A/N: As per usual I do not own Maplestory or RWBY. Thank you for any of those who still read the series. And a quick thank you to coolexaj for his contributions to Kaiser/Kyle.
Could Have Been Worse
The first rays of dawn burst through the blinds. They danced on my cheek coursing me to wake up. Lucky for them, I am used to waking up early for the hunt. Although the rather loud snoring kinda took me off guard.
I sat up in bed and gazed at my new team. Luminous was quietly sleeping in a ball, like a cute puppy. Then Phantom, the source of the loud snoring, sprawled across his bed as if he were playing twister in his sleep. Mihile's bed was the complete opposite: the sheets were all folded up on the corner of the bed like they had been when we first arrived last night.
Maha spoke up in my head after he sensed my worry for my missing teammate, "He woke up about and hour ago and went out for a run."
I admire this guy's dedication for training, but now I have to wait until he gets back to… THUD. I quickly look at the door to see what had interrupted my thoughts. Nothing happened for a few seconds until there was a knock at the door. I jumped out of bed and opened the door to find an exhausted and sweaty Mihile.
"I forgot the doors automatically lock themselves" he mumbled while trying to hind the obvious red mark on his forehead.
"That's ok. Just remember that here in Vale, we open doors with our hands not our heads," I responded while walking backward into the dorm room. "Actually you came at the perfect time." I spun on my heels to address the remaining part of my team. "GOOD MORING!"
I was quickly greeted by a slew of colorful language and a pillow to my face. Even Mihile recoiled at the outburst.
I saw Lumi reach out to check his holopad, "Aran, it is 7'olcock. If our first class doesn't start till 9:30, why did you wake us up?"
"Well that gives us an hour to find the cafeteria and eat breakfast. We are going together because as the saying goes, a team that eats together fights together."
"I am pretty sure that isn't how the saying goes," Phantom said under his breath.
I faced Phantom after hearing his comment, "Then I figured it would take about and hour for everyone to get ready. Well 10 minutes for Mihile, Lumi, and I then 30 minutes for you."
"I only need 25 minutes Dear, but thanks for thinking of me." Phantom ended with a smirk.
"Lastly, I gave us 30 minutes for overflow and travel time to our first class."
Luminous looked at me surprised, "That is actually a far more thought out reason than I was expecting."
I posed with my hands on my hips, "I can plan things out when I want to. Now come on team, let us grace the day with our presence."
I am so not a morning person. Although I had my morning tea to jumpstart my day, my energetic team captain wasn't exactly making it easier. Our 'glorious' leader was currently shoveling her monstrosity of a breakfast into her mouth. I sighed knowing that I would have to address the elephant in the room. "Ok Dear, what is that thing you're eating?"
She finished chewing what was in her mouth, " Well it is sausage, egg, and cheese that's wrapped in a waffle and covered with sausage gravy." She quickly went back to her food while the rest of us had an expression off disgust.
"Well that certainly sounds… nutritional" Luminous said trying to be supportive.
"OMG Lumi is that you?" said a very energetic, feminine voice.
Great! This is what I needed for the day: another hyperactive female to spice up my morning. What did I do to deserve this?
"I am glad to see that you survived the initiation without me," the speaker said coming into view. She was a cute girl with long blonde hair. She was surprisingly built for having a small frame, and she seemed to radiate confidence from her stance alone.
"Oh come on Mercedes, we both know I carried you through Signal. Plus I don't think my new partner Aran would have allowed me to die." Luminous retorted.
I saw this Mercedes give our leader an odd look before she contorted her face back into a smile. "Oh how rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Mercedes. I am Luminous's old partner from Signal."
"And my name is Aran, Luminous's new partner. It is a pleasure to meet you." She said meeting Mercedes glance.
"And these are my other two Teammates: Mihile"
"Hello"
"and Phantom"
"Pleasure is mine" I said with my characteristic smile.
"It is nice to meet you all." She said while still looking at Aran. "My team should be coming soon and I will introduce you all." After a few tense minutes of small talk between Aran and Mercedes, the rest of her team showed up.
I glanced up to see a unique trio of students. First, came a small brown haired boy she called Evan. He had a smaller frame than Mercedes and I guessed him to be a more aura-based fighter. The next person introduced himself as Kyle. He had long light blue hair and dark horns on his head and red wings on his back. Based on his build I guessed him to be the tank of the group. Like Mercedes, he held a certain presence about him. Now the last person certainly got my attention. A beautiful faunus stood before me. She had short purple hair in which pointy cat ears emerged. She had a similar build to Mercedes, yet had a more reticent presence to her. Mercedes introduced her as Mastema.
Mastema stood back as the others in her team talked with mine. Well maybe my day is salvageable after all. I soon found myself walking up to her. "Hello there beautiful, my name is Phantom. It is a pleasure to meet you."
She gave me a quick glance, "It is nice to meet you as well, but don't expect much of a conversation with me. I am not exactly what you would call a morning person."
"That's purrfect. I know of a good cafe on campus where we can calmly enjoy our morning. I could use a little peace and quiet. What do you say?"
"Sorry, I don't fall for the pretty-boy type," and with that she walked away.
"Oh she is good"
"Congratulations for making it to your first class on time. If you wish to get through this class, then I suggest everyone keep that habit."
Do you hear that Phantom? Spend anymore time fixing that hair of yours and we are going to have a rough time in this class.
"My name is Professor Goodwitch. If you are here today then you must be good, but I am here to make you better."
Yes, Empress Cygnus seemed to think the same thing. If you couldn't make me better, then I would still be in Ereve.
"Now this class is all about teamwork. If you and your partner are fighting two different battles, then you will fail. You must learn how to fight as one."
I found myself glancing over to find my partner completely ignoring this whole speech. He is trying, and failing might I add, to talk to that Mastema girl. Well I guess I was wrong, this class is already going to be rough.
"Whether you and your partner fight on beat with each other, or fight in a syncopated succession to one another, you must have a strategy. I understand that most of you are new to each other. Achieving this goal is a long process. Starting tomorrow, I will randomly select pairs of partners to spare. I suggest you start planning a strategy with your partner now."
