A/N
I haven't said this yet, so I will now. I own nothing.
For the person who asked me about why they didn't react to the Ursa' Yang was fighting showing signs of high intelligence. I believe that any signs of the Grimm not being purely malicious are either comic relief for us as the audience or are retconned from the story. Either way I am not taking any chances.
The way I write assumes you have watched the episode and have a rough understanding of what the settings look like. If you can't recall, then please go watch the relevant episode. If you have never seen RWBY then stop reading.
It didn't take long for them to start the next video.
Volume 1: Chapter 5: Players and Pieces
'Not very revealing.' Ren thinks. 'These titles seem to be getting less important.'
The opening ends to show the top half of Ruby with black feathers behind her and strong winds blowing.
'So it's going to be showing this.' Ruby tenses up a bit while Weiss dips her head.
'Seeing all these things in third person makes it much easier to tell when we're being stupid.' The heiress thinks.
"Ruby!" Weiss's voice can be heard.
The scene switches to Weiss in a similar position. "I told you this was a terrible idea!" she yells.
"The hell are you even doing?" Nora asks. Only to be met with silence from both Ruby and Weiss.
"I believe they were attempting to ride the Nevermore." Ren reveals, shocking the rest of JNPR.
"That's certainly… courageous." Pyrrha says.
"It's freaking awesome!" Nora yells. "And I thought that riding an Ursa was impressive!"
"We just wanted to get some high ground to see the temple." Ruby feels smaller than she usually does as she sinks into the sofa.
"We!?" Weiss protests. "I was against the entire thing."
"Traitor." Ruby mumbles so that no one can hear her.
"We're fine! Stop worrying!" Ruby replies.
"I am so far beyond worrying!" Weiss declared.
Ruby pauses for a moment. "In a good way? She asks.
"In a bad way! In a very bad way!" Weiss shouts.
"What about that situation would make you think I wasn't worried?" Weiss asks.
"I like to see the positive side to things." Ruby replies.
"Well, why don't we just jump?" Ruby proposes.
"What are you? Insane?!" Weiss responds.
She is met with silence; Ruby has already disappeared.
Weiss is about to speak up but Ruby talks first. "I get it… I'm sorry for leaving you."
Weiss smiles at this. 'At least she knows her mistakes.'
Weiss screams "Oh, you insufferable little red-!"
'I on the other hand could do with some social lessons.' Weiss admits to herself.
The scene changes cutting of what Weiss was about to say. Down on the ground in the Abandoned Temple, Blake is still staring skyward and pointing for Yang to look up.
"Blake, did you hear that? What should we do?" Yang asks, not looking upwards.
Ruby's voice is heard from above. "Heads uuuuuuuup!"
Ruby is seen falling from the sky. Time seems to slow as before she can land she is hit by Jaune who was thrown by the Death Stalker. The two are propelled into the trees.
"How did that even happen?!" Jaune asks no one.
"It does seem unlikely." Blake admits.
"And yet it happened." Yang reminds them. "And I doubt anyone was manipulating the events."
'At least not that aspect of it.' Ren thinks.
Ruby is dazed as she sits on a branch. "Oohhhh... What was that?" Her dizziness passes with a shake of her head.
"Eh-hem!" Jaune is heard. Ruby looks up to see him hanging upside down from a higher branch. "Hey Ruby." He says.
'It took me a while to get my foot unstuck from that branch.' Jaune remembers. 'I'm lucky to have survived in the first place. If not for Pyrrha unlocking my aura earlier, that would have killed me.'
Blake and Yang look over from the temple. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?" the former asks.
"I…" Yang begins but is interrupted by a growling sound in the forest in front of her.
A large explosion is heard and an Ursa appears from the forest. Another explosion is heard from behind it and the sound of Nora going "YEEEE-HAAAAW!"
The Ursa collapses, revealing that Nora was riding it against its will.
"Next time I will ride a Grimm so big it will put the Nevermore to shame!" Nora declares.
"Please don't." Ren is exhausted at the mere thought of having to deal with that.
"Any Grimm that big would be far to dangerous to ride." Pyrrha warns. "You would be best of, killing it or retreating."
"Don't underestimate me." Nora jokingly cautions them.
"Awwww... It's broken." Nora groans as the Ursa starts to decompose.
Nora dashes onto its neck and observes the carcass as Ren comes up behind her.
Ren is panting and leaning on the monster. "Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again."
'It only took a week for her to try it again.' Ren remembers. 'At least she hasn't made a similar stunt since then.'
Ren looks up to see that Nora is gone. A pink dotted outline shows where she used to be.
Nora is instead at the temple looking at a golden rook relic. "Oooohh." She grabs it and makes various poses while the background behind her shows her emblem. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She sings.
"And here we have a prefect example of what goes on in Nora's head." Ruby jokes.
"You will bow before me, offering pancakes as a holy meal!" Nora declares.
"Not a proper meal." Ren reminds her.
"Nora!" Ren yells from of-screen.
Nora stops dancing with the rook on her head, then salutes, dropping the relic into her hand. She leaves to join her friend.
"Did that girl just ride in on a Ursa?" Blake asks Yang.
"I…" Yang begins but is again interrupted. This time by the sound of the Death Stalker as it chases Pyrrha into the clearing.
"Why do I keep getting interrupted?" Yang remembers how annoying it was at the time.
The Death Stalker attempts to grab Pyrrha, who dodges by jumping through its claws. "Jaune!" She yells, noticing him in the tree.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune responds, still stuck in the tree.
"Wow." Ruby looks at the Death Stalker and hops down from the tree to the temple.
"Ruby." Jaune misses the opportunity to ask for help.
'I should have helped Jaune first.' Ruby thinks. 'Then again, I thought he could deal with it by himself.'
Ruby lands in front of Yang and Blake.
"Ruby?" Yang is surprised by her sudden appearance.
"Yang!" Ruby raises her arms to give her sister a hug.
"Nora!" the girl herself yells, interrupting the sister as she suddenly appears between them, giving them both a shock.
'Some day she's going to interrupt an important event, and I'm the one who will have to explain.' Ren sighs.
Pyrrha is shown still being chased by the Death Stalker in the nearby clearing.
"Did she just run all the way here with a death stalker on her tail?" Blake asks another question while Nora waves her body around having fun and Yang tries to keep in the built-up frustration.
Yang figuratively explodes. "I can't take it anymore!" Her eyes turn red and you can visibly see the fires appear behind her. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
"But that's far too much to ask when we're all involved." Yang says, remembering what follows.
The ticking of a clock can be heard as Ren runs up to join Nora.
The clock dings and Ruby decides to point out something to Yang "Um… Yang." She says, then points up.
"That was two and a half seconds." Blake points out.
"We win!" Nora cries.
"I wasn't being literal." Yang complains.
Weiss is shown holding onto a talon as she flies through the air.
"How could you leave me?" Weiss screams as the perspective shifts to show that she is holding onto the talon of an enormous nevermore as it flies through the sky.
"How did you end up holding the talon?" Jaune asks.
"Some of the feathers I was holding fell off." Weiss explains. "I was lucky enough to grab something before falling."
"I said jump." Ruby replies as she Yang, Blake, Nora and Ren watch from below.
"She's gonna fall." Blake mentions.
"She'll be fine." Ruby answers.
"She's falling." Ren observes.
'And this is were I make a fool of myself. Again.' Jaune thinks. 'How long will it be until we get to the parts where I was less of an idiot?'
Jaune is shown having gotten himself up from the branch he was previously hanging from. He smiles seeing his opportunity to be a hero as Weiss is falling.
Jaune jumps from his branch, catching Weiss mid-air.
Jaune then realises that he didn't have a plan following this and the two fall to the ground with Weiss landing on Jaune's back.
"My hero." Weiss sarcastically comments as Pyrrha is seen in the background, still being chased by the Death Stalker.
'Why don't they see what I can?' Pyrrha thinks. 'Jaune is a good person, and that's more than I can say about one of us.' She glances over to Weiss.
"My back." Jaune strains to speak.
A smack is heard and Pyrrha is sent flying to the ground near Blake, Ren, Nora, Yang and Ruby.
"Great! The gangs all here, now we can all die together!" Yang comments.
"Not if I can help it." Ruby says as she charges towards the Death Stalker.
"That was very reckless." Yang points out.
"I know, I get it!" Ruby complains. "Stop judging my past mistakes."
'The fact you know it was a mistake is the important part.' Weiss thinks.
"Ruby! Wait!" Yang tries to warn her sister, but to no avail.
Ruby fires her weapon behind her, using the recoil to attack to massive Grimm.
Unfortunately Ruby's attempt fails and the Death Stalker swats her away with its armoured claws.
"D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby says as she slowly gets up.
'Not fine, not fine, not fine, not fine!' Ruby internally screams.
Ruby then turns to see the Grimm attack her. She quickly fires at it dealing no damage, but the recoil helps her get away as she runs to regroup with the others.
"Ruby!" Yang runs out to her sister in order to help.
Ruby continues to run but the distance between them is large and the Nevermore is also chasing her.
"Why didn't you use your Semblance?" Ren asks.
"I had trouble using it in times of high stress." Ruby explains.
"You mean you still do." Yang reminds her sister.
"Hey. I've gotten better." Ruby protests.
The Nevermore fires its massive feathers at Ruby and a couple of them hit her cape, causing her to stop, unable to get her cape free.
Nevermore fires more feathers. This time blocking Yang's path to Ruby. Yang suddenly stops because of this.
"Those Grimm must have existed for a while to use such teamwork." Weiss points out.
Pyrrha is about to agree but then stops herself.
Jaune doesn't fully understand, but decides not to ask. Doing so would take too much time and he doesn't want to seem any more inexperienced than the videos already show. 'I can always check the library for more info.'
Ruby struggles to get her cape free. "Ruby get out of there!" Her sister calls desperately.
"I'm trying!" Ruby continues pulling at her cape.
Ruby's stopping has given the Death Stalker time to catch up with her. It raises its tail, readying itself to deal a fatal blow to the young girl.
"Ruby!" Yang tries to reach through the feathers as a white blur travels past her.
'I never did thank Weiss.' Yang thinks. 'Perhaps I should do so later.'
As the Death Stalkers attack is about to land the screen goes black.
"You are so childish." Weiss's voice is heard.
The screen fades in to show Ruby with the Death Stalkers sting near her, held in place by a wall of ice.
"Weiss?" Ruby asks as she is sat on the floor.
"And dim-witted, and hyperactive." Weiss continues, getting up from her knee to face Ruby. "And don't even get me started on your fighting style."
"Hey!" Ruby protests. "I get the first two but don't insult my fighting style."
"You used to fight like you're the only one who could." Weiss argues. "You didn't think about giving others openings or working as a team."
Ruby pauses for a moment. "Fair enough, but I notice you talking in past tense."
"You have improved." Weiss says bluntly, choosing not to inflate her ego by saying how much.
"And I suppose… I can be a bit…" Weiss tries to find the right word. "Difficult. But if we're going to do this. We're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off. I'll be… nicer."
'Maybe I'm being too harsh.' Pyrrha reflects. 'It's not like we always mean what we think.'
Ruby responds. "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."
"You're fine." Weiss replies, walking away.
Ruby breathes a sigh of relief, then closes her eyes and clasps her hands as she gratefully whispers, "Normal knees."
"You were still thinking about that?" Yang chuckles.
"I was just happy to gain a friend. Don't mock me." Ruby complains.
After getting up, Ruby looks around the wall of ice. "Wow" To see the Death Stalker with its right claw stuck in the ice making it unable to move.
'Yes.' Weiss thinks. 'Stand in awe of my abilities.'
Yang runs up to her sister and hugs her. "I'm so happy you're okay."
The Nevermore is still flying in the air.
"Guys." Jaune points up to the flying Grimm. "That thing's circling back. What are we gonna do?"
"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying." Weiss answers. "Our objective is right in front of us." All eight of them look over to the relics.
"She's right." Ruby agrees. "Our mission is to grab an artefact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Remember how long that lasted?" Nora jokes.
Many of them groaned at this comment. "We overestimated our abilities to evade them." Pyrrha says.
"What's important is that we worked as a team." Weiss says. "And that no one…" She glances a Ruby. "Charges into battle without a plan." Ruby gives a nervous laugh at this.
"That's quite the insightful comment coming from you." Yang mentions.
"What do you mean!?" Weiss protests. "I'm always insightful."
'Intelligence and insight are two very different things.' Blake thinks.
"Run and live… that's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune also agrees. At this point everyone is in agreement.
'I forgot how much of a coward he was.' Weiss is finding the agreement harder to follow.
Ruby grabs a Golden Knight piece and Jaune grabs a Golden Rook.
Meanwhile the Death Stalker is starting to break free from the ice.
'I should have frozen its other claw when I had the chance.' Weiss notices a past mistake.
Noticing this Ren declares to the group. "Time we left."
"Right." Ruby agrees. "let's go." She waves for the others to follow her.
Yang stands still as the others follow.
"What is it?" Blake asks Yang, to find that she is staring proudly at Ruby as she leaps on a boulder and motions the group onward.
"Nothing." Yang smiles as she decides to catch up with the others. Blake follows shortly behind.
"You thought I looked cool!" Ruby is visibly excited.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Yang plays oblivious.
"Admit it!" Ruby refuses to let this go. "You thought I looked awesome. It's so great seeing ourselves like this. It's like watching those videos of Hunters, but it's us!" At this point Ruby is literally jumping up and down on the sofa.
"Remember your plan to ride the Nevermore." Blake bluntly states. However Ruby just ignores her and continues.
The scene changes to show the group has left the forest and entered a different set of abandoned structures. The Nevermore is still circling them.
As they move forwards they eventually hide behind some pillars near a bridge that leads to a large tower the Nevermore is using as a perch. The flying Grimm screeches at them, making it clear that it knows where they are.
"Well that's great." Yang comments from behind the same pillar as Ruby.
'How did we avoid getting hit by it's feathers when we made our way to the bridge?' Yang tries to remember but she can't recall all the details.
Behind the group the Death Stalker charges out of the forest, assumedly having followed them there.
"Oh man run!" Jaune gives the order as he and Pyrrha charge to the next pillar.
At this point two people get very different impressions from Jaune's order. Weiss thinks that Jaune is being a coward. Pyrrha on the other hand thinks of it as Jaune taking charge and leading them to a better position.
Ruby and Yang follow suit and Ren decides they all need cover. "Nora distract it." He tells his partner.
Nora and Ren charge into the clearing between pillars and the former dodges a volley of feathers from the Nevermore. She takes out her weapon and uses the grenade launcher to barrage the flying Grimm, preventing it from attacking the others as they approach the bridge.
'So that's how we made it.' Yang mentally snaps her fingers. 'I don't think I even noticed at the time.'
From behind the Death Stalker charges to attack Nora while she is firing her weapon. Fortunately Blake and Ren counter its attacks for her and Weiss uses her semblance to put some distance between them and the monster.
"Is anyone else surprised at how well we were able to work together despite never fighting together before?" Blake asks.
Now that it's been mentioned they do find it very weird. Fortunately the combat expert among them decides to explain.
"It's about understanding the flow of a battle and the intent behind someone's actions." Pyrrha says. "Most fighting schools teaches this to you without you noticing and it helps in a range of situations."
The others are all surprised by this information but understand how true it can be. However this does get one of them thinking.
'I never attended a combat school and unlike Ren and Nora I didn't fight with a teammate. So how come I understand what to do in these situations. What does that mean?' Jaune ponders this for some time while his partner already has an answer.
'It means you're a strategic genius.' Pyrrha is very happy for her partner.
"Go, go!" Pyrrha yells as she makes it to the bridge. She takes out her weapon in rifle form and fires at the armoured Grimm following them.
Blake and Ren narrowly make it to the bridge before the monster and together the entire group cross. The Death Stalker is unable to follow them due to the small width of the bridge.
"Not that I'm complaining but why didn't it follow us?" Ruby asks. "It could have taken out the bridge and us along with it."
Weiss jumps at the chance to share her superior knowledge. "It knew that most if not all of us would be able to recover from the fallen bridge. And Grimm that old have a tendency to value survival, that way they can kill more people later on."
Unfortunately the group weren't out of danger yet as the Nevermore flies into the bridge, knocking out the middle section.
Weiss continues. "The nevermore on the other hand could destroy the bridge without any of those negatives."
Jaune, Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Nora end up on the tower side of the bridge while the others have to defend themselves against the Death Stalker while standing on a very small segment of bridge.
Blake is knocked back by the massive foe as the others struggle with keeping it at bay.
'They didn't have enough room to fight in and none of them have the physical strength to pierce it's armour. They need help.' Jaune relives the thoughts he had at the time.
"Man, we've got to get over there." Jaune says, worried that the three of them won't be enough. "They need help!"
"Let's do this." Nora agrees, standing beside him.
"Yeah, but, uh... I can't make that jump." Jaune looms over at the massive gap between them.
Nora smiles, having fond memories of the stunt she pills next.
Nora chuckles at this, knocking Jaune back a bit as she changes her weapon into a hammer. She jumps into the air and hits the end of the broken bridge. This causes the part Jaune is standing on to jolt upwards, launching the young man to the other side.
"Oh, wait. No, no, no!" Jaune yells as he flies through the air.
"There really was no other way of getting there." Jaune grumbles so that only his teammates and Blake could hear. Seeing the events again helps him understand why the situation better, even if he doesn't like the conclusion.
Nora stands on her hammer as the bridge bellow her crumbles. She fires the weapon so that the recoil sends her forward towards the Death Stalker.
As Nora arrives she slams her hammer into the beasts head. The Grimm retaliates by striking its pincer at her that she quickly jumps back from.
"I am so awesome!" Nora cheers for herself.
Unfortunately Nora's evasive manoeuvre causes her to knock into Blake, sending the black-haired girl of the bridge and into the foggy pit below the bridge.
"Still think you're so good now?" Blake asks.
Nora laughs nervously. "You're perfectly capable of dealing with something like that."
'You didn't know that.' Blake thinks, but decides not to push the subject.
Thinking quickly, Blake uses her weapon as a whip to swing herself up. As she does so she notices the Nevermore flying around them. She decides to swing herself up towards the Grimm and uses her Semblance to gain the extra height needed. Once she reaches it she strikes at its face then runs across its back hitting it as she does so. Finally she jumps down and lands near the top of the tower where her soon to be teammates are standing.
"See!" Nora fakes an arrogant attitude. "I helped. If anything you should be thanking me."
"It's tougher than it looks." Blake reports what she learnt from her stunt.
"Then let's hit it with everything we've got!" Yang replies as she readies Ember Celica.
The Nevermore flies back at them as the girls ready their weapons and music starts playing in the background.
"Another song!" Ruby rejoiced.
"I was wondering if we would get one outside of the trailers and end of videos." Pyrrha says.
"What do you think it's about!" Ruby isn't even sitting at this point.
"Perhaps if we let it play we may find out." Ren says.
The girls each fire their ranged weapons as the Nevermore gets closer. The barrage of weapons don't work as the Grimm flies through the tower, knocking out the supports that keep the girls up.
Each of the girls climb the rubble as it falls, Weiss using her Glyphs and Ruby using recoil to get herself higher.
'Everything seems so flashy.' Ren thinks. 'It's as if the purpose is to entertain rather that inform.'
"None of this is working." Weiss observes as she and Ruby get themselves on a platform together.
Ruby looks over at Blake's weapon in it's whip form and Yang keeping the Grim occupied. "I have a plan." She tells Weiss. "Cover me."
"Quick thinking considering how you just saw my weapon." Blake mentions.
Pyrrha interrupts. "That's probably why she was made leader. Ozpin likely values strategy very highly when considering leadership roles."
Jaune smiles, seeing the hidden meaning in Pyrrha's words.
'I admit it may be a factor, but Ozpin clearly had her in mind from the beginning.' Weiss thinks.
Meanwhile the to be members of JNPR are still fighting the Death Stalker. The armoured Grimm uses its tail to stab the closer part of the bridge. This unbalances the team as the remaining part is only balancing on a single pillar.
"We gotta move!" Jaune tells the others. So they all charge at the Grimm.
"First fight and you're already taking the role of leader." Nora comments, winking at Pyrrha.
"I just made an observation." Jaune retorts 'It's not that big of a deal.'
First the Grimm attacks with its right claw but this is blocked by Pyrrha who then uses her sword to cut at it. Next it attacks with its left claw, but Jaune follows Pyrrha's example by blocking it and then the girl in question follows up for him.
'Wow.' Jaune thinks. 'Pyrrha's right about the flow of a battle. She broadcasted her intent non-verbally and I was able to easily pick up on what to do next.'
Ren fires his weapons at the beast, causing it to lunge its tail at him. Ren swiftly dodges it and climbs onto the tail as it ascends, giving him a good vantage point to fire his guns.
'That was a mistake.' Ren thinks to himself. 'I still remember how painful it was on my back.'
Nora fires her explosives at the Death Stalker as it pushes Jaune and Pyrrha away. Recovering quickly Pyrrha throws her spear at one of the monsters eyes, causing it to shake in pain. This shaking causes its tail to launch Ren into a wall behind it.
"Ren!" Nora cries.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha apologises.
"It would have likely happened anyway." Ren says in an attempt to make her feel less guilty.
Jaune gets up, having recovered from the earlier attack. As he does so he notices the stinger is loose and could fall at any moment. "Pyrrha!" He yells, indicating at the stinger.
"Done!" Pyrrha throws her shield at the stinger causing it to fall and dig into the Grimm's head. Strangely, the shield bounces back in an unnatural way and returns to its owner.
"Nora, nail it." Jaune gives the command.
'I really was taking charge.' Jaune is surprised he did so even before being named leader.
"Heads up." Nora replies as she jumps onto Pyrrha's shield, which is being held above the girls head, and fires her weapon as Pyrrha jumps. This causes Nora to be launched high into the air, and she smiles the entire way.
'Ever the gleeful girl.' Ren smiles at Nora's antics. 'I never even got to see how we beat it in the end though, of course Nora was heavily involved.'
As she descends she fires again to gain some speed and starts spinning. When she reaches the ground she smashes her hammer into the stinger, embedding it deep into the monsters head.
The impact from the strike causes Pyrrha, Jaune and Nora to be launched away from the bridge and onto solid ground. But as they are doing so, Pyrrha retrieves her spear from the Grimm that then falls into the foggy pit, never to be seen again.
The four recover from the ordeal. Ren especially out of breath as he collapses on his face.
"We all know who the star of the show was there." Ruby points out. "Well done Jaune."
"Really guys. It was nothing." Jaune replies humbly.
"It would have taken much longer for us to take it down without your help." Pyrrha compliments.
"Death Stalkers are known for their physical endurance." Ren remind his leader.
'He barely did anything!' Weiss screams in her head. 'All he did was think of a simple strategy that even I could think of with enough time… probably.'
The music changes so the lyrics can be heard.
"I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute."
"Couldn't bear another day without you in it."
"All of the joy that I had known for all my life."
"Was stripped away from me the minute that you died."
"That's weird." Blake says.
"The music seems so upbeat." Ren notices. "But the lyrics are really sad."
"Anyone know who it refers to?" Jaune asks.
Everyone shakes their head or replies no, other than Ruby who is now sat down and not really listening to the others. But no one notices this.
'It couldn't be.' The young girl thinks. 'Why would it bring up something like that now.'
The Nevermore is still fighting the soon to be RWBY members. Yang is firing her weapon from the top of a pillar. As the bird flies at her she jumps at it and stands inside its mouth as she empties her rounds. "I! Hope! You're! Hung... gry!" she yells.
"That may be going to far." Pyrrha says.
"It's just a Grimm, who cares?" Yang responds.
Blake tenses up at the almost familiar phrase. 'Grimm don't have souls or the ability to be good, I'm sure she would never think along those lines otherwise.'
Yang then jumps own to the ground as the Nevermore crashes into the cliff, landing on some ruins.
As the Grimm try's to take flight again Weiss rushes in as Yang retreats. The heiress freezes the beasts tail to the ruins, making it unable to move.
Weiss backs out using her glyphs while Blake and Yang use the Gambol Shroud to create a slingshot out of the nearby pillars.
"You were luck that my weapon has a spring to it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to launch you very far or fast." Blake says.
"I knew it would work." Ruby replies. "I've studied weapons and their properties more than most blacksmiths. I can tell what a weapon is capable of." She then gets back to listening to the lyrics.
Ruby jumps into the slingshot, using her scythe as a foothold while Weiss uses her glyphs to draw the younger girl back.
"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss comments.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asks.
Weiss smiles confidently and replies sarcastically "Can I."
Ruby doesn't pick up on the sarcasm and after a moment asks "Can yo…?"
"Of course I can!" Weiss interrupts.
"You should have easily picked up on that." Weiss says to Ruby.
"Battle isn't a place for misunderstandings." Ruby plainly responds. "Never give an ambiguous answer during a fight."
As Ruby loads her weapon the glyph turns red and Weiss releases it sending Ruby flying at the Nevermore.
"Red like roses." Ruby fires crescent rose to accelerate herself and when she reaches the beast she catches its neck with her scythe, sending them both into the cliff.
'So it is about mom.' Ruby deduces, listening to the lyrics. Yang also comes to this conclusion and the others can tell it relates to Ruby.
"Fills my head with dreams and finds me." Weiss raises her sword and creates a series of white circles up the wall, which Ruby dashes through by firing the entire way up.
'That wasn't even part of the original plan.' Weiss thinks. 'We had to improvise when the launch wasn't enough to decapitate the stupid bird.'
"Always closer, to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you." Yang, Blake, and an exhausted Weiss watch her climb up with the bird in her grasp until, both warrior and monster crying out, Ruby reaches the top of the cliff, circles up, fires one last shot, and rends the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a shower of petals.
"Ruby? Is there anything you want to talk about?" Pyrrha asks, referring to the song lyrics.
Ruby dips her head before responding. "It's fine. I came to terms with it a long time ago."
"Don't hesitate to talk to someone." Jaune follows up on what Pyrrha said. "We're your friends. You can trust us."
"Thanks but it's okay." Ruby smiles at them. "I'm fine."
Ruby lands beside the severed head as the body of the giant Nevermore falls lifeless to the ruins and crevice below while the girls and, farther away, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren watch in amazement.
"Wow." Jaune remarks as they all look up to see Ruby standing at the top of the cliff, rose petals trailing out from her cape.
"Well." Yang looks to Weiss and Blake who stand beside her. "That was a thing." She jokes.
"This is why we're considered the best first years in the entirety of Beacon!" Nora gloats.
"No need to be arrogant." Ren tries to calm her down.
"We have already saved the day many times, and not even graduated yet. Right Ruby?" Nora continues.
Ruby smiles at this but doesn't say anything. Yang looks at her sister, surprised she isn't jumping up and down in agreement.
The scene cuts to the auditorium where Ozpin is announcing the teams. "Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" The audience claps to applaud them.
"Why do we have to see them?" Pyrrha complains.
"They were the ones to have their team formed directly before ours, so it's likely a way of showing the setting." Weiss proposes.
Pyrrha doesn't reply, instead looking back to the screen.
'That's weird.' Jaune notices. 'Normally Pyrrha would agree and support Weiss's conjecture.'
Team CRDL leave the stage and are replaced by the next group. "Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin says their names as they stand before him. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR."
More clapping as the new team smiles and Nora hugs Ren.
"Best. Team. Ever!" Nora declares.
"Really?" Yang asks accusingly. "Why don't we have another team on team match to determine that?" She claps her right knuckle into her other hand.
"This isn't the time for fighting." Weiss complains. "We can deal with training some other time."
"Actually, I was thinking." Jaune interjects. "The note said that time doesn't pass in this space. Wouldn't that make this the perfect place to practice?" 'I would be able to really catch up with the others using a place like this.'
"Do you honestly believe that?" Weiss replies with a mocking tone. "There is no way something like that could ever happen."
"We are watching videos of the past with the expectation of seeing the future eventually." Ren reminds her.
"I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all of this." Weiss retorts. "Perhaps an unusual semblance or something along those lines."
"This might be a good time to point out…" Yang indicates to the wall behind them. "That wall is indestructible. I have tried everything, and nothing can even scratch it."
"Several semblances then!" Weiss yells 'I refuse to believe in something like magic until I have clear proof and an explanation.'
"Lead by." Ozpin continues. "Jaune Arc." This surprises Jaune.
"L-Led by?" Jaune nervously repeats while Pyrrha smiles at him.
"Congratulations young man." Ozpin says.
Pyrrha bumps Jaune on the arm in congratulations, unfortunately Jaune wasn't ready for this and ended up being pushed to the ground. Laughter is heard from the audience.
Weiss snorts at this, causing Pyrrha to glare at her with an uncommon level of malice for the girl.
'Why is she like this to me?' Weiss is slightly hurt.
"And finally. Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin announces the last team as JNPR leaves the stage and are replaced by the aforementioned girls. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY." The audience cheers again.
"Lead by… Ruby rose." Ozpin says as Weiss and Ruby have shocked expression, for different reasons.
"I'm so proud of you!" Yang hugs her sister and new leader.
"And I still am." Present Yang hugs her sister with one arm.
Ruby just smiles at this rather than act embarrassed or get excited.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin states as the perspective raises to the sky, where the shattered moon can be seen amidst the clouds.
"The end!" Nora predicts.
The clouds change, and the sky turns dark, signifying a change of place and time. The perspective zooms out so show the moon was being seen through a window. As the view shifts to show to contents of the new building Torchwick is seen standing in front of a map.
"Not the end. Not the end!" Nora half panics at this new scene while Ren scrambles to get his notebook and pen.
Torchwick is on the phone… But then he slams it into the table in front of him, ending the call. He sighs and lights his cigarette.
A man in a grey mask and black hood comes with a trolley. Roman hands over some lien as payment.
'So he was already with the White Fang at this point.' Blake grips the armrest tightly.
"Open it." Torchwick commands. The other man does so to reveal an assortment of differently coloured Dust crystals.
'What is so important about Dust?' Ren wonders, writing it down.
Torchwick picks one up. "We're gonna need more men." The perspective shifts to the map behind him. It is a map of Vale with hand written annotations of the important areas such as Forever Fall, Commercial District and Beacon.
The Video ends to Red like roses part 2. But this time the entire song plays.
"So?" Nora asks. "Next video?"
"I think now would be a good time for another break." Jaune says to everyone. "What does everyone else think?"
"That sounds great." Pyrrha is happy at the suggestion.
"Yeah." Yang also agrees.
One by one everyone agrees to this until finally it is Ruby's turn.
"Mnnn hmnn." Ruby hums in affirmation. Not breaking her concentration from the lyrics.
"I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right."
"Okay then. I'll make us all some food, should be ready in half an hour. Anyone care to help?" Jaune asks.
"I'll help." Ren offers, having finished his notes.
"Me too." Nora says, with no intention of actually increasing the amount of food.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asks his partner.
"I…" Pyrrha looks to the back door. "…Have some things to deal with."
Jaune nods. 'Maybe she needs some space.'
RWBY dorm room
Yang enters the room, sweating heavily after a workout in one of the training halls.
"Hey sis, how you doing?" Yang asks as she sees Ruby up in her bed.
No response.
"Sis?"
Still no response.
Yang climbs onto the bed to see that her sister has her headphones on and dark shadows under her eyes. She forces the headphones off. To the immediate surprise of Ruby.
"Hey, I was listening to something!" Ruby yells.
"What's wrong?" Yang ignores Ruby's outburst and sits next to her sister.
"Nothing!" Ruby protests. "I'm fine! Why does everyone think something is wrong?!"
"I know you better than anyone, and you are not okay." Yang reminds her. "So what's wrong?"
Ruby looks to her scroll for a bit then to her headphones. "Listen to this." She answers timidly, unplugging the headphones.
Red like roses part 2 plays
Yang listens for a while. "I don't see why this would make yo…"
"I know you're broken down by anger and by sadness.
You feel I left you in a world that's full of madness.
Wish I could talk to you if only for a minute.
Make you understand the reasons why I did it."
Yang pauses in shock for a moment. "Is that…"
"It's not mom's voice." Ruby replies then wipes her eyes. "I'm sure of that… But even so, I think it's meant to represent her."
"Then this is...?" Yang asks.
"Mom's thoughts." Ruby finishes. "It's almost like we can talk to her again."
Yang is shocked at this revelation. "I still don't understand what's wrong. Normally you would be excited to hear something like this."
"Just wait." Ruby explains.
"I know you've lived a nightmare.
I caused you so much pain.
But, baby, please don't do what I did.
I don't want you to waste your life in vain."
"Would mom really not want me to be a Huntress?" Ruby sobs.
"I don't…" Yang tries to answer.
"I always thought she would be proud of me!" Ruby weeps. "I thought she would be glad that I'm trying to help people…"
"That's not it!" Yang yells at her sister.
"But in the music, she…"
"I'm sure she's just worried for you!" Yang declares. "If she could see you now, I'm sure she would be proud. But…"
Yang tries to find the right words.
"When dad found out you were moving ahead two years he kept repeating how proud he is of you." Yang tells Ruby. "But after you went to bed he went to my room and had me make a promise. I promised that I would make sure nothing bad happens to you. He was worried about you because you're his daughter. I'm sure mom would feel the same way."
Ruby's eyes light up at this. "I'm sure mom would be really worried after finding out about our involvement in The Breach." Despite her words she smiles earnestly.
"I'm sure she would." Yang agrees. "But afterwards she would say how proud she is of how we helped save people."
"Yeah." Ruby smiles.
In one of the training rooms
Pyrrha is fighting against some dummies, interestingly enough this place has imitation soldiers for the use of training.
Pyrrha breaks of the arm of one as it tries to strike at her. She then flips herself over its back before lunging her spear into its chest and deactivating it.
"Hey Pyrrha." Jaune enters. "I brought you some food."
Pyrrha continues fighting without noticing Jaune.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune yells to get her attention as she beats the last soldier.
"Oh." Pyrrha smiles as she walks up to him. "Hi Jaune, how are you?"
"I should be asking you." Jaune says.
"What do you mean? I'm fine." Pyrrha looks over her body for any injuries.
"You weren't there for the meal." Jaune points out. "That's not like you at all."
"I was just busy training. Speaking of, why don't we go over some of your stances together?" She offers.
Jaune looks over at the pile of destroyed dummies. Some of them look like they were hit even after deactivating. "It's something to do with Weiss, right?"
"What do you mean, is she hurt?" Pyrrha avoids the question.
"You haven't responded to anything she's said. Except that time you glared at her." Jaune sits on one of the benches. "What's wrong?"
Pyrrha sighs, sitting next to Jaune. "We are friends, right?"
"Of course!" Jaune responds. "With everything you've done for me I…"
"I mean me and Weiss." Pyrrha interrupts. "Remember in the video, when we saw her past thoughts. She sounded like one of those people who would put me on a pedestal and use me for their own goals."
"I'm sure she was just…" Jaune starts.
"I know she may have been joking, but it still hurts to hear something like that." Pyrrha looks down at her lap.
Jaune takes a deep breath. "Remember back when I was trying to date her." Pyrrha groans at the memories. "I know, I know. I was being an idiot. But even still. Every now and then I would see a different side to her that was a kind and sweet girl who cares about her friends."
Jaune decides to hold Pyrrha's hand. "Remember you're not the only one who was placed on a pedestal. I'm sure she has her own problems. So why don't you hold back on judging her until we've seen more."
Pyrrha smiles, nodding her head at this idea. "Okay, thanks for the advice."
"Now come on." Jaune stands up, pulling Pyrrha with him. "Your meal is getting cold."
A/N
In this chapter I decided to avoid looking at the transcripts completely. I failed but very little has been copied (mostly just the lines that people say). Do you prefer this, or do you want the way I did in the previous chapter? This chapter did take longer since I was writing it myself and the quality might not be as good.
Speaking of creative liberties I make have removed a couple lines from the original since I dislike that scene. If you can tell what it is and think that I should put it back in, then please tell me. I will not be changing anything story important and in terms of fight scenes I don't plan on making any changes until volume 5 and that is just to have things make more scene. (In a fight, the participants should never have a lengthy conversation unless one side is immobilised and the other wants to talk.
I also added the fact that an Ursa decomposes since it not doing so in the original doesn't follow cannon.
This should be my new biggest chapter. I would like to say that the length and the writing it myself are the reasons for it taking a while, or that I've been busy with important work. Truth is that I was procrastinating. But I think this is fine. Remember if I go into unannounced hiatus for over a month then I would very much like for someone to take over from me.
This chapter also had a couple of scenes that are supposed to be emotional. I'm sure I made some kind of mistake during this so could you please tell me how to improve those scenes.
For those who were wondering about the code at the end of last chapter. This is my way of finding out which reviewers have read the authors notes. Don't make a review just to repeat the quote as I don't want the review count to be artificially inflated. That said, the code for this chapter is "Why is my present a boy!?" if you know what this is a reference to then well done (this is a hard one) make a similar reference to that series.