A/N: Hey there! This story builds off of a previous one-shot of mine called Retired. I highly suggest you read it first, but it's not a requirement really.
Standard Disclaimer: All rights belong to those whose rights they belong to, primarily the glorious minds at Rooster Teeth, though quite namely not me. Don't own a thing.
Pearls on a String
Volume 1
Chapter 1: History
Undisclosed Location
"My Lord," the scientist called out in a hesitant, wavering voice from the doorway. "The latest results are in."
Across the cavernous and darkened study, a broad-shouldered man sat behind an ornate desk. His chest was illuminated by the dim screen in front of him, showing the top part of an expensive silken three-piece suit, white dress shirt, and dark red tie. From his neck up, though, he was wreathed in shadows.
"Yes, Doctor," he replied sonorously. "Do come in."
"Thank you, My Lord," the man in the white lab coat replied eagerly, his earlier hesitation forgotten. He scurried forth, placing his scroll on the desktop and linking with his employer's display. "As you can see," he continued, "the latest batch has responded even better, their power increasing threefold. This is terribly exciting!"
"Yes, yes it is… Tell me, Doctor, do you believe we are ready for field testing?"
The scientist scrunched up his face and rubbed his hand over his bald pate. "Do… Do you think your little, er, friend can handle things?"
"Oh, don't you worry about Whisper," the suited man assured him with a mild chuckle. "She'll do her part. I want to know if you believe the tech is ready."
"Er… Yes, My Lord, I do believe we are ready."
The shadowy man leaned forward ever so slightly. Above the glimmer of white teeth bared in a feral grin were a pair of glittering pale green eyes.
"Excellent."
Beacon Academy
Friday Morning
Pippin Cerise was not one to often pause for reflection. However, with the semester they'd had, it seemed to be an opportune time to do so, even though she was standing motionless in the center of the grandiose lobby for the Huntsman Academy of Beacon.
She was in her second year now as leader for Team PERL, and she hoped that she'd picked up a few things along the way. The tall, rangy blonde was certainly less brash than when she first arrived, and her confidence levels had soared to new heights. At first she thought the headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, had more than a few shards of Dust loose in his chamber when he selected her as team leader. What business did a gangly orphan girl have being in charge of people, especially the peculiar group of misfits she'd been saddled with?
But a year and a half had certainly changed Pip's viewpoint. Those other three girls had become something akin to the family she'd never had. They had entrusted their lives to each other time and time again until they became one of the top teams in Beacon, not just in their class year but out of all students.
Pip knew, though, that some of that success could be attributed to the brief but memorable mentorship of one particularly legendary figure.
Her pale red eyes were affixed upon the large red weapon that adorned the upper wall of the academy's foyer. It was extended into its scythe form, and even though many students passing by spared it a glance, few held it in such special regard as Pip and her teammates.
The renowned Crescent Rose.
"Never stop moving forward," Pip murmured quietly as she ignored the bustle of students moving around her like a school of fish. The next class would start soon, but she was in no hurry just yet. "Thanks again for everything, Ruby. We'll never forget you."
"No, we shall not," a lightly accented voice spoke up from the blonde's elbow. She allowed herself a soft smile before glancing back at her teammate.
Lustre Bijou was dressed in her school uniform today as she was not scheduled to fight in the next class, her somewhat-non-regulatory white knee socks contrasting sharply with her dark skin. Her friend ran a manicured hand through her perpetually-messy silver hair and glanced at Pip with a knowing look in her ice-blue eyes.
"Don't you have a fight to prepare for?" Lustre queried wryly.
Pip peered down at her own attire, her usual silver armor with red highlights strapped over a matching set of white crop top and tight shorts, showing off her lean, muscular, and tanned limbs. The outfit was completed by a pair of dark red combat boots. Her emblem, three concentric red flames, was embossed on the upper left of her breastplate as well as on her shorts over her right hip.
"Yeah, I'm as ready as I need to be," she replied with a smirk. "I mean, it's only Bean."
"Who despises you," the silver-haired girl retorted softly, giving one last meaningful glance up at the weapon before taking her team leader by the elbow, steering them towards Professor Lazuli's combat class. "I do believe he will be taking this far more seriously than you are."
The tall blonde shrugged carelessly. "Eh, let him. Makes it all the sweeter when I crush his hopes."
A laugh that sounded like wind chimes sounded from behind them. "You're incorrigible," another familiar voice called out. Pip turned to grin at her partner, Evelyn Black. The Faunus was also in her school uniform, foregoing any sort of stocking or sock as she preferred the feeling of air on her legs, the subject of which was the object of much needling by the lanky blonde. Her black tail, matching both her ponytailed hair and the ears on the top of her head, poked out from under her skirt like an inquisitive appendage testing the air for scents.
"Guilty as charged," Pip grinned. She perked up when she spotted the fourth member of their team, Radiance Beryl, suited up in her blue armor that matched her chin-length hair. "Hey, Beryl, you're up today too?"
The short girl nodded amicably. "So long as you don't take too long wiping the floor with Bean."
Pip snorted as the four friends resumed their trek. "Not a chance, but I might make it at least a bit entertaining."
"Hmm," Evie mused humorously. "If I knew there'd be a show I would have brought snacks."
"I have some in my bag I can share," Lustre interjected, giving the cat Faunus a bump with her shoulder.
"Oh, no you don't," the raven-haired girl replied, hands upraised. She backed away with a horrified look on her face, her ears twitching furiously. "Last time you shared they were some kind of Wasabi peas that burned a hole in my esophagus!"
The silver-haired girl rolled her eyes humorously. "Lightweight," she sighed dramatically. "And you exaggerate, they were not nearly as bad as you describe."
"Not as bad as the ghost pepper chocolate, I'm sure," Beryl muttered. "I think I used an entire bottle of antacid from one measly square."
"Honestly, Lustre, how have your taste buds not completely singed off yet?" Pip snarked as they walked through the classroom doors. "Do you even taste your food?"
"Of course I do," Lustre protested loftily. "I simply have a more refined palate."
"Refined like lava," Evie snorted with an affectionate grin.
"Ladies!" a cheerful voice called out. "So good of you to join us!"
The four girls quickly ceased their bantering to regard the speaker. Professor Atticus Lazuli was perhaps one of the most understated combat instructors in the history of Beacon. He was of an unremarkable height with a shock of unkempt grey hair, sporting his usual outfit of a tweed jacket, complete with patched elbows, over a wrinkled white dress shirt, tan slacks, and brown work boots. His ever-present baton was in his hand, tapping idly against the other upraised palm.
"Um, sorry Professor!" Pip called out abashedly, having missed the fact that the bell for the class had already rung. "Lemme go get my weapon and we can start!"
"Yes, please do that, Miss Cerise," he replied as genially as always, using two fingers to push his spectacles back up on his hawkish nose. "And the rest of you, to your seats please, chop chop!"
The lanky blonde darted back into the locker room to fetch her pride and joy, Odachi Dahlia. The silver greatsword shone in the light, the cherry red highlights on it matching those on her armor. She gave it an experimental twirl before sheathing it on her back, striding into the recessed arena of the classroom with an anticipatory grin.
She stood at her end with her feet spread apart and arms crossed while Professor Lazuli reminded the class of the day's scheduled bouts. Her ears perked up at the mention of Beryl towards the end of the list, but her concentration remained on her opponent.
Pip let a slow smirk ease over her face as she noticed how agitated her opponent was today. Bean was a large boy, at odds with his seemingly-innocuous name, who wore a large chest piece and hefted a two-handed sword somewhat similar in style to Pip's beloved weapon.
Not that I'd ever compare that piece of junk to my baby, she scoffed to herself. What use is a sword that telescopes in length if you can't control it?
And that, of course, was the root of their rivalry. Bean had taken it upon himself as his mission during his tenure at Beacon to wipe the smug grin off of her face, or so he consistently proclaimed, after one too many mockings of his weapon of choice.
His record wasn't terribly stellar with making good on that boastful threat.
She registered the Professor announcing the start of the match, and with a widening of her smirk the blonde surged forward, her ropey muscles bunching as she drew her sword and threw herself into the attack.
Bean was anticipating the aggressive maneuver and twirled his sword in his large hands, extending it to a spear's length as he planted his feet to meet her charge. While she was a rather tall girl herself, her opponent had her beat by several inches both in height and reach.
Not that it ever did him any good.
Right before she collided with him, Pip dropped to her knees and slid in. She swatted up with Odachi Dahlia, sending his weapon off-kilter, and then her foot shot outwards to catch him on his shin.
With the speed of her momentum, he was unable to keep his footing and toppled over forward. Pip was quick to do a flip up and onto his back, knocking the air out of him as she swung her sword and activated her semblance.
A huntsman's semblance oftentimes can be a reflection of their personality, or perhaps their fighting style, though it could be argued that a person was more likely to tailor their fighting styles around their semblances rather than the other way around. In any case, Pip knew her fiery semblance was both reflective of her sometimes combustible temper as well as her oftentimes brash combat tactics.
Her sword glowed dully as her hands heated it up, and with a quick chop to her opponent's unprotected rear end she seared through his aura shielding and left a smoldering line across his backside.
Bean let out an anguished yelp as he rolled over, Pip leaping adroitly back with her customary smirk firmly in place. A buzzer sounded as Professor Lazuli called the match.
The rangy blonde cooled her sword off before sheathing it behind her again. "Are you ever not going to fall for that, Beanie?" she taunted as she strode off, her long blonde ponytail swishing behind.
She snickered to herself at the growled curses that the larger boy hurled at her back before the Professor stepped in to lecture him about sportsmanship.
Well, that was entertaining for me, at least, and now Beryl can get her fight in.
She returned Odachi Dahlia to her locker once more and ran up the steps towards her team, not bothering to change into her school uniform. She preferred her armor anyways, to be perfectly frank.
She was met with polite applause as her teammates did their best golf-clap.
"Bravo," Evie snarked. "Most impressive."
"Quite, quite," Beryl added, able to maintain her straightfaced visage better than the Faunus, whose tail was swishing back and forth behind her in amusement. "Do you take requests, my good lady?"
"Indeed," Lustre continued calmly. "The posterior placement was most intriguing. Do you have a name for such an audacious maneuver?"
Pip laughed as she took a deep bow, her hands sweeping to the side. "Thank you, thank you, performances are daily and right around this time, and yes I do take requests." She plopped down in between Lustre and Evie, throwing an arm around each one and pulling them in for a hug.
"As for that lovely little maneuver," she continued after her friends wriggled their way out of her enthusiastic embrace. "I think I'll call it… the 'Ass-Slapper'."
Beryl snorted out an inelegant laugh. "How poetic."
"I know, right?" Pip grinned.
"Better watch out though, Pip," her Faunus partner warned. "I think you might've crossed the line with Bean there." Evie's black-furred ears twitched on her head as she indicated where her previous opponent had now joined with his team, the four boys sending glowers her way.
"Pfft, like I'm worried," the blonde stated confidently. She leaned back on her elbows onto the bench behind them. "He's been mouthing off all semester, serves him right to be taken down a peg or two."
Beryl turned her attention to the center of the classroom as the next pair of combatants faced off. The diminutive blue-haired girl was diligent in observing other student's fighting styles, whether to pick up new moves that she or her teammates might use or in anticipation of facing them in the arena herself. Still, she wasn't able to let the topic rest just yet.
"One of these days it's gonna come back and bite you in the butt, you know," she commented softly.
Pip smiled at her friend's concern. The tiny girl, barely coming in at five-foot-even, was fiercely protective of her teammates. She was known to stand up to much larger opponents when her friends were threatened, even when grossly outmatched.
"That's why I have you guys, right?" the blonde returned. "Watching my back like always."
Beryl nodded, flicking her gaze towards her friend, her tan eyes sparkling with humor. "Yep, I'll make sure to let you know when it's getting bit."
"Very generous of you," Pip snickered. She elbowed Lustre who had resumed her reading now that her teammate was no longer engaged in combat. "So, babe, whatcha reading today?"
The silver-haired girl sighed good-naturedly. "It's a collection of stories about legendary huntsmen."
"Not a romance novel?" the blonde teased her gently.
"You know I do not read those," Lustre sighed again, resigned to yet another round of cajoling over her reading tastes. But then her ice-blue eyes lit up with inspiration. "Team Ruby is in this one."
"Really?" Pip asked excitedly, diverted from her earlier pestering by the mention of the famous Team RWBY. "Like, the whole team?"
Lustre nodded genially, noting that she had her other two teammate's attention as well. "It has some of their earlier exploits in here when they were still at Beacon, including both the Breach and the Event."
"Wow," Beryl breathed, the ongoing fight below forgotten. "Are you… almost done with it?"
"Nooo," Lustre drawled, smirking inwardly. "But I could be persuaded to read from it aloud, perhaps after dinner tonight." She glanced over to see matching eager grins on her three friends, and could no longer contain her smirk. "But only if you finish your schoolwork."
Pip laughed heartedly. "Nicely played, Lustre. Nicely played."
Their attention turned back to the floor as the match finished and Beryl's name was called out.
"Alright, babe, go get 'im," the blonde leader cheered. "Show no mercy!"
"Break some legs!" Evie added with a grin.
Lustre rolled her eyes. "I believe the saying goes, 'break a leg'."
"Where's the fun in that? Only one leg?" The Faunus scoffed lightly, her tail curling over to give Beryl a swat on the rear as she rose. "Break as many as you can, Beryl!"
The blue-haired girl smiled and nodded, but her head was turned so that Evie couldn't see the quick blush that spread across her cheeks from the brief contact. Pip, ever cognizant of her teammates, caught a glimpse of it and eyed her retreating back speculatively.
Why, Beryl, are you perchance crushing on my partner?
Her suspicions were confirmed when Beryl shot once last glance at their seats before disappearing through the doorway into the locker room. Pip noted that the look was aimed solely at the raven-haired Faunus.
Oh, Beryl, sweetie, she signed to herself. You set your hopes on someone like Evie, and you're just gonna get hurt in the end.
She didn't have a problem with inter-team romances, really, though she did know of the trouble it created in quite a few instances. One formerly close-knit team had quickly fallen to the lower rankings when the couple had broken up in a most non-amicable fashion. Now the two boys were constantly at one another's throats. It didn't help that one of them was the team leader.
But Pip knew her partner. If there was ever an embodiment of a free spirit, it was Evie. The Faunus girl could be prickly as a Ursa in heat sometimes, but under that gruff exterior was a warmth she allowed her friends to see. And she knew it was all too easy to be lulled into that warmth and mistake it for something else.
She resolved to keep an eye on things, but seeing as how the socially-shy Beryl had not yet made any overt moves, she didn't think she'd feel the need to intervene anytime soon.
The blue-armored teammate in question was now on the floor below their elevated seats, hefting her overly large color-matched shield in one hand, emblazoned with her emblem of a protection knot in a lighter blue, and her sword carbine in the other hand.
"She always looks so tiny from up here," Evie mused. "With that oversized shield of hers."
Pip gave her a sharp look at her seemingly offhand comment before chuckling. "Tiny but fierce," she replied.
The three of them watched avidly as the match started. Beryl's opponent, a boy with an oversized hammer, ran at the blue-haired girl who seemed content to hold her ground.
"What's with that hammer, anyways?" Pip queried. "Is he trying to pull a Valkyrie?" The term had been coined long ago for anyone who created a weapon solely to make the biggest impact possible, usually two-handed hammers, though it could be applied to axes as well. The huntress in question, the legendary Nora Valkyrie, did nothing to dissuade the term, and from what the rumors told, she actually found it to be pretty hilarious.
"Seems that way," Lustre murmured. "I think he's in for a surprise…"
They had all noticed by this point the blue glow that surrounded the petite girl as she activated her semblance. Once her feet were planted and her shield Dahl raised, Beryl simply could not be moved by any force they had yet encountered.
And certainly not by one mediocre hammer-wielder.
As the boy bounced unceremoniously off of the blue-haired girl from his ill-advised overhand strike, she twirled her sword, Shashka, in a tight circle to transform it into a compact carbine. She sent several shots into her hapless opponent's midsection, causing him to stumble. He recovered faster than they had expected, but Beryl was ready for it.
As he took another swing, sideways this time, Beryl deactivated her semblance and simply slipped under the hammer's arc as she stepped forward. With a fierce cry she stabbed her weapon, once again transformed into a longsword, straight into his already-weakened midsection. His eyes grew comically wide as he let out a whoosh of air before tumbling back bonelessly.
"And that is the match!" Professor Lazuli called out cheerfully. "Well done, Miss Beryl. Also, that will be the class for today, I don't think any of you would mind an early start to the weekend."
His announcement was met by several cheers, and he had to raise his voice to be heard over the commotion.
"Miss Beryl, Miss Cerise, Miss Black, and Miss Bijou, would you be so kind as to stay behind for a moment?"
Grinning, Pip led the others down to the floor. She paused to wrap her smallest teammate up in a quick hug.
"Nice job, babe!" she exulted. "Made quick work of that one!"
"Indeed, very nicely done," Lazuli commented, tapping his baton against his leg thoughtfully. "Still, you should not always rely on meeting the first charge with that oversized discus of yours, Miss Beryl." His baton twirled out to rap sharply against the shield now strapped to the blue-haired girl's back. "It makes you predictable."
"Yeah, that's true," Beryl replied with a solemn nod. "I'll work on varying my opening stance."
"Yes, you do that. Now, girls, you will all be pleased to note that yours is the only team of second year students qualified to enter the Vytal Festival Tournament this annum."
"We… we are?" Pip asked excitedly. She whirled around, grabbing her partner up in her arms and spinning her off of her feet. "We're in! We're in the tourney!"
"Will you set me down, please?" Evie grumped, though her words were laced with amusement. "Of course we got in!"
Beryl and Lustre, both grinning widely at their teammates' antics, merely shared a fist-bump while Lazuli looked on fondly.
"The four of you have certainly improved the furthest in the past year and a half," he commented wryly. "To be honest, I didn't think you would be at this point today."
"Aw, shoot Professor, we owe a lot of that to you!" Pip smiled towards her very favorite instructor. Granted, combat was also her very favorite class as it didn't require as many mental gymnastics, but still, the extra tutoring that the eccentric teacher was able to provide gave them a significant advantage over the other students.
"Yes, well, you certainly earned your spot on this," Lazuli replied with a laugh. "Go on ahead now, I just wanted to let you know. May as well take next week to pack, you'll be leaving for Vacuo on the following Saturday!"
The four girls gave the Professor their sincere thanks before heading out towards lunch.
"Can you believe it?" Pip asked excitedly, visibly restraining herself from skipping ahead.
"Yes, I can, actually," Evie smirked. "Did you honestly not think we would get in, as good as we are?"
"Well, maybe I just didn't want to get my hopes up too high… But seriously, guys!" Pip couldn't seem to keep the wide grin off of her face. "We're going to Vacuo! This is so cool!"
The Vytal Festival had only resumed activities within the past decade. It had been on hiatus since what most referred to simply as the Event that occurred forty-some years ago there in Vale. Every other year it would rotate through the kingdoms, and this year it was being hosted by Shade Academy in Vacuo.
"We better pack for warmer weather," Beryl smiled. "Wonder if we'll get much time to explore?"
"Well, sure, it's gonna be like here for the most part, right?" the raven-haired Faunus replied. "We'll have the weekends and such. Maybe we'll make new friends?"
"I would certainly hope so," Lustre commented with a soft smile. "The way you two go on," she indicated with a tilt of her head the more extroverted of the group, Pip and Evie, "you'll be grabbing everyone's attention in no time."
Beryl shrugged good-naturedly. "And I'll be along for the ride as usual."
"None of that, babe!" Pip exclaimed, wrapping her reluctant teammate in an affectionate headlock. "This is your chance to break out of your shell! Go out on a limb!" She smiled as the blue-haired girl extracted herself, wondering if perhaps she might use this as an opportunity to test her normally reserved friend. "Besides, maybe you'll find some cute guy, or girl for that matter."
Beryl was about to make a retort to her earlier exuberance, but her mouth snapped shut as she blushed furiously. "No, thank you," she muttered as she stalked on ahead of them.
"Hmm, I think you struck a nerve there, fearless leader," Evie smirked.
You're not kidding, Pip thought as they entered the lunch line. That look she gave Evie when I said the word 'girl'... man, she's got it bad…
Her musing were interrupted at the sight of the diminutive teammate in question as a towering form, easily a foot and a half taller, loomed over her. Bean was standing menacingly in her way, though she had her arms crossed and her face set into resolute lines.
"...And your little bitch of a leader…" he was snarling, the other three of his teammates standing behind him and leering down at the small girl.
"That'd be me, then," Pip called out cheerfully as she approached. "Now, Beanie, is there a reason you're harassing my teammate?"
Bean glared at her with a look that spoke volumes as to his intent.
"Well, finally," the blonde grinned as she cracked the knuckles on her hands. Evie and Lustre moved up on either side of her, fists clenched in anticipation. "I was wondering when you were gonna be woman enough to do this."
To be fair, a bare knuckled brawl in the middle of the cafeteria was not the best way to celebrate their entry into the Vytal Festival, nor the most decorous.
Still, all in all, Pip had a good time of it.
She glanced over at her victorious teammates, all of whom were sporting a variety of bruises, cut lips, and even in Beryl's case a gauze patch over her forehead.
"Hey, guys," she whispered from her shared seat on the bench outside the headmaster's office.
"Yeah, Pip?" Evie asked, wincing as she touched her bleeding lip gingerly.
The blonde grinned widely, ignoring her own pain. "We're going to Vacuo!"
The other three stared back at her incredulously. Surprisingly, Lustre broke first as she snorted a soft laugh that she attempted to cover up with her hand, the knuckles scabbed over by now as her aura worked on healing her wounds. Then the others joined in with giggles that quickly turned into guffaws.
Oh yeah, Pip thought to herself cheerfully. This is gonna be a great trip…
A/N: So then, welcome to my foray into a multi-chaptered work within the RWBY-verse. As I mentioned up top, this is a continuation of my earlier one-shot called Retired where I first introduced this team. Interest was shown for a sequel with these fine ladies, namely via Reddit (shout-out to /u/clamzilla and /u/martinjh99) and so here we are.
While I'm not going to post up here the full team stats, they're still available at the bottom of Retired if you're interested, along with some word definitions.
As far as an update schedule goes, I really wish I could adhere to one. I try to pace myself but then get all excited and do one chapter a day until life smacks me in the face and tells me to calm the frig down. So I suppose we'll just see, eh?
Whelp, my thanks for reading, and please do drop me a review and let me know what you think!
Stay shiny!