Vale (Day)

"Ah, the Vytal Festival. Is there anything better in the world?" Weiss asked as she walked through the city with her teammates and Team XISR.

"Yes. Food, television, music, art, food, video games, food. Did I already say food?" Russo asked.

"You do know they bring food from EVERY Kingdom to these things, right?" Ivy asked, at which her leader ran as fast as he could to the nearest food stand. This process repeated 20 times before he returned with kebabs, noodles, and an entire vat of pure lard.

"How are you alive with all the junk you eat?" Weiss asked, disgusted by Russo's taste in cuisine.

"Who knows? Guess I'm just lucky." Russo said as he took a bite out of a kebab, stick and all.

"I've never seen you smile this much, Weiss. It's kinda freaking me out." Ruby said, with her siblings nodding.

"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world. There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of organization and planning that goes into this is simply breathtaking!" Weiss explained, clearly enamored by the festivities.

"Wow. Never thought I'd hear someone make a festival about paperwork. The very reason people go to these things is to get AWAY from work." Russo said to Weiss, grinning. "Take a load off and relax. It's what everyone else is doing."

"Ugh. Hard to do that when it smells like fish." Ruby said, holding her nose shut. Curiously, Blake didn't seem to mind it.

"Yeah, couldn't we have enjoyed the festival further away from the docks?" Yang asked.

"I heard that students from Vacuo would be arriving today. And as a representative of Beacon, I feel it is my duty to welcome them to this fine Kingdom!" Weiss said, trying to sound genuine.

"She wants to spy on them, so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake translated, turning Weiss into a sputtering mess.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss said.

"You kinda did by telling them that." Welter pointed out.

"Woah, what happened here?" Ruby asked as they walked past a Dust shop with broken windows and two detectives talking with each other.

Russo raised his hand toward the group before leaning into the conversation. After they were done talking, he turned back to his friends. "They said this is the second Dust shop to be robbed this week."

"That's terrible." Yang said.

"And that's not even the strange part. Apparently, whoever did this left all the money." Russo said, reminding Ruby and Sapphire of a certain thief. "Those idiots think the White Fang's behind it." Blake could've sworn she heard the blonde say "Human Trash" under his breath.

"Hmph. The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." Weiss huffed, angering Blake and Russo.

"What did you just say?" the blonde asked, the temperature of the area slowly increasing. "I don't think I heard you right."

"No, you heard me correctly. I don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss said.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths! They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake countered.

"Misguided!? They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!" Weiss yelled, trying to get her point across.

"Maybe we should let 'em." Russo said, getting the attention of both Weiss and Blake. "You seem to forget that Humans are responsible for everything the Faunus are going through. What would you do if you had to work in a mine until you're no longer considered useful?" he asked Weiss, who remained quiet at the inquiry. "Thought so."

"He does have a point." Ruby said, nervous as to how it would affect the argument. "Besides, they never caught Torchwick. Maybe it was him."

"That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum that only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Weiss said, riling up Blake and Russo even further.

"Weiss, you know that's not true, right?" Welter asked.

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!"

The group turned to the source of the voice, where they saw a blonde monkey Faunus escaping a boat. "Thanks for the ride!" he told his pursuers.

'This isn't really helping my case with Weiss.' Welter thought as Sun ran past them, winking at Blake as he did so.

"Well, Weiss. You wanted to observe the competition. There it goes." Yang joked.

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss said before dashing after the Faunus.

"Why!?" Russo and Welter asked at the same time. After a few minutes of running, Weiss accidentally ran into a girl, letting Sun got away. "That was the worst experience I've ever gone through in my life." Russo said, trying to keep his footing.

"Uh, Weiss?" Ivy said, pointing to the ginger haired girl she was currently on top of.

"Salutations!" the new girl greeted as she stood up.

"Heya." Ivy responded.

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

"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby." Ruby said.

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked before being hit in the side by Blake. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"I'm Welter."

"The name's Ivy."

"I'm Sapphire."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Russo said before Sapphire hit him in the head. "Sorry, I'm Russo."

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

"Didn't you already say that?" Weiss asked.

"So I did!" Penny said, trying to mask her nervousness.

"Well, sorry for running into you." Weiss apologized as she and the others walked away.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby said with a wave.

"She was...weird." Yang said.

"Now where did that Faunus riff-raff get to?" Weiss asked as Penny suddenly appeared in front of them.

"What did you call me?" she asked as Weiss looked back and forth, trying to understand how she did that.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't think you heard me." Yang said, putting her hands up in a "Don't hurt me" position.

"Not you. YOU." Penny clarified, pointing at Ruby. "You called me friend. Am I really your friend?"

Ruby looked to her friends for guidance. All of them barring Russo shook their heads vehemently. Her brother on the other hand was giving a thumbs up and an entertained grin. "Sure. Why not?" Ruby said, prompting everyone except Russo to faint comically.

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Penny fantasized.

"So, why are you in Vale?" Ivy asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny said, surprising everyone.

"YOU'RE fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah! I'm combat ready!" Penny said, getting into a fighting stance.

'I think we just found her catchphrase.' Russo thought with a smile.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." Weiss said.

"Said the girl in the dress." Sapphire said.

"It's a Combat Skirt!" Weiss said before low-fiving Ruby. "Wait a minute. If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?!" Weiss asked, ruining Russo's good mood.

"The who?" Penny asked, unaware of the Faunus in question.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss clarified, holding up a crudely drawn picture of said Faunus.

'Where the hell'd she get that?' Ivy thought.

"Stop calling him that!" Blake yelled. Weiss turned to her teammate at her outburst. "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you prefer it if I stopped referring to this lamppost as a lamppost, or this trashcan as a trashcan?" Weiss said, getting angrier and angrier.

"Stop it!" Blake said.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time, I'm sure he'll join those other Faunus in the White Fang." Weiss continued.

Russo was reaching his limit. He ignited his fist and punched a streetlamp so hard it snapped it two. However, it seemed Weiss and Blake were too caught up in their argument to notice.

"You ignorant little brat!" Blake shouted before walking away.

"How dare you, I am your teammate!" Weiss shouted back, following Blake.

Team RWBY Dorm (Night)

Eventually, the argument was brought to the dorm, where the two opposing sides were being observed by the rest of their team and Team XISR.

'These beds are death traps.' Team XISR thought in unison as soon as they entered the room.

"MAYBE WE WERE TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!" Blake shouted before realizing what she said. Once she did, she ran out of the room.

"Y'know, that was a real cruel thing to do, Weiss." Welter said, a disappointed look on his face.

"Why? It just proves I'm right about her being in the White Fang." Weiss said.

"If she was really in the White Fang, then why didn't she try to kill either of us? She had plenty of chances, sleeping in the same room as the Schnee heiress." Welter asked rhetorically. He knew his sister wouldn't have an answer. "Did you know that I knew she was a Faunus?"

"You what!? Then why didn't you say anything!?" Weiss asked.

"Because it didn't matter."

"The hell it does!"

"Why!?" Welter asked, already knowing his sister's answer.

"That's obvious. They're no-good thieves!" Weiss said before a loud thump shook the entire floor. She looked over to Russo, who glared at her with his left eye ignited.

"People like you are why I can't stand humanity. You're all nothing but stubborn fools." he said before leaving.

Beacon Courtyard (Night)

Blake sat next to a statue of a huntsman, relating a bit to the Beowulf beneath his feet. With a sigh, she undid her bow to reveal black cat ears. On the verge of crying, she heard a familiar voice.

"And as usual, I'm right."

She turned around to see Russo. As she prepared to run off again, he tried to calm her down. "Don't worry, I'm alone."

Once Blake registered the boy's words, her eyes widened. "Wait, you knew I was a Faunus?"

"You're lucky the people of Vale are literally the dumbest people on the planet. Literally. Otherwise, you'd have more trouble with that flimsy disguise you had." Russo said with a grin, making Blake scratch the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Did you come out here to bring me back in?" Blake asked.

"No, I know nothing I say will make you go back. In fact, I came out here to join you." Russo said, surprising the girl. "You're not the only one who needs some time away from Weiss."

At that, the duo walked toward the landing pads so they could hijack a Bullhead.

"I personally think you look better without the bow." Sun said from atop a pillar, making Russo face-palm.