Welcoming New Faces: The Beginnings of New Friendships


After cleaning themselves off from the monumental food fight, RWBY, AZRE, and JNPR decided to continue their fun in a much quitter fashion in the library. Ruby had suggested to her team that they play Remnant: The Game, a tactical game depicting the various kingdoms and their armies, locked in a continuous power struggle for control of the world itself.

JNPR opted to read and relax after the hard fought battle while their friends matched wits in the board game. AZRE was more the happy to join them in relaxing but while they talked quietly amongst themselves, Ace was also watching Ruby prepare for her next move.

"So apparently the Headmaster in Atlas is visiting with his students for the tournament." Matthew says making conversation with his team.

"General Ironwood." Zweii says in recognition. "He not only heads the academy but he's a top ranking military figure as well."

"Sounds like he has quite the obligations. How would he find the time to visit just for the festival?" Dezaryl asks.

"Who knows? What I do know is that he brought a small army with him. Dude comes prepared for the worst." Matthew states.

"He's rather well known for being a bit of a show off back in Atlas. He helps with creating new top off the line androids for military use in the field." Zweii adds.

"Well I can see where using machines might give the advantage in combat. You end up risking way less lives that way." Dezaryl states.

"True, but there are just some things machines can't do that we as humans can." Matthew argues.

"Hmmmmm... All right... All right!" Ruby says pointing at her sister. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!" The younger sibling commanded with great passion.

"Bring it on!" Yang challenges, balling her fist in anticipation.

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby declares, forcefully placing one of her playing cards onto the table. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" Ruby states making noises of a military bombing run.

It didn't make much sense seeing as she was attacking with a giant raven rather than a jet but no one seemed to mind. Plus Ace just found it endearing.

"You fiend!" Yang shouts feigning her hurt and betrayal.

"Nice move Ruby." Ace says commending his girlfriend's tactic.

"Thanks." Ruby giggles before returning her attention to the game and lowering herself so that the field was eye level with her. "And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn."

Now faced with any other opponent, Ruby would probably have had them running scared. But this was no normal foe. This was Yang Xiao Long. Laughing arrogantly, the blonde surprises Ruby, causing her to peak her head back up in confusion.

"Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" Yang declares revealing her card for all to see and damaging Ruby's confidence. "Giant Nevermore!" She says slamming the card on the table. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!" Ruby states, her confidence returning with the announcement of the creatures flaw.

"That's right. The Grimm while being usable forcers are unpredictable and therefore have the chance to backfire completely." Dezaryl says.

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." Yang states boldly, grabbing her dice to roll.

"If Ace was in charge of them, I bet he wouldn't have to take such a risk." Matthew grins.

"While Shadow is loyal Matt the same cannot be necessarily said for others. But thanks for the compliment." Ace says to his friend with a smile.

"Any time man." Matthew replies before Yang cheers triumphantly as she gets the necessary roll.

"Nooooo! My fearless soldiers!" Ruby cries as her forces were effectively halved by the Nevermore's Fatal Feathers.

"Eh, most of them were probably androids." Yang says uncaringly.

"Better luck next time Ruby." Ace says sympathetically.

"Goodbye my friends, you will be avenged." Ruby says sadly.

"Not until I draw my rewards! Which are double this round thanks to the Mistral Trade Route!" Yang states happily.

"Bah!" Ruby exclaims sourly.

"Have pancakes." Nora says absent mindedly in her sleep as she snores away in the seat across from Ren.

"Oh, and what's this?" Yang asks rhetorically. "The Smugglers of Wind Path?"

"Bah! Bah, I say!" Ruby says in an increasingly annoyed tone. Of course Yang would keep gaining resources for a bit longer.

"I say, it looks like I'm taking two cards in my hand!" The brawler boasts, tossing a few playing pieces off the board and at Jaune who had just had his X-Ray and Vav comic confiscated by Pyrrha. The very same comic she was now reading while she made him read his textbook instead. After all Jaune needed to keep growing stronger, in both combat and in knowledge. Plus she wanted to see why he was so hooked on the comic.

"Have you no heart?" Ruby asks before collapsing on the table with tears. "Nooo!" She sobbed.

"There, there Ruby. It's just a game. You'll get her next time." Ace says continuing to comfort the girl.

"Thanks Ace. You always know just how to make me feel better." Ruby says with a small grin.

"Well, Weiss, it's your turn." Yang says to the ivory haired girl.

"I have... absolutely no idea what's going on." Weiss concedes to more experienced player.

While Yang and Ruby were well acquainted with the ways of the game, Weiss was new and was still learning how to play against seasoned veterans like the sisters.

"Look, it's easy!" Yang says sliding over to Weiss to coach her. "You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based cards come with a bonus." She explains.

"That sounds dumb." Weiss huffs. As Yang sifts through her cards she spies Weiss's better cards.

"See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... Oh, oh! Resourceful Raider! See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet-"

"Nooo!" Ruby howls once again. That was her fleet! They didn't deserve to be pillaged when they can't fight back.

"…and put it in your hand!" Yang instructs.

"Okay." Was Weiss' simple response.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang suggests before pointing a finger at Weiss. "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war." She says slowly returning to her own side of the table.

"And that means...?" Weiss asks, still lost on the concept.

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby cries.

"Y-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 laughs in a manner more befitting of psychotic fiend than a proper heiress. But she was too wrapped up in the moment to care.

"Trap card..." Yang says quickly killing the girl's megalomaniacal rant.

"Huh?" Weiss asks in confusion.

"Your armies have been destroyed." Yang explains, wiping off Weiss' pieces from the board.

"I hate this game of emotions we play." Weiss cries tearing up and slumping down in her chair.

"Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" Ruby Says hopping onto her partners lap and hugging her.

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" Weiss cries. Her actions betray her words when she returns her partner's embrace.

"What did you expect Weiss? Yang gave you a game winning play. Of course she would be able to counter it." Matthew laughs.

"Alright Blake, you're up!" Yang says putting her arms behind her head victoriously.

"Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing?" The ebony haired girl asks. While she was trying to participate she couldn't keep her focus on the game but rather her thoughts from this morning.

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!"

"Right." Blake sighs.

"Hey! Can I play?" Jaune asks walking up to the table.

"Sorry Jaune, we've already got 4 people." Ruby states.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt that you possess." Weiss adds proudly.

"Uhh, you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago." Yang reminds the girl eliciting an annoyed groan from Weiss.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!" Jaune declares confidently.

"By who? Your mother?" Weiss scoffs.

"That's a burn dude." Dezaryl laughs.

"A-and Pyrrha!" Jaune quickly adds.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha says waving at the mention of her name.

"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!" The blonde knight pleads.

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss states denying Jaune access to her cards.

"Why not? I'm trustworthy! I haven't told any of Ace's secrets and you've trusted me with way more important stuff before. I mean, you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fa-"

Pyrrha quickly runs over covering Jaune's mouth before he could say more.

"Fun-loving person, whom we all admire and respect." Pyrrha says trying to cover up Jaune's near mistake.

"Nice save." Zweii says sarcastically.

Unfortunately the damage was already with Blake looking rather annoyed that her secret was out. It was fine with friends but it didn't mean she was happy about it.

"Right. That. Ladies, enjoy your battle." Jaune says with a bow before returning to his table with Pyrrha.

"Sup losers." Sun greets walking up with his fingers in a peace sign.

"Hey Sun!" Ruby greets the young monkey Faunus.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake... Ice Queen…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Weiss inquires indignantly.

"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend." Sun continues ignoring the fencer's question. Neptune joins him looking around the room.

"Uhh, aren't libraries for reading?" The blue haired boy asks.

"Thank you!" Ren says throwing his hands up in the air. Clearly the new guy understood that they were meant to be quiet here, not yelling over a board game.

"Pancakes!" Nora exclaims being roused from her sleep by her childhood friend.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd." Sun mocks.

"Geh, geh, geh, geh! "Intellectual," okay? Thank you." Neptune says scolding his friend in defense. "I'm Neptune." He says greeting everyone else.

"Nep, these are my buddies Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora." Sun says motioning to team JNPR. "And these guys over here are Team: AZRE."

"Doesn't that go against the standards of team naming?" Neptune asks.

"Hey, you find a word using our names that follows that standard, then we'll talk." Matthew says.

"I agree with Matt. To be fair I think it's better than SSSN." Sun says.

"Thank you Sun. I'm Matt and this is my partner Dez." Matthew says introducing himself and his archer friend.

"I'm Zweii. It's nice to meet one of Sun's friends." Zweii says shaking his hand.

"And I'm…"

"Ace right? Sun's told me a lot about you." Neptune says cutting Ace off.

"I hope they've been good things." Ace smiles.

"They have. Dude that armor is pretty sweet."

"Thank you." Ace says accepting the compliment.

"Is it true you grabbed Sun by the tail and beat him?" Neptune asks curiously.

"Yes it is." Ace laughs.

"Hey that match was unfinished. You're just lucky Blake was there to stop it."

"Says the guy that got his tail thoroughly handed to him." Ace counters with a smirk. "I'd try a little harder to research your enemy before running head first into a butt kicking."

"Make me." Sun taunts playfully.

"I don't make monkeys I just train them. Just use Matt for an example.

"Haha very funny." Matthew says rolling his eyes.

"Double burn!" Dezaryl says from the side lines.

"Well played Wolfie, well played." Yang add.

"Dang it Yang, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!?" Ace askes a bit angrily.

"Yeah. Don't you know only Ruby can call him that?" Matthew laughs.

"Retaliation!" Dearyl shouts.

"I'll make you run laps, I swear to Dust Matt." Ace warns his friend.

"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asks, ignoring the bickering friends and focusing on the new cool guy before her.

"Haven." Neptune answers. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."

"Um, I'm Weiss." She replies nervously.

"Are you kidding me!?" Jaune pouts. If he would have called her that he would have been frozen to a tree… Again.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune says smoothly.

"I never took you as the board game playing type." Sun says as he approaches Blake.

"Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually. I'll see you guys later." Blake says moodily as she pushes past him and leaves the library leaving him heart fallen.

"Women." Nora shrugs with a smile.

"Mr. Wolfblade." Came the booming voice of none other than Professor Port as he made his way over to the group. "I finally tracked you down my dear boy. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Just hanging out with my friends. You were looking for me?" Ace asks the boisterous professor.

"Yes, I was wondering if you would be kind enough to collect some data with me on your little project."

"Ah, sure thing professor. I'll see you guys later then." Ace answers bidding farewell to his friends.

"Aww." Ruby pouts. "Can I at least get a kiss?" She asks sweetly.

"Of course you can." Ace smiles. He wasn't one to turn down showing his affections to the young girl even in the presence of others. Walking over, he plants a kiss on her cheek. "Bye Ruby."

"Bye Ace. Have fun with you know who."

"Ah young love." Port sighs. "I remember some of my younger days searching it out. Ah but don't mind that. Let us make haste."

"Sure thing. You guys have fun." Ace says before following Port out. It was time to go see his favorite Grimm, Shadow.


Ace…


As I sit upon a rather large boulder in the forest, I watch Shadow interact with Port, taking notes all the while. This process was the basis we have been using to document his behavior and other various attributes for the assignment. Of course this was much more than a paper for a grade. This was scientific research.

Of course no one said science couldn't be fun. Most observations we make come from Shadow playing around. Other times we give him a task and see if he can complete it and how efficiently he does it. Most of the time Shadow understands what he's being asked but it's really obvious when he doesn't. He lies down almost as if he's disappointed he can't comply. That in itself was an interesting discovery.

"So Mr. Wolfblade, you have been with Shadow for a long time now have you not?" Port asks.

"Many years, yes. And please, Ace is fine." I answer.

"Ah yes, Ace then. Tell me, do you perchance have a certain affinity to Grimm in general or just Shadow?"

"Well I wouldn't say affinity as in attraction or sympathy. I guess I have found them to be interesting. There's so much we don't know about them." I answer petting Shadow as he climbs up to me.

"I understand. They are quiet the mystery aren't they? As much as I love hunting them I do like to study them and see what is to be learned. But you have such a knack for uncovering secrets we thought to be impossibilities. That is something to be proud of." Port replies.

Suddenly we hear what sounds like a bird singing somewhere in the forest. But this wasn't like any normal bird I had ever heard.

Shadow immediately perks up at the noise, wagging his tail and running off in the direction of the sound.

"Well, what's got into him I wonder." Port says.

"I'd like to know that as well. It's like he was being called. Normally he only responds to my call." I say in response.

"A new observation then! Splendid." Port says with enthusiasm.

Almost as soon as Shadow had left he came back into view but this time he wasn't alone. Perched on his head was a small Nevermore.

"Well that's… New." I say as they approach.

"Do you think it to be docile?" Port asks.

"How am I supposed to know? I've never seen this one before." I answer.

Before Shadow could move any closer the Nevermore chirped signaling for him to stop. It continued communicating with Shadow as if asking him questions.

"They appear to be talking to each other. That's rather fascinating." I note.

"Indeed. Communication in groups of same species Grimm is normal but I have never heard of them talking with other species." Port says.

Shadow tries to come closer but the Nevermore stops him again. This time Shadow looks up and wags his tail.

"I think the Nevermore is asking if we're safe to be around." I state. "It's okay little one. If you're friends with Shadow then you're safe around us." I tell it.

A couple seconds of waiting and it actually flies off of Shadow and onto my helmet.

"Ho ho!" It seems you've made another friend." Port laughs.

I stretch my arm out and give it a new perch. The bird accepts the invitation and flutters down landing on it.

"Well now, you're an interesting one. You're not like the others are you?" I ask.

In response the Nevermore chirps.

"Interesting. It seems to be mimicking sounds and calls of song birds." Port notes.

"You like to sing?" I ask earning a short call like we heard earlier before it rubs it's head against my arm.

"Well if we're going to be friends you need a name." I say.

"What will you call it?" Port asks.

"I'm going to call Her, Aria. How's that sound?" I ask her. She answers by flying up and around in circles before landing on my head again. "Aria it is then." I pull out my scroll and video call Ruby.

"Hey Ace! How are things with Port and Shadow?" Ruby asks.

"Pretty good. I even made a new little friend." I say with a smile.

"A friend?" She asks curiously.

I pan the camera up to show her Aria.

"Ruby, meet Aria."

"Ace, it's a little Nevermore! Aww it's so cute." Ruby coos. "Wait a minute… I know this one." Ruby says suddenly.

"You do?" I ask in surprise.

"Uh-huh. At least I think I do. When I was visiting you after the accident, I fell asleep in your room. When I woke up the next morning, I saw a little Nevermore watching you. Then it stared at me and flew away." She explains.

I look up as best as I can at Aria.

"Was that you watching me?" I ask Aria. She responds with another flight in circles before landing again.

"What does that mean?" Ruby asks.

"I think that's her way of saying yes."

"Wow. Where did you find her?"

"Shadow and her seem to be good friends." I answer.

"Aww, that's so cute he's making friends. Are you going to keep her?"

"I don't know. She seems to like it around us so I don't see why not. And we'd have one more friend to help with the study." I reply.

"That sounds great! Can I tell the others?"

"Sure. I trust them too you know."

"Yay! I'll let them know. I'll talk to you later Ace. Love you!" She says before hanging up.

"Well, I'd believe it's safe to say we learned much today, wouldn't you agree Ace?" Port asks.

"Yes, I believe so too." I answer with a smile as Aria flies back to Shadow. "We're going to go ahead and get going now. You two be safe okay?"

Shadow barks and Aria chirps in response before taking off deeper into the forest.

"Very fascinating." Port muses.

"What is professor?"

"The bonds you make with beings such as them. They defy nature." Port replies.

"I suppose so… Professor Port, do you think they are capable of having souls?"

"Hmm, a rather good question my boy. While my natural response would be no, you seem to continue proving that there may be more to them than we had originally thought. So… I suppose it might be possible." He answers as we walk back to the school. "What do you believe?"

"I think… I believe that they do. At least Shadow and Aria do." I answer.

"Then hold firm to your beliefs. Odds are you may be on to something." Port says encouragingly.

"Thanks. I will."

As we walk in silence, I think back to Shadow and Aria. I wonder if they are really the only ones like them. For the longest I thought only Shadow possessed something greater. Now it seems he isn't alone after all.

One thing's for sure. I made a really interesting new friend today.


A/N: Hey guys! I'm here again with another chapter. Sorry it took a while but I had things to do. So as you may have read, Ace has a new Grimm Companion! If you've been paying attention this is Aria's second appearance in the series. I've been waiting to introduce her for a while now.

So my chapters haven't been so lengthy lately and there's a reason for that. I started writing with a goal to give a decent amount of story with each chapter and as I wrote they got longer. But it isn't easy to write or read over 5,000 words a chapter so I want to set my goals a little lower again. 2500-4000 isn't bad right?

Anyway, next on my list is probably the Halloween Misadventure so I hope you all are looking forward to that. I know I am. As always if you have something to say about the story feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.

Volume 3 is coming RWBY Fans! Get lost in the hype and I'll see you all next time!