Two weeks later – Week 17
The night was quiet. Peaceful. It was tranquil and silent with just enough background noise from the woodland animals around team RWEBY that I felt myself calm for the first time in several days. Were we not on a mission for the Headmaster, I might have been tempted to fall asleep here. The atmosphere about the forest made it easy to let my guard down.
That I felt more at ease alone with my team on a mission than I did at Beacon indicated nothing good about my mindset, of that I was aware. It suggested that I saw everyone around me as a potential enemy, as a threat to be evaluated.
It was a self-destructive mindset given that it was impossible to account for so many enemies but that did not dissuade me from thinking that way.
Like Weiss' fear of the faunus, Ruby's penchant for helping others, Yang's fierce loyalty to her friends above all else and Blake's distrust of humanity as a whole, my paranoid habits would not be easily ignored.
Knowing that, the very least I could do was value this calm while I had it… It was ironic that a forest brought it to me, given my history with Forever Fall Forest.
Vale's southern forest was nothing like its northern neighbor, though. I was far, far more expansive, for one. That fact was something I knew already because the textbooks loved to mention how large Vale's wood resources were but the reality of the sheer scope and size of it never really hit home until team RWEBY started doing recon work for the Headmaster.
The textbooks were fond of using words like massive, huge and large to describe the forest.
But none of those words did it justice; it was incomprehensibly vast.
The trees were as tall and as wide as the renowned Redwoods of California from Earth. The woodland animals that inhabited them were made to spend several minutes climbing to their tops. That alone was worth stopping to note because trees that large were rare on my first world, rarer still on Remnant.
But the amount of them was what made it jaw-dropping.
"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing this stuff," Yang muttered beside me. She was pressed against the ground just as I was, the better to hide our presence. "There's, like," she paused and starting counting with her pointer finger the trees that we could see from atop our cliff overlooking a portion of the forest, "a kajillion of them."
"That many," I asked wryly. There was green as far as the eye could see and that was impressive given our cliff was several hundred feet tall, tall enough to tower over even the massive trees.
"Give or take one hydro-bajillion, yeah," Yang quipped, a familiar grin growing on her face. "It's like it never stops… You might even say these trees are really… branching out."
The blonde promptly dissolved into a fit of giggles once she finished and I shook my head, exasperated but unable to keep from smiling.
"I got ninety-nine trees, but birch ain't one."
Yang snorted. "What? There are way more trees than that. At least a kajillion, remember?"
I shook my head again, grimacing now. "Ah… never mind. Earth reference."
"You are so corny," the blonde responded.
'As if you're one to talk.'
"Puns go like this," she said slowly. "What did the tree say to autumn? …Leaf me alone!"
"Yang please," Weiss sniffed from the girl's other side. I noted that there was still a displeased look on her face, no doubt the result of her having to lie down in the dirt. Given the girl wore white and was very much a dainty heiress in some respect, that was no surprise to me.
"I heard a traitor got arrested in Atlas for high tree-son," the blonde continued.
I snorted, grinning now and that was probably only encouragement for her, while Weiss sighed. From the heiress' other side, I heard Blake snort. Ruby, on my other side, was trying to stifle laughter.
And largely failing.
"Yew guys are so boring," Yang ranted. "Just leaf the puns to me."
"This is so horrible," I muttered, still grinning widely. My cheeks were starting to hurt. "Why is this even remotely funny?"
"I guess you could say she's grown on us," Weiss, without missing a beat, said whilst looking down her nose at us.
I broke down into laughter and Ruby joined me. Blake slapped a hand over her face.
"Weiss," Yang chirped. "Good one!"
"Yes, well, the heiress of a company must have some humorous remarks-"
"Ugh, you ruined it."
"My puns are always ice cold."
Yang chortled even as Blake broke down and started laughing too.
"Guys," Ruby injected before snorting, finally giving up on searching the forest below with Crescent Rose's scope. "Guys! We need," she cleared her throat and shook her head. "We need to focus! We gotta create a distraction, remember? Headmaster Ozpin's counting on us!"
"Yeah," I said, reigning myself in and forcing back the amusement. We were on a mission, after all, and regardless of how light hearted I felt, I needed to remember that. "But that's not until midnight, it's not eve- oh shit."
"Uh-huh," Ruby chirped, stuffing her Scroll into her pocket, the one that was specifically made larger for her after Weiss got fed up with her whining about how small 'girl pockets' were. "11:57. Come on."
We rose at her urging and cautiously moved along the edge of the cliff. Eventually, as we rounded a rocky overlook, the first signs of our target came into view several hundred feet below, through the thick canopy of the forest trees.
It was a short, squat structure made of a sturdy-looking material; the exterior was plain white in color and reminded me terribly of Beacon's medical room. The building was shaped like a dome and nestled right up against the cliff face. Close by, there was another structure that reminded me of the grain silos from Earth, where farmers would store their crops. It possessed the same cylindrical shape and its base was lifted perhaps a dozen feet off the ground. The two buildings were connected by a pipe running between them.
"Weird looking things," Yang said of the metallic structures. "Wonder what the White Fang's doing out here…"
"Nothing good," Weiss scoffed, dismissive as she rubbed her upper arms.
"Duh, I meant more like specifics."
"Guys, we don't have time for this," Ruby hissed, scrambling down the edge of the cliff face, toward the spot we picked out earlier. Given the buildings were almost directly below us, we had to find a point that slanted down enough for us to effectively use Ultimatum.
Because if anything, Ultimatum could create a distraction.
A very large distraction.
"Come on. We only have two minutes," the girl whispered, now ten feet under the cliff's edge and nearing the small outcropping we found some three hours earlier.
Two minutes.
Two minutes until my shield would see its first field test. Two minutes until the calm, peaceful night would be destroyed by the power it was capable of generating. Two minutes until Ozpin would have his distraction, whatever the reason he needed it may be.
The man was close lipped about much of his plans – a necessity, no doubt, given Ruby's absentmindedness with conversation topics.
"Let's do this," I muttered as adrenaline started to run rampant through my veins. Quickly, I descended the rocky ground and landed heavily behind the girls as they settled themselves on the outcropping. Ultimatum shifted on my arm and, with a heavy groan of machinery, expanded itself into its massive kite shield form.
My left hand wasted no time in grasping one of the shells at my hip and promptly heaved it up and out of its harness. A grunt of exertion escaped me even as Ultimatum was brought to bear. With another heavy clank, the shield rotated itself to be loaded and I pushed the payload into its firing column without any further ceremony. It slid into position and one final clang echoed throughout the night as the payload was locked into place at the base of the shield.
The night's silence returned somewhat perturbed once the shield was done making a racket, only to be broken shortly thereafter by Yang.
"Okay," the blonde said, watching me as a grin developed on her face. Her fingers curled into fists. "Now I'm excited."
"No casualties."
"That can't be guaranteed," Weiss said, glancing in Blake's direction as the five of us reached our firing spot. I placed myself behind the girls.
"It can if we hit the pipe," Ruby returned, eying the structures through Crescent Rose's scope. "I betcha they really don't want it destroyed 'cause whatever's in there looks real important."
"That's a small target," I observed, aligning Ultimatum's point with my arm. It shifted slowly, burdened as it was, but eventually locked into place with another clank that seemed startlingly loud. We needed to fire soon. All it would take was just one person that happened to hear the shield's grinding and our mission here would be put into jeopardy.
My leader laughed quietly. "Maybe for you."
"Ohh," Yang taunted. "You just got burned."
"Stuff it blondie."
A roar, far louder and far closer than the other ones we'd been hearing all night – the forest, like every other one, was populated by Grimm in varying densities – sounded from beneath us. It was sudden. It was loud. It was enraged and ferocious and… and it was strange. It did not sound like a normal Grimm's howl and the sound was unnerving enough that it made the hair on my arms stand on end.
It was altered. Different somehow. A Beowulf was the origin, to be certain, but… different. Dual-toned. Fiercer.
The roar ended but team RWEBY remained quiet all the same, now anxious and uncertain.
Suddenly, the night seemed a lot darker.
"Okay," Ruby breathed. "Okay… just, ignore the creepy howl and let's, uh… yeah, we have thirty seconds. Come on guys."
We stood stock still for several seconds, it wasn't until the younger girl pointedly cleared her throat that we jumped into action.
"You think they're messing with the Grimm," Yang whispered, her eyes wide, as she grasped her support bar and lowered her center of gravity alongside Blake. Their help in holding up Ultimatum was a relief. Heavy enough on its own, the shield weighed nearly one hundred pounds with the shell inside of it.
"That was a Beowulf," I muttered, widening my stance so that I, too, could get closer to the ground. We needed to aim below us and, though the part of the cliff we stood on was angled downward, we would still have to adjust our aim somewhat. "I think…"
"I don't want to know what it was," Weiss snapped as she took up her place near the front, opposite Ruby. "Let's just cause our distraction and get out of here. I haven't slept in over a day and this forest is disgusting."
"Sounds good to me," Ruby chirped, collapsing Crescent Rose.
"Shield's coming forward," I declared as Ultimatum moved itself as far up the firing rail as it could, until it hovered over Weiss' and Ruby's heads.
"Go time," the younger girl said, taking hold of her support bar and adjusting the angle of the shield so that the aiming receptacle was in front of her face. "Ten seconds."
We quieted and I bent my knees. I was the main source of resistance against the shield's backward momentum, I needed to be ready to absorb as much force as I could.
In front of me, Yang and Blake dug their heels into the ground and readied themselves to brace their shoulders against the support bars. The metal objects had been modified since our first test run, angled farther downward and possessing a wider end, each specially molded to fit the girls' shoulders.
"Five seconds," Ruby intoned, pushing the shield slightly upward. She had to account for the movement that would come when we braced ourselves.
"Four…" Another howl, the same dual-toned one as before, abruptly split the night air. Again, the hair on my arms stood on end.
"Three…" I saw Blake visibly shiver and Yang nudge her with an elbow.
"Two…" I froze and, alongside me, the girls did as well. No more movement until we shifted our weight against the immense force Ultimatum generated when it fired.
"One," the girl barked. As one, we moved forward. Our weight shifted and the shield tilted downward ever so slightly; the timing on the trigger must be perfect-
"FIRE!"
My pointer finger depressed the button and I ducked my head.
BOOM!
A new sound broke the silence of the night, but this time it was a roar of machinery. It was the shell howling in defiance as it was forced from its barrel. It was the air squealing as it was violently displaced by enough gunpowder to level a small home.
It was team RWEBY's unknown calling card.
It was louder, fiercer and far, far more intimidating than a single Grimm's howl could ever be, no matter how strange.
The projectile whistled through the air and, before Ultimatum had even fully settled against my shoulder, we heard a catastrophic crack. It was followed shortly by the tortured screams of twisted metal and the heavy clanging of broken machinery impacting the ground.
Ruby hit the mark.
The cylinder, the silo – it was all but obliterated. The shell impacted it near the point where the pipe connected to it and now the bottom half of the construct was just… gone. What used to be part of the silo was now strewn about the ground in bits and pieces of broken metal. Dust hemorrhaged freely from the cylinder, spilling out onto the ground like water over the precipice of a waterfall.
"I think that's enough of a distraction," Ruby said, clapping her hands together even as people started to exit the dome beneath us. They looked like ants from our vantage point.
"We have time to fire again," Weiss pointed out, watching the – presumably – White Fang members run toward the silo.
Blake, still rubbing her cat ears through the bow, shot the Schnee heiress a look behind the girl's back. "Ozpin told us to create a distraction. Didn't tell us to kill people."
The white haired girl sighed even as Yang whistled lowly, crouching over the edge of the outcropping and observing the devastation we wrought.
"We should probably get out of here," I muttered even as the very same howl pierced the night again… this time, it was accompanied by screams. Human screams. Faunus screams. "They're doing something down there… and…" I shook my head. "I think it's time for us to go."
"If we figure out what that howling is, we'll have more to take back to the Headmaster," Weiss argued.
"He told us to make a distraction," Blake snapped again, her voice strained. I knew Ultimatum was hard on her ears but unfortunately, it was as quiet as it was ever going to get. "We did that."
Another howl. The same one. Bestial and… unnatural, even for a Grimm. And this time a… creature accompanied it.
A massive form – big, black and… glowing – darted away from the dome. Moving quickly into the forest and soon disappearing into the trees.
"Ah, fart face," Ruby exclaimed, bringing her eye away from Crescent Rose's scope. "It was too fast… I couldn't see it."
"It was running along the cliff face," I pointed out. "Hard to see it from up here, awkward angle."
We were silent for a brief moment. Chewing over what we'd just seen. Contemplating it.
"You think…" Yang ventured quietly. "You think it's smart enough to know that?"
"No," Weiss said immediately, her voice cracking.
"That wasn't a Grimm," I muttered even as the girl cleared her throat. Ultimatum returned to its normal position on my arm and then transformed back into a large gauntlet. Below us, people continued to swarm around the silo, largely only able to watch as the dust contained therein spilled out onto the ground. "I don't know what that was. But it wasn't a Grimm."
Playing around with dust and the Grimm.
Just what were they thinking?
"Let's go," Ruby decided, her voice quiet. "There's nothing else for us to do here. We're leaving."
The girl started walking and, as one, her team followed.
Two days later – Week 17, Beacon's dueling hall
'Eik Verbrand,' I thought, watching EMRD's leader pass confidently stroll through the massive, looming dueling hall doors ahead of team RWEBY. 'Fights with a whip. Important wins: Ren, Ye'lo and Dove. Semblance: Pre-cognition. Neutralizes agile opponents. Counters: over-powering force. Or, in Ruby's case, enough speed to beat his reflexes augmented by Semblance.'
I rolled my shoulder, more out of habit than anything. This week would be my first back in action after the… snafu during my fight with Pyrrha and I was more than ready to show my classmates that my team was still the undisputed best in our class. Team RWEBY would be nothing less than the greatest.
'Dune Noir,' I observed as I too, entered the dueling hall. The massive room stretched out before me. 'Leader of DMND. Relies heavily upon Semblance: the ability to soften his consistency, allowing him to absorb blows. Weaknesses: over reliance on Semblance has left his martial skills lacking. Counters: close combat. Elemental attacks.'
Last week hadn't been kind to team RWEBY; I forfeited my match with Ye'lo by default, Blake lost to Legion E and Ruby fell to Nora Valkyrie. Weiss and Yang brought home victories but seeing the team to beat win less than half their matches gave our critics – of which there were many – something to talk about. Suddenly, we seemed beatable again.
Fools.
I only just kept myself from scoffing aloud. One bad week would not break us, especially when we were still over a point ahead of JYDE and JNPR, the teams tied for second. Especially when two of the top five fighters in class belonged to RWEBY. One of which was actually tied for first.
'Ognis Ty. Leader of team OPUL. No noteworthy victories despite being 8-3. Lost against every half decent opponent he faced. Can heat objects through touch. Uses brass knuckles to fight that double as throwing stars. Threat: minimal.'
Yang was excited and had been ever since I beat the Invincible Girl – my victory catapulted the blonde into a tie at the top of the class with Pyrrha and Ye'lo, each poised nicely with a 10-1 record. Meanwhile, Weiss and Dove, from CRDL, were tied for fourth at 9-2.
But our classmates didn't seem to care about that. They evidently felt that one bad week was going to spell the beginning of the end for RWEBY – a sentiment that spread like wildfire to our foreign visitors.
Admittedly, last week was not RWEBY's best and it certainly wasn't the first impression I wanted to make upon the students from other academies. They entered the dueling class expecting to see my team dominate the competition but left it feeling overly confident that RWEBY was nothing but talk. I'd even gotten a fair share of dismissive glances because I was weak enough to get injured – never mind the fact that I got that way by beating Pyrrha Nikos.
The Pyrrha Nikos.
There was something to be said about being underestimated but at this point I doubted anyone would underestimate team RWEBY enough for it to be a liability… No, better to intimidate than to appear weak.
"So I said," Ruby ranted, drawing me back into the present as her hands flailed about her head. "No, you can't have any because they're mine but she didn't listen! It was like she was dead set on my strawberries… there were plenty of other ones around the room. Somewhere. Not-near-me-somewhere."
She huffed and let her hands fall back to her side amidst Weiss' muffled sigh. The younger girl either didn't hear her partner or simply didn't care, though, for she spun in a circle and eyed myself, Yang and Blake in turn. The five of us stopped abruptly, just inside the tall dueling hall doors, and students from all four academies began weaving around us to pass by.
"Right," Ruby asked while Weiss looked on, her eyes traversing over the passing students' faces, daring them to meet her gaze.
I very much doubted any would. The Schnee heiress knew how to hold herself high. She knew how to manipulate the unconscious mind with tiny gestures. A little tilt of the chin, a straightening of her shoulders and spine.
No, she might as well have been a wolf among sheep.
Amidst these new strangers, she was in her element.
"Right," Ruby nodded when none of us answer. "I know there were more around places. I know it! Beacon has strawberries all over!"
The three of us remained silent, well aware of just how sensitive a topic this was and less than willing to potentially earn Ruby's ire because of it. The girl appeared satisfied with that, though, and she turned to march into the dueling hall a short few seconds later, Weiss just a half step behind her.
"Ruby," the white haired girl began softly, clearing her throat and doing her very best to keep from sounding patronizing. The look in her eyes gave her away. "She was only saying that to r-"
"I knew she knew there were more," the younger girl exclaimed, spinning around in the middle of Weiss' sentence and throwing her arms in the air. "You saw it too right?! She coulda taken strawberries from any plate but she picked mine!"
Yang made a strangled sound in the back of her throat next to me and I shared a quick, amused glance with her. Ruby was serious about her strawberries… worryingly so. Ye'lo had only asked to have a few from her plate this morning at breakfast because the girl had horded every single bit of 'delicious red goodness' within reach.
"So the Schnee Family Ball is tomorrow," I inserted happily once Weiss started to wilt under Ruby's unblinking stare. The younger girl was serious about her strawberries. I knew that firsthand. "Betcha-"
"She'll be there, won't she? She always mentions how she's at parties with Weiss and stuff. I bet she takes strawberries there too."
I shut my mouth and shot Weiss a sympathetic look – the white haired girl was not amused – when team RWEBY's leader honed in on her again.
"If we ever need Ruby to hate someone," Blake breathed quietly, watching the Schnee heiress admirably weather the storm that was Ruby's outrage from her position just behind Yang and myself. "We just need to implicate them in a strawberry shortage."
"Or a cookie shortage," Yang muttered. "Or a salsa shortage. Or… You know, she really has a lot of… peculiarities with food."
"That's a big word for you, dunderhead," I observed.
"Can it Lame-ten."
"She knows plenty of big words," Blake inserted, scowling at me as she shifted her book from hand to hand. "Like bang."
"That's not bi- hey!"
I laughed and the cat faunus joined me, leaving Yang with a frown on her face.
"You guys suck," she pouted. "My jokes are amazing and I know plenty of big words."
"Just messing with you," I conceded, bumping my shoulder against hers.
She scoffed but grinned widely a moment later. Never let it be said that Yang Xiao Long could be kept down for long.
"I am so ready for the ball tomorrow. I'm gonna high-heel the snobbishness right out of those party guests!" The girl laughed. "Why do you think old man Schnee invited us anyway?"
"Weiss."
"Well yeah," Yang said, glancing at our white haired teammate. She was several steps ahead of us still, speaking with Ruby. "But I mean, like, why all of us? You know?"
That was something that I wondered about myself ever since receiving the invitation some two weeks ago. The best I could come up with was that the man either wanted to meet his daughter's team or he wanted to use RWEBY's growing popularity to his advantage.
Or... maybe he was just being polite.
Regardless, we would find out tomorrow. I was content with the fact that it wasn't a request for that meeting I canceled. I knew Weiss didn't want to see her father one-on-one and it was only hesitantly that she agreed to go the ball at Ruby and Yang's urging.
A meeting with her father would certainly cause her to abstain from the ball and team RWEBY could use a little relaxation, given the missions we'd been going on for Ozpin as of late. They were tiring and very demanding, not to mention time sensitive. Often team RWEBY was kept up late into the night only to return to Beacon for class the next day on a few paltry hours of sleep.
It was exhausting, to be certain, but it wasn't all bad. The missions satisfied Blake and Weiss enough that they stopped spending every waking second in the library, hunting for information on the White Fang. That was irritating because they refused to see how much their fanaticism was hurting not only themselves but the team – their friends – as well. Thankfully, after our first mission, they, like myself, were willing to take marching orders from Headmaster Ozpin where Torchwick and his allies were concerned.
In addition to keeping RWEBY's W and RWEBY's B well-rested, the missions also took a load off of my shoulders. I no longer needed to plot and plan our fight against the White Fang - Ozpin did it for me and he was probably better at it too.
The man seemed to know everything, after all. Or at the very least, he seemed capable of learning more than we were – it made sense to let him do the heavy lifting as far as intelligence was concerned. Team RWEBY had plenty to worry about as it was.
"Well," Yang chirped, crossing her arms and tilting her head back. I noticed more than one of our classmates suddenly find her chest incredibly interesting. Some of the foreign students too. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
"Find what out tomorrow," a voice from behind us said – a familiar voice.
"Ah nothing much cutie," Yang sang, spinning on her heels to face Jayd. "We're just going to a ball – wanna come with me?"
The boy's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed. Immediately, his eyes fell to his shoes. Beside him, Ye'lo Malamig rolled her eyes.
"One of these days, he's going to get used to that and surprise you," she warned, craning her neck to stare over our shoulders. "…Do you think she's still…?"
"Still angry," Blake confirmed with a short nod.
Ye'lo groaned melodramatically, her shoulders sagged and arms were thrown into the air. Behind her, Legion D and Legion E both stepped back, matching surprised looks on their faces.
"How was I supposed to know that strawberries were holy-"
"You!"
Ruby suddenly pushed by Yang and I, apparently drawn over by the commotion Ye'lo was making. Weiss followed after the girl and came to a stop next to me even as our leader started laying into the 'strawberry thief'.
"It's like I have to deal with double the obnoxious behavior now," she complained, a scowl on her face as she watched Ruby rant to JYDE's Y. "They could be twins."
Yang cackled and rather abruptly threw herself over Weiss, staggering the girl. "They're just happy people!"
"Ugh," the heiress grunted, promptly growing even more frustrated because of the slip. "Get off you savage!"
Yang grunted and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. "Unh, Yang savage. Yang see! Yang pick up!"
Weiss was promptly lifted into the air with a squeal, her hands flying to her skirt. "Put me down. Put me down!"
"Yang no understand big words. Yang go sit. Weiss sit too!"
With that, the blonde stomped off with an angry Schnee heiress in tow, easily parting the crowd in front of her. Blake followed after them, but not before throwing a half surprised, half amused look my way. It was easily mirrored on my own face.
Weiss was going to be mad.
I watched the better part of my team disappear deeper into the expansive hall for several seconds before I felt hands suddenly grasp at my arm. My first instinct was to react rather violently but given I was in the middle of the dueling hall and the dark brown hair I saw on the edge of my vision, I gathered that it was only Ye'lo.
'No punching, then.'
"Enten," the girl breathed, placing herself behind me. "She's crazy. I thought it would be funny, just a joke!"
"You don't joke about strawberries," Ruby spat, emphatic, from my other side. She was craning her neck over my shoulder, trying to see Ye'lo. Unfortunately for my leader, her efforts were complicated because whenever the younger girl would try to move around me, Ye'lo would match her. It made me feel like I was being used – because I certainly was – rather quickly.
"Have you apologized yet," I grunted, turning to look at Ye'lo as best I could.
"Apolo- for what?"
"For my strawberries!"
Ye'lo squeaked and recoiled farther behind me. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I'm sorry I tried to take your strawberries so pleasedontkillme!"
In front of me, Ruby froze, her eyes still narrowed. The girl's fists were clenched and she was breathing heavily.
"Ruby," I ventured slowly, gently. "She apologized… She won't do it again - right Ye'lo?"
"Right! Absolutely right!"
Slowly, my leader nodded. "Alright. Just don't do it again and we can go back to being battle buddies."
Ye'lo peeked out from behind me and froze, like if she didn't move then neither would Ruby. After a brief moment, however, she came out fully with a hesitant smile on her face. Absentmindedly, the girl straightened her pale blue blouse and dark jeans.
"Okay," she said, offering Ruby her hand. "Friends?"
My leader grinned widely and instead grabbed the Malamig girl in a bear hug. "Battle buddies! Come on! I need to tell you about what Yang did last night."
"Ah- okay! Sure," the brown haired girl responded, allowing herself to be dragged away. She tossed a helpless look over her shoulder at her team and, within seconds, disappeared into the crowd of students already milling about the dueling hall. It was a big attraction for the foreign teams, seeing their competition fight. Ever since they started arriving, Beacon's dueling hall was normally filled to the brim when a class was taking place.
"Tch," Legion D scoffed. "Crazy girl."
"Hmm," Legion E agreed. "How do you deal with her?"
"She means well," I said, turning to face them. "But it took lots of time and effort… and also, help from Yang."
"Must be horrible to have her as a leader," D observed, a scowl on his lips.
"No," I started, only just keeping my expression from matching his. "She may childish but I wouldn't have picked anyone else to lead our team. Her combat mind is second to none and her weaponsmithing skills are leaps and bounds better than even some so-called masters. It comes almost intuitively to her; watching her work with weaponry is like watching a masterpiece being painted."
"Tch. What about the attitude?"
I swallowed, the better to hold back my anger. It was just like the confrontation with HRCN, when Ruby was being threatened. This was no where near as extreme but… still, it angered me to hear someone speak so poorly of my leader when they knew so very little about her.
But that was Legion D in a nutshell. I learned very quickly that he was something of an infinite source of pessimism – I thought it spawned from the fact that he was constantly playing catch-up with his older twin. Estate – Legion E – was dangerous with her spear and generally more skilled than him. Thus, Legion D lived to point out others' faults, not because he was mean-spirited by nature, but because he was an insecure teenager.
Irritating, but given he was the only negative to come out of JYDE joining RWEBY for training thus far, I could not complain overly much.
"Give her a chance," I said at length, sighing. "You'll find her quite possibly the most genuine person you've ever met."
The boy grunted and, without any further ceremony, walked into the dueling hall, leaving me with Jayd and Legion E.
"Sorry about him," Jayd, ever self-conscious, offered. "He…"
I waved away the apology. "Don't worry about it. My team went through something similar when we first got grouped up, had to get to know each other and everything… it wasn't necessarily a smooth transition. He just needs time."
"Hmm," Legion E hummed, adjusting the yellow battle-dress she wore with a dark-skinned hand. Together with the breastplate, spaulders and gauntlets, it made her look the picture of an ancient Roman gladiator. Legion D wore similar attire, though his was more masculine in nature. "Dunno 'bout that. He's always been negative. Always sees the worst in people. Mom doesn't like it – won't tell him, but she hates it."
I shrugged. "He'll grow out of it."
The girl hummed again and, with a flick of her dark hair, followed after her younger twin. Jayd walked after her so, left with no one else around me, I trailed behind them.
Together, the three of us quickly navigated through the mess of students to find our teams. They were sitting together, something that was occurring more often now.
Yang and Weiss were sitting side-by-side and the heiress was clearly doing her best to ignore the blonde. In front of them, Blake was reading silently even as Ruby talked Ye'lo's ear off next to her. Legion D found his seat on Yang's other side; the boy was currently messing with his Scroll, shoulders hunched and doing his damnedest to ignore everyone around him.
"You look frustrated," I said once I placed myself behind Yang. Indeed, the blonde was sitting in the center of Blake, Weiss and Legion D, none of whom were normally interested in conversation, even less so in the crowded dueling hall.
"Finally," she gasped, hopping over her seat and planting herself in the one on my right. "Words!"
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." I smiled wryly. Over the top dramatics were Yang's calling card.
"No I won't," she said, emphatic. "I need more. Now!"
I shook my head, used to the girl's antics by now, and turned back to the class at large. People were still filing into the hall and the proportion of familiar faces grew smaller with every new spectator. Never had I seen the hall this full. Granted, it might have just been the fact that I was actually fighting this time around and thus paying more attention, but I could have sworn there weren't as many foreigners in last week's class.
"Enten," Yang said, staring at the side of my face.
But that made sense – rumor had it that the first round of the Festival Tournament was to be a teams-only round. Why not come and see Beacon's students fight just as they would in the ring when the tournament began in three weeks' time?
A perfect chance to stomp out rumors of RWEBY's faltering momentum.
"EntenEntenEntenEnten."
I spotted Sun approaching along with his team. The blond introduced them to team RWEBY last week when he found us playing a board game in the academy library. Neptune Vailias was a tall boy with blue hair and high cheekbones. He wore a form fitting jacket and pants, colored a combination of maroon and black. Yellow googles rested on his forehead. I found the boy amiable enough and I was quite certain Weiss found him far more than just amiable... he did have that 'cool guy' look to him.
Scarlet David was a shorter boy with long crimson hair that was shaved short on the sides of his head. He wore mostly straight white but for the cape that was draped over his left shoulder - that was just as crimson as his hair.
Finally, Sage Ayana was a boy with dark skin and dark green hair. He was quiet when he was introduced in the library but eventually I found that he spoke in a very measured tone. Like he always spent ample time dwelling on his thoughts before he shared them. Next to Sun's awkward overtures toward Blake and Neptune's advances toward... everyone, Sage was a breath of fresh air.
He also seemed to enjoy showing off his abdominal muscles, just as his leader did, but where Sun wore an unbuttoned, short sleeved shirt, Sage wore an open jacket that reached nearly down to his ankles. Together, the four of them were team SSSN. Scarlet's appearance put me off at first-
"Enten," Yang all but screamed in my ear, shaking my arm as she did so. "Enten. Enten. Enten. Enten."
I slapped my hand over my face and turned to the girl, just a little more than exasperated.
"Yes. Yang… What. Do. You. Need?"
"Words," the girl chirped, a pleased grin on her face. "Words. I need words."
"Words," I repeated, watching as the girl's eye twitched. "I think you need help."
"No," she stated, her grin looking a little strained now. "Nope! I need words!"
Her eyes twitched again and this time I recognized the gesture for what it was – she was glancing over her left shoulder. She was trying to tell me something. Slowly, I looked-
"What the fuck," I hissed, only just managing to keep from yelling. It took all of my self-control to keep myself seated and not do… something, anything, about the fact that Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai were nonchalantly sitting not even twenty feet from us. My eyes widened further when the green haired girl herself looked my way and I quickly redirected my eyesight back to Yang.
"Play it off," I bit out – more for my benefit than the blonde's – as I forced my jaw to relax because what the fuck?! I shook my head, trying desperately to center myself and remain calm and not give anything away but I knew in the back of my mind that it was far, far too late to do that. Seeing the duo here unsettled me enough to even potentially throw off my duels for the day.
They were supposed to be on one of Ironwood's ships. They were supposed to be locked up or otherwise contained because Mercury had openly acknowledged that they were associated with Torchwick and 'The Queen'. They were supposed to be Neo's cellmates.
'Neo!'
What if the woman had escaped too? So soon after team RWEBY managed to capture her. Before Ozpin and Ironwood managed to get anything out of her. Too soon. Too-
But no. No, that couldn't be right. Mercury and Emerald would not be here if they escaped. Having to escape implied that they were locked up in the first place. To show up at Beacon ran directly counter to staying escaped, surely they knew that. No, they wouldn't be here if they escaped… so… they were released?
But again, being released implied that they were locked up at some point and I couldn't see Ironwood having any reason to let them go... Could he not justify throwing them in a cell? Maybe he couldn't connect them- no! I was never called in to testify or share what Mercury said or anything! Ironwood – and Ozpin – would have contacted me if they wanted to pin Mercury, and by association Emerald, down with helping Torchwick and 'The Queen'. But they never did… and that implied…
That implied that Mercury and Emerald were never locked up or otherwise contained in the first place.
"What the fuck," I muttered once more even as Yang grunted. Ozpin told us they were on one of Ironwood's ships. Never did he saw they were being held or locked up or contained...
"I know right," the blonde said, the tone of her voice neutral. "They got some nerve showing up here after the kidnapping. Why isn't Goodwitch doing anything?"
"Because she can't," I said absentmindedly, my mind spinning. This changed everything.
Because if Mercury and Emerald were never locked up and I was never called in to try and prove their guilt, that meant that they weren't on The Queen's side after all. That meant that Mercury lied to me when he told me of his connection to Roman Torchwick.
That meant Ozpin hadn't been one hundred percent open with team RWEBY.
"Can't," Yang demanded, her voice still hushed. I noted that Blake's ears were twitching inside their bow even as she listened to a one-sided conversation Sun was having with her. Never let it be said the boy didn't try. "What do you mean can't? She's the professor here – nobody's gonna stop her."
"I mean she can't because Mercury and Emerald were never on Torchwick's side in the first place," I hissed. "Think about it – they're sitting out in the open at Beacon. That suggests that they have no reason to fear Vale's authority and that-"
"That means they fooled us," Yang muttered. "But why lie to us? Why not just tell us they weren't with…"
"Maybe because they don't want to tell us who they're really with," I pondered, shrugging, finally managing to rein myself in and regain some semblance of control.
Mercury and Emerald were back at Beacon. That was… okay? Sort of. Mercury and the person for whom he worked were presumably still interested in team RWEBY but… at least he wasn't with Torchwick. He wasn't with The Queen. Ironwood and Ozpin never would have let him go if he was.
Any further conversation was abruptly ended when Professor Goodwitch began calling the dueling hall's occupants to attention. Blake shot Yang and I a look before she turned forward, nudging Sun with her elbow to get the boy to stop talking and pay attention as well.
We would need to talk. All of us. And Ozpin too, for good measure. But that could be done later... I had a dueling class to dominate alongside my team. I needed to focus on the present and worry about the future later.
"Students," Goodwitch's voice echoed throughout the hall. "Students. Your attention please. Students!"
Slowly, the mass of bodies shuffling about trying to find seats settled into said seats. They quieted in pockets, rather than all at once, but eventually the lack of movement brought with it a respectable silence. It was not completely quiet – I could hear whispered conversations occurring all around me – but it was enough to hear the blonde professor.
Given the sheer number of people in the hall, it would probably never be completely quiet anyway.
"Thank you," the woman continued, clearing her throat. "The Vale Festival has officially begun and so, again, I would like to welcome all of our foreign visitors to Beacon Academy. We are honored to host you for the duration of this celebration."
She paused briefly, just enough to let her statement sink in, before continuing:
"Now, the tournament will begin in three weeks and until that time comes, you are welcome to observe Beacon's dueling class. I outlined the rules last week but, for those just joining us now, please refrain from taunting, jeering or otherwise acting out negatively while you are in this hall. This is a learning environment – there is a time and place for grandstanding and this is not it. The dueling participants are not restricted in the same way, of course…
"You may also be asked to leave if you are disturbing the class – if this occurs, please represent your nation proudly and exit the hall without any further issue. I will resort to force if it becomes necessary. For your sake, I hope it does not."
She paused once more, just enough to transition the subject. Yang shifted in her seat next to me, crossing her legs at the knee. I front of us, Sun sent a sideways glance at Blake that the girl either ignored or did not see while Ruby leaned forward, he elbows on her knees.
"Now, Beacon students, welcome to your seventh team training day. This week, in lieu of our normal duels, you will be participating in a team building exercise with your other first year classmates."
Immediately, muttering sprung up among the students.
"Other classmates, what's that supposed to mean," Yang muttered next to me, leaning forward in the same manner as her sister. I glanced her way and, in the corner of my eye, managed to catch sight of Emerald's hair.
It was a very distinctive shade of green. Almost lime in color.
"I will choose one member from each team, totaling eight in all," Goodwitch continued, heavily punctuating each word spoken as was her norm. "These eight students will act as team captains for this dueling class; these team captains will choose and lead a team from the remaining pool of first year students. These new teams will then compete against each other."
"Huh," Yang grunted, surprised. "Sounds fun!"
"Now," Goodwitch enunciated, ignoring the low din that was reverberating throughout the dueling hall. "We are short one student this week, thus our number is an even thirty-two. There will be four first round matches, the next round will feature the four winners of the first round and the last round will pit our two best teams against each other. Lastly, the team captains may not choose any members from their original team and they may only select one member from each other team. No more… If there are no questions, I will now announce the eight team captains."
Again, she paused. This time it was longer and she glanced about the room, waiting for a student to speak up. None did, however, in fact the room was nearly dead silent now. The switch up in activities for the day appeared to have captured the attention of the entire student population within the dueling hall, mine included.
It was an interesting concept, pitting teams of students unfamiliar with each other against other, equally mismatched, teams. It was probably a good way to build cohesion within the class as a whole but it did little to nothing for our normal team cohesion, something that was certainly going to be important in the Vale Festival tournament.
So much for RWEBY making a statement. Oh well – there was always next week.
"Very well," the woman continued. "From team CRDL: Russel Thrush. From DMND: Marrone Birch. From EMRD: Eik Verbrand."
She stopped speaking briefly, glancing up at the students to make certain that the names she'd called were heard correctly. Indeed, all three students were making their way down to the stage in utter and complete silence.
None of them were particularly impressive. Eik Verbrand was EMRD's leader and he had a decent record, as did Marrone Birch of DMND. Of course, she was the only one with a decent record from her team… they were currently at the bottom of the class rankings and EMRD was only just ahead of them. Eik was in a similar situation: he too had a good record but the rest of his team was subpar. Given he was leader of EMRD, though, the fact that the team as a whole was unimpressive did not speak highly of his leadership abilities.
No, I was not impressed with him. At least Birch could hide behind the fact that she was not leader of her abysmal team. However, that did not excuse her from trying to bully Ruby with her leader - Dune - so many weeks ago.
She did not impress me either.
Lastly, there was Russel Thrush from CRDL – the boy was fragile and only decent with his daggers. His record – 4-7 – accurately reflected his position in the class as far as dueling strength was concerned. Perhaps he would make something of himself with the chance to lead a team, though.
In the end, only time would tell.
"Good," the blonde professor intoned once the three students joined her on stage. "Now, from JNPR: Nora Valkyrie. From JYDE: Legione D'Acciaio. From OPUL: Ognis Ty."
Again, she paused, allowing the next three students to make their way to the stage.
"Good luck, man," Jayd called as Legion D, a grim look on his face, got to his feet and started down toward Goodwitch.
"Yeah! Kick some butt," Ye'lo shouted. "…Just not mine!"
The boy grunted and waved once over his shoulder in response. Next to me, Yang scoffed.
"Of course she would pause right before our team. I'm gonna make such an awesome team. We're all gonna be super strong and-" she started to phantom box with the air in front of her, "-we're all gonna kick some major-"
"From team RWEBY: Enten Melkweg. From team SAFR: Fuoco Pilum."
"Sorry Yang," I muttered, a grin on my face.
"Woo Enten," Ruby cheered, throwing her arms up in the air. "Do us proud! Except not too proud! I mean- just… Woo Enten!"
"Yeah. Woo Enten," Yang parroted, monotone and very clearly unhappy. The girl wore her heart on her sleeve. "Wooo-aaaah Enten just got knocked out by Yang's right fist of fury-oo Enten!"
I scoffed and turned away from her only to catch Weiss drawing a line across her throat with her finger and Blake pretending to choke.
Oh, they were all going down.
Hard.
I made my way down to the stage quickly, descending normally via the stairs for once. The larger audience was intimidating and unusual, given I was used to fighting in front of less than half the current number of spectators, but it affected me for only a moment.
I had better things to do than be intimidated, after all, like come up with a winning combination of fighters. Kids that had Semblances and abilities that mixed well. We wouldn't know how to fight alongside one another so I would have to value quick-win strategies first. Semblances that played to each other's' strengths. Martial skills that complimented each other well.
"Now," Goodwitch continued, drawing me from my thoughts, after Pilum and I reached the stage, "We will begin the selection process with the captain who possesses the best record in class…"
At her words, the scoreboard sprung to life and quickly sorted itself based upon the eight students' records. I was tied for fourth with Nora. Eik Verbrand, Marrone Birch and Ognis Ty all possessed eight wins to my seven.
Ognis Ty (OPUL): 8-3
Eik Verbrand (EMRD): 8-3
Marrone Birch (DMND): 8-3
Enten Melkweg (RWEBY): 7-4
Nora Valkyrie (JNPR): 7-4
Fuoco Pilum (SAFR): 5-6
Russel Thrush (CRDL): 4-7
Legione D'Acciaio (JYDE): 3-8
"Ognis Ty," the woman intoned. "Your team has more points than both EMRD and DMND. You will choose first."
The redheaded boy hesitated for only a moment: "Pyrrha Nikos!"
"Didn't see that one coming," I snarked to Legion D.
"Tch," the boy scoffed, a smirk on his face. "Kiss ass just wants to look good. Betcha he woulda picked you if you weren't down here."
"Me? Nah. I don't have tits."
"What," the boy grunted, surprised, and craned his neck around me just in time to see Ognis' eyes dart down to the Nikos girl's torso. He laughed quietly even as Eik Verbrand of EMRD stepped forward. "Tch. Perv. He looks at my sister like that and I'll kick his ass."
"Yang Xiao Long," EMRD's leader called.
"Betcha Yel'll get picked next," Legion D muttered, watching the blonde vault over the edge of the stands and onto the dueling stage. "Damnit. All the strong fighters'll be gone by the time they get to me."
I choose not to acknowledge the boy's last comment. His record – 3-8 – was a sore point for him and his attitude would, without a doubt, sour whenever it was brought up.
So fragile, the teenage ego… Legion D had a long way to go before he could stand on Yang or Weiss' level. The boy's temper closely matched the stereotypes associated with Roman gladiators: volatile. It was easy to get him riled up because he did it himself. Whenever he missed a step or lost a chance at landing a hit he would shoot himself in the foot by dwelling on it.
I wasn't quite certain how to help him yet.
I wasn't quite certain I should bother.
"Ye'lo Malamig," Marrone Birch called, drawing me back to the situation at hand. The quiet dueling hall. The students lined up next to me.
My strategy.
It would be unexpected and probably make no sense at all to everyone in the hall, my choice. My team would find it surprising and probably worry that I was falling back into my ruthless mindset again, a state that Yang lovingly dubbed 'Renten'. They had nothing to fear - I knew manipulating my classmates was something they deemed unacceptable.
"Mr. Melkweg's team has a higher ranking than Ms. Valkyrie's," Goodwitch stated, nodding to me.
I stepped forward.
It was time I started mending ties with JNPR.
"Jaune Arc!"
Utter silence, something I expected, swept over the Beacon students in the crowd, it quieted the mumbled conversations that were going on before my declaration and drew almost every pair of eyes toward me. Most all of them were incredulous, my team's were a mixture of confused and wary.
After all, why would I pick a student with one win that was known best for his clumsy demeanor and bumbling way of fighting?
But they didn't see. My fellow classmates were blind Jaune's potential - both as a fighter and as a bridge to getting my team back in JNPR's good graces. They only saw his ineptitude. His clumsiness. They were short sighted and ignorant.
But I was not.
I watched. I saw. I observed.
He was being trained by Pyrrha Nikos and was clearly improving because of it; his last two opponents were simply too good, too well trained for him to deal with. Were I to judge him honestly, I would place him among the five or six win students, now.
Good, but there was room for improvement. Room for me to help.
Somewhere in the crowd, I heard Cardin cackle. The boy's laughter brought me back to the situation at hand and I noted that Jaune had yet to move.
"Jaune Arc," I repeated, eying the wide-eyed boy.
"Uh, right," he stammered, jumping to his feet and nearly unbalancing himself as he did so – it was only Ren's quick thinking that stopped him from tumbling down the bleacher-esque seating in front of him. Once stable again, the blond thanked his quiet teammate and ran over toward the stairs.
"Big mistake," Cardin howled. "You're gonna-"
"Mr. Winchester," Goodwitch snapped. "Kindly keep your opinion to yourself. Did I not just finish warning the class about jeers?"
The boy scowled and returned to his seat but his expression shifted into a grin when Jaune stumbled down the last few stairs as he neared the stage. CRDL's leader, apparently mollified, laughed once more and sat down, finally quieting just as Nora Valkyrie stepped forward and my first pick reached me.
He was wary - I saw it in the furrow of his brow. In the downturn of his lips. In the tenseness of his muscles. He thought I had some kind of ulterior motive for choosing him.
He was right.
"Uhh… so," the boy muttered, his eyes darting everywhere but my face.
I studied him, silent, for a moment longer. He was clearly uncomfortable, clearly wary, but the nervousness I once knew to associate with him was gone. He was not scared or uncertain, just on guard.
Pyrrha had done well.
"Good luck," I said, nodding as I clapped my hand down on Legion D's shoulder. The boy nodded back, distracted now that his turn was approaching, and I promptly walked some distance behind my fellow captains. I heard Jaune's footsteps behind me after a short moment's hesitation.
Once I felt I was far enough away, I spun around and – ignoring Pyrrha as she glared holes into the side of my head and Nora's concerned glances toward Jaune – started speaking:
"You did well against Eik last week. He was a bad match up. Whips usually are for people who fight like us."
"Uhh, thanks," the blond said, his eyes narrowed. "So should I be fearing for my life-"
"No, that isn't necessary. You never needed to fear for your life – I would have stopped Cardin if he got too vicious."
"Thanks," he said dryly, scoffing. "But you didn't feel any need to stop him when he was making my life a living nightmare for the first few months of the semester? Great."
I shrugged. "I look after my team first. No hard feelings."
The boy shook his head even as Ognis Ty stepped forward to choose his second student.
"You don't get to just write off what you did to me," he muttered, leaning forward. He was angry, now. Bold. Confident. "To my team. You put us through so much shit Enten! So much-"
"You put yourself through that Jaune. You applied to Beacon with-"
"Yeah but-"
"But nothing! You," I said, shrugging off my annoyance. I knew I was to blame for Cardin's continued bullying of the boy, but I was not, by any means, responsible for the bully's actions in the first place. "Hold on."
He grunted and crossed his arms, turning away from me even as my turn came about again. I quickly paced back up to the line of students, all of whom were eyeing me with a large variety of emotion playing about their faces, and rapidly searched the crowd to see who was left.
"Legion E," I called shortly and turned on my heel. It was a stroke of luck that she was still available – she was an integral part of my strategy, after all. Without her Semblance, my plan would fall to pieces.
Legion E could create a mist, a gas of sorts. It hung about her like a thick miasma as she fought and made it difficult to predict her movements and see her attacks, given it was anything but translucent. I was hopeful first that I would be able to control it with my Semblance and second, that it was combustible.
There were several students left capable of creating fire, after all.
"Mr. Melkweg," Goodwitch intoned amidst the confused mutterings of the audience. I stopped in my tracks, just behind the line of my fellow captains. All of RWEBY had been picked already and most of them were throwing amused looks my way, now. "Please address your fellow classmates by their names."
My brow furrowed. "Leg- Oh. Legione Estate."
The girl, who was already half way down to the stage, threw me a faux salute and quickened her pace. Her dark hair fluttered about her face and I watched as she brushed it away from her eyes, an annoyed frown present upon her lips now.
"If you get annoyed by it, why not tie it back," I asked, once she reached me.
She hummed, running one dusky colored hand through the curly strands. "Can't. Too unruly"
I grunted, but did not respond verbally. My feet returned me to my place among the rest of my fellow captains. Legion E took up a position at my right shoulder while Jaune lingered around my left. The boy was still sulking, or maybe he was mad. I wasn't certain.
He was right to be wary of me, to expect an ulterior motive. But he was wrong in thinking that my intentions were damaging to him. It was true that I wanted to use him to rekindle the bonds between our two teams but nothing more than that. It would please the girls to call JNPR friends again and they were, without a doubt, a strong team to have at one's back. If Jaune got a little stronger in the process of rekindling that friendship then I doubted he would complain.
"Didn't expect that," E commented, drawing me back into the present. Legion D had just chosen Cardin as his pick. The bully's record was a respectable 8-3 but most of his wins were against low-ranked opponents. He lost to both Yang and myself… badly. Together with his attitude that fact made him quite off-putting.
"Dacc hates his guts," the girl continued, eyeing her brother where he stood, farther down the line of students. There was perhaps five to ten feet between each forming team.
"He's not the only one," Jaune muttered, glancing at Winchester as he made his way over to Legion D and Ruby, the boy's other choice.
"He's a fool," I observed. "Not Legion D… well, he's not doing himself any favors here either. But no, Cardin is a fool. Cocky. A bad choice."
"Hmm. Ruby looks like she just swallowed a lemon," Legion E said, amused.
"She hates him more than I do," I intoned. "Can't stand to see anyone suffer, it's one of her finest qualities. Cardin makes people suffer. Almost every day."
Jaune grumbled but held his tongue. That was a disappointment – I hoped that by giving him such a large opening, he would express some kind of surprise that Ruby would allow me to manipulate Cardin if she truly wished to help people. I could have espoused my leader's kindness and played myself up as the bad guy… put her in a better light in the boy's eyes.
Oh well.
"Not much left, hmm?"
"Plenty left," I argued, glancing at the dark-skinned girl. The yellow dress and metallic armor complimented her appearance well. Perhaps that was done to win an advantage over her male opponents? Or, more likely, it was simply done out of a desire to look good. Most of my classmates did not think in a way similar to my, admittedly… severe, mindset. Aesthetics were important to them. "Plenty of choices left."
"Yeah," she asked, her eyebrows arched. "Who're you gonna pick?"
I shook my head, watching as Ognis made his third and final choice: Regen Wasser of SAFR.
"That's a secret," I teased. "If I tell you, they might get snatched up!"
The girl scoffed. "You're next. I highly doubt Marrone will choose- never mind, she just went. So: who is it?"
I turned back to the class at large, scanning the remaining students only for a brief moment before I made my decision: "Alita Infuocato!"
"Her," Legion E bit out, her mouth falling open. "Enten – you realize that, between the four of us, your team has a total of… sixteen wins? You have seven, I have six, Alita has two and…" She shook her head. "What do you think-"
"Wins don't mean much, not in the long run," I said, watching as Infuocato made her way down to me. "I may only have seven, but I still beat Pyrrha."
"You got lucky," Jaune said immediately, suddenly. His eyes were narrowed and focused intensely on my own. "Pyrrha's the best fighter in the class. Easy."
I blinked slowly – unable to recall ever seeing the blond so passionate about… anything before. Perhaps being in close proximity to me brought out his bolder side? Whenever I passed him in the hall, he ignored me. That might have just been his way of dealing with anger.
But now that he was being forced to confront that anger…
"Probably," I agreed, nodding. "But I still won. Regius, from EMRD? He has one win to his name and a point from the bye week but he still beat Legion D. Ruby lost to Regen but then she turned around and beat Dove. Seven wins loses to four but wins against nine."
"Okay," E said slowly. "So they aren't always correct but… our sixteen wins to Ognis' team's twenty-nine. That's…"
"Those are just odds we'll overcome," I said confidently as Alita finally reached us. SAFR's A was a short girl that possessed brilliant red hair and a freckled nose. Her signature attack was her Semblance – fire breath. Other than that, she had very little going for her. I hypothesized that, before Beacon, her Semblance was enough to get her through her training at Signal with a respectable grade. Now, though, she was being forced to play catch up lest she fall behind her classmates, almost all of whom had skillsets in addition to their Semblances that they could bring to their duels.
That said, she was still a decent fighter - her luck with opponents had just been horrible. Names like Pyrrha, Ye'lo and even Ognis were too good at what they did to be bested by a girl that relied on her Semblance too much and her dagger far too little. Still, Alita gave them a good fight.
She was a hidden talent. Like Jaune. One that could only be found through intense observation.
Luckily, that was something I was good at.
"Alright," I said, glancing about the room one last time. The students were grouped up in their new teams, now, all except DMND's N; the boy was injured in his last duel and had to sit out this week, conveniently bringing my class's number down to thirty-two even.
Weiss met my eyes as my gaze traveled over her team. The girl offered me a smile and I returned the gesture. The look on her face was replaced by a grimace before I could turn away, though, and she started toward me at a clipped pace, the frown growing with every step she took.
My brow furrowed in confusion even as Legion E hummed behind me. I noticed that most of the students were staring in my direction, now. Yang even started following Weiss-
"Excuse me," came Pyrrha Nikos' voice from just behind me. "Can we talk for a moment?"
Oh. That explained things.
I turned around slowly, nonchalantly, and took in the situation before me.
Pyrrha, Nora and Ren all stood before me in varying states of annoyance. There were a lot of furrowed brows and crossed arms between the three of them. None of them were outwardly aggressive but… they certainly weren't happy with me.
Fair enough. I forced them to acknowledge me by choosing Jaune – they could no longer pretend that I did not exist.
"Sure," I said lightly, sticking my hands – or rather, hand – in my pockets and eying them expectedly. I heard Weiss' heels click to a stop just behind me and Yang's boots followed shortly there-after.
JNPR didn't seem put off by the girls' presence but that didn't surprise me. I highly doubted Yang was doing anything threatening and, given Weiss' social mind, knew that the Schnee heiress would not make any outwardly hostile gestures. The two of them were probably only there to protect me if I was attacked anyway.
Just like the situation with Rod Seglare.
Thankfully, none of the members of JNPR struck me as hateful fools.
"In private," Pyrrha continued after several seconds of silence passed. The dueling hall was just as quiet as it was when I called out Jaune's name as my first choice – apparently I was pretty interesting.
Or rather, the kid who beat Pyrrha was interesting. Not Enten Melkweg.
Suddenly, I thought I had an idea of just how Weiss Schnee felt in her day-to-day life.
"Probably not," I vocalized amid a grimace, careful to keep my tone light even as the redhead bristled. "We gotta be around to see who fights first, after all."
The girl's eyes widened and a smile bloomed on her face. "Of course," she said after a moment, laughing lightly. "Maybe later, then?"
"Yup. Now if you'll excuse me… I need to plan with my team."
She nodded, leaving me behind with a disconcerted feeling that I only just managed to hide behind a neutral expression. Never had I seen the girl so… happy. So laid back since it came to light that I was the one helping Cardin bully Jaune. Granted, the last significant exchange I had with her was the conversation a single day after I beat her in a very public duel wherein she lost her temper and tried to kill me…
Maybe she'd cooled off?
I grunted, deciding to forget about it for the time being, and turned to shoo away Weiss and Yang.
"Thank you servants," I demurred. "But your highness is fine now. You may return to your mundane lives."
"As if," Yang retorted, nonplussed even as Weiss rolled her eyes. "I just came over to tell you I'm gonna kick your butt. In public. Again."
"Do try, peasant."
The blonde laughed and slammed her fists together. "It's on!"
With that, she turned and launched herself back toward her team, headed by Eik Verbrand.
I turned then to Weiss because the white haired girl hadn't left yet. She was only looking at me.
"Should I be concerned," she asked, her voice quiet. The girl's pale eyes flickered over my shoulder, at the spot where I knew Jaune, Legion E and Alita were standing.
"No," I muttered, grasping the girl in a hug. The next sentence I said into her hair: "I think it's long past time that I mended our ties with JNPR."
The girl stilled in my arms but recovered quickly enough, squeezing me once before releasing me and strutting back over to her team. Before she turned away fully, though, she glanced meaningfully toward Legion D's team. The team Ruby was on.
I could read the question in her eyes easily enough: Is this for Ruby?
'All of you,' I mouthed and the girl turned around fully, pleased.
A/N: SURPRISE MUTHA TRUCKAS! Betcha didn't expect this did you?!
Happy Christmahannukwanzadan! Think that about covers everyone, yeah? Anyway, take a new chapter of Reiteration – early – as my gift to you this holiday season. I'll see you all two weeks from now in 2016!
So Happy New Year as well!
Jack Hunter: That's a difficult question (if you don't try to save as many people as you can, what kind of person are you?). I'd go with adjectives like selfish and self-serving first and foremost. But I'd also stick realistic and intelligent in there as well. You can't always save everyone, after all. Neither Enten or Ruby have really gotten into a situation where they have to choose yet so they've never really clashed overly much on this idea… maybe in the future? Who knows? Thanks for the review!
Eclipse-Sol: Have no fear – the worst Papa Schnee has planned for his daughter might be sore heels after a night of dancing! Or at least as far as team RWEBY knows! Thanks for the review!
Victory3114: Glad you liked the Ruby developments. She's one of the most fun characters to write given how her viewpoints clash with Enten's. Room for growth on both sides, there. Your aura disruption rods sort of remind me of Pein (Pain?) from Naruto – interesting concept… one I hadn't thought about before. It certainly might be possible, though Enten would need to figure out how to make his aura disruptive enough to mess with his opponent's. Not sure how he'd do that, but it's definitely something to explore. Thanks for your thoughts – always enjoy reading them!
Tdychko: That they did! Enten canceled it, specifically, as part of an apology to Weiss! Thanks for the review!
Lord rage quit: Cold and calculating – though there is emotion hidden under there. But emotion often interferes with logical thought… whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate. Thanks for the review!
5 Coloured Walker: Not quite 'sacrifice everyone but your own team' anymore. I think the rest of RWEBY has gotten it through Enten's head that that is not acceptable… at all. But mending bonds with JNPR to make RWEBY stronger? Fair game. Thanks for your review!
98kazer: Surprise mutha trucka! Two weeks in advance! Now you don't need to find more RWEBY fanfiction for about a half hour! Hah, thanks for your review and happy holidays to you as well!
Name-Change: Don't think I don't notice you changing your name on me every chapter. I'm onto you… the changes are small, but I see 'em. Thanks for catching the Haven/Atlas snafu, I did indeed mistype that, probably thinking about Sun while I was writing it or something, who knows! As for Pyrrha's supporters… well, they're probably noteworthy people who might just happen to attend balls held by certain well-to-do investors cough Schnee cough. But they totally don't matter (at Beacon) and definitely won't do anything to Enten (at Beacon). So no worries! Lastly, your feeling was right! Mercury and Emerald 'broke' out of jail pretty quickly, unfortunately for Neo, she's still stuck in a cell. Must be quiet there. Very quiet. Thanks for your review! Tacked this part on for your second review: That's certainly a possibility and I believe her name was Amber… I think. Though if Enten's Aura can energize and manipulate… it can certainly take too. Something to think about!
Riero: I agree with you almost completely. The only point I'd dispute is that Enten's world view is being influenced by his team. He now knows how violently disagreeable they find his take-no-prisoners actions and won't go quite as far because of it. But who's to say he won't push his boundaries a little bit… Thanks for your review!
Akio Blade: I'm glad my story elicits so much emotion from you – hopefully positive in nature. I put a lot of thought into how Enten works and thinks and, though he might seem to be on a self-destructive path at times, he's got his team there to pull him back from the edge. It wouldn't be character development without the development! Thanks for your review!
EveBlaze: No plan for the memory loss, I'm afraid. Enten's made his choices and the consequences will have to be dealt with, no easy ways out. That said, mending the bonds with JNPR isn't off the table just yet… stay tuned and thanks for your review!
Oyshik: Enten isn't aware of how he died on Earth but he was 24 when it happened. As for bridging the gaps between him and JNPR – on it! Hah, thanks for the review!
Guest numero dos: No pressure – every review is appreciated regardless of its contents. (Even flames – it's another number, after all, though I haven't received one yet… and I probably just jinxed myself). I felt that Enten had too much time in the spotlight too; he's the POV for the story but… yeah, the team wasn't getting enough real estate. Hopefully this chapter is a turn in the right direction! No worries, no reaper has assumed control and the collectors remain dead. Also – happy early birthday! I didn't quite post it six days earlier, I went with two weeks… hope that counts! Thanks for the review – I always enjoy reading them! For your second review on Fall: Let's just say, the end objective of the story is getting 'Cinder' to 'Fall'! Hah! I'm a genius! Also – long live the Melkweg System.
Lucifer Daemon: 3
Eclipse: I did see Fall. Yang will not have that done to her. That's all I can say…
Lizy2000: Thanks for your review – how 'bout an update just in time for Christmas?
Zam138: Not quite stolen, else it would have turned purple when he took Jaune's too… no, it's all his Aura! Thanks for the review!
MrtheratedG: I see what you did there… as far as the 'I must be the enemy of the world' thing, you don't have to worry about that. I never quite understood that line of thought. If anything, Enten would reaaaaally want to destroy the enemy of the world because it was threatening his team.
Till next time readers!
Phailen out.
