Of course Blake didn't come back the next day.

Not that Yang could blame her; Weiss was still adamant with what she said about that one monkey Faunus, not to mention what she thought Blake was up to. Ruby had stayed behind to try to mediate things, but surprise surprise, lack of experience and knowledge sunk her efforts before they'd begun. Yang would've otherwise been fine just letting Blake be, yet here she was being dragged along by Weiss in what she called an unnecessary "manhunt."

"So why am I here again?" asked Yang.

"Because," Weiss started, "I have unfinished business with her. Besides, we don't know for sure what she's up to, but I'm certain that she's meeting with that monkey... Faunus so she can recruit him into her 'ranks'."

'Wait.' Yang pondered for a bit as she realized: 'Weird, I thought she assumed he's in the Fang.' She rolled her eyes. 'Whatever, I wouldn't be surprised if she went all the way there.'

"C'mon, we just barely met the guy. Look, we don't even know if Blake's a Faunus."

"Maybe I'm overreacting." Weiss pushed her left cheek with her tongue. "Or maybe I'm correct, just worried." She then stopped and turned to glare at Yang. "But are you seriously going to make this more difficult than it already is?"

"I'm just sayin–"

"Yang..." Her sister shook her head. "Just do as she says."

From that first syllable, Yang could tell that her voice was about to quiver, and she couldn't blame her. Even before Initiation, Weiss was mean to Ruby between calling her a "child" or an "ineffective leader." Weiss also glared at Blake from behind her back for daring to "humiliate [her] in front of the brat" from time to time. In fact, yesterday and today showed that Weiss suddenly treating Ruby better was all a sham, since whatever talk Professor Port had with her didn't hold for good.

So she decided not to pursue answers.

"Weeell..." Yang turned around to walk away. "I'm... just gonna go off on my own."

"Good," Weiss said, "because the more people look elsewhere, the sooner we'll find our so-called 'team player.'"

'Ugh.'

Yang knew Blake wasn't stupid enough to stay in one place the whole time, especially if someone was looking to prove some point against her, which meant going somewhere at least a couple times an hour. As she thought to herself, she further parted ways with Weiss and Ruby, looking aimlessly for Blake.

It was like this for the next few minutes.

No results.

Yang called out Blake's name once again. She knew that it was futile, but she figured it was worth another shot anyway.

Nada.

Yang sighed. She stood on the steps of a fountain. She stretched her arms out before straightening her back. She then sat against its basin, legs crossed over each other.

'Change starts with a talk, right?' she thought. 'But, what if Weiss is too stubborn?' Yang looked to the sky.

'What then?'

"Salutations!" A familiar voice excla—

"AH!" Yang screamed with visceral recoil as she turned to face Penny. "Penny, what the–! How are you h-"

"That is an excellent question, Yang!" Penny replied. "I asked my team members if I could explore the city of Vale for myself, and they said 'yes!'"

Then she hiccuped.

When she noticed, her cheeks flushed red right after, which to Yang was weird since she found hiccups normal. However, that reaction made her feel part of her embarrassment as well.

"Do you... need water?" Yang asked, trying to be helpful.

"Yes." Penny replied matter-of-factly when she hiccuped again.

Yang nodded. "Can you follow me, please?"

"Sure!"

"Good."

Yang stood up, stretched, and walked around again, this time with Penny following from behind. Not long later, they found a bathroom stall with a vending machine right next to it. One small exchange of Lien later, Penny was walking happily beside her friend, a bottle of water in her hand.

But when Yang checked, she noticed that Penny had magically stopped hiccuping even before they'd found water. Immediately, she was suspicious. Hiccups took longer to naturally fade, as she had witnessed time and time again. To her, this had never happened before, and now because it did, either it wasn't that severe or Penny was just lucky.

Oh well, there were bigger things to worry about, like Weiss.

Speaking of her, she was sure to talk to her today, especially with the advice she'd gotten. The only problem was, would it work? Weiss could get argumentative whenever she found something contradictory in people's words to her, and Yang, though good at social skills, felt she wasn't well-equipped to deal with her. Indeed, she still wanted to try, but feared she would make things worse, and if things got worse...

"Now about that thing you said to me," Yang said.

Penny's smile faded as eyes met others. "Do speak."

Yang took a deep breath. "If change starts with a talk, then how can I change Weiss for the better?"

"What do you mean?" Penny said.

"She seems set in her ways no matter how stupid they are, and she's being snippy and sh—stuff. If I try to talk to her, she'll come off even worse than she already is!"

"I would suggest asking her what the problem is and why," Penny began. "That way, you give her a chance to speak first. In fact, she may feel less threatened than if you were to speak first with what you have to say."

Yang was puzzled; Penny didn't seem too knowledgeable about socializing, yet here she was, casually offering admittedly sound advice. Was she acting on pure intuition, or was there much more than meets her eye?

"Are you sure about that?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I do not know, but I feel that it would make sense."

'So she's acting on what makes sense to her, got it,' Yang thought, 'but she should know that intuition alone isn't as magic as she probably thinks.'

Just then, the two spotted their familiar red and white shades walking along a sidewalk. They were silent; understandable, considering they could tell from a distance that the two were on edge with each other. Taking deep breaths along the way, Yang approached Ruby and Weiss. She didn't want to just barge in to tell Weiss what she was doing wrong, but she didn't want to stay silent either.

"I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" Penny excla—

"Aaah!" Ruby and Weiss yelped and jumped, eyes wide as they turned mid-air to face them. Weiss in particular tripped on her wedge heel and fell backwards, landing on her bottom with her palms on the ground. Both breathed heavily.

"Ah–Yang, Penny," Ruby began, "where were you two?!"

Yang chuckled. "Admiring a fountain, why?"

Weiss clenched her fists while her face turned pinkish-red. "You know this is a search, missy!"

As Ruby and Yang giggled, Penny asked Weiss, "Would you like to stand up?" as she walked to her with a smile and extended her hand.

"I..." she gulped. "Yes."

She got up while her fingers and palm wrapped around Penny's wrist for support. She then hastily brushed the back of her combat skirt with her hands, sighing. "Now," she spoke. "Let's keep looking."

Just like that, Yang was brought back to the crushing reality of where things were right now; no matter how many more times she and Penny could get a reaction from her sister and Weiss, the weight of Blake's disappearance would inevitably return. "Riiight..." she facepalmed.

Unfortunately for Yang, Weiss did not let that go unnoticed.

"I don't understand why this is so hard for you!" Weiss snapped. "Be honest: do you want to help us find her, or should I call the police instead?"

Yang's eyes briefly flashed red with her teeth gritted. "If Blake wants to be left alone, leave her alone."

"Why?!"

"Because she won't appreciate a manhunt starting over her trying to reason with you!"

"'Manhunt?' How?!" Weiss questioned.

Just like that, Weiss and Yang were arguing once again as Ruby and Penny watched from the side. As they watched, wind started to blow against the four of them. Ruby grabbed the sides of her cloak and wrapped them around her body, which caught the imagination of Penny. Not that it stopped the other two from yelling over each other.

"He–hey!" Ruby exclaimed, then chuckled uncomfortably. "It's, uh... really... really windy out here!"

"I agree!" Penny nodded. "It sure is very windy today!"

"Yeah!" Ruby looked at Weiss and Yang—"This... fall season everyone's talking about is really beginning to hit these days! Right, guys?"—who had disappeared when she wasn't looking. "...Guys?"

The winds continued to blow as a tumbleweed bounced past them. Ruby slowly let go of her cloak as she turned to look for her two teammates. No sign of them. Ruby shook her head and sighed.

"Is everything okay?" Penny asked.

Ruby was silent, even as she continued walking along the sidewalk. Penny waited to see if she would speak up, but she didn't.

"Ruby, what's wrong?"

Ruby remained silent. Penny shook her head and looked off to the side.

'I believe she does not want to talk,' Penny thought to herself, frowning. 'Does she just not want to talk? I'm aware that she is having issues with her team, but it appears that they are this difficult for her.'

Ruby sighed. "Penny, let's go before Weiss yells at us for being 'slow.'"

. . .

"Ge–Get your hands off me!" Weiss finally shoved Yang's hand off her wrist, which she stretched afterward.

Indeed, the two went inside an alley surrounded by gray bricks, a few doors possibly leading somewhere, a dumpster, and most predictably of all, litter that had yet to be picked up. Yang put her hands on her hips, staring down at Weiss who looked right back with crossed arms.

'Change starts with a talk,' Yang repeated in her mind, 'change starts with a talk. Change. Starts. With a talk.'

"Well?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Are you wasting my time, or do you actually have something 'worthwhile' to say for a change?"

"Weiss, where's all this Faunus stuff coming from?" Yang asked.

"The White Fang."

Yang blinked. "Why?"

Weiss snapped, "They are a terrorist group of thieves and killers! That Faunus you saw? He's on the pipeline from a stowaway and almost certain thief to a menace. And Blake? For all we know, she bought him time to escape so she could recruit him in some secret White Fang hideout yesterday."

"So the reason you don't trust them is because of the White Fang? Are you sure Blake's a Faunus, and if so, why?"

The two of them stared. Weiss blinked, then drew a deep breath. "Be my guest."

Yang squinted.

"The White Fang has been at war with my family for as long as I can remember." Weiss began to gesture along to her verbal bullet points. "An entire train car full of Dust? Stolen! Someone you knew and loved for half your life?" Weiss looked down, frowning. She put her hands together. "Gone. All because of a Faunus who started working for them a week ago."

Yang was surprised; for the first time ever, Weiss had shown her vulnerability. It was normal for Yang to see someone feel sad once in a while, but Weiss had always appeared somewhere between happy, joyous, panicked, bitter, or angry.

Never sad.

'What happened there?' was the first of many thoughts that filled her mind with questions of what happened in Weiss's past. She was troublesome, sure, and perhaps spoiled, but troubled? How did she not think that before?

"So why don't I trust Blake?" Weiss paused for a moment. "I... I have my reasons."

"Hey, Weiss?" Yang said. "I'm sure you do. I don't know what it must've been like, but... I'm sure you do, and I wish I could do something about it."

Weiss's eyes looked back to Yang's, then she slowly nodded.

"But," Yang interjected, "whatever those reasons are, they're no excuse to assume things we don't know about people. Just because one Faunus you met stole something doesn't mean the next one will. If Blake turned up right now and showed you who she really is, is she still the same teammate we all know and love, and go to class, train, and have fun with every day? Or does she automatically become a complete stranger to you from that point on?"

Weiss fell silent. She stepped away dejectedly, turned away from Yang, who couldn't help but to notice her stiffening. Had she touched a nerve? Penny told her her advice, so she followed it, but at what cost?

Yang stepped towards her as she opened her mouth to say something, but Weiss raised her left hand in a "stop" signal.

"I will let you know when I've made up my mind," Weiss said. "For now, you may proceed without... me."

Yang hesitated; first Blake went missing, now all she had at this point was Ruby and Penny?

Eventually, she left, but not before wishing her well.

. . .

It was night.

Penny frowned. Nobody had seen Blake since her disappearance, which was cause for concern. Where else was left to look? For all they knew, she was either missing, kidnapped, or worse, which would render all those search efforts pointless, no matter if Yang managed to change Weiss's mind. Still, she had to keep looking because Blake was first and foremost a part of Team RWBY, and she was sure they wouldn't want to go another day without her.

Let alone a day of class without her.

Penny adjusted her backpack and squinted, scanning yet again for Blake when—

"Salutations!" Yang excla—

"Oh!" Penny stepped back with a smile, surprised by Yang's sudden appearance. "I did not expect you at all!"

By all accounts, she should have seen it coming. She could detect the exact sound waves of Yang's boots as they stepped across the sidewalk and distinguish them from other people's shoes. Not only that, but the seemingly impossible volume of hair made her stand out even more from the unusual amount of ruffling. Coincidentally, two other people were walking by her, which meant that Yang blended into the background at the right time.

"Now we're even." Yang smiled back at Penny, who mentally scratched her head over her... 'borrowing' her usual greeting?

"Did we find Blake yet?" Penny asked.

"Not yet," Yang replied—"but we'll find her soon enough..."—then frowned.

She didn't want to admit it, but she had to admit that after trying everything—from looking in the streets to looking inside buildings and on rooftops, to asking locals and tourists alike, to trying to text and call her contact—no, they still hadn't found her. It was getting late, so Yang and her team would have to head back sooner or later.

But Yang wanted to try one more time.

This time, she had one more thing up her sleeve.

"By the way," Yang began. "Wanna ride a motorcycle?" Yang asked.

Now Penny was curious; had Yang always owned a motorcycle but never told her until now? She knew what a motorcycle was, but not what it was up close. Oh, she knew it was like a motorized horse that someone mounted and started riding, but what did it feel like to ride on the back?

"Yes!"

"Good. Follow me."

Yang began walking somewhere, and Penny happily followed. If Penny had to be honest, she would admit that not everything was bad; she got to see more of Vale and meet new people along the way! She didn't make more friends, but she was glad to become friends with Yang, to whom she was all the happier to give advice.

As Penny continued to walk in the most militaristic manner she casually mustered, she hummed. Yang turned and noticed her new redheaded friend's walk. She had to admit, the juxtaposition of militaristic marching with her cute, carefree personality and way of dressing was rather novel, if not endearing. It reminded her of how Ruby tried to emulate the sense of an honorable Huntsman coming to town when she was young and still being read those bedtime stories about the greatest Huntsmen from the books, real or imaginary.

But for now, she needed to talk to Penny about Weiss.

"I got to talk to Weiss," Yang began. "I talked to her about why it's wrong to assume bad things about people we don't know just because of their race, but... she was really sad after that." She shook her head. "Kiiinda like she was reevaluating stuff about her life."

Penny took a moment to process what Yang had said, but when she did, all she did was sympathize. "Maybe she is improving as a being."

"Be surprised if she weren't, or whatever."

Yang sighed. 'Weiss,' she thought, 'the future of Team RWBY is in your and Blake's hands now. Don't screw this up, please?'

"By the way..." Yang stopped to look at Penny. "Did we share numbers yet?"

Penny likewise stopped. "I do not believe so," she said, curiously inquisitive. "Why would you ask that question?"

"Well..." Yang scratched the back of her head. "I... figured that since we're friends now so fast, I was starting to wonder if we got each other's numbers yet."

"You can have mine."

Yang's eyes widened, eyebrows raised. "Really?!"

"Yes!" Penny pulled out her Scroll and went to her contacts. "I will tell you my Scroll number right this instant."

"Oh crap—"

Yang pulled out her own Scroll as Penny gave her number as promised.

. . .

The city was starting to look ever so slightly sparse. Not only did the air feel cooler, but one particular sight caught Penny's attention: Beacon Academy, a prestigious Huntsman Academy on the edge of a high cliff. Was this really the school Yang and her friends go to? If so, she couldn't wait to visit them there.

When the two finally arrived, she saw the water separating Beacon and Vale from each other. She wondered how people got from here to Beacon, then she saw boats, sailboats, yachts, and ferries anchored to a harbor. Overhead, she heard the quiet, deep rumbling of jet engines, so she looked up to see an airship flying for the Academy.

"Wow..." Penny's eyes were starry-eyed as she heard someone whistle to her.

"Over here!" Yang called out.

Penny turned around to see her friend standing in a parking lot, leaning against a strange machine with a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. This contraption had shiny fiberglass panels with gradient colors from yellow to orange to even red. Beneath those panels was a collection of gears, vents, tubes, and thick sheets of metal. Yang reached for something on that thing's handles and pressed.

The machine roared, a light coming on to illuminate Penny against the darkness of her surroundings. Again startled, Penny turned to face the thing that overwhelmed her camera-eyes with its light.

"This is Bumblebee," Yang explained. "He's a motorcycle that dad gave me as a hand-me-down."

Penny raised a hand to her eyes to shield them as she moved out of the light's way, but she was mesmerized and curious all the same. "This is a motorcycle?"

"Yup!" Yang lowered her sunglasses. "Wanna ride, Pen-Pen?"

"Pen... what is a 'Pen-Pen?'" Although she was still smiling, Penny tilted her head in her confusion.

'Oh yeah,' Yang lamented, 'she doesn't know what nicknames are.'

"Pen-Pen is a nickname I gave you." Yang chuckled. "A nickname is a name people give based on something about the person they're giving one to."

"Ohhhh..."

Yang whipped her hair back. "So? Ready to ride?"

"...Yes!" Penny hopped, hands pumped in the air.

"Great." Yang vaulted her legs over her motorcycle and sat down on the main seat, leaning forward as she wrapped her hands around its handles. She grabbed the helmet hanging over the left handle and put it on. "Well?"

Penny smiled giddily before she jumped on the saddle behind Yang, holding her shoulders as Yang twisted her right hand on the throttle.

Bumblebee took off.

The sudden G-force nearly knocked Penny off the bike as Yang leaned further in to compensate, yet Penny held on with a wide smile on her face. Suddenly, the streets of Vale were no longer recognizably streets, but blurs of light and color. All else there was was the roar of Bumblebee combined with the intense sensation of wind and gravity pushing against her. She had never ridden a bike like this before, and even moreso, she had never experienced such a rush of wind and gravity like this...

All of which made her wonder: 'Exactly what was I missing?'

Penny held her hands to the sides, further immersing herself in the air hitting her body. Even through her pressure sensors, the sheer excitement of the speed couldn't have been clearer.

She was all for it.

Just then, a bump in the road jolted Penny off her saddle for a moment as she panicked to grab Yang's shoulders again. Suddenly, the excitement was gone, replaced by fear and tension. Every thought she could compute was: When will she fall? What if there was another bump in the road? What if she fell?

What then?

As she felt her grip on Yang's shoulders loosen, she got an idea: she let go of her shoulders. She leaned in. Her eyes were closed.

Then she hugged Yang from behind.

The tiny hairs across Yang's body stood up as she shivered with wide eyes. She didn't expect a hug from Penny so soon, and she met her not even long ago, yet here she was, being hugged from behind in a last ditch effort to find Team RWBY's missing teammate. Not only that, but the hug felt... unusually cold for one so tight and encompassing of her torso?

But then, the hug grew ever so warmer, and warmer, and warmer, then, finally...

She smiled.

'This,' Yang thought, 'is neither too hot nor too cold...' She sighed happily. 'But just right.'

For a moment, everything was right in Remnant to her.

Then, a faraway explosion.

Just like that, both Yang and Penny were dragged back to reality as a muffled bang reverberated across the atmosphere. Even without knowing what was going on, something bad had just happened.

"Hang on tight!" Yang turned the throttle as far as she could push as she sped past the cars on the road and the buildings surrounding them. As she hurried where the sound of the blast came from, her mind started to race: they couldn't find Blake on the streets, in the buildings, or on the roofs, even with help from civilians and tourists. They looked in almost every sector.

The only place left, then, was the industrial zone.

Yang squinted, concentrating on finding Blake. Another explosion rang through the air, but this time, they discerned it more clearly.

Which meant they were, fortunately and unfortunately, in the right direction.

The two saw smoke emerging behind the view. Yang drove there as an array of buildings and cranes came into view, even through the thick fog. Briefly, Yang saw smoke coming from where the explosions must've had come from, although that mattered little to what she saw later.

Yang rolled off the throttle. She drove through a gap between two of the buildings and saw a Bullhead. Then she saw SDC-branded freights sitting on top of each other. Then she saw Ruby struggling against a familiar redheaded mobster from that club and the sisters' first airship ride to Beacon. Weiss was there, too, dishing out her fair share of Glyph-guided blows against a dozen White Fang fighters, but where was Blake?

Unconscious, being carted off into the Bullhead alongside that monkey Faunus from earlier.

Yang steered towards two White Fang terrorists carting the two as she looked at Penny. "Jump on count!" she shouted. "One! Two!" Yang swerved sharp left. "Three!"

Both of them jumped into rolls as Bumblebee leaned aggressively, skidding and drifting to a stop as it sent their targets flying with a collision. The two then slid across the ground on their feet and watched as their motorcycle powerslided across the ground.

Elsewhere, the men crashed into the cargo. Yang barely kept from laughter throughout.

"Uh, yo!" the monkey Faunus called out with a thumbs up. "Thanks!"

Yang turned towards him, responding, "No prob!"

However, this was enough for another White Fang member to sneak in a tackle from behind... however ineffective it was, judging from Yang immediately throwing her off before treating her to a nice shotgun blast to her mid-air body.

Meanwhile, Penny watched Roman knock Ruby's scythe from her hands before pinning her to the ground. When she (apparently) saw him threatening to shoot her with his cane, she furrowed her eyebrows and frowned.

'This will not happen on my watch.'

She stepped towards the scene in a field of several, her backpack opening to reveal handles that unfolded into swords as they levitated. "There is something I want to say very much, Yang."

Just as Yang finished dealing with another enemy, she saw Penny with a floating array of swords that then folded into a series of guns.

"…Woah."

"I'm combat ready!"

"Get her!" a White Fang terrorist shouted as a small group of them rushed her. Some stopped to fire at her, while the rest prepared to engage with melee weapons.

Little did they know, they opened Pandora's box.

Penny held her hands out as her swords followed, forming a rotating ring formation. She swiped and her swords swung at the hostiles, bludgeoning them to the side. Then she did it again, this time at another group of charging fighters. Yang nodded and turned to face another one of those goons… who stopped.

And ran.

"Huh?" Yang looked at Ember Celica.

It couldn't have been her shotgun-gauntlets; he wasn't that much of a coward.

It couldn't have been Ruby; she was still being held at canepoint by Roman.

It couldn't have been Weiss; she was preoccupied with her fair share of goons.

Yang turned around and saw Penny charging up a huge laser. Immediately, Yang dashed for Bumblebee and carted it into cover as Penny fired, causing the whole place to shake as it scorched everything in its trail. "What the fuck?!" was all she shouted, mouth covered by hands as her friend moved on to the remaining White Fang members standing there, paralyzed. At this point, Ruby dashed right towards Yang, joined by that Faunus who was now carrying an awakening Blake bridal-style. As he set her back on her feet, Blake saw Penny turning around to charge up another laser.

Somewhere in the chaos, Weiss was sprinting towards her teammates as she snapped her head left, then right.

"Wha..." Blake held out to Ruby, who looked at Yang with intense worry.

"What's going on?!" Ruby shouted. "Your friend's tearing the whole place—we need to run, now!"

"But where do we go?!" Yang shouted back.

"I don't know, just run!"

Right as Ruby finished, Yang heard several successive explosives as she saw Penny firing another powerful laser through a couple unlucky Bullheads that not only came apart, but also descended rapidly towards the ground, containers, and buildings in flaming pieces. Everyone from the goons to the teenagers to even the ringleader himself ran in panic. Some of those fleeing, even Ruby, Yang, and the Faunus, screamed, crying for help that may not ever come in time.

Among the chaos, Blake spotted Weiss about to catch up with Team RWBY.

"Weiss!" she shouted, grabbing her hand as the pier shook again.

The place lit up. Pieces of Bullheads collided with the pier's setpieces in flames. Containers flew. Some of them exploded violently from the Dust within. Other broken bits crashed into either the asphalt ground or the buildings, destroying parts of them in the process. Hundreds of debris went airborne, some heading towards people.

A thruster flew over Team RWBY's and the Faunus's heads, bouncing from the ground in front of them before colliding with a set of containers. Everyone screamed and crouched as they continued to run away.

It was bad enough that Blake and that monkey Faunus were about to be whisked away from Team RWBY themselves.

Now, everyone had to survive.

Team RWBY continued to run as Yang entered deep thought; 'No way that was her,' Yang frantically pondered, her mind racing as she ran out of the increasingly ruined industrial dock. 'That has to be someone–something else! But wait, if it was, where's Penny?!'

One last glimpse was all it took to convince her of what she was seeing: it was hard to make out, but she saw Penny with her swords spinning in ring formation behind her back. Fire and large pieces of debris surrounded her as a crane collapsed off to the side. Yet, as she heard a Bullhead take off, she was looking right at her and her teammates with what she could only assume was shock and despondence in her facial features.

It was at this moment that she realized: she made friends with that Penny.

Yesterday.

. . .

Interviews were had and accounts were shared. Yang had seen Penny get into a car with an Atlesian soldier following behind. Team RWBY was speechless as they left the ruined pier in shock. They were so close to dying, they'd realized, still on their way home for the night. Eventually, they'd reached the dock across from Beacon. There they boarded one of the last ferries for the night and watched as it took them from Vale back to their Academy.

Yang sat up front, still at a loss of words. Penny may have practically destroyed the pier, but there was no way she did it intentionally. In fact, when she thought about it, she noticed that even among the blur of things that happened too fast, the destruction had stopped sooner than she'd thought.

Why?

At first, it didn't make sense. Yang continued pondering until it hit her: Penny didn't know what was in those shipping containers until it was too late. She might've known that the Schnee Dust Company sold Dust in addition to a host of other products, but never that most of their shipments on that pier was Dust. She desperately wanted to tell her, and also shout at her for the senseless property damage, but the only problem was, she was unsure how to tell her about all this.

For now, she watched as Blake approached Weiss just in time for what was about to happen.

"Weiss."

Blake stood in front of Weiss at arms distance, gulping. What she'd seen at the dock had shaken her, but at the very least it was over. Now, she had a choice to make: tell her what she thought she wanted to hear, or forever hold her peace.

"What is it, Blake?" Weiss inquired, still guilty over the Faunus thing.

"Was there something you wanted to see so badly?" Blake asked.

Weiss noticed that Blake asked her that question not with malice, but rather out of mere curiosity. She gulped; sure, she had made up her mind about Blake, but all that was left was closure.

So, "Yes," she said.

"Well, alright."

Blake took a deep breath, then reached for her ribbon at the top of her head. Weiss watched anxiously as Blake undid her ribbon, wondering if she had even been right on one thing about Blake at all.

One thing.

Finally, the truth was here; Blake was a Faunus with cat ears at the top, but she was the same Blake that she worked with through Initiation, through class, and through spars. The same Blake that she slowly but surely got used to over the weeks.

The same Blake from before.

"That's... it..?" Weiss wondered. "But, it's... it's still..."

"Me?" Blake sighed, then chuckled wearily. "Well?"

Weiss took a step forward. "...It's still you."

Blake nodded.

"And you know what I've decided?" Weiss asked, arms crossed. "I don't care! You could be human or another Faunus, and I still would not care! You are a part of Team RWBY, and that is all I need to say that I'd be very happy to work with you for four more years down the line."

Ruby watched on, teary-eyed as she took a picture. "She's doing it..."

"And Blake?" Weiss frowned, shaking her head. "My sincerest apologies about what I said to you. It was never acceptable what I was doing, whether it was trying to chase you down earlier today or calling that Faunus such demeaning words, and I don't want to do those ever again. I thought I would be correct about you as a person, but here I stand in the wrong."

Blake was surprised by what Weiss had said in front of her. Sure, she had expected some trepidation, but Weiss was genuinely apologetic right off the bat. Not only that, but she looked genuinely regretful over her actions. All of this was coming from the Heiress of the infamous Schnee Dust Company herself, the same one she set off just by calling out the company's present-day practices.

Thus left her only choice:

"I forgive you."

. . .

"You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."

The ride back was a trepid one.

"I know, sir."

Penny had done all she could to stop Roman from getting away, but in the end, it was all in vain.

"Penny, your time will come next year at the Vytal Festival. That is when you can show the world what you are capable of."

Not only that, but she had terrified the very people she had wanted to make friends with. Even worse, Yang, whom she had made friends with, was running from her.

"You know your father cares very deeply about you; after all, he just wants to ensure you are safe. For now, would you please try not to get into trouble again?"

Now, she didn't know what to think.

"I won't, sir."

The car parked at a guarded small house. Penny exited the car with a guard to open her door. That same guard then followed her inside her house where her Atlas Academy team were waiting for their team leader with their deepest worries. As they neared the door, Penny tried to put on her best happy face for her teammates to see as the guard opened the door for her.

"Salutations!" Penny waved at them excitedly.

"Ms. Polendina!" one of them called out. Said teammate, who had long, straight black hair and green eyes, was wearing a black bowler hat with a white ribbon in addition to a black and white-patterned scarf. She stood before her, resplendent in a teal coat adorned with buttons of deepest black, paired with trousers and knee-high boots of the same hue. Black gloves covered her hands and her eyes sparkled with barely contained indignation. "Where have you been? How could you leave without so much as a word in the dead of night!?"

"I..." Penny lightly held her hands. "I caused trouble in the city, Laurel."

"Ms. Polendina..." Laurel took a deep breath. "You can't go out on your own like that," she said softly. "It was one of your father's conditions for you to stay here."

"And you showed up two hours and several minutes after our monthly report. The General is well-aware." Another teammate sighed. "I'd at least hoped you would be back in time for the call."

"Ciel," a Faunus spoke, "it's her life, let 'er do as she pleases. 'Sides, doesn't seem like he cares that much anyway."

"It's not about that, Ms. Randall," Laurel said with more gravitas in her voice. "Taking care of her is part of the job, and irresponsibility will reflect badly on us and Atlas as a result."

The Faunus erupted with laughter that startled Penny; she had never heard Ms. Randall, the last to join their team, have such a reaction, but that amusement seemed hollow, devoid of any real joy.

"You'll have to do better than that," she said with a mocking grin. "But rest assured, you won't have to worry about hitting rock bottom if you're already there."

Laurel shot a venomous look. "You know nothing about my family."

Alyssa scoffed. "I know enough." Her smile faded into a scowl as her tone matched Laurel's.

In trying to redirect the conversation, Penny smiled uncomfortably as she stepped up to her teammates saying, "We can save this discussion for later... alright, Alyssa? Ciel?" She blinked, eyes darting between each member. "...Laurel?" Her smile faded. she could only hope her words had effectively disrupted the tension that had befallen the room.

The last thing she needed was her own team dissolving after she'd helped save one.

Throughout all this, her teammates stared at her, then back at each other, seemingly dead-set on continuing their argument.

At last, Laurel sighed in her exhaustion, tired eyes glanced at her team leader. "You're right." She made her way to her bed. "It's been a long day, and we all need our rest for tomorrow."

"Penny, listen carefully." Ciel came close to Penny and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Remember to be more mindful next time," she said with a faint smile before starting her way to her own bed.

Alyssa said nothing, her dreams seemingly whisking her to bed.

Penny followed.

. . .

Her teammates settled asleep as though the argument never happened.

Penny lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She had been looking forward to telling everyone about how her day went, but now she couldn't help the terrible deja vu. It was all too much like home, with all those rigid rules and codes. Meeting Yang again was great, and her advice lived to tell the tale. She even had her most exhilarating ride in a motor vehicle ever! It should have been a perfect day!

If only she caught that criminal.

She sighed as her mind drifted back to that moment. Everything around her seemed to collapse as smoke and fire surrounded her. The screams and cries of people faded with the blazes; the sounds of fiery crackling, buckling metal, and crumbling asphalt and concrete had nearly engulfed them both.

And yet, the silhouette of her first friend managed to stand out among the rest. She wasn't sure what it meant or why it was happening. It wasn't until she remembered that she had been with her friend when they joined the fight that she realized:

Yang had stopped to watch her in horror.

Thanks to Merion for proofreading this chapter and reviewing the outline as well as Anton797659865 for this chapter's additional proofreading work! In addition, I'd like to thank Merion for the two members of Penny's team, specifically Laurel and Alyssa, as well as a big chunk of that last section!