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Chapter 39Chapter Text

Chapter Thirty-Five

Beacon was really pretty from the air. In a city like Vale, where the walls drew hard lines on where one could and couldn't build, it was normal that as soon as space ran out, room for new buildings was at a premium.

Vale was, in essence, rather cramped.

They made up for it with nice decor and well lit roads, but it was still a city that didn't have room to expand.

Beacon, on the other hand, had an entire plateau to itself, and it showed. The front lawns were long trenches with grass and flowers and trees all in neat, orderly rows, little stone-paved passages running through them.

The buildings themselves had a sort of whimsical, fantasy feel to them, all high arches and white walls that glimmered in the noonday sun. Wide, inviting doors lead into the school proper, the passages almost all used by students talking or walking or play fighting in a display of youthful eagerness that had Akelarre aching to join in.

Their Bullhead, one of the commercial sorts that taxied people around for a fee, landed without so much as a bump, the pilot's bored expression changing not one whit as he turned to look at his two passengers. "We've arrived," he said with the tone of someone being paid too little for his work.

"I noticed," Akelarre said before opening the craft's door and hopping out. She extended at hand to Penny who had to be careful not to let her trench coat trail too far behind her as she disembarked.

"This is very exciting," Penny said as she took in the school. At Akelarre's behest, she had tucked her pipe into one pocket and folded up her hat in the other, so her hair was free to whip in the wind as they moved away from the Bullhead and towards the school proper.

"It is," Akelarre said. "So, I have that latter to deliver, but I kind of want to meet my friends first."

Penny nodded eagerly. "This is an acceptable detour. Friends are good."

"They are," Akelarre agreed. "I think you'll love Ruby. She's very sweet, and looks to be about your age, I'd guess."

"I doubt that," Penny muttered.

"And there's Velvet. She's super nice. But a bit shy, so try not to come on too strong around her, okay?"

"I understand," Penny replied.

Grinning, Akelarre started moving towards the school proper, her hood up and her new jacket snug around her waist. She waved at a few students, all of them in their burgundy uniforms who stared at her and Penny with open curiosity. Some even waved back.

"I can see why Ruby likes it here," Akelarre said. "The people seem really nice, for people who spend their lives training to kill Grimm."

"I have never been to school before," Penny commented idly.

Akelarre almost missed her next step. "You haven't? But, uh, you do know how to read and write and about history and math, yeah?"

"I do!" Penny said.

"Okay, good," Akelarre said. She didn't try to hide the fact that she didn't really think it was all that good, and Penny didn't try to catch on either. "I don't actually know my way around the school," Akelarre said. "We'll have to find someone and ask for directions."

"What about her?" Penny said as she pointed off to one side. "Her hair is similar to mine and she looks friendly."

The girl Penny was pointing at was superficially quite similar to Penny. Short, red hair, green eyes. Dress Penny in the Beacon uniform, and Akelarre figured they could pass as siblings. The redhead was gesturing wildly as she spoke, another mannerism that would wouldn't be out of place with Penny. Her teammates, or at least three people that seemed willing to endure her enthusiasm, were sitting on some benches off to one side, soaking in the sunlight as it filtered through the branches of a tree.

Before Akelarre had time to really come to a decision, Penny was off towards the ground, one arm raised and waving above her head. "Salutations, potential friends and hug partners. I am Penny and this is my best friend Akelarre. We are searching for other friends."

"Hi!" the redhead said before imitating Penny's wave. Even the other-other redhead, a very pretty woman sitting next to a blonde boy, gave a bit of a wave in return.

Akelarre was beginning to think that there were maybe too many redheads around.

"I'm Nora, this is team Juniper!" the first redhead said as she pointed to her teammates. "That's Jaune. He's single and ready to mingle. That's Pyrrha, she's also single and mingleable. And that's Ren. Touch him and die."

"What Nora means," the boy she called Ren said as he laid a hand on her shoulder and looked at them with eyes as filled with as much excitement as a cow's after a heavy meal, "Is that we're team JNPR, and we're pleased to meet you. You said you were looking for someone?"

"You seem to disagree with potential-friend Nora. Does this mean I can touch you?" Penny asked.

Ren blinked slowly. "I would rather you didn't."

"Not even hugs?" Penny asked as she tilted her head to one side. "I never got a hug from a boy before. Are they more special? Do you want to be my first boyfriend?"

Nora's genuine, happy smile started to take on a distinctly sharp look.

Akelarre sighed and stepped up between Penny and the team. "Sorry, Penny just really likes hugs. Actually, we're looking for either Velvet Scarlatina or team RWBY."

"Velvet... she's in team CFVY, yeah?" the blond boy asked. "I don't know where she is, sorry. But team RWBY is probably training right now. That's what they do when classes are over. Well, that or argue."

"That sounds like them," Akelarre admitted. "Any idea where I can find them?"

Jaune shrugged. "Their room is down that hallway, then to the right and up the stairs to the third floor. It's the one with the big sign on the door that says 'Do Not Disturb.'"

Akelarre nodded along to the directions. Her bugs had already found the room. It was easy enough to track Ruby's scent through the halls of Beacon and it was especially concentrated around Ruby's room which was in a state of disarray that made her own room look perfectly respectable in comparison. "Thank you. I appreciate the help," she said. "Penny did you want to come, or did you want to stay?"

Penny considered the question for a moment. "I will remain with you, friend Akelarre. Girlfriends should stick together."

"Um," Akelarre said. She turned to team JNPR to find that Jaune was blushing, Pyrrha had a hand clamped over her mouth and Nora looked lost. Ren, on the other hand, seemed completely unruffled. "Right, we can talk about that on the way there."

***

Blake was... Blake wasn't sure. On the one hand, her secret was out and her team seemed perfectly okay with it. Even Weiss, who she thought would have the biggest problems with her Faunus heritage was taking it in stride. The Schnee heiress was more worried about Blake's family name than her cat ears.

On the other hand her team didn't know of her ties to the White Fang, ties that she hadn't really broken. Ties that could come around to bite her at any moment. Ties that lead her to know who, exactly, Akelarre was.

She shuddered at the memory of the girl they had met at that club just a few days ago. She had been all smiles and good cheer, the very image of a friendly young woman meeting new people. It was a perfect disguise for the killer that she was underneath, for the monster in the skin of an innocent girl.

And that act had caught Ruby hook line and sinker.

"You okay, Blake?" Ruby asked, her wide silver-y eyes staring at her like a puppy looking up to someone that had a raw steak stapled to her forehead. "Are you cold? Is it because your tummy is exposed?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "I'm fine," she said.

Ruby hopped ahead of her and started walking backwards. "Are you sure?" she asked again. "I don't want you getting a cold. Do Faunus get special colds?"

Weiss snorted. "Faunus are biologically similar to humans, Ruby, they won't get any illnesses that you won't. You really ought to research Faunus biology a little if you're going to have one as a teammate."

Yang tilted her head to one side, long cascades of blonde hair tumbling around. "I thought some Faunus needed, like, vets to care for their animal bits."

Shaking her head, Weiss raised one hand with her index pointing at the ceiling. "First off, Faunus specialist doctors are a thing. Second, do you have any idea how racist you sound when you imply that they have to go to a vet for medical care?"

Blake didn't trip over her own feet, but it was a near thing. She gave Weiss a look. The kind of look her mother gave people to cow them into submission. The kind of look that had made Sienna Kahn pause for a moment and rethink what she was saying.

"What?" Weiss said, sounding rather defensive as the look persisted.

"Your family runs the SDC. You enslave Faunus and make them work to death in mines surrounded by Grimm. Accusing others of racism is.. I don't know if irony is the right word here."

Weiss' chest puffed out. It was not an impressive display. "We don't enslave anyone. They're paid reasonable wages."

"They're paid in company scrip. It's worthless." Blake's eyes narrowed. "And you wonder why your family is so hated by the Faunus."

Weiss had the decency to blush and look away. "I don't like it any more than you do," she said. "But I can't change it, not until I'm in control of the damned company."

Blake hummed to herself and turned away from Weiss. Unfortunately that brought her line of sight onto Ruby who had jacked up her puppy dog eyes to eleven. "Please don't fight," she begged.

"W-we're not fighting," Blake denied.

"Don't be silly, Ruby, we were only--" Weiss cut off as she turned and was caught in the radius of Ruby's look. "Were only discussing the future of our respective families."

"You know, maybe I could help?" Ruby said. "I'm sure we could help all those poor Faunus, and if the Grimm stop hurting the SDC they could hire people properly."

"And how, exactly, do you intend to pull the Grimm away from distant mining sites?" Weiss asked. "It's difficult enough to keep huntsmen around to clear out the occasional migration, I can't imagine how you would clear them away."

"I could ask Akelarre," Ruby said.

Weiss snorted. "I don't know what kind of trick or illusion that girl showed you Ruby, but she does not control the Grimm, no one does."

Blake and Yang shared a glance but neither wanted to pop the heiress' bubble just yet.

"Akelarre isn't a tricky person. She's really nice. And she's my best friend. So there." Ruby crossed her arms and stomped a little for a few steps.

"Hey, what about me?" Yang shot back.

"You're my sister, it's not the same."

"Yes it is!" Yang was quick to defend.

Sensing that things were going to escalate, Blake picked up the pace. They were almost at their dorms. The siblings would be just as loud, if not louder in their rooms, but at least Blake would be able to tuck herself into a pile of blankets and read a bit while they fought.

"She gives better hugs than you," Ruby said.

Yang's crestfallen expression had both Weiss and Blake rolling their eyes in synch. Blake was the first to arrive at their dorm, picking up the pace considerably when Yang gestured towards her chest and said, "Did you see these girls? They're made for hugging."

Flashing her scroll across the door handle, Blake unlocked the door, pulled it open and stepped in.

She froze.

A girl was sitting on Yang's bed, legs kicking out to an unknown rhythm while her arms were stretched out above her to hold out a book. A book with an orange cover. The looked up, hood falling back and onto the bed to reveal terribly familiar red eyes that bored into Blake. "Hi. This is your book, right? It smells like you."

Blake took a step back and closed the door. "Hey guys, let's... let's go somewhere else," she said. In the back of her mind she wondered if her mom would let her have her old room back on Menagerie.

***

Big thank-you to ChaoticSky and the filthy degenerates on the Raven's Nest Discord for the idea bouncing and encouragement, and CrazySith87 for doing word things! You're all completely insane, but I like you anyway.