Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Zelda, Kid Icarus, Pokemon, or any other franchise alluded to or included in this work (I don't own the background music either). All I own is this work and my OCs (these include Aris, Oleana, Nash, and any Grimm ideas I come up with).
"You'll never beat me, old man!"
"Heh, you're nothin' but talk, kid."
"You can do it, Ruby!"
"Take out his kneecaps and teabag on his corpse!"
As it turned out, Ruby could not take out Qrow's kneecaps, and her uncle was victorious in the video game.
Ruby groaned.
Qrow turned to his niece. "By the way...don't ever call me old."
Yang nabbed Ruby's controller. "My turn!"
"Now, where was I?" said Qrow.
"If I remember correctly, you were telling us about your last mission," Aris answered.
"Right, right." Qrow resumed his story.
BGM: Lost Woods/Labyrinth - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
"I come across a small village in the swamps west of Mistral. Right off the bat, I knew something wasn't right."
"What exactly were you doing there?" asked Ruby.
"I needed information," her uncle replied. "Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my hunt at the town's inn. That dump was crawling with thugs and low-lifes, and even a few Huntsmen I could only assume had been hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened."
"What happened?" asked Yang.
"I was defeated...by the mere sight...of the innkeeper's skirt length!"
End BGM
Aris facepalmed. "That took a turn."
"So, Uncle Qrow," said Ruby, "did you get in trouble with Ozpin?"
Qrow shook his head. "Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool."
"Cool for an old guy," Yang scoffed.
"Not funny," her uncle deadpanned.
"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" Aris asked.
Qrow switched the video game to single-player mode and started playing. "Well, a professional Huntsman such as myself is expected to get results as soon as possible."
"I get that," said Ruby. "We're pretty much pros, too."
"Oh, really?" Qrow raised an eyebrow.
"Pfff, heck yeah!" said Yang. "Read the news sometime! We totally saved Vale while you were gone."
"Funny," replied Qrow, "because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train. They don't give out medals for almost, kids."
"They do!" said Ruby. "And they're called silver!"
"We did help bring down Roman Torchwick," Aris added. "From what I heard, he's locked up in Ironwood's ship, and the level of crime has been lowering. I feel like a bounty hunter now. All I need is some Mandalorian armor."
"You may be acting like Huntsmen and Huntresses," said Qrow, "but you're not thinking like one. Do you honestly think four girls, their friends, and a guy with six Pokemon can put an end to all the crime in an entire kingdom?"
"Well, I did until you said that," replied Ruby.
"Violence hasn't dropped since Roman's arrest," Qrow added. "It's stopped. Completely. No White Fang activity anywhere around the city. You cut of one King Taijitu head, the second one starts calling the shots. That's what Ironwood doesn't understand here."
"You know him?" Yang said, her interest piqued.
"I know everybody to some extent," Qrow said. "Remember, you're talking to a member of the coolest team to ever graduate Beacon!"
Qrow pulled something out of his back pocket. It was a picture, a photograph. There were four people. One of them was Qrow himself. The other three were a man with blonde hair and pretty decent muscles, a raven-haired woman in black and red armor, and a woman with black and red hair and a white hooded cloak, similar to Ruby's red one.
"Team STRQ," said Qrow. "That's when I met your parents. We were pretty well-known back in the day."
Aris quietly muttered, "Well known for really crappy fashion sense."
Qrow heard him. "Says the guy with elf ears. We looked good, and I have all sorts of inappropriate stories to back that up."
"Later," said Aris. "I'm intrigued, but later."
Qrow got up. "Anyway, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're gonna cramp my style."
Aris guffawed. "Yeah, because our style is way better than yours. You're just worried we'll upstage you."
Qrow laughed. "Good one. But, in all seriousness, just remember that you kids have a long way to go. And don't you even consider thinking that graduation means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You three, Ruby, Yang, and you, Aris-you're all gonna go far. But only if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward. Keep doing that, and someday you'll be the very best, like no one ever was."
And with that, Qrow Branwen left the room.
Some time later, at Amity Colosseum...
The doubles rounds were in full swing now. Russel Thrush and Sky Lark of team CRDL had just been trounced by Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil. Aris didn't know who Penny's partner was, but the two of them seemed to work pretty well together.
Soon, Aris, Pikachu, and Ruby found Penny and Ciel in one of the corridors of the Colosseum. Ruby called for her friend, "Penny!"
The ginger-haired android girl turned, her face lighting up with a brilliant smile. "Ruby! Aris!"
Penny tackled Ruby to the ground in a hug, Aris slightly jumping in response. "Was not expecting that," he said to himself.
Penny gestured to her partner. "Ruby, Aris, this is my teammate."
Penny's partner introduced herself. "Ciel Soleil."
"Hi, I'm Ru-"
Ciel was already talking. "Ruby Rose, fifteen years of age, hails from Patch, leader of team RWBY. Status:...questionable."
Aris was impressed. "What about me?"
Ciel turned to him, analyzing the Hylian for a moment. "Aris Atreides. Sixteen years of age. Birthplace, unknown. Leader of team ALPN. Status:...also questionable."
Aris turned to Penny. "You guys did awesome! How do you manage to keep control of all those swords?"
Ciel spoke up. "Penny, I believe it is best if we move to our next location." She tapped her wrist.
"Could we have a minute to talk?" Penny requested.
Ciel looked at her watch, and then took a large step backwards.
Ruby whispered to Penny. "So, is she your friend, or..."
"Well, in a way," said Penny. "She's like Blake. But, if Blake was ordered to spend time with you."
"So, Weiss," Aris quipped.
"Precisely!"
Aris questioned, "Does she know about, y'know, beep boop bweeep, roger roger?" He was referencing Star Wars.
Penny shook her head. "General Ironwood doesn't really want anyone to know. I had a close call with a magnet, but I was able to play it off."
Aris snickered. "Guess one might say you're very attractive."
Ruby laughed. "Yang's been rubbing off on you."
Penny spoke again. "Ruby, Aris, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."
"What's up?" Aris asked. Pikachu looked at Penny with curiosity.
"I want to stay at Beacon," said the ginger-haired android girl.
Aris sighed. "Penny, you know they'll never let that happen. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if you could stay, but I think it's pretty obvious that you won't be allowed to."
"I know," said Penny. "I have a plan."
Ciel stepped back over. "It has been precisely one minute, ma'am."
"I'll talk to you again later," said Penny. "Bye!"
Over the loudspeaker, Port announced, "Our next match will begin in fifteen minutes!"
Aris jumped. "Oh, crap! That's Weiss and Yang!"
Meanwhile, down in the arena...
Yang was ready for battle. "Our time has come!"
"Just remember to keep proper form," chided Weiss.
Yang sighed. "Alright. Hey, you're from Atlas, what should we expect here?"
"Well," said Weiss, "seeing as their kingdom, academy, and military are all merged as one, I think we should anticipate strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."
A whoosh of air from behind them. Their opponents had arrived. They were a male and a female. The male had dark skin, wore a fedora and shades, and was carrying...a trumpet? His female companion was a cat Faunus, judging from her tail. Her ginger hair was tied into two pigtails and highlighted with light blue. She had roller skates on her feet and carried a pair of nun-chucks.
"Or...these two," said Weiss.
The male spoke up. "Hey! You're Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress?"
"Yes, I am!" Weiss smiled.
"I take it you're pretty good with Dust, then," the boy said.
Weiss shrugged. "I try."
"My dad was pretty good, too. He owned a little Dust shop of his own." Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Weiss with a mighty rage. "That is, until your father's company put him out of business."
Weiss's smile faded. "Oh...I'm sorry to hear that."
The trumpeter scoffed. "Sure you are."
Yang pointed a finger at him. "Hey, why don't you-"
The other girl spoke up, mocking Yang. "'Hey, why don't you-.' That's what you sound like."
Yang scratched her head. "Uh..."
"Hey!" said the skater girl. "Where'd you get your hair extensions?"
Yang looked confused. "This...is my normal hair..?"
"Oh, really?" replied the skater.
"Yeah, is that a prob-"
The skater cut Yang off, changing the subject. "You should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun! You'd probably have a hard time balancing, though, since you're all, y'know...top heavy."
Yang balled her hands into fists. "Excuse me?!"
The environments were selected. A destroyed city, a desert, a crystal-filled rocky plain, and a volcanic wasteland that looked something like Mustafar from Star Wars.
Port counted down from three, and the fight began.
One fight later because the author was too lazy to write the actual scene...
It was over. Yang and Weiss had emerged victorious. It turns out, the trumpet boy (whose name was Flynt) could emit deadly waves of sound using his instrument. The skater girl, Neon, could skate at breakneck speeds as rainbows trailed behind her.
Aris was impressed that Yang and Weiss had won. As team RWBY walked past, helping Weiss move, Aris offered to provide assistance. "We've got it," said Ruby. "Thanks for offering, though."
Aris nodded. "That Flynt guy was really tooting his own horn. Quite literally."
Another day of the Vytal Tournament had passed, and Aris couldn't wait to see what the finale brought.
