This chapter touches on events from episode 11 of the canon series.
Cammo appeared at breakfast the next day looking considerably worse for wear. The staff room was, naturally, nowhere near as comfortable as her own bed. She had felt like Goldilocks, walking from couch to couch and testing each one only to find they all had that despicable 'adult' feel to them. Ozpin's decorating taste (or was it someone else's entirely, considering he probably wouldn't be interested in something like interior design) was so stiff and cramped that in the end she had opted to sleep under the coffee table, on the sparse patch of carpet. The night had been difficult and cold, and now she was paying the price for her foolishness. On top of that, she had been forced to wait until her teammates had left the dorms and sneak in afterwards to change.
"'Feel free to use the staff room' my ass," she grumbled, and settled into her usual seat with a plate of pancakes, warmth radiating off of the golden stack and heating her up. She took a deep breath of the nearly orgasmic aroma, like sunshine and nostalgia.
Through her sleep deprived state, she barely even noticed her teammates in a collective cold sweat.
"She's here," whispered Eido, cupping his hand over his mouth to conceal the noise. "What do we do?"
"Hell if I know. She's way ahead of the game right now," replied Ahab.
"In all honesty, I was expecting at least two more days of this."
"No, it's definitely a ploy of some sort. She just wants us to break down and ask her to come back."
"Could we do that?" asked Quincy, apparently not picking up on the need to keep his goddamn voice down.
"QUINCY!" they hissed, but Cammo blinked away the haziness and turned to the blurry figures of the boys.
"Oh shit," she mouthed. They all sat for a moment in silence, both boys frozen like deer in front of glaring headlights.
"Is she mad?" whispered Ahab again, resuming their hushed conversation.
"I don't think so. She hasn't made any violent moves yet, but we can't be sure."
"You know I can hear you now. That won't work anymore," Cammo pointed out.
"I think we're screwed."
The green girl raised a hand to shush her teammates. "Shut up for a second. I just wanted to say... I'm sorry."
They remained, statuesque, so she elaborated. "For making fun of your pasts. I guess. And your shitty attitudes." Dust, what was she saying? Wasn't she supposed to apologize? Focus, Cammo, focus!
"Wow..." Eido breathed. "You really are the worst." She bit back tears.
"No, I didn't mean-"
"Somehow, you manage to insult us in the nicest way."
"Or be nice in the most insulting way," added Ahab. The two of them both broke out into huge smiles, though the combination of the heir's villainous leer and his partner's shadowy smile underneath the heavy shag of black hair was slightly creepy. Huge, welcoming/disturbing smiles.
Cammo couldn't help herself. She felt the corners of her tragically unchapped lips twitch up. "Screw you guys, I'm trying to be serious here."
"Serious? What's that?"
"Of course you wouldn't know what it means," muttered Ahab. "Do you know how many times he tried to screw with your stuff when you were gone?"
"Ugh," she shivered at the thought. "But in all honesty, you two are like a two man comedy act."
"Don't worry, Quincy stopped him. You wouldn't believe what happened next, though."
"Who are you, Buzzfeed? She doesn't need to know about that..."
"Eh? What?" She shot out her seat, easily led by their banter. "What happened? Tell me!"
Quincy chuckled contentedly. Seeing his team laughing and smiling together gave him a nice, warm feeling. Kind of like these pancakes, now that he thought about it, and began to dig in.
Despite all the commotion that occurred, team ECQA were still family.
One of the more enjoyable parts of Beacon education (or excruciating, depending on how you looked at it), was the one on one sparring system. Of course, there were exceptions from time to time, one of which being the decently over powered Pyrrha Nikos, resident professional athlete and redheaded bombshell. However, the sparring ring was generally a place for individuals to shine in what many considered the most essential part of being a Hunter: solo combat.
This was Cammo Deuce's natural element.
After hearing the story of her past as a gladiator, it was no surprise to team ECQA that she would want to take the first, second and third battles all to herself. The passive Quincy and Ahab were more than willing to let her fight, and it only took a little physical abuse to convince Eido that she was a perfect candidate for initial pickings.
She was earnestly crushed when Professor Goodwitch announced she had prepared the names of the combatants beforehand.
"Well shit, that beatdown was totally unnecessary," Ahab mused.
"It was unnecessary from the start!" raged the battered heir.
"First spar goes to... Cardin Winchester," called the instructor, and a tall, heavily built armored Hunter stepped forward. He leered, and turned to the audience. The amphitheater lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the arena grounds, making him seem like the only person in the room. Cammo puffed her cheeks in frustration.
"That should be me down there," she muttered to anyone who would listen, ergo her unfortunate teammates.
"Your partner will be... Jaune Arc," spoke Goodwitch, looking up from the Scroll displaying the names of several students. A groan was heard from the same awkward blonde Ahab had seen (and Eido had heard) at the initiation. So he made it through, huh?
"That document she's got open," Ahab whispered to Cammo as a one sided battle began in the ring. "It must be the roster for sparring practice."
"Is my name on it?"
"Hell no," he lied.
"Shame. I really wanted to have a go at that rich white girl. She probably thinks she's good just because she had a good time against that animal last time."
"That was, like, two days ago. Give it a rest."
"Not until I put that bitch in her place. She assumes she's so much better than everyone else, but I bet I could take her easily."
Ahab said nothing, barely daring to breathe, as he realized who was seated in the row just in front of them. The entirety of team RWBY. Oh, and they were shooting suspicious glances backwards. Lovely. Cammo continued to rant, unperturbed, losing herself in spiteful bile. She really chose the worst times to show her true colors.
"And doesn't she dress like a kid at a dance recital? Dust, even my mom didn't hate me enough to dress me like that. It almost hurts the eyes to look directly at her."
Evidently bored by the fighting taking place, Eido joined in. "Yeah, right? I mean, it's almost blinding."
"Shut up, Eido. I'm on a roll." Ahab hung his head between his knees and pulled his hood over his head in pure embarrassment. "Eh? What's wrong? Oh, I get it, you're facepalming at just the thought of her outfit."
He tried to stutter a denial, but Weiss finally snapped and whirled around, her white side ponytail whipping the face of her own partner.
'What was her name again? Judy?' he wondered.
"Would you kindly shut up? It's not nice to talk about a person behind their back."
"Especially when you're right behind her back," added Yang. The girl with the black bow next to her ('Where have I seen her before?' he wondered) showed vague interest, but abstained from jumping in. The red-cloak girl acted confused, caught off guard by the sudden hair slap and outburst of her teammate.
"Ah, speak of the devil. Hello, Yang," Eido nodded to the blonde and the platinum in turn. "And hello, Ms. Schnee. Fancy seeing you here." He snickered to himself, but the joke went over their heads as neither of the girls were aware of his condition.
Wait, how did he know she was Weiss Schnee?
"Yeah, good to see you too," Weiss growled. She turned to Cammo, leaning over the back of her seat. "You." The princess aimed one slender finger at the green girl.
"Me?" She knocked herself on the head innocently and flipped a pigtail. Crap, there goes the perfect act.
"What's your problem, huh? What have you got against me?"
"Ah, the jig's up," mumbled the heir. "My associate here was just complimenting you on your ability to light up a room." Cammo snorted, slapping a hand over her lips to keep herself from laughing aloud. Of course, the movement hurt like hell. If only she'd had a chance to take care of her skin and whatnot this morning, but looking horrible seemed to pronounce horrible attitude.
Weiss fumed. "Look, I don't know what ideas you've got in your head about me, but at least I don't spread false rumors about people."
"I'm sure you don't honey. Such acts would mean certain disgrace for an heiress of Schnee," Cammo spat.
"Ms. Deuce, we should refrain from speaking ill of others," Quincy advised, but the shorter Huntress stood up in her seat and held her index finger aloft in mimicry of Weiss' gesture.
"Think you're so high and mighty don't you? Well, even if you can gut one pig like a good little girl, that doesn't make you so much stronger than me!" She took a moment, then corrected herself. "...stronger than us!"
"Leave me out of this," Ahab said, reverting back to his nigh unnoticeable whimper. He tried his best to focus on the massacre taking place in the sparring arena. It wasn't easy; the Arc kid was totally outclassed by Winchester, who was beating him back with little effort. He averted his eyes as Blake scanned him up and down, making careful observation of him and his teammates. Dust, it was hard to look away from those brilliant golden eyes. They seemed to draw his gaze, exerting a strange attraction on his pupils.
Dangerous girl.
"Oh, that's how you wanna play it?" Yang shouted, standing up from her own chair and cracking her knuckles. "What, four on four? I can handle that!"
"I'm sure we can find a peaceful solution to this conflict-" the giant started, but Cammo placed her petite hands over his mouth and held it shut. The size difference was huge enough that it took both hands.
"Damn straight, let's duel this out right now!" she declared. The hot headed duo of Eido and Cammo locked eyes with the equally proud Weiss and Yang. Even Ruby ('That was her name! Ruby!'), without a clue of what was happening, seemed combat ready. However, both parties backed down when Goodwitch shot them a glare and placed a finger over her lips.
"So when do we do it?" Eido whispered excitedly.
"As soon as possible of course. Next time we're called for sparring, just pick one member from the other team. We tally up the victories and decide the winner from that," said Weiss, tossing her hair casually.
"You've thought it all out, haven't you?"
"Well, someone needs to be practical about this."
"We'll need some extra rules," Cammo added. "No biting, no nails, no groin shots..."
"That's not much of a problem for like... six of us," Eido said.
Ahab narrowed his eyes and leaned into the taller boy's ear. "Wait, did you just include me in tha-"
"Also!" said Cammo, getting way too into the upcoming battle. "One fight per person."
"Fair enough," Yang shrugged.
"What? What's going on?"
"We'll explain later, Ruby," snapped Weiss, turning back to the battle drawing to a close. "We're going to beat them fair and square."
"Sure, say that after we kick your sorry butts to the curb."
"Oi. Eido. Stop the smiling. You look way too serious."
Goodwitch began to reprimand Cardin for showing what could only be called murderous intent in the arena. He shrugged it off and walked away, leaving the beaten blonde on the floor. Shaking her head, she turned back to the crowd of students with a warning.
"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."
Team RWBY burst into various displays of excitement, excluding the calm and collected black bow girl. It seemed she was the foil for her high spirited companions, much in the same way Ahab acted as a resistor to Eido and Cammo's extreme whims. He suddenly felt a vague kinship with the lithe girl.
Who was she again? For some reason, Ahab couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt like he had seen her before.
Well, he would certainly be seeing more of her now...
Oh dear, seems team ECQA likes to start fights. Perfe- I mean how horrid and disruptive. Start setting your bets now for who will win the following fights.
No worries, there is no Gary Stu to be found here. Every battle is decided based on how exciting I think it might be and plays according to each combatant's strengths and weaknesses. I'll make it as realistic as possible *wink*
Thanks for taking the time to read my silly story, and have a good day.
