OH MY GOD! I am so sorry for the false update on Wednesday! I was trying to update previous chapters and by mistake, I accidentally created another chapter. This was only an issue for a few minutes but it still came up on the website as updated before I could catch it. I already left a comment about this on the review board and my profile, but I thought I would state this here for anyone who missed it. This intro pretty much states my only announcement for this week, that being that I finished pushing out the updates on past chapters.
Updates to past chapters include formatting changes (this was introduced in the last chapter but all past chapters have been updated to the new format). They also include dialogue improvements and additional dialogue for some scenes. Bonus scenes are still in the work and will be pushed out eventually. Past authors' notes have also been edited to remove information about already passed release dates and other now irrelevant information.
Before we get started, I want to thank everyone who left a review over the past week!
slyer243 - Don't worry, Ozpin will be defeated in one way or another. Can't say when though, all I can say is that it will happen eventually.
Mol2311 - I'm still fighting over who I want to release first, Jaune or Yang... Jaune or Yang... I'll get back with you on this later. This might end up being a poll if I can't decide. Maybe this chapter can set the stage a little.
CloudCartoons/The Guy (Gaaahhh I don't know anymore) - Yeah, unfortunately... I wish I could write quicker (sometimes I can, sometimes I can't), but alas, my schedule can be surprising at times. I got another one-shot coming out this week so maybe that will help. I have another wholesome scene planned but you will have to wait (with everyone else sadly) till the next chapter. Anyone up for more cookies?
That's all for now; Please enjoy the chapter and don't forget to leave a review! Any advice is welcome and highly appreciated.
- Lucky
Chapter 19 - Unexpected Changes
Beacon Academy - Cafeteria - 8:30 am
Scarlet fumbles around with her bowl of cereal, thinking about the Grimm attack a couple of weeks ago. I know that Torchwick mentioned that the brake was broken when he went into the engine, but he was already in there before the dust crates exploded...
"You alright, Onyx?" Ruby asks, looking at her sister with worried eyes.
"Hmm?" Scarlet gets out of her funk and looks across the table. "Just thinking."
"About the homework? I swear, Professor Port needs to understand that his class isn't the only one we hav-" Mercury grumbles but is interrupted by Emerald shoving a piece of toast into his mouth. Once he spits out the unexpected toast he sends a nasty glare to the snickering green-haired girl sitting to his left. You're toast later on...
"No just... something feels off about the Grimm Attack a few weeks ago," Scarlet admits.
"Well, yeah... it wasn't supposed to happen for another couple of-" Mercury is interrupted again by Emerald kicking him underneath the table. "Ok, what is your problem?" He yells at his partner.
"Wait, what? Was that Grimm attack planned?" Ruby asks with wide eyes.
"Ye-" He looks at Cinder who is glaring at him with an unspoken threat, Say anything, and you will be dead in an instant. "No..." He looks off to the side hoping that the hooded girl didn't catch his quick change of answer.
Ruby settles slightly then rolls her eyes, "At least my theory was correct."
"Wait, what? You were theorizing about the Grimm attack? Is that why you've been staying up late the past week?" Weiss looks at her partner, somewhat annoyed. Can't you do that while we're in class? You don't focus on lessons anyways, why do you have to do it late at night?
"I figured something was off, to begin with, why else would the White Fang be hiding in sealed off tunnels?" Ruby responds.
Emerald looks at Cinder who by the look on her face... is pretty infuriated. "She has a point," she says to her boss.
"Yes and that's a problem. If she figured it out so quickly, what makes you think Ozpin couldn't?" Cinder replies in an annoyed hushed whisper.
"I don't think you need to worry about the headmaster. He is pretty occupied with the Vytal Festival right now." A voice says from behind her.
Cinder narrows her eyes and looks behind her to see Glynda Goodwich, who since her return, as taken her spot back as the headmaster's right-hand woman. "Really now?"
"He's also been pre-occupied with other tasks such as making sure a certain friend of yours is stable. But I don't believe this is the place to discuss that topic." Glynda says then takes a slow sip from her coffee.
Ruby leans in and asks her sister, "What's she talking about?"
Scarlet responds quietly, "I'll explain later."
"So, Professor Goodwitch, have you heard from team JNPR?" Blake asks, figuring she would get the information now rather than tracking down Glynda later.
Team JNPR decided to take some time off, well, everyone except their leader that is. Jaune decided to enroll in the Atlas Academy Military Training Program with hopes that he could improve his skills. The rest of team JNPR however, decided to take off for a few weeks before the Vytal Festival to, in Ren's words, "make peace with our inner selves." Professor Ozpin was reluctant, to say the least, but he eventually agreed for the sake of Pyrrha's mental health. She refused to talk much after the Grimm attack, even with her own teammates. Jaune however, seemed to change after that fateful day. He became cold towards his own teammates, not letting off of them for a single moment. It's almost as if he became a different person entirely. Ren figured that it would be best if they parted ways for the time being in hopes they could rekindle their friendship after some time alone. Nora, only agreed to come along after Ren promised to make her pancakes, which she enjoyed happily.
Cinder considered letting them in on everything, however, it was too much of a risk after they managed to figure out that Pyrrha was under Ozpin's control for quite some time. Under advisement from Salem, they decided to hold off for the time being and seeing how she is mentally once they return.
"They are... recovering, but they are doing fine. If you would like, I can send a message to your friends, I'm sure they would appreciate some kind words from their friends during a time of need." Glynda responds.
"We'll get a message written up and I'll bring it to you in class later on, Professor Goodwitch," Weiss responds.
Glynda nods her head in response, "Thank you, Ms. Schnee." She looks at the rest of the students, "I will need to speak with you all later on after class. Please make sure you plan your schedule today accordingly, it will be a... long discussion."
"Should I bring Yang?" Ruby asks quietly.
The older woman shakes her head, "Ms. Xiao long is preoccupied at the moment." She then glances over at a table across the room to see Yang chatting with other recent recruits of the Atlas Academy Military Training Program.
Professor Ozpin also encouraged Yang to join the program a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, due to Yang accepting the offer, she hasn't been present for team endeavors lately, which has upset Ruby slightly. Yang stated that she was doing it for the good of the entire team, but the rest of team RWBY think otherwise. They've been on edge since they concluded their research on Pyrrha's ring. It was exactly the same as Yangs, this was confirmed in the middle of the night when Blake checked her hand while she was sleeping. Blake has since given the emerald to Cinder to pass off to Salem. It seems that the power was seeped out of it when the ring broke, but she would rather be safe than sorry. Blake still has the band and has kept it hidden inside one of her books for the time being.
Emerald narrows her eyes. Ozpin would have told me about this meeting if he sanctioned it. He's not dumb enough to not know that Professor Goodwitch is working with Salem, so why is he just letting her wander around as if nothing happened?
"No Yang, got it," Ruby reaffirms. She then takes a look at her scone on her plate and quickly picks it up and takes a large bite happily.
Weiss rolls her eyes at her team leader's child-like nature. "Ruby, please."
"Sworry..." Ruby responds with a smile, crumbs falling from her mouth.
Glynda looks down at her wristwatch and sighs, "I have other places to be, please make sure you are not late this afternoon." She glances at team CMET then makes her way across the cafeteria, only stopping to scold a group of students on their table manners.
Mercury leans in to whisper to Scarlet, "How did she know?"
Scarlet shrugs, No idea.
Emerald begins to get up, "I think we also have a place to be. Class starts in like five minutes."
"What already?" Ruby asks, "Damn it, we gotta move! I can't be late... I don't want to have Dr. Oobleck for detention again!" Ruby then speeds off towards the exit with the assistance of her semblance, not even bothering to take her tray to the conveyor belt near the exit.
Emerald starts laughing at the hooded girls' reaction. "I can't believe she actually fell for that, I figured Schnee over here would be the one to fall for it."
"Hey!" Weiss responds, "I'm not that gullible, at least I know the time... 8:58 to be precise.
"What?" Emerald's face becomes filled with shock, she then glances at her scroll to see that it is in fact... now 8:59. "We gotta go!" Emerald starts pulling Mercury up and drags him towards the exit.
Cinder and Scarlet, on the other hand, know that Professor Peach canceled her morning class due to being sick. At least they check their emails.
"So," Cinder beings, "I believe that we can finish our breakfast in peace. At least I hope." She continues to eat on her porridge, barely glancing up as a breakfast burrito is hurled past her.
-0-0-0-0-
Beacon Academy - Training Auditorium - 10:00 am
Jaune's sword is knocked from his grip and sent flying across the room, hitting one of the holographic shields and landing on the ground. Too far for me to get it without my aura being knocked out. He glances up at the scoreboard, noting that the members of team CRDL are all lower than him but only by a small margin. He could take each one of them out in one hit to each of them, but he was only 7% from being knocked out himself.
"You're going down Arc, no one is here to stop me." Cardin quips with a devilish grin upon his face. He takes a step closer and leans menacingly over Jaune. Next, he swings his Mace high above his head and begins to make a motion to swing down, almost as if he was planning on bashing in Jaune's skull, ending it all.
"Anddd... I'm ending the round now." A voice says from the podium above them.
The dramatic lights become brighter and the buzzer sounds throughout the room. The holographic shields flicker out of existence and the gate at the entrance of the arena floor opens up automatically.
"I will admit, you managed to last longer than I expected, Cadet." The man from the podium walks over into the arena and goes to help Jaune off the ground.
Jaune shakes his head to get some of the dirt and dust out of his hair. "Thanks, Mr. Ebi."
"Please, we're all friends here, call me Clover," Clover says with a smile and a wink.
"Yeah Jauny," Cardin comes up behind him and throws his arm over his shoulder, making sure to put as much weight on him as possible to throw him slightly off balance. "We're all friends here."
"Your fighting style didn't seem to show that Mr. Winchester. I do believe I said this was a friendly 1v4 match, am I correct?" Clover raises an eyebrow.
"Ermm..." has stopped working. He glances over at his teammates who are snickering and pointing at him. Cardin rolls his eyes and mutters an apology before sulking off back to his seat.
"Alright, I think we have time for one more match up before I have to send you all off to your actual classes. Who would like to come up for a round?" Clover asks his students before him.
A blonde-haired brute stands up and begins walking towards the entrance of the arena. She then looks around the auditorium and eventually finds her prey. She points at a familiar Faunus, deciding that she has a score to settle, "You."
"Me?" Neon smirks, "No thanks, I'm not interested." While it can be seen as unlikely for Neon to even be anywhere near this place, General Ironwood suggested that it would be beneficial if she were to go through more strict training to help adjust her fighting style, claiming it was too "rambunxious" for the Atlas Huntsmen Association's liking.
Yang lets out a chuckle, "Oh come on, what? Are you too afraid of me catching your tail?" Yang smirks back.
Neon groans, "Really? I can't tell what's worse, your puns, or your anger issues."
"You're kitten with me right?" Yang quips, continuing to egg on the clearly agitated Faunus. "My puns are the best around, nothing beats them like a-"
"That's enough." Clover interrupts sternly, he then looks up at Neon. "I think it would be a good match-up, maybe you two can learn something from one another, perhaps some dignity and self-respect." He then motions for Neon to come onto the floor who grumpily does so.
"Do I really have to fight her? I feel like she's at a disadvantage because she's so... top-heavy." Neon remarks as she gets into a battle-ready position.
Yang looks down briefly before looking back at the smirking feline with an angry expression, "Excuse me?"
Clover notices Yang's eyes go red. It would have been nice to know if I was dealing with an... explosive type. "Alright ladies, you've proven you can talk, why don't you show us your walks?" He lets out a short laugh before pressing a few buttons on his console.
Yang cracks her knuckles and looks over her opponent. You would think that being from Atlas Academy would make you strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies... but honestly all I'm seeing is a rabid animal with glow sticks for a weapon. It's going to be fun knocking her off her feet... or paws... whatever, focus Yang. FOCUS.
"So Blondie, where'd you get your hair extensions?" Neon smiles as she begins spinning her nunchucks around in her right hand.
Yang raises an eyebrow, "Wha? This is just my normal hair."
"Ooh... really?" Neon almost winces as she notices the split ends from the opposite side of the arena.
Yang fakes worry, "Oh, what's wrong with my hair? Is it greasy?" She laughs then her face becomes all business, "Actually, I don't care, why don't you find something else to have a prob-"
Neon interrupts, "You know, you should try rollerblading sometime! It's super fun! Although, since you're so top-heavy it might take you a bit to get used to."
Yang begins seething. She's about to throw insults at her opponent but Clover interrupts, "Alright ladies, let's begin in three... two.. one... BEGIN!"
Neon takes advantage of Yang being distracted and speeds forward. "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat." She mumbles to herself as she zips around in circles in an attempt to make the blonde brute dizzy.
Yang can't seem to see where Neon is, she's in one place one moment, but in another the next. Yang keeps feeling small, yet painful hits against her legs and arms, presumably from Neon's nunchucks.
"Quit moving and actually fight me!" Yang yells in frustration.
"I'm the one that's fighting sweetie, you, on the other hand, are stiffer than a mannequin. How you stay balanced so much is a shock to me." Neon quips with a laugh, however, she is distracted long enough for Yang to send a hard punch to her stomach, sending her flying backward towards the other side of the arena.
Yang rushes forward, cocking back her gauntlets as she does so. Next, she jumps high in the air and attempts to punch down on her opponent still trying to regain balance after falling on her butt. However, before Yang can hit the spunky Faunus, Neon leans forward doing a perfect forward split as she lays low to the ground. Yang instead punches the dirt floor below her, sending dust flying.
Neon shakes her head, "Now your hair is dirty too!"
"GAAAAAHHH!" Yang stands up and faces her opponent who is now skating around the arena in a relaxed manner. She then manages to calm down a little to come up with a decent idea, she cocks back her gauntlets again, and activates her grappling hooks, hoping that she can manage to catch the feline Faunus. Luckily for her one of them manages to snag on the wheels of Neon's skates causing her to trip and fall face-first into dirt floor.
Neon immediately spits out dirt, then she glares at the blonde who is now smirking as she stands over her. "Really? How petty are you?" Neon annoyingly asks. She then gets the smart idea to activate some ice dust hidden in her gauntlets, she spins them around and whacks Yang's ankle, causing it to become encased in ice.
Neon then scrambles unhook Yang's grapple line and gets up and begins to skate around again. "Look! Now your bottom-heavy too! Are you having a mid-life crisis or something?"
Yang's eyes flash red as she angrily stomps her foot on the ground, the ice instantly shatters from the force.
Neon practically disappears and reappears behind Yang, sending a kick to her back and back towards one of the holographic shields, knocking her aura down to about 25%.
"You need to cool off. Get it? Because you're angry." Neon smirks as she begins to smack Yang with her nunchucks repeatedly, eventually freezing her entirely to the side of the arena.
"Alright, I'm ending it here. Neon Katt wins the battle." Clover says into the microphone before sounding the buzzer.
"What?!" Yang angrily cries, "But my aura isn't down far enough yet!" She then begins to struggle to get free.
"Yes, but you are successfully trapped. Therefore, you have lost. You need to work on your speed and focus. I expect to see improvement from you over the coming weeks. Class dismissed." Clover says as he turns the lights back on throughout the auditorium.
Yang takes a moment to let the ice settle around her, then she finds that she can use the trigger on her left gauntlet. She fires, allowing for that half of her icy prison to shatter. She then fires again towards the bottom of the right side, causing it to split and blast off in random directions. Clover luckily left the holographic shields up because a chunk of ice would have hit Jaune directly in the face. He yelps from being startled but then shakes his head and continues to make his way towards the exit.
"Don't worry, maybe I can let you win next time so your self-esteem isn't damaged like the ends of your hair," Neon smirks and waves as she skates towards the exit.
Yang becomes frustrated and smashes her right arm against one of the holographic shields, shattering the last of the ice that was encased around it. Her eyes glow a bright emerald green for a moment. I swear... you are the first one I'm coming after once Ozpin releases his army. I'll show you true power.
Beacon Academy - Professor Goodwitch's Office - 2:00 pm
Glynda sighs as she looks over the files of team CRDL. She has told Ozpin time and time again that they are too troublesome to deal with and they should just be let go now before they cause too much damage to the school.
She reviewed the footage of what they did in the printing office and was quite appalled that they planned to post fliers all around the school outing various Faunus to their peers. She looks over at the stacks upon stacks of papers that she swiftly confiscated from their living quarters earlier this afternoon. I really need to send those to the incinerator.
She also watched footage from when Cardin decided to lead Professor Oobleck on a wild goose chase throughout the school after he was caught spray-painting the locker room. The nerve of that boy, has he no restraint? At least he wasn't involved in the food fight that broke out this morning. That's the third one this month...
Glynda has almost had enough with the unruly boy and is 'this' close to expelling him and his team without permission from the headmaster. I've already been told by the Vale Council that I'm up for consideration to take his place starting next year, I just hope that I will be able to last till then.
Her thoughts are interrupted as she begins to hear knocking on her door. "Come in," she says.
"Professor Goodwitch? It's us." Ruby says as she opens the door. As soon as she walks in, Weiss and Blake, as well as team CMET walk into the room with Mercury closing the door behind him.
"Good, I have a few things to discuss with all of you as a group. The first one being-" Glynda begins.
Knocking comes from outside the door again, a male voice soon follows. "Umm... Glyn? Sorry, I didn't mean to be late. I figured I would go pick up Zwei and take around him for a while," He says as he opens the door, once he pops his head in, it's revealed to be Tai holding his canine friend in his arms.
"Dad!" Ruby runs towards him and hugs him tightly. Her eyes widen in realization, "Oh shoot I'm sorry... I meant to say-"
Tai interrupts his niece with laughter, "Don't worry kiddo, I'll always be Dad, even if it's not by blood."
Ruby smiles and hugs him tighter, "What are you doing here?"
Glynda interrupts by clearing her throat, "As I was saying, Tai is coming here to substitute classes for Professor Peach. She has unfortunately fallen ill as of recent and has decided to take some time off to rest."
"What? We were supposed to have a test in her class this week!" Weiss says with worry in her tone.
It only takes a few moments for everyone except the adults to start laughing at Weiss's comment.
"Geez, Ice Queen, enjoy a break when you can get one," Mercury says while trying to hold in his laughter unsuccessfully.
Tai lets out a laugh of his own, "Don't worry Ms. Schnee, I'll make sure to have the test if you really want it."
Ruby looks up at Tai, "Ignore my partner, she doesn't know what she is saying."
"Hey!" Weiss complains.
"Anyway." Professor Goodwitch continues, "He will also be reporting back to a certain acquaintance of ours so I want nothing but the best behavior from all of you. You are representing not only huntsmen academies of Beacon and Haven... but also someone with much more control than you can imagine. Most importantly, you are representing your true selves. Do not disappoint."
"Wait, you're reporting back to Salem?" Scarlet asks slightly shocked. I didn't expect for Goodwitch to do this much, I just expected her to stay on the sidelines and assist Watts or something like that.
"I am too," Tai looks at Zwei who then barks twice and licks his face happily, "and so is Zwei apparently." He looks Zwei into the eyes, "When did you meet Summer?"
Zwei responds by barking twice. Translation: I would tell you but then I would have to kill you. Zwei then tilts his head, begins wagging his tail, and barks again, Naa, I love you too much, even if you did squish me in a can.
"Wait, who isn't working for Salem?" Blake raises her hand and asks.
Weiss scoffs, "I never fully agreed to anyt-"
Ruby lets go of Tai and runs over to hug Weiss from behind, "Nope, I'm officially bringing team RWBY into this. Well... with the exception of Yang because... you know."
"Ahem." Glynda interrupts.
"Sorry." Multiple students and Tai mutter in response.
"Now, If I may continue without any more interruptions, due to Ms. Xiao Long's upcoming schedule with the military training program, she will be unable to compete in the Vytal Festival. I have managed to find a replacement for her for the time being. Glynda pulls out her scroll and hits the send button.
A moment later a knock comes from outside, Tai moves to open the door. Everyone looks to see a short girl with a big smirk on her face. The girl has Black hair with some lighter streaks throughout styled into twin tails with white bows. She also has bright, jade-colored eyes that compliment her pale complexion. Her outfit is a sleeveless black blouse with white frilly accents on the chest and collar. She's wearing a black ribbon that hangs from the front of the collar and has matching black armbands on both of her wrists. She's also wearing a black knee-length lolita skirt with a white belt and black shoes with thigh-high white stockings.
"This is Yin, she will be taking Yang's place in team RWBY for the time being until the training program is complete," Glynda says and motions for Yin to come forward.
"Wait a minute..." Cinder mutters.
Yin smirks and allows for her eyes to change colors, to pink and brown. She then presses a button on her scroll, "Hello Bitches."
Jaws drop around the room. "Wait a minute, you're supposed to be in Mistral by now, what are you doing here?" Cinder asks, clearly angry.
Neo types into her scroll, "Don't forget that I work for Roman, not you. Salem needed someone to look into some matters with something about possessive rings, and I needed an upgrade on Hush. Nothing personal.
Cinder beings seething, that's when Mercury rolls his eyes and pulls out a chair for her. Cinder accepts and sits down, then Mercury comes up behind her and begins massaging her shoulders. It seemed to be one of the few things that calmed down Cinder for a short amount of time. Calm Cinder is better than angry Cinder.
"So Yang is leaving Beacon?" Ruby asks quietly. I can't believe she would do something like that... but then again... she is possessed right now.
"No you dolt, she's just... taking a break from huntress training for a while. Whether it was her choice or not, she obviously needs a break. We should let her do what she wants, even if she isn't making the best decisions right now." Weiss responds and looks down. I can't believe she would do something like this. Wasn't she told at the start of the program that she would need to leave Beacon for a while?
Scarlet reaches over and hugs Ruby from the side, "Don't worry, She'll come back eventually. From what I heard, she seems like a good person normally."
Ruby nods her head in response. "I just hope she doesn't decide to join the Atlas Military permanently."
Glynda sighs, "Most recruits don't last for very long. While your sister has the drive, I don't believe she will enjoy the restraints too much. Now, Ms. Belladonna," Professor Goodwitch looks at Blake, "You informed me that you had the band for Ms. Niko's ring?"
Blake nods her head and pulls out the silver band from her pocket, she then slides it over onto the desk and then goes back to lean in the corner.
Ruby's eyes widen in realization. "Hold on a moment, I'll be back!" She then shoves her way past everyone and leaves the room, making a mad dash for the elevators.
"Ruby!" Tai yells out the door, "No running in the halls!" he jokes. He then turns to see Glynda shaking her head along with a few of the students.
Beacon Academy - Team RWBY Dorm - 2:15 pm
Ruby fumbles through her pockets for her scroll, then she literally slaps it against the electronic lock. She rushes inside but runs face-first into a cardboard box that is surprisingly tall.
"Hey! Watch where you're going sis!" Yang says a bit annoyed, as she readjusts her grip on the large cardboard box she is holding.
"Y-Yang! What are you doing?" Ruby asks nervously. Is that sweat? Am I sweating? Why is it so hot in here? Why is Yang holding a box with all of her... OH MY OUM, SHE'S MOVING OUT!
"I'm moving my things to the Atlas Military Cadet dorms, part of the program is moving into the barracks to connect with other members of the training program. Even Jaune is moving over there for a bit because his team dumped him." Yang responds, clearly wanting to continue on her way.
"B-But... what about team RWBY?" Ruby asks nerviously as begins to fumble with her thumbs. I hope this is all one big elaborate prank.
"Pssh..." Yang laughs a little, "Don't worry, It's only for about a month. Ozpin's gonna find a replacement for me in the festival, but I'll still be cheering you all on."
Ruby pouts, "The point of us being on a team together was for us to actually be a team. You aren't being much of a team player lately, and honestly, I'm upset." Ruby sits on Weiss' bed and crosses her arms, almost hugging herself for comfort.
Yang sighs and sits her box down next to the door. "Don't worry Rubes. I'll be back before you know it, and when I come back, I'll be an all-new and improved Yang!"
Ruby continues to pout. "Why can't we do that together?"
Yang's demeanor lightens up a little, "We can! You should join, that way we can still be training together!"
"I meant training as huntresses. Why can't you just stick around with us? What's so great about the Atlesian Military anyway... I hear that they try to break you and knock out any originality and personality that you have," Ruby argues.
Yang lets out a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll still be the same Yang as before. I'm just taking part of the program to work on my hand-to-hand."
Ruby raises an eyebrow, You're the best at hand-to-hand combat, if anything, I should be the one working on hand-to-hand. Something seems off...
"What? You don't believe me? I've been having slip-ups lately and If I come across that multi-colored bitch again I swear I will hit her where it hurts." Yang puts her fists together emphasizing her point.
Ruby rolls her eyes at her cousin's brute nature. "Promise you will come back. I mean... really come back. Not some hollow shell of your former self." Ruby looks deep into her cousin's eyes, hoping to somehow connect with her sister as if she truly is still in there somewhere. She has to be. She can't be gone... right?
Yang looks down, knowing very good and well that she cannot truthfully answer Ruby's question. "I have to get going. I'm already supposed to have my things there. Don't forget me alright?" She asks as she picks up her box from the ground. She takes one last look around the room before looking at her sister who she swears is tearing up. "Bye, Sis."
Ruby doesn't even mumble a goodbye. Instead, she continues to sit on Weiss' bed and stare off into space for a moment until Yang shuts the door. She waits a few minutes before getting up to go to her desk and retrieve the ring that Ozpin intended to give to her and rushes out of the room, hoping that she wasn't missed for long.
Beacon Academy - Professor Goodwitch's Office - 2:25 pm
Ruby rushes back into the room, she holds up the ring as she begins to catch her breath. "Got it."
"What took you so long?" Weiss asks in an annoyed tone.
"Yang... She really is moving out." Ruby says between breaths as Glynda reaches over her desk to take the ring from Ruby and inspects it.
"Wait, she's actually moving out?" Blake's ears bend back slightly in disappointment.
"Military program requires it..." Ruby mumbles as she sits down in an empty chair.
Tai comes up behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry... Yang will come back eventually.
Ruby smiles a little but then catches a glimpse at the emerald on the ring. Why did you have to ruin everything?
Glynda then looks up at Cinder, "I'll be keeping this for a while so I can run some tests. Please make sure to let your boss know about this."
Cinder nods her head, "Well, if that's everything, I believe that team CMET has the training hall reserved for some private training time." Cinder motions for her team to follow, Emerald and Mercury follow but Scarlet stays behind.
Scarlet looks over at her uncle, "So... you're Uncle Tai?"
"Yup," He then looks between Ruby and Scarlet. "Damn' you two look so much alike."
Scarlet looks at Ruby. "What's the tally at now?
Ruby shrugs, "I don't know, lost count about a week ago."
"Wait... how many people know about-" Tai begins but is interrupted by a monotone electronic voice.
"Alright, new teammates you're coming with me." Neo's scroll says while its owner grins. Neo then marches up to the other members of team RWBY and begins to pull them out the door.
"I wasn't done yet!" Tai cries after he pokes his head out the door. Neo, who is practically dragging her new teammates down the hall, flips the bird to Tai with her free hand.
Tai turns around and looks at Glynda, "Are you sure that was a good idea?"
Glynda sighs, "Take it up with Summer."
Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
This chapter was pretty packed (at least in my opinion it is :P). I finally got that Ace-Op scene in there, I hope you guys really enjoyed that.
Since Clover doesn't really have an official age announced (that I'm aware of), for the sake of this story, I will be presenting him as if he is recently graduated from Atlas Academy. While I currently do not have plans to introduce the other Ace-Ops (yet), I'm also setting in place that Elm and Vine are a year ahead of Clover, with Marrow and Harriet a year below. This may come up as a potential fight scene during the V3 arc considering how this pretty much states that Marrow and Harriet are still in school.
I also decided to bring Neo into the mix because she's one of my favorites to write for and I really wanted to include her more. Since the name for her alias during the Vytal Festival wasn't really revealed (to my knowledge) I decided that she would be an easy choice for replacing Yang for the time being. Considering how I put Neo in place of Yang, this is also preventing a certain... altercation from happening during the doubles round. Don't worry, I have plans, just not any plans that involve breaking legs or breaking change.
The outfit description for Neo's alias (Yin) is derived from the RWBY wiki. Portions of V3 E5 were used for the Yang Vs. Neon fight.
That's all for now. I'll see you all next week!
- Lucky
P.S. There is a very MINISCULE chance I will be delayed on the next chapter. I move back into my dorm next week and will be primarily focused on getting settled in and preparing for the start of the semester. I will do the best I can to make sure it gets released on Saturday but I apologize in advance if I'm a day or two late. This should NOT happen again for a while, thanks again for your support and I'll see you next week!
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Bonus Scene - A Sweet Promise (Chapter 20 Prologue)
Downtown Vale - Ice Cream Parlor - 4:00 pm
"I'll admit." Blake says between bites of blackberry swirl, "this was a good idea."
Neo smirks and types into her scroll, "I tried to tell you, Ice cream brings people together."
Weiss sighs, "I wish that was true for my family." She takes another lick of her simple vanilla cone.
"Cookies seemed to bribe my dad growing up." Ruby says.
Neo types into her scroll, "Ice cream is still better though."
Ruby looks down at her Ultimate Strawberry Cookie Dough, "only ice cream with cookies or cookie dough in it."
Neo proudly holds up her Neopolitan ice cream with one hand then types into her scroll with her free hand, "Nothing beats the classic."
Ruby gets a glimmer in her eye. I'll prove you wrong, I'll promise you that. Just you wait, I'll use my secret weapon.
~ End