Hello! I hope you all have been doing well. Everything's been looking up since the Pandemic started cooling off. Hopefully we'll be able to go places without needing masks soon.
I don't think I have much else to say at the moment, at least for the story itself. I'm currently trying to build up character development, and I hope you like what I'm doing with them. I'm also reworking a character from canon into an OC of sorts, and there will be a lot of interaction with them in the future. Also, I'll be doing some backstories in separate stories for the characters in MotSS once I feel they have enough content for it. In addition, look forward to omakes, also in a separate story.
For any changes to appearance, I might draw them and put them up on DeviantArt or a similar art-based website for you to see. I'm not particularly great at drawing, but here's hoping you like them if I end up doing so.
Other than that, nothing else comes to mind. Until the next chapter, then~
~Chapter 7~
"Up and at 'em, kiddo, we're starting on training."
Ruby lowered the cover over her head half an inch past her eye, barely registering her uncle at the doorway as she woke up.
"Wha' time is it?" she asked, half-awake as she rubbed her eyes.
"Sunrise. Now c'mon, up you get Rubes." He suddenly smirked evilly. "Unless you'd like to be reacquainted with Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Ice Water-"
"I'M UP, I'M UP!" Ruby screamed, fully awake. At the mention of Qrow's threat, all signs of drowsiness disappeared and were replaced with alertness. Looking around the room, however, revealed no sign of her evil uncle, except for the sound of footsteps and laughter echoing from the hall.
She fell back on the bed before groaning loudly, promising retribution.
"I've been watching you guys and how you fight for a while, and I'm halfway between being impressed...and outright disappointed." Qrow said, glaring at Team RNJR who was sitting on a couch while he tapped his foot on the floor. Oscar sat on a chair nearby, not sure if he should say anything. "Yesterday, Oz brought up some good points. Ruby, you really need to work on your hand-to-hand. The fight you had with that Mercury kid was a prime example of why you need to start taking it seriously."
"I know," Ruby said dejectedly.
Qrow eyed her with a speculative eye. It looks like she really took that loss personally, he thinks, I think she might really try to start training her CQC.
He turns to Jaune, who flinches. "You need to do more than just find your Semblance. I mean no offense to Pyrrha, but I don't think she really taught you."
Jaune indeed took offense to that. "Excuse me?!"
"What's your fighting style? Because it looks more like winging it to me."
The room was silent for a few seconds while Jaune looked like he wanted to run Qrow through with Crocea Mors. Suddenly, Ruby slapped her forehead.
"Ugh, Uncle Qrow, no….are we seriously starting to day off with puns?"
"I, uh...honestly didn't mean to do that," Qrow apologized before looking at Jaune with a more compassionate expression. "Jaune, she might have taught you how to block with your shield, swing your sword, and take a few hits...and that's good! You surviving this long means she did something right!
"But kid, she wasn't an experienced Huntsman. It's obvious she didn't teach you more than just that. Jaune, there's more to combat than just blocking, swinging, and tanking."
"Qrow's right," Ren said, "Pyrrha was an amazing teammate, but a teacher she was not. Not like Miss Goodwitch or the other teachers. Nora and I don't just swing or shoot with our weapons, we've practiced katas with each other for the majority of our lives and developed our own training regimens. And as you haven't had that luxury…"
"You also haven't developed your own fighting style," Nora continued seamlessly. "And I don't mean offense to Pyrrha either, but I don't think that was your fault. Like Qrow and Renny said, Pyrrha might've been experienced, but she wasn't Huntress experienced. She didn't have the know-how to teach you more than she knew, and I think she knew it too. She taught you as much as she could that'd benefit you, but her style just wasn't compatible with yours."
"I...think I get what you guys mean," Jaune said, "The way Pyrrha fought was based a lot on her Semblance and mobility. I don't have that, so how could I copy how she fights to a T?"
"Exactly," Qrow confirmed, "you're not nearly as quick or flexible as she was, but neither was her Aura as hardy as yours is, and I'm pretty sure she didn't have your strategic mind either."
"Ooh, imagine if Jaune could fight like a knight in the fairytales?" Ruby exclaimed, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"I'd imagine you'd like him to do more than fight like one," Nora muttered under her breath. Ren hid a bout of laughter with a cough, making Nora smirk.
"I may be able to assist somewhat in that, if I may be so bold to interrupt," Oscar said, now as Ozpin. "I have had my fair share of knighthood in some of my incarnations, so I would be more than happy to impart some of my knowledge and training to Mr. Arc."
"Hmm, I didn't think of that," Qrow mumbled, "okay, if you're sure then go right ahead. Except that's not all the training he needs. A sword and shield like that is good and all, but he really needs a gun of some sort."
"B-But I'm terrible with guns!"
"Have you tried using one?"
"Sorta...maybe...kinda? N-Not really…"
"That's on the to-do list then." As Qrow said this, Ruby's eyes lit up like a fire. I hope he can handle the monster I've just unleashed upon him, he thought. Then, he turned to Ren and Nora, silently amused at how they were inching away from Ruby. "You two...how'd you feel about trading weapons for a bit?"
They stared at him incredulously. "What?" They asked in tandem.
"Nora needs to work on her flexibility and speed, Ren needs to work on his upper body strength and endurance. Switching weapons would be perfect for that, and would allow you to view things from the other side, so to speak."
Ren and Nora looked at each other like they just met, before looking at their weapons. Before they knew what they were doing, StormFlower was gently held by Nora while Maginhild was barely lifted by Ren.
"Y'know," said Jaune, "considering the years you've been together I thought you would've used each other's weapons before."
"Not together-together...at least not back then, because y'know…" Nora found herself unable to continue the more bashful she became.
"We've used each other's weapons in the past, but typically only during extreme circumstances," Ren continued for her, "we had honestly never thought about doing it at Beacon, let alone here at Haven."
"Glad that's settled then. Oz, what do we do about Oscar?"
With the group looking at the physically youngest among them, Ozpin answered. "For now, I wish to see where he stands. Having him spar with Ruby in unarmed combat – without my support of course – should temporarily fulfill both of their lessons, yes?"
"You're the boss," Qrow answered. "Okay, so Ruby and Oscar are settled. The three of you," he said pointing to Jaune, Ren, and Nora, "will spar with each other too. Jaune can only use more skill, and the two lovebirds can get in a lot of practice with Mr. Knight here. You can even think of it as a team training exercise!" As soon as he finished, he frowned before groaning. "Foot in my mouth...I'm...just gonna go do...a thing."
The occupants of the room looked confused as he stomped upstairs. They could hear him hissing "idiot" and "birdbrain" before a door slammed shut.
It wasn't for another several seconds until Jaune realized what Qrow thought his last statement must have sounded like. "We're still a team...I mean, not a full one, but...yeah, this went depressing fast."
"We're still a team though," said Ruby, "and Pyrrha didn't really leave, not really!"
"Yeah!" Nora exclaimed. "She's not here-here with us, but that doesn't mean she's gone! And I know Pyrrha wouldn't want us moping around when we could be training our butts off!"
"You're right, Nora," said Ren, hoisting up Maginhild with a strength he didn't show during the exchange. He seemed to be thinking heavily about something while he talked. "Cinder's legs won't break themselves. Jaune, mind if I spar against you first? It'll let Nora get a preview of how much she should push you and StormFlower."
"Sure, Ren," Jaune replied. Despite Cinder just being mentioned, he looked like he couldn't be happier as the three of them walked to a nearby training room.
Ruby and Oscar smiled at the other, both being happy that the mood didn't shift for the worse.
"Just letting you know, Ozpin...err, Oscar...however you wanna be called...?"
"Ozpin said he'll let everyone know when he 'nd I switch," Oscar said, revealing himself as the farmboy, "but you don't got anything to worry about, Ms. Rose. I'm a beginner at fighting too."
"Just Ruby's fine, Oscar, I don't think I'm quite ready to be called "Miss" yet."
"O-Oh! Sorry, my Ma raised me to always show politeness to others like that before she died. I live with my Aunt now...or I did, 'til a couple weeks ago."
"I'm sorry," Ruby said sadly, "I guess Ozpin might have told you already, but my mom died too."
"Yeah. Auntie talks about her sometimes...heh, guess Oz didn't know that!"
"Your aunt knew my mom?"
"Sorta. I think it's more she knew your Gram'ma Brunnya. She talked a lot about her, I think she was real broken up after she passed."
"Brunnya...? Wait, my grandma? I...I had a grandma…"
"You didn't know about your Gram'ma?"
"No, dad and Uncle Qrow never mentioned anything about her...what was she, um, like?"
Oscar smiled widely — with not a single sign of nervousness plaguing him since he had left the farm, Ozpin secretly noted.
"You guys weren't kidding when you said you've done this before!"
"Yeah," Ren panted, his leader opposite him heavily sweating from shielding against Maginhild's heavy blows, "though it doesn't...make it any less taxing…"
"My Renny's really great at improvising," Nora said, leaning against the wall while casually inspecting StormFlower. "Did we ever tell you about how he decided on StormFlower's design?"
"Huh, no you didn't..." Jaune mused, "after the fight we had recently, I assumed it had to do something with the dagger you carry. You said it belonged to your dad, Ren?"
Ren shifted Maginhild to its compact form. "Yes...though it wasn't the real reason for how we designed StormFlower. Nora had just as much input as I did, believe it or not."
"Oh, don't be silly," Nora gushed, smiling fondly as she held one of the guns up, "I mean, so I convinced you to use heavier rounds...but you were thinking about it already anyhow, I just kinda nudged you there."
"It was actually the pistol you truly helped me on. Did you know I originally planned on it being a single assault rifle?"
"That would've been pretty cool to see," Jaune said. Nora agreed, apparently surprised by this information.
"Indeed. However, when Nora took me to a weapons vendor...she kept pointing at this pistol and pestered the shopkeep to hand it to her for a minute. Then she took my dagger and held it like so." He took the dagger from its sheath and held it in a reverse grip so that the sharp edge faced down and forward. "When she did that, it just...clicked. We ironed out the details with the smithy nearby, and by the start of the following week I wielded the dual pistols Nora is holding now."
"R-Renny," Nora said, fumbling over her words while he resheathed the dagger, "You...I-I...I never thought...you mean I actually...o-oh my gosh...!"
"Uh, wow Ren," Jaune commented, "I think you broke Nora for once."
"Perhaps I did," Ren replied, "my Nora has always admired StormFlower. I merely had to give credit where it's due."
"M-My...! Oh gods, I can't…"
"Um," said Jaune, looking at Nora who fell to her knees on the floor clutching her chest, one of StormFlower still in her hand, "I'm pretty sure she's out of it now."
"Jaune."
The boy in question looked to Ren, who was still looking at him rather than at his girlfriend. Unlike a few seconds ago, he now had a frown that made Jaune feel guilty for some reason. Not speaking, he signaled Ren to continue.
"We need to talk...about everything. About Kuroyuri, and…and about Pyrrha."
Nora seemed to break out of her trance at that moment, the sudden change in mood flipping even her smile upside-down. Seeing how serious Ren was right now unlike before, she chose not to speak, realizing he had tried to keep her out of the conversation for a reason.
"Wh-What? What brought this on?"
"Qrow did, in a sense." Ren mechashifted Maginhild back into its hammer form before leaning it against the wall. "After what he had said, Nora and I had a talk and...it cleared up a lot of things that have been plaguing us. Not all of it was pleasant for either of us, but we both came out of it much better than before, and I wouldn't take it back for the world. And now that I have this chance, I'm going to rip those bandages of yours off before they can fester any further. It would be a disservice to Pyrrha's sacrifice to not!"
"What's there to talk about? I've pushed you all away and have done nothing for this team since day one...I've been a terrible leader and a worse friend to everyone! And what do I have to show for it, huh?!" Jaune's voice started to rise, his "bandage" ripping itself off little by little as he vented. "I let my partner turn herself into a martyr because she knew that I was too weak to help her fight Cinder! And I'm still too weak, and I'll never be strong enough!
"I hate her so much! But even more, I guess I...hate myself. I never took anything seriously, and failed in every way that mattered. Qrow can't even take what I'm doing seriously...and I lash out at everyone...I'm a failure of a human being."
Slap!
Jaune didn't know when Nora had stood up and gotten in front of him, but after blinking the stars out from his vision he realized she had slapped him hard. Tears were cascading down her cheeks, and she looked like she wanted to throw him down one of Mistral's mountaintops.
"All of what you just said is untrue, and you know it!" Nora yelled. "Cardin was a bully back then and put you in a bad situation, and honestly? All of us should've been more proactive in helping you, screw what Pyrrha wanted! Ren and I...we let our past keep us from really bonding with others except as teammates. We should've pushed you to be the leader we wanted, but instead we just did nothing...being comfortable in our own little world, content to live our dreams of killing Grimm and graduating Beacon. Well you know what, screw that!"
"U-Um," stuttered her boyfriend, now realizing the fury his idea had wrought. He stood wide-eyed and guiltily at his leader.
"You were right about one thing, Renny. Keeping this from us would be a disservice to Pyrrha's sacrifice! But we've been keeping things from our Fearless Leader just as much. I say no more! We're family, and I refuse to lose anyone else because of secrets!"
"Nora–" Jaune tried.
"No, you lost the right to speak when you started bad-mouthing yourself." Nora took StormFlower in her hands and pointed them at Jaune, who hastily raised his shield. "This queen's come to realize she's stood behind the rampart for too long. Get ready, Fearless Leader...we're gonna make you earn your title!"
Summer hovered in the corner of the training room, invisible to all present. She saw as Nora kicked at Jaune's shield with righteous anger before following up with a running slash of StormFlower. She saw Ren stuck halfway between contemplative focus and sheer terror, unwilling to get in the middle of Nora's onslaught. But most of all, she saw the glint in Jaune's eyes as he raised his shield and fell back, before meeting the dual blades of StormFlower with his sword.
She remembered the time when her own team had this conversation with her. Back when she saw herself as useless, and Raven took her by the scruff of her neck and threw her into Emerald Forest before jumping in after her. When Qrow stood sentry as Raven demolished her and wouldn't let up until she was past exhaustion. When Tai kept encouraging her to stand back up and give Raven what for until, bleeding and dead on her feet, she'd shattered Raven's aura and the tree behind her.
You won't let yourselves falter again. Your scars will never heal...but if you're anything like Team STRQ, you'll rise above them and keep moving forward past all obstacles. And with Fi's help, you'll soar into the sky and become the warriors we couldn't be.
Cinder Fall...wherever you are, you'd best hope you're ready. These are no longer innocent children, and they're out for blood. And I'll be there smiling as they enact the wrath you placed upon their shoulders.
Unknown to anyone else present, her translucent eyes gleamed with a dangerous light, full of mirth and murder.
In a building far from Haven Academy, where poverty was your friend and comfort was a luxury, two people stood in a room with nothing but a broken table and cobwebs. One of them, a man, was pacing back and forth with a troubled expression. The other, a female, leaned against a wall with a hardened stare, paying more attention to her inner thoughts than the man's pacing.
"Another one was lost, you say?" the woman asked.
"As well as another the previous day," the man replied. "It's getting to the point where we might have no choice but withdraw from Mistral, we've taken plenty of our own casualties as it is."
"That will just be adding more of our members to the pyre. No matter what way you look at it, we're in a tight spot...I don't know how much more we can take this."
A series of soft, patterned knocks came from the door. The man grabbed a knife from his belt before slightly opening the door, before then fully opening it as another man completely clothed in black garb stepped inside. The new arrival knelt before the woman, holding a fist to his chest as he spoke.
"I bring word from our brothers and sisters in the upper section of the city. One Hunter, as well as four young Hunters-in-training have been sighted entering Mistral. Before going to the Academy, the young ones toured the shopping district, and the Hunter seemed to be thinking aloud to himself in the meanwhile. You will be interested in knowing who they are, and some of what they were talking about."
"Proceed," the woman ordered.
"Very well. The children were identified as Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Ren Lie, all from the former Beacon Academy. The first is known to be the leader of Team R-W-B-Y," he said this by separating each letter of the name, "led by herself, while the latter three are led by Arc in Team J-N-P-R. The locations of the remaining members of the first are unimportant for now, while the remaining member of the second was the late Pyrrha Nikos. If my logic serves me, the children have likely created a new team, though I admit that is currently unimportant to us."
"And the Hunter?" she asked.
"He's one of the ones you wanted to have tabs kept on: Qrow Branwen, brother of Raven Branwen. Both used to be members of former Team S-T-R-Q; intelligence we have gathered over the years suggests Raven abandoned the team, while Summer Rose — the leader of the team and undoubtedly Ruby's mother — was killed in action."
"Qrow...I wonder...?"
"What do you have in mind, boss?" the first man asked.
"...Attention!" she announced, walking over to tapping on the broken table in a different rhythm than the second man had. Immediately, the door opened and four people — three men and a woman — entered the room, kneeling in the same manner as him. The man who had been in the room with her since the start also did so.
"I have always tried to make the best choices for our organization, to make it prosper in the shadows of Remnant. For over thirty years, we had done just that. Then, two people we now know of as Cinder Fall and Hazel Rainart targeted not just Hunters from the Academy, but our family as well. What I am about to say may seem reckless to all of you, and may not be taken well, but it is my belief that this is the best chance we have of eliminating this threat.
"Find Qrow Branwen, and convince him to help us. I know that his loyalties are not with us, but they definitely must be against Cinder. An alliance with someone of his calibre, even if temporary, may be just what we need...and I have a feeling our services are just what he needs as well. What say you, my Spiders?"
The "Spiders" showed no signs of disagreement. The man who had knelt last stood announced "It shall be done", and she nodded to him.
"If he agrees to help, or at least shows a desire to, allow him to come to the bar and I will meet with him in person. There are some questions I need to ask him as well...if this goes well, we may have ourselves another family member. I don't wish to think about what we will have to do if he is unwilling, do I make myself clear?"
A round of "Yes, boss!" echoed through the room, and she dismissed them to their duties. All six of them left the room, leaving her alone to her thoughts.
I once owed him a debt for saving my life in more ways than one, and now I'm about to demand another. Qrow...I hope you accept. Everything rides on your decision. I don't know what I'll do without your help...
Luxanne Malachite knew she never made reckless decisions if she didn't have to, especially when it came to her Spiders. In this moment of desperate trust, she had no idea the scale of just what she had set in motion.