AN: Yes, I know. What am I doing? Writing another RWBY story? I must be crazy. Anyway, this idea randomly popped into my head while listening to the RWBY soundtrack. I happened to be listening to "I Burn" and that prompted me to go back and watch the Yellow Trailer. After watching it a few times, this idea started to form. I know the picture that Yang showed Junior wasn't Blake but I thought "What if it was? What if Yang's trailer takes place after they graduated Beacon? What if, for some reason, they weren't a team anymore?"
Then I wrote this chapter. It's just a prologue but I plan to make the next chapter a lot longer to explain how they came to be in this situation. I'll also be throwing in bits and pieces of their happier times at Beacon to offset the somewhat more serious story. So, yeah. Enjoy.
RWBY: Rebellion
Chapter 1 Just the Beginning…..
An explosion rocked the night. It wasn't uncommon for there to be a commotion in this particular area of town, but even an explosion was going a little too far for the citizens living in the neighborhood. It wouldn't be long before authorities swarmed the area in search of the one responsible. Yang though, wasn't worried about being caught. Her investigation was done, even if it did lead her to another dead end. She was at least able to discover something that could potentially be helpful. Yang landed with a grunt after having smashed her opponent through the second floor window. Junior lay at her feet completely unconscious. He deserved what he got and more for even daring to touch her golden locks.
"Yang?"
The blonde looked towards the voice, her eyes widened in surprise. She certainly hadn't expected to run into her in such a place.
"Ruby?"
"What are you doing here?"
Yang looked back at the building she'd just destroyed and at the man lying at her feet. She sighed.
"It's a long story."
"I've got time."
The blonde grinned.
"As long as you're buying."
"Then shall we head to the usual place?"
"Sounds good to me. The service here was terrible anyway." Yang kicked Junior one last time before walking towards Ruby. "It's good to see you again sis."
Ruby smiled slightly. "It's good to see you to."
The two walked to Yang's bike. They could already hear the sirens getting closer to them, but they paid them no mind. Yang and Ruby were no longer the teenagers who'd once attended Beacon. The school itself was merely a memory for many at this point. It was hard to believe that it'd almost been five years since they "graduated".
xxx
"Ruby! You're going to hurt yourself!"
"I'm fine. Ouch!"
"See? You should have listened to me!" Despite Weiss's words, she hovered over Ruby, holding onto the hand she'd cut. She pulled the younger girl to the sink to clean the minor wound. It wasn't bleeding too badly but Weiss preferred to take care of it right away.
Yang shook her head at the two. It was always entertaining watching Weiss and her sister interact mainly due to the fact that they were new to the whole dating thing. The two were taking their relationship slowly; too slowly in Yang's opinion. She wasn't even sure they were past the hand holding stage. Still, she couldn't complain. The two were good for each other. It helped them grow. Weiss had loosened up a bit more and wasn't the unpleasant person Yang had thought her to be. She could still be far too serious about things such as school work but someone on the team had to be. Ruby was still their fearless leader that rushed into battle, but she surprised many with her tactical knowledge. The younger girl had earned the respect of many by getting them and other teams out of seemingly unwinnable situations. This was especially true during the Vytal Festival. It was shortly after that that Ruby threw caution to the wind and asked Weiss out. Of course she failed to account for the fact that she asked in front of everyone at the closing ceremonies much to the embarrassment of Weiss. The girl did say yes eventually but she made Ruby suffer a week before giving her reply.
Yang turned to look at the other member of their team. Blake too had changed since they became a team. The ever quiet ninja, wasn't as quiet as she used to be. She talked more with the team even if she sometimes still preferred to read her books. At least now she kept herself around them as opposed to disappearing on her own. She and Yang had an interesting relationship to say the least. This was mainly due to the fact that they didn't give their relationship any sort of title. They flirted with each other and on more than one occasion Yang, was able to take it farther than just innocent kissing, but Blake didn't hold back either. They never dissuaded each other's advances and they never pushed for their situation to be defined. They were both fine with this cat and mouse game they had going. As for Yang, she couldn't tell whether much had changed about her but according to Ruby, she had. Something about being more wise and mature. She couldn't see it, but it was usually easier to see changes in others as opposed to ones self.
"Let's take a break." Blake suggested as Weiss left the kitchen to get a band aid.
"Probably a good idea." Yang agreed. "Wouldn't want my sister to chop off a finger."
"I'm not that bad."
"Your little accident begs to differ." Yang teased. "You could say you're cutting it close."
"Yang…." Blake and Ruby groaned. Yang may be a bit more mature now, but the puns were something that was probably there to stay.
"I wish I knew how you came up with those horrible puns." Weiss walked back into the kitchen with a band aid in hand.
"It's all talent." Yang boasted.
"Anyway, maybe Ruby shouldn't be in charge of cutting the fondant." Blake said hoping to get their project moving along.
The four were borrowing the schools kitchen in order to bake a birthday cake for Pyrrha. Jaune had practically begged them for their help after he, Ren, and Nora tried, but failed. Somehow, the cake they made exploded in their faces shortly after taking it out of the oven. Team RWBY was convinced it had to be something Nora put in the cake mix. The four girls agreed after Blake had unexpectedly revealed she knew how to bake a cake. Blake though insisted that baking the cake was easy as long as the instructions on the box were followed.
"But I'm good with sharp objects!"
"If they're in the shape of a scythe." Blake handed Ruby a butter knife and a bowl of icing. "How about you ice the cake with Weiss?"
"Fine." Ruby sounded a bit disappointed at being kicked off her initial job, but she brightened up almost immediately. "Weiss! Let's ice the cake!"
Weiss shook her head but Yang saw her smile just a tiny bit as she went over to stop Ruby from dumping the entire bowl of icing on the cake.
"So what do I get to do?" Yang sat herself across from Blake who'd begun cutting the fondant into different shapes.
Yang had been in charge of making the fondant from scratch which sounded hard, but it was surprisingly easy. Who knew marshmallows made great fondant? It had required a bit of muscle on her part once the marshmallows were becoming less mushy and more solid but she figured that's why she'd been asked to make it. She did have the strength for it after all.
"I don't think I have anything left for you to do."
"So you just wanted me for my muscles." Yang flexed one of her arms to show her point.
"I didn't hear you complain."
"That's cause someone was enjoying the show. I didn't want to disappoint my audience."
Blake smiled that secretive smile that Yang loved. It seemed like they would be playing their usual game today. Too bad Ruby and Weiss were also in the room. Things could be a lot more R-rated if they weren't. She'd show restraint though just so she wouldn't scar her little sister.
"You sure you don't need help with that?" Yang pointed at the other pieces of fondant that had yet to be used.
"Shaping fondant requires a certain kind of… finesse." Blake said knowing well that Yang would take the bait.
"Are you saying I don't have any finesse?"
"I'm just making an observation." Blake continued her work. She took a ball of fondant and began shaping it into a flower.
Yang, however, wasn't going to just let Blake have the last word. Hoping off her seat, Yang walked around the counter. Standing directly behind Blake, Yang closed the distance between them, pushing their bodies close as she covered Blake's hands with her own. It was moments like these that the blonde was glad she was the tallest on the team. Yang took the fondant out of Blake's hands and continued shaping it into a rose.
"What are you doing?" Blake asked but didn't do much of anything else.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Yang leaned further into Blake, pushing the dark haired girl against the counter. "I'm helping."
Blake felt Yang's breathe against her ear. She silently cursed her partner. Being a Faunus had its advantages but sometimes she wished she could tone down her senses. At the moment, Yang's scent completely overwhelmed her, making her wish they were alone in the kitchen so they could do far less innocent things to each other.
"You're not playing fair."
Yang chuckled. She held up her perfectly shaped rose to Blake.
"All's fair in love and war kitty cat." Yang nuzzled against Blake's neck. Blake arched her neck in order to give Yang better access. The blonde happily accepted the offer and began placing kisses along her neck.
"Yang! Blake! You're doing it again!" Weiss shriek from the other end of the counter.
The two stopped their flirting to look over at the other duo. Weiss stood behind Ruby, covering her eyes. Weiss herself had turned as red as Ruby's cloak.
"Weiss! I can't see!" Ruby flailed around.
"It's better that you don't!"
"But I need tips!"
"Tips? Tips for what!" Weiss sounded less than pleased that Ruby was trying to learn flirting habits from Yang and Blake.
Ruby stopped flailing and instead settled for tapping her index fingers together.
"I want to be romantic with you too…." Ruby trailed off.
If possible, Weiss turned even redder. She removed her hands from Ruby's eyes and instead used the hood from Ruby's cloak to obstruct Ruby's vision.
"Ack! W-Weiss!" Ruby began to flail around again.
"You idiot…" Weiss let go of the hood and turned away from Ruby. "You're romantic enough already."
Ruby peeked out from under her hood and smiled at Weiss. The four eventually stopped fooling around long enough to finished decorating the cake in time for Pyrrah's surprise birthday party.
xxx
"Ruby!" Nora waved from the bar. "You're back!"
Ruby and Yang walked through the entrance of a little bar called The Cabin. Ruby soon found herself being twirled around by the exuberant girl.
"Why didn't you tell us Yang?" Jaune and the rest of his team walked up to the two girls.
"I just found out too. It was a nice surprise after my job."
The six picked a booth in the corner of the nearly deserted bar so they could talk privately.
"So Junior didn't have any info after all." Ren took a sip of his drink. "It's a shame."
"And here I though he knew everything." Nora sighed. "I'll break the legs of the guys who told me that."
"It wasn't a complete loss." Yang pulled out her phone and slid over to Team JNPR. "I caught a glimpse of him talking with Junior just before I blew up the place."
"So that was you." Pyrrha picked up the phone and looked at the man on the screen. "I thought you were going to be subtle about this."
"I may have lost my cool after he ruined my hair."
"Did you beat him good?" Nora asked.
Yang grinned. "I sent him flying from the second story window."
"Nice."
"Don't encourage her Nora." Ren sighed. "We do need to report this to Ozpin though. Roman might be looking for something or someone if he went to Junior for intel."
"They could also be working together. It's not farfetched to think Junior is letting Roman use his club for illegal activities." Yang crossed her arms over her chest. "Either way, I doubt Junior is going to be going to jail so we'll have more opportunities to find out what Roman wanted with him."
"Until then you might want to lay low." Ruby suggested. "He knows what you look like. He'll definitely try to find you after what you did to him."
"Don't worry." Yang waved off her concern. "With the beating I gave him I doubt he'll want to see me again. Too bad I'll probably be paying a visit to him again sometime in the future."
"Ozpin will probably send someone else for that. Preferably someone who doesn't blow up buildings."
"Are you talking about Nora?" Yang grinned. "I distinctly remember her blowing up a few in the past."
The group laughed. Nora had indeed brought down a few buildings but in her defense, the bad guys had already set the building to detonate. They really didn't want what they were stashing to be discovered.
"So, how was your trip Ruby?" Jaune asked after their laughter died down.
"Not bad. I ran into some Beowolves on my way back. Nothing I couldn't handle, but these one were different." Ruby frowned remembering the fight.
"Different how?" Pyrrha handed Yang back her phone.
"Well, you know how they have that bone helmets and stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Well these didn't have any, but they weren't any weaker. In fact, I think they were just as strong."
"Could it be a new type of Beowolf? That seems almost impossible." Ren began talking to himself of the possibility of such a thing.
"You should probably report that to Peter. He'd be interested in the possibility of a new type of Grimm appearing." Pyrrha advised.
Ruby sighed. "It seems like things are always getting worse out there huh?"
A silence befell the table.
"But that means things can only get better from here on out." Nora spoke up. The group looked at her. "Once you hit the bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up right?
Yang had to smile. Nora could say some pretty insightful things sometimes. She was right. They couldn't let themselves be discouraged.
"Nora's right! After all we've been through; we definitely have only good things to look forward to. We can't give up now because of few setbacks."
"So let's drink ourselves to oblivion!" Nora cheered.
"Bartender! A round a drinks for us!" Yang called over to the man running the bar.
The man nodded and began making drinks for the hunters and huntresses that frequented his bar. Their shots soon arrived at the table. They all held up their drinks.
"What are we drinking to?" Jaune questioned.
"How about to the future?" Pyrrha suggested.
"To the future!" Yang announced.
"To Yang's hair!" Nora blurted.
"To my gorgeous hair!" Yang reiterated.
Ruby surprised everyone by stand up, drink still in her hand; she held it out above everyone else.
"To the two, who are not here with us, but… I'm sure they wish they were."
For a moment, Ruby looked a lot older than she actually was. In her short life, she'd been through so much already. Losing her family at such a young age, she knew well the sorrow of being alone. She thought she'd be alone forever but then she was taken in by Qrow. Thanks to him, he gave Ruby another family and Yang became another important person in her life. Then she found someone to love. It'd caught her by surprise but it had been the happiest she'd been. Together with that person, she felt like she could take on the world and win. Reality was a bitch though and shattered Ruby's world.
Yang stood up beside her sister. Sorrow also, filled her eyes.
"To Weiss and Blake, where ever they may be…."
Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora stood up alongside them.
"To Weiss and Blake!"
Glasses clinked and they downed the liquid. No matter how many times they drank, straight alcohol was still pretty strong, but sometimes it helped. There were memories that would forever haunt them and nothing they did they did would change that. It was those memories though, that kept them going. It gave them something to fight for. The event of five years ago changed a lot of things for them and the world at large. Their graduation from Beacon had been a literal trial by fire as the forces of darkness descended upon the unsuspecting students of Beacon Academy. There was nothing left of the once proud school. In its place were mere ruins of a lost battle.
Of a rebellion that took the world by storm.
AN: That's the end for now. Let me know what you guys think.