Chapter 15

'Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!' Ruby declared, pointing a determined finger in Yang's face. Smirking in return, she slapped her cards down on the table.

'Bring it on!' She challenged, and Ruby picked a card out of her hand.

'I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet! Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!' She declared, and Yang placed a hand over her heart in mock terror. 'And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts one turn.'

Yang grinned at her sister, chuckling maliciously. 'Pretty sneaky sis, but you've just activated my trap card! Giant Nevermore!'

'Didn't you fight one of those before?' Jaye interjected, flipping the page of the book he was reading. The five members of team RRWBY were sitting in the library, and the four girls were currently in the middle of playing a board game.

Yang ignored the boy, slamming her hands down on the table. 'If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two.'

'BUT, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces.' Ruby shot back, and Yang grinned at her.

'That's just a chance I'm willing to take. HAH!'

'NOOOOOOO MY FEARLESS SOLDIERS'

'Eh, most of them were probably androids.'

'Goodbye my friends... You will be avenged.'

The two sisters argued back and forth, and Jaye glanced over at the other table where team JNPR was sitting. Ren was studying, unsurprisingly, while Nora and Jaune were sleeping and reading comic books respectively. As he watched, Pyrrha pulled the comic book out of Jaune's hands, handing him a reference book instead, earning a disappointed groan from her team leader, before flipping open the comic herself. Smiling to himself, Jaye returned his gaze to his team members.

'HAVE YOU NO HEART?! Nooooooooooooo…' Ruby dropped her head onto the table, tears streaming down her face, somehow defying gravity and flowing horizontally down her face rather than down onto the table. Jaye stared at it, glancing about at the uninterested faces around him, and wondered if that was normal and he was the weird one.

'I have…absolutely no idea what's going on.' Weiss admitted, staring at the cards in her hand. Yang shot over to her to help, and Jaye patted the grieving Ruby on the head.

'Now you can take Ruby's discarded air fleet and put it in your hand!' Yang told the heiress, who was looking more and more confused by the minute. Jaye returned to his book, and looked up when the table shook.

'YES! FEAR THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF MY FORCES!' Weiss declared, rising abruptly from her seat. 'COWER AS THEY PILLAGE YOUR HOMES AND WEEP AS THEY TAKE YOUR CHILDREN FROM YOUR VERY ARMS-!'

'Trap card.' Yang shoved a card into Weiss's face, earning a sound of confusion from the heiress. Yang rearranged the statuettes on the table, surrounding Weiss's army with Ursai.

'Your armies have been destroyed.' She declared, grinning at Weiss, who dropped down in her chair, tears streaming down her face.

'I hate this game of emotions we play!' She whined, and Ruby shot onto her lap.

'Stay strong Weiss, we'll make it through this together!' She cried, wrapping her arms around the heiress's neck.

'Shut up! Don't touch me!' Weiss cried, hugging her back. Yang grinned at them, throwing her arms behind her head and kicking back in her chair.

'Alright Blake, you're up!' Yang called, and Jaye glanced at the utterly confused faunus.

'Huh? Oh! Umm...sorry, what am I doing?' She mumbled, staring at her cards.

'You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant.' Yang explained, and Blake only looked even more confused. The girls looked up as a blond approached them.

'Hey! Can I play?' Jaune waved, approaching the table, clearly having given up on reading the reference book.

'Sorry, Jaune, we've already got four people.' Ruby told him, and Weiss glanced at him smugly.

'Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess.' She informed the blond flippantly.

'Uh, you attacked your own Naval Fleet two turns ago.' Yang interjected, and Jaune rolled his eyes.

'Bring it on Ice Queen! I'll have you know that I've been told I'm a natural born leader.' He informed her smugly, and Weiss stared at him skeptically.

'By who? Your mother?' She shot back, and Jaune raised his hands defensively.

'A-And Pyrrha!' He defended, and the redhead in question waved from the other table.

'Hello again!' She called cheerily, and Jaune leaned over the girl.

'Come on, lemme play your hand for a turn!' He begged, and Weiss flinched away from the boy.

'I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo.' She argued, and Jaye rolled his eyes, returning again to his book, before being interrupted again by yet another blond.

'Sup losers!' He turned to see Sun slot himself between him and Blake, whom Jaye was sitting beside.

'Hey Sun!' Ruby called, and then they noticed the blue haired boy with him.

'Ruby, Yang, Blake. Ice Queen…Ice King.' He addressed, and Weiss stared at him, offended.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!' She asked, and Sun ignored her.

'I never got the chance to formally introduce you to my old friend.' He said, gesturing towards the blue haired guy, Neptune.

'Uh, aren't libraries for reading?' he questioned, and Ren's hands shot up from the table close by.

'Thank you!' He called, and Nora snorted awake.

'Pancakes!' She exclaimed, dropping her head back down. Sun turned to the blue-haired boy.

'Shut up, don't be a nerd.' He said, and Neptune waved a finger in his face.

'Gegegege, intellectual, okay? Thank you.' He interjected. 'I'm Neptune.'

'So Neptune, where are you from?' Weiss asked, clearly interested in the boy. He walked over to her slowly, smiling at her as he did.

'Haven…And I don't believe I caught your name, snow angel.' He grinned at her, and Weiss blushed.

'Uh…I'm Weiss.' She introduced herself, and Jaune made a sound of annoyance behind them.

'Pleasure to meet you.' Neptune replied, and the two smiled at each other. Sun leaned down next to Blake, pushing Jaye slightly to the side. He glared at the faunus boy, annoyed.

'I never took you for the board-game playing type.' He tried to make conversation, and Blake put down her cards, rising from her seat.

'Right…I think I'm done playing actually. I'll see you guys later.' She said, pushing past Sun and leaving. He stared after her, glancing at the group.

'Women.' Nora declared, raising her hands in mock confusion, having somehow woken up just for that.

In The Dorms After Classes

Blake sat by herself, clutching her knees to her chest, gazing out the window, deep in thought. She jumped slightly as the door opened, and her teammates walked in.

'Ugh! We should've never let him play!' Yang said, angrily, and Ruby giggled at her.

'You're just mad 'cause the new guy beat you!' Ruby teased. 'See if you had just attacked when I told you none of this would have happened.'

Jaye flopped down on his bed, face still buried in a book, and Blake immediately got up and headed for the door. Weiss's eyes followed her as she reached for the door handle.

'Stop.' She ordered, and Blake's hand froze. 'Lately you've been quiet, anti-social and moody.'

'Uh, have you met Blake?' Yang cut in, and Weiss ignored her.

'Which I get, is kind of your "thing", but you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly, is unacceptable.' She said, walking towards the catgirl. 'You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong.'

Weiss hopped onto a chair, dramatically shoving a finger into Blake's face. 'So! Blake Belladonna! What! Is! Wrong!?'

Blake stared at the finger for a moment, and Weiss got off the chair, returning it to the desk. She tiptoed back over to Blake, staring at her expectantly. Blake glanced about at the girls, and sighed, taking a deep breath,

'I just...I don't understand how everyone can be so calm.' She admitted, and Ruby stepped towards her.

'You still thinking about Torchwick?' She asked, and Blake's calm demeanor broke.

'Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!' She exclaimed, waving her hands in frustration. Yang got up from her spot on Jaye's bed.

'Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsman, I'm sure they can handle it.' She reassured the girl, but Blake shook her head.

'Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do.' She cried, and Weiss put her hands up.

'Okay, between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells...' She said, putting her hands together. 'But let me once again be the voice of reason...'

'We're students.' She reasoned. 'We're not ready to handle this sort of situation! We're not ready!'

'And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day!' She half-shouted, voice rising in panic.

'They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not.' She said, staring at the three girls, a nearly desperate look on her face. Jaye cleared his throat loudly, and the four girls looked at him.

'I know what it is.' He said, barely glancing up from his book. The girls stared at him in shock, and he shook his head. 'Trust me, you don't want to get involved. It's too dangerous.'

Ruby's face lit up in excitement.

'Okay! All in favor of becoming the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale...say "aye"!' She declared, and the four girls grinned.

'YES! I love it when you're feisty.' Yang exclaimed, pumping her fist, gesturing at Blake. Weiss crossed her arms.

'Well, I guess it could be fun.' She admitted, cocking her head to the side in mock consideration.

'None of you said aye…' Ruby whispered sadly, and Blake smiled.

'Alright then...we're in this together.' She said, and Ruby wiggled in excitement.

'Let's hatch a plan!' She declared, and Jaye shook his head.

'NO! Guys, which part of don't get involved did you not understand?!' He dropped his face into his hands, and Yang threw an arm over his shoulder.

'Chill out man! We can handle this, no problem!' She declared. In a softer voice, she whispered. 'Sorry, guess we're gonna need a rain-check on that date huh?'

She grinned apologetically at him, and Jaye sighed.

'You're serious about this?' He asked, and she nodded. He shook his head in disbelief. 'You girls are crazy.'

'So…does this mean you'll help us?' Ruby asked, and the girls stared at him in anticipation. Jaye looked at their eager faces, and glanced at Yang, who grinned widely at him. He felt a little flutter in his chest, and turned away from her.

'Fine.' He sighed, and the girls cheered.

'Oh, wait, I left my board game in the library!' Ruby exclaimed, charging out of the room. Weiss facepalmed.

'We're doomed.' She declared, watching the girl run.

'I'll be right back!' Ruby called from outside, and flinched as she ran face-first into something. Bouncing off the obstacle, she hit the floor with a grunt. She looked up at what she'd ran into, to only to find an emerald-haired girl with chocolate-brown skin staring down at her. Beside her stood a silvery-grey haired boy, who was looking down at her with mild surprise.

'Oh, uh, sorry. Are you okay?' She asked, and the girl offered her a hand.

'I'm fine, just watch where you're going.' The girl said, and Ruby took her hand.

'Oh right…sorry.' Ruby apologized, and the girl pulled her to her feet. 'Uh, I'm Ruby! Are you…new?'

'Visiting from Haven actually.' A voice cut into their conversation, and the emerald-haired girl stepped aside to reveal a black-haired girl with unusual pale-white skin. She somehow seemed older than the rest, and her eyes were a brilliant amber. Ruby looked at her for a moment, entranced by them, before shaking herself out of her slight daze.

'Oooooh! You're here for the festival!' She squealed. 'Oh! But exchange students have their own dormitory.'

'I guess we just got turned around.' The silver-haired boy spoke, his voice low and husky. Ruby smiled at him, bouncing a little on the spot.

'Don't worry! Happens all the time!' She said, as the they walked past her, but the dark-haired girl lingered for a moment. 'Your building is juuust east of here!'

'Thanks.' The dark-haired girl said, her amber eyes piercing into Ruby's. 'Maybe we'll see you around.'

'Yeah! Maybe!' Ruby called jubilantly after them as they left. 'Oh and uh, welcome to Beacon!'

Jaye stood in the doorway, watching them walk past. The grey-haired boy glanced at him, catching his eye. Jaye narrowed his eyes at him, and the boy grinned. He had a bad feeling about those three, but he couldn't figure out why.

'Jaye! C'mere for a sec!' Yang's voice called form inside, and Jaye turned to her.

'Yeah.' He called back, glancing back out the door, but the three had already vanished down the dark hallway, out of his sight.

Alright, and that wraps up chapter 15 guys. Lemme know if you have any suggestions for this story, and do review and follow!