Author's Note: I'm going to be gone for a couple of weeks for some job stuff and will probably miss uploads, I'm going to try but we shall see. The next 100% confirmed update won't be until November 28th. Like I said I'm still going to try but I can't make any promises.

"This one could work." Coco muttered softly, looking in between the two shirts she held in her hands. "Though maybe white would work better with your skin."

Pyrrha sat back in one of the nearby chairs, having long since given up on adding anything to Coco's clearly one sided conversation. Instead, she looked around the department store they had found themselves in. They weren't alone, but she was fairly sure they hadn't been followed; just as they hadn't been followed the day before or the one before that. Despite her confidence in that fact, she kept looking around in an attempt to keep herself occupied.

"They aren't going to do anything obvious if you look like you're watching for them." Coco said as she tossed a white button up shirt over to her. "Go try that one on, I want to see how it contrasts with your skin."

Pyrrha took the shirt and stood, sighing but not bothering to complain. The first day they had stuck together but when that hadn't worked they had broken up into groups. Today they were trying just two in the hopes that her "vulnerable" position would cause her stalker to show herself.

There'd been no such luck so far, and she couldn't even say there had been any leads. She'd gone to talk with the General after the first day and he had ordered his team to keep a farther distance away from her in case they had been tipping their target off. Still, nothing had changed, and Pyrrha was beginning to feel annoyed. They were quickly running out of time; Beacon's school year started in two weeks, and they didn't have any idea where Cinder was or what she was planning.

There hadn't been any sign of things changing, the dust robberies were still ongoing and according to the General, word was that the White Fang was involved. The police were keeping that out of the reports and news broadcasts for now, as to not cause a panic, but it was only a matter of time before the public found out. If they didn't do something, then it was very likely that things wouldn't change in the way they wanted.

She had no doubt that their plans had changed, Pyrrha's open involvement would have forced them to change things, it was just a matter of how much. They knew "Amber" was alive and moving around, so Cinder wasn't likely to infiltrate Beacon, knowing that her cover had been blown. Nor was she likely to send her underlings given that they had been there during the attack.

All of that raised the worrying question of what was going to happen next? An attack was coming and, in all likelihood, it was still going to be during the festival. That many people gathered together was simply too perfect a target to ignore, and that meant that they could sneak into the Kingdom easier as well.

Buttoning up the final notch, Pyrrha turned away from the mirror; not bothering to actually look at her new appearance before stepping out of the changing room.

"Hmm." Coco hummed but didn't say anything, looking Pyrrha over and gesturing for her to spin. She did so without complaint, but made no effort to hide her bored expression. "You could at least try looking like you're having fun."

"I'm not very good at pretending anymore." Pyrrha stepped back through the changing room door, slipping the shirt off and tossing it back on one of the hangars.

"Was that something you did often?" Coco asked from the other side, clarifying after Pyrrha didn't immediately respond. "Pretending to have fun when you weren't, I mean."

"Not since joining Beacon." Pyrrha answered honestly. "My team quickly picked up on what was genuine and what was a mask."

"So what, they'd try to make sure you were always having fun?" Coco sounded somewhat amused by the idea.

"Not quite, the boys perhaps, but Nora was a… different matter." Pyrrha smiled at the memory as she pulled her original shirt on.

"Oh?" Coco sounded interested.

"She'd try and force a genuine reaction out of me, for better or worse." Pyrrha chuckled softly. "They were all like that in their own way, trying to get me to be honest with how I felt… I wish I had listened."

"So they made you 'unlearn' how to fake it?" Coco's moved the topic on before it could turn depressing.

"Not quite." Pyrrha stepped out of the changing room, handing the shirt back to her friend. Coco set it on a nearby rack along with the rest of the clothes she had tried on. "I could be honest around them… mostly." Pyrrha winced softly as she remembered all the times she had been forced to hide her feelings for Jaune. Shaking her head she pushed on. "Even team RWBY was easy to be around."

"So what changed?"

Pyrrha held her arms out, speaking quietly so as to avoid anyone overhearing them. "Everything. I may not… remember her, but this is still her body."

"Was." Coco corrected. "But you're saying you picked up her ticks?"

Pyrrha nodded her head softly, it hadn't even been something she realized. Not until she finally pierced together why everyone was able to tell what she was thinking. She had always been good at hiding her true thoughts on something, even when she had been surrounded by friends, so to suddenly have people able to easily read her? It had been a bit irritating, but it was just one more thing she would have to overcome.

Coco tilted her head as if thinking for a moment. "Like that thing you do with your neck?"

"What thing?" Pyrrha asked defensively.

"Whenever you're in an awkward situation, you rub the back of your neck." Coco smirked. "Like right now."

Pyrrha froze, realizing that she had started to rub the back of her neck. Thinking back, she tried to remember if that was one of her or Amber's. In the end, she supposed it didn't really matter. "Should I be concerned that you're watching me?"

"Just observing." Coco shrugged softly. "Besides, it's kind of cute."

Pyrrha looked away, hoping Coco wouldn't see her blush as she stammered a response. "W-we better keep looking."

Coco sighed. "About that, I'm pretty sure that was the last piece of clothing in your size you hadn't tried on yet."

Pyrrha looked back to the rack filled with clothing. Looking back to the counter she saw the annoyed look on the attendant, her knowing full well that they weren't going to put all those clothes back.

"Anything I should buy?" Pyrrha tried to ignore the building heat in her face.

Coco shrugged softly. "Nothing I'd recommend. I know another store we can try though." Despite her words, Pyrrha could tell her friend wasn't feeling it.

"Why don't we meet up with the others and get something to eat." Pyrrha offered, both to help her friend and to let herself sit and relax after hours of standing and trying on new clothes.

"I'll shoot them a message and see what they're up to." Coco mutter as she pulled out her scroll,

There were a lot of food establishments in Vale, especially in the city center where they had decided to go shopping. While Pyrrha hadn't had any real expectations for what they might be eating, this hadn't been anywhere near what she had expected.

Yatsuhashi, Fox, and Velvet sat rigid in their portion of the booth, eyes locked firmly on the menus even though one of them couldn't read it.

"Is this… really the palace you want to eat?" Pyrrha asked for what had to be the hundredth time.

Coco nodded, her eyes roaming around the dinner they sat in. "Their ice cream is the best in the city."

"Maybe but…" Pyrrha's blush threatened to cause a bloody nose as one of the waitresses walked by. "Does it have to be here?"

The dinner Coco had taken them too was several blocks away from the shopping center they had been at, wedged in a back alley secluded from sight if you stuck to the main roads. While Pyrrha had thought that odd at first, she quickly realized why upon entering. The waitresses, and the staff were exclusively female, were all wearing possibly the most revealing outfits that Pyrrha had ever seen in a public space.

"What? See something you don't like?" Coco smirked, her sunglasses falling just low enough to reveal the slight glint in her eyes. "Or maybe something you do?"

Pyrrha shut her mouth, focusing her attention on the menu with a determination she hadn't ever thought possible. Despite that, every time someone walked by the table her eyes would involuntarily look up, immediately causing her to blush before shoving her face back down into the menu.

The only reason she didn't leave was because Coco was clearly enjoying herself, admittedly at their expense. Shaking her head, she actually decided to read the menu. Most of the "food" was some kind of dessert; ice cream seemed to be the center dish, but there were a number of other sweets. Most of it was ridiculously expensive for what it was, although she supposed people paid for the experience more than the actual food.

Her face burned even hotter at that thought, so she tried to focus on something else to gain a moment of respite.. When Coco started flirting with their waitress, however, she realized no such rescue was likely.

"How do you even know about this place?" Velvet whispered between gritted teeth, her face possibly a darker shade of red than Pyrrha's own.

"Girl I used to date before coming to Beacon mentioned it once." Coco's smirk grew beyond anything Pyrrha had ever seen. "Said it had a nice view."

Pyrrha nearly choked on her own tongue, Velvet did, and the result was the both of them gasping for air.

"What can I get you?" The waitress smiled sweetly, even if Coco was the only one capable of meeting her eyes for more than half a second. They all quickly made their orders, Coco being the only one who had to think; having spent most of her time looking anywhere but at the menu.

Before long the waitress was gone however, promising to return in just a few minutes. Pyrrha let loose a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Noticing that most of those at the table did the same. They remained relatively silent while they waited for their food which arrived only a couple minutes later. The moment it was there four of the five people at the table began eating in an attempt to keep themselves occupied.

"I didn't just pick this place for the entertainment." Coco sent, sipping from her milkshake and looking at something Pyrrha wasn't willing to guess at. "Most people don't know about this place, it's one of Vale's dirty little secrets, but it's not too suspicious to come here."

"Perhaps for you, if my mother hears of this…" Yatsuhashi sounded horrified, even as he kept his face as neutral as possible.

"Not the point, people who come here do so intentionally and for one reason." Coco explained, though Pyrrha felt her face burn at the not so vague insinuation. "That means that if our little stalker friend shows up…"

"They'll stick out." Fox finished for her. "They'll be the only one aside from us not focusing on the… staff."

It all made sense, and despite her embarrassment, Pyrrha acknowledged the brilliance behind it. Swallowing another bite of her food she quickly realized a potential problem however.

"What about our back up?" She wasn't sure who exactly would be watching over them today, though judging by the fact that Winter was still recovering, Pyrrha could guess.

"He's staying at a distance." Fox sent. "But he's close."

"Fox should be able to spot them easily enough when they walk in." Coco beamed slightly. "I told you this place was great."

"How will he know it's them though?" Pyrrha didn't know the specifics of his Semblance, aside from the communication ability it granted, she knew it helped him fight even though he couldn't see. Beyond that however, she hadn't ever asked.

"I can… sense people's thoughts. I can't read their minds, but I can get an impression of their emotions." Fox sat up slightly. "Most of the people here are… obvious. Then there's us, and whoever the General sent."

Pyrrha hadn't ever realized just how useful Fox's semblance really was. "Why couldn't we do this at the department store? Why does it have to be here?"

"Because how many different reasons do people have to go shopping?" Coco asked. "You might go shopping because you're mad, or maybe you just got dumped and wanna do something to make yourself feel better, or maybe you're out celebrating."

"There'd be no way to narrow it down." Fox explained. "There is a fairly large empty space between this store and the crowds of Vale."

"And people only come in here feeling one sort of way." Coco's smile was entirely too self-serving, even if she was right.

"Except for that one." Pyrrha had to fight the urge to look up as Fox warned them. The door to the dinner opened a moment later and she heard the ring of a bell, from where she was sitting her back was to the door however and she couldn't look without seeming odd. She waited calmly for the person to walk past their table.

She heard the click of heels on the floor and braced herself, trying to relax but knowing that this could have easily been the girl Yang had fought on the train and that had been stalking her before she left for Mistral. As the long second passed by, a man stepped past their table with a slow space before taking a seat at the counter roughly a few tables down. He never stopped to look at them, his eyes only ever looking at the waitress'.

"Uh… are you sure? He looks pretty normal to me?" Velvet asked softly.

"Same thing as everyone else here." Pyrrha refused to say what that was, but she didn't have to.

"Bullshit." Fox replied simply. "I can't explain it, but I promise you, whoever they are, they aren't here for the view."

"What's it feel like?"

Fox took a long moment to think, each of them quietly eating their food as they waited. "Curiosity."

"What?"

"Whoever they are… they're trying to figure something out."

Coco stood from her seat. "Now that we've got the scent, why don't we see if they follow?"

Pyrrha had never stood from a chair so quickly in her life, ready to leave that place immediately. Coco tossed some lien on the table, looking back at their waitress one more time, before tossing a few more down.

As they walked back out onto the streets, Pyrrha had to resist the urge to constantly look behind herself. Coco led them all back towards the mall, despite her calm body language Pyrrha could tell it was forced, if for no other reason than the way she clutched her weapon. To anyone who didn't know, it would just look like someone holding their purse, but any student from Beacon could warn you of its true nature.

"They stopped following." Fox sent, driving them all to a halt. "Turned off into a large crowd not far from here."

"Probably the summer festival." Coco kicked the ground softly. "Crap, we'll never find them there."

"They might find us though." Velvet added. "Maybe they thought that's where we were going?"

"It's possible." Yatsuhashi agreed with his partner. "At any rate, if they are giving up the chase, we may need to go after them."

Pyrrha understood the sentiment, but if they weren't being followed anymore, there was probably a reason. Maybe her stalker had seen Clover, or maybe they had been too obvious. At any rate, she doubted they would be able to find them before they fled.

"Damn it." Coco cursed, giving up any pretense of subtlety. "All right, let's call it a night. Whoever they are, they seem to be done with us for now."

Pyrrha swore internally, wishing that there was something else she could think to do. She knew it was too much to hope that they would manage to capture their target in just a few days, but her anxiousness only grew as the days went on. With time working against them, they needed some kind of lead, and this was their only hope for the time being.

Having to run back to Beacon was a crushing feeling, and she knew she wasn't the only one to feel it. Judging from the looks of her friends, each of them had been hoping for some kind of breakthrough.

Looking back over her shoulder, Pyrrha spotted the large decorations set up. Turning back to her friends as she smiled softly. "We're already here… why not?"

When Pyrrha had first heard mention of a summer festival, she hadn't been sure what to think. The Vytal festival was obviously one of the biggest events in the world, but she knew that not every Kingdom got to host every time meaning there were multiple years in between rotation; so it made sense that there would be smaller events to fill the gap.

With Vale hosting the Vytal Festival that same year though Pyrrha would have expected the local ones to shut down. Contrary to that, she saw nearly as many stalls as Vytal just with more manageable crowds. Despite the lower numbers of people, it was still somewhat cramped and people occasionally bumped into each other.

"Any sign of them?" Pyrrha asked Fox, hoping that their decision hadn't been in vain.

"Nope." Fox sighed. "Too many people."

Pyrrha sighed, she hadn't expected much else, but a small part of her had hoped.

"I thought you said we were going to try and relax?" Velvet asked.

"I did-we are, it's just…" Pyrrha sighed once more. "It's nothing."

"I get it, we all do, but let's try to have some fun." Coco nudged Pyrrha in the side softly, drawing her attention away from her failure. "Fox and Yatsuhashi said they were going to go find something to drink, why don't we browse the stalls. See if there's anything to buy."

Pyrrha nodded, allowing herself to be pulled along by Coco and Velvet. Most of the stalls were selling local goods or cheap mass produced items you could get anywhere, although a few stalls had things from Mistral or Vacuo. One even showed off some of the latest Atlas tech. It was a far cry from the international cultural exchange that was the Vytal Festival, but it was charming in its own way.

"How often did you say they did this?" Pyrrha asked from beside Velvet, trying her best to not look at Coco as she managed to find another stall selling clothes.

"Every year, it's sort of a tradition. It's not as big this year because of Vytal though." Velvet shrugged softly. "But I guess they decided to do it anyway."

"It is still a ways out." Pyrrha admitted, even if it didn't feel like it. The Vytal Festival was supposed to be an opportunity to have fun and interact with people you would never meet otherwise, but for her it meant something so much more.

Coco walked back, patting her pockets with a look of confusion on her face. "Have either of you seen my scroll?"

Pyrrha shook her head, looking at Velvet as she did the same. A moment later her scroll vibrated, when she pulled it up the screen displayed a short message.

You'll have to try harder than that.

The contact read as belonging to Coco.

Author's Note: That "restaurant" is a reference to one of my favourite stories here on FF, if not in the world. Believe it or not, not a smut fic either. Kudos if you can guess the story.

As for Fox's semblance in this… the books are kind of vague. He can use telepathy obviously, and he can track minds and "souls" with it, but he also describes this as seeing bright and dark lights representing them; something that seems to correspond to that individual somehow but is never really delved into. I've decided to play into it in my own way with it being a bit more but still not midland reading level. I've only read the first book so maybe the second does it better, but I decided this was the best course. Let me know what you think.

As stated in the opening AN, I will be gone for about three weeks and will miss pretty much the entire month of November. I am going to try and continue writing, but we shall see how that goes.

Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter and, as always, be sure to let me know what you think. Until next time.

Sincerely, SE