CHAPTER 6: FIRE ON THE DANCE FLOOR
Remnant
City of Vale
November 15th,
80 Years After the Great War
Penny was finding it harder to remain in one place in recent days. The amount of time that she was allowed to go outside was simply not enough for her. She wanted to get out everyday and see as much as possible. For all the things that she did know about the world, there were a million more things that she remained unaware of. It only made sense that she would want to find out as much as possible about Remnant. She was to become its protector and savior one day. In order to best serve that purpose, she needed to understand as many facets of life as possible.
But there had been very clear lines set by General Ironwood in terms of when she could go out and for how long. She could only go out during the day and before she did so, her mandatory training and reports were required as well as her various other duties that she needed to attend to. For a normal person, it would have been a considerable workload, but not for the synthetic girl.
Penny could finish all of these things by noon time everyday before she went off to do her own thing, but she anticipated a considerable increase in her duties once she was formally introduced and put to work. That would be when her freedoms would become almost non-existent. That was why she had to get out and do as much as possible and meet as many people as was feasibly possible.
That's the reason why she chose to disregard the rules and regulations set by the people around her. Even if she were to get caught in the act and scolded for it, it wasn't as if they could do away with her and replace her. She was an extremely valuable piece of equipment worth millions of lien. She was intended for an important purpose and there was a written contract that detailed all of these, and people in Atlas took contracts seriously.
Penny considered that maybe her attitude towards all of this was very flippant, but now that she had gotten a taste of what life was like outside of her usual confines, she wasn't about to go quietly into the night without experiencing as much as possible. That said, the amount of activities to do at any given time were still quite staggering, hence why she felt it best not to do these things alone. She was somewhat afraid of messing up herself.
Hence, she enlisted the help of Jaune Arc, her best friend, to assist her with navigating through the list of things that she could do. Thankfully, he had been able and willing to help on this fine day. Even though the sun was dipping into the horizon, they had some time before he had to return to Beacon Academy.
Out of all the things that she had listed off doing, he suggested that they try their hand at dancing. Apparently, he had a hidden skill with dancing and it was something that he could teach her. It all sounded amazing.
"So where are we going? Penny asked as they walked the streets. "I've never visited this section of the city."
"It's a fairly popular clubbing spot." Jaune said to her. "It's got good reviews and from what I hear, it's fairly busy. It's as good a place as any to start."
"Are you sure that I can do this?" Penny felt herself get a little antsy. "I've never done anything like this before."
"Doesn't everyone start out like that?" Jaune didn't sound concerned. "Look, I'll help you. I've been doing this for years. Plus, you've got less to worry about considering that you're in good shape. All you need to do is get into the groove. Don't worry about being a master dancer."
"If you say so." Penny had to trust in him as the more experienced dancer. "So how do we begin?"
"Well, to be honest, if we're going to do this right, it would probably be better if we had a one-on-one lesson." Jaune scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "But since we're already here, I can at least get to feel the vibe when songs come on."
The sound of booming music came to her audio receptors and with each step taken forward, the sound increased. From the sounds of it, it was the type of music that was labelled as pop music, a genre broadly defined as the most listened-to songs in the present time. Pop music took many different forms over time. This decade, the defining traits of popular music were all-electronic compositions for the most part.
The entrance was watched over by a single guard. He quickly surveyed them and asked them for identification. Once they displayed the necessary item, he ushered them inside without another word.
It was bright and dark at the same time. The lighting all around was wildly inconsistent. One moment, she could see everything in detail and the next it was shrouded in darkness. The colors were changing, the angles were shifting, and nothing was staying still. It was quite a lot of sensory information for her to take in. For a split second, the sheer amount of information that she was processing was a startling, but she took it in carefully and eventually found herself figuring out everything just fine.
There was quite a crowd gathered here with the occasional individuals dotting around the outer edges towards a bar area along with some areas with seating. With the changing color of the lights, she had to adjust her own eyes in order to filter out any distortions in order to see things for what they truly were.
As she did this, she spotted two girls that looked identical in facial features and overall body shape. One was dressed in a white dress while the other was in a red dress. The two of them regarded her with narrowed eyes. The synthetic felt her systems go on alert. Although she didn't wish to fight, she was ready to shift into combat at a moment's notice. Still, in order to de-escalate any potential hostilities, she offered a stiff wave and a smile. The twin girls gave her an unimpressed look before looking away.
That served to ease the tension within her frame.
"It looks like this song's going to end in a minute." Jaune spoke louder in order to be heard over the music. "Let's find a more open place."
"Okay." Penny nodded her head a few times.
The girl with green eyes gazed around her to witness so many people dancing. She wasn't sure what constituted good or bad. Many seemed to be merely performing simple movements that could be done by anyone even without practice. That being the case, then these were most likely the basic moves. It made her wonder just what sort of dancing maneuvers could her friend pull off.
The music stopped and the crowd cheered a little bit. There was a voice over the loudspeaker, a man who appeared to be sizing up the mood of the crowd before cheering them on into the next song.
It was a fast beat with a few instrumentals accompanying it. Because she was largely uninformed about who was who in music, she just listened.
"No time like the present." Jaune tugged on her sleeve. "C'mon! I'll show you how it's done. Step back and watch the master go to work!"
With a confidence that the ginger-haired girl had never seen before, the blonde boy stepped onto the dancefloor with absolutely no signs of reservation or fear in his body or on his face. If anything, he appeared very happy, very excited.
Not ten seconds later, he began to move almost as if he had been planning to do so a long time ago.
What she saw from him she couldn't even begin to describe because she didn't even know the first thing about what he was doing. She didn't know the technicalities, the names of specific moves, nor could she pinpoint what type of dancing he was engaging in. All she knew was that he was doing a lot and it impressed her.
His moves ranged from fluid to staccato, sudden to slow, subtle to overt, the range she was incredible. Every part of his body was engaged in the dance. He didn't stop once, appearing neither winded nor exhausted. His face was that of joviality as he moved to the beat, never breaking a sweat. Clearly, he had under-exaggerated his skill in this department.
Actually now that she was seeing this, Penny came upon another idea. The more that he showed his ability to dance, the more she realized that perhaps he was more physically prepared for training as a huntsman than she originally had anticipated. Although combat and dancing were two entirely different applications of physicality, there could possibly be some interchangeable aspects.
Another time. Penny reminded herself. Enjoy this moment.
RWBY - - - RWBY
Jaune had never considered himself to be a person with vanity issues, not in regards to what he was doing with his life right now. He had to fight for every inch of ground when it came to his current life. Since he was starting almost from rock bottom, it all fell to him to perform under pressure. It might not seem that way to anyone viewing his life from an outside perspective, but that's how it was. Because of his overall incompetence as a aspiring huntsman, he couldn't afford to be reckless, stupid, or prideful. Those three things had nearly cost him before.
But if there was one thing that he could take pride in, it was his ability to dance. It had been a skill he had first learned almost a decade ago. He never would have thought to learn it of his own initiative as with many of the skills he did possess. Most of them were the result of his sister badgering him to do so. Still, even if he didn't start off wanting to learn the skills, he stuck with them and now his efforts were paying off. He could also say that he was hard to beat in this arena. Now he did enjoy them.
Another part of the team leader felt the need to show off to Penny. She wanted to see the world with her own two eyes. She didn't know that much about the world and she wanted him to show her things. Naturally, he wished to give her the best impression possible of both himself and what normal life had to offer, hence why he thought that dancing might be one good outlet for both his own pride and for her own personal growth. As long as the second objective was in mind, less shame was felt regarding the first one.
But Jaune wasn't about to slack off when it came to dancing. Even without the need to impress his newest friend, there was always a sort of seriousness that carried over to all things he did, especially to skills that he knew well; dancing was no exception. Every movement he made was intentional. It moved to the beat, followed along with the lyrics, enhanced the meaning of the song, projected an image around himself, his movements did at least one of these things or many of them at once.
Although he had fully immersed himself into his dancing, his eyes could pick up people all around him looking at him and cheering him on. That filled him with both joy and dread, the joy being that he was performing well, the dread being that to fail now would be to make a fool of himself. These two sides of a coin served only to further fuel his motivation to see this song to the end.
How long was this song again?
He heard the beat begin to speed up. Now felt like a good time to start executing some more advanced moves. He knew a few that would definitely get a reaction from the forming crowd. He quickly ran through a list through his head and decided on one. His next move with be a Suicide Move.
Jaune began the move known as the shustry, an incredibly difficult move that had taken him months of constant practice and dedication to perfect. It required proper coordination between all parts of the body. Although more emphasis was put on the arms and back, his lower body needed to be positioned and work accordingly in order to maintain balance.
He saw the world all around him spinning too fast for his eyes to process, but his ears were picking up plenty of things like the cheers and shouts he was receiving. It was clearly working because it only seemed to get louder, but the noise was a distraction to him. He was still concentrating.
It didn't take all that long to get through it. Maybe ten seconds ticked away and once he was done, he proceeded. Following a high-octane move, he downgraded to one of the most basic moves: top rock. Moving from highs to lows would ensure that this would not get boring fast. It kept people guessing what was to come next.
Shuffling left and right, back and forth, a backspring, three flips, then a return to the Top Rock. A few hoots and hollers. Next up, a transitional move before he went into another power move.
Jaune shifted into the Coffee Grinder. With much of his body touching the floor, the entire premise of this move along with other Floor Rocks was to display how even when making contact with the ground, even cool and stylish moves could be done. It was all a matter of making use of a seemingly limited position.
The attention was on him, yet he still did his thing, keeping track of himself while listening to the beat that had decelerated, then levelled out. If he had to guess, it would soon be cranked up again. Once it did, that was his cue to go wild again.
Just as he finished up with his Floor Rock, the music halted for a moment, a disc scratch following before the silence. It seemed like a rather inopportune time to just stop everything. The blonde found the DJ, who seemed to meet his eyes.
So the man behind the jams was indeed keeping his eyes on him. The team leader supposed that he should feel even better about himself. He must've attracted a bigger crowd than he had realized. That wasn't his intention from the start. It had just been about himself and Penny.
Speaking of which, where was that girl?
He had no time to search for her as he felt the beat again and he moved to his next Power Move.
Soon, he started to see blurs everywhere as he just kept moving. The thin trails of sweat were soaking into his shirt, causing it to cling to his body. Apparently, this only served to further energize the crowd, particularly of the female variety, but if he knew that, he might lose focus and mess up.
Jaune couldn't recall the last time he had this much fun. The past two months at Beacon had been rough on him. Despite adapting to the rigorous schedule set before him, he wasn't sure if he would ever be as acclimated as his peers were. Although he had time to himself, cutting loose like this was something that he had never done since he first came to Beacon Academy. It felt kind of good to not care about unleashing insane amounts of energy.
Every so often, as he moved to the beat, he could swear that he saw a lock of carrot-orange hair, but his head was doing so much spinning internally and externally that it could just be his eyes playing tricks on him. If he was losing his mind, then his entire body had all but entered into a trance, which seemed kind of ludicrous now that the thought was in his mind.
His mind was still entering inside and outside the physical world, a sort of psychedelic drug trip and he had never done drugs in his entire life.
Jaune heard what sounded like an end to the music. That was his cue to finish his final move, positioning himself into a stance that had maximum flair, an image for everyone to burn into their minds. Some sparks went off on the edges of the dance floor?
Did someone install some fireworks in this place?
Wasn't that incredibly dangerous?
Or were they just for flair?
The blonde boy stood up to his full height, letting his eyes steady and reorient the visuals. He pushed the bangs that were in his eyesight. There were trace bits of sweat running down his face, but a quick swipe of his arm across his brow took care of most of that.
His ears were ringing a little bit. Maybe the music was louder than he realized. Or it could be the dozens of people all around him giving him a resounding applause.
Sensory overload all around him.
Jaune composed himself enough to give a smile to his admirers and did a light bow. As he looked all around, he finally spotted the girl that mattered most right now. He swiftly made his way to her.
"You are spectacular!" Penny was absolutely floored.
"Thanks." Jaune received her compliment, his breath ragged. "I haven't danced like that in a while."
"Will you be okay?" Penny gently grasped his arm. "Is there anything you need?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I'm kind of thirsty." Jaune realized how dry his throat was. "The bar should have something."
"I will lead the way!" Penny spoke resolutely. "This way!"
` Jaune looked a bit taken aback. "Penny, I can-"
She didn't hear him as she grasped his hand with her own and led him through the crowd to the bar. Everyone around him was whistling and shouting at him. It didn't take him long to realize what they were interpreting.
Oh brother.
RWBY - - - RWBY
There was no point in ordering a drink for herself. Penny had no need for anything like that due to her being synthetic, but since Jaune offered and she possessed the ability to process drinks like a normal person would, she did so.
Huntsmen were granted certain privileges due to their occupation and that, in turn, extended to the students of the huntsmen academies as well. They could go places no normal student could, do things no normal student could, and take part in activities no normal student could. This place was one such instance of that privilege applying.
By extension, those exceptions applied to herself despite her being a foreign entity while visiting Vale. This was in no way an important fact. It just matched up to what she was currently doing.
Penny held her cup by both hands and nearby, she saw Jaune leaning on the bar with one hand against the counter and the other holding his cup. For the most part, his gaze remained on the dance floor. He looked to be observing everyone, his eyes never staying in one place for more than a few seconds. What was he looking for, she wondered. Maybe he was trying to find another person who could be his equal. If there was such a person, a confrontation between two such skilled individuals would be most interesting to watch.
But the amount of energy expended from those movesets and the constant performing of them must have taken a sizable chunk of the blonde's energy, especially considering that much of what he was doing involved high-intensity maneuvers. However, considering that he didn't look very winded or otherwise exhausted beyond measure, perhaps he had the strength to do that again.
The ginger-haired girl felt herself shrink a little into herself. Inadequacy was never a feeling that had experienced up until now. As a synthetic, she was built to push far beyond the limits of what any normal person could do. Even without aura, she would still be able to handily defeat Grimm as well as any other threats of human or faunus nature, but when it came to more simple things like this, she still lacked the proper understanding.
Yes, Penny could process information faster, mimic perfectly, and eventually outperform anyone, but it wouldn't be the same as someone who had taught her. People spent years of their lives dedicated to a single skill or path in life. Sometimes, they succeeded and went on to become wealthy or famous. Others failed and gave up to find someone else worth investing their time and efforts in.
Just another thing that reminded her that no matter how hard she tried to be a normal girl, she would never be one. Her inhuman rate of learning would eventually alienate her from everyone else.
Including her friend.
She really didn't want to think about the day that she would never be able to see her first friend, but her time here wasn't infinite. After the Vytal Festival, she would return to Atlas and assume her duties immediately.
"Penny." Jaune's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You okay?"
"Y-yes!" Penny responded. "I'm perfectly well!"
She hiccuped and promptly covered her mouth with the cup she held in both hands. She should've minded what she said. Now she made herself look foolish in front of him.
"You sure?" Jaune gave her a contemplative look. "You look kind of out of it or something."
"My physical and mental well-being are both splendid!" Penny tried to diffuse his concern. "There is nothing wrong with me!"
She hiccuped again.
"I drink really fast!" Penny placed the straw in her drink up to her mouth.
Even as she drank, she hiccuped again.
"Well, you should slow down then." Jaune spoke with a raised eyebrow. "No sense in making it worse."
"I agree!" Penny shouted, closing her eyes shut.
She looked absolutely ridiculous right now. She wished that a hole in the ground would swallow her up and take her embarrassment and shame with her. Thankfully, the hiccups were gone now that she had managed to get past the lying of the conversation, but that felt like only a small silver lining.
"Penny it's okay." Jaune began laughing. "You don't need to duck your head."
Before she opened her eyes, she felt a hand against her head. Then she felt the sensation of that hand gently rubbing her hair. The experience wasn't unpleasant and because of the softness that he spoke, she slowly lowered the drink down to her chest and opened her eyes to look at him.
"That's it." Jaune gave her a smile. "Now how about you show me that smile."
He apparently hadn't caught on to how her hiccups were connected to her lying. Either that or he simply ignored it in favor of getting her to open up. Either way, she felt eternally relieved that she didn't have to explain herself at this time. Another time, she would ask him about how she could help improve their friendship.
For now, the petting of her head and his gentle assurance was enough.
"Hmmm." Penny hummed as she smiled in contentment.
"I take it you're feeling better." Jaune placed his hand back at his side.
"I am." Penny was slightly disappointed that the petting ceased. "Thank you, Jaune. I was just admiring you."
"Me?" Jaune looked surprised by this statement. "Why?"
"The way you spoke of your ability to dance made it sound as if you were only decent." Penny elaborated on her line of thinking. "But what you displayed was nothing short of amazing! I don't even know where to begin!"
"Ah." Jaune looked away from her, laughing a bit. "Well, you know, when you have fun with something, you usually get really good results."
He was clearly downplaying his skill. Truly, he had a mastery of dancing in a way that she most certainly didn't. Humble didn't even begin to describe him.
"Why do you speak so little about yourself?" Penny didn't understand it. "Why not take pride in something that you are highly competent at?"
"I don't make it a habit to publicize my skills, you know?" Jaune gave her a more neutral look. "I'm not a showoff. If I can do something, I just do it. If people call it cool or compliment me, I just take their compliments. I don't know, that's how I am. Really, as much as I like doing all kinds of things, I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert. I can do okay in a crowd, but I'm no social butterfly."
When he said these things, she honestly found them hard to believe. From what she had witnessed of him over their time as friends, he didn't appear to be lacking socially, but perhaps her perception of him was so positive in light of her severely lacking social skills. Regardless, the way he described himself didn't sit well with her.
"We've got a little time before I need to get back." Jaune looked at his scroll. "I've got something else I want to show you."
"Huh?" Penny looked him in the eye. "What is it?"
"Well, if you want to dance, I'd like to show you, but this isn't the place to do it." Jaune gestured around them. "Too many people. You need a lot of space and some peace and quiet to really get into learning how to dance."
"You would do that for me?" Penny wasn't sure if he would remember. "Really?"
"Of course. I did promise you, didn't I?" Jaune finished his drink, placed the empty cup on the counter and shelled some lien before meeting her eyes. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do as I promised?"
The team leader made a beeline for the exit and the synthetic didn't hesitate to follow him. They passed by a few people who remembered their faces and were flashing them thumbs-up and other positive, friendly signs. All she could was wave nervously to everyone who saw them.
The sun had already set and the moon was in the sky, shining brightly, it's scattered pieces visible for all to see. The air was cool to the touch, not quite winter, but not quite summer either. This was mild, the calm before the cold winter. Vale was situated in a location that features a temperate climate, four seasons, each roughly the same length. It was now autumn and it was showing.
Jaune led her away from the industrial sector of the City of Vale into the suburban area. It looked like he knew where to go because he didn't consult his scroll nor ask for directions. He just led her to where he wished to go.
They eventually found themselves in the middle of a public park. There was no one around, just the two of them.
"We can dance here?" Penny inquired.
"It's the only quiet place that I could think of." Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "But if you're not ready, I can-"
"No, I want to do this!" Penny forcefully cut him off. "I mean, please teach me!"
"Alright." Jaune nodded his head. "Then let's get to it."
RWBY - - - RWBY
Because they had limited time, he decided to do away with the basics and move on to something a little more advanced. He trusted in her ability to follow along and learn quickly. In fact, he was counting on it.
In order to get them both into the mood, he had some music play. He randomly selected a music station and by chance, he got a classical music station. He cranked up the volume on his scroll, set it to the side, and began to instruct his dance partner.
He told her to follow his instructions and his lead, which she did with everything she had. At first, her head was focused solely on her footing so she didn't accidentally misstep. It didn't take her long to get into the groove. Plus, this wasn't a fast pace to begin with. It was extremely leisurely compared to the breakdancing that he had been doing earlier. It was also very soothing and calming. The sound of a slow beat and a soft, but crisp melody flowing through them both as they moved.
Because he was more experienced and practiced, he was afforded the opportunity to observe her as she slowly began to get the hang of it and soon, her brilliant green eyes met his sapphire blue ones.
"I didn't doubt you for a moment." He displayed a small grin. "Also, this is my way of repaying you. You're training me to fight, so I'm training you to do something that people will like."
Her eyes widened slightly at his proclamation, then her expression blossomed into a beautiful smile. Her grip on him tightened and moved her body closer to his own. She did this while keeping in time with the dance.
"Will you… teach me more things?" She retained her face of elation, but he could detect a hint of apprehension in her voice. "I want to know more about… being normal."
Such a request, under any other circumstances would sound highly unusual, even suspicious to a few people, but in light of his knowledge of her unique situation and circumstances, he mustered up all the seriousness he possessed and held her eyes with his own, nodding resolutely.
She saw this and her eyes seemed to sparkle with all the excitement that she was no doubt holding back in favor of keeping to their current routine.
And so the next minute passed by in relative quiet with only the sound of the music coming through scroll speakers, which were decent at best, but it was more than enough for the two of them.
The girl with ginger hair looked up at her blonde friend. Seeing him made her feel all sorts of things. Being close to him intensified these feelings by many magnitudes. While she had no idea what to call these feelings, she knew that she liked them.
But more importantly, she wanted to see if these feelings could grow any more.
So it was with a split-second decision that she took a chance.
She gently placed her head against his chest, with her right ear pressing into him.
In response to her unexpected physical contact, his heart rate increased, yet he still managed to maintain control as they moved in sync.
He didn't say anything.
Neither did she.
They closed their eyes.
Alright, on a scale of dead to heart attack, how well did I do in terms of being sappy? Are you all sufficiently happy that I'm staying away from the drama and letting the gold old feels in?
I'll admit that while I did enjoy being somewhat sickly romantic, I didn't want to overdo it, but I can't say that I'm sorry for doing it. It just came to me. Rewatching some old movies and TV shows gave me some partial inspiration as well.
Thoughts? Reviews and feedback and always appreciated.
Thanks for reading and I hope you're all doing the best that you can in these turbulent times.
"Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul."
St. Augustine
