Chapter 7
'Crap!'
The mystery girl continued to sit on the ground looking up at Yang, emerald colored eyes opened wide with alarm as the blonde tried to figure out what had just happened. After an awkward few seconds of staring Yang finally shook herself out of the initial shock. Examining the girl in front of her, Yang couldn't remember if she had ever seen her around Beacon. The wide green eyes that had taken all of the blonde's attention at first were framed by locks of long black hair, tied up into twin pigtails by a couple of simple white bows. Her mouth was agape in shock and a small look of panic filled the tiny girl's eyes, completely baffling Yang as she was the one who had knocked her down.
"Oh crap, didn't see you there," Yang said, offering a hand to help the smaller girl up. The girl continued to stare without saying a word, her eyes fixed on the concerned lilac orbs in front of her. The concern only grew on Yang at the unresponsive nature of the fallen girl. Fearing that she had hit her head on the way down, Yang knelt on one knee to get eye level with the mysterious girl and looked carefully into the pools of green for any sign of injury, holding out an apprehensive hand to try and help.
The girl snapped out of it as Yang got closer to her. The look of shock evaporated from the girl's eyes in an instant as she quickly put on an apologetic smile. She reached a hand covered in an elbow length black glove out to Yang and, grabbing hold of the blonde's hand, she let Yang help her up.
"Sorry about that…"
As the girl said those words something in Yang's brain rang an alarm. The girl's voice was familiar but Yang just couldn't peg what about it had caused the sirens to go off. Something very recent…
"Umm. Everything alright?" This time the voice of the girl was slightly higher in pitch then what Yang had heard before.
'Must be imagining things. No way this girl is her. But still there's something familiar…' Yang shook the thoughts out her mind, dismissing everything as just a result of the bump the two had shared.
"Yeah I'm fine, should be asking you the same question," Yang said with a slight smile.
"Eh, I've had worst tumbles in my life," the girl responded, straightening out her outfit and making sure nothing had fallen out of place. The girl wore a short black vest that stopped short of her midriff, adorned at the top with a series of white frills around her neck that draped slightly down her chest. A simple black string secured the frills up, acting as a choker of sorts and tied in the front with a simple bow knot. The girl wore a short black and white skirt kept to her waist with a simple white belt, showing off a pair of thin, toned legs. Two short necked, black combat boots covered her feet with long white socks that stretched up to just below her knees, kept there by a couple of black bands.
'Yup, definitely would have noticed her around,' Yang thought to herself, smiling at the assurance that the smaller girl was alright. Something in Yang's head was still ringing as she continued to examine the girl in front of her. She shoved the thought to the back of her head, chalking it up to the confusion of so many new people being at Beacon for the festival.
"Still sorry I ran into you, wasn't paying attention."
"Don't fret about it," the mystery girl said, waving away Yang's apology and shooting the girl a smile. "I shouldn't have sneaked up on you like that."
"Alright it's your fault then," Yang said quickly, giving the girl a small grin to show she was kidding.
"Well then, I should probably make it up to you somehow," the girl retorted shooting Yang a quick wink.
"Careful there small-fry, that kind of talk can bite you in the ass someday."
"Oh no," the girl said with an exaggerated quiver in her voice clasping her hands together in front of her, "Please have mercy on me your blondness!"
"I don't know, this was quite a grievous offense," Yang shot back, putting her hands on her hips and acquiring a huffed tone.
"Spare me!" the girl said, getting on her knees and looking up at Yang, green eyes shining with mock fear.
Yang put her nose in the air, towering over the smaller girl. The two managed to keep the charade going for about three more seconds before both broke down in fits of laughter, the mystery girl rolling on the floor while Yang just braced herself against the wall while holding her sides. After a few more moments the laughter subsided as Yang wiped a tear from her cheek and the smaller girl just sat on the floor with one hand braced behind her.
"Oh god," Yang gasped, letting a few more chuckles escape, "alright, I guess I'll let you off with a warning this time." Yang stood up straight and took a couple deep breaths before offering her hand to the girl again. The girl just waved away Yang's hand and nimbly rolled backwards into a backwards summersault, landing neatly on her feet. Yang gave a small golf clap as the girl bowed, flourishing her hands.
"Definitely would have noticed you around," Yang said out loud as she approached the girl. A small something flew through Yang's heart as she saw the girl give a small giggle and Yang couldn't help her smile growing slightly bigger. "I was just about to grab some dinner, wanna come with, or do you need to go bump into more people?"
"I've known you for all of five minutes and you're already asking me out on a date?" she responded, putting her hand up to her mouth in mock surprise.
Yang just rolled her eyes, "Don't get full of yourself short-stuff." The two girls laughed again as the smaller girl followed along-side Yang down the hall. "Don't think I've seen you around, what's your name?"
"…Mint," the green-eyed girl responded after a moment's hesitation, "I just came here from Haven Academy to join my team for the tournament.
"Weird name," Yang responded as she filed the name away and stopped to think to herself for a second, "so if I kiss you will I get fresh breath?"
Mint's smile melted as her cheeks tinted a shade of red that would put Ruby's cloak to shame. Yang noticed the reaction and fell into another fit of laughter. "It was a joke shortcake," she finally managed after finally catching her breath. Mint just rolled her eyes, bumping Yang with her elbow her cheeks still slightly pink.
"Well my name's Yang and I'll be your guide during your stay here at Beacon," Yang announced quickly jumping out in front of the raven-haired girl and walking backwards with her hands outstretched to behold the wonders around her.
Mint mimed taking photos as Yang pointed at various random doors and spans of walls while spouting random, made up facts about imaginary people and events that had supposedly happened. They continued this charade until the two reached the cafeteria.
"And finally, we reach the location of the Great Siege of Castle Valkyrie," she said with an air of grandeur, stepping into the large room and gesturing around the area. "It was in this location that the great golden warrior… Yin and her comrades took on the dastardly Team… Jupiter and through great peril and sacrifice, triumphed over the forces of evil!" Yang finished her explanation, raising a fist in the air and putting her other hand over her heart.
"A moment of silence for the numerous turkeys that gave their lives in the name of delicious justice." Mint held a hand to her mouth to suppress the inevitable cascades of laughter trying to force their way out of her. After a brief silence was shared between the two girls Yang lowered her fist and looked dramatically out the window, "Thank you."
"How fascinating," Mint said through stifled giggles. She looked around, taking in the massive wooden tables filled with students enjoying their various plates of food. The room was filled with the sounds of silverware and various muddled conversations as people ate. A few of the students gave a quick wave to Yang as they walked through, stopping for a quick word or greeting here and there.
"Dude, they're serving chicken wings!" Yang said excitedly as she rushed through the rest of the tables, students hurrying out of the way to avoid the starving bulldozer. Mint just laughed and continued to follow the now cleared path in between her and the kitchen.
The two girl's retrieved their individual piles of wings and other various food items that served their individual fancies. Walking over to an empty table, they sat down across from each other and dove into their meals with almost equal vigor. Yang looked up from the current wing she had been mauling to admire the smaller girl's voracious appetite before getting another whiff of the delicious appendage below her.
Mint finally stopped her assault more for need of air than anything else. Giving her stomach a slight rest, she took a moment to look around the giant cafeteria. All the students sat at rectangular, wooden tables that looked like they could each hold up to twelve people comfortably. The room itself was massive with windows that stretched to the ceiling covering one of the walls, giving a gorgeous view of one of Beacon's courtyards. The great wooden door was flanked by two massive stone pillar, with more archways running along the sides of the room connected to the floor by smaller columns. All in all, the room was rather impressive looking with its tapestries draping from the ceiling and looming grey walls.
Mint continued to look around at anything that would catch her eye until she was snapped out of her admiration by the arrival of three other girls, each carrying trays of food catering to each of their tastes. The first of the new arrivals was a raven-haired girl adorned with a bow tied on the top of her head who sat to the right of Yang with a tray filled with tuna fish sandwiches and a steaming cup of tea. The next was a smaller girl, shooting the pair of girls a thousand megawatt smile and sporting a head of short brown hair tipped with red. The girl bounced into the seat on the other side of Yang, setting down her tray piled high with various cookies and a precariously full glass of milk.
The final girl paused a moment to glance at Mint before sitting down on the right of her with a small salad and respectably well balanced looking meal. The girl pushed a long, white side ponytail over her shoulder before returning her eyes to the smaller member of the party. She shook her head and pinched her nose with a long sigh as the girl across from her started inhaling cookies at break neck speed.
"Ruby you are going to get sick if you don't slow down," the white-haired girl said, sitting up straight and staring at the redhead with a look of disapproval.
"I feel fine Weiss," the smaller girl said, sending a spray of cookie crumbs across the table. Weiss pulled her tray back with a look of mild disgust as Ruby took a large gulp of milk and continued her cookie massacre.
"At least eat something decent," Weiss groaned, running a hand across her face and attempting to wipe the crumbs from her salad before finally putting it to the side with a look of mild disappointment.
"But Mommmmmmmmm," Ruby complained before finally getting up and walking back towards the kitchen.
The black haired girl suppressed a small chuckle before locking her amber eyes onto Mint and giving her a quizzical look. Mint just sheepishly waved her hand as Yang looked up and noticed the small exchange.
"Oh crap, my bad!" Yang exclaimed as she swallowed her current mouthful of food. "Blake, Weiss this is Mint. I kinda literally ran into her on my way down here. We chatted for a bit, I offered to show her around, and now we're on a date." The blonde shot Mint a smug smile as red crept into the smaller girl's cheeks.
One of Blake's eyebrows shot up at the small girl as Weiss just rolled her eyes at Yang's teasing attitude. "I am so sorry for your choice in woman," Blake said to Mint as Yang elbowed the black-haired girl.
"Hey, I am a catch," the blonde said, crossing her arms and shooting a winning smile around the table.
"Catch and release maybe," Weiss said as she dodged away from a grape that Yang flicked at her in retaliation. Mint relaxed a bit, the blush falling from her cheeks as she watched the playful banter between the teammates. Eventually they all fell into silence as they fell into their meals.
Ruby eventually returned with a small plate of "real" food followed by the members of Team JNPR who had apparently been delayed because Nora had fallen asleep and it took forever for Ren to finally convince her to come down to food. Ren and Nora sat beside each other in the seats next to Blake while Jaune and Pyrrha sat across from them with Pyrrha sitting down next to Mint.
"JNPR, Mint. Mint, JNPR." Yang said hurriedly said as she gestured to Mint who just gave the group a curt nod. The members of JNPR introduced themselves individually, Nora's words a little muffled through a mouthful of pancake. The large group started to eat as small talk broke out around the table. Mint just watched them all with an odd look of contemplation on her face until Pyrrha set down her fork and turned her head to look down at the much smaller girl.
"I'm sorry if this is rude, but I don't think I've seen you around Beacon before Mint," she said with an apologetic smile. Mint turned her head to Pyrrha, staring deeply into the redhead's eyes.
Green eyes looked into green as the smaller girl just stared at Pyrrha. Mint seemed to be looking for something inside of Pyrrha as the stare down continued. Her eyebrows scrunched together in deep thought as the silence soon became noticeable around the table. Jaune looked up from his bowl of Pumpkin Pete's cereal and glanced around his teammate to see that Mint had cocked her head to the side as she continued to contemplate Pyrrha.
"Ummm…" Jaune said as the startling green eyes shifted to him in the same contemplating stare. He recoiled slightly at the searching look Mint had turned upon him. Pyrrha frowned at the new comer as she noticed her attention shift to her friend. The redhead opened her mouth to say something before catching herself as she recognized the look the newcomer was giving the pair. The girl wasn't necessarily being rude on purpose, she was just trying to figure out the people in front of her. Almost like a wolf trying to figure out if the entities in front of her were strong enough the be allowed into her exclusive little pack. Pyrrha shut her mouth and sat a little straighter in her seat, locking eyes with Mint as the small girl finished sizing up Jaune. The golden fighter decided to play this new girl's game, for now.
At this point, most of the table had felt the uneasy tension that had rested upon the small group with the exception of Nora who was destroying her second stack of pancakes. Each of the group of friends shifted their gaze between Pyrrha and Mint as the two girls looked at each other, Pyrrha with a hard look of determination and Mint with a steady calculating glare and a cocky smile.
Yang cleared her throat as she wondered what in the world was wrong. From her perspective Pyrrha had just asked a simple question to her new friend and somehow that lead to the weird staring contest unfolding before them. Yang rubbed her hand on the back of her neck as she tried to figure out what was with her new friend. Her thoughts were interrupted with a short jab to her side from Blake's elbow. Yang looked quickly between Blake who was looking at her with one eyebrow raised, and Mint who just continued locking eyes with Pyrrha.
Yang cleared her throat in an attempt to get Mint's attention. When the smaller girl didn't respond, Yang stood and reached a hand across the table. The blonde vigorously waved it in front of Mint as whatever trance that had taken over the emerald-eyed girl seemed to break. She quickly snapped her head back to Yang, replacing her calculating look with one filled with confusion as she remembered that the blonde was there.
"Everything alright?" Yang asked, sitting back down into her seat.
"Yeah, why?" Mint responded, her voice thick with confusion as she remained oblivious to the glares she was receiving from the rest of the table.
"Well Pyrrha asked you a question and you kinda just went silent there for a bit," Yang said running a hand through her thick blonde hair.
"It's fine Yang," Pyrrha interrupted as she contemplated the girl next to her. She could see the absolute confusion in Mint as she tried to figure out what she did wrong. Almost like this was normal to her and everyone else were acting strange. Pyrrha relaxed a touch and gave Mint a small smile as Yang turned her attention to her.
Mint seemed to think for a few more seconds, looking between Yang and Pyrrha. Everyone just continued to glance at the newcomer, waiting for an explanation to her odd behavior. Mint returned her gaze to Yang and sighed. The small girl gave a slight shrug and turned back to face Pyrrha.
"I just arrived from Haven Academy to help my team with the tournament," Mint said as though the past couple of minutes had never happened.
"Well…" Pyrrha responded slowly, "Welcome to Beacon."
"Thank you."
The table fell into an uneasy silence as Mint looked expectantly at Pyrrha for another question. When none came about, she turned back to her food and started picking at what was left. Pyrrha could tell that the smaller girl still had something on her mind but, with no idea as to what it was, she decided to not pursue the matter any further.
"Sooooo…" Yang said slowly, trying to break the fog of awkwardness lying on the table. Mint looked up at her and waited for the blonde to continue.
"Soooo…" Mint repeated as Yang remained at a loss of what to say.
"What are your teammates names?" Blake asked in an attempt to help alleviate the weird atmosphere being created by the two girls.
"Yeah, anyone we might know," Yang said quickly, grabbing hold of the lifeline her partner had just tossed her.
Mint's eyes dropped to the table as her eyebrows scrunched together. "I don't think any of you would know them," she said after a moment's hesitation, "they tend to be the quiet type."
"Well then tell us who they are and we'll break them out of their shells," Nora said confidently, finally taking an interest in the conversation.
"Nora," Ren groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What?" she shot back, "As Jaune says, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Jaune nodded his head in acknowledgment as Nora bounced in her seat and waited for Mint's response.
"I don't know, they tend to be a massive pain in the…"
"Well what do we have here!"
The entire table turned to look down at the end where a dark-skinned girl with cropped, mint green hair stood in a Haven uniform consisting of a black coat and a black and grey plaid skirt. She kept a smile on her face as she looked down the table at everyone in turn, finally resting her dark red eyes on Mint. The smaller girl didn't back down her gaze but that didn't stop the alarm she felt seeping into her eyes.
"EMERALD!" Ruby shouted from the opposite end of the table causing Mint to jump nearly a foot in her seat.
"Heya Ruby," Emerald Sustrai said, acknowledging the bubbling ball of energy, "How's everyone doing?"
"As well as always Em," Yang responded, "How 'bout yourself?"
"Can't complain, I see you've already met my teammate."
"Mint's your teammate?" Weiss said, glancing at the green-eyed girl sitting next to her. Weiss noted that Mint's once easygoing posture was now gone. The girl was tense in her seat as she shifted her eyes from Emerald to Yang. Filing the oddity away into the back of her head, the heiress returned her gaze to Emerald as she smiled down at Mint.
"Yeah… Mint." Emerald said as if she was trying to see how her teammates name fit on her tongue.
"I told you we would know them!" Nora shouted, pointing one finger at Mint who quickly shifted her eyes to the boisterous ginger girl.
"Actually, I think I said that," Yang suggested, giving Nora a cool smile.
"Well I was thinking it," Nora mumbled, bringing her finger away from Mint's face.
"Doesn't count," Ren said as the entire table except for Mint and Emerald burst into laughter.
Everyone shifted their gaze to Mint as they waited for her to say something. The small girl just sat stock still in her seat as her eyes shifted from person to person.
"I… It's just… I have to go," Mint stammered, grabbing her tray from in front of her and quickly dashing away from the group of friends. "Talk to you later, Yang!" She called out behind her as she disappeared into the crowd of students milling around the cafeteria.
The table just sat in shocked silence at the sudden departure. "What was that about?" Ruby finally asked, directing her question at Emerald.
The dark-skinned girl shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me, she can be rather… odd when it comes to talking to people."
"That's one way to put it." Weiss said.
"You'll get used to it if she continues hanging around."
"If?" Pyrrha asked, catching onto the word choice.
"She's only here for the tournament," Emerald responded slowly making her way to the spot Mint had just left open.
"Shame, she seems like a fun chick to have around," Yang said with an air of disappointment, looking back at the spot that Mint had vanished into.
"How'd you guys meet?"
"We kinda bumped into each other outside our room," Yang responded looking back at Emerald, "we talked for a bit and I invited her to dinner."
"Interesting, wonder why she was down by you guys' dorm," Emerald said with a slight frown also looking at where her teammate had disappeared.
"Probably just got lost," Nora suggested.
Emerald shrugged and returned her gaze back to the group. Slowly settling down into Mint's seat she locked eyes with Yang before slowly asking, "So, what did she all tell you?"
Mint rushed back to her room that she shared with the rest of her teammates. Running down hallway after hallway without a second thought, every person that she flew past braced for some sort of impact that never seemed to come. The girl that they were preparing for seemingly vanished into thin air.
Having memorized the hallways of this school before, Mint was able to find her room with relative ease. Within what seemed like seconds to her, she arrived at the door and quickly unlocked it. She hastily entered and closed the door behind her taking a quick glance around to make sure she was alone. After confirming her solitude, she quickly walked past her bed and sat on one of the desks placed haphazardly into the corner of the room.
The room itself was quite barren of any sort of decorations or identifying features that showed the personalities of those who called the dorm home. It served its purpose and nothing else. Four beds covered the room walls, placed so they allotted the most amount of space in the center of the room. The two desks were shoved into whatever wall space remained, one of which in the somewhat darker of the corners as requested by the green-eyed girl now resting on it.
The girl sat there, eyes closed, her chest rising and falling with practiced, methodical breaths. Slowly her heart began to settle as the panic that had taken her a few minutes ago dissipated to a small thrum in the back of her head. She finally opened her eyes to gaze around at the bleak white walls surrounding her.
'Its alright, you were just gathering recon… yeah recon.' The girl thought to herself as she sat up a bit straighter. She settled into a cross-legged posture on the desk and relaxed, closing her eyes once more and letting a smile grace her face. She felt a small load evaporate off her as the once raven-black hair faded to a lighter color, one side stopping at a warm, chocolate brown and the other a light strawberry pink with strands of creamy white.
Neo opened her eyes to reveal that they too had reverted to their normal, albeit inversed from her hair, color scheme. She breathed a sigh of relief as her aura relaxed. It wasn't exactly tiring to the experienced criminal, but even keeping the small disguise was like having a small weight strapped to your person. Something that you could get used to but it always felt good to let it go for a moment.
'Even if Emerald did have a problem with it, what's she going to do about it?' Now that the shock of her partner in crime discovering her amongst the enemy had worn off, Neo realized that she had nothing to fear. She had her own way of carrying out the mission, and if getting cozy with a certain blonde helped progression, then what's a girl to do?
Neo eased herself back against the wall, stretching her legs in front of her and letting them dangle off the desk. She did have to admit to herself that things were going a lot better than she could have possibly imagined. Neo had only meant to look around team RWBY's dorm to see what they were up to. She had not expected Yang Xiao Long to literally bump into her.
'She smelled like a campfire' Neo remembered as she smiled at the thought of the blonde joking with her and helping the smaller girl to her feet. For once in the girl's life, she felt like she had a normal conversation with another decent human that didn't involve plotting and scheming to the detriment of others.
"We're on a date," the blonde had said. Sure it had been a joke, a slight tease to her new friend, but even the thought sent a slight flutter through Neo's heart. Neo frowned at this sensation, not exactly sure what it was and why it had happened. She thumped her fist against her chest to see what would happen and when nothing did the small criminal just leaned back again and let her smile grace back onto her face. She closed her eyes and let her mind float through the past couple hours in bliss.
"Oh, the trouble we could get into Miss Xiao Long," Neo said out loud to the apparently empty room.
"And what kind of trouble would that be Neo."
The silky voice jolted Neo out of her dreamlike state as her eyes flew open to search for the source although she already had a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her who it was. Sure enough, sitting on the bed was a woman with a beige leather, sleeveless jacket open to show a sarashi wrapped around her chest exposing her stomach. The woman also wore tight black pants, held up by a leather belt adorned with multiple pouches. Long black hair covered one of her eyes with the other staring right at Neo, shimmering with a fiery gold light.
"Um… I… it's nothing mam," Neo stammered as Cinder continued to contemplate the small girl. Neo mentally scolded herself for somehow not hearing her boss enter the room.
"From the look on your face, it is much more than nothing," Cinder stated, her voice flowing over Neo like waves of silk. "Don't make me ask again child."
Neo once again mentally hit herself as she realized that she had let her outward expression betray her, feeling a small bead of sweat forming on her head. Neo straightened her features into a more business-like demeanor to hide the alarm bells and hammering heartbeat she currently felt inside.
"I was just performing some recon on the RWBY girls," Neo reported, only telling a half lie to Cinder and hoping that the woman didn't catch on.
Cinder narrowed her eyes at the statement, disappointment etched through her features. The woman stood up from her bed and crossed her arms. "Did I not explicitly tell you that your job here was to help with the first round of the tournament and nothing more?"
"I know that mam, I just thought-"
"Don't think," Cinder said, anger creeping into her voice, "Obey."
"Yes mam…" Neo found it hard to maintain eye contact with the almost overwhelming presence in front of her. Her resolve held though as she continued to look into the fiery eyes. Cinder just tilted her head slightly and seemed to contemplate something as she matched Neo's stare.
"Although," Cinder said in a much gentler tone as she slowly strode across the room, "it could be useful having a person inside their little group." Cinder stopped before the small girl, amber eyes piercing into the neopolitan set. Bringing one hand up she let it slide across the small criminal's cheek, a smile softening Cinder's features. "You have my permission to continue causing trouble with Miss Xiao Long."
With that Cinder turned and stepped over to the door, opening it before locking eyes one last time with Neo "Keep me informed." Cinder left the room, closing the door with a soft thud that matched the sound Neo's heart made as it sunk to the floor.
"Crap…"
A/N: "Don't think, Obey" GAAHH that is one of my favorite lines from this series. Glad I was able to find a place for it in my story. Any who Yang and Neo/Mint have finally found their paths crossed and now who knows what "trouble" could pop up. Decided to go with Mint for her alter ego name to keep with the ice cream theme. Sorry for the less than steady publishing schedule I'm on right now. I'm having trouble finding motivation to do a lot of things right now and I'm trying to push through it. I genuinely enjoy writing this its just an attitude thing right now. On a separate note, I tried to practice being more descriptive with settings and such in this chapter so let me know how it seams to you guys. As always, my deepest thanks for continuing to read and especially those of you who are supporting with a follow or a favorite. Leave a review if you've got a comment or question and I will make sure to answer to the best of my ability in the next chapter's note.
Guest: Alrighty then, calm down there Atlas.
AquaX: I always have fun writing female villains (hence one of the main characters in this story) and Cinder is just so bad (in a good way). I'm glad I'm giving her some justice. My next story I'm planning is actually going to have Cinder as one of the main characters and I'm really looking forward to starting that.
-Thank you kindly