Whaaaaat - an update? That's right folks, I'm finally gonna finish this thing, nearly nine months later! (Seriously, sorry about that.) As it is, this once happy story is getting more serious - perhaps I'm just bad at fluff? Who knows. . .
Anyway, this will be finished in the next 6 chapters or so, so thank you for your patience! As always, thanks to all who read, review, follow, and favorite! Love ya.
The day of the Beacon Academy Dance was heralded by bells, a lovely tune echoing throughout campus as classes came to an end. With the Vytal Festival drawing near, the dance symbolized the last bit of peace between the kingdoms before the students would be thrown into a metaphorical war, pitted against one another in armed combat to bring glory to their respective academies. Bringing glory to Beacon was one of the last things on Ren's mind.
Ren stretched, muscles and joints straining as he stood from a two-hour lecture about Professor Port's fantastic exploits. None had better concentration and mental fortitude than he, but even Ren's focus was tested every time Professor Port began rambling. Mimicking the actions of many of his classmates, he pulled his scroll from his pocket and flicked it open, checking for any messages. When none were displayed, he flipped the scroll in his hand and pocketed it in a smooth motion, leaving the room.
Emerald had been quiet since their last talk, seemingly uncomfortable with. . . something. While he hadn't told anybody, Ren had been hoping to see Emerald again before the dance, with the intention of asking her to accompany him. As of late though, she had been taciturn; she spent most of her recent time slinking around with her teammates, each of which served to put Ren on edge. Mercury irked him, his general attitude crass and unbearable, while Cinder filled him with a sense of dread, she reminded him of the beautiful crime bosses that often appeared in fiction titles, misleading the protagonist and eventually killing their families. That, and with the implications that she was holding Emerald close against her will, Ren had decided that he disliked her.
Emerald's third teammate was a woman he had only seen once, but the girl had given him a grin that resembled a slasher smile a little too closely - he made a mental note to keep his distance and avoid running into her alone, if at all possible.
As it was, he had been unable to speak with Emerald, and therefore walked back to the JNPR dorm alone. The dance held much less meaning to him since Emerald wouldn't be with him, but he intended to go anyway if only to support the rest of his team. He met the rest of JNPR in the dorm, Jaune and Pyrrha poured over homework side by side, while Nora napped.
"Hello Ren, how was the lecture?" Pyrrha looked up from her work.
He responded with a short chuckle, "I'll just say that Professor Port has an incredibly lung capacity." His statement earned a nod of agreement from Jaune.
"Pyrrha and I were just going over some homework before we get ready for the dance." He trailed off, looking Ren up and down. "Umm, are you going with us? Because if you were going with Emerald, none of us would mind."
Ren sighed, shaking his head. "I haven't been able to talk to her recently," he admitted. "With any luck I can find her on the dance floor - provided she shows up at all."
"I'm sure she will," Pyrrha consoled him, but it was more the cheerfulness with which she said the words that the actual content that made him smile back.
"Either way, we've earned an evening off. I'm looking forward to it."
At Jaune's suggestion team JNPR made a fashionably late entrance to the ballroom, arriving roughly fifteen minutes after it started. While fifteen minutes didn't strike Ren as 'late,' he made no comment and instead worked on the 'fashionable' part, hoping his team would turn a few heads. They were greeted by Yang and her radiant smile as they entered, and once they passed by, they were greeted by the magnificence of the usually drab ballroom.
The entire area shone with gold lighting, which reflected from banners and ribbons hung carefully around the ceiling and pillars. Students milled about in all their finery, some dancing in the center of the floor while others stood near the periphery, speaking animatedly to those close by. Ren smiled as he gazed about; while he had faith in RWBY's decorating abilities, he hadn't expected an atmosphere this pleasant.
With a few parting words Jaune and Pyrrha left to dance, while Nora bounced over to Weiss and Ruby, who both stood at the edge of the room sipping from wine glasses. Ren gave the dancers a quick once-over, Emerald didn't appear to be present. He followed Nora over to Weiss and Ruby, arriving just as Ruby began answering Nora's question.
"- I dunno, I'm not really much of a dancy person I guess," she said, punctuating her words with a wobble. Obviously not used to wearing heels, she had chosen a pair that elevated her at least two inches. Ren cringed internally at the mistake, with any luck Ruby would be able to dance barefeet without being caught by one of the chaperoning professors.
"Hello Ren," Weiss inclined her head to him, "you like nice."
"You as well, the white compliments your style," he responded easily, earning a nod from her.
"Did you come here alone?" Ruby chimed in, eager to remove herself from being the centerpoint of the conversation.
"Well, I suppose if you don't count the rest of my team, then yes." Ruby nodded animatedly.
"That's the same for all of us too. Well not for Blake, but you get the picture."
"Right." As Nora mentioned something about Yang spiking one of the punch bowls, Ren was distracted by the entrance of two figures into the hall.
Mercury walked in first. He wore a standard tuxedo, one of the ones that could easily be rented from any of the tux shops in the Vale proper. Cheap and boring, much like him, Ren couldn't stop himself from appraising. Emerald followed in after, wearing the same forest green dress she had worn to their dinner earlier. While her clothing looked excellent, it was out of place when compared with her expression; she glanced timidly around the hall as if hoping not to draw attention to herself, the usual smirk on her face gone.
Mercury strode ahead, walking into the throng of dancers. Probably to steal someone's partner, Ren mused. When Emerald stopped short of the dancers, Ren decided to take his chance.
"Excuse me," he intoned to his makeshift group.
"Go get her!" Nora called after him.
When Emerald noticed his approach a flash of panic crossed her face, before it was replaced by a look of. . . relief? "I was wondering when you were going to show up," she chided.
"I've been here the whole time," Ren pointed out, walking further to the edge of the room. Emerald followed him without prompting. "How have you been recently? I haven't seen you much," he asked, his tone coming out more guarded than he had intended. A flash of guilt crossed Emerald's face.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her voice nearly lost in the ambient noise, "there's been a lot going on recently."
Although he knew she was being serious, likely hinting at something to do with her team, he laughed to dispel the tension. "And here I was worried I'd angered you."
She laughed back, a small amount of tension easing from her features. "You would worry. Not your fault though. Sorry."
"So you came here alone? Or did you come with Mercury?"
She immediately whirled, slapping him on the shoulder. "Never mind, I revoke my apology!" The dancers on the floor drew her attention as the song changed. "You were planning to ask me, weren't you?"
"I was, but that hardly matters now. I'm here, you're here. We'd might as well have come together anyway."
"Good point," Emerald agreed.
"Since you're not here with anyone, would you like to dance?" Ren extended his hand in invitation.
Emerald looked at the other dancers for a moment before letting out a sharp bark of laughter. "Please, do I look like a dancer?"
"There's not much to it," Ren countered, "and besides, it's my job to lead. If I lead well, you should feel like you're doing well." Emerald sighed but didn't contest, placing her hand in his.
Ren didn't go far, leading them to the edge of the floor. Dancing on the fringes would give them more privacy, and he figured Emerald wouldn't be too keen on being the center of attention. As the song changed he placed a hand on her waist, waiting for her hand to meet his shoulder before he started swaying slowly, eliminating the need for any footwork. Better to start slow, half the fun in dancing is the conversation that comes with it.
Emerald began the dance with her arm muscles tense, firmly holding onto him until she eventually relaxed, settling into the rhythm. After a full minute, Ren began adding small steps into the routing, slowly turning them in place - Emerald had no trouble keeping up.
"Do you have any special plans for the Vytal Festival?" Ren specifically avoided mentioning the rest of her team, instead focusing wholly on her. Even so, Emerald bit her lip before responding.
"Nothing special I guess," she shrugged, "It's just another overhyped school tournament."
"You don't seem especially excited."
"I don't have anything to prove. I don't base my worth on my ability to beat up children."
"What about capable Hunters in training?"
"Capable? Look around, Ren." At her direction they both looked to the side, eyes passing over the other dancers. "They're dancing and smiling and laughing. While I may envy their ability to enjoy the smaller stuff, can you say they look especially prepared?" She shook her head bitterly, looking at Ren once again. "I could pickpocket half of them right now if I wanted, say nothing of a stealthy attack with a poisoned blade or something. Their guard is down, and they're unsuspecting; they've got a long way to come before they're ready for the real world."
"And you're more ready?" Ren asked, the words not a challenge but a clarification.
Emerald nodded. "More than most. I've seen what's out there. To a certain extent, I'm sure you have too. Kids are idealistic, it's easy to find the will to fight when you place all your fears into something scary."
"But the Grimm are just a scapegoat," Ren finished, seeing where she was going.
"Exactly. The Grimm are a convenient enemy for Hunters to focus on. The real monsters are people."
"You don't take pride in defeating these students because you don't see them as worthy opponents," Ren concluded. "So are you saying that you can win the tournament?"
"Of course not," Emerald disagreed matter-of-factly. "I can't win one-on-one against a lot of them, but I'm not stupid. Huntsmen and Huntresses grow up with the idea that all their battles are head-on, simple. That's what they're prepared for. But who ever said the world was a place that allowed only fair fights? Most of these kids - hell - most of the actual Huntsmen are unprepared for a stab in the back."
"To be fair, that's the point of backstabbing," Ren joked. "But I think I see what you mean. A tournament is set up so every fight is on at least somewhat fair and equal ground." He looked again at the dancers around them, their steps having taken them into the center of the dance floor. "So you're at a disadvantage because you're being forced to fight fair?"
"Yeah, but that's not really my point."
"You mean, this tournament itself is a bad setup for learning to fight because the students are focused on the wrong thing."
"Exactly," Emerald nodded, but without a smile. "This type of fighting is idealized for Grimm, but no matter how talented they might be, they're weak." She shook her head, sighing. "What good is the world's strongest organization of defense if it can be destroyed from within? The Huntsman of Remnant are like glass chess pieces - beautiful and decadent, but one internal fracture can reduce them to crystalline dust."
"What a metaphor," Ren pulled them into a swooping spin, leaning Emerald back before righting her and pulling her close. "I'm impressed."
"Shut up." She made little effort to hide the rosy tint on her cheeks, but it disappeared shortly after.
"To be honest, I'm actually surprised you came here tonight," he added as an aside as the song began winding down. "As you said earlier, you don't consider yourself to be much of a dancer."
Emerald sighed, a dour expression appearing on her face. "My team made me come. I wasn't actually going to, at least, not at first."
"They made you come?"
Emerald looked up in alarm at his words, quickly stepping away from him. He let his arms fall as she backed away. Her eyes shone with what he could only place as regret. "I'm sorry, Ren. I have to go." And with those words, she disappeared into the crowd of dancers.
Ren returned to the edge of the ballroom, watching as the dancers still on the floor finished the song out, separating amicably as the tunes faded into silence. The music was replaced moments later by a new song and the dancing continued, as it would throughout the night.
Ren allowed the time time to pass as he stayed seated, watching his various classmates enjoy the festivities. Well, Ruby looked out of place, but he supposed that just came with the territory; she had never been an overly social person. Even watching his friends did little to lighten his mood, though he made sure his darker feelings didn't show themselves on his face. At one point Nora came by and made small talk, leaving her glass of punch when she left to dance with an Atlas student. Ren finished the drink for her as he watched.
As the crowds parted, the Beacon midnight bell tolled, echoing across campus, the peals reverberating throughout the ballroom. Through a small part in the crowd that lasted only a second, a flash of forest green caught Ren's attention. Emerald was dancing with a silver-haired man, and even though Ren didn't see his face, he knew it was none other than Mercury.
As natural as it was for teammates to dance with each other, he couldn't stop the jealousy that twisted in his stomach. Halfway through the song he saw the pair again, only this time they were interrupted by a tall woman in a sparkling jet black dress. He hardly recognized Cinder without her regular crimson attire, but his lips twisted into a grimace even in the face of her elegance. Beautiful and dangerous.
Cinder tapped Emerald on the shoulder and, after saying a few words to her, took her place as Mercury's dance partner. The pair faded into the crowd, leaving Emerald behind alone, eyes wide. Ren stood on a whim with the intention to fill the now vacant spot as her partner, but she turned suddenly and rushed through the crowd; right before she vanished he saw her wipe her face on her arm, as if she were in tears.
Try as he might, Ren couldn't locate her. For all intents and purposes, the thief had simply vanished, leaving her mark on the dance floor and his heart before mysteriously disappearing. He sighed in defeat, this time slouching back into his chair. His attempt to console himself by finishing Nora's glass of punch did little to help.
Looking around the dance floor now, all the laughter and smiling only served to irritate him. He recognized how immature and stupid his jealousy was, but he began making his way to the exit anyway, intent on leaving. There's no point in my being here if I'm just going to drag the others' mood down. I'll make myself scarce so they can enjoy themselves.
With this thought in mind, Ren left the ballroom, passing Professor Goodwitch on the way out. Rather than saying anything, she simply nodded, for which he was grateful. His exit wasn't actually that strange, seeing as how it was already a quarter past midnight, though the ball would continue until sunrise.
Ren had only made it a little ways across the courtyard when he heard a sniffle off to his left. After a moment he placed the sound as crying, quiet as it was. The sound came from around the corner of the stone dining hall, an area that would normally be empty at this time of night. Familiar with the romantic drama surrounding dances, he figured it was merely a badly-timed breakup, but he'd be remiss if he didn't check to make sure everything was alright. He padded around the corner of the building, bringing him to an area that was completely closed off from campus by a thick line of trees. The windows of the ballroom glowed yellow a short distance away, the opaque glass hiding the occupants from view.
"Hello?" he called out, consciously making his footsteps louder on the stone walkway to prevent the crying person to be scared. "Is everything alright?" He stopped in the middle of the walkway, confused. The sound had appeared to have come from the wall directly to his side, but there was nobody there. The blank wall didn't give any answers as he studied it. Ren's hand trailed down his thigh to reach Stormflower, but he stopped short once he realized he was in a tux and had left his weapons back in his dorm.
"If there's somebody here, please say something. I just want to make sure you're alright."
"Ren?" the voice came from the wall again, this time with another sniffle. Without warning, Emerald's form flickered into view, appearing out of nowhere.
"I- Emerald?" Ren gasped, dumbstruck. "Where were you? How did you just- are you crying?"
Sure enough, dark mascara trails lined her face, extending from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks. Her red eyes were puffy, and her lips were drawn back as she clenched her jaw. Before he could react she had stepped forward and buried her face into his chest.
"Emerald, are you okay?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "What happened?"
She gasped a few more times before answering. "I fucked up," she choked out. "I didn't want to do it, but I wasn't strong enough."
"Emerald, can you tell me what happened?" Ren tried to keep his voice calm as he wrapped her in his arms tightly. "Even just a little, are you hurt?"
"No," she whispered, "I'm fine. I just-" her voice stopped short as she broke into tears again, quieter this time.
"Is this about Cinder?" he asked, prodding delicately. "You don't have to answer, just nod your head if yes. I promise I won't tell anyone." When no response came, he hugged her tighter to his chest. "Please Emerald, I want to help. Please, tell me if you can."
Ren's tux jacket shifted as she nodded her head once, up and then down. Yes.
His lips twisted into a snarl. "Did she hurt you?"
She shook her head from side to side this time. No.
"Okay," he breathed out a sigh of relief, "okay, that's good. I'm really happy to hear that."
Without giving any word of warning, Emerald's hands snaked their way around his neck. Or at least, one of them did, the other grabbed the top of his tie, her hand balling around the fabric by his throat. He was pulled forcefully downward as she lifted her head, and the last thing Ren saw was her red eyes before their mouths collided into a kiss.
Her face was wet, Ren noticed, and her lips tasted more like saltwater than anything. Unsure of what to do he held his position, giving Emerald full control as her hand went up to the back of his head, pulling him deeper into the kiss. She was panting when she finally broke away, holding her arms close to her chest.
"I'm. . . sorry."
". . . No, don't be," he replied, trying to hide his racing heart. "Are you okay?" he asked again. It looked like she had stopped crying; if her goal had been to shock herself out of the tears by kissing him, it seemed to have worked.
"I can't go back," she said instead, looking away. "Not to them, not to her." She paced a few steps before turning back to him. "I can't go back," she repeated.
"Then come with me," Ren said, answering the unspoken question. "It's Friday night and the weekend is ahead of us, nobody will notice if we're gone. We'll. . . we'll rent a hotel in Vale and hole up there."
"I don't have mone-"
"Doesn't matter," Ren interrupted, taking her hand. "Come with me, let me help you, just this once."
"I trust you Ren," was all Emerald said in reply as he led them away from the ballroom, away from the campus, and away from Cinder.
"I won't misplace that trust, I promise."