Team SRDS (Stardust)

Chapter 9: Vale... we meet again!

The same day,
18:03:45 hours, Beacon Academy docking area

Nothing. Embarrassing! Sigbjorn had said explicitly to Steele, grabbing him by the shoulders, his voice serious and cold as his red eyes bored into him. Well, so much for that. Steele had just finished exposing Blake Belladonna as a Faunus while they were acquiring a Bullhead to get to the Carnival.

"How did you know? Did my teammates tell you?" asked Blake with surprise written all over her face.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang shook their heads.

"No, just the way you tie your ribbon defies the laws of physics... it's hollow and yet it holds itself against gravity like that. Since most Faunus do not like exposure and they have their hybrid phenotypes expressed usually on their heads, I made an educated guess and it paid off," explained Steele as they seated themselves. "You should be familiar with our beliefs on Faunus after the incident in the Cafeteria though."

Blake's expression softened marginally and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, that's a relief," stated Yang from behind her amber-eyed friend as the Bullhead took off from the northern side of Campus.

As it flew over the cliffs, the City of Vale came closer and more into focus. Sanus had been experiencing the last days of monsoon as the winds carried the clouds to the eastern and northern Kingdoms of Atlas and Mantle. This resulted in less cloud cover, allowing the Hunters a picturesque, bird's eye view of the commercial and residential districts of Vale, separated by the northern harbour. The sight of the sunset painting the city in crimson hues served to refresh their minds.

"That's a sight to remember," Ross said as he whipped out his scroll and started taking pictures, making a mental note to draw the best ones later.

As he looked at the residential district, he remembered something.

"Hey Diamond, you contact Aunt Aurora yet?"

"Not yet. I'll do it when Sigbjorn stops remotely stopping all outgoing communication," said Diamond, squinting at Sigbjorn.

"You do know that the spooks over at the White Fang have been known to use those pings to track both you and the person you're talking to, right? I've been running a subroutine on all of your scrolls to make sure that they can't track you. Your communication is limited to the encrypted contacts, but this way we know our families are safe."

"Okay, okay, I got it," Diamond said, raising his hands.

"Wait, the White Fang?" Blake asked curiously and suspiciously. "You've seen them recently?"

"Nothing much, we helped Atlas' forces locate and take down some outposts they were setting up," Steele said. "Why do you ask?"

Blake tried searching for an apt response. She didn't find one.

"We intervened in a White Fang robbery of a Dust shipment last week," said Yang. "Guess you could say we've been keeping an eye out."

"Yeah, that's right," Weiss said. "We stopped it, but they managed to escape."

"Wasn't it... on the news?" Steele said with a hand on his chin.

"That was you guys? Cool!" Ross said, then turned to Yang. "I look forward to sparring with you sometime."

"Woah there, I might actually take you up on that challenge after seeing you in action today," Yang said with a grin. Ross smiled right back.

"I noticed that most people here already know each other," Diamond said. "You've begun sparring sessions as well. How long have you guys been here?"

"About a month," said Ruby.

"Judging by people's reactions to us arriving on campus, you don't usually get as many new students between semesters?"

"Ah, those were probably the second-years," Yang replied. "The Vytal Festival is happening in Vale this year, so we've been slowly getting transfer students from different Academies."

"Ohh," Ross said, nodding slowly. "Is this Carnival linked to that?"

"Yep! There 's going to be lots of events leading up to the Festival, and the Carnival is the first of them," said Ruby. "It's supposed to set the tone for the Festival and last until it ends."

"Essentially, there'll be performances, wares and food from all Kingdoms," said Weiss.

"Food from everywhere?"

"This sounds better and better by the minute!"

Sigbjorn and Ross grinned at each other.

"Anyway, you mentioned something about having family here?" Yang asked.

She noticed Steele's eyes widening, but he didn't say anything. Probably saw something interesting down below.

"Steele and I do," Diamond said. "He's a native while I... well I was born in Mistral, but I've spent most of my childhood here. Are any of you locals?"

"Sure are!" Yang grinned as she wrapped her arm around her younger sister's neck. "We grew up on Patch, but we've been here enough times to get acquainted with the city."

"Quit it!" Ruby said, trying unsuccessfully to move Yang's arm, much to everyone else's amusement.

"Really, why? I can't see the arm in this!" Yang said with a wink.

"Yang Xiao Long, do not you dare begin your stupid jokes on this otherwise wonderful evening!" Weiss warned.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll-"

"Looks like this is our stop," Sigbjorn said as the Bullhead touched down at the edge of a park, close to a street. Even from inside, he could see flyers directing pedestrians to the Carnival. He subconsciously waited for his teammates to get off the vehicle before doing so himself.

"Looks like we're within walking distance," Steele said.

"Neat. Let's go," Sigbjorn said, looking around at the City of Vale. It had been some time since they were last here. The familiar sights of blocky buildings and wide streets invigorated the group as they moved with increasing enthusiasm towards the Carnival.