Author's Notes
I think I'm returning to some semblance (eh) of normalcy in my daily life. My recovery to the point where I can work with a modicum of consistency was faster than anticipated. There are a few projects beside fanfic that I need to put some time into, but I think it's safe to say this fic is out of hiatus now. Hooray.
Enjoy chapter. Review, follow, fave, review, in that order of priority.
Chapter 32: You remind me of her
"There are more of them!"
"Relax, Blake," Jaune tried.
"How can I relax? I was already against everyone but GV joining in. But when I said 'everyone', I meant Nora, Ren, Team Rupee, and the rest of Kaleidoscope! Not Haven's Goon Squad!?
"Haven's Goon Squad? I love it!"
"It is a bit cramped in here. And it smells disgusting. Like milk left to marinate on the sun."
Not for the first time in her life, Blake was sorely disappointed her Semblance wasn't something akin to heat vision. It didn't even have to be a strong one. Just enough to set the blond-pinkette leader and the presumptuous cook of Team Phantasmagoria on fire. They are Hunters. They'll live.
"Why are they here!?" she demanded from Jaune. He had been in charge of gathering their friends for this meeting. That did not include the six tagalongs from Haven!
"When I tried to contact Mytyl and couldn't get in touch, I stumbled upon Kohaku and Sun. Sun told Neptune, who told Pantera, who gathered her team…"
"And now we are all here like a big, happy family," Pantera finished Jaune's story, beaming with misplaced glee.
"Nothing like this ever happens in boring ol' H. Boss, can we transfer to the Big Lighthouse 4-ever? Pweety plz? Short, hangry cherry on the top?"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Blake cried inwardly into her hands as Gibril choke the life out of a cackling Teseo. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be her and GV against the White Fang, dismantling the terrorist organization with stealth. Like ninjas! Oh god, she was losing her mind, wasn't she?
"W-where is Mytyl?" Ruby asked, her voice a meek whisper that could barely be heard over the commotion of the noisiest students this side of Haven, as explained by their leader. That was a good question. KVKC had arrived missing their lavender-haired leader.
"She's in Vale," Kohaku informed.
"At eight p.m.? On a Friday?" Nora asked incredulously, before narrowing her eyes. "Is she partying without us?"
"Doesn't seem like it," Copen said. "When I called her, she said she needed some time alone." He, in turn, narrowed his eyes at the members of RWPY. "Did you do something to her?"
All four members of RWPY were too quick to deny that, then looked between themselves. Were they collectively that bad at not looking suspicious? Whatever the case, Weiss, figuring she would receive the most lenience, stepped up to answer for the team. "No, nothing like that. I just wanted to ask her about a song we are working on."
"I haven't heard of a song," Jaune asked, joining Copen in his suspicion.
"It's a secret to everyone, you dolt- ouch. Hey!" Weiss glared at Yang, rubbing her sides where the blonde had elbowed her. Yang nudged her head towards Jaune. Wasn't she already talking to Jaune? Turning back to the dolt, Weiss stopped on her tracks.
She had been talking to Jaune, but not observing it. And the boy didn't look amused. Whether he believed her excuse or not was up in the air, but the he clearly didn't appreciate the 'dolt' bit.
It didn't help that Copen kept staring unerringly at the heiress, assisting Jaune in pressuring her to break and reveal her secrets while revealing nothing himself in the process. Like Jaune, she couldn't tell if he bought the excuse or not.
After a few tense seconds, he nodded in acceptance and Jaune followed suit. That had been unnerving. Her and her team really needed to get their act together. She personally thought it was a good excuse. And it wasn't a complete lie either. Mytyl had, somehow, managed to find time between their torture sessions and psychopathic professors to pull her into a new harebrained scheme to become pop idols. They were still ironing out the details, and Weiss found herself surprised to actually mean 'they' and not Mytyl.
A small smile blossomed on her face. It was a stupid, little project she didn't expect to go anywhere, but it had been the fun distraction she needed during this week. Maybe that was the reason Mytyl had opted to start her pet project now. An escape from Beacon's so-called Hell Week. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding and Mytyl was just stressed and allowed the weight of it all to affect her.
Weiss dared to hope.
"Agh!" Lola, floating idly next to her master, expressed in frustration. "Is this what Lumen keeps not telling me? I want to know too! Tell me!"
The heiress suppressed a giggle. Inadvertently, the little pod had strengthened her half-lie and she could see everyone else lower their guard. "That's for us to know and for you to figure out."
"Phoeey!"
"It's ok," Kohaku crossed her arms in self-assurance. "As second-in-command of Team Kaleidoscope, I'm qualified to make decisions in our leader's absence.
Both her teammates converged their sight on Kohaku.
"You are second-in-command?"
"Since when?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please. Neither of you want the leadership position. Besides, Mytyl and I share the same letters in our initials, so we can keep the 'Kaleidoscope' moniker. Can you imagine rearranging our initials into another word?"
She shuddered. GV and Copen joined her, the thought too terrifying to even entertain.
Blake scowled. Clowns. All of them. Here she was trying to stop a public menace and they were cowering at the thought of dealing with the Academies' stupid naming convention for their temporary rearrangement.
Besides, Team VCMM, pronounced Vacuum, had a nice ring to it.
She shook the idle thoughts. She had for a moment forgotten how infectious their carefreeness was. They had a job to do. She already agreed to drag others into this whole mess. She wasn't going to allow more antics to put them in danger.
"Focus!" she raised her voice, commanding attention. She was pleased to see everyone present, including Gibril and Teseo, drop the circus act and put their game face on.
"As I told GV, my original plan was to go around the Faunus communities in the hope of figuring out when the next recruitment drive is. Given we are in Vale, they should be pretty frequent. I still intend to do that, but… I don't think our non-Faunus friends will be able to pull it off."
"I'm told I look wolfish," Ruby said, "would they believe if I say I'm a wolf faunus?" She smiled widely.
"Nah, Lil' Red. U have to grin wider."
Ruby grinned wider.
"Wider."
Ruby's grin widened.
"Wider! Like this."
Before anyone knew what was happening. Teseo and Ruby were in a grin standoff. Cheshire smiles maniacally stretched across their face.
"Teseo can come. He is a faunus after all," Blake brought the conversation back on track. "Unfortunately, Ruby, no matter how impressive your canines and silver eyes are, if you cannot see in the dark, you're out of luck."
The young girl pouted while Teseo patted her head in a comical attempt to console her.
"There, there, Lil' Red. I never understood our night vision either. Why do we all have it if not every animal is nocturnal?"
…
"I wondered the same," GV said.
"It is weird," Sun added.
"FOCUS!" Blake snapped, walking to the whiteboard and writing angrily on it.
"U don care 'cause you're a ceiling cat and there's no curiosity in it for you," Teseo accused her.
"Blake," Ren said carefully, "why is there a whiteboard in our room?"
"Not important!" she exclaimed, turning around and revealing the newly minted Team FAUN, composed of her, GV, Sun, and Teseo.
More than a few of them raised an eyebrow. And Yang spoke the words of the people. "Why can you be lighthearted enough to still half-follow that stupid naming convention, but we cannot joke around when faced with your… Blakeyness."
"I didn't tell you to come. You can leave at any time."
Yang scrunched her face in annoyance but relented the point. "Sourpuss."
That had Blake cat ears and eyes twitching.
"Calm down, girls," Jaune quickly placed himself between his partner and the blonde bombshell living up to her descriptor. "No infighting. We're on the same team. Kind of." Seeing that no fireworks were about to go off, he railroaded the conversation. Again. "So, Team FAUN will look for the White Fang among the Faunus communities. What about everyone else."
Weiss stood up and cleared her throat. "Whenever a robbery occurs involving the SDC, a private investigation is performed. I should have access to the reports. I was thinking of requesting the report and look for any patterns or oddities."
Blake nodded and wrote 'Team CCT' on the whiteboard, with Weiss's name following below. After a moment of thought, she amended 'Team CCT' to "Team ACCT'
"Team Accountant?" Gibril asked, squinting her eyes.
"Accountability?" Ruby suggested.
"Obviously Team Act," Weiss confidently said.
"Team Atlas's Cross Continental Transmit," Blake corrected. "You have to go to the CCT to get those documents, right?"
Weiss nodded.
"There you go," Blake continued. "Anyone else has a contact that could help that would require a boosted scroll call?"
"I think I do," Copen said. "But I already have other plans. Mytyl can make the call."
"Ooh, I'm sure my sweet brother can provide some wisdom," Pantera added. "And if Copen's contact also resides in Atlas, that would justify the 'A' in the name!"
With Weiss, Mytyl, and Pantera on board, Team ACCT was looking like a minimum viable go.
"Copen, your plan?" Blake asked.
"Contacting my buddies in Vale's seedy underbelly."
"All right!" Yang cheered, slamming a fist on her open palm. "Junior, here we come and we're crashing your bar like a wrecking ball! Who's with me?"
Almost everyone not assigned to a team raised their hands.
"Ah yes. We are back to The Club!" Lola said excitedly. "I wonder if Penny will be there?"
"I'm always up to crashing a bar like a motherfucking wrecking ball!" Gibril said with malicious glee in her eyes.
"Language!" Asroc chided his teammate. "But I agree it does sound like the most palatable action."
"Ah man. I wanted to pwned some bouncers," Teseo lamented.
"Eh, Ruby?" Yang looked at her sister, who had her hand up. "You're not going."
"Eh, yes I am," Ruby mimicked her tone. "Blake tells me I cannot join Team FAUN and I'm not going to the CCT."
Uncharacteristically, Ruby managed to flick her eyes discreetly towards Copen. Yang sighed at that. After today, she couldn't in good conscience let Ruby around Mytyl if she didn't want to.
"I'm staying with Weiss," Pyrrha informed. "I really don't want to don the whole 'Pishe Moneen' disguise just for this."
"You could always just go as Pyrrha?" Yang suggested.
"Yeah… how about we keep that plan… how does Plan Y sounds?"
Well, it was worth a try.
"I'll go with Weiss, too," Jaune said. "Too many cooks spoil the soup. Team SEED seems to be overloaded as it is."
Asroc look at Jaune with what could be graciously be called a speck of newfound respect. "I tolerate you more than most people here."
Looking at the whiteboard, Yang saw Jaune was right. Blake had taken the opportunity to name their team SEED, consisting of Copen, Kohaku, Ruby, herself, Asroc, Gibril, and Neptune. It was overloaded.
"Ooooh, I like the name," Ruby said. "We shall be the seed that will blossom into strife for all evildoers!"
"Seed?" Yang asked.
"Vale's seedy underbelly." Blake explained, as she finished writing Jaune and Pyrrha under Team ACCT. "It is overloaded..."
"What if four of us shadows Team FAUN?" Kohaku suggested. "We might not be able to join you, but we can stay close by as a quick response team."
"That was an awful lot of 'we's. Are you volunteering?" Blake asked.
Kohaku shrugged. "Sure, why not? I can do stealthy push comes to shove."
"I'm already feeling more optimistic with you watching my back." Sun winked at her. Kohaku averted her eyes, a light blush dusting her cheeks. More than a few curious looks were thrown their way. Did he really need to do that?
"I guess I'll sacrifice myself. Who knows what mess I'll need to bail Tess out of," Gibril said, resigned to not going to the club.
"I'll tag along," Neptune offered.
"Ren, you're half ninja. You should go to."
Ren sent Jaune a flat look, but nonetheless nodded.
"Don't leave me, Ren," Nora cried.
With all four names written in the whiteboard, Blake took a minute to take them in. Finally, she wrote 'Team KRVM' above the newly minted team.
"KRVM?" Gibril asked.
"Cream. Led by Kohaku."
"Blake," Jaune said carefully, "you are flashing your inner Ozpin for everyone to see."
"Lewd," Teseo said while covering his mouth is faux-shock.
"Shut up! I could have gone with Crimson or Margarine, but I like the letter 'V' more than the letter 'N'."
Fifteen set of eyes and one set of optics simultaneously converged on one Volt, Gun.
"What?" the boy asked.
Blake ignored their antics and baseless insinuations. "This is good. All things considered; we have a good spread of members across each team. We should be out and about early tomorrow. GV…" Blake took a deep breath and braced herself, "…did you speak with the Headmaster?"
"I did. He's not happy. But he explained he cannot really do anything to stop you short of expulsion or catch you mid-vigilantism. By then it would be too late. He rather you be where he can keep an eye than doing your own thing." GV waved his scroll. "He'll have a few Hunters on standby to help us if I give him a signal"
Blake was surprised. "That's… good. Great, even." She was not about to question their good fortune. She turned towards her one doubt. Or, more precisely, six doubts. "You won't get in trouble, right? You aren't Beacon students."
Pantera shrugged. "Technically, we are. During the Vytal Festival, all transfer students are under the jurisdiction of the hosting Academy."
"Then we're set," GV said. "We should keep each other updated every hour. Keep your scrolls' location on. If a team doesn't respond, the other two should meet up and look for the missing team. ACCT and SEED can have somebody in scroll duty, making sure the location is working for everyone. FAUN… might be harder depending on where we are. Any question?"
"You sound like you have experience with this sort of things," Pantera said.
"…that's because I have."
A few more questions and answers were exchanged. With 'Operation: Hunt the Fang' set, the teams retreated for the night.
Mostly.
"Copen!"
Copen stopped in the hallway towards his room. Weiss shuffled nervously a few steps behind. Further back, the rest of RWPY was waiting patiently for the heiress.
"What's up, girl?" Lola asked the heiress. It was a little action, but Weiss couldn't help but notice it. Taking initiative like that truly put into perspective how Lola's and Lumen's AI were advancing by leaps and bounds.
"Weiss?" Copen asked, his tone neutral. Although Weiss personally thought it was softer than it used to be at the beginning of the year, if only a bit. The pods weren't the only one growing.
"Mytyl isn't here yet?"
Copen shook his head. "I just texted her. Seems like she's spending the night at Vale."
'Oh…'
His eyes narrowed. "Did something happen?"
And just like that, the softness of his voice was replaced with a sharp, steely edge. And the question? More of a courtesy than an actual query. Even Yang posture shifted, no doubt recognizing Copen for the overprotective brother he was and worried about an escalation. Weiss was not going to allow that.
"Nothing serious. And nothing that cannot wait until tomorrow. I promise. It was just a misunderstanding. I'm sure." She hoped.
Copen's scarlet eyes never left her icy blue and Weiss had to remind herself that she was dealing with a boy probably as trained and adept as her in reading people, being raised in a world of business and upper social class. Not to mention being familiar with how to carry oneself in such an environment and therefore knowledgeable in every trick in the book.
"Come on, Copen," Kohaku tug at her partner. "I'm sure whatever happened is like Weiss says, a misunderstanding. You know how much Mytyl adores everyone. She wouldn't let bridges be burn just like that. And besides, you cannot always fight her battles."
With those words, Copen relented, nodding in agreement with his partner. Kohaku's words, particularly about Mytyl's adoration, lifted Weiss's spirit.
"Anyways, we have a long day tomorrow. It would be best if we rest," Weiss said diplomatically, ending the conversation as she gave a final goodbye to KVKC. Back with her team, and away from anyone's prying ears, she muttered low enough for only her team to hear. "Guess tomorrow is the day."
Yang grinned. "Don't know about you guys, but I feel more confident about all of this."
Ruby smiled and agreed. "Yep."
"I can just feel the butterflies in my stomach settling," Yang kept going without a care in the world, opening the door to their dorm and entering.
The rest of her team didn't follow, frozen on the spot while their blonde teammate closed the door behind her. They just stood there, blinking rapidly and owlishly at the fading mental image of their self-proclaimed pun master.
"Admittedly, that has to be one of her better ones and I've known her for nearly sixteen years," Ruby finally conceded.
"Puns might be the lowest form of wit," Pyrrha muttered.
"But wit is the highest form of humor," Weiss finished dryly.
"Eh. Pun is neck-to-neck with sarcasm at the bottom. Stupid sarcasm," Ruby grouched.
Weiss shook her head in amusement, in equal measure at her leader's feud with a literary device and the bizarre… everything of all of this. "Statistically speaking, she was bound to say a decent one at some point."
The door opened.
"Proof that math is the universal language. Eh? Eh?" Yang waggled her brows before retreating again.
…
"Was she listening?" Weiss asked Ruby.
"She's on a roll today," Pyrrha commented.
-o-
Vale's night was refreshing. A wave of cold, but not freezing, air blessed the streets, keeping the heat of summer in check and creating a pleasant weather. Being the first Friday of the semester, not only for Beacon but for many educational institutions dotted across Vale, the downtown bustled with life. Many of those enjoying the night were young, but the more experienced variety didn't shy away from celebrating.
The Vytal Festival was an odd thing. While the actual festivities happened mid-autumn, towards the end of October, in a week-long affair with food, music, and gladiatorial battles, the celebrations unofficially began as early as the start of summer. The festival might be biennial, but its location rotated across the four kingdoms, making it effectively a 'once every eight years' occurrence for the locals. Sure, others held their own festivities every two years, but the host made sure to make it huge. It wasn't even a conscious decision on part of the government, at least in the beginning. Businesses slowly pushed the celebration earlier and earlier. Eighty years later, here they were.
And Mytyl had to admit, she was all for it. When she arrived at Vale, she needed to get away. Have some time alone. Away from her overbearing brother, her Aura-blessed partner, her well-meaning but ultimately none the wiser teammate. Away from her ignorant friends – and she meant that in the most inoffensive of ways; they just didn't know better and she didn't want them to know. Away from the life she had no business living; the life of a Huntress. From the constant reminders that she would always be handicapped. From the unfairness of it all. One second more and she would burst and hurt someone.
She did hurt someone; Ruby. Not physically – at least not in the traditional sense of the word – but still. She knew she would need to address that. She couldn't live with the hypocrisy of forcing GV to apologize twice while she got away scot-free. How could she lose control?
She knew how. She was playing with fire and she got burned. Worse, she burned someone else in the process. With each day in Beacon, she believed the farce that she fully belonged there, and it made her careless
The lively chatter of people on the streets helped a little in drowning her thoughts and distracting her. But walking aimlessly could only do so much. She needed a goal. Perhaps a nice place to sit down and enjoy the evening. Or at least relax and distract herself.
"Lady Mytyl, are you ok?"
Mytyl snapped back to reality. Lumen hovered close by. She could imagine the little pod's face of worry had she had a face to express it. "I'm ok. Just lost in thought. Also, didn't I tell you to just call me 'Mytyl'?"
Once more, she could easily imagine the pod, despite lacking a body, emoting. In this case, a shrug.
"Master Copen asked Lola and me to not call him 'Boss' and 'Producer', respectively. Look how well that has worked out for him."
Mytyl snickered into her fist. "Fair enough. Raise crows and they'll peck your eyes out.
"Caw. Caw," Lumen mimicked, mockery palpable through her synthetized voice.
"Truly my brother played with things he shouldn't have when he built the two of you."
She was being dramatic, but it was true that Lumen and Lola were nothing short of marvels of engineering. Never mind their AI; their ability to mimic Semblances alone was bound to turn a few heads. They fully expected Sumeragi to be drowned in a stampede of requests once she and Copen revealed the pods to the world at large during the tournament.
"You know… I might be a bunch of circuitries, but I can still listen if you want to. I'm good at keeping secrets."
Mytyl hummed in thought. She was averse to talking to her friends, but Lumen, robot or not, was a partner she'll be counting on to an immense degree. It was akin to how Ruby treated to Crescent Rose. Only that Lumen was more than just an inanimate object; a topic for ethicist to ponder about for decades.
"I… you sure you can keep a secret?"
"I'm hardcoded to keep secrets. High-end encrypting and all. Only you and Copen are authorized to hear them, with Dresden then Nori authorized if… the unthinkable happen."
Lumen's euphemism sent a chill through Mytyl. She was playing at being a Huntress and Copen was a Huntsman. Of course, her brother would design a failsafe in case something happened to either of them.
"Does that mean you're currently keeping some secrets?"
"Yeah… I know about your Semblance, for starters."
Mytyl bit her lower lip. Of course she knew. Why wouldn't she?
"Lola and I have bits of it build into us."
Mytyl stopped on her tracks, eyes widened. There was no way the pods copied it. "H-how?"
"…The same way Lola has the Misfortune module."
She felt her stomach drop. That reeked of her father's intervention. She found it odd for Lola to have Misfortune, but the thing had been literally lying around dad's office collecting dust. It made sense Copen got permission from their father and their teacher to tinker with it.
But her Semblance? Her very own soul?
"…Suddenly I feel like I need an adult," she deadpanned in an attempt to cope with the revelation. A self-preservation mechanism, if you will.
"If it makes you feel better, Dr. Dresden did so in the hope of finding a more permanent cure to your condition."
It did make her feel better. Marginally. Knowing her father hadn't just relied on a band-aid solution warmed her heart. And in the grand scheme of things, it's not like it changes anything. Unless…
"So… you can use my Semblance?"
"Nope. I have protocols upon protocols upon regulations and checks against it. Like other Semblances I've copied, I would still need to feed your Aura to it… so yeah. The only scenario allowing me to use it is in case of a desperate last resort self-destruct to safeguard your life."
"Let's hope it never gets to that."
"Yeah, let's. I haven't even had the chance to kiss a cute boy!"
Mytyl stopped and stood in the sidewalk, forcing people to evade her. It was rude, but she was too involved parsing through Lumen's last statement to care.
"What did you say?"
"I haven't even had the chance to kiss a cute boy."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. How does that even work without hormones? Are you actually attracted to them or are you just messing with me?"
"Eh," – Mytyl could even imagine Lumen waving a hand in a so-so gesture – "a little of column A, a little of column B. My AI has developed to self-identify as a young woman. A straight woman, apparently. You'll have to ask the Producer for details on that. I can, on an intellectual level, measure attractiveness, so to speak. I don't think I feel attracted the same way you would – don't have any data to compare with – but I do see boys and consider some cute."
"That's…" Weird. Creepy. Unnerving. Ripe for exploitation by less than reputable industries. Damn her and her business acumen. Her bedridden life hadn't stopped her mom, dad, and aunt from fomenting an entrepreneurial mindset. "Fascinating," she finally decided to put politely.
"I also think I'm developing a preference."
Too much information!
"I wouldn't think too hard about it. My AI module was originally written with the goal of creating a 'real girl'. We actually met her. The quote unquote 'real girl', I mean. Nice kid. Bit cookie in the head but has her mechanical heart in the right place."
If end of the world came in her lifetime, Mytyl would point at Copen and the rest of the scientific community as the culprits, for daring to play gods.
"Alas, I cannot turn heads wherever I go. At least not for the right reasons. Lack the equipment." Lumen floated right in front of Mytyl, her optics staring straight into her master's. "But you can live for the both of us. Let me experience untold excitement vicariously. The world is your oyster! So, stop sulking or imagining the revenge of the machines and start strutting like you're hot and you know it! Eyes are on you, waiting for that first step."
Mytyl had a feeling Lumen wasn't being entirely facetious. She looked around and for the first time noticed the discreet looks sent her way. She was sure some of them were aimed at the flying oddity that was Lumen. But clearly some of them, male and female alike, were more interested on the lavender-haired beauty. She didn't flaunt it like Yang, but it would be disingenuous to not recognize she was traditionally good looking. And her Huntress training didn't help matters. Or the admittedly cute school uniform she still wore.
"D'awwww! You're self-conscious!" Lumen cooed at her. Cooed at her. A robot. Cooed. At her. It was the end of times. "Relax. People are bound to give you a look over. It's natural. As long as they don't stare, touch, or be creeps, just feel pride you can elicit such a reaction."
The pod sidled next to her head conspiratorially. "And who knows? Maybe you can turn the head of a certain tall, blond, and scraggly."
A robot caused her to blush something madly. A robot! Caused her. To blush. Something madly.
Science had gone too far.
"L-lumen!"
"You know… when I synced with Jaune, I got to dip my metaphorical toes into his brilliant white aura reserves. So thick and vast!" Lumen synthetized voice was working overclocked to splatter liberal amounts of undertones and double entendre into her words. "I can only imagine the amount of stamina he has. Not to mention the amount he'll end up with. Once. It's polished. To a shiny finish."
Mytyl was left a blubbering messed while Lumen floated away, cackling loudly and proudly, the odd looks she was receiving be damned.
"Come on, girl. Let's go to that dainty little café Kohaku loves. With the festival, there's a good chance it's open!"
"Y-yes, l-lets." Anything to safeguard whatever shred of dignity she had left.
To be teased mercilessly by her own weapon. The end of times truly was nigh.
-o-
The aroma of coffee brought back memories of simpler, yet paradoxically complicated, times. Back when Mizuko Kamizono was still alive. Mytyl smiled nostalgically as she sipped the concoction. She wasn't one for straight up black coffee, though she wasn't as criminal as Ruby with the sugar, either. Whatever was the drink of the season was bound to have some sugar by virtue of its ingredients and that was enough for her to be satisfied.
"Here you go, dear," the better half of the coffee shop's owner, the elderly wife, placed a muffin in front of Lumen.
"Thanks Miss White!" The pod pushed the banana nut muffin towards Mytyl. "Here you go, girl, you deserve it."
"Ah, what a cute little thing," Mrs. White patted Lumen with grandmotherly tender, before resuming her job around the café.
"You know, I'm still the one paying for the muffin."
"You can deduct the cost from my paycheck."
Mytyl snorted, accepting the baked good and taking a bite. She was reminded of the one time she insisted on going to a café while stuck in bed. Naturally that wasn't feasible, but that didn't stop a recently hired Nori from remodeling an entire room of the Kamizono estate so she and her mom could pretend they were in a real one. Some of the other maids and butlers even dressed in casual clothes and populated the other tables, acting like customers while Nori and a few others diligently worked as the staff.
She fondly remembered ordering a straight, black espresso. And the subsequent herculean task of not spitting it over her mother's face after the initial sip. Nori had always been a believer of allowing someone to first fall before teaching a lesson. So, it was with a hidden, self-satisfied smirk that the maid offered sugar only after the facts. She had learned to appreciate the bitterness of coffee since then, but even now she still preferred a bit of cream, milk, or sugar in her cup.
Unlike Copen. During the farce, he and their father walked in. After their initial questioning looks, they shrugged and sat on a table, ordering a steaming cup of mud each and drinking it like it was another Tuesday. She was aghast at the flagrant attempt against taste buds around the world. Even her mother's eye twitched with a strained smile on her face, no small amount of envy projected towards her dad's ability to just pick up the poisonous substance without a second thought, no need to mess around with additives.
To be able to drink and forget, without any fuss. Such simple pleasures were taken for granted.
Mytyl took in the ambience of the café. Unlike other times, it was full to the brim, with many customers opting to just order to go. She had to wait a couple of minutes to snipe the first available table from a couple who was leaving. While the owners were helping around, the younger staff had all hands on-deck doing the brunt of the work, quickly moving from table to table taking orders and checking on customers. And politely insinuate that if you weren't consuming, you were wasting their time and limited space.
It was lively, from staff and customers alike. The festival had everyone on high spirit, the beginning of the semester serving a good excuse as any for the youth to prowl the streets of Vale in search of places to hang out and catch up with friends.
To be able to elicit so much positivity from the masses. To her, it was one of the most attractive duties of a Huntress. But she wanted to go further. To stand upon a stage and light a fire inside people. As cheesy as it sounded, she wanted to live up to the name Beacon and be a light everyone paid attention to.
"Lien for your thoughts, Lady Mytyl."
She chuckled at her thoughts and at Lumen's prodding for them. She poked at the pod, making her spherical frame rock in place.
"That's a pretty laugh."
Her attention was diverted to the new voice. A woman with light brown hair, tied into a messy ponytail and with a casual, gray dress that complemented her well; not too tight or formal, but eye catching for someone with her figure. Completing the look were gray knee socks and black boots with gray soles and high heels. If it wasn't for her apparent age suggesting she was in the latter half of her twenties, and big green eyes that spoke of sharp intelligence – barely averting the epitaph of 'doe-eyed' – Mytyl would had used the descriptor of 'girl-next-door'. If she were a betting girl, her chips would go to graduate student on a science-oriented field.
"Mind if I sit?" the woman asked. "Place is pretty packed." She gestured at all the other occupied tables. There were still a handful of free seats, but not tables. Some tables even had people ignoring each other, suggesting they were in the same boat of sharing space with a stranger.
"Go ahead," Mytyl extended an invitation, Lumen rolling towards her so the newcomer could place her drink and purse on her side.
"Moniqa Grau." An extended hand was offered.
"Mytyl Kamizono." She returned the friendly stranger's handshake.
"Kamizono?" Moniqa asked with a tilt of her head. "As in Sumeragi?"
'Huh? This girl knows about arms dealer?'
The confusion must have shown on her face, because Moniqa was quick to explain. "I used to work in deliveries. Keep your ears open and you're bound to hear a thing or two about the merchandise moved around. They are the biggest suppliers of weapon parts, after all."
It makes sense. While the big money came from Atlas military, in a world infested with monsters it wasn't unheard for civilians to keep sidearms, to say nothing of freelancing Hunters. Those products need to be delivered across the kingdoms somehow and Mytyl doubted Atlas cared how it got done as long as state secrets weren't part of the trade.
"To answer your question, yes. Kamizono as in Sumeragi."
"Guess that explains this odd little thing," Moniqa pointed at Lumen. "I suppose the heiress gets early pick on the newest toys."
"It's more complicated than that!"
"Don't explain yourself, Lady Mytyl," Lumen intoned in anger. "You! The girl with the big tits! I am not a little toy thing!"
Mytyl and Moniqa both choke on their respective drinks. At least on Moniqa's part, she was thankful that she preferred the frozen varieties of coffee over their hot brethren. Mytyl didn't receive the same mercy.
With her coughing back in control, Moniqa looked incredulously at the pod, at the customers around who inadvertently overheard that exchange and had the same reaction, and finally at her own chest. That last action proved a mistake when laughter registered in the vicinity.
Lumen yelped as her master picked her up and shook her violently.
"Lumen!" Mytyl scolded the bot. "You cannot just talk to people like that! I am so sorry."
"Don't apologi-Hey!"
With Lumen stuffed under the table, a foot on top to prevent her from floating up, Mytyl clapped her hands together and bowed. "I am so, so sorry. I don't know what possessed her to say those things."
A dainty laugh was Moniqa's response. "It's ok. Having a robot jealous of my chest will serve as one hell of a story at parties."
Lumen's grumbles were heard from underneath.
"At least you seem ok with it." Moniqa leaned forward with a teasing smirk. Her eyes drifted downward "Despite your clear disadvantage."
That had Mytyl defensively crossing her arms over her chest and a blush on her cheeks. "They're the perfect size for a handful! Big ones are unwieldy."
"True enough," the brown-haired woman leaned back with a satisfied smirk. "Not looking forward to my twilight years. Forgive me for taking a potshot like that. But after how… tactful your bot was, we can call it even now."
Mytyl sighed. "Fair enough."
"So why is someone like you alone on such a fun night? I can tell you are not one hundred percent here."
Mytyl hid her grimace behind a sip from her cup. Changing into a trained, neutral face, she asked. "What makes you think that?"
Moniqa smirked. "Oh, I'm pretty good at reading people."
"She is using her Semblance on you," Lumen said from under the table. And Moniqa's look of surprise verified the claim.
Before Mytyl could get a word in, Moniqa spoke. "Wow, so your little robot is not just a cool accessory. She's right, I have a passive Semblance called Empathy. I can read other people's emotions."
"Y-you can read minds!" Mytyl stuttered in panic.
"Emotions," Moniqa corrected. "I can feel what you're feeling, but I cannot tell why you're feeling it. That is something that I developed from years of understanding people. I do have a major in Psychology and experience dealing with people."
"And… it's passive?"
"Yep," the brunette said with a small sigh. "As you just showed, people are not immediately keen on my Semblance. It is extremely useful understanding people and helping them, but I don't like broadcasting it. At least nowadays I can tune out the influx of emotions. When I was younger it was torture."
"I can relate…"
"Yep," Moniqa smirked. "I told you my sob story. Your turn."
"Not much to tell. I hurt a friend accidentally and I needed to get away to clear my mind."
Moniqa tapped at her frozen coffee. "You are not lying… but not telling the whole truth. There's something deeper. Ok, I won't pry. Keep your secrets," she finished with a knowing smile.
Mytyl look meditative at his drink. "Still… Empathy. Simple, yet effective. I can think of many people who would love having someone like you under their employment. Can I interest you on a job?
"Nope."
"It was worth a shot. My aunt would kill me if she discovered this meeting and I didn't even try. You don't look like a Huntress though. How did you unlock your Aura?"
"…the Grimm… like many other settlers who barely survive an invasion. It's more common than you think: A Hunter finds you at death's door and unlocks your Aura in a desperate attempt to save you, if you don't unlock it yourself. I'm one of the lucky few who made it."
"I'm sorry. For bringing bad memories." Mytyl mumbled, looking down to her drink. Then she raised her cup, giving a small smile. "But you're alive. That's something worthy of a toast."
A frozen cup was raised to meet her steaming one.
"Excuse me, ma'ams? Anything else you need?"
Both girls turned toward the waiter that approached them. A young faunus boy with a rat tail. Even Moniqa couldn't help but wonder how hard it must be for a rat faunus working at a food establishment.
"Can I have this!" Mytyl raised a menu, pointing at an item.
Moniqa just looked in amazement at Mytyl, sensing not even a trace of enmity towards the faunus. She had expected something, even if only some instinctual reluctance, based on the lavender-haired girl more-than-likely Atlas upbringing.
Instead, she was left to be surprised once more when the waiter left and a customer stealthily pulled his tail as he retreated, earning a yelp from the faunus and mocking sneers from the perpetrators and a few others. But not Mytyl. The girl was throwing a terrifying glare at the girl that pulled the stunt. Moniqa saw the exact instance retribution was decided.
"Lumen, Aquakinesis. Make it look like an accident."
"Aaah!"
Of all things Moniqa was expecting, a squirt of water shooting from below the table and arching right into the mean girl's crotch was not even in the top ten.
The new victim looked around, out for blood and locking into Mytyl. "You!"
The Kamizono heiress drank what remained of her coffee. "Ah, I need a refill."
"You think this is funny?"
Mytyl, 'realizing' she was the object of the outcry, turned to look at the harpy. "Can I help you?" Her eyes strayed to the girl's pants. "Oh, you wet yourself. Cannot do much about it. Sorry."
"It's your fault."
"I'm pretty sure it's your parents' fault for not doing this thing called parenting." She turned to address Moniqa. "Seriously, I was potty trained by the time I was two. The carelessness of some people."
The few chuckles accompanied Mytyl's verbal attack, mostly from those who hadn't found the original assault on the waiter funny.
Green eyes zeroed on the moment of weakness Mytyl inadvertently discovered. "Now, now, Mytyl. Some kids just refuse to learn. I can empathize with parents just giving up on their child and abandoning them."
To Moniqa's satisfaction, that took the sail out of the girl, who look appropriately horrified at what was with little doubt an uncannily accurate guess at her past. She made a hasty retreat, with her friends following close by.
"That last bit was mean."
Moniqa shrugged at Mytyl's remark. "I have little patience for racists. It's one of my biggest triggers." She looked at Mytyl and smiled. "I'm glad to see the heiress of Sumeragi upholds equality. Maybe the company will change for the better."
That had the heiress frowning. "Sumeragi upholds equality and harshly punishes any type of discrimination."
That had the brunette making a double look. There was no deception in those words. Mytyl believed them.
"What you said doesn't match the company's actions. Sure, you are not as flagrant about it as the Schnee-"
"That's the institutional racism of Atlas," Mytyl said despondently. "I won't say Sumeragi is perfect, but dad, my aunt, and the board of directors do try their best. Discrimination is so deeply rooted into Atlesian culture that some of it is bound to crop up within the company and evade scrutiny. Trust me, the higher ups at Sumeragi do try to tackle what they can."
Again, no lies. Moniqa just nodded. "I believe you. I have no idea how to manage a multi-billion lien corporation. I suppose a squeaky wheel is bound to escape your notice at some point."
Speaking of annoying sounds, Moniqa's scroll rang on cue. "Hello? Yep. Sure, I'll be there in thirty." She hung up. "Well, duty calls. It has been fun, Mytyl. Maybe we'll meet again."
"Maybe," Mytyl agreed. "Thanks for the company. I needed this."
"My pleasure. You know, you remind of a girl I once knew… it felt like talking to her again, but bubblier. Thanks." Turning to leave, Moniqa took one last look at Mytyl. "And Mytyl? I'm sure you'll figure out your own Semblance in time."
Crimson eyes widened. "How…?
"When your bot mentioned my Semblance and we spoke about it. You had a few spikes of envy. Don't give up. You'll figure it out."
And with that, she left, leaving Mytyl to ponder over their last exchange.
-o-
"Well, well, well, if it isn't our favorite mind-flaying terrorist. How was your girls' night out?"
That earned Roman a flat look from Moniqa. The thief was currently lazing about their current hideout. With nothing to do after their Dust stealing runs ended, Roman had taken to relaying the brunt of managing the recruitment drive to her, only poking his head in to pay lip service.
And, partly to her dismay, he had taken to heart her recommendation of befriending some of the new recruits, roping Deery and Perry into his lollygagging. Less a master thief and a pair of budding anti-establishment revolutionaries; more a trio of troublemakers currently drinking and playing one card game or another, just hanging out a Friday night.
"I cannot read minds, much less flay them. And your voice isn't as pleasant to hear as you think it is."
"You wound me!" Roman theatrically clutched his chest while his newly appointed personal assistants attempted to conceal their snickering. "Could have fooled me, with the way you dissect people."
There really wasn't a good answer to that, so Moniqa shrugged noncommittally. "I met with Cinder on my way here. With my involvement, there has been some changes to the plans on her end. A new, safer alternative. We were ironing the last few details."
Both Perry and Deery groaned, while Roman good mood soured.
"These last few days have been so peaceful," the dog faunus lamented.
"Please tell me she's too occupied to be a pain on our collective ass," Deery pleaded.
"Considering it involved enrolling herself into Beacon as a transfer student, it better be," Moniqa informed.
"Cheers for that," Roman toasted. "Are you sure you should be telling us all of this? Aren't we too dispensable to know?"
Sitting on an available armchair, Moniqa leaned forward to work on preparing herself a drink with the available liquor. "I'm sure Cindy agrees with you. But I don't work for her, I'm being loaned to her."
"Why couldn't I have been strong-armed by your boss?" Roman muttered. Sitting straighter, he sent her a look she had learned to identify as his 'business' look. "Let's go back to my first question. How was your girls' night out?"
With drink in hand, she leaned into the armchair and tilted her head. "What about it? It wasn't a girl's night out. I just felt like spending the evening in Vale. Go to a nice restaurant, treat myself to a cup of frozen coffee. The usual."
Making to motion of nodding without any of the actual meaning behind it, Roman signaled towards Deery.
"Deery my dear, would you be doe-lightful and antler me my scroll?"
Said scroll was thrown at him with enough force to make his Aura shine brightly upon impact with his head. To Roman's credit, he caught the scroll on its way down and didn't comment on the aggression, fully owning up to his war crimes against humans and faunus alike and especially against Deery.
A few swipes here and there and before long Moniqa was presented with a photo of her and a certain lavender-haired heiress.
"You had Neo tail me?"
"Yes! Yes, I did." His lack of shame was appalling. "You don't get to be at the top without watching your back constantly. And while I've learned to appreciate you, you'll have to excuse me if the company you tend to keep has me wary."
Her eyes narrowed. "Careful, Roman. Your racism is showing."
The thief blinked. "I was talking about Miss Bitch Flambé, but now that you mention it, the radical elements of the White Fang are not exactly a point in your favor, either. But that's beside the point. The girl?" He pointed at the scroll.
"What about her?"
"You do realize she's a Huntress."
Moniqa went on the defensive. "Hunters don't have a monopoly on good looks, Roman."
"And the weaponized metal balloon?"
"Literal monsters roam the world. Civilians need protection too!"
"Her freaking Beacon uniform?"
"…she likes to cosplay?"
Roman just stared.
"Ok, she's a Huntress. So what? We are in Vale. We are bound to stumble upon some of them whether we like it or not. I'm not an internationally wanted criminal. And unless the girl is a savant masking her emotions, she is none-the-wiser."
"That is true," Roman ceded, "and had it been nearly any other Hunter, I would agree."
That got Moniqa to pause, the familiar feeling of dread gathering in her throat. "What do you mean?"
"Let's play a quick game." He handed his scroll over to Perry. "Perry, what are your thoughts on this girl?"
Scroll in hand and scanning over the image, Perry silently went over every detail. At some point of the process, Neo joined in, catching up with her tail, ice cream cone in hand, and innocently waving at Moniqa. She forced Roman to scoot over and give her some space next to him.
"She's cute, but a bit too young? Also, I'm more of a tails kind of guy."
"Ha! Nice. Try again."
Perry looked intently at the photo. "I'm at a lost here, Boss. A hint?"
"You have seen someone like her before."
Perry redoubled his efforts, carefully going over every detail while Roman waited patiently.
Finally, it hit him. The light-colored hair, the red eyes, and, most damningly, the 'weaponized metal balloon', as Roman called it.
"Wasn't there a Huntsman that looked a bit like her at the docks?"
Moniqa scowled. The catastrophic heist at the dock, where GV had thrashed five bullheads and cost them a fair amount of Dust.
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," Roman smirked while Perry returned the scroll. Despite smirking, his eyes weren't following the same script, laser focused on Moniqa. "Hard to forget when you get bashed on the face and launched ten meters away by an uppity Huntsman-in-training and his weather balloons. I did a little digging after Neo sent me the image. Care to hear my results?"
The four listeners nodded.
"Great," Roman excitedly said, "me too." The excitement died. "There's a gag order on information from brokers. In Junior's words, and I quote: "I like the kid. Also, I want to wake up alive when tomorrow comes. I have a 9 o'clock massage."
"That sounds promising," Deery deadpanned.
"So, I went through more… mundane routes to get my information. Here is what I found." Roman swiped through his scroll before clearing his throat. 'Mytyl Kamizono. Effectively a social ghost considering her family's pedigree. More worrisome, there's nothing about the girl until three years ago. No school records. No medical records. Hell, her birth certificate only says her name, her date of birth, and to whom she was born. No hospital, no time of birth, not even what official certificated the document. Nada!"
Everyone present scowled. To be honest, it was unnerving for someone that should by all means be high profile to have such glaring holes in her past.
But Roman wasn't done. "More alarming is her twin brother. Copen Kamizono, also known as the brat who kicked me. Same deal. One of the two is hiding something so they hid both. Oh, and now I know what happened to The Witch that disappeared from the seedy Mistral underground years ago. Today I learned two things: she can rock a maid outfit and I don't blame Junior adhering to the gag order."
Lowering his scroll, he locked eyes with the now nervous Moniqa. "Copen Kamizono. Seen last alongside one Gun Volt, who we suspect is currently at Beacon as a student. What do you think will happen if one Mytyl Kamizono offhandedly mentions meeting one Moniqa Grau within hearing distance of your little lost wolf?"
"I…" Moniqa attempted to formulate an answer, but ultimately realized what happened. "I messed up," she admitted, head lowered dejectedly. "I'm so used to absolute loyalty among our ranks. I didn't think about keeping a lower profile than normal with GV on the loose. I didn't even register she was going to Beacon with GV" Her only consolation was Neo patting her back in understanding.
Throwing his scroll on the coffee table and rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index in frustration, Roman gave a deep sigh as he searched for a cigar to keep him occupied. "Hopefully this will lead to nothing. I do believe the girl didn't know any better and doesn't suspect anything. But between the encounters with your lost human weapon gone horribly right, Cinder's irrefutable offer, and," – he gestured between Moniqa and himself – "our first meeting… I've lost confidence in my ability to avoid unpleasant encounters."
Fishing her scroll from her purse, Moniqa started typing. "I'll… I'll call in some backup for tomorrow. Secure the perimeter around the meeting." Her words lacked a certain weight, as if she was preoccupied with other thoughts.
Before she could finish her message and send it, another scrolled was shoved to her face, showing the damning photograph that marked her mistake. Looking up, she was met with Neo's questioning look. Quickly swiping through the scroll, photos of the café at different angle were shown.
Roman saw the exchange with detached interest. His cigar took preference. Lighting up the cigar and puffing a few times to make sure the stick was properly lit, Roman savored the smoke before releasing it. With his priorities straight, his attention went back to where Moniqa was staring dumbly at the increasingly irritated Neopolitan.
'Huh… odd.' Other than Roman himself, Moniqa had been the first person to keep up with Neo's muteness with minimum trouble, aided greatly by her Semblance. It was easily the main reason she and Neo gelled well together despite their rocky beginnings. Guess the girl wasn't used to messing up like this. Feeling some pity, Roman approached the duo to provide his services.
"Why did you sit with the girl? The place was full, but there were still options for you to pick." No answers. "Did you fell for a pretty face? Gravitated to the Huntress naturally? Pure serendipity?"
To his surprise, her reaction to his question was to hide her face in her hands and shudder. "She reminded me of someone. My instinctual reaction upon seeing her was to call out the name of a dead girl."
She slid her hands down to only cover her mouth. "GV could be in his fourth year at Beacon and she could be a freshman and there'd be no way GV hadn't approached this girl. Her physical similarities with Cyan are uncanny. I'm just glad I didn't mention Cyan by name while we talked. That would have definitely made his way back to GV"
Roman frowned. The unspoken story had tragic written all over it. "Hate to bring up bad memories, but is there anything in that story I can use against the electric wonder?"
With a rueful smile, Moniqa shook her head. "Not unless you want GV to unerringly single you out as a man pass his expiration date."
"Who was she?" Deery spoke up from where she and Perry were listening in.
"…" Moniqa sighed, deciding to give a cliff notes version. If only to frame how bad an idea it is to use Cyan's memory as ammunition. "She and GV joined the White Fang together. They became an item. She died over two years ago during a mission gone wrong. That was the catalyst for GV's wavering loyalty."
With the mood properly sullied, Roman 'tsk'ed as he unlit the cigar. His assistants were visibly shaken – nobody joins the White Fang expecting death. Even Neo, normally blasé about death, frowned. And he had a good guess as to why.
"He doesn't look older than twenty."
"GV isn't older than twenty… and Cyan wasn't older."
That upgraded his frown to a grimace. Fighting Beacon's kids already left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was an evil he was willing to swallow if push comes to shove. Always look out for number one and two.
"And she was a member of the White Fang?"
Moniqa returned his scowl and implied accusation with one of her own. "You try to be a pair of faunus orphans in the middle of one of the nastier sites in Vacuo. They were getting by, but only because GV's Semblance has always been that ridiculous after a mob beat it into existence. We gave them a home and a place to belong. We didn't even force them to cooperate. Nearly everyone, including myself, were against the idea, but they bugged us into letting them and there were no doubts about the boon GV represented. Better to let them and keep them close than leave them to their own device to show up in the middle of a firefight like they actually did!"
Two kids pushed into the Fang by a hostile society. And one of them paid the ultimate price shortly after. Again, if forced Roman would kill anyone, but this wasn't the case here and it sickened him.
"Society is a pest," Roman muttered. "Humanity doesn't deserve the monster they created siding with 'the good guys'."
A humorless, tired laugh sent shiver through Roman's spine.
"Roman… GV is far from the only monster among the White Fang's rank." Moniqa's eyes glistened with unshed tears. And that made Roman freeze from the chill that ran down his spine.
Author's Notes
This chapter cut its teeth in length. Mostly a chapter of setting up the following ones as well as exploring the emotional states of some of the characters. We see the Beacon's Vigilante Infantry plan their raid, Mytyl clearing her head, and Moniqa goofing up. We are fast approaching the end of this arc. Hooray!
Let's do my traditional rundown:
Title: Lightly inspired by the kilometric titles seen in some Japanese media. Anohana was the inspiration, specifically. Of course, I didn't go the full mile. Trashy light novels have ruined the art of long titles.
PTGA: I love these guys. They will eventually fade from prominence, but for now they are here to kick asses and take names. They're all out of names to pick from.
Mizuko Kamizono: We don't have anything on Mytyl's and Copen's mother other than 'most likely dead', if not outright confirmed. Cannot remember and cannot find concrete evidence. Wiki says she is, but the cited source (third chapter of Fleering Memories) doesn't seem to specify. Named her Mizuko to keep the blue-color naming scheme of the Kamizono I have going.
Lola and Lumen: While keeping the pods' growth is a weakness in my story, I personally believe this is the chapter where the pods start showing their canon personality prominently, with Lola's excitability and Lumen's relentless teasing.
Moniqa's Last Name: Moniqa doesn't have a canon last name. Grau means gray in German. Given she's canonically German and her most prominent color is grey, I figure it fits in the RWBY-verse.
Lien: I accidentally used dollars instead of lien. It is always an active struggle to keep an eye for those little details; things like 'scroll' instead of 'phones' and the likes.
Nori: I am lowkey excited for what I have planned for Nori.
He who fights monsters: If you know your ASG lore, I'm pretty sure you know who Moniqa is referring too.
Reviews
Skeletalrepublic: Not gonna lie, that's a pretty daunting pet peeve to have. Like, I normally avoid WhiteRose because I just don't buy it. But avoiding team shuffling? Oof.
I understand where you're coming from and respect it. But to play's devil advocate, that's one of the points of fanfiction. Exploring the characters in situations outside of canon. And with RWBY, the team composition just begs to be messed with. Between how team are forms to the naming convention, it's just asking for fanfic writers to rearrange team and explore them.
On the note of the "cover each other weakness…" thing you said, you just made me giddy about an upcoming battle in this fic.
Still, hope you can overlook that in my fic. If not, no hard feelings. On a tangential note: the original plan was to keep the canon teams intact (hence the fic's original name of RWBY: The KVKC Chronicles). But my tune changed quickly after the first interaction with GV, Jaune, and Blake. And since I knew, at the very least, that Arkos was never endgame in this fic, pulling Pyrrha out of Jaune's team was tantalizing.
