Weiss led Team RWBY+_ through the streets of Vale.

(Y/N) looked around as decorations for the Vytal Festival were being set up. (Y/N) had seen the set up for the Vytal Festival multiple times. Normally he'd go to watch in in the Crow Bar. It was really bizarre to think he'd actually be there in person.

"The Vytal Festival!" an excited Weiss said. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby said. "It's kinda weirding me out..."

"I've seen her smile a couple times," (Y/N) whispered.

"You're the only one," Yang whispered.

"I wonder why that is," (Y/N) said.

"How could you not smile?" Weiss said to Ruby while (Y/N) and Yang whispered to each other. "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!"

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

"Quiet, you!" Weiss said.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang said.

"Ugh, they smell like fish!" Ruby said, covering her nose.

"I like fish," (Y/N) said. "I learned how to swim faster by studying their movements."

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

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake said.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss scoffed.

Suddenly, Ruby's attention was drawn to a crime scene down the street.

"Whoa..."

The team approached the crime scene. The window was shattered, and two detectives stood in front of yellow police tape.

"What happened here?" Ruby said.

"Robbery," the first detective said, walking to his partner. "Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

Yang sighed. "That's terrible."

"They left all the money again," the second detective said.

"Huh?"

(Y/N) turned to see Ruby's eyes widened, as though she had an idea as to who had done this.

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

"I don't know, an army?" the second said.

"You thinking the White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmph! The White Fang," Weiss said, crossing her arms. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's your problem?" Blake asked.

"My problem?" Weiss said, turning to Blake. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths," Blake said, crossing her arms. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"'Misguided'?" Weiss repeated. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"I don't know about you, but I'd call that misguided," (Y/N) cut into the conversation.

"This isn't your argument!" Weiss said, turning to (Y/N).

"Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale," Blake said.

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

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss said. "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

(Y/N) started taking offense, clenching his fists in anger.

"That's not necessarily true," Yang said.

"That's not at all true," (Y/N) growled.

"Hey, stop that faunus!"

They turned to see a blonde-haired monkey faunus running out from a boat, and leaping up to a lightpost.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" the faunus laughed. "Haha!"

"You no-good stowaway!" a sailor yelled.

"Hey," the faunus said, peeling the banana. "A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!"

A sailor picked up a stone, and tossed it up at the faunus.

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!"

The faunus dropped a banana peel, and leapt off the lightpost, running straight past Team RWBY+_. As he passed, (Y/N) could've sworn he'd seen him winking at Blake.

"Well, Weiss," Yang said, "you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."

"Quick!" Weiss yelled. "We have to observe him!"

As the others ran after the faunus, Blake stood still for a moment, lost in her thoughts. It wasn't long before she snapped back into reality, and ran after the others.

Weiss turned around a corner, only to crash right into someone, and fall to the ground as the faunus ran off.

"No, he got away!" Weiss said.

"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang said, pointing below her.

Weiss looked down, and gasped in shock as she realized she was laying on top of a ginger-haired girl.

She gasped, standing up, and staring down at the girl.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!" the girl said in a cheerful tone of voice.

"Um... hello," Ruby said.

"Are you... okay?" Yang asked.

"I'm wonderful!" the girl said. "Thank you for asking."

The team looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Do you... wanna get up?" Yang asked.

The girl thought for a moment.

"Yes!" She leapt onto her feet, and the team took a step back. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny," Ruby greeted. "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"I'm confused," (Y/N) said. Ruby elbowed him. "I mean, I'm (Y/N)!"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang said. Blake hit her arm. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny said.

"You already said that."

Penny paused for a moment. "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss apologized as she and her teammates walked off.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby called, waving to Penny.

(Y/N) turned back to her for a moment, seeing a startled look on her face.

"She was... weird," Yang said at a distance from Penny.

"Now, where did that faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss said.

"What did you call me?"

(Y/N)'s eyes widened in shock as he saw Penny in front of them all of the sudden. Weiss looked at Penny, back where she was before, and back at Penny in confusion.

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

"No, not you," Penny said, walking up to Ruby. "You!"

"Me?" a startled Ruby said. "I-I don't know-- I, what I, um, uh..."

"You called me 'friend'!" Penny said. "Am I really your friend?"

"Uuuum..."

Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder at her teammates, frantically shaking their heads no.

"Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"

WBY+_ fainted, while Penny laughed, raising her arms in excitement.

"Sen-sational!" she cheered. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby groaned as Weiss walked up next to her. "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

"No," Weiss said. "She seems far more coordinated."

"So... what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament," Penny said.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss said.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny said, saluting.

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

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake said.

Weiss crossed her arms. "It's a combat skirt!"

Ruby sped up beside Weiss. "Yeah!"

Weiss held out her hand for Ruby to give her a low five.

"The Dynamic Combat Skirt Duo," (Y/N) whispered. "Still working on the title."

"Wait a minute," Weiss said, walking up to Penny. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"

"The who...?"

Weiss held up a bad drawing of the "criminal" she'd mentioned. "The filthy faunus from the boat!"

(Y/N) grabbed his hair like he was about to pull it out in anger.

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake said.

Weiss shifted her attention to Blake in confusion.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion!" Blake said. "Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss said. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"OH MY GOD SHUT UP!!!!!" (Y/N) screamed.

"I'm just speaking the truth!" Weiss said, crossing her arms.

"Stop it!" Blake shouted.

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

Blake clenched her fists in anger. "You ignorant little brat!"

Blake stormed away.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Weiss shouted, following her. "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 and Ruby turned to see (Y/N) inbetween them, clearly taking offense from the whole conversation.

"Um, I think we should probably go," Yang said.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked, popping up behind (Y/N).

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

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

The argument went on all day, even leading back to the dorm at Beacon, and on to night.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss said.

"That is the problem!" Blake said.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you?! The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil! 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!"

"'People like me'?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!"

Silence fell upon the room for a moment.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang?" Weiss said, looking out the window. "Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? 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."

Ruby approached Weiss to comfort her. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" Weiss shouted, approaching 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!!!"

Once again, the room went silent, as everyone stared at Blake, eyes widened in shock. Even (Y/N) was surprised at the realization she was ex-White Fang, despite knowing she was a faunus.

"I..."

Suddenly, she dashed out the door.

"Blake, wait!" Ruby called. "Come back!"

(Y/N) grew enraged, clenching his fists in anger. He turned around, and approached Weiss.

"(Y/N)?" Weiss said.

Suddenly, (Y/N) slapped her across the cheek. Weiss' eyes widened in horror, as her hand slowly reached up to her cheek.

She looked up at the angered faunus in front of her.

"I thought you were better," (Y/N) said. "But I guess I was wrong. This is all you'll ever be, Weiss. A Schnee. A judgmental, discriminatory, self-entitled Schnee."

He turned around, and stormed out of the room.

"Come on, (Y/N)!" Yang said, grabbing his arm. "Not you, too!"

(Y/N) pulled his arm free, and stormed out of the room.

Ruby and Yang turned around to Weiss, who stared at the door, eyes widened, her hand on her cheek, still stinging in pain.

She felt guilt stinging worse than the pain on her cheek, as she realized how badly she'd offended (Y/N).

Blake ran through the courtyard, coming to a stop in front of the statue of a Huntsman and Huntress standing over a boulder, on top of a Grimm.

Blake looked at the Grimm below the boulder, slowly reaching for the bow over her head. She untied it, and pulled it off her head, revealing her cat ears. She wiped a tear from her cheek.

Her cat ears twitched as she heard someone walking up behind her. Panicking, she spun around. She sighed in relief as she saw (Y/N) walking up to her.

"Hey," he said.

"(Y/N)?"

"Don't listen to Weiss," (Y/N) said, stepping up to Blake. "She's being an asshole."

Blake sighed. "Look, I... I need a moment to--"

"I get it," (Y/N) said. "I'll need some time to."

A silence fell upon the two for a moment, as they tried to figure out what to say or do next.

"I knew you would look better without the bow."

(Y/N) and Blake turned to the source of the voice.

The next morning, Weiss woke up, stretching her arms for a moment.

She looked to the sleeping bag where (Y/N) normally slept, only to find nothing.

She sighed, lowering her head in shame.

The next day, RWY wandered the empty streets of Vale, searching for any sign of Blake or (Y/N).

"They've been gone all weekend," Ruby said.

"I... I'm sure they can handle themselves," Weiss said.

"Weiss, come on," Yang said. "They're our teammates."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!" Weiss snapped.

Ruby and Yang stepped back, shocked at her sudden shouting.

She realized what she had done, and sighed, letting out her anger.

"Look," she said, "let's just keep looking. Who knows where they are at this point?"

She walked off, leaving Ruby and Yang to exchange a worried glance.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) and Blake sat at a table with the faunus, who had introduced himself as Sun.

There was a silence between them, as there had been for the whole weekend, both (Y/N) and Blake refusing to speak to him.

Finally, Blake set down her cup of tea, looking up at Sun.

"So, you want to know more about us..."