Not so much in terms in 40K in this chapter except for some deamon-voices but I finally get somewhere with the Arkos bit. Expect more 40K-related stuff soon.
But we do get a little of "insane commissar Cardin" as Aquaticmammals called him.
And yes, I'm considering another Warp Chat for future chapters.
Chapter 17: Balls, infiltration and confessions.
It was finally Ball Night. Team RWBY and JNPR were making ready to go to the ball. They had all decided to got as a group from their dorms. All were there except Jaune and Weiss.
"Say, has anyone seen Jaune?" asked Pyrrha worriedly.
The ball was about to start but he had been nowhere to be seen for a while now.
"I think I saw him go off with Weiss somewhere some time ago. They seemed to be in a hurry but Weiss said they would try to be back before the ball." answered Blake neutrally, trying not to say anything too implicating.
"Huh, wonder why." said Ruby.
"Maybe he is helping her with her dress. She can be a bit difficult with her clothes at times."
Yang didn't agree with her sister though.
"Why would vomit-boy help Weiss with her dress? We could have done that."
"Well, he's got seven sisters. He probably has had to do that sort of stuff before. More than any of us, I guess."
"Nah, I would guess he is probably helping her out of her dress instead." joked Yang.
All in the group could see Pyrrha bow her head as she went ahead of them to the ballroom. Well, all except for Yang who was currently getting really shitty looks from the rest.
Ren and Nora had taken the liberty of letting the rest of the group know of Jaune's and Weiss' plan in order to prevent this sort of thing.
All had agreed to not say anything that might accidentally set Pyrrha off for they knew what she felt for Jaune even if he seemed too dense to notice.
And now Yang had screwed it up. Dust dammit Yang.
Ruby elbowed her sister in the ribs hard.
"Auch! what was that for, Rubes?"
"You know what you did." Ruby's tone was harsh and unforgiving.
"Come on sis, it was just a joke." Yang said sheepishly, realizing what she had just done.
"And for that you are not sleeping in the dorm tonight!"
"Wha- But, sis, where am I supposed to sleep? In the corridor?"
"Not my problem. Come on gang, let's go. Some of you have tasks to do at the ball."
"Okay, I messed up but seriously, where is vomit-boy?"
Ren spoke up.
"He said he had gotten a message from the tailor. Something had happened at his shop, making him late. Still, he should be able to make it in time."
"Darn it, Renny! Now you have gone and jinxed it!" said Nora, facepalming.
On their way they they encountered Neptune in the hallway, all dressed up and ready.
"Oh, hi guys. Have you seen Weiss? I was hoping to pick her up for the dance. Or is she really going with the vamp- I mean, your friend?"
"She went off to help Jaune with something. I think she will meet up with us at the ball." said Ruby.
"Don't tell me you believe all the rumours about him and Weiss now?"
"Pfft, hey that's fine by me. It was Weiss who asked me out, not the other way around. If she wants to switch partners then I'm cool with that."
"That's not even remotely true, is it?" asked Nora.
"Also, Jaune is not going with Weiss."
Neptune however did not seem to listen to her, and if he did it only made him seem more worried.
"What's crawled under your shirt?"
"Nothing, nothing. Oh, would you look at the time. I have to go. See you guys later."
Neptune all but rushed off, somehow managing to keep an illusion of his cool.
"Wow, he is about as good as Jaune at hiding stuff." Noted Ruby
"So Jaune is not the only one who has been breaking hearts with this surprise thing, now is he?"
"I guess not. It seems like Weiss has neglected to let her date in on her goings on." noted Blake and shot Ruby a look.
The look said 'Deal with it'.
Ruby sighed.
"I will have a talk with Weiss after all this is over with."
"And Jaune?"
"No, his degree of guilt is low as far as I care. He will sort things out with Pyrrha and that will be that. No, it was Weiss who started this entire surprise-thing in the first place. He just wanted a loan and Weiss had to turn it into something needlessly complicated."
They all nodded at the young team leader.
Despite being young she did have a good head on her shoulder. She was just very good at hiding it.
Siwan Taillen was running late.
His shop had been robbed!
Fortunately there had been a bunch of students from the academy doing some last minute browsing for ties for the ball. They had managed to drive off the thieves before any real harm had been done.
Then the police had arrived and in true VPD fashion they had taken their time with absolutely pointless questions and refused to let Siwan leave until they had "gotten all the details".
It had taken hours!
The silver lining was that the Beacon students gave him a ride with them to the school after the police were done. Siwan had let his customer know of the delay and they were not happy about it.
When he finally got to Beacon he beelined it straight to the room he had met Schnee and Arc in.
His customers were waiting. Arc had even taken of his own pants just to get the suit's on faster.
"A thousand pardons, my store was robbed before I could get here."
"It's fine, not your fault." said was clear that he was quite annoyed.
"Do you have it?"
Siwan held out his creation.
"Yes, just a minor detail and you will be ready."
Arc didn't listen as he practically tore the suit out of Siwan's hands and put it on.
"Fits perfectly. Thank you Mr. Taillen. I will leave you and Weiss to sort out the matter of payment."
"Not so fast, Arc. There is one final detail that has to be done." said Weiss and stepped forward, blocking the door for him. She had something in her hand. It looked like her family's crest.
"Weiss, I don't have time for this! The suit is finished and Pyrrha is waiting for me."
"Wrong! It is not finished! It is I who is paying for it and it is I who decides if it is done."
'That'ssss right! youuuu decide whennn it'sss finished.'
"You can't be serious!"
He moved for the door. He would push her out off his way if he so had to.
Weiss got the message of how intent he was on leaving but she did not step away. Instead she took out a ice dust capsule and tossed it at his feet. In an instant his feet and lower legs were encased in ice, immobilizing him.
Siwan let out a cry of shock.
"Miss Schnee, do you realize what you have done? The fabric, it will be-"
He never got to finish as Weiss cut him off.
"It is my family's money that pays for this suit. It is only fair that the world knows it." she said and stepped forward to place her family's crest on the suit.
"Now hold still, it has to be just right-"
'Yeeesss, mark iiit aaasss yoursss. Maaark hiiim aasss yoursss.'
Something snapped in Jaune. He was not going to let his surprise for Pyrrha be marred by Weiss blatant product placement!
He had asked her for a suit. He had agreed that it was to be perfect. He had not however agreed to be Weiss' commercial add!
"No!"
"Arc, this is not negotiable. Just let me put this on and then I will thaw you out with some fire dust. It will only take a few minutes."
"Like hell you will!"
He resisted. He didn't have minutes! With all his might he tried to break free off the ice.
"Don't bother. Someone like you couldn't possibly hope to break free from that."
"Oh yeah? Watch me!"
Remembering what little Pyrrha had thought him about Aura he focused all he had into his legs, strengthening them.
There was a bright light blinding all in the room. To Weiss's eyes, the light from Jaune's massive aura made him seem larger than before. Made him seem like more than before.
It was like an angel was towering over her, ready to deliver judgement.
She was scared.
In her mind she almost heard a scared voice.
'F###ck thisss ssshit, Iiiim oout.'
The ice shattered and his legs came free, kicking ice crystals at Weiss.
Mixed in with the sound of ice breaking there was the sound of fabric being torn. The pants of the suit were ruined! Large chunks of fabric was now sticking out from what remained from the ice.
Jaune however, didn't care about the bare skin visible under his knees and stormed off.
He had a promise to keep.
Weiss however was stunned.
Jaune's suit- No! It was her money, thus her suit!
Her suit was ruined!
"How could this happen? Explain!" she barked at the tailor who was just shaking his head. He was writing down the costs for the suit on a piece of paper. He made sure to add a few expenses to the list, all completely warranted and justified, of course.
"I tried to warn you, Miss Schnee. That tear happened because you were stupid enough to encase his feet with Ice dust. The dust must have ingrained itself with the fabric as it solidified. It tearing was hardly surprising."
"Damn that moron Arc! He has ruined my suit!"
Weiss was fuming with anger. If only he had stayed put for a few moments longer.
"No, the one who ruined it was you." Siwan said as he handed her the bill for his services.
"I wasn't the one to tear it apart. He did! I was planning to thaw it out with dust!" protested Weiss as she looked at the costs. They were much greater than what she had expected.
Siwan sighed.
He didn't really need to be polite with the girl anymore.
Her actions had ruined the suit before she had payed for it, ergo, she had destroyed his property. She could either pay what he asked of her or he could take her to court and squeeze even more out of her. He would get his money whatever he was polite or not.
"Thawing it out wouldn't had worked, you stupid girl. Do you honestly think a few ten minutes would suffice for that? Maybe, if you would be willing to use a lot of dust and singe the suit in the process. No, if you would have wanted it back in pristine condition you would have to do it slowly for over an hour in order not to ruin the fabric and even that then I would be skeptical."
He leaned down and picked up a piece of the fabric.
"Look here. Look at how the fibers have been torn apart and split from one another in the cloth. That's from your ice dust solidifying water vapour inside of the rigid threads, effectively tearing them apart from the inside. With this the suit would have torn anyway at the smallest tug."
He turned around and picked up his things.
"Now if you excuse me, I will see if I can't get a ride back to town. I do have a shop that needs fixing up. The payment for the suit is due in one week's time. Do not be late. Now, do have a good evening Miss Schnee."
Pyrrha had arrived alone to the ball. Jaune had not come to meet her before it began.
Sure, they hadn't agreed on a certain time to meet at the dance but it was customary for the dance partners to arrive together.
She was quite annoyed with him for that. For all his promises and the trust she had put in him and now he was doing dust-knows-what with Weiss!
She pulled away from the crowd. She didn't feel like talking right now. Not that anyone there would talk with her. They all thought her too high and above them to talk to.
She picked up a glass of punch.
Something to drink would perhaps help alleviate some of her frustration and loneliness.
But as alone she was, she was not out of earshot of some some of the ball's other attendants. They kept saying the most awful things.
"Oh, look. It's Nikos. Look at her, thinking herself so above the rest of us that she won't even bother us for a dance."
"I heard she was going with her partner. What ever happened to that?"
"I guess she ditched him, figuring he was beneath her."
"Nah, I hear that it was he who ditched her. I hear he had been hanging out with Schnee. Seems like she has even ditched Vasilias for him."
"I hear he has been doing it with Schnee."
"Guess he likes white more than red. Am I right girls?"
"Man, what a douche. For all she has done for him he just goes off with that frigid bitch that he stole from some other dude."
Pyrrha almost crushed her cup in her hand.
'So it's public knowledge now, is it? Hell, even Yang seemed to know. She had just been blunt about it before.'
'Sheee wasss. Youuu aaare noothing tooo hiiim.' said the voice in the back of her mind, stroking her feelings of jealousy, anger and betrayal.
Yes, for all that she had done for him he was doing it with Weiss. He hadn't showed up for the ball with her. He hadn't even given her a reason for it. He had just ditched her. He had betrayed her!
'Despiite aallll you've dooone foorrrr hiiim.'
That was it! After this she would be done with him! Done with helping him at all! He could train on his own for all she cared. He could try to see if Weiss was willing to help him with the Thirst.
Weiss wouldn't and then he would be out of Beacon and out off Pyrrha's life.
'Yesss. Do iiit. Have him leeeave and neverrr come baaack!'
She downed the contents of her cup in one swig. Even now in her anger she couldn't help but feel sad, like she was doing something wrong. She wanted to thrust him and believe him but Jaune was making it hard for her.
'Heee maade hiisss choiccceee.'
She took another mug and walked of, hoping to dust someone had spiked the punch.
Maybe it would help with her sadness.
It only made the voices of her jealousy, feelings of betrayal and anger even louder.
Jaune was running through the hall's of Beacon, earning curious looks along the way. Maybe it was because his ankles were showing on account of the ruined trousers or maybe it was because of Weiss tailing him, saying she was sorry.
"Jaune, I know you promised to go with her but you also promised to let me get the suit just right for this."
"Can it, Schnee! Your promise was to fund a suit for me so that I could fulfill my promise to her! Instead you have delayed me twice, keeping me from keeping my promise!"
"You promised to let me make it perfect!"
"It was perfectly fine before but then you decided to get it refitted anyway! And now this shit happened because you wanted to delay me even further! I was a fool to ever listen to you!"
Weiss considered this briefly. She really had gone overboard with her desire to make the suit perfect. What had come over her to take it that far?
Before Weiss could come up with an answer they arrived at the ball. Yang didn't even have time to greet them properly as Jaune stormed in. He looked around. He couldn't see Pyrrha anywhere.
Nora, Ren and Ruby walked up to him.
"About time you got here. She is here somewhere. We saw her a moment ago. She looked upset." said Ren pointing into the crowd.
"We will watch the door in case she tries to leave and try to explain things as best we can for her if she does."
"Count me in." said Yang, wanting to make up for her poor joke earlier that evening.
"I have to receive the new arrivals anyway."
"I can help too." said Weiss panting as she finally made it to the ballroom. Jaune had kept one hell of a pace, forcing her to use her semblance to catch up to him.
"As a way to make up for the pants."
She was stopped from following Jaune into the crowd by Nora who put an iron grip on Weiss' shoulder.
"You will do no such thing." said Ren in a stern tone.
"You have done enough harm already."
"What? I know I ruined his trousers but that can be fixed."
Ruby stepped up and poked her friend in the chest.
"You don't get it, do you? With your stupid scheme and your stupid secrecy and stupid idea of showing off your stupid money you may very well have ruined a beautiful relationship before it even began and broken one of our friend's hearts."
"What? What relationship? Whose heart?"
"Pyrrha's heart and Jaune's would-be relationship and it would be Pyrrha's heart." said Ren, deadpan as he scanned the crowd.
"Why would my actions have any consequence on those things? And how could it bother Pyrrha in the first place?"
"Weiss, you know that it was Pyrrha who asked Jaune to come to the dance with her right?"'
"Yes. So?"
"She did it because she cares for him. I know it, you know it and still, with your stupid scheming everyone thinks that he and you have been having hanky-panky behind her back. How do you think Pyrrha feels about that?"
Reality and realization hit Weiss like a brick.
All the secrecy, the long meetings, him having to lie about his actions to Pyrrha and finally him being so late for the ball.
What had she been thinking? What had come over her?
"I didn't realize! I'm sorry!"
Nora huffed.
"Wow, and I thought Jaune was blind to these things. You really are something else Ice-cream."
"She is." agreed Ruby, not happy with her friend.
"Now if you will excuse me, I have to go be somewhere where I can feel out of place undisturbed. Oh, by the way Weiss?"
"Yes?"
"For what you have done to our friends, Jaune and Pyrrha, you are not sleeping in our dorm tonight."
"What!?"
"And you had better apologize to both of them tomorrow if things don't work out."
With that the little reaper walked off, leaving Weiss to wallow in self pity.
Ren and Nora tapped Weiss on the shoulder.
"You should also explain yourself to Neptune. He seems to think that you have ditched him for Jaune."
"Oh, crap baskets."
Weiss had completely forgotten about Neptune.
Ruby was not happy. Not because of Weiss's stupid actions or Jaune's subsequent tardiness.
No, she was upset because her feet hurt! She didn't like parties like these.
She was a bit socially awkward. She preferred to do her own thing and that didn't involve painful footwear or silly dresses.
She wanted to be back in her hood and normal boots that didn't hurt with each step.
"Stupid Yang, making me promise to wear these things. Stupid lady stilts!"
"Not enjoying yourself, I take it?" said someone.
Ruby turned her head towards the sound of someone sipping coffee. To Ruby's surprise it was Headmaster Ozpin. Even now, dressed up and all, he was still sipping coffee from his usual mug with his hair resembling a mop.
Ruby shook her head.
"Eh, no, everything's fine. I'm just not much of a fancy pantsy... dancey girl. Give me a pack of Beowolves any day rather than this."
"Well, we can't spend our whole lives on the battlefield, even if we would want to."
"Yeah, that a lesson we have learned from Blake recently."
"Yes, and I would really appreciate it if you and your friends were a bit more incognito when you are doing your extracurricular activities. That would save me a lot of paperwork."
"Heh, will try."
They looked out at a few dancing couples. The headmaster laughed a bit.
"It's funny in a way. If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two persons interlocked, although one wrong move here and now merely leads to a swollen foot."
Ruby looked down at her own feet, now not dressed for battle.
"Or a twisted ankle."
"It's not every day that friends are can come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help them grow stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we must never forget or neglect."
Ruby nodded. The headmaster was right. If not about the last bit then at least about the feet thing.
Emerald and Mercury looked down at the gathering crowd from the next tier. Just like everyone else they were wearing dress and suit but only to keep up appearances.
To their great annoyance it seemed that they would not have had to dress up that much, seeing how little effort Sun had done to make himself fancy.
"Just putting on a tie? Come on! Couldn't monkey-boy but a bit more effort into this?" muttered Mercury, himself in full dress.
Emerald ignored her alleged dance partner and put a finger to her ear.
"Cinder, it is about to begin."
"How much time do I have?" asked Cinder's voice through the ear-bud.
"I'd say you should be home 'till midnight, just to be safe." said Mercury, barely moving his lips.
Cinder Fall smiled as she stood on the rooftop.
"Well, I better keep my on on the clock then. And tell me, has the champion's partner showed up yet?"
"I can't see him. And she seems quite heartbroken." said Emerald, smug over what she had achieved.
Her little chat with Roman about a little heisting had been worth it.
"Good."
With that Cinder terminated the call and began to move over the rooftops towards the CCT tower.
Ruby was talking with Penny.
It was sorta awkward. Penny was sweet but her… unique quirks made her a bit atypical. Though it kind of suited Ruby as she was not the best with people either. Therefore they got along well.
They did try to make Penny's partner, Ciel, take part of the discussion but the girl wouldn't budge from her military pose of attention.
Then Ruby spotted something in the corner of her eye. Someone, a woman, was running over the rooftops of Beacon towards the CCT tower. Something was up.
"I have to go check up on something. I'll be back Penny."
"Okay, friend Ruby. Have a good time."
Ruby quickly made her way out of the building. I was probably just a misunderstanding or someone who wasn't familiar with the rules around Beacon, Ruby figured. All it would take was a little talk and if that wasn't enough she could just let the teachers handle it. First she had to find the mystery woman.
She left the party as fast as she could. Which was not that fast as she was still wearing her lady stilts.
Ruby briefly slowed down to look at a knocked out guard outside the door, making sure he was okay. The fact that the woman already had managed to get this far and had rendered a guard unconscious was worrying. The woman was up to no good, that much was certain.
'Oh, no. I'm running late. Just how far ahead is she?'
Deciding to be cautious and not rush in unprepared Ruby summoned her rocket-locker with her scroll. If the woman was hostile then Ruby didn't want to go in without Crescent Rose. Giving her weapon a few swing to make sure if functioned alright Ruby felt that her balance was of.
She looked down at her feet. She was still wearing her ball shoes, rather than her usual, comfortable and steady boots.
Her talk with professor Ozpin from earlier that night came to mind. With a huff she kicked of the offending footwear, she really didn't feel like getting a twisted ankle tonight.
With her precious weapon in hand and bare feet she followed the mysterious woman towards the tower.
Cinder stepped out of the elevator, the guards lying on the floor, not moving. She scanned the room and soon found her target, a control console. She took out her scroll from her suit and looked for a place to plug it in to the console. Soon the screen of the console showed the image of a queen chess piece. The virus had worked. It would not be long now.
Her earbud chimed and she pressed it once to activate the call.
"Yes?"
"A guest is leaving." said Emerald.
'Bummer.' thought Cinder.
"Which one?"
"Ironwood. He is having a few last words with Ozpin. No wait, They are both leaving."
"Looks like the old coots have had enough for one night. I guess aren't as young as they used to be." joked Mercury.
Emerald did not laugh at the poor excuse for a joke.
"Should we step in?"
Cinder looked around the room. All the other machines were showing the same chess piece. "No, I am done on my part."
"Roger that."
Cinder retrieve her scroll and forced it into its compartment. Cinder did scold herself for picking this suit for the mission. It offered her great mobility, looked great on her and was so out of the ordinary that anyone would pay more attention to it rather than her face, essentially protecting her identity in addition to her mask.
It was however skintight with little room for pockets.
The elevator made a sound. Cinder had been so distracted by Emerald's call that she hadn't heard it before. She hid. She didn't know if it was more guards or something that could actually pose a threat to her. Until she knew, cation was her best option. There was another way out of course, now that the system was under her control, but that was to remain her backup plan. Using it would reveal too much of how much she knew of the CCT's secrets and that might tip her enemies off.
The elevator opened and out stepped Ruby Rose, weapon in hand, feet bare and wearing a ball dress. It was almost comical.
'And here I was worried.'
"Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" asked Ruby and looked around, stepping away from the elevator.
'Well, she asked so nicely.' thought Cinder and stepped forward.
Little Rose would not hinder her. She wasn't afraid of being recognized. Her suit and lavish mask would keep her identity secret. She had even tied up her hair differently.
"Eh, you do know we are having a ball, not a masquerade party? So why don't you take off that mask and- IIIEE!"
Before Ruby could react properly Cinder had pulled out a vial of ice dust and hurled its contents at Ruby. Despite being caught unawares the girl reacted in time to dodge the ice shards.
They moved around the room. Cinder was avoiding the blade of Ruby's weapon while Ruby didn't dare to rush in, fearing another surprise from the masked woman. One thing remained stable throughout the battle, Ruby was blocking Cinder's way to the elevator.
Knowing that she was running out of time and had limited options Cinder tossed another dust vial at Ruby to distract her. Then she jumped up on one of the machines and forged a bow made of glass. She hadn't intended to use this trick but the girl gave her no choice. She leapt up in the air and knocked an arrow.
Ruby was almost to surprised by the sight of the bow being brought into being. The woman's clothes had just light up like embers and then it had been there, in the woman's hands. The arrow left the bow and Ruby tried to dodge it. It didn't hit her. It had not even been aimed at her. The arrow instead planted itself into the floor and exploded, knocking Ruby down.
Ruby was still between the woman and the elevator but she could hardly do anything to stop the masked woman now.
To Ruby's great delight the elevator opened and general Ironwood stepped out. She turned to the masked woman but she was gone.
"Where did she go?"
"Where did who go, Miss Rose?" asked headmaster Ozpin and stepped out from behind Ironwood. He looked around the damages to the machines in the room, some caused by dust, others caused by scythe.
"I do believe you and headmaster Ozpin have some things to talk about, Miss Rose." said Ironwood.
"Ozpin, I don't suppose you could manage this matter in your office while I look for the other one?"
"Of course, James." Ozpin nodded and produced Ruby's shoes.
"But may I suggest we let Miss Rose put these on first."
He handed them over to her.
"A good choice Miss Rose, rather get cold feet than a twisted ankle. I see you learned something from our little talk earlier."
"Ever the educator, eh Ozpin?" the general noted and picked up his scroll to issue some orders.
"Why of course, James. This is a school after all."
Jaune made his way out of the crowd. He had gone through it twice but hadn't seen Pyrrha anywhere. He walked over to the balcony, hoping to get a better view of all the attendants.
To his surprise Neptune walked up to him, cool like always.
"Hey, uh, Jaune right? Nice suit. Shame about the pants though."
Jaune took a deep breath. He needed to calm down and Neptune might be able to help him.
"Likewise. Say why are you here by your lonesome? I thought you would be dancing with Weiss by now. She should have arrived just after me."
"Well, seeing as the two of you were going I figured I shouldn't push it. I mean, I had told Weiss to that I would go with her but since she changed her mind to go with you instead I thought-"
Jaune looked annoyedly at Neptune. His cool demeanor was cracked and he was telling lies like he was a tabloid paper.
"Me and Weiss? The hell, man?"
"Hey now, no need to get worked up about it. I'm just saying, you have been hanging out a lot talking about the dance, practicing and stuff. If you want her then I'm cool with it. Hell, I saw how jealous you got when I met her. Go for it, man."
"Hell no!" Jaune spat out. Neptune recoiled at the sudden outburst.
"Weiss has only been helping me with this suit! Nothing else!"
"Oh."
"Also, Neptune Vasilias, she is a SCHNEE! She wouldn't be caught dead with me when I have these." Jaune said and pointed at his fangs.
"Oh well, that's, um, uncool. I mean she isn't that bad. She is fine with Blake, you know."
"Oh, cut the bullcrap."
"What?"
"I can tell you're stalling. You said that you aren't dancing with her because you thought I was going to but I know that is not the case."
"How do you know? And why would I care about some party with ballroom dancing? It's lame."
Neptune was on the defensive. This was an offence he hadn't expected.
"I know because you are still here despite knowing she is out there somewhere looking for you! She asked you out but you didn't seem so bothered by the idea of someone else snagging her away. What is your reason?"
Neptune slumped, dropping any attempts of appearing cool.
"It's because I can't dance."
Jaune actually snapped out of his anger at the answer.
"Beg your pardon?"
"I don't know how to dance. Never could. And that is uncool. That's why i was a bit relieved when I heard the rumors about you and her. Because then I wouldn't have to dance."
Jaune rolled his eyes at the blue haired bloke in front of him.
"So you would rather break a girls heart rather than to man up enough to admit that you cannot move in rhythm to music?"
"That would sum it up, yes." Neptune admitted sheepishly.
"Well, thanks Neptune. Now I feel a bit better about myself. At least I know now that I have more balls and principles than you. And you know what, having less of those than me, makes you quite uncool."
That stung for Neptune. His coolness was such a large part of his life that it was as crucial to him as his aura, if not more.
Jaune calmed down a bit. It was time for a bit of heart to heart.
"Nep, you don't mind that I call you Nep, do you?"
Neptune shook his head.
"Good. Nep, I will admit that I am jealous of a few things with you. First, you can pull off blue hair like it is nothing. Second, I do admit that I got a bit jealous when you first met Weiss. Not because I fancy her anymore but because of how unnaturally well you got along with her."
"What do you mean?"
"When I first met Weiss I tried my hardest to get her attention, all of the few tricks I could think of. Hell, I even took a fall for her that would have broken her spine during the entrance exam! Did she even bat me an eyelid? No, she treated me like the dirt her fall pressed my face into!"
Jaune walked around Neptune, gesturing with his hands in order to convey the story. Mimicking walking legs with his fingers or smashing his hands together for the fall he took.
"But when you walked up to her, no, when you crawled up the wall to her like some lizard and flashed her a smile the two of you got along dashingly. With no effort at all you have managed to sweep her off her feet while I have only gotten scorn and disgust from her for what I did for her."
Neptune bowed his head in shame. This wasn't really fair and he knew it.
"Sheesh man, I didn't know it was like that."
Jaune continued, ignoring Neptune, happy to went this out off his system.
"And then I wondered, that maybe, just maybe, she likes you so much because you don't have fangs or some other deviation from the typical norm. Oh, wait, you do differ from the norm. You have f#cking blue hair!"
The last words came out as a curse.
Neptune backed off, a bit scared. Jaune's presence was intimidating now that he was in this mood.
Neptune had never in his life been been through something like this. Neptune was no grimm but he could practically feel the anger radiating from Jaune.
Jaune turned to Neptune, grimacing.
"Now, if you are done wasting my time, I have made a promise to Pyrrha to go to this ball with her but then Weiss made me late. Have you seen my date?"
As if on command Neptune quickly jumped up on the balcony rail without thinking and surveyed the crowd.
"There!" he pointed. "About ten meters into the crowd moving towards the door."
"Thanks, now get your blue-haired ass to Weiss." said Jaune and rushed into the crowd.
"Huh?" Neptune said as he jumped back onto the floor. "I guess he is a pretty cool guy after all."
Neptune would never have guessed that Jaune would know just the right things to say before the day he had met him. Harsh words but they were the right words.
To find the right words at the right moment, every time. Neptune had seen him speak to others, to the rank and file. Even to those outside his own team. He always seemed to find the words.
Having had some sense talked into him, Neptune began to walk towards his dance partner.
"Okay, Nep, you are just going to move in the rhythm of music. How hard can it be?"
The punch hadn't been spiked after all to Pyrrha's dismay.
Instead of drowning her sorrows she had instead taken to walk around the room, hoping for someone to approach her.
No one did, like always.
All the time she had heard people talk of her and Jaune. She had filtered that out, even as her name became less frequent while all seemed to talk about him.
Then there was one voice that cut through the din. It was directed at her.
"Pyrrha!"
She turned around. There was Jaune, out of breath. He looked happy to see her.
"Thank dust I found you."
"Jaune, what are you..? Where have you been? The ball started ages ago."
"Sorry I'm late. Weiss wouldn't let me go sooner."
"What does she have to do with this?"
Weiss was one of the last people Pyrrha wanted to hear of right now. She looked down from his face and noticed the very fine and expensive looking suit… and the ruined pants.
"Where did you get that and what happened to your pants?"
Jaune pulled himself up to his full height and looked at the ruined fabric. He hadn't paid it any attention until then.
"Weiss paid for it. She said it was her way of apologizing about how she treated me for my fangs. She still insisted on making it perfect though, down to the last minute detail."
Jaune rolled his shoulders and tilted his head, indicating the wing stumps on his back.
"You-know-what made it a bit difficult."
"But why would she do that specifically? An apology would have sufficed. Why did you even-?"
"Pyr, it was meant as a surprise for you. I wanted to make this special for you. For all you have done for me you deserved to go with someone who isn't dressed like some vagabond"
He laughed and shrugged.
"But that ended in failure now, didn't it? I had originally planned to have it a few days ago but it arrived a few minutes ago. When I tried to get here Weiss froze my feet to the floor. I had to tear the pants apart in order to get free."
"So the two of you are not going together?"
"Pyr, I promised that I would go with you on this dance, and an Arc never goes back on his word. Ever."
"Really?"
"Pyr, I would not go with anyone else to this dance. Not with Weiss, not with anybody but you. Besides, I really don't feel like wearing a dress."
'Heee iiisss lying! Dooon't lisssten tooo hiimmm!' the voice in her mind kept on screaming but to no avail for Pyrrha saw that Jaune was telling her the truth.
The entire room went silent. A week's worth of rumors, assumptions and lies had just gotten blown out off the water.
That didn't matter to Pyrrha though.
'He didn't leave me. He wasn't shagging with Weiss. He didn't break his word. He even remembered his promise about wearing a dress. It had all just been a plan to surprise her!'
Letting go of her worries Pyrrha began to laugh.
As the voice of doubt in her head was fading away were her doubts replaced by her thoughts of how silly she had been and not having faith in him.
Jaune smiled at her, a smile so great that his fangs showed. He didn't care though. Let the world see them, they don't matter now.
"Come now, Pyr. I think we need to talk."
He put his arm around hers' and led her to the balcony so she could calm herself a bit. She followed happily.
"You okay, Pyr? Good to talk?"
"Yes. I think I'm good now." she said and held back a small laugh.
"Great. So where do I begin? Why I went to Weiss in the first place or how it turned into this mess?"
"From the beginning. I want to know it all."
Jaune nodded and did as he was told. He told her of how he hadn't money for a suit back then, how he had intended to ask Weiss for a loan for a suit. He revealed why he had agreed to Weiss plan to let her fund "a perfect suit" and how that had spiraled out of control.
"You know, looking back at it, I kinda want to go back in time and hit myself over the head and just demand money instead. The plan got messed up and not only the suit got ruined, but also the surprise."
"That's not true Jaune. It was a great surprise but that is not what I'm so happy about."
"Then what is it?"
"It is that you remembered, that you always intended to keep your promise to me. I had heard the rumours, I imagined it in my head. You abandoning me for Weiss. Or she taking you away to get back at me for not making her my partner."
"That she would steal your dance partner for that? I don't think even Weiss is that petty. Well, I didn't until a few minutes ago. I mean, seriously, she froze my feet to the floor to put an emblem on my suit!"
"Heh, that does sound like her."
They got silent for a moment.
"Say, Pyr, I have a question, if you don't mind."
"Ask away."
"Why were you alone when I found you. Were you so upset with me that you didn't want to dance or was your dance partner taking a break?"
"No, that's not it."
"Then why not? You do look really nice tonight."
"Thank you." she blushed.
"Heh, I just hope no angry dance partner of yours is gonna beat me up for saying that."
"I think you're safe from that. There is no dance partner."
"What?"
"Nobody asked me for a dance. Although I was sort of hoping someone would."
Jaune looked at his partner dumbfounded.
"That- that can't be right. You are Pyrrha Nikos, supposed idol of thousands. How could nobody ask you for a dance?"
"Same reason why I asked you to come with me. No one else would."
"But, you said it was to make things easier, to be ready in time."
She shook her head.
"Not quite true."
She looked up at the shattered moon. It's situation was like hers in a way. Always there but never reached by others for no one dared to try anymore.
"I've been blessed with great talents and opportunities. I'm always surrounded by admiration and praise. But being placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you get separated from the ones that put you on it in the first place."
She turned back to him.
"Everyone assumes I'm too good for them or that I think myself too good for others. They think I'm on a level they simply can't reach. It has made it almost impossible for me to form any sort of actual relationship with anyone."
She put her hand on his shoulder.
"That's what sets you apart from others for me. When we first met, you didn't recognize my face. When Weiss tried to tell you of who I am you didn't even know my name. For you, I was just like anybody else to you, a friend you had not yet met."
She smiled.
"Thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. Nora, Ren, Team RWBY, all these friends I now have are thanks to you."
Their eyes met, the moon light shining of them.
"I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with at Beacon, at this dance. Someone who just saw me for me. That's why I made it my mission to make you my partner at the entrance exam. And I haven't regretted it since."
Jaune was processing all what Pyrrha had just told him and all they had been through together. The training she had given him, the help with the Thirst, the wing stumps.
She had done all of that because she wanted a friend.
"Were you really that lonely, Pyr?"
"Yes." she said with a sigh.
"Then I'm not going to let you be lonely anymore."
"Thank you."
They positioned themselves as if to dance. It was a dance party after all.
To Pyrrha's great surprise Jaune knew precisely how to do this, better than her.
"I suppose Weiss wasn't the one to teach you this?"
"Pfft, no, My mom insisted that I take a dance course once. I had seven good teachers who just so happened to be my sisters. Much better teachers than Weiss would be, I think."
Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at that callback to when Jaune had first tried to keep his goings-on with Weiss a secret from her. But even now Jaune was not moving to dance yet. He was thinking of something.
"Say Pyr?"
"Yes, Jaune?
"I've been meaning to ask you something. What was up with those times after you helped me with the Thirst? If you just were cold you could easily have settled for a blanket instead. Was that also why you were lonely?"
Pyrrha's face turned stark red.
"Yes, in a way. You cared for me and looked after me in such a way no one had ever done before and I wanted to be close to somebody right then, cold or not. That's why I did what I did it the first time."
She met his gaze. He was looking at her with those clear blue eyes, listening to her every word. Not judging or assuming anything, just caringly listening as to understand her.
"The second time, I wanted to feel that feeling again, of being close to someone, to be cared for by someone so close to me. And it was just as great as I had hoped. Why do you ask? Don't you want to do that anymore? I can stop if you like."
"No Pyrrha. If that is what you like then I won't ask you to stop."
He took her hand and placed it over his heart. Pyrrha could feel it beating like a drum.
"I won't ask you to stop because I don't want you to stop making me feel this way. To feel appreciated."
Pyrrha was at a loss for words.
"What?"
"I've been believed to be without any talents or skills whatsoever ever since I was born into this life. Since birth I have had to be protected by my sisters because of my weakness. I have always been told that I would never amount to anything in my life by those who only wished to protect me."
He sighed deeply.
"I have never been given the chance to prove myself in any way. As such I always fell behind, never being expected to manage anything at all. My parent, fearing for me, would have me locked away for my own safety even if it meant denying me my dreams.
"Growing up in such an environment, I began to doubt myself and lose the hope that was my dream. When I came to Beacon I thought of turning tail and run but then…"
He squeezed her hand gently.
"You gave me encouragement. You actually believed in me. For the first time in my life someone actually believed in me. You did not look down on me like the rest. You gave me hope."
"And then, when I was at my lowest you pulled me back up from the abyss of madness of the Red Thirst. When my wings began to emerge you did not have me slaughtered like some mutant."
He placed his forehead against hers. She let him.
"And for that I can't think of losing you, the only one to believe in me and to appreciate me. You are my light, my hope, my… love."
There was silence. He waited. He waited for her to answer. Had he taken it too far? He eased his hold of her hand. She let go of him. He bowed his head, fearing that he had been too forthcoming with her.
He could understand that. He had never learned how to court. Not in this life or his previous one.
Still, he had to say it. He was done keeping secrets from her.
Then, she grabbed hold of his head and kissed him. It was a deep and passionate kiss.
Eventually she pulled back.
"Pyr, what was-?
"Because I don't want to lose you, my love."
Jaune's mind was trying to process what she had just said, to come up with a response. "Since when?"
"I don't know really know. I just came to terms with myself it when I asked you out for the dance. Our embrace, that moment together, was the final sign I needed."
"Even with my changes? Even with my fangs and stumps?"
"Jaune, they do not change who you are and that is all that matters. For whatever changes you are going through I will accept you."
"Then so will I, as long as you are with me."
"Always, my love." she teased.
There was no malice in her words, just happiness of the having found one another like this.
They embraced and kissed by the light of the moon light. Jaune broke off the kiss and took her by the hand.
"Come Pyr. This is a ball. Let's dance."
"Oh, are you ready for it?" She asked, surprised with his eagerness.
"Pyr, if there is one thing I can promise you it is that on the dance floor I have got you beat." Jaune said with a great smile.
"I will keep you to that."
And so they took to the dancefloor and danced to their heart's content, moving as one.
Jaune had been right, on the dancefloor he did have Pyrrha beat.
But he did not seek to outdo her. He moved with her, guiding her and even allowed her to set the pace. From now on they would move together, not letting the other be left alone.
'Damn it all to hell!' muttered Cinder as she made her way through Beacon towards the ball.
She had been forced to turn tail and run using the backup plan. She had simply turned around and used one of the service doors that were usually sealed. She had in the heat of the moment figured out a way to circumvent the lock without the use of her virus.
She had melted the lock with the power she had stolen from the maiden. Her enemies would know that the one who had attacked the maiden was around now but they would not know of her computer virus. It was an acceptable trade.
She let her hair down and changed her catsuit into a ball dress with the dust embedded in it. She ditched the mask. It was time to mingle. In the crowd of the ball no one would be able to figure out who she was or where she had been.
Someone walked up to her. It was Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL. The rest of his team was standing around, giving her curious looks. Cinder had dismissed Cardin and his team as an annoying fools since day one. What ever could they want with her?
"Well, hello beautiful. May I ask you for a dance?"
Cinder somehow managed to keep her facial features under control. Like hell she was going to dance with some thug like him.
"I'm afraid I have to decline. I already have a dance partner and I do believe I have kept him waiting long enough as it is."
She said it with as genuine smile as she could muster. She had a rendevouz to reach and now she could smell alcohol on Cardin's breath. He seemed a bit tipsy.
"Oh, well. If you change your mind just find me."
"I will keep that in mind." she said and walked off, feeling a bit annoyed with the drunks behavior and at the same time smug over the heads she turned with her good looks.
'I should wear this dress more often.'
'Yoouuu shooouuuld.'
Cardin watched her walk away. He was a bit relieved that she had refused him. He wouldn't have had any idea of what to do if she had accepted.
It didn't matter though. Cardin believed he had discovered what he was after.
He straightened up and quit doing his drunk-face. Cardin had had some booze to drink but he was nowhere near drunk, just enough that he could make people think he was.
Russel walked up to him.
"Say boss, is something off about her? She seemed like she had been running. She looked like she had been sweating."
Sky nodded.
"I noticed the same thing. Did anyone else notice that she smelled of ice dust? Do you think she has been in combat recently?"
Dove rubbed his chin, thinking.
"Yeah, maybe. But why did she arrive to the dance this late? Even we have managed to get here before her and we were hanging around in Vale just before this."
They all nodded. Cardin had decided to stage out the tailor's shop in case Cinder or Emerald tried anything. It was a good thing that they did because a handful of robbers had busted down the door when they were there. The police had detained them for ages before get could leave and still they got to the ball before Cinder.
Cinder was running late as hell and CRDL couldn't figure out why.
Did it have something to do with her plan for Arc and Nikos? They didn't know and frankly they didn't want to know.
Russel spoke up.
"Is this something we should inform Jaun… I mean, the Lord Primarch of?"
Cardin tossed a look into the ballroom. There he could see Arc and Nikos dance like nothing else mattered to them. It would be a real shame to interrupt them right now.
There was also a good chance that Arc and Nikos would beat the living crap out of them if they did that now.
"Maybe later. For now let's just keep an eye on Cinder. Come on, I have some booze left in my blunt flask and no one has spiked the punch yet."
Cinder had switched places with Emerald and was now dancing with Mercury at a moderate pace. They did not really care for the dance but they had to keep up appearances. They were choosing their words carefully in the crowd.
"So Cinder, how has your evening been going so far?"
"Oh, quite well. Thank you for asking. I did run into some trouble at the ladies' room."
"Oh, care to elaborate?"
"It was just some girl who walked in on me as I was getting into my dress but I managed to sorted it out."
"That's good. We were starting to wonder what was taking you so long."
"How thoughtful of you. How have things been here? Did Arc bother to come at all?"
"Surprisingly yes, and he gave us all quite the surprise."
"Oh?"
Mercury led the dance so that Cinder could see Arc and Nikos dancing in a close embrace.
"It would seem they cleared things up between themselves."
There was the tiniest of twitches in Cinder's eyes.
"I see. How good for them."
That had been a few days' worth of effort and an ordered heist and it had all been for naught. Cinder would have to come up with some other way to deal with the girl.
'Forgeeet the giiirl. Gooo fooor hiiim. Taake hiiim.'
"Don't tell me that you are jealous of her dance partner." joked Mercury, earning a disapproving look from his superior.
"Hey, now, I don't blame you. There are a lot of other ladies here that seem to want a piece of him. Some of the guys too. Who knew that the guy could actually dance?"
Mercury felt how his palms were heating up like he had just touched an open flame. Cinder glared at him.
"Mercury, my pedigree chum, you are on thin fucking ice and I shall be under it when it breaks. Now shut up!"
Pyrrha and Jaune had slowed down their pace quite a bit as the music had changed. When they had begun it had been a waltz but now it was a slow dance.
It was a much needed change of pace for they had both danced like never before.
They were both sweaty and tired but ever so happy. They were as close to one another as they could be, occasionally giving the other a small kiss or just whispering "I love you" into the other's ear. It was simply wonderful.
If they could they would never leave this moment. They almost didn't when a group of Atlas soldiers burst into the ballroom and ordered the music shut down.
"Hey, what gives?" asked Yang, annoyed with having her fun interrupted.
A officer, a sargent, stepped forward.
"There has been a break-in. You are all to cooperate with us so we can do a headcount."
The soldiers began breaking the crowd at the dance floor up in order to be able to count everyone. They were not all that gentle but the sudden appearance of general Ironwood made the soldiers behave a bit better.
"Oh, boo, they ruined the mood just as it was getting good." complained Nora.
She had her scroll in hand as she had been taking pictures of the dance, of her teammates' dance in particular.
The looks on the pair's faces was unmistakable. They had gotten together! Ren owed Nora a pancake for this!
Ren nodded but he didn't let the loss of the music ruin his mood. The lovely sight in front of him made up for it in full.
"Yes, quite a shame. The two of you really seemed to enjoy yourself out there."
"Is it that obvious?" asked Pyrrha as she and Jaune made their way to the punch, holding each other by the arm.
"Yeah, it is." Nora said and handed them a mug each. "So what now? Are you going to keep dancing? I recommend not to or else some of the other girls might try to take Jauney away."
"I don't think that will be a problem." said Jaune and leaned his head against Pyrrha's. "Not that I would let them take me away from Pyrrha. Not now, not ever."
"Yes, I think we will retire for the evening." Pyrrha agreed.
"Ren, Nora, do you think we could have the dorm to ourselves for a while?"
"It's yours for the night." said Nora, giving the new couple a very understanding grin and wink.
"But where will you sleep?"
"Ruby has booted both Yang and Weiss out of RWBY's dorm for tonight. I think we can crash there." Ren pointed out.
"We already have access there anyway."
"Thanks guys. We will see you tomorrow."
The new couple left the ball, almost disgustingly happy with each other. They didn't talk, they just enjoyed each other's company for now.
Before they left Yang walked up to them and put something into Jaune's breast pocket.
"My way of saying sorry."
She gave them the same wink and grin as Nora.
"Hm, what's that?" Pyrrha asked although she had a good idea of what it was.
Jaune took a look at the object. It was a pack of condoms.
"Well, I guess we will be needing these now." Jaune said and blushed.
So did Pyrrha.
"I suppose we do."
I know some of you wanted the wings to burst out and ruin the suit. Sorry that you didn't get what you wanted. Rest assured they will be coming out into the open soon enough.
And that's a wrap. Now with the Champion and Angel together I can move on with the story with.
But first:
Vixappa: Hey, VegaVix, what does the scouter say about the chapter's word-count?
VegaVix: It's over 9000!
Vixappa: What? Over 9000? there is no way that could be right?