby's suggestion.
"Fine with me." Yang looking all too happy to finally go out and look with Blake. Probably happy she wasn't with Weiss either.
"I just hope she's okay..." Ruby said before she went to get changed so they could begin their search.
…
Out in the middle of Vale, at a balcony café, Jaune and Blake sat down at a table, a cup of tea each in front of them. She brought him here in case anyone else decided to wake up and interrupt them on Beacon's grounds. She didn't want to risk seeing her team, not yet.
"What we're you doing out by Beacon's statue so early?" Blake asked.
Jaune scratched the back of his head and said, "I was having trouble sleeping so I decided to do a little early training. I often go to the statue for inspiration." Jaune took a sip of his tea. "So, what's going on?" Jaune changed the subject.
"Jaune... Are you familiar with the White Fang?" She figured she'd start from there.
"I've heard of them, mostly just small talk back in Ansel. Some of my less then friendly neighbors were scared the Faunus community there was a part of them. Saying they were a bunch of terrorists who used force to get what they want." He responded going for a sip of his drink.
"I was once a member of the White Fang." She revealed.
Jaune almost chocking on his drink, took a second to put his cup down and wipe his mouth, processing the information he was just told. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!"
"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it." She paused,
"Originally, in the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings.
And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist.
Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear.
So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." Her bow wiggled as she finished her story.
"So... have you told your friends any of this?" Jaune asked.
Blake hung her head in response.
"Blake… If you tell them what you told me I'm sure they would understand. They're your team!" Jaune tried to reason with her.
"I can't because I don't deserve to be here. I've been lying to them for months. What if they don't believe me? What if they don't trust me anymore?
"Of course, you deserve to be in Beacon, Blake you're in the top 5 of combat class." Blake sighed in response.
"Being a huntress is more than being good at combat, I just told you Jaune I'm a criminal. You're more deserving to be in Beacon than I am." She watched as Jaune lowered his head.
"That's not true." Now she was confused.
"If you don't deserve to be in Beacon, then I really don't deserve to be there. Blake, I… I faked my transcripts." Blake's eyes widened.
"I wanted to be a huntsman like ancestors so bad, I got a hold of some fake papers and ran away from home. I didn't have any training, hell I didn't even have my aura unlocked till initiation. I blurted it out to Pyrrha at training once. She didn't even care, just wanted to help me but I was too stubborn. It took being blackmailed by Cardin and the incident in the Forever Falls to see how wrong I was." Blake had heard about it from Ruby earlier in the semester.
"I told Nora and Ren; they voiced their concerns but they ultimately accepted it. They even offered to help me like Pyrrha did. I came here on hopes and dreams and have been striving to be deserving of the chance I got, and I wouldn't still be here without them." He put a little too much emphasis on that last part.
"I get it Jaune…" She closed her eyes. "I'll talk to them, but after I get proof."
"Proof?"
"I still don't believe the White Fang is responsible for these robberies."
Jaune looked pensive before looking at her determined. "So, how I can help?
"What!? Jaune, no. Why would you even want to help?"
"Cause we're friends." He made it seem so easy.
"Jaune, we're friends because of Ruby. We're practically strangers."
"Well, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." She gave him a dumbfounded look.
"Besides if I go back to Beacon now, I'll just tell your team that I found you and what you're up too." Blake blinked. 'fuck'
"Alright… I guess we'll do this together." Blake had little options.
"Great." He pumped his fist. "So how do we prove they're not behind the robberies?"
"I… don't know. They've never needed that much Dust before." Blake was trying to wrap her head around that since yesterday.
"What if they did?" That earned a quizzical look from Blake. "I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?" Wasn't the soundest of logic but what else did they have to go off of.
"The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be." Blake pointed out.
"Well, Vale only has one shipping docks." Looks like they had their destination.
…
"Blaaaake." Yang called out. They had been like this for hours now, aimlessly walking the streets of Vale calling out Blake's name in hope of finding her.
"Blaaaake." Cassian echoed yang. It was like looking for a needle in the world's largest haystack. Yang could feel her stomach grumbling silently.
"Ugh, I'm getting hungry." Yang grumbled.
"Why don't we keep looking for another hour and if anything, we can stop by that diner a few blocks back. Sit down for a few minutes get our energy back and keep looking." Cassian offered.
"Sounds good to me, though let's not take too long; we still don't know where she is." Yang was worried.
"we'll find her." Cassian seemed confident.
"Hey, you know you have a pretty good eye with fashion. I was honestly surprised cause well you know."
"Yea, yea, I get it. To be honest I never cared about how I dressed in Vacuo. I just bought whatever was cheap and in front of me. I never really got anything for myself actually. The Lien, well it was all going towards pip." It was silent for a moment.
"But when I was at the boutique, the shop keep showed me all these outfits. I actually took the time, tried em all one and eventually I decided on this. Probably the most thought I've ever put into a purchase." He was smiling now.
Yang hummed. She was thinking about his story from the other day. Specifically, one portion of it and the question that nagged at her to ask ever since. She didn't dare ask it that night. It was personal and would have opened a can of worms she didn't want too in front of everyone else. They were by themselves now and not one to shy away from opportunity Yang threw caution to the wind and asked, "Gid you ever look for your mother after you left the dust mine?" He hadn't expected that question.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want?" She quickly added.
Cassian chuckled seemingly unbothered. "Funny enough, yes I did."
"After Pip and Wendy passed, I was in a bad place, cursing my life, thinking of how if she had never given me up I wouldn't be alone, wouldn't have lost my arm, didn't even think I wouldn't have met pip or Wendy, I was just angry."
"To make a long story short, I had a contact in the Vacuo CCT who owed me a favor help me find her. She was living in the nicer part of Vacuo, i guess that money came in handy. It didn't take me long to find her walking through the public market. She was pushing a cart or so I thought it was." Yang had a feeling she knew where this was going. "She turned and my eyes were glued to the fact she was pushing a stroller. As I looked up, her eyes were glued to mine."
"Did she not recognize you?"
"Worse, she did." He let out a sigh. "Her eyes started watering. She made to take a step towards but I took a step back saying no. I asked her how dare you cry? After everything you did you don't get to cry. I didn't care that anyone was watching. I told her I hope it was worth it because she will never see me again and I ran off."
'Woah that was heavy'
"If you don't mind me asking? Why did you want to know about my mother?" He asked.
"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like... Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then... one day she left for a mission and never came back." Cassian had heard this part from Ruby.
"It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of... shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost; she was the second. The first... was my mom." Cassian's eyes widened.
"Wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and our uncle and that she'd left me with him right after I was born.
"Why?"
"That's the question isn't it… Why? I still don't know, but I was determined to find out. It was all I could think about.
One day when our dad wasn't around, I took Ruby in a cart and went out on a clue I head. If it wasn't for my uncle, I would have gotten us both killed. I swore to never endanger ruby like that again. I was going to be the best sister ever.
To answer your question though; I guess I just wanted to know if I was crazy for wanting to find her."
"Wow, you're making me jealous of Ruby?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Because it sounds like Ruby had two amazing mothers." He had a gentle smile.
While Yang never openly admitted it, she did consider Ruby like a daughter to her. To hear it and be complemented on it made her feel good.
"Thanks."
"I'm serious, I've only known ruby for a week but it seems she came out alright, better than me that's for sure," he said to lighten the mood. "And about your mother." Yang frowned. Here it came. He was going to tell her that her mother didn't deserve her, she was better off without her, she shouldn't need to look for her.
"You ever go after her, give me a call." What?
"What?" Yang echoed her thoughts.
"Don't get me wrong, she clearly doesn't deserve someone you, but I'd be a hypocrite if I told you not to look for her. You're not crazy Yang, for wanting that. I didn't get to say what I really wanted too to my mother, but damn if it didn't feel good. I got some closure at least. I owe you as well, for willing to throw yourself under the bus with Goodwitch and helping me realize how stupid I was so I would talk to the team. So, yea, you wanna go hunt down your egg donor, I'll be there!" He gave her a devilish smirk.
Yang was speechless, heat threatened to creep up her face. "What was egg donor too much?" She started laughing.
"No, no, egg donor is hilarious, fits too. I was just surprised; most people tell me not to bother."
"Well, I'm not most people." That he wasn't she thought but she meant that in the best way possible.
They had been so engrossed in their conversation they didn't notice the familiar red head stationary in front of them until they bumped right into her.
"Oh, hey sorry about that." Cassian apologized; Yang's eyes narrowed at how familiar the girl looked.
Said girl turned around. "Sal-u-ta-tions!" Penny said not even being bothered shoved forward.
"Oh n— I mean hey penny, it's… good to see you again." Yang nervously said.
"Greetings, teammates of friend Ruby. What are you u-" Her eyes trailed down. "Oh, my apologizes am I interrupting your date." Both their heads tilted.
"Umm we're not on a date."
"Are you sure, it is to my collection that individuals walking hand in hand are usually couples enjoying a nice walk together."
'Holding hands?' What the hell was she talking about. That's when it clicked to both of them. Their eyes looked down they had in fact been holding hands.
When the fuck did that happen!
Their hands separate, as they each looked away a blush quickly appearing and disappearing.
"We… we're not on a date, Penny. We're looking for our friend Blake."
"Perhaps I could help!" And like that Penny was following them. They are suddenly startled by a loud noise. Penny, Yang, and Cassian turn around upon hearing the noise, seeing the smoke rise from the docking bay just a few buildings away. Not saying anything Yang and Cassian start running, Penny quickly following from behind.
…
Earlier amidst the chirping of crickets and darkness of night, Blake lays flat on her stomach on the rooftop overlooking the shipment of Schnee Dust containers.
"Did I miss anything?" Jaune dropped down to her right holding some fruit.
"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."
"Cool. No news is good news. Oh, I got you some food!" He offered her an apple.
"Where'd you get this?"
"There's a fruit cart not too far from here." Just as he says this, the winds blew all around them. They look up to see a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around for a landing spot, descending in the middle of the cargo containers and extending a ramp for a black hooded individual with a metallic fanged mask to come out of.
"Oh no..." Blake's fears were realized.
"Is that them?" Jaune asked
"Yes... It's them."
A White Fang Soldier called out to the others coming out the transport, "All right, grab the tow cables!"
"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Jaune asked sympathetically.
Blake watched sadly and said, "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." Her eyes closed till a new voice came in.
"Hey! What's the holdup!?" A boisterous voice called out. the soldiers look up at Roman Torchwick gesturing widely and coming down the ramp. "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." she stands up and unsheathes the Katana of Gambol Shroud before walking off the edge of the roof.
Jaune suddenly alarmed. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
Blake fell to the ground in a crouch, then continues on to hide behind one of the containers, peeking around the corner to see Roman berate a White Fang member holding a coil of rope.
"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" as he's looking around, Blake suddenly appears behind him with her blade at his throat
"What the- Oh, for fuc-" He's cut off by Blake mid-swear
"Nobody move!" The White Fang soldiers ready their guns and equip their swords in response.
"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."
As the White Fang closes in on her, Blake uses her free hand to go for her bow and remove it, causing the ribbon to fall away as her Faunus ears are shown to the world.
"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" The White Fang members lower their weapons a little at this development, unsure of what to do, when Roman laughs.
"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"
"What are you talking about?" The question came out like a hiss.
"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"
"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Suddenly, the air is filled with more turbines blowing the wind wildly around the holdup.
Roman, looking up says, "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation..." Two more Bullheads are hovering above the heist, and as Blake watches in horror, Roman smiles and manages to fire his cane at Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion.
…
Ruby and Weiss are coming out of what felt like the 100th store they've walked into today. "Thanks anyways!" Ruby sighs. She stares at Weiss when she looks around nonchalantly. "You really don't care if we find her, do you?"
Weiss: Don't be stupid; of course, I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her. The innocent never run, Ruby. This isn't like Cassians case. Blake has been lying to us for months and I doubt she would have revealed it, if she hadn't blurted it out
Ruby looks down in thought.
"We still don't know that!" Ruby wouldn't give up on Blake.
"Well, we won't know if we can't find her."
"Maybe I could help." A voice spoke up from behind them.
"Aaaah! Where did you come from!?" They both shouted.
"I was in the neighborhood, looked like you two need help."
Like we'd need help from a criminal. Weiss scoffed.
"Hey, I'm not a criminal… okay I did stow away on the ship. I'm Sun, Sun Wukong, I'm a student from Haven here for the Vytal Festival. They looked at him in disbelief.
"We're looking for our friend Blake. Black hair and clothing." Ruby changed the subject accepting his claim.
"Ooooh, you mean the Faunus girl!" Ruby, and Weiss stare at Sun
"Wait, how did you know that?"
"Uhh, the cat ears?" Sun pointed to his head."
Ruby laughed a little. "What cat ears? She wears a... booooowww... The realization leaves them in silence as a tumbleweed blows through in the wind.
Ruby whispering, "She does like tuna a lot" Ruby had gotten a message on her scroll. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
"Weiss!" She poke her partners shoulder. Weiss turns and looks at Ruby's scroll, a message from Yang, in all caps she read, DOCKS NOW!
Blake, dazed but relatively unhurt on the ground, quickly rolls and runs out of the way of Roman's continued attacks, flaming missiles destroying cargo behind her as she flips and uses her semblance to dodge then
"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..." he stops mid taunt as he hears some slight movement. He raised his cane towards it. "Found you." He fires one causing another explosion and knocking the container away. Blake was wide open. Roman opened fire again.
"Leave her alone!" Jaune shouted, shield raised and diving between Blake and the shot. Unconsciously Sending aura to his shield the shot ricocheted off.
The Bullheads open to let more White Fang members descend on the scene, standing by Roman as he gets up and surround both jaune and Blake
"Ugh, another brat."
"Blake circled around Jaune eyeing the white fang; there weren't a lot of them. Her eyes trailed to Jaune.
"Jaune, do you think you can take them?" She warily asked.
In truth Jaune didn't know but now wasn't the time for hesitation. His dad always said all he needed was confidence. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Yea."
Blake nods back and leaps into the action. "He's mine!"
As the white gang inch closer to jaune. The blonde knight readied himself. 'Remember what Pyrrha taught you' he fixed his stance. Remembering all his late night trainings. As one got closer ready to swing, jaune raised his shield stopping the blade and jaune countered. He wasn't his partner but against these grunts, he'd be enough.
Blake ran in and became a blur of afterimages as she slashed both blades at Roman.
The thief deflected each would-be blow with his cane at unbelievable speed. Blake continues to dash, hop over, and slide around Roman to try and find a weak spot. Finally landing a blow after using her Semblance but he quickly recovered, deflecting several more attacks before attempting to punch her in the face. Only to hit a clone as she flipped away. The two clash weapons again, then Torchwick jabs her in the side.
"Hahaha!" He laughed landing a few more hits on Blake until one final beating to the head sending her flying back towards jaune.
Roman noticing a container hanging by a crane right above the two warriors, and gets up to fire his cane at its supports. Ready to fire his attention are drawn to an unfamiliar voice.
"Hey!" Yang appeared on a nearby rooftop, ember Celica cocked and ready for action
Roman having lost interest in jaune and Blake, waved, "Well, hello there Goldilocks. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to interrupt?"
A shot went off by his feet.
"Must have missed that lesson at Sunday school." Cassian jumped in with ouroboros. Knife in his left hand as he started flipping and twirling it.
"More!? All that's missing is an annoying talking animal and we got an ole fashioned Saturday morning cartoon."
Cassian rushed Roman swinging, while firing off a shot from his metal arm every chance he got. Even with the rapid series of slashes and flying bullets, Roman managed to defend himself against every bullet and slash.
Back up on the roof, penny approached yang from behind.
"Yang are these people your friends too?" She asked.
Yang, looking behind her said, "Penny, get back!" while her attention is diverted, the bullhead opened fire at them.
"AAAAAH!" Yang dives as she narrowly missed.
Roman gives off a professional-level evil laugh watching the bullhead fire. Penny turns her head toward the criminal and gives her first glare, walking forward while Yang gets back up.
"Penny, wait! Those are bullheads!" What was she doing, trying to get herself killed.
"Don't worry, Yang. I'm combat ready!" Her backpack mechanically opens up, and from its dark depths comes a single sword that extends and multiples into several blades hovering over Penny's back. Leaping from the rooftop with the weapons drawn.
Three Bullheads flew around again and opened fire on her.
Penny merely formed a shield and launched two of her swords into the wall behind her, which in turn pull their wielder back with their strings. When her swords swirl around her again, she commands them to open their points and build up a large glowing ball of green light. With a punching action, several bright lasers crack the pavement when they fire at the transports and slice each one in half, causing several of the White Fang members inside to fall and letting Yang watch as Bullheads fall in pieces behind her.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed in awe. Suddenly reenergized, Yang spotted Blake fighting off some white fang.
Cocking ember celiac yang launched herself forward landing in between them
creating a scorching shockwave knocking the white gang out.
"Yang!" Blake exclaimed surprised to see her.
Yang was happy, then she spotted someone next to her. Wait, is that?
"Vomit Boy!?" Jaune was the last person she expected to see.
"Uh hey Yang," Jaune nervously said.
Seeing the Bullhead's flight fall under Penny's control, Roman grimaced, turning to run towards the last remaining transport. From it a few more white fang soldiers poured out getting between him and Cassian, allowing the gentleman thief time to escape.
"I'm not getting paid enough for this shit." he uses his cane to close the doors, and the jet lifts off, flying away from the lost battle. With Roman gone the remaining white fang were dealt with quickly.
Later, a handful of police cars arrived at the docks where Cassian, Yang, Blake, Jaune, and Penny were sitting on some boxes in silence. That is, until Weiss, Ruby, and Sun ran in on the scene. The docs were in complete disarray, some containers still on fire from the explosions.
"Woah your team is intense." Sun exclaimed taking in the sight.
"Weiss before you…" Yang didn't get to finish as Weiss walked right past ignoring her squaring off with Blake
Blake with a calm tone spoke first. Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-" Weiss quickly cut her off.
"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? (she pauses) Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in those twelve hours, I've decided..."
Yang, Cassian, and Ruby look on, worried.
"I don't care."
"You don't care?" Blake was shocked.
"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" The heiress asked.
"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"
"Ah-bahp-bahp-bahp!" Weiss silenced her. "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." She looked at Jaune and glared. "Someone else." She added.
Blake seeing Yang ruby and Cassian grin behind Weiss, wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. "Of course."
Weiss smiled and nodded. The serious moment ruined when Ruby, waving her arms wildly, screamed "Yeah! Team RWVBY is back together!"
"I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you." She looked at Sun who laughed nervously but gives her a wink after.
"And you!" She pointed to Jaune.
"I know Ruby messaged you Arc. Why didn't you contact us that you found Blake?"
"Weiss, please it's not his fault. Jaune tried to call ruby early this morning but I took his scroll away from him. He's been trying to tell me to talk with you all the whole day but I was being too stubborn." Blake defended the blonde leader.
Weiss looked pensive before letting out a sigh. "I suppose than I should offer you my thanks Arc for accompanying with our teammate." Jaune smiled. "Don't read into it." She pointed again.
"Hey, wait a minute... Where's Penny?" Yang asked looking around.
"Wait… penny was here?" Ruby had asked, everyone unaware of the limo pulling off in the distance.
"Of course, it had to be team RWVBY involved." The familial and imposing voice of Professor Goodwitch boomed grabbing their attention. "You seem to have a knack for being near when Torchiwick is involved Miss Rose." Ruby speed and shrank under the professor's gaze.
"I just got here, honest!" Ruby swore. Goodwitch's eyes darted to everyone, stopping at Jaune looking confused to see him there.
Yang laughed nervously and said, "Wrong place, right time…"
"I'm sure…" she didn't believe it for a second. "Make no mistake I will be hearing all of your accounts of today, but first I must speak with the police. It might take a few hours. While you cannot stay here, I ask that you remain in the vicinity. We shall be taking my bullhead back to Beacon's grounds. Be sure not to miss it" She doubled the emphasis at the end.
All the students nodded not stopping till she walked away.
"What do we do know?" Jaune asked.
"Anyone hungry?" Cassian asked the group.
…
Meanwhile back in Beacon, Ozpin stared Scroll showing a "LIVE FEED" of team RWVBY at the docks. He closes the video and opens up a communication with Qrow Branwen. He had just received a message. left blank he read it silently to himself, 'Queen has Pawns' Ozpin hummed as he took a sip of his coffee.
…
At a quaint little dinner, strangely named the stinky dragon, team RWVBY plus jaune and sun sat down at a large booth, eating while they waited for Ms. Goodwitch to contact them. From left to right sat, Cassian, Yang, ruby, sun, Weiss, and jaune
"Sun, you said you were from Haven, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yea! I'm from Vacuo though." Sun responded as he finished eating a banana.
"Hey, me too," Cassian spoke up. Sun extended his fist over the table for a bump. To which Cassian returned.
"So, where's your team?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, I decided to come early before break to see the sites of vale! Speaking of my team I should probably tell them I'm here. He pulled out his scroll.
"Oh my god!" Jaune's hands slammed down the table.
"Jaune, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"My team! I haven't messaged them all day, they have no idea where I am!" He looked panicked. "Blake! My scroll." Blake having realized she still had his scroll scrambled for her pocket and handed it to him.
Jaune pressed the power button and as the screen flickered, the numerous notifications started popping up. Jaune sank further and further into his seat with every beep and Bing. Looking absolutely abysmal till it ended. Ruby, yang, and Blake peaked his scroll, all of them were from a team, a hand full from ren and Nora, the majority from his partner Pyrrha.
"They're gonna kill me." Jaune dismayed.
"No, they won't." Blake pulled him back up.
"I took your phone; I'll help you talk to them." Jaune felt a little relieved after her assurance.
"Oh! I wanted to ask before Ms. Goodwitch came, where did you find Blake"
"On beacon grounds by the statue, it was 4 in the morning I think." Jaune answered.
"What were you doing out there so earlier?" Yang asked.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some early training. I was stopping by the statue for inspiration." Jaune explained. "I…" He paused unsure of himself. "I've been training harder to prove myself." Blake eyes widened.
'Was he going to tell them.'
They were interrupted when Ruby's scroll started to ring. Ruby answered.
"Ms. Goodwitch!" She paused to change the scroll to speaker mode.
"Yes Miss Rose, I wanted to alert you and the others that I have finished my talks with police and officials. I have sent you the location of my bullhead. Please report to it as soon as possible." Forgetting that Jaune was going to speak up, the gang had paid their bill and left for the bullhead
…
On the way back to Beacon, Goodwitch had gotten their account of what happened with the docks. Th story that everyone agreed on was that Blake had a fight with her team and had left for the night. Out in Vale she found Jaune and they happened to come across Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. The rest of team RWVBY split up in Vale looking for Blake when Cassian and Yang saw the explosion and checked it out. Weiss, Ruby, and Sun arrived at the end, which was the only true statement of their story.
Professor Goodwitch didn't look like she believed it fully, but with little evidence to the contrary she let it dropped.
"When we return to Beacon, you are to go to your rooms immediately, I'll have you remember that classes resume tomorrow." She addressed team RWVBY and Jaune. "And you, Mr. Wukong, you are report to the guest student dorm, you will follow Beacon's rules during your stay here and understand that your headmaster was been made aware of your interesting choice of arrival." Sun winced in his seat.
Jaune had sent a message to his team during his flight, first that he was okay and that he was on his way back to Beacon with Professor Goodwitch and team RWVBY, second that they meet him at team RWVBY's room to explain.
When they landed at Beacon, team RWVBY and Jaune parted ways with Sun, promising to see more of each other and made their way to their dorm. Standing outside they saw the remaining team JNPR waiting. They had rushed their leader, glad that he was safe and unhurt. As they all went inside Jaune started to explain what happened. True to her word Blake had helped, and explained why Jaune didn't message them. That had helped ease any frustration and worry over their leader's sudden disappearance.
Team JNPR was about to leave when Jaune had cleared his throat. "Back in the diner, I wanted to say something and since everyone's here I'd like to finish."
Blake grabbed his shoulder asked, "Jaune?"
"It's okay Blake, I want, no I need to do this." He addressed the table again. "I trust everyone here."
"Blake and my team already know this but I haven't been completely honest about my acceptance into Beacon. His team's eyes widened, realizing what he was about to say while team RWVBY sans Blake were confused. "I faked my transcripts to get into initiation. Before that I had no training, Pyrrha was actually the one to unlock my aura." The news had been a shocker. Yang and Ruby's mouth wide open. Weiss' look was indescribable. "I know I probably don't deserve to be here but it's been my dream since I was a little kid and I've been training extra hard to be worthy of being here.
"Of course, you are! Remember our talk before our trip to Forever Fall?" Jaune nodded. "You're not a failure! And you're a great team leader." Ruby's words lifter Jaune up.
"I didn't think that much about you at first look but I gotta admit VB, you're making me see you in a whole new light. Seeing you hold your own against the White Fang, I might have to start calling you by a new nickname." Yang spoke casually.
"We all gotta start somewhere, you seem like a cool guy and hey, I got rejected from Shade! So, there was no normal way I was getting into a huntsman academy. I might have done the same thing." Cassian laughed.
All eyes were now on Weiss. The heiress silent this whole time brought her hands to her face. "I'm too tired for this, I don't approve of it, but you helped Blake today and no one was injured, I won't say anything Arc." Jaune was relieved. "Does anyone else have any illegal activities they want to get out in the open?" Weiss asked. It was rhetorical but Yang slowly raised her hand.
"I mean… I trashed a nightclub before coming to Beacon." The room was silent.
"That's it. I'm going to bed." Weiss stormed off to her room slamming the door. With that everything was out in the air.
'Today had been a long day, but it was finally over.' Cassian thought as JNPR left and everyone retired to their rooms. Tomorrow would be a whole new adventure. The first official week of classes.
Author's Note: Tried out something new, setting indicators for scene changes.
I also uploaded cover art for the story. It's a commission I had done by Eryx45_ on Twitter for my oc Cassian.
As always feel free to comment/review!