Chapter 21: Back to Normal



April 29th:



Purr-sonal Details (Hermit II)

"Here." There was a soft clink as Blake set a delicate white teacup on a saucer in front of Farran. A gentle cloud of steam wafted by his face as she took her own cup to the seat opposite his. "Drink up. You have no idea how long I had to look through their menu looking for something you wouldn't complain about."

After the final bell put an end to a perfectly normal school day, something that felt like a godsend to the both of them after the events of the past four days, Farran and Blake took the first airship down into Vale, and made a beeline through the city to the Bean There Café. During their trek, Blake had described the small shop that sat on the edge of one of Vale's numerous Faunus boroughs as very quiet. However, by the time they arrived, nearly every table on the building's ground floor was occupied by a number of Faunus, all huddled together and talking with hushed excitement. With no other recourse, once Blake had retrieved the bag of her belongings from the room she had been using, the two opted to retreat upstairs to wait for Sun. A short while later, Blake ducked back into the fray to grab the two of them some tea, so that Farran could complete the other part of their deal.

"Oh, right… Thanks…" Farran muttered absentmindedly, staring off into space.

Blake just rolled her eyes, "Seriously? I know you don't really like tea all that much, but I got the sweetest thing they had on the menu. Besides, I already paid for it."

"What? Oh, no. It's not that. It's just… Well…" Farran shook his head, "We stopped in here while we were looking for you this weekend. The guy running the place swore up and down that he hadn't seen you before. Asshole…"

"Oh… I'm sorry. I know you guys spent a lot of time looking for me." Her lips cracked into a bashful smile, "Still, you can hardly be surprised. A bunch of humans walking through a Faunus neighborhood with weapons… It's not that surprising that no-one was being cooperative, even if you're Huntsmen."

"Are things really that bad between humans and Faunus? I mean, I know that things aren't great. Everything with Cardin and Richards told me that much. But do they really think we'd just start attacking them in the middle of Vale?"

"Well, yes and no. I will admit, things are much better now than they were in the past. People like Cardin and Richards who are… well, were… openly against the Faunus aren't as common in the Kingdoms. Faunus aren't actively hunted anymore, and you won't see organized mobs marching against us. Unfortunately, the humans that would have taken part in those large-scale acts of violence years ago have started acting a lot more discreetly. Vandalizing homes and shops, throwing bricks through windows, jumping Faunus under the cover of night…" Blake let out a deep breath, absentmindedly poking her spoon around her teacup, "It wouldn't be so bad if we could get some Faunus into the upper echelons of the government, or even some humans that are sympathetic to our cause. Maybe then, we could get some stronger legislation against hate crimes. But with things how they are…"

"I see…" Farran thought for a moment, looking for something that would get them off such a sore subject, "Well, in this case, I can't imagine that you telling the owner not to tell anyone you were here helped at all."

"S-Shut up!" Blake huffed, flustered. Bulls-eye, "And drink your tea! You promised me you would try some, and it isn't nearly as good cold."

Having had his fun, Farran reluctantly obliged and raised the steaming cup to his lips. The second he took a sip of the dark liquid, his mouth was filled with the deep, saccharine flavors of honey, cocoa, and vanilla. The pure sweetness of the tea almost left him completely lost for words, "Wow…"

"It's called silver iris tea, by the way." Blake smiled coyly from behind her own cup, "It's a blend that comes from Kua Kuana, my hometown in Menagerie. It's one of my favorites… My mom always made it for special events, or whenever we would have guests over at the house to see my parents."

"I can see why. This stuff is fantastic!" Farran took another greedy sip, "I'd bet you guys got a ton of guests, then. Hell, I'd be over every other day just for this."

"Well, I wouldn't say that the tea was the reason we had so many guests. Even if it tasted better than this when my mom made it, if you'd believe that." She giggled, "Before we moved into the Chieftain's Villa in the center of town, we lived along a major crossroad between the docks and the marketplace. My dad always said he picked that place so he could be around all the Faunus living in town and get everyone's opinions on what the White Fang should be working on when he was still leading them."

Farran chuckled softly, "You know, it's funny. I think this is the first time you've really talked about what your home was like."

She gave him a flat look. "Well, obviously…"

"I mean, I understand why you never told us about it. Can't blame you for keeping everything a secret, knowing what I know now. Still, it's nice to know that you're comfortable talking to us about all this."

Blake bobbed her head slightly, conceding his point. "Fair enough. I can't deny that it feels good not having to lie about my past anymore. But is hearing about my past really that interesting to you?"

He shrugged, "Sure. I mean, you're my friend and my teammate, but up until this weekend I hardly knew anything about you. That, and it's not every day you get to hear about the home life of someone who's pretty much a princess."

Blake folded her arms with a frown, "I'm not a princess. I know it's pedantic, but the term princess implies that I was born into royalty, and that certainly was not the case. The chieftain names someone who they believe has the qualifications to lead Menagerie, as well as someone who has the support of the people, as their successor. Even though the Chieftain before him tried to get my dad to succeed them when I was still very young, he didn't take the position until he left the White Fang."

"Huh… I wonder why he waited so long to take it up. I mean, if what you say is true, everyone must have thought really highly of him, right?"

"He always said that the Chieftain of Menagerie should be someone who could always be there for the people at any given moment. Since he was already the leader of the White Fang, that wasn't something he could do. There were times where he would be gone for days, or would have to leave at a moment's notice."

"That makes sense…" Farran thought back to the picture Ozpin had showed him the day before, of a much younger Blake standing proud next to her father at some long past Faunus rights rally. "I suppose you guys had to travel often. That must have been hard."

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. My parents wanted me to get a normal education, which meant I had to have all my classes patched through to my parents' scrolls, and that had its own share of problems. Even more so when you consider that Menagerie doesn't have a CCT tower." Her face brightened considerably, "Still, can hardly complain about it when I got to take my classes all over the world instead of sitting in a stuffy classroom all day."

"Bet you had some real fun stories for your school friends whenever you came home too, huh?"

"Well…" Blake hesitated, her smile faltering, "Not really, no…"

Farran furrowed his brow, "Not really?"

"I mean, I did have friends when I was little. But over time, things… changed." Blake squirmed a bit in her seat, "As we got older, the kids who had been my friends, all they wanted to talk about were completely trivial things. The latest fashion from Atlas, popular shows on TV, whatever music they were really into at the time, who had a crush on who… I didn't care about any of those things. I was so focused on being a part of the fight for Faunus rights. Didn't help that every damn time I left, they'd completely change what they were interested in by the time I got back… So, as time went on, I started growing distant with them…"

"I'm sorry to hear that… I don't suppose there were any kids your age in the White Fang, huh…" Farran flinched, the thunderous sound of Nekomata hissing in the back of his mind, "I mean, other than… Well…"

"Adam?" Blake laughed, her smile returning, "Don't worry, Farran. I appreciate you being so cautious for my sake, but it's fine. I'm not going to let him control me anymore. As for your question, I was actually going to bring that up before you asked. While there weren't all too many, there were a handful of kids. Some were like me, their parents already members, so they decided to come along. Others, well… Most were orphans, whose parents died working in places that use Faunus workers."

"Is that how you came up with the idea to tell me you were an orphan?"

"Oh, uh… Yeah…" Farran tried to make his question not sound accusatory, and yet Blake still shrunk slightly in her chair, "You'd be surprised just how common of a story that is in the White Fang. Kids who came to Menagerie because they had nowhere else to go… Ilia was the same way."

Farran leaned forward in his chair, "Ilia?"

Blake nodded, "Ilia Amitola. She's a chameleon Faunus from Mantle that joined up with us when we were still pretty young, after her parents died in an explosion in one of their Dust mines. Ilia was pretty much the only one, besides Adam, who I would have considered a friend back then. Everyone else, we had each others backs and were brothers and sisters in arms, sure. But for Ilia and I… things were different. We would hang out together after meetings and rallies, and we kept each other sane. Well… relatively sane, at least."

Farran smiled, taking another sip of tea, "Well, what sort of things did you guys get up to?"

"All kinds of things!" Blake's face absolutely lit up, "The two of us went on all sorts of adventures whenever we traveled. We didn't get to go to Atlas or Mantle very often, but whenever we did, she would always show me around to anywhere that was Faunus friendly." Her smile widened with every sentence, "And when we were in Menagerie, the two of us would always go to Mouette Inlet together. It's this little bay on the ocean that all the aquatic Faunus live around. There are a ton of boardwalks that cross over the water, and all along them are some of the best restaurants that Menagerie has to offer. We would go there and eat and hang out by the water, and she even taught me how to swim!"

"They do a lot of swimming up in Mantle? I never would have guessed." Farran smirked.

"Oh, ha ha." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Actually, she went to a private school in Atlas while her parents were still around, a pretty wealthy one at that. She can very easily pass for human, as long as she doesn't change her color." Blake amended to answer Farran's questioning look, "But that's where she learned how to swim. Rich people love their heated indoor pools and all that."

"Wait, but if she went to a prep school…" Farran connected the dots in his head, "Blake, how old were you when you learned how to swim? You weren't really afraid of the water, were you?"

The sudden blush on Blake's face was telling. "S-Shut up!" she grumbled.

The two sat at that table for quite some time, joking and laughing as Blake continued to regale Farran with stories from her past. Happy memories, both from her home and her time spent with the White Fang. It was refreshing to finally hear the true story of the girl he had been living with over the past month, and more than that, he was happy to give Blake a platform to talk about things she had kept bottled up for way too long, things that made her genuinely smile. It was truly a new side of her that he had not seen before, and the fact that she now trusted him enough to share it with him cause Farran's heart to surge, telling him their bond had grown stronger. A few minutes later, their conversation was cut off by Sun's voice coming from the doorway.

"Ugh… Finally he shuts up!" The blond Faunus whined as he crossed over to their table, plopping down in an empty seat, "I swear, that guy sounds just like my freaking mom sometimes…"

"What took you so long, Sun? You're awfully late." Blake mused, "We've been here for over half an hour now."

"I know, sorry… Goodwitch had me running around the place today, getting all my paperwork in. Slave driver… But, it's fine. I got everything done, and now I'm completely legal to be here! Got my passport and everything." He proudly thumped on one of his jacket pockets, "Thing is, I wanted to be back here before you guys showed up, but on my way here, I got a call from my buddy, Neptune. He spent the past hour chewing me out! Apparently, Professor Lionheart caught wind of what happened at the docks, and decided to tell him about it. Probably knew he would ream me about it, too… My ears are still ringing…"

"Neptune… Is that one of your teammates?" Farran watched as Sun glumly picked at his ear, his tail wilting behind him.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Nep's my partner, and the 'N' in Team SSSN. The two of us go way back, before we even started going to Haven." Sun shook his head, "Wouldn't guess it with how much of a worrywart he is about me. Dude should know I can take care of myself."

"Sun, he probably worries about you because of how long you've known each other." Blake snickered, "At least, if you stowing away on boats to get to other Kingdoms is a regular occurrence."

"Hey, that was just this once, thank you!" He grumbled, "Well… Twice, if you count me getting to Mistral in the first place…"

"Sun…" Blake pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, don't even start. That time was completely different!" Sun shrank in on himself, "I had permission to be on that boat! Well, sort of…"

Farran stared at him, "How do you 'sort of' get permission to stow away on a ship?"

"I… How do I put this?" He closed his eyes, thinking, "My family doesn't exactly have a lot of money. Like, we get by just fine, at least compared to a lot of people I know back home, but getting a ticket to Mistral was way out of my price range. But Neptune, his family is loaded. See, they own one of Vacuo's major shipping companies, and they got ships running from nearby port towns to the other Kingdoms every day. So, the day the two of us were set to leave, Nep snuck me onto one of the ships heading that way, and away I went!"

"If it was so expensive, why didn't you just go to the Academy in Vacuo? I mean, wouldn't that have been easier?"

"Eh, Shade's alright. But to trade the weather around Haven for living in the middle of that Dust-damned desert? Hell no. Besides, I had my own reasons for leaving…" He stared off wistfully for a moment.

"Then why didn't you just ask his family to let you ride on their ship?" Blake pressed her lips together, "Or better yet, if they're so rich, you could have asked them to help you get a ticket along with your friend. You'll be making more than enough to pay them back once we can start taking missions."

"See, we thought about all that back then, but there's one small problem with that…" Sun slumped his shoulders, "Granny Vasilias is the head of their whole family, and the old bird runs pretty much their whole operation. Finances, business decisions, everything. And she, well…"

"She's not a fan of you?" Farran finished his sentence.

"Understatement of the century, but pretty much, yeah." He set his jaw, "She didn't want Neptune having anything to do with me when we were growing up, and whenever I tried to go see him, she'd have her security toss me out."

"Was it because you're a Faunus?" One of Blake's cat ears flicked.

"Wha- No! Hell no. I mean, sure she's a nasty old bat, but even she's not that bad." Sun waved his hands in front of him, "I'm sure me being a Faunus is last on her list of reasons to hate me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in Vacuo, we don't really think about stuff like that. We live in the middle of a freaking desert, which means it's hard enough getting through every day without having to worry about all that bullshit. So, for the most part, everyone in Vacuo believes that if you can survive out there, you belong. Yeah, we still got our fair share of racist assholes, every Kingdom does, but they're a lot fewer and further between. Hell, Neptune's cousin, who is going to be the head of the family someday, got married to a lioness Faunus last year!" He sighed, shrugging, "But you know, rich people are gonna do what rich people do, no matter where they live. Granny Vasilias doesn't want anyone she thinks will have a negative impact on their family's image to get too close. She thinks I'm a street rat and all, so you can imagine how much she disliked Nep spending time with me."

"I'm sorry to hear that… But at least there's nothing she can do about it now that you both are on a team, right?" Blake noted.

"Exactly!"

Farran felt a light bulb go off in his head, "Hey, Sun… Mind if I ask you a bit of an off topic question?"

"Hmm?" Sun leaned back in his chair, "Sure, man. Go ahead and shoot."

"So, you were talking about living in a desert. I know this is gonna sound kinda weird, but…" In the very back of his mind, Farran could hear the faint echo of the voice of a child, one he had heard once before in the Metaverse, "Have you ever heard of a fire lizard?"

"A fire lizard?" Sun tilted his head slightly, "What, you mean like a Salamander or something like that?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

Sun let out a snort of laughter, "Sorry, man. I don't mean to be a dick about it, but someone's been messing with you. They're not a real thing, it's just some urban myth made up to keep kids from wandering out into the desert alone, and to mess with out-of-towners. Got hit with something just like that when I got to Haven. I think they called 'em snipes or something like that? Can't remember."

"So it's just a myth, huh…" Farran muttered. He had no idea why, but this new revelation left him feeling crestfallen.

The sound of a high-pitched ringing started to come from Sun's pocket, causing him to spasm wildly as he fumbled for his scroll, "Oh, shit. It's Neptune again. Hold on a sec, I gotta take this." He got up, leaving the table as he wearily lifted his scroll to his ear, "Hey, Nep. What's up? No, I- Yes, I got all my papers today… Yes, I'm all registered for classes too… No… DAMN IT, NEPTUNE! We've been over this!"

As Sun's voice began to fade as he ducked out of the room, Farran was overcome with a strange feeling. Deep in his heart, he began to feel a surge of power, much like the feeling he had whenever he formed a bond, or when the ones he had formed strengthened. However, this time, the energy that flowed through him felt incomplete, as if something important was missing. A moment passed, and soon the feeling faded away. Time continued to flow as normal, and no eerie voice rang in his mind, leaving him yet another unanswered question to add to the list.



April 30th:

Blake brought a wet sponge to the chalkboard that stood before her, letting a wet slap ring out throughout the room. While she had originally thought her punishment from Oobleck for the past weekends to be pretty tame, simply cleaning a few classrooms, the work soon proved to be extremely monotonous. A fact which was made all the more worse due to the fact that she was quickly losing her patience, thanks to her unfortunate and nettlesome guest.

"Yang, I swear. If you stick your finger in my ear, I will bite it off." Blake growled.

She turned to see the offending blonde whip her hand behind her back, smiling innocently, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Blakey."

Blake just rolled her eyes, "Why are you even here, Yang? Don't you have anything better to do than come and bug me while I'm in detention?"

"Nope!" Yang popped the 'P' sound through pursed lips as she linked her hands behind her head,

"Ruby and Weiss are out shopping, and they dragged Hero along to be their pack mule. There's no sparring practice today either… And you're cooped up in here."

"So, you decided to come and bug me."

"Uh-huh."

"While I'm in detention."

"Pretty much, yeah."

Blake let out an exasperated sigh, "Of course you did…"

"Hey, I wasn't planning on just coming here to annoy you!" She pouted, "I came here to help out!"

Blake blinked, "Seriously?"

"I mean, you're stuck cleaning all the rooms on this floor, right? That's way too much for just one person to do, even if it is detention…" She picked up a spare sponge from the bucket Blake had been using.

"Yang…" Blake had to consciously stop her ears from folding against her head.

She continued, ignoring Blake's interruption, "So, I figured, since I didn't have anything else going on today, and you were gonna be stuck doing this all alone, I'd just come over and give you a hand-"

"Yang!" Blake repeated, this time a bit louder.

She flinched, slowly turning to face her, "W-What's up, Blakey?"

"Didn't we all agree to be honest with each other when something's bothering us? Not that you aren't good-hearted and all, but this is a bit much, even for you. Now come on, why don't you tell we what's really going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking-" Yang started, but the face Blake was giving her made it clear she wasn't getting out of this one. She sighed, "Fine. I guess… I guess I just feel kinda guilty, you know?"

"Guilty?" Blake tilted her head, "About what?"

"About, well, everything!" Yang turned to the chalkboard and began to glumly wipe away the layers of chalk dust with the sponge, "All this, everything you went through this weekend… Hell, everything you were going through before that. I'm not just your teammate, I'm supposed to be your partner, Blake. It's supposed to be my job to know when things are bothering you, and to be there whenever you need help. And, I mean, I knew something was wrong, that's why I kept trying to invite you out to do stuff, but I figured you were just having trouble adjusting to being at Beacon. But I couldn't have imagined… I had no idea…"

"Yang…" Blake muttered softly, reaching over to her dear friend and rapping her on the top of the head with her knuckles. Ordinarily, so much as touching Yang's hair was cause for a death sentence, but in this situation, Blake knew she'd let it slide, "Don't be stupid. It's bad enough that I got Farran apologizing to me, I don't need you starting it too. It's not your fault, just like it isn't his."

"But-"

"No 'buts', Yang." Blake gave her a stern look, "I'm serious, there isn't anything for you to feel guilty about. Honestly, you did everything you could to help me, and then some. You… All of you are the only reason I'm standing here right now. You and Ruby and Farran… and even Weiss, too. Without all of you fighting so hard for me, who knows what would have happened to me. So really, you don't need to feel bad, and there's no reason for you to waste your free time helping me out. Ok?"

Yang considered her words for a moment, a melancholic frown creasing her lips. However, her usual sunny smile returned soon after, as she pulled Blake into a tight side-hug, "Sorry, but you're not getting rid of me that easy. No matter what you say, it's still bullshit that you're stuck doing this all on your own. Like it or not, I ain't going anywhere, which means you're stuck with me, Kitten!"

Blake anxiously squirmed her way free from her partner's grip, "Ok, ok, fine. But can you please not call me that?! At the very least, not when we're in public…"

Yang tilted her head curiously, "Ok, but why not? What's wrong with it?"

"Besides the obvious?" Blake gritted her teeth, "Look, I'm just not comfortable coming out to the rest of Beacon just yet."

"You mean about… about your, uh…" Yang caught herself, pointing towards the top of her head instead.

Blake nodded, "That's exactly what I mean. You know how things are. If one person finds out, the rumor will find its way across campus by the end of the day."

"Well, sure. If it makes you uncomfortable I'll stop calling you that whenever anyone else can hear." Yang bashfully rubbed the back of her neck, "…Does it still bother you that we know about all that?"

"No, of course not! The four of you have been nothing but supportive ever since you found out about my past, far more than I could have even dreamed. But not everyone is like that… Even with Richards gone and Cardin changing, there are still plenty of people here at Beacon that are actively prejudiced against… you know." Blake slumped her shoulders, "I know it's pathetic… I know that after facing my Shadow, I should be over this… But every time I think of someone else seeing me without my bow, I just freeze…"

Yang clapped her on the shoulder, "I don't think it's pathetic at all. Facing your other self is good for clearing your head, and helping you to start getting over stuff, but it isn't some magic cure-all. Hero, Rubes, and I can tell ya that much. As for all that stuff, you just gotta keep working on it. I really think you'll get more comfortable with the idea the more time you spend around humans. You'd be surprised just how few of us are racist assholes. And for those that are, screw 'em. They're shit anyways, so who cares what they think? And without Richards, they can't be so open about it anymore either. Besides, if anyone gives you shit for any reason, they'll have to answer to us, and Team JNPR, too."

"I appreciate that, Yang. I really do." She gave Yang a warm smile, "But… Would you be willing to help me get through this? I'm not sure I can do it on my own. I don't even know where to start! Gods know you guys and Team JNPR are the only humans I regularly talk to…"

"Of course!" Yang pounded her chest proudly, "That's what I'm here for! Don't you worry, Blakey. I'll make sure you get to see not all humans are as bad as you think. Besides, it's borderline criminal that you keep those cute little- Oh! Sorry…"

Feeling Yang reach up towards the top of her head, Blake had braced herself, expecting Yang to try and pet her cat ears. However, the contact never came, as a second later, she quickly recoiled her hand, a grimace on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I mean, well… Damnit…" Yang buried her face in her hands, "You're in love with Weiss, right? And yet, even after we found out, I've been flirting with the two of you like nothing ever happened. I've been trying to force myself to stop, but…"

Blake bit her lip for a moment, "…Don't worry about it."

"But isn't that weird to you?!"

"Honestly, you'd think it would be, but it isn't." She shrugged, "For one, there isn't anything between the two of us yet. I'm still not even sure if what I feel for her is love. I've only gotten as far as realizing that she's more than extremely attractive."

"Yeah, tell me about it…"

"And on top of that, Weiss isn't even sure if she's attracted to girls at all yet. So there's no point in me feeling weird about anything in that regard, you know? And more importantly…" Blake smirked, "I've just come to accept that that's how you are. That's how you've acted around me pretty much ever since we became partners, so whenever I think about it at this point, the only thing that comes to my mind is 'That's Yang.' If anything, it would feel weird if you were to just up and stop pointlessly flirting with me."

"Oh, thanks!" Yang huffed, crossing her arms, "I'll have you know I don't flirt with just anyone. I have extremely high standards!"

"Is that so?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"It is. I wouldn't be caught dead flirting with someone like Russell, or anyone else from Cardin's little group. I am very, VERY particular with who I do and don't flirt with, thank you very much."

"So, let me get this straight. You supposedly have these high standards…" Blake snickered, "And yet, if I believe what Farran said, you flirted with your own little sister when you were in my Palace?"

"Why you-!"

Yang reached down and grabbed a nearby eraser, picking it up and chucking it at her partner. The second it made contact, the felt block exploded into a dense, grey cloud of chalk dust that consumed the both of them. They hacked and sputtered, until a few seconds later, the cloud fell, revealing the pair, their hair, skin, and school uniforms now considerably more pale thanks to the dust that covered them. Once they managed to catch their breath, Blake and Yang stared each other down, Blake not even bothering to stop her ears from folding atop her head. Within the blink of an eye, the two launched in opposite directions, grabbing every eraser they could get their hands on, and diving behind desks for cover. What would emerge in that classroom was a skirmish that would make the Great War seem like a minor scuffle between children on a playground. Erasers were flung this way and that, exploding into more grey clouds that soon covered most of the room with chalk dust. The battle raged, and no end seemed to be even remotely on the horizon, until the sharp sound of someone clearing their throat rang out from the doorway.

"Children!" Doctor Oobleck, his glasses covered with a thick layer of chalk, snapped.

Blake dove from behind her cover, bolting towards the chalkboard and snapping to attention, with Yang not far behind her, "Doctor Oobleck! Sir, we were just… we weren't…"

"Now, now children. I did not come here to rebuke you, or to tell you to stop." With lightning-like speed, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small cloth, which he began to wipe his glasses clean with, "I only wish to remind you that Miss Belladonna is not permitted to leave for the day until her assigned work has been completed. I just hope you keep that in mind as you determine what is an acceptable amount of horseplay for your own schedule."

Blake peered around the room. Much to her own horror, they had managed to make the room far messier than it had been when she started, "Uh… Right. We'll keep that in mind, sir."

"Very good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must be off. Urgent business to attend to and all that." Oobleck slid his glasses back into place, "I'll be back in a few hours to check on your progress!"

With that, Yang watched as their eccentric professor dashed from the room in a flash. Taking his words to heart, she went over and grabbed a broom from the far end of the room with a grimace, "Yeah… We should really get moving. Otherwise we'll be stuck here all night."

"You mean I'll be stuck here." Blake snarked, "You can leave whenever you feel like it. But thanks to you, now I have more work to do than I started with…"

"Me?! You're the one that started it!"

"How do you figure?" Blake started fumbling with the power cord of a nearby vacuum, trying to get it plugged in, "You're the one that threw the first eraser!"

"And you're the one that was spouting bullshit!" Yang grumbled, "I've said it a million times already. I was charmed! IT. DOESN'T. COUNT!"

The two began to clean up the mess they had made around the classroom, bickering with each other as they did so. However, what they failed to notice in between their snarking was that, despite his rather rushed disappearance, Doctor Oobleck still hung around the outside of the classroom, his shadow casting a dark presence on the door. He did not pay any mind to the two girls inside, nor to their squabbling, instead focusing on the grand yet sinister thoughts rushing through his mind, as he repeatedly tossed an eraser he had grabbed while he lectured the girls in the air before deftly catching it.

"Well now… A good, old-fashioned chalk war…" The doctor muttered to himself, excitedly, "Why, I haven't partaken in one since my own school days. In fact, now that I think about it, the last one I participated had no official winner. Well, we just can't be having that, now can we? I wonder what Peter is up to… and whether or not old Fort Port is well equipped for a sneak attack."

Oobleck silently slipped away from the classroom, the eraser still clutched in his hand. There was much planning to do, and just as much work to be done. This was a war he could not afford to lose, and Peter Port was not a man that he would ever take lightly. As he retreated back to his personal study to prepare, the light glinting off his glasses gave him a look of malicious intent, casting a chill down the spine of any student unfortunate enough to cross his path on the way.

I Can't Sew! (Death V)

"Ruby Rose!" Weiss hissed, desperately attempting to catch her breath, "I'm telling you to unhand me this instant!"

At the sound of her partner's irate voice, Ruby did as Weiss asked, and the two of them, as well as Farran, came skidding to a stop outside one of Vale's most popular shopping malls. After classes had ended for the day, no sooner than they had managed to return to the dorm and change out of their uniforms, Ruby came to Farran and Weiss, pleading with them to come with her into the city. When they accepted, she took them both by the hand, and nearly dragged them the entire way to the airship, almost vibrating with excitement. By the time they had reached the mall, Ruby's intended destination, both were just about keeled over, lungs burning as they gulped in as much air as they could manage.

"Sorry, Weiss." Ruby cutely rapped the top of her own head with her knuckles, shooting Weiss a wink, "I'm just so excited! I haven't had any new materials to work with in sooo long. I can't wait to get into the lab…"

Weiss rolled her eyes, snapping her fingers in front of Ruby's face, quickly causing the sparkles in her leader's eyes to disappear, "I know you're excited, Ruby. But while I did agree to help you on your project, I did not agree to be led by the hand through Vale, and at a dead sprint no less."

"More importantly…" Farran tried to pound some feeling back into his bad knee, "Why the heck am I here? I get that you two had some kind of agreement, but I didn't agree to anything. Why was it so important for me to be here?"

Ruby folded her hands behind her back, giving him the sweetest smile she could muster, "Because I was hoping you might be willing to help me pay for some of the materials I need to get?"

Farran gave her a flat look, unimpressed, "Alright, look. I don't know where you're getting this idea from, but I am no-one's, and I mean no-one's, sugar daddy."

"Daddy? Sugar?" Ruby tilted her head, "What does that-"

"And besides," Farran continued, hoping to steer the conversation away from an awkward explanation, "I'm not sure if you remember, but I'm a little bit extremely broke right now!"

"But don't you have a ton of money from… Uh…" She paused, looking around at all the people walking past them. She dropped her voice down to a low whisper, "from the other side?"

"I have a little bit, yeah. But not that much." Farran stretched his back until he felt a small pop, "We only get a couple Lien whenever we beat one of them. Not like I'm raking it in or anything like that."

"You know, I had been wondering how you suddenly managed to make enough money to start supporting yourself." Weiss mused, as the group moved inside, heading towards an isolated part of the mall's atrium, "I had figured that Professor Ozpin had probably just given you a stipend for any necessities until you were cleared to go on missions. It does make me wonder, just what are those things doing with Lien in the first place…"

"Well, when we first started investigating Richards's Palace, Viola gave us a little explanation about it." Farran squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember, "Something about how when we dispel the distortions around Shadows, they return to the physical form of those desires. And because money is such an important part in almost everyone's desires, that's the form it takes."

"So greed really is that ingrained into our subconscious, then…" Weiss muttered darkly.

"I wouldn't say it's greed, Weiss." Ruby quietly bounced on her heels, "If it was, we'd be getting a lot more money from the Shadows. Or none at all, possibly. Depends on what way you think about it. But if you ask me, the reason they drop Lien is because of what money really means to people. For most people, they care so much about taking care of themselves and the people they care about, and you need money in order to do that."

"I suppose that does make some semblance of sense…" Weiss furrowed her brow, "You know, that's awfully philosophical for you, Ruby. No offense, of course."

Ruby just shrugged, her smile never faltering, "I'm the leader, right? It's my job to think about stuff like that. Now come on! Let's get going before they sell out of all the stuff I'm going to need."

Ruby started to skip off, but Weiss stood her ground, tapping her foot, "It's your job to think about those kinds of things, and yet have either of you considered that you're going around using what is essentially counterfeit currency?"

Ruby and Farran froze, sharing a worried glance with one another. Farran slowly turned to Weiss, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well… We were just going to cross that bridge when we got to it?"

It took a few minutes of the two of them trying to convince Weiss that the Lien they were using wasn't illegal before she would finally follow them further into the mall, even if she did look far less than convinced. With the heiress finally in tow, the group began meandering their way throughout the shopping center. When Ruby had first asked them to come with her, Farran had figured she was just planning on stopping at some weapons parts store to look at some upgrades for Crescent Rose. Yet, while they did end up stopping at one along the way, their trek ended up taking them all across the mall, to a whole variety of shops. Every so often, Ruby would sneak away from the group, only to come back a few minutes later, and offering no explanation other than a wink and a whispered, "It's a secret!" Eventually, after they had acquired a number of bags filled with the materials that Ruby and Weiss would need, the group went back the way they came, hopping on the first airship back to Beacon. Once they landed, Farran followed as the girls made a beeline to the training halls, heading to the back of the building into one of the many labs Professor Peach had set up for students to work on, maintain, upgrade, and experiment with their weapons, and more specifically, one which Ruby was sure their enigmatic professor had destroyed all of Richards security cameras in celebration the day he was fired. With their bags spread across the once empty desks that filled the room, Ruby and Weiss got to work.

For as long as Farran had known Ruby, he had been aware that, despite her young age, she was already pretty well accomplished in terms of metalworking. After all, she had managed to build and maintain Crescent Rose, a weapon capable of being a fully functional, high-caliber sniper rifle even after being used to carve Grimm and Shadows apart as a scythe, and she had managed to make it entirely from scratch. Despite knowing that, he had never actually seen her display her prowess with metalworking, outside of her usual nightly maintenance of Crescent Rose. Sitting there in that lab, he found it to be quite the show, watching this girl who was nearly a foot shorter than he was, as well as two years his junior, take the materials she had bought and work with them, filing and soldering and welding them like a master weapon's smith. After a while, her creation began to take shape, as it began to resemble a tiny, mechanical heart, surrounded by spider webs of metal tubes that she would periodically fill with a stream of deep purple Dust.

In the meantime, while Ruby was busy focusing on the more mechanical part of their project, Weiss figured it would be a good time to teach Farran the basics of infusing fabric with Dust, despite it not being a topic that they would cover in class for at least another year. Sitting in front of her was the second half of their project, a rather spacious messenger bag made of vibrant blue velvet, which Farran presumed was meant to house the contraption Ruby was busy working on. Weiss took a piece of heat resistant fabric, and spread it over top of the bag, measuring out the dimensions of its inside surfaces. Then, once everything was measured and the fabric was spread back out on the desk, she would pour tiny mounds of ice Dust all along its surface, before laying another sheet on top to form little, ravioli-shaped pockets, which she would secure in place by sewing them together tightly with a thread she had run through a container of the dust until it had turned sky blue. With every pass through the fabric, Weiss would let out a strained breath, the muscles in her arm tensing as the Dust began to glow slightly.

Ruby pulled over the bag, fitting her device around it to see how well it would fit. As she turned the bag around in her hands, her thoughtful frown soon turned to a grimace, "Weiss, are you sure we shouldn't add metal plating to this? I would hate for us to go through all this work, just for the bag to be ripped up…"

"Ruby, we've been over this." Weiss set the needle down. Despite the patience in her voice, it was obvious that her work was starting to tire her out, "Covering the bag with metal would require far more time and money. Besides, if your device works as well as you think it will, and knowing you and your penchant for this kind of work, it'll end up working far better, the gravity Dust should prevent anyone or anything from getting near it."

"I suppose…" Ruby bit her lip, "Then, maybe I could extend the range of that the Dust will cover?"

"You could, but that would create its own problems. Increasing the range would significantly the amount of wear on your mechanism, which would require more maintenance, and would most likely require a higher quality Dust than we have access to. Think the kind that airship manufacturers use. Even for me, getting Dust of that quality would prove- Ngh…" Weiss grimaced as her hand rushed to her forehead, "Difficult…"

Farran put a careful hand on her shoulder, "Do you really need to channel so much of your aura when you're sewing?"

"Yes, unfortunately." She waved him off, "Channeling my aura into the thread activates the Dust that covers it, and in doing so, will help activate the pockets of ice Dust inside the fabric. Of course, Ruby's device will help provide energy to them somewhat, but relying on it will just lead to those same problems. Providing a little aura at the start will help, but it's just…" She gritted her teeth, "proving to be a bit taxing. It doesn't help that I'm a bit out of practice…"

"Weiss, you should have said something sooner!" Ruby started digging through one of her bags, pulling out a bar of dark chocolate, "Here. I know it's not much, but it's a trick my dad taught me and Yang when we first started using our aura. It should help make the headache go away at least."

Farran watched as Weiss greedily snatched the bar, before turning back to Ruby with an amused look, "Chocolate, huh? Is that what you were being so secretive about earlier?"

"Well, yes and no…" Ruby tapped the tips of her index fingers, bashfully, "It wasn't just chocolate… I also got some energy drinks, some soda, iced coffee, and-"

"You can't be serious!" Weiss nearly choked, "Ruby, please do not tell me that we've been doing all this work, just so you can get your fix of sugar in that other world."

"No, of course not." Ruby pouted, "Do you really think I'd do something like that? I just… I didn't know what else to do…"

Farran raised an eyebrow, "About what?"

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise for the next time we went to the Metaverse, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now…" Ruby reached over and carefully laid the purchases from her secret shopping trips. Among them were a number of snacks and sweets including what she had mentioned, but also a number of various sports drinks and teas, and even a heaping amount of water bottles. On top of all that, she pulled out a pile of over-the-counter medicines, from very basic pain relievers to various herbal remedies and salves, "We can't afford to be as unprepared as we were the last time."

Weiss scanned over the various items Ruby had laid out, "I'm not sure I understand… I mean, the medication I can see, but what do all those sweets have to do with preparing for fighting Shadows?"

"Well… It's kind of hard to explain. I guess, when we summon our Personas and stuff like that, it seriously drains our energy. I think it's kinda like when you use your aura to cast spells, Weiss. After a couple of battles, that really adds up, especially with how much energy the Metaverse drains on its own. I wasn't kidding when I said I needed help getting up on my bed the other night, it was that bad. I know it isn't much, but anything that we can take with us to get our energy back up is pretty much essential." She gestured over to the medicine pile, "All this is kinda the same. Whenever we have our Personas use physical skills, like whenever Lupa swings her scythe or when Farran has Minotaur attack, it drains our strength. I can only do so much to keep everyone patched up with Lupa, and once my energy is gone, we have no other way to heal. I don't really have any way to get access to real painkillers, and I'm not sure I'd really want to go that far even if I did, so this is about the best I can do."

"Wow…" Weiss bit her lip, "I didn't realize there was so much that went into it."

"At first, I just assumed it would be like working out a muscle. It starts out weak, but the more you train, it'll get stronger." Ruby turned back to her project, carefully sizing up one of the metal pieces she was working on, "Which, I mean, we really have been. Lupa is tons stronger than when we started, and Pele and all of Farran's Personas are better too. But… I never thought we'd hit a point where the three of us would be too tapped out to do anything. That we'd never get to where we couldn't just force ourselves to get back up and fight. It's made me think about how we can make sure we never reach that point again. So much of what happened this weekend is my fault… I can't afford to keep making those mistakes."

"How the hell do you figure that?" Farran furrowed his brow.

"Farran, you and Yang should have never gone into the Metaverse alone, especially not after we had spent so much time and energy fighting in there the day before. It was my call, and… and I made the wrong one." She sighed, "I should have found some other way. If I did, Weiss wouldn't have gotten kidnapped, and-"

"Yes you should have." Weiss huffed, "You should have come up with a plan that wouldn't have required splitting up your team, and sending a squad at half strength into an extremely dangerous situation. But…" With her nose still in the air, she peeked down at Ruby with a grin, "That is what you should have done if you were working with perfect conditions. As it was, however, you were working with an extremely stringent deadline, and there were things that no-one, not you or anyone else in your position, could have accounted for. Exactly how could you have possibly known that I was planning on finding out what you were hiding? All things considered, the three of you did a good job of hiding the existence of that world from me. And even if you had decided to regroup with us instead of continuing to look for Blake, I would have taken you into account when I made my move. I only acted how I did because I knew how Farran and Yang would react. No-one can fault you for your decision, Ruby. Least of all me. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I highly doubt I could have made a better decision if I had twice the time you had to work with."

Ruby blinked dumbly, "But-"

"She's right, Ruby." Farran cut off her attempt to protest, "And more importantly, you shouldn't be second-guessing yourself. Everything ended up fine. We're all here, we're all ok, and we even have Blake as a new Persona user. If you keep going over the 'what ifs' and everything that could have gone wrong, it'll never end."

"Guys, I…" She let out a small laugh, "I appreciate what you're trying to do. But I just can't let this all go. It's not just this past weekend, it's everything. Weiss, you were talking about making us a schedule to make sure we have a balance for school and training and everything else, but as the leader, I should have done that from the get-go. I should have been more prepared…"

"Maybe so, but at the same time, you shouldn't have to take care of everything on your own. After all, if you did, and there was nothing left for the rest of us to do, just how could I prove that I'm the best teammate and partner ever?" Weiss laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "You're doing fine, Ruby. You've only been our leader for a few months, and you've been going to that other world for even less than that, and yet you improve by leaps and bounds every day."

"And besides, you're already learning from your mistakes, right?" Farran added, "That's what this whole project is for, isn't it? So that we're more prepared the next time we go to the other side."

"That… That's true, yeah…" Ruby muttered.

"Well, there you have it." Weiss beamed, "There's no reason for you to keep beating yourself up over what happened. Just keep on doing your best, and everything will be fine. And, should you ever miss or overlook something, don't forget that you always have us looking out for you as well."

With a grin, Ruby set her device down and popped up from her seat, moving over to pull Farran and Weiss into a tight hug, "Thanks guys. I really appreciate it. I'll try to keep that in mind from now on."

She let them go, giving the bag on the table a curious look, "You know… Metal plating might be out, but I wonder how hard it would be to add a gun to this."

Ruby's latest idea earned a groan from Weiss, and soon the two started to debate the feasibility and necessity of turning their project into a full on weapon. Farran, meanwhile, decided it best to keep out of the argument, letting the two of them have their parley as they worked, while he set about cleaning up the remainders of the materials they no longer needed. Having no real experience with crafting weapons, he didn't really have an opinion one way or another. It made him consider asking Ruby to teach him some of what she knew, since it might come in handy if anything happened to Silverbreak. Ruby… He knew where she was coming from. Her decision had almost resulted in an absolute nightmare scenario for her. Yet here she was, shouldering her own self-blame, and using it to improve. It really took a level of maturity that, had you told him the small, bubbly girl that greeted him on his first day was capable of, he would have been completely blown away. Even now, after spending all this time with her, she still found new ways to go above and beyond his expectations. She may have her doubts, but for Farran, it was an absolute certainty that Ruby would become a fantastic leader for their team. He gave Weiss a look, the heiress still deep in debate with Ruby. Maybe I should give Weiss some Lien, and have her sneak it into Ruby's purse or something. If all this shit is going to help us in the Metaverse, then it makes sense that some of the funds I got from there goes to pay for it. I'd do it myself, but… He felt a shiver go down his spine as he thought of the possibility of any of his teammates finding him going through Ruby's stuff, regardless of his reasoning. Yeah, no. I don't have a death wish…

Elsewhere, at Beacon:

"Achoo!"

At that moment, Yang had just finished returning a row of chairs back to their spots under a line of desks she had just finished cleaning, when a heavy sneeze caught her off guard. She stumbled back up to her feet, feeling a pulse of anger, annoyance, and the unexplainable urge to hit something flash through her mind.

Blake looked up at her from under the desk she was cleaning on the other side of the room. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of dust, that's all." Yang rubbed her nose, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

Blake stood up, pressing on the small of her back until she heard a small pop. "I'm gonna go open a window. It's a miracle the two of us are able to breathe in here at all…"

Yang just nodded, cracking her knuckles as she got back to work.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay, but I'm baaaaaaack! :D