Tannum "Cooper" Oakwood
-----
When Cooper agreed to join Roderick and Stiofan on their venture to Vale with Team RWBY, he assumed they'd be skipping through the streets and walking into shops, places where he could take a looky and admire the wares.
But nooooo.
Of all the places to choose, it had to be the docks. The bloody docks for crying out loud! What was so special about the daft place like the docks? Yes, precious cargo snoozed inside those shipping containers. It took time and precaution to get into those which was impossible to do with six people around him in the light of day.
Roderick bumped him with an elbow. "Hey, man, you okay?"
"Fantastic, mate," Cooper said with a tid bit of spite. "Thought we came here for fun."
He scratched his cheek. "Well. . ."
"Let me guess." He flicked a finger at the little girl in white strutting ahead. "The walking snowflake?"
"Whatever frosty says, Stiofan does." Roderick sighed and puffed his cheeks. "I would've said something, but I didn't want to ruin the mood."
It would be a shame. Both the heiress and her lap dog were basically hand in hand, beaming brighter than he's ever seen them before. Who would have the heart to mess with that?
"The Vytal Festival!" Weiss skipped past the banner being raised over the street. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby shuttered. "It's kinda weirding me out."
"How could you not smile?" She clasped her hands and stars twinkled in her eyes. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world. There will be dances, parades, a tournament. Oh, the planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"
If Cooper's old self was attending, then the event would've been breathtakingly bad for everyone's pockets.
Sometimes he missed being a thief.
Parked off to the side of the street, they passed by a chain of police cruisers. Cooper lowered his cap and stuck close behind the group.
Yang groaned and shook her noggin. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."
"Quiet you," said Weiss.
When they finally arrived at the docks, Cooper pinched his nose shut, blocking the overwhelming vapours of fresh fish and sea salt from killing him on the spot.
The others grumbled their disapproval except for Blake. She never said a word, though the lick of her lips was a tell tale sign. None too surprising considering she's part cat. The innocent accessories, the discomfort on their faces, and the subtle twitches in odd areas that shouldn't be moving. He's seen enough Faunus trying to hide their animal traits to spot them in an instant, and being the gentleman he was, his lips were zipped. She never showed her identity for a reason, and the inner gambler inside him said kitty ears wiggled underneath that bow.
"Remind me," Yang said and combed the imaginary dock gunk in her hair, "why we're spending our Friday afternoon at the stupid docks?"
"I heard the students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss straightened and touched her chest. "And as a representative of Beacon, it's my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."
"Liar," Cooper said.
She stomped the ground. "Am not!"
Blake rolled her eyes. "She wants to spy on them so she could have the upper hand in the tournament."
"You can't prove that."
Cooper grinned. "Isn't honesty a fickle thing?"
Roderick snorted.
"Whoa." Ruby stared at a busted shop across the street with that funny yellow tape and a quarter of the police department crawling around it. She drifted over and everyone followed her towards a detective scribbling on a notepad. "What happened here?"
It would've been out of place if Cooper didn't join them, so he made doubly sure to stay out of view of the people who dreamed of tossing him in the slammer.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week," the detective said and joined another detective by a shattered window. "This place is turning into a jungle."
"They left all the money again," said the second detective.
"It doesn't make a lick of sense," said the first detective. "Who needs that much Dust?"
"Probably some low life trying to make a quick score."
"You thinking the White Fang?"
"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."
Cooper wrinkled his nose at the mention of the White Fang. He didn't have any particular feeling towards them, but back in the day, they were either competition or target to loot. Cheeky buggers always were good at hoarding Dust. Had to put them in their place once by sneaking into one of their bases and hijacking a bullhead with a mother load of the fun stuff.
Oh, good times.
"Hmph." Weiss examined her nails. "The White Fang; what an awful bunch of degenerates."
Blake shot daggers. "What's your problem?"
"My problem?" She shrugged and waved a hand. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Her voice went up a notch. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
"Misguided?!" Weiss stared as if Blake broke into a random jig. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet."
A funny feeling in the air made things rather awkward for everyone present, and Cooper stepped away from Stiofan. The obedient dog was a bite away from becoming a vicious hound.
"Then they're very misguided." Blake huffed and crossed her arms. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."
"Blake's got a point." Ruby cupped her chin. "Besides, they never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. . . Maybe it was him."
Cooper's tail sprang at attention. He heard that flamboyant wanker was in town. Roman Torchwick might be greedy, but he isn't stupid. There's no reason for him to go around nabbing every shred of Dust in Vale, and if he does, then there must be a bloody good excuse.
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are still a bunch of scum." Weiss spat each word as they left a bad taste in her gob. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."
Sheesh. For a little girl, she hits hard. Those three words were Cooper's life in a nutshell.
Yang grimaced. "That's not necessarily true."
"Hey, stop that Faunus!" said someone from the docks.
Cooper and the others rushed back, spotting a monkey tailed Faunus with blonde hair in an unbuttoned shirt, hanging upside down from a lamppost. Police officers gave chase, but he hopped away and made sure to give Blake a wink as he passed them by.
"Well, Weiss," Yang said, "you wanted to see the competition and there it goes. . ."
Weiss put her rump into gear. "Quick, we have to observe him!"
They stayed on the monkey's tail for a few blocks until Weiss turned the corner and bulldozed someone to the ground.
The target scaled several buildings, escaping.
"No!" Weiss said and reached for him. "He got away!"
"Uhhhh," Yang pointed down, "Weiss. . ."
She glanced at the curly haired, ginger gal smiling beneath her, yelped, and jumped to her feet.
The gal on the floor waved at them like it was the most natural thing to do. "Salutations!"
Ruby waved back. "Um. . . hello?"
"Yeah, uh. . . hi?" said Roderick.
Yang pursed her lips. "Are you. . . okay?"
"I'm wonderful," said the gal, still prone on the ground. "Thank you for asking."
Everyone exchanged glances and silently agreed she was definitely not okay.
Yang forced a smile. "Do you. . . want to get up?"
She took a moment to think. "Yes."
Stiofan knelt down and offered his hand. "Allow me to assist you."
"Why, yes, of course." She sprung to her feet without touching his hand. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
They took a literal step back and poor Stiofan froze, flustered and confused.
Penny was a short gal, though not as tiny compared to Ruby or Weiss. She wore a simple blouse, grey overalls with green lining, and a pink bow that sat close to the back of her noggin. The weird part were her stockings with the neon streaks that glowed on and off every few seconds for some reason. A sleek rucksack was also on her back, but there were no visible zippers or pockets.
"Hi, Penny. I'm Ruby."
"I'm Weiss."
"Roderick."
"Blake."
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake smacked the blonde's ribs. "Oh, I'm Yang."
"Tannum at your service, though, you may call me Cooper." He pointed at his teammate. "That's Stephen Doa Finn, by the way."
"Stiofan Ua Binn, actually." He rose and adjusted his vest. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Penny."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" said Penny.
Weiss' eye twitched. "You already said that."
Her face slackened. "So I did."
A moment of silence passed without anyone saying a thing.
"Well," Weiss spun and the others followed heel, "sorry for running into you."
Ruby waved. "Take care, friend."
"Did anyone else think she was a little weird?" Roderick said.
All noggins nodded in agreement.
"Now," Weiss scanned the area, "where did that Faunus riff-raff go?"
Penny popped in front of them, a wild look in her bright green eyes. "What did you call me?"
They hit the brakes.
Roderick threw a reflex punch Penny nonchalantly ducked, and Weiss looked back and forth between them in complete disbelief.
Penny clamped Ruby's shoulders. "You. . ."
Ruby squeaked. "Me?!"
Penny continued to lean closer as Ruby rambled nonsense while leaning so far back it looked as if she were playing imaginary limbo.
"You called me ' friend.' " The ginger gal's eye twitched. "Am I really your friend?"
Ruby glanced at the negative signals her team sent over from behind Penny. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
They face planted on the pavement, and Cooper shared a chuckle with his team.
"Sensational!"
Penny giggled, did a double fist pump, and went on about doing fun things girls did together like painting nails, trying on clothes, and talking about cute boys.
Yang picked herself up. "Sooo. . . what are you doing in Vale?"
"I'm here to fight in the tournament."
Everyone's eyes popped out of their sockets.
This odd gal was going to compete in the Vytal Festival Tournament? Only the best from Remnant's four huntsman academies can qualify to enter, and none of them are pushovers. If that's the case, Penny's an aspiring student who already earned a spot and is fully capable of roughing hooligans at will.
"Wait," Weiss stared dubiously, "you're fighting in the tournament?"
Penny saluted. "I'm combat ready!"
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."
Blake scoffed. "Says the girl wearing the dress."
Weiss scoffed and flaunted her clothes. "It's a combat skirt."
Ruby whizzed to her side. "Yeah!"
They low fived without looking.
"Wait a minute." The heiress approached Penny. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"
"The who?"
Weiss pulled a pencil and paper from somewhere and made a crude drawing of him. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Stop calling him that!" Blake said, redder than a tomato. "Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." She flourished high-class sarcasm and gestured to different objects. "You'd like me to stop referring to this trash can as a trash can or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"Stop it!"
Cooper slapped a hand against his face. Are they really doing this again? All this bickering wasn't good for his ears.
The heiress threw her arms wide. "Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time and he'll probably join those other Faunus in the White Fang."
Blake suppressed a scream and stormed away. "You ignorant little brat!"
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Weiss chased after her. "I am your teammate!"
"Enough," Stiofan said, dead set on Blake like one his spears and prepared to execute on a moment's whim.
Cooper's rump clenched.
Sheesh. Talk about scary. If this was what happened when Stiofan got angry, thank the lucky stars Cooper never poked at his bad side.
"I believe it is time to give it a rest, the both of you," he continued.
Blake paled, and even Weiss was taken by surprise. Either way, they both shut their gobs and bitterly obeyed his command.
"I think we should probably go," Yang said and awkwardly glanced between her teammates.
Penny peeked over Ruby's shoulder. "Where are we going?"
As Yang and Ruby tried to explain to Penny they were leaving without her in the nicest way possible, Cooper shuffled out of the deadly field surrounding Stiofan and watched Roderick contemplate whether to run in the opposite direction or not.
Hopefully, this was the last of it, right?
-----
Stiofan Ua Binn
-----
Despite how much he wished to drive a spear through the wall, Stiofan stayed his hand and did his best to ignore the provocation taunting him from the other room.
Lady Weiss' argument with the Faunus of Black didn't end in Vale. It continued the moment their teams parted ways upon their return to Beacon, evident by how the voices of the ladies in question bled through the thin walls of the dormitory.
Stiofan made sure to keep his ears well open, absorbing everything the argument was worth.
"Well, this is bloody fantastic." Cooper stuffed a pillow over his head. "When are they going to stop? Who knows how long they've been running their gobs?"
Seated at his desk furthest from the wall separating them from Team RWBY, Roderick folded over.
"We just have to brave it out," he said. "I think they're almost done."
"You said the same thing an hour ago, mate." He groaned and glared at the ceiling. "What is this even all about? We went to Vale to scout other competitors in the tournament. How did it turn into a debate about the White Fang of all things?"
"They weren't always bad, remember?" Roderick said. "All I know is that they were a peaceful group before going rogue some years ago. Never really thought much about it until now. By the way, I got headphones you can use if you want. Just give me a second to find them."
"No need." Cooper sat up and hung his feet off the side of the bed. "I've had my fair share of tongue lashes to last a lifetime. So, if that's all Snow White has to say about the Faunus, then she better bring a blizzard to chill my armour."
Roderick stared in pity, and Stiofan's heart ached. He could only imagine the tribulations forced upon his teammate simply because he had a tail.
The Faunus' jaw tightened ever so slightly. "Be back. Just need some fresh air."
The door closed behind him, and the room returned to a noisy silence. Roderick rose, but Stiofan stopped him there. The growing intensity of the argument next door did them no favours.
"Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Roderick said.
Stiofan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I believe so. He's Cooper after all. A man such as himself is stronger than he appears to be."
"I just hope I'm strong enough to see the end of this." Roderick hummed and gave him a concerning eye. "How about you? You've been quiet ever since we got back. To be honest, it's kinda freaky."
"I'm fine," he said and drew a long breath. "Just collecting my thoughts on the matter."
"Tell me all about it." He pulled up a chair beside him. "Come on. I need a distraction."
The last thing Stiofan required was a distraction. Emotions were charged and set to an all time high in the next room over. He had to be prepared to jump over at a moment's notice in case the argument extended to the fist.
"Apologies," Stiofan said and pictured the Faunus of Black cowering on the ground before him. "But I must refuse."
Roderick chuckled and scratched his cheek. "Why don't you tell me how you feel about the White Fang then?"
"I loathe them."
He flinched. "Is that what your gut tells you?"
"My gut?"
"Yeah. That's how I get through life. It's easy. Just watch what both sides put on the table." He leaned back and laced his hands behind his head. "Understand where they're coming from, and go with what you feel is right, you know? Weiss has a point, but I also trust Blake sees something the rest of us don't." Roderick met Stiofan's eyes. "She's a good person because of it."
Stiofan gritted his teeth.
Was Roderick fooled by the Faunus of Black? If so, then it's possible others have been affected as well. Who else does she have her vile claws dug into?
"Just because people fight for the White Fang, it doesn't mean every one of them is bad." Roderick sighed. "I don't blame them. It's not their fault, really. After being treated the way they were for so long, it's obvious they'd get pretty pissed off."
That was hard to argue.
True, not every Faunus were monsters. It was only a matter of time before they succumbed to rage due to human cruelty driving them over the edge. The science was simple: applying pressure on something in a contained environment it is bound to explode, always in a violent manner.
Then there were Schnees, the very family he's sworn his life to protect.
Stiofan was no fool.
The Schnee Dust Company was not perfect, frolicking with scum to flatter their insatiable greed. Unjust treatment towards their own Faunus labour forces, shaking hands with dubious business partners, and suspicious tasks given to veteran First Guards that were more than they seemed. Actions like those are what placed the SDC underneath a microscope, and it became one of the many major catalysts that caused the White Fang to become what it is to this day.
"You are not wrong," said Stiofan. "However, I cannot ignore they are still a danger to us all, and this conflict will never end without either side causing a mess."
"You can say that again, but guess what? If you ever mess up, count on me to be there to help clean it up." Roderick chuckled and tapped his chest. "I'll always have your back."
The surprising declaration momentarily quelled Stiofan's frustrations. His partner's golden eyes were bright, strong. Deceit did not lag its meaning nor hesitation quiver his voice.
The declaration was true, and he couldn't begin to fathom how pleasant that was to hear.
"Roderick, I don't know what to say."
He shrugged. " 'We're bound from this day to our last,' right partner?"
To think he remembered what he'd said to him the day they met in the Emerald Forest. How delightful.
"Very well, partner." He held his leader in a new light. "If I'm ever in a bind or stray off the wrong path, I will rely on you to see me through."
Roderick smirked and extended his fist. "And I you."
They bumped knuckles, solidifying their partnership.
From the other side of the wall, Lady Weiss released the floodgates, piling the terrors befalling the SDC and her family. Years of violent wars with the White Fang, board member executions, family friends suddenly disappearing, and targets painted on each Schnee's back, especially her late grandfather the founder of the company itself.
Stiofan drew closer to the wall.
"No!" Weiss' voice pierced his eardrum. "Do you wanna know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
"Well, maybe we're tired of being pushed around!" said the Faunus of Black.
Stiofan withheld a gasp, and his muscles tensed at the sudden hush. Team RWBY's door banged shut and rapid footsteps ripped down the hall.
"What was that sound?" Roderick jumped to his feet. "Should we check on them?"
The singular declaration of true allegiances pounded on Stiofan's skull, finally confirming his entire suspicion. The Faunus of Black was full of nothing except deceit, far from decent let alone good in nature. The truce was broken, and if his memory remembered correctly, he had a vow to uphold.
"Indeed, we should," said Stiofan. "It's like you said: I feel it in my gut."