...continued from last chapter

"So, what have you four been doing while I was gone?" asked Misato.

"Pouring over a message from one of our instructor," replied Ruby.

"Oooh, what does it say?"

"If it's all the same to you, we'd like to keep it private," said Weiss. Turning to Ruby, she whispered, "You read it over like three times."

"I just wanted to make sure I was reading it correctly!" protested Ruby. Turning to Misato, Weiss asked, "So, why is Shinji here? I thought we were just going to be staying with you."

"Well, he was going to live alone, but I decided to take him home with me. After all, living by yourself isn't very fun now is it Shinji?"

"Uh...um I guess not," said Shinji. Ruby stood oblivious to what the others were saying. She still wondered how the CCT could transmit a signal to another dimension. To be fair, the CCT was a technological marvel that had eased the lives of several citizens. Still, this was another dimension they were dealing with. Could a signal be carried across dimensions like that? Even if they could, there's no way the signal would carry that far. Ruby's ponderings were interrupted by an announcement from Misato. "It's time to eat!" Everyone sat at the kitchen table. "I wonder what kind of food they have here," pondered Yang. The food was admittedly different from what the team was used to, but everyone found that they still enjoyed it. Everyone, that is, except Shinji. Misato instantly took notice. "You're not eating," she observed, "I know it's microwave food, but it's good trust me." Shinji stared at his food awkwardly. "Well, it's just that...I'm not used to food like this." Misato stood up in frustration. "Are you being picky?!" Shinji leaned back as Mistato leaned forward; her face mere inches from his. He could only stammer words as Misato's face eclipsed his vision. "Hey, just calm down," said Ruby, "I'm sure he'll come around, right?" Shinji blushed in embarrassment. "Right," was all he could manage. He ate his food, albeit rather slowly. Everyone could tell it wasn't the food that was making him uncomfortable. It was everyone around him. Blake turned to Shinji and asked, "Have you always been alone?"

"Sort of," replied Shinji, "I lived with my cello instructor. We didn't talk very much, except for when I had my lessons. He was...nice."

"What about your parents?" asked Ruby.

"Well, my mom died when I was young, and my dad…" Shinji's voice trailed off. HIs father was an obvious sore spot he did not want to discuss. Misato suddenly shrieked. "Woo! I must be super drunk! There's a black bird sitting outside the window!" Everyone turned to the window and saw a crow perching on a branch. A cold air blew through the room. "You've never seen a bird before?" asked Weiss sarcastically.

"Pfffttt...Of course I've seen a bird before," slurred Misato, "I just haven't seen that kind of bird before."

"Well, it's called a crow," said Weiss angrily. Misato rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Crows are a sign of bad luck," she mused, "Japan hasn't seen those in 15 years."

"Fifteen years?" echoed Blake.

"Uh-huh. That's when second-impact happened." Everyone else immediately began to listen intently. "What is second-impact?" asked Yang.

"Naw, who knows! All I know is that that's when the world changed forever! Lots of animals died and the ice-caps, them all melted! And all the ocean life around there? Kablooey. Gonner! Messed up the whole food chain! Many animals haven't been seen around here since then." Ruby leaned towards Yang, "Not even uncle Qrow lets himself get this bad," she whispered. Yang nodded in agreement. "What was that?" asked Misato.

"We were just talking about our uncle," said Ruby.

"And you say his name is...Qrow?" Yang and Ruby nodded in agreement. Misato nearly doubled over in laughter. "You have an uncle...and his name is Qrow? What? Is that your uncle?" Misato pointed at the crow outside the window. "How could you say something like that?" asked Blake furiously. Misato stopped laughing. "You...don't actually mean that…" Now it was Ruby and Yang's turn to laugh, "Don't worry," said Yang, "He's a normal person. He just...has an odd name, that's all." Misato let out a simple "Huh." Turning to Blake, she asked, "Why were so upset? It was just a joke." Blake blushed. She was a faunus, meaning that she had animal characteristics on her body; in her case, cat ears. She hid her ears with a black bow. Where she came from, faunus were discriminated and ostracized. Of course, no one in this new world probably knew of faunus. Blake looked down at the floor and muttered, "I don't really want to talk about it." Misato sat back, turning her attention to Shinji. "I know just the thing to clear your head," she said with glee, "A nice hot bath. The tub is just down the hall."

"We'd better get ready for bed," said Yang.

"Oh, yeah! What are we sleeping on?" asked Ruby.

"And what are we sleeping in?" asked Weiss. Misato smiled warmly, "I managed to pick up some sleeping bags on the way home. I dropped them off in your room while making dinner. As for what you're sleeping in, well...you might have to sleep in your clothes."

"Gross!" griped Weiss.

"It's either that or sleep naked."

"Double gross!" Misato sighed, "I can take you shopping for clothes tomorrow. Right now, these are your only two options." Everyone else simply rolled there eyes in submission. Weiss merely scoffed in disgust. The team made their ways to their rooms. Ruby was ecstatic upon seeing their new quarters. "It's just like Beacon!" she squealed.

"Well, not exactly," said Yang, "There's no bunk-beds."

"And it's more cramped than Beacon," said Weiss.

"Still, it could work out," said Blake. Ruby knelt down to straighten her sleeping bag. The rest of the team did the same. "I guess it's sleeping in our clothes for now," said Ruby folornly. Yang looked at Blake with concern. "I know what was bothering you," she said calmly.

"It's nothing," said Blake curtly, "I just overreacted, that's all." Yang's eyes became a misty shade of blue, "Blake, why don't you let others know how you feel?" Blake sighed, "Look, we're in a new place. For all we know, no one's even heard of the faunus. When Misato made that joke about your uncle, she probably was just making some fun. I'm just so used to being ostracized and made fun of...it was an automatic reaction. By the way, is your uncle…" Yang and Ruby both looked at each other. "As far as we know, Qrow is not a faunus," explained Yang, "Maybe his parents wanted to be consistent. His sister, my mom, was named Raven. They're twins, so maybe they wanted them to have a similar naming scheme. I don't know why they were named the way they were. I'm sure they had there reasons."

"I don't know about Raven, but Qrow's pretty fast," said Ruby, "Maybe that's how he got his name." Blake smiled faintly, "Well, whatever the case, it sounds like your uncle's very lucky." Ruby and Yang both chuckled with joy at this opinion. Suddenly, everyone heard a loud scream. "I'll go see what's wrong!" cried Ruby as she rushed out of the room. She ran back into the room with a completely pale face and blank, soulless eyes. "What happened?" asked Weiss? Ruby shook her head to regain her composure. "Shinji was naked!" she stammereed. Weiss sighed, "You're always leaping before you look."

"To be fair, Ruby didn't know why Shinji was screaming," said Blake, "Speaking of which, why was he screaming?"

"Apparently, Misato has a warm water penguin that she forgot to tell us about."

"A penguin?" cried Weiss, "We're going to be living with a penguin?! Triple gross!"

"Oh well. We'll just have to make the most of it," said Yang. The team finished unpacking their things and got ready for bed. Misato peeked in to check on them. "You girls doing OK?" she asked.

"Yep!" said Weiss, "By the way, are we really going to be sleeping with a penguin?"

"Nah! Pen-Pen's got his own place to sleep. You will be sleeping with Shinji, though."

"Sounds good," said Ruby. Misato left them to finish preparing for bed. Shinji soon entered with his sleeping clothes on. Ruby smiled warmly at him. Weiss and Blake watched him with intense curiosity. Yang give him a flashy grin. Shinji smiled at all of them. "So, it looks like we'll be staying togehter for a while."

"That's right!" said Ruby, "I hope you like living with us."

"Yeah. We don't always get along, but we've got each other's backs," said Blake.

"And we'll be sure to have your back too," said Weiss. Shinji climbed into bed, still hurting from his most recent battle against the so-called angel. The thing was, he couldn't remember exactly what happened. He remembered climbing into something called an entry-plug. He remembered being immersed in some orange fluid that he could somehow breathe in. He remembered standing on the streets looking as the angel bore down on him. After that...nothing. A total blank. It was as if his mind blocked it out. Was he hurt? He remembered being in the hospital, clutching his arm in pain. Even now it was still somewhat sore. He looked at it intently. Nothing seemed to be broken or bruised, and there was no bleeding. "You OK?" asked Ruby.

"Umm...Yeah," stammered Shinji, "Look, we should probably get to bed."

"I couldn't agree more," said Weiss.

"Well, G'night everyone," said Yang.

"Yeah! Goodnight!" said Ruby. Soon everyone was drifting off to the mystical land of nod.

To be continued...