"We'll be entering Beacon airspace soon. Will all passengers get ready to disembark."
Blake looked up from her book at the announcement and sighed as she marked her place and closed her book. She had woken up not that long ago, having only gotten a few hours of sleep while Weiss was still asleep opposite her. She had decided to get some reading done but had only gotten a few pages in when the announcement put a stop to that. Blake set her book down on the table next to an empty teacup and crumpled snack bags and looked at the still sleeping heiress she was traveling with.
'Might as well,' Blake thought and stood to lean across the table and shake Weiss by the shoulder. Weiss groaned and waved a hand to brush Blake's away before she sat up and rubbed at her eyes.
"What's happening?" Weiss asked once she was sufficiently awake.
"We're almost to Beacon so we have to get ready," Blake answered and sat back down. Weiss perked up at that and leaned to look outside. "You shouldn't get your hopes up. We're just coming up to the academy so we probably can't see it yet." Despite her words, Blake couldn't help but also look outside as well. The clouds outside started to clear as the airship started to descend and the silhouette of Beacon Academy started to show through.
Weiss let out a small gasp of awe at the sight of the Huntsman academy and Blake struggled to not do the same. They both had read about Beacon and seen the odd picture here and there, but the sheer size and scale was something else entirely. The many towers and spires drew the eye along with the arches that connected more than a few of them, but high above them all was the Beacon Tower rising from the middle high over any of its peers.
"So that's Vale's CCT tower," Weiss said as they passed the tower, "It's smaller than the one in Atlas."
"Really, that's the first thing you notice?" Blake asked with a small smirk and enjoyed the small success in making Weiss pout, though she soon forgot that in favor of taking in the academy again. Blake dropped the smirk and looked outside as well. 'The Vytal Tournament is being held here huh? I'm still not entirely sure about this, but… a shot at freedom is worth taking no matter how small. And I will take it.' Little did Blake know that Weiss was thinking something similar as well underneath her awed expression.
They didn't have much time to look through as the ship touched down on a landing pad and the engines shut down. "We've arrived at Beacon Academy," the pilot said over the intercom, "all passengers may begin disembarking." Weiss wasted no time in jumping to her feet, grabbing her rapier, and walking down the aisle.
"You're not even getting your bags?" Blake asked and pointed at the numerous bags that were still with Weiss for the flight.
"I have employees for that. I want to see the academy!" Weiss said simply as she stowed the rapier on her side as she walked. Blake rolled her eyes and lifted her hood over her head before she followed Weiss with her weapon and book in hand. She stowed Gambol Shroud on her back just as she reached the ramp with Weiss, the heiress practically skipping down the ramp while Blake flinched at the sunlight hitting her eyes directly. Walking down the ramp Blake could feel the fatigue weighing down on her even after the few hours of sleep she had gotten. She groaned as she rubbed her forehead to try and assuage the headache that suddenly made itself known.
"I need more sleep," Blake said and stopped next to Weiss at the bottom of the ramp.
"Well can you stay awake long enough for us to look around the school and get our bearings?" Weiss asked looking over at Blake and then up the ramp when she heard a clank. At the top were a couple of black suits trying to wheel a luggage rack with her suitcases down the ramp, one of them accidentally knocking one out by hitting the side of the doorway. "Careful with those! Some of them have Dust in them!"
"This isn't the worst I've felt in my life," Blake finally replied stifling a yawn and shaking her head, "I can stay awake a little longer." Weiss nodded in satisfaction and Blake went back to reading while Weiss waited for her luggage to come down and led the way into the academy proper once it joined them. Despite Blake's attempts otherwise, she was just as awestruck as Weiss as they walked off the landing pad onto the promenade proper though she was more interested in the students surrounding her rather than the architecture of the academy like Weiss.
This is what Blake expected of a Huntsman academy in the middle of a Vytal Festival, with people from all over the world intermingling and talking like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. From a girl from Vacuo enthralling two uniformed Atlas Huntsmen with a story about the wildlife in her home kingdom (Blake distinctly heard something about crabs) to a Haven student trying and failing to flirt with a Beacon student. Blake's eyes narrowed at the last one as she only now came to a very basic realization.
'I don't have a uniform. And I don't think Weiss has one either.' Blake looked back at the luggage rack and the suits sternly moving it along and rolled her eyes. 'Or maybe she does in that mountain she brought. She's a bit smaller than me, but I think I can bum a uniform off her until I can get one of my own.' With a nod Blake shut her book, taking a moment to look around the plaza she had found herself in along with the statue of two Huntsmen standing proud over a Beowolf, and turned to Weiss. "Hey Weiss-" she started to say when a much louder shout echoed through the air.
"Get back here!" someone shouted just as a girl in a Beacon uniform and a white cloak appeared out of nowhere in a storm of white rose petals grinning like a madwoman. She landed in a roll and looked back as a blonde boy jumped on a bench and jumped toward her. She dashed out of the way, leaving the boy to roll on the ground and chase after her. Soon her path was blocked when a black-haired boy jumped in and held his arms out.
She skidded to a stop and cartwheeled to the side, barely dodging the blonde as he leapt at her from behind. The blonde was caught by the other boy and spun forward around his arm to land on his feet and they both resumed the chase as the girl ran to the statue and jumped, disappearing and reappearing on top of one of the Huntsman in a flurry of petals. She turned around and grinned smugly down at the boys while crouching down.
"You can't run forever Summer! We'll catch you sooner or later!" the black-haired boy shouted up at the girl, who responded by pulling down her eyelid and sticking her tongue at the boys. The boys growled and jumped onto the base of the statue and leapt after her only to miss when she did her rose petal trick again. Blake saw the grins on the boys faces and Summer must have realized what had happened just as a portal opened up in the air next to her and a black haired girl leapt out with cold eyes focused on Summer. She barely had time to realize what had happened when the girl reared her hand back and slapped her legs.
"Tag!" she yelled out triumphantly while Summer wailed in despair. The boys landed on the pavement while the black haired girl did a quick flip in the air to watch as Summer sailed over Weiss and Blake and crashed into the luggage cart, the suits pushing it jumping away when she did so. The black haired girl landed and winced at the sight. "Ooh, that must have hurt."
"Fuck," Summer said flatly from her new resting place and moved to sit up and only then noticing the suitcase in her arms. "Where did I land?"
"You…" Blake looked over at Weiss and backed away from her given how angry she looked when she shouted, "YOU IDIOT! Do you have any idea what you almost did!?"
"…Lose a game of tag?" Summer replied.
"Get out of there!" Weiss screamed as she stormed over to Summer and pulled her out of the luggage. Summer was barely able to find her footing when the suitcase was ripped from her arms and Weiss opened it. "These suitcases are filled with Dust! You know, the element that makes our world go?" Weiss took out a vial of Fire Dust and started waving it in front of Summer. "You know, Fire, Ice, Electricity. Energy! Do you have any idea what you could have done!?"
Before Weiss could say any more Summer quickly grabbed Weiss' arm to keep it still. That along with Summer's serious face shocked Weiss out of her anger and she realized some Dust was leaking out of the phial. "Stop that or you really will blow us up," Summer said lowly as she grabbed the phial out of Weiss' hand, popped the cork back in properly with her thumb, and placed it back in the suitcase. "And like I was supposed to know these had Dust in them," Summer finished as she let go of Weiss' arm.
"…Yes, you're right," Weiss nodded slowly as she shut the suitcase and handed it to one of the employees to put away. "I apologize, but I hope you understand why I acted like that."
"Oh, I understand."
"Easy there Sum," the black haired boy said walking up behind Summer and rested his arms on her head, "It's probably her first time outside her fancy manor in Atlas."
"Get off me Qrow!"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, that is the SDC's shut-in heiress," the black haired girl said, causing Weiss to turn around in time for her to lean in closer with her sharp red eyes boring into Weiss. "I shouldn't be surprised by this though, we're getting all types for the festival nowadays."
"Back off," Blake said as she moved between the two. The girl only gave a small laugh before moving past Blake to Summer and Qrow.
"So why are you here? Pitching products for your father?" Qrow asked with no small amount of disdain flavoring the last word.
"Far from it. I'm here to compete in the tournament," Weiss answered.
"Really, you're a Huntress now?" The blonde boy asked while scratching his head, "I would have thought that would be bigger news."
"It was kept a secret for my safety. I hope you understand why."
"The White Fang. That makes sense," Qrow said nodding before he got an elbow to the gut courtesy of Summer and backed away.
"Thank you Qrow," Summer said casually as Qrow rubbed his stomach and crossed her arms, "So if you're a student where's your team?"
"Um…" Weiss started to say when a new voice called out.
"Hey, you're finally here!" Blake looked over at a girl dressed in black and red waving and running over to her with a blonde girl following behind at a slow pace.
'Their pictures were in the scroll. Ruby and Yang, my teammates along with Weiss,' Blake thought as Ruby leapt at Weiss and grabbed her neck, knocking Weiss off balance and sending them both to the floor. Blake hid a smirk behind a hand while Yang flat out laughed at the sight.
"Oh, your Ruby's teammates," Summer said with a nod, "mystery solved. In that case, I'll leave you in her hands." She looked back at her team and, after a second, reached out and tapped Qrow on the nose. "You're it, Qrow." Summer burst into petals while the rest of them scattered, leaving Qrow to whisper out a quick 'goddammit' before taking off as well.
When it was all said and done Blake looked around to find that, while most of the assembled students had the expected looks of surprise and confusion much like her, all the Beacon students looked bored or unsurprised. Blake was even sure she overheard a student say, "Frickin' STRQ," before going back to her conversation.
"Get off me!" Weiss finally shouted and shoved Ruby off of her and stood back up dusting off her jacket. "Where do you get off jumping at people like that."
"What, would you rather have a hug?" Yang asked and held her arms open and got only a stare from Weiss before she rubbed at her eyes.
"I'm sure you give good hugs Yang," Blake said moving forward to stand next to Weiss and gestured at her and the luggage rack, "but it's been a long flight for both of us and we didn't get much rest along the way."
"…Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say," Weiss said, taking her hand away from her face.
"You just want to sleep the day away?" Ruby asked, jumping to her feet and clasping her hands behind her back. "Eh, that's fine. We'll show you to the dorm and then show you around the academy when you rested up. Does that sound like a plan, sis?"
"Sure thing," Yang said and wrapped an arm around Ruby's neck and started giving her a noogie. "And don't be too mad at Ruby. She may be a pain, but you won't find a better sister, partner, or leader than her."
"Get off me, Yang!" Ruby shrieked and threw a punch at Yang's jaw, which landed solidly and set her free from her sister's grip. Yang took it well if her laughing was any indication and massaged her jaw as she followed Ruby as she stomped off, leaving Weiss and Blake to look at each other for a moment before following after them.
"They're… interesting," Weiss said.
"Yeah," Blake agreed with a nod. 'Are all Huntsmen like that?'
"And what did she mean by 'partner'?"
"Are you… no, of course, you're serious." Blake looked at Ruby and Yang before moving close to Weiss. "Ok, so academy teams are made up of four people and two pairs of partners. You know, someone to watch your back."
Weiss nodded in understanding, glanced at the sisters, and whispered back, "So if those two are partners, then…?"
"Then that makes us partners." Blake backed off, looked Weiss up and down, and nodded as she opened her book. "You're already better than my last one." Weiss looked at Blake in confusion before she decided to let the topic go and looked around Beacon as they made their way to the dorms.
Save for a small incident of trying to figure out how to get Weiss' luggage to the upper floors (which was easily solved when Ruby pointed out an elevator) the trip to the dorm was uneventful and soon they were in. The SDC employees started unloading Weiss' luggage in a corner while she and Blake looked at their sleeping arrangements.
"Bunk beds?" Weiss asked looking between the two sets of bunk beds.
"That's being very generous," Blake said looking at one of them, which was barely held up by a series of ropes and sheets, and to the other that held up by a pile of books on each of the four posts of the lower one. Blake couldn't help but cringe at the crime against literature. "Are those even safe to sleep on?"
"They should be," Ruby said leaping onto the roped bed, "Yang and I have been sleeping on the top bunks and they seem steady enough."
"Why would you sleep on the top bunks?" Weiss asked.
"Because the top bunks are the best, duh," Yang answered crossing her arms and leaning against a support pillar of books. "It's been scientifically proven!"
"Whatever, I'm claiming this bed for myself," Blake said with a shake of her head as she walked over to Yang. She put her book on the dresser next to the bed and fell face first onto it, falling asleep the moment she hit the pillow without even bothering to take off her boots.
"We're all done here Miss Schnee," one of the employees said. Weiss looked over to where her luggage was piled nicely and nodded at them. They nodded back and left the room dragging the luggage cart behind them. Weiss shut the door behind them and let out a short yawn.
"Blake has the right idea, I'm going to get some more sleep too," Weiss said as she moved to her luggage and set Myrtenaster next to them before moving to the only unclaimed bed. She at least had a mind to take her boots off before lying down, letting out a soft sigh as she sank into the mattress and fell asleep.
"Wow, asleep just like that huh?" Yang said moving over to Weiss and waved a hand in front of her face, getting no response from the heiress. "Must have done something like stay up too much on the flight. So what do you-" Yang was shushed by Ruby who pointed at Blake and outlined cat ears on top of her head with her fingers. Yang blinked and nodded before she pointed at the bathroom door and got a nod in reply from Ruby. They both entered the bathroom and Yang shut the door quietly while Ruby went to the shower and got in, Yang following soon after. Yang turned the water on, which started coming down on both of them.
"Didn't exactly think this through," Yang snarked as she turned around and crossed her arms while trying her best to ignore how soaking wet her clothes were getting. "So what do you think of the dolls?"
"First impressions were minimal at best," Ruby said shaking her head, "But what I did gather seems good. We can work with them."
"I agree, especially since they didn't ask any questions about us. They probably think we're in the same boat as them or something." Yang chuckled to herself and wiggled the fingers on her right hand. "That might be an angle worth going down if they ask. What about fighting?"
"Weiss and Blake say they both had training in some form and Blake's doll has been roaming the wilds on her own for almost a year now. We might have to watch them both, but they should be able to hold their own."
"I meant fighting together. We're supposed to be a team after all." Yang tapped her boot against the shower floor and rubbed her chin in thought. "Our fighting styles might be incompatible, and that'll only draw suspicion. Is there any way to find out?"
"Maybe… sparing classes are tomorrow, and since we have our whole team here now we can take part." Ruby smiled toothily as she rubbed her chin, "And what better way to test them than to throw them to sharks?"
"Ooh, that sounds evil. I'm listening."
"And that's just about the basics. Do you think you can remember all that?"
"I think. What do I have to do for Freezer Burn again?" The sparring class for Team RWBY so far mostly consisted of them going over the team attacks they'd be using going forward. Blake only paid the smallest amount of attention necessary to get down what she needed to do for her participation and tried to read her book the rest of the time. Weiss on the other hand seemed to want to know every detail of the attacks that Blake could only attribute as wanting to get a conversation going.
"The timing will be tricky. Are you sure we can do that without any practice?" Weiss asked.
"We'll just have to see won't we?" Yang asked and leaned forward to get a look at Blake, "And what about you? You got any-?"
"Ladybug, Checkmate, Bumblebee," Blake said and held up fingers, "I remember them all and what I need to do. And we're going to lose any fight we get in right now."
"…Well with that attitude we will," Ruby said quietly. Blake opted not to respond to that and closed her book to look around the crowd of students they were seated with. About two rows in front of her was the team she had 'met' yesterday quietly watching the match going on, though the blonde was busy showing a video on his scroll to a girl seated next to him. She could only imagine what it was from the little bits she overheard, mostly about sloths and 'how cute they sounded'. Her scanning was brought to a sudden stop by a thud next to her.
"Hey, is this place taken?" Blake looked to her left at the monkey Faunus crouching on the bench smiling widely at her, along with several of the students glaring at him after he jumped over them.
"Well, I guess it isn't now," Blake said with mild sarcasm.
"Cool. Yo, over here!" He waved his arms over his head and sat down properly as three other boys made their way up to him. He held a hand out to Blake and said, "The name's Sun. Are you new here too?"
"Yes," Blake answered and reopened her book to start reading. Sun took his hand back and shrugged at Neptune as he sat down next to him and turned to watch the match. After a second Blake sighed and rubbed her eyes before she said, "Sorry, I'm just tired. My name is Blake."
"Huh? Oh, that's a nice name," Sun said with another smile that just as quickly dropped when he tilted his head to look past Blake. Blake followed his gaze to find Weiss staring at Sun, most likely debating something in her head.
"Weiss, stop staring!"
"Huh? Oh, I didn't mean to! I just…" Weiss trailed off as she looked back at Sun and scratched her cheek before she finally asked, "Does it… hurt when you grab it?"
"What?" Blake asked at the same time as Sun, both very much confused by her statement.
"She's talking about your tail," the redhead that came with Sun said and got a nod from Weiss. "Remember, I asked that on our first day as a team and you threw fruit at me for asking."
"…Oh yeah. Good times." The boys shared a laugh, even if the red head rolled his eyes while doing so, and Sun looked back at Weiss and pointed at his tail that he moved over his shoulder. "And nah, it doesn't hurt any more than if you grabbed my arm or something really hard. If this guy was that sensitive, I wouldn't be able to do half the things I can do." Sun then fist bumped his tail, wiggling both his fingers and tail as they moved away from each other, and grinned when he noticed Blake smile a little.
'Mission aside, I think I'll enjoy my stay here,' Blake thought before a quick flash of red crossed her thoughts and she dropped the smile, 'Within reason.' A loud buzzer suddenly filled the arena signaling the end of the current match and Blake turned her attention to the ring where the losing team was getting back on their feet while the winning team was celebrating their victory, save for a sheep Faunus carrying a shepherd's crook who was struggling to catch her breath. The teacher in charge of the class, Glynda Goodwitch if Blake remembered right, walked in between them tapping on her scroll.
"Good match teams," Glynda said looking both teams over, "you both should be able to qualify for the Vytal Tournament. However, you need to work on your endurance Maribelle. You'll be no use to your team if you exhaust yourself in the first minutes of a match."
"Understood," Maribelle gasped out and promptly collapsed face first onto the floor. Glynda left her to get picked up by her partner and turned to the crowd of students while the tired teams left the arena.
"Now do we have any more volunteers for a match? Like the Vytal Tournament year and skill are irrelevant, so don't hesitate to-"
"Team RWBY volunteers!" Ruby shouted and waved her arms over her head as she stood up. Blake and Weiss looked at Ruby questioningly while Yang simply smiled up at her sister.
"Quite enthusiastic of you. Now for opponents I would recommend-"
"I want to fight Team STRQ!" Ruby interrupted excitedly. Said team, save Raven, turned around to look at Ruby in surprise although Ruby only looked at Summer to gauge her reaction.
"Even though Team STRQ has the skill advantage? You are confident if anything," Glynda said and looked at Summer as she turned back to look at her. "Do you accept Summer?"
"…Of course Professor," Summer said standing up and brushing off her combat dress, "It'll get our daily exercise out of the way." Summer then looked back at Ruby, her eyes boring into the younger girl's, and added, "And I'm curious about what you can do."
Ruby only smiled in response as she started walking out of the audience with Yang following behind. STRQ left as well, the twins with little care and the blonde giving a quick apology as he put his scroll away, and Blake stood up before looking at Weiss. The heiress still seemed lost in thought about the team attacks, so Blake put her hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her out of her thoughts.
"Huh, what?" Weiss muttered before looking at Blake.
"It's our turn," Blake said simply pointing at the arena.
"O-oh, already?" Weiss stood up and nodded at Blake, who returned it and turned to follow Ruby and Yang.
As she passed in front of Sun he waved at the pair and said, "I'll watch your spot while you fight. Good luck!" Blake nodded her appreciation and carefully moved past the boys into the aisle with Weiss, the latter looking back to see the monkey Faunus picking up Blake's book and attempt to read it. Weiss could only roll her eyes at the look of bafflement that passed his face.
Both teams had gotten their weapons from their lockers and made their way into the arena, each team taking a side of the arena. The leaders were staring the other down while their teammates were checking their weapons, Dust stores if they had them, or simply massaging their knuckles in the case of the two brawlers of the team. Once she was sure Gambol Shroud was fine Blake lowered her hood and waved her hair out fully, if only to avoid having that distraction during the fight.
"The match between Team RWBY and STRQ will now begin," Glynda called out. Both teams got their weapons ready and lowered into their respective stances. Summer couldn't help the hum of admiration when Ruby unfolded her scythe and held it behind her at the ready. Taiyang had a similar reaction to Yang unfolding a set of gauntlets on her arms. The tension between both teams was heavy and only grew heavier until it was shattered by Glynda shouting, "Begin!"
"Freezer Burn!" Ruby called out immediately and jumped to the side with Blake jumping backwards and Yang leaping into the air and yanking an arm back to cock a round into her gauntlet. Weiss looked up at the blonde and everything clicked into place in her mind easily as she spun around and stabbed her rapier into the ground. A thin sheet of ice covered the ground around her and Yang shot down and punched the ice with a gunshot punctuating it which melted the ice easily and covered the arena in a thick fog with STRQ holding up an arm to shield their faces from the blast of mist.
"Neat trick," Qrow muttered as he looked around the foggy surroundings before settling on Summer as she lifted her hood over her head.
"We'll find them. Phoenix and Summer Bird, split up," Summer ordered and darted to the right with Qrow while Taiyang and Raven went to the left. An action that only Glynda was able to see while everyone in the audience could see nothing.
"I can't see shit," Scarlet said squinting his eyes to try and peer into the fog, "Is this normal here?"
"With these guys, probably," Sun answered resting his head in his hands. The fog swirled as the fighters inside darted back and forth until a series of loud metallic clashes rang loudly from inside and the fog was suddenly blown away by a shockwave that was soon revealed to the result of Yang and Taiyang's fists clashing in the middle of the arena. Yang was in the air grinning madly at Taiyang until she was blown back through the air, flipped a couple of times, and landed on her feet skidding backwards a little.
Yang straightened up and watched Taiyang shake his hand to dull the pain from the clash and loaded a new shell into her gauntlet with a jerk of her arm. "You got a wicked straight," Yang complimented and put her arms up in a boxer's fighting pose, "This'll be fun, don't you think?"
Taiyang rolled his wrist around for a moment before he moved to match her pose and made a bring it gesture at her. Yang let out a small laugh at that and charged at him, rearing her right arm back and throwing a hook with a yell. Taiyang ducked under it easily and countered with a hook of his own that landed squarely on Yang's cheek. She rolled with the punch and spun around to backhand Taiyang, only to have her arm blocked and caught. She continued the spin and went for another punch only for Taiyang to knock her first arm down and dash forward. Yang was thrown off balance enough from this that her punch just barely missed Taiyang and felt him slip an arm around her neck before standing up and kneeing her hard in the stomach.
Taiyang kneed her two more times before she jumped and flipped over Taiyang's arm. Her free arm grabbed his wrist and allowed her to maneuver her flip in a way that allowed her to plant her feet on Taiyang's chest and kick him away. She backflipped away from him and landed on her feet at the same time as he landed on his back and started rolling backwards until he slipped a hand under him and flipped back onto his feet. Taiyang was barely back on his feet before he had to dodge backwards to avoid a shot from Yang, the floor cracking under the force of the shot. Taiyang locked eyes with Yang as she cocked a gauntlet and gestured at him to 'bring it.'
"Heh, I need something like that," Taiyang muttered to himself before charging at the blonde girl who responded by firing a barrage of shots at him. He dodged left and right to avoid them until he was close enough that he had to duck under a shot and slid at Yang's feet. She was knocked off her feet and started flipping in the air before she fired at the ground at her second flip to steady herself and try to hit Taiyang as he slid under her. She only barely missed him and landed on her feet as he stopped his slide and they turned and rushed at each other.
Yang loaded another round as she reared her right arm back, Taiyang doing the same with his arm glowing from his Semblance, and the two threw their respective punches at the other and barely missed and found their arms locked together. Yang's hair billowed away from the impact while her weapon fired past Taiyang's head causing the shot to go wild toward one of the other fights. Though Raven wasn't caught off guard by the attack at all, having seen the attack coming out of the corner of her eye, and blocked the attack with her sword and swiftly redirected the blast toward Blake with a swipe of her sword.
Blake jumped to the side to dodge the energy wave and charged at Raven, her grip tightening on her weapons as her eyes locked with Raven's. Raven held her sword at the ready and waited for Blake to get close, moving her sword just enough when the younger girl attacked to parry the sword away from her. Sparks flew off of their blades and Blake spun around to swing her scabbard at Raven, who ducked under it easily and kicked at Blake's legs. Blake found herself swept off her feet and maneuvered herself so she landed on her back and spun around to swipe at Raven's legs.
Raven dodged backwards and held her sword up as Blake folded Gambol Shroud's blade and started shooting at Raven. Raven spun her sword to block the bullets before jumping into the air when Blake stopped. When she did so Blake saw Weiss having trouble with her fight against Qrow and made a snap decision. She looked back up at Raven as she came down ready to kick down, only for Blake to disappear like a shadow. Raven landed and looked behind her to see Blake just get up from a roll and start running toward Qrow and Weiss.
"Huh, interesting," Raven muttered as she sheathed her sword and turned to focus on the heiress as she started losing ground to Qrow. Weiss was still doing well enough that she hadn't been hit yet since Qrow wasn't the kind of person to be subtle about where his attacks were going. Which was something he more than made up for in strength. She grit her teeth as she blocked the latest attack and was pushed back a couple feet. Weiss took a moment to catch her breath when Qrow didn't push the advantage.
"I thought so," Qrow said spinning his sword idly before resting it on his shoulder and pointing at Weiss, "your style is familiar. Winter, right?"
"You… know my sister?" Weiss couldn't help but ask as she readied for a thrust and spun her weapon's cylinder. 'Let's try Fire.'
"Oh yeah, she's a real card. Too bad you're nothing like her though." Weiss narrowed her eyes at that just as something slammed into her side and knocked her off balance. Qrow saw his chance and charged at Weiss, his sword low and ready to swing upwards. Weiss' eyes widened as Qrow swung and she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Shock turned to brief confusion when she found herself flipping in the air with Qrow below her having missed somehow.
"Weiss!" Blake shouted right behind Weiss, who reflexively formed a Glyph in the air. Blake landed on it, pushed off it toward the ground, and let go of Weiss so they could separately land. Weiss managed to land with one hand on the ground that she moved into a flip before she turned back to Qrow and formed a Fire glyph that shot a fireball at Qrow. He jumped out of the way, though was still blown back by the blast, as Blake landed and rolled into a crouch, drawing and aiming Gambol Shroud at Raven just as she caught her sword out of the air while walking to them.
"Thanks for the save," Weiss said as Blake backed against her.
"Thank me later," Blake returned and glanced over at Qrow as he picked himself up. Beyond him she could see Ruby and Summer fighting it out until Ruby knocked Summer away with a recoil assisted blow.
"Qrow!" Summer called out as she tumbled through the air. Qrow looked back and turned to face Summer as he spun his weapon to unfold it into its scythe form and held it up. Summer moved her sword under her feet and braced as she landed in the crook of the scythe. The impact forced the scythe back slightly and Qrow fired a round to get it spinning, completing a rotation before swinging it with enough extra force to launch Summer. Blades scrapped against each other with a spray of sparks being left behind as Summer flew away from Qrow and back toward Ruby.
"That was awes-!" Ruby shouted before getting a boot to the face courtesy of Summer and got knocked back several feet.
'I swear I'm the only one taking this seriously,' Blake thought, shaking her head before turning back to her fight. Raven spun her sword and held it ready in front of her while Qrow turned back to Weiss, his scythe turning back into a sword as he circled around her and Blake. "I don't suppose you have any ideas?"
"Maybe, if you can keep him busy," Weiss answered as she switched her weapon to load Plant Dust.
"You know we can hear you guys right?" Qrow asked mockingly with Raven adding her own chuckle.
"…Just do what you can." With that Weiss dashed at Qrow while Blake ran at Raven, throwing Gambol Shroud at her as an opening. Weiss' initial thrust was parried easily by Qrow and she used the momentum to spin around and go for another stab that was parried as well. Slash, block, stab, parry, the two went back and forth until Weiss had to block a two handed slash from Qrow that sent her skidding back a ways even as she stabbed her sword into the ground to slow her down.
"Fun as this is, I think it's time to wrap this up," Qrow said as he loaded a few rounds into his weapon.
"I agree," Weiss said and flicked her finger's upwards, lighting the small trough her sword had made green toward a glyph that formed under Qrow. He looked down at it as it turned green and sighed in annoyance.
"Fu-" was all Qrow could get out before the glyph activated and knocked him into the air in a flurry of vines and knocked him between several of them as they rapidly grew.
"Blake, now!" Weiss shouted and moved her sword to direct the plants growth toward her partner. Blake locked blades with Raven and looked away long enough to see Qrow get launched out of the growing vines as they grew at an angle. Blake looked back at Raven long enough to jump and kick her away before turning in the air, folding up her blade, and throwing her weapon at Qrow. With a gunshot to speed it along it flew toward him and wrapped around his waist, which she followed with grabbing the ribbon attached to it and pulling herself toward Qrow. Weiss meanwhile formed another glyph to jump onto to launch herself up towards Qrow.
All of this meant that, by the time Blake landed on Qrow and bounced off with her sheath ready and Weiss was on her way up, Qrow could only sigh again before both girls slashed him followed by kicking him to the ground. He landed roughly with his Aura flickering followed by a klaxon ringing out when Weiss and Blake landed.
"Qrow Branwen has been eliminated," Glynda called out and tapped her scroll to put a red X over Qrow's picture, which was reflected on the overlooking monitors, and Weiss pumped her arms in victory while Blake simply smiled.
"This whole thing is a lot easier than I thought it would be," Weiss said with a light swing of her sword, "or maybe it's because of how well we work together?"
"It certainly helps," Blake agreed as her smile dropped. 'We are working well together. Almost too well considering this is our first fight. I wonder…'
"Well, we should get back to the fight now."
"Probably a good idea." The girls looked at Qrow as he groggily sat up and laid a hand on a knee with a smirk. "But I think you forgot something."
"What do you-?" Weiss started to ask when both her and Blake had a realization.
"Crap!" Blake shouted and turned around for Raven to punch her in the solar plexus. All the air in Blake's lungs were let out in a rough gasp and Raven forced her to bend forward to roll over her back and leap toward Weiss. The heiress only barely got her guard up only for Raven to knock it away with a swipe of her sword, followed by a jab of her pommel to Weiss' jaw. With Weiss reeling from the blow Raven slashed down Weiss' body, knocking her backwards with her Aura breaking once she hit the floor.
"One down," Raven said turning back to Blake and dashing toward her. Blake managed to recover enough to swing at Raven, who blocked it easily and kicked at Blake's legs. Suddenly swept off her feet, Blake's grip on her weapon loosened enough for Raven to take it from her. Blake spun in the air enough to see Raven ready both of them and slash both of them across her, breaking her Aura instantly and sending her falling to the ground. She groaned and winced when Raven dropped Gambol Shroud next to her. "And that's two," she said as the klaxons blared to announce the new defeats.
Raven swung her sword lightly in the air as she turned to the rest of the fight. Summer and Ruby were still dashing around each other, the former using her experience fighting Qrow to good use, while the fight Raven really wanted to get into was still in the center of the ring. Raven stepped to the side to let Taiyang fly past her and land in a tumble onto his back, a klaxon blaring when he stopped. "Take five Tai."
"Fine with me," Taiyang shouted and raised a thumb before pushing himself up with his elbows, "and be careful, she hits hard!"
"I hope so." Raven sheathed her sword and hit the switch to switch the blade to an Ice blade while Yang clicked her gauntlets and ejected all the spent shells she had used earlier and threw two sets of new shells into the air to swiftly catch in her gauntlets.
"So it's just you and me huh Raven?" Yang asked and settled into a fighting stance, "I can't wait to see how you fight."
"Be careful what you wish for." Raven looked over at Summer as she blocked another swing from Ruby that sent her into the air in a controlled flip before Blinking down next to her. Ruby dashed next to Yang, leaving a trail of red rose petals that trailed behind her and fluttered in the air when she stopped. "Huh, she's got a rose thing too," Raven said as she quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Summer, "no wonder you like her."
"Focus," Summer chided and reaffirmed her grip on her sword. Raven rolled her eyes and started walking to the left with Summer going right with their respective opponents following them. Raven watched every movement Yang made and was extra careful with her foot placement while her hand rested on her sword, Summer doing much the same while Ruby slowly reloaded.
The tension soon shattered when Ruby finished reloading and pulled the slide back with a loud mechanical *clack* and Yang smirked at Raven, her lilac eyes turning red, and fired her gauntlets to launch her forward. Yang reared an arm back and threw a punch at Raven, who quickly drew her sword and deflected it. The Ice blade scraped against the gauntlet, sparking against each other in just the right way for the Dust to ignite, and Raven spun around to kick Yang in the back. Yang was knocked forward in a flip from the blow, but managed to get her hands under her to get into a handstand and flip back onto her feet.
When she turned around she barely got her guard up to block a blow from Raven, her blade now alive and emanating mist, and Yang smiled at the sight. "Neat."
Meanwhile Summer ran at Ruby as she spun and planted her scythe blade first into the floor. She aimed and fired at Summer, who managed to dodge the two shots that managed to go off and vaulted onto the scythe. Even with her grip a little awkward with Soleil in her hand Summer still managed to get enough leverage to kick at Ruby, who ducked under it and braced her feet against the scythe's blade and fired again to kick the scythe out of the ground and into the air.
The two girls were knocked airborne with Summer getting thrown off the scythe completely, though she managed to keep her bearings enough to find Ruby in the air. Ruby fired another shot to steady her spin and turned to Summer just as she Blinked toward her. Ruby blocked a sword swipe with the shaft of her scythe and fired a shot down to send her up higher hoping to get away from Summer, only to find that she had held onto the shaft as well. Ruby was surprised by this and ducked under another sword swipe.
In that brief moment as they hung in the air, Ruby's eyes widened as she met Summer's. They were sharp and unwavering, focused only on Ruby while ignoring everything else around her. She'd even go so far as to say they would be ready to ignite as easily as any piece of tinder. 'Forget her name, those are more telling than anything,' Ruby thought as she grinned widely, 'A warrior down to her very core.'
Still, Ruby did want to win. When she was done with her admiration Ruby kicked off her scythe to spin around the handle to kick Summer. She only realized she may have made a mistake when she saw Summer let go of the scythe and held her sword up to block the kick while petals were drifting off of her.
"Black Rose!" Summer shouted just as Ruby kicked her away. Raven heard her clearly from where she was grappling with Yang and pushed her away. Yang steadied herself and threw a punch at Raven as she spun around and countered with a slash that destroyed the blade and covered Yang's arm in ice. The sudden weight threw Yang off balance which only made it easier for Raven to vault over her and kick off her back, sending the blonde stumbling forward before turning around in time to see Raven sheath the sword hilt and snap her fingers.
Yang quirked an eyebrow when a portal appeared next to Raven, with another one appearing next to Summer in the air, and Summer blinked through it and came out the top on the other side with her gaze fixed on Yang. Her eyes widened when she realized what was coming and bashed her fists together to break the ice on her arm and get her guard up. Summer swung her sword down at Yang, who blocked it with a gauntlet and grabbed the sword with her other hand and threw Summer behind her, where she landed roughly on her back with a flash of Aura.
"Yang look out!" Ruby shouted having landed some ways away and when Yang turned to look at Ruby she saw Raven disappear into another portal. She looked back at Summer as Raven came out the connecting portal just as Summer got up into a crouch and they both dashed toward her.
Summer jumped and Blinked at Yang before swinging her sword down on her again, which got blocked and pushed Yang back slightly as Summer threw all her weight against the girl. Yang braced her feet and threw Summer back in time to see Raven kick her legs out from under her. Yang was in the air for a second before Raven grabbed her arm and flipped her onto her back, wrenched her arm around, and slammed a boot onto her face. It was only when a klaxon blared and Glynda called that Yang was out of the match did Raven let her go and focus on the last remaining fighter on RWBY.
Ruby looked between the two girls and took a breath as she ejected the magazine in her scythe and took out a new one marked with a Gravity symbol from a pouch. She put it in place and cocked the weapon just as Raven drew a new blade and Summer unsheathed her dagger. Ruby aimed behind her and hit a switch to straighten the blade before dashing forward in a burst of rose petals. She reappeared in front of them and fired a shot to get a fast swing going. It was barely deflected by Raven while Summer ducked under the swing, so Ruby let the momentum carry her into a second swing. That was blocked completely by Raven, who slid a little from the force of the blow, that left Ruby wide open for a Blink enhanced kick from Summer. Ruby's grip slackened enough for Raven to rip the scythe away from her with her sword while Summer hung in the air for a moment before landing a follow-up kick to the side of her head.
Ruby was sent flying and landed on her side, down but still technically in by Aura count. Summer put a quick end to that by walking up to her, switching Soleil into its gun form, and kneeling down next to her to press the gun to her forehead. "You lose," she said as she stared at a very surprised Ruby, who took a second before she started laughing.
"Yeah, I guess so," Ruby replied and waved a hand in the air. A klaxon sounded a second later and Summer stood up with the smallest of smiles.
"And the winner is Team STRQ," Glynda said walking into the middle of the arena while looking over the recovering combatants. "You all seem more than adequately prepared for the tournament, though a little more team synergy could go a long way."
"I'll take it into consideration Professor," Summer said sheathing both of her weapons and glancing at Raven who was already on her way out of the arena with Qrow. Summer rolled her eyes and walked over to Ruby's scythe, picked it up, and looked it over for a moment before figuring out how to fold the scythe up. With a smile she went back to Ruby, who had sat up and started rubbing her head, and held the scythe out to her. "You'll have to show me this some more sometime, preferably outside of combat." Ruby blinked and took the scythe before breaking out in a smile as she laid it across her lap.
"Sure thing, I'm actually quite proud of Crescent Rose," she said patting the scythe, "I made her myself after all."
"Let's figure that out later, since there are more matches to be held." Summer turned to walk out of the arena and was joined by Taiyang, already commenting on the fight, and looked at Yang sitting cross legged where she had fallen and gave her a V-sign with a large grin. Yang returned it with a thumbs up and a satisfied smirk before pushing herself up to her feet.
In their little corner Weiss was the first to get up and walked over to Blake. "Are you ok?" she asked and reached a hand down to her partner.
"I've been better," Blake answered and took the hand and stood up with Weiss' help. She brushed off her clothes and lifted her hood back over her head, "But I've been far worse too. I have some rust to shake off I guess."
"I think we did well, all things considered," Weiss said and started walking to rejoin Ruby and Yang, not noticing Blake blink and look down at her bandaged hands.
'Yeah, a little too well for our first fight. What was that?' Blake thought and clenched her fists into hands. 'It's almost as if I've…'
"Miss Belladonna," Glynda said, snapping Blake from her thoughts, "if you'll please exit the arena. The next match needs to start soon."
"…Sorry Professor." Blake started jogging to Weiss and caught up with her in the passageway out just as another team of boys walked past them. They caught up with Ruby and Yang at the end of the passageway along with Summer, who was in the middle of talking to a Rabbit Faunus.
"And I got some great pictures to go with it," she said and looked at RWBY with a smile, "First years just keep impressing me."
"It's what we aim for!" Yang said flashing double V-signs.
"So is there something else you wanted to talk about Velvet, or do you just want to keep heaping praise?" Summer asked, getting Velvet's attention back. "Not that I mind that of course."
"Oh, yes actually," Velvet said rubbing her chin a moment before pointing at Summer, "That party I told you about is happening next Friday." Team RWBY couldn't help but tilt their heads at that.
"In a week?" Summer asked and got a nod from Velvet. Summer scratched her cheek as she started muttering, "That'll be right after midterms then. It'll be tight, but I think we can do that."
"Great, it's a date then! Oh, I also told Coco what you told me and… well, she cursed a lot, but ultimately understood what you meant. She did want to make it clear that it doesn't change much, just that if you need the help we'll always answer that call."
"I'll keep it in mind. I'll let her know I appreciate it too, you guys are becoming real life savers for us."
"No take backs on that!"
"You guys are going to have a party right after exams?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms, "That's bold of you. Well, good luck with all of that!"
"Why are you acting smug? You have to do them too," Summer pointed out.
"…What?"
"Yeah, you're not exempt from the curriculum just because you transferred for the Vytal Festival," Velvet added with a placating smile, "But don't worry so much, it shouldn't be too bad if you've been keeping up with your studies."
"I can think of a few who haven't," Summer said and sighed, "maybe we can have a study group over the weekend?"
"I'm sure Coco wouldn't mind."
"The next match is now starting!" Glynda's voice echoed through the hallway, "Team CRDL vs Pyrrha Nikos!"
"That'll have to come later. Come on Vel, I want to see the slaughter!" Summer said and gave Velvet a light slap on her shoulder before sprinting down the hall, the Rabbit Faunus following after her.
"Exams huh?" Blake asked, rubbing her forehead, "That's going to be a problem."
"I don't see how," Weiss said, "They're only tests. I'm sure we'll all be fine for them."
"Somehow I just knew you'd be the type to love studying," Blake said, causing Weiss to flush a little, and pointed at Ruby and Yang, "But not all of us have the luxury of being you." Weiss followed Blake's finger to see her teammates were frozen stock still, their eyes wide and pupils narrowed to pinpoints, and sighed while rubbing her eyes.
"We're dead."