The Beacon Dance:
For once, I'm more than glad that I was right – the dance was nothing but an amazing time. The night started off wonderfully, with even the weather seeming to land just perfectly between warm and cool so that no one would ever really be bothered by the temperature when the time came for our performance to start up. Anyway, just as predicted, Aurora and Tenebris fit right in with the rest of the crowd once a lot of people started showing up, and Lux and I were left to socialize and make the most of the night. I think I even caught a glimpse of Aurora dancing with Velvet as the night went on – I remember her talking about her fondly a few weeks ago, but I haven't yet had the time to ask her if their dance was an impromptu date or just her being picked up by someone she happened to know. Either way, I was happy to see Aurora having a good time while Lux and I were elsewhere. Tenebris too, but he didn't make many waves until after the dance, whereas during the dance he was simply being the epitome of a gentleman by offering himself to whatever guys and girls didn't have someone to their own. For crying out loud, he even told me that he paired up a few newfound couples in the middle of everything, which doesn't surprise me given his big heart.
Another prediction of mine I was ecstatic to see come true was the fact that, despite his inexperience and usual joking nature, Lux was nothing but probably the best date I've ever had, for many reasons. Aside from him just generally looking stunning in his tux and styled hair, what really had me melting in his arms so much was how he reeled in his normal amount of flirting and trying to make me laugh in favor of just… I don't know… making me feel good, I suppose. It wasn't like his compliments towards me and our casual conversation about how dumb we were not to act on our feelings sooner wasn't genuine – I could tell what was going on between us was real – but I think he was just trying to compose himself enough to make a good impression on our first proper date. As if him making me blush so often before the dance wasn't enough to convince me that he's trying to be his best for me.
So, not only did he just about make me feel like I was living out a good romance novel by how he was acting in that regard, but then he continued to blow me away by managing to pick up on slow dancing rather quickly as well. He was obviously a little flustered when he nearly stepped on my toes once we first started dancing, but after he accepted that I wasn't angry in the slightest, I could feel him loosening up for real for the first time all night. I think at that point, after I told him I was happy with him acting however he wanted to act so long as he was comfortable around me, he started to realize that he didn't have to put on any extra effort for me to continue falling for him. Combine that realization with me not holding a grudge for him making a minor mistake during what is literally his first dance, and he was back to the lovable, joking Huntsman-in-training from Vacuo I fell in love with – give or take a little bit of effort on his part to not embarrass me with some of his flirting and jokes throughout the night from there onwards.
If not for Sun and Blake (still wondering how Yang convinced her, but I'm sure I'll have time to ask later) running into us during a slow dance and bringing us aside to talk, I would've been content just to stay there slow dancing in Lux's arms for the entire night, but the two of them were good company. I'd forgotten how crazy some of the stories Sun had from back home were until he told them for the first time to Blake, but they were as filled with life and energy as back when I'd first heard them. Granted, most of them were embellished by him so that he could look even more cool in front of Blake than he needed to be, but I didn't have the heart to point out any of his exaggerations. The short break from slow dancing gave me the chance to really let the atmosphere (beyond Lux turning me into a pile of mush) sink in too, so I did pick up on some details I'm glad I didn't miss. For instance, I would've never even noticed Tenebris' failed attempt to get Ruby to dance, Jaune following Pyrrha outside, or Weiss sitting by her lonesome if not for Sun pulling us aside.
Seeing as Lux and Blake were enthralled by an entirely false story about how Sun took a support column from my dad's forge as inspiration for his weapon, I excused myself to go see how Weiss was doing. Or I would have, if not for Neptune coming back and telling me that Jaune of all people had given him some encouraging advice to go ahead and hang out with Weiss. Why he wasn't doing so already I wanted to ask, but he was gone and Jaune bumped into me before I could react. From what he hurriedly told me on his way out, not only had he finally woken up and realized Pyrrha had feelings for him, but he was "going to keep his promise." Part of me wishes that he didn't tell me what that promise was, so I could enjoy the absurdity as much as Lux and the rest of everyone there did, but another admires how serious Jaune sounded when he told me.
He was back in about ten minutes – wearing a dress – and didn't even give the laughing of the entire ballroom any mind before he made his way to Pyrrha. As if keeping good on a joke of a promise and reducing Pyrrha to fits of giggling wasn't good enough for him though, he didn't waste any time before breaking out into a dance routine with the rest of his team that just must've been choreographed from the start. I don't know why I thought my team would be the only one that would add a bit more energy to tonight by performing for the fun of it, but I'm glad JNPR did what they did. With how the first song we'd be performing after the dance was planned to start out, I think that Jaune dancing in a dress sort of dampened out the reactions people could've had when the time came.
The rest of the dance itself passed by in a blur if I'm honest, but before long, Aurora and Tenebris managed to sneak out to catch up with me and Lux and begin setting the stage for our performance – literally. I was surprised at how easy the stage was to put both put together and take apart, but I think that might've had more to do with Tenebris' Semblance than any kind of aptitude we had for construction going for us. We did finish in time, thank goodness, and as those who wanted to finish off the night with a bit more energy than slow dancing would allow came to the stage, our performance began.
Even though we'd practiced it for a while, I was still ever so slightly worried about our first song opening with an accordion, of all instruments, but with JNPR's dance routine still fresh in everyone's minds I think the few amused faces we saw in the crowd at first could've been far worse. Those few nerves that didn't refuse to be nipped at the bud died in a flash though once the real beat kicked in. With Lux and Tenebris taking the lead and Aurora and I playing the part of support vocals, you could practically feel the excitement in the air rippling through the crowd like a current. Even though the performance only lasted around half an hour, I think it was a damn good first performance for a team whose twin brother members didn't know a thing about singing until a few weeks ago. Oh, and considering Lux told me Port was a fan of music in general, I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised to see him so impressed by our rehearsed performance, but I think my surprise to see Oobleck – and even Goodwitch – enjoying themselves was warranted. Even if they refused to let it show too much beyond small smiles and the tapping of their feet, it was clear that they at least didn't regret sticking around after the dance was over.
JNPR was kind enough to help us disassemble and put away the stage and whatever other resources we'd pulled out for the performance in short order, and thus, the without-a-doubt best part of my night began. With Aurora and Tenebris having done perhaps the most lifting out of all of us, they decided to head back to the dorms with JNPR while Lux and I stuck behind to admire the weather for a little bit. One off-handed compliment towards Lux concerning our night led to him returning the favor, and before I knew it we were sitting next to each other on the grass, more focused on how close we were to each other than what we were saying or doing and… well, we kissed. Maybe I should've waited a little longer before letting myself get carried away but, with how wonderfully storybook the night was up until that point, I think accepting the idea of true love being an actual thing and having it guide my actions isn't the most out-there thing I could've done.
So, now that I've gotten changed and Lux and I have finally let each other go for the night, I find myself on the roof once again, letting my heart finally slow down before I let this chapter of my life end. Even though we're less than three weeks away from having our teams deployed on our first ever official, life-or-death missions tailing some of the professors, I can't help but feel like the night's ending on the best note possible. From the performance going great to Lux and I enjoying ourselves in the utterly storybook way as we did, tonight was way too positive for it to end on anything but a pleasant note, really. Even if they are really draining by the time the day is done, I think we all could use more nights like these.
Big Game Hunt:
All things considered, our first ever official mission could've gone a lot worse. When I signed us up for a medium-risk Search and Destroy mission, I thought that we'd maybe be dealing with your average Beowolves and Ursai with a Nevermore or Death Stalker mixed in and be back in a day or two, since the mountains that we were clearing out weren't all that far. I was very, very wrong, and probably shouldn't have listened to my boyfriend (still feels weird calling him that, but it's getting better, the more I think about it) when it came to choosing our first big mission. I don't think we'd even had a chance to see how RWBY and JNPR were doing with their mission selections by the time Port showed up and told us to pack our camping supplies. How he was aware of us taking the exact mission he was assigned to, and how he knew where we were so he could start lecturing us on preparedness I don't know, but I do know that we must've been gone within the hour. It wasn't the most absurd thing about the mission though – heck, I think it might've been the least jarring thing that's happened over the past few days.
Once we were dropped off as close to our destination as the bullheads would take us, I knew that we were going to be out longer than I'd hoped. Port was in the middle of regaling us with a story about how he once survived a run-in with a Death Stalker with nothing but a torch on hand – a story that Lux was in love with judging by his blissful nigh-obliviousness of his surroundings – when the bridge we were about to cross appeared to be missing. Thus, we began a detour that took us most of the day, but that was only the beginning of our suffering. Even though the first two days of our mission mainly consisted of us clearing out packs of the Grimm we expected to find in between Port's mind-numbing but steadily-improving stories, the third day is when signs of a greater threat began to loom.
I may rattle on about how Port's showmanship and way of storytelling might make me want to skydive without a parachute sometimes, but he did prove why he became a professor when push came to shove. There were these absolutely massive tracks – almost as big as an ancient Goliath's – that began leading us to a cave pretty far out from where we originally intended to clear that even Lux couldn't identify, but Port knew plenty well. He didn't tell us until we'd neared the den of the Grimm we'd been suddenly tracking what the thing was, but I think that was more because he wanted to be certain what he was looking at was real than anything. As it turns out, we found what was likely the last Greater Cerberus on Remnant.
While Port was staring at the thing from our hiding spot outside the cave to make sure he wasn't going mad – well, any madder than he already is – Lux filled Aurora and I in on what abomination of nature we'd managed to stumble across. Once upon a time, Greater Cerberus were priority number one on the Huntsmen's list of targets to destroy, and as Lux cautiously explained, it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Not only are they as big as a Goliath – albeit far less armored – with three heads when fully grown, but even if you kill them once, that isn't the end of them. They keep splitting up into Lesser Cerberus upon their deaths until, generations later, they're left as dozens to hundreds of single-headed Fenrir. As if having to kill a massive Grimm that shrinks in size but grows in number dozens of times over wasn't bad enough, Lux told us that if we planned to kill the thing for good we'd have to make sure not a single Lesser Cerberus or Fenrir escaped. Why? Because if one did, it could rapidly grow back to its original Greater Cerberus form and retain all the memories of its fallen brothers – becoming an even deadlier threat.
With that in mind, once Port told us we should probably hurry back to Vale and call in reinforcements, I wasn't going to argue. Of course, we never made it back to Vale before the Greater Cerberus decided to venture out of its den for the first time in who knows how long. We were halfway back to the city when Vale's sirens started sounding, and within mere minutes the Greater Cerberus was making a thunderous charge for what was – as we later found out – a breach in the city wall.
So began our race against the clock. I don't remember how long we were clinging onto the Grimm's back with Port, hacking and firing away at whatever we could until the thing fell, but every time we killed one generation, three more Lesser Cerberus would take their place. What started as us trying to eliminate the Grimm in its entirety quickly devolved into us just trying to corral it into the city on our terms, and to our credit, we succeeded phenomenally. Aurora's cables and Tenebris' strength kept some of the larger generations herded inwards while Port, Lux, and I herded the smaller Fenrir and Lesser Cerberus close enough together to make sure they could all still be accounted for.
Not only did we contain the Lesser Cerberus and the dozens of Fenrir, but when Port was called once we had Scroll reception to go and help seal the main breach, we didn't just hold the line like Port wanted until he could get back – we vanquished the last generations of the Grimm entirely. Granted, it was a nightmare making sure we kept up a perimeter tight enough to make sure the resulting hundreds of Fenrir didn't slip out of our sight, but we did it. Lux and Tenebris took care of the few remaining larger targets while Aurora and I used our mobility to make short work of whatever Fenrir were trying to either rush the twins or run away. I daresay that we looked like real Huntsmen out there, with the tide of Grimm not even breaking any one of our Auras. By the time Port returned with a bunch of the teams that helped seal the breach – RWBY and JNPR included – the area was clear and some of the Fenrir were already evaporating. We still managed to get off a head count though, and Port was able to assure us that we had indeed killed the last undiscovered Greater Cerberus.
Once he was done congratulating and 'rewarding' us by saying he was going to work our performance in the field into his next lesson on rare Grimm species (which on any other occasion with anyone other than Lux around I would say was a punishment), the adrenaline started to fade, and boy did we feel it. I can't remember a time I was too tired by a day's events at Beacon to listen in on what the rest of the gang had been up to beyond the basics, but right now all I want to do is finish writing about the 'adventure' that we've been on and pass right out. Which, come to think of it, sounds a lot better than potentially falling asleep on the roof and being caught in my pajamas by Jaune and Pyrrha if they come up to spar tonight. Anyway, it'll be nice to have a day to trade stories and start preparing for the Vytal Tournament tomorrow, but fornow I think I'm gonna go try and not die due to exhaustion. Who could've guessed that fighting hundreds of canine-looking Grimm for hours would tire a ninja out, eh?
Authors Note: If you're wondering what Vacuo punk rock is, I'm imagining Team Iridescence kicking off their performance with something along the lines of a modified version of Kongos' "Come with me Now." Certainly fits the bill of "funk rock" in my opinion, and a part of me thinks it's the sorta music you'd totally find in Vacuo. Oh, and of course if you don't think it's a good song that's all good or fitting, I'm sure you could just plug in your own favorite song in there to make the scene more entertaining to you, but I figured I'd just try and share a little something I really liked in this chapter with you all. Cheers! Oh, and I did debate splitting this chapter up in two, but I decided against it, if you were wondering why I went from calm Beacon Dance atmosphere to the "ohdeargodfightforyourlives" finale arc.
Speaking of the finale arc, yes, I know Cerberus is simply guardian of the underworld in Greek mythology and that Fenrir is a Norse mythological figure, but I figured it'd be nice to use some cool name references when it came to fleshing out my idea for a Hydra-like Grimm. It was better than calling it just blandly a Hydra and then having to double back and specify "oh right it's actually a canine, not a serpent," partway through the journal entry. I am also well aware that the missions in the original canon take place merely a day or two after the Beacon Dance, but since this is my fanon and I wanted Lux and Opal to have more time to become a truly solidified couple, I decided to give them a little more time in between the dance and their death-defying mission to be an item.
PS: Another Journey to the West reference, can ya spot it? 3 individual cookies to whoever figures it out. Good thing I bought a lot of cookies because I stink at subtlety lol.
