"I guess it all really started when we intercepted a White Fang attack at the docks." Ruby began.
"Why?" Qrow immediately interrupted. He had been working tirelessly to make Ruby keep her promise, and now she was finally committing.
"Blake was- Umm… Had a hunch that they would be there, and she really wanted to fight them, so she went off on her own and the rest of the team had to come to protect her."
"And what happened?"
"We got our butts kicked." Ruby said with a laugh. "I thought we were going to die, but we didn't. We survived." The reaper paused for a moment, thinking back on different times.
"Go on." Qrow pushed. It was clear that something bad had happened to her, and if he wanted to help, he needed to know.
"For a little bit, everything went back to normal, but Blake wasn't satisfied. She wanted to find out more about the White Fang-"
"So I have Blake to blame for all this." The older hunter realized.
"Well, no." Ruby amended, defending her teammate like a good leader. "We all had the desire to find out more. Blake was just the only one with the initiative to do so." After that brief distraction, the leader of Team RWBY continued. "We ended up crashing a White Fang recruitment rally. There, we fought Neopolitan Torchwick-"
"You fought Neo Torchwick?!" Qrow asked, absolutely astounded that his own niece could get into this much trouble.
"Yeah…" Ruby replied sheepishly. "I destroyed her mech." Despite himself, Qrow couldn't help but smile at the innocence in Ruby's voice.
"Wait, why did she have a mech? Was she in it?"
"I don't know, but if you had a mech, wouldn't you get in it?"
"Touché."
"Yeah, so we did that, and I got stabbed in the leg-" She paused for her uncle's groan of disbelief. "And then after I recovered, I went to the school dance. Unfortunately, I spilled something on my dress, so I was going back to my room to change when I was ambushed- That's the 'assassination' Pyrrha was referring to."
"Why?!"
"Neo was in Beacon that day as well, so maybe it had something to do with her?" Ruby offered, though she didn't seem convinced by her own theory. "Anyway, I recovered from that as well, and the next thing my Team did was go on our first official mission."
"And how did that go wrong?" The Branwen brother couldn't help but ask.
"It turned out the we went to the exact location of a top secret White Fang operation, where they were loading a train with dust to try and blow a hole in the city."
"Yes, I heard about this in the news. Just tell me your part in it."
"Nothing much, really. I got separated from my team for a little bit, but I was okay. Then I made it to the front of the train when it crashed. I was fine for the most part, but that's how Crescent Rose was broken."
"Okay, okay." Qrow accepted. "And how did you get the sword? That was one of the best looking non-mechanized weapons I've seen in a long time, so I don't imagine that you simply bought it."
"Crocea Mors, that's it's name."
"You mean like the Arc's?" The hunter raised an eyebrow.
"His name was Jaune, and he was absolutely fantastic. He was the one who first showed me how to use a sword, and along with Pyrrha, he's the one who made me as strong as I am today."
"Sounds like my baby niece has a crush. Where is this guy so I can meet him and beat him up?" Ruby didn't deny his words, but simply answered with a sad smile.
"He's not around right now." She said with no further explanation.
"Oh… Yeah. Umm… Sorry to bring it up."
"It's no problem." An awkward silence descended as they found themselves at a loss for words. Eventually, Qrow spoke up.
"I think it might be best if you leave Be-"
"No way in hell." Ruby instantly interrupted his train of thought. "I'll be here in Vale for the Vital Festival, and you can just try and stop me."
Qrow stepped back and took an objective look his niece. He saw much more than what he used to see. So much strength, so much pain. This girl was not the girl he knew from Signal, yet, she was his niece all the same. He sighed.
"Stay safe, Ruby."
"No promises."
"So… What are we doing for the tournament? We were registered alongside all Beacon teams, but we need to submit the application for who will be advancing and the deadline is today." Ruby probed her team for ideas. They weren't exactly the most thoughtful right now, though, as it was five o'clock in the morning. One of the only times in the day where the entire team could be in the same room without yelling at each other.
"Does it matter? Just pick someone and get it over with." Blake complained.
"Yes, it does matter. Team composition is what will get us through round two. Round one, we have no choice in the matter, and round three is one on one, so round two is really the clinch pin to whether or not we win the tournament. The deciding factor made before, not during the fights." To the shocked looks of her teammates, Ruby sighed. "It's fighting. I do my research."
"Well, obviously I have to go on to the finals. I'm objectively the strongest one of us all." Yang reasoned. Whether she had woken up on the right side of the bed, or was too tired to be argumentative, Ruby's sister was behaving herself well this early morning.
"Yeah, but… You don't exactly… 'Play nice' with everyone else. And you'd have to work with Weiss or Blake if you wished to get to the finals." Ruby reasoned.
"Why can't I just fight with you?" Yang pointed out, but the leader of Team RWBY shook her head.
"No. I'm already doing something during those rounds, and I'm not gonna reschedule." In a another time, in another world, the members of Team RWBY might have asked their leader where she was going, or at least inquired as to her activities. But this was not that world, and these were not those members. Instead, Yang and the others nodded their heads at this excuse and went on brainstorming.
"How about Weiss and I fight?" Yang finally reasoned. To this, Weiss had an objection.
"In case you forgot, Yang, we don't get along. By any stretch of the words." The eloquent heiress stayed bluntly.
"Well, it's not like Blake can go with you," Yang rebutted. "A team match, that's safe enough. But a two on two fight? The announcers go through your backstory to engage the crowd. Someone would be bound to recognize her." This well thought out argument actually made Weiss and Blake pause.
Holding her hand out to Weiss, Yang took a chance.
"I know we've had a rocky past together, and I know we don't like each other. But for this tournament, I'll play nice. I'll be a good teammate. If not for you or me, than for Team RWBY. Yeah?" The room was deadly silent as everyone waited to see what the punchline of Yang's joke would be. Yet, the punchline never came. Instead, Yang stood there, courteously waiting for a response.
"I- I- Are you serious?" Weiss blurted out.
"As much as I could possibly be." Yang responded.
"Well… Alright then." Weiss agreed and shook the blonde brawler's hand. At this, Ruby's eyes lit up. This was certainly unexpected. Maybe she should wake them up early more often.
"Go Team RWBY!" Ruby declared.
"Let the tournament begin." Yang followed up.
"Blake, can I talk to you?" Sun called out to the cat Faunus as she sat in the library with Weiss Schnee. Blake put her book down for a moment and glanced at him.
"Yes?" She asked, not moving from her chair.
"Alone?" Sun insisted. Blake looked to Weiss and the heiress raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged. Sighing, the White Fang hunter got out of her seat and followed Sun to a more private area in the library.
"Well?" She insisted, slightly impatient. After all, it was a good book that she had been reading.
"The things I say might freak you out, but I want you to know that that's the worst thing you could do, especially if you care for your girlfriend over there." The once happy go lucky monkey Faunus suddenly turned deadly serious. His normal form disappeared as if was never there to begin with. Instantly, Blake's face was colored in confusion, and she wasn't sure what to respond to first.
"What's that-"
"I killed Neptune." Sun admitted, causing the cat faunus' world to be overcome by emotion.
There was, of course, the general confusion made by his words. Then there was the part of her that denied what he had just said. After that, there was the part of her that beloved him. That part itself was split up into a mix of worry and happiness that she did not want to unpack right now. Overall, in a single sentence, Sun has made her mind a mess.
"But more importantly, I'm part of the White Fang." He continued on.
Never mind, it was that sentence that made her mind a complete mess.
"Normally I wouldn't be telling you this, but Adam required that I pass on a message from him."
"Wha- Adam-?"
"There's a storm coming to Beacon, Blake. And if you don't find shelter soon, you're going to be blown away." Sun practically whispered, though Blake could hear his every word.
"Anyway!" He shouted, making Blake jump. His goofy smile returned and it looked as if nothing had ever happened between them. "Thanks for the talk, Blake. It made me feel a lot better. I'll see ya around." And with that happy farewell, The not-so-secret White Fang member walked away, leaving the cat Faunus he spoke to him in shock.
Finally, a few minutes later, Blake could sum up her current feelings into one sentence.
"What?!" She yelled into the library.
"Shhh!"
"Are we ready?" A voice asked various people across Vale.
"Atlas' army is just about in place. I will be ready when the time comes." Arthur Watts responded.
"The White Fang have been brought back into the fold and are awaiting orders. They will be ready." Hazel Rainart added.
"My insider has just informed me of her success entering into the tournament. She will cause the signal to begin." Cinder Fall stated with confidence in her subordinate.
"And soon, I shall capture the boy!" Tyrian Callows shouted with glee.
"Perfect." The Queen of the Grimm smiled, looking over to the city of Vale just in he distance. "Let the tournament begin."
Oh fuck, Salem's here! Everyone panic!
And yes, I realize that the chapters- especially this chapter- have been shorter than usual recently, but really, it's for a good reason. I promise. The next chapter will probably be a little longer than this, but it's the chapters after that which will be really big. And for those who also read New Game Plus, I know it's been nearly three months, but chapter twelve will be coming any day now.
As always, some people are still annoyed at Yang, and still, I won't comment.
As for a third genre, I'm not actually sure what I would pick, but tragedy would certainly be a good choice.
I agree with the messed up characterizations, but that discussion will be at a later date.
Until next time,
-RMV