For Suggested Listenings, I highly recommend you Google "Infinite Looper" which will save you the trouble of looping any video URL you throw in there from YouTube!
Enjoy the chapter!
RWBYS
Chapter 9
Solidarity Skirting the Spiraling Storm
-Beacon Lab 2B-
-Two and a Half Weeks Post Desol Event, Late Morning-
"You're doing that wrong."
The boy looked up at her, dark eyes wide, brows raised in confusion and surprise.
"I… what?" he stuttered, looking down at his hands.
The long tendrils of his fingers were wrapped firmly around the wrist of a rather flexible medical test-dummy. He was attempting, as was much of the class, to set the dummy's broken wrist prior to mending the 'wound' with aura.
"You're gripping the arm wrong," she replied, rolling her eyes and shifting closer to the boy. Her face took on a scowl. "Look, here; if you pull it like that, you'll just end up paralyzing the nerve and he'd be out of commission for much longer than he should be," she pointed out, tapping the part of the dummy spaced between his two hands.
"Yeah… we… we knew that…" his partner responded unsteadily, bright red orbs giving her a sheepish smile.
Weiss sighed, shaking her head at the two boys who stood in front of her.
Dante Scales and Corr Giudice; not exactly the most adept pair of students, a fact that concerned the girl greatly.
These buffoons are possibly going to be fighting alongside my partner? Well… I have a full week ahead of myself.
She'd been keeping her eye on the pair ever since she learned of their potential placement on Ruby's team for the mission on her father's train. Of course she had been eyeing the other candidates, but it seemed that of the ones she'd run across, the two partners needed the most help… especially when it came to their medical prowess.
"Velvet, do you think you'll be fine here on your own? I think these two dunces need my help the most…" Weiss sighed, looking back at her lab partner.
The other girl was slightly taller than Weiss, maybe an inch at most. She was a far cry from the alabaster tone of the Heiress, with long brown tresses draping over her shoulders and down to the small of her back. She wore the standard Beacon uniform, as well as the required white coat for working in the lab, even if it was a simple exercise in Advanced Field Medicine. However, what made the girl really stand out, aside from her bright twinkling brown eyes and her pale milky skin, were the two long brown stalks that rose out of her scalp. Each coated in a fine layer fur and fuzz, the rabbit ears were long enough to have a bending weight, making them each flop forward ever so slightly.
The girl glanced at Weiss through a scratched up pair of goggles, twitching slightly at the indication that she'd be alone. However, she stood tall and nodded, flashing a smile to the young Schnee.
"I think I've got this Weiss… at least I hope I do…" Velvet responded, a rich but subtle accent drifting from her lips.
Weiss nodded and smiled back.
"Thank you Velvet," Weiss nipped politely before returning her attention to the two boys.
"You are Dante, and you are Corr, am I mistaken?" she asked pointedly, glaring the duo down.
"Uh… yes?" the taller boy replied, seemingly unnerved. "And you are…?"
"Weiss. Weiss Schnee," she groaned, pushing the boys aside as she approached the mannequin. "Now, watch closely," she commanded, moving away Dante's hands and replacing them with her own. "First, you must…"
The girl settled in for some time, working the two through the assigned practices and showing them the proper way to perform the actions. After setting the wrist four different ways they moved on to slashing wounds and the muscle damage they could cause, in this case around the bicep of the mannequin's right arm.
While she had been rather patient with the two during the wrist setting, Weiss was rapidly becoming more irked with the lack of skill the two demonstrated when it came to some of the first aid applications.
"Honestly, how did either of you get into this class? You're first years, you shouldn't even be here!" she snapped, showing them how to seal the wound for a third time.
"Hey! I'm a first year and I'm in here too!"
The distance voice made Weiss turn her head to another occupant of the class.
Green hair, cheerful smile, lavender eyes… where do I recognize…? She thought dryly.
Then it clicked.
"Weren't you one of the idiots my partner and her sister had to babysit this month?" the Heiress growled indignantly.
The boy gave a look of confusion before whipping out a notebook from his lab coat and flipping it open. His smile replaced itself as soon as he found what he was looking for.
"Ah! You mean Coach Ruby and Supreme Mistress Overlord of the Divine Golden Wind Xiao Long?" the boy cheered, shutting the spined paper closed.
Weiss's hand immediately flew to her forehead.
Do not kill them. They are not worth jail time… they are not worth jail time.
"Yes," she responded, disguising an irritated grimace with a forced smile. "I happen to be partnered with Ruby and I'm well acquainted with… her sister…" the girl groaned.
"Well it's nice to meet you! Name's Lux!" the green haired boy smiled cheerily.
Weiss smiled and nodded politely, quickly turning back to the two she was trying to tutor. In truth, she already knew his name, having read his credentials over five times while prepping her leader on Saturday (and three more times since, as she had done with the others on the list). He had rather good scores across the board, adequate teammate material, but she hadn't exactly realized what his personality would be like. The boy expunged the same type of bounding energy that Ruby provided, though maybe not exactly in the same spectrum of endearing as her bob-haired partner.
"So, you're friends with Ruby?" Dante asked as the three of them got back to work on the dummy.
"Her partner more exactly," the Heiress sighed, reopening the wound after Corr fumbled his previous attempt to mend it. She paused as she slid the scalpel into the re-gen-flesh before releasing a second sigh. "But I suppose 'friend' is the most accurate term to describe our relationship…" the girl mused with a wry smile. "Couldn't stand the girl when we first met, but she grows on you… like a fungus," Weiss muttered, an unusually light lilt to her voice.
"Must like her a lot if that's the fact," Dante chuckled.
"Who's Ruby?" Corr asked, speaking up with a curious tilt to his head.
Both Dante and Weiss turned to him, skulls cocked to the side in consideration.
"An old friend of mine from my time at Signal," Dante explained. "Haven't seen her in years though… wonder what she's like now…"
"More energetic, more irritating... more 'Ruby'…" Weiss snarked, running through the motions for mending the cut once more.
Actually, speaking of him not seeing Ruby…
"Actually Dante, Ruby mentioned you when we met her other friends…" the girl lied, pulling what combined knowledge she had on him. She glanced over at him curiously as she watched Corr make another attempt at sealing the wound. "They all said you've been gone for two years. Mind if I ask what happened?" Weiss asked, pushing as earnest a tone as she possibly could.
Dante immediately scowled. An heiress she was born to be, however… an actress Weiss was certainly not.
"Not really your concern to be honest…" the boy hissed, earning a concerned glance from his partner.
Weiss internally flinched at the sudden rebuttal. She had not expected the cold shoulder routine so soon. She did a recalibration of her previous assessment of the boy.
Stiff posture, eyes locked on working with the dummy, lips drawn straight… line of questioning is a lost cause at this point… the girl deduced, cerulean pearls narrowing at the thought of defeat.
"My apologies, I did not intend to strike upon a sore subject matter," she quickly replied, appropriating her standard formal tone. To accommodate this shift her posture struck straight, almost reflexive in its nature.
"Just... don't mention it again; those weren't good times…" he bit morosely, his words coming out less a snap and more of a plea.
"Duly noted," she tittered briefly.
New line of questioning, perhaps something different… She concted briefly, skimming over any other possible inquiries that could help her investigation of his character.
"So if you're Ruby's friend, I can only assume you have a good reason for being at Beacon… why do you want to be a huntsman?" she queried, inspecting the newly healed wound that Corr had fixed.
For a moment her brow furrowed; the gel that comprised the dummy was designed to heal damage almost completely upon proper medical procedure. However, with the limits of technology, there were still usually remnants of the wound regardless how well the healer performed (some argued this actually made wound treatment training far more realistic). However, the particular cut that Corr had managed to mend had not one residual trace. In fact, several of the previous injuries that had been inflicted long before the trio had dug into the doll were gone as well.
What in God's name…
"Heh… well," Dante started, breaking Weiss from her thoughts. She shuffled away that footnote to explore at a later date. "I guess being friends with Ruby makes you a good guy right away," he smiled whimsically, shaking his head before moving onto the last stretch of the assignment. "Honestly… I'm not entirely sure… I don't think most people do, but I was raised on a healthy diet of fantasies… a lot like Ruby, so I suppose that's why we got along, me, her and Sven…" he mused, dragging a scalpel across the thigh of the mannequin. His face fell. "I want to see people happy. I want to be a knight for them, a beacon of hope," he rolled his eyes and motioned to the school around them. "Good always triumphs over evil, y'know? Justice gets served and everyone goes home with the beds they made, that sort of thing, y'know?" the boy asked back with a shrug.
Weiss smiled. It was rare in this day and age to find someone being honest about their motivations. As corny as it may have sounded to her, she believed him in his adherence to the sentiment. Two years ago she would have balked at the notion, but that scythe wielding lunatic living in her room had proven time and time again that the idea could carry one a long ways.
"Very noble of you," she agreed, delicately instructing Dante how to knit the flesh of the leg.
"So what about you, Ms. Schnee, why do you want to be a Huntress?" he asked back, carefully mimicking the girl's previous movement.
That question gave Weiss a brief pause. Before she had actually arrived at Beacon she would have simply shrugged the question away, much the same way he'd locked up at the question of his missing two years. Now though… she wasn't quite sure herself why she was going through the harrowing academy…
She shivered.
"Alright class!" At the front of the lab room was Father Jeremiah, still wearing his pristine white robes, speckled hair curled into his head. "We have five minutes before the bell ends, begin to wrap it up, and remember; I want that essay on Gargoyle bite treatments in by Friday!" he called out, his high-pitched and raspy voice echoing around the chamber.
The two boys in front of her quickly set their equipment aside and went about clearing their workspace.
"Well, I suppose that's it for today…" Dante sighed, glancing over at Weiss with a warm smile. "Thanks for all the help; I told them they shouldn't have bumped me (especially not Corr), but apparently I tested out of the earlier class too well…" he groaned with a small grin.
"Don't mention it," Weiss replied sweetly, shaking her head. "This school can be rather… unorthodox in the way it pushes you out of your comfort zone," she explained, glancing over at a conversation between Father Jeremiah and Lux.
"…So what did one Gargoyle say to the other?" she heard the priest ask.
"I don't know, what did they say?" the green-shag boy asked back excitedly, scribbling down something in his notebook at breakneck pace.
"He said, 'MAN! I'M SO STONED!'" the teacher exclaimed enthusiastically.
Weiss, along with many of the others who overheard it, groaned in response.
Lux laughed.
No wonder he was willing to call Yang that ridiculous title… same damn sense of humor…
"You get used to it…" she sighed, finishing her thought towards Dante. "If you need help again… hesitate to ask, but don't be too afraid…" she said with a self pointed jibe.
"Heh," Dante shook his head before pushing his partner towards the door. "I'll consider it, Ms. Schnee. Have a good day!" he waved.
"You as well, Mr. Scales," she said, wishing him a simple farewell.
Weiss quickly returned to her own station and packed up what little she had left alongside Velvet.
"Apologies for abandoning you there, Velvet," the Heiress started. "Believe it or not, there was some rather important business I needed to attend to with them," she explained half-heartedly.
Velvet shook her head and gave a light chuckle.
"'Business'? Like getting a close-up look of the class-cuties?" the rabbit girl smiled, holding a hand over her mouth in playful mirth.
Weiss immediately blushed and slapped the faunus on the shoulder.
"Don't tease me like that… gosh, sometimes I wish you hadn't gotten so confident…" Weiss seethed, looking away while flustered. "You're almost as bad as Yang now…"
The two girls paused at that statement before looking each other in the eye and sharing wide brimmed smiles.
"Okay, fine, no one has ever reached that level of teasing…" Weiss smirked, collecting the remainder of her things. "Ruby, Blake and I have lunch now. Care to join us?" she asked, opening an invitation to her rather shy, bouncy friend.
"I'd be delighted," the girl said with her fine-tuned accent. "I never got a chance to talk with them about this summer. It'll be nice to know what they've been up to."
"Not much, I assure you," Weiss shook her head as they collected their effects and headed for the door. "But I suppose I'm not exactly someone to make claim as to what is interesting or not in our circles," the heiress admitted, stepping through the exit.
Though there is plenty interesting still to learn, she thought wisely, images of the sealed wound and the missing years still bouncing in her head.
-Beacon Training Fields-
-Three Weeks Post Desol Incident, Late Morning-
-Suggested Listening: "Fingerprints Are Broken", Halo Wars OST-
"Okay… breathe with me now Eireen…"
A duo of soft, slow dragging breaths floated into the air, followed shortly by a similar pair of gentle huffs.
Aveline smiled as the two rhythms became more in tune with each other. The girl was a quick learner.
A week had passed since her and Eireen's first practice together, an event that had served to prove the difficulty of Aveline's undertaking. Eireen was a fierce fighter, and seeing the girl shred apart every single target that the Islander had erected was truly an awe-inspiring moment. However, it had also done much to display the berserker's trademark belligerent tendencies.
Every command that Aveline had barked out at that time had been ignored, every order completely dismissed in favor of the fervor of attack. Eireen had eliminated all of the targets with deathly efficiency… including the three that were marked with green as civilians. The mad woman's fury had only come to an end when she'd lashed out at Aveline herself. Luckily, the prior bloodhaze had waned with the diminished targets, as had her zeal for attack, leaving her too exhausted to continue an assault against a legitimately resisting foe.
After that little nightmare, Aveline had gotten busy concocting forms of training that could benefit the other girl's concentration.
First up: simple yoga.
With their first attempt at conditioning, Aveline thought it pertinent to focus primarily on the breathing aspect today, going over a simple list of breathing exercises with her pupil before completing them together for about an hour straight.
Aveline opened one eye and smoothly removed the silver pocket watch that was nestled into her jean pocket. A rather intricate triquetra was engraved into the silver material, a particular feature the girl loved to admire about the heirloom. She popped it open and scanned the time, finding that lunch was soon approaching.
"Okay Eireen, that's enough breathing for right now… let's get you some targets," Aveline smiled, closing the watch.
Both girls stood, Eireen having been sitting to Aveline's right, the twin red ribbons in her black hair bouncing as she rose.
"I… are you sure that's a good idea?" the shorter girl's voice wavered.
Aveline had already willed herself over to the panel for target control.
With a few quick flicks, a single red target board popped up on the grassy field, a dim glow emanating off the hard-light projection.
"We'll be taking this slow and work to find you're trigger," the Islander explained, picking up Eireen's blades from the small curve in the verdant hill of the meadow where they had been stored. "We'll amp up the amount of targets and see what makes you go… 'bold'…" Aveline clarified, nodding to the single red opponent sitting about fifty meters away. "Take a swing at him and remember to keep breathing and try to focus on what I tell you," she handed Eireen the fused weapons before returning to the podium and adjusting her hat.
Eireen looked down at the combined swords in her hand before looking up to her… friend with an uneasy bent to her eyes. She nodded, lips quivering as she did so.
She turned and began to approach the target, blade at the ready. At twenty-five meters she began her regulated breathing, inhaling for four seconds before exhaling for four more. At ten meters she began her dash, a quick, efficient and graceless stride that carried her to the red board in moments. With a downward left swing from her right arm she sheared the hologram in half. The image fizzle as the illusion was broken, dissipating into simple red light before vanishing entirely.
"HWOOO!" Aveline called out from the command station, bouncing up and down excitedly. "NICE CUT EIREEN! NEXT UP: ONE BADDIE, ONE CIVI!"
With that, two more targets appeared just behind where Eireen had halted her attack, one the familiar red of the first target, the other a wavering green.
In a single flash the red one was cut down, caught by the swift backswing of Eireen's blade. Eireen did not move, knowing there were no more opponents on the field.
"EXCELLENT! NEXT UP: TWO BADDIES, ONE CIVI!"
Once more behind the girl the boards rose, green-red-red in sequence.
With a swift turn Eireen slashed through the first red, decapitating the figure before performing a spin and impaling the other red visage. Her fingers twitched as she moved to attack the third red one, only to realize it was green. She blinked her eyes, quickly reclaiming the breathing technique that Aveline had taught her. Her adrenaline kept pumping. She felt her control waning.
Unaware of this, Aveline fiddled once more with the panel.
"OKAY, HERE WE GO: THREE BADDIES, TWO CIVIES!"
These particular stands appeared by surrounding Eireen. Her eyes widened as they did so, a sudden alert tingling down her spine. A split second later she was a blur, dashing down all three red stands before a single breath could be heard. Her blade swung for the fourth target, one she distinguished as rather red in hue, but her arm immediately halted as her mind recollected only three genuine targets. Luckily, the teeth of the sword hadn't touched the now noticeably greener surface, leaving her panting heavily. Teeth rattling in her head, she turned to Aveline with a concerned expression.
"I… I think we found it…" the girl hoarsed out, her voice just loud enough to reach the Islander's ears.
Aveline noted the wrinkled lines and twisting scowl that began to mar Eireen's face, a slight twitching to the skin that indicated an uncomfortable line of thought behind her maroon eyes.
"…Okay…" Aveline muttered with a sad smile. She flicked the digital screen a few more times before finally shutting it down and strolling out on to the combat field.
The two standing green boards disappeared in a glowing shimmer, leaving Eireen at the center of the pasture. The midnight-haired girl shook where she stood, dropping the blade in her hands and letting it tumble onto the rugged grass with a dull thump. She looked down at her hands, watching them shake with both fear and curiosity. This was the first time she'd ever been stopped before reaching her berserking point. Her brow twitched in confusion as old memories attempted to surface in a desperate attempt to cloud her thoughts.
Eireen shoved the attempt aside and focused on the breathing. In four seconds, out four seconds, in four, out four. Her fingers continued to twitch for a brief period before finally relaxing. She shuddered as all indications of self-control returned to her body.
Aveline merely watched quietly Eireen let out a haggard breath, feeling rather useless as her friend struggled internally.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Eireen returned to her normal state. Calm, collected red orbs drifted their way over to Aveline, meeting the soft greens of the Islander's own pearls.
"I…" the black-haired girl started, her mouth slightly ajar. "Thank you… Aveline… for stopping…"
Aveline gave the girl a soft smile before quickly pulling her into a hug. Eireen was quickly flustered by the show of affection, but made no move to pull away, the emotional drainage of the test having sapped her energy as well.
"You're welcome…" Aveline responded, releasing Eireen from the embrace. "You were doing better Eireen… now we can work from their…" the redhead grinned, giving the other girl's shoulders a confident squeeze.
"Kay…" the girl muttered, looking to the side with a slight hue to her cheeks.
"'Scuse me?" Aveline replied, looking with confusion at her companion.
"Kay… it's what… it's what my friends called me…" the girl mumbled, scratching her neck with an uneasy shrug.
"So, we're officially friends now, are we?" Aveline chuckled, shaking her head.
"Well… I'm letting you help me… might as well go the full nine yards and call you what you are," the berserker giggled back unevenly, a small smile folding her lips.
"Well then… thanks for giving this a shot. No one deserves to be slave to anything, least of all themselves," Aveline commented with a smug smirk. "We'll get you up and at'em before you can say… 'up and at'em'… I'm not very creative on words," the Islander noted, shrugging with a laugh.
"You know, I think I believe you…" Eireen laughed in return.
"Well then, shall we get some lunch, new best buddy Kay?" Aveline asked with a full broad smile.
Eireen, for the first time at Beacon, beamed.
"Sounds like a plan."
-Beacon High Tower, Beacon Enclosure-
-Three Weeks Post Desol Incident, Dead of Night-
The air ruffled his hair, the cool breeze forcing the red bangs to fray to the sides of his scalp.
"V'ew's nice ton'ght… wouldn' y' agree?" he muttered.
The question was direct at the two people who were idling behind him. The pair were making no attempt to be stealthy so he felt comfortable simply skipping the surprise he should normally be showing to running into his friends at the apex of the dark.
Sven kept his eyes on the shoreline in the distance, carefully watching as the waves bubbled in the moonlight, white lines giving definition to the inky mass. He rested his elbows on the banister of the platform, chin cradled in his cupped, gloved hands.
"So you really don't sleep…" the first figure approached, leaning on the banister beside him.
Francis' head slid into Sven's peripheral, the broken horn and pink hair gently illuminated by the peaked moon's shine.
"Rum'rs are true enou'h I guess. I don' often chance sleepin'," the Islander responded with a bob of his head and a weary tweak of his lips. He craned it to the side to look back at the second man, his partner Okdes. "This 'posed to be an intervent'n or somethin'? Lux ain' going to come up the stairs next and say 'we need to talk'?" Sven joke wryly.
The Paladin shook his head with an amused smile before approaching the railing himself, the white t-shirt he wore tugging against his chiseled body as he leaned against one of the nearby support pillars.
"Lux is out like a light," the leader responded, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
"I envy 'im," Sven rolled his eyes. "Then 'gain if y' can f'rget anythin' at any momen' I suppose I'd sleep well too…"
That earned an chuckling 'humf' from Okdes, as well as a small titter from their faunus companion.
"I'd figure that too. I don't think he knows a single teacher's name yet," Francis observed, shaking his head with a grin.
A stilted quiet fell upon the trio as the sounds of distance waves carried over the gales.
"So wha'dya want?" Sven asked, his tone becoming serious.
"To make sure you're okay," Okdes responded flatly, his voice quiet and steady. "We've been running a bit of a gamut recently, especially all the work we've put into solving Nikko's… problem," the man explained with an exacerbated sigh.
"Re'lly? Yer the one I recall doin' a legger durin' study hall with Peach all this week to hit the streets lookin' for clues," Sven chuckled. "All I've been doin' is sitting with the girl and tryin' to help her with that infuriating box o' 'ers."
"Actually," Francis spoke up, leaning his back on the banister and looking at the two partners. "I've been meaning to ask; what the hell have you two been up to this whole week? Sneaking away with the girls from JAVL, I mean what's up with that?" the faunus asked with scrunched pruce eyebrows.
"Non' yer' business," Sven replied quickly. He did his best to keep a snap out of his tone. It didn't work.
"Sven…" Okdes muttered calmly, a motion intended to soothe raised emotions. It had no affect on the Islander by virtue of him being completely calm. This fact, however, was lost on his two companions who had just heard a bitter retort instead of a simplistic response.
"How is it none of my business?" Francis chided, his words harsh as his piercing brown glare. "My leader and his partner vanish for hours out of the day, probably to go do… God knows what with those girls, leaving me with a guy with a recollection so bad that elephants have photographic memories by comparison!" the fuchsia boy spat, his lips curled into a tight frown. "I already had to live seventeen years of my life as a social outcast with almost no friends, don't push me to the side like I'm not worthy of your 'marvelous' escapades!" the last words came out as a strained croak, the stressful tone revealing a pained source at the heart of the issue. Sven looked Francis and the eye and the faunus stared back. "'Bygones-be-bygones', something like that, right? Guess that really means 'bye, gone, stay off to your own corner'…"
Sven's face didn't know how to react to the outburst, his sails completely deflated in part to sleep deprivation and in part to surprise. He had to say something in response quickly or risk shattering the already tedious relationship they shared.
"Nikko's brother 's dead."
Francis' face froze in response. Sven was happy to see that the boy hadn't been expecting that kind of answer. Encouraged, the Islander continued.
"We're helpin' find out who killed 'im. So when I say it's 'non' of yer business', I mean that she an' Lati came to Okdes an' me fer a reason," he explained, panning his eyes back to the waves in the distance.
Francis stayed silent. Okdes did not move, his face unreadable. Sven took a breath before leaning back up and creeping his way towards the door.
"It's too late to have this conversation… I'm gonna try an' get some shuteye…" the Islander quickly noted as he approached the exit.
He paused before opening the passage, glancing back at his comrades. The two were staring at him with concern. He flashed them his smile in a happy turn of teeth before addressing his potentially neglected friend.
"After this… Francis… Once we fig're it all out … I'm sure we'l 'ave plenty of 'marvelous escapades' ta share… So don' worry… there's plenty m're adventurin' to go, I promis'."
The faunus' face grew steadily more happy and apologetic, lips curving into a gentle grin.
That was all Sven needed to see before he opened the door and made his way back to the dorms.
-Beacon Third Year Dorms, Team RWBY Room-
-Three Weeks and Three Days Post Desol Incident, Early Morning-
-Suggested Listening: "Gyakuten Saiban orchestra – Objection", Phoenix Wright OST-
Shower? Check.
A towel ran over her body as her mental checklist filled her thoughts.
Corset and blouse? Check.
The clothing fitted itself around her waist firmly, giving proper support to her bust and her back and keeping her abdomen protected from the elements.
Combat Skirt? Check.
Black and red material grazed her leggings, the outer thighs tingling at the brushing lace.
Perfect hair? Check.
She flipped a few loose digits through her onyx locks, the natural red hues near the tips framing her face perfectly.
Pearly Whites? Checkamundo.
She smiled confidently into the bathroom mirror, the sheen of her teeth almost blinding to her silver orbs.
Ruby looked at the list that had been sent to her that morning, along with another set of instructions of meeting location and proper recruitment protocol for those involved.
The R in Team RBJPSLANDE is ready to go! She thought with an internal cheer. Wonder if I can make a real name out of that… she pondered absently, exiting the bathroom and retrieving her precious Crescent Rose from where it was stored at the foot of her bed.
She spared a moment's glance at the pale heiress that still slept in the second bed of the two-person bedroom. A moment of grieving clutched at her chest as she realized she wouldn't be able to take her friend on the mission. Admittedly, it wasn't out of fear; she'd prepped enough the last two weeks to know that the hand that she'd been dealt this morning from Professor Ozpin wasn't the worst it could be. Ruby was ready to take on the challenge of leading the rag-tag band she'd been handed. Blake was still going to be by her side and knowing Jaune and Pyrrha were going to be there definitely lightened her mood.
It was just the thought of not having Weiss by her side struck a hollow cord struck her core at not having one of her most skilled teammates and closest friends to help her out during such an unorthodox mission.
At least she did all she could… Ruby sighed, recalling all of the work her partner had done in collecting important information and profiles for the mission. Funny to think that two years ago she'd probably rip her hair out at the thought of helping me out so much…
Ruby snickered as she walked over to the door that divided her sister and Blake's room from the common room. She cautiously opened it, peaking in to find Yang in her regular sprawled out sleeping state in her bed against the left wall. Blake was at the far edge of the room in her own bed, safely curled into her blankets. The leader took cautious steps into the room to shake Blake awake. Yang was a heavy sleeper, but if someone succeeded in waking her it generally ended… poorly for them.
Once at the foot of the faunus' bed she nudge the girl's shoulder, watching as the bow atop the girl's head twitched while she awoke. Ruby couldn't help but imagine the adorable ears underneath, cursing that morning Nora had burst into the RWBY dorm room during year one. Having JNPR learning about Blake's faunus nature that particular way was… interesting. If it weren't for Ren, Blake's little secret would have blazed across the campus like wildfire. Ever since the golden-eyed cat-girl had been paranoid about taking her bow off even in the safety of her own bed.
"R-ru… Ruby?" the girl whispered, groggy yellow orbs peeping open to see her team leader.
Ruby held one finger to her lip and flashed a few quick fingers, signaling that Blake had ten minutes to be ready to go.
The faunus, used to the rude awakenings that Beacon oh-so-loved to spring on its students, nodded while wiping the dew from her eyes.
Her teammate stirred, Ruby retreated to the common room to allow Blake time to prepare herself. Shutting the door with a quiet 'snick', Ruby walked over to the small kitchen counter the group had and poured Blake a wake-up brew of coffee. She set the steaming mug at the girl's place, along with the creamer and sugar.
Feeling her weapon on her back she retrieved her Scroll. With a few flicks she selected all of the members necessary for the mission from the school's catalogue. In a few more quick clicks, she sent out a wake-up calling card for the other eight members of the mission. There was a briefing that Weiss had written along with the temporary partners that would be assigned.
Content in her duties, and knowing there was still about thirty minutes till they had to be anywhere, the girl pulled out a sheet of paper, sparing a brief glance at the still sleeping Weiss as she retrieved the stationary from her room.
A soft smile graced her lips as she began scribbling down a quick note.
Hey Weiss,
Just wanted to let you know we already headed out by the time you're reading this. Thanks for everything. I'm kind of nervous not having you there with me, but I'm sure everything will work out! You trained me too well for anything to go wrong. And don't worry; I haven't forgotten about what you told me about the couplers of this train model! I'll keep my eye open for it!
You're really the best partner ever!
You're best team leader,
Ruby
At the tail end of the letter she drew a little miniature caricature of herself with a great big smile and a tiny little Crescent Rose to round out the image. It wasn't the most graceful picture, but she felt it added that little charm that she enjoyed putting in things.
Folding the paper she made sure her room door was closed she slid the note under it, ensuring that Weiss would find it upon awakening at a decent hour.
A smile on her face, she resigned herself to waiting for Blake.
Once the faunus emerged and downed her mug, the two exited the dorm and made their way to the statue courtyard where everyone would be convening.
It was going to be a long day.
-?-
-Three Weeks and Three Days Post Desol Incident, Early Morning-
Well… THAT's interesting…
Dyr's eyes widened at his DataPad, the luminous screen displaying a large chunk of garble text. Lines and shapes filled the page, letters of extinct languages and even a few invented ones littering the image. However, tagged at the end of the note was something Dyr was rather familiar with; a repetition of three lower-case 'L's. It was a designation used by the White Fang to seal their highest-level communications and confirm their source, usually accompanied by a unique symbol representing the sender. This one seemed to be an elongated fish swirled into a tight spiral.
The faunus recognized it as the call-sign of Pisces, the code-name for one of the higher-ups in the terrorist branch of the 'Fang. He'd never met the man (hell, for all he knew it was a woman), but they always seemed to be the one leader to always have a hold on important intelligence before anyone else. Usually, however, Pisces refrained from much direct contact with members of the 'Fang, relinquishing commanding power to other leaders in favor of being the eyes and ears of the organization. As such, it was rare to see an order sent out to a ground-team.
The information must have been too recent for a formal exchange between the talking heads. That opened up a whole slew of possibilities, especially for the ever watchful Dyr.
Monitoring communications between members of the White Fang was a hobby of his. Ever since his exile from the protest group he'd kept an eye on them purely out of spite. Of course, it also helped that he could usually track down a couple of their raids and mess with them while they were at it. That just added a cherry to the top of the cake.
What was so nice about this particular case, however, was that Dyr didn't need to sift through his normal rigmarole of intercepting the encrypted communications. Pisces, for all of their wit on gathering intelligence, was not exactly known for their tact at concealing it either. Nicknames got spread around about the leader, "The Town Gossip" being most prominent. Of course, the same people called Dyr "The Town Drunk", so he supposed that he and Pisces were in good company.
So when "The Town Gossip" needs to alert a significant group of organized terrorists to the necessity of an immediate job, Pisces wasn't all that concerned with data-locking communiqué channels.
Then again, Dyr had to admit the man was a master with a cipher. The page was giving him a headache just looking at it. Getting the message was unconventionally easy; reading it was going to be another challenge.
Taking a sip of his whiskey, the man tapped the screen and began attempts to crack the code.
Fifteen minutes later he found a chink in the armor, a repetition of symbols near the bottom of the page where mission restrictions were most typically posted. Finding a four letter word where the two last letters were the same, he simply assumed they were the 'L's in the world 'kill'. So, assuming that, he was left knowing the symbols for K, I, and L.
From there it was childs play, piecing apart the code in a matter of minutes. Of course, finding the key to certain letters, even certain words was near impossible, but by the time he'd decoded what he had, it was enough.
He set the pad down on his hotel desk, rubbing his groggy eyes before taking another sip of his drink. The faunus stood and gathered his equipment.
Well… Looks like I know what I'll be doing today…
Author's Note:
Gonna be a little rushed today; gotta get out the door ten minutes ago, so… yeah…
Same reason there's no BETA, I'm just horrible at scheduling things right now.
Some of this chapter may seemed rushed. It was. That is all. My apologies, but school IS going to be the obstacle I thought it was. ._.;;
So I've seen some fics where Weiss has an issue with pride and apologizing? I don't know why that would be the case in my mind, so I felt I needed to kind of address it here. I think Weiss WOULD apologize… though how she would apologize and to what degree of genuine sincerity there would be in her voice would vary from situation to situation. Just a little thought.
Credits to my friend Daniel for telling me the Gargoyle joke a long time ago while in character as Father Jeremiah. XD
Hey, no one seems to make note of the suggested listening when I put it into my stories. Does anyone actually listen to them, or do I just put them there to make myself look stupid? Please note if you like them or not in your review of this chapter.
Speaking of which, Review, Favorite and Follow my friends! Don't worry, I don't bite!
PS If anyone can guess what famous cipher inspired me, write it in the comments! :D
Chapter Stats:
Pages: 18
Words: 6,586