"Its 5:23 in the morning..." Ruby stated monotonously and groaning. "There are sirens."
"Yes, telling you to get your ass out of bed!" Yang kicked Ruby's bunk.
"But...its 5:23...in the morning...sirens..." Ruby had her head under her blanket trying unsuccessfully to muffle the sounds.
A rather uppity sounding voice chimed in, "Those are the readiness sirens, to make sure that you can be ready to mobilize to defend against grimm or worse, quickly and efficiently. You'd better get up, Goodwitch will be in here any minute to check on us, but if you aren't up and ready, you might be training in your pajamas today."
Ruby removed the blanket from one eye, "But...its..."
Yang cut her off, dumping her out of the bed from the other side while Ruby was focused on the white haired girl.
"Ow!"
Ruby, butt in the air, begins scrambling to wriggle under the bunk with her blanket. Yang swings through the bunk to the other side, twists in the landing to grab Ruby by the foot and begins trying to haul her out.
"Umm...good...morning...?"
Blake was standing at the other side of the foot of the bed watching in stunned amazement as Ruby grabbed the corner post and Yang was now dragging Ruby and the bed across the room.
"Hi there!" Yang grinned dropping Ruby's foot and standing up to greet her.
Blake smiled. As Yang's focus was now on Blake, Ruby threw the blanket over herself and tried to get away, she couldn't see where she was going though so she ran head first into the wall.
"Ow! ...Again..." Rubbing the top of her head visibly from under the blanket.
The snobby girl walked over, squatted next to her, and pulled the blanket off her head.
"It really is time to get up. It may take some getting used to but if this is the life you want then you need to get used to it now. Things get harder from here, not easier."
Ruby stared up at the white haired girl. "You're a Schnee, right?"
At this name, Blake's head shot around. "Schnee!"
"Bless you" Yang said.
"Weiss Schnee"
Her tone had gone cold, from the obvious distaste in Blake's tone to the inadvertent joke on her name by Yang, she stared daggers through them both. Slowly she stood, turning to face the squarely.
"What of it?" As she crossed her arms over her chest.
Blake's eyes narrowed.
"Your family has grown very rich on the backs of many of the poorest, and not helping them to elevate that status. I would have thought any Schnee would stick to the family business of risking the necks of others, rather than risking their own rich necks as Huntsman or Huntresses, protecting others."
"My father would agree with you. I, on the other hand, do not." Weiss said with obvious strength and dignity.
"Attention!"
As all the girls clicked to stand at attention, there was a blurr of movement, half a second later Ruby stood where she should, dressed and alert.
"At a moments notice. We don't always know, can't always know, when the enemy will attack us or those around us. As Huntresses, it is our job and will be your solemn oath to be ready to stand and defend our society and its lives, instantly and without warning. Sometimes you will be hungry, sometimes thirsty, sometimes tired, sometimes all of the above, but time waits for no one and neither does an enemy. They attack when they choose and more often than not, when no one is ready. I want every one to the training yard in 5 minutes for combat training"
——————————————————————————
Blake stared at Yang, almost unblinkingly as she stalked to the left. Yang was light on her feet, ready. Yang burst forward aiming a fist at the darker girls chest. Blake rolled sideways, coming up slightly behind Yang, spinning a half turn and launching a crescent kick at her head. Yang ducked this spinning herself at the same time and sprang, charging forward with her shoulder to knock her off her feet. As her shoulder made contact, Blake turned to dust. Startled, Yang looked around as a fist connected with her jaw and sent her sprawling.
"What was that!?" Yang got to her feet, massaging her jaw.
"My semblance, it allows me to exit a position leaving a decoy behind in my stead for my opponent to strike."
"Well shit...thats just...well...shit...badass..."
Goodwitch took the opportunity, being near the two girls, to comment.
"Well done, Blake. But keep in mind, knowledge is the key to victory, whether for you or your opponent. Strengths become patterns, patterns are predictable, predictability is death in a fight. Know yourself, know your enemy, use their strengths against them, don't give away your secrets unless you must. Again."
Across the field Ruby eyed Weiss, the older girl stood still and ready, rapier down to her right. Ruby could tell that she was proficient, just by the ease with which she carried herself and the slim sword. The slimness of the blade meant that Ruby could not just block a swing, she had to deflect and move, because otherwise it would bend passed her block leaving her core open. Perhaps if...
Ruby charged, slashing sideways across her opponent, expecting the deflection, using it to propel herself around the other way, swinging the butt of her scythe at the white head.
Weiss jumped backward out of range, Ruby let the scythe slip outward in her hands till she had the end in both hands as the blade shot out in Weiss's direction.
Weiss aimed her sword behind her, conjured an angled glyph, turned and vaulted off it towards Ruby flipping through the air, her sword slashing through the space where Ruby had been.
Seeing how Weiss meant to strike her, Ruby let the momentum of the scythe carry her into a roll, she twisted continuing the motion of the scythe swing upward towards Weiss, who, creating another glyph below her feet, lauched herself back the way she'd come landing in a foreward stance sliding backward from her momentum and poised for another attack.
Ruby's roll and slash brought her up and around in a crouch facing Weiss with her scythe out to her right, tight in both hands.
"You're good." Weiss nodded towards her opponent.
Knowing already that complements were not something Weiss Schnee was likely to hand out freely, Ruby smiled.
"Thanks, you're pretty amazing yourself"
"Enough!" Goodwitch called to the fighters. "It is now 7 a.m., you have half an hour to shower before breakfast begins. Good job, all of you. Until next time."
With that the instructress bowed with a wave of her hand and left the field.
————————————————————————
Blake stood under the hot water, letting it run down her head and neck, calming her muscles, washing off the grime, dust, and sweat of the morning fights.
As the water ran clear below her, she shut it off, grabbed her towel, and wrapping it around her, stepped out of the shower towards the lockers.
Most everyone was gone to breakfast now. She dressed slowly. The fight with Yang still playing over and over in her head. The words of Goodwitch echoing also. Should she not use her semblance unless for a real "live or die" moment? Was it a mistake to use it to often? A weakness? Blake wasn't sure, but the thought was disturbing. She felt she could trust Yang and even Goodwitch, but what if there was someone else watching her, a real enemy.
Blake shook her head. "Surely not here. But...I will be more careful in the future. Perhaps rather than leaning on my strengths, I will focus on eliminating my weaknesses"
Dressed now and reassured of her direction Blake left the locker room to go eat breakfast.
"Hello again."
Yang was standing leaning against the wall.
"I wondered first if you'd drowned in there. Hungry?"
"Very."
"Want company?"
"I might, depending on the company." Blake grinned.
"Will I do?" Yang smirking now.
"We'll see. In any case, I'll let you know."
"Thanks."