Interlude 2 Chapter 7: Omens Well and Ill

AN: Gasp! What's this?! Only a one-week delay between chapters?! Are the golden days upon us again?

Eh… I don't know. Didn't have a lot to do this week. But now that I actually know what the general plans are for the chapters following this, I should at least not take a frigging month between chapters anymore.

Anywho, what's the obvious theme for the chapter immediately before an entire volume of fighting? Why, more fighting! Duh!

(Perspective: Kassidy)

"Oh, would you quit hiding behind your shield, already?!"

"If you insist!"

Any further complaints Kassidy had needed to be silenced as Jaune remained true to his word, Crocera Mors flashing out in a crescent of shrieking steel that was at the perfect height to chop her clean in half if she didn't do something. Biting back a yelp, she pushed some Aura to her feet and used the added boost to launch herself a good ten feet away. By the time she finally got her feet back under her, Jaune was already on top of her and dropping into a stance that suggested that he would again return to his typical 'sit on face with shield' strategy he usually used against her.

The fact that he didn't spoke of the magnitudes of improvement he'd made over the past semester. Kassidy danced left, away from the usual shield bash, only to have to backpedal and wildly bring her sword up when the bash turned out to be a feint that disguised a nasty rising slash from the sword. Jaune actually kept up with her through her retreat, as well, continuing to keep her on the defensive with his sword, his shield flying in every time she tried to get her balance back. Kassidy couldn't help but be impressed with the progress Jaune's made: Pyrrha had definitely not been holding back with training him.

Of course, Kassidy wasn't the same fighter she used to be, either, and if sparring with Yang taught her nothing else it was that standing up directly to someone that overpowered you so was a stupid idea. Jaune's next swing took his sword out from his body, and though he used his shield to compensate for his lacking defenses the conditions were perfect for Kassidy's next move. She dropped to her knees, then nearly on her back, letting her Aura coat her leg and arm as she deftly slid under the entirety of Crocera Mors, finally getting around that damned shield of his. Before Jaune was able to figure out what happened, Kassidy kicked back up to her feet, Baton flashing first against Jaune's hamstring, then his upper back, before Kassidy backpedaled again to buy some space.

"That's new," Jaune groaned, rolling his shoulders from the discomfort her strikes caused. Because even all her training means she's not much more than a discomfort to the kid with meter-thick Aura. Totally unfair.

Kassidy replied, "So is you being aggressive. You're gotten pretty damn good."

"You too," Jaune reassured. They instantly locked blades again, and Kassidy felt herself start to skid backwards from the force her opponent was putting into the struggle. "Or maybe not so much, if you thought this was a good idea," he taunted.

"Sure you're not forgetting something?" Kassidy ground out. Jaune's eyes widened and he tried to disengage, but it was too late. He only just barely so much as got his shield around as Crescent Rose came flying in, Ruby swinging with enough momentum to send Jaune flying. Absentmindedly, Kassidy finished, "Namely, that this is team sparring."

"Think we can trade partners?" Ruby asked.

Kassidy gaped. "Me. Against Pyrrha. That's a joke, right?"

Ruby's reply was interrupted when Pyrrha somehow whiffed her first shot, the rifle bullet whizzing right between the two of them. They both twirled back, traded a look, and grinned simultaneously. Rogue came out of its holster and found its way in Kassidy's right hand, Ruby chambered a new round, and neither even had to call for Thorned Rose before they decided to remind Pyrrha that getting into a gunfight with either of them – never mind both of them at the same time – was a bad idea.

Kassidy hadn't even gotten through her magazine when Ruby yelped, and all of a sudden she had to dodge a flying sniper scythe from her left. Pyrrha was on top of her afterwards, and Kassidy got to once again try and dodge and parry for her life. If Jaune was a terror, then Pyrrha was a nightmare. Where Jaune would swing a bit too wide at times, letting Kassidy slide by under the shield and tear him apart before he could recollect himself, there were no such openings with his partner. Her sword (or her spear, because of course it couldn't just behave and stay in one form like a normal weapon) was quick and precise, her shield was unyielding and exactly everywhere Kassidy didn't need it, and unlike with Jaune, Baton seemed like it grew a mind of its own as it tried to throw itself in random directions and buck out of her grip.

"Am I really not a free enough win for you that you need to use your Semblance on me?" Kassidy managed to spit out. Pyrrha replied with her sword flashing down from on high, the force enough to drive Kassidy to a knee. The shield came immediately afterward, catching her in the chestplate while she was pinned under the struggle and sending her sprawling a few feet back.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha offered. "Yang asked me not to take it easy on you."

Oh for the love of… just how did Kassidy know that something like that would happen? Screw it, if Yang got her into this situation, Yang can get her out of this situation. "Blacksmith!" Kassidy called out, still trying to crawl on her back away from Pyrrha.

Almost immediately, a pair of shotgun blasts rang out from a decent way down the oversized dueling arena the eight of them were in. It might not have been enough to start with, but it was still enough to make Pyrrha wheel around in order to get her shield between herself and the explosive rounds fired her way… which is exactly when Kassidy struck, her boot shooting out and kicking Pyrrha's legs out from under her. Pyrrha immediately kicked back up, her sword and shield a blur as she momentarily turned into a crimson-colored whirlwind to keep Kassidy from closing the gap. Of course, Kassidy had no intentions of getting into melee combat with the currently undefeated champion of the freshman class' combat class, instead opting to draw her pistol again and fire the last three shots in the magazine at her. As predicted, all the shots bounced harmlessly off her shield, but at least they kept Pyrrha from immediately reengaging.

"I've got a tail!" Yang cried, catching Kassidy's attention. She groaned; of course Nora would've chased Yang across the hall. Why did she expect anything otherwise? Kassidy dodged under a spear thrust, rolled away from the follow-up knee, finished reloading on the way back to her feet, then twirled around Yang to level Baton and Rogue on a certain pink grenadier.

Unfortunately, Nora showed exactly zero compunctions of slowing down. If anything, she just grinned, started running even more quickly, and belted out a quick, "Hi, Kass!" before jumping into the air, intending to form a new crater in the floor – with Kassidy as ground zero.

Deciding that she would very much like to not be the nail to Magnhild's hammer, Kassidy kicked off against the ground at the last moment, gliding away just in time to put a good fifteen feet between herself and the madwoman whose idea of a good time is massive property damage as a side effect. She didn't even wait for the dust to settle before gliding back in, counterattacking with a good four swing combo on Nora before she started twirling her hammer around herself to disengage.

At the same time Nora pulled back, Yang jumped right next to Kassidy. The duos of RWKY and JNPR stared each other down, each trying to catch their breaths. Casually (and not quietly enough), Yang asked Kassidy, "How much Aura you have?"

After getting Bob to read the meters for her, she replied, "45 percent. You're still on 53?"

"Yup," Yang answered.

Kassidy felt a smile pull against her lips. "We've got this."

"Oh, you think, huh?!" Nora challenged.

"What'dya think, K? Meteor?" Yang asked.

Kassidy hummed, before shaking her head. "I'm thinking more along the lines of Blender, personally."

"Ooh, nice," Yang commented. She slammed her fists together, chambering new rounds in each of Ember Celica's gauntlets. She called over to their counterparts, "You ready for round two?"

Pyrrha smiled softly; Nora's grin turned maniacal. The next moment, all four of them dashed into the fray, though notably Kassidy peeled off to the side, starting to get shots off even before they had all met. Most of them missed – almost certainly thanks to Pyrrha's magnetism shenanigans – but they still forced Nora and Pyrrha to split apart, making enough of an opening for Yang jump into the middle. She emptied both of her weapons into the floor in front of her while also letting a blast loose from her Semblance, shrouding the immediate area in fire and further splitting up the fight. Kassidy glided back in, Rogue holstered in favor of one of her knives, and got to work demonstrating the teamwork and cooperation she'd been able to build up with Yang. Literally hundreds – maybe even thousands – of hours of sparring, dozens of weekend practice missions… and don't even get her started on the White Fang. Kassidy needed the training, and Yang loved training, and so they probably had more combat hours logged together than even some third-year partners.

Pyrrha was the first to recover and try to set Yang up for a quick K.O. via Nora; Kassidy was already there, Baton pinning Milo back and the knife making Pyrrha choose between blocking the blade or the shotgun gauntlet-enhanced punch. Even in such a bad situation, though, it was obvious why Pyrrha was (and technically still is) the reigning champion of Mistral, as she managed to twist in such a way that the knife only grazed her shoulder.

Nora, on the other hand, wasn't quite so lucky. What was supposed to be a massive swing into Yang's exposed flank found itself redirected by Kassidy's boot and slamming into the ground. Kassidy smashed the pommel of Baton into Nora's jaw before bringing its blade across her arm. A cry of dismay from her partner made her abandon her follow up, instead prompting her to twirl around to find Yang having been drug off balance and Pyrrha about to jam her spear into her back. Thinking fast, Kassidy dropped her knife before letting a pulse of Aura blast out from her open palm. While it only slammed into Pyrrha's shield, it was still enough to knock her sufficiently away that she abandoned her assault and gave Yang the time she needed to get her feet back under her.

A war cry from behind her gave Kassidy the warning she needed to roll to her right, barely dodging out of the way of Nora's hammer. As she rolled to her feet, Nora compensated abnormally quickly, and the reason why became apparent as she started twirling her hammer around in lighter attacks in an attempt to keep up with Kassidy's mobility. It would've been a great idea, too, if Yang hadn't recovered and planted her boot in the back of Nora's knee and following up by slamming her fist into the back of her skull. A buzzer sounding from the arena's scoreboard signaled Nora's Aura dropping into the red.

As much as Kassidy wanted to take a moment to grab a celebratory breath of air, Pyrrha seemed determined to allow no sleep for the wicked. Kassidy had to haul back on Yang's shoulder to keep her from getting impaled from behind, sending her sprawling and putting herself in Pyrrha's crosshairs. A slight lean to the left ensured that the spear didn't do much more than scrape against her armor, but Pyrrha using her Semblance to tug on her armor and send her careening off balance seemed to tell the story that she was done playing games. Ignoring Yang entirely, Pyrrha focused entirely on hounding Kassidy, leading with a lightning fast series of sword strikes that she wasn't entirely successful of staying ahead of.

It was only when a particularly brutal shield bash forced her to a knee that Kassidy finally managed to disrupt the tempo, angling Baton in such a way that Milo merely slid along it off to the side. Seeing only one opportunity and refusing to let it slip by, Kassidy dropped her sword and channeled as much of her Aura as she could manage into her palms for another one of those projection attacks that Ren taught her. Pyrrha's already wide eyes tried to fly out of their sockets as a giant dark blue circle erupted from Kassidy's outstretched arms and sent her soaring… right into Yang's cocked fist, who was more than happy to punch her into the ground and literally mop the floor with her face.

The buzzer sounding Pyrrha's defeat was music to Kassidy's ears – so much so that instead of continuing to fight, she collapsed onto her back, sucking in great breaths for her suddenly ailing lungs. A quick glance at the scoreboard gave the answer why: she was in the red now, too. It made sense; Kassidy used a lot of Aura to make that work, and right now it felt like she'd just gotten finished with running a marathon on top of the training they've already done today.

"Wow! What was that?!"

The sudden exclamation from the side got Kassidy to tilt her head. Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and Ren had all halted their fights to watch the four of them do battle, and were now blatantly staring at them with wide eyes and agape mouths. Ruby spoke up again, continuing, "That. Was. Awesome!"

"Certainly doesn't feel awesome," Kassidy ground out, groaning her displeasure at the pounding in her head. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long; this was worse than a hangover.

"You alright, K?" Yang asked, jogging up to her. When Kassidy simply groaned again in reply, she helped her up and over to the stands nearby, where they all had their gear and some blessed water bottles. "Damn, you were amazing! We did that perfectly!"

"Apart from the times I had to save you from Pyrrha," Kassidy replied, tongue almost literally in her cheek. Yang stuck her own tongue out in answer, drawing a few chuckles from the people in the room with them.

Pyrrha interrupted their reverie, however. "If you don't mind me asking, what was that you did at the end? To knock me back, I mean."

Kassidy at least had enough presence of mind to cock an eyebrow at her while guzzling water like a parched camel. "Uh, you mean that Aura projection thingie? It's just that thing Ren taught me how to do, just really big."

"There must be more to it than that," the young man in question said. Ren continued, "I've never been able to control such a powerful projection as what you mustered. Are you certain that there wasn't something else to it?"

A shake of the head prefaced Kassidy's answer. "Though, to be fair, I didn't so much control it as shove as much Aura as I possibly could into my hands and point it in a general direction," she admitted. A certain thought dawned upon her while everyone else snickered, and she blurted out, "So, what? I'm good at using Aura for literally everything except for what it's supposed to be used for? How am I… completely not surprised?"

"Don't fret, Kassidy," Weiss reassured, and Kassidy's mind finally caught up and came to the conclusion that they must have all called a cessation to hostilities. "Our Auras are as diverse as we are – they're extensions of ourselves, essentially. My Aura is also not conducive to extreme amounts of duability."

"Besides," Nora added on. "Hitting things is a lot more fun than getting hit!"

"I'll second that," Kassidy added, joining in on everyone's laughter. Once it had all died down, she asked, "So who won, anyway?"

Ruby and Jaune both looked thoughtful for a moment, before conferring for a short bit. Eventually, they turned back to the group, and Ruby exclaimed with a huge smile, "Well, Pyrrha and Nora were both out of the fight for JNPR, while only Kassidy had been eliminated for RWKY. My Aura was at 23%, Weiss' at 57%, and Yang's at 31%."

"Meanwhile," Jaune continued, "I had 14% and Ren had 17%."

"Woohoo!" Yang cried, jumping up. "Ain't that right! We don't have any rookies on Team RWKY! Mess with us, we'll mess you up!"

"Someone's feeling cocky," a new voice called, prompting everyone to turn to the door just in time for Sun and his team to walk in. "What are you nerds up to?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ruby said, crossing her arms and looking not the slightest bit smug about things. "Just going over how we're going to kick butt in the tournament."

"Don't be too sure, we might have something to say about that!" Sun fired back.

"Looks like the peanut gallery has finally decided to join in the fun," Kassidy commented, rolling her eyes. However, when Yang simply huffed in reply, she couldn't help but ask, "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're still sore about Sun dating Ruby?" When Yang still refused to answer, she sat up fully and teased, "You are still sore about that!"

"Hey, I'm Ruby's big sis," Yang defended. "It's kinda my prerogative to be mistrustful of anybody that she's dating."

"Don't you think you're taking it a bit too far at this point?" Kassidy countered. "I think Sun's more than proved himself to not be a scumbag anymore."

"Hey lovebirds!" someone called to them. Kassidy and Yang rolled their eyes and turned a synchronous smirk on the other ten people in the room just in time for Sun to ask, "How did you guys finish up your semesters?"

That's right, they'd finished up their final exams not even twenty-four hours ago… and boy did Kassidy want to keep that memory purged. "Well, I mean, I passed all my classes, so that's the important part."

"Says the super genius," Yang chortled. Kassidy turned narrowed eyes on her and mouthed 'traitor' even as everyone else giggled. Her mirth dying down, Yang said, "Well, I say that, but I can't really claim to be much better in that regard."

"And we had a lot of crap come up this past semester," Kassidy added.

"Yeah, we kinda did," Ruby echoed. "But we came out of it stronger than ever!"

"Better hearing than ever, too," Kassidy tacked on, wiggling her Faunus ears for emphasis. The joke got everyone laughing in short order.

I hope this never ends.

"Those were good noodles, Yang. Excellent find, as usual," Kassidy praised.

Yang beamed as they walked through the Vytal Festival grounds. "I knew you'd like it. Certainly have big enough portions for our appetites."

"Yeah," Kassidy agreed. "Glad I went for the smaller size – we still have a lot to cover tonight." They found their way to a stall displaying various weapons parts, and a sniper scope caught her eye quickly. Yang must've spotted it too, for she dropped the Lien for it quickly to pick it up for her absent little sister. "Where's Ruby again? Sorry, I missed that with my workout this morning."

"It's fine," Yang said, and her voice was somewhat muted. "She went back home to Patch to spend time with Dad. And visit Mom."

"Oh," Kassidy said lamely. Seeking to change the topic, she asked, "Want to split up for a little bit? Cover a bit more ground that way, pick up everything we want, and meet back here for some more fun and games?"

"Sounds like a plan, K," Yang answered. She leaned in for a quick kiss, and Kassidy rolled her eyes with a smile as she provided. Yang quickly started walking down the way, a certain sway to her hips that Kassidy knew was fully intentional. Shaking her head to dismiss the spell, she turned around and headed over for a different stall. She'd caught rumors of a vendor selling some higher quality .45-caliber ammunition, and she wanted to check if any of it would be good for Rogue. Better safe than sorry, as they always say.

However, it wasn't halfway across the grounds before Kassidy got the feeling that she was being watched. She tried to dismiss the paranoia and quicken her pace, but if anything the feeling grew. It didn't take long for the familiar and unwanted pressure to be nearly overwhelming. Spotting an offshoot into a secluded area just off the grounds, Kassidy took off for it as quickly as she dared without drawing attention.

"So you're the one that has caught Yang's interest."

Her pursuer wasted no time once they were out of eyesight and earshot. Kassidy whirled around, Baton already sliding out of its sheath as she stared down the woman following her. What looked like leg warmers covered from her thighs to the high-heeled boots she wore, with a short skirt barely covering anything else. By contrast, a heavy red and black jacket covered all of her upper body, and her head was concealed by a helmet of some kind. A full-faced white helmet with red markings. It was the gigantic sheath on her hip that caught Kassidy's attention the most, however.

"You're the White Fang ambush?" Kassidy deduced. "Rather short on manpower, don't you think?"

"The White Fang is targeting you? Interesting," the mystery woman mused. Evidently dismissing the notion, she moved onto, "Regardless, that is not why I am here."

"Then why are you here?" Kassidy asked.

"By catching Yang's interest, you've caught mine as well." The newcomer paused long enough to let the words sink in, but interrupted Kassidy whenever she tried to talk again. "Prove your strength."

"Prove my what?" Kassidy deadpanned. The meaning became obvious when the woman drew her sword while charging her blindingly quickly, and it took a quick Aura glide to pull herself out of the way in time. Rather than overshoot, however, the woman stopped on a dime, flicking her sword backwards almost lazily and nearly taking one of Kassidy's limbs off.

Kassidy cursed, gliding back again and trying to buy enough space to pull Rogue out of its holster – there might not be anybody that could hear them talking, but that gun was loud if nothing else – but was thwarted by the woman dashing forward again with her sword extended, trying to turn her into a Kassidy kebab.

Screw it. Now's not the time to be holding back. Hope Bob's paying attention to the iris cam feed.

Kassidy once again danced back, once again tried to go for her gun, and predictably got the woman to try and interrupt again. Leaning to the right, she darted her own sword out to lash at the woman, following the movement into a spin and using Aura to turn it into a full semicircle that took her to the woman's exposed back.

Or it would have, if the woman hadn't blurred before all but disappearing. The ears atop her head twitched, and Kassidy reacted, rolling forward and out of the way of the sword screaming through the place her neck had previously occupied. The woman followed up while Kassidy was still trying to get her feet under her, fully intent to run her through and forcing Kassidy to desperately release an Aura projection to try and throw the sword off course. The gleaming red blade barely seemed to notice, and indeed it still managed to scrape the paint off the side of her armor.

But it also left her open, and Kassidy reacted instantly, acting more on panicked instinct than training at this point. Baton flashed towards the woman, who predictably blurred and dodged faster than her eyes could track. What it did, however, was buy time for her hand to drop to her belt. Rather than roll under the next attack from her blind spot, Kassidy jumped, performing a backflip that easily carried her a good ten feet into the air while also giving her the perfect aim to drop a high-explosive round right on the woman's helmet.

What had to be ceramic shattered under the detonation, raining down as shards over the woman's head and body. Unfortunately, the woman herself didn't even look hurt from literally getting shot in the face by what was essentially a grenade bullet. If anything, she looked annoyed, a state of being she confirmed when she sheathed her sword and muttered, "I liked that helmet…"

Kassidy took the opportunity to dance back a few steps, Baton out and at the ready while Rogue pointed itself right between the crimson eyes of her assailant. "Then you shouldn't have attacked me," she ground out.

"Impressive reactions, especially for one as young as you," her assailant praised, utterly confusing Kassidy. Completely ignoring the pistol still pointing at her face, she continued, "But they were rendered utterly useless by the fact that you lacked sufficient speed and strength to follow through with them."

"This gun's got pretty decent strength behind it, I'd say," Kassidy warned.

"Does it, now? I hadn't noticed," the woman taunted. "This world is cruel. It does not suffer the weak. See to your strength. I shall be testing you again soon."

Kassidy found herself unable to find an appropriate response for a few moments. It took remembering that she was trying to buy time for someone to come help her with this crazy lady for her to say, "Dare I ask who the hell you are and why the fuck you just tried to kill me?"

Suddenly, the woman drew her sword again and swept it to the side. Where the sword passed through, what could only be described as a hole in space opened up in reds and blacks, a person-sized portal waiting before its mistress. "Like I said, the world does not suffer the weak to live," the woman repeated. "And I do not suffer the weak to be a burden to my daughter."

This time, Kassidy truly could not come up with a good answer, needing to settle for a flat, "What?"

"Farewell, Kassidy Smith," the woman that was now identified as Raven Branwen said. She stepped into the portal, the reds and blacks collapsed on themselves, and suddenly Kassidy found herself alone.

A state of being that didn't remain for long, as Yang came sprinting around the corner with Ember Celica deployed and the telltale orange tips of armor piercing ammunition loaded. "K!" she cried. "What happened?! Are you alright?"

"I… don't know," Kassidy admitted.

Yang's eyes bugged, but she coaxed her weapons back into their bracelet forms when Kassidy sheathed her own weapons. "What do you mean you don't know."

"Just that," Kassidy answered, unable to come up with much better. After a few seconds' pause, she answered, "You were right about one thing, though."

"Yeah?" Yang prompted, tension still thick in her voice.

"I do hate your mother."

AN 2: Dun dun dun!

Didn't expect that, did you? Honestly, I didn't expect that myself, I had initially planned that to be early in Volume 3 material. But I had a sudden need for 1500 words that I couldn't think of any other way for the life of me. Oh well. Qrow will need something else to talk with Kassidy about, it seems.

Coming up next: Wait, we actually have a plan for the next chapter? Sweet. Anyways… do I even need to put what's up next here? Volume 3 incoming!

Right after these Reader Responses.

serioushugsies: Fluff, when done well, is always enjoyable. Glad to hear I apparently did it well. This might not be fluff, but hopefully the action is equally enjoyable.

DannyPhantom: Glad you liked that so much, here's to hoping this one suits your fancy as well.

DIYEyal: Nope, sorry, have never read the Bobiverse series. I gotta say, Blake and Adam was something I'd been looking forward to for a while, and was really nervous if I'd gotten it the way I wanted and if people liked it. People seem to like it, and I'm happy with how it turned out, so I'm happy. And yeah, you got your prank. And yeah, that's a funny mental image. I can understand the poor writing bit, though I'm still holding out for the epilogue of Volume 5 myself. Glad to hear you're sticking with us, though! Yeah, job interviews have been fun (and not in the fun way!) and will probably continue to be fun for a little while, but I'm hoping signs are looking good for me. And don't feel the need to apologize for long comments, if anything it'll just prompt a long response!

Milthren: I'm glad to know you think so. I'll definitely be giving things my best shot.

Tykene: Yeah, when you go back and look at the way Adam reacts it's basically, "rargh Blake left me now I hate everyone". That's… not even two-dimensional. Maybe a dimension and a half? Anyway, keeping her in the White Fang leads to a more interesting character as far as I'm concerned, so there's that.

Xandar Valle: Here in RWKY, Animal Abuse does not in fact feature abuse. As a matter of fact, consider it RWKYcanon (TM)(R)(C) that Adam has never raised his hand against Blake (other than whatever ideas Ninjas of Love gives them, obviously). Glad to hear you've been here for so long and that I've continued to entertain you so thoroughly. Though… did you have to remind me about the first chapters? Now I remember that I kinda sorta promised to rewrite them all back before Volume 2 and still haven't done jack squat in that department.

Ultimatrix bearer: Wait, people don't consider a whole aspect of casualties? That's racist *ding*. Happy new year to you as well, and hopes that both of us continue to be awesome.

YumiKnowsBest: Hey, this is a T-rated fic. I can't go much too further than that while still being able to keep that rating. In all seriousness, glad you enjoyed it. I did have a great Christmas and New Years, and I hope yours were as well. Here, have some more! Again!