Polnareff took a deep breath of fresh air, leaning against the wall outside of the inn. "Man, this village sure became a lot cooler after we returned."
He stretched his arms up, still aching slightly from the bad beatdown he got the day before. "But if what that crazy Hunter guy said was true, he was the direct cause of this."
Kakyoin sat on the ground near the dirt road, "I guess we don't have anything to do here any longer, huh? The reason we wanted to go to a village like this is because those two were stalking us, and at least one of them is not a problem any more."
"I guess you're right. Yo, Jotaro!" Polnareff shouted, despite Jotaro being right next to him, "What should we do now? Got any ideas?"
He looked down in thought, arms crossed. "Let's wait here for the day to see how's the situation, then tonight let's start going back to Vale"
"I agree." Kakyoin stood up, "Plus, now that we have saved up enough pocket money from our part-time jobs we shouldn't need to worry about money for a little while."
Polnareff smiled slightly, looking up at the cloudy, but nonetheless bright sky, "I wonder how Ruby and the others are managing there."
Kakyoin dusted off his clothes and smiled "I assume not very well. Who could ever manage without your expert janitor skills?"
That night:
Ruby soared up with the blade of Crescent Rose behind her, jumping from building roof to building roof and looking around, wary.
She took cover next to a rather large water tank, holding her scythe near her body so it would not stand out of her cover. She took a deep breath and stole a glance around. She heard a worrying sounds, like small explosions that slowly got closer, and closer, and closer.
She reloaded her weapon, looking around nervously for the source.
When she realized where the sound was coming from it was already too late. A tall and slim figure flew up into the ceiling and smashed through the water tank, thankfully half empty, and grinned down at Ruby.
"Hi, sis!" She shouted as her fist smashed against her with the power of a golden flaming dragon, making Ruby fly back with a 'Waah!"
Yang didn't waste any time and propelled herself forward, throwing a shotgun-powered punch right at her half sister. The attack smashed into the ground as Ruby dodged sideways, chunks of the roof flying off.
She regained her balance and with a focused look and was about to swing her scythe right at the blondie. But suddenly she was thrown off by a feeling of extreme cold and rigidity on her feet, stopping before the strike could connect, and looked down.
Her boots and her ankle and the ground she was standing on were frozen solid!
"Good work, Weiss!" Yang shouted, and as of result Ruby quickly turned around. Weiss was standing right behind her, holding her rapier and with a not-so-subtly smug smile on her face.
Yang threw back her arm and then it smashed against the poor Ruby, flying back right towards Weiss, her rapier eager to greet her.
At the same time, a shadow jumped down from a taller building into that roof, and suddenly bullets started raining down towards Weiss and hitting the ground next to her feet.
"What the-!" She exclaimed and dodged aside, the bullets following her. The shadow swooped down and grabbed Ruby, stopping her from falling off the building.
"Thanks, Blake!" She looked up, though the only thing to receive her praise was a stone decoy made by Blake's semblance, she was already rushing towards Yang, her sword and edged scabbard at the ready. She jumped up and brought her two blades down at her teammate.
Yang crossed her arms, letting her gauntlets take the majority of the attack. The sheer forces of her slashes made her stumble back a bit, making her lose ground.
While this happened Ruby disentangled from the stone decoy's hold and rushed towards Weiss, jumping up and down and trying to snipe her from above.
A bullet barely grazed her back and scratched her Aura, but she looked rather annoyed nonetheless. She ran around, and tried to steer away from Blake and Yang's fighting, attacking Ruby with ice-cold Dust blasts, exchanging ranged attacks with Ruby.
A sniper battle on top of the city's buildings. Well...a very close range sniper battle, on top of a single roof, without any major covers.
Not a sniper battle at all, really.
Yang smirked as she ducked from another of Blake's slashes, ramming her head against her stomach and making her stagger back.
She used the distraction to dash over to Ruby, who gasped and was almost hit by a stray frost bolt. But just as Yang was about to reach her, she tripped over herself.
No, she didn't trip, she was being pulled back! The black rope hidden in Blake's weapon wrapped around her legs and pulled her to the ground, laying with her stomach down as she was dragged back.
Ruby took the chance to leap forward, suddenly switching her sniper-scythe's cartridge with one with a rough drawing of an explosion painted on top of it, and pointed her scythe down at her sister,.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Three consecutive shots hit Yang dead-on in the chest, her Aura faltered for a bit, but managing to keep the bullets away from her body. She blinked and groaned and tried to struggle free out of Blake's resistant rope, her eyes turning red.
"Blake, quick! Go to Weiss!" Ruby ordered, "I'll take care of Yang!" She quickly reloaded the bullet
The Faunus girl gave her a quick nod and unwrapped her rope from Yang. And in that moment.
BOOM!
Three small explosions went off at once from where the bullets hit, creating a rather big ball of fire that enveloped Yang. She flew out of the fumes and smacked against the ground face first. At that point, everything seemed to pause.
The three looked at her, anxious...Until she suddenly stoop up, a grin on her face and a mane of golden locks on her head. The explosions only made her stronger!
"That's enough for today. Stop before anyone gets hurt.." A woman said, jumping on top of the roof. It was Professor Glynda, looking rather tired, wit small bags under her eyes. She waved her wand around the roof, and the damaged parts started to slowly come back together, enveloped by a slightly purple aura. "I thought I told you four about collateral damage, right?"
The four slowly lined up next to each other and bowed their heads, looking apologetic. "It was cool, though." Yang muttered under her breath, and Blake gave her a quick look that seemed to say 'Don't do that again.'
The instructor sighed, shaking her head "Well, I guess it is inevitable in a setting like this. Still, keep that in mind next time."
"Next time? You mean we're going to do this again tomorrow?" Weiss looked at her, hoping that…
"Indeed."
And that hope was gone. The four groaned, tired. "I'm not exactly thrilled about this either, I have a sleep schedule I have to maintain."
"How's this going to make us better at fighting Stand users?" Yang asked, blinking and her red eyes turning to their normal magenta tint.
"This is not about fighting Stands. We do not have any way to simulate such an attack. This is about being at your best form. In any sort of fight you all will need to think quickly and act quickly, and to make sure that your Aura and your body will be able to endure attacks."
Ruby sighed, "But...we already do that."
Glynda shook her head. "You all may be talented, but you're still first-years. Talent won't bring you anywhere without experience and training, and that's exactly what your upper-classmen have. That's what distinguishes a Huntress-In-Training to a true guardian of the Kingdom."
She turned around, giving them their back, "And thhat's exactly why we're doing this. Not many students get to spar in the middle of the sleeping city. Well, not without getting into trouble." She turned around, and gave the Team a subtle smile, "You all already have training that most students don't get. So I do not want to hear any complaining!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The four said in unison, Glynda's word encouraging them.
Despite that, when they returned to their dorms, they were completely destroyed. That rooftop battle was one of many small spars they had been done throughout the night. In fact it was so late that the morning started to slowly rise.
"Please don't tell me this is our schedule from now on..." Weiss asked, her long unbound hair a complete, almost spiky, mess.
Yang sprayed out on her bed, not even bothering to take off her gauntlets or boots."Uugh..I hope not, or I'll have to give Ozpin a piece of my mind!"
"You all agreed to this, though..." Blake muttered, arm hanging out lazily from the bunk bed.
"C'mon, don't be so down! Today was just the bumpy start, we'll get used to it in no time!" Ruby said, as cheerful and naive as ever.
"Used to sleeping so late? No, no thank you." Weiss bumped face-first on the pillow, it was kind of funny seeing the heiress to one of the biggest companies in Remnant act like a regular teenage student that got no time to sleep.
Blake stood up and walked over to the switch, and turned off the light, surrounding the room in absolute impenetrable darkness!
"H-Hey!"
"Good night." She said calmly but firmly, climbing up on her bed.
"An entire night fighting each-other?" Jaune repeated, surprised.
"Sounds rough." Ren simply said, sipping some tea, like every day Team RWBY and Team JNPR gathered at the table of the cafeteria, only this time there was an addition:
"Dang, I wish I was there to see it, but I had to be with that old man who kept explaining me how Atlas works and how I would be protected." Josuke said, leaning back against his chair. He usually wouldn't be allowed in such a place, but he insisted to do it at least once. A few students looked at him confused, either asking to others who he was or that they saw him wandering around in the dormitory once in a while.
"Old man?" Pyrrha tilted her head, "You mean Ironwood, right?"
"What does he want from a guy like you anyhow?" Nora asked, leaning over curious.
Josuke shrugged then looked at each member of Team RWBY, who shrugged back. None of them could conjure up a genuine answer to that question.
"He doesn't seem like a bad guy, so I guess we'll see."
Suddenly, someone walked inside, and all eyes turned to the door.
Some students nearly spat out what they were drinking when the three figures entered the cafeteria, and a huge murmur began filling the area.
"What the-It can't be!"
"I thought they dropped out!"
"The janitor too…?"
Jotaro Kakyoin and Polnareff casually walked in, trying to not make a big deal about their return. Team RWBY was left completely speechless, their mouths agape.
"Woah woah, are those Mr. Jotaro's past travel partners?" Josuke asked, eyes darting between Kakyoin and Polnareff, "Why did he never introduce them to me?"
Wait, was Jotaro from the past, and Josuke was from the present? Or was Jotaro from the present and Josuke was from the future? He shook his head to shake out that confusing thought.
Team JNPR looked over at them as they approached, "We never officially introduced ourselves, did we?" Ren asked, looking over at his teammates.
Pyrrha smiled, and waved slightly at the three. "Well, now we have our chance!"
But before they could...Yang stood up, head hung low, and gave a not-so-playful punch on Jotaro's shoulder!
"Gh-! What was that for?" Jotaro asked, confused and surprised at the same time. She then gave a punch of similar force to Kakyoin and Polnareff.
"For not even bothering to message us, you jerks!"
"O-Ow, keep it down!" Kakyoin whispered, trying to ignore all the...judgemental stares they were getting.
She slowly raised her head and she...was crying.
The rest of Team RWBY had a few tears leaking out too. "W-Woah!" Jaune exclaimed, not understanding why they suddenly got emotional. "Did someone start cutting onions?"
Pyrrha slowly stood up, smiling gently. "It's better we go for now, we can introduce ourselves another time. Excuse us."
"Oh! Ah...okay." Jaune stumbled a bit as Pyrrha gently pulled him up, and Team JNPR slowly walked out of the cafeteria, saluting the other team.
Yang wiped away her tears, getting her glove all wet. Then, she roughly grabbed Jotaro and pulled him to the table, with such strength he nearly fell flat on his face. Not wanting to actually meet such a fate the other two quietly sat down next to the slightly dazed Jotaro.
Josuke scooted a little bit further with a serious look on his face. Silently looking at the scene before him.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Weiss asked, arms crossed and hoping that her tears weren't too obvious, but they very much were.
"W-Well...Uh..." Polnareff scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to reply. It was like a bunch of little kids getting scolded by worried parents. Though in this case it was one adult and two teenagers getting scolded by four teenage girls.
"You made all of us so worried!" Ruby shouted, letting out a deep breath. "We feared that you four…" She paused and looked at the others.
"We thought you three died on us." Blake voiced the team's hidden thought. They never talked about it out loud, but it was obvious that all four feared the same thing.
"…" Josuke stared at them silently, he had no idea how attached that Team became to them.
The three felt five piercing gazes stabbing them, how could they have replied.
"Well..." Polnareff started
"How do we say this…." Kakyoin continued, becoming slightly red from embarrassment.
Jotaro tipped his hat over his eyes, less to seen cool and more to not look at them in the eye. "...We forgot."
"..."
"..."
"A-Are you kiddin' me? How could you forget about somethin' like that?!" Josuke shouted.
Weiss looked at them, smiling….smiling a crooked smile, "You..forgot, huh?"
Yang cracked her knuckles menacingly, flashing a similar smile. "Maybe we should teach you how to keep this stuff to memory then."
A shiver went down their backs, "N-now now! We travelled all night to get here on time! We didn't get even an hour of sleep on the train!" Polnareff tried to tone down their imminent punishment, were they really going to do it in a public place?!
"Do your worst!" Josuke cupped his hands in front of his face, "I can fix them up anyhow!"
Ruby laughed slightly, not having in her to join in the playful 'punishment'. Blake smiled too, this was definitely the most relaxed they all felt in a while.
Unfortunately, the relaxed air that was settling back in was short lived.
Another figure wandered in the cafeteria. Ginger hair, shadow of a beard, body covered by an orange cloak with a strange pattern drawn on it...It did not look at all like a student or a teacher. There was some sort of...strange aura around him. The sound of his steps were heavy, and his expression was deadpan and serious.
He walked over to the group's table, and sat next to them without asking.
"I guess I should introduce myself..." he started as the others looked at him with curiosity and confusion. "I'm most known to you all by my title. 'The Door'."
The group's eyes opened up in realization. And The Door quickly showed them the back of his cloak. The design on it was that of a half-opened door with a floral pattern on its surface.
"Wa-How...How did you get in here?!" Ruby couldn't help but shout. The others tried desperately to not pounce on the guy and beat the crap out of him. He was claiming to be the leader of a faction trying to kill them!
"Through the front door." He said simply. "Forgive me for the unintentional play on words. I'm not here to fight."
"As you may or may not know...I'm the 'Gateway' between this world and the one right next to it, 'Earth'."
Jotaro nodded, "We figured as much. But why the hell did you bring us here? What's your motive?"
"It wasn't my intention to bring you here. I only brought, and only can bring, two 'objects'. You Stand Users were all pulled in here by fate, because all of you have an 'objective' to achieve in this world."
"The only things I brought were one of the Stand Arrows...and the half-destroyed body of Dio Brando, after the battle against Jotaro Kujo." He looked over at Jotaro, who clenched his fist tight.
"So, we get it, you're pretty much the one behind all of this." Polnareff angrily looked at him, tempted to summon his Stand, "Now tell us one reason not to make your ass grass right now."
"'Make your ass grass'? Who says that?" Blake asked, confused.
The Door looked stoically at the group, tapping his fingers on the long table. "For the simple reason you all wouldn't gain anything from doing so. I am no longer your enemy."
"Really now? Why the change of heart?" Yang looked at him with suspicion, making sure to make a mental note of his every movement.
The Door closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I have my reasons, and we both got some common enemies. These past few assassins were 'tests' to see if you all were worthy of fighting against fate, and against greater opponents."
"Stop with this cryptic stuff, get to the point!"
He rummaged under his cloak and suddenly showed a piece of paper to the group. "This is the last page needed to decrypt that diary."
They all looked warily at the piece of paper as it was dropped in front of them. The strange man stood up, "Find the Silver Records...and destroy them once and for all."
And just as quickly as he came in, the man called The Door walked out.
[To Be Continued]-
Author Note: Sorry if the last parts feel a bit...rushed, I kinda had a busy week and had to speed through this chapter.
