Chapter 41: Lost & Find
"I'm going to tell them about Blake." Those were the words that Pyrrha said to me as she got up from her seat and went towards Ruby and Yang. I quickly got up as well and grabbed her by her shoulders to stop her.
"And tell them what? Blake is a Faunus? That she left school yesterday with some random person? That she might be missing? Not to add salt to the wound as well, but they do not look like they want to talk at all." As I finished saying that, I pointed at team RWBY who were sitting there... Well more like sitting apart from each other with only Ruby and Yang sitting together and Weiss sitting far away from them. I might not know what has gotten into them but they looked annoyed by something. And with what had happened yesterday in the docks, I felt like it had something to do with Weiss and Blake.
For whatever reason Weiss had an annoyed face while listening to class and writing notes, every so often she looked at her team and went back to her notes. Yang kept on looking down at her scroll and back at Ruby, she had an upset face but kept it under control as time went on in class. Ruby on the other hand just kept looking at Weiss and Yang, she looked so upset like she wanted to say something to them, but it felt like no one was listening to her.
As the school day went on, Weiss kept her distance from her team only sitting close to them when they had to work on a project given to us by the teacher.
When the teacher asked for Blake they gave them the excuse that she had gotten sick and was resting. A simple lie, but it did its part.
"I feel like it's the right thing to do Seth, what if they are worried about her?" I looked at her and looked back at team RWBY, most noticeably at Weiss. "I don't think one of them cares."
"Seth." She narrows her eyes at me and I just raise my hands in defeat.
"Okay fine. Just tell them at the end of classes, and maybe away from Weiss. Something is telling me that she might be responsible for the tension between them." She also looked at the team and I heard her sigh as well.
"Yeah, you might have a point. Fine, at the end of the school day, we will tell them."
"Right, we will... Wait who is 'we'? You speaking a different language or something? You wanted to tell them! I don't really care about this. In all honestly, this is not our-" I go quiet by the look that she was giving me. A smile that said so much sinister shit behind it and eyes that looked way different from her usual ones.
"I guess I can fit it into my schedule today." I said to her as I looked back at the teacher who was now entering the class.
"Thank you." She smiles at that and sits back down as well.
"I can tell something good happened yesterday." I turned to face Nora who was sitting next to us with a smirk on her face.
"Good, bad, and annoying." I tell her as I place my head down on the desk to try to rest for a bit.
"Did something happend with team RWBY yesterday?" Ren asked. "When we came back to our room, we could hear them yelling at each other inside their room. We thought you guys came as well, but it was mostly only them."
"It sounded pretty intense. Our doors were closed but we could still hear them." Jaune told us. Great, so even the team heard them talk.
"What did you guys hear?" I asked them and they started to explain how the moment they got back from Vale, Blake and Weiss both began to argue the moment they entered their room. They could hear them saying stuff like 'White Fang, Weiss Family, and close to the end heard Ruby screaming to come back.' Seems like the fight they had, really escalated to things that they shouldn't have said but were said anyway. After they explained it, I started to tell them what had also happened at the docks.
"You think we should talk with them?" Nora asked.
"Well, Pyrrha is already dragging me to talk with them. So I guess- Ow." Feeling a sharp pain in my side, I rub it. "We are going to have a talk with them about something important."
"Need some help?" Jaune asked.
"No, it's fine." Jaune turn to his parthner. "We are only going to tell them a few things, I'm sure it won't take long." With those final words, we paid attention back to class.
As the bell rang everyone got up from their seats and began to leave the class. Weiss quickly got up and left first, while Ruby and Yang went to follow her. By the looks of it, Weiss didn't want to talk to them. Getting up from our seats we all began to walk toward our final class of the day. Once we arrived there we saw the same results as before. Weiss keeping her distance from her other two teammates.
Toward the end of class, we had a surprise visit from Miss Goodwitch who came to inform us. "Students, Beginning next week the students from the other kingdom will be attending here for the foreseeable future. I'm sure all of you will be respectful towards the others and show them around the school. Since it's Vytal season, remember all of you will be representing Beacon. So try to be on your best behavior." With that, she left the room and everyone began to talk.
"Sweet! Fresh meat." Nora said rubbing her hands together.
"Nora, be nice to them."
"More students. I wonder who we will meet here." Jaune asked.
"I'm sure we will meet all sorts of people here." Pyrrha said to Jaune.
"Yeah, hell we might even get to see Bolin, Reese, and... Arslan... Aw shit."
"Who?"
"Friends of ours, and Seth's rival." Pyrrha joked and I just slam my head into the table.
Once the final bell rang and everyone began to leave to go do their own thing. Weiss got up from her chair and walked toward us.
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Wait... She was not supposed to do that.
"Pyrrha, may I speak to you..." She looks at our team "In private." Pyrrha looked back at us and saw that Nora, Ren, and Jaune nodded at her. She turned to me and I just shrugged at it.
"Of course Weiss, let's go." Pyrrha agreed to her and both began to leave the class.
"What was that all about?" Nora asked.
"Don't know... But this could be a good thing... Right?" Jaune questioned.
"Don't know, but this is a change of plans now." I got up from my seat and began to walk toward the exit.
"So what are you planning on doing now?" I heard Nora ask me but I really only had one option now.
"I'm going to go talk to Ruby and Yang. I need to tell them something." As I exit the classroom I see both of them looking off toward Weiss and Pyrrha who were both walking away from the classroom.
"You two okay?" I asked them and saw that Yang turned to me and looked surprised but quickly smiled at me.
"What? Us? Sure are shades. Aw, I didn't know you cared about us that much." She said trying not to make a big issue. I looked at Ruby and saw her still looking in the direction of where Weiss and Pyrrha went.
"Right... Well, what happened yesterday? Did something happen to Blake?" Hearing her name the two looked at each other and Yang just looked at me back.
"Nothing happened, she just got a little bit sick that's all... Hey, do you have any idea what Weiss wants with Pyrrha?" Yang tried to change the subject about her partner and focus on Weiss and Pyrrha. I just looked at her with a deadpan expression knowing that she was lying at me. I looked at Ruby who was trying not to look at me.
"Sigh... I have no idea what she wanted with her, but she asked to be in private. I'm sure she will tell us later. But back to Blake, I need to tell you guys-" I get cut off by Ruby speaking up now.
"Seth, it's fine. This is a team problem. We don't want anyone else to get involved in this." I see Ruby looking at me with pleading eyes to please not to get involved. I look back at Yang who also had a look of not wanting me to get involved as well.
"Look Seth, like Ruby said this is a team problem. Blake kind of revealed something to us yesterday and we are still trying to make sense of it. So for now, just let us handle this on our own. Alright?" I saw her looking at me and sent a smile my way. I just rub my head in annoyance and nod it.
"Fine, but just remember. You guys have friends that will help you as well." I said to them and I turned away from them and walked toward my team.
"One more thing!" I turn back to them. "She might be in Vale. Last night Pyrrha and I saw her take an Airship, she and someone else." With those final words, I leave them.
The two meanwhile looked at each other, nodded their heads, and began to run toward the airships to go to Vale, in hopes of finding Blake.
Walking back to my team I see them waiting for me. "How did it go?" Ren asked. I simply nod my head at them.
"Better than I hope. But I'm sure they will be fine... So let's get lunch?"
"Finally! I'm so hungry I can eat a horse." Nora quickly runs off in the direction of the cafeteria. The three of us looked at Nora running off in the distance.
"Right... So are we still down to go to Vale tomorrow?" Jaune asked this and we nodded.
"Yep! It's usually the day that we get supplies. But remember Jaune you are doing double duty tomorrow with those bags." I tell him and Ren nods in agreement, while Jaune just groans to himself. We all begin to walk toward the cafeteria to try and catch up with Nora.
POV Pyrrha
'What was it that Seth always told me to do? Tell people to F... Oh, I can't say it. This is why he is always the one to say it, not me.' Looking at Weiss as she continues to walk towards a tall building in the center of the courtyard.
"Weiss, where are we going?"
" I need your help Pyrrha. We need to discuss this with the headmaster about Belladonna." I heard Weiss's voice, and it sounded like venom when she said Blake's last name.
"What about her?" I asked, knowing where this conversation might go.
"She... She, a Faunus." Weiss tells me in an all-serious tone.
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"Okay... And?" I feel like this is what Seth goes through.
"And?! Pyrrha, she's a part of the White Fang. Our life can be in danger, my life could be in danger. Can't you see? I'm sure you dealt with them as you were growing up."
Not really, Argus is a nice peaceful place, we never get those types of groups there. "Weiss, I'm sure Blake is not a part of the White Fang. Do you really think that the headmaster would overlook that?" Then again, he overlooked Jaune... Maybe, she could be, right?
I shake my head at that thought.
"She admitted to us yesterday. Once we got back to our dorms, we continued the argument at the docks and soon she spilled it out to us. The nerve of the girl."
"Is that what really happened?"
"Yes!" I looked at her with a deadpan expression. "Yes." I kept on looking at her. "Well, kind of." I nod at this and walk towards a bench to take a seat. I motion for her to take a seat and she obliges. "What is this really about Weiss?"
"She lied to us all." She tells me.
"Did she now?" I respond.
"Yes!"
"Or did she know this would be the reaction that you would have towards her?"
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'I need to apologize to Seth.'
"My reaction is justified. Do you know what it's like to always have a target on your back from a group of people who want to hurt you or worse kill you? My whole life has been like this. All thanks to my family name. There is not a single Faunus that doesn't want me dead."
"What about Velvet?"
"What about her?"
"Do you think she wants you dead?"
"Oh, please she doesn't look like she can hurt a fly."
'Well from what I heard from Seth; she is very strong...' I remember what he told me about her, dragging her team away from him. "Weiss try talking to her and see what her point of view in all of this is. Cause if you want my opinion in all of this." I see her nod her head. " I believe that you need to accept Blake as who she is, not what she is. If she came to Beacon, that means she is trying to better herself and not be what she might have been."
"But what if she-" I cut her off.
"Weiss, this might sound harsh but please listen. If she wanted you dead. She would have done it a long time ago." I see her eyes widen and to be fair, my eyes as well. I can't believe I said that to her.
"Pyrrha, that idiot is a bad influence on you."
I shrug at that. "Maybe, but if you get to know him better, you will know he will always mean well." I smile at this and hold my hands together.
"So do you think I should hear her side of this?" She questioned me and I just nodded.
"She is a part of your team Weiss. She had your back in initiation and those team fights that we always take. So have her back in this. Listen to her." I see her look back toward the tower and back at her hands. I see them shaking and I put my hand on her. She looks at me and I smile at her.
"Trust me, Weiss."
It takes her a good few seconds but she gets up from her seat. She turns to me. "I will hear her out then. But! If she does anything to me, or the rest of my team, or yours! I will inform the headmaster." I nod at this and stand back up.
"Alright... I didn't think you cared so much about your team. What changed?"
"Well, it's not like I like them or anything. But they had grown to me."
"Even mine?" She nods her head. "Even Se-"
"This is not about him!" She begins to walk away and I go to follow her while chuckling.
"How about we get some food? I'm sure our teams will be there." I tell her and she nods as well.
As we both made our way toward the cafeteria, we saw a huge crowd of people blocking the entrance of the cafeteria and we heard a loud commotion inside, with the sound of people yelling.
"HIT HIM WITH THE TRAY COCO!" The sound of Seth's voice echoed through the cafeteria.
"Coco! No!" "Coco Yes!"
"Fox! Pass me my purse!"
"He's a little busy right now!"
Making our way inside and pushing people out of the way, we are met with a braw between Team CFVY and Team CRDL. With team CFVY putting the first years in their place. I turned to look at my team who were just watching from the sideline.
"Seth! What did you do?" I question my best friend.
"Why are you looking at me? I didn't start it." He looked so hurt by my assumption, that I felt a little bad.
"Yeah, you did Seth. You called them once they started to walk towards Velvet." Nora told us not paying attention to me and still seeing the fight at hands
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And like that, the pity was gone.
"God damn it, Nora." He said to himself.
"I am really questioning my word from earlier now Pyrrha." I heard Weiss say next to me and I just rub my head in annoyance.
'Sigh... Well, I sure won't.'
CRACK!
"Holy shit Coco broke the tray over Cardin's head!"
"Let's Go!"
The Following Day
As we all got ready to go to Vale to get some more supplies that we needed I saw the team getting ready for the day ahead. I saw Nora sitting on her bed with my notebook as she continued to read it. I swear she most really likes that book of mine. Ren was currently writing a list of things that we might need. Jaune was in the bathroom getting ready himself. Pyrrha was sitting on her bed tying her hair into a ponytail. While I was just sitting on my bed bored out of my mind. I got up from my bed and headed out the door.
"I'll wait for you guys outside. I already got the bags on me so we can save a few Lien today." With a 'hm' from Ren, I step out the door and pull out my scroll to see that I got a text from Mom.
As I read it I smiled that she was excited for me to go back home for the break that we were going to get by the end of the week. I just can't wait to have her see the team now.
I hear a door open and look to see team RW_Y walk out of their room.
"Sup, Heading out?" I asked seeing them nod their heads in agreement. "Alright take care and good luck."
"Seth." I raise my head and see Yang walk toward me.
"Yeah?"
"Can you call Pyrrha." This took me by surprise and I looked at her confused.
"Why?"
"Just do it." I looked at Ruby and saw her mouth 'please.' I turn to Weiss and see her arms crossed looking at the end of the hall. With an eye roll, I head inside my room.
"Hey, Pyrrha." She looks at me and I motion my head towards the door. She understands it and gets up from her bed and steps outside to meet with the three girls.
"Good morning guys. What's wrong." Pyrrha greeted them and I was about to give them their privacy to talk, but.
"Seth, you too." Ruby tells me.
"Ugh... Sure." I step outside as well and close the door behind me. "So what's up?"
It takes them a few minutes but Ruby is the one who starts. "We need you guy's help." That got both of us attention.
A plan was in place. Team A goes and looks around the Residential District in Vale, While Team B goes and looks around the Commercial District. Seems simple enough right?
Wrong!
"This place is huge!" I scream out at the top of my lungs having people looking at me like I was crazy.
"Seth." I heard my team call on me but I didn't care.
So originally it was to have team RW_Y look around the Residential area since yesterday Yang and Ruby both looked at some parts of the Commercial district but had no luck. So they asked us to look around today in this area while they looked around another place.
Do I blame them? No, Vale is a huge place. And to be honest here, I am happy that they wanted help. However, their plan really didn't make sense when Weiss told Me and Pyrrha to not inform the rest of our team.
Like I feel having more people looking around for a missing person would be more easier if everyone in the group knew who we were trying to find!
But luck was on our side, beacuse the moment Weiss told us this, Nora burst threw the door and argued that they could help better as a group of nine rather than a group of five.
Why Nine?
I called Penny to help as well. Two of them were not happy, but one of them was.
So here we are doing our shopping and trying to find our missing person in this huge ass City! I swear this was already a challenge in itself. But trying to find Blake now, especially when there are more people in Vale now will be the most challenging thing on our to-do list.
"Okay so we got some of our supplies done and we still haven't found Blake yet. How much more of the city do we need to search?" Jaune asked as he continued to look around for Blake.
"Well by the look of this map... We just cross the street. There is still a lot more to go." I tell him, hearing a groan from him. "Think of this as training Arc!"
"Maybe we should take a rest? We have been searching for the past three hours and I feel like we can use the energy." Pyrrha said to us and we agreed to this and began to walk toward the place where we always eat.
Honestly, this could be a bigger challenge than we were expecting. I can't imagine what Ruby and Yang had to go through yesterday just the two of them. Vale is a really big place. Not the same as Argus or even Mantle. Finding one person here was going to be a challenge for nine people.
I felt my scroll buzz and saw that I got a message from Yang.
'Any luck?'
'Nope. We already searched the docks, the center of Vale, the park, and some stores. Nothing yet. We getting food soon and will continue searching in a few.' I sent the message and saw that I got a reply fast.
'Alright, enjoy your food.'
'You guys should eat as well. Get your energy up as well.'
'Aww, I didn't know you cared so-' I didn't read the rest of the message and put my scroll inside my pocket.
"Message from Yang?" I looked at Pyrrha and just nodded.
"Yeah, I've been getting updates from Weiss as well, nothing yet."
"Wait you guys are getting updates? I'm getting memes from Ruby." Jaune told us.
"You guys are getting messages?" Nora asked annoyed by that.
We laughed at that and began to walk inside the restaurant. After an hour of eating and getting our energy back, we began to look around again. We past more stores and visited even more places that we hadn't explored so far and still found nothing. After the third hour, Nora was getting frustrated.
"Arg! We have been searching for hours and still haven't found Blake yet! I'm getting upset now! I need to find something to smash or else!"
"I guess we can use another break." I tell them and see Ren agree to this.
"But what can we do?"
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"Arcade?" We turn to Jaune who was pointing at the Arcade that we visited the first day in Vale.
"Sure, I guess that could be-" I didn't get to finish since Nora ran towards the direction of the place. As we walk toward the place I get stopped by Pyrrha who gives me a stern look.
"No Tetris."
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"Just shoot me then."
"Seth..." She narrows her eyes at me.
"Fine! I won't go near that machine!" I said grumpy about my rights being taken away from me.
"Good." We both entered the place and saw Nora playing Wack-a-Grimm. Ren was playing Dance Dance Retribution and Jaune was playing a shooter. I looked to my side and saw the love of my life crying out to me.
"Not today." I said in a low voice.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." I walk toward a racing game and put in a quarter. After five minutes, I left the game and walked around for a bit. Seeing everyone having fun I decided to step outside the Arcade to get some fresh air. Once outside I pull out my scroll and decide to make a call.
"Salutation Seth, how are you?"
"Hey Penny, how are things?"
"Everything has been wonderful so far. Sadly I haven't been able to locate our friend Blake. My apologies."
"Don't be, you are taking time out of your day to help us. I should be the one thanking you."
"It is no problem at all. However, I require a favor, as people call it."
A favor? What would Penny like?
"Sure you name it."
"Excellent I shall inform you later on. I shall continue my search. Take care!"
"Take care Penny." I end the call and lean on the wall behind me.
'What the hell does Penny want? Sigh... No matter, she has been helping a lot lately. I'm sure it's nothing at all.' I was about to put my scroll away until I was met with amber eyes looking back at me from across the street.
And I looked at her.
And She looks at me.
And I look at her.
And she looks at me.
And I looked at her with wide eyes!
And She looks at me with wide eyes as well!
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I raise my scroll and look for Yang's number. However, I feel a ribbon tie around my arm. Looking at it I see that it's black and looking in the direction of where it was coming from I get pulled toward the person.
"Son of a -"
OOF!
My back gets slammed into a wall in an alleyway.
"What are you doing here?" I heard Blake ask me and I just looked at her.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was just taking a stroll downtown?"
"No, so I suggest you start talking." She places her weapon on my neck and narrows her eyes.
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'Note to self... Never help this team again!'
A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone enjoys their day and all of that.
So we are so back into this! Work is calming down and now I can write again!
Not gonna lie coming back to this feels weird, so I might need to get used to this again. Anyway. We have a question!
To AnonTheKingOfCitrus: Yes! His weapon is named after that song. One of my all-time favorites. I mean his sword is inspired by the Freedom Sworn but more mechanical. From the definition that I found Saltatio is like Dancing. While Favillae was Spark.
Dancing Spark. Almost like how Seth fights. I think... Anyway, thank you for the question.
Anyway, hopefully, next week I can post another chapter.
Thank you again and take care all.
See you next time for... Nice boat!
(I'm getting bad flashbacks of that)