It's a Thursday chapter! And Nora seems to have a lot of focus in the V8 trailer, so get hype! I can't wait for my reading of Nora's character to be confirmed by Nora bits we get in V8! :^)
By the way, Ann Greene is the Stealth and Security teacher, mentioned briefly in After the Fall. All the characterization however is purely mine, so consider her an OC for all intents and purposes.
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Volume 2.25 (Thursday): I have never, in fact, tasted peanut butter ever in my entire life
Welcome to Beacon Academy Staff Room!
PORT added Nora Valkyrie to the chat!
Hot For Chocolate: glynda
Hot For Chocolate: i seem to have misplaced the request forms for James' parking permit
Glynda: Ozpin, for the last time, James is requesting for an airspace permit for his battleships.
Glynda: I know you aren't exactly fond of the Council's decision to bring him in for extra security, but this is honestly very childish of you.
Hot For Chocolate: oh please glynda
Hot For Chocolate: you and i both know you are not fond of james', ah, "overcompensation" as well
Glynda: You and I know that I did not call it that.
Glynda: I distinctly remember calling it his attempts at displaying his military bravado.
Hot For Chocolate: really, because I remember you claiming he treats every situation like a contest for measuring [edited]
Someone is typing…
Glynda: I'm glad I didn't have to give you the lecture on proper chatroom etiquette.
Glynda: Honestly, I've given Peter the the same lecture repeatedly and he cannot wrap his head around the idea of proper workplace boundaries.
Glynda: Also, I'm surprised you can find the edit button, Ozpin.
Hot For Chocolate: ann taught me how
Hacker Ma'am: took me half a day but here we are
Doctor: Perhaps next time Professor Greene and I can teach the headmaster how to use the emotes :eyes:
Hacker Ma'am: first he'll have to learn how to delete the photos from the faculty costume party
Hot For Chocolate: PORT
Doctor: In his defense your did rock that look. :grin:
Hot For Chocolate: indeed
Hot For Chocolate: my legs did look very nice in that costume
Hot For Chocolate: but enough about me
Hot For Chocolate: glynda, the forms?
Glynda: I'll place them on top of your desk later. Unfortunately, some of us still have classes and cannot attend to your every need.
Hot For Chocolate: come now, glynda
Hot For Chocolate: I know you spend most of your Combat classes reading those novels you confiscate from Miss Belladonna
Glynda: how do you know that
Hacker Ma'am: as per beacon regulations, confiscated items must be checked in and out by an officially registered and recognized member of the beacon faculty, and the logs are carefully monitored by the official stealth and security faculty member
Hacker Ma'am: ie me
Hot For Chocolate: really, glynda, you can't hide these things from us
Hot For Chocolate: you really shouldn't be hiding your hobbies from us, you know
Hot For Chocolate: ann and I are also excited to find out what's next for those crazy kunoichi
Hacker Ma'am: i prefer the cyber-kunoichi series but this is aight too
Doctor: I will never understand your obsession with Mistralian cartoons :upside_down:
Glynda: I am not obsessed!
Someone is typing…
PORT: Oh ho!
PORT: I seem to have been, as the kids say, "pinged".
PORT: I do apologize; I was in the middle of an enthralling lesson about proper survival tips when besieged by Beringels from all sides… [edited]
Hacker Ma'am: yall better be thankful i put down a tldr for peter's last message
Hacker Ma'am: i also put him on shadowmute for the next half-hour, thank me later
Hacker Ma'am: anyway brb looks like miss rose is trying to mess with the beaconchat app again
Someone is typing…
Glynda: Ann, I keep telling you, you should not use your valuable time on this little feud of yours with Miss Rose.
Hot For Chocolate: come now, Glynda
Hot For Chocolate: stealth and security is part of her job description
Doctor: At least she's present for most of her classes, unlike a certain someone :smirk:
Glynda: Speaking of, Professor Peach's weekly report should come in any minute now.
AFK has uploaded a photo!
Doctor: Splendid! Speak and the mythical creature shall appear :smiling_face_with_tear:
Doctor: Thumbelina, while your passion for plant life is unparalleled as always, I feel that you may be… neglecting some specific duties of yours.
Doctor: You know? As an educator?
AFK: ?
Hot For Chocolate: now, now, bart, you and I know well that lina's fieldwork can be very taxing.
Hot For Chocolate: let's try not to bother her until she's back at Beacon
Doctor: Duly noted, but I maintain that her TAs should be getting their wage adjusted for all the work they do for her.
Hot For Chocolate: I'll make sure to consider adjusting Mr. Bronzewing and Mr. Lark's stipends to account for all their work.
Glynda: With all due respect, sir, we may as well add them as part of the faculty considering they've pretty much taken over Plant Studies
Doctor: Considering that they were recommended purely on Peach's insistence…
Hot For Chocolate: lets not get too hasty glynda
Hot For Chocolate: why, we may as well pay Miss Nikos a full teacher's salary considering how much training she's given some of our other students
Glynda: You and I both know she's… destined for greater things than being an educator, Ozpin.
Someone is typing…
Port: And of course, the battle ended after I thrust my huge, pulsating [edited]
Hacker Ma'am: ok what the hell, I set his shadowmute for thirty minutes and he's still talking?!
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Nora Valkyrie, unlike most students, looked forward to Grimm Studies, mostly because she felt that people were sleeping on the contents of the class. Sure, she understood that Port made a horrible first impression on most students – she recalled that awful wink Professor Port gave Yang at the start of the year, for one – and his lecture style was… idiosyncratic at best, but Nora felt that they weren't too bad. Once you got past all the storytelling (which Nora was fond of, but she understood that not everyone was capable of keeping up with Port's fantastic stories) there were great lessons to be picked up from the old professor. Heck, Nora had picked up fantastic anti-Beringel tactics from this one lecture alone! Details like their heavily armored nature, their tendency to use other Grimm as projectile weapons… plus, who knew that bananas actually worked as projectile weapons against them?
(Nora wasn't exactly sure what to make of Port's claims that flying variants of the creatures existed, but Port was the experienced Huntsman and she had only seen Beringels a few times on her travels with Ren, so what did she know?)
The point was, Nora felt that, despite Professor Port's quirks, there were valuable things to be gleaned from his stories if people were willing to listen, which was why she dutifully took notes in class and did her best to tell the rest of her friends abbreviated versions of Port's tales over lunch, or sometimes dinner, when the two teams found the time to do so. Pyrrha and Weiss, bless them, had tried to do the same for their friend group, but even the two had given up halfway through the first semester, realizing that they simply didn't have the aptitude to parse what was useful and what wasn't from Port's lectures. Nora, to her credit, tried to explain, as best she could, but she always had a hard time expressing herself, despite Ren's best efforts to translate for her.
Speaking of the two, Nora soon realized that everyone had given up trying to pay attention to the Grimm Studies lecture and instead were paying attention to the scrolls, if the slight vibration and silent notifications coming from her scroll was any indication. Nora groaned at that – sure, they had the week off, and technically they could have skipped Grimm Studies – but the two teams had collectively decided that cabin fever was setting in, that they really didn't have much else to do (Blake had run out of books to read, for one, a fact that took everyone off guard) and they collectively decided over breakfast that they may as well see what was happening in one of the few classes that weren't cancelled in light of the Breach.
Port, as was customary, had brought in Grimm for a demonstration, and was now absentmindedly typing on his scroll even as everyone watched Russel wrestle with a flock of tiny Nevermores (Lessermores, Weiss had jokingly called them once, and Nora liked the name enough that she insisted on using it in her head) and flail around uselessly, his daggers hitting nothing but air as the Lessermores darted all over the boy, a few enterprising ones even making a nest out of his hair.
Sure, it had been entertaining at first, but five minutes into the fight and it became clear that they weren't going to be seeing anything productive from the epic Russel v Nevermore fight, and even Port had begun focusing on his scroll more, so Nora decided to look at her messages to see what was happening in the RWBY + JNPR group chat.
(Nora, as a rule, tended to ignore her scroll during class, if only because she knew she would be distracted by whatever conversation her friends got to, but Nora also had a crippling fear of missing out, so she inevitably had to look at whatever inane conversation they were having.)
Before she could, however, Nora realized that Professor Port had accidentally added her to a group chat meant for the faculty. (Probably a butt dial, Nora assumed.) A quick readthrough of the contents shocked her: there were the things that she expected, like how Glynda basically ran things for everyone, with Ozpin heavily relying on her to moderate everything, or how Professor Port was always muted for telling his stories in chat (that broke Nora's heart, as she loved Port stories), but a couple of specific things caught her eye, like how Ozpin and Glynda were hinting that Pyrrha was destined for greater things.
What exactly did that mean?
Nora was about to go on a deep dive into the chat logs, hoping to find anything of note, but before she could so, Ozpin had sent a few new messages with… interesting implications, and before she could fully ponder on the ramifications of what she had been discovered, she had been kicked out of the chat.
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Welcome to Beacon Academy Staff Room!
Hot For Chocolate: Oh, Glynda, how is James' Maiden project faring?
Glynda: Oh for
Glynda: Stop sending private messages on the wrong channels, Ozpin.
Glynda: Hacker Ma'am?
Hacker Ma'am: what
Hacker Ma'am: oh
Hacker Ma'am: gdi port stop accidentally adding students into the faculty chat
Hacker Ma'am removed Nora Valkyriefrom the chat!
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(Well, Nora could imagine that was how things went. She was paying more attention to Port than the chat, after all, and only saw a few scattered, half-remembered bits.)
In any case, Nora was now intrigued. While the insight into the utterly banal conversations that were happening between the faculty was interesting to her, it was the suggestion of more secrets that really got her imagination running. Ren always chided her for her wild imagination, but Nora always had her suspicions about the faculty – really, could you trust the headmaster when he drank hot chocolate – but the little glimpses of the faculty chat convinced her that, yes, the faculty, specifically Ozpin, had plans, most likely for Pyrrha, and damn it, Nora was determined to find out what they were! Maybe her suspicions about Ruby's silver eyes had some actual merit, too!
(Nora dismissed that thought as quickly as it occurred to her, looking at Ruby, who was busy engaging in a lively conversation over scrolls with her partner. Some things were simply too outlandish, even for her.)
Conspiracies about silver eyes notwithstanding, Nora had a duty to report these matters to her friends, just like how she made it her duty to regale everyone with abridged versions of Port's stories in class, so she opened their group chat to inform everyone of the shocking news, although from the look of things, it seems like the chat was… obsessed… with different topics…
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Queen of the Castle: Guys! Big news!
Snow Angel: For the last time, Ruby, peanut butter is a perfectly valid spread!
Snow Angel: You're just being petulant because you ate bad peanut butter as a child and can't move on!
RedLikeStrawberries: peanut butter tastes like bleh and you know it weiss
RedLikeStrawberries: peanut butter is bad and should feel bad.
RedLikeStrawberries: have you tried peanut butter cookies?
RedLikeStrawberries: they're abominations! almost as bad as oatmeal raisin cookies
Snow Angel: For the record, oatmeal raisin cookies are delicious.
Snow Angel: Also, stop moving the goalposts! We're discussing good spreads to eat with bread here!
Big Kitty Goth GF: you two have been at it for almost half an hour now. don't you get tired?
RedLikeStrawberries: its either this or watch russel get beat up by lessermores
SunnyLittleDragon: you gotta admit blake this is slightly more amusing than watching the Passion of the Thrush
Ren-sensei: Speaking of, it seems Professor Port will finally step in.
Cereal Girl: Personally, I think I could watch five more minutes of this.
SunnyLittleDragon: speak for yourself, p-money. look, even VB is asleep, and he usually tries to stay awake for these things
Cereal Girl: Oh, let him rest.
Cereal Girl: Blake's friend Sun dragged him and Ren away from our dorms last night.
Big Kitty Goth GF: sun isn't my responsibility! and why is he my friend specifically?
Cereal Girl: You know exactly why, Blake.
Cereal Girl: Do try to keep him in line, would you?
Big Kitty Goth GF: why does everyone assume i have him on a leash?
SunnyLittleDragon: from what i hear, sun might not be against that kinda stuff
SunnyLittleDragon: if you know what i mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Cereal Girl: YANG
Cereal Girl: You're incorrigible!
Snow Angel: Honestly, Yang. Why do you insist on speaking like a perverted teenager?
Snow Angel: …in any case, Ren, pray tell: what did you boys and Sun get up to?
SunnyLittleDragon: oh so i cant make dirty jokes but you wanna know what the boys got up to on their little boys night?
SunnyLittleDragon: heh, we can see right through you weiss
Snow Angel: Please stop talking, Yang. I'm trying to keep everything in this chat clean!
Ren-sensei: Oh.
Ren-sensei: Apologies. Almost drifted off to sleep there.
RedLikeStrawberries: i didn't even realize you managed to take a short nap!
RedLikeStrawberries: how did you do that ren?
Ren-sensei: Trade secret.
Ren-sensei: In any case.
Ren-sensei: We spent a few hours over at the SSSN dorms. Sun and Jaune played video games.
Big Kitty Goth GF: huh i didn't know sun and jaune were friends
RedLikeStrawberries: oh, sun and jaune hit it off in leadership class, mostly bc coco makes fun of the two of them all the time
Snow Angel: I didn't think you were much of a video game person, Ren
Ren-sensei: I mostly watched Sun, Jaune, and Neptune play. Scarlet wasn't interested in playing and Sage was nowhere to be found.
Ren-sensei: Neptune kept losing to this player… TailFail01, I think?
Ren-sensei: Oh, and Weiss, Neptune says hi.
Snow Angel: I am not talking to him.
Big Kitty Goth GF: what did he do
Snow Angel: He knows what he did!
Big Kitty Goth GF: wait i just noticed
Big Kitty Goth GF: nora, you had something to say?
Queen of the Castle: Oh, its fine.
Queen of the Castle: I found out something interesting, but I'll save it for dinner.
SunnyLittleDragon: ooh, is this like that dream where you were fighting flying beringels?
Queen of the Castle: I told you, I really thought it was real!
Queen of the Castle: But nah, this isn't like, something critical we need to know.
Snow Angel: Are you sure, Nora? You know we're always here to listen.
Queen of the Castle: Aww Weissy, I always knew you cared!
RedLikeStrawberries: this doesnt erase the fact that weiss is a filthy crease apologist
Queen of the Castle: Excuse me?!
Cereal Girl: Oh, dear, I thought we were finished with this argument.
Big Kitty Goth GF: they're just as bad as when you and ren get started on an argument pyr
Ren-sensei: I fail to see how you can compare myself and Pyrrha with these two
RedLikeStrawberries: who the heck likes crease's butter cups?!
Ren-sensei: For one, they are having an argument over a subjective matter with no clear winner
Ren-sensei: Whereas I am right and Pyrrha is in the wrong.
Cereal Girl: Excuse me?!
SunnyLittleDragon: yo crease's are disgusting
Snow Angel: Perhaps if you are a heathen with no taste!
RedLikeStrawberries: you're not convincing anyone just bc you read the dictionary and know more words weiss!
Cereal Girl: You know, I was asked to do a commercial for Crease's a year ago.
Big Kitty Goth GF: i assume there's a 'but' here
Cereal Girl: …they didn't taste very good. It took a couple of takes for me to muster a smile for the cameras.
Big Kitty Goth GF: yeah theyre meh. i just dont see the appeal of peanut butter and chocolate together
Snow Angel: You are all traitors and I hope you understand just how terrible your palates are.
Snow Angel: Ren, back me up here! Don't you like peanut butter too?
Ren-sensei: I am not opposed to them, but unfortunately, Nora is allergic to cashew, so we tend to steer clear of most forms of nuts just to be safe.
Queen of the Castle: I have never, in fact, tasted peanut butter ever in my entire life.
Snow Angel: Oh, Nora, you poor thing.
Queen of the Castle: I'll be fine!
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Okay, so maybe Nora chickened out and didn't tell anyone about her suspicions, but could anyone blame her? The thing about habits was that you barely noticed them forming or breaking.
Ren had always done his best to explain for her, bless him, but even Nora understood how difficult it was for people to take her words seriously. She did have a tendency to confuse her dreams for reality at times, and sure, she sometimes liked to embellish her stories to make them more exciting for her audiences, but Nora liked to think that she never lied. She could withhold information if she had to, sure, and she could keep secrets, but she wasn't someone interested in lying about herself, or making up fabricated stories. Sure, she sometimes confused Ursai with Beowolves, forgot that they were fighting in the middle of the day sometimes instead of at night, and maybe there actually were just two beowolves instead of a dozen, but she didn't set out to lie about the stories she wanted to tell! That was why Ren was there, anyway – to keep her story straight!
Still, as the months passed and Nora adjusted to her new circle of friends, she noticed that she was thinking harder and harder about the stories she was telling, making sure that they were more believable, that she had her facts straight, that this time she wouldn't confuse one of her dreams for an actual adventure she had with Ren. Part of it was that she finally had an opportunity to interact with people who weren't Ren for extended periods of time, and it filled her heart with glee to know that Yang and Ruby would always pay attention to her stories, that Blake always lent an ear even if she was focused elsewhere, and that even if Weiss outwardly acted as if Nora's stories went in one ear and out the other that she actually was looking out for Nora in her own Weissy way. And don't get her started on Pyrrha and Jaune!
No, the reason Nora was more mindful of her storytelling was because she didn't want to lose their trust.
She knew all about the old morality stories, the parables about the boy who cried Beowolf and the dangers of loose lips, and Nora was mortally afraid that she would wake up one day and realize that her newfound friends didn't take her words seriously anymore. Sure, they were paying attention now, but it only took one too many tall tales or Nora mistaking one of her fantastical dreams for an actual adventure for all of her friends to just… start ignoring her stories. Nora wasn't dumb, even if she tended to come across as that often – if she wanted to tell everyone that she was suspicious of Ozpin, that he had plans in place that involved some of their friends, then she needed proof.
After all, Ren wasn't always able to explain her stories for everyone else.
(The other part of her hesitation, the one she didn't want to admit to herself, was that she genuinely didn't want to interrupt what looked like a fun conversation among her friends, to ruin the good mood with what was she worried was her paranoia talking. Nobody liked a party pooper, Nora would often sing in her head at moments like this, and in that particular moment, Nora felt she was dangerously close to being one herself.)
At some point, Nora had changed, and if she was asked to pinpoint the exact moment that her habits changed, she would have been unable to answer. That was the nature of habits, after all.
So Nora wasn't lying: she was fine. As her friends continued their inane conversation, Nora instead focused her attention on Professor Port, who was busy explaining everything that Russel did wrong in his encounter with the Nevermore flock, offering effective strategies to deal with hordes of Grimm and Nevermore flocks – not that anyone paid attention to him, because Port had made an awful first impression on everyone and he was not exactly the best talker. (Maybe if he allowed people to eat snacks in class then they would have the energy to listen, Nora mused, but those were the stray thoughts that came to her and disappeared just as quickly.)
Still, a part of Nora liked him and his awkward attempts at expressing himself, so she listened and paid attention to the professor. She could start looking for proof later, she decided, even if she had to do it to herself.
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Welcome to Thunder Cats!
Cream Puff: nora…?
Thunder Thighs: Oh, hey, Blake! What's up?
Thunder Thighs: You feeling up for another workout?
Cream Puff: pls no
Cream Puff: id like to retain use of my legs tyvm
Thunder Thighs: Aww.
Cream Puff: look i just wanted to talk to you
Cream Puff: where are you anyway? you disappeared after grimm studies
Thunder Thighs: Oh, I stuck around to ask Professor Port some questions~ That lecture was really fascinating, right?
Cream Puff: um
Cream Puff: ill take your word for it
Thunder Thighs: No, seriously! The Beringel lecture was neat! I really picked up a lot of things about their movement and attack patterns, and it should be useful for when we encounter Beringels out in the wild!
Thunder Thighs: Did you know that Beringels are some of the most dangerous opponents to encounter in the wilds of Sanus and Anima? It's 'cause they're like, stupidly stealthy when they want to be. It's real easy for 'em to sneak up on you out on the woods and BAM! Hit you with those huge arms of theirs.
Thunder Thighs: I'd love to fight one in person someday. I couldn't back when we were kids because Ren's always "no nora we must be careful when engaging the enemy" but now I'm trained and I've got a team backing me up this time so I can definitely fight a Beringel! Maybe even fight one with my bare hands!
Thunder Thighs: Heck, maybe I'll even get to ride one!
Thunder Thighs: But that's enough about me. What's up, Blakey?
Cream Puff: just checking up on you
Thunder Thighs: Okay…? Not sure why you wanna keep tabs on me all of a sudden, but I'll bite!
Cream Puff: …just call it a hunch. you sounded like you wanted to talk abt sth in chat earlier but decided against it
Cream Puff: i spend too much time around pyr and jaune, so im more or less used to people holding back what they're thinking
Cream Puff: kinda guilty of the same honestly
Cream Puff: so uh, yeah, trying to be better paying attention to stuff like this
Thunder Thighs: …y'know, it's because you keep doing stuff like this that Yang makes fun of you for spending so much time around Pyrrha and Jaune
Thunder Thighs: You don't have to keep watching over us like you're a ninja from your novels!
Thunder Thighs: …unless that's what you're into, and hey, I don't judge, you have stuff you wanna do, just like your friend Sun is apparently into collars and leashes…
Cream Puff: please ignore yang's off-color jokes, nora
Cream Puff: also, why does everyone assume that sun is my responsibility?
Thunder Thighs: You did go to the dance with him.
Cream Puff: first of all, he asked me out, and i agreed because yang said i needed to take a break. so we went together. as friends. I told him not to read into things.
Cream Puff: seriously, why does nobody take what i say seriously?
Thunder Thighs: It would help if you were a bit more honest about what you feel
Cream Puff: …are you saying that to me or Ren?
Thunder Thighs: Touché!
Thunder Thighs: Okay, okay, I get it.
Thunder Thighs: For the record, I take what you say seriously. We all do. When we found out you guys were chasing after the White Fang, Pyrrha and Jaune really, really wanted to get involved.
Thunder Thighs: But, well, Pyrrha respected your decision to keep it to you guys. It wasn't our business, you know?
Thunder Thighs: …how's things with Pyrrha, by the way?
Cream Puff: we talked it out, but there's still some awkwardness.
Thunder Thighs: I'm sure Pyrrha just has stuff to work out on her side.
Cream Puff: …yeah
Someone is typing…
Cream Puff: look im not trying to be invasive or anything
Cream Puff: but im p sure your trying to snoop around and do something in secret
Thunder Thighs: Whaaaaat
Thunder Thighs: That's crazy talk Blakey
Thunder Thighs: I don't have a single sneaky bone in my body
Cream Puff: which is why it's obvious there's something you're not telling your teammates
Cream Puff: look, i know that we're not that close, and im just the weirdo who hangs around with pyrrha and jaune often
Thunder Thighs: That's not true! You're our friend!
Cream Puff: …but i don't want to just sit back and watch as someone who clearly needs help fumble around trying to figure out a way to distract Professor Port long enough to steal his scroll
Thunder Thighs: W-what?
Cream Puff: I see you, Nora Valkyrie.
Cream Puff: How about we just talk?
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Nora didn't know how she didn't scream, but she somehow held back the sound in her throat as she watched Blake materialize almost out of thin air next to her.
The Valkyrie was loitering outside the Grimm Studies classroom, sneaking a few glances inside to confirm that Professor Port was still inside, but to her chargrin, she had no idea how to try get past the portly professor and gain access to the professor's scroll. She was trying to do this because she had reasoned that, if she was to obtain more concrete proof of her suspicions, that she would need to find a way to gain access to the conversations in the faculty chat without arousing suspicion, and the best way to do so was to access it with one of the faculty's scrolls.
Nora, however, didn't exactly have the necessary skillset to acquire one of the faculty scrolls, which was why she was where was at that moment, loitering outside the Grimm Studies classroom, pacing back and forth, waiting for the right opportunity to do something. It was moments like this that she wished that she had more of Ren's skills – as much as she took pride in her ability to maintain a complicated weapon like Magnhild, as well as the necessary core strength to the lug the dust-damned thing around, she also lacked in other areas, like stealth and sublety. That was more Ren's speed!
Blake's appearance, in that respect, was a boon, because while Nora tried her best not to pry into the private lives of her friends, it was common knowledge to their friend group that Blake was a former operative for the White Fang, and presumably had the necessarily skills for the job she had in mind. As loath as Nora was to admit it, she needed help, and Blake was the best fit for the job.
The tough part was convincing Blake to believe her story.
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Welcome to Thunder Cats!
Thunder Thighs: Okay, so run the plan by me again?
Cream Puff: nora i told you like three times already, we're running standard distraction tactics
Cream Puff: we wait for port to put his scroll in his briefcase
Cream Puff: once he puts his briefcase away, you knock on the door and ask professor port about beringel group tactics
Thunder Thighs: Right, and I make sure his back is against the door so he doesn't see you sneak in
Cream Puff: ill handle the rest from there
Cream Puff: just… just keep port talking
Thunder Thighs: Gotta say, it's real weird talking with our scrolls when we're looking at each other
Cream Puff: unless you have a better idea to make sure port doesn't hear us plan this we're sticking to scrolls, alright?
Thunder Thighs: Okay, okay!
Thunder Thighs: Are you sure you can steal his scroll?
Cream Puff: look this isn't the first time ive stolen things from high-priority targets from under their noses
Thunder Thighs: Not sure you should be proud of that, Blakey.
Cream Puff: …im not, but now i have petty larceny as part of my skillset
Cream Puff: and we're relying on said skillset to help you with finding proof of a faculty conspiracy
Cream Puff: so here we are
Thunder Thighs: WAIT
Thunder Thighs: Does this mean you used to be a cat burglar?
Cream Puff: …nora as much as i want to contest that and call it offensive i may or may not have committed acts that fall under the cat burglar label
Thunder Thighs: Ah, gotcha.
Thunder Thighs: Right. We can't prove anything. :wink:
Cream Puff: exactly
Cream Puff: …well, now's as good a time as any
Thunder Thighs: Briefcase looks clear. How long do you need?
Cream Puff: I'd say ten minutes. I'm sure Port's talked to himself for longer.
Thunder Thighs: Aww, he's not that bad.
Thunder Thighs: But yeah, I'm sure I can keep him distracted for that long.
Thunder Thighs: Let's go?
Cream Puff: let's
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(Nora wasn't sure how Blake would react when she dragged the Faunus into the empty classroom next to where their Grimm Studies class was held, explaining her suspicions about Ozpin and the faculty, but she certainly didn't expect Blake believing her, or even agreeing to helping her out with what was admittedly a harebrained scheme on her part. Still, she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth!)
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Welcome to Team RRAYNNBW!
Vomit Boy started a call!
SunnyLittleDragon joined the call!
Someone is typing…
Snow Angel: What is it, Jaune? We're in the middle of a game here.
Snow Angel: I absolutely cannot allow Ren to build up an army to take over Atlas, and your incessant calls are distracting me from finishing off Ruby's pathetic excuse of an invasion
RedLikeRoses: you talk a big game for someone who just learned this game a few weeks ago weiss
Snow Angel: Yes, but I made sure to learn the rules in the intervening weeks!
Snow Angel: Also, why are we chatting here? We're right in front of each other.
Snow Angel: Honestly! You and Yang are so alike it hurts!
Vomit Boy ended the call.
Vomit Boy: guys! big news!
RedLikeStrawberries: jaune where the heck are you
RedLikeStrawberries: pyrrha's losing badly at the remnant board game and she really needs your help
Vomit Boy: oh uh yang asked me to teach her how to play guitar
Snow Angel: For what purpose would Yang want to learn the guitar?
Snow Angel: And from you? No offense, but you're not exactly the best at music.
Vomit Boy: hey! so im bad at singing, so sue me
Vomit Boy: I'll have you know that I have been told I am a natural born guitarist.
Snow Angel: By who? Your mother?
Vomit Boy: …and Pyrrha!
SunnyLittleDragon: yo weiss VB's the real deal
SunnyLittleDragon: gimme some practice and ill totally have my own original content for my own channel
RedLikeStrawberries: whaaat i thought we were teaming up
SunnyLittleDragon: sure, but id like my own side thing, yknow?
SunnyLittleDragon: figured id try out a bit of guitar-playing
Snow Angel: You better not be distracted from our ASMR channel, Jaune!
Vomit Boy: i won't, i won't
Vomit Boy: also im p sure teaching pyr remnant the game's a lost cause she's really unlucky at drawing the cards she needs
Vomit Boy: wait that isn't important right now!
RedLikeStrawberries: so whats up
Vomit Boy: guys you wont believe this
Vomit Boy: apparently someone tried to steal stuff from port after grimm studies!
Snow Angel: Wait, what?
Snow Angel: Who would do such an idiotic thing?
SunnyLittleDragon: iunno, we just heard about it from a couple of students gossiping
SunnyLittleDragon: apparently nora was talking to port after class when someone tried to steal port's briefcase
SunnyLittleDragon: luckily blake forgot something and spotted the person before they got away and got the briefcase back
RedLikeStrawberries: oh no are nora and blake ok
Vomit Boy: yeah we ran into them as they were making their way to ozpin's office to report on the incident
SunnyLittleDragon: didnt look like they were in trouble or anything
RedLikeStrawberries: are you sure?
RedLikeStrawberries: because this sounds rly serious!
RedLikeStrawberries: Queen of the Castle! Big Kitty Goth GF! are you ok?
Someone is typing…
Big Kitty Goth GF: we're fine, ruby
Big Kitty Goth GF: we just finished filing the incident report to ozpin
Big Kitty Goth GF: I'm heading back to the dorms now
Queen of the Castle: nora said she was gonna pick some stuff up
Cereal Girl: Good, because Ruby is currently pacing back and forth, worried sick for the two of you, and Weiss is trying to make sure Ruby doesn't panic.
Cereal Girl: Please tell me you two are fine.
Big Kitty Goth GF: we're fine, pyr. no need to go all mother hen on us.
Ren-sensei: Nora? Are you alright?
Queen of the Castle: Yes, Ren, Blake and I are fine! You worry too much! Sheesh!
Ren-sensei: Considering that the two of you were involved in someone attempting to steal from a Beacon professor and retired Huntsman, it is perhaps unsurprising that we are slightly worried.
Queen of the Castle: …yeah, you're right.
Queen of the Castle: …sorry.
Big Kitty Goth GF: ren look we'll explain everything once we get to the dorms, alright?
Big Kitty Goth GF: until then, please try to calm ruby down
Ren-sensei: We will try.
Queen of the Castle: Good, because you will not believe this story…
-0-
As she made her way to their dorm's common room pantry, Nora meditated on the events of the past hour, finally settling on one realization: like most things in Nora Valkyrie's life, things started out innocuous and ended up snowballing into a mess that at least would make for a good story.
The plan had gone off without a hitch, at least at the start – Nora walked up to the Grimm Studies professor and began bombarding him with questions about the lesson he had just given, making sure that the portly retired Huntsman was distracted enough to not notice Blake silently make her way inside the room. Nora marveled at the way that Blake made no sound as she darted across the room, in sync to Port's rousing anecdote about the time he had a fistfight with a Beringel and took down the Grimm with a brutal hook that Port claimed crushed the Beringel's midsection, and just as Port reached the climax of the story, describing in detail the feeling of punching through Grimm flesh, Blake reached out for Port's briefcase, which was laid atop the table behind the professor.
Everything up to that point, thankfully, was going to plan, but Blake seemed determined to surprise Nora today. Blake was supposed to, as they had agreed on before all this, take Port's briefcase and retreat to the empty classroom across the one used for Grimm Studies, hopefully giving her enough time to secure Port's scroll, find as much evidence of any conspiracy plans, and transfer them to Blake's scroll.
The first sign of things going wrong the look of hesitation on Blake's face as the she reached for the briefcase.
It was the most minor of flinches, the brief second of hesitation, Blake's hands pausing slightly, as if an invisible hand grabbed her arm and preventing it from reaching for the briefcase, before Blake shook off all her hesitations and obtained the object of their mini-heist. It was the kind of thing that Nora sometimes observed from Ren, who always hesitated for a second before reciprocating one of Nora's hugs, or sometimes flinched reflexively when Nora reached out to touch him. Those were the actions, Nora realized, of someone who was unsure of what to do.
Still, it was justa moment of hesitation, so Nora could ignore that. Instead, she redoubled her efforts of keeping Port distracted, asking him questions about Beringels and Nevermores possibly working together, prompting the professor to launch into a story about him observing the behavioral patterns of Grimm and how, despite their bestial nature, they proved surprisingly adept at coordinating and executing effective combination strategies. It was the kind of talk that Nora enjoyed hearing from Port, the way that he would use himself as an example with his stories to illustrate the lesson he wished to impart about effective Grimm combat tactics. Sure, some of the stories sounded farfetched, and Port's lecture style tended to border on the longwinded, but Nora always appreciated that they always had a point… eventually. There did lay some method to his madness if you were willing to pay attention, and even the most seemingly useless tidbits of information, like the asides Port would make about the wing span of the average Nevermore or Beringels' hatred of wooden buildings, were part of a greater lesson the elder Huntsman was trying to impart on his students. Nora did her best to imitate Port's lesson style, even if admittedly her own efforts were just as unsuccessful.
However, as the minutes passed and Port began to wrap up his explanation, Nora began to realize that Blake was running late. She had promised that she would be done in ten minutes, after all, but fifteen minutes later and there was still no sign of her arrival. Port was also showing signs of tiring and had repeatedly told Nora that he was planning on returning to his quarters, not-so-subtly hinting that the time for questioning was coming to an end. By the time that she spotted the Faunus sneak back into the classroom, Port was just about to wrap up his last story, and as he turned around to look for his briefcase, Nora panicked. Because Blake was nearly there, inching towards the table to quietly deposit the briefcase back to where she originally filched it. And if Port caught her trying to return the briefcase, he would definitely realize something was afoot.
So Nora improvised, as she was wont to do. And, like most things in Nora Valkyrie's life, things spiraled from there.
-0-
Welcome to Thunder Cats!
Cream Puff: nora?
Cream Puff: you rushed out after the ozpin talk pretty quickly
Thunder Thighs: Sorry!
Thunder Thighs: I figured we were gonna have to tell a really long story so I thought I would make some sandwiches for everyone to snack on
Thunder Thighs: Oh, I'm picking up some chocolate n' candy for everyone too!
Thunder Thighs: I'm gonna go ask Glynda for some from her stash!
Cream Puff: wait, why does Glynda have candy in her office, and why would she give them to you
Cream Puff: …you know what, never mind
Cream Puff: look, we need to talk about what we tell everyone
Cream Puff: not sure i can improvise as well as you
Cream Puff: wasn't really sure how to react when you called me out in the middle of returning Port's briefcase
Thunder Thighs: He was about to turn around, Blakey!
Thunder Thighs: I figured it was better if Port saw you walking back with the briefcase instead of in the middle of putting it back on the table
Cream Puff: nora you didn't really give me the chance to realize what was going on, you know
Cream Puff: honestly im shocked port bought that whole "blakey, are you ok?" thing
Cream Puff: no offense but your poker face and acting need work
Thunder Thighs: Says you! I think I did a great job. :smirking_face:
Cream Puff: …nora, the only person i know with a worst poker face is jaune. jaune. he's like a :dog: and cant hide what he's feeling at all
Thunder Thighs: Oof, that bad? I thought I was better at hiding stuff than Fearless Leader!
Cream Puff: …well, you're marginally better, I'll give you that.
Cream Puff: im just glad i managed to give ozpin and port a description of the """thief""".
Thunder Thighs: Not sure where you pulled that from, Blakey, but good job!
Thunder Thighs: Seriously though, why does our mystery assailant sound like someone from one of yours and Pyrrha's fanfics?
Cream Puff: hey! she's a real person! we fought her during that paladin incident!
Cream Puff: …i will admit, i did have some ideas about introducing a character with her aesthetic, but i haven't found the right voice for her yet
Cream Puff: we could always introduce her and not let her talk, but we'll see
Thunder Thighs: Seriously though, I know you weren't focused on Ozpin and Port, but you had to see their eyes bulge out as you were describing her
Thunder Thighs: "half brown, half pink hair with white stripes, short, carries around an umbrella? What is she, harlequin ice cream?
Cream Puff: what the heck is harlequin ice cream
Thunder Thighs: It's, uh
Thunder Thighs: Wait, gimme a sec, cheese is burning
Someone is typing…
Cream Puff: wait, if you're making sandwiches…
Thunder Thighs: don't worry, blakey, im making some tuna spread just for you and pyrrha, since i know she loves em too
Thunder Thighs: Strawberry jam on bread for ruby, grilled cheese for yang and jaune, peanut butter sandwiches for weissy and ren…
Cream Puff: wait, i thought you were allergic to peanuts
Thunder Thighs: Oh, I was very careful not to get any on me.
Thunder Thighs: Weiss always tells me its bad when you eat it, and it's fine to touch, and Ren is always reading these boring medical sites on his scroll about what I can and can't eat, but you can never be too careful, right?
Thunder Thighs: Still, Weissy and Ren love 'em, so I don't mind a little peanut butter every now and then. It's so worth it when you see Weiss bite into her sandwich, or when Ren gets to eat the stuff, since I know he doesn't for my benefit.
Thunder Thighs: …wait, you remembered that I had allergies to most nuts?
Thunder Thighs: Aww, Blake, I knew you cared!
Cream Puff: …i do try to pay attention to everyone, i know
Cream Puff: i know i can be unreliable but im trying my best, alright?
Thunder Thighs: Oh, I know that, Blakey.
Thunder Thighs: You're so much like Weiss, y'know? You both try so hard to hide how much you care.
Cream Puff: …im sure you're used to people being closed off emotionally, nora
Thunder Thighs: I guess I am!
Thunder Thighs: Which is why I appreciate you reaching out to me like this, Blake. You didn't have to believe my story, you know?
Thunder Thighs: I know it must have sounded farfetched, all that conspiracy talk about Ozpin and Maidens and whatever…
Thunder Thighs: I don't even know what it means. Heck, I'm even asking myself now if I actually saw it, or if I just made it up in my head.
Someone is typing…
Cream Puff: hey, nora?
Thunder Thighs: Yeah?
Cream Puff: i, uh, i have a confession to make
Cream Puff: you asked me earlier why i believed your story right?
Cream Puff: to be honest, i kind of get where you're coming from
Cream Puff: i'm… i'm used to people not taking what im saying seriously
Cream Puff: growing up as a faunus, going on the protests, and seeing humans ignore our pleas for equality… it can be very disheartening
Cream Puff: and when the protests turned… violent, I was always trying to get anyone to listen to me, to get people to rein in the bloodthirst and focus on the struggle for equality
Cream Puff: someone i know… someone i knew always pretended to listen to my concerns, but nothing actually changed. everything i said went in one ear and out the other
Cream Puff: even now, i worry that people think im just being paranoid, like when we found out the white fang were planning something, and it felt like everyone wasn't taking it as seriously as me…
Cream Puff: i know my team meant well, telling me to stop, but the irrational part of me screamed that they didn't believe me, that it was Adam all over again…
Someone is typing…
Thunder Thighs: I'm sorry to hear that, Blake.
Cream Puff: im sorry for unloading this on you, Nora.
Cream Puff: its just… i noticed you've been holding back a lot of stuff you wanted to say lately, and i know ive been guilty of dismissing the stuff you say you being you
Cream Puff: more than anything, i didn't see anything for myself, so i figured it was better to trust what you saw. that's why you were investigating, right? to get solid proof for what you think you saw
Cream Puff: and honestly, i wanted to believe.
Someone is typing…
Cream Puff: …did you know why I hesitated to get that briefcase at first? Why it took so long to get back to you?
Thunder Thighs: …why?
Cream Puff: bc a part of me worried that you were either mistaken, or you were lying.
Cream Puff: Did you know that when I was looking for any info at all, anything about maidens or silver-eyes or anything that Ozpin could be hiding, I didn't find anything at all?
Cream Puff: for a moment i considered leaving you to port
Cream Puff: for a moment the part of me that grew up in a political organization that turned to terrorism screamed at me that i was being tricked and i should just cut my losses and let you take the fall
Cream Puff: i've been trying my best to stop thinking like that, to open to everyone, to trust all of you… to not run away…
Someone is typing…
Thunder Thighs: Blake…
Thunder Thighs: That's the thing about habits. They're difficult to form and break.
Thunder Thighs: No one's blaming you for thinking like that every now and then. That was a huge part of your childhood. It takes time to unlearn these things.
Thunder Thighs: And if people blame you for the stuff that was drilled in your head as a kid, I'm gonna break their legs until they realize they should stop blaming the victims and focus on the people who actually did something wrong!
Someone is typing…
Cream Puff: …heh.
Cream Puff: i wish i was as strong as you.
Cream Puff: here i am admitting that i don't believe your story and you're giving me a pet talk
Thunder Thighs: Oh, Blake. It's alright.
Thunder Thighs: I kind of figured you were humoring me from the start. It's alright.
Thunder Thighs: I'm used to people not taking me seriously, y'know. I'm a tough girl, I can take it.
Cream Puff: you shouldn't have to
Cream Puff: you should at least be able to confide in ren about something like this
Thunder Thighs: Ren has his own issues to deal with.
Thunder Thighs: I don't want to burden him with my own.
Thunder Thighs: Besides, he helps me out, in his own way. We may not be able to talk about these things, but I know we understand each other, even without talking.
Thunder Thighs: Plus, I've got the rest of you guys.
Someone is typing…
Thunder Thighs: Look, you can say all you want that you wanted to leave me behind, that you didn't believe me or whatever, but you came back, didn't you?
Cream Puff: yeah, but what if i do it again? what if i run away and don't come back?
Thunder Thighs: Then your friends will drag you back, again and again, until you're in a better place
Thunder Thighs: You'd be surprised how good it feels to just have a friend listen to your problems.
Cream Puff: probably… yeah, i can imagine
Thunder Thighs: …do you know how great it felt when you approached me and told me you wanted to help?
Thunder Thighs: To me, it didn't matter that there was the chance you were just humoring me, because you still came to help me.
Thunder Thighs: The great thing about telling stories is knowing someone is listening. And you definitely are. You remembered me having allergies, after all.
Thunder Thighs: It's why I always listen to Port, you know?
Cream Puff: wait
Cream Puff: you do?
Cream Puff: no offense but uh
Thunder Thighs: Oh, I know. He can be boring, and a bit inappropriate at times, but I still appreciate his stories.
Thunder Thighs: See, he's sharing something of himself to us, so someone should at least try to pay attention to him.
Thunder Thighs: I know it means much to him that I listen, and I want you to know it meant much to me that you listened to my story and that you eventually came back.
Thunder Thighs: …so thanks, Blake.
Thunder Thighs: Thanks for believing in me, even if I probably just imagined the whole thing and confused it for what I saw in there.
Thunder Thighs: I mean, who knows, right? I was probably in that chat for like, thirty seconds tops. No way they'd let me stay around that chat for too long, not when Professor Greene is apparently this hacking whiz that Ruby apparently fights with regularly about scroll stuff.
Thunder Thighs: Maybe I did imagine it. Or maybe there's some truth to it. Who knows? Ren says I get loopy and see things nobody else can see when I drink coffee, and I trust Ren not to lie to me.
Thunder Thighs: All I can do is keep my eyes open and find proof of it one day.
Thunder Thighs: And hey, at the very least, we have a funny story we can tell the others. That has to count for something, right?
Cream Puff: wait, so that's what we're going with?
Thunder Thighs: Might as well tell everyone the truth! That's why I made the sandwiches and the chocolate. We might as well have a snack as we tell them the hilarious story of the time Nora and Blake tried to steal something from Professor Port.
Cream Puff: …heh. i cant wait to see the look on their faces then.
Thunder Thighs: Right?! That's the best part of telling stories, you know!
Cream Puff: shocking our friends with an unbelievable but true story?
Thunder Thighs: Entertaining the people nearest and dearest to us!
Cream Puff: yeah… yeah, that makes sense.
Cream Puff: look, do you need me to bring everyone to the common room?
Cream Puff: im sure you can carry all that food you prepared for everyone, but i don't want to inconvenience you
Thunder Thighs: Hey, I don't work out for nothing, you know!
Thunder Thighs: But yeah, bring everyone here, Blakey. We've got a lot of explaining to do!
-0-
Nora cast a look at the tray of sandwiches she made, doing her best to ignore the utter mess she left in the common room kitchen. Sure, her slices of bread were uneven, and they didn't look neat and clean the way Jaune and Ren's sandwiches looked, and maybe she overdid it on the jam for Ruby's sandwich and the edge of the grilled cheese sandwiches were slightly burnt, and maybe she accidentally added a little bit too much peanut butter on Weiss and Ren's sandwich since they usually never got to eat it, but that was fine, wasn't it?
Nora wiped the sweat of her brow and fanned herself, surveying the utter mess she left in the kitchen, wondering if perhaps she could have tried to be a bit more careful, but really, wasn't it better this way? At least she could recruit her friends to help clean up the kitchen and the pantry. She didn't even mind the stains of jam and peanut butter that got on her apron, even if the mess on her clothes reminded her of the time she spilled punch on herself during the dance (and wasn't that another funny story, in retrospect?) because at least she could laugh about it and all the other silly things that happened today with her friends and loved ones. And really, wasn't this just another story they could look back on in the future, something to laugh about in retrospect?
She could almost imagine it: the eight of them, in some dinner table somewhere in Remnant, huddled around a warm meal, exchanging stories of their travels and misadventures, exchanging barbs and jabs and jokes and maybe a little bit of flirting if everyone was feeling saucy, and Nora would hug everyone in sight, from Weiss who would try to resist at first but acquiesce eventually, to Ruby and Yang who would hug her back as fiercely as they could manage, to Jaune who would chuckle nervously before his protective brother instincts would kick in, to Blake who at that point had hopefully overcome her aversion to physical contact, to Pyrrha whose warmth and motherly aura always comforted Nora, to Ren, who finally, finally could find it in himself to open up about his feelings. They would be laughing and crying in joy and their food would go cold because they would spend a long time just talking, living their lives as Huntsmen and Huntresses as best they could, catching up with each other's lives, looking back at the silly incidents like the dance or that time Nora and Blake tried to steal from Port with a fondness and warmth that they would take with them for the rest of their days.
Yes, Nora could imagine it with a clarity that rivalled the most vivid of dreams that came to her, and she felt her eyes water a bit. If nothing else, she thought, I hope this story comes true. The rest can be my daydreams and delusions, but please, if there is a higher power out there, at least let this one thing I've imagined come true.
But for now, it was time for her to focus on reality and stop daydreaming. She brought her tray of sandwiches, as well as the candy she had sourced from Glynda, to the common room, where her friends were staring at her with confused looks in their faces, no doubt wondering what Nora was planning. Blake was casting her a wry smile, as if telling her that the stage was hers, and that everyone was ready to listen to her now.
And so, Nora Valkyrie sighed deeply and began to speak.
"Oh, man, have I got a story for you guys…"
-0-
Updates have slowed down because I'm working on my Master's. Press F to pay respects. No clue when I'll find the energy to write a new chapter, but I'll do my best not to let this die. I still have subplots I need to pay off, after all! This is not the last time we'll get to see Jaune and Yang practicing how to play the guitar, and I still need to keep up the ASMR gag! Besides, one must wonder if Nora actually saw a legitimate conversation between the faculty… really makes you think…
Anyway, are there any minor or background gags you're enjoying so far in the fic? Tell me what you think in the reviews so I know what people wanna see more of!