"What were you thinking, you idiot?!" Weiss shouted as soon as she entered her dorm and saw her blonde teammate.
"Really? We haven't seen each other for a week and the first thing you do is kick down the door and shout at my face?" Mordred nonchalantly replied with a bored expression on her face, not bothering to get up from her bed.
"Gods, I forgot how annoying you can be sometimes!" Weiss said as she rubbed her face in frustration before she turned her focus to Blake "And you! What were you thinking?!"
"Me? What did I do?" Blake asked, confused as to why she was being attacked at the moment "You do realize that I was the victim in that whole incident, don't you?"
"My point exactly! How did that even happen in the first place?!" Weiss asked "Weren't you a former member of the White Fang or is incompetence a requirement to being a member?!"
"Not so loud, Weiss!" Blake said, eyes widening in alarm as she got up to cover the Heiress's mouth as she looked around the room "What if people heard you?!"
"Oh, yeah. About that. Pyrrha knows, by the way" Mordred added.
"What?! Mordred! I told you to not tell anybody!" Blake shouted.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault. She figured it out all on her own" Mordred replied with a shrug "She's a smart girl, you know, unlike some people in this room"
"Why did you look at me when you said that?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.
"Nevermind all that!" Ruby shouted as she shoved Weiss aside "Why didn't you guys call us?! We could have helped, you know?!"
"You guys were on an island. That's a two hour journey" Mordred replied.
"Well, I still think you should have informed us" Ruby said with a small pout "We're a team, after all"
"Alright, alright. Next time this dumb cat gets herself kidnapped, we'll solve it together" Mordred said, getting up from her bed to put her hands around Ruby "Does that sound better to you, team leader?"
"Well, as long as everything turned out for the better in the end" Ruby replied "A good thing, too. Weiss could not stop pacing when we were at Patch. She was really worried about you two, you know?"
"Wha-?! Don't tell them that, Ruby!" Weiss shouted from the side.
"What's this, what's this? Did I hear that right? Miss Blake, did you hear that?" Mordred asked, as she stood next to Blake with a shit-eating grin on her face.
"I sure did, Miss Mordred. That the high and mighty heiress of the SDC, Weiss Schnee, was worried for her poor kidnapped teammate" Blake responded, an equally smug grin plastered on her face.
"I… You… Ughh!" Weiss groaned as she stomped out of the dorm "I'm going to get some breakfast!"
"Think of what the media would say" Mordred said as she and Blake trailed after the retreating Weiss.
"The outrage!" Blake added.
"The scandal! You might even lose your place in the SDC over this, ice queen" Mordred said with a gasp and a mocking laugh "Ruby, you coming?"
"Yup. Just gotta unpack a few things. I'll meet you guys there" Ruby said, giggling as she observed her teammate's antics.
[/]
"You guys, you guys! Look what I just saw!" was the first thing Ruby said as she rushed towards her team's table, a piece of paper in her hand.
"Slow down, Red. Here, you want anything?" Mordred asked as she offered the young girl a plate full of food.
"Mordred! This is not time for food!" Ruby screamed before she swatted the plate aside, causing it to crash onto the floor.
"Yo, what the f-?!"
"Look! The teams that will be representing Beacon at the Vytal Festival has been announced!" Ruby shouted again, shoving the piece of paper in her hands into the blonde's face before she could protest about what just happened to her breakfast.
"Oh, shit! Are you serious?!" Mordred replied, snatching the piece of paper from her leader's hand as all previous thoughts of her breakfast thrown out the window.
"Don't hog it all to yourself, you idiot!" Weiss shouted.
"Heh, guess it's not surprising that our team would make the cut, huh?" Mordred commented as she and Weiss scanned the contents of the paper "What is surprising is the fact the Team CRDL is in there, too"
"Give me that!" Weiss said as she snatched the paper away from Mordred, ignoring the girl's protests "Looks like Arthuria's Team and Pyrrha's Team have qualified, as well. They'll certainly be a challenge during the Festival"
"No surprise there" Blade remarked.
"Wait, they're sending five first-year teams? So, if they're doing the same for the other years, doesn't that mean they're sending…" Mordred trailed off as she took a few seconds to do the mental calculation "… twenty teams from Beacon alone? Doesn't sound fair for the other schools"
"That's because it's not" Blake replied just as Ruby returned to their table with a plate full of food "The kingdom that hosts the festival gets special permission to send twenty teams as representatives as opposed to the other kingdoms, who are only allowed to send one team per year"
"Why?" Mordred asked as she snatched a piece of bacon from her leader's plate.
"It's so that the host kingdom has a higher chance of winning, which in turn would boost positivity among the people" Blake answered "After all, what's a better way to keep Grim away than for the people to be happy?"
Mordred hummed as she considered the girl's words, "I suppose that makes sense. What about the teams from the other academies? Do we know who they're sending?"
"I doubt it" Weiss answered as she was eating her salad "They'd want it to be kept secret, after all"
"Well, whatever the case, I'll be expecting a formal appreciation letter from the three of you" Mordred stated.
"An appreciation letter? What for?" Weiss spoke up.
"What for? Why, for being the one responsible for getting us into the festival, after all" Mordred responded, genuine confusion on her face at Weiss's question "I mean, I am the ace of this team"
Weiss scoffed at the blonde's statement, "Mordred, if the school were to have judged our team based on your accomplishments – or lack thereof – we wouldn't even be close to being considered for the Vytal Festival. In fact, I'm pretty sure we would have been banned from even entering Amity Colosseum"
Before the argument between the two could escalate, they were cut off by someone in another table shouting, "FOOD FIGHT!"
[/]
"How did this even start in the first place?!" Weiss thought as she ducked under a tomato that was flying her way, glaring at the unseen assailant "I mean, isn't this a prestigious school meant to train the future defenders of humanity?!"
Ducking under a table, the girl ran into a swordfish lying into the ground, presumable either someone's unfinished breakfast or someone's idea of a weapon. Sighing to herself, she grabbed the swordfish by the tail with a determined fire in her eyes.
"Fine, then. If I'm going to do this, then I'm going to do this right!" she told herself as she got out from under the table, swordfish in her hand as she scanned the 'battlefield' for her team "Now, then. Where are they?"
"Ha ha! Finally found ya, ice queen!" came the ear grating voice of her blonde teammate.
"Fine. I suppose meeting you is better than-!" Whatever she was about to say was cut off as Mordred suddenly dashed towards her before attacking her with a suspiciously hard baguette. Luckily for her, she was able to block the attack in time using her own makeshift weapon "Wha-?! What are you doing, you idiot?! We're on the same team!"
"How naïve, Ice Queen!" Mordred shouted as she forced Weiss to go on the defensive "Don't you know that in food fights that there are no allies and certainly no teams!"
Growling, Weiss finally stood her ground as swordfish clashed with baguette, halting the two girls in their tracks, "Fine, then! If that's what you want, I'll be too happy to oblige. After all, I've wanted to release some of this stress ever since last semester!"
[/]
"No, no, no!" Ruby shouted, clutching her head as she stared at Weiss and Mordred battling it out a few feet away, all the while ignoring everything happening around them "What are those two doing?! We're supposed to be fighting like a team here!"
"It'll be fine, Ruby. You still have me by your side" Blake said as she placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her "Besides, I'm pretty sure if we had those two, any plan you come up with would just crumble immediately"
"Thanks, Blake" Ruby said as she sent a teary eyed look of gratefulness for the only sane – or at least, least insane – member of team RWBM. Turning around, Ruby began analysing the 'battlefield' in front of her. It took her a few seconds before she finally thought of a plan, "Alright, Blake, here's what we're going to do. First, we-!"
Whatever the girl had planned on saying was cut off as 'blood' suddenly splattered onto her face. Shock forming in her eyes, Ruby turned around to see Blake covered in 'blood'.
"Blake…?" Ruby said with a shaky voice, staring at her teammate.
"Ru-!" was all Blake managed to say before she was assaulted by a barrage of tomatoes, covering the girl in all red in a matter of seconds. Falling to the floor, Ruby was barely able to catch her teammate in her arms.
"Blake…? Blaaaaaake!" Ruby shouted into the sky as the 'battle' around her showed no signs of stopping "I will avenge you!"
Gently placing her fallen teammate down, Ruby stood up and was ready to charge into battle by herself before she, too, was struck down as a can of tuna hit her in the head. Disoriented by the surprise attack, Ruby was unable to dodge the oncoming barrage of foodstuffs, ranging from a cabbage to a plate full of sandwiches. In the end, the leader of Team RWBM joined the list of the fallen.
[/]
"Jaune, cover me!" Arthuria shouted – a baguette in hand – as she rushed towards her opponent, a certain blonde brawler with each of her hands inside a turkey.
"You got it, partner!" Jaune replied as he readied his own makeshift weapon, a giant tuna fish in one hand while his other hand held a tray as a shield "Pyr, let's do this!"
"Right! Wait, where's Chulainn?" Pyrrha wondered aloud as she scanned the cafeteria for her partner before finally spotting him leaving the cafeteria "Chulainn! Where are you going?! We're in the middle of a battle here!"
"This is dumb. I'm going back to the dorm to take a nap" the boy replied, not even bothering to look back as he ducked under a thrown tomato. Frowning, Pyrrha could only return her focus back to the fight at hand as she readied her own weapon, a string of sausages.
"Well, looks like your team's fighting strength has been reduced by one. If you surrender now, I promise I'll treat you with mercy!" Yang grunted as she blocked a blow from Arthuria.
"Unfortunately for you, Yang, a Pendragon does not know the meaning of that word" Arthuria replied.
"Heh. Just what I'd like to hear!" Yang shouted as she reared her arm back before delivering a devastating blow to Arthuria, sending her fellow blonde back a few feet. Holding her ground, she could only smile before the two resumed blows.
[/]
Seeing Arthuria in a pinch, Jaune immediately went dashing towards his partner to provide some assistance only for his path to encounter resistance in the form of Nora and her own partner, Frankenstein, as they flew in from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Sorry, Jauney. Can't let you pass because – just like the Vytal Festival – we are gonna win it all this year!" Nora exclaimed as she held her weapon – a metal rod with a watermelon sticking out of it – up high above her head "Isn't that right, partner?!"
"That's right" Fran replied with a growl as she readied her own weapon, a similar metal rod but this time with a turkey sticking out of it.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Nora, but it's team JAPC that'll be the champions this year!" Jaune stated as he clashed with the two girls. Ducking under the Nora's swing, Jaune reacted too late as Fran sent the blonde flying into a stack of table and chairs. Not being down for too long, however, the boy immediately got up and re-entered his fighting stance.
"Boy, good thing he has a lot of aura because otherwise, that would have hurt, huh?" Nora remarked.
"Agreed" Fran added with a nod and a relieved sigh.
"So, ready for round two, Jauney?!" Nora shouted as she and Fran didn't bother waiting for an answer, instead just choosing to flank their blonde opponent.
[/]
"Good morning, Pyrrha" Ren calmly said as he ducked under the whip of sausages.
"Good morning, Ren" the redhead champion replied with a bright smile as she parried a blow from the boy's makeshift weapons, two pairs of celery sticks.
"Have you read the announcement regarding the teams who will be representing Beacon at the Vytal Festival yet?" Ren asked as he was pushed into the defensive.
"I have" Pyrrha replied before she continued with her assault.
"Well, I believe the proper thing to do here is to talk smack to the enemy team" Ren suggested, a small smile on his face,
"Unfortunately, I'm not so good at that but I think I'll try my best" Pyrrha replied as Ren leapt over her head before gracefully landing behind her "You're! Going… down?"
"Well, I'll give you 'A' for effort, at least" Ren said with a slight snicker as Pyrrha blushed in embarrassment.
[/]
"Eat this, Arthuria!" Yang cried out as she delivered a crushing blow to her opponent… Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen before she found her weapon encased in a purple aura. Before she could process what was going on, both turkeys in her hands were suddenly forced out as they hovered into the air.
Not only that, even her opponent's own weapon suddenly had a purple aura around it as it was forcefully yanked out of her grip.
"Hey, what's going on?" Yang wondered aloud as the furniture and the food all around them were properly and neatly put back into place "I was just about to-"
The sound of a familiar whip cracking the air silenced her immediately.
"Children, please do not play with your food" came the ice cold voice of one Glynda Goodwith. Turning around, both teams saw the Deputy Headmistress standing at the entrance to the cafeteria as she was flanked by the headmaster and another woman dressed in white. In that moment, none of the students present even dared to make a move as they were paralysed with fear from the glare they were receiving from the blonde woman.
"Come now, Glynda. I think it's quite alright to let them go once in a while, don't you think?" the headmaster said as he placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Ozpin, I really do believe that you can sometimes be too lax on these students" Glynda replied.
"They're only children. It should be alright to let them enjoy their youth. After all, they won't have it forever" Ozpin countered with a small smile. Glynda was about to say more before the woman in white standing next to her coughed to get her attention.
"I must say, you have a very… interesting way of running your school, Professor Ozpin" the woman said "If it were Atlas, this kind of behaviour would be unthinkable"
"Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how you see it – this is Beacon, Miss Schnee, and I believe in letting children be children" Ozpin countered.
"Schnee?" Yang thought aloud "As in, Weiss Schnee?"
"Ah, yes. I suppose this is a good time as any. Let me introduce you, children, to-"
"Winter!" Arthuria shouted as she ran ahead "It's been so long"
"Hello, Arthuria" Winter said with a small smile "And yes, it has been so long, hasn't it? Five years, I believe. It's good to see you. I wish I could say the same of my own sister. Do you know where she is?"
"Um, well… She's here some-"
At that moment, two bodies suddenly came crashing down, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere. Two bodies who were currently locked in a grappling match as one was holding the other in a submission lock.
"What do you say, Ice Queen?! Do you give up now?!" Mordred shouted, her arms wrapped around the other girl's neck.
"Never. I'll NEVER admit defeat, least of all to you!" Weiss shouted as she clawed at Mordred's face.
"AHEM!" Glynda shouted, grabbing the girls' attention. It took a few seconds for either girl to realize who it was they were looking at before Mordred hastily released her hold on Weiss as the two girls quickly got on their feet.
"Miss Goodwith, I-" whatever Weiss was about to say was cut off as she noticed Winter standing next to the Deputy Headmistress "Winter?! What are you doing here?!"
Clearing her throat, Winter greeted her younger sister, "Hello, Weiss. As Professor Goodwith was about to announce, I will be staying here at Beacon until the end of the Vytal Festival as an aide to General Ironwood in addition to my role of making sure the teams that will be representing Atlas stay in their best behaviour."
"Hey, hey. Schnee the Elder. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Mordred said suddenly, cutting off Weiss's reply "Still got that stick up your butt?"
"Hello, Mordred. It's good to see you, too. It's been so long since we've seen each other, hasn't it?" Winter replied with a smile as Weiss glared at her teammate for her crass greeting.
"So, Weiss… This is your sister, huh?" Ruby said, appearing in a petal of roses while being covered in various foodstuffs as Blake trailed behind, herself covered from head to toe in tomatoes "Hello. It's very nice to meet you"
"Ruby?! What happened to you?! And what happened to Blake?!" Weiss asked at the sudden appearance of the rest of her team as Mordred cackled at the sight of Blake.
"Right. Miss Schnee, the two of you will have all the time to reconnect after your sister has settle in. For now" Glynda said as she eyed Ruby and Blake "I suggest you and your team clean yourselves up. Afternoon classes are about to start, after all"
"Yes, Miss Goodwitch" Weiss replied as she, her team, Team JAPC, and Team LYFV left the cafeteria.
"See ya later, Winter" Mordred added.
"Energetic students, aren't they?" Winter remarked.
"Agreed" Ozpin added with a nod as Glynda silently cursed the Gods for putting her in this position.
[Chapter END]
A/N: Alright! That certainly took faster than I expected. Gotta say, I'm real happy with how this chapter turned out and I had an absolute BLAST writing it. Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Anyway, we're finally at the start of Volume 2. Hooray! This is my first take on the food fight as the first Fate: GD, I skipped the whole scene together but this time, I decided to give it a try. Give your honest thoughts on it.
For next chapter, I'm hoping to introduce some new faces, mainly the "Knights" from Atlas. So, stay tuned for that.
As always, faves, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated.
NoXIV Signing Off
