A/N: Well, phew. Finals are done. This was on the backburner for months, tbh. I have chapters written but un-edited so I can have a buffer. In reality, it's helpful because I'm not frantically putting something together, but it also makes me nervous because part of me hopes that the continuity feels like it's there. I want to be sure that you all enjoy the chapter, as well, but the importance is on the continuity of the story. I still want to be faithful, but I am starting to make little changes so I can make it my own ever so slowly.
So, please, comment on anything you think needs critique. I should hopefully be back to more regular uploads for now, and I should have Chapter 30 up in a couple of weeks. Thank you all, for bearing with my inner madness and my schedule so far.
EDIT: I GOOFED AND FORGOT SOME DIVIDERS.
-C. Exodia
Enjoying her morning breakfast, Pyrrha paid little mind to the world around her. It was a soothing Saturday morning- there were no classes and she could just relax. The little cafe on campus was a nice place to spend a cold morning with no responsibilities. She had a bagel with cream cheese and a small cup of roast coffee resting on the table. Her backpack rested neatly on the side of the chair, its black handle lazily resting over the open zipper that had previously contained her scroll. The heat of both emanated steam into the cold air; she preferred her coffee warm and black, and the bagel freshly toasted.
Reading the news was her best pastime to keep up with current events in Mistral. The Saturday Paper was free to read through the subscription system covered by the tuition, and Pyrrha took full advantage. Even with her family in Honeysuckle, she only got news of the region. She wanted to see if either of her friends who made it into Haven Academy were in the news or if any little thing that might be fascinating to her had happened.
Early Saturday morning was always time for training for Team PRJN, but that had long since finished. The rest of her team probably went back to sleep a little more, but she wasn't about that. Ever since she was a little girl, she had enjoyed the calm, cool morning atmosphere. It was solitary, and the relative quiet of the cafe gave her a bit of a safe haven. As much as she enjoyed being around her team, it was nice to get away for a bit and be herself. Her family here, and that included Team RWBY as well, could wait for a bit. For now, it was just her, the food, and the paper on her scroll.
"Ah, the prices are going up… papa will be pleased that his stored goods will fetch a good return…" Her accent returned to her for a second as she reminisced helping him out in the storage room, a locked space under the back porch, as he loaded up goods to go to market. She always liked checking the inventory when Papa wasn't looking, seeing if his planning had paid off.
Nothing had changed in Mistral. Riots and protests in the streets of the major cities; high amounts of poverty in less developed regions; unanswered advertisements for huntsmen to go clear out towns near major metropolitan areas that had been overrun by Grimm that had been in last week's paper- all facts of life in her home. None of this was ever talked about in the actual Mistralian papers, which Pyrrha largely disregarded. They weren't ever any good. She mostly read things from other regions reporting on the conditions from inside sources- namely Mistralian immigrants and refugees that had started their own papers in Vale and Atlas. Information was smuggled out cleanly and easily- if there was anything that the country wasn't trying to be the best at, it was truly suppressing expression and the flow of information.
Being so far out was a boon for Pyrrha, meaning she had a relatively peaceful childhood, but there was a reason that Mr. Mastroakis was still stationed in Honeysuckle. He was there to protect the citizens from what lay between the town and its next neighbor. It bothered her; it was her home that was slowly devolving into sectarian violence and there was little she could do to stop it. Along with the woman who saved her, it was the primary reason she wanted to take up arms.
What good came from the news was when she read papers from Vale. They were all abuzz about the Vytal Festival. There was a list of students that would arrive for the tournament, and she had to check. The Mistralians, this time, would be the last to arrive, and that would mean she might be able to see some of her friends again.
Aha, Sun's team are at the top of the list. Previously unbeknownst to her, Sun's team were from Mistral, which surprised her as she read it quietly. She had thought, from all this time, that they were Vacuoan by origin. They had arrived quite a while back, long before anyone else had really arrived, which had made her assume that he had come from the relatively anarchic Vacuo. A few others had arrived not long after, but many who spent the holidays at Beacon or the other Academies either had issues at their home or their homeland. Maybe that's why Sun and his team stayed- She froze as she saw a specific name.
Arslan Altan. That name made Pyrrha nearly squeal with joy. So, she made it, too! It was good to see that she had gotten out of the pain that was the Mistralian system that chewed up and spat back out most of the applicants who ran through the rungs. Pyrrha was certainly glad that she escaped its clutches; who knows what happened even in Haven. Headmaster Lionheart, from hearsay she had gathered from people while at Sanctum, ran an extremely right ship.
Arslan had been one of her teammates back in the Academy and the two worked rather well together. With her strength, stealth, and physical prowess, she was certain to make it through- Arslan Altan was often at the top of the ranked lists for students back at Sanctum. When she arrived, hopefully, Pyrrha could meet her again. They were long due to see each other again. Hopefully, she hasn't changed…
Most of the other names Pyrrha couldn't ascertain. This was expected- Mistralian hunters and huntresses mostly comprised the cream of the crop of every Academy in Mistral. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel like she was a fluke in that sense. Sure, she grew a great deal out of the system, but it still panged her that there were fighters far better than her that were likely training to be grunts in the Army or retreating quietly to their towns, picking their family's trade back up. Such was life in Mistral- very few escaped, and most fell back into the hellish cycle that perpetuated the country. Despite the pangs, she was thankful for the opportunities had. She and one of her brothers had made it out. That's more than most families can boast.
Closing the list, she thought to so many of her other friends back at the academy: Veridian, likely back in her town weaving silk; Topaz, blacksmithing with his dad; Sky, probably working in construction… no, it was just her and Arslan who made it to the next level.
She moved to the next article, trying to clear her head from those thoughts, making a mental note to see if their numbers worked. Most of the next couple of pages were insignificant, largely speaking of renovations and street closings for the main events of the Festival and of a few arrests made of partygoers who got too rampant in the street…
And then, there it was. Having flipped to the next paper, the headline caught Pyrrha's eye.
"Gigantic Machine Found Dismantled In The Vale Highway"
That was enough for Pyrrha to start looking. That sort of headline would make nearly anyone's head spin; and upon further readings, this was a piece that would give much alarm. It was stolen Atlesian military technology, and the news sources likely got to printing before any government censorship of the event could take place. Vale is a lot more eventful that Mistral… that much was true. It wasn't all bad, though. She highly preferred the hustle and bustle of Beacon to the quiet of Mistral.
Her mind raced to the conversation that Team RWBY had a few nights prior, one that made her frantically search the article. Any piece of information that would give her clues as to what could have caused this, any evidence that would guide her to the involvement of her friends. Knowing what her friends had done in the past, this did not seem too far-fetched in comparison.
She couldn't, also, rule out the testimonies of survivors from the incident. Eight people were killed by the rampaging machine, which would likely do wonders for the approval of the Atlesian army. Fifty people were injured as well, with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, who would all likely hold grudges against the country in the future. The mention of a Mr. Roman Torchwick would probably do to temper the image of the Atlesian forces in Vale, but the relative sparseness would bring into question the motives of the source.
The part of the story that she couldn't take her eyes away from, however, were the testimonies of what brought it down. It seems four young girls, using various means to track down the robot and eventually defeat it, were consistent with each person's narrative. Pyrrha's interest was piqued further; not only was the name of the Atlesian military squandered by some criminal but, also, the overall narrative was congruent to the descriptions of Team RWBY.
Finally getting up from her seat after what seemed like an eternity constantly reading and re-reading the paper, Pyrrha put her scroll away calmly. She let it slide for a bit before fitting neatly into the holster on the side of her backpack, thinking that Team RWBY's plans would not come to fruition. She downed the last sips of her coffee, having now gotten to a more lukewarm heat, and tossed it in the nearby receptacle.
How wrong she was. How painfully wrong she was, and how their plans have turned out. Her instincts wanted to take over- to investigate these and to help her friends out in any way she could.
But how would she get Jaune, Nora, and Ren to believe her? Even if they knew the sorts of exploits the four girls tended to get into from time to time, this would be a bit of a doozy to try and explain. Jaune, in particular, had been already suspicious of Pyrrha's behavior ever since the time she had practically had her ear to the door, listening in on Team RWBY's conversation. Everything rested on getting Jaune to acquiesce; if she didn't even have her partner standing by her on this, she would have a hard time convincing anyone else.
The caffeine from her beverage kept her feeling energetic and determined, but for how much longer was anyone's guess. With her breakfast completed and a spring in her step, she left to formulate her plans.
Jaune was… a bit put off, to say the least. The dance was coming up in a couple of weeks, and all around, people were talking about dates. A couple of girls he didn't even know, obviously still fascinated with the legend surrounding him, had already tried asking for his hand at the dance. Frankly, he didn't really want to go with anyone he didn't know, or, really go at all.
Turning them down was the easy part. The girls had seemed to take it as a long-shot goal, so Jaune paid them little mind. The sentiment thereof, however, brought to his attention what was going on around him. Sage and Scarlet had already paired off, judging by their conversations at the table, but so had Ren and Nora (as obvious as that was), Sun and Blake, as well as Neptune and… Weiss, surprisingly enough.
He could always just ask Pyrrha and see what she thought about the prospect. As much as the idea of what a dance constituted was not his cup of tea, he thought he might as well try it out. Would give him an excuse to treat himself, give a night where he wouldn't run himself ragged trying to keep himself in top form. Pyrrha might pair off with Ruby, though. They're like two peas in a pod. Ever that time where Pyrrha had inadvertently attacked the leader of Team RWBY, they had grown rather close. In his friend group, then, that left…
Yang. That could work. Jaune had been rather fond of the girl and her protective tendencies. She was like him, in a way- wanting to protect people they regard as family or friends with their life. Despite having heavy amounts of offensive capability, she was a fighter who liked to divert damage away from the rest of her team…
Jaune stopped himself. Was he thinking about his friends in terms of her fighting capabilities? No wonder Pyrrha wanted him to get out more.
Either way, Yang would be a good choice to go with if she didn't already have a date already. With her, he wouldn't be surprised whether or not she already did. Why he still cared so much about this despite hating dances and the like… he couldn't quite say. But, in his mind, that didn't really matter. This settled nothing. Whatever happened for this was simply about going somewhere fun with friends, to get out like Pyrrha wanted him to do.
Hearing the door swing open, Jaune looked over to see Pyrrha walk in, beaming with joy and excitement.
"Have a good morning?" Jaune quipped smugly. "You seem rather chipper right now."
"One of my old friends from Sanctum is coming to Beacon to compete in the Festival! I am extremely excited to see them." Pyrrha exclaimed loudly. Thankfully, both Nora and Ren had woken back up by then, so she wasn't being rude by shouting. "Her name is Arslan; she was one of my partners."
"Interesting! Where'd you find this list?" Jaune enquired, raising an eyebrow quizzically. She had never brought up her old friends, but maybe it was just a coincidence of conversation. "I'm intrigued to see if I recognize anyone on it from tournaments. I fought with a lot of Vacuoan and Mistralian opponents; might be a nice time to meet up with them again."
"Oh, it was in the paper. People like to bet on these sorts of things," Pyrrha replied, booting up her scroll. "We get papers all around Anima free of charge through our payments to the Academy, so I like to read them on the weekends. It was in the section dedicated to happenings of the Festival."
"Fascinating," Jaune quipped as Pyrrha noticed the news article she left it on. She quickly tried to nervously swipe away, but her partner seemed to have noticed something. "Hey… go back to where you started. I saw something interesting."
"Alright…" Pyrrha flipped to the front page of the Vale Enquirer. The headline was plain to see, and it was as if the cars were still smoldering now. The color image showed mangled automobiles, bodies scattered about clearing up the situation, and, importantly, a destroyed mech suit. Jaune was flabbergasted, hand over his mouth as he gaped at the atrocity.
"Yeah, it's not anything good. It's… honestly, something that's been on my mind, but I wanted to think about it before giving it a response." Pyrrha responded, shaking her head and sighing. In her town, the big news was something like a barn falling over or a child being born. Here, even minor news eclipsed the scale of what was really big news in both extremes. In the good, the Festival, which brought thousands to the city of Vale alone. In the bad… things like this, where people died out of nowhere. This was one big sign to Pyrrha that things had changed. Now, as a Huntress to be, she had new responsibilities to fulfill.
"Who do you think caused it?" Jaune raised the question to Pyrrha, focusing his glance on her. "I think we know someone who might be involved in this."
"Not sure if the question is to wonder who did it," Pyrrha replied, taking critique with her partner's train of thought. It wasn't unsound by any means, but she could tell that Jaune was confused. "But who stopped them. Look down here." She pointed to testimonies by eyewitnesses who talked about four or five young women having taken down the machine. "It says four young women took down the machine. Who else do you think would have done something like that, Jaune?"
"Are you insisting Team RWBY did this, Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice was as much intrigued as it was critical. He didn't want her falling down this damned rabbit hole again. "Is there something I should know about the night you put your ear to the door?"
"I'm not insisting, but I think it's a solid lead." Pyrrha seemed confident this time, at least. It looked as if every part of her was insisting that they go on a limb to assist their friends. "We could be heroes. We could save lives."
"We could get ourselves killed, is what could happen," Jaune countered, obviously not willing to go down this road. "We're students, Pyrrha. What Team RWBY might or might not be doing is none of our business. We need to focus on our studies… and the dance. Wow, saying that felt really out of character."
She looked as if she wanted to force his hand further, but the way that he awkwardly sputtered that out made her giggle. "Jaune, you do know that this comment won't go away. But, please, do tell what your thoughts are on the dance."
She saw her partner squirm like never before. Jaune was usually rock-solid and stoic, rarely betraying emotion. In front of her now, however, was an awkward boy that showed a side only reserved for when he's failed. "I still need to find a partner to the dance."
Oh. Pyrrha blushed. She had been so focused on her studies and what Team RWBY was doing that she had literally forgotten to think about the dance. She had known her dress was already picked out for her, so that was already settled. God… I hope nobody's taken already. "Any of our friends going together?"
"Most of our friends seemed to have grouped up. Blake's going with Sun; Neptune with Weiss; and Scarlet with Sage. Surprisingly, Ruby and Yang haven't picked partners yet, and neither have we." Jaune quipped. Pyrrha thought about the arrangements. Ruby was out of the question for Yang, so that left really only one feasible combination if the sisters chose to go within the friend groups.
"So, you gonna ask Yang to go to the dance with you?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, smiling demurely. "Sounds… fitting."
"I guess I should say the same about you and Ruby." Jaune returned the gesture, and his partner felt the need to control herself in case a blush came out. "You two have been best of friends for a while now, and it only seems like you two would go together. It's not like many people are going with boyfriends and girlfriends, so… I don't get what the issue with asking a friend to go is."
"There is no issue unless you make one of it yourself, Jaune," Pyrrha quipped, stifling a laugh. "Have you not been to one of these before or something?"
"I never had time for the school dances back at Signal, Pyrrha," Jaune admitted, his voice growing soft. "Dances tended to coincide with tournaments like they do here, so I really only ever went to one or two. Dances at Beacon will probably be unlike anything I've seen. The teachers did most of everything at the few I did attend back at my old academy, but the students are doing it here."
"Fair enough. I mean, you are a champion, a rising star, someone who takes on all-comers." Pyrrha's smile grew into a grin, and she put her hand on his shoulder with a light grasp. "I sincerely think you can handle a dance. You shouldn't have any issues with it."
"What I mean is…" Jaune's voice grew into a whisper, his head leaning forward as he beckoned Pyrrha to come closer.
"I don't know how to dance."
Pyrrha threw her head back with laughter. "Surely, you do! I mean, you definitely had socials and events after your fights, didn't you?"
"Nah. I went, but I sorta kept to the side," Jaune admitted, a bit ashamed. "It wasn't my thing. My sisters learned, but I sort of never did."
"Had your parents never taught you or had someone teach you how? From what I've heard from stories, it's a requirement of the upper class to know how to dance." Pyrrha felt incredulous; it was surprising that he didn't know.
"I'm not of the upper class, Pyrrha," Jaune quipped, still rather serious. "I had learned how to fight, but never how to dance. We were fighters, not nobility."
"But you can learn," Pyrrha assured him. "You can learn. I can teach you a few things, but I think I know someone who would know exactly what you need. And I know you know exactly who I am talking about."
Jaune gulped.
"Dancing is a lot like a fight, Jaune. It should be much easier than you think." Weiss had quickly agreed to teach Jaune how to dance after hearing that he didn't know how. With her reaction, you'd have thought Weiss was about to have a conniption- apparently, it was almost an insult to her that he couldn't dance in the traditional fashion. The two had rented a room in the gym to practice. "I don't need to teach you a lot of techniques for something as informal as a Beacon dance, but I think, with the basics down, you'll be at least decent at dancing."
"Thank you for this, Weiss," Jaune responded shakily. Having been requested to come in his dress clothes had been a weird one to have to acquiesce to, but he wasn't about to turn down free lessons. His suit had stayed in the bag that it had come in, so there were no creases to have to iron out. "I never really learned to do this. It was just never asked of me."
"This honestly isn't the first time I've had to go about this, Jaune," Weiss responded matter-of-factly. "A few of my friends back in Atlas were… relatively new money, too. They didn't really hold the matters of etiquette expected of high-class society. I helped them find their footing back when we were younger, and you are just another friend who needs some help acclimating to a… new place in life."
Heh. To her, I'm just another case. He stood with a soldier-like rigidity, something ingrained into him after years of training. "This isn't your first time doing this? Teaching people how to dance?"
"Dance, use the right cutlery and manners around others, even what various modes of dress work for what occasions." Weiss rattled each one off nonchalantly, but the ideas of each made Jaune's head spin. "Ah, and your stance. You need to be more fluid, Jaune. Even when you're not moving, you should be at the ready for your partner to want you to twirl her around the floor… or for you to be twirled."
Jaune blushed a little, trying to relax his stance. "Is this better?" His question was a little half-hearted, but it was sincere. The relaxed nature that Weiss seemed to carry in this moment wasn't natural to him; it felt forced not to be at attention at a moment's notice. He lowered his shoulders some, but continued to stand up straight and at attention. His arms were still held firmly at his side, and his face was high and facing forward.
"You're acting more like a butler a dancer, Jaune." Weiss snickered as she moved around him, picking out little things that were wrong. "You are too straight. Your arms should be a little looser; you need to be fluid before we can start practicing the closed position."
"Oh, sorry," Jaune responded, chuckling before making an attempt to loosen his body up. Letting out a deep breath, he kept his back straight but pushed his legs out a little bit and let his arms hang loosely at his sides. He felt a little wobbly, but he reckoned that it would improve. "Is… this better?"
"Much," Weiss quipped, letting off a soft smile. "Now, you're going to need to learn to lead and to follow. Most men tend to lead, but I love to, personally, so you're going to learn to follow. I've danced with quite a few men who followed quite well, and it's a quality that many learn to love: Someone who is versatile in their dance roles."
Jaune wanted to laugh even harder. Weiss was a rather powerful woman in her composure; he wasn't surprised to hear that she liked to lead. Jaune honestly didn't care whether he led or followed. She was the teacher, and he was mainly interested in learning to dance for his own stature more than because he was truly engulfed in the study of dance. To get reassurance that Weiss loved to lead, as fitting as it was, was rather humorous.
The next few minutes consisted of Jaune awkwardly trying to find his footing with Weiss as she led him through the closed position. Having been instructed to have his eyes watching her movements, Jaune tried his best to focus on what she was saying and trying to emulate and track what movements she made. Which, in Jaune's case… led to a few toes being stepped on.
"Ah, Jaune! Try watching where your foot's going!" Weiss cried out after a particularly hard stamp. "You're going to hurt me. Thankfully, I didn't wear heels today, or else that would've gone much worse, for the both of us."
"I'm sorry, Weiss. I'm trying; it's just weird for me to work to my partner's steps," Jaune responded, a hint of both anger and frustration apparent in his voice. Part of him was unsure why he kept trying, but he knew he couldn't disappoint. He had promised that he would go, no matter how half-heartedly, so he wanted to dedicate himself to it.
"Like I said, think of it less as matching your partners' step. You're a fighter; think of it as mirroring your opponent's movements. Sometimes," Weiss stopped speaking for a moment, forcing Jaune to twirl her before she stopped it, grasped the small of his back and pulled him close. "Dancing is about winning the lead." She began to move forwards, clutching the back of his coat and forcing him to follow. Their steps were slow, but thinking of it as a mirror of Weiss's moves made everything easier.
"Better!" Weiss responded. Jaune grasped her left hand, making Weiss gasp at his strong grip, and wrapped it behind his waist, cradling it gently in its crook before holding onto her right hand.
"Is… this how it's done?" Jaune asked, shakily.
"It's… one way of going about it. But you don't need to be that damn forceful! I'm not your sword!" Weiss reached her hand from under his arm and smacked him upside the head. "I said it was like a fight. I didn't mean that it WAS one! You need to be gentle."
"What are you guys doing here?" Both of them looked behind, faces in light shock. It was Yang, standing in the doorway, a smug grin on her face. "I thought you were taking Neptune to the dance, Weiss. Has anything changed?"
"No, Yang," Weiss responded, having gained an extremely annoyed look on her face. "I'm teaching Jaune how to dance. Why are you here, anyways?"
"I'd been watching you for quite a while, though. Wanted to speak up- saw you two going at it while walking back from my workout, so thought I might as well peep in." Yang had leaned against the doorway, pushing the few stray strands that had come out of her ponytail as she let her locks free. "It was adorable that Jaune took the woman's role- I always thought of him as someone who leads."
Weiss blushed, and Jaune was rather confused. "Well, I am new to dancing, and Weiss thought that I needed to learn by watching her movements."
Yang raised an eyebrow, her smile half-cocked. Weiss's alarm seems to have been hit, and she quickly interjected with, "He's never been to one of these dances before, and he wanted to know how to dance."
Yang started laughing, her half-grin letting out a cacophony of chuckles. "So, that's what it is? Blondie's never been to a dance before?"
"No, I haven't," Jaune responded seriously, which only made Yang laugh even harder.
"Seriously? And you're a champion fighter! Surely you've been to some formal event that would have had dancing of some sort." Yang's face was a mixture of amused and incredulous as if it was impossible for someone like Jaune to have not been to something like this.
"Nope." Jaune's answer was short and sweet. Yang had looked to Weiss, and she didn't have an answer.
"Just who were you asking to dance, anyways? Depending on who you're asking, I don't think you'd even need dance skills like those that Weiss has." Yang's inquisition made Jaune want to join Yang's merriment because of the serendipity of the situation.
"Thought I might as well ask you to it, Yang," Jaune responded calmly. "Might as well have the group of friends all going together. I think Pyrrha's going to ask Ruby, and everyone else has asked everyone else, so I thought I might as well."
Yang's laugh stopped and her face faulted for a second. Weiss then burst out laughing, the tables having obviously turned. "You should've told me who you were asking, Jaune! If you had told me, all this wouldn't have been necessary! I barely know how to dance in the way Weiss's trying to teach you in."
"Why don't you learn then?" Weiss piped up, likely extremely annoyed that Yang barged in on their session. Her disgruntled smirk morphed into a sly grin. "If you're going to go to the dance with Jaune, might as well try to work with him as a dance partner. You two already 'dance' enough already, as much as you fight against each other. Shouldn't be difficult to pick up actual dancing."
"Sure." Jaune's eyes widened in surprise. She actually said yes? Interesting. "Got nothing better to do besides study, and I can do that later with Blake. Sure, I'll dance with blondie here."
"Great. Your feet can probably stand up to his barrage better than mine can, and it'll be better to actually work with the person you'll be dancing with." Weiss stopped before turning to Yang. The golden-haired woman wasn't wearing anything formal; in fact, she looked like she had just finished a workout, with her fierce mane of hair held back in a large ponytail and a set of biker shorts and a honey-colored tank top keeping her decent.
"Yeah, I'll go with him," Yang responded nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders and flashing a cheeky grin. "Better someone I know that some random guy who's beating down my door."
"Yeah, fair enough," Weiss conceded, obviously puzzled. "Come on, get into position with Jaune."
The next hour or so was spent in a comfortable silence. The air was still but where Jaune and Yang fluttered across, taking cues from Weiss as they moved step by step. Surprisingly, Yang was a lot more natural of a partner for a beginner such as Jaune. They had similar statures and builds, meaning they had similar footfalls as well. The duo didn't step on each other's feet as much as he had with Weiss; it felt almost natural for Jaune. Yang's tight grip served well to hold them together, and they almost took turns as lead and partner. Like in their fights, both were well poised, by virtue of their respective strength and abilities, to grapple consistently for each position. Neither truly lead, and neither truly followed.
After a little bit, Weiss called it off. Yang was breathing slightly heavily, likely due to the fact that she had worked out before dancing. "That was… something," Weiss trailed off, likely not sure what to say. "I think you two have a long way to go before you're anywhere near good at dancing, but, as partners, you two are powerful together."
"Thank you, Weiss," Jaune responded after taking a quick breath. "Thank you for this lesson- it will likely serve me well for the future. I would like to have another if you don't mind."
Yang glanced over towards her dance partner, a curious look in her eye. "I don't think you'll be needing dance lessons when you're learning to fight dangerous creatures. Are these skills useful?"
"Maybe not for your style, Yang," Weiss countered, a hint of defensiveness and outrage in her voice. "But for me, dancing suits it quite well. You never know, though, Yang. Our fighting style, like our dancing style, is ever evolving. It morphs to whatever you throw at it."
"I guess, I'm putting something Pyrrha shows me through her actions to heart," Jaune said, ruffling his tousled hair. "She's always been big on trying new things, getting new experiences, and letting things happen. That's part of the reason why I said I was going to the dance. That's also why I asked you to help me learn. As much as I try to be an adult, learn to fight, and everything else… I need to try to relax. To be a teenager for a little while. Even with all the happenings going on, like what happened in the streets of Vale last night, I need to try to be a kid for a little while, when I still can. Instead of focusing on fighting and the real events going on outside of the school, I guess I should just focus on the dance." He noticed both Yang and Weiss tense up when he mentioned the streets of Vale- it set off an alarm inside but he wouldn't move in on it. It would be hypocritical for him to do so.
"That… sounds reasonable, Jaune. Ruby's trying her best to get me to lighten up. She can be annoying at times, but she is my partner. I respect what she's been trying to do ever since what happened with Blake." Weiss paused for a moment before looking directly into Jaune's eyes. "Speaking of Pyrrha… why didn't you ask her? She's your partner."
"I told Yang already. I think that she's going to ask Ruby." Jaune looked up, smiling. "And I feel that she'd have a better time going with her than me."
"You don't know that!" Weiss exclaimed. "Maybe she was waiting for you to ask her. Who knows?"
"Nah, I think she's asking Ruby to go with her right now," Jaune responded.
Meanwhile…
"Honestly, Jaune has a point, but I still think we should try figuring out more." Pyrrha sighed, trying to figure it all out. Her scroll had the newspaper still up, and the highlighting function had numerous things marked: About the four girls, whom Pyrrha thought was Team RWBY on account of what she had heard that night, about the Atlesian robot, and about the suspect: Roman Torchwick.
The man that Weiss, Blake, Sun, and Qrow had fought that night. It sent chills up her spine to know that more was likely to happen, and Pyrrha did not want to stand on the sideline. Part of her wanted to go searching like Blake had on that fateful night.
But a knock on the door took Pyrrha's thoughts away from that. Moving quickly towards the door, the team leader fixed her slightly tousled hair, tucking a couple of stray strands into her high ponytail and dusting off her dress to open the door.
It was Ruby, who was bouncing on her heels.
"Hey, Ruby, what's up?" Pyrrha asked, curious as to why the team leader knocked on her door at that moment. A small part of her felt paranoid about the idea that Ruby had found out that she knew something, but that was quickly pushed to the back of her mind.
"Would you like to go to the dance with me in a couple of weeks? Everyone else seems to have grouped up, so, I thought, might as well go with you!" Her genuine smile beamed the sincerity of the suggestion straight to Pyrrha, and it made every part of her want to oblige to the request.
"Well, I, uh…" All thoughts of the plan escaped her mind for the moment. Now, thoughts of going with Ruby to the dance flooded into her head. "Sure! I'll be glad to go with you."
"Great!" Ruby grinned, letting herself in. "So… do you know what you're wearing to it?"
Pyrrha put herself between Ruby and the bed, nervously chuckling. "Yeah! You wanna see? It's a dress made from my grandmother's old wedding gown. Let me get it from my closet." She walked over to her closet and pulled out the box. Unlocking it quickly, she unfurled it. Instantly, she could envision her grandmother, rest her soul, as a young woman like her- wild red hair unfurled under her veil, walking down the aisle. But she could also see the other use the fabric got- as a beautiful daytime dress that her mother wore as a young woman as she picked flowers in the basket or kneaded dough for that night's bread. Her mother even used to wear it, when playing with her and her brothers.
And now it was hers, and she could cherish it however she wished. "This… was made from my grandmother's wedding dress, into a daytime dress for my mother, and from a daytime dress for my mother, into a formal dress for me. It's of great significance to me. I hope ya don't mind if I wear it."
Ruby's smile was more subdued, but she nodded. "You don't have to convince me, Pyrrha. You can wear whatever you'd like, but I think it suits you quite well."
"Alright," Pyrrha responded, nodding, before neatly folding the dress and putting it back into its box. Hope I make you both proud.
