RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, of which I am not a part of.
Work, internet stuffs, no regular updates, yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the spiel by now.
Apparently, RWBY Volume 6 will be airing in mid-October of this year. If that's true, it looks like I have a 'complete by' deadline. That means I have about 170 days to write approximately 21 more chapters to finish Volumes 2 and 3 (including inter-volume chapters and an epilogue). I've written about 13 chapters in around 40 days, so I suppose that's possible. I may make a sequel to this story if I ever decide to put this idea into Volumes 4, 5 and even 6, though that may be overextending on my part.
I don't know, I'm still debating this internally. Frankly, my thoughts on this idea seem to change every other week.
Volume 2, Chapter 9, 'Search and Destroy'
Weiss always hated the bullhead transports.
First off, they were far too exposed to the elements. They also had no seats whatsoever. She could only barely reach the handles hanging high from the ceiling, something that Yang had taken the time to teasingly remind her of.
The sane part of her mind had just barely overridden the decision to send the blonde flying with a glyph.
Speaking of which, the risk of falling out of the airship whilst it was moving was far too high for proper safety procedures. Sure, SHE might be fine thanks to her semblance, but other less lucky students wouldn't exactly have such a break. Not to mention that plummeting towards the earth was something she'd already gone through earlier that year and wasn't a memory she wished to repeat any time soon. The terror of accelerating towards the ground had previously removed any landing strategies she could come up with and was something she still experienced in a few nightmares.
Wrinkling her brow, she took a look around the cabin, gaze casting over the two siblings as they chatted with their profess- er, DOCTOR, about the history of Mountain Glenn. She felt her breath hitch as her eyes began to fall on the figure standing next to her.
Trying to distract herself, she unsheathed Myrtenaster and popped open the loading chamber with one hand. She twirled the mechanism in a hopeless ploy to preoccupy her thoughts of the likely battles ahead.
She really should've brought a few backup vials, just in case.
Looking down at the back of each cartridge, the Schnee Dust logo stared back at her. A small scowl crossed her face. Some of the suitcases under her bed at the dorm were filled with a year's supply of various vials of dust. She remembered back when she was designing her weapon that she'd asked the higher-ups of the Schnee Dust Company to add the logo to the custom ammunition they sent her.
One day, one day, the symbol would mean more than just her father's company.
For now, though, the insignia simply tugged at the back of her mind. Reminding her that no matter what she did, she'd always be remembered as a Schnee.
Icy eyes strayed once more to the hand gripping the white bow beside her. Focusing on it caused her jumbled mind to start to settle.
"Something wrong, Weiss?"
The girl in question quickly turned her head off to the side. Even though her reason might be innocent, the fact that she'd been caught staring set off alarms in her head.
Dust, damn it! She probably thinks I like her now!
…well, I mean, I DO, but that's not something I want her to know!
Somehow, over the past few days, Weiss had come to accept the fact that she was now infatuated with Blake, even if she wasn't convinced these feelings would last forever. But despite with the subtle daydreams that occasionally replayed whenever she got lost in her own thoughts, she always dismissed the notion of reciprocation being possible.
'I believe I owe you a dance?'
Not with where she stood in the world, thanks to her father.
The lack of an answer to her question only caused Blake to become more concerned. She tightened her grip on the handlebar above her head as her thoughts brought back old, forgotten images that tore at her heart, sapping her strength as she gritted her teeth. It was only through sheer willpower that she kept her ears from flattening against her head.
Her additional worry upon realizing that Oobleck had changed their mission from simply cleaning up Grimm in the sector to actively looking for the White Fang's hideout meant the Faunus girl was on edge. Before, they'd been on a personal mission to take down Torchwick; now, it just felt like they were following Ozpin's orders, even if their objective hadn't changed.
And yet, there was something else.
There was always some sort of reasoning, almost like a small cloud of doubt in the back of her mind, that Weiss still hated her. It was a ridiculous assumption; hadn't Weiss already told her, to her face no less, how much she trusted her back in the courtyard? If the heiress still harbored resentment towards her, she was hiding it very well. That, or it wasn't influencing her actions at all. At that point, would it even matter if she did?
Blake sighed. She knew that the thought was pointless.
Yet that did nothing to chase it from that spot in her mind.
…did she even deserve Weiss's forgiveness?
'You owe nobody ANYTHING.'
Golden eyes shone with conflicting emotions as she glanced at the black ribbon tied at the base of her teammate's ponytail.
It was tough work. Every pack of Beowolves that fell to the team simply gave a preview of what was to come. It almost seem like they were fighting through the entire city's population of Grimm.
It didn't help that Oobleck wasn't assisting them at all. At one point, Yang had asked why; though the answer was round-about, it still made sense: If their huntsman had to fight, it either meant that the mission had gotten out of hand, or they were not strong enough to take on the task. The latter meant a failing grade, of course, seeing as this was the natural procedure for 'search and destroy' missions employed to full-fledged huntsman.
That particular fact did nothing to alleviate her frustration, however.
Her final target collapsed in front of her. Taking the moment to reload her gauntlets, she heard the professor speak up to her side.
"Ah, Mrs. Xiao Long. Would you kindly explain why you applied to Beacon Academy?"
Though his choice of wording seemed rude, his tone suggested genuine interest in the answer, which caught Yang's rebuttal in her throat.
Still, Yang couldn't help but scoff to herself. She was on a field mission; what kind of Taiyang-style 'life lessons' was he going to dispense on her now? Still, she supposed putting it into words wouldn't be the worst idea.
"Well, I guess I've just always loved to fight. And this sort of line of work helps me achieve that goal. This way, I'll always have something to take my mind off of my problems, to relieve whatever tension's built up inside of me; helping out those who need help is a great bonus along the way."
She flashed her teacher a grin, only for her face to fall as he seemed unfazed by her words. Instead, he looked down at his clipboard, his mouth twisting slightly.
"Very well then."
And with that, he walked off, moving in the direction of where her team was regrouping.
Suddenly, Yang started feeling a little sick. A knot formed in her stomach; the same one that she'd felt back when she'd grown frustrated about her lack of progress connecting with her fellow teammates.
Something about the dismissal just… bothered her.
Weiss had to wonder how exactly the White Fang had managed to set up shop in such an infested location. It worried her that they'd have to fight through hordes of the creatures before they reached the White Fang hideout; she only hoped that the discontent the group held meant they were suffering similar fates of being worn down by pack after pack of Beowolves.
Yet, even when her muscles started to scream from over-exertion, she never allowed herself to falter.
After all, I have people that I care about now. Ones I can't let down.
It probably helped that fighting was keeping her mind off of Blake.
Well, to a certain degree, at least.
"Mrs. Schnee, what can you tell me about your future plans? What made you come all the way to Vale when you have a major position already laid out for you in Atlas?"
Weiss promptly ignored the question for a moment, taking a second to deliver another unconscious rapier strike to her opponent, her form flowing perfectly along expertly practiced techniques that were slightly adjusted for true battle conditions.
As the slain beast disintegrated on the ground, she brought her head up to her teacher. His expression was intrigued but otherwise unreadable behind his enormous spectacles.
"It's my duty to uphold my family's name. When I found out how much I was capable of doing, I couldn't possibly waste my time sitting at home, waiting for some sort of crown to be put on my head. I wanted to take action, to prove to the world how much I can do even without everything being handed to me. Now that I'm here, I have people who I… trust very much, so I can't just turn back now."
She found herself surprised when Oobleck's only response was a curt nod. She couldn't see his eyes, but the faint frown on his lips suggested dissatisfaction. The gesture caused Weiss's blood to boil.
For once, the redness present in her cheeks wasn't from embarrassment, but from actual anger.
Sure, maybe she'd left some stuff out, but that was personal!
Okay, maybe it was a bit from embarrassment.
It's not like he has a right to know anyway!
As Blake kicked in the old wooden door, her golden gaze scanned through the darkness and picked out small shapes stirring, hidden within.
It seemed that the shelter hadn't been as abandoned as she thought.
Jumping through the rafters, Blake gunned down several younger Nevermores as their calls screeched against her bound ears, her face finally loosening up as the last one fell to the ground, silenced.
As she loaded another clip of bullets into her pistol, she almost fell herself when she heard Oobleck speak up from beside her, sitting on another wooden beam.
"So what of yourself, Mrs. Belladonna? Why do you want to become a huntress?"
Golden eyes narrowed. The instructor held a clipboard in his hands, likely ready to report anything he found suspicious back to his superior. Despite this, Blake hummed to herself, working out a reasonable response that she felt even their headmaster would find appropriate.
"Well, I'd like to be able to protect those who need to be protected. There are those who suffer in the world and, if I can prove myself by being able to fight off even the most dangerous of Grimm, I can help them from their suffering as well. To me, it's a pillar of morality that allows us shine past even our darkest attributes. Isn't that what being a huntsman was all about? Showing the world your righteousness, no matter who you are?"
Initially, Oobleck seemed impressed by her answer, but his smile faded as she'd concluded. It caused her brows to furrow.
Oobleck didn't even jot anything down on his paper; instead, he simply pushed himself off the rafters and stepped over broken planks of wood in the entranceway.
Blake couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. It felt like she'd just failed a test that she didn't realize that she was taking. Perhaps that's what is was, though: a simple question to know where she felt she laid in her mind.
Yet, if that's what I believe in, how could it be considered wrong?
"Uh, Professor?"
"DOCTOR."
"Right… Doctor, I have a question I'd like to ask you."
"Does it have something to do with the subject I've been talking to your teammates about today?"
"Yes… well, yes and no. I was wondering: Why did YOU become a huntsman?"
Oobleck looked down at the red-haired girl and let a small smile cross his face. Ozpin had clearly not been wrong when he had assigned her to be the leader of her team. It seemed she was able to think about such subjects without requiring encouragement from the outside.
It was a quality he saw only occasionally amongst a select few students.
"Tell me, Ruby. When you think of Mountain Glenn, what does it say to you?"
Ruby shuffled at the question, a hand coming up to scratch at the back of her neck. She brought up a hand, gesturing around her. "Uh, well, to be honest, sir? A bunch of old ruins that we've been climbing through all day."
Her teacher chuckled at the wording. Despite her impressive leadership skills, it was clear that this girl was still years younger than her companions; he noted her rather immature answers to his inquiring questions in the classroom.
Still though, that did not necessarily mean that she was naïve or foolish. Or innocent. If what Qrow said about how she acted after Summer died was true…
Oobleck's face shifted, causing the leader to stop in her tracks, clearly shocked by his sudden change in demeanor.
"Young lady. Whilst your interpretation is certainly correctly, I can safely say there is more to this place than rocks and ancient tales."
He looked out over the street, eyes gazing over the area in calculated thought.
"When I was studying became a huntsman, I was just like many of your peers. To me, being a huntsman simply meant honing your battle skills. It became clear after I joined my class at Beacon that there was much more to it than that. To be a huntsman, you must possess skills of a wide variety; to understand both your opponents and those you are fighting alongside. There is so much information in such fields of study, subjects ranging through the many classes you yourself have sat through at school, Mrs. Rose. Indeed, this mission itself is part of the work you must complete before you graduate, which puts more value into it beyond whatever you personally may put in it at this very moment. Yet, no one goes to a huntsman academy simply to read from the textbooks. To say that you came to Beacon because of a path you were looking to follow is not just incorrect, it is quite literally the opposite of the truth. Indeed, I did not become a huntsman because of any one reason, Ruby."
Oobleck paused, pushing the rim of his glasses back up his nose. His smile grew into one of great pride.
"I became a huntsman and it was from there that my path ahead was forged."
Though her initial reaction was a quick blink, Ruby's face soon drew into a warm grin of her own.
Part of her didn't fully understand what he meant, but it seemed it was his way of explaining to her what the future held in store for herself and her team.
Or perhaps one they were experiencing already.
Oobleck's speech in the episode was awesome. Seriously, that speech is still one of my favorite scenes in the entire show (outside of the shipping stuff, of course.)