Sorry for the gap since the last chapter. Real life has got in the way. I also had to rewrite my first draft. The challenge is to make Team CRDL sympathetic but still come across as jerks to other students. I hope that I have succeeded.

/- /

Russel had spent dinner listening to his teammates and observing the other teams. He had nodded along to the conversation but let Cardin and Sky lead the discussion except when Cardin asked him questions about the other Vacuoan students here and Sky about the two who had joined Haven.

Russel was also enjoying himself the way the Mohawk tribe traditionally did, which was by winding up outsiders. When Cardin told the team towards the end of the meal that their instructions for the evening were to enjoy themselves and make friends, he held up his hand, "So we drink, sing, dance and have a bar fight."

It was interesting watching his teammates' reactions. Sky blinked with uncertainty, Dove took him seriously, and Cardin smiled and said, "Well, three out of four ain't bad."

Russel replied, "So forget about the singing?"

Sky was now in on the joke, but Dove wasn't. Interesting. Cardin said, "Oddly, we are only allowed to beat each other up under strict supervision."

Russel said, "I was only 80% joking. When the Mohawk tribe starch their hair up, we go in for unarmed combat fighting. We found that a good fight made for mutual respect." He said, "I thought I should check."

"Better that you do so rather than assuming."

Cardin paused and then said, "I know I was only in Vacuo for two weeks and with people who were used to dealing with outsiders, but it was enough to teach me that things are very different there. If we ever end up in the desert there, I will listen to and follow without questioning what you tell me to do." Good, that was the point he had wanted Cardin to take.

"I feel the same about cities and Beacon. I've spent almost my life with the Tribe, and most of us don't mix much with outsiders. I could easily step into the Vale equivalent of quicksand and give offence without noticing."

"We'll all help you avoid the social quicksand and to learn the don'ts."

"Not the dos?"

"Only the absolutely musts. Valeans can be a little too reluctant to speak honestly."

Sky had agreed enthusiastically, while Dove had nodded. Russel had known from the start that there would be a whole load of things about Beacon he wouldn't get. He also knew that even with Cardin having made it clear that he understood this and would answer questions, there were some questions he should think about how to put before asking.

For example, the fact that Cardin's great-aunts had funded the wine for the dinner had been mentioned by Sky rather than Cardin or Dove. Cardin and his cousin were clearly well off but weren't obviously rich in the way Weiss or Brede were.

It had been interesting watching the other teams as Cardin and Sky led the conversation at their table. Most students were just happy to be at Beacon and were cautiously optimistic that the team members would become friends. However, there were some teams where it was clear that there would be friction or people were disappointed.

He could see that Cardin's friend Julie was working hard at her table to get everyone on her team to relax. She reminded him of some of the women of around his age in the Tribe who realised that the tribe's matriarchs had earmarked them to be their potential successors in forty years' time—honoured but terrified.

It had been instructive watching the three teams that Cardin had identified as being their main competition. He was already betting that Nora and Jaune would have hangovers in the morning, having drunk three-quarters of the wine provided for their table between them (including the extra bottle of red).

Sky had informed them of the initial reactions in Mistral to Pyrrha going to Beacon, the fact that she was on an all-Mistral team and that Pyrrha was not its leader. No wonder Jaune and Nora were getting plastered, Ren looked inscrutable, and Pyrrha had a fixed smile.

Sky had also filled them in on a possible reason why Pyrrha was at Beacon. There was a rumour in Mistral that someone in her agency had been soliciting bribes to ensure Pyrrha agreed to join the team of the payer's choice.

Sky had said that anyone who had ever met Pyrrha should have known that it was a scam. The thought that Little Miss Perfect sportswoman, the woman who apologised for humiliating you in combat, had solicited bribes was unbelievable. Her reaction to finding out someone had been pretending to do so on her behalf was not to make a fuss but to ensure that everyone who had paid a bribe was disappointed.

Russel worked out that he should not ask Sky whether that story explained why he was here. Perhaps he might get a grip on the concept of tact. He assumed that everyone who chose to come to Beacon rather than the academy in their home kingdom had a reason for it which they would prefer to keep quiet.

On Team RWBY's table, Yang was exuberant, while the other three were quiet, although their body language varied. Weiss was still shocked by Ozpin's decision on the leadership of the team. Still, he would tell Cardin tomorrow that his call was that if the excreta hit the fan, Weiss would do her duty by the Team. He had seen that dynamic within the Tribe often enough. Besides, her sister Winter had chosen duty and honour over the interests of the SDC and the other Multi-kingdoms when she had to make the hard choice when she had served with the Atlas military in Vacuo. Blair was harder to call, but she seemed amused and reserved rather than resentful.

Cardin had been particularly interested in his thoughts on the leader of Team LLAC. Thaddeus Leslie Corkran was at least 24 or 25. He had heard from his uncle that the tribe had discovered two small Faunus children in a small convoy of vehicles next to eight dead adults eighteen years ago.

TC claimed not to remember anything before that day and never mentioned his sibling. No one wanted to contradict or question him. As far as the Tribe was concerned, you learnt what you needed to learn from tragedies and bad luck and then put them behind you. He had repaid any debt he owed to the tribe three years ago. By the gods, the tribe and Russel now owed him big time. The fact that Russel had a scholarship grant from the SDC to go to Beacon was down to the Faunus's influence with Winter Schnee.

For the moment, it was easy to balance the duty he owed to his team and the debt the tribe owed to the Faunus. He told his team that the Faunus was dangerous and should never be underestimated and said nothing about his background before he joined the Atlas military. He mentioned the stories his brother and uncle had told him about the Faunus's career as an auxiliary guide to the Atlas military presence in Vacuo.

He hoped that Cardin had taken the hint when he had told the story about the officer who was forced to resign after the Faunus obeyed his orders to the letter while telling the officer that he was making a mistake in words which could not be faulted but in a manner guaranteed to ensure that that particular officer would not listen. He didn't add that the squaddie who had told Russel's uncle the story had muttered something about that it was more amusing and safer than scragging the Rupert in question.

He was puzzled by Cardin's cousin, but he could wait for Cardin or Dove to be ready to talk. She was wearing a dinner jacket and a colourful waistcoat rather than a dress and was the loudest member of her team. He had no doubt Cardin was right that his cousin and the Lynx Faunus were the best fighters on that team.

He had heard the stories about how the Atlesian had killed ten bandits with headshots at up to a mile, but he was a sniper and not a tournament fighter. As for the girl, while there must be a reason she had been admitted, not having a bespoke weapon was telling. He could tell that the other members of her team were trying in the same way as Cardin was with him and Sky not to make her feel excluded.

At the end of the meal, he excused himself and went back to his dorm to change out of his one good suit. He changed into a Vacuoan Rules footy outfit – a sleeveless shirt and shorts. While he would take advantage of the dry cleaning offer, he did not want to risk damaging the suit, and he wanted to dance freely.

When he left the dorm, he found that some members of the other teams in their wing had also changed but had stopped to talk in the hall. Yang had changed from a dress into gold spandex trousers with a yellow crop top, Julie was in jeans and had a frilly white blouse on, Anne had khaki trousers, a waistcoat over a blouse with a tie around her neck, while the Lynx Faunus had changed into Atlas military fatigues (or at least the ones they wore in Vacuo). He looked up and greeted Russel. "I trust that you are going to defend the honour of the Mohawks as the Tribe that knows how to party, old chap."

Yang said, "Great. I was hoping someone other than the old Signal students would enjoy themselves tonight. Can you dance?" Well, of course, he could. He was a young Mohawk warrior.

"Is that a challenge?" He wondered if that had come out wrong, judging by the reactions of Anne and Julie.

"If you want it to be." He thought that Yang was amused rather than annoyed.

"I accept."

Russel looked at the Lynx Faunus to see whether he had caused offence. His fellow Vacuoan said, "There's only one place to decide this."

Julie said, "And that's on the dance floor."

Yang winked at him and said, "Bring it on." Phew, but he knew that without the assist, he might have been floundering. He certainly saw that Anne had relaxed.

They went down as a group and were told on entering the bar that not only was the beer, house wine, soft drinks and Pimms free, but in addition, Coco and Brede had funded two bottles of champagne for each team. Velvet told Yang that in Team RWBY's case, two pints of milk had been provided as well.

Tonight, he would be careful not to get too drunk and would watch and learn. One advantage of dancing was that, in his case, it seemed to burn off the alcohol, and it certainly reduced the amount he drank.

Just then, he heard Fox's voice in his brain. The two had met twice at the Summer School Shade held for potential students. Vacuo didn't have a combat school system because the Kingdom couldn't afford it, and besides living in Vacuo counted as training in itself.

They had been targeted at the first session they attended by a group of four who thought it ludicrous that a blind boy was attending and also had a beef with the Mohawk Tribe. They had allied to fight off the four, and Fox had used his ability to sense auras to warn Russel of potential threats. A good fight together had caused them to become friendly, and they had reached an understanding in the summer that Russel wouldn't talk about Fox's semblance at Beacon while Fox would help him fit in at Beacon.

"Just wanted to check that you're ready to celebrate."

"I am. Is there anything I should know?"

"No one in Vale knows much about what happened three years ago in Vacuo, apart from the Multi-Kingdoms got caught breaking the rules. If you just say that you don't know the details, they won't push. Just don't get defensive."

"Understood."

"It can be best if we Vacuoans remind people outside our team that we have rough edges and are only semi-housetrained."

Russel said, "I get it."

After fifteen minutes, the second-year teams announced that Karaoke, dancing, and music would start. Most of the students followed Teams PLUM and CFVY into a large room next to the bar, with a small stage. On the stage were a top-of-the-range karaoke machine, a battered-looking upright piano, and an acoustic guitar. There were tables and chairs in a third of the room, but otherwise, there was plenty of room to dance.

The second-year chaperone teams broke the ice. Coco and Fox sang Argus with the female and male roles reversed, but not all the lyrics. Fox mocked Coco's boasts of making hay, and Coco sold the self-belief that she would set the town on fire. The round of laughter which erupted from the Vale students when she sang the lyrics "All them women gonna make me teach em' what they don't know how" and Fox's reactions was something else he should ask Cardin about. He was clearly missing something.

Next up was Team PLUM, who did an old Remnant Vision Song Contest winner, complete with blonde wigs and brightly coloured jumpers. They called themselves Plum Fizz.

Russel liked the tune, and when Yang started dancing joined in. Soon, there were about twenty students on the dance floor, and everyone applauded when the song was over.

The two second-year teams combined to sing "Rocking all Over Remnant, albeit with Velvet and Yatsuhashi looking distinctly uncomfortable and self-evidently miming. All eight played air guitar as they started singing, "Here we are, and here we are, and here we go."

He loved headbanger songs and, with his hands on his hips, entered into the spirit of the song. Halfway through, he put his knees on the floor, leaned back and pretended to play air guitar himself. Yang joined him and seemed as uninhibited as any self-respecting member of the Mohawk tribe. He was told afterwards that he and Yang had accounted for the encore, and certainly, many people had joined them on the dance floor, Cardin and Julie among them.

At the end, Cardin clapped him on the shoulder, "Well done. Just keep on dancing like that."

Team JNPR were next up with Nora singing Dust Lightning" from the film "Dust" while the rest of her team danced behind her. From what Sky had said, Ren and Nora were almost certainly traumatised but functional. One was self-contained, and the other extravagantly extroverted. He'd met types like them in the Tribe who had survived the worst the desert had to throw at them but lost friends and family- he'd learnt to watch for the signs that the quiet ones were about to snap and the extroverts to go into a deep depression.

Weiss sang a song while accompanying herself on the guitar. Russel observed without comment that team LLAC waltzed to it. Brede made Anne seem a competent dancer while TC and Lydia were having fun taking turns taking it in turns to lead the other. Teams PLUM and CVFY also danced, although Yatsuhashi and Velvet dancing together was a fascinating exercise, bearing in mind the height differential – ignoring the ears. Weiss was a superb singer, but most students were glad to get back to bopping. He could see that Jaune was enraptured and applauded loudly at the end.

Cardin had warned them he wanted to get in early with the karaoke, and had chosen a song which apparently would show that they were good sports and could make fun of themselves. He was told that the song was from a late-night Vale comedy programme. It was also short, which suited Russel. Dancing, not singing, was what he enjoyed.

Cardin opened with the words, "I'm a tree sapper, and I'm OK." He had volunteered Julie to stand beside him as an initially adoring girlfriend. While Dove knew where this was going, he and Sky had only been told to read the words and copy Dove when the lyrics got weird. They quickly did and ended with Julie pretending to burst into tears and Dove leading him and Sky off stage in mock disgust. Well, it was definitely short, and almost all the old Vale students seemed to find it hilarious. The applause was enthusiastic, and as far as Cardin was concerned it was mission completed.

He spent most of the next hour and a half dancing and drinking beer to rehydrate himself while also watching the other students.

Jaune Arc had had too much to drink and wasn't used to it. It was also clear that Weiss Schnee felt uncomfortable when he approached her. After five minutes, between them, Coco, Pyrrha and Cardin's cousin persuaded him to get on stage and for an inebriated man, he played and sang remarkably well. He did a country and southern song, Hey Good Looking, which he presumed was a Mistralian standard. He did an encore, which also went well, and then Cardin's cousin and Nora got him on the dance floor.

He saw Cardin with Julie speaking to the members of her team and the people they knew. Cardin had said he wanted to introduce himself to the other Atlesians, the students from Torch (Vale's third and smallest Combat school) and some of the Faunus students. It also gave him an opportunity to spend time with Julie, but a leader was expected to multi-task.

Another incident that puzzled him and that he would have to ask Sky about was when Dove and two other students sang a song. It was a pleasant tune but not one that suited Russel's dancing style. He found it hard to understand why it might ever have been banned. For some reason, he saw that it upset the Mistral students and made some Faunus students cringe. Still, it was not his problem.

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and the Lynx Faunus greeted him loudly and then, sotto voce, said, "Brede's about to hijack me to play the piano. I suggest you dance with Yang again."

"What?"

"Your leader would probably appreciate it if you kept her away from Dove for the next twenty minutes."

He heard Fox whisper in his mind, "What he said is true. You don't want to know."

Russel finished a pint of beer and went to speak to Yang and her gang of Signal graduates as he saw Lydia and Brede approach their team leader.

"Hello, big boy." The moderately drunk woman winked at him, and her friends giggled.

"Would you like to dance? I'm told team LLAC's leader is good on the piano."

"You're told, or you know?"

"Members of my family have seen him play before in Vacuoan bars. He's turned punch-ups into dance-offs."

"The way we dance, there's not much difference."

"You dancing?"

"Yow asking?" She had put on the accent; clearly, this was a cultural reference he didn't get. Still, the answer was obvious.

"I'm asking."

"I'm dancing."

Both of them turned to look. His team dragged the Lynx Faunus to the piano. Coco, Fox and Velvet followed behind. The Lynx Faunus said, "To do this properly, …."

Coco handed him a spare pair of sunglasses, which the Lynx Faunus put on before he started playing and sang, "You shake my nerves, and you rattle my brain." This was an old-fashioned Dust and Roll number, which was easy to dance to. It also had a chorus which every drunk student could join in with, "Goodness gracious, Great Blades of Dust."

He threw himself into it, and Yang met the challenge. The other students quickly left him and Yang enough room for safety but applauded their efforts. Cardin gave him a thumbs-up sign and grabbed Julie to join them on the dance floor when the Faunus continued with "Whole Lotta Dusting Going On" and "Kua Kauna Lace." The Lynx Faunus was joined by Velvet Scarlatina, who was playing, of all things, a hard light dust electric guitar. The fact that she could afford to use – waste- dust like that showed that Coco Adel must have money to burn.

By the end, he and Yang were dancing on the tables. The Lynx Faunus finished off by playing "Jauney B Goode." By then, everyone was on the dance floor, including a very inebriated Jaune Arc, who was being held up by Cardin's cousin.

In the end, Yang introduced him to her friends from Signal and poured him a half-pint of champagne: "The rest of my team have deserted me. Blair only had two glasses, Ruby drank milk, and Weiss was on the lemonade. Besides, they've all gone to bed."

By this time, the ice had been broken and there was no shortage of volunteers for karaoke. Yang was constantly either singing, doing backup vocals for her friends from Signal or dancing.

A highlight was when Coco dragged up Yang, Nora, Lydia and Pyrrha and they sang "Honky Tonk Woman " and "It's Raining Men." Cardin and Julie were beside him then, and Cardin whispered, "Now that would be a Vytal Festival winning team."

Soon they were on to the group songs with more people on stage reading the prompter than were watching. Russel was enjoying himself tonight.

/-/

Dove had been anxious that Cardin was drifting away from him. He knew that part of it was his fault for trying to help Cardin last year and getting it wrong. He remembered the look on Cardin's face when Dove had admitted that what June had alleged was sort of true.

Admittedly, the next day, Cardin had called him and said that he knew Dove had only been trying to help. Still, it had been a bad night for Dove, and the three months when Cardin was on his grand tour of Remnant had been lonely. He was aware that he had drunk too much at parties and occasionally misjudged how interested women were in him.

Father had said that he should be confident and forceful, and so he tried to be. It had not worked. It did not help that he didn't really like most of the women in his social sphere. Admittedly, none of them was as impossible as Cardin's cousin, but he'd never felt that he had the same respect from other students after she had first challenged and then taken him apart with her ancient golf club and cricket bat weapons. Of course, she'd suckered punched him by driving a golf ball at him amidship before he had fully flared his aura, but, as Cardin had pointed out, the buzzer had blown, and Dove shouldn't have been showboating.

Cardin had told him and Sky to enjoy themselves this evening. Sky was also to introduce Dove to the Mistral students, and he was to introduce Sky to the students from Pharos.

Sky took him over to meet Jaune Arc. If what Sky had said about the reaction so far in Mistral was correct, he was right to be looking so flustered. All three toasted each other, and Sky refilled the champagne glasses.

Sky said, "Well, Jaune, we both made the right choice coming to Beacon rather than Haven."

"Good, I see that you get on with your teammates as well."

"Yes. They are a good bunch. Besides, people are friendly here. Certainly, no one at Haven would have come up to me and compliment me on my weapon and suggest enhancements to it."

"Ruby?"

"Of course. I had to admit that I originally chose the halberd as the result of a bet four years ago, but it suits me."

"Sky, you know Nora, Pyrrha and Ren. They are all being pleasant about me being a leader, but it makes no sense to me."

"Makes sense to me. You are the safe choice."

"Sorry?"

"Can you imagine Ren ordering Nora or Pyrrha around? Remnant, having a leader whose idea of a good time is riding a bucking Ursa is the stuff of nightmares. Pyrrha is just too nice to be a leader and would insist on doing everything herself, and besides which…" The voice trailed off. "Forget it. I should know better than most that anything said in the Remnant Enquirer is a pack of lies."

Sky paused, "If what Nora was saying earlier was correct, then you were as good a choice as any on your team to lead them. Frack, it's not as though it will be that hard. Tell Pyrrha and Nora to do their stuff, Ren to support Nora, and you are through to the semi-finals. Only tough decisions you will have are whether Nora or Pyrrha should fight in the singles rounds or which doubles team match you fight in."

Just then, Pyrrha appeared and joined them at the table. Sky made to refill Pyrrha's glass, and when she declined, topped up Jaune's and Dove's, "Pyrrha, I was only deflecting questions when I said I was avoiding you by going to Beacon."

"I'm sorry for seeming to stalk you. No offence was taken, Sky."

"I was just telling Jaune not to worry about what they say about him in the Mistral press or the Remnant Enquirer. Indeed, probably best not to read them at all after what they said about his older sister."

"Thank you, Sky. Jaune, Nora wants us at the karaoke machine."

Sky topped up Jaune's and Dove's glasses and bowed to Pyrrha, "I will go and assist my partner Dove in obeying our leader's instructions to celebrate not too wisely but too well."

Dove admired the technique. Strictly, Sky had been friendly and told the truth, but every word had been designed to prey on Jaune's insecurities about being a passenger on his team. What had Nora said about him, what had been in the Remnant Enquirer, and what would the Mistral gutter press say in the morning? The reasons he had given for Jaune being Team Leader made sense but were negative ones. Even Pyrrha seemed to take him at face value.

Dove thought that he and Sky would make a good double act on behalf of the team. Cardin could be the leader who kept his hands clean, and Russel would do whatever he did - comic relief and dancing, so far seemed to be what he was good for. Still, Cardin had to ensure the man did not disgrace the team.

He and Sky watched Team JNPR's performance and then Weiss' singing. He saw that Coco had hi-jacked Pyrrha and that Jaune had admired Weiss's performance.

It was soon time for Team CRDL to perform. He was annoyed but understood why Cardin had wanted to mimic the original sketch by getting Julie to look decorative during Team CRDL's stint at the karaoke machine. He hoped that Cardin wasn't going to let himself be distracted by the silly woman this year, especially as he knew that Julie wasn't his biggest fan at Pharos. Still, he'd persuaded Cardin to drop her before, so not to worry. He needed to stay cool and take out his irritation on someone else. During their song, while most people laughed, Weiss had a look on her face as though she had swallowed a lemon. Silly, humourless cow.

When Jaune came over to congratulate him and Sky on their performance, he decided to kill two birds with one stone.

He said, "Thanks, Jaune. It's just a bit of fun. After all, we couldn't compete with Weiss on singing ability."

"I know. She's an excellent singer. My younger sister, Lavender, has both her albums. I listen to them as well."

"It's a pity you got in her way at initiation."

"I know, but it wasn't my fault." Jaune paused, "Not really."

Sky refilled his and Jaune's glasses. They had now finished the champagne and would move to beer.

Dove said, "That maybe makes it worse. She didn't look very happy when they showed the blooper reel."

"I hope that never gets out in public."

"I'm sure that Beacon will look after the footage and no one will talk about it after tonight." Stir, stir,

"I don't think Yang's joke helped. Yang reminds me of my twin sisters, who are four years older than me."

Soon Jaune was persuaded that he should compliment Weiss on her performance and apologise for the unfortunate incidents earlier today. Sky looked at Dove and said, "I didn't want to interfere, but was that a good idea?"

"We don't want those two teams practising together too much. Besides, it will be amusing to see how she reacts to him."

"I've no doubt about that. It's just …." Sky struggled for the right words, "I hope it doesn't come back to bite us."

Irritatingly, people came to Weiss's rescue before Jaune could totally humiliate himself, but that was a good job well done. The look on Weiss's face spoke volumes, and Jaune was no doubt now on her creep list. Still, perhaps Sky was right. Some of the people who had intervened looked at him with a look of annoyance.

He took Sky over to meet Maurice, who was bitching about being on the same team as Henry and two Mustangs. Even Maurice couldn't claim Henry being in charge was an injustice on skill grounds, but he said, "I wouldn't mind so much having an animal for a leader if I thought we would make it to the Vytal festival, but I wasn't expecting Team Mistral, a pair of rich Atlesian aristocrats and Bloody Lydia having an Atlas special forces operative as a partner."

"Special forces?"

"You haven't heard the rumours?"

"Well, I suspected Brede's valet was ADPS."

"He has a battle butler with him? Well, at least he's not taking up a student place. My father works at the Home Office, and the Faunus came in with the Atlas ADPS to discuss security arrangements for an unnamed Atlas aristocrat last week. No mention of the Schnee or Brede."

Maurice paused, "Well, strictly, I don't know if it was the same guy, but how many Faunus with wild cat ears, that colour skin and that accent can there be working for Atlas?"

"Special forces?" This was from Sky.

"The Faunus was the one who concentrated on how he would kill a man if he didn't care about not getting away. The ADPS were talking about protection."

Dove said, "I suppose we should be thankful that the White Fang didn't launch a SAM missile at us today to try and kill the Schnee."

Sky laughed, "No danger of that with Yang being a student here."

Everyone turned to look at Sky. "Sorry?"

"Seriously, you don't know?"

"Know what."

"Yang's mother is Raven Branwen. They even look the same apart from Raven's hair is dark and Yang's a blonde."

Dove remembered something Cardin had mentioned. "The Bandit Queen?"

"That's the woman."

"So?"

"The White Fang is based in the territory she controls."

"Not Menagerie?"

"That's where the political arm is. Look, in short, although Raven is an unnatural mother who abandoned her child at birth, no one sensible in the White Fang will want to take the risk of annoying her."

"Sensible and the White Fang?"

"I didn't say this, but Sienna Khan is not a sociopath, nor is she unthinking."

Maurice, who was listening, said, "Father said that …"

Sky replied tersely, "I don't want to discuss the White Fang, Kuroyuri, Atlas or Raven Branwen tonight. I just want to have fun. Another beer, Dove?"

"Thanks, Sky."

Maurice turned to Dove, "Say sorry to him for me, mate. It was a bit like discussing Mountain Glenn here. I wonder whether Weiss knows who her teammate is?"

Dove stared at Maurice. "I don't do foreign politics. I'm a Vale First man."

"Me too. I just know enough to remind myself why Vale is the best Kingdom. I know that after an incident in Mistral a few years ago, no SDC main board director leaves Atlas without a military escort. I also know that Raven Branwen is called the Beast of Kuroyuri."

Dove suddenly sensed someone staring at him. He looked to one side and saw Coco Adel look at him and Maurice over her glasses.

"Maurice, have you annoyed Coco lately."

"Not on purpose. I think my mere existence irritates her."

"Feel the same myself."

Maurice giggled, "I think I know what I and Gervase will sing. Come and listen. Actually, why not join us? If we can't be the Four Knaves any more, we can be the Three Knaves. You know how to click your fingers and do the bomps and bebops." Gervase was another student who had been at Pharos. Maurice, Gervase and two others who had not been accepted at Beacon had used to sing barbershop quartet and a capella songs at Pharos social evenings.

Dove enjoyed singing, which surely fitted in with Cardin's instructions to make friends and have fun. Maurice and Gervase had good voices, and Dove could do the harmonies. He quickly drank the pint which Sky had got him and soon was on stage ready to go. Maurice keyed in the song to the machine and said, "We're about to sing an oldie but a goodie. Would you believe that it's been banned from being played in some kingdoms?"

The three of them did the harmonies and Maurice then sang, "Mr Sandman, bring me a dream."

All a bit soppy, but a good tune. It wasn't until halfway through that Dove realised that not only had they annoyed Coco, but Sky and all the students from Mistral plus Weiss Schnee were staring at them with looks of total disbelief verging on horror. Indeed, Sky had gone white, and Weiss looked furious.

At the end of the song, the Vale and Vacuoan students applauded, but Weiss Schnee stood up and strode towards them, her look suggesting that she was about to let rip. It was impressive how many people got in her way before she could reach them. Eventually, she turned away and left the bar. Sky and Yatsuhashi approached him, Maurice, and Gervase.

Sky said, "I've told Weiss you didn't know the significance of that song."

Yatsuhashi added, "I told her that most people in Vale aren't interested in the details about what the White Fang has done in Mistral."

Sky continued, "Unfortunately, one of the two most notorious terrorists in Mistral is known as the Sandman. His speciality is assassinating ex-employees of the SDC and the other Multi-Kingdoms who are seen as responsible for, shall we put it, a disregard for the safety and well-being of their Faunus employees. The reason the song is banned is because of the number of requests that were made to radio stations in Mistral to play it after the kidnap and execution – murder- of a main board director of the SDC two and a half years ago."

Yatsuhashi said, "It is strongly recommended that, if asked, you all acknowledge that you did not know this. There is no need for a formal apology. We will tell the other Mistral students that the matter is closed and that you were unaware of the connotations. After all what happened in the bar on initiation night stays in the bar."

Dove realised that Maurice was about to say something unfortunate and stepped on his foot. "Of course. We did not know."

An imp of the perverse caused him to say, "If a song is going to upset her that much, then how about being on the same team as the daughter of the Beast of Kuroyuri and the protector of the White Fang?"

There was a delay, and Yatsuhashi said, "She knows already."

Dove's eyes flicked over to Yang, who was busy dancing and drinking. He wondered whether the daughter knew about her mother.

Sky grabbed him by the shoulder, "Let's have another drink, Dove."

That was the right thing to do, surely. He hadn't even known the song was banned anywhere until Maurice had announced it. He would apologise to Cardin in the morning and would keep well clear of Maurice and Gervase in the future.

He and Sky spent most of the rest of the evening drinking and he persuaded himself that no harm had been done.