Chapter 9: Black and White

"So, if two pregnant women were to brawl, would it be the same as two babies piloting mechs?"

Dante let out a cry of outrage as both Team SHDW and ATUM strolled through the now abandoned streets of the city at night, "Godsdammit, Auriel, why would you make me contemplate that at this particular time?!"

Auriel giggled to herself, "Heh... 'contemplate'."

"Guys!" Skyler exclaimed while facepalming, "How does this in any way pertain to what we're doing?"

"Hey, don't look at me!" Dante rebutted, "Auriel's the one asking the weird questions!"

"All I'm doing is trying to alleviate the boredom," ATUM's leader argued, "It has been literal hours, and I'd rather get back to the dorm before curfew, but nooooo, we gotta search the streets in the dead of night for a classmate who we aren't even friends with!"

"If I recall correctly," Meta said to his leader, "You were the one who said we would help."

"He bribed us!"

"Correction: he bribed you. We just had to go along with it because you're the leader. And besides, you didn't have to take the lien either, it wasn't like it was blackmail."

Auriel groaned, "Ugh, I hate being in the wrong... Being a leader sucks sometimes."

"As much as I'd hate to admit it," Hazel spoke up, "Auriel's got a point. We've combed the city at least a dozen times, but we haven't found Blake anywhere. So either we've been really unlucky, or... well..."

"Or Blake's been avoiding us," Walker finished, "Let's face it, if she's as stubborn as her partner, we could be at this for the next week before we even catch a glimpse of her."

Skyler sighed, "Yeah, I figured that by now..."

"Then why are we still here?!" Auriel exclaimed, waving her arms.

That response was one that SHDW's leader did not reply to. Because if he was being completely honest, it was for more personal reasons. He was beginning to put two and two together at this point in his head. His parents were killed by the White Fang. Blake was supposedly a member of the White Fang. Skyler kept getting a sense of familiarity when he looked at her, and he had the sneaking suspicion that she had the same when she looked at him. But the only way to be one hundred percent sure was to confront her about it himself.

If she had been there with him, Skyler didn't know what he'd do.

But he didn't get to finish his thought process as Tatiana's voice reached his ears, "H-Hey, guys? Are bullheads supposed to be flying this late at night?"

The question confused everyone until they looked up and saw a bullhead airship fly over them and toward the docks, where it then landed.

"No..." Skyler muttered in reply, "I don't think they are... Let's go check it out."

"Oh no!" Auriel immediately said as the rest of them began to book it, "Not again! You are not-Hey!"

Uriel grabbed her by the arm and yanked her along with the rest of the Hunters in training, causing her to yelp, "This is practically kidnapping! Meta! Help me out here!"

The two teams arrived at the shipyard and maneuvered their way through a maze of giant containers. To their right sat an abandoned, boarded-off warehouse, and to their left they found themselves spectating a standoff between a handful of White Fang members and Blake Belladonna, who was holding a man hostage. Skyler recognized the man as Roman Torchwick, the master criminal who had been on the news recently about Dust robberies. He had heard about the White Fang being suspected of the robberies themselves, so them teaming up with Torchwick didn't seem so farfetched.

But what caught everyone's attention were the two cat ears sticking out where Blake's bow used to be.

"Brothers of the White Fang!" Blake called out, "Why are you aiding this scum?!"

All of Team ATUM slowly turned to look at SHDW when that was announced, Uriel saying, "So... Did you not know about this either, or is there something you want to share with the class?"

"Okay, to be fair," Dante replied, "We didn't think we'd have to."

"That doesn't make things better."

"Eh, had to try."

But before they could argue any further, their attention was caught by the sound of chuckling. They looked and saw the White Fang members... laughing? Clearly, Blake was just as confused as her fellow Hunters in training as Roman chuckled along with his companions.

"Oh, Kitty Kitty," he chastised with a smug grin on his face, "You clearly weren't well informed by your own faction. This is all a front!"

"...What?" Blake muttered, catching up with what Torchwick was getting at.

"Did you actually think the White Fang of all groups would start being thieves?" the criminal explained, "But seeing how much violence they've been causing, they do make quite the easy suspect, don't you agree?"

Blake gritted her teeth, "So you're just using their namesake like... like a pawn?! And make their goal of achieving equality all the more difficult?!"

"I don't know if you've noticed, sweetheart," Roman prodded, "But I think their goal of equality disappeared a long time ago. But either way, I may not play chess a lot, but if there's one concept I know about it..."

Blake then heard the sound of a blade, as well as felt the prick of one on the back of her neck. She slowly turned around to look at the newcomer, along with the two Hunter teams, both having just now noticed the new player. They were a short female, wearing white, dark brown, and pink attire, with the hair to match. Even her eyes were mismatched, with her right eye being pink and her left being brown. In her hand was what appeared to be a closed umbrella, with a blade sticking out at the top and pressing against Blake's neck. And Roman's smirk only widened as he finished his statement.

"It's to always be sure of where your enemy's pieces are placed."

Blake growled, quickly getting the silent message of 'Let him go or I will make you wish you let him go', so she decided to slowly take Gambol Shroud's blade away from Torchwick's neck. He chuckled a bit as he rubbed his neck.

"A wise decision," he said, "Thank you, Neo. And now... Back to it!"

He grabbed the straight end of his cane, Melodic Cudgel, quickly spun around, and smashed Blake under the chin with the curved end. With a cry of pain, she was sent flying straight up in the air, and as she came back down, Neo intercepted her with a kick to the side, sending her sprawling to the ground. The Faunus grunted as she tried to get up, only to feel the barrel of Melodic Cudgel press against the side of her head.

"Well, kitty, not saying this hasn't been fun," Roman taunted, "But this isn't personal. Just business. And..."

He suddenly stopped as he looked to his left and spotted eight heads poking out from behind one of the crates. The two teams quickly retreated back, but it was too late. They were already spotted. Roman blinked, but grinned nonetheless.

"And it appears," he continued, "We aren't alone tonight. I wonder what their reaction will be once your head is blown open like a watermelon?"

But before any further action could be taken, a figure leaped from atop another set of shopping containers, and swung a bow staff at the criminal. The action was so quick, Roman was forced to lift up his cane to block the incoming attack. He was knocked back next to Neo as everyone looked at the new arrival. He had messy blonde hair and wore an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying a muscular physique.

"Leave her alone," the new Faunus threatened as he got into a fighting pose.

The only notable response from the Hunters on the sidelines was Auriel poking out from their hiding place, looking at the boy's abs, grinning, and muttering, "Hubba hubba..."

Roman just groaned, "Ugh, how many interruptions am I gonna have tonight? Oh well."

He then raised Melodic Cudgel, but not at Blake or the new guy, but to his left and right at Auriel's poked out head. He immediately fired a shot, which the girl managed to dodge, but the bullet was an explosive round. The resulting detonation sent the entire group sprawling out into the open and into clear view.

"Neo," Roman addressed, "Would you kindly take care of them? I'll deal with the animals over here. Everyone else, take your pick!"

Neo smiled widely and nodded, beginning to calmly stride towards ATUM and SHDW. Half of the fake White Fang grunts stayed behind with Torchwick while the other half rushed past Neo. And then even more grunts made their way out of the other open Bullheads that were in the area and made their way to the two teams as well, seeing the much larger group split off from the two Faunus.

Auriel merely grinned at the sight, a rocket locker suddenly smashing onto the ground next to her, opening up to reveal her weapon of choice, Bellerophon. Well, calling it a weapon was a bit inaccurate. It was actually a bicycle with razors on the double-tired wheels, but it could also shrink and reform into a two-handed circular saw, which is what she chose to do for this instance. Tatiana, meanwhile, simply brought out her fan-gun, aka Strannik.

Uriel, on the other hand, pressed a button that seemed to be attached to his side, and suddenly, the back of his shirt started to stretch and rip. And out from his back popped a pair of reinforced steel, jet propulsion wings, and at the spine of those wings were two sheaths, one on the upper half and one on the lower. The device was called Adramelech Bane. Uriel reached for the lower, pulling out a pump action shotgun, and leaving behind the sword that was in the upper one. Meta simply pulled out his light machine, White Death, and the barrel retracted out, forming it into a sniper rifle.

Team SHDW also brought out their weapons respectively as the eight Hunters in training looked on at the charging enemy squads, forming a circle of defense as the grunts surrounded them.

"What's the plan here, Skyler?" Walker asked his leader.

Skyler was silent for a moment before converting Kasai into its sword-mode, "Hit 'em until they're down. And improvise along the way."

Auriel grinned at that response, "I like your style. Let's keep doing it your way."

I know what I have to do now...
It's my life
My one and only!

The eight of them all rushed at once. The grunts with firearms opened fire, only to have their bullets blocked by various means. Soon enough, Dante and Meta leapt back, the latter hoisting the former on top of one of the crates before joining him. Together, they took potshots at random enemy units, Dante using his Semblance and Meta just using pure skill. However, the SHDW member often found himself jumping when he heard Meta's rifle go off.

Wipe the sweat off of my brow
I see my challenge straight ahead
I know this isn't easy, but
Backing down would be my regret

This was likely the cause of Meta's Semblance, Fade. It was a constantly active ability, making people seem forget he's even there much of the time if they aren't directly looking at him. Unfortunately, this pseudo memory alteration has caused him to have trust issues with those who claimed to be friends. Probably the only reason he follows Auriel's lead is because he's loyal to a fault when it comes to people with authority, which included his team leader.

Follow my way!
We'll run through this debris and wreckage
Follow my way!
We'll aim for what's beyond the finish!

Uriel hovered over the ground, flying through his own crowd of enemies, Walker not too far behind. The two swung their swords at anyone who dared to get in the way, with Uriel clearing a path while Walker picked off any lucky stragglers. One particularly large group of grunts charged at them, only for Uriel to aim a palm at them before closing it into a fist. The entire group suddenly slammed together like magnets while Walker leapt into the air, boosted by his own Semblance, to slice his extended blade whip into all of them at once.

I'm chasing down my dreams
They excite me, my glory is near!
(I know what I have to do now)

Uriel's Semblance was known as Gravity Well, a powerful ability which takes any empty space and gives it an intense gravitational pull. It could be used to pin a target in place, pull people away from danger, or, as just used, completely dismantle large crowds of enemies. He landed on the ground on his feet and quickly switched out his sword for his shotgun, just in time to blast a sneaking grunt right in the helmet.

All eyes are on me
Now I've seen what they see in me!
I know what to do this time...

Tatiana and Hazel worked rather well together. While neither of their Semblances were proving very useful (Tatiana's perception altering doesn't work on more than one person at a time), their skills with their weapons doing all the talking. Both provided their opponents with swift and precise strikes to effectively take them out, both hitting weak points in the enemy's armor. Once it seemed their section was clear, Hazel's eyes flashed blue for a instant. She then leaned Arachne perpendicularly across her shoulder and fired the tip, which smacked a grunt, who was approaching Tatiana, in the face.

Make my story!
So lay it all on me
I got this, I want this and more...

Skyler and Auriel, on the other hand... well, their teamwork was definitely not up to par, but considering how outmatched their opponents were, that didn't really matter. They both simply overpowered them, one grunt at a time, Skyler occasionally pulling Kasai's trigger when he was up against more than two opponents. But when a similarly sized group tried to overpower Auriel through sheer numbers, she activated her Semblance, Mechanical Boost, to easily counter them.

I'm making my decision
I feel within it
I'm breaking through the wreckage and the flames!
(Make my story)

Mechanical Boost was a rather simple ability, but a quite effective one. While in use, it increases Auriel's stamina, strength, and speed drastically. She never tired whilst in this state, though this has gotten her banned from any and all competitive sports. But this ability made her perfect for becoming a Huntress, along with the better payment options than her previous job as a simple paper girl. Her fighting style was focused around speedy movements to quickly overpower foes. This became apparent once she morphed Bellerophon again, this time into twin machine guns, and twirling to spread out rapid fire shots.

I have to believe that
Through all of the tears that we shed...

Skyler observed all of this, taking in as much information as he could. After all, they were all going to be in the same classes for the next four years, so he thought he might as well try to figure out who worked with who the best. That aside, he morphed Kasai back into a gun and shot a douse of flames at an approaching enemy, temporarily stunning them before knocking them down with his weapon.

All the pain and hurting
Will all be worth it
I know I'll see
You on the other side!

Altogether, Teams SHDW and ATUM worked rather well together. They provided each enemy grunt with a quick knockout, expertly dodged most shots made at them, and soon enough, they were down to the final group. Uriel then glided towards Skyler, who, acting quickly, jumped in turn. The ATUM member caught him and swung him at the opposing group. SHDW's leader landed in the middle of all of them before stabbing the ground with Kasai and pulling the trigger. A blast of flames jettisoned all around him, blowing away the last of the grunts.

MY ONE AND ONLY!

Then along came Neo Politan, strolling up to them as if nothing had happened. Dante took a shot aimed right at her head, but she merely tilted her head, the bullet whizzing harmlessly past her ear. Tatiana was the first to get to the ice cream themed girl, swinging Strannik as swiftly and precisely as she could. But Neo simply leaned her body back to avoid the first strike, and as Tatiana kept swiping, Neo kept twisting her body, dodging each blow expertly before leaning back on her umbrella and delivering a hard kick right into the opposing girl's stomach, sending her sprawling.

Walker then rushed in, joined afterward by Auriel, who had morphed Bellerophon back into a circular saw, but all they did was get tainted. Without even breaking a sweat, Neo either dodged or redirected every attack that came her way, much to her opponents' annoyance.

"Would. You. Just. Hold. STILL?!" Auriel complained, swinging her saw wildly.

Walker and Auriel both swung towards Neo's midsection, only for the girl to jump and stretch out her feet to kick them both in the face at the same time. Dante then leaped off the crate and morphed Yamato back into Ebony and Ivory, and the rest of his team and ATUM's joined in, except for Meta, who took careful aim. They all leapt at Neo, knowing that you can't dodge hits coming from all directions. And as Meta took a shot, Neo smirked.

As soon as the bullet hit, as well as every other weapon inches away from her body, her entire form shattered like glass. This, in turn, sent everyone tumbling to the ground, and Meta to quickly realize what had happened and scope the area. Some kind of Semblance similar to that of Blake's, only with a much longer range. He then felt a tap on his shoulder, and he swiftly turned around, simultaneously morphing White Death back into a light machine gun. But before he could fire a single bullet, he saw Neo's smiling face, and then her boot.

She did a freaking backflip, kicking his face at the same time, presumably just to show off. Meta was sent flying off the crate and back to his teammates. He groaned, now severely annoyed, right along with the rest of his associates. She gracefully hopped down to the ground, and only now did she unsheathe a blade from her umbrella. That sent a very clear message to them all; she had been toying with them until now. But luckily, a voice called out to her.

"As much as I'd love to see you wrap things up, Neo," Roman called out, Blake and the monkey Faunus breathing heavily some distance away, "It's time we left, don't you think?"

Neo pouted, a face that would've been adorable had it not belonged to a girl who had been about to kill them. She then quickly made her way to Roman's side before they both headed toward one of the open airships.

"Hey!"

Everyone's eyes turned to the upper level of the docks, where they saw Ruby, along with an unfamiliar ginger-haired girl.

"Wait, Ruby?!" Dante exclaimed, "How did she get here?"

"Well, we haven't exactly been quiet," Auriel then stressed, "And we've all been searching all day..."

"Okay, Auriel!" Skyler snapped, "We get it! You don't want to be here!"

"None of us want to be here!" Auriel bit back, "I thought I was signing up for hide and seek, not getting our asses handed to us by some ice cream lady!"

Meanwhile, Roman groaned as he rolled his eyes. This was not his day at all.

"Again with the interruptions..." he muttered before turning around to address Ruby, "Oh! Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

'Wait,' Skyler thought, 'They... know each other?'

"Ruby..." the red head asked timidly, "Are these people your friends?"

"Penny, get back," Ruby warned her companion, looking back at her.

And that proved to be a mistake, as Roman quickly lifted Melodic Cudgel and fired a shot, hitting the fifteen year old dead on. Ruby cried out, because though she was mostly protected by her Aura, it still hurt.

"Ruby!" Skyler and Dante both exclaimed, seeing their surrogate little sister get hurt.

But then someone else got mad at Roman for them: the new girl, Penny, who glared as she stared down at Roman, Neo, and the recovering thieves who were boarding the airships. She took a step forward, preparing to enter the fray.

"Wait! Penny!" Ruby called out to her in fear.

"Don't worry, Ruby," Penny replied, turning to her and smiling cheerfully, "I'm combat ready!"

Suddenly, the backpack she had opened up, and seven objects floated out and unfolded into swords. Floating. Swords. Skyler thought he'd seen it all. But the universe just kept feeling like proving him wrong. Penny then proceeded to send her swords ahead, sticking into the first of two airships as it began to take off. It was then that the Hunters in training noticed that the swords were connected to Penny via strings, and she was using herself as an anchor.

The ship listed, Penny barely moving an inch from her spot. She then yanked the strings, sending the ship careening on its side and smashing onto the docks. Her swords then retracted back to her as the second airship took to the skies, Roman and Neo visible through the open hatch.

"Well, this has been quite the night!" Roman gave them all a two-fingered salute, "I hope to see you all never again!"

But Penny was not done. Her swords then began to rotate around her body, forming a circle as she took careful aim at the Bullhead. A green ball of energy began to build up at its epicenter, and once it was fully charged, Penny fires it as a giant laser straight at Roman's ship. While she didn't miss, she only managed to slice off one of the ship's turbines. But that was still good, as the Bullhead lost all sense of balance and proceeded to crash into the ocean, quickly becoming a flaming wreckage.

Penny made a proud sound and went over to where Ruby was. SHDW and ATUM couldn't help but stare in shock at what had just happened.

'This girl just came in and stole our thunder...' Auriel thought bitterly.

But still, the group of eight was silent, and they couldn't help but feel particularly left out. As if they were side characters in someone else's story. The awkward silence was then thankfully broken by Dante.

"This has been the weirdest day..."

By the time the police arrived, everything had pretty much calmed down. ATUM has already left, Auriel considering the bribery paid a few times over (she would've happily accepted more lien to stick around, but Skyler declined). Penny had disappeared too, though to only the gods know where. There were a few fake White Fang stragglers, but they were quickly dealt with once Yang stepped in, having just arrived on the scene with Weiss. The aforementioned heiress then walked up to her Faunus teammate, who flinched at her presence.

"Weiss," Blake tried explaining, "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop," Weiss interrupted, causing everyone to tense up, "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided... I don't care."

Everybody blinked at the statement, Blake replying, "You... don't care?"

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah!" Weiss quickly silenced her, "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..."

She looked at Sun behind her and she caught herself, "Someone else."

Blake wiped a tear from her eye, nodding, "Of course."

"Wow," Hazel scowled at the heiress, though not quite as hostile as before, "Ice Queen actually managed to learn a lesson. Go figure."

Weiss then turned her attention to Hazel, the mood going from relieved back to nervous, "Look, I don't know what I did to offend you, but-"

"Your family steamrolled my hometown because of a Dust mine, ruined my life in the process, and practically built a monument over the grave," the SHDW member deadpanned, "It's gonna take more than a simple apology to fix something like that. In fact, I don't even know why Blake's forgiving you so easily, but I guess this stupid mini-war that the White Fang and SDC have going on has this untold 'mutually assured destruction' motif about it, so I assume it's too complicated to go in depth on."

She then stood up and stared Weiss in the face as the Schnee tried to come up with a response, "Let me put it this way, Schnee. I don't like you. I don't think I ever will, and I can't think of any way you can pay recompense for what I've been through."

Weiss' mouth shut as she tried not to say anything. She well understood that reasoning. She knew her family's company had destroyed many families' lives before, and probably still are, even those that aren't Faunus. But never had she come across one such family. Hazel's pain came from a place of deep resentment, and it was going to take a while for Weiss to properly make up for it. Now she was beginning to realize the size of the hole she was going to have to dig her family's reputation out of.

"However..." Hazel then said, taking a deep breath as Weiss snapped to attention, "You weren't the only one who spent hours upon hours thinking. I'll be willing to... set aside some of my negativity towards you. You weren't the one responsible, and it's unfair to place the blame on the actions of everyone involved in that affair. BUT."

Weiss flinched at that as Hazel leaned in, "Don't expect all of my hostility to go out the window. I'll stop considering you an enemy, but we're not friends. So a good middle ground should be required. So... be my rival."

Everyone was taken aback, some even gasping. Sun was feeling particularly out of place in this, so he decided to concentrate on something else. Perhaps on Blake? Yeah, concentrating on Blake was good. Dante, meanwhile, blinked, this certainly not being the direction he thought this conversation was heading.

"...What?" Weiss responded, dumbfounded.

"Rivalry can be a mutually beneficial relationship," Hazel explained, a smirk growing on her face, "Someone needs to keep you in line, and I need a good fighter to spar against. Having you as a rival seems to be a good solution since neither of us seem to like the other, as well as simultaneously help us both get stronger. Sound good to you?"

Weiss let out a noise from her mouth, though nobody could tell if that was positive or negative. She was completely unsure on how to take this. True, she still didn't like Hazel all that much, despite trying to at least make amends with her, and the Mistralian was quite the competent fighter. Perhaps she had a point. Yes, Weiss had her sister as a mentor, but maybe training with someone on par with her who will constantly push her could wield different results. Maybe even... that ability.

Weiss coughed before turning around to hide her smile, "Hmph! Someone who is not of the same standing as I is asking to be my rival? Quite the offering you're making, Tikal."

"Take it or leave it, Ice Queen," Hazel replied, her smirk widening as her teammates began to grin.

Weiss turned her head as her own teammates made similar expressions as SDW's, "I never said I refused the offering, did I?"

Hazel stuck out her hand in response, and Weiss glanced at it for a moment. Was she really doing this? Was she actually making a true rival for herself? What would her sister think about this? Would this truly yield better results than that of her training with Winter?

She then adopted a similar smirk to Hazel's and she thought, 'You know what; why not?'

She grabbed the other girl's hand, and shook it. Ruby let out a cheer, both her and Sun glad that the uncomfortable atmosphere was gone. Dante and Walker couldn't help but chuckle, the former giving Hazel a fond smile. Yang put her arm on top of Blake's head, both continuing to grin at the sight. Then Blake's eyes met Skyler's, the boy having been smiling at the scene before looking at her.

He had been contemplating Blake's words since Weiss had appeared. According to her wording, Blake hadn't been a member of the White Fang for quite some time now. So his suspicions about her were proving to be incorrect. She wasn't with him when Skyler's parents were killed. A certain masked, red haired Faunus to be exact. Did Blake know someone like that Faunus? It was a possibility, but now Skyler wasn't quite in the mood to ask her about it. And he was sure she felt the same.

But nevertheless, things seemed to be working out just fine. Maybe keeping the status quo was a good idea for now.

However, above on the rooftops, looking over the docks, were two figures, one standing and one crouching. The one standing was a white-haired male with piercing yellow eyes, wearing a red collar shirt with yellow bar insignia on the shoulders, as well as black pants and combat boots. His appearance was cut as a professional figure, and on his back was sheathed a short spear. The crouching one was a blue-eyed female with long scarlet hair, wearing a crimson short-cut dress uniform with a cleavage window, as well as black leggings and battle heels. Both were looking at the aforementioned teams, analyzing them closely.

The female sighed in disappointment as she looked at the crowd of assorted Beacon students below before addressing the male, "Welp, you were right. We were just a bit too late. That Belladonna girl is already attending Beacon. What should we do now?"

The air was silent for a moment, causing the girl to turn to her partner, "Nathan? You there?"

The man, Nathan, ceased his gazing at the Beacon teams, his eyes having been narrowed at Team SHDW in particular, and turned to the girl, "It's fine, Brittany, I heard you. As for what to do next..."

He gave a small shrug, "Well, all we really can do is wait until the tournament. The Belladonna girl is no longer a concern."

Brittany grinned and fully sat down to flex her legs, "Finally! A break! Time to give these barking dogs a rest!"

Nathan rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but slightly grin himself, "Don't get too comfortable. We've still got to report to Elizabeth and Edward the news, as well as hope we don't get anymore job requests."

The girl groaned, "We better not. That old fart better not take away this chance to participate in the tournament if he knows what's good for him."

"I doubt so," Nathan assured, "The White Fang have been unusually quiet recently. The only reason there was a commotion tonight was because Belladonna and the other teams interfered. And these weren't even actually the White Fang. But since they are the Schnees' primary problem, I wouldn't expect anything, but stay on alert."

Brittany let out a raspberry, "You got it, boss."

She began to walk away, but noticed her partner still looking down at the assembled crowd that was now beginning to disperse. She raised an eyebrow at this odd behavior. Nathan was still silently studying the leader of Team SHDW with a curious glint in his eye. He had hoped to talk with him tonight, but had arrived just too late.

"Nath?" Brittany inquired, "You coming?"

Nathan snapped out of his concentration and turned back to her, "Yeah, I'm coming."

Oh well. The Vytal Festival was fast approaching. And what better way for two foreign team leaders to meet and have a talk?

And that wraps up the RWBY Volume 1 portion of this book, and honestly? I had a lot more fun doing this than I thought I would. And that only makes me more excited for the Volume 2 portion! I even might get Team EBNE involved more in this story now, which is gonna be great! The song used was NateWantsToBattle's cover of Make My Story, which I thought was fitting, just to show off how the characters have grown since the last time I used that song (i.e. in Chapter 4). I always like parallels like that. Till next time guys!