The Sounds Of Vale
Hey there, it's The Draigg here. Long time reader, first time writer. I wanted to write a musical type of story, so what better way to write one can there be where you combine it with a good show? In that regard, I don't own RWBY or any of the songs/shows used. If I did, I would run them into the ground due to sheer mismanagement. That's why RWBY belongs to Monty Oum. With that said, let's start this show!
Chapter 1: Staging A Stage Show
A new Saturday opened above Beacon Academy. The sun shined brightly, birds were chirping, trees were rustling, and the creatures of Grimm were... grimming. Overall, it seemed like another nice, normal day. Well, as normal as one can get when you go to a school full of hormonal teens with access to military grade hardware. Besides the point, there sat a large number of students in Beacon's cafeteria, ready to start the weekend. Some were talking animatedly, while some were off in their own little world.
Teams RWBY and JNPR were currently doing both. As with most mornings, they gathered together to eat breakfast at the same table. And like most mornings, an orange haired girl named Nora Valkyrie was excitedly telling the others about her dream. Lie Ren, her partner and friend, was acting as her own personal dream editor.
"-And so he went all like "VOLTEKKAAAA" and fired lasers and stuff! And that killed all the rage zombies on Side 3!".
"It was Side 7, Nora.", added Ren in his constantly even tone.
"Right, right! So then all the bodies and debris turned into edible gold! We got SOOO rich! And full!", continued Nora.
"She got all these ideas from that DVD marathon last week.", explained Ren to the others seated at the table.
If anybody at the table was listening, they weren't paying attention too much. It wasn't that they didn't like Nora. They really enjoyed her company, in fact. It was just that after telling everyone about a dream involving both teams at a "party" in Beacon's fountain, everyone was a bit wary of her stories. If one thing could be said about that dream, it was that nobody (especially Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos) could look at inflatable pool toys and cardboard tubes in the same way again. Or Nora, for that matter.
Only Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were really paying attention to her. Blake Belladonna was reading a book from her large collection, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos were talking about an upcoming friendly sparring match, and Weiss Schnee was looking over some grades and typing numbers into a calculator. In fact, she was looking quite agitated at the numbers she was getting. Not that anyone payed attention, of course.
Yang couldn't help but ask, "What about the Behelit?". Ruby then piped up and said, "Yeah, what about it? Did someone use it?". "Of course not!", giggled Nora. She then added, "Yet again, it did suck all those people into the Vortex, anyway...". Nobody heard Ren mumble something about Nora never watching those movies again.
Before Nora could move on to explain how they traded edible gold stock at the Vale Stock Exchange, a pale fist crashed down onto the table in frustration. Everyone glanced at Weiss, noting her agitation. Weiss being annoyed at something wasn't anything too out of the ordinary. But this time she looked particularly pissy. Then she growled out:
"This is simply unacceptable. Unacceptable!"
Those seated at the table fully shifted her attention to her. Weiss continued to rant.
"I can't believe this! These credits are abysmal! They're WAY less than what we should have!"
It was at this point that Weiss shoved a team grading paper into Ruby's face. Looking slightly confused, Ruby read the paper. It showed that they had a total of seven team credits out of a possible ten. Ruby then handed the paper over to Yang and Blake so they could also look.
"Err... Weiss, seven credits is still pretty good. It's definitely a passing grade...", said Ruby.
"Yeah, Ice Princess, don't get your icicles into a glacier! It's all good.", added Yang. She then elbowed Blake to point out her joke. Blake could only roll her eyes at Yang's horrible attempt at a joke. If that was humor, then Blake would be a daimyo.
"It doesn't matter if it's just passing, Ruby! We need to be way better than this... this poor performance! And as team leader, you should do something about it!", chided Weiss.
Ruby began to wonder why they had less team credits than normal. They got all their work in on time! Well... mostly. So what could it be? Maybe it was all the library books Blake kept on turning in late. Or maybe it was the time Yang organized a drag race in the motor pool parking lot. It possibly could've been the time she accidentally blew a small hole (in her mind) in the botanical gardens in a freak Dust accident. Regardless, Ruby couldn't worry about the past too much. She had a job to do as team leader, darn it!
"It's okay Weiss! As team leader, I'll find a way to get our credits back!", proudly declared Ruby, standing dramatically on her seat. Everyone at the table stared at her. Seeing that they were waiting for an idea, she slowly sat back down.
"So... does anyone have any ideas?", asked Ruby, her face as red as her cloak in embarrassment. Weiss couldn't help but slap herself in the forehead at Ruby's failure to lead. It was team JNPR who started naming off ideas.
"You can collect arrows down at the firing range.", suggested Pyrrha. "I don't want to get shot, Pyrrha.", replied a dejected Ruby. "Sorry. That wasn't a good idea...", apologized Pyrrha.
"You can cook breakfast in the kitchen! Ohhh, can you make us ice cream?!", added Nora, excited at the idea.
"Try patching up the crater in the gardens.", said Ren. Ruby sank in her seat at the idea. "Seriously, the hedge maze is still half gone.", he continued. Ruby grabbed her hood and mumbled, "Pass, pass, pass...".
"You could work at the theater department. I know someone who needs the help."
Ruby picked up her head at what Jaune suggested.
"I didn't know we even had a theater department...", said Ruby.
"We did that PSA two months ago, remember?". Jaune looked slightly pained at the memory.
"Ohh... yeah...". Ruby tried to repress the memory of that trainwreck again.
"That's exactly why we need help.", continued Jaune. "It's just me and Velvet Scarlatina running it.".
"Err... no offense, Jauney-boy, but what are you doing at the theater? It doesn't really seem like- never mind, it does seem like you.", Yang asked.
Jaune looked especially sheepish at Yang's comment. "Well, I needed an elective credit.", he replied.
"Oh, and how exactly would that help us, HUH?!", spat a bitter Weiss.
"Well, we don't exactly have any plays being planned right now. So, if you help us out, You'll get some credit along with us. So how about it? Please? We could really use the help!", Jaune half-replied, half-begged.
"Jaune, that sounds like a GREAT idea! I've always loved musicals!", came an excited Ruby.
Yang, Blake, and Weiss especially look confused. They shared a collective, "EH?". "Who said we were doing a musical?", questioned Weiss. "I made an executive decision as team leader, of course!", replied a chipper Ruby. Weiss sighed. Ever since she had decided to support Ruby as team leader, Weiss couldn't really argue much whenever she completely set her mind on something.
"What are we waiting for? Show me the theater office, Jaune!". With that Ruby grabbed Jaune and dragged him away from his breakfast and out of the cafeteria. Jaune let out a small squeal in protest before he disappeared out of the door. Team WBY followed them to slow down their hyper leader, and Team NPR followed them to rescue their kidnapped friend.
Being subjected to the energy of Ruby and her semblance, Jaune had barely the mind to yell out directions to the office at her. So, after about twenty or so minutes of screamed directions and pleas to whatever gods may be listening, Ruby and Jaune made it to the theater office. Velvet Scarlatina was eating breakfast alone and doing some paperwork when an excited looking Ruby Rose and a terrified Jaune Arc crashed through the door. Velvet let out a squeak and ducked under her desk.
"So this is your office? It looks kind of small...", observed Ruby.
"It-t-t-t's-s not-t that b-bad-d...", sputtered a pale looking Jaune.
Using the term 'office' to describe the workspace would be being a bit too generous. In actuality, the 'office' was a glorified janitor's closet, with a desk stuffed in one corner, and a file cabinet in the other. The window to purchase tickets was littered with unused ticket stubs. Truly, it was a pathetic sight to see. Clearly, whoever built this school really didn't care when it came to making offices for student clubs. Which was odd, considering the Janitorial Club's office was bigger than this.
Velvet climbed out from behind the desk. "Ruby, is that you?", she asked. "Heya, Velvet!", yelled a maybe too excited Ruby. Velvet let out a small yelp of terror at Ruby before ducking again. After another minute, she came out from under the desk again. "What can I help you with?".
"Well, Jaune here...", Ruby held up the now fainted Jaune, who had by now passed out from sheer terror (and possibly too much G-force exposure), "Said you guys needed some help with a play! I've come here on behalf of my team to volunteer our services! For credits, of course.". Ruby added the last part rather quickly.
"Really? Great!". Velvet sounded quite glad at the idea of an outsider's helping hand. After all, the last play she had put together was a PSA about practicing safe 'relationships' between teammates. It hadn't gone well in her opinion. She had gotten booed off stage halfway through the song "Mr. Snake Stays In His Cage". And it really hurt when the audience threw fresh fruit instead of the regular garbage. She didn't have much to lose at this point, especially her dignity.
"What exactly do you have in mind, Ruby?", asked a now more confident Velvet.
"A musical!", replied Ruby.
Velvet's smile grew a little. "Good, good! ...Any particular one?"
"..."
"..."
"... Nope."
Velvet's smile dropped a little. "That's... okay, we can work on that. As long as you're willing to put in the work, it shouldn't be much of a problem.". She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "If you could put down who will be helping, we can at least get started.". With that being said, Ruby grabbed the pen and scrawled her name and her teammates on the paper.
"There! Now it's official. Welcome to the world of theater, Ruby!", declared Velvet.
WBY and NPR had a hard time trying to keep up with Ruby. She had sped off so fast, no one had any idea what direction she ran off to. It also didn't help that they had no idea where the theater office was or what it looked like. They had spent a good half hour looking for her and Jaune. However, when they heard the distinctive high pitched squealing of a cheering Ruby, they followed the sound towards a janitor's closet they had never really noticed before. When they opened the door, they saw an unusual sight: Velvet and Ruby dancing in joy, and a passed out Jaune slumped over a desk. Pyrrha immediately rushed over to Jaune's side.
"Jaune. Jaune!". She tried to wake him up, but to no avail. Sighing, Pyrrha picked him up and put him over her shoulder. Moving to the door, she motioned to leave, not before turning to Team WBY.
"Let me know how it goes, Remember, we're more than willing to help out!", she called out to them.
"Are we?", questioned an even toned Ren.
"Yes, we are. Let's go.". With that, Team JNPR stepped into the hall. WBY could faintly hear them talking while walking away.
"Why are you grabbing him there, Pyrrha?", questioned Nora.
"Shhh. Don't ruin this for me.", Pyrrha replied.
Weiss, Blake, and Yang turned their attention to Ruby. After running around for a half hour, they wanted some answers. Weiss asked, "What just happened, Ruby?".
Ruby, excited at the prospect of making a musical, responded in the way you would expect her to:
"Jaune and I ran down the halls and he was yelling and helping me and so he said to go to this janitor's closet which really isn't a closet but an office and then he passed out and then I talked to Velvet to help us get those credits and then she said yes and then I signed us up to make a musical and then we celebrated our new partnership for the past few minutes and then you guys showed up!".
How Ruby had that much lung capacity, WBY had no clue. Maybe it was genetic. Besides that, it was clear they would have to wait to get a coherent answer. This made for a very awkward pause.
"I think we should just go back to our room. She can explain there.", suggested Blake.
"Agreed.", huffed a tired Yang and Weiss.
And with that Weiss grabbed Ruby by her hood and dragged her back to Team RWBY's dorm room. Yang and Blake just wanted to sort this whole thing out. Weiss just hoping that this wouldn't get too out of hand.
If irony was a person, they'd be laughing their ass off right about now.
Whew! Well, there goes the set up for this story. Don't worry, the songs will come up eventually. Remember to rate & review! This is The Draigg, signing off.