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Weiss POV
Last night, VPD raided a White Fang stash house after receiving a tip from an anonymous source. The warehouse in question was owned by TAN Freight, which has now come under scrutiny due to the raid in question. TAN Freight has yet to release a statement.
When VPD arrived on the scene, a shootout commenced. Thirty-one suspects were apprehended and another five unfortunately passed away. Among the White Fang was notorious thief Roman Torchwick, who was able to make a getaway with the aid of a teleportation-based semblance.
Police seized more than three million lien worth of Dust and weapons from inside the warehouse and have revealed leads on possible locations of more contraband. VPD representative…
"Do either of you want to explain this?" I asked, holding my scroll out across the lunch table.
TAN freight was the name of the company whose warehouses Jaune and I had been looking into on our last patrol. The warehouses Jaune and Blake had investigated once again the night before. If they had followed the plan, there was no way that they wouldn't have seen the raid happening.
So then why hadn't they said anything about it?
I narrowed my eyes at the blond sitting opposite me. He had been a little more alert since classes had started, but when I met his eyes, something was still missing. Was this why he was acting so strangely?
"I wanted to wait until we were all alone together." Jaune said, quickly looking back down at his plate where he continued pushing his pasta around without actually eating any of it. Blake, on the other hand, didn't say anything. Which, to be fair to her, wasn't all that strange. But I figured that she would have been the first to crow about taking down one of the White Fang's locations.
"Are we still going tonight, then?" I looked over at Pyrrha, who was already looking a lot better than she had just a couple of days prior. It would seem that one of Jaune's plans had actually paid off.
"No." Jaune nudged a piece of pasta with his fork, "Ozpin asked us to leave it alone. I'll explain later."
I had questions. Of course, I did, but maybe the middle of the cafeteria wasn't the best place to be asking them. Already, I could see Ruby and Yang sending our team strange looks. I wasn't sure if they'd heard what was said, but I hoped not. The blonde, at the very least, was a fiend for gossip, and a Beacon team going after the White Fang at night would probably be like hitting the jackpot for her.
So, I just nodded at Jaune and went back to my own meal, ignoring Nora as she launched herself into another story that I tried my best to block out.
We would be talking about this later, though. That was for sure.
"I'm afraid that is all we have time for today class!"
I looked to my right, only to find that Pyrrha looked just as confused as I did. To make sure, I took a quick look at my scroll, only to find that there was still half an hour before the end of class. Evidently, nobody else knew why class was being cut short today, as all the other students were similarly checking the time or asking their peers why we were stopping early.
Somehow, nobody was complaining about the end of Oobleck's lecture on the battle of Fort Haight. Not even Weiss was looking forward to the hyperactive history professor's account of the battle.
"If you will all follow me to the main hall, the headmaster has asked to gather there for an announcement."
That, however, got some confused muttering from the entire group. As much as all of us knew who Professor Ozpin was, none of the students had regularly seen the man throughout the year. Most disciplinary action was taken by Ms. Goodwitch, who was his deputy. And since he didn't give any classes, nor ate in the cafeteria, he wasn't someone that we saw all that much.
I was pretty sure that I might have had the most contact with him out of all the first years, just from those short moments in his office.
So, hearing that he would be addressing the whole school, the transfers included, certainly gathered some attention. I quickly gathered my stuff and hurried after the Doctor, my team in tow.
We arrived at the main hall where Ozpin had given his speech at the start of the year, and I could see that we weren't the only class gathered. All around me, I could see students from seemingly every year and school gathered, filling the hall with chatter. I could see the white and grey uniforms from Atlas, the black uniforms from Haven, and the students who stuck out as not having a uniform at all from Shade. It made for a nice contrast among the sea of red and black that was the Beacon student body.
On the podium raised in front of us, headmaster Ozpin was stood wearing his usual suit and green shawl, leaning on his cane idly as students continued to filter in. Next to him, Ms. Goodwitch was stood with the other teachers, each of which was walking in with their classes, as Oobleck had done with us.
Eventually, Ozpin pushed off his cane, standing up straight before tapping the microphone. The dull popping noise made the other students quiet down, leaving only some faint murmuring.
"Thank you all for gathering here today." Ozpin said, starting his speech.
"I have several announcements to make here today. First, the Vytal Festival," The muttering in the room increased in volume, becoming loud enough to disturb the headmaster. "Ahem. Yes, yes I know you are all excited for the spectacle, as you should be. But I would ask that you remain silent during this announcement. As I was saying, the Vytal Festival is approaching, and with it comes another event. In two weeks' time, Beacon will hold a ball."
The noise in the room skyrocketed, and Ozpin patiently waited for it to die down before he continued.
"The ball will be held here on the premises. Should you wish to involve yourself in the planning of the event, you can speak to Ms. Goodwitch, who will select the most suitable candidates."
I didn't have to turn to know that Weiss' eyes were locked onto the deputy, determined to be selected. The girl had a weird fascination with planning things that I had never understood. I quickly made a mental note to tease her about it later.
"From then on, students will also be permitted to take their end of year missions." The murmuring grew in volume again, and I understood why. The end of year missions had been mentioned before at the start of the year, but much was still unknown about it. It was, however, a mandatory part of the curriculum here at Beacon, and an opportunity to see what being a Huntsman was really like.
"The selection of missions for your year level will be sent to every team leader's scroll after this meeting. We expect every team to have selection before the ball, if you do not have a mission selected, a leftover mission will be assigned to your team at random. All essential information will be available to you in an attached document, though you are free to consult the observer who will be accompanying you should you have any questions."
I looked at the rest of my team, and judging by the excited looks they all sported, we would be selecting our mission immediately. We all turned back to the stage quickly, though, when Ozpin cleared his throat again.
"Last, but certainly not least, the Amity Colosseum will be arriving on the day of the ball. The stadium will remain here in Vale for the duration of the tournament. The rules and regulations of the matches will be available on your scrolls after this meeting, while the initial brackets will be revealed the night of the ball. I wish you all good luck, both on your missions and during the festival. I hope you all do your schools proud. That is all, good day."
The man finished, walking off the podium with the soft clacking of his cane marking every step.
Weiss POV
"So… Last night?"
Jaune sighed at Pyrrha's question and sat down onto his bed. The rest of us remained standing, even Blake, who had been there with him. My partner remained silent, however, so I turned back to Jaune, who seemed to be gathering his thoughts.
"Last night, yeah…" He trailed off for a moment, the focus he seemed to have regained since his fight with Yang vanishing in an instant. He shook his head lightly and spoke. "Last night, we went to investigate those warehouses. We looked around for a while, and then Blake recognized one of the people there as a White Fang captain."
I nodded along, that all made sense. Blake's past would make her uniquely suited to spotting her former comrades.
"We, uh, I called the police and told them what we'd found." He continued, and I couldn't help but notice that his skin had grown a shade paler. Or was it a trick of the light? He stood up again, pacing next to his bed idly as he talked. "They came and there was a fight. The police took care of most of it, and there were some huntsmen there to deal with Torchwick and his accomplice."
"Was the Paladin there?"
"Uh, no. I think they would have used it in the fight if it had been. We were never really sure if it was here in Vale in the first place anyways."
"Okay, so Torchwick was ran off, the White Fang captured and the Dust they stole was confiscated. That's great news!" I could help but smile. The way Pyrrha said it painted such a nice picture. This might just be the first step to eradicating the White Fang entirely.
"Yeah…"
I narrowed my eyes at Jaune as he continued pacing. He didn't seem all that happy about it.
"What's wrong?"
He turned to me, his eyes blank as he looked back at me. While his face was slack, the rest of his body had gone stiff, almost like he was ready to bolt away or lunge at me entirely. What in the Gods' names was going on with him.
"Nothing."
"Try again, what happened?" I didn't even entertain the thought that he was being entirely truthful. Even a blind man could see that something was bothering the blond, and him trying to hide it wouldn't help anyone, least of all himself.
"While we were there, an officer was attacked by the White Fang captain we'd seen." He said, and I frowned again. A small pit formed in my gut, wrenching at me. While the article had clearly said what had happened to the White Fang members, it hadn't said anything about the police themselves. Had the officer been injured? Worse?
"Is he okay?" It would seem that Pyrrha had come to the same conclusion as I had, as she beat me to the question.
"I think so." The boy said, looking like he had bitten into a lemon. His brow and lips drew down, and his skin, paler than usual seemed to gain a sickly hue, almost like when he was on an airship without his meds. "Blake stepped in before he could be injured."
The pit that'd formed suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by a sort of confusion. If everything had turned out fine, then why was he acting so strange? He'd said that he didn't want us to fight, but surely he didn't begrudge Blake for saving an officer of the law?
"Then what's the problem." I said, almost wincing at how the words came out. The question was a lot sharper than I'd intended. I didn't like feeling confused, didn't like not knowing things, but that wasn't an excuse to snap at Jaune. The way he turned to me, eyes blazing in sudden contrast to the vacant look he'd had just moments before made it clear that it wasn't the right choice of words.
"Because when he went for Blake, I stepped in!" A bitter laugh left the blond's laugh, and the pit in my stomach opened right back up. "I stepped in, and then I killed him." The pit widened into a gaping hole that swallowed my insides and the room seemed to spin around me as I tried to process what he had just said.
"Oh."
I didn't even notice that Jaune had opened the door and vanished through it.
Phew! That was a lot harder to write than I'd thought. I'm having some trouble getting into the right frame of mind to write from Weiss' perspective, but I feel like it gives a far better view on the situation here. It also shows her thought process a little, because from the outside, she might sound really callous sometimes, but it's not intentional most of the time.
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