D.A.I.T.
Our team name is D.A.I.T. like the fruit but thanks to our actions on our last mission some people thought they were being clever and began pronouncing it as deity rather than date. A slight change but significant. Some of the Huntsmen from that mission, at least those that survived, began calling us that as a joke and it stuck. Thankfully it was only used in jest but they insist in all seriousness that we seem to fit the name change well. Couldn't get them to stop either, though they did stop using it so much when they got wasted in the bar. Granted the bar was one of the few buildings relatively undamaged during that mission and most of the townsfolk were there and people talk. That mission was meant to be a week but nearly stretched to three months so we really couldn't fault the people for drinking so much- they had three months of sobriety to fix and plenty of reason to celebrate.
Thankfully that was over but on the flip side we were on our way to school. Classes for that year had begun while we were on that mission and we really hoped they let us pass the first semester, at the very least give us bonus credit for combat. Apparently it was the small break between semesters that was when we're arriving and thankful for the break.
Looking around the airship for my team, I found the sisters sitting across the aisle from me on the rather empty airship, both of them taking a nap. It was only two days ago that we left that town after nearly nonstop combat, they deserved the break. As for my own sister, our fourth teammate, I couldn't find her nearby and she had already been told to leave the pilot alone, twice, since we boarded. Looking around I eventually spotted her fiery orange hair between the seats in the back talking to someone on her scroll. I let her be, hopefully she was staying behaved and not finding trouble.
Little wonder we stuck together as long as we have after finding each other on the streets. She finds trouble and trouble finds me. Honestly couldn't tell where we were at that time or much of where we lived for a while. We were young and kept sneaking onto boats and airships and caravans. Don't think we'd ever been to Vacuo until last year when we attended Shade Academy, kinda would have remembered the deserts around the oasis. Menagerie was an interesting stop, interesting in that I was the odd one out but that didn't bother me as I had gotten used to that on the streets.
I'm pulled from my thoughts as the skyline of Beacon Academy came into view as the clouds parted. Sis had already ended her call and now tickling the noses of the sisters with a feather she had found somewhere. I've learned over the past twelve years not to ask too much about the things she does. As expected they annoyed when they woke up but that softened when they saw our destination rapidly coming closer. Sis had a teasing smile on her face, more so than normal, at the results of her way to wake up our teammates. Looking as me her smiling face changed to her "innocent" face. That was one of the things I leaned to deal with, that face promised that she had done something and no amount of questioning would even get her to even let a hint slip until her plan unfolded. Can't exactly say that I'm innocent of doing the same but she's a master at the game. Resigning myself to her whims I began to grab my things as we prepared to land.
-End of first person view-
"Come on Yang!" Ruby whined as she and her team followed the tallest of the quartet across the campus of Beacon Academy. "Tell us the big secret!"
Yang had gotten a call earlier that day, apparently she was surprised by who had called her but had quickly locked herself in the bathroom so the rest of her team, who were having a tactics discussions for the upcoming Vytal Tournament. Despite the efforts of Ruby and Weiss to listen at the door they couldn't get any information outside of the blonde's excitement which led to them walking around the school.
"At least give us a hint for why we had to run out here." Weiss added, hoping for some kind of middle ground between the two sisters. Blake was following along out of curiosity and comradery. Despite her better hearing than her teammates thanks to cat faunus heritage giving her an extra pair of more sensitive ears, even she couldn't get more than inflection from the tones of Yang's vice when she locked herself away. Might have able to at least know her partners side of the conversation if she was as nosey as the shortest and youngest members of the team.
"Hmmm…" Twisting around to walk backwards Yang's smile was teasing. "I don't know. You'll know what I know in a few minutes anyway."
"I'll make a batch of mom's chocolate chip cookies." Ruby begged.
"Deal, for a hint at least." The blonde remembered the woman who raised her as if she were her own and gave her a sister. Her cookies were legendary and Ruby did her best to follow her moms recipe, so while they would be good there was a huge gap between good and legendary.
"Fine!" Ruby grumbled but there was no bite to it since it involved cookies and she'd snag a few before anyone else does- taste testing, just like any leftover cookie dough will find its way into some ice cream…
"Some friends of ours just arrived from Vacuo. Said they were supposed to start the year with the rest of us but their mission ran longer than expected." Yang explains.
"But we don't have any friends from Vacuo besides Sun and he's technically from Mistral for the tournament." Ruby mutters for the rest of the team to hear.
"That's not much to go on Yang. It would be easier to look at the passenger lists of the flights from Vacuo than wandering around for people only you know." Weiss was letting more irritation than normal creep into her voice. Annoyance at the older sister for keeping secrets and the younger for her ignorance. Blake wasn't exactly helping her mood any as she had a book open while following them, likely keeping an ear on them while she enjoyed her literature.
"Come on Ice Queen! Lighten up a little and have some fun!" The blonde taunted, not even looking back at the short girl who grew even more annoyed at the mentioning of the nickname.
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" The white themed girl yells at no one in particular
"Cause ice seems to run through the family." An unfamiliar voice gave its opinion and ratcheting Weiss' anger up further as she spun on her heel to confront the person only to find no one standing there but she did hear the sound of someone's shoes on the concrete. Turning around again all she found were her teammates standing there and laughing, at least Blake was simply smiling. Understanding what the person was doing, to some extent, she tried to fake them out only to have the previous result repeat. Now all of her teammates were openly laughing.
A double fake turn in opposing directions and a full turn around yielded no better results beyond her team in full out laughter and even team JNPR that had just wandered over were laughing as well with the rest of the scattered students in the area. Nora drew attention in particular as she was cackling from her place on the ground.
A final turn brought her fist flying, she didn't have her weapon so she had to improvise. She finally caught sight of her tormentor, namely a chest that blurred out of view. Before she knew it her extended arm was held in place by a strong but gentle grip at the elbow with a hand on her other shoulder applying the same force.
"Hehehe, can't believe I got both Ice Queens with that one!" the voice laughs from behind her before letting her go and confusing the girl with the statement.
The voice belonged to a boy who wasn't much taller than Yang with short spiky blonde hair and blue eyes, tanned skin with a decently handsome face that looked younger than it should be and adorned with a teasing and confident smirk. He wore a dark grey t-shirt under a dark green vest that had some pockets and some armor worked into it, a pair of green camo cargo shorts, and a set of dark green arm and leg guards. A pair of dark grey sneakers finished the outfit. Despite the loose fit of his shirt and the legs of his shorts it was easy to see he had the build of a fighter, not as bulky as Cardin nor as wiry as Jaune or as cut as Sun.
On his back hung a short polearm, a three foot shaft with an eighteen inch long blade as wide as his hand, double edged and curved to a slight hook on one side. Nearly the entire shaft had a dark green wrap grip with a curious flare a foot from the end of the shaft that ended in another flare with a bronze colored cap.
"Long time no see!" The boy says looking at Ruby and Yang, seemingly ignoring Weiss.
"It's great to see you too!" Yang cheerfully greets him before enveloping him in a hug that soon became extremely tight, her voice becoming a growl. "You should have called us more often than once a year and not just through your sister."
"Nice to see you too." He grunts out, clearly not able to breathe well thanks to the bear hug that had lifted his feet off the ground. 'Damn she's gotten strong! And really grown!' He adds mentally as he could feel her chest pressed tightly to his own, even with the armor in the vest, which was rarely closed anyway.
"Denko?" Ruby quietly asks as her sister released her captive.
"That's me." He grins as he sucked air into his lungs before a squealing red blur tackled him. With a laugh Denko pulled the girl off by the scruff of her cloak and held her off the ground with one arm, yet that didn't make her happy grin to falter.
"Did you miss me?" She asks.
"Nope." Was his simply answer before dropping the girl who landed on her feet. Looking at the fourth member of the team he found her looking rather embarrassed with some shame. Quirking an eyebrow he made eye contact and flicked his eyes to her bow then to the Schnee and the sisters. A subtle nod was his answer with was responded in kind.
"And this is our teammate Blake. Blake, this is Denko. He's an old friend of ours who needs to call more often." Yang introduces the two completely oblivious to the silent exchange they had.
"Ah, so that's what your name is. I actually forgot." Denko laughs.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Ruby inquires wondering how her friends knew each other already.
Shifting uncomfortably Blake answered, "It's not exactly something I'm proud of."
"Was it when you with them?" Her leader asks, surprisingly keeping the query vague so only those who knew would have the context to understand.
Looking around Blake took note that their little group had wandered away from the crowds and relatively alone at the time. A glance at Denko saw him shrug to indicate that it was her story to tell.
"I'll tell you later." The faunus seemed to shrink into herself a bit at the memories.
Sensing the tension after several seconds the sole male of the group stopped and gained the attention of the girls. "So who want's to help me find my team?" The simple question snapped the team out of any pensive thoughts and onto others.
Flipping moods like a switch Ruby jumped at the opportunity. "Isn't your sister on your team?" she asks. At his nod she squealed like the hyperactive fifteen year old she was and rushed off in a red blur leaving Denko and WBY watching rose petals float through the air.
"Anyone thinks she knows where she's going?" Yang raised the unanimous unspoken question among them.
Weiss responded in a flat and frosty "No."
"Do you know where your sister is? Or the rest of your team?" Blake asks looking at the closest male.
"Somewhere at Beacon Academy." Was his simple reply as he shoved his hands in his pockets and began following the fading flower trail.
Eventually after wandering the campus they found Ruby taking a break in the cafeteria eating some cookies and milk, despite not even lunch yet. Yang wasn't around to tell her not to and Weiss wasn't there to berate her was her reasoning. Sharing her table were two other girls, both having a late breakfast or early lunch though one of them had several plates stacked in front of her with others to be eaten. The girl with the food seemed content to enjoy her meal while the other seemed bored and worked her plate of eggs and toast slowly.
While team RWBY were content to let them be, figuring they were among the transfer students here for the Vytal Tournament like Sun and Neptune. Denko however dropped onto a seat across from the two girls and grabbed one of the full plates sitting there and dug in. Weiss scoffed at his rudeness and marched over to teach him some manners ignoring that Denko had pulled a fork and knife from inside his vest to eat the ham steak in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't just take someone else's food!" The girl in white began ranting at the blonde who pointedly ignored her in favor of the meal.
"Great, another Schnee." The bored girl mutters loud enough for the local Schnee to hear who paused her complaints and turned towards the other girl. That was sufficient distraction as not to notice the previous target of her frustrations smile and grab a carton of chocolate milk from the small collection of foods in front of him. Nor did she see her team shaking their heads as she descended into one of her moods.
"What did you say?"
"You're too noisy." The girl replies not even looking at her inquisitor.
Weiss looked the girl over who now was completely ignoring her. Red tipped black hair like her partner but long enough to reach her shoulders and looked like an untamed mass of spikes. Pale skin and red eyes on an average looking face, one that could normally be forgotten easily. Her clothes matched her hair in color but looked like a bunch of red and black rolls of cloth were wrapped around her from neck to wrists and ankles in a mostly formfitting manner. A thick black leather belt with several pouches held a length of red cloth around her waist like a skirt. On her hands she wore black fingerless gloves with red buckles and matching boots completed her look.
The girl next to her had a similar face- if a little rounder, likely making them related. Wavy and messy black hair reached just past her shoulders and tanned skin made her blue eyes stand out more. A top consisting of a low cut and wide necked navy blue shirt with purple edging that exposed plenty of shoulder and bust as well as her soft round stomach over a mesh shirt that had thick black edges around her neck and halfway to her elbows and presumably ended somewhere under her generous bustline that the other girl wasn't so gifted with. A pair of detached sleeves of the same navy blue and purple pattern covered wrists to elbows with a matching set of detached leggings from ankle to knee. A short skirt maintaining the same pattern with some more mesh shorts that could be seen extending a little past the skirts hem. Black boots with purple straps and laces finished her appearance.
"Relax Ice Queen. Plenty of food here to go around and she should save some room for lunch." Denko admonished the girls, the white themed one huffing in annoyance and the blue ignoring him. Somehow he had said that clearly while having his mouth full, no doubt plenty of practice. Turning back to the girls across from him, "Either of you seen sis lately?" To which he received a pair of shakes of the head rather than a verbal no.
Yang decided that moment to jump in, "Hey your haven't introduced us!"
"Would've thought you'd have done that yourself." He replies, though seeing her expectant look and smile showed that she didn't care about the slight jab at her usually outgoing personality. "The one in blue is Talon Eaglewing and the broody one is Anya Eaglewing." He pointed at each girl in turn with his fork.
"Ruby Rose."
"Weiss Schnee."
"Blake Belladonna."
"Yang Xiao Long."
"And if your sister would crawl out of whatever hole she stuck herself in this time we'd be done with these introductions." Anya complains.
"YOU DID WHAT WITH THE SYRUP!" A loud screech rent the air from outside the cafeteria doors. Needless to say nearly all the students and faculty inside and out of the building within earshot, a large distance given the volume, looked towards the source of the sound. Weiss already had her face in her hands wondering what just happened upon recognizing the owner of the voice.
The doors swung open revealing team JNPR and an unknown girl who was grinning widely at Nora who seemed to be shocked speechless after that 'little' outburst, something that many did not mind.
Seeing Denko had joined Weiss in close examination of ones palms Blake had to ask him, "Do you know what that was about?"
Looking up to see that the new team had joined them with the other girl dropping next to him he answered in a tired voice, "Yes and no." He began. "Somehow she-" he pointed a thumb at the girl, " managed to get gallons of syrup into the plumbing of the teachers showers while we were at Atlas. Without a shred of proof that she did so."
RWBY looked on in shock at the new arrivals in shock while for JNPR hearing the story confirmed from another source gave it more legitimacy and caused Nora to briefly shiver. Yang was the first to recover from her shock.
"You did that and weren't caught? Must've been pretty sweet!" Her own team didn't appreciate the pun, especially Ruby who grew up hearing them all the time. Weiss was trying to think of a way that the girl did such a thing given that not only is Atlas a Huntsman Academy but also the hub and capital of the planets largest and most technologically advanced military. Blake looked at the girl with some measure of respect as Atlas wasn't particularly well known for positive treatment of faunus.
Said girl was dressed simply, a plain burnt orange button up jacket that looked a size too big over a white shirt that could be seen through the open loose collar. The jacket sleeves has black cuffs and she wore a matching set of orange pants with black sneakers and a white sash around her waist holding the loose jacket to her body and hinting at her curves. Her hair is a messy mop of fiery orange that reached her shoulders that made her bright green eyes stand out all the more along with her lightly tanned skin. Those green eyes held a mischievous glint in them and a small bit of motion drew attention to the pair of ears on top of her head that twitched at various sounds while a fox tail that matched her hair waved behind her.
"So what were you up to sis? Ya just disappeared after we landed." Denko asks looking down at the shorter girl.
"Nothing much." She replies with a shrug before the glint in her eyes returned. "Just looking around until I ran into them." She pointed at team JNPR.
As her teammate and brother he knew that was her way of saying she was looking for trouble to cause and planning it out. Twelve years is more than enough to learn her little quirks, especially when they depended on them since they first met to survive.
"I thought faunus only had one animal trait?" Ruby asks the fox girl as said girls tail wrapped around herself at the question and her ears twitched backwards a bit.
"Normally, but that just makes me special!" She chirps. Blake was used to dealing with faunus and recognized the signs of insecurity she showed for that moment despite covering it up well by running her fingers through the bright strands of the appendage.
"And you are?" Weiss attempted to be nice and get the girls name. She was still working to not associate every faunus she saw with the White Fang, at the very least the groups more violent actors.
"A fox girl." She replies with her grin widening and her eyes narrowing in teasing.
"Itazura Mori." Anya blandly interjects and completely ignores the faunus' retort of "Spoilsport.". Apparently this happened often.
Yang who had been quiet for most of the conversation suddenly joined in. "So did your team came here from Vacuo, are you here for the tournament?"
"Yes and no." Anya answers before anyone else could yet sounded as bored as ever.
"What does that mean?" Jaune finally adds to the conversation.
"We're here to watch but not play, probably take out any competition in under five minutes anyway." Talon finally speaks up, though didn't explain much.
Seeing the rest of the tables looks of confusion combined with indignation from Talon's boast, Denko sighed and had to explain. "It's all really about how our team was formed. Instead of going to any of the academies and forming a team there like normal our team was tested and formed beforehand. It's something of a unity project at its core, find some of the best students from the various combat schools from around the world and put them through a series of tests that made us a team. It was ideally to be from each of the four kingdoms and a bonus if any of them happened to be faunus so they wouldn't be excluded from the show of unity. Then the team would spend a year of their education and training at each of the four kingdoms academies to hopefully make friends, experience the various cultures and ways of life, and come to an understanding of the various people of Remnant.
A good chunk of that plan was thrown out the window when me and sis, from Vale, and those two, from Vacuo, beat out all the competition and became a team. Atlas and Mistral were a bit pissed off that their representatives were beaten so it was decided that their schools that start and finish our training. So we started in Atlas and we're supposed to graduate from Haven. Then it was planned that we'd attend Beacon when the Vytal Festival was being held there. But by the rules of how our team was made we can't fight in the tournament so we're here as security and enjoy a show."
"Wow that stinks." Nora comments resulting in a slew of snorts and giggles from the more emotional of those at the table, meaning Weiss, Blake, Ren, and Anya were quiet.
"Yeah, as much as that does stink that we can't be in the tournament, we knew that going in. Besides it wouldn't likely be much of a challenge until the finals if we did fight." Denko remarks after taking a swig of something from a flask he drew from inside his vest.
"You think you can beat us?" Yang challenges him. Team JNPR looked eager to test themselves as well, mostly Nora who was ready to fight almost anyone and the rest of RWBY were in full support of their tank.
"Lead the way." Denko smirks.
Author Notes
For those of you who may have read this before or take notice of the publishing date this is a replaced chapter. If I remember correctly the original first chapter was typed out on my phone which was so much fun but the idea stuck and so here is the new and improved version. Yes I know that some of the jokes and commentary was lost but the story itself has been more fleshed out and not just made up on the fly this time. Even this wasn't exactly the same as what I had hand written and so entire chunks and funny jokes had to removed or moved elsewhere later in the story, hopefully I remember to put them in.
To be honest this isn't meant to be a spin off but more of a fill in the blank of the original storyline of the show with my own creative liberties while being as true to the lore and plot as possible. Which means essentially everything that this story is supposed to contain is 'Off Camera' I believe would be the best way to say it.
Yes this chapter is mostly talking and introductions with little to no action, the next chapter is essentially a complete reversal so expect plenty of action and little talk. I've been working on the fight scenes in my head for months and wrote down nearly all of it so I just need to type it up. Expect an update sometime this year as I'm going to work on another story at the same time- also RWBY related but set in the Elder Scrolls universe. I'm not the first to do that cross over and doubt I'll be the last but the selection isn't large either, less that 70 fics in that category if memory serves. Hopefully I can get the first chapter posted in the next two weeks.
Anyway, reviews are welcome and constructive criticism will be taken under consideration.