Blake didn't know where she was going.
She'd looked at maps of Beacon, of course, and Yang's annoyingly insightful comments about her being good at land navigation were correct. She knew where she was on campus. She knew what buildings and landmarks were around her and what she would encounter if she kept walking. She still didn't know where she was going.
That would have required her to have a destination in mind, and she had none.
Running away again. It hadn't even been a single day since her team had formed and she was already running away from it. She never changed, did she?
She recognized buildings as she passed. The gymnasium. The greenhouses. A set of towers identified on the maps only by number. Guest dorms. She couldn't think of a single reason why she might go into any of those buildings. Then again, she wasn't thinking on that subject very hard at all. Too much else was in the way.
She was halfway between the two wings of the administration building, where a space between formed a sort of a miniature garden fronted by a bench and backed with large bushes. She had a passing desire to sit down on the bench and rest, but she felt like she couldn't stop running, even without a destination.
She heard someone approaching. She might have heard them just from their footsteps, but the clacking of a cane against the ground was almost an announcement of intent.
Unwilling to foul anything else up, Blake stepped on the bench and used it to hurdle the bushes at the back of the garden and drop down between them and the building.
You never saw me, Blake thought, willing it into existence. No one was here. You saw nothing. Just keep walking.
She could see the outline of the person stop at the bench and sit down on it, facing away from her.
Really?
"Good morning, Miss Belladonna."
Blake couldn't even run away right. The one thing she always did, and she was somehow bad at that, too.
"I do love the campus at this time of morning," said Ozpin. "There's a sense of wondrous potential that comes over me at times like these. All these students, these possibilities, these futures that might come to be with the right nurturing. It feels like hope. It's quite the balm for an old soul like mine."
"If you're trying to make me feel better, don't bother," said Blake.
"Seeing as I don't know what your problem is, I wouldn't dream of trying to remedy it. I was simply making conversation."
As if Blake believed that. What a coincidence that the headmaster just happened to run into her this morning.
"Although," Ozpin admitted, "after a few decades, you start to see patterns in student behavior. Usually, the only students out this early are exercising, and exercising students are never in their pajamas."
Blake's self-consciousness intensified.
"Which suggests," Ozpin went on, "that your being out here was unplanned. Since you haven't had any classes yet, those can't be the stressor that drove you out of your dorm. That leaves interpersonal relations." There was a pause as Ozpin sipped at something. "How am I doing so far?"
She wanted to deny it, evade him, but it was pointless. "That's about it," she said.
"Hm," said Ozpin thoughtfully. "Just so you know, you won't be challenging the record for "fastest team meltdown." That was set 24 years ago by Team STRQ. They didn't even make it through the night of Initiation. Although, you could perhaps leap to second place on the list."
Blake put her back to the wall and slid to the ground. "Shockingly, that's not making me feel any better."
"What would?"
"You changing team arrangements," said Blake. "Or at least making someone else team leader."
There was another sip. "No, I don't think I'll be doing that."
"Why not?"
"I never change those assignments this quickly. You've barely even donned the mantle of leadership. Let's see how it fits you first."
"But why?" Blake demanded. "Why did you make me team leader? Me, of all people!"
"I choose leaders for any number of reasons," Ozpin said. "Maybe it's someone I think could benefit most from it, or the person that team needs, or even because that student has qualities of mind I want to nurture."
"Those are generic reasons," Blake said. "None of those explain why you'd choose me."
"You're looking for reasons to disqualify yourself," said Ozpin gently.
Blake's voice abandoned her.
"Anything I said in your favor, Miss Belladonna, you'd immediately try to shoot down," Ozpin said with uncanny, uncomfortable insight. "That exercise would miss the point. I rarely appoint team leaders because of who they are when I appoint them."
This conversation was jerking Blake around, taking her into new places she didn't like. "What does that even mean?"
"It means that Beacon is a school. It would be a failure of an institution if people came out of it the same as they were when they entered."
It took a moment for Blake to parse the headmaster's needlessly convoluted language, but when she did it made her laugh. "You're saying you think I'll learn to be a leader?" she said with scorn.
"You're not the person you were five years ago, Miss Belladonna," said Ozpin. "Any more than you're the person you were one year ago… or the person you'll be a year from now. People change. Oh, yes," he said, and his voice had grown solemn. "People change."
"Not always for the better," Blake blurted out, and her vision was full of red.
"True," Ozpin allowed. "Though it's difficult to say how things will go in advance. In any event, it would be a contradiction to say both "people change" and "I can't grow to be a leader", wouldn't it?"
"I guess," Blake said reluctantly.
"Leave yourself open to the possibility," said Ozpin, "and I think you'll be surprised by yourself and your teammates both."
"I don't know about that," said Blake, thinking of Weiss.
"Well, that's what makes it a surprise. Incidentally," Ozpin said, and he half-turned his head so that he looked in Blake's direction for the first time, "why do you think I made you team leader?"
"Because there were four of us and you had to pick someone," Blake said.
"Mm, true. But the choice was not random, if that's what you're implying."
Blake frowned. What could she have done to attract Ozpin's attention? "Are you saying… when I told the others how to attack the Geist? But that wasn't leading, that was just… I've fought against big things before, so I sort of knew what to do."
"And you were able to communicate that to your teammates," Ozpin said, "clearly, quickly, in a way that put them in best position to succeed. Would you like to know what that's called, Miss Belladonna?"
She really didn't. "What?"
"Leadership."
He somehow had the nerve to smile when he said that. "Food for thought," he said, then took one more sip and stood. "Classes start soon enough, and I daresay you won't want to attend in your pajamas. Good luck, Miss Belladonna."
"Thanks," she mumbled automatically.
He strode away, the clacking of his cane marking his steps, and left Blake alone with her doubts.
They'd agreed that Yang, as Blake's partner, should be the one to call her back. To their mild surprise (Penny had assessed with 42% probability that Blake would not only fail to reply but would put them all on 'ignore'), Blake had agreed to come back to the dorm. Now Yang, Penny, and Weiss could do nothing but wait for Blake to return in the hopes that they could patch things up.
With other stakes, Penny might have been excited by the prospect of a novel and intricate exploration of emotion. Given that the integrity of her team, and thus her prospects for having friends for the next four years, was on the line, things were too fraught for that.
Blake hadn't said when she would be back, which meant that the others had to sit and wait, which they did with rising discomfort. With every minute that passed, Penny found it more probable that Blake had been untruthful when she said she was coming back. Jiminy registered its disapproval of that course but could do nothing about it.
She thought she was taking the waiting game better than her teammates, though. Yang burst into short sets of pushups or crunches when things got unbearable for her and was never completely still. Weiss took to pacing back and forth across the room, though the room was so small she had to turn around every 6.0 seconds.
This seemed to bother Yang more than it bothered Penny, or perhaps Yang's patience setting had a lower threshold. Either way, after a few minutes of Weiss' pacing, Yang crossed her arms and said, "Will you cut that out? There's nowhere for us to go!"
"I'm feeling tense," Weiss said in short tones, "and I'm expressing it in a way that doesn't involve histrionics or violence. You should be grateful."
"I'd be grateful if you took a chill pill," said Yang.
Before Penny could ask what kind of pharmacist prescribed chill pills, Weiss stopped her pacing and turned to Yang with her hands on her hips. "Don't act like you're not upset about this. Blake is your partner, you're supposed to know these things."
Yang scoffed. "I knew her for all of ninety seconds on arrival day, and when I met her during Initiation, we spent the whole day running through the forest and beating up monsters. I didn't have a ton of time for heart-to-hearts or would-be confessionals."
"But Penny knew," said Weiss, and even if Weiss was talking to Yang, Penny felt her words like an accusation.
"I wasn't supposed to know," Penny said quietly, and she looked down to avoid meeting the others' eyes. "She didn't tell me. I found out on my own."
"I just can't see how we're supposed to trust a leader who hides things from her partner and her team," said Weiss.
"Yeah," drawled Yang, and even Penny could detect the sarcasm, "why in the world would someone hide they were a Faunus from a Schnee, especially a Schnee who immediately screams about it the second they find out?"
Weiss went still and all emotion drained from her face. Penny's optics reported that Weiss was, somehow, becoming even paler. For long seconds, she didn't so much as blink, as if all her processing power was being directed internally and none was left to operate her body.
Without another word nor change in her expression, Weiss resumed her pacing. Penny morosely reset the timer she used to count down until Yang's next outburst.
Then suspended that timer at the sound of the door being unlocked.
Penny's head swiveled for the door, and she saw Weiss and Yang doing the same.
The door opened and only the upper part of Blake peeked through the gap. Then, under the weight of the others' stares, she withdrew some until only her eyes and the top of her head, bow included, were visible.
"Welcome back," said Yang, and she ostentatiously looked away.
Penny glanced back and forth between Blake and Yang, trying to understand. "Would you be more comfortable if I looked away, too?" she asked Blake.
She saw more than heard Blake's sigh. "I'll have to get used to it sooner or later," she said, and began to enter the room.
That was neither a 'yes' nor a 'no', so Penny decided to follow Yang's lead and averted her optics as well. She could track Blake by other means, even if those means were cruder and would not give her the same insight into Blake's emotions and intentions…
Oh dear, this was dreadfully complicated.
"We called you back because we have some things to say to you," said Yang with meaningful looks at Penny and Weiss.
Penny didn't need the pressure. When faced with the prospect of her team breaking up, there was little she was unwilling to do. She'd evaluated 163 possible ways to show contrition and judged only twelve of them as too problematic or unethical to execute.
"I am very sorry for what I said," said Penny, throwing resources at Emotion Signifying in the hopes it would help her sound sincere. "I didn't realize that you were keeping a secret. I didn't understand that you didn't want other people to know you were a Faunus. I didn't mean to hurt you, nor to cause friction between you and Weiss. I've been a bad teammate. I'll do everything I can to be a better one in the future, but for what's in the past I can only beg your forgiveness."
"We're learning," said Yang, somehow sounding at ease. "Penny, your takeaway from this should be that you don't talk about another person without their consent. You let other people talk about themselves and reveal things or not, right?"
"Right!" said Penny with a bigger nod. "I won't tell anyone else, and I promise to be more respectful of people's boundaries in the future."
Blake looked at Penny for some time, but then broke off to look at Yang for even longer and with more discernment. It was like what Yang had said meant more than what Penny had said.
Maybe this was a partner thing? Except Penny was sure that her relationship with Weiss was nothing like this.
Then Blake looked at Penny again and quietly said, "Apology accepted."
Relief flooded Penny's circuitry. Anxiety had caused her to devote more cycles to (ultimately pointless) simulations run by Analysis and Tactical, but she hadn't realized just how many cycles until this moment, when they were released back to higher consciousness. Fully a fourth of Penny's processing power had been devoted to generating, exploring, and dreading worst-case scenarios. To have the threat lifted made all the difference.
"I have something to say, too," said Weiss.
"I'm sure you do," mumbled Blake, before she put her hand over her mouth as if to keep things from spilling out of it.
Annoyance flashed across Weiss' face before she covered it again. "I don't do well with people hiding things from me," said Weiss. "I much prefer directly telling people things, just as I prefer when other people do the same. It wasn't like that in Atlas. In Atlas, every smile has a knife behind it. Every expression of courtesy is practiced until you can pack ten lies inside without them showing. I hated it."
Her eyes went out of focus for just a moment before she looked at Blake anew. "I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with that at Beacon. For me to run into that from my leader, on my second day, was disturbing. So… I badly overreacted."
There was a moment of quiet as she seemed to gather herself, and Penny didn't dare interrupt.
"I was taught that Schnees never apologize." The words drew a grunt from Blake; Weiss plowed on before Blake could interrupt. "But as with many things I was taught, I see the flaws there and want to do better. Here is my attempt. Blake Belladonna, my reaction to your omission was disproportionate, based on my own distaste for deception. I apologize."
"That's the only reason you reacted like that?" Blake said coolly.
"What other reason would I have?" Weiss said, returning Blake's look unflinchingly.
"You screamed about me being a Faunus," Blake said, and for a moment Tactical engaged, as if interpreting this interaction as a battle.
"Out of surprise, nothing more," said Weiss.
"Really." (Thesaurus stumbled on a question inflected as a statement. Confusing.)
"Of course. By itself, being a Faunus means nothing. It's not like you're in the White Fang or something."
"Hey!" yelled Yang, which drew Weiss' eyes from Blake, meaning Weiss missed Blake's flinch. (Penny didn't, and wondered.) "Watch your mouth!"
"I was doing the opposite of judging," Weiss said, looking back to Blake. "I was showing how I know the White Fang are a minority, and I'd be a fool to assume that any Faunus I meet is White Fang.
"So you're a Faunus," Weiss rolled on. "Why should I hold that against you? You didn't ask to be born a Faunus any more than I asked to be born a Schnee."
"As if those two things are remotely the same!" Blake said harshly.
"They're the same in this way," said Weiss without backing down. "They don't define us. We should be judged on the choices we make and nothing else, shouldn't we?"
The two girls stared at each other for quite some time, long enough for creeping dread to return to Penny's circuits.
At last, some of the defensive hunch eased out of Blake's shoulders. "We'll see if you really believe that."
"If I ever act otherwise, kindly let me know," said Weiss, her back straight as a ramrod.
Blake nodded. "I accept your terms."
"And… I don't blame you for running away." Weiss' voice dropped down low. "There've been times I wished I could run away… and couldn't."
Blake's expression was full of the same amazement and disbelief Penny felt.
"Aww yeah!"
And there was Yang, barreling into the conversation and throwing herself alongside both Blake and Weiss. "Team BXPS is back, baby!"
"Must we call it that?" said Weiss faintly.
Penny felt excitement welling up. "Are we better now?"
"For now," Blake said cautiously.
"It's a process," said Weiss.
"Then I concur with Yang," said Penny, a smile overtaking her face and feelings alike. "Our team is intact, and we should recommence the bonding!"
"You know what that means," said Yang, a dangerous look in her eyes.
"I believe I do," said Penny, matching her energy. "Team hug!"
While Blake and Weiss might have escaped Yang or Penny going in for the hug, even Blake's shadow semblance wouldn't let her evade both sets of arms. In moments it was like Penny and Yang were embracing around Weiss and Blake like the jacket of a bullet.
"For the record, I oppose all of this," said Weiss, though with her lungs being squished there was no air behind her voice.
"These are unauthorized snuggles," said Blake, who was faring little better.
"You hear that, Penny?" said Yang. "They're bonding already!"
"Then it's working!" said Penny. "More!"
"Hrk!"
It ended shortly thereafter, with recriminations and official team leader orders to never do that again (which Yang agreed to with the sort of smile that made Jiminy order a hiccup on Yang's behalf). Despite it all, Penny felt a great warmth spreading through her.
Her mistake hadn't been fatal. They'd gotten through it. They were alright. Her team—her friends and friends-to-be—was still here for her.
Out of all her subroutines, only Analysis raised a red flag. It noted that Weiss had just made a big deal about people hiding things from her, and Penny was still hiding something from her—something much bigger than Blake had been hiding. Faunus and humans, after all, could interbreed, so they were the same sort of lifeform; Penny wasn't even alive. How much worse, then, would Weiss react to Penny's secret?
How could Penny ever tell her this?
Then again, how could she possibly hide it?
Penny attached a suspense timer to this warning and banished it for the time being. This was a happy time.
Her smile perked back up as Yang winked at Weiss and said, "You can be my… main squeeze!" and Weiss turned into a sputtering mess, and Penny understood not a single part of the interaction. People were confusing… but that was what made them wonderful.
The conversation came to a complete halt at the sound of chimes ringing across campus.
"What's that about?" said Blake.
Penny, with rising dread, checked her internal chronometer, then addressed her teammates.
"I regret to inform you that we have classes to attend."
Note: This chapter represents a milestone. Thus far, this fic has roughly followed the contours of the original- but this was as far as the first version of the story got. From here on out, all content is wholly mine and new. Cheers!
Next time: Getting Schooled