(A/N): Hey guys I'm back! Took a little bit due to the Thanksgiving holiday and a week's vacation with the family. From here I want to know if you guys want me to stick close to the cannon or if I should mix it up a little bit. SPOILER ALERT! You are going to get a good glimpse of a new ship in this chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Team building with a Surprise Visit
After meeting up with the rest of the first years who passed initiation, the Headmaster ordered the students to make their way towards the main hall. Soon there would be a ceremony to announce the students who passed as well as their new teams. Fenix and his team already knew their soon to be assignments so it was more of a formality than anything to them. Just another thing between them and a hot meal followed by some much needed rest.
Ruby was trying to enact some form of revenge on Fenix for the scare on the cliffs. The entire trip back to the school consisted of Ruby trying to slap or punch Fenix in some way. The key word was trying since every time she did, Fenix either took the hit with ease or deflected it. After several unsuccessful attempts she got frustrated and used her semblance to run circles around him while punching him at super speeds. Fenix just turned his semblance on and Ruby got some light burns from trying to punch a guy who literally set himself on fire. After that incident she returned to just trying to slapping at him. Fenix and Yang found the whole ordeal hilarious of course. Their constant teasing only made her change from trying to hit Fenix to crossing her arms and pouting.
"Seriously Ruby, the cuteness is strong with that pout." Fenix chuckled. Ruby just tried to intensify her pout but it just made her look more adorable to Fenix.
When they arrived at the hall the first years were all gathered to the side of the stage. Two teams of people Fenix had never met were called up and assigned to their team. Fenix found it odd that each team was named after some word that was created from the first letters of the first names of the people in the team. Soon Fenix and his team were called up to the stage.
"Fenix Fall, Beau McClellan, Liam Randgrid, and Alexis Hygeia. You four selected the white queen pieces. From this day on you will work together as… team Fable (FABL). Lead by…Fenix Fall." The Headmaster spoke and Fenix politely bowed. He then signaled his team to head off the stage to make way for the next group.
"Those pieces were gold right?" Fenix asked his team as they headed for the steps to the side of the stage. It slightly bugged him that the professor said they were white pieces when he thought they were obviously golden.
"I thought so." Alexis replied. Beau just nodded once to show he thought so too. Liam just shrugged as if saying, 'what can you do?'
As they stepped off the stage something caught Fenix's eye. Amongst the crowd of civilians and their senior students, a blonde haired blue eyed girl was waving at Fenix. He walked over to meet the stranger but to his surprise when they got close she jumped onto him. She wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him in for a rather affectionate hug. Fenix didn't know how to respond since he hadn't ever met this girl before. After a few awkward moments he patted her on the back. She let go and look up at him making eye contact. Before he could say anything he watched her eyes change from blue to one pink and one brown.
"Hey sweet thing." He smirked as he grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into a close side hug. He turned to watch as another team was called up and given their team name.
Neo was happy. She loved how he held her close. She especially loved the smile on his face that showed how pleased he was that she showed up to his ceremony. The feeling of making somebody else happy just by being around them was almost foreign to her. Both because of her line of work and her experience of boys not treating her right. Due to her bad luck with boys she had avoided the idea of relationships recently and focused entirely on her job working for her uncle Torchwick. It had been a long time since she had cared what somebody thought of her besides her dear uncle.
She was brought from her thoughts back to reality when Fenix reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out his scroll. She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow to get his attention. Once she did she gave him a questioning look.
"Payback." He simply stated as he hit the record button on his scroll. Neo turned her attention to what he was recording. It was another team getting inducted.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper (JNPR). Led by… Jaune Arc." Jaune then asked the Headmaster if he had heard correctly and the elderly man just replied by congratulating him. Fenix smiled at his friend being anointed leader of his team just like he himself had. He then watched as Pyrrha playfully punched Jaune in the shoulder. The girl overestimated Jaune's strength though as he fell to the ground from the force of the punch. At that point Fenix ended the recording and put his scroll away.
Neo could swear she heard him chuckling evilly to himself. He then turned to her and realized that she was still in disguise.
"So what's with this?" He asked as he motioned to all of her with his free hand. She pulled out her scroll to type out her response.
I just don't feel like being recognized here.
"Ah, so you are famous in Vale?" Fenix asked with legitimate curiosity.
You could say that. She almost cracked a smile at her own little joke of being a wanted criminal that most of the people there would have no problem identifying. That would be troublesome to say the least. What with Ozpin and Goodwitch here as well as a handful of fully trained hunters. Also informing the boy who: she knew could handle himself in a fight, had a familiarly powerful semblance, also appeared to have a massive amount of aura, and the fact he was already within her guard with an arm around her, could make things incredibly more difficult. On top of that, she didn't exactly like the idea of informing a guy she had a good amount of interest in that she was a wanted criminal who had a murderous history.
"Huh, can't blame you there. So want to help me get about four years worth of payback while pissing off eight women at the same time?" He said with a devious smirk as he waved his scroll up to show Neo. Something he didn't know was that Neo loved created chaos when the opportunity presented itself. Roman Torchwick was the mastermind but he usually left Neo to wreck havoc in her own way on jobs he assigned her. She was very successful in that regard. So Fenix was very surprised to see her smile brightly and nod that she would indeed help him. He thought that women usually tried to stay away from drama with other girls they didn't know. He just shrugged deciding not to question it as he dialed up an old number that had memorized long ago. After a few rings a woman picked up and Fenix immediately hit the speaker option.
"Hello, Arc residence, this is Judy."
"Hey mamma Arc!" Fenix said cheerily into the scroll.
"Fenix?! Oh my God I haven't heard anything from you in years! How are you?" The woman said ecstatically.
"I'm fine I'm fine. Now is everybody home? I have something important to tell you all." Fenix's grin could not be contained at this point.
"GIRLS! JOSEPH! LIVING ROOM NOW!" People near Fenix and Neo in the crowd winced at how loud the woman had yelled. Fenix's attention was solely focused on the scroll screen so he missed the heated glare he was receiving from Yang as her team made their way onto the stage. She had noticed Fenix had his arms around another blonde haired girl and she was not happy about that.
Back with Fenix and Neo waiting, they could overhear everything on the other side of the call.
"Jillian! Joan! Get down here now!" They heard Judy yell over the sounds of people scurrying around the house to obey their mother's commands.
"But mom we're busy!" They barely heard a younger female voice call out from somewhere else in the house.
"Iiiiits Feeeeeniiiiiix!" They heard Judy very distinctly call back with a sing song voice. Soon the sound of two people noisily running to join the rest could be heard.
"Hey momma Arc can you turn it to video feed by any chance?" Fenix asked as he pulled Neo closer to him. Before he switched his end to video he whispered to Neo, "You're about to become famous." She couldn't help but silently chuckle at him. He then switched it to video feed and was greeted with an up-close shot of Judith Arc.
"Is this how it works Jessie?" She said as she turned to look behind her.
"Yes mother it is working properly. Now set it up here so we can all see." A sophisticated female voice said. After a bit of moving of the screen, Fenix and Neo were greeted with the sight of seven women crowded around a couch as a mature looking woman and man sat in the middle of it.
"Hey girls! You two still struggling to keep them all in line?" Fenix said to Judith and Joseph after he greeted the seven sisters of Jaune.
"Hey Fenix!"
"Hiya cutie!"
*head nod*
"Whats up bro?"
"Hello handsome."
"Greetings Fenix!"
"Hiiiiiiiii Feeniiiiiiix!"
"Yes they are still quite the handful as you can see."
"So who's the girl my boy?"
All conversation was put on hold as eight pairs of female eyes examined the blonde haired blue eyed girl that was being held close by their favorite (some more than others) fire wielder.
"Oh this is my sweet thing." He said shrugging his arm that was around Neo. It slightly lifted her up so as to show who he was referring to. He thought his nickname for her sounded a little dull but at the moment he couldn't think of any better aliases. His answer was met with curious looks, a few angered glares directed at Neo, and a blush by Neo herself.
"Sweet thing?" Joseph the great oblivious father figure asked Fenix.
"Yes. And no that is not her real name. I am not giving that one out because I know Jessica's online stalking habits." Neo looked up at him with a slightly shocked expression.
"I don't know what you could possibly mean dear brother." Jessica spoke up with a fake innocent expression.
"We all know what he means sis. And we don't blame you at all Fenix. But before you guys get married we are going to have to officially meet her." Fenix started coughing loudly and Neo just stood there like a deer in the headlights. After composing himself Fenix decided to break the awkward tension.
"Uh, thank you for stating the obvious Jill but let's not try to scare her off too quickly. Ok?" Fenix asked the girl meekly.
"Ok little bro!" The girl saluted back to Fenix.
"Speaking of brothers… I can't help but notice Jaune isn't there." Fenix asked the group trying to contain his amusement with the situation.
The seven sisters visibly tensed up while the parents had a look of sorrow on their faces. Jaune had told Fenix that he had snuck away but to see how it was affecting his (in heart just not legally) adopted family in a bad way tugged at his heart strings.
"Yes. Jaune ran away and took Crocea Mors with him. We haven't heard anything from him in the past two weeks. We've been looking for him but we haven't found anything yet. I'm worried he has gone off and done something foolish since he took a weapon with him." Jaune's mother spoke softly. Trying to fight back tears.
"Really? You couldn't trace him at ALL Jess?" Fenix asked actually surprised.
"Nope. Jaune is a pretty smart kid when he wants to be. He left no trail." Jessie said with the smallest hint of pride in her baby brother's ability to avoid her.
"Well on a happier note… I have something to show you guys." Fenix said preparing himself for the wrath he was about to unleash. However, Neo had a slight alteration to his plan as she got his attention and waved her scroll in his face.
"Hmm?" Fenix asked since he hadn't the foggiest idea what she was doing. Good thing he didn't need to as Neo sent him a file from her scroll to his. He then opened it to see what it was. He smirked a little and kissed her on the cheek.
"You're the best you know that?" Fenix asked Neo. She blushed a little but quickly tried to hide it when she noticed three pair of eyes on the other side of the call giving her a death glare. Fenix pulled up the file and shared it with the Arc family scroll. He hit play and all ten of them watched as a recording started. The recording was of Fenix and his team getting brought up before Ozpin and formally inducted into Beacon. After the short video was played the Arc family broke out in congratulations to Fenix and how proud they were in him.
"Guys thanks but seriously it'll be much better when you come here in a few weeks to see me in person." The group on the other side got silent for a second before Joseph asked the million dollar question.
"What's in a few weeks Fenix? What do you mean?"
"Well I don't know the exact weekend but I've been told in a few weeks it will be family weekend. Family's of the students here will be able to come check out our new lives. Like see a Friday in our lives and check out the school with us." Fenix's grin had reached from ear to ear with what he just set up.
"Well Fenix you can be sure we will be there for you. That is of course if something doesn't come up with Jaune's missing case." Judy spoke for the group as the rest just nodded in approval.
"Oh but I wasn't meaning for me." Fenix stated. For a beat nobody seemed to get what he was meaning until Jessica (The smartest of the family in Fenix's eyes) seemed to perk up with a shocked look and spoke up.
"Fenix… What exactly do you mean?" Fenix just kept grinning as he opened a new file on his scroll to share with the Arc family.
"Let's just say I have some payback for the Joan and I fiasco from four years ago." Fenix watched as Joan turned a nice shade of red, Judy's eyes widened in realization of what was happening, Joseph still looked clueless as usual, and Neo shot him an aggravated raised eyebrow. Before he could get interrupted by anybody he hastily hit the play button. He watched as the Arc family saw a recording of Jaune brought up on stage with the rest of team Juniper. Their looks of shock were complete when they watched as Ozpin declared Jaune as the team leader. A few of the girls giggled when Pyrrha slugged Jaune in the arm and knocked him on his butt. Once the recording ended Fenix just waited for the realization to set in with all of them. Finally, Judy decided to speak up for the rest of the family that was still in shock.
"Fenix. Are you telling me that my darling son, who has little to no combat experience and has yet to have his aura unlocked, just got into Beacon. Not only did he somehow miraculously pass the initiation but he did something during it to give him the credibility that Ozpin saw fit to elect him as the team leader?" As she finished Fenix could see her knuckles turn white from clenching her fists too hard as well as her right eye slightly twitch.
"Wait wait wait… He didn't have his aura unlocked?" Fenix asked hysterically.
"No, I never unlocked it." Joseph spoke up.
"Ok I would NEVER have let him go out there if I would have known that. But he made it out. I'll make sure if someone hasn't already that I will unlock his aura myself. But I think he is in good hands. That Pyrrha Nikos girl is his partner. She is a pretty nice person and I've been told she is quite the fighter." Fenix let go of Neo at the beginning of his realizing Jaune had done one of the most idiotic things he had ever heard of.
"I understand you would never do that Fenix but it doesn't make me any less angry at him to go off and do all this." Judy said with a good amount of venom in her voice.
"Well you have to remember that he also has me looking after him momma. I'm a team leader just like him and I'll make sure he is ok. I give you my word on that." Fenix answered with a serious tone. The entire Arc clan seemed to relax a little bit at that declaration. Fenix was a man made of the same cloth as them. His word was his bond. They all felt slightly relieve because they knew he could be trusted with this.
"Thank you Fenix, now I'm sure you understand that I need to get off here to speak with my nitwit of a son." Judy spoke once again and the seven other Arc girls all winced at the chewing out Jaune was about to get.
"I understand momma. Love you all! You have my scroll number now so you guys can call and message me anytime you want. Just don't go overboard… Joan." Fenix singled Joan out because he knew firsthand how she could be overbearing at times.
"Noooo promises!" Joan replied with a flirtatious tone. Neo didn't like that one bit as she put herself back under Fenix's arm and wrapped her own around his waist. Joan seemed perturbed by that which gave Neo a satisfied sense of accomplishment.
"Alright Goodbye Fenix!" Judy called out as she waved to him.
"Goodbye!" The rest of the Arcs yelled out before the call was disconnected.
"So that was a thing. Thanks for helping me out with that by the way. Now I can't wait to hear how much of it Jaune gets from his family for all that." Fenix said as he rubbed his cheeks. They hurt from grinning so much at getting his sweet sweet revenge on his old friend. Neo just looked at him that conveyed that she had questions for him.
"I'll explain on our date this weekend ok? Saturday good for you?" Fenix asked as he did not feel like explaining everything now after what he just went through. Neo put her index finger on her chin and look upwards as if she were deep in thought. She then playfully smiled at him and nodded.
"Perfect. Well Sweet thing I hate to cut this short but I do need to get to my team so we can get our dorm room assigned to us. Kind of need some rest after a day like today you know?" Neo understood but still didn't like that he was right. She wanted to argue but then she looked into his eyes. He looked sad. Like he really didn't want her to go but he knew that he needed to do a few other things at this moment. She kind of did just drop in to see him without telling him. She had already taken some of his time away from all the duties he would now have since he was a Beacon student and a leader as well.
Fenix went in to kiss her and she met him halfway. He tried to pull back after a quick second of the kiss. He really did. But as he drew back she leaned back to follow him and continue the kiss. He couldn't find the willpower to deny her and they both melted into a passionate lip locked embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and she allowed herself to be captured willingly. Wrapping her own arms around his midsection again, she attempted to delve further into the kiss by slipping her tongue into his mouth. He clenched his lips together to deny her access and she broke off the kiss to pout at him a little bit. He personally thought it was cute when she pouted like that but he put up his index finger to place on her lips.
"Not here sweet thing. It's not the appropriate time or place. Don't worry you will get your chance." He finished with a wink at her. She turned to look around and for the first time realized they were gathering a bit of attention. She didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention since she was trying to hide her true identity. She just nodded in response and dove into his chest for one more hug. He returned her affection by pulling her in closer. After a few moments of that she pulled back and he released her. She then began to walk away before disappearing in a blink. Fenix just smiled to himself with a slight sense of déjà vu as he turned to walk towards where the rest of his team, along with teams RWBY and JNPR were waiting for him. Jaune looked extremely upset and Fenix had a good idea why.
"You told my family?!" Jaune halfway yelled at Fenix as he approached the group. That got the attention of the group as they all turned to look at him.
"What did he tell who?" Ruby asked confused like the rest of the group was.
"Told Jaune's family he was a leader here." Fenix simply stated. It wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't the full truth either. He preferred to not tell everybody on the day of initiation that Jaune had snuck into the school and then been made a leader.
"Why would that be a big deal?" Alexis asked.
"Don't get off topic here! Answer me. You told my MOTHER?!" Jaune asked with as much anguish as he could pack into his words while also hoping to avoid answering Alexis.
"Sure did." Fenix replied with a lopsided cocky looking smile.
"Why?" Jaune asked in despair.
"Two words…" Fenix paused as he held up two fingers. Everybody literally leaned in to hear what his reasoning was.
"Payback bitch." Everybody in the group was stunned to some degree. Ren and Beau showed it by raising an eyebrow curiously. The rest had a look of shock on their faces except for Nora. For some reason Nora looked downright furious.
"How dare you harm my fearless leader! This means war!" With that she put up her arms in a fighting stance and looked ready to attack. Fenix noticed as Ren took a step away from Nora. That couldn't bode well. From what he knew of Nora she was very energetic and clingy to her boyfriend. Kind of like a child in some aspects. So he decided to reason with her as he would with a kid. He pointed at Jaune and turned to speak to Nora directly.
"He started it." He stated and it seemed to work. Ren's eyes went wide and Nora dropped her fighter stance to talk to Jaune.
"Jaune-Jaune how could you?" She asked with an overly dramatic flair to her voice.
"Wha…What?" Jaune asked Fenix. Still as dense as ever, Fenix knew he was going to have to remind Jaune.
"Remember the Joan fiasco? Yeah consider this payback. Plus a little interest." Fenix said as he gave a smug look to Jaune.
"HOW IS THIS EVEN REMOTELY EVEN?!" Jaune roared at Fenix who didn't flinch under the angered look of his friend.
"Oh it's not. I just want you to remember this moment. This goes for all of you." He paused as he waved his pointer finger to the rest of the ten other people there. "You ever do something I consider offensive or hurtful… and I will get you back. It may be immediate, it may be days, weeks, or in this case four years. But I do hold grudges against people who wrong me and I WILL have my revenge." The rest of the group shared a scared look. Except for Nora who decided to pipe up.
"You said something about interest. What did you mean by that?" She asked with her usual bubbly voice. The others seemed to take notice of this and all eyed Fenix wondering what his answer would be.
"Oh I took the liberty of letting them know they could come for family weekend. Which by the way should be in a few weeks so the rest of you should let your families know once we know the actual dates." At Fenix's revelation Jaune just turned ghostly white.
"I'm dead. Aren't I?" He asked the fire wielder. It was at this moment that Pyrrha finally decided to try to consol her partner.
"I'm sure it couldn't be that bad. Right?" She asked Fenix since he seemed to know a lot about this situation.
"Depends on how much sucking up to momma Arc and his sisters he can do in those three weeks. Since he didn't exactly let his parents know he was coming here before just up and leaving." Many of their new friends finally got some understanding into Jaune's predicament. Ruby and Nora just looked at Jaune with a shocked look. Yang, Ren, Liam, and Beau just shook their heads at the blonde knight's idiocy. Weiss of course just scoffed at him while the rest of the group just took the information in silently.
"By the way…" Fenix then took that time to smack Jaune as hard as he could across the back of his head. This knocked his childhood friend face first into the ground in a perfect face plant. As soon as the shock of what just happen subsided, Pyrrha looked ready to murder Fenix. He held up his hand to tell her to wait for him to explain himself.
"THAT'S FOR GOING INTO INITIATION WITHOUT YOUR AURA UNLOCKED YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" He was so angry he didn't notice his semblance flickered on for a split moment. When it turned on his entire body was engulfed in flames. His friends only had a split second to watch it because as soon as it had started it turned itself back off and the flames disappeared.
Once again the group was surprised. The thoughts going through their heads were how did Jaune get accepted to Beacon without even having his aura unlocked? Pyrrha had forgotten that little tidbit with everything else that happened today. Now that Fenix had noticed that, she couldn't help but agree that it was a rather reckless move on Jaune's part.
"Wait, Jaune didn't have his aura unlocked out there?" Ruby asked still in shock.
"No, I unlocked it for him once we met up and I realized he didn't have it active." Pyrrha explained as Jaune slowly got up to his hands and knees as he tried to reorient himself. Fenix took some relief in knowing Pyrrha had already unlocked Jaune's aura.
"I survived didn't I?" He meekly defended. Fenix just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Jaune, do you have any idea how distraught your family and I would have been if something severe would have happened to you during initiation? Hell do you have any idea how much of a guilt trip I would have been on if even something minor happened? You should have told me and let me unlock it before initiation. No offense Pyrrha." Fenix finished looking at Pyrrha apologetically.
"None taken. I am happy I could help Jaune out and that I was the one to help him. But he shouldn't have waited until the test to actually get it unlocked." Pyrrha said as she shot a half hearted stern look at Jaune. He replied by laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head where Fenix had smacked him.
"Ok well that's enough serving as the entertainment for the rest of the school. Let's go find our assigned dorms and get settled." Weiss said as Fenix looked up to notice most of the senior students and the rest of their fellow first years were all staring at them. Fenix's first thought was to threaten them. He decided against it since pissing off all of your upperclassmen on the first day probably wasn't the best idea.
The group turned to head out of the main hall and towards the dorms where the first year students were supposed to be housed. Once they found their assigned rooms they were surprised to find themselves all in the same hall. Teams RWBY and JNPR were across the halls from each other while team FABL's room was on team RWBY's side of the hall and right next door to them.
The rooms were pretty basic. Four single beds for the four students, a large window on the side across from the door, a dresser for each student and two large desks. The interesting part was the in room bathroom that the entire team was going to have to share. Also there were only two closets in the room so somebody was going to have to share with Alexis.
Fenix decided that his team would pretty much just set their stuff in the room and head down to the cafeteria for some well deserved dinner. They could figure out the specifics of who was sharing what after they had rested and got some food in them.
They got to the cafeteria to notice they were the first team of first years there. That was like throwing a slab of meat in the middle of a den of lions since all the upperclassmen were eyeing them the same way. They were still in their dirtied battle gear but had decided to leave their weapons in the room.
They got their food and sat down at a large empty table in the middle of the mess hall. Fenix couldn't help but think that was a deliberate move by the upperclassmen so they could all get a good view of the fresh meat. Soon after they were joined by teams RWBY and JNPR. Team RWBY all sat together on one side and JNPR did the same. Fenix and Liam were already sitting on the side team RWBY came to sit on and Alexis and Beau were on the side team JNPR sat down on. The three teams all sat as they awkwardly tried to stir up conversation while being completely aware of the looks they were getting from the older students. Fenix became especially aware of the way the older guys were looking at the girls at his table. It aggravated him to no end and it must have showed because Ruby spoke up.
"Hey big bro, you seem tense." She said with an ever innocent look that was completely oblivious to some of the looks she was getting from around the room.
"Yeah. Just don't like some of the looks you girls are getting." Fenix stated with some malice in his voice.
"Don't worry hot stuff. We can handle ourselves." Yang winked at Fenix.
"We aren't some damsels in distress who need some big strong man to protect us. If confronted we will put them down like the dogs they are." Weiss said with a disdainful tone. Fenix just sighed and explained himself.
"I understand that ladies. But you have to understand I was… trained… to treat women with respect. Seeing these hunters in training looking at you with those eyes… it just infuriates me. Plus I have this complex where I want to protect everybody I can, that includes you girls." He smiled at Weiss who seemed to understand.
"While that is sweet of you Fenix, please don't do anything rash." Alexis said as she put a hand on his to show she was worried about him.
"Well we are about to see, here comes one." Liam stated. The group turned to see a rather large upperclassman walking towards the group on the side with Fenix, Liam, and team RWBY. Once he got to the group he made the mistake of leaning over to speak to Ruby. Fenix was a little surprised they went for her first. That surprise quickly turned to unmitigated anger when he saw how uncomfortable Ruby appeared to be with the guy leaning over her.
"Hey cutie. How about you come over and sit with me and my team? We'd like to get to know you a little better." He tried to flash a smile but it was quickly demolished by the fist of one Yang Xiao Long. She threw a right hook into his face before Ruby could get a response in. He stumbled back before righting himself and feeling his features to make sure nothing was damaged. When he was done he looked back to Yang and scowled at her.
"You messed up now bitch." He clenched his fists as he took a step towards Yang. She moved to stand up but was too slow to do anything. Somebody was quicker to the punch than her for once.
Fenix had moved to get behind the upperclassman. Once he did he jabbed with both of his hands into each side of the bigger male's ribcage. This surprised the boy and he brought his arms down and tensed up to defend his core from any further attacks. Before he could turn to see who his attacker was, Fenix took his right hand and karate chopped the upperclassman in the neck. Thanks to his intense training in hand to hand combat, he knew exactly how to incapacitate somebody larger than him with a well aimed strike. As he knew it would be, Fenix's attack was placed perfectly, and the upperclassman fell over unconscious.
The silence in the room from what just happened was creepy. A smaller younger student standing over a larger senior student after a two strike combo that left the senior student completely knocked out. Before someone could say something to break the silence Fenix (ever the one for dramatics) decided to speak to the unconscious student. It was really more to get his point across to the rest of the student body, though he did secretly hope the boy remembered what he was about to say.
"You made two mistakes. One, hit on a girl who is like a little sister to me. Two, called one of my friends a demeaning term that was uncalled for. You make a third mistake… I'll personally make sure that next time you don't wake up." To add insult to injury, Fenix turned to pick up his dinner tray. He then dumped the remains of his dinner on the upperclassman. He then disposed of the tray and walked out of the dining hall. Before he exited he turned to see the rest of his group of friends getting up to follow him. Before they left, Yang turned around and kicked the unconscious upperclassman square in the crotch. A resounding groan of pain came from every male in the crowded hall as she sauntered over to Fenix. As she reached him she put an arm around his and forced him to walk arm and arm with her out of the hall. Once the group was out of the dining hall and heading back to their dorms, Fenix decided to break the silence.
"So, think that will get their attention off you girls and more on me?" He couldn't help but smirk a little bit as the rest of the group seemed to lighten up at the situation. Some were even chuckling a little.
"I dunno hot stuff but I can tell you it got my attention." Yang purred as she was still latched to Fenix's arm.
"Yaaaaannnnng!" Ruby whined. This seemed to break the dam as Pyrrha, Jaune, Alexis, and Liam started laughing out loud. Even Weiss and Blake were smiling. Seeing the group was in good spirits Fenix smiled. A thought then crept into his mind as the three teams reached their dorms.
"Hey I know we haven't unpacked and I don't know about you guys, but would you all want to have a friend building talk? Kind of like a team building exercise just with multiple teams?" The group seemed to ponder over what Fenix meant before, shockingly enough, Weiss spoke up.
"I think that sounds like an acceptable notion. Seeing as how it appears our three teams are going to be close for the rest of our stay here at Beacon."
"Great, well we only have the beds and two chairs so ya'll go grab your chairs and meet in our room. Wana say in about an hour so we can all clean up and get into some more comfortable clothing?" The group nodded in agreement and they all broke off to go into their respective rooms. Yang was reluctant to relinquish her hold on Fenix but was eventually dragged away by her three teammates.
After about an hour the three teams sat in a circle in team FABL's room. The other two teams had brought the chairs from their rooms. That allowed the entire group to sit in a sloppily thrown together circle. Some sat on the chairs while the remaining people sat on team FABL's beds.
"Alright so something that was suggested to us leaders to do with our teams was to go around and have everybody say something about their teammates that they know. Since there are three teams here I'm going to propose we expand on that a little. You still have to say something about one of your teammates but you also have to say something about somebody else who is in this room but not on your team as well as something about yourself. Sound fair?" After nobody seemed to disagree Fenix continued.
"Great! Well how about we start with Jaune here and I'll end. Any objections?" Nora's hand shot up.
"Oh oh! Can I start?" She begged.
"Ok I have no problem with that. Then we end with Pyrrha since she is sitting on your right?" Pyrrha nodded her agreement and Nora stood up.
"Hi! I'm Nora Valkyrie! Ren here has been my bestest buddy since I can remember!
I know Alexis is awesome because she likes pancakes! Oh, and my daddy is Odin Valkyrie the greatest weapon smith in Remnant!" With her little introduction a few things made more sense about Nora to Fenix. He had his questions for her though. Before he could say anything he noticed Liam tensed up next to him. He turned to see the bear faunus with a love-struck look on his face.
"Liam? You ok?" Fenix whispered to his partner so to not attract any extra attention. However it was hard to miss when the big bear faunus leaned down and put a hand over Fenix's ear to whisper back.
"She's a Valkyrie." First Fenix was confused with that simple statement. Then the lightbulb went off in his mind. The Valkyries were pretty much viewed as warrior goddesses in mythology of certain cultures. Liam must have come from a similar culture and thus viewed Nora along the lines of a princess or something. Fenix just gave a sly look to Liam who in return elbowed his partner in the side in an attempt to shut him up before he said anything. Their little scuffle gathered the attention of the rest of the people in the room. Under the awkward silent stares of ten pairs of eyes, Fenix coughed and then spoke up.
"Ok two things. One, your dad is THE Odin?" He paused to which Nora just nodded happily. "Wow, that's pretty awesome. He is an inspiration to all us aspiring weapon smiths."
"You make weapons too Fenix?" Ruby asked with an awestruck look.
"Oh yeah." Fenix simply replied to which Ruby started squealing with delight. Before she could go off on a rant Fenix moved to speak to Nora again.
"Two, you and Ren are JUST childhood friends?" The question made Ren roll his eyes and Nora just tilt her head in confusion.
"Of course silly! What else did you think we were?" Nora asked innocently.
"Well a couple?" Fenix asked.
"Oh pssshhh no! I mean he's handsome but we aren't together together." Fenix just looked to Liam again and waggled his eyebrows at him. Before Liam could retaliate, Ren decided it was his turn to go.
"Hello, my name is Lie Ren. My partner, Nora, should never be given caffeine under any circumstances. I have seen how Fenix treats my leader Jaune like a little brother. I prefer hand-to-hand combat with my multiple styles of martial arts when fighting." There was a pause after Ren finished but there was really nothing to question. Blake was sitting next to Ren so she went next.
"My name is Blake Belladonna. I know you should never mess with my partner's hair. I can tell that Ren is a very calm and collected person. Something about me is that I enjoy reading during my spare time. Questions?" Fenix shot her a look that read 'Really? That's all you're going to tell them at this point?' She just shot back with a 'shut up' look. Ruby had raised her hand but began asking her question before Blake could acknowledge her since she was distracted by Fenix.
"What types of books are your favorites to read?"
"A little bit of everything." Blake stated flatly. After a short pause it was Yang's turn. She hopped up and stood proudly as she began her introduction.
"Yang Xiao Long, the most badass girl you'll ever meet. I know my baby sister here is only fifteen being pushed ahead two years." She then began to ruffle Ruby's hair and Ruby tried to swat her away. Yang just chuckled and stopped to look at Fenix. Who was busy rolling his eyes at the fact Yang had apparently forgotten their little talk about bragging on her little sister too much. "And I know hot stuff here has a thing for us blonde girls." She finished as she flicked her hair for emphasis. This caused every pair of eyes to revert back to staring right at Fenix. He just shrugged in response but that wasn't enough for Jaune.
"What does she mean?" Jaune was visibly getting angry again. Yang decided to explain.
"Well we know about him and your twin sister." Yang paused for effect, allowing that information to soak in for some so they could understand why Jaune would be upset with this. After a moment she continued. "And then there was that little cutie that was getting all snuggly with you during the ceremony after initiation." Yang said the last statement with a bit of malice that was not missed by the females in the room. Fenix just shrugged it off again which caused Jaune to huff in annoyance and Yang to sit down with her arms crossed. After a few awkward moments of nobody saying anything, it was Ruby's turn.
"Hi, my name is Ruby Rose. My friend Blake here is currently reading a book about a man with two souls. Fenix here has a sniper rifle that I absolutely HAVE to see and test out. And I… like weapons." Yang snorted immediately.
"That's an understatement. She's an all-out weapons geek." She laughed as she wrapped her baby sister in a headlock. Ruby then expertly jabbed Yang in the side and slipped out of the hold. She grinned at her accomplishment as her sister just rubbed her sides begrudgingly.
"Sure red reaper, we can compare weapons sometime. I can probably offer some suggestions for modifications if you are interested." Fenix offered good naturedly. His words had the opposite affect he desired because Ruby looked offended.
"What makes you think you're better with weapons than I am?" Ruby asked challengingly. Much to her ire, Fenix just chuckled at her.
"Tell you what, I'll save that point for my little introduction part. Fair?" He received a disgruntled nod from Ruby. Yang just looked on in amusement. Weiss didn't wait for anyone else to speak up as she stood up. She curtsied as she began her introduction.
"I am Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. My partner Ruby has a semblance of speed but still excels at wasting time. Pyrrha, over there, is a four time Mistral Regional Champion which speaks wonders of her combat abilities." As per her attitude, Weiss's tone of voice changed from happy when she was talking about herself, annoyed when she was talking about Ruby, and praising when she spoke of Pyrrha. With her short introduction leaving no questions it moved on to the only girl on team FABL.
"My name is Alexis Hygeia. My partner here is Beau and he grew up on a farm in the outer regions of Mistral. I believe Nora and I share similar tastes in fashion so we should probably go shopping together. As for myself, well, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to cleanliness. That goes for how our room will look and for personal hygiene. In regards to that, I'm not sure how well things will go at first with me being on a team with three boys." The rest of the room looked at the three mentioned members of team FABL, except for Nora who was shaking Ren and talking excitedly about a shopping trip this upcoming weekend. Fenix just looked at Beau and Liam and muttered what all three of them were thinking.
"Well shit." His reaction got a nod from Beau and Liam while Jaune just patted Fenix's shoulder in support. The girls in the room all just giggled at the boy's reactions.
"Just how particular are you about this being clean darlin'?" Beau asked Alexis who blushed slightly at the way Beau called her "darlin'."
"Very." She replied with a smirk on her face.
"Well shit." Beau copied Fenix's reaction which turned many giggling girls into a full-fledged laughter that spread throughout the room. After a bit, everybody calmed down and it was Beau's turn.
"Name's Beau. Me and Liam here appear to be the only faunus in the room. I can tell that Yang and I have similar styles of hand-to-hand. That being we like to beat the shit outa stuff. And as for myself, my faunus features are a bit… rare." An eerie silence engulfed the room while everybody waited for Beau to explain on his features. When it became awkwardly obvious that he wasn't going to, Blake spoke up.
"Well are you going to explain about your features?" Beau just looked to Liam who shrugged.
"Come on Beau, show them." Alexis prodded him with her index finger to which Beau just smirked and sat up straight.
He extended his arms as if to showcase his hands to the group. All the sudden his hands morphed from what would be considered an average pair of human looking hands. His fingers from the proximal interphalangeal joints, expanded to look like they were claws. When they expanded there were no weird noises, breaking of any skin, or even discoloration. They just seemed to simply change and extend. Everybody was amazed at Beau's feature and he let them gaze for a bit. He noticed Weiss looked a little uncomfortable with it and so he reverted his hands back to their normal state. He then assured the rest of them that it didn't hurt and was simply a very rare trait for faunus to have. After a few questions about his fingers from a curious Ruby and Nora the talk died down. It was now Liam's turn.
"Greetings. My name is Liam Randgrid. I am from the continent of Menagerie. I did not think highly of my partner at first but I must admit he has impressed me. That is not something easily done so he has gained my respect. As for outside myself and my team, I will select Nora to speak of." He paused to make eye contact with the bubbly girl. "You, are a remarkable woman." Fenix and everybody else in the room seem to be thrown off guard by his simple statement. Fenix personally was expecting something way more than that. Apparently Nora wasn't fazed at all because she immediately replied.
"Awww thank you Liam!" She smiled cheerily. After Nora's reply the room fell into an awkward silence for a few seconds. Fenix tried to hold back his snide comment, he really did, but he felt an incredible urge to break the silence. So he just said the first thing he could think of.
"Wow you're really laying it on thick aren't you?" Fenix asked Liam. Who instead of replying verbally just reared back and slugged Fenix in the shoulder. Fenix knew he held back because he hadn't gone flying into the wall. But the force still knocked him sideways into Jaune. As Fenix and Jaune collected themselves Nora just looked confused.
"Laying what on?" She tilted her head to the side and Fenix inwardly asked himself why every girl did this. It only made them look cute when they did it. Maybe they did it on purpose for that very reason. Fenix snapped back to the conversation (or lack thereof) in the room. He noticed it was his turn so he stood up and politely bowed.
"My name is Fenix Fall. I can tell you that Alexis has one of the most unusual semblances I have ever come across. That's saying something by the way. I can tell you Jaune here has no brothers but he makes up for that with seven sisters." He paused to watch as everybody's eyes went wide. Even Yang and Ruby who already knew about it. Ruby then turned to look at him pleadingly so he continued on to the part about himself. "As for myself, I am a certified class five weapon smith." Ruby's eyes went wide from adoration, Nora just grinned wildly, and the rest of them just looked at him with a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
"What's that mean exactly?" Beau spoke up.
"Basically there are different tiers of weapon smiths. Level one, or the lowest level, are only licensed for making training swords and basic hunting materials. It goes up to level five who have the authority to make basically whatever weapon they want." Fenix explained to his teammate.
"Oh oh! What's the coolest thing you know how to make?" Nora asked excitedly.
"Well, my personal favorite is lasers. On the plus side, come on, they're lasers. They can cut through anything and can make even the most basic of weapons deadly. The downside is that they take a painful amount of time to perfect in a weapon. Each one being kind of a special case on its own." Fenix then chuckled.
"You have no idea how hard I tried to make my swords into lasers swords." He got a few raised eyebrows from that.
"That idiotic idea sounds like something straight out of science fiction." Weiss stated seeming to not believe Fenix.
"So cooool! Did you do it?!" Ruby asked as she clenched her fists in front of her face excitedly.
"I have ideas of how to, but sadly we just don't have the technology for it… yet." Fenix stated as he adopted a smirk with his last word. Pyrrha then coughed to get the group's attention with her own question.
"Pardon, but is that what you might have done for Atlas when you mentioned you had worked for them before?" Much to everybody's surprise Jaune showed the most interest in Pyrrha's question.
"You worked for Atlas?" He asked as he quickly turned to fully face his old friend.
"Well where do you think I went when I left four years ago?" Fenix questioned back before turning to face Pyrrha. "Yes, and I suppose I can explain a little bit. You know the Atlesian Knights?" He paused to notice Liam's and Blake's eyes go wide. "I designed their weapons and the systems to work them."
"Huh, that is impressive Fenix." Ren commented with a brief nod towards the orange haired boy. Fenix just nodded in response before speaking up again.
"Thank you but how about we move forward so we can finish this up? Jaune it's your turn." Jaune shook his head in realization before starting
"Hello, my name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue." Ruby put her head in her hand and sighed exasperatedly. Jaune then went to finish his opening line. "Ladies love it." Yang snorted.
"Ha! Do they?" She asked which got a giggle from her sister and a surprised look from Jaune. Realizing there was no good comeback he just pushed forward with his introduction.
"Uhh… well anyways Pyrrha here unlocked my aura so I bet she's pretty knowledgeable about that sorta stuff. Fenix and I have been friends since I was seven. And, umm, I'm part of one of two sets of twins in my family." He laughed nervously at the last part.
"Your poor mother." Blake said.
"What?" Jaune asked with a confused tone of voice.
"Seven children and two sets of twins? God that sounds horrible." The faunus in hiding explained as every female in the room nodded in agreement.
"Oh it has done nothing to her figure. She still looks like she did before she had any of them if the old pictures are accurate. She rules that house and you do not want to get on her bad side. It's actually pretty fascinating to watch." Fenix laughed as Jaune paled again.
"Oh I am so dead." He seemed to remember the pickle he was in with his family.
"Oh please, her baby boy is her pride and joy. You just need to properly apologize and remind her that this is what you want." Fenix reminded the blonde boy. If spending all that time with the Arc family had taught him anything, it was that out of all the children Jaune was the one who could get away with something. He just had to beg his mom and he got his way.
"You think so?" Jaune hopefully asked him. Fenix just gave him an 'are you serious?' look to which Jaune just chuckled. "Oh yeah, I forgot you kind of helped me get out of some trouble before." Fenix just smiled and looked to Pyrrha.
"Hello again! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Pyrrha Nikos. I can tell Jaune here is going to be a great leader. I've known Weiss for two years. We met at my second Mistral Championship. Something odd about me is that I don't exactly like my appointed celebrity status being a four time champion. I just want to make friends here. Not be held up on a pedestal." After she finished, everybody seemed to understand and not question her just wanting to be treated as a normal student.
"Well, that's it for tonight guys! We can talk more tomorrow if you want. I think your teams should get back to your dorms and get some much deserved sleep." Everybody nodded or grunted in agreement as they collected their chairs and headed out the door back to their rooms. Ruby stayed behind and shuffled nervously in the doorway once everybody else had left.
"What's on your mind red reaper?" Fenix asked.
"Could I ask you something Fenix?" She asked with pleading eyes. Like he could say no to that puppy dog pout.
"Be right back guys." He waved to his team as he escorted Ruby out into the hall. He looked down the hall to see teams WBY and JNPR unlocking their respective doors.
"Hey Yang! Got a second?" He asked as the girl looked up confused. That only lasted for a second as she saw Ruby and Fenix standing together. She held up one finger to signal she would be right there as she carried the chairs back into her room.
"Alright, what's up little sis?" Fenix asked Ruby who looked down at her feet. She mumbled something that Fenix couldn't make out. He noticed Yang walking their way now so he asked Ruby to repeat it a little louder this time so they both could hear it.
"Why did those boys come after me today?" Ruby asked almost apprehensively. Fenix secretly was wondering the same thing. Out of the four girls on team RWBY, Ruby was the least obvious one to go after. However, there was qualities about her that he could see people noticing about her. Fenix and Yang shared a quick look before Fenix decided to speak up.
"Because you are a special girl Ruby." Both Yang and Ruby looked at him confused as to what he meant. He decided to elaborate. "You are a prodigy. You are probably one of the youngest students ever admitted much less appointed team leader in the history of this school. You decapitated a freaking Nevermore in initiation. And, let's be honest, you're cute. All those things that are going to attract guys to you. That's why you have two protective older siblings here to help you out. If at any point you want me to back off just say so though. Ok?"
During his whole speech, Ruby and Yang's faces slowly changed from confused to a more pleased look. Once he had finished, the two sisters shared a look and then smiled. Ruby ran in and hugged the fire wielder tightly.
"Thanks Fenix." She said quietly.
"Yeah, I couldn't have said that any better myself." Yang spoke with adoration in her voice.
"Anytime little reaper." He replied as he gently ruffled Ruby's hair. She then let go and skipped to her room in a much better mood than she had been a few moments ago.
Once Ruby had entered the room Yang leaned in towards Fenix. She was coming at him face first so it wasn't hard for the boy to guess what she was going for. Quickly he put his hand up to block her attempt at a kiss. His palm caught her lips before they got to his face. Her eyes widened in surprise at being stopped. As he kept his hand on her mouth to discourage any further attempts, she glared at him with annoyance. Fenix just smirked at how surprisingly cute the look was.
"Down girl." He stated as he gently pushed her face further away from him. She just huffed at him as he turned to walk into his dorm. He stopped in the open doorway and turned his head to look at her.
"Goodnight." With that he walked in and closed the door behind him. The room was dark since his three other teammates had already crawled into bed. He just smiled as he activated his semblance so he could find the bed they left him for the night. He located it but before he went to it he went to his bag to grab his aura inhibitors. He strapped them on and crawled into bed, turning his semblance off as he reached his place of slumber. As he closed his eyes and let sleep take him, he smiled. He was truly happy he had decided to come here and for his new friends. For the first time in a long time, he was excited for what his future held.
(A/N): Alright guys that was chapter 10. What do you think? Favorite/follow/review if you haven't yet! The replies really help me know if I'm doing an ok job.