I'm back! It's been a long while, but I'm happy to say that I will be starting to write again. I took a break due to life happening, graduating, job hunting, all sorts of stuff. I even re-wrote the first two chapters of Beacon of Hope. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Anyways, I appreciate everyone's patience and support. It really feels good to write again! I hope that you all like this new addition to the Beacon of Hope series!
Chapter 1: A New Day
"So tell me, Lance. How did you sustain those injuries the night you were in the infirmary?" Ozpin asked. He took a sip of his coffee afterwards.
Lance looked past him, out towards the giant window and the entire school beyond. He never grew tired of the view. He continued to stand there gazing at the view. He turned his attention to Ozpin, answer at the ready.
"I think you know what we were doing, don't you?" Lance asked.
Ozpin smirked at his response.
"Only slightly. I merely have an idea. If you don't wish to talk, that is fine. I understand your secrecy. Just know that I'm here to talk if you need it."
Lance looked down at the desk in front of him.
"I'm sorry, Ozpin. It's just-" Lance was cut off by Ozpin holding up a hand.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you have your reasons. I trust you, Lance. If, and or when, you feel like talking. I'll be here."
Lance just nodded, unsure of Ozpin's relaxed attitude towards the situation.
"I'm sure we'll talk later. For now I have business to attend to, and I'm sure you have studies to do."
"Yeah… Thanks Ozpin."
Lance snapped out of his recent memories and back into class. He looked over to his right to see Ruby sitting next to him, followed by the rest of his team. The class room had bleacher like seats that lined an arena. Lance found it familiar. He was in a similar room when he had his fight with Cardin and his team. That felt like forever ago since that fight. Lance looked on now, as team CRDL walked onto the arena.
"This fight's gonna be good!" Ruby said.
"Who's going up against these guys?" Lance asked.
"Pyrrha!"
Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Just Pyrrha?" He asked.
Ruby nodded, clearly excited about the imminent fight.
"This'll be something," Lance said, noticing that Pyrrha was just walking into the arena.
Both sides took up fighting positions. Without warning, team CRDL charged at her.
The fight was heated, but it was obvious who was winning. Team CRDL couldn't land a blow on her. She fought with grace and efficiency, but that's to be expected with Pyrrha.
"And that's the match," Glynda said, walking onto the arena.
"Lucky shot…" Cardin said, as he collapsed from his kneeling position.
"Well done miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," Glynda said.
"Thank you, professor," Pyrrha said.
"Now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers? Miss Belladonna?"
At her name being called she closed her book, snapping to attention.
"You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-" Glynda's sentence was cut off by a student with dark gray hair raising his hand.
"I'll do it."
"Mercury, is it? Very well. Let's find you an opponent," Glynda said, turning to her tablet.
"Actually, I wanna fiiiight… Her," Mercury said, pointing to Pyrrha.
"Me?" Pyrrha said.
"I'm afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished a match. I recommend you choose another partner," Glynda said.
"No, it's fine. I'd be happy to oblige."
Mercury joined Pyrrha on the arena. Both took fighting stances. They stared each other down, but Mercury made the first move, rushing towards Pyrrha. He unleashed a kick that Pyrrha met with her shield. With her blade, she swept his other leg out from under him. He wasn't on the ground for long. He spun up and flipped away.
This time Pyrrha was the one to go on the offensive. They unleashed blow after blow, each blocking and trying to attack. Pyrrha brute forced her way through his defenses in a single shield bash that pushed him across the arena.
"Hey, your friend is doing pretty good," Ruby said, turning back to a green haired girl.
Lance just watched on, captivated by the match.
Mercury shot up into the air to unleash another barrage of kicks. Pyrrha blocked or dodged the kicks. Mercury's assault lasted for some time, Pyrrha keeping up with the kicks all the while, but eventually her sword was kicked away out of her hand.
After a brief pause, he unleashed a roundhouse kick that narrowly missed her. She then rushed to grab her sword. She began to charge her opponent, but he jumped and kicked off of her shield, landing at the edge of the arena.
She pursued her enemy, ready to strike. Although, before she even made it halfway to him, he turned back to Glynda.
"I forfeit."
Pyrrha's momentum carried her past her opponent.
"You don't even want to try?" She asked.
"What's the point? You're a world renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart."
"In that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match. Again. Next time you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent," Glynda said.
"I'll be sure to do that," Mercury said, walking off towards the locker rooms.
The bell for the class rang.
"That is all for today. And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses," Glydna said as the class was leaving.
Lance followed his team out of the classroom. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of his first mission. That and the dance the day before it. He continued following his team, lost in thought. As they walked on though, they all stopped. They were all looking back at Blake who was talking to Sun. He looked back as well.
"So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend. Sounds pretty lame, but you and me I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?" Sun said.
"What?" Blake asked.
The dance! This weekend! You wanna go or what?" Sun said, a smile on his face.
"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I thought you of all people would get that."
With that, Blake walked off, ahead of her team as well, who just stood there.
"I'm gonna go talk to Sun," Lance said.
"That seems like a good idea," Ruby said. She looked off in the direction Blake walked off on.
"She'll be okay. Just… give her time, huh?" Yang said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"It'll be okay," Lance said as well. "I'm gonna go. I'll catch you guys later," he said, walking towards Sun, who was already about to walk away.
"Hey, Sun," Lance said, catching up to him.
"Oh, hey Lance. How's it going?"
"I'm doing well enough. How are you? I mean that whole Blake thing…"
"Oh, that. She's been under a lot of stress. That detective work we just did didn't seem to help as much as we'd thought. I'm sure she'll come around though."
"Still, I'm sorry about that."
Lance looked back to the direction Blake and the rest of his team walked off in.
"I'm sure you're right about her coming around. Besides, if she won't I'll do what I can to help her. I'm sure same goes for the rest of the team too."
Sun smiled, "Same here. Don't worry too much about me though."
"If you say so," Lance said, smiling as well.
"Thanks for checking up on me, but I think there's someone else who might need a fellow teammate to check up on her," he said, nodding his head in the direction Blake walked away.
"You're right. I'll see ya later, Sun."
"Sure thing, dude," Sun said, giving a wave as Lance left.
"Hey, Blake," Lance said.
"Hm?"
Lance leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Well… We've all noticed that you're not quite yourself and we think that you should go to the dance."
"You what!?"
"We want you to go to the dance," Ruby said.
"That's ridiculous."
"Blake, we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head," Yang said.
"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest your grades have been suffering," Weiss chimed in as well.
"You think I care about grades? People's lives are at stake!" Blake retorted.
"We know. And we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to," Yang said.
"Thanks to you and Sun, we know they're operating somewhere outside of South East Vale," Ruby said.
"Yeah! We're that much closer to finding out what's all going on and taking down Torchwick," Lance said.
"Also, the Schnee company records singled out Vale as the primary target for dust robberies over the last few months," Weiss added.
"Don't forget about their missing military tech too," Yang said.
"But there are still unanswered questions," Blake said.
"Blake, you won't be able to find anything if you can't keep your eyes open," Ruby said.
"All we're asking is that you take it easy for one day," Yang said, holding up a finger.
"It'll be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it," Weiss chimed in.
"Yeah, we're planning the whole event!"
"Wait, really? This is the first I've heard of it! That's awesome!" Lance said.
"Team CVFY's away mission lasted longer than expected."
"So Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now I can make sure that you guys all have the perfect night," Yang said.
"And once it's all over we'll return to our search. Rested and ready," Weiss said, smile on her face.
"So, what do you think?" Ruby asked.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Blake. She closed her eyes and her head turned down.
"I think this is a colossal waste of time."
She got up, starting to leave. She made it to the door and opened it.
"I'll be in the library."
With that she left. Closing the door behind her.
Yang let out a sigh.
"Great…"
"She can't keep going like this," Weiss said.
"We just need to stay positive. I'm sure that eventually she'll-" Lance said, before getting cut off by a knock on the door.
Weiss got up from her seat on the bed to go and answer it. When she opened the door, all Lance heard was the sound of a guitar. Lance, Ruby, and Yang all got up to see who it was.
"Weiiiiiissss!" Sung Jaune.
He strummed the same chord a few more times before raising his fist in the air and winking at Weiss.
Weiss then closed the door on his face, crossing her arms afterwards. She had an annoyed expression on her face.
Knocking returned to the door.
"Weiss?"
More knocks. A hand raised over Weiss's face.
"Oh, come on…Open the door… I promise not to sing."
She stood there for a short time before caving and opening the door once again.
"I liiiieeed!" Jaune sung.
There was a pause in the singing. During the pause, the hand that left Weiss's face returned.
"Weiss Schnee. Will you accompany me? To the daaance oooon!" He paused, looking away for a second.
"Sundaayyyyy!" He finished.
"Are you done?"
"Yes?"
"No."
The door was shut in Jaune's face again.
Everyone stared at Weiss.
"What?"
"And that's why they call you the ice queen," Yang said.
"All my life boys have only cared about the perks of my last name. Besides, I already have a date in mind."
"Still Weiss. That was just… Cold," Lance said, only half joking.
"Quiet you!"
"Date or no date, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go," Ruby said.
A silence came over the room between them all. Lance looked out the open window, into the night sky. He walked over and rested his hands on the window sill.
"Ruby's right," Lance said.
"We'll get her to come around though. I'm sure of it." He said, turning around, grin on his face.