RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light
Chapter 8
oxoxoxo
Thatch gave Alison a pat on the shoulder as she walked down to the arena where Ruby gave her a smile. "Good luck."
The artist just smiled in response as she pounded the ball end of Pianji on the floor of the stage, causing the clawed hand of the weapon to emerge. On the other side of the stage, Ruby followed her example, Crescent Rose emerging in all her glory.
The fight still had yet to start. As such, Ruby cast a quick glance to her white haired partner, and to her surprise, Weiss was actually looking up at the stage, a look of interest on her face.
Of course, then she noticed that Ruby was looking at her, and quickly hid her face, looking in any direction but at her.
Ruby was shocked at this. She knew Weiss never thought she was the greatest person ever, but she thought the heiress would at least watch her fight, maybe prove why she deserved to be here. But no, Weiss was still the same stuck up mean girl she always had been, and this would just have to be something Ruby would have to accept.
Ruby looked down to the scythe in her hands. At least I still have one of my partners... she thought to herself.
Alison looked off in the direction Ruby had, her semblance allowing her to precisely follow her new opponent's eyesight directly to what appeared to be the source of her new dismay: Weiss. She had no idea what happened between the two girls, likely something that occurred in the emerald forest.
She cast her mind back to not long ago, after the teams were announced. JNPR, RWBY and EMAD had gathered together to celebrate the end of the initiation. The teams had met up in RWBY's new room to celebrate, introductions had been made and stories were traded about what the students had experienced during the initiation as they fought to recover the relics.
At the time though, two people were rather quiet. Maria only entered the conversation at a few points, and never for more than a few words, but at least she had spoken, she had said something. Weiss, on the other hand, was completely silent the whole time as she stared at the back of her new leader's head with a frown on her face, a look somewhere between anger and confusion.
Alison didn't have much time to consider this before she was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of Goodwitch announcing "Ready..." Quickly, the artist got herself into a fighting stance as the professor called "Go!"
(Author's note: Music begins here. Song: Hengsha by Miracle of Sound) (Secondary note: no, he won't be doing the whole soundtrack to this, but some of his songs fit well in the story.)
Ruby began the fight, firing off several shots from Crescent Rose, but instead of dodging like Ruby thought she might, Alison simply raised her Zhua, her eyes glowing blue as she deflected the shot. Ruby fired again and again, but not only were her shots blocked, but Alison was slowly advancing on her, her unblinking eyes glowing blue the whole time.
Ruby knew that gunshots weren't going to work, so she spun her scythe around, aiming behind her and pulled the trigger. In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby shot towards Alison and swung Crescent Rose, but Alison was ready, and blocked the blade with Pianji's shaft. She then brought her zhua back and swung at the reaper with the claw end, Ruby ducking under the attack as it soared over her head and using the shaft of her scythe to sweep Alison's legs out from under her.
The artist fell to the floor as Ruby brought up her scythe for the finishing blow, only for her shot to be blocked, Alison catching the very tip of her weapon with the shaft of hers, her eyes once again the colour of the sky. She then pushed back, sending the reaper stumbling back as she got to her feet and prepared to fight once again.
That was when Ruby decided it was time to fight semblance with semblance. She charged, her attacks fuelled by her speed as she made seemingly wild slashes that forced Alison onto the defensive. She had no trouble parrying the sweeping and spinning slashes Ruby made, but they came so fast she was unable to make any of her own, and the younger girl had so much energy at all times she was unlikely to ever stop.
Then the quiet girl had an idea. She continued to block Ruby's attacks, her Zhua spinning and flying about to block all the strikes from the red hooded girl, until she had the perfect opportunity: Ruby made a sweeping attack, one made to cut an opponent in two, but Alison quickly leapt back as Ruby swung past. She knew she didn't have long to put her plan into action, so she extended her Zhua as much as she could, knocking aside Crescent Rose. Ruby stumbled as she tried to regain control of her weapon, but that was when Alison struck, hitting her right in the midsection with the claw end of her staff and sending her to the floor.
Moving fast, Alison raised her weapon for the final blow of the match, but Ruby wasn't about to go down that easy. Especially when she was watching.
(New Music: Red Like Roses Part II by Jeff Williams)
Alison's zhua descended, but a loud 'bang' was heard and Ruby vanished. Alison's weapon hit the floor, but just as it did another 'bang' was heard and Ruby slammed right into her, boots first and sent her flying across the stage.
Ruby didn't stop, using another shot to fly at her opponent again, swinging her weapon at the artist, but Alison rolled out of the way at the last second. She swung her claw, but Ruby escaped with another shot, flying back in a flurry of petals and firing two more shots that Alison was forced to deflect before she charged again, firing off another shot and flying at Alison, trying to catch the quiet girl with her scythe. She was pleased when her scythe made contact with something, but it was only the shaft of Pianji, the weapon blocking the strike but not the impact as the artist was caught.
Ruby wasted no time, summoning her strength and using it to pick up Alison and throw her across the stage. She landed and rolled with the impact, rising to her feet just as Ruby made another high speed slash. The quiet girl dove under the attack and ran for the middle of the stage.
Ruby spun around and opened fire, Alison blocking the shots again as she advanced on the other girl. Ruby knew this would still get her nowhere, so calling on her speed she charged, aiming the butt spike of her scythe at her opponent.
That was when Alison activated her dust, firing fire and lightning out of the claws of her zhua. Ruby leapt over the attack and firing behind her she shot at the other girl like a rocket, just barely missing as Alison jumped back.
Ruby was forced back as the artist swung her claw, but she managed to get out of the way of the claw, unfortunately, the fire that flew with it hit her and knocked her back.
As Ruby rolled with the hit, Alison moved in to finish her off, but the reaper once again disappeared with a flurry of petals and a sniper rifle shot. Alison turned to her and fired a blast of fire dust, but the red cloaked girl vanished once again, appearing behind her but disappearing again when the artist turned to face her. Ruby smiled as she did the same thing again. Keeping her opponent guessing before she fired again might get her a hit as her opponent didn't know where the attack would come from.
Unbeknownst to her, Alison had the same thought. The other girl was moving around so fast, what if she was unable to block her next shot? She needed a plan and quickly. A dust blast wouldn't work since Ruby would be gone before she could even fire. Unless
In a shower of roses and a gunshot, Ruby landed right behind Alison and raised Crescent Rose for the finishing shot, but the artist leapt into the air, the bullet flying under her. Ruby adjusted her aim and fired into the air after her. Alison spun in the air and dodged the shot. Soon she fell though, and as she did she aimed Pianji's claws at the ground. The iron claw struck the ground, the crystal in the palm glowing a bright blue before a burst of ice exploded from the weapon, covering the whole stage, including Ruby's cape and boots in a layer of ice.
Unable to move, Ruby could do nothing as Alison charged, only stopping when Goodwitch called out "Enough!"
Both girls turned to the professor. "I think we all know who won this match. Miss Rose, you did well, but Miss Zu has won today."
Ruby looked down at her frozen feet before turning to Weiss. The white haired girl had her face down in her hands. She probably thinks I'm even dumber now...
The sound of ice cracking brought Ruby out of her thoughts. She turned to see Alison using the ball end of her zhua to break the ice that held her. Her cape was now free, and the quiet girl was now working on her boots. "Thanks." Ruby muttered, dejectedly.
"Think nothing of it." Alison answered, a smile on her face. "You did well back there." She continued "The tactic at the end of the match almost had me."
Ruby looked up to meet the other girl's eyes. "Really?"
Alison nodded. "The move I used at the end was a complete gamble really. I'm shocked it even worked."
Ruby smiled for a moment before her face fell again. "No one else knows that though."
"No, but they know you almost won." Ruby looked at the artist questioningly at this, Alison pointing up to the screens. Ruby's aura had dropped into the red, but Alison's was only a sliver higher.
Knowing she had done better put a smile on the red hooded girl's face as her feet were freed from their icy bonds.
Meanwhile, at the top of the class, the two male professors watched with interest as the battle ended.
Marlow nodded, impressed at the young girls' skills.
Fantine, on the other hand, felt the need to add more. "Now that, that is skill. Those two will make fine huntresses some day. Not at all like that boy of yours."
"He's not my boy." Marlow muttered.
"He's not a real huntsman either. He likely never will be. The boy will be expelled or eaten by Grimm within a few years, hopefully the first." Said Fantine "The boy's a good lad, I'd hate to see him die."
Marlow made a low, growling noise in the back of his throat. Fantine said nothing in response, thinking it was only the veteran facing the truth.
He was wrong. The red coated professor had a plan to put his colleague in his place.
He stood up, the action already getting his masked companion's attention. He clapped loudly, getting the attention of the entire class, the students shocked at the unnoticed presence of the other professors. "Excellent show professor, truly impressive." Goodwitch gave him a look as if to say 'go on.' "Although, as excellent as they are, why don't Fantine and I show them just how we managed to survive this long and become professor's at Beacon."
"What are you doing?" demanded the phantom in a harsh whisper.
"Showing these children what a real huntsman looks like." The veteran replied, his expression not rising as he walked to the stage. "Now come on, let's show them what we can do."
Getting up and grumbling, Fantine followed his comrade down to the ring.
oxoxoxo
It wasn't long before both professors were suited for battle, Marlow strapping both his sabres to his belt and a rifle to his back while Fantine strapped on his rapier.
Both teachers stepped up to the ring, all the students watching to see just what their professors could do. Of course, one of the most excited was Ruby, the hyperactive girl excited to see just what the arsenal of Beacon's staff would look like. She looked off to the side to see what Weiss might think, but the white haired girl had disappeared. Where did she go? Wondered Ruby, somewhat sadly. Maybe she left after I lost and I just didn't notice.
"You okay Ruby?"
Ruby turned around to see it was Yang who had spoken. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about something."
Yang looked at her sister confusedly. "That's a surprise. I mean, we have two veteran hunters about to duel for us and instead of focusing on the hunters or their weapons, you're thinking about something else." The brawler said, putting emphasis on the words she knew would get her sister back into the real world and out of her head. Probably somewhere I should get her out of, she thought she seems pretty depressed.
Fortunately, Yang's plan worked perfectly. "Ooh I can't ignore huntsmen and their weapons... Let's get this party started!"
Meanwhile, team JNPR were trying to get Jaune's confidence back after his defeat. "It's alright Jaune," said Pyrrha "everyone has one of those days."
Jaune looked up at the Amazon "Even you?" he grumbled. The knight knew he shouldn't have talked like that, but by dust, that defeat was humiliating. It was times like this that Jaune wondered whether Ozpin was right to put him in charge of a team.
Pyrrha looked away and rubbed her arm in embarrassment, an action that was not appreciated by a certain hammer wielder. "She's trying to help you!" snapped Nora, her usually happy demeanour broken. "Don't talk to her like that!"
"Nora..." said Ren, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright Ren," said Jaune with a sigh "She's right, I deserve it, sorry Pyrrha."
Pyrrha gave a small smile, but she could see from just a desk away at Team EMAD Maria Gaia was rolling her eyes at her and Jaune behind his back.
Pathetic. Thought the centurion. How did someone with so little skill even end up at Beacon? As much as she wracked her brain, she could not come up with anything that made sense.
But now was not the time for such thoughts, the professors who tested them were preparing for a demonstration of skill, and one of her teammates had just won a fierce battle against a child prodigy and another... well, he had put up a good fight...
"C'est tres magnifique!" declared Francois. "So much better than our colleague here." He said, gesturing to Thatch.
Said swordsman grumbled a little before speaking. "Ignoring that, you were amazing Alison, really, nice work."
Alison said nothing, the quiet girl merely smiling at the praise from her teammates. Soon enough though, she spoke up "You did pretty good too." She said softly.
Thatch heard her and returned the smile, a real smile, not his usual smirk or grin. "You were bloody brilliant though."
"He's right," said Maria, joining the group. "you beat her handily."
Alison had a small blush on her face. "I gambled at the end, really."
Maria smiled and put a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "If a gamble pays off, it was a good choice." The centurion then turned to Thatch. "As for you," the renegade audibly gulped as Maria approached him. "you had a tough opponent and put up a good fight." That relaxed the swordsman, his shoulders visibly dropped in relief. "But!" That caught his attention again. "I want a victory out of you next time, got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" said Thatch, standing ramrod straight as Francois tried to contain his laughter.
"And you!" the team leader said, pointing an accusing finger at the marksman. "Don't laugh, you still haven't fought anyone here. If you win, then you can make fun of Thatch all you like."
"This gives me quite the motivation." Francois mused. "Oui madame, you will not be disappointed."
"I better not be." Maria warned, but the small smile she gave at the end showed she at least enjoyed part of that order. She was about to keep talking when she heard words from the front of the class that silenced her and drew the attention of the entire room to the front of the room.
"Ready... Go!" called Goodwitch as the fight began.
