AN: I just finished marathoning RWBY V6 yesterday

And wow my eyes sure were sweaty in Episode 9.


When Tiella woke up, it was already 4:16 pm.

She was on one of the beds, still wearing her sparring gear. She looked around to be more familiar with her surroundings and the first thing she saw was her dress shirt that was folded neatly on the table to her right.

To her left was an empty chair and an open window. The wind was blowing in gently—carrying the background noise of the students outside.

She stood from her bed and gave herself a once-over to check for any injuries. After noting that there was nothing wrong other than mild exhaustion and a sore spot on her left flank, she judged that she was good to go. So she wore her dress shirt, leaving the top two buttons open.

She walked towards the door and saw that Cardin was no longer there, probably back with his friends. She then checked her pockets for anything amiss and found that all her stuff wasn't gone.

"Now then... should be a good time to meet with Ozpin and Glynda." She thought, already heading towards the Deputy Headmistress's Office.

As soon as she got there, she knocked twice and waited for an answer.

"Come in." came the voice from beyond the door. Taking it as her cue, she quickly opened the door, went in and shut it behind her.

"How was the rest of the class?" Tiella asked Glynda who was having a cup of tea by her desk.

"After you passed out, we had 5 more matches until the class ended. I had Ms. Xiao Long carry you to the infirmary, you should thank her later."

Tiella walked over to one of the available couches and took a seat herself.

"So what have you decided for me?"

"Personally, I'd have you suspended for 1 day, but I feel that in this particular case, we should speak with Ozpin."

"What makes it special?"

"You've only had your Aura unlocked no more than 3 hours ago, so it is only natural that you were quite unfamiliar with your limits," Glynda said coolly. "Though of course, that doesn't excuse you possibly fatally wounding a student."

"I mean, I guess..?"

"For now we will be meeting with Ozpin. Come with me." Glynda said, already moving from her seat and toward the door.

"Okay." Tiella followed suit.


At the grand clocktower...

"I see," Ozpin said while looking out the window, back turned to Glynda and Tiella.

"Yes, and because she's new to Aura, I felt that this should be handled a differently," Glynda said.

Tiella and Glynda were in their usual seats while in Ozpin's office. Glynda finished her report on the incident during her class, so Ozpin was now taking a little moment to think of the proper way to punish Tiella.

The girl in question has been oddly quiet since the report began, not really saying any sarcastic remarks like she usually would at any given opportunity.

"Tiella, can you tell me what lead to your decisions that lead to this incident?" Ozpin turned, facing Tiella who sat with arms and legs crossed.

"Well, it was my first time experiencing Aura, so I got a little bit of a blood rush and just sort of tested my upper limits on the poor guy without really thinking of the possible consequences," Tiella said honestly.

"I see."

"It's not really an excuse, but it's more or less my reason for why it happened." she continued.

"Well, it's good that you're honest," Ozpin said, sipping from his mug. "I've decided on your punishment."

Tiella slightly stiffened in place for a moment, preparing herself for the worst. Glynda was sipping her tea coolly.

Ozpin looked back outside the window and said, "You will be moving in with Glynda starting tonight." then casually sipped.

"What," Tiella asked, dumbfounded and wide-eyed.

"What!?" Glynda asked, angry and confused.

Ozpin sipped more coffee and continued. "I believe it is the perfect way to both punish and assist Tiella." He fully turned to face the ladies and walked over to his desk.

"Tiella will have further surveillance while you teach her more about Aura. You've already proposed to personally teach her earlier, have you not?"

"Well, yes, but..." Glynda said, understanding Ozpin's point but still feeling uneasy about the decision.

"Good! Now, Tiella, here's your advance." Ozpin said while reaching for a wallet for Tiella to retrieve from his desk.

"Uh... thanks..?" She said, unsure of what to feel. For one thing, she hated being babysat but it was certainly a good opportunity to further learn about Aura. And she doesn't really mind living with Glynda.

She checked the contents and found only cards within it, so she took one out and studied it where she stood.

"That is Lien." Ozpin said after seeing a confused Tiella, "What you're holding is worth 5,000 Lien. And there are 3 of those inside in total."

"Ah, I was used to paper money and credit cards where I was from," Tiella said, putting the card back and pocketing the wallet.

"This will also be how I will be paying you. You will receive half of your salary on a bi-weekly basis. Though your next payment would be at least a month from now, so do try not to spend everything until then." Ozpin continued.

"Any schedules on paydays then?"

"Payday is usually on the 10th and 25th day of each month."

"Gotcha."

"Now then, I believe you have a prior business to attend to?" Ozpin asked knowingly.

"Spying on not only your students but also your employees? That's not very cash money of you, Ozpin." Tiella suddenly remembered, already walking for the door. "Thanks, Ozpin, and don't be too hard on Glynda!"

Ozpin smiled wryly as Tiella closed the door, then looked back to the still contemplating Glynda.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Ozpin started, addressing Glynda from her seat. "Officially it's for you to keep an eye on her."

"But you really just want to cut costs because you couldn't find a room for her, isn't that right, Ozpin?"

Ozpin didn't answer. He only sipped his coffee while avoiding eye contact.

"Your silence speaks volumes, Ozpin."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Glynda. Despite her sharp tongue and rough personality, I can see that she has a good heart."

"I'm less worried about her and more worried about me, but very well. If it is the Headmaster's wish, then I will oblige." Glynda said, resigned to having a roommate who was just over a decade younger than her.


As soon as Tiella got back to her room, she took a quick shower to freshen up after all the beating she got.

"Aura's pretty damn amazing." She thought while letting the warm water shower over her. "Explains the whole academy for hunters thing. Not a lot of actual threats to a person if you have one."

She touched her flank, sore where she got hit by Yang's finisher. "And damn, everyone hits hard. Especially that blonde girl. And they're still first years, right? Damn."

She finished her shower and turned off the faucet, but stood there for a moment, still thinking.

"I wonder what my Semblance is gonna be?"

After the shower, she got a fresh batch of clothes and went for Team CFVY's dorm in room 206.

Tiella knocked on the door twice, and not a moment longer, Yatsuhashi in his casual clothes opened the door. "Tiella," he said politely with a small bow of his head.

"Heya big guy. Seen my dates around?" Tiella said, giving one of the few people that were taller than her at Beacon her own casual smile.

"Yes, they're just inside. Let me call them for you." he then went back in without closing the door. "Coco, Velvet. Tiella's come to pick you up."

"I'll be there in a minute!" Coco's voice said from far inside the room, in the bathroom if Tiella had to guess.

Velvet's bunny ears peeked out from inside and invited her with a small smile. "Why don't you come in first? We figured you'd need a little longer to rest up after your free for all with the first years."

"Thanks, V," Tiella said while letting herself in. "And honestly, I didn't expect it. Those first years were pretty good."

They sat by Velvet's bed while waiting for Coco to finish. Velvet had her hair in a half-pony and was wearing a 3/4 sleeved white buttoned-up blouse tucked into a brown plaid skirt that reached just above her knees, emphasizing her bust and fairly slim waist. She wore black socks that reached just below her knees with brown doll shoes, and on her arms were a few gold-colored bracelets on her left and a gold-colored bangle on her right.

She also had a box hanging just behind her, which Tiella believed was her bag. Simple, cute, and stylish.

"Lookin' good, V," Tiella commented after giving Velvet a quick once-over.

"Thanks." Velvet said demurely. "From what I know, the girls you fought are among the top of their year level," she commented offhandedly while brushing her hair and patting her ears.

"Pyrrha Nikos coming in at first by a large margin, Yang Xiao Long at second, Nora Valkyrie at third, Ruby Rose at fourth, and Weiss Schnee at fifth, if I remember correctly." she continued.

"They definitely earned the spots at least," Tiella said while thinking back. "You seem to know a lot about them too."

"It's just that they've been slowly making a name for themselves. And it's the Pyrrha Nikos too."

"My little sis?"

"Pyrrha's your sister?" Velvet asked in mild surprise.

"Nah, not really. I just like to call her that because we're both redheads." Tiella said while giving Velvet a cheeky grin.

"And from what I heard, you're no slouch yourself, Chelly," Coco said while coming out of the bathroom. "Getting challenged by Nikos herself and fighting in that rumble barehanded? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were underestimating them."

Coco was wearing her usual attire—a long, cocoa-colored shirt with a dark brown waist cincher. For her legs, she wore long, dark brown trousers with ribbons on the left side and a brown belt with cartridges. Above it, she wore another cocoa-colored belt of cartridges with a gold cross-hairs buckle. What appeared to be a drape of black skirt hangs on her right side. She wore a pair of dark brown, high-heeled leather boots with buckles. Among a lot of other accessories.

Very classy and stylish.

"I even heard you gave Pyrrha a run for her money on hand to hand," Coco said, peeking from the top of her shades in a grin.

"They were pretty good and they really got me going, especially my little sister, but it's just a spar," Tiella said with a wave of her hand. "Not really an accurate way to know how someone would do when the real thing comes."

"That's true... I've seen a lot of good first years that froze on the spot when it was time for the real thing." Velvet said from beside her.

"Anyway! I'm done changing. Let's go?" Coco said, arms akimbo.

"Is it fine to bring your weapons into the city?" Tiella asked after eyeing Coco's belt.

"Yeah, it's another way to keep the streets safe by letting us hunter trainees patrol the streets whenever we go into the city," Coco explained while leading them out the door.

"Now, after you." Velvet going out first.

"And after you." Tiella following second.

"We'll be back a little later tonight, boys. Take care of the room." Coco said in a wink and a wave.

"Have fun," Fox said, and the door shut.


"That's a nice view." Tiella thought while looking out the window of the airship.

The airship just took off no longer than a minute ago and already Tiella was loving the view. It showed a beautiful landscape of tall buildings, dense forest parks, and surrounding city districts that all lead into the city center where most of the business was likely conducted.

"It's sorta like any big city on Earth but way smaller in scale." Tiella thought, still admiring the view of the incoming city as they neared an empty landing pod. "Grimm probably make it a huge pain to expand borders."

"How do you like the view?" Velvet asked from beside her.

"It's lovely." Tiella replied without looking back, "Kinda reminds me of home." she said in a whisper, a nostalgic expression on her face.

"What's your home like?" Velvet asked innocently, tilting her head to lean closer to Tiella. Coco was quietly listening to the conversation, interested in learning more about the tall girl.

"It's..." Tiella said, contemplating what to say without giving her away. "it's lovely, just like this one, but... it's a place I can never go back to." She said, giving Velvet a casual smile, although her eyes expressed otherwise.

The two girls said nothing, guessing in their minds what Tiella was trying to imply. Was her home run down by Grimm? Was it taken by bandits? Was it connected to her reason for coming to Vale so empty-handed? They'd never know unless they ask—though they also knew that asking would be pointless—because they understood from her answer that it's something she's not willing to talk about. Not yet at least.

So they'll wait.

"Is it your first time in the city?" Coco asked soon after getting off the airship.

"Yep, so let's get the important bits first before we do anything else," Tiella said while doing some light stretches to work out the kinks.

Velvet leaned close to Coco and Tiella and spoke softly—careful not to let any other people hear—with a small smile, "So let's go get new ones for Tiella before we go giving her a complete makeover."

At that moment, Coco was reminded of how cute and adorable Velvet could be without even trying. Tiella was only realizing just how deadly cute the girl was.

"Coco," Tiella said while looking at Velvet with arms crossed and a serious look on her face.

"No, you can't have Velvet for a day," Coco replied—preemptively shutting Tiella down—already knowing what she was going to say.

"But what if I asked for half a day?" Tiella continued.

"What do I get?"

"What do you want?"

"A complete overhaul of your dry looks."

"As long as I approve of the new look, then you've got yourself a deal."

"I'll make sure we agree on something."

And both girls shook on it, ignoring the distraught bunny girl who could only look at them with disbelieving eyes.

"C-Coco!? W-What do you think you're doing!?" shocked that her partner would sell her off so easily.

"Let's go, Velvs. The sooner we get Chelly's stuff, the sooner I can get her out of those bland clothes." Coco said while dragging Velvet away with one arm interlocked with hers.

"Sue me. My entire wardrobe is made up of the school's issued uniform for both men and women other than my own combat gear." Tiella replied dryly while jogging to catch up.

"That is the most offensive thing I've heard in a year," Coco said while peeking at Tiella through lowered shades and scrunched up eyebrows. "We're going to be shopping for a week's worth. I will not have anyone come close to me or my Velvet looking like that ever again."

"I'm a little offended that you'd dis my choice of casual clothing despite my best efforts to look decent given what I had."

"It's not the worst I've seen, but it doesn't excuse you looking so bland. Points for still somewhat looking cool with it though." Coco replied coolly in a half grin. "We'll also be working on your hairstyle."

"Let's not touch my hair, thanks," Tiella said, entering their first store from behind Coco and Velvet—who'd been wearing the most adorable blushing pout since the deal was made.

"Why not? It doesn't fit the cool image you've been going for since we met." Coco said, already looking through various articles of underwear for Tiella to try on.

"It's... embarrassing," Tiella said, looking through the sportswear section.

"What is?" Coco asked offhandedly, already having picked at least 3 sets for Tiella to try.

"Don't laugh, okay? I'll bust your teeth in if you do." Tiella said, not really meaning the threat.

"You can try, but sure okay," Coco replied curtly, not minding the banter.

Tiella didn't answer immediately as she was still looking through the large selection for comfortable, easy to move in underwear.

"My mom..." She started softly, "My mother would always do my hair in this particular braid when I was young." Tiella said, a few packs of underwear already in a basket. "Aaand... I guess I sort of just kept it that way ever since."

She stood there for a moment, idly playing with her long braids while looking at them.

Coco and Velvet looked at each other for a moment, taking in Tiella's words. "What's this? Chelly can actually be adorable too?" Coco almost yelled in glee, walking over to Tiella to give her a warm side hug.

"You must be very close to your mother if you value it so much." Velvet said with a small smile while walking over to Tiella.

"Yeah," Tiella responded with a nostalgic smile. "We were."

"Were?" both Coco and Velvet thought while sharing surprised looks. The lighthearted moment they thought they'd been sharing with the tall girl was instantly replaced with a glum tension.

"I see." Velvet said, giving Tiella a small sad smile of her own.

"Don't worry, girl. I'll get you something that'll go well with that hairstyle." Coco said, already having let go of the hug and giving Tiella a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "Mama Coco knows best, after all," she said in a reassuring grin.

"Alright, alright," Tiella said, a half smile on her face while rolling her eyes. "Let's get out of this sap-fest so I can go pay for my underwear." already walking towards the register.

"And what," Coco said, stopping Tiella from walking any further. "are those?" giving Tiella's articles a critical glare.

"Sports undies?" Tiella said while giving Coco a disbelieving look. "Never heard of them?"

"That's all you're getting?" Coco asked, her turn to sound incredulous. "You won't even get any special ones?"

"I don't have anyone I'm interested in, thank you," Tiella said, dismissing the talk. She then continued walking to the register but was stopped by Coco once more.

"Not yet, you mean." Coco said, peeking from her shades again, giving her 'the look'.

"Uh, no?"

"You can't be serious."

"I'm about as real as I can get right now."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You're taking these with you," Coco said, forcefully handing over all the sets she picked earlier.

"Wha-? Bu-"

"No buts."

"What do you me-"

"No. Buts." giving Tiella 'the look' plus a raised eyebrow as if daring her to argue further.

"Velvet? A little help here!?" Tiella looked to the bunny girl but all she got were dead eyes and a knowing smile.

"You get used to it." Velvet said in a resigned, monotone voice while patting her on the shoulder knowingly.

Resigned to her fate and second questioning her decision to ask Coco for help, Tiella begrudgingly paid for everything at the register.

As soon as Tiella had paid for her sets of underwear, she immediately took one to wear. Seeing Tiella's going for the dressing rooms, Coco instead gave her one of the more risqué pairs. Tiella fought as hard as she could but it was all for naught.

She spent the rest of their day wearing dark red stockings, with lace and garter-belt underneath her clothes.

"You're lucky I actually like how it feels on my skin," Tiella said indignantly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"I know my stuff, Chelly," Coco said in a cocky half-grin. "I'm your go-to girl for all things fashion."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't worry, Tiella. Coco doesn't mean bad." Velvet said from beside Coco. "She's forceful, but that's only because she wants you to look the best you can."

"Especially when you're with me and my Velvet." Coco continued. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be thanking me later."

"Hmph." was all Tiella could say in response.


A few more stores later and It was already 7:40 pm. They've already eaten dinner and were on their way home to Beacon.

Tiella was wearing a completely different set of clothes while carrying multiple bags with even more clothes among other things.

She wore a red turtle-neck body-fit sweater that had holes to show off the shoulders that reached down to her thighs and a dark brown belt with a gold-colored buckle with a sun motif hanging loosely on her slim waist, more for fashion than utility.

She also wore tight-fitting black leggings that were tucked into mid-calf combat boots a series of buckles at the front and half-inch long stiletto heels.

For accessories—she wore a gold-colored hairpin with a crescent moon and two small stars next to it to show more of the right side of her face while still partially concealing her left eye. She also had two star-motif earrings with a dangling moon on her right ear, and a dangling sun earring connected to an ear cuff by a chain near the top of her left ear. And finally, she had a silver-colored, crescent moon necklace with a gold-colored gem in the middle.

If anything from before had been left as it was, it would only be her fingerless tactical gloves.

"I'd say today was a productive day." Coco started as they made their way to the airships. She was proud of her work, going with an astronomical theme for accessories alluding to the tall girl's name, and simple but stylish clothes to go with her simple hairstyle.

A simple design at its base but made stylish by the accessories.

"Well..." Tiella said, "it's definitely something I wouldn't have thought to wear at all before."

"I think it looks great on you, Tiella." Velvet complimented from beside her, carrying some of Tiella's bags to help. "I knew asking Coco was the right thing to do."

"Actually..." Tiella said, then paused for a moment, giving herself a once-over, raising her arms to see more of her attire. Both girls waited in slight anticipation of what she was about to say, Coco internally feeling nervous. "...like I said it's not something I'd think to wear."

Tiella then lowered her arms and continued, "But I like it. Thanks, Coco."

Coco looked visibly relieved at the comment. Velvet gave Coco her own happy smile in response.

"I guess that means you can borrow Velvs for half a day."

"Coco!?"

"Oh yeah," Tiella said, remembering their earlier deal. "I'll be sure to let you know when I need Velvet for that long," she said to Coco while giving Velvet a wink and a casual smile.

Velvet couldn't make any proper verbal response as she could only stutter her words out. She hid her face under her ears while looking down, careful not to trip.

They got on the airship back to Beacon and as soon as they arrived they immediately went for the dorms.


A few hours earlier...

"So?" Ruby asked.

Team RWBY was spending the rest of their off in their casual clothes inside their dorm lazying about.

Ruby was laying on her bed in her pajamas reading a weapons magazine, Weiss was sitting on the edge of her bed—also in her pajamas—while reading a fashion magazine. Blake was sitting on her bed—leaning her back on a pillow by the wall—reading another one of her novels. Yang was lying on her back on her own bed while listening to music on her scroll with her headphones on.

"Yeah?" Yang asked, partially removing her headphones.

"What's it like facing Tiella in a match?"

Yang thought for a moment before answering, completely removing her headphones and putting a hand over her chin. "It's kind of like facing Pyrrha in a match, but also a lot different."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked from below.

"She saw through everything I threw at her just like Pyrrha did, you know? But in her case, it was like she was being lazy about it. Like, if she wanted, she would have countered even before I could make the first move. And she was watching everything I did like she was taking in my entire fighting style to memorize it or something."

"You can't just get used to someone's fighting style in 30 seconds during a match, especially in an intense match like that." Weiss chimed in disbelievingly.

"I know! But that's just how I feel about it, okay? And it was really frustrating." Yang said, remembering her growing frustration for every single miss.

"But you won, right?" Ruby said.

"Yeah, by staying down and catching her off guard because she was looking away," Yang said with a little pout on her face.


At the same time...

"So she really did hit as hard as you said?" Jaune asked.

Team JNPR was also in their own dorm, each doing their own thing.

Jaune was reading a comic book on his bed, Pyrrha was doing her homework on a desk, Nora was on her headphones listening to music while reading a weapons magazine on her own bed, and Ren was meditating on his bed.

"Yes, I likely would have been pushed further back if I hadn't used my Semblance to keep myself in place," Pyrrha said, taking a short break from doing her homework.

"Wow," Jaune said in no small amount of surprise.

"Yeah! It was like getting hit by Yang but way faster!" Nora chimed with her headphones resting on her shoulders.

"But weren't you pushing her back in the beginning? You were both trying to push each other over, right?" Jaune asked.

"That's because her build emphasizes on speed and agility. Unlike Nora or Yang." Pyrrha answered. "And just like you saw earlier, I couldn't get a clean hit in. So I tried throwing and pinning her down instead."

Jaune and Nora were listening intently, and while Ren still hadn't moved, he too was certainly listening.

"It worked for a while, but it didn't last for long. She quickly got used to my attempts of trying to throw her off, so she kept her distance, baiting me into coming for her. And whenever I tried again, she would parry me and go in for a fast and heavy counter."

"That's... amazing." Jaune said, "It's a little hard to believe that someone gave even you a hard time, even though I was there to see it."

"Yes," Pyrrha said with a small smile. "And it was the most excited I've felt in a fight for a very long time. I was on my feet the entire time I was going against her."

"I know!" Nora chimed in again, her hands in the air as if celebrating, "She was so awesome! It's like facing a professional huntress!" she continued, animatedly waving her arms.

"Perhaps she is," Ren said, his eyes still closed in meditation. "Perhaps she's already a fully fledged huntress. She did fight in that spar barehanded. So it is likely that she was holding a lot back."

"Now that you mention it..." Jaune said, going into deep thought.


Tiella was back in her room, already packing her small amount of things up in the bags she brought home.

"Guess I'll be skipping out on my late night workout?" she thought while packing up.

"Wait, no one really told me where Glynda stays at... and I forgot to buy a scroll!"

Tiella's eyes went wide at the late realization, wondering what to do and how to contact Glynda.

Suddenly there were a few knocks on the door.

"Tiella, are you in?" a voice came from outside.

"Glynda? Yeah, I'm in. Come on in. I'm just packing up." Tiella said, extremely relieved that Glynda came for her.

The door opened and Glynda let herself in, shutting the door behind her as soon as she was.

"Are you ready?" she asked, standing by the door, arms crossed.

"Almost," she said while going back to her packing.

"Looks like you did a lot of shopping."

"Coco and Velvet were with me."

"Ms. Adel and Ms. Scarlatina? I see."

"Yep.," she said, popping the 'p' sound.

"How was the city?"

"It's nice, doesn't look too different from a lot of the cities I've been to, minus the airships."

"You don't have airships where you're from?" Glynda asked, always curious to learn more of Tiella's world.

"We do, but they're called airplanes and they're more for traveling between countries or just super long distances in general, not city to city." Tiella said, finishing up on her packing, "We take buses or trains for that."

"I see."

"Yyyep. And I'm done," she said, standing up with arms filled with bags.

"Good," Glynda said while adjusting her glasses, already turning on her heel to move out of the room. "I still have a bit of work to do, so I'll have to leave as soon as I show you to your room."

"Thanks," Tiella said while following suit.

"Maybe I might I actually get a chance to do my night workout? Gonna have to ask."


AN: Hello again!

Short chapter and simple for today. Other than marathoning V6, I was a little busy with stuff at home so I couldn't get into this more than I wanted.

And thank you so much to everyone that's been liking Tiella and my story so far!

I can also see Guest darkvampirekisses' point with Glynda's use of glyphs. Though I don't really feel like overanalyzing it any further than that, at least for now.

I hope you enjoyed this little chapter too.

And reviews please, thank you!