I managed to get six hours' worth of sleep before deciding it was time to get up. I had to get some meat and Maize for barbequing and figured it was time I finish up a job I'd been assigned sometime prior. After hunting down whatever was biting and trading with Farber at McCarran, I paid Michael Angelo a visit at his studio. He paid good caps for those pictures and I figured it was worth my time to pass them along. He was a stand-up guy, even let me keep the camera and offered to give me more film if I ever needed it.

With my spoils, I strolled down the strip. No real rush to get back to the 38 yet. We'd probably be at it a few hours anyway. We'd start when everyone was hungry and awake. It'd be a perfect chance to try experimenting with some new recipes too. I'd been wanting to try my hand at a mutfruit and mesquite sauce.

I drew close to the 38, and just started up the steps when the idiot made himself known.

"For the crimes committed against Caesar." The voice said "I should execute you where you stand."

I stopped and turned to look down them. Dressed up like a dapper gambler was a man who had just outed himself as a legion spy. The securitrons nearby paid us no mind. Though if I knew House, he was listening closely right now and waiting for a reason to vaporize the little shit.

"Dumber last words have been said." I groused "most by the last of your comrades dumb enough to try."

The spy glared at me before taking a deep breath. "I am Alerio of the frumentarii-"

"Don't give a fuck what kind of fruit you are. Fuck off."

"- If it were up to me, I would execute you where you stand."

"Yeah, good luck with that."

Alerio continued to glare at me as he bared his teeth. I was agitating him. Good.

"As much as I desire to do so though, I have been instructed to deliver this to you." Alerio produced a medallion from his pocket, a gaudy thing that only the Legion would consider beautiful. "By right of accomplishment and merit, I present to you the Mark of Caesar. Absolving you of all past crimes and misdeeds."

I stared at the disc of metal Alerio's grasp.

"… Alright, I'll bite." I said "What's this about, did Caesar decide to wave the white flag after watching his boys get butchered?"

"How dare-" Alerio cut himself off suddenly. He knew I was riling him, He breathed deeply and tried again "Lord Caesar wishes to speak with you."

"… what?"

"This mark will allow you to pass freely to him without fear of repris-"

"Ok, now I know you must think I'm stupid."

Alerio glared at me even more intensely. "I wouldn't need to explain this to you otherwise."

"Oooh, that's the closest any of you've ever come to wounding me."

"I do not have time for this." Alerio growled, tossing the mark at my feet. "Take it and deliver yourself to Caesar, profligate."

"Mmm… No, I'm fine." I raised my helmet enough and spat on the mark before kicking it back to him. "Tell your impotent 'king' I'll deal with him in my own time."

Alerio looked from the mark to me, stunned. Though it faded and he seethed with anger. "You dare to continue your affront to Caesar, in the face of such generous mercy?"

"Without missing a beat. If your lord were generous in mercy he'd never have built a legion of rapists and murderers for him to act as a despotic lord over."

"The legion is a glorious empire, built in the ways of an old world that mirrors our own!"

"Formed through the subjugation, rape, and slaughter of countless tribes. That regularly rejects technological advances despite the lives it can save and wallows in its own insanity based logic."

"OUR WAYS ARE SUPERIOR! THEY SHALL CAST DOWN THE BEAR!"

"Your ways are a joke, written in the sand with piss."

Alerio roared, dropping all pretenses of civility and charged me. I dropped my supplies and met him part way. For a fruity-whatever, he sure sucked at hand to hand. He threw a cockeyed straight that was heavy in strength and follow through, but slow as a crippled radroach. I harmlessly deflected and locked his arm. With a twist I snapped his wrist and popped his elbow out of its socket. He howled in pain as I slammed him into the sidewalk, face first.

"I'll make it simple enough for that sun bleached brain of yours to get." I said, getting in close for him to hear "I despise your 'legion' with a burning passion. Everything you stand for is an affront to what morals I have, and every act you make sickens me both physically and mentally in their sadism and cruelty."

I twisted the loose limb tighter, Alerio howled.

"I do not want your absolution, What I want is an end to your bloody revolution. I don't care if I have to personally slaughter every legion assassin in the Mojave until you get the message. But maybe this will make it clear to the twit you call king. Leave me the fuck alone or he will get his wish. I will visit him, as I slaughter my way through fortification hill and deal upon him the same fate as the fool he draws his name from."

A lot of that was a bluff. I'm not crazy, you'd have to be to think you could successfully storm one of the most tactically secure locations in the Mojave on your own. But this was my solution, put the fear of whatever higher being there might be into Caesar and hope he listened.

"Do you understand?" I growled

"Y… yes." Alerio said, defeated.

"Good… now run."

I released his broken limb and Alerio scrambled away from me, his gambler wear dusted with dirt and sand. He dared to glare at me for a moment, then fear took place of his anger and he fled. He limp arm flapping the whole way as he passed the strip's gate.

I took a deep breath and collected myself. That hadn't been how I wanted my day to be preceded. I'd just wanted to enjoy some damn barbeque and get drunk. I picked up my supplies and walked into the 38.

There was a bit of an argument about where we should actually cook the food, but I decided the cocktail lounge was as good a place as any. We all met up in the observation deck and let the afternoon roll on. I had to take care not to send the place up in smoke or set off the ancient fire suppression systems. Though I wasn't sure either of them even worked.

I cooked as many dishes as I could think of and spread them around for everyone to eat. Cass handled drinks, Veronica and Raul worked to make the Jukebox sing, Lilly played with Rex, and Boone sat at the window with ED-E. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Boone seemed unusually chipper despite his stoicism. Once the cooking was done, everyone dug in and we enjoyed the evening. I kept my distance though, needed to think about some things. I sat in one of the booths that encompassed the lounge, staring out into the Mojave.

Benny was gone. No surprise he'd beat feet after I let him live. If any of the news I heard was right, he was supposedly heading for Fortification Hill. Given its current occupants, he wasn't going to make it very far. Then there was House. He'd made it clear he was a patient man-computer-thing and that he didn't mind if his "pawns" needed to make a few tricky maneuvers if it meant a better end game. Then there was Alerio just now, offering me a straight shot at Caesar. Part of me was starting to wish I hadn't turned him down, if for no other reason than I could just walk up to Caesar and shoot him.

As though sensing something was up, Cass flopped down next to me on the couch.

"You've been quiet since you got back." She said with a smile "What's wrong?"

"Just… thinking." I answered

"What about?"

"Everything, really. But mostly about how crazy this all seems." I looked out the window at the sky. "Few months ago, I was just some amnesiac dumbass who'd gotten himself shot. Now I'm an amnesiac dumbass who's caught in the middle of something he's got next to no control over."

"How're they any different? It seems like you've been getting shot at anyway."

"Yea, but before it at least seemed like I had a goal. Find Benny, square away with him, and move on. Now… now I'm left without that." I looked back to Cass. "I've got no goal aside from 'keep moving forward' now. Truth be told, I think I'm more scared now than when I was waiting to face Benny."

"Of course you would be." Cass chuckled "It's not so clear cut now, right?"

"Fuck no, now I'm basically in the dark until I start doing what I need to. There's a storm coming and the future just got a whole lot less certain."

"Well we're here for you." Cass said, putting an arm around my shoulder. "We're as much in this as you are."

"Yeah, and that's my fault. You guys are getting dragged into something you shouldn't be because of me."

"Heh, how's that any different from what we've been doing so far?"

"Before you could've walked away at any time. If you all move forward with me, you either make it through or die. There's no turning back."

Cass turned thoughtful for a moment. "… Yea, I suppose that would make a difference, huh?"

I looked at the floor. "You've all been following me until now, either out of respect or whatever. But the idea that you guys could wind up dead because of me… it worries me."

"Aww, glad to know you care." Cass smirked

"I'm serious. I've got you all following me and the thought that something could happen to you guys… You all trust me for some reason, you trust I won't turn my back on you or leave you. I don't want to betray that trust. I mean, shit, I've never even had my helmet off around any of you the entire time we've been together, it's practically a security blanket at this point. Even after all the shit we've been through over the past few months you guys have never seen my face and yet you all still trust me enough to follow me to our potential graves. What'd I do to get that kind of trust?"

"… you really want to know?" Cass asked

She raised my head so I'd get a look at everyone.

"You see that old ghoul?" Cass said referring to Raul "When you brought him here, all he did was complain about his old bones and whine about being useless. Whenever you two come back from traveling, he's got a smile on his face and won't complain about his age for at least a day or two."

"You see mr. Stone-face?" Cass directed me to Boone. "Ever since what happened at Bitter-Springs with you two, he's been more willing to show something besides that trademark indifference most snipers have."

"You see little miss knuckleduster?" Now talking about Veronica "Ever since you brought her that dress, she's never stopped smiling."

"You see that hound-dog over there? There was a time not too long ago when his brain was going rot away and he'd be gone. But you found him the brain from some sweet old protector and made sure he'd get to stick around a while longer."

"I can't say as much for the robot or the blue giant. But something tells me they've got something coming their way in the future…"

Cass turned my head to look at her.

"See the angry bitch in the straw hat?" She said, the warmest and softest smile I'd ever seen her wear on her face. "For the first time in months, she didn't feel like she needed a bottle to help her sleep."

That arm she'd wrapped around my shoulder turned to steel and she pulled me in close, wrapping her other arm around me and locking down tight. Almost like she was worried that if she didn't I'd disappear.

"You wanna know why we trust you? After all you've done to help us, we'd have to be as heartless as House to think you'd turn coat on us." She put her hand on the side of my helmet "Face or no."

"… Gee, laying it on thick, aren't you?" I asked, clearing a small frog from my throat.

She just gave a small chuckle and smiled a bit longer. She hugged a bit tighter for a moment, then released me. "Come on, dumbass. The food will get cold if you don't eat."

With a pat on the back, she got up from the couch and sashayed back to the party. I sat there a bit longer, just looking at all of them.

My companions.

"…"

I reached through my pocket and pulled out the camera. I stood and walked over to the party, a gathering of smiles that'd melt the hardened heart of any scavenger. I was going to capture that, even if it only lasted a moment. I'd hold onto this, no matter what came.

After we took it, I decided to take my helmet off and eat with them.

…

I was awake before my alarm. I didn't have a night in recent memory where not even my knock-out juice couldn't give me peace. Now I did, along with a desire to roll over and ignore my alarm. It was the weekend, wasn't I allowed to rest?

There's a phrase I never thought I'd get to say.

I silenced my alarm when it rang, turning over in my cot in a fruitless attempt to fall back to sleep. My head was swimming with thoughts of missing photos, missing Faunus, and a sleep deprived desire to finish the job Benny started. It wasn't until I heard a knocking on my door that I finally rolled out of my cot to see who it was.

I opened my door and found Ruby standing there, dressed and ready for the day. She looked down trodden at first. Then she got a look at me, went to say something, stopped, and looked me over. A small red blush was coming over her face.

"U-uh…" Ruby stammered

I looked down and finally remembered I was wearing my sleep attire of underpants and undershirt. I'd only been using Byz's pajamas on occasion.

I sighed, closed the door, and pulled some pants on. I reopened the door and Ruby was less embarrassed.

"What is it?" I grumbled

"… Blake still hasn't come back yet." Ruby said

"I was worried as much, when you said she hadn't come back yesterday."

It had been close to forty eight hours since Blake's little run into the night. About as long since I'd put some distance between me and my teammates too. I felt if I showed myself too soon I was liable to land in some more hot water. But now Blake hadn't returned either.

"… We're planning to go looking for her after breakfast." Ruby said

"… Alright. I suppose you think I should settle with Weiss then?" I asked

She nodded.

'Great, just wanted for breakfast: crow.'

"I'll be along in a bit."

Ruby nodded and left me to get changed. I'd probably change into my armor later, for now I was just going to loosely button a shirt and slip my boots on. I probably looked like a mess, but I wasn't ready for what was coming, so I didn't really care.

I left my closet and walked over to my teammates' room. I took a breath and knocked on the door. There was a moment's pause, then Yang opened the door. She looked me over quick and gave me a smirk.

"Shut up." I said

She rolled her eyes and let me in. The room hadn't changed much, except for the missing occupant. Ruby and Weiss were sitting on the lower bunk of their beds. Weiss looked up, noticed me, and started scowling. I took a deep breath and dug in.

"Before you say anything." I start "I just wanted you to know I'm sorry for assuming you were just being a bigot."

"And?" Weiss asked

"… and for being a brat."

"And?"

"… and for assuming you haven't suffered."

"And?"

"… and… for being a jackass."

"Thank you." Weiss said with an upturned nose.

'deep breaths Six.'

"So, if that's all, should we get on to finding Blake?" I asked generally

"I don't know why we should bother." Weiss scowled

"She's our teammate Weiss." Ruby said "We should be worried."

"Yea" Yang chimed in "What if something happened to her?"

"Then we should leave her to the police." Weiss answered pointedly "Let her be their problem."

I felt my fist clench. 'Calm, Six.'

"Weiss, that doesn't help." Ruby frowned "We don't know she's done something bad."

"We don't?"

"We don't even know her side of the story."

"Is that what you think? Because I think we know it pretty well."

Weiss got up from the bed and paced the floor.

"She admitted she was a member of the White Fang. She admitted to having been part of a terrorist organization, whose sole goal is wiping humanity off the face of the planet."

"But-"

"Then, before any of us could ask questions, she ran. Not stay to explain, not try to justify herself, she ran. Because she knew she had no way of defending against her crimes."

I could feel my jaw tightening. 'Gee, I wonder why.'

"That doesn't mean she's guilty!" Yang snapped

"Doesn't it!?" Weiss shouted "She ran! She could've stayed, but she ran! The innocent don't run!"

I felt something snap inside me. 'Oh that fucking does it.'

"The innocent don't run?" I asked, anger creeping up in my voice "The innocent don't run?"

"Oh no." I heard Ruby squeak, She and Yang gave me a look of warning again.

Weiss just scowled at me. "Yes, if she was innocent she wouldn't have-"

"She wouldn't have fucking run if she didn't feel like her teammates were about to turn on her!"

"Language!"

"I don't give a fuck! What makes you think you have the right to judge her for running!?"

"Because I haven't done anything worth running from!"

"Haven't done any- Bitch you flat out called your teammate a murderous thief to her face!"

Weiss went wide eyed "Excuse me!?"

"You fucking heard me! You want to know why she ran, because I can hazard a guess. I'll bet she ran because in the instant it took you to call her a thief and a murderer, she realized she wasn't being treated as a teammate anymore. You made it plain as fucking day you thought she was practically living dirt, and wanted nothing better than for her to be hauled off by the police."

"I never said she-"

"You didn't have to! You weren't making specific cases, you were carpet bombing the entire White Fang organization and its constituents as being inbred psychopaths!"

I got up close to Weiss now. Yang and Ruby were slinking back and I was letting my Terrifying Presence shine through. Weiss was starting to shrink a little, this wasn't how she had expected this to go, and neither had I.

"You want to know why she ran? Why she's hiding and hasn't come back yet? It's because she thinks the few people she might be able to trust right now want nothing more than to throw her to the wolves!… Let me ask you something Weiss. Have you ever been in a place where you don't know who to trust? Have you ever had a night where you can't fall asleep, because someone might make sure you won't wake up in the morning?"

"… Have you?" Weiss asked, in a feeble attempt to deflect.

"Yes." I said in blunt anger "In the Mojave life expectancy is fucking short. Just judging by your answer, one thing just got clear. For all the bullshit you've probably gone through in your life, you're still a brat."

Weiss flared a little in anger. It died instantly as I loomed over her. I was furious. For all of the shit that came out on Friday, this girl had the audacity to think Blake a criminal. Blake, the girl she, Ruby, and Yang had been bunking with for two months.

"If Blake really was with the White Fang and you're their 'mortal enemy', she'd have slit your throat in your sleep and been gone before the sun rose." I growled "She wouldn't have dicked around. If you're serious about it, you just do it. Fact of the matter is, for whatever side of the story Blake has, you don't want to hear it. You want to throw that trust out the window and let the cops handle her. How would you feel if the people you trusted turned on you!? What would you do!? Because dollars to donuts says you'd run and hide because every safe haven you had just got blown to shit you ignorant little-"

"S-Six." Ruby said, catching my attention.

My head snapped to her with a hidden glare. She was practically curled up in the corner of her bed, with Yang crouched protectively in front of her. They looked uncertain, like they didn't know what to make of the situation right now. I looked back to Weiss and found her staring up at me. There was a fear in her eyes and she was scared. Scared like Cardin had been when I'd threatened to shoot him.

I stopped and looked at her, then back to Ruby and Yang. In the span of a minute I'd gone from apologetic, to threateningly aggressive.

'The fuck am I doing!?'

"… take a seat." I said, motioning to the bed where Ruby and Yang were.

Weiss blinked, pushing the fear down.

"… please." I asked, as calm as I could.

Shakily, she complied. I took a moment to breathe and find myself. They were kids. They were dumb, stupid, loud mouthed kids. And dammit, they were starting to rub off even more on me. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what I was going to tell them.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I'm going to tell you a story." I said, my voice coming out with a twinge of anger. I was pushing it down as hard as I could. "It's called the tale of the Burned Man."

Yang raised an eyebrow in confusion, Ruby and Weiss seemed to go rigid. Odd.

"Don't worry, for as menacing or scary as the name is, it's a bit different."

Gingerly, Ruby and Yang sat on the edge of the bed with Weiss. They looked a little uncomfortable about this, given how I was acting no more than five seconds ago. But I needed to say my piece.

"… Imagine, if you will, a world set ablaze."

I set the stage of the tale.

"A world, ravaged and burned by war. Society has collapsed, the remnants of it scattered to the wind by the people sworn to 'protecting' it. A world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and driving itself closer each day."

The girls looked at each other, not sure where I was going.

"What remains of humanity, exists in the form of tribal communities. Loose collections of people sustained by some core beliefs or bonds. Almost like… giant families, in a way. These families, they all struggle with one another. They struggle for food, for safety, for water, for land, they struggle because it's either them or the world. And the world has taken enough."

I paused, remembering where it goes next.

"One of these tribes, these families, is the tribe of the Mor-Mons from the land once known as Ogden. The Mor-Mons were a remnant of a different kind from before the war. They held the beliefs of a religion from before the war. One that preached of peace, and reserved violence as a measure for defense alone."

'Not entirely accurate for the Mormons, but these are the Mor-Mons. Completely different.'

"Within the Mor-Mons though, there lived a man. A man, named Joshua Graham."

The girls showed no reaction to the name, so much like everything else so far, no loss in translation.

"This man, Joshua, was a missionary. It was his duty to bring the word of his religion to all tribes who would hear it. Bring fellowship and brotherhood to a scattered and fragmented peoples… But there was more within Joshua. A burning flame that grew hotter with every passing day. A flame, Joshua believed, that demanded change. Violent, sudden, and brutal change."

A look of knowing seemed to pass over the girls, they seemed to be guessing where I was going.

"But Joshua, a man of rules and oath, stayed his hand, though he was a capable fighter. He had the heart of a warrior, but the temperance of a preacher… This changed the day his travels took him to the land of the Small spring. To the waiting number of the tribe known once as the Blackfoot. To the man… the demon in disguise, known as Edward Sallow, Caesar."

Pronounced properly, to make it sound more monstrous, more story like.

"Joshua, trapped in a land, far from home, surrounded by those who would do him wrong, was goaded into following the fire by Caesar. With Caesar to guide him and his skill to act, they cut a swath through the land of the Small Spring. Freed of restraint, Joshua adopted a new name. One gifted to him by Caesar: Malpais Legatus, envoy of the badlands."

The translation confused the girls, but better than having them think I was just making shit up on the fly.

"Together, Caesar and the Malpais slaughtered and plundered tribes. The Malpais incentivized by the thought of unification, of bringing peace to a hostile world. Never mind that to do so, they crushed everyone in it underfoot. Committing and allowing atrocities to occur that would shudder the mind of a saner being. Taking slaves, torturing innocents, murdering, burning, and destroying everything that rallied against them and their Legion."

My sight drifted to the floor. They'd done much worse than that, but I wasn't going to recount it here.

"Through it all, the Malpais fought, never slowing despite his wounds. Appearing an undying force of nature to all. The fires within: a raging inferno that let him survive it all. With time, their Legion grew with every tribe conquered. Soon, Caesar and the Malpais stood at the head of an army that near numbered the ones of old. They adopted the traits of ancient armies, their tactics, their weapons, everything. They sought to rebuild the world in the shape of one brought to ruin Far before the war that ravaged their world. To do it, they needed a display. A show of might and strength to announce to the tribes of the world they would not be trifled with…"

I checked to see if they were still with me. They were showing more interest.

"… They found it in the form of a pre-war monument. One that brought great power to those who could wield it… But they were not alone in their desires. There existed another group in this world of ruin. Another tribe with the power to rival Caesar's Legion. And they had already laid claim to this monument."

"… What does any of this have to do with us?" Weiss asked, quietly, cautiously

"I'm getting there." I said, patiently "Now, Caesar and the Malpais saw this army before them and in their wisdom, saw fit to fight. The battle was long and hard fought. The bloodshed and loss on both sides could've painted the whole of the Moj- er- wasteland crimson red. But, in the end, Caesar and the Malpais failed. Forcing them into retreat."

I waited a moment.

"Failure, was not to be tolerated by Caesar. For his inability to snuff their enemy and claim the monument, Caesar ordered the Malpais executed. To be bound, covered in pitch, lit ablaze, and thrown into a canyon. For his failure, the Malpais would burn."

"This Caesar sounds like a hot head." I heard Yang say under her breath. I let it slide, it meant they were easing up.

"The execution succeeded. The Malpais did not survive the fall into the canyon… but Joshua Graham, wounded and penitent, did."

The three girls blinked. "How-" Ruby started. I shushed her.

"Having risen from the ashes of the Malpais, Joshua limped home. He traveled for weeks on end, hearing the tales of the Malpais and the Legion wherever he traveled. Hearing of the horror he had inflicted. He knew he would not be welcomed home a hero. How could someone who'd committed the atrocities he had ever be a hero?..."

Another break, to think and let it sink in.

"When Joshua returned to Ogden, he expected to be shunned. He expected to be stoned, to be burned, to be shot, and to receive any and all punishments for his actions. He knew he deserved them for what he'd done, for bringing shame to his tribe, to his family… but they never came."

I took a breath.

"They did not denounce or ridicule him. They did not stone him or decry him for his actions. They instead, welcomed him as a brother. They welcomed him as though he'd never left, or brought shame to them. For all the horrors he had seen and committed, they welcomed him openly and proudly. For them, their lost lamb had returned. They cared not what he'd done to get there."

"How!?" Weiss started again "How could they-"

I shushed her too.

"It was then that Joshua realized the true meaning of the fire within him. They were not the fires of war, the fires of violence and rage. The fires that had driven him to return to his people, no matter the cost, were different. They were the fires of love. The fire, born of the bonds of his tribe, his family… and his friends."

A look of understanding washed over the girls.

"From that day forward, Joshua Graham became known as the Burned Man. A testament to the fires that burned within him, that they were greater than those that could surround him. That for all the horror he committed, he could still make right for it."

I dropped the story-teller tone and looked at the girls.

"The tale of the Burned Man sounds ominous and threatening. In truth, there is plenty of that there. But more than that, it's a tale of redemption. Of learning when you've done wrong and striving to fix it. There's more to the story, but I'm not in the right mindset to talk about it right now."

"And this applies to Blake." Ruby said, a little confused "Because she's the burned man?"

"I wouldn't call her burned, but perhaps, yes."

"… Even after all he did… they still accepted him." Weiss said, looking at the floor

I sighed a little. "Weiss, I'm not saying you don't have a right to be suspicious. But Blake is your teammate, we're supposed to stick by one another. If you're going to throw each other to the wolves at the drop of a hat, how are you supposed to rely on one another?"

"… I don't know."

"Can I offer some advice then?" I asked honestly "Could you just hear Blake's side of the story? Hear what she has to say first, then decide if you can find it in you to forgive her. For all you know, she is trying to make things right."

"… Fine." Weiss agreed softly "I'll hear what she has to say."

"That's all I'm asking."

"… I am not accepting your apology anymore though."

I looked at the white haired girl, she had this frustrated grimace on her face. Yang quirked up a smirk and Ruby let out a relieved sigh.

"Heh, Snowflake if that is the only thing you don't accept today, I think I'll live." I chuckled

A wave of calm washed over us, my outburst seeming as though it never happened.

…

We spent about an hour getting ready before we finally hit Vale. I'd needed to get breakfast and collect my armor. Despite my outburst, I wasn't dumb enough to think there wouldn't be trouble. There was always trouble. Considering we were all visibly armed too, my teammates felt the same.

The streets of Vale were full of people. More travelers were arriving for the festival and shop owners were willing to take full advantage to hock their wares. Were we not pre-occupied with more important matters, I'd have stopped and bartered myself. But there was the matter of a certain missing faunus we needed to attend to.

"Blake!" Ruby called, like a girl looking for a missing pet "Blake!"

"Blake!" Yang followed

"Maybe you should yell louder." I say "Calling her like a lost pet's worked really well so far."

"We'd find her faster if you helped." Yang said pointedly

"I know, but yelling her name isn't going to help find her. She's obviously afraid of us, and if she knows we're looking for her she's going to hide harder."

"Yea, but I don't see you coming up with any better ideas."

"I'm working on it. Trying to track someone down without a place to start is tricky."

"… Why not use your scroll-thing?" Ruby said, looking to my arm "Can't it track things?"

"Yea, it can, but my pip-boy only tracks what it wants to and I have no clue what causes it to start. It just sort of happens at random most of the time."

"pip-boy?" Yang asked, looking at the hunk of steel on my arm.

"Yea, I didn't name it either."

"If it can track things, then let's just figure out how to make it track Blake." Weiss spoke up

"I just said I don't know how. This thing chooses when and where it wants to start tracking things and disregards my input."

"You make it sound like it's alive."

"Far as I know? It might actually be, you might be surprised at how sentient some machines actually are."

"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!" A new voice chimed

The sudden appearance of a third party caused my teammates to leap out of their skin and turn to face our observer. I reacted by leaping to the side, turning, and preparing to draw on whoever had got the drop on us. I was met with the wide eyed exuberance that was Penny.

"AGH!" Ruby articulated "Penny, where'd you come from!?"

"Hey guys!" Penny said, completely ignoring the fact I had my hand on the grip of my pistol.

"Dammit Penny." I said, lowering my guard "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. It's rude."

"It is?" Penny asked innocently "I'm sorry, I was only trying to 'play around'"

I felt my hostility melt away almost immediately. Something about Penny told me she really hadn't meant any ill-will with it. Almost like a young child who was learning how to make friends. Penny was emitting what had to be the most honest and sincere air I'd ever seen, and I'd met Ruby. She was making my 'Rape, murder, steal' Gauge bottom out. Penny was dangerous for her own reasons

"R-right" I said "Don't worry about it."

Penny gave another innocent smile. "So, what are you up to?"

"We're looking for our friend, Blake" Yang supplied

Penny paused for a moment, processing. "… Oh! You mean the faunus girl!"

We all fell silent as we stared at the innocuous girl.

'… huh?'

"Wait… how did you know that?" Ruby asked

"Uh… the cat ears?" Penny said, as though it were obvious.

"What cat ears?" Yang asked "She wears… a… bow."

Silence fell on us again. From out of view, a tumbleweed rolled past us. I have no clue where it came from in a city largely filled with thriving plant life, but no one else was questioning it.

"… She does like tuna a lot." Ruby whispered

"So, where is she?" Penny continued

"No clue, it's why we're looking for her." I said "She ran off a few days ago and hasn't come back yet."

"That's terrible!" Penny gasped

"We know." Ruby said sadly "We were hoping to find her."

Penny walked up to Ruby and gripped her by the arms. She got really close, apparently the term personal space was foreign to her.

"Well don't you worry Ruby my friend." Penny said confidently "I won't rest until I've helped you find your teammate."

"That- that's really sweet Penny." Ruby said with a pained expression. "But we- we're ok, right guys?"

Ruby turned to Weiss and Yang. They'd disappeared from where they'd been standing. A quick turn showed them briskly walking away from us. I closed the distance and clasped a hand down on both of their shoulders.

"Now girls." I said, rife with mock sincerity "I know you weren't just planning to leave us behind, now were you?"

"W-what? Nooo." Yang replied with the biggest shit eating grin I'd ever seen. "We just thought we could find Blake faster if we split up, right Weiss?"

"R-right" Weiss stammered

I could see they were silently pleading me not to drag the two of them into this. Penny was strange and they wanted nothing to do with that.

Tough, if I had to deal, so did they.

"Aw, no need to be like that." I say "I'm sure if we stick together, we can find Blake in no time."

Yang tried to worm away. "No, I'm really sure-"

"Come on then."

I clamped down on them and half lead, half dragged them back to Ruby and Penny.

"Is everything alright?" Penny asked innocently

"Yea, these two just thought they saw something, right Yang?"

"… R-right, just thought we saw something."

"Oh, what was it?" Penny asked excitedly

"It was a- uh… a…"

"They thought they saw Blake." I supplied for them

"Yea, that's it." Yang immediately agreed.

I gave Ruby a small thumbs up and she gave me a thankful smile.

"What does this mean?" Penny asked, giving a thumbs up herself.

"It's a sign of friendship." I said

"Oh…"

Penny then repeated the gesture with both hands to all of us, this big dopey grin on her face.

"As fun as this is-" Weiss cut in, pinching the bridge of her nose "We need to find Blake, and we aren't likely to do that standing around here."

"Why not go to the police?" Penny asked

"I-it's not that serious." Ruby answered

"Yet." Weiss sighed

"We're hoping it doesn't come to that." I corrected

"Why?"

"Because Blake was keeping things from us." Weiss huffed

"We're worried she might not be who we thought she was." Ruby admitted sadly

Penny gasped and leaned towards the group a little.

"Is she a man?" Penny whispered

We all gave penny a look at that question. She was being completely sincere with it. Yang was the first to cave and was stifling a laugh. Weiss was now rubbing her face in frustration and Ruby's face grew a shade red.

"N-no, Penny That's-" Ruby started

"Exactly right." I said jokingly "It turns out, after several months of living together, they only just discovered that Blake is secretly a man."

My teammates and Penny stared at me. Penny in wide eyed wonderment and the rest in disbelief.

"Really?" Penny asked "Amazing! I thought she was strange and assumed it was because she's a faunus."

"Nope. Definitely a man." I continued sarcastically.

"Wow~" Penny said

Yang started chuckling at the whole thing. Weiss's frustration seemed to be mounting and I could see Ruby was getting uncomfortable.

"Honestly, I'm surprised Yang never noticed, given how much time they've spent together."

"Who said I didn't?" Yang said with a cheeky smirk

"Oh ho ho!"

"Please stop." Ruby said "I feel like every time we do something you guys find a way to make it awkward."

"Hey, I'll take awkward over deadly serious any day." I admitted openly "In all seriousness though Penny, we're worried Blake might have been part of the White Fang."

"Ah! That's terrible!" Penny gasped

"Only depending on your religious and political leanings if you ask Blake."

"Well…" Penny said thoughtfully "I will still help you find her."

"That's sweet Penny. But we don't even have a place to start looking, the best we could do is wander around and hope we find her."

Penny looked to the pavement, perhaps thinking it over. Her head snapped up suddenly. "Why not look into the White Fang robberies then?"

"We just said we're trying to keep the police out of this." Yang chimed in

"Then why not investigate yourself? If Blake is a member of the White Fang then maybe you will find clues that way."

"I don't know." Ruby said "From what it sounded like, Blake didn't think the White Fang were responsible."

"… Wouldn't that give her a reason to look though?" Yang asked

We all thought about that for a moment.

It just might. Blake seemed hell-bent on the idea that this couldn't be the White Fang's doing. So why wouldn't she go looking for some way to prove it? With all the robberies going on, there had to be some connection or thread between them. Something most of the cops wouldn't pick up on, given their investigatory skills didn't seem to extend beyond 'tag, bag, and forget'. If Blake was going to prove the White Fang wasn't involved, why not look into it herself?

"… You could be right." Ruby said "If Blake just wants to prove that the White Fang isn't responsible, Finding evidence would be the first place to start."

"But the question becomes, how does that help us?" I asked "We still don't have a place to start…"

I felt the gears begin to turn in my head. Something about this seemed familiar and I was having trouble putting my finger on what.

"Investigate… dust… robberies…"

The gears clicked to a halt. I pulled up my pip-boy and clicked over to the data section.

"Everything ok Six?" Ruby asked

"I think I might have a solution."

"I thought you said that thing only worked when it wanted to?" Yang asked

"I did and it does… but-"

I looked into the quest section. At the top of the empty list a heading: When The Dust Settles.

Current objective: Investigate the robberies occurring around Vale.

"… But sometimes, this thing can be helpful in ways you don't think about." I selected the objective and the map immediately updated. The compass gave me a heading and an idea was on its way. "… Heh, Penny you are a gem, you know that?"

"Really?" Penny asked confused "I thought I was a girl?"

"You're both." I smirked

"What's going on?" Ruby asked

"A while back this thing decided to start tracking an objective that'd have me investigating the robberies around Vale. I ignored it at the time because I didn't want to go looking for trouble."

"Wouldn't that be left to the police anyway?" Weiss asked

"Only if I didn't want the job done. Now I don't have a choice."

"Ok… so what now?"

"Now? Now, after about two months of procrastinating, it's time to take a look at the job. If Blake is investigating the robberies then we should find her somewhere along the way."

"Alright." Yang said with a determined smile "Where do we start?"

…

We started by visiting this one store that got hit a few months back apparently, a place called 'From Dust 'till Dawn'. The owner wasn't opening the shop up for a few more weeks still but he was kind enough to let us look around. Most of his stock had been replenished by now, and the only thing he said was stolen was the dust. It wasn't much different than we'd heard, though he made mention of difficulty ordering a resupply from some company.

The next shop we hit said much the same. The same for the ones after that. This had been going on for months by this point and I should have figured the pip-boy would have me check as many as I needed until I figured something out. All the while though, we never saw Blake. Either she was playing it safe by avoiding the places the White Fang might've hit or was a step ahead herself. We'd walked the entirety of Vale before we finally hit almost every dust shop. They all had the same story.

Which raised a few alarms.

Whoever was doing this was clearly organized and adept at scheming. But they were proud and brash. It was the same every time, save for the occasional pile of bodies. Group of thugs comes in, clear out the store's stock, and hits the road. Not all of them said they were explicitly White Fang though, that was a more recent development. The older ones said they were guys in suits. Which was giving credence to the idea this might not be as clear cut as we thought, or as simple as the cops chose to peg it.

Despite this though, there was one detail all of the stores had in common that stuck out. Their re-supply times were falling around tonight. Supposedly there was supposed to be some big shipment coming in, get everyone restocked at once. The writing on the wall struck me as standard bandit tactics. Drive up the demand with seemingly small crimes, so when the resupply comes they can attack enmasse and steal everything wholesale. I'm surprised the authorities were so bad at their job they couldn't figure it out despite the literal dozens of robberies. The only excuse I could give them was the fact that most of them happened far enough apart so as not to arouse suspicion. I probably wouldn't have noticed either if I wasn't running through it rapid fire looking for Blake.

After spending a few hours running the city, we finally had an end goal. A shipment that large could only be brought in a few different ways. By airship or by sea, more specifically. Thing was though, the Vale airship terminals were public use, meaning there was no way to safely off load cargo. Which left only one option, a trip to the docks. By the time we got there, we'd managed to blow the entire day running around. But, given that the pip-boy had updated to point us there, we hadn't missed anything yet. The sun was starting to set and the smell of the ocean filled the air.

"Ugh." Ruby gagged "It smells like fish."

It wasn't the most pleasant thing. We were just outside the docks, stopped by a chain-link fence.

"Suck it up Ruby, if the steel block says this is the end of the road; then we stick here until we find Blake or get our next objective."

"You've had us traipse across Vale, just so we can sit at the docks?" Weiss huffed

"Again, not my call. Do you want to find Blake or not?"

"Of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her."

"Don't worry, friend of Ruby: Weiss." Penny said with a warm, awkward innocence "I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"R… right… What are you doing here again?"

"She promised to help Ruby" I reminded "She's free to tag along anyway. Just as long as she can keep out of trouble."

"I'm combat ready!" Penny piped in cheerfully

"Not the trouble I was referring to."

"What do we do now?" Yang asked "Because standing around probably isn't the best choice."

"We should find a vantage point and keep covered. Doesn't matter if we run into trouble or not, if we can keep the element of surprise on our side we'll be ready one way or the other."

"And if Blake is investigating-" Ruby picked up "We might find her doing the same."

"Bingo."

I looked to the rooftops of surrounding buildings and warehouses. Most of them were either too far or didn't provide much cover. Though there was one that was fairly obvious on the interior of the docks. It didn't have much aerial cover, but unless someone was looking you were likely to go unnoticed.

"Try up there." I motioned to the warehouse.

Ruby looked toward the large building. "That could work, but it's on the other side."

"So?" I mantled over the fence and landed on the other side. "If you're worried about a little trespassing you're never going to get anywhere."

Ruby gave Yang a concerned look. Yang replied with a smirk, shrug, and a hop over the fence herself.

"Wonderful" Weiss grumbled "Now we're breaking the law."

"Oh live a little snowflake. You want to find Blake or not?"

With a pout, Ruby and Weiss followed us over the Fence. Penny stared at us through the fence a worried look on her face.

'Don't mean to corrupt the innocent here, but we got work to do.'

"Come on Penny." I motioned "it's fun over here."

At the mention of fun, Penny brightened further and cleared the fence in a single leap. She didn't even touch the fence, she literally leapt over it without a second thought.

"… huh. Neat."

'Damn, Penny can jump.'

We walked over to the warehouse. The bay doors were closed and probably needed to be opened by some larger mechanism. Rather than do that, we snuck around the side and found a side door through an office. Which was locked.

"I got it." Yang said, cocking her fist back. I caught it and stopped her.

"Easy slugger, I'm not adding property damage to my list of crimes tonight."

"You got any better ideas?"

"Just hold up a second."

I slid a bobby pin from my pocket along with my small screwdriver. The door only had a deadbolt, so it wouldn't take long. I slid the pin and screwdriver into place and got to work.

"You know how to pick locks?" Weiss asked

"Everyone in the Mojave knows how to pick locks… Pretty handy skill when you lock yourself out."

"There's no way it could be that sim-"

The deadbolt clicked and the door swung open. Weiss stared through the doorway.

"… wonderful, now we can add breaking and entering to the charges."

"Only if we get caught, ladies first."

We went into the warehouse and I shut the door behind us. There didn't seem to be any workers around, but the less attention we drew the better. The warehouse was filled with crates of indeterminate contents. There was some machinery lying around too, mostly forklifts and hand dollies. We found a stairwell and made our way to the roof.

"So what's the plan now?" Weiss asked "We just wait?"

"I guess." Ruby answered "If this helps us find Blake, then it's what we have to do."

"We'll only be here until either the White Fang show up or Blake does." I answer "worst case, we're here 'till the last airship and have to leave then. This whole thing's a shot in the dark anyway."

We pushed open a door and prepared to walk out onto the rooftop. We stopped short though, when we found we weren't alone. Lying on her their stomachs at the edge of the roof were a familiar black clad girl and a boy with a monkey's tale. The instant the door opened, Blake flipped over enough to see us all walk through.

"Blake!" Yang exclaimed, preparing to rush over to her. I stopped her with an arm. "Hey!"

I studied Blake carefully. She had the look to her like she'd spring up and run at a moment's notice. A wild eyed fear that you get when trust is in dangerously short supply. Last thing we needed after spending the day looking for her was to have her run off. This needed to be handled with more caution than just running up to her and scaring her.

"You!" Weiss snapped

'oh no.'

Weiss skirted past me before I could stop her. Blake scrambled to her feet but was met with an angry snowflake before she could do much else.

"Listen-" Blake started "I know I should've-"

"Stop." Weiss hissed

Blake complied.

"Do you have… any idea what we had to do to find you?"

"…huh?"

Weiss shot an accusatory finger back at me. "Because of you, we've been stuck following him around for the past twelve hours. Do you have any idea how terrible his sense of direction is!? We spent over three hours alone walking dead end back alleys because he thought they were 'short-cuts'!"

"In my defense." I retorted "Some of them were"

"Quiet!" Weiss hissed at me, before turning back to Blake. "After all we had to go through to find you, there's only one thing I want."

Weiss put both of her hands on Blake's shoulders. The newly revealed faunus went wide eyed. Her back was facing the edge of the roof, now more than a few feet away. No doubt she was worried about Weiss demonstrating the painful effects gravity can have on the mortal frame.

"H-hey-" Monkey boy said "Just hold on-"

Weiss Pushed Blake, just hard enough so she would sit down.

"I want you to explain everything, now." Weiss said angrily

Blake blinked and stared at Weiss as she took a few steps back and sat on the roof in front of her.

"… huh?" Blake reiterated

Weiss sighed "I promised to hear your side of things before passing judgement. After all we went through to find you, I almost don't care anymore. So spill, I'm waiting."

Blake stared wide eyed at Weiss, clearly taken aback by the change of heart.

"… Same here." I agreed taking a seat next to Weiss. "Let's see what wisdom you can pass to us."

We were soon joined by Ruby, Yang, and Penny. Blake stared awkwardly at Penny for a moment. Then she extended that look to the rest of us.

"… Well?" Weiss asked "We're waiting."

Monkey boy sat up and faced all of us. He gave Blake a pat on the shoulder for encouragement and she took a deep breath.

"Where should I start?"

…

Blake gave us the redacted version of things. She told us about how she came to be a part of the White Fang. How they weren't always a group of fanatical nut jobs, but were once a peaceful religious organization. How she'd been with them since childhood and had been around for every rally. Trying to find a peaceful way to get the faunus to be respected. How she had joined up when things started turning violent, thinking it would earn that respect faster. How instead, it only made them more feared and reviled. All of it culminating in her realizing it wasn't right and choosing to leave the White Fang instead of continue with it. How she, instead, chose to take her skills and use them for something that would benefit everyone, becoming a huntress.

When she finished she looked to the roof, chastised and fearful. With good reason. She'd laid all of her cards on the table just now and was worried what our reactions would be.

"That's… um… wow." Yang said

"No kidding." I agreed

"And here I am, hiding in plain sight with the help of a little black bow."

Blake's bow twitched back and forth. Something small clicked in my head.

"Oh! So that's why it always looked like it was moving."

Blake gave a bitter chuckle. "So. What happens now?"

"Now?" Weiss asked "Now… I don't care."

Blake looked up at Weiss, the surprise clear on her face.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"N-no, I haven't been since-"

"Then I don't care." Weiss interrupted "That's not who you are now. All I want now, is to know that when something like this comes up, you'll come to us and not some…"

Weiss gave monkey boy a glare. During her explanation, he'd been introduced as Sun Wukong.

"… Someone else."

Blake looked at the five of us. For the first time in memory since we'd all met, she smiled. It was small and sad, but there was a happiness to it.

"Of course." Blake answered

Now it was snowflake's turn to smile. Today was just full of surprises.

"… Yeah!" Ruby shouted exuberantly "Team RWBY is back together!"

"Hooray." I said flatly, twirling my finger in the air

"Now it's your turn." Weiss said, turning to me.

"My turn?"

"Yes. I believe you owe Blake an apology."

"An apology? what for? I haven't done anything worth regretting yet."

"You called the organization she grew up with the literal devil. I'm pretty sure that qualifies."

"Given there's nothing to disprove that yet, I'm not apologizing."

The goodwill Weiss built crumbled in the face of my obstinance.

"Six~" Ruby whined "We just patched things up, can't you just apologize?"

"No. Fact of the matter is, even if Blake isn't the problem, that doesn't mean the White Fang aren't. Especially when one of their members just admitted that they were a potential problem."

Blake glared at me, a little hurt. Her gaze shifted back to the roof.

"… Let me ask you something Blake. Do you think the White Fang is responsible for these robberies, and the murders that have come with them?"

"… No." Blake answered "Even after everything they've done. The White Fang would never resort to something like this."

"And there's the reason I won't apologize. In the end, you still believe the White Fang is innocent despite the evidence."

Blake continued to stare at the floor, pained. Sun started scowling at me, I could feel the rest of my team too. I think the only one who wasn't was Penny.

"… So how do you want to prove it?"

I felt the hostility start to melt away.

"… What?" Blake asked

"The White Fang, how do you want to prove they're innocent?"

Blake looked up from the roof and back to me.

"You said you don't want to believe it. Instead, you've come to the place most likely to be their next target. I'm guessing you're hoping that if you catch whoever is doing it, it'll give you some kind of closure, right?"

Blake stared at me for a moment, then nodded.

"So. Just to prove they aren't the villains everyone thinks they are, you're willing to risk your personal safety. Potentially getting yourself killed, just to prove they aren't responsible… you honestly believe it isn't them?"

Blake nodded again.

"… Aight, I'm in."

"… what?" Blake asked

"I'm in. You want to prove me wrong? I'll gladly help you do it."

"You're changing your mind just like that?"

"No, but I'll listen to reason. I owe you a favor after all, so why not spend it having me prove myself wrong? Kind of like a karmic retribution or something."

"You'd… you'd do that?"

"Well why not? You're my teammate, why shouldn't I want to believe you?"

Everyone stared at me for a moment. Apparently they thought I wasn't willing to be proven wrong. Which is odd, you'd think I'd have given them a reason not to believe me.

"… ok." Blake said, a determined gleam in her golden eyes "As a favor, I want you to prove yourself wrong."

"Consider it done."

Before the words even left my mouth a tell tale grinding emanated from my pip-boy. Everyone took note of it.

I raised the block of steel up and scrolled through to the Data section. There was a new quest on the list.

What's New Pussy Cat

- Prove yourself wrong.

"Amazing!" Penny gasped over my shoulder

"If you think that's cool, it's also got radio."

I turned on the tunes and looked out over the Docks. The sun was still setting and things were still quiet. Only a little while longer 'till that changed, I could feel it. Nothing to do until then but kill time.

"So" I started "Anyone know any good stories?"