Last night's events were still fresh on Blake's mind. Even after a night's sleep, she was still concerned about her future with Team RWBY and Vale. To the city's credit, they were the most tolerant of her kind—at least so far. Ruby gave both her and Sun a proper tour of Vale while leading them to a restaurant for them to spend time at (it was coincidentally a place the Xiao Long household spent time at on occasion), and not once did Blake find a sign that said Faunus weren't served.

One destination that Blake saw while they walked was Tukson's Book Trade, which was owned and managed by a Faunus. Tuckson and Ruby were acquaintances, as her modest collection of comic books back home had to come from somewhere. Ruby was always too polite to ask if Tuckson was meant to be a cat Faunus, like Blake, or if he was some other feline, like a puma.

The trio eventually arrived at an upper-class cafè. While it straddled the line between being available to the common and the wealthy, Blake could see herself spending time here with Weiss—current circumstances notwithstanding. Blake looked around and saw everyone minding their own business. She didn't see so much as a curious glance in their direction, even with Sun in the group.

"How are you feeling?"

Blake's gaze returned to Ruby, then to Sun when she realized they both looked at her expectantly. She could only weakly smile and answer, "I'm better than last time. But not by much."

Ruby gave a small smile back, knowing Blake was trying her best. "What's on your mind?"

"Same as last night..." Blake's gaze fell back onto Sun, who she realized might not be up to speed about her past (she still didn't know he told a white lie last night). "How do you feel about the White Fang?"

"Them?" Sun asked. "They're a bunch of holier-than-thou creeps who think force is all they need to get what they want. I mean, do they even care about how their actions affect us at this point?"

"That's probably why she left," Ruby nonchalantly hinted before sipping her coffee.

Sun paused as he considered this information and compared it to what he heard last night and what he knew about the White Fang from recent events. "Right... Yeah, I'd leave too if things got that bad..."

"She's right," Blake commented. "My father formed the White Fang to be a force of peace. I was just a kid then, but I wanted to be part of it and make a difference. But I was also too ignorant to realize what they were becoming. What started off as peaceful protests became organized attacks. We razed businesses that didn't serve Faunus, sabotaged or stole material from companies that used us as labor..."

"And you..." Ruby showed hesitation, but after a course correction, she pressed on. "And they assassinated people?"

Blake placed her elbow on the table and held her cheek as though it were the only thing keeping her from hanging her head in shame. She knew Ruby was referring to what Weiss said last night. She gently shook her head—not to deny that it was what the White Fang had done, but out of personal shock.

"I couldn't believe that's what the White Fang were turning into. All I wanted was coexistence, not domination. So, I left. And I decided being a Huntress would make a bigger difference." Blake sighed as she placed her hand back onto her lap and straightened her sitting posture. "But Weiss is right: I'm still a criminal. The only reason I haven't been caught is because I've been able to hide in plain sight. With a little black bow."

Blake wiggled her cat ears for illustration, making the bow wiggle in tandem. She watched Ruby's expression light up, clearly finding something adorable about Blake's "disguise."

"That's so adorable...!" Ruby whispered. She then glanced away from Blake in silent ambivalence. Ruby wanted to play with Blake's ears the first time she saw them. But Ruby was too polite to entertain the idea with Blake, so she didn't feel like bringing it up until now. "Hey, Blake?"

Blake's amber eyes went to Ruby as she gave her team leader her full attention.

"I uh... I really like your ears!" Ruby awkwardly commented. "And I wasn't going to ask this last night because of what you were going through, but..."

Already, Ruby felt like she had successfully made an ass of herself. She was about to verbally throw in the towel when Blake, who already knew where the conversation was headed, reluctantly undid her bow to expose her cat ears. Luckily, the other patrons and staff didn't care about what was happening.

"You can touch them once," Blake told Ruby. "Just... be gentle, okay?"

Ruby was beaming as she moved her chair closer to more easily reach Blake. She reached one hand for Blake's closest ear and gently placed her thumb and index finger on the tip. To Blake's surprise, Ruby had an experienced touch that softly massaged Blake's ear. The anxiety she felt from last night already melted away, even if it was only for the moment. It felt nice to have them be admired instead of scorned because she was different. Blake adjusted her sitting posture so Ruby could go for her other ear. She did so.

"Does that feel good?" Ruby asked.

"Mhm..." Blake felt a lingering drowsiness overtake her. It didn't help matters that she barely got any sleep. "How did you get so good at doing this...?"

"Oh, I used to do this all the time for Zwei!" Ruby explained.

"Zwei, huh? I didn't know you had a pet cat."

"You're close!" Ruby answered. "He's our pet that Yang and I have taken care of since we were younger, but he isn't a cat."

"Then what is he...?"

"He's a cute little corgi~!"

Ruby's cheerful sing-song tone made Blake smile. But when she fully comprehended what she had just heard, Blake's entire body tensed up. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and the only thing higher than her blood pressure was the city of Atlas above Mantle.

Just from Blake's reaction, Ruby stopped and felt worried. "You aren't afraid of dogs, are you?—and please don't take that question the wrong way...!"

"N-no, I, uh..." Blake tucked in her arms as though she were hugging herself, but only as a way to ground herself. "It's just..." Blake needed a moment to take a deep breath and calm herself down. Sun even used his tail to nudge Blake's tea cup slightly closer to encourage her to drink from it. She reluctantly grabbed it and took a sip, and fortunately, it helped. "I'm sorry for freaking out..."

Sun reached his hand out to Blake's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. We can move on and talk about something else—"

"No, no, it's fine," Blake assured. "If anything... I should get this off my chest. Blake placed her hands down on her lap. She did her best to keep her mind off how hard her heart beat in her chest as she looked between Ruby and Sun. "Do either of you remember the old White Fang? Back when we protested peacefully?"

"Kinda," Sun replied.

"Did one of them go wrong?" Ruby asked.

Blake nodded as she pieced together her experience into something verbally salient. "... One time, I was helping a group protest for equal work rights. We figured that getting human managers and business owners to be less biased against us would be a step in the right direction. Especially since the Schnee Dust Company still uses Faunus labor for their mines to this day."

"Yeah, Weiss and I touched on that the other day," Ruby mentioned. "But what happened?"

"... There was a pack of dogs sent after us," Blake answered. "I imagine they were trying to scare us off and break us apart. But one of them tackled me. I could barely hold it back while it was scratching me. And trying to bite me..." Blake nervously swallowed as her cat ears flattened. "Just thinking about it is putting me on edge..."

Blake began slouching into a fetal position but stopped when she felt a hand touching her shoulder. She glanced over and saw Ruby give her an assuring smile. Somehow, Blake felt stronger and safer around Ruby, as if physical and emotional threats could not bring her down.

"... I did everything I could to keep the dog off of me," Blake continued. "I knew if I didn't, I was going to die. And I probably would have. Thankfully... someone was still there. He saw what was happening and stood his ground to help."

"Who was it?" Ruby asked.

Blake's heart grew heavy. She wasn't sure how Ruby would react, but she had a hunch that Sun wouldn't be happy about what she was going to say next. She had to rip the band-aid off, regardless of the consequences.

"Adam Taurus," she answered.

Before Sun dropped that name, he did more than sip his tea. Blake's story gripped him to the point that he gulped down the lukewarm fluid in his cup—until he had to turn his head away and do a spit-take. "Wait, what!? You mean—"

"Yes, the same one," Blake sighed, already wishing she had nothing to do with Adam.

Sun glanced over at Ruby. Ruby could only look back at him and shrug her shoulders, evidently just as surprised as he was that Blake and Adam, who Ruby knew was the unofficial face of the White Fang, were familiar with each other. Sun crossed his arms and commented, "I'm surprised someone like him had any sense of right and wrong back then."

"He did." Blake focused on Sun. "And I believe he still does. But... ever since I pushed him away and left the White Fang, he's only gotten worse. It's my fault he's like this."

Ruby thought it was weird that Blake would feel blame for another person's actions. It made her wonder... "Were you two dating?"

"N-no!" Blake was caught off-guard by the question. "No-no-no, absolutely not! Besides, he's almost a decade my senior! It was more like..." Blake had to take a moment to think of a good analogy to describe her bond with Adam. "We had what you and Yang have, but if she were more protective."

"Yeah, about that," Sun interjected before looking at Ruby. "It's still weird how you and Yang are sisters. You two look nothing alike!"

"We're half-sisters," Ruby explained. "And from what Dad told me, I look a lot like my mom and the resemblance is 'uncanny.' So... I guess she had some crazy-strong genes?"

"Had?" Sun wondered.

Ruby knew the topic would come up, so she took the question in stride. "She's been either dead or missing since I was born."

Sun frowned. "Bummer. I'm sorry for your loss. But on the bright side, you have your own team now! That's pretty much like family, right?"

Ruby and Blake shared a look, the latter giving a hopeful smile.

"I guess so," Blake answered. "And... every family has its arguments."

Blake hadn't thought of her team as a family before. The thought never crossed her mind that it could be equated to that.

"Which means Weiss and I need to understand each other better before we can get along." Blake grabbed her black ribbon and tied together a bow to cover her cat ears. "And instead of running away, I should've done the mature thing and explained myself to everyone."

Ruby looked to Blake with trepidation about the idea. "Do you think Weiss will listen?"

"I'm hoping she's used our time away to cool off and think," Blake replied. "You and Weiss get along despite the rocky start." That was putting it lightly. "Which means she's reasonable enough not to let one bad thing get between us. So, if I told her what I told the two of you, she'll understand why I was upset about her talking about the White Fang in a negative, albeit... somewhat justified way."

Blake was about to get up, but Sun quickly stood on his feet and brought his hand out to get her attention. "Or—hear me out: we can prove that the White Fang isn't responsible for the Dust Shop robberies."

Blake paused, somewhat confused by the idea. "How?"

"Yeah, we already know Torchwick's responsible for the one that happened yesterday and the one that happened before I started attending Beacon," Ruby told Sun. "Same method and everything."

"Sure, but!" Sun retorted. "Weiss doesn't understand he's responsible. We just need to prove to her, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the White Fang isn't up to anything in Vale."

Ruby crossed her arms, smirking. "Alright then, hotshot. Give us some insight on how the leader of a team named after him would figure this out."

Sun wasn't sure if that was meant to be flattery or sarcasm. Either way, he had to do his best to figure something out.

"Well..." Sun began. "We could see whether or not they did it by going to the place where they would most likely go if they were to do it again... and not find them there!"

Ruby was outright baffled by Sun's mental gymnastics. Her only response was a deadpan, "What?"

Blake looked over at Ruby. "He means we could catch them red-handed while they're stealing more Dust."

"Oh!" That made a lot more sense. Except for one part: "Well, where would they go next?"

"The docks," Sun answered. "Before I made it to Vale, I overheard some sailors talking about a Dust shipment coming in. I'm talking about a huge one. Biggest shipment the SDC's sent in a while."

Ruby nodded slowly, starting to understand the bigger picture. "That would be a big enough honeypot for them to go after. When does it dock?"

"Tonight," Sun told them. "We can do a stakeout there now. While we wait, we can plan out what to do if the White Fang shows up."

Ruby smiled. "Not a bad idea. Let's go!"

"Wait!" Blake interrupted as she looked Ruby in the eyes. "If we find them there... there's something you need to promise me."

Ruby was a bit surprised, but she nodded a little. "Anything."

"I know that the White Fang seem like terrorists," Blake explained. "But most of them don't know any better. They're just following orders. They think it'll bring about the change they're fighting for, no matter how questionable the method. So just promise me that you won't kill any of them if you can help it. The last thing they need is an excuse to hate humans more."

Ruby understood Blake's reasoning completely. "I promise." A thought occurred to her just then. She glanced over to Sun. "I wonder if we can get the rest of the team in on this plan?"

Blake shook her head. "I don't know. We could be getting them roped into a waste of time if we don't find the White Fang there. I'm sure the three of us can manage."

"True..." Ruby replied, leaning back in her chair. What could they be up to now?

"Ruby!?" Weiss called out. "Ruby, where are you!?"

Weiss and Yang had to take the initiative to find their teammates. Weiss knew it would be difficult to explain to Professor Ozpin that half the team ran away and went missing, while Yang was understandably worried about what her younger sister was up to.

Yang again tried to call out for her teammate. "Blaaake? Blaaake!"

"Here, kitty kitty! Kss kss!" As much as Weiss knew that was in poor taste, she did it anyway. The only thing she received as a reward was an amused lavender gaze from Yang. "Sorry...!" Weiss apologized with a sheepish grin. "But you have to admit, it did sound like you were calling out for a lost pet just now."

"Yeah, well," Yang retorted, "Blake wouldn't have been lost if you didn't give her such a hard time!"

"Blake's lost?"

Weiss and Yang heard a familiar voice enter the conversation. Both of them turned around and saw a puzzled-looking Penny.

"When did she get lost?" Penny wondered.

"It's not that, Penny, it's..." Weiss sighed. "I got into an argument with Blake, and she stormed off. Ruby went after her, and now we're trying to look for them."

"Was it over the fact that she's a Faunus?" Penny asked. "You two were arguing a lot about the White Fang."

"How did you know she's a Faunus...?" Yang wondered suspiciously.

"Her cat ears!"

Now Weiss became wary. "But we didn't even know she had cat ears. So how did you know about them?"

Only now did Penny realize she had talked herself into a corner. "Uh..." It took her a moment to devise a convincing excuse, to which she cheerfully declared, "I knew because my Semblance grants me X-ray vision! Hck!" Of all the times for the tell her father programmed in to activate, doing so when her cover was almost blown was the worst. But she did her best to play it off. "Ugh, not again...!"

"Hiccups, huh?" Yang commented, not thinking much of Penny's quirk.

"Actually, wait," Weiss began. "If you have X-ray vision, maybe you can help us find Blake!"

"I'd be happy to be of service!" Penny exclaimed. "How much ground have you girls covered so far?"

"Weiss and I were going to the bookstore," Yang explained. "Ruby likes to spend time there, so I thought I'd check that place out."

"And I was considering splitting off to check the restaurants and cafès to see if they seen either Blake or Ruby," Weiss added.

"Perfect! Then I'll help out and look everywhere else!" As she ran off to look for Ruby and Blake, Penny's expression was of the same child-like giddiness one could see during a game of hide-and-seek.

Yang leaned closer to Weiss and softly wondered, "Does she seem kind of weird to you?"

"Weirder than you and your dork of a sister?" Weiss scoffed. "I swear, if we put them in a room together for long enough, they'll probably start dating."

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at that mental image. As silly as the idea was, a part of her could picture her sister getting together with Penny. But then again... Ruby's awfully determined to stay by Blake's side. I just hope they're okay.