RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth
"Cello!" Yang greeted with a 2 finger salute and a cigarette as she and Ruby walked into the band studio where Weiss and Blake were.
"Hey." Blake greeted
Weiss merely sighed at Yang's pun. After about a month of getting to know the two new band members, the keyboardist learned that Yang made puns any time she could, and sometimes it was better to just ignore it rather than show reaction towards it lest they all wished to suffer the wrath of more puns following. "Good afternoon Yang, Ruby. AND PUT THAT CIGARETTE OUT"
"Yo!" Ruby cheered with a backwards peace sign, but continued walking further in to the kitchen.
"So, I have some great news." The drummer grinned as she crashed onto the couch, completely ignoring Weiss's demand "We have a gig at a bar a few towns over." Yang announced
"What?! Already? How?! When?!" Weiss demanded. She had been trying to book their new band a place for the past week, but all her contacts said that they would have to wait for a while.
"Woah, chill the fuck out princess." Yang said, holding her hands out in front of her as though it would help with doing so. "Remember how I told you that we have a small fan base already?"
Weiss nodded
"Well, I tweeted about how the new band Ruby and I are in are looking for a place to perform a few days back. And so, just this morning, we were mailed about whether or not we wanted a slot that just opened up. Apparently, we have this one fan who is friends with the bar owner and asked if we could perform there. Then, as it turns out, Ruby here actually knows the bar owner too, and he loves her."
"It's cause I'm awesome." Ruby grinned as she crashed next to Yang with a bottle of beer
Yang rolled her eyes affectionately, "Anyway, so we went ahead and accepted the slot."
Weiss and Blake both had smiles on their face, excited and happy that they got to perform. And although the method to achieve this was foreign to Weiss, she didn't think there was a problem with it.
"So when do we perform?" Blake asked
Yang grinned, "Tonight"
"TONIGHT?!" Weiss shrieked
The other band members winced at her shrill voice
"We can't perform TONIGHT!" Weiss stated, "We're not prepared! We don't have a set list! We haven't practiced enough!"
"We'll be fine," Ruby smiled. "We've practiced a whole load of songs these past few weeks, we can just create a set with those."
"It's not the same!" Weiss screamed, "We can't just make up some last minute set list and expect to play it perfectly! This isn't some stupid TV series or movie! We need a plan! We need to practice! AND YOU NEED TO PUT THAT CIGARETTE OUT YANG! YOU'RE STRESSING ME OUT!"
Yang simply laughed as she finished and stubbed her cigarette out in the ash tray on the coffee table, "Calm down Princess, it'll be fine. You've made us practice just about every song we've done more than a few dozen times, so you don't have to worry about not playing perfectly."
"Besides, if we make the set now we can practice them a few times before leaving." Blake offered as Yang took out another cigarette and offered one to the others. The dark skinned girl took one.
"Right, what Blake said." The drummer stated, lighting her new one up and then tossing the lighter towards Blake.
Weiss marched over to Blake and snatched the cigarette up before going over to the drummer and doing the same thing, stubbing both out at once causing the two girls to frown. "Well who's going to be in charge of announcements and introductions?"
"Just leave it to us!" Ruby smiled, throwing her hand holding the beer bottle over her sister.
Weiss used the opportunity to take the beer bottle away too.
The band arrived to the venue on time and finished setting up their equipment on the tiny stage rather quickly thanks to Ruby's speedy work process and Blake's focused demeanor. Weiss had feared that they would arrive late due to the band's… disagreement on her wardrobe choice.
Yang wore loose black cargo pants, an orange belt, a black T-shirt that had orange lettering saying "BAM!" and with the sleeves ripped off to show her toned arms and tattoo of thorns and roses covering her left forearm. Blake wore fitted gray cargo pants, a gray beanie, and a black one sleeved tank top that showed the purple strap and a bit of the top of her sports bra, showing off to the world all of her intricate Egyptian looking tattoos and cat paws covering her right arm and another tattoo (which is a family emblem or something) on the inside of her left bicep. Ruby ended up wearing black washed jeans that had more than a few rips, a white tee, and a sleeveless red hoodie, exposing her watercolor rose tattoo and thorns (that was far more neat and spacious than her sister's) on her right forearm.
Weiss wanted to go in business/formal attire… But everyone adamantly refused to allow her to do that. So with much bickering and arguing, they reached a compromise.
Weiss could choose one thing to wear, but had to change everything else.
So here she was in fitted light blue jeans, a dark blue v-neck, and a white blazer…
She hated it.
"Hey, uh… Guys. Alright. So. Uh. Yeah.
Here I am, my name is Yang.
I came walking into the bar with a, um… bang,
Oh, but uh… Don't worry guys, cuz I ain't in no gang."
Weiss couldn't help but let out a loud groan as she rolled her eyes hard. And to make things worse, here they were, a new fresh band standing on a small stage at an overcrowded bar trying to make a name of themselves, but of course Yang decided that she had to try and prove that she can rap before their performance.
She couldn't rap.
At all…
In fact, she was so terrible at rapping; both Blake and Weiss had no choice but to cringe. But there she was… Rapping… With the help of Ruby doing her fantastic beat boxing to support her sister.
The white haired girl had to do something quick before the drummer ruined what little reputation they had. She couldn't have known that the majority of the patrons already expected and loved the silliness of the drummer.
"Alright Yang. That's enough." Weiss interrupted.
"What? What? Say what?" Yang asked, still attempting to rap as Ruby followed up with sounds of a disk being rewound and fast forwarded a few times.
"I'm sure the audience would much prefer to hear our last performance instead of listening to your… awful speaking habits all night long." Weiss stated
The crowd was laughing, some even shouting out "Ohhhhhh"
Yang was also laughing, "Alright then, how about you try then princess?"
"What?" Weiss asked as the crowd suddenly started cheering.
"Who here wants to see an epic rap from the new members?!" Yang asked the crowd, causing them all to hoot and holler.
"Wait! This wasn't part of the set list! I'm not prepared!" Weiss hissed
"C'mon Weiss! It's for the crowd! Do it for the fans!" The drummer stated
"But I don't even-"
"For the fans!" Yang started chanting while stomping her feet, causing everyone else to follow.
The chanting continued for a while, growing louder and louder by each phrase until Weiss couldn't handle the pressure anymore.
"Alright alright! Fine!" Weiss huffed, causing the entire bar to cheer in victory. "And how do you suggest we do this?"
Yang smirked, "Well… How about you and me, and Blake with Ruby?"
The crowd whooped their agreement.
Weiss glanced over to Blake, hoping for her friend to disagree on this childish challenge, but was met with a shrug.
"Sure." Blake said with a small smile
The traitor… She'll pay for this! "Fine!" Weiss snapped as she turned to her microphone.
"You don't mind if I start right Rubes?" Yang asked
Ruby answered with a series of beats and a synthetic sound of "A-A-After yoU!"
The drummer gave a smirk as she turned to Weiss, "Ready Princess?"
Weiss sighed, there was no way getting out of this. "Let's get this over with."
Yang grinned as she started executing beats on her drum.
Weiss frowned soon after as she stared at the microphone, she had never performed freestyle before, much less any kind of rapping. Everything had always been planned out precisely and practiced before any performance until perfection. For once, Weiss was nervous about how well she would do. She glanced over to Blake who just gave her a reassuring smile and nod.
"Hey princess! Don't worry about it, just say whatever comes to mind!" Yang offered over the sound of her drums.
"You can do it," Ruby cheered, making her voice sound robotic, then she proceed to make her voice sound as though it were being looped as she chanted "Weiss! Weiss! Weiss!" Garnering the crowd to chant with her.
The pale keyboarder simply gave a hesitant nod and took a shaky breath, allowing the crowd to quiet down
"Yeah, that's right, I'm a princess!
Don't mess with me
Because if you do then I'm going to make you bleed
Bow down to me
Fulfill my every need
If I tell you to do something
Then do it
Don't ask
Don't hesitate
Just grant any and all of my wishes
I'm the Princess, the Ice Queen, the snow angel of your dreams
So listen up
Do what I say
Because if you don't then I'm going to make you pay."
At that, Weiss gave a satisfied nod, even ending it by flipping her hair with her hand (although that was more out of habit than anything) causing the crowd to send wolf whistles her way while hollering. Weiss had to admit that it felt exhilarating, knowing that people were cheering for her despite how poorly she may have done.
"Wow Weiss… I didn't realize how deep your narcissism ran." Yang stated causing the crowd to laugh. "Alright Rubes, Blake, you two hit it."
Blake glanced over to Ruby and gave a small nod. Immediately after, the guitarist began sounding out electronic sounding beats and dropped the bass.
"Take a look around, and all I see and face is discrimination
What the fuck is wrong with this nation?
Don't believe it?
I'll tell you how it is if you were in my place
Take a look at me what the hell do you see?
The darkness of my skin
The piercings on my face
The tattoos on my arms
And the first thing that comes to your mind is
That girl is whack."
Ruby spat out some more broken beats that kept going faster and faster until she dropped them off again and returned back to her previous beats.
"Gotta run before she beats me
Hide my purse - hide my wallet
I hope she leaves me be
Well you all can fuck off
Don't judge a book by its' cover
Cuz all the things on me is all you ever saw
You can't judge me when you never got to know me at all"
Ruby then mimicked the sound of her beats being sucked in, and then ending it with a small explosion, even gesturing it to her head.
The customers all cheered and those sitting rose to their feet as they hollered out for the bassist.
"Holy crap Blake! I didn't know you had it in you!" The drummer stated in awe, the past few weeks she had only known Blake to speak here and there, but it was always in a calm, even tone.
Weiss was also impressed; she knew that her dark skinned friend was a capable rapper and a fantastic lyricist, but she never heard her friend portraying herself quite like that. And the way Ruby was so in sync with her… It was (for lack of a better word) mind blowing.
"Give it up for our Bassist!" Yang hollered, causing the patrons of the bar to yell some more. "Alright guys! As most of you know or don't know, Ruby and I here have recently gotten in a band with Weiss and Blake here, and you gotta admit, we sound pretty fucking good." More hoots and hollers. "And how about Weiss-y here eh?" At this, all of the boys yelled loudly and sent more wolf whistles the keyboardist's way causing her to flush a little, due to not being used to so much attention like this.
Yang merely laughed, "Blake-y here ain't too shabby either right?"
More hoots and hollers, this time the cheering seemed to be a bit more equal.
"But let's face it, I'm the best here."
This time, mostly laugher was heard with clapping.
"Hey hey hey! That wasn't meant to be a joke!" Yang insisted, though she was laughing herself. "But okay, I can see your guy's point. If anyone here is the best, then Ruby takes the whole fucking cake."
The entire bar cheered, hollered, and clapped as Ruby let out a few typical simple beats and disc scratches, yelling out a dropping, "Yeah!" at the end.
There was even a shout of "I LOVE YOU RUBY!" somewhere from the crowd causing Ruby to lean over her microphone and do the most epic Elvis Presley impersonation, "Thank you, Thank you very much." Earning laughter and cheers.
"Anyway, I'm sure you all are sick of hearing me talk," Yang said, causing the crowd to laugh and some were even yelling their protests, "So Ruby, take it away."
The red haired guitarist leaned forward to her microphone and began miming the sound of a whirring tape, "And now, ladies and gentlemen." She started in a deep voice, she then sounded out something akin to a buzzing noise as Yang began beating on her drums "For our first number," She introduced with an air of mystery as Blake joined in and Weiss made her way to the front of the stage. "We will be performing…"
She strummed her fingers across her guitar as the band continued.
"Mz. Hyde~" Ruby finished through a static sounding voice, causing the majority of the crowd to let out a loud excited cheer.
Weiss brought her microphone to her mouth
"In The daylight,
I'm your sweetheart,
Your goody-two-shoes prude is a work of art.
But you don't know me,
And soon you won't forget,
Bad as can be, yeah you know I'm not so innocent."
For the rest of their next few performances, the bar was filled with cheering and laughing as Yang and Ruby continued their usual bantering and inclusion of the fans.
Blake and Weiss found themselves enjoying this easygoing atmosphere and at some point of the night, they were even laughing and joining in the banter for a bit.
"Alright alright, so it seems as though our session is coming to a close," Yang stated, causing some whining. "But, as a treat, we're going to perform our first original piece that Blake and Ruby collaborated on." The drummer said which caused some murmurs.
The band members glanced at each other, and gave each other nods for reassurance. They opened the song in a soothing melodic rhythmic beat
"A warning to the people,
The good and the evil,
This is war."
Weiss began, shocking the crowd into utter silence. Soon enough, as she continued singing the music began picking up the pace, she could see people starting to nod their heads until she began yelling out her lyrics with Blake, Ruby would also join by screaming out some chosen words.
By the end of the song, most of the patrons had stood up to applause, hoot, and holler.
"WE NAILED IT!" Yang cheered as she clunk her glass of beer with the other band member's (and Weiss's water).
Ruby began chugging her beer down and slammed it down on to the floor they sat at outside the back of their van. "HELL YEAH!" She yelled
"I have to admit, this was rather… thrilling." Weiss confessed, "I was quite shocked at our success, of course I would have it no other way. I just didn't think that "
Blake nodded her agreement as she took a hit from her cigarette, and was about to speak until an older man came walking over to them.
"Hey Ruby, girls, great performance." He complimented.
"Mr. Dawn!" Ruby greeted with a smile as she got up and gave him a quick hug, "Thanks for having us!"
The old man chuckled, "It was my pleasure, you girls brought in quite the number of customers, I don't think I've ever had my bar so overcrowded before."
The guitarist gave a bright smile, "Well don't thank us! Our fans were the ones who spread the word around!"
Another chuckle, "Anyway, I came out here to give you girls an offer." Dawn stated.
Weiss narrowed her eyes, "What kind of offer?"
"I know you girls just started, so I'm sure you're looking for gigs to play at." He began, "If you send me a few demo of your girls' performances, I'll put a good word in for you and send a copy out to a few fellows I know across the state. I can't guarantee anything, but I am positive you will be able to play at a couple of bars and clubs with the next couple of months."
"HOLY CRAP! FUCK! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" Yang exclaimed in excitement.
Dawn merely nodded
"FUCK!" Yang cursed with a laugh as she stood up and gave her sister a tight half hug in her excitement
Blake and Weiss on the other hand were a bit skeptical, "What's the catch?"
"There is no catch," Dawn chuckled. "Although, I suppose if there is one I only ask for one thing."
"Of course! What is it?" Ruby asked
The man smiled, "I want the first poster you print signed by all of you. That way, I can hang it up in my bar and show it off."
Weiss frowned, "That's it?"
The man nodded.
The white haired girl couldn't help but feel very suspicious; it was just too much to be true for a small starting band. She was about to voice her protest but was cut short.
"Why?" Blake asked
The man frowned, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Why are you willing to do so much for us?" Blake asked, "We're just a small starter band."
Dawn was silent for a moment before he burst out laughing, causing confusion amongst the black and white duo. "Blake was it?" He asked, causing her to nod in confirmation. "You're no small starter band. I mean, think of all the people in the bar tonight. You think they all just came to get drinks?"
Blake frowned in though, "But… Most of them were fans of Yang and Ruby…"
"Not anymore," He grinned "Now, they're no longer just those two girl's fans, they're fans of the whole band. And they may be small, but they're only going to grow larger and larger. Why, the last time I saw Ruby, she and her sister only had enough fans that would fill my bar like any other regular night."
Ruby gave a sheepish grin as Yang chuckled.
"Now, I know Yang and Ruby were very talented together, but now that they're in a band with you two, I know that you guys were made for bigger places." He said, "And I want to be a part of your band's progress."
The dark skinned girl eyed him skeptically, searching for any signs of deceit. When she couldn't find any, she glanced over to Weiss and nodded.
The white haired girl nodded back and stepped up to the man, "Mr. Dawn correct?" he nodded in confirmation. Weiss rummaged through her purse and took out a pen and paper and handed it to him. "Please leave your email, phone number, and mailing address… We will contact you shortly after we finish our posters and creating our demo tapes."
Dawn smiled as he began jotting his information down as Yang and Ruby both let out whoops and hollers.
"I look forward to it, especially when you girls make more of your own music." He said as he handed the paper and pen back to Weiss.
The girls all paused and turned to each other as he walked away.
Only one word came out from Yang's mouth, "Shit."
AN: Guys, I'm sorry if the order of how a band gets popular seems off. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how small bands turn big, but I imagine it to involve a lot of fan support, luck, and connections. If I'm missing stuff, I'm really sorry.
Songs played in this chapter is:
Mz. Hyde – Halestorm
This is War – 30 Seconds to Mars
