Chapter 33

'Hey mom, sorry I haven't come by in a while. Things have been…Well, things have been pretty busy.' Ruby gazed quietly down at the grey gravestone at her feet. It was a simple affair of grey stone, with a symbol of a rose imprinted on its surface. Emblazoned beneath it was a memento, written in cursive, Thus Kindly I Scatter. A remembrance for one who'd been lost. She was alone, in a small clearing near the edge of a cliff, past a small expanse of trees leading down from the sturdy wooden cabin that was their home. The small-statured girl pushed back her hood silently.

'Oh! Dad's here too. He's, you know...dad.' She rolled her eyes affectionately, smiling down at her mother. 'He's still teaching at Signal, but he told me he's going to be going out on some mission soon. I think he misses adventuring with you.' She twiddled her thumbs. 'I miss you too.'

Ruby crossed her arms in front of her, gripping her wrist tightly, swallowing down the lump in her throat. 'Haven't gotten kicked out of Beacon yet! So that's cool. I think being on a team with Yang helps. I keep her in line.' Her face fell slightly, smiling gently at the stone marker. 'That was a joke. She's actually a really great fighter, you can tell she's learned a lot from Dad. Well so are Weiss and Blake. And Jaye.'

The girl's face lit up as she realized she forgot something. 'Oh! They're my teammates. Together, we form Team RRWBY! And yes, before you ask, that does cause a lot of confusion, and yes, we are currently the only odd-number team.'

'Yang's dating Jaye at the moment. Oh and yeah, Jaye's a boy. I know you and Dad are probably concerned about me and Yang rooming with a boy, but I assure you there's nothing to be worried about! Well, not yet anyway. I mean, he technically is a criminal…Oh but he's not a bad guy, honest!' She waved her arms frantically in front of her, before realizing the gravestone couldn't see her, and let them fall to her side. 'I know that makes you worried, but he's helped us a lot! He's a really, really, really strong fighter! Honestly, he's so strong it's a little scary, but he actually doesn't do that well against grimm.' She giggled, putting a finger to her mouth. 'I think it's cuz he's too used to fighting people.'

'It wasn't perfect; we had a few uh…bumps in the road, but we can trust him. He's pulled through when it counted, and he's opened up to us a lot. I think Yang's in good hands, and I'm sure you'd love him if you met him!' She twiddled her thumbs, bouncing up and down on her heels.

'Anyways, uh, I made a bunch of new friends, and I met some...let's just say, odd teachers.' She involuntarily thought about Doctor Oobleck, zipping around, and Professor Port with his ridiculous stories, and shuddered a little, grinning nervously. 'Oh! We've also stopped some bad guys too! I guess it's like they say: Like mother, like daughter. I still wonder why Ozpin let me into the school early. But uh, I guess he'll tell me one day.' She frowned quizzically. 'You know how he is. It's funny, the more I get to know him, the more he starts sounding like Uncle Qrow.'

The girl jolted a little as Zwei barked in the distance, waving at her father coming down the pathway.

'Oh! Look's like Dad's back. I gotta go! He's dropping me off at Beacon for the tournament match before he goes on his next mission!' She grinned down at the tombstone, the somber mood broken and her high spirits finally returned. 'Wish me luck!'

Ruby pulled her hood over her head, the red cloth covering her hair and obscuring the gentle tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them away, pausing halfway along the path. She turned back, gazing wistfully at the stone resting in its tranquil spot on the edge of the cliff, silhouetted against the rising sun, maple leaves falling in a gentle shower around it.

'It was good to talk.'

Now that we're here, I wanna take a minute to deliver a personal message.

R.I.P Monty Oum

Thank you for the wonderful memories.

I hope those who have taken up this daunting task in your stead will live up to what you've created.

Beacon Academy

The sounds of cheering erupted through the air, audible even from the school grounds and nearly drowning out the sounds of battle as the Vytal Festival continued on. Resounding from the Amity Colosseum, floating in the sky above the academy, the cheers shook the very ground as the eight students in the ring continued to battle for victory.

'O-HO! It seems we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?' Professor Port leant over his dashboard as he commentated on the match. Currently in the commentator's booth with Doctor Oobleck, the two teachers had been tasked with giving a commentary on the proceedings of the match. Seated in the audience, Jaye flinched as Professor Port's obnoxious voice was broadcasted all over the arena.

'Doctor.' Doctor Oobleck cautioned in an irate voice, clearly miffed with the improper title placed upon him. 'And yes, Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be one of the closest we've seen in the four-and-four round of the tournament!'

'For those of you just now joining us, welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament! Broadcast live from the Amity Colosseum! Now, let's get back to the match between Team RWBY of Beacon versus Team ARBN of Haven!'

Jaye, as one of the members of the few odd-numbered teams, was, in the name of equity, unable to participate in the tournament due to the four-on-four rule. Thus, they as a team had drawn lots to see who would be taking part, and Jaye had clearly drawn the short straw. Just his luck. On top of that, he'd been the first to draw, meaning his luck was so crappy that out of five straws he'd managed to pick the only short one, out of five choices. He groaned in annoyance as he watched his team members duke it out with the opposing team.

On the other hand, the girls had also judged it the fairest to have him out of the match, considering he could have gone into the match alone and still won. Possibly completely untouched.

'Now if only you were THIS good at fighting grimm.' Ruby had jested, elbowing him, and he swore angrily under his breath on his recollection of that comment.

Then again, she wasn't exactly wrong. His skill set was almost completely devoted to fighting other human beings, so when it came to giant monsters…he was a little out of his element. Not that he'd lose but, well, even Ruby could rack up a better kill count than him. Jaye swore under his breath as he watched the match, brooding silently in the stands as the buzzer sounded for the end of the match. Professor Port's voice sounded loudly over the announcement system.

'Team RWBY is victorious!'

The match ended, the five trudged through the fairgrounds, talking excitedly about their next match. Jaye glanced about the area. It was a well adorned area, with stalls as far as the eye could see, and he smelled a delicious aroma wafting from nearby. His stomach rumbled quietly in response, and he hope no one had heard that.

'Is anyone else starving?' Ruby asked, hanging her arms almost to the point of touching the ground. Blake stood, hands behind her head, grinning at the girl.

'I may have worked up an appetite.' She admitted, and blushed a deep crimson as her stomach growled fiercely in response, glancing nervously at her teammates. Jaye raised an eyebrow at the beet red girl.

'Gee, if only there were somewhere on campus to get food around here.' Weiss piped, waving her hands in mock despair. 'Oh wait.'

'It's okay, Weiss. I forget about the fairgrounds too.' Ruby laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. Jaye raised an eyebrow at the red-clad girl, but said nothing as the heiress adopted his expression.

'I was being facetious!' She pointed out, and Ruby threw her arms into the air.

'Well, if you were hungry, why didn't you say so!?' She squealed, and Jaye's eyebrow hit the point where it seemed like it would exit the confined of his face.

'I have no idea what "facetious" means, but it sounds like feces and I don't need that image in my head when I'm hungry.' He said, checking his wallet. 'Let's get some food.'

'Hey! Might be hard to eat without this!' Jaye turned to face the voice, and the brown-skinned, green-haired girl stood behind them, holding out a small red credit-holder. Ruby's eyes lit up, and she frantically dug through her pockets. The dark girl laughed, handing her back the holder.

'Ha ha ha, good to see you, Ruby.' She grinned, and Ruby took the purse meekly from her hand.

'Oh, thanks, Emerald! Guess I dropped it.' She laughed nervously. 'Guh, girl pockets are the worst!'

'What's up Em?' Yang called, and Emerald waved at her.

'Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fight. You guys were awesome!' She said, and Ruby waved a hand in the air, blubbering at the compliment.

'I heard your team progressed the next round, too.' Blake cut in, and Emerald nodded.

'You know, I feel like we never see your other teammates.' Weiss pondered, and Jaye gave her a knowing look.

'So yeah. Looks like Merc and I will be moving on to the Doubles round. What about you guys?' Yang pumped a fist in challenge.

'We voted for Weiss and Yang.' Blake said, patting the blonde on the shoulder. Emerald smiled at her, placing her hands on her hips.

'Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on ya.' She challenged, and Yang slapped her fists together.

'Wouldn't have it any other way.' She said. The girls grinned/glared at each other, and Emerald waved goodbye. Jaye watched her quietly, and he thought he caught her facial expression drop as she turned away. His eyes followed her retreating figure, and caught the eye of Mercury. The grey-haired boy waved at him, smirking, and Jaye narrowed his eyes at him as they turned away from each other. Yang nudged him on the shoulder, and Jaye glanced at her.

'I don't like them.' He muttered, and Yang rolled her eyes.

'You don't like anybody. What's new?' She jested, earning a glare from the scowling boy. Jaye glanced back at the pair, now engaged in a conversation far away from them. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss with those two, but so far all of his digging had come up short. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, shaking his head.

'I must be getting paranoid.'

Done. Sorry that I can't do much work, but since I should be coming home every day now, things should get better!

I kinda feel like the quality of my content has been dropping, because I'm just sort of rushing this whole thing. So yeah, know that those of ya'll who still follow and wait for chapters, I LOVE YOU GUYS YOU KEEP ME GOING SERIOUSLY I MEAN IT AND I'M SO SORRY I CAN'T POST CONSISTENTLY.