One man stood his ground upon the combat class' training grounds, carrying his new whip, a bullwhip-blackjack hybrid with a wind dust infusion, courtesy of Ruby's design. He also wields a parrying dagger in his offhand, while another weapon, a boomerang, is attached to the back of his belt pack. The nasty-eyed now 20-year-old man known as Natsuki Subaru is dressed in his newly donned combat outfit. Still a tracksuit, but it is a tracksuit specifically suited for combat. Its color can be said to be similar to that of a wasp, fitting for his fighting style, yellow and black instead of his usual orange. Its material is made to withstand stronger impacts and sudden slashes, while still being relatively light and easy to breathe in.
He gets onto his stance, dominant foot in the front and the other in the back, aiming his dagger towards the target in front of him, a young woman. Once an enemy now turned ally and teammate, her clothing still reminded him of the first time they met where he died thrice to her.
Scarlet Blackhall, formerly Hyena, is walking towards the arena. Her face presents a much friendlier type of intimidation, more playful and soft rather than her usual bloodlust. Carrying a single sword in her dominant hand, with her scabbard on the other, she quickly gets to her usual stance.
"Does this remind you of our first time, Barubaru?" She said in a teasing tone, giggling a little upon calling his nickname she gave him.
"Obviously! Also, that tone makes it sound inappropriate, we have children watching!" He said half-screaming.
Within the sidelines, Beatrice huffed, upset at her contractor for calling her a child, "Betty's Subaru is an idiot at calling Betty a child again, I suppose!"
"It's kinda true from the way you act though, Beako" Subaru responded, looking towards her, making her pout even more.
Both Scarlet and Indigo can only laugh as both the contractor and spirit exchange banter. The latter raises her right arm, waiting for the right moment to start the match. This was a practice match, formed by Subaru as per request from Shiro Indigo, his current combat mentor, to keep the entire team sharp in terms of skill and combat capability just before their round in the Vytal Tournament starts.
It began all the way back to the first week after they got formed into a team, and it was one of Subaru's brightest ideas. A team event that was commenced every two weeks during their free time, it was a really genius idea even after so long since the first match had started. He is proud of the progress they're making in terms of getting the entire team closer. Though he had to admit, aside from Indigo herself, only he knows how important a strict training regime is, even Scarlet doesn't know due to her laziness getting back to her after she had recovered from her curse.
As for the Vytal Tournament. It is an event formed to remember the peace treaty that was made at the end of The Great War, this world's equivalent of the world wars where each kingdom fought each other. It caused millions of deaths and a lot of massacring from Grimm due to the sheer negativity of it all. The war was then subsequently ended by the mythical figure known as the King of Vale, who ended it by intervening during the final battle with the usage of a secret weapon that is rumored to be stored within the secret vaults of Beacon Academy. The treaty took place in the island of the same name, Vytal, just north of the continent of Sanus, the Kingdom of Vale's mainland.
The Vytal Tournament itself, however, is an international Grand Olympics-type of sports event that is held every two years, which is a tournament, held by all of the four kingdoms upon a floating and mobile island known as Amity Colosseum.
Symbolically, the tournament battles that unfold in the event itself will represent a reminder to always strive for excellence and never mediocrity. Which Subaru is trying desperately to reach. Even with 3 years of training, a year in Remnant, and two years back in Lugunica, with countless loops as battle experience, it's not enough to meet the standards of both worlds.
Indigo then proceeded to look at her watch before looking down towards the two combatants below her. "Same rules as always: no usage of authorities, magic, and exploitation of clear weaknesses. The winning condition is to put the opponent at 15% of their aura or less or outlast them within the time limit while having a higher aura count than theirs. You two have exactly one minute to finish the match." Said Indigo with a stern voice.
Both combatants nodded, tightening their guard and closing their distance. Beatrice is intently watching as they approach each other closer, before looking towards Indigo who begins to lower her arm as she utters, "You may begin!"
Immediately, Subaru cracked his whip towards Scarlet. The wind dust infusion strengthened the sonic boom of the whip, knocking her backward.
She quickly regained her balance, a less-bloodlusted smile appearing on her face, "Nice one! It gets my blood pumping!" Scarlet said, before deflecting a second strike and dodged another.
Subaru ignored her words, instead of focusing on pressuring her, making sure to not let her get an opportunity to attack. Each strike from his whip she parries. Even with wind dust strengthening his attacks she can easily dodge and deflect them all. Truly a testament to her skill as a veteran assassin.
Though due to a miscalculation of timing on his part, a chance for her to retaliate came forth. A pair of wind blades burst forth from the swing of her blade. Then, she brought forth a crimson javelin from her hands, seemingly out of pure aura, before throwing it at him.
He narrowly dodged one before avoiding another with an aura-powered frontflip. He quickly took note that if any of those hits, he would be done for. Shortly after, he instinctively countered the incoming javelin with a wind dust-imbued whip crack, just before it reached him. "Was that a red javelin I just saw!?" He screamed while appalled.
"My semblance is not called Crimson War Goddess for nothing!" She exclaimed, sending another wind blade in response.
Subaru dodged that as well, "You should've told me earlier, you almost won that fight! That thing was big!" He replied, sending a set of attacks towards her.
"That's what she said! Hah!" Scarlet laughed, parrying his attacks in the process.
As he tried not to laugh at the joke she just said to him, he took a mental note on memorizing her capabilities. Even with her increasing laziness, she clearly knows how to fight well. And he knows that it would end with him losing if he does not change the battle in his favor. So he quickly thought up an idea while pressuring her once more. He switched his dagger for a boomerang, quickly throwing it at her during a short interval between his attacks.
Scarlet dodged it quite easily, but the gravity dust that was present within the carvings of the boomerang began to glow as Subaru signaled it to return, hitting the back of her head before going back to his hand. She was then hit once more by his whip to the abdomen, knocking her off guard before being hit once more by a whip crack to the face. Another strike from his whip knocked her again to near the edge of the room.
Her aura glows with each successful hit done by him. She was caught off guard by that series of attacks, and she clearly had enough of the cheap tricks he constantly brought up, even if those hits were weak and negligible in the short term. She turned towards him, her eyes glaring at him angrily.
Beatrice sighed, "He's going to lose, I suppose," She said on the sidelines. Even with another year of training and huge strides in growing stronger, Subaru is still in the category of the underdog in terms of fighting.
Indigo nodded, "He is going to lose. But nice tricks though, that was smart," She commented. She had noted down the list of skills Subaru had obtained before and during her mentoring, and so far he still fits more to be a support fighter rather than anything else, even his outright otherworldly abilities fit that category.
Subaru is a clever fighter from what she can see for the past year. But aside from his wits, dexterity, and vigorous and impressively strict training experience with the whip, he is still helpless when fighting actual veteran fighters. But perhaps with the current circumstances of their team fighting hunters in training for the tournament, he may fare better overall, but she can't guarantee it.
Scarlet quickly gets to her stance and charges towards him, getting a slice to his aura with the help of her semblance boosting her swing. Subaru was hit hard and got knocked into the air, his aura was halved by that attack. He quickly landed on his feet using a backflip before maneuvering his body to land with a reverse pouncing roll. Next, he quickly responded by desperately flicking his whip multiple times towards her to keep her at bay. Scarlet deflected each attack and threw yet another javelin, which he dodged, before catching the fall of his whip using her sword.
A brief tug of war commenced between them as Subaru struggled to get a hold of his whip. Scarlet grunted, using all her might to pull him towards her. It ended with Subaru forcing himself to release his whip and switch to his dagger, charging forward and throwing the boomerang at her.
Scarlet throws the whip onto the ground before dodging the boomerang both times as it returns to his hands. Then quickly Subaru went for a thrust and a swing with his dagger, which she quickly deflected and countered with ease. A small exchange of blades happened between them as the steel of their weapons clashed. Scarlet had to admit that within a year Subaru had grown fast in the art of swordsmanship, despite him telling her that he has no clear skill in doing so. But it was not enough to even compete with the likes of her on equal footing.
The short dance of blades only resulted in Subaru quickly getting overwhelmed as Scarlet goes for the offensive, as predicted by most people in the room. Clashing their blades for the last time, Scarlet then went in for a kick to his chest before she sent a wind blade at him with a quick slash. With no opportunity to dodge it, Subaru got hit and was quickly driven to the wall, creating visible cracks in the wall upon impact. He dropped to his knees, admitting defeat as he coughed out some of the dust from that crash, his aura then shortly after shattered.
"The winner is Scarlet Blackhall, total knockout with 0% of aura and 15 seconds left. Scarlet's remaining aura is…" She checked her scroll for the final aura meter, "70%. Significant progress from the original 85%" Indigo declared, her almost monotone voice indicating that it had become routine to see Subaru losing to her despite his cleverness. She took some notes that Subaru needs to reach the point where he can survive an actual serious opponent above his weight class, or he'll die.
Beatrice, using her magic, landed on the lower floor of the combat class' training grounds and quickly approached her contractor. Indigo followed suit as well, dropping to the lower ground less gently than the little great spirit. Scarlet arrived first though as she was already there, lending a hand to him as he dusted his clothes from the dust it gathered. Subaru quickly took her hand after he was about half-finished cleaning up.
"Thanks," He said, before being given back his whip and dagger from the battle by Indigo.
"You're welcome! Next time, do better" Scarlet replied with a smile, which is much more intimidating than it is heartwarming.
"With the rate we're going in, I think that'll take another year to do. Also, that smile is really scary! Drop it!" Subaru chuckled wearily. He is at least happy he can indeed get stronger in Remnant than back home, but to him, his growth rate is too slow.
"Don't mull over it. Also yes, drop it, Scarlet." Indigo interrupted, Scarlet dropped her smile as she said that.
"Who even says I'm mulling!?" Subaru half-yelled.
"Don't be sad, I suppose. Betty will support you no matter what!" Said Beatrice with eagerness.
"Beako, you too!?" He responded to her.
Both Indigo and Scarlet laughed at his overdramatic reactions. Soon enough, Subaru regained his composure as he dusted the last remaining pieces of the broken wall behind him on his body. "Anyways, the vytal tournament, can someone please remind us who is fighting who right now?" He asked
Scarlet raised her hand, he gestured her to continue, "Currently we're still in the team round, and early at the beginning of it all too, with team RWBY's turn fighting ABRN currently happening. Next would be team JNPR versus BRNZ, after that it would be SSSN versus NDGO, and finally it would be ours before moving on to the team CFVY versus.." She snickered, "Team CMEN." She explained, counting her fingers as she did so.
Subaru nodded as he listened intently, thinking over the current brackets and phases of the tournament. The tournament brackets are split into three phases, or rounds more accurately, and currently, it is in its early stages called the team round, meaning a 4v4. The semi-finals would be the doubles round, a 2v2, with the fighters being split from and chosen by the winning teams of the first phase. As for the finals, it would be a series of randomized 1v1 matches picked from the winning teams of the semi-finals until a clear winner is spotted and declared. A clear and well-defined system, and they will be the fourth team that will fight for Beacon Academy and Vale as a whole.
The fighting itself takes place in a large octagonal arena. The arena is capable of changing its environment into several different "biomes", including grasslands, forest, fire and ice, geyser fields, stormy mountains, desert, an ocean and beach with a wooden ship, and a few others. The arena also has artificial weather effects, such as thunderstorms and an artificial sun.
These environmental Dust controls were created by Arthur Watts, a famous atlesian scientist that subsequently died in an accident decades ago. The central part remains the same regardless of the biome. Subaru was worried about how the fighting would take place with the scope of it being a completely shonen type of tournament which would even make Garfiel excited, but he had heard that there will be a force field protecting the spectators from stray shots.
Though there are no specific brackets for age or schooling for the fights after the team round. As the only thing that is put to the test in the tournament is skill. Contenders are knocked out of the battle by falling below an Aura threshold of 15% or by being knocked out of the fighting arena. Aura monitors can measure the aura of competitors as numerical values, which are made visible to spectators and competitors.
"We really should think of a strategy, I suppose. Betty recommends that we should split into two groups, Scarlet and Indigo will go with each other while Betty will go with Subaru, in fact." Beatrice added.
"Would magic be allowed though?" Asked Subaru.
"I've heard that the Vale Council had allowed it for some reason, though keep in mind to keep it low profile and relatively balanced. No strong spells of any kind. Meaning, no trump card spells or one-shotters. And possibly yin offensives too, they're kinda dangerous for the tournament, please refrain from using them." Indigo explained.
"Meaning EMT and EMK are off-limits then…" Subaru contemplated. EMT is the well known 'Magic EMP' spell, while EMK is the third spell of the three original spells both Subaru and Beako made back home, a trump card spell now completed in Remnant thanks to the contributions of daily dust consumption and brainstorming by both Weiss and Ruby who are interested in it. The gist of that particular spell is a budget Al Shamak, made to isolate a particular opponent into a pocket dimension on a smaller scale. Though the main cost of EMK would be its very expensive mana cost, so Subaru is certain that the spell won't be used anytime soon.
Speaking of magic, Beatrice did remind him that his gate for the past year had made a full recovery due to the awakening of his aura. Meaning, he can use magic once again, and she is more than willing to give him actual lessons in how to control his magic better and grow his gate.
He was happy to hear that sort of news, but it does come at a cost. From her research, due to semblances and in turn, aura being tied to magic, both he and she won't have a semblance despite the presence of aura in their souls. Subaru weighed in the comparisons and had concluded that it was a fair exchange to have, at least he can have his shamak-san back.
"Why does the kingdom's government really like to limit Betty's arsenal, I wonder!" Beatrice pouted, Subaru head patted her as a way to comfort her while he awkwardly chuckled at her usual prideful antics.
"Who would we be fighting against though? The last time I checked, it's team Nocturnal or something?" He asked once again.
"Let me see…" Indigo checked on her scroll and switched to the tournament bracket section, "We'll be fighting..."
"My team!" A voice suddenly interrupted from above.
The four people switched their attention towards the source of the voice. A black-haired boy dropped to the ground after balancing on top of the railing of the top floor of the training grounds, playing with what seems to be a chain whip that is attached to his hips. He looks like the typical cool and popular bad boy character Subaru always sees in anime, even the spiky hair and gangster-like fashion remind him of one. But the facial features of the said boy are pretty soft-looking, almost non-threatening. He wears a dominantly black jacket, possessing a deep dark blue color on his eyes and minor details, the blue is darker than even Indigo's.
All in all, the boy is the total opposite of Subaru in their features. The nasty-eyed boy possesses a look that of a delinquent while wearing clothing that makes him feel like a shut-in rather than a member of a gang. While the new person he is looking at is a total inverse of that.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kuro Aoi, part of team CPRK, Capricorn from Atlas Academy," He said, approaching Subaru before giving him an involuntary handshake, "You must be the team leader Natsuki Subaru, correct? It's nice to be able to finally meet the city's local celebrity"
"U-Uh...yeah…wait a minute!" He responded abruptly.
"Hmm? Is there something wrong?" Kuro tilted his head in confusion.
"Why are you here? Are you spying on us?" He said. The rest of team Nebulous became suspicious of the boy once Subaru had mentioned that possibility, though Kuro remained calm all the same.
"Uhh….not really, actually, I was just passing by recently while I was going to my post to spend time with Penny again." The boy responded.
"Penny?" Indigo raised an eyebrow, "Great, Ironwood had decided to send the cute robot girl who has nothing to do with him to fight us! Bloody bastard." She muttered under her breath.
"You seem to hate General Ironwood, may I ask why?" Kuro asked.
"You don't want to know, blue boy" Scarlet answered before switching her tone to a more intimidating one, "And why are you even here if you're supposed to guard Penny, which is a task that was possibly by the general's orders? Are you a spy?"
"I can safely say that I am not a spy, thank you very much!" Kuro responded.
Subaru was seemingly left out of this conversation. He didn't know of any robot girls in Remnant and only ever heard of actual robot soldiers, but here he is now, talking about one. Though he does manage to connect the name 'Penny' to the person mentioned a while ago by one of his friends. "Is that the ginger girl Ruby talked about a few months ago? Didn't know she's a robot, no wonder she seems so pale and quirky!" Subaru exclaimed.
Beatrice can only nod at her contractor, affirming his realization. She looked at Kuro once more, "Perhaps you are forgetting something, I suppose? You seem to be enjoying yourself talking with us." She said to him, before overhearing another voice coming in the distance.
"Kuro? Kuro, where are you? You said that you promised to spend time with me this time around before our round!" The voice yelled, it seemed to be feminine with an overly friendly and naive tone. Subaru and the rest overheard it too, he could guess that the voice belongs to Penny from how Ruby described her.
"Huh? Oh right! I should get going now!" Said Kuro.
"Yes. You should, shoo shoo. Quit spying on us" Scarlet replied, gesturing to him to leave.
"Yep, I should! It was a nice talk everyone, see you at the fight!" Kuro quickly left the scene as fast as he entered it, jumping over the railing again before exiting the training grounds while audibly yelling for Penny to come and wait for him.
The entire team can only breathe a tired sigh. The boy they just met seems to be of the tiring nature, but there's a silver lining to it. "At least we get to know the team that we will fight, right?" Subaru turned towards the rest, asking for confirmation.
There was no audible response, only Beatrice shaking her head, disagreeing with him. Soon enough, Indigo's scroll began to vibrate, as well as the rest.
"Huh, team RWBY actually won that fight? Predictable." She commented, seemingly unamused from her tone of voice.
"Should we go out and congratulate them then?" Scarlet asked her.
Indigo sighed, nodding, "If you want, sure."
Suddenly, Subaru felt something odd had entered his body, stumbling a bit before touching his arm and leg, right where the cursed dragon blood should be present. The energy he felt from those parts began to suddenly change and spread throughout his body, and the black veins began to disappear, instead replaced by a light hint of blue, similar to the color of pure mana.
It had the same feeling of when the other three factors known as Sloth, Greed, and Gluttony entered him. Could this be another witch factor? Perhaps it is, but it's honestly impossible for it to happen in the first place. He is in another world, but if authorities, which latch on to the user's soul, can indeed travel through dimensions, it would be a possible explanation if that is indeed the case. This is yet to be the oddest thing he had seen throughout his life after all.
But right now he had to guess what sin he just got inside his body. Sirius, the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, by his knowledge got sealed in the capital, and he only knew of Capella being the last sin archbishop that was still active. Perhaps she had died to someone during his time in Remnant, and her Lust witch factor moved on to him? It could be that. Though, unfortunately, his thoughts were cut short after he noticed the rest of his team looking at him confusingly.
He quickly thought of a cover-up. So, Subaru smiled as he checked his scroll briefly before closing it again, "Alright! Let's get going then!" He declared to the rest, still holding his smile. They can only agree as a response, even if left confused and mildly concerned for him.
It has been several hours since their apparent summoning, and a while ago they had found themselves inside an eternal autumn forest of sorts. Encountering several black beasts that Meili didn't recognize or could take control of. At first, she panicked, afraid that they were going to truly die due to her incapability to tame them, but the two girls successfully defended against hordes of them thanks to Shaula's immense strength and reaction time. Meili really forgot just how strong her half-naked onee-san was, even if Shaula told her that she felt significantly weaker since her apparent return.
She never really felt fear for quite a long time since her mama's death, and it felt quite mentally exhausting being chased by those black animals as Shaula carried her to safety. But now, Meili is standing in the middle of a crowd, accompanied by Shaula, the half-naked scorpion girl beside her.
It seems to be a marketplace, or a festival of sorts to be more accurate. She can see stands selling various amounts of unknown foods and drinks, and even toy versions of those black animals in some of them as well. Some stands even sell highly detailed figurines, and some even set up some of those 'carnival games' she had heard about from her adoptive father a while ago, based on his descriptions of them. From all of the things she could see, could this place perhaps be that 'carnival'?
She could also see that a lot of the people, if not all, are a mix of half-bloods and humans alike. No beastmen or any other types of demi-human races like giants and dwarves, though she can see some of white and black steel-folk that seems to be carrying some sort of a thick metal pipe, perhaps a weapon from how they hold it? At first, she thought this could be her father's homeland based on his descriptions and the people's clothing style. But, she didn't really remember any mention of half-bloods existing there, or even those steel-folks roaming around as if on patrol. It felt truly like an unknown yet familiar world to her. A mix of both Lugunica and her father's homeland of 'Japan'.
"How would we find Papa Nii-chan if we're in a place like this…." Meili uttered, sounding tired and stressed. The crowd and the sheer amount of activity must be getting to her nerves.
"Hmmm, Ankle Biter?" Shaula said to her.
"What?" Meili replied, turning to her scorpion mabeast partner.
"How about we play hot and cold while we search for my Master?" Shaula suggested, feeling proud of herself after thinking that sort of idea. Using her smell and that game combined, they'll find him in no time!
"I don't know that game though...Papa never really taught me how to play it." She explained.
"Then let the Master's apprentice teach you how! Now get on my back!" She responded, standing up high and mighty while looking confident.
"Alright…" Meili then proceeded to climb up her back, and Shaula soon tied her legs to her arms. The blue-haired girl felt light, it must be her super-strength.
"Now let us begin! Ankle Biter, close my eyes!" Shaula ordered her. Meili complied to her demands, even if a bit tired, "Utter hot or cold! If we're getting nearer, utter hot, cold for the opposite!"
"Alright, if you say so…"
Shaula then took a step. Then she took another step. Before feeling something beneath her foot that got utterly crushed on her third step.
"AHHHH! Watch where you're going!" The voice uttered, it seems to be a voice of a man, though both Shaula and Meili didn't recognize it as such during his scream. It sounded more like that of a girl.
Meili opens Shaula's eyes, and both see a scraggly blonde boy holding his left foot, utterly in pain. They noticed three other people behind him, a red-haired girl then proceeded to check on him.
"Sorry…." Meili uttered towards him.
"Well, you better be! My left foot got crushed!" He said.
Meili jumped down from Shaula, trying to get a better look at him. The boy is certainly of the scraggly and clumsy kind, and he is definitely in pain. His shoe almost got torn apart just by the sheer step from Shaula.
The red-haired girl clad in armor began to stand up after checking on the boy, knowing that he is alright. "Hmm, are you perhaps new here? I'm Pyrrha, for introduction's sake. And the boy you stepped on is Jaune, sorry on his behalf, he can be really clumsy and bump into people a lot" She said to her.
The green-clothed man began to speak up, having eyes that made him seem keen and observant than the rest of the group, "Perhaps they're looking for something?"
"Or perhaps...someone! Ren-ren! This could be a murder mystery case!" The ginger-haired girl said beside him before zooming towards Meili and shaking her, "Are you a secret detective in a disguise!? I'm Nora! Nice to meet you! Can I join you on this mystery!?"
"Ehhhh! Wait! Stop shaking me! I'm dizzy right now!" Meili replied.
"Nora will stop!" The ginger-haired girl, now known as Nora, said to herself. She proceeded to zoom around the pair looking at their clothing, "Since you're not a detective from what I see, perhaps you're an actor!? Your costumes are awesome! Can I get your autograph!?"
"Nora, I think she's just a little girl with a partially naked big sister. Though is it true that you're perhaps looking for someone?" The young man in green, now known as Ren from what Meili guessed, said to them.
"They seem confused, we should start with introductions first," The scraggly one said to the rest, standing up after recovering from the foot pain, dusting off the dirt from his pants, "Jaune Arc! Sweet and rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!"
"Do they?" Meili asked him, even though the name does seem catchy, she doubted that he'll get any girls in the near future.
"Oh, they will be alright! Just wait and see!" He declared.
Pyrrha is blushing a little at his declaration, before turning to the scorpion girl, who she sees as the little girl's guardian. "Well, I'll be on the behalf of the rest of the team then. I'm Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune is our team leader. And that is Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie" She greeted, pointing towards the other two members of her team, "We're team Juniper, spelled JNPR"
"Jay-N-Pee-Arr? Okay…." Meili composed herself after processing the weird name in her head, perhaps they're some sort of mercenary group? They seem too young to be one. "I'm Natsuki Meili, and beside me would be-"
"Shaula! Master's personal sex slave and Sage Apprentice!" Shaula interjected, pointing up towards the sky, posing proudly.
"Shaula! You shouldn't introduce yourself like that!" Meili said.
The four people in front of her blinked, a lot of the people that heard that blinked. The crowd just briefly went silent before they went back to business hearing her introducing herself like that. Though some stayed and watched them interact.
"Sex slave?" Pyrrha uttered, blushing, just what kind of master makes their servant introduce themselves like that?
"I apologize on her behalf! Shaula does not know common sense, she's been isolated for centuries!" Meili half-yelled.
"Alright, the-Centuries!? Just how old are you!?" Jaune uttered in shock.
"Well I can't count past 100….so more than that?" Shaula answered.
"She's an airheaded apprentice, a sex slave, and an old hermit who got out of her hiding? Just what type of person is she..." Ren thought to himself, trying to comprehend her condition, before looking at Nora who was happily whistling while listening to the conversation.
"She reminds me of that Beatrice girl who said that she's over 400 years old now that I think about it." Pyrrha realized.
"You know Beatrice-chan!? That means Papa is near!" Meili said happily, Shaula widened her eyes, excited.
"Wait, you're Natsuki Meili, right? You also said that he's your papa?" Pyrrha asked her. Now she's also wondering how Subaru acquired this girl in front of her.
Meili nodded furiously, "Do you know where they are!?"
"Well he's the team leader of team Nebulous and Beatrice is part of that team too. They're currently having a practice match, but I think they would've been done by now. Do you want us to help you look for them too?" Jaune suggested to her.
"Yes! Please help us!" Meili replied to him.
"Alright then, it is decided! Team Juniper will set out on a brief mission! There's a noodle stall nearby too, I think we should refill our stomachs before we look for them and get into our match soon. Do you guys want to have some noodles?" Jaune looked over to his team, who happily agreed to that notion.
The two girls soon followed their lead, now happy and excited knowing that there's a chance they'll find Subaru soon. Meili began to think of what to say to her adoptive father, and what to do with him after they reunited. Though soon enough, they arrived at that noodle stall Jaune was talking about, and four girls were already present there too as customers.
"Hey, team RWBY recently won the first match right?" Jaune asked the team.
"Yup! They did, you want to congratulate them too while we eat?" Pyrrha responded, asking him as well.
"Sure if you want! Got the card ready to pay for the meal?"
Pyrrha brought it out from her pocket, "Yup! The card is ready to go!"
Before Jaune could respond though, he suddenly heard an excited scream coming out from both Meili and Shaula behind him. The four girls from the noodle stall, known as team RWBY, heard it too.
In the distance, four people were seen talking to each other as they approached the same shop they're in, team Nebulous had just recently arrived at the scene. Two of them are well recognized by all of them, the nasty-eyed boy known as Natsuki Subaru, and the loli spirit Beatrice. Soon, the two also noticed the pair of girls behind team JNPR.
Subaru did not realize it, but as soon as his group arrived and were about to go to the noodle stall, he was greeted by two familiar people in front of him. A blue-haired girl dressed in a simple black dress, and a half-naked girl he knew all too well to not be mistaken to know who she was.
Meili temporarily froze in her spot, crying out her tears before running towards him who was slowly approaching the two in disbelief. She hugged him, burying her face on his chest. Her mind couldn't even barely process what was happening, yet she cried out anyway. "Papa! You're back! You're back! You're actually back!" She uttered, happily sobbing as she went.
"Meili!? How did you-" before Subaru could even respond completely, he was then greeted by another, larger, force coming towards him.
"Master! After so long you're actually back!" His face immediately got buried deep inside her chest as Shaula hugged him tighter, with Meili being below her, sobbing her eyes out.
The three of them were happy that they got to see each other again. Subaru was also temporarily in disbelief at the apparent sight of the two girls being in front of him. But even before his most tiring event of the day, his legs had given up in trying to stand, and the three of them fell onto the dirt road of the Vytal Festival. Happily reunited, and ignorant of the looks of the people given to them.