the streets of Vale have been decorated in time for the Vytal Festival. Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons are proudly on display, and Team RWBBY were strolling through it all with an awed Weiss Schnee at the front. A sign was being put up by the elderly Shopkeep that reads in bright red letters "WELCOME TO VALE!" for all the foreign newcomers from their respective kingdoms of Remnant. 

Weiss stopped for a brief moment and raised her arms in amazement. "The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" 

Ruby laughed slightly "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby then frowned a little "It's kinda weirding me out..." 

Weiss turned to Ruby "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" the group continued walking

Yang sighed and crossed her arms "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."  She said

Weiss turned to face her "Quiet, you!"  Yang spoke again as they stopped near the docks and the sounds of foghorns are heard. "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the docks?"

Weiss rolled her eyes "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"

Y/N turned to Yang as Weiss started walking away again "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."  He said

Weiss scoffed "You can't prove that!" 

Ruby turned her head to the right and caught sight of a shattered window down the street and a door full of yellow caution tape of the Vale Police Force before the team walked over to the detective in front, who is writing on his scroll "What happened here?"  Y/N asked one of the detectives looked up "Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." He walked over to his partner as Yang sighed sadly "That's terrible." 
Detective 2 turned to Detective 1"They left all the money again."

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?" 

"You thinking the White Fang?" 

Detective 2 removed his sunglasses "Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough." 

Weiss overheard this "Hmph! The White Fang." She made a show of crossing her arms and pointing her nose in the air with her eyes closed "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"  Blake looked at her suddenly "What's your problem?" 

Weiss turned to her "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." 

Blake rolled her eyes "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." She said as she too crossed her arms, getting serious "They're a collection of misguided Faunus." 

Weiss blinked "Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!" 

"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!" 

Ruby nodded after a moment of thought "Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him." 

Weiss looked at her "That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." She said to Blake's growing anger "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." 

Y/N looked at Weiss "That's not necessarily true..."  he started before he was cut off by a Sailor.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" 

the team overheard the cry for help and rushed over to investigate, a Faunus with a golden monkey tail named Sun Wukong is seen running down the length of the boat and leaping on to the edge as two sailors are about to apprehend him. 

Sun looked back at his pursuers and gave a mock salute "Thanks for the ride, guys! Haha! he jumped off and hit the dock running, One of the sailors looked at him "You no-good stowaway!"  He yelled

Sun used his tail to hang on a lamppost while he peels back a banana
"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" He called back, however before he eats the banana , one of the detectives down below throws a stone at him to get his attention

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!"  Sun in reply dropped the banana peel on the furious detective's face, who growled in return. The monkey-like Faunus swung upwards to crouch on the lamppost, he laughed in amusement, and proceeded to leap off and run away from the detectives. As he runs past Team RWBBY , he winked at an astonished Blake as he continued to be chased by the officers. 

Yang watched the Faunus get farther and farther away before turning to Weiss "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."  Weiss held up a finger "Quick! We have to observe him!"  She yelled, Weiss, Y/N, Yang, and Ruby gave chase. Blake stands still, lost in thought, Y/N ran back to her and shakes her slightly to make her come back to reality before she followed her friends. The team rounds the next corner, but then Weiss bumped into someone and trips. She looked up only to see Sun jump on to a building and disappear from her view. 

Weiss scowled "No, he got away!" 

Yang spoke up"Uhh... Weiss?" she pointed at the girl underneath her teammate. Weiss turned and saw that she fell on a smiling girl, which startles the heiress and she hastily stood up. 

The girl spoke up in an enthusiastic voice while still down on the ground, smiling widely "Sal-u-ta-tions!" 

Ruby paused for a moment "Um... hello." 

"Are you... okay?"  Yang asked

The odd girl smiled a little more "I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking." 

the team looked at each other in bewilderment before Yang spoke up again "Do you... wanna get up?"  She asked

She seemed to consider this for a moment "Yes!" She concluded before she leapt back on her feet the suddenness making the team steps back a little

"My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" 

Ruby smiled a little "Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Blake elbowed her side "Oh, I'm Yang." 

"It's a pleasure to meet you!"  Penny repeated

Weiss blinked "You already said that."  She said

Penny paused again "So I did!"  She said

Weiss nodded slowly "Well, sorry for running into you!" they turned around and start walking away from Penny

Ruby waved her arm "Take care, friend!"  She called back as they walked

"She was... weird..." 

Penny suddenly appeared in front of a surprised Weiss "What did you call me?" 
Yangs eyes widened as Weiss looked back and forth in shock. Yang looked apologetic

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" 

Penny shook her head "No, not you." She walked through the group and leaned her head down to Ruby "You!" 

Ruby looked startled "Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..."
Penny inclined her head "You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"  She asked

Ruby paused and she looks over Penny's shoulder while her teammates save Y/N motioned to deny her "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?" 

Y/N cheered silently while the rest of Ruby's teammates comically faint, but Penny looked overjoyed and laughed "Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys! Like him!" She suddenly pointed to Y/N who slowly edged his way to the side "please no" she whispered

Ruby groaned to Weiss as she brushed herself off "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" 

Weiss shook her head "No - she seems far more coordinated." 

Yang meanwhile struck up a conversation with Penny "So... what are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." 

Weiss suddenly froze and looked at Penny "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" 

Penny saluted"I'm combat ready!" 

Weiss blinked "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." 

"Says the girl wearing a dress."  Y/N said wryly

Weiss: crossed her arms "It's a combat skirt!  Ruby the skirt sister sped over to Weiss' side "Yeah!" Weiss held out her hand and Ruby low-fived it

  Weiss paused, realisation hitting "Wait a minute." She walked over to Penny and grabbed her by the shoulders "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?" 

Penny blinked "The who...?" 

Weiss held up a poor drawing of the criminal-in-question "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"  Blake scowled "Why do you keep saying that?!" 

Weiss turned her attention from Penny to Blake who walked over to Weiss, angry "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" 

Weiss let go of penny "Oh, I'm sorry." She motioned to objects around her "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?" 

"Stop it!" 

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!" 

Blake growled "You ignorant little brat!" 

Weiss looked offended, but when Blake walked away, she followed "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!" 

"You are a judgmental little girl." 

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" 

Yang slid up to Ruby, looking uncomfortable
"Um, I think we should probably go..."  Penny suddenly popped up behind Ruby, smiling "Where are we going?" 

"So you admit it! The White Fang isjust a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" 

Thy continued arguing from afternoon near the docks to nighttime in their dormroom.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"
"That is the problem!" 

Weiss got up from her bed "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"  She said

"No such thing" Y/N called from his own bed as he read a book "you've got different values, different opinions but pure evil doesn't exist" he said

"What would you know?" Weiss asked huffily

"I know that there are some twisted people out there, and maybe I do hate them but everyone does something for a reason" Y/N replied, looking up at her

Blake cut across Y/N "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"  Weiss looked shocked "People like me?" 

"You're discriminatory!"  Weiss: "I'm a victim!" They ignored a rather seething Y/N who was getting sick of them arguing as they stared each other down in silence, Weiss leant in close, leering as she speaks quietly "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? She leant against the bookshelf by the window "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." She banged her fist on the bookshelf

Ruby started going over to comfort her "Weiss, I-" 

"No!" Weiss looked away and walked back over to Blake "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" 

Silence dropped down on the scene again. A surprised Weiss backed away slowly, and Blake realised her mistake as she looks around at her teammates.  Y/N stood up and walked over to Blake "What-"

"I... I..." Blake looked around and she dashed out the door

Y/N started to run after her "Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby ran over to the door and called to her down the hallway as Yang sat herself down and Weiss looked down

Blake ran outside and arrives at a statue of an armored man with a sword and a hooded woman wielding an axe on an outcropping, staring at the Beowolf under the stone heroes in particular.  She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arms up to her bow and pulled the string to release the bow from her hair. She wiped away a tear away as her Faunus ears twitched slightly. On the verge of crying, she becomes startled when she hears a voice just behind her. 

"I'm sorry about Weiss" Y/N said as he walked up behind her and stood next to her "she means well, but the white fang have been after her family for years" he said "she has every right to be angry at them...even if it clouds her judgement of faunus as a whole"

Y/N looked over at Blake who looked down

She opened her mouth, about to speak when sun spoke from a lamppost above them
"I knew you would look better without the bow.  " he said with a grin.

==========

 
The morning sun shine through the window at Beacon. Ruby woke up from her beauty sleep, yawning in the process. She looked over at Blake's empty bunk, and groans sadly. That groan intensified when he saw Y/N's empty bed in between. Later Ruby, Weiss, and Yang walked through the empty streets of Vale.  Ruby spoke up "She's been gone all weekend..."  Weiss looked at her "Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself!"  Yang: "Weiss, come on. She's one of our teammates, and what about Y/N? He's been out looking for her the whole time." 

Weiss folded her arms "Is she really one of our teammates? We all heard what she said!" "Weiss."  Ruby started before she was interrupted by Yang "Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her!" 

Weiss shook her head "A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!" 

Elsewhere, Blake took a delicate sip of a cup of tea and sighed. She looked up at Sun sitting across from her, who held his drink with his tail as his hand propped his head up. She then looked over at Y/N who unlike the two, had a large strawberry shake

Blake put her cup down. "So, you two want to know more about me..."  She looked at them intently.