Decided to rip Centuries apart and post the chapters I had as separate oneshots.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
Sounds of battle resounded through the forest, the peal of weapons against weapons echoing in the large clearing. Each clash of blades rang out as loud as a thunderclap, filling the area with the din of combat. Ruby, Blake, and Yang watched on as Penny and Weiss sparred, being sure stay far enough away to not be caught in the crossfire. Penny's blades were a metal cyclone clashing with Weiss' artificial blizzards and firestorms. The three watched on with varying points of interest. Yang focused on the physical movements of the two combatants, while Ruby's eyes tried to keep track of all the elements and projectiles flying around. Blake however, was hardly focusing on the fight. Her eyes trained intensely on the ginger-haired girl, keen eyes intently tracking the unofficial fifth member of Team RWBY. Glancing over at Yang and seeing her intensely focused on the practice match, Blake tapped Ruby on the shoulder.
"Ruby, can I talk to you about something in private?" She asked, causing the team leader to blink a few times.
"Uhh, sure thing Blake." the younger girl replied, following Blake as she strode off a ways into the forest. Once a sufficient ways away from the rest of the team, the faunus stopped and turned back to the redhead.
"I want to talk to you about Penny." Blake stated simply, causing Ruby to blink in confusion once more.
"Okay, what about Penny?" She said slowly. "If this is about her spending so much time with us, then I could talk to her about it. I know she may seem clingy, but she just really wants to have friends." Blake shook her head.
"No, that's not quite it." she replied. "It's just, haven't you noticed something... off, about her?" At that Ruby swallowed nervously, which did not go unnoticed by the keen-eyed faunus.
"W-what do you mean?" the redhead stammered, causing Blake to raise an eyebrow at her.
"I mean, I've never seen her eat or drink." the faunus stated. "She also smells and sounds very odd. You may not have noticed with your human senses, but she doesn't smell like any human or faunus I've ever met. She smells like metal and electricity. Her skin is extremely hard, and she sometimes makes weird noises, like ticking sounds. " Ruby chuckled lightly.
"Well, you know, everyone has their quirks, right?" She mumbled, making the faunus even more suspicious.
"You're not a very good liar." Blake stated simply, causing the other girl to look at the ground. "What happened to the 'no secrets' policy?" Ruby's gaze remained fixed on the ground. After a few moments, the leader sighed.
"Okay, okay." Ruby frowned, glancing back at the rest of the group. "I just need to talk to her really quick first." Blake nodded at her and the pair approached the other girls. "Weiss, that was really good. Penny, I need to talk to you about something." Penny nodded while Weiss went to take a seat on a nearby log. Ruby and Penny moved a few meters away from the group.
"What do you need to talk about?" The android enquired, causing Ruby rub her shoulder.
"Penny, uh, you know that secret you have?" Ruby started, causing Penny's smile to falter. "Well, I think... I think we should tell the rest of the team." Penny's eyes widened.
"Oh, no. I don't think that would be a good idea." She replied immediately. Ruby sighed.
"Penny, You're going to have to tell them sometime. I wasn't going to bring it up now, but I would have eventually. The reason I'm saying this now is because Blake is getting really suspicious." Ruby explained. "Her faunus senses are better than a human's, and she can tell something's up. Not exactly what, but something. And she's smart enough to put the pieces together eventually. I think it'll be better if we do it this way than letting them figure it out on their own." All through Ruby's explanation, Penny hadn't stopped shaking her head.
"No! No no no, I can't." The android immediately replied, panic quickly setting in. "They wouldn't understand..." The mechanical girl's hands were shaking. Ruby immediately grabbed her shoulders.
"Penny, calm down!" The redhead tried to stop the other girl from shaking so much and did the only thing that came to mind. Wrapping her arms around the panicking girl, Ruby puller her into a firm hug. "Penny, c'mon. Relax. It'll be fine." The girl in her arms whimpered.
"No no no. What if they don't want to be friends with me anymore?" Penny murmured as the shorter girl stroked the back of her head.
"Why wouldn't they want to be friends with you anymore?" Ruby asked.
"Because I'm different. I'm unnatural." The android mumbled, drawing a small chuckle from Ruby.
"Penny, everyone is different in their own way." she replied. "That didn't stop me did it? We're still friends, aren't we?" Penny was silent for a moment.
"Yes, but-" She was immediately cut off by the shorter girl pressing a finger over her mouth.
"No buts." She stated simply. "We're just gonna go over and tell them, and it'll be just fine. I'm going to be right here beside you, and we'll all still be friends with you after. It's no big deal." The android gave her a small smile.
"Okay, if you say so." Penny finally relented. "If you say it'll be fine, then I trust you." Ruby smiled and released her hold on the girl and grabbed her hand instead, tugging her towards the rest of the group, who by now had focused their attention on the pair.
"What were you two talking about over there?" Yang asked her sister, raising an eyebrow. "Penny looked like she was about to have a meltdown." Ruby glared at her sister quickly before clearing her throat.
"Guys, Penny has something to tell you." She nudged the girl hiding slightly behind her and gave her hand a squeeze. "Go on." Penny stepped forward nervously.
"You... You're all my friends right?" the android stammered. This drew looks of confusion from the other girls, but they all nodded slowly. "Promise?" They nodded again. "The truth is that... I'm not a real girl. A-at least, I'm not a human girl." Blake's eyes narrowed.
"Then... what exactly are you?" She asked, causing the other girl to tilt her head down. Instead of speaking, Penny released one of her blades and relinquished her hold on Ruby's hand to grasp the handle. The three other girls took a step backwards as Penny began scraping the blade against her forearm. Her movements were halted after a few moments as she felt a strong hand grasp her arm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Yang exclaimed, holding Penny's arm and slapping her in the face. Penny blinked in shock before looking away.
"Look." she stated simply. A moment later, she heard several gasps and the grip on her arm disappeared. Penny looked back after a few seconds to see three completely shocked expressions. Instead of blood, bone, and muscle, a patch of artificial skin peeled back to reveal a metal endoskeleton.
"I don't understand..." Blake was the first to speak.
"I'm the world's first synthetic being capable of generating an aura. I was produced as a collaboration between my father and the Atlesian military, with input from Mister Ironwood. An android, to put it simply." Penny explained while retracting her blade. Nobody spoke for a few moments, processing the revelation.
"That's so awesome!" Yang exclaimed after a second, startling the mechanical girl. "Does that mean you have other cool gadgets besides that big-ass laser? Do you have, like bombs and lightsabers and flamethrowers and stuff?" Penny gave her a curious look.
"Um, well my onboard weapons system is modular, but currently I only have the laser and my swords." She explained quickly. "You seem to be taking this surprisingly well. Much like your sister, come to think of it." Yang chuckled.
"Yeah, her and I are like two peas in a pod, or however the phrase goes. Anyways, it's not like you're someone completely different now. You're still just Penny." Yang noticed Penny sigh in relief, and gave the android an odd look. "What? Were you really that worried about telling us? Jeez, it's like when Blake told us she's a faunus all over again." Said faunus' eyes widened in shock.
"Yang, what are you doing?!" she cried, giving Yang a death glare. "I thought I told you I didn't want anyone else to know about that!" The blonde waved her hand at her partner dismissively.
"Oh come on, it's only fair that if you know her secret, she know yours. Besides, she already knew, and has pretty much since she met you." The black-haired girl narrowed her eyes at Penny. After a moment, she sighed.
"What gave it away?" Blake asked simply, and Penny pointed at the top of her own head.
"Uh, the cat ears?" she responded. "I noticed that your bow would twitch occasionally. Also, your eyes are very unique." Yang chuckled at that.
"Well, her eyes being strange doesn't mean much. If you hadn't noticed, all of us have strange eyes." the blonde pointed out. "I mean, Blake's are yellow, sure, but Ruby's are silver, and mine go from purple to red. Weiss is the only one with normally coloured eyes. Though she does have white hair, so that kind of makes up for it."
"Well excuuuse me for my parents' genetics not allowing me to be as odd as the rest of you." Weiss huffed at the blonde before fixing her gaze on the ginger-haired robot. "I have to wonder though, and don't take this the wrong way, but why were you developed in the first place? As far as I remember, Atlas isn't for want of hunters and huntresses, not more so than any of the other kingdoms." Penny could merely shrug her shoulders.
"I'm not sure. My father says that one day it will be my job to save the world. From what, I have no idea. He hasn't told me that yet." the android explained simply, before an idea popped into her head. "What if it's ALIENS?" The serious look on her face while saying it caused the blonde to burst out laughing.
"Guess I'd better make myself a tinfoil hat once we get back to the dorm." Yang stated, wiping a tear from her eye. Blake rolled her eyed at the brawler.
"You do that." the faunus drawled. "Well whatever it is, we'll worry about it when the time comes. And don't worry, you won't be alone. We'll all be here with you. Team JNPR too, I'm sure." Ruby clapped her hands together once.
"Right!" she agreed. "And if we want to be any actual HELP at that time, then we'll have to get back to training. So without further ado... Blake! You and me, lets go!" Said girl simply nodded and moved towards the centre of the clearing. "And we're going to mix things up this time, so here." Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and jabbed it into the ground. Blake gave her a confused look when she held out her hand.
"Uh, do you need something?" The faunus asked hesitantly. Ruby's grin looked just a little to mischievous for her liking.
"We're spending the rest of our training session today sparring with other teammates' weapons!" the gun nut announced excitedly, causing Blake to raise an eyebrow.
"Why?" she finally asked, prompting her tiny leader to raise a finger.
"Well Blakey, I'm glad you asked! So imaging this scenario for a moment. The four of us, Penny excluded since her swords are attached to her body, are fighting together and someone gets downed. At the same time, someone manages to disarm you, and you can't get to Gambol Shroud. Now, wouldn't it be better if you could just pick up your fallen teammate's weapon and keep fighting, as opposed to fighting empty handed? I'm totally not saying this as an excuse to let me use your guys' weapons." As the small brunette finished her explanation, Yang shrugged her shoulders.
"I'd be fine." she stated simply. Weiss rolled her eyes at the boast.
"Yes, well not all of us are are built like an ogre." the heiress scoffed. Turning to her team leader, she gave her a small smile. "I think it's actually a good idea. I'm surprised, I didn't expect this level of forethought from you." The red-clad girl beamed at her partner's statement.
"Thanks Weiss! I... Wait, were you making fun of me?" Ruby whined at the frosty heiress, who simply chuckled.
"Guess you'll never know." Weiss replied. Ruby frowned, but immediately perked up again with another mischievous grin.
"Alright then. Yang, give Ember Celica to Weiss. Weiss, give Myrtenaster to Yang. You two can have a round together." The heiress' jaw dropped.
"WHAT?" she roared. "You can't expect me to entrust my blade to this... this OAF!"
"Hey, watch it princess." the blonde retorted. The two began squabbling at each other as Penny glanced back at Ruby.
"Um, what should I do?" the android asked, drawing a shrug from the girl.
"I think you can have a break." Ruby stated, reaching out to accept Gambol Shroud from her teammate. "You deserve it." Penny nodded and moved towards the edge of the clearing. Taking a seat against a large tree trunk, the mechanical girl smiled as she watched the others spar.
'These girls really are my friends. They aren't bothered that I'm not quite the same as them. They accepted me instead of pushing me away. I'm so happy. Maybe I don't have to be so worried about people knowing that I'm an android after all.'