Greetings and salutations, to the FINAL EVER INSTALLMENT to Different Shades of Life!
...Just kidding!
If you didn't know already, this 10th installment will be the "season finale" to this project. I will be going on a several-week-long "season break" to focus on other things and tee up future installments. But don't worry; at this point, there is no way I'd cancel this project or just leave it alone.
The way I'll structure this project will be; 10 installments make up a season, including two-parters (which I don't even have many of, to be honest). All stories will still be the same theme and feel as they are now; 9 installments which are fun, light and sometimes humourous, with a slightly introspective specialised installment toward the end; I had "Red" as the previous one; no points for figuring out the others in future.
So enjoy the season finale to Different Shades of Life; I'll see you all again sometime in the near future, with the 2nd season premiere!
"After the forming of Team RWBY, the girls debate certain obligations."
"Really, Yang, it's not that big a deal!"
"Of course it's a big deal! My little sister is leading her own team!" Yang gushed.
"Well, Ruby, considering the fact that you're literally the youngest person at this academy to be made a team leader, I have to agree with Yang here; it is a big deal," Blake reasoned.
"That's what I thought! High-five!" Yang raised her palm to Blake, who ghosted a smile, but gave the blonde an ultimately withering look and pushed the outstretched hand away.
"Yes yes, big deal, sure thing, now why don't we commemorate this moment by playing the Quiet Game?" Weiss asked irritably, rubbing her temples.
The newly-formed Team RWBY was walking the corridors of Beacon, trying to locate what would be their dorm room for the next four years of their life. All along the way, Yang was congratulating her younger sister, who was trying to brush off all the attention flying in her direction.
Yang narrowed her eyes at the heiress. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you excited about all this?"
Weiss glared back. "I suppose I was 'excited' at some stage earlier tonight, but after listening to you go on and on for the last ten minutes, I'd say that I'm approaching 'tension headache' mood."
Yang slowed her pace as she scanned the doors she passed, before finally coming to a halt. "I think this is it. Hang on," she pulled out the transformable key-card and swiped. "Ah-ha! Team RWBY," she announced, opening the door. "Welcome home!"
The girls shuffled inside, and immediately took to exploring their new living space. Ruby flopped down onto the bed furthest to the right wall and Weiss looked under the bed next to it, pleased to see that her luggage was already there.
Blake took a seat at a desk next to the doorway, and observed the scene. "Hmm…"
Yang noticed the concern in her voice. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure that there'll be much room once we get everything sorted," Blake mused. "But I suppose we'll get around to it in the morning; don't worry about it."
Unfortunately Yang decided it would be a better decision to address the issue at the moment. "It is pretty small, considering there's four of us living in here-"
"I told you not to worry about it…" Blake sighed.
Yang ignored her. "-I wonder why they didn't just make it two-to-a-room…"
Weiss' immediately turned to face Yang. "What did you say?" she asked, with the slightest edge to her voice.
"I was wondering why they didn't make it two-to-a-room, what's the problem?"
Weiss crossed her arms and shot Yang an exasperated look. "Really?"
Yang caught on to what she was saying. "Oh, I see, you have a problem with sharing a room with Ruby, don't you?" she accused.
"No, but I have a problem with the two-to-a-room arrangement you speak of."
"Why?" Yang frowned.
"Two people living together can get…weird, from what I've heard," Weiss blushed.
Yang smirked. "What secrets are you hiding, Princess?"
Weiss looked down. "I don't want to talk about it…"
"…Really-"
"-I'll just say that I'm in favor of what we've got now," Weiss hastily brushed off the topic, and went back to cataloging her luggage.
"I think it's cool," Ruby muffled from the far end of the room, and stood up proudly on the bed. "Team RWBY, all in the one room!"
Yang, who had walked over, playfully pushed Ruby off the bed, prompting the younger girl to lunge at her. As the play-fighting quickly escalated into yet-another brawl between the two, Weiss walked over to where they were grappling each other. "Do you two have any idea how loud you are? We're not the only people in this building, you know!"
During the commotion, Blake had managed to dress into her night-time yukata, and was sitting on her bed, watching the hysteria unfold before her. She closed her eyes, and exhaled deeply, before looking back up toward her teammates. "HEY!" she yelled over the din.
The three girls instantly stopped, and turned to look at Blake, whose amber eyes were now bearing down on them like raging flames. "People are tired from the events of the day, myself included. We can deal with this in the morning, when people are less tired and have the events of the day before them. But right now, I would like for us all to sleep, because I would like for us all to be mildly conscious during our first day of classes tomorrow morning. Sound like a good idea?" she glared daggers at all of them.
A tense silence followed as Blake calmed down, and eventually Weiss was the first to move. She walked back to the foot of her own bed, and began to put her suitcases back under it. Yang whispered to Ruby, "See you in the morning." She then gave her a brief hug, and walked over to the bed on the opposite side of the dorm, leaving the young scythe-wielder to start going through her things to find her own nightwear.
Her momentary outburst done with, Blake slipped into her sheets.
Weiss was still standing beside her bed, making sure everything was in order in the silence. However, Ruby refused to keep quiet. "I could use a bit more room…"
Weiss grabbed her pillow, and dropped it on Ruby's face. "Mmph!" the younger girl cried as the pillow stifled her comments.
Blake closed her eyes. "Thank you, Weiss."
The heiress snatched her pillow off of Ruby's face and threw it back down onto her own bed. "No problem."
Ruby, Yang and Blake were standing around the foot of the latter's bed, staring at something which was laid out across it. They had gotten up early to start dealing with their possessions. Meanwhile, Weiss was still comfortably laid out in bed, sleeping the morning away. They'd decided not to wake her until it was absolutely necessary, lest she fly into some sort of morning rage and behead whoever wakes her up.
Ruby broke the silence. "Well, I suppose we knew it'd come down to this eventually."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to like it!" Yang countered.
"Um," Blake raised her hand at Yang. "Actually, we do. It's compulsory for all students," she stated. She noticed Yang frowning at her. "But look on the bright side," she hurriedly continued, and held up the checked dress tunic, examining it. "It's not like we have to wear these things all the time."
Ruby walked back over to them, now dressed in the new uniform, fastening her cloak as she did so. "I guess." she spoke up from behind the two.
Yang and Blake glanced at each other, as if mentally asking, Did you see her leave?
Ruby continued as if nothing had happened. "It's not actually that bad," she spun around once, her cloak flying about behind her, and nodded to herself in satisfaction. "This could work."
Roughly ten minutes later, all three girls were dressed in the identical Beacon uniforms, from the burgundy-chequered dress and black-with-gold-trim blazer. The only thing that distinguished the outfits was the red-hooded cloak fastened onto Ruby's blazer, and the lack of stockings on Blake; both Yang and Ruby had decided to wear them, and the fiery girl had no trouble pointing out the fact.
"Look at you, Blake, showing off all kinds of leg in that dress!" Yang teased.
Blake looked over herself, and shrugged. "I wear tights when I'm fighting anyway, so I just felt like dressing differently for a change. And besides, you've seen me without tights when I'm wearing nightwear, so what?"
"Well, you know, don't you feel…" Yang paused, for dramatic effect. "Sexy?" she half-whispered seductively.
Blake's eyes widened. "What in the world do you mean?"
Yang just smirked and raised her eyebrows up and down suggestively at the obsidian-haired girl, who backed away nervously.
Ruby could sense that the situation was devolving rapidly, and decided to intervene. "Um, do you guys think we should wake Weiss up, so we can start fixing up this room?"
"Uh, if you, uh, think it's necessary," Blake said as she carefully looked away from Yang, who was still staring at her with a smirk on her face. "Remember that it's about seven-forty-five at the moment, and I'm pretty sure our first class starts at nine, so we have to manage our time carefully and-"
"Yeah, okay, so I'm going to wake her up now," Ruby cut in. "Where's that whistle I saw lying around last night?" she began to walk around the room in search of it.
Yang watched her younger sister walk around the dorm. "What do you think Weiss will think about the uniform?" she asked Blake, who was standing next to her, also watching Ruby.
"Well, you can't expect anyone to be too happy with anything when they get blown in their ear," Blake pointed out.
Yang cracked a devious grin at the comment, much to Blake's dismay. "Hehe, blown-"
"Cut it out!" Blake shoved her hand over Yang's mouth to keep her quiet. "Argh!" she gasped, and quickly withdrew when the blonde licked her palm. "Disgusting, Yang!"
Yang looked unperturbed. "You asked for it."
"I found it!" Ruby cried out triumphantly, holding a small metallic whistle in her hand.
Weiss shifted in her bed, and Ruby tiptoed over to her side, motioning at Blake and Yang to be quiet.
"She's gonna get yelled at," Yang whispered in Blake's ear.
BRRRRRRRRRR!
"Gah!"
THUD!
"Good morning Team RWBY!"
"What in the world is wrong with you?!"
Yang raised her open palm towards Blake. Smiling, Blake returned the gesture. "Boom."
Thus ends Season One! I never thought I would enjoy writing as much as I do now; these ten shorts were all incredibly enjoyable to craft and write, and I'll be back in the near future with another ten installments, set to kick off a second season of Different Shades of Life!
...Truly Yours, Kalico.