"Hey, Yang, can we get some help over here?"
The blonde spun around to see who was calling her name. "Oh, ya, sure thing. Just give me a second."
Yang was acting as the shot-caller for Ruby's welcome home party. The decorations, entertainment, refreshments, scheduling, Yang had thought of every detail herself, to the disbelief of some. She had hoped to have some help from Weiss, but for some reason she wasn't there yet. However, she couldn't dwell on that right now. Ruby was going to be there soon and she needed to make sure everything was in place for her arrival. Right now, that meant helping Nora with moving everything that was in the center of the room, to the walls. Yang wanted a large circle in the middle of the room for dancing, standing, talking, just socializing in general.
"Nora, pick your end up more!"
"Oh, sorry!"
The large, oddly heavy table which they were carrying was placed down on the floor, accompanied by a loud 'thud' that seemed to shake the whole room slightly. After finally moving everything out of the way, Yang and Nora let their eyes scan the room they were in and take in how much they, and everyone else, had actually achieved in the span of only a few days.
"Yang, I've got to hand it to you. I didn't know the cafeteria could look this... well... awesome."
"Thanks, Nora. I just wanted everything to look good for Ruby. She deserves to have a good time after being away for so long. I hope she likes it."
"The place look great. I'm sure she'll love it. Everyone else sure does."
"You really think so?"
"Of course! Look at how much work everyone has put into this place. How could she not?"
Yang began to observe everything she and her friends had accomplished, and when the scope of everything they had done hit her, she suddenly realized how tired she was. They had been working on this party since Ruby announced that she was coming home and Yang remembered she hadn't slept more than a couple of hours each night since then.
"Hey, Nora, I'm gonna let you and everyone else hold down the fort for a little while. I need to get some sleep before Ruby shows up. I'm exhausted and I'd rather not pass out while she's here."
"Oh, okay, no problem! I need to check on Ren anyway. He might need some help with the food."
"Thanks. I'll be back in a few."
Nora headed towards the kitchen as Yang started walking back to team RWBY's dorm, thinking about nothing except her bed, and how it was taking far too long for her to get there. However, as she turned a corner on her way to the dorm, she bumped into Blake. This earned a muffled grunt from the both of them and sent Blake falling onto the floor.
Yang reached out her hand to help her up, while apologizing. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, Blake. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
Blake stood up after being knocked down, and brushed herself off slightly. "It's alright. Where are you going? I figured you would want to be in the cafeteria finishing up the decorating."
"Ya, I would still be there if I could, but I am having a lot of trouble staying awake. These last few days have been kind of rough on me. I am going to try to get some z's in before Ruby gets here, so I'm going back to the dorm room."
"I understand. Come to think of it, you have seemed rather drained lately. Some rest would probably be good for you."
"I hope so. Oh, I almost forgot, did you talk to Weiss yet?"
"I did. She seemed stressed still, but I don't think it's enough to keep from coming to the party."
"Okay, good. I think Ruby would be heartbroken if she wasn't there."
Blake seemed slightly puzzled by this. "Why would she be so upset about Weiss not being there?"
"Oh... No reason! I-It's just that I think Ruby would be sad if all of her friends weren't there to see her, that's all."
Yang could tell by the look Blake was giving her, that she knew she was keeping something from her. After starting to feel uncomfortable sitting under Blake's piercing gaze, she decided to break the awkward silence between the two of them and leave in the process, as to not explain herself further.
"So, uh... I'm gonna head to the dorm, do you think you could head to the cafeteria? I left Nora in charge, but sometimes she can be a little... intense."
After staring at Yang for a few more seconds, Blake's expression softened. "Sure. I was heading back there anyway."
"Thanks, Blake."
After saying their goodbyes, they parted ways, with a suspicious Blake heading to the cafeteria, and Yang heading towards the dorm. Yang slowly walked to the door for the room, struggling to not fall asleep in the hallway. She walked through the door, kicked off her shoes, and collapsed onto her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out cold.
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Blake and Nora were trying to herd everyone together. The finishing touches for the party were almost ready to go up, and everyone needed to be on the same page.
"Okay everybody! This place is almost done, but we need a battle plan! We need an elite team of decorators to take on this task!"
The crowd of people started to become slightly unnerved by Nora's sudden burst of energy. Jaune had been standing in front of the crowd, and was the first to speak up. "U-Um... Nora? Don't you think this is a little... over the top?"
"Over the top?! Ruby has been gone for a year! She needs to have the greatest party ever! Of all time! We're here to make sure that happens! All traitors and deserters will be... terminated."
Blake was the second person that tried to take control of control of the situation. "Everyone, the cafeteria is almost done being decorated. Anyone who is tired, has other things to do, or just doesn't want to help out with the rest is free to leave, but if you stay and help with the remainder of the decorations it would be greatly appreciated."
Everyone in the cafeteria began to have mumbled conversations among themselves. Some time after Blake made her announcement, the chatter of the group began to die down, and everyone agreed to help finish decorating.
"I knew my speech would get them going! I should be a motivational speaker, Blake!"
"I don't know if that would suit you very well, Nora..."
"What do you mean?"
"Um, well, You're such a good huntress. It seems like it would be a shame for all that talent to go to waste."
"Oh, I guess you're right! I'm going to check up on everyone and make sure everything is in tip-top shape!"
"Okay. I'll stick around here. If you need help with anything, find me."
"You got it!"
Blake watched Nora skip away and began to study the cafeteria, trying to take in everything that was happening. Nothing seemed to need her immediate attention, which meant she could take a break.
"Okay, everything seems to be in order. Yang really did an awesome job with this place. She's more talented than she realizes. Ruby is going to love this when she gets here." Blake gave the cafeteria one more glance to see if anything was wrong or messed up. "Well, since everything seems to be okay for now, I think I'm going to read for a while. Now I just need to find a nice, quiet place that I can actually read at."
After spending a rather lengthy amount of time looking, Blake finally found a spot in the cafeteria that would work. It was in the corner of the room and was behind a sculpture that was in place for Ruby's party. Blake pulled a chair over to her new spot, sat down, and began to read her book. Every now and then, she would take short breaks from reading and go make sure everything for the party was still going well.
"Well, this place is just about ready. Now all we are waiting for is the guest of honor. I wonder when she will be here. Wait, where is Weiss? I told her to be here! It's too late to go get her now, I told Yang I would watch everyone. I hope she shows up."
In a different part of the school, Weiss was walking down one of Beacon's many hallways, heading towards the cafeteria. She was still trying to figure out why she was so nervous about seeing Ruby again, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Every thought that came to her mind was immediately shot down by another one. The constant stress of trying to figure out was causing all of her anxiety was beginning to eat away at her.
"Calm down, Weiss. It's only Ruby. I know she hasn't been here in a year, but that doesn't mean I should be nervous about seeing her. Am I just nervous about how she will react to everyone? No, that can't be it. What if I'm nervous about how she may have changed? That's just stupid. She probably hasn't changed a bit. Ugh! Pull yourself together, Weiss! You're a Schnee, after all. Don't let this stress get the better of you. I just wish I could figure this out. I guess there's nothing I can do it about right now. All I can really do is just wait for her to get here and hope everything goes well."
Weiss began to subconsciously slow her pace, attempting to take as much time as possible in getting to the cafeteria. She wanted to see everything that Yang had done, and she wanted to be there before Ruby. She didn't want the attention of arriving after the main guest. As she thought about changing some of the cafeteria decorations, different styles of entertainment, and then abolishing those thoughts as to not anger Yang, she found that she had wandered far away from the lunch room.
"Perfect, I finally get my mind off of the whole Ruby thing, and I stop paying attention to where I'm going. Where am I at now anyway?" Weiss began to observe her surroundings. She was standing on a flat, stone walkway, which was on the edge of Beacon's campus, stopping mere feet away from a humongous cliff. She was almost certain she knew where she was, but the sound of a massive airship landing behind her just cemented her suspicions. It didn't take more than a few seconds for her to realize where she was. "Well this is just great. I'm at the station. I have no clue how I even ended up here, but I need to get back to the cafeteria."
As she began to turn around and walk back towards the school, a huge influx of people began to pour out of the ship that had just landed. Before long, Weiss was in the middle of a huge crowd. Some people were heading towards the school, some were heading towards another ship, and some were just standing around. She briefly lost where she was due to the sudden crowd around her, which threw off her senses. After a few moments, she finally found the right direction and began making her way back. She had just walked through the carved marble arches that served as Beacon's entrance to the courtyard, but she was stopped in her tracks by a peculiar scent.
"What is that? It's almost sweet. It's very familiar. Wait... I know this smell. It smells like... roses..." Weiss stopped dead in her tracks. She didn't dare move. She was terrified and she didn't know why. She wanted to turn around, see nothing, and go to the cafeteria, but she was unable to do anything except stand still. She tried to force her body to move, to no avail. As she stood in that same spot, not moving, the smell grew stronger and stronger as time passed. Before long, she heard the heavy 'clunk' of combat boots on stone. Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and she felt someone's presence right behind her. After a couple of seconds had passed, she felt a hand on her shoulder, which filled her with happiness and panic at the same time.
"Please don't let that be Ruby. Please don't let that be Ruby. Please don't let that be Ruby."
A cheerful, high-pitched voice, that was all too familiar to her, spoke up. "Weiss, is that you?"
"...Damn it."
Well, here's Chapter 2! It's still not as long as I would have liked, but I'm happy with it. Oh, and today I figured out that there are actually people out there that are following my story! Thank you soooo much for talking time to read it! I had no clue that people would actually find my writing... well... good! I hope this chapter is as good as everyone hopes it is, and if it is, leave a review! If it isn't, leave one anyway! I could always use constructive criticism!
I'm going to try to have a chapter out at least once a week. That might be too slow for some people, but that way, I still have time to write without being under pressure and having to cram a chapter together and not have it be as good as it could be. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this, because I really enjoy writing it! I hope everyone will stick around until the end of the story!
:D