Yes, I do read every review in case you were wondering and I appreciate everyone. Thanks for telling me about team STQR or else I would have gone through this whole book confusing everyone.
Also. I'm worried that instead of just making the characters more something. I'm making them OOC (Weiss being more of a brat, Velvet being sad (well technically that's new but yk What I mean) and Blake not being completely anti-social) anybody has any way to prevent that? I'm not going to just get rid of those parts there kinda important but I want it to be where you can mentally picture the characters doing this.
Sorry about me asking so many things, but this book is me figuring out what works and doesn't work so I think I have an excuse.
Jaune stared at Cardin as they walked back to their new dorm after their new team had been announced.
Why hadn't he said or done anything? Was this usually how bully's acted? In beacon? Was he planning something? Maybe Yang had scared him into submission during their fight. But he sure didn't look worried. He looked, triumphant. Like he had been the one to become team leader.
Team leader.
Jaune felt a surge of pride at the title, he had done it, he had become leader of a team of real huntsmen. Well, not real huntsmen but huntsmen in training! Which was better than he had anticipated.
Had he really been that good when he forged his papers that the headmaster thought that he could lead other people? He had hoped that it would get him in but this was so much better. If only his parents could see him now.
Now all he would have to do is learn how to fight. Couldn't be that hard after all? Beacon was an academy and he did have a little training when it came to fighting. And he had been told he had an above-average aura size. All he would have to do is listen closely and he would live up to his family's name in no time. His mother would be proud that her son had achieved so much. His father would be able to brag about how his son had gone into beacon with barely any training and had come out a leader, and he would finally have something to brag about to his sisters.
It would be easy. Right? After all his dad had told him confidence was key. To success.
So why was it that every time his eyes connected with Cardin he shivered and took a step away from him?
The only thing keeping him safe was yang and she didn't seem happy about it. Would she drop him the second she could? She wasn't a bully like Cardin or a follower like Russel. But maybe she just didn't like those two and had only been helping him because it meant she could fight Cardin.
Not that he could blame her. With his constant smug grin, Jaune would have punched him himself if it wouldn't have probably ended with Jaune sprawled across the rug with a broken skull.
What would his parents do? Start a fight to show he wasn't to be messed with? No, they wouldn't do that. Send him to the headmaster? Probably but Jaune didn't want to spend one second near the headmaster that he didn't have to. The farther away he was the better.
So what did that leave him with?
Talk to them?
—
No, absolutely not.
No matter what his father said about confidence he was not going to confront Cardin and call him out to his face,
Better to just ignore the problem until it either went away or Yang beat the snot out of him.
Yeah, that was a good strategy.
...
If Weiss had the opportunity she would have erased beacon on the spot.
The academy that she had heard so much about, that she had dreamed of going to since she was a child, the school which she had begged her father to allow her to enter.
Was nothing but problems.
It had done nothing but give her pain and try to drive her insane. From when she had first stepped foot on the school grounds to right now as her new team walked to their new dorms it had constantly assaulted her with incident after incident.
And it was beginning to drive her insane.
First had been when that girl had knocked over her clothes, then it was when she had ruined Weiss's combat dress and almost killed her by sneezing dust on her. Something which anyone would tell you was dangerous but that idiot didn't know. Or maybe it was on purpose in an attempt to humiliate Weiss and possibly even harm her. It was a good thing that she had mastered her aura or she would have been a red stain on the beacon's walkway right now.
Then things had started going her way. She had found Pyrrha Nikos and had convinced her to be on the same team as Weiss. Which had been her plan since hearing of her decision to come here. Father would have been proud had she succeeded but no.
Instead, that brat had somehow gotten to her first and there had been no time to swap team members as immediately after getting their relic they had been brought back to beacon.
And to rub salt in the wound she had been stuck with two terrible teammates who seemed bent on annoying her. She didn't know what she would have done if Ren was the same as them but at least he rarely talked.
Not that it helped her current situation.
"Hey, Weiss." Asked Nora, and Weiss cringed as the girl moved closer. "What do you think about the headmaster?"
That was a surprisingly serious question coming from her and Weiss squinted as she asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I think he's a zombie" there it was "and Isaak think he's a Grimm spy"
"Think about it," Said Isaak from right behind her other shoulder, and Weiss startled, earning a toothy grin from Isaak and a giggle from Nora as she glared at both of them "he could be a spy for their leader. Maybe a completely new Grimm who can pretend to be human and can be used as a spy to keep track of us. That's why he seems so distracted when he talks he's relaying information back to them."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard" Said Weiss as she shoved both of them away from her. A Grimm who could look human and act like it? If such a thing did exist then somebody in Atlas would have found out about it by now.
"Really?" Asked Isaak and Weiss rolled her eyes "so you think he just acts like that normally? Distracted and with a zoned-out look on their face?"
"Whatever He looks like, distracted or not, I don't care. He's the headmaster of beacon and that's what matters. Not whatever conspiracy theories you two come up with."
"Having questions is a good thing." He gave Weiss a crooked grin "though of course. Coming from atlas, I suppose you would consider the idea insane."
Weiss spluttered "What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Nothing" was Isaak's only answer and Weiss glared at him why was her team this difficult?
Maybe she should just give up and head back home. Tell father that beacon had disappointed her and that she would be staying in Atlas for training. That would please him, wouldn't it? And it would get her away from those two.
—
That wasn't an option.
To head back to atlas and admit defeat wasn't an option for her.
No matter what she said beacon's record spoke for itself. Nobody would believe that it had disappointed her and would instead assume she had fled at the first sign of difficulty.
She had to make things work, no matter how much she might want to go back to atlas things would only be worse there, she would accept this challenge and come out on top. She would become the best student beacon had to offer with or without Pyrrha, and she would make sure her team learned how to follow her lead no matter what it took.
That she would make sure of.
And maybe she would get a little vengeance while she did it.
...
Ruby sighed as she fell into the warm embrace of her new bed. It was far from nice like her old bed but it was better than a sleeping bag.
After today she felt like just falling asleep and never waking up, who knew talking to people could be so tiring. At least when she fell asleep wouldn't have to worry about Weiss, Yang, her new teammates, or the fact that tomorrow was the first real day of school. All she would have to do was close her eyes and wait until she fell asleep. Maybe she would dream about mom. Those dreams were usually nice.
But now she was stuck with several other people who didn't seem as intent on sleeping as she was.
At least Blake was sitting with her back against the wall and a book in hand while Velvet was just laying in her bed. But she wasn't trying to sleep instead she was just staring at the ceiling with a zoned-out look on her face.
If it had just been the two of them Ruby would have fallen asleep in a heartbeat (hey. That rhymed!*) but there was one more member of the team.
Pyrrha.
Unlike the rest of them who had instantly settled in Pyrrha cross-legged on her new bed with a face, Ruby knew far too well. The face someone made when they wanted to say something but had no clue what it was they wanted to say.
Ruby tried to convince herself that Pyrrha would be perfectly fine if she fell asleep. She was older than Ruby by two years she could deal with nobody talking to her for one night right? But.
Every time she opened her eyes she saw Pyrrha just sitting there with that same expression on her face and every time she felt a tinge of sadness. She would have wanted someone (someone nice) to try and talk to her if she wanted to say something, she couldn't just leave Pyrrha to deal with what she had felt with throughout most of her early life (before she had decided that it was much better to just be shy and not talk to people then be loud and ignored.
For all of those reasons and a couple more. Ruby let out a heavy sigh and twisted in her bed to face Pyrrha.
"Hi," said Ruby in a small tired voice. it was the only thing she could think to say but it did have an effect on Pyrrha as she turned to look at Ruby who gave her a small wave.
"Hello." Returned Pyrrha in an equally small voice as both Blake and Velvet continued to act like the rest of the world didn't exist.
"Sorry if I was distracting you" continued Pyrrha as she layed down on her bed and drew her covers over herself.
"No, it's, fine." Ruby yawned despite her best attempts to appear wide awake. And Pyrrha smiled.
"It's okay. I'm fine, I just have nothing to do."
"You don't have a book or anything?" Asked Ruby and Pyrrha shrugged.
"I didn't think I would have the time to read anything."
"That's sad"
"Not really, a little bit boring but I can live with it."
Ruby paused as she thought of something else to ask, why was it hard to think when you're tired.
Pyrrha beat her to it,
"So what's Yang like?" For a second Ruby was confused as to how Pyrrha knew Yang but then she remembered when they had first met. Had she told Pyrrha about Yang or had Blake done that. She couldn't remember.
"She's really loud" began Ruby "and she likes to pick fights with people she doesn't like. But she's not a bully. She's pretty nice to people and she always looks out for me. Even if she teases me none stop. I wouldn't replace her for anything." She yawned "sorry if that sounded boring"
"No it's fine, I always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling."
"You don't have any?" Asked Ruby and Pyrrha nodded. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have one either."
"I thought you just said you wouldn't replace her for anything?" Asked Pyrrha and Ruby shrugged.
"It really depends on just how annoying she's been recent*"
"I see" Said Pyrrha quietly and Ruby thought of something.
"Would you like something to read?" Asked Ruby. She didn't have anything she thought anyone else would like but she knew someone sawhorses might.
Pyrrha blinked before nodding once. And Ruby twisted around to face Blake.
"Hey, Blake" she whispered. Velvet's eyes had closed sometime during her and Pyrrha's conversation and she didn't want to wake her up. But Blake continued flipping through her book not even noticing Ruby.
"Hey, Blake" she whispered again. This time louder, Still she didn't notice.
"You can talk normally I'm not asleep."
Ruby flinched as Velvet looked at her. She didn't look angry, more so annoyed.
She gave Velvet an apologetic smile before saying normally "Hey Blake."
This time Blake noticed that Ruby was saying something and looked up from her book towards ruby with a questioning look on her face.
"Are you still reading that book from earlier?" Asked Ruby and Blake shook her head "can I have it?"
"I thought you didn't like the kind of books I like?"
"It's for Pyrrha explained Ruby and the mistralian waved at Blake.
At that, she hesitated for a second. She didn't completely trust the mistralian but a second look at Ruby broke her will to say no and she sighed as she picked up the book she had been reading earlier and tossed it to Pyrrha.
"Thank you," Said Ruby and Pyrrha in unison, and Blake shrugged. As Ruby turned back to Pyrrha.
"It's not the kind of book I would read but you Might like it" explained Ruby as Pyrrha read the back of the book before nodding in appreciation.
"Thank you."
Ruby smiled weakly as she put her head back on her pillow. Already she felt herself beginning to fall asleep.
It felt good to help other people.
...
Roman growled as he threw away a cigar and lit up another one.
Usually, he let them last, the quality ones were expensive and even he had to pay some people, couldn't make enemies out of everyone. But right now he didn't care.
"She's wasn't even a student?" Snarled Roman, the news had put him in a worse mood than yesterday and that was saying something. Several of his men had been arrested, he himself had almost been arrested, and he hadn't come out with a single vial of dust to show for it. And the fact that it might have been a child who hadn't even begun training yet made him. To put it nicely. Very upset.
"Yes, Roman" confirmed Junior from the other line. Doing his best to act tough in the face of Roman's anger. "She just got in earlier today. Just as you described."
Torchwick growled and from the opposite side of the table came a chuckle from Cinder as she watched his conversation. If she had been one of his minions he would have considered shooting her in the foot right there but you didn't entertain those thoughts around her.
"Listen Junior" torchwick's tone changed into a playful cheery one. And Cinder's eyebrow raised at the sudden change.
"We're friends right?"
"Y-"
"Good good. And, you wouldn't lie to your friend. Would you Junior?"
"No"
"Good. So I trust that you're being honest and not just trying to make a fool out of me."
"Of course I wouldn't"
"Good. So let me ask you again, is our little red friend. A child who wasn't even in training until earlier today."
Junior hesitated. Probably considering his options. And Roman wished that he would say no.
"Yes"
Roman felt like breaking something,
No, he wanted to send Neo to kidnap that kid and drag her back to beacon so that he could give her a taste of her own medicine.
Not that he would or could, stepping up from robbery to murder would bring too much heat, something that he really didn't need now. Especially now.
But with Cinder and her two brats grinning at him from across the table he sure felt like it.
"Junior. Here's what I want you to do." Continued Roman as Neo looked at him expectantly but he shook his head. Junior was too good of an informant to waste over him not giving Roman the answers he wanted. Not that he couldn't be a little petty.
"I want you to find Miltia and Melanie, I want you to insult them, say they have a terrible fashion sense or something like that. If your still alive by tomorrow all will be forgiven."
"Is that really ne-"
"Good luck" finished Roman and he hung up the scroll. Leaving junior to his fate.
He would be able to tell whether or not he kept his promises by the amount of bruises on his body come tomorrow and it made him feel a little better.
He threw away the Cigar he was only half done with and lit up another one. Preparing for the abuse that would come from Cinder due to his recent screw up.
"I must say, I expected you to be more violent during that conversation" began Cinder and Roman winced.
"You haven't met the twins yet. If Juniors club is still running by tomorrow it'll be under new management."
"Really? But I thought you said he was to good of a informant to lose. Were you lying to me?"
"I was exaggerating-"
"I don't like it when people lie to me" Continued Cinder And Roman froze. "It's hard to trust people if they never tell the truth."
"It was just a-"
"Are you going to start lying to me, Roman?" Asked Cinder, as she had spoke she had started to lean over the table and was close enough to Roman now where if she wanted to she could have put her finger on his head. Or through his eye.
Roman waited for Cinder to say something else but she just stared at him expectantly as out of the corner of his eye Neo slowly pushed her chair out.
"No, of course not"
Cinder smiled at him and then leaned back into her chair before looking at Neo, who made no secret in staring at her with a very unhappy look. The green haired girl returned the glare while Mercury only gave her a grin.
"It's good to surround yourself with those loyal to you. I do." Said Cinder. And the green haired girl who acted like Cinder was a god gave her a look of pure joy. And both Mercury and Roman rolled there eyes at the display.
"But our three..." Cinder hesitated on a accurate decision "Assistants. Aren't enough for our needs"
The girl seemed somewhat disappointed by the title and Mercury shrugged. And Roman looked at Neo who rolled her eyes at the title. It sure didn't fit them.
"Agreed" answered Roman and he took out his cigar without throwing it away, Now it was time for real business and not Cinder's little games. "and I know the number one thing we need to complete your plan."
"Our plan, dear Roman." Corrected Cinder and Roman had to hold back a scoff. Sure. There plan. He didn't give a damn about what Cinder wanted he just knew that going along with it would keep him and Neo alive and breathing.
"My apologies. Our plan" Cinder gave him one of her small smiles at the correction and Roman felt a shiver go down his spine.
"There is one thing we need to carry out our plan." Roman took one last puff of his cigar.
"More men"
Ooh boy, the first appearance of Roman and Neo. Along with cinder and the children I guess.
I'll be honest with you. Neo and Roman were my favorite characters throughout the early show (Neo without Roman at all wasn't that fun for me) they just carry so much charisma either separate or together. And I want to see more of them but. Since there criminals. I can't exactly just include more of them.
There's also Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury (I love how all of them are named after real life things and don't have names that will be auto capitalized) and if I had to choose characters I would use in a fan fiction. It would be those five. There's just so much potential. Romans fear of Cinder, Neo and Roman's relationship, Emerald and Cinders relationship (I don't know whether Emerald see's Cinder as a mother, big sister, or in a romantic light and that's half the fun in seeing which one is decided) etc and I don't know whether it's going to be here or in a different fanfic but I Am going to use more of them. You have my word. Don't like them as much in the show though but personal preferences.
Jaune decides that he's just going to hope Cardin goes away instead of confronting him. Which is smart. I can't blame him considering Cardin is a mountain of a man.
Weiss sure as heck isn't happy about her new team. She doesn't mind Ren but she despises the other two. Not much teasing from Isaak in this chapter mostly due to the fact that he doesn't do random when it comes to ticking people off, he does an educated assault. He hits you where he knows he'll get a reaction and then will laugh his head off. Can't wait to write him getting on Weiss's last nerve and her getting payback.
Also Ruby and Pyrrha get there first real scene together. Only 700 words but it's still something. And... you know what I'll save that last bit until after Velvets redemption arc. Because I'm not going to keep moody velvet I just need it long enough for character development and relationships and the. It's gone.
Anyway. Thanks for reading this, I think it's on equal footing as the last chapter? Maybe a little bit worse but not as bad as chapter 3 and 4
Hope you have an amazing day, hopefully I'll see you again soon.
*Siblings in a nutshell: I hate you. But I would also murder anybody who messed with you