Chapter 15: Meeting Strays

When Jaune and Pyrrha went to meet Team RWBY, they expected to have a fun and normal day, and maybe feel out Blake a little.

Jaune did not expect Weiss to be hostile to Pyrrha for some strange reason.

Jaune did not expect Weiss and Blake to argue so much, though he probably should have if he knew that Schnees aren't that popular with faunus.

And he definitely did not expect a blonde monkey faunus to wink and flirt at Pyrrha, for some unknown reason that irritated Jaune….

Alright, he lied, it wasn't an unknown reason. He just got jealous.

Which is irrational because he and Pyrrha aren't even dating! Heck, he doesn't even know the full extent of his feelings for Pyrrha yet.

He knows he likes her as a friend, but before he can even think of her romantically, he needs to be worthy of her first. She deserves nothing less.

Going back to unexpected things happening. He did not expect to meet someone from his dream today!

Penny Polendina, self-professed meat person, master of board games, a nice and quirky girl, and more importantly his believer.

"Do you believe I will win the tournament?" Jaune asked

"Absolutely" Penny Polendina replied

Looking at her right now, you would see a nice pretty girl with orange hair, green eyes, and light skin with freckles.

With Penny's presence, this proves that his dream was real. He makes eye contact with Ren and is surprised to see him look at Penny and Nora with a horrified face.

And looking at Penny right now together with Nora side by side sends a shiver down his spine. That prompts Jaune to widen his eyes, looking at Nora's grin, and then at Penny's smile, he has one thought.

Oh Gods! There's two of them.

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

"You already said that." Jaune replies, seeing that all the others are also coming to the same conclusion. There's two gingers now.

"So I did!" Penny blinks back with a smile.

Not knowing what to reply and with everybody else staying quiet he introduces himself.

"Hi, my name's Jaune, Jaune Arc." Jaune introduces with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Jaune-Jaune Arc!" Penny replies, which causes Jaune to facepalm.

And so starts introductions from all of them towards Penny.

"Guess what Jaune-Jaune! Penny's looking for friends!" Nora intrudes with a grin.

"Uhhh. I don't see the problem? Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. And since Penny and I have met, we're already friends." Knowing how good and innocent Penny was as a friend in his dream, he has no problems being her friend again here.

"Friend! Did you really call me a friend, Jaune-Jaune Arc?! Are we really friends?!" Penny says as she approaches him.

"Uhh…yes, we're friends now. You can just call me Jaune by the way." Jaune replies as he raises his hands up in defense.

"Sensational! It's nice to meet you boy friend Jaune!" Penny announces as she grabs hold of both of Jaune's hands.

That comment short circuits Jaune's brain for a second and causes his throat to lock up.

Boy…friend.. Jaune

"""WHAT?!""" As expected, multiple voices including himself make their surprise known while most of them only laugh.

"Was I wrong? Are you not my friend Jaune?" Penny looks at him with a pout. It's super effective.

He doesn't know who taught her that but he moves to clarify the situation.

"No! No! I'm your friend Penny. But you don't need to call me boyfriend."

"Then how do I know you're my friend?" She tilts her head at him cutely, still holding his hands.

Looking to his friends for help, he sees all of them take a step back, even Nora.

"Uh….You just do. Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, so once you've met them you're already friends." He throws out his mother's advice in a moment of desperation.

"..Do you mean to say, I have more friends I haven't met yet?"

"Yes?"

"Sensational" Penny replies with glowing green eyes and a tightening grip.

All of his friends take another step back with wide eyes. Feeling Penny's tightening grip, Jaune seeks out a way to escape his predicament.

"Hey Penny, you know who else needs a friend?! Meet Ruby Rose, she's socially awkward so she needs your help to make more friends!" Jaune says as he looks at Ruby's eyes, growing wide at the betrayal.

In a flash, Penny lets go of Jaune's hands and moves to Ruby with a speed that will rival the resident speedster.

"Is that true?! Would you like to be my friend?" Penny asks as she approaches Ruby's face.

Looking over Penny's shoulder towards her friends, she sees them motion to reply no. Facing Penny again to say her answer, she sees wide innocent green eyes looking back at her.

"Uhm… Yeah, sure."

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, friend Ruby!"

"Uhm..yeah, sure." Ruby replies as she looks at her sister for help.

"So..What are you doing in Vale?" Yang asks, getting Penny to face her and leave Ruby alone for a second.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!"

That surprises everyone except for Jaune who already knows from his dream that Penny is a participant.

"Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament does that mean you know that monkey-tailed…rapscallion?

"The who?"

"The filthy faunus from the boat!"

That gets a wince from Jaune and even more of his friends. He knows Weiss could be mean but he didn't expect her to be such a….bitch. That gets his eyes to widen and his view of the world tilts a little bit.

And it seems he isn't the only one who thinks Weiss has gone too far.

"Stop calling him that!" Blake argues from behind the group with a glare aimed at Weiss.

"What?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?" Weiss asks sarcastically, while pointing at the trash can and lamp post.

"Stop it!"

"Stop what?! He clearly broke the law! He got detained by the police! Give him time and he'll probably go crazy and join a group like those psychopaths from the White Fang!"

"ENOUGH!"

An unexpected voice shouts in the middle of the group. It takes Jaune a moment that the shout came from him. He's just as surprised as the others, but more than surprise, he can feel another emotion more. Anger.

"WEISS! That's enough!" Never did Jaune think he would shout at Weiss like that. He isn't the only one because everyone is looking at him in shock except for Penny who is confused.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT?! You're not even involved in this, so stay out of it!" Weiss shouts indignantly, eyes narrowed at Jaune.

"I'M INVOLVED WHEN I HAVE A FAUNUS FRIEND!" He motions to Pyrrha who is still wearing her cat ears. Pyrrha is just shocked that she suddenly became the center of attention.

"What?.. But she's not even a real faunus?" Weiss asks confusedly, lost at what Jaune is trying to point out.

"It shouldn't matter Weiss! Whether Pyr has cat ears or not, it shouldn't matter, she's still our friend." Jaune says while his eyes flick to Blake at the last part.

"...I apologize…But you don't know what you're talking about Arc." Weiss says flatly as she turns to leave.

"So…I think we should go." Yang says slowly, as she stares at Ruby who is staring apologetically at Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Bye guys, sorry for ruining the day." Ruby says apologetically as she follows her partner, Weiss.

Blake just looks at him, and he gives her a shrug and a resigned smile. She smiles back and nods her thanks as she turns to follow her teammates.

With that, Team RWBY leaves Team JNPR alone together with Penny in the docks.

"I don't understand." Penny states confusedly.

"Me too Penny, me too." Jaune sighs as he notices all of them staring at them.

"Is friend Weiss a racist?" Penny asks.

Jaune can only remain silent at that, not knowing how to answer the question. One thing he understands is he is hurt by the possibility that she could be.

He is hurt because the girl he thought he loved was someone like that. Just goes to show that he was just liking her superficially. To him, it's just like a fundamental law of the world just shattered.

It started out as a good day with Pyrrha, and ended in a sour note with Weiss.

"I hope not Penny, I sure hope she isn't… I think we need to go too, Penny. Be careful on your way home, ok?" Jaune can only sigh as he bids goodbye to Penny.

"...Okay friend Jaune.. It is my pleasure to meet you." Penny says quietly, and gives him a smile at the end. He smiles back at the pure innocent girl.

Looking at his teammates, he's thankful to have their support but he is sorry that he managed to ruin their day.

"I'm sorry guys, it looks like I ruined our day." Jaune apologizes.

"Don't be Jaune. You did the right thing." Pyrrha comforts him with a smile and a touch of her hand.

"Yeah Jaune-Jaune! You were so cool standing up for others!" Nora cheers him up.

"Indeed, it is better to do the right thing, than stand back and let others do wrong." Ren says supportively.

"Thanks guys, it's just that….I didn't expect that Weiss would be like that." Jaune says somberly.

"That's ... .understandable. I think we were all surprised. Regardless of whether Weiss has a reason to act that way or not, it has made me more sympathetic or understandable to faunus who would wish to hide their trait." Pyrrha says, alluding to Blake's circumstance.

That's another thing, they know that Blake is sympathetic to the faunus as it should be, but they have no confirmation whether she is still in the White Fang or not. It looks like they'll just have to talk to her another time, hopefully she'll be more open since she just saw him stand up to Weiss for Faunus.

Weiss Schnee was not having a good day.

What started out as an opportunity to observe their competition for the tournament turned into a conflict between her, Blake, and Jaune.

Two people she didn't think she'd ever have to argue this much with.

Blake, because she is reserved and quiet, not someone you would expect to start fights. Jaune, because everyone knows his infatuation with her.

But they don't understand. How could they? When they have never been terrorized.

Walking back to the privacy of their own room in Beacon, Weiss takes a deep breath before taking a seat on her bed.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss starts.

"That is the problem!" Blake replies from her own position across her sitting on her own bed.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you?! The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" She replies, getting up from her bed to push her point harder.

"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 forces the White Fang to take such drastic measures!" Blake answers back, standing up from her own bed to meet Weiss in the middle of their dorm room.

Ruby and Yang back away from the fight, standing in the corner behind their own partners to pull them away from each other if needed.

"People like me? How dare you?! I am your teammate!" Weiss responds

"You're discriminatory! You're a racist!" Blake shouts back.

Weiss winces at the accusation. But she doesn't back down. She knows the truth. She knows what the Faunus are. Crazed murderous savages.

How many family friends disappeared because of them? How many nights did her father return to their house furious because of the White Fang? Those nights he was furious gave her unpleasant memories.

Shaking those bad thoughts away, Weiss argues back.

"I'm a victim!"

"How can you be a victim?!"

"Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years! War! As in actual bloodshed! Ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, train cars full of Dust, stolen. And every day my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

"Weiss, I'm so-" Ruby starts to comfort Weiss.

"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss brings a hand up to stop Ruby and looks at Blake with a glare.

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

The outburst from Blake was shocking as it was unexpected. All of them fall silent as everyone takes a moment to let that statement sink in.

We? Blake's part of the White Fang. Blake's a Faunus. Faunus are crazed murderous savages.

Those thoughts keep turning and turning inside Weiss Schnee's mind. Before she knows it, her heart is beating fast, and she's already stepping away from Blake with a complicated look.

Weiss sees Blake's reaction at that. An expression of pain and hurt. She doesn't know why.

"I…" Blake can only start before looking at Weiss' betrayed look and her teammates' look of shock. Grabbing her weapon Gambol Shroud on the way, Blake dashes out of the door.

"Blake! Wait! Come back!" Ruby screams as she moves to chase Blake, but Weiss catches her hand before she can even follow.

"No! She's dangerous!" Weiss shouts with shaky hands holding onto Ruby.

Ruby gives her a hurt look. She doesn't understand why. Blake's a Faunus. Faunus are crazy, murderous, and savages….But Blake was also a friend. Weiss lets go of Ruby.

As Weiss falls to her bed with shaky breaths, Yang moves to comfort her as Ruby finally manages to start chasing down Blake.

Blake's part of the White Fang. Blake's a Faunus. Faunus are crazed murderous savages….But Blake wasn't crazy, murderous, or savage…..

Pyrrha Nikos did not think that her day would end up the way it did.

It started as a great outing with Jaune, then a nice day out with her team, and finally ended on a sour note with Weiss.

Hearing Weiss talk badly about the Faunus made Pyrrha a lot more sympathetic to those who would want to hide their traits, like Blake does.

They expected to be able to talk to Blake or at least feel her out, they succeeded in a sense.

They know Blake is sympathetic to the Faunus cause, but they have no confirmation whether she is still in the White Fang or not.

Hopefully Blake would probably be more honest and open to talk about it now that she's seen Jaune defend Faunus against Weiss.

Even if she wasn't a Faunus herself, she felt at the time that Weiss was personally attacking her, and to have Jaune defend her? That almost made Pyrrha swoon.

It gave her a nice feeling, and if she already felt nice about that, then how much more pleasant Blake would've felt?

Still, that's an issue for future Pyrrha, right now she's just gonna enjoy finally being back to herself once they manage to enter the dorm. Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed playing as Pyrene and going out with Jaune, but that's all it was. Playing an act. It's still nice to let herself down and be herself.

Walking towards their dorm room together with Team JNPR, Pyrrha and her friends come across a strange sight. Ruby is standing in front of their room.

"Ruby? What's up?" Jaune asks confusedly.

Ruby turns to them with wide eyes.

"Have you seen Blake?!"

"Uhh…didn't she come back with you guys?"

"She ran away! We thought she'd talk to you guys!"

That surprises all of them.

Blake? Ran away?

"Jaune, the last bullhead left for Vale just after we got back to Beacon." Pyrrha interrupts, looking at Jaune.

"Damn, talk about bad timing. We'd have to search for her tomorrow." Jaune replies

"Oh no! This is bad. This is bad. This is bad." Ruby chants with dizzy eyes.

"Calm down, Rubes? Why did she ran away in the first place? Maybe she just needs some space?" Jaune comforts his fellow team leader, putting both arms on her shoulders to ground her.

"Blake's a Faunus!" Ruby blurts out and immediately covers her mouth once she realized what she's done.

"Uhm..yeah, we already knew." Jaune replies awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"WHAT?! HOW?! DID SHE TELL YOU?!" Ruby shouts in shock.

Pyrrha and Jaune just look at each other silently, not willing to admit in front of Nora that it took a newspaper for them to notice, while to her it was obvious because of the bow. Luckily, they didn't have to explain anything since Nora was perfectly willing to answer.

"That's easy Rubes, her bow twitches from time to time. There's definitely ears there and I'm betting their cat ears too like Pyr-Pyr's here!" Nora answers with a grin.

"Plus, we saw her without her bow in an old newspaper together with her parents, who are both Faunus btw. Also Nora's right, they're cat ears." Jaune adds.

Way to go Jaune! Pyrrha cheers in her mind.

"She ran away? I don't think being a Faunus would be enough reason to run away. Why would you think she'd talk with us anyway?" Pyrrha asks.

Ruby bites her lip at that, trying to stop herself from spilling anything.

"Ruby? What aren't you telling us?" Jaune asks seriously.

"Blake's part of the White Fang!"

Her heart freezes at that. Confirmation. But if Blake was part of the White Fang, then why was she here in Beacon? Pyrrha wonders.

"What?" Jaune asks in surprise, still in disbelief that they just got the confirmation.

"She said they were tired of being pushed around and that's why they attacked Weiss' company!" Ruby spills out even more.

That gets her and Jaune to look at each other. If Blake is part of the White Fang then there must be a reason why she infiltrated Beacon. Whatever that reason be, they need to know to keep them and their friends safe.

Just as they were thinking suspicious thoughts about Blake, a voice cuts through their thoughts.

"But why would she be here if she's from the White Fang? She's been friendly or at least harmless while she was here." Nora cuts through with a pensive frown.

Thoughts ground to a halt, and suddenly Pyrrha realizes that they don't have the full picture yet. Not when they haven't even talked to Blake yet. Jaune must have realized the same thing as her because he is already planning something.

"Whatever the reason is, we still need to find Blake. Maybe we could talk to her and get the truth out of her. For now we should rest up and try to find her tomorrow." Jaune says seriously.

With that, Pyrrha's thoughts of a good rest is invaded by worried thoughts about a friend.

Sun Wukong was not having a good day.

He thought he could get scot-free by hitching a ride on the ship, but it just landed him in jail. Good thing that Headmaster Lionheart vouched for his identity, once the police got a hold of him via CCT.

He's still penniless and currently homeless because he left his wallet with his team, but at least it wasn't all that bad. Walking around Vale, he thinks about a special encounter he had today.

He managed to meet a beautiful cat faunus. Black hair, green eyes, and also a huntress-in-training? Well now, Sun could at least count that encounter as a win.

Thoughts about that mysterious huntress-in-training Pyr must have summoned her because he can already see her back. Smiling and running towards her, Sun shouts.

"Hey Pyr! Fancy seeing you here."

Pyr turns around with wide eyes. Wide amber eyes. Wide YELLOW AMBER EYES! Not green emerald eyes.

"Wait, you're not Pyr." Sun notes his observation.

Both Faunus just look at each other in surprise.

A/N

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