Chapter 10

Vale

With the Vytal Festival coming up, everybody in Vale was excited to learn that this year, they would be hosting the spectacular event. Balloons and banners of all colors lined the streets and houses as the people of Vale opened their doors to the rest of Remnant.

Teams RWBY and JKHL walked down the busy streets gazing at the spectacle the townspeople had put together in honor of the Festival.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss exclaimed in uncharacteristic joy.

Ruby took notice of this. "I don't think you've ever smiled this much, Weiss. It's kinda scary."

"The amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" Weiss stated.

Yang sighed and joked, "You know, you really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!" Weiss hissed back.

"Care to explain why you also invited us over to visit the docks, in the middle of our training no less?" Sub Zero asked.

"I've heard that exchange students from Shade Academy are arriving today! And as a representative of Beacon, I feel it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss proclaimed.

"That still doesn't explain why you dragged us along with you." Scorpion deadpanned

Blake turned to the group and bluntly said "She wants to spy on them so she can gain the upper hand in the tournament."

Weiss scoffed with her arms crossed. "Pfft! You can't prove that!"

"Well I for one am glad you dragged us out." Johnny said "Like seriously, all these guys do is train. Don't know why I had to be stuck with a team where everybody is serious."

"Maybe because you take nothing seriously." Sub Zero said

"Shut up Blue Berry." Johnny said

"Whoa…" Yang pointed to her right, causing the eight teens to see a shop covered in police tape, with a couple of detectives investigating the scene.

They walked over to the crime scene, where Ruby asked the officer, "What happened?"

"Robbery. Second dust shop this week. This place is turning into a jungle." The detective answered Ruby.

"Who do you think is behind it?" Ruby asked them.

One of the two piped up. "Torchwick and his pack of 'Blighters'? Or maybe the Black Dragon? Word is those sons 'a bitches moved in all the way from Mantle."

The bearded cop replied to him, "Nah, it couldn't be them. They left all the money again. Thinkin' the uh… White Fang?"

"Well, I think we don't get paid enough." His partner joked.

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

Blake turned to the heiress with narrowed eyes. "What's your problem?"

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss argued.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths! They're just misguided!" Blake replied.

"Misguided?! They want the eradication of humanity altogether!" Weiss yelled at Blake.

Blake flinched at her statement. "Well… then they're very misguided. Still, why would they rob some random Dust shop in the middle of the city?"

Ruby spoke up. "She has a point. Besides, the police never did apprehend Torchwick. He seems to be a likely culprit."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "But still! It doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are nothing but scum! Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal!"

"You seem to hate these White Fangs very much" Liu Kang noted, but was cut off by a voice yelling from the docks.

"Hey! Stop that faunus!" A sailor yelled, chasing a young man on the deck. He had spiky blonde hair, an open white shirt that flaunted his abs, and a yellow monkey tail, giving away his animalistic trait.

"Haha! Thanks for the ride, guys!" He shouted out to his pursuers, leaping off the ship and down the pier, where he managed to nab a banana from a nearby fruit stand, hanging upside down from a lamppost by his tail.

"You no-good stowaway!" The sailor yelled at him, shaking his fist.

"Shut up! I'm a good stowaway! Otherwise, I would've been caught!" He quipped while peeling his snack, throwing the skin at a detective chasing him. He then jumped off of his perch and up to the streets, where he passed teams RWBY and JKHL.

But when he passed Blake, she was able to catch the quick wink he gave her as he ran past them into the city.

Everyone stood there, confused before Ruby tapped Weiss's shoulder. "Well, are we going to 'welcome' the man or not?"

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss said before tailing the faunus with the others following behind.

They rounded a corner, catching sight of the detectives disappearing behind another block. Weiss ran ahead, but crashed into someone, sending both tumbling on the pavement. Weiss rubbed her head and looked in front of her to see the faunus jumping atop a building and out of sight.

"Drat! He gave us the slip!" Weiss cursed.

"Uuuhhh, Weiss?" Ruby pointed in front of Weiss.

Weiss turned to see a young girl, probably Ruby's age. She had green eyes and wore overalls over a blouse. Her cheeks were dotted with freckles and her curly ginger hair decorated with a pink bow, but to Weiss, there was something…off about her. Her eyes were definitely similar to anyone else's, bright with emotion and personality, but she couldn't ignore the odd glassy shine that formed on her orbs, irises flicking left and right like a machine scanning its surroundings.

Weiss backed away in surprise, and the girl spoke. "Salutations!"

"Um… hi?" Ruby awkwardly returned her odd greeting with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you… okay?" Yang asked her, noting her strange behavior.

"I'm fine! Thank you for asking!" The girl politely answered the blonde.

"Would you like to get up then?" Liu Kang asked her, noticing she still hadn't got up from the pavement and was still lying down flat on the sidewalk.

The girl paused for a second. "Yes."

Scorpion however, narrowed his eyes at her as he could sense she wasn't human.

She then proceeded to push her hands off of the pavement, gracefully flipping herself back on her feet.

"My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Johnny paused for a minute when he heard her name. "Penny?"

"Hi, Penny. I'm Ruby!"

"I'm Weiss."

"Liu Kang"

"Johnny Cage."

"Kuai Liang."

"Blake."

"You sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked causing Ruby to elbow her. "O-oh! I'm Yang!"

Everyone then stared at Scorpion waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Yo, Earth to Hanzo." Johnny elbowed him.

With a sign he finally answered "Hanzo."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said to them with a smile.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You just said that…"

Penny stood still for a moment, and then resumed her cheerful expression. "So I did!"

"Well Penny, sorry for running into you!" Weiss said as she joined the group around the corner.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby called out with a wave before following suit.

The group rounded the block and walked down the street with an awkward atmosphere between them. But Sub Zero and Liu Kang moved closer to Scorpion while making sure not to alert the others.

"You noticed didn't you?" Sub Zero whispered

"She is not human." Scorpion said in a similar tune

"Still she does not seem like a threat." Liu Kang said

"Let us hope that is the case." Sub Zero said ending their conversation

As they kept walking, Yang finally said "She was… weird."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I noticed. Now! Where did that faunus riff-raff run off to?"

But as she walked, she came to a stop when she saw Penny right in front of her with wide eyes. "What did you call me?"

Yang's face turned pale and began to stutter. "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't think you heard me!"

Penny turned to Yang with those glassy eyes and spoke in a blank voice. "No. Not you."

Penny then moved past Yang and stood in front of Ruby. "You!"

Ruby's face turned red and stuttered uncontrollably. "W-wha-? M-me? B-but I don't… uh- I mean…"

"You called me friend! Am I really your friend?" Penny asked her.

Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder to see the others shaking their heads and crossing their arms, and Yang held up a sign saying "STRANGER DANGER!" telling her to say no.

Ruby giggled awkwardly. "S-sure! Why not?"

Her friends looked on in dismay and shock, before collectively fainting.

Penny's smile grew wide. "SENSATIONAL! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby whispered in Weiss's ear, "Ooh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

"No, she seems far more coordinated." Weiss sarcastically answered her.

Liu Kang spoke up. "So Penny, what business do you have in Vale?"

"Oh! I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny cheerfully answered him.

"Wait, you're from a combat school?" Weiss asked her with a skeptical expression.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny declared with a salute.

"Wait… if you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… rapscallion?!" Weiss asked Penny.

Penny cocked her head to the side, confused. "The… who?"

"The filthy faunus from the docks!" Weiss told her.

Blake was becoming impatient and beyond annoyed with her teammate's insensitive remarks and dismissive words. She was fed up with her insults, and now she was snapping.

"Why do you keep saying things like that?!" Blake blurted out.

"Huh?"

"Stop calling him a degenerate! Stop calling him a rapscallion! He's a person!" Blake shouted at her in anger.

Weiss's brow furrowed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost?!"

"STOP IT!" Blake yelled at Weiss.

"Stop what?! He clearly broke the law. Just you wait before he joins up with the rest of his kind in the White Fang!" Weiss rebutted, causing Blake to clench her fist and teeth in frustration and rage.

"YOU IGNORANT LITTLE BRAT!"

Weiss strutted up to Blake and put a finger on her chest. "How dare you talk to me that way! I am your teammate!"

Blake shoved her hand away and pointed at her accusingly. "You are a judgmental little girl!"

"WHAT IN THE WORLD MAKES YOU SAY THAT?! I-"

Yang, Ruby and Team JKHL stood aside, awkwardly watching the two rant back and forth.

"I… think we should get going." Yang spoke up amongst them.

"Give them time, hopefully they can calm down." Liu Kang said.

"This has been a complete waste of time." Scorpion said leaving the group.

Team RWBY's Dorm

"Remind me why we're here again?" Scorpion asked with his arms fold

"We're here to help fix Blake and Weiss problem." Liu Kang answered him.

Sub Zero sighed. "So far you've being making solid progress." He said in a sarcastic tune

It had been hours and the two girls were arguing non-stop through the night. Yang and Ruby stood there, unable to intervene, Team JKHL doing the same.

"The fact that you associate a faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake growled at her.

"So you admit it; The White Fang is just a group of radical terrorists!" Weiss threw back.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"I don't understand why this is creating such a problem!"

"THAT IS THE PROBLEM!"

"You do realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity? The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss barked at Blake.

Blake stood up on her feet with narrow eyes. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate humanity so much?! It's because of people like Cardin, people like you that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?!"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!"

Every soul in the room then fell silent.

Weiss sighed. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed."

"My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember, and ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends vanish, board members found dead…" Weiss said with cold eyes staring out the window.

"An entire train car of dust stolen. As if that devious snake Starrick wasn't bad enough."

Blake flinched when she heard the last part.

"Every night, my father came home furious, and our mother was too depressed to do anything about it, so naturally, that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss confessed grimly, clenching a fist in recollection of dark memories.

Ruby, feeling bad for her walked up beside her. "W-Weiss, I-"

"NO!" Weiss suddenly shouted out, turning back to Blake.

"Do you know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars! Thieves! And murderers!" Weiss barked at Blake.

Soon, Blake couldn't take it anymore and shouted back while taking off her bow "WELL, MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

All of a sudden, the room fell dead silent, everyone with their eyes on Blake. The girl stepped back, now realizing what she'd just said, and backed up fearfully.

"I…" Blake began to stammer, her lip quivering in shame and fear. She then sprinted as fast as she could out the door.

"Blake! Wait, come back!" Ruby desperately attempted to call out to her but she was already gone.

Front Yard

Blake ran and ran, not knowing what from. Maybe her past, her regrets, or her teammates who may not even trust her anymore. She stopped to catch her breath, and looked in front of her. There stood that stone statue, a memorial to the heroes of the world, triumphing over the evil creatures that plagued it.

Clutching the bow in her hand, she wiped away a tear as a pair of cat ears twitched, welcoming the cool air of the night. She looked behind her and saw Sub Zero walking towards her without his mask while wearing an unreadable expression.

For a moment they both stood there in silence. That was until Sub Zero decided to break the Ice (Pun highly intended).

"Do you want to talk?" He asked.

"Sure, but not here." Blake said after a while.