And we're finally back!
Took a little bit to get back to this, though you all know I have worse ones.
Swift motioned to Ozpin to start up reading, as his friends arrival was now finally over.
Dreamer idly looked at the list of chapters to come...and his smile dropped slightly. "Right, it was this chapter." he muttered. Truth be told he wasn't a big fan of same sex pairings, but as long as it was consensual, he could let it slide. With that in mind he just cozied up in his chair and listened/watched.
"Oh right, not really your thing." Swift mumbled in remembrance as he remembered the chapter, and looked at Dreamer, before shrugging, he was the one who wanted in on this story after all.
Dreamer noticed the look Swift had and shrugged. "Miniscule price to pay." was all he said.
[Chapter 22: Bumblebee]
"I ship it!" Swift suddenly shouted with a grin, with Yang and Blake blushing a bit in embarrassment.
[Yang's P.O.V.]
Okay so... fun fact, I actually didn't really have this date planned out, at all.
"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Weiss said while shaking her head with a sigh.
Yang merely stuck out her tongue at her teammate.
"Plans are great, but having it too rigid isn't a good idea either. Plus this is a date. The 'rules' may or may not be flexible depending on who you're taking out." Dreamer chimed from his spot, looking at what looked like an I-Pad.
So my last minute plan amounted to this really, find a place that's Faunus friendly, see if it serves fish, go from there.
"Well, it's a sensible idea at least." Blake said with a shrug.
"I'd definitely do that much." Yang admitted.
Fortunately finding a Sushi place that was willing to serve Faunus was easy, although I wasn't surprised to find that is was a cat Faunus that owned the place. Fishing Cat to be exact according to her.
"Is that an actual type of cat?" Jaune asked.
"Hang on, let me look it up." Dreamer said. "Huh, incredibly it is an actual type of cat. It's even a state animal." he blinked, not expecting to see that.
"Even I didn't know that." Winter said in surprise.
She found it to be a fun little joke she put as her little place's name, "The Fishing Cat's Sushi & Sashimi" the place was called.
I'll be honest, I've had sushi before, but sashimi was something new to me, although Blake seemed to perk up considerably at sashimi.
"What's sashimi?" Ruby whispered to Weiss in a question.
"It's basically sushi without the rice." Weiss answered, Ruby nodding in understanding.
"Uh... Okay what exactly is sashimi Blake?" I asked completely confused as we stepped inside.
"Cool, an echo." Dreamer snickered. That gag never got old in these things.
Ruby laughed sheepishly at that, realising the question would have been answered anyway by the book.
"Sashimi it mainly raw fish sliced up and served atop thinly shredded daikon and rice or miso soup in a separate bowl." Blake said, "I didn't think there was a place that served this in Vale that was Faunus friendly."
"Well that's why I set up shop here." The owner, a brown haired faunus with a Fishing Cat's tail, said, "It's such a shame that only one other place served sashimi and the owner hate's Faunus, so I went over here to the docks and here we are."
"Racist idiots." Dreamer said, blowing a raspberry. "Never did understand the point of it all when the Grimm are literally at their doorstep."
"I'll have to remember where it is." Blake mumbled as she pulled out a piece of paper from her pockets with a small pen and wrote on it.
"Guess we'll be going then." Yang said idly.
"Thanks for setting this place up by the way." Blake said, "The prices seem fair."
"It took a lot of research, and a cramped tail, to find prices that would be fair for Faunus." The owner said, "So, what can I get you two? Oh, and all the fish here are farm raised, so there are no chance of parasites and they keep the fresh flavor that is lost in freezing them."
"Tuna sashimi." Blake said almost instantly.
"I figured as much, your breath has a hint of Tuna from... breakfast time." The owner said.
"Hmm, I wonder if she can figure out what I ate?" Nora said thoughtfully.
"Pancakes." everyone said, making Nora blink.
"Wow, you faunus are good." I said surprised.
"Oh that's actually just because I have a fine nose for fish." The owner said, "Anyone else would probably just smell the subtle cat scent coming from her."
"Yeah, it's subtle, but it's there." Swift informed everyone, with Blake rolling her eyes at that.
"Huh, you learn something new everyday." I said, "Um... I actually don't know what I want to get really, I haven't had sashimi before."
The owner smiled, "Okay, I actually have something special for that. Pick your favorite kinds of fish to eat from this list." With that the owner handed me a clipboard and clipped a sheet of paper to it.
I took it and a pen from the desk and read it.
Salmon, Squid, Tuna, Mackerel, Horse Mackerel, Octopus, Fatty Tuna, Yellowtail. "Hey, how come there are more on the main menu than this?" I asked.
"Because there are things too big, or small, or just non-moblie for the special thing I have." The owner said.
I nodded and checked off Salmon, Tuna, and Squid before handing it back.
"Squid is pretty good." Ren said.
"One word: Tentacles." Qrow said with a snicker, and everyone was now suitably grossed out.
"It's not THAT bad," Dreamer shrugged. "Sure it doesn't go down easy, but it's nothing to get grossed out over."
"That's not what the joke was about." Swift said dryly.
Dreamer blinked, and one could swear they'd see the question mark over his head. It took him a few seconds to figure it out, then he blinked. "Ah...that kind...riiight…" he went back to looking at his I-Pad rather quickly.
"Thank you, now follow me." The owner said turning on her heel and leading us to a back room.
Which had a large artificial pond in it with four fishing rods and four poles with four claws on the end with a trigger near the bottom, "Whoa." I said surprised.
"Yep, it may just be because I'm a Fishing Cat Faunus, but I wanted to add a pond to customers could catch the fish they wanted to eat if they wanted. Or in your case, just catch one at random." The owner said walking over to a control panel and inserting a key, "You poles for a chance at catching a squid if it swims close enough, or just try your luck with the rod."
Blake stared at it for a few moments "We're definitely going there."
"It does seem rather fun." Pyrrha said.
The owner then punched in a few keys and a gate opened near the back and a group of fish, the same ones I listed in fact, swim out, "Mind if I try to catch a Tuna myself?" Blake asked.
"Go ahead." The owner said handing Blake a fishing rod while I grabbed a pole.
"Uh, isn't it a little hard to get all these fish back after we're done fishing?" I asked.
"Not really." The owner said, "I've got little devices in each of the fish's rooms that release a subtle scent, one that can only be picked up by that specific species of fish."
"How did you discover what scent for each fish?" Blake asked.
"I'm rather curious myself." Glynda added.
"A good friend, a lot of trial and error, and more than a few... mishaps." The owner said, glaring at a squid.
"I don't even want to know." I said thrusting my pole forward then pulling the trigger, pulling up a squid, right as Blake reeled in a Tuna.
The owner was right next to us, grabbing the two fish herself, "Thank you, your food will be ready shortly, pick a seat, and relax." she said.
[Aida P.O.V.]
"Here we go again." Qrow said with a groan as he started drinking once more.
I found myself at a village that seemed to be cleared out, rather recently too from how not even the food in the refrigerators were even close to being spoiled, save for one or two places that had a few items that got lost in the back of the refrigerator.
I know daddy would be chewing me out until my ears fell off, but I gotta survive somehow, and I really suck at hunting animals... and making fires.
Actually I kept choking up as I was about to kill the animal I was going to eat, the sad faces they make tear me up inside.
"She's too nice for this kind of world." Winter said with a shake of her head.
Some people looked at Ruby when they heard that, finding the two girls were a bit similar.
"I know what you're thinking, and just to put some fears to rest, I think it's a safe bet that Ruby, and probably all of team RWBY, has 'plot armor'...for now at any rate." Dreamer muttered the last part to himself.
"Isn't plot armor that thing that makes it so you can't die?" Jaune asked, being one of the more internet savvy people in his team.
"Yes, that's the one," Dreamer nodded.
"I feel like there's an explanation regarding me coming." Pyrrha said, remembering what happens to her originally.
"Yeah...its to do with the 'bases' for your 'characters'. RT is the overseer of your main verses, and pretty much EVERYONE is based off some kind of 'story'. Team RWBY for example was based off of 'Fairy tales'. You guys...were based off of something else," Dreamer explained, thinking how best to word this. He didn't want to be too blunt after all.
Ren seemed to get it "Our team all has a similar basis, doesn't it?"
"You have 2 bases each. All of you were based off of legendary figures who 'cross dressed' as part of a key part of your 'story'...and you guys...errr…" Dreamer was struggling with this one, before looking at Swift. "Should I?"
Swift simply nodded, looking down.
"Let's just say...you all don't get a fairy tale ending…" was Dreamer's final answer.
It took a few moments, but they eventually understood the meaning behind his words, all of them growing afraid of what might happen to them in the future.
"The only one I know by heart is Jaune's basis, she was burned at the stake, so Jaune, that gives you something to look out for, and also, be careful of Cardin, he's a part of that story too." Swift said seriously, Jaune nodding in understanding.
"Nora, your base died after an epic battle, to which he died of poisoning. Keep clear of any King Tajitu's and/or Death Stalkers, or even poisonous Faunus at that. Failing that, do NOT be reckless against a poisonous opponent, unless you want to possibly re-live your 'bases' tale." Dreamer warned.
"For Ren's base… I think, but I'm not sure, she committed suicide because of circumstances, and the only reason I see him doing so is if all of you go… especially if Nora goes." Swift added, with Ren nodding after a few moments as he grasped Nora's hand tightly.
"Oh, and while we're on topic, who wants to hear about Salem's possible base?" Dreamer added.
Swift looked at him in surprise "She has a base?"
"Nothing confirmed, but her name is a big hint. Salem, Massachusetts after all." Dreamer said.
"Oh, right, the witch trials, forgot about those for a moment." Swift muttered.
"Assuming she's based off of more than one tale, she is likely based on the witches trialed and killed in our world long ago, as well as the evil witches in your story, Ozpin. In your story, you were based off the wizard of Oz, who was aided by the two good witches, one of them being Glynda, and opposed by two wicked witches...though I highly doubt a bucket of water is gonna make her melt." Dreamer chuckled at the last part. "Crushing is still a viable option though. No, seriously, one of the wicked witches died when a house fell on her. Literally."
"You know, Ruby is kind of like Dorothy a bit, Zwei is Toto, so I think the Wizard of Oz correlations are even bigger." Swift added.
"Wait a second…" Dreamer blinked, and a light bulb literally appeared over his head, before pointing at Blake. "Cowardly Lion."
"Hey!" Blake said indignantly.
"Tin man who gained a heart." he pointed at Weiss.
"Excuse me?!" she said indignantly.
"Scarecrow that gained gained a brain." he finished, pointing at Yang.
"Care to repeat that?" Yang growled, cracking her knuckles.
"Team RWBY's the freaking protagonist group from the Wizard of Oz!" Dreamer exclaimed.
"While I see the point you're making, I'm letting them beat you up." Swift said dryly as he scooted away from his friend.
"Way ahead of you. I turned off my pain receptors, and I regenerate like Deadpool. Ha!" Dreamer snickered.
Swift held up a panel behind Dreamer's head that read 'I turned them up to max, kick his ass.'.
"I also added working eyes at the back of my head. Later!" Dreamer grinned, before a hole literally appeared under his sofa, and he dropped through. Then a sign appeared, reading "Entrance to Dreamer's realm. Enter at your own risk~" topped off with a little blackheart next to it. The sign then gained an addition. "P.S. Dreamer is not to be held responsible for any broken minds due to lack of logic."
"Give me a minute." Swift said as he jumped in, dragging out Dreamer after a minute, hogtied, while Swift held Dreamer's pen his hand "This is why you don't open a portal inside my realm."
"...fine if we're gonna do this, can we at least make a good joke out of it? I demand the Pinata treatment." Dreamer grumbled.
Swift gained a vicious grin as Dreamer was suddenly hanging from the ceiling, and the three girls had baseball bats with spikes on them in their hands.
"...seriously? Oni bats?" Dreamer deadpanned. "Eh, whatever. Let's get this over with so we can get on with the show."
The girls were all too happy to comply.
[hr]
"Well...now I look like cheese...and my pain tolerance probably went up. Maybe…" Dreamer groaned. He was back on his seat, with a full body cast. Oh, and the guests now had a full bowl of candy to enjoy. Several of them.
"Never give me ideas." Swift said with a grin as he ate a chocolate bar.
"I was going to get beat up anyway. I figured our 'audience' might as well get a good laugh out of it." Dreamer deadpanned. At the 'camera'.
Anyway I was sitting in, what I assume is, the village leader's house reading the last page of my father's notes on the substance in my body.
"So... the the first volunteer, when she had absorbed enough of this stuff," I said to myself as a pushed a glob of the substance to my right hand, "Could create creatures from it that were loyal to her."
"That could prove helpful." Ozpin mused as he chewed on a caramel.
I focused my mind on the glob, which soon began to shift and take form..
Substance began to slid off my creation and back into my pores.
It was simple, four short tentacles to grip onto a surface and a white eyeball with a yellow pupil, the eye constantly looking around.
"That's kinda creepy." Ruby said as she shoveled anything that had chocolate into her mouth.
"I've seen worse. Try playing some survival horror games. Messed up shit right there…" Dreamer commented.
Both Swift and Jaune shivered as they remembered their horror game experiences, Jaune hiding behind the sofa, and Swift turning the console off faster than you can say 'boo'.
According to the notes I could even see through my creations eye's if I wanted, or eye in this case, so by closing my eyes and with a brief thought I found myself looking at myself.
"Volunteer 1 called you... a Gomora if I read that right." I said looking at the creature that was called a Gomora by a previous person, "You can move on your own, but can't fight, but self destruct... A scout."
"Ironic…" Dreamer muttered. Seeing the confused looks he explained further. "Gomora was the name of Cubia's… 'drones' I suppose would be the right way to call them. Its ironic they'd name it after that, as if Aida is both the AIDA virus AND Cubia reborn or something." he shrugged.
I stepped out of the building and the Gomora floated up, "Set yourself by the town gate, call me if you see someone."
The Gomora blinked before flying off.
"I'm going to need more Gomora." I said creating more.
Within an hour I heard a mental call from one of my Gomora, so I shifted my sight to it's sight.
Grimm, lots of them.
"That's not good." I whispered, "But... perhaps I can create something to protect me..."
"At least she's getting rid of the grimm." Glynda said with a sigh.
[Yang's P.O.V.]
"That went really well." I said to Blake as we returned to the hall our dorm was on.
"It really did." Blake said, "I wouldn't be opposed to a second date."
Yang smiled at that and scooted closer to Blake, the faunus girl smiling in amusement
"Same time next week?" I asked.
"Sure." Blake said before we entered our dorm.
Yang did a small fist pump, which had a few people chuckling, while Ozpin passed the book over to Glynda.
Well, Dreamer's pretty much here to say people.
He'll be a big help to me, seriously.