Time for the second chapter of Volume 2. I hope this is another fun one.
We all sat around the table in Beacon's library, watching RWBY play World of Remnant.
"Alright..." Ruby said.
"Ruby, don't play that card." I said.
This should be fun.
"Why?" Ruby asked.
"Trust me, you'll want to play that one." I said, pointing to another card.
"Okay..." Ruby said, "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"
"Bring it on!" Yang said.
"I deploy, the Atlesian Stealth Force!" Ruby said.
"How did you-?!" Yang asked.
"Looks like I get to sneak right through your walls and remove any traps!" Ruby said.
"You fiend!" Yang said.
"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time lasts only one turn." Ruby said.
"Grr." Yang said, putting her trap card in the discard pile, "I swear that you peeked."
"I swear, I never peeked." I said, "I just thought it would be a good idea to check for traps."
"But the stealth force backfires badly if there's no trap." Ruby said.
"Just good intuition, I guess." I said, "Well, Ice Queen, it's your turn."
Weiss glared at me and then stared at her cards.
"I have...absolutely no idea what's going on." Weiss said.
"Look, it's not that hard, you're playin as Vacuo, therefore, all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus." I said.
"That sounds dumb." Weiss said.
"You've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge, Resourceful Raider, now you can take Yang's discarded trap card..." I said as Yang growled at me, "and put it in your hand."
"Okay...?" Weiss said.
"And since Vacuo Warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you could use Sandstorm to disable Yang or Ruby's ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate either's kingdom." I said, "But be warned, they might not forget the declaration of war."
"And that means...?" Weiss asked.
"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant." I said.
Weiss got up and had a pathetic maniacal laugh.
"YES! FEAR THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF MY FORCES! COWER AS THEY PILLAGE YOUR HOMES AND WEEP AS THEY TAKE YOUR CHILDREN FROM YOUR VERY ARMS!" Weiss said, "I SHALL TAKE MY HOMELAND BACK BY FORCE!"
I think I just caused a problem.
"Ruby, if you would?" I asked.
"Trap card!" Ruby said, holding up a trap card.
"THE GOLIATH?!" Weiss asked.
I looked away and walked over to JNPR as Weiss's forces fell to Ruby's. I saw Jaune gazing longingly at Weiss.
"Dude, I told you before, it won't work." I said, "She's not interested in you."
"But you don't know love." Jaune said.
"Jaune," I said as I pulled Jaune's book down, "I think love is closer than you think."
I motioned my head over to Pyrrha.
"No, that can't be true." Jaune said, "She's just a friend."
"Dude, you're missing out on the biggest catch of your life." I said, walking off.
I walked back over to the table just in time, seeing as how Sun and Neptune arrived.
"Sup, losers?" Sun asked.
"Hey Sun!" Ruby said.
"Ruby, Blake, Yang, Kody, Ice Queen..." Sun said.
"Why does everyone keep calling me that!?" Weiss asked.
"It's catchy." I said.
"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend." Sun said.
"Uh...aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune asked.
"Thank you!" Ren said.
"Pancakes!" Nora exclaimed as she woke up.
"Shut up. Don't be a nerd." Sun said.
"G-g-g-g. Intellectual." Neptune said, "Okay? Thank you. I'm Neptune."
"So, Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked.
"Haven..." Neptune said as he walked over to Weiss, "...And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."
"Um...I'm Weiss." Weiss said.
"Are you kidding me!?" Jaune whispered.
"See?" I whispered to Jaune.
"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune said to Weiss.
"I never took you as the board-game-playing type!" Sun said.
"Right...well, I think I'm done playing actually." Blake said as she got up and left, "I'll see you guys later."
"Women." Nora said, gaining everyone's attention.
"So, who wants to...?" Ruby asked.
"I will!" I said, shooting into the vacant seat.
"You're so going down." Yang said.
Some time later, in my team's dorm, we were coming back from the library.
"How did she come back from that?!" I exclaimed.
"She kicked your butt!" Sky said.
"I can't believe that you got beat by a girl." Russell said, sitting on his bed.
I sat down and began to reminisce about the recent events. I thought back to Ozpin's chat with Blake, Sun, and, finally, me.
"I'm glad to see you decided to come here so late." Ozpin said, walking into the room.
I sat down in the seat across from Ozpin, awaiting his arrival.
"Can we get on with this?" I asked, "I want to get to sleep."
"At least you want to take care of this." Ozpin said, "So, in order to enroll at Beacon Academy, students must pass a rigorous entrance exam. Many applicants spend many years training at one of the many combat schools around the world...and just like Blake, you did not."
Wait, what?!
"And you passed the exam with flying colors." Ozpin said.
When did this happen?
"Something wrong?" Ozpin asked.
"No, I just never knew I did so well on my exam." I said.
"Well, you did, Kody." Ozpin said, "And I admire your devotion to protecting others, it's the mark of a true Huntsman. And, if you want to talk about your past, it's completely fine."
I gave Ozpin a quizzical look.
"I have noticed that you seem awfully protective of your own past, why is that?" Ozpin asked.
"Well, there's nothing interesting to talk about." I said, "I would just be boring everyone else."
"Then why so protective?" Ozpin asked.
I didn't know how to respond.
"How about we change the subject?" Ozpin asked, "How did you know the White Fang would be at the Shipyard tonight?"
"I just followed Sun and Blake, I didn't direct their choice." I said.
"That may be true, but what happened tonight wasn't just and isolated incident." Ozpin said, "I may be your headmaster, but I am also a Huntsman...and it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it. Kody...are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"
I sighed.
"I'm sure." I said.
"Very well." Ozpin said, getting up, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Crimson."
Ozpin walked to the door.
"If you ever need to talk to me, please don't hesitate to ask." Ozpin said, right before leaving.
"Kody? Kody?" I heard a voice say.
My mind focused back on the present day.
"What?" I asked.
"You were spacing out for a moment." Russell said, "You alright?"
"Uh...yeah." I said, "I'm okay."
"That's good." Russell said, "Well, we should all get to sleep now."
"Yeah, I agree." I said.
As Russell went to the bathroom to change, I looked out our open dorm door and saw Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder walk by. Cinder gave me a weird look as she passed by.
"Some of us are going to sleep better than others." I said.
I thought about Cinder, and if she knew about me.
That was the second chapter of Volume 2. I hope this was enjoyable. This chapter was meant to build up to later stories in this Volume.
Powerhouse out.