(I got a little lost on where to go with the next chapter of my main story, but had sudden inspiration for this story and wrote this chapter in 2 hours. Enjoy!)
Saber eventually lost track of Weiss, who made a conscious effort to leave Saber behind, without her knowing. In a land that she couldn't help but feel was not her own, in an institution that she had no knowledge of, Saber wandered aimlessly around the halls of Beacon, passing by students who attended, who were talking about the results of a recent match in a tournament that was being held.
"Did you hear –" said one student, but his voice was drowned out by the chatter in the halls.
"Yeah! That was –" said another, whose voice eventually drowned as well.
As she wandered, she noticed that while some students wore uniforms, a lot of them varied in design. Some shot a few glances her way, some slightly confused as to the simple design of her dress; however, she ignored the looks and continued forward, hoping that she would see a familiar face.
"Saber!" A voice that originated to her left, and Saber turned to see the little girl, Ruby, waving in her direction. "Over here!"
Saber strode over to her, and stopped in front of an exuberant Ruby, who smiled excitedly at her. The rest of Team RWBY, excepting Weiss, was with her.
"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked. "I thought you would be with Weiss."
"We got separated," Saber responded.
"Ha, yeah right. More like she left you behind," Yang responded and shook her head.
"Yeah, she didn't seem all too happy this morning," Ruby added, the smile on her face gone now, and Blake nodded in reply.
"Honestly, when is she ever happy?" Yang quipped, as she started to grin.
"I would have to ask that you not talk about her in such a manner," Saber snapped.
"Woah, okay, I was just joking," Yang raised her hands defensively, still holding the grin. At that moment, four more people appeared from behind a door, a large tanned man, followed by a smaller but darker skinned male. Behind them, was a woman who had something dark, like smoked glass covering her eyes, which Saber didn't understand, with another woman following behind her that caught Saber's attention.
"Hey guys!" said the young woman, in a clipped Northern accent.
"Hey Velvet," Ruby said loudly, with a bit of whimsy in her voice.
"Hey Coco, how are you feeling?" Yang asked, to which Saber pieced together was the woman with the strange objects over her eyes, as she walked out of the school's infirmary.
"We're good, though I will admit," Coco replied, but with a frown, as she pointed back to Yatsuhashi with her thumb, "we did take a rather hard beating, but…"
"But!" Velvet interjected. "You have to get some rest now, okay?"
Coco shook her head, and before she turned to walk away, Saber noticed a hint of confusion in whatever features she could see. As she was about to leave, Velvet glanced over to Saber, who was staring back at her with a glazed expression.
"Umm, who's this?" Velvet asked.
"Oh, this is Saber! She is a servant from Weiss' family," Ruby said, and at that moment, Saber stepped forward, and reached up to Velvet's head and her hand touched her ears.
"Uhhh," Velvet said through a smile, looking back to Ruby then back to Saber nervously, while Saber's eyes widened as she began to rub her ears between her finger and thumb.
"Is this –" Saber spoke, but froze as she was at a loss for words. For a moment there was silence between them, as Velvet stood there, confused as to what she meant.
"Real?" Velvet finished, and Saber let go of the ear and watched as Velvet waved them slightly. "Yeah, they are."
Saber's eyes widened in shock, as well as surprise, her gaze fixated on the ears and ignored everything else.
"Is she okay?" Velvet asked, with genuine concern.
"Yeah," Yang whispered. "She's a little weird."
"Ah," Velvet responded and turned to Saber again, who was still staring at her ears, but the shock was now replaced with awe. "Well, we will probably meet up with you for the tournaments halftime."
"Ok, see ya soon," Ruby yelled down the hall. "Oh, and you take care of them too, Fox!"
Ruby smiled as she turned around and was about to walk off before, Saber reached out to stop her.
"What was that?" Saber asked, her eyes still wide open in amazement as she looked down at Ruby, before she looked back up to Velvet, who was now farther down the hall.
"Wha- that was Velvet," Ruby answered, oblivious to what Saber really meant.
"No, I mean 'what' was that?" Saber reiterated, and Blake looked at her with a cocked brow.
"What do you mean, 'what'? Her name is Velvet, she is a Faunus, but a person like you and I," Blake said defensively. She was so used to the discrimination, but hearing Saber refer to her as object, made her upset.
"Faunus," Saber said to herself, which almost came out a whisper, as if to remember the term. Blake continued to eye the expression on her face, only then realizing that there was no hate in Saber's eyes, instead it was genuine curiosity. As Ruby and Yang were about to turn to walk away, feeling the tension in the air rise, Blake spoke again.
"Saber," Blake said, which pulled Saber out of her trance, coupled with the fact that Velvet already turned the corner and the object that caught her curiosity was gone. Blake leaned forward, and looked up at Saber, a sense of reservation filling her mind as she was about to ask what was, in her mind, a ridiculous question. "Was that your first time seeing a Faunus?"
Ruby and Yang both flinched and turned to Saber, as they genuinely wanted to hear the answer, too. Saber stood silently for a moment, finally turning towards Blake after she collected her thoughts.
"Yes," Saber replied plainly, which made Blake recoil and stare at Saber in disbelief, while Ruby and Yang turned to one another, then back to Saber. Blake swallowed, and finally broke eye contact and looked down, almost embarrassed that she had reacted so defensively at first, but not she was just in shock that someone did not know what a Faunus was.
" Let's go, that show is about to begin," Blake said without emotion, and pushed past Saber and the sisters. Once they all turned to leave, the doors to the infirmary opened, and out came Glynda, who was checking on the other students who landed in there, but couldn't help but eavesdrop into the conversation. When she finally processed the information in her mind, she looked down at her Scroll, and jotted down the conversation she overheard, verbatim.
The group walked over to the landing area, which held airships to take spectators and participants to the Amity Colosseum, which flew above the Kingdom of Vale. It did take a while to convince Saber to get inside, who objected at first, hiding behind a stoic expression, all while feeling fear of flying; but once Ruby took her hand, she calmed down and they both walked into the shuttle, and were on their way.
As they got closer, the cheers from spectators could be heard, as the final round of the doubles ladder was already underway. Whatever fear Saber felt was now replaced with awe as she saw the floating arena, which she thought would be the best place to find worthy opponents.
"Seems like the ideal place to prove ones mettle," Saber said, her face and hands pressed against the glass, trying her best to follow the stadium as they flew over it. "I would love to have a chance at this glory."
"Unfortunately, the tournament is already halfway over, it's too late to join," Blake replied, and Saber hung her head in disappointment.
"Oh well, but guess who is going on to the finals," Yang said with a grin, and Saber turned around to see that Yang had two thumbs pointed towards herself. "This gal."
"You are a participant in this tournament as well?" Saber asked, surprised that this girl was considered a skilled enough fighter to participate, let alone, make it to the final rounds.
"Yep, in fact, we all are," Yang said with a smug grin, and leaned back in her seat and kicked her feet up onto the seats in front of her.
"Yeah! Go team RWBY!" Ruby cheered and pushed herself off of her seat and held her hands in the air in front of her teammates. Yang, without hesitation, leaned forward and high fived her sister, while Blake sat in silence.
"Blaaaaaaake!" Ruby whined, and before long, a smile appeared on Blake's face, as she completed the high five. "Yeah!"
"You all fought in this tournament?" Saber said in amazement, her eyes fixated on Ruby especially. "But don't you have school? I thought you all attended an Academy?"
"Yeah, all the Academies from the Kingdoms all compete every two years in a tournament for the Vytal Festival," Blake responded, and the weird feeling that she and Yang had been feeling began to return, except for Ruby, who sat excitedly at the thought of the tournament.
"What kind of Academy is this?" Saber asked.
"Duh," Yang said, the smile on her face gone. "We are taught how to fight."
Saber stared at each individual teammate, her gaze finally freezing on Ruby, who looked back up at her with a naïve smile. "Are they preparing you for war?"
"You can kind of say that," Yang replied, and she leaned in towards Blake. "Do you think she knows about –"
Ruby stood up, about to announce that they were really trained to fight the Grimm, but the bay doors to the shuttle opened, revealing that they had finally landed. Ruby, filled with excitement for the show, forgot what she was about to say and she took Saber by the hand, and lead her towards the exit to the shuttle.
"Come on, Saber! We need to get the best seats!"
The cheering got louder and louder as the group made their way to the stadium. Saber looked in amazement, as she saw people of every skin tone, but as well as every animal ear and horns, and even a tail; which made her want to give it a quick tug, just to make sure.
Everyone had their drinks and snacks in hand, ready to watch the show, but realizing that the final doubles match was still ongoing. Yang sat down with a bucket of fresh, buttered popcorn, while Blake sat with a can of tuna that she happened to sneak in on her lap. Ruby then handed a piece of bread, which was shaped like a fish, to Saber.
"Here you are," Ruby said with a smile, and Saber gladly took it.
"Thank you again, Ruby," Saber said, returning the friendly gesture with her own smile, but it faded as she looked at the bread; wondering how to start eating it, she first hovered the head over her mouth but stopped as she looked at it quizzically. More cheering erupted on the stands, as spectators stood up as one of the teams just downed their last man.
"Oh it seems as though Team –" Professor Port, one of the announcers, said over the intercom but was drowned out by the cheering.
"Oh, I wonder who they will choose for the finals round," Yang said, curious as to who her next opponent would be.
"Probably the guy with the hood," Blake answered, and Ruby turned to Saber.
"Isn't this fun?" Ruby asked, but Saber was unable to watch the match, as she was still debating on where to start on her snack. Although aware of Ruby's question, she felt it would be rude to say no to her, especially how kindly she had been treating her.
"Yes, of course," Saber answered, and finally bit into the snack.
"And that concludes the double rounds for the Vytal Tournament," Doctor Oobleck, another announcer, said over the intercom. "Now, a word from Beacon Academy's Headmaster. I present to you: Professor Ozpin."
The crowd began to cheer, as the man who was so hospitable to not only the students of the different Academies, but to the visitors of the many Kingdoms who came to view the tournament, rose in the center of the arena from an ascending platform.
"Greetings," He said and although his voice was soft, it was tinged with an air of authority, which made the stadium quiet down and sit at attention. "I hope you all were able to enjoy the festivities, as well as the amazing performance of our fine students of our respective Academies. First, a message to the participants who did not make it this far: do not be disheartened, you took the first step by showing us your courage and your willingness to present your mettle. You have amazed many throughout the Kingdoms in what will most certainly be the most exciting Vytal Festival yet."
The crowd erupted into cheering again, and Ozpin stood silently until the crowd finally died down on their own. He looked around the stadium, smiling as he looked towards the stands at the spectators and former participants.
"To those who have worked hard to make it this far: enjoy your respite, as you will still need to prove yourselves in the coming battles. Just as it is in life, you must overcome all obstacles to reach your desired goals; will it be a champion who fights for glory, or a defender, defending those who cannot defend themselves?"
Saber watched on in amazement, just a headmaster in a school, and yet he commands such attention from the crowd as she noticed that all their eyes were glued onto him. Not a word or peep from any of them.
"The Vytal Festival: a momentous occasion to come together as one, and celebrate the point in history where we have left behind our bloody history, and entered a time of peace. But let us not forget who these students really are: future guardians and champions against the darkness that is encroaching on our very doorsteps."
Saber recoiled once she heard this, the otherwise uplifting tone all of a sudden went dark and she was surprised even further when she looked around to see the reaction of the crowd around her. They had none, they all sat in silence, their eyes still fixed on Ozpin, and were hanging on his every word.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take heart, that the skill that you have witnessed the past couple days will be the next generation of Huntsman and Huntresses that will defend both the Faunus and humanity alike, from the monsters that wish to destroy us. I do believe it will be a bright future for us all."
The crowd erupted into cheers again, as Ozpin bowed his head and was lowered back into the platform below. The stadium suddenly changing into a lush green meadow in the center of the arena, which surprised Saber at first, but there was another thought that sat dauntingly in her mind.
"Ruby," Saber whispered. "What was he talking about?"
"He was talking about the tournament," Ruby answered, again, oblivious to what Saber really meant.
"No, I meant –" Saber was about to reiterate, but then the crowd erupted into cheers again.
"Yeah! Go Weiss!" Ruby yelled, as she stood from her seat, and Saber looked out into the arena to see that Weiss strode to its center, and bowed; turning towards every corner of the arena to present a curtsy to every spectator.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our volunteer for the tournament half-time show: Miss Weiss Schnee!" Port announced and the cheers got even louder. "Now, my good friend, Professor –"
"Doctor," Oobleck corrected.
"'Doctor' Oobleck," Port paused as he glanced over at Oobleck. "Will now explain what this half-time show will entail."
"Thank you Professor Port," Oobleck said, and fixed his glasses. "The half-time show will display the skills of our future Huntsman and Huntresses, but not just against other students but against the fearsome Grimm."
"Grimm?" Saber thought, her breath quickening as she stood at the edge of her seat. Her mind focused on what might happen next.
"Thanks to yours truly," Port said with a hint of pride tinged in his voice. "We brought some fine specimens for Miss Schnee to dispatch."
The crowd erupted in a mixture of cheers and clapping, but Saber sat; worried for her Mistress but also dreading what this "Grimm" might entail. In the four corners of the arena, doors opened, and cages were lifted on platforms to the surface. Although slightly opaque, silhouettes could still be seen from within the protective force-fields. Whatever it was, it stood on its hind legs, its back hunched forward with a menacing maw protruding from its head, and claws protruding from what Saber thought were hands.
In the skybox, Port nodded his approval, and all four cages were opened, releasing four Beowolves into the arena; all rushing towards Weiss with bloodlust in their eyes. Saber watched in horror as the animals advanced towards her, and was about to shout to her mistress until she disappeared in a dazzling display, and was found to be almost gliding in the air.
"What are those?!" Saber exclaimed, unbeknownst to her, that Glynda was watching close by and jotted down her question. Blake and Yang turned and stared at Saber in disbelief, wondering how anyone could not know what a Grimm was.
"Those are Grimm!" Ruby said, her hands curled into fists as she watched excitedly, ignoring the implication of Saber's question. "The dark forces that are dead set on destroying humanity and the Faunus; Go Weiss! Kick their butts!"
"Pretty much," Blake answered, her gaze turning away from Ruby then back to Saber but began to lean away from her, fearing that she might just be insane.
"If she dies," Saber thought, because of her fear of losing her master, she did not notice how well Weiss was holding up. "Then we cannot win the Grail War."
Saber stood up and began to make her way down the steps at a brisk pace, with Yang and Blake standing up to stop her.
"Saber, what are you doing?!" Yang yelled, and began jumping down the stairs after her, with Blake just behind her. They commotion began to attract the attention of the people around them, even Glynda became intrigued at this display and decided to sit and watch; just as she was told.
With an almost heavenly glow, Saber was shrouded in light, which exploded and revealed that she was now in her blue battle gown; she kept running for the edge of the stands, ready to jump down into the arena until a force stopped her from going any further. When she backed away, she saw a blue field in front of her, blocking her way into the arena.
"Saber, you can't go down there, it is impossible with the field shielding the arena!" Blake exclaimed and put a hand on her shoulder to pull her back, but Saber pulled away from her.
"Do not tell me what is impossible!" Saber snapped back at Blake, which made her recoil, maybe even afraid. "Weiss is my mistress, I have sworn to be the sword at her side!"
"But… Weiss already has a sword," Ruby pointed out, but Saber ignored her and took a step back; her right arm pulled back and her elbow out, and her left arm across her chest and her elbow in. Yang watched with curiosity, as it seemed as though she was holding something, but nothing was in her hand.
"What are you –" Yang said, but was interrupted as Saber thrust her arms towards the barrier and a light began to expel from it as something began to force its way through. Glynda watched with morbid curiosity, forgetting to jot down what's happening, as she couldn't keep her eyes off this display. The barrier was meant to protect the spectators from Grimm, but as she watched, she noticed that the barrier began to crack, which made even Yang back away.
"How?" Yang asked, not much could phase her, but this made her freeze where she stood; and just as she uttered her question, Saber responded with a war cry and began to push harder and harder, until her invisible weapon broke through the barrier. All around, the crowd gasped, as the dome barrier shattered like glass; at this point, Glynda was glad that the barrier protecting the roof was not part of the same shield generator.
Weiss then stopped as she looked all around her as the barrier was destroyed, and was left wondering what was going on.
"Weiss!" She heard, and she turned to see that Saber had jumped down from the spectator stands, and into the arena.
"Saber?" She yelled out, curious as to how she managed to get down from the stands, but also angry that she was ruining the show. However, it served for enough of a distraction for a Beowolf to take this opportunity and jump in for the kill.
Realizing that she needed to do something fast, Saber planted her right foot into the ground, and kicked, leaving a crater where her foot had been, and almost glided in blinding speeds towards Weiss. In mere seconds, over a hundred feet of distance was closed between them, and Weiss didn't even have the time to blink; turning her head just inches to her side, she saw Saber swing her arms and the head of a Beowolf landed at her feet, before disintegrating into nothing.
"Saber? What are you doing? You are ruining everything!" Weiss yelled out angrily.
"You can admonish me later, Weiss, but now we have a few monsters to kill!" Saber replied, which made Weiss recoil as it almost sounded like her sister. "I have sworn to be your sword, Weiss. I will bring you victory, even if it means my death!"
Whatever she thought was wrong with Saber would have to wait; she was right, there were more pressing matters at hand, as the three remaining Beowolves circled the two.
"Is this supposed to be happening?" Port whispered, while covering the microphone for good measure, to which Oobleck only responded with a shrug. At that moment, a call went through to their Scroll, and after seeing that it was Ozpin, they both leaned in to listen.
"Play along, you two," Ozpin said.
"Ummm, uhhh." Was all that Port was able to get out, and was thankful that his hand was still covering the mic.
"It seems as though we have a fellow Huntress joining the fight!" Oobleck quickly commented, and let out a sigh of relief, as it began to calm down the spectators.
"How did she kill it without a weapon?" Blake asked, her mind still trying to process what she was witnessing.
"Not only that, but did you see how fast she was? She's even faster than Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, her voice expressing the same disbelief.
"That was awesome!" Ruby cried out. "Go Saber and Weiss!"
"Weiss, I ask that you retreat and let me handle these… 'things'," Saber said, her left foot behind her and both of her hands in front of her as she held her invisible weapon.
"I can handle this Saber," Weiss rebutted, and spun the revolver mechanism on Myrtenaster, activating a blue Dust which gave her weapon a blue glow; glyphs appeared on the ground right under her and Saber, to which Saber looked down at it curiously. "Use that!"
Although she never saw this kind of magic before, she trusted Weiss' judgement, readied her weapon, and swung just as she pushed herself forward, but appeared just a bit further than she was before. She turned to see the Beowolf frozen in place, before it began to violently shake, falling to the ground in two pieces.
To try and figure out what just happened, Team RWBY looked up at the giant Holo-TV screen and saw that with Weiss' glyph, coupled with her speed, her attack made it look like she practically teleported while also slicing the Beowolf in half.
Saber then readied for another attack, but saw that Weiss was in the air now; gracefully floating upward before spinning, and two ethereal balls fell the ground underneath the remaining Beowolves before exploding into ice and impaling them.
Saber couldn't help but smile at her mistress's ability to fight, as she was always left trying to protect her previous masters, but then, she noticed the body of the monsters she slew, and how it began to almost turn to dust and blow away in the air.
The colosseum was silent, as they all tried to process what had just happened, except for Ruby, who was the only little voice cheering.
"Yeah, Weiss and Saber, go!"
Oobleck and Port stared in amazement, almost forgetting that they should be doing the announcing but then someone walked in from the doors behind them and picked up the microphone.
"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: the half-time show of the Vytal Festival Tournament. Showing full well the synergy between comrades, and how it is only through unity that can we then push back the darkness."
For a moment, people were skeptical as to whether not this was really part of the show, until one clap turns into hundreds, and the thought was banished from everyone's mind once the whole stadium erupted into cheers. Ozpin then set down the microphone and let out a sigh of relief, he then reached for his Scroll and began to dial for Glynda.
"Glynda, I want Team RWBY in my office as soon as possible, and bring by any notes that you have acquired," Ozpin said, and hung up as he left the skybox.
All cameras were now on Saber and Weiss, their images appearing on the Holo-TV as the cameras zoomed in on the pair and made them center frame. As she stared at the Holo-TV, with piqued curiosity, Cinder noticed that, on Weiss' hand, were markings similar to the ones on hers.
Saber watched as Weiss began to curtsy in thanks to the spectators, smiling happily as she did so. It was an interesting fighting style, one that Saber had never seen before, but it had worked, and it made her feel a sense of pride for her servant. When she was done, Weiss made her way out of the arena, with Saber following her, and Team RWBY were at the exit to meet them both.
"That was awesome, you two!" Ruby said as she jumped in front of Saber and Weiss.
"Yeah, I did great," Weiss said, trying to salvage what could have been a disaster for her show.
"I think Saber really stole the show, to be honest," Yang said, and immediately regretted her words as Weiss shot a glance at her.
"Team RWBY." They all heard, and turned to see Glynda standing at the exit leading to the landing area, with a private shuttle waiting for them. "Come with me, please."
"That was interesting!" Nora exclaimed, and leaned over the safety railing in the spectator stands as she watched Team RWBY leave. Her hand rubbing her chin as she watched with quirked brow, and a sly smile.
"Who knew that simple servants were taught to fight like that?" Ren commented, seemingly to finish Nora's observation.
"Maybe she was a secret Huntress who was shamed, and forced to become a servant!" Nora blurted out and turned to Ren, hoping that he would agree with her.
" That is not likely, Nora," Ren nonchalantly replied, as he stood from his chair and turned to leave, along with the other spectators. Jaune got up, ready to follow Ren along with Pyrrha, but noticed that she was no longer in her seat.
Team RWBY nervously made their way down the halls of Beacon, accompanied by Glynda as she herded them towards Ozpin's office.
"Ms. Goodwitch, are we in trouble?" Weiss asked.
"No, but the Headmaster would like a word with you, and would like some input from your teammates," Glynda answered. After an elevator ride up, they finally made it to Ozpin's office, who had already made it there before they did.
He stood with his hands behind his back, facing the window, which overlooked the rest of Vale. He heard the team walk into his office, but stood facing away from them for a moment longer as he still tried to collect his thoughts.
"Hello, Headmaster," Weiss said nervously, which made Ozpin smile as he knew that she knew that the discomfort she felt was not warranted; he turned around and smiled politely at her, his gaze switching to her other teammates who all beamed back at him until his gaze turned to Saber, and his smile disappeared.
She stared back at him with the same amount of intensity as she had the first time they met, but this time, Ozpin saw her for what she really was: a warrior. The battle-gown, which reflected the light from the sun, which was setting and almost disappeared over the horizon, and her battle skills were proof of that.
"I hope you enjoyed the show," Weiss continued after noticing the look he was giving Saber.
"I very much did, Ms. Schnee. It was as exciting as I thought it would be, and I offer you my congratulations," Ozpin replied, the smile on his face reappearing as he addressed his student.
Weiss held her hands in front of her, and nodded proudly but then noticed his gaze was now on Saber again.
"That was impressive skill for a servant meant to run errands," Ozpin commented, but Saber remained silent, while Ruby, Yang, and Blake looked at her, then to Weiss.
"Yeah, well, my servants are taught how to fight, you know- protection," Weiss tried to explain, but Ozpin raised a finger to stop her.
"I want her to speak for herself now," Ozpin said, and stepped forward towards Saber, who held her ground. "I want you to tell me, with your own words, just who you really are."
(Some have wondered what Servants I will choose for their respective masters, both of which will remain secret until they are finally revealed. I have wondered if I should use Servants that have not been shown in canon, meaning they will probably be OCs that are not really OCs, since it will still follow the rule that they are based off of historic figures, or people from legend.)