Chapter 11

"And there!"

Pyrrha gave a light bow as she finished stacking one bed atop the other, fusing their frames together with her Semblance. Ruby reached out her hand, feeling her Aura hum protectively from the residual heat of fusion. Even so, the metal was cooling rapidly, and it felt practically seamless.

"Wow, that's super cool!" Ruby exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

"My Semblance is siderokinesis," Pyrrha explained. "I am unsure of what the word is in your language, but I can control things made of metal. I just pressed the beds together, and the pressure combined them."

"Super cool," Ruby repeated with a smile.

"That should handle the beds," Weiss said, barely glancing up from her Scroll, consulting her notes on the layout of the room. "Next is-"

Weiss was interrupted by a knock on the door. Ruby glanced at her teammates, wondering who it could be, before she saw Weiss briefly light up in realization. "Must be the last team member. Come in!"

The door opened, and a young man stepped in. "This team WARP?"

"You're in the right place," Weiss assured him, looking him up and down. "You must be Alabaster Mazarine."

"That's me," he agreed, and Ruby got her first look at their new teammate. The first thing that stuck out to her was his darker skin, which reminded her of some of the farmers back home who worked the field all day. But he looked smooth, not burnt. In contrast, his hair was almost a strangely light tone, reminding Ruby of pictures of sand she'd seen in her school books, though it was messy rather than smooth. He looked at them all with eyes of the same colour and a light, easy smile.

"Excellent. We were just organizing the room. Any preference for top or bottom bunk?"

"I don't want to step on anyone's toes," he said politely. "I'm fine with whatever."

"In that case, Ruby, do you have a preference?" Weiss asked, turning to her.

Ruby glanced at the beds, and back at Weiss, trying to see if there was something she was missing. Did Weiss want one or the other? She felt Weiss' gaze boring into her, and she hurriedly picked one.

"How about...top?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on her lack of certainty. "Fine by me. I'll take the bottom on that side then."

"I'll go with the bottom if that's alright by you," Pyrrha offered, turning to Alabaster.

"Sounds good," he agreed, shrugging off one of the straps of his backpack. "There a storage or something?"

"Closet's on that side," Weiss directed, pointing to the door on the left side of the room before pointing to the opposite door. "Bathroom's there."

"Thanks. Just going to put my stuff away." Alabaster went to the closet, and paused when he opened the door, likely just as surprised as Ruby had been when she'd first opened it. Calling it a closet was an understatement; it was more like a small room with the opposite walls composed of a pair of large wardrobes and shelves for them to store their stuff.

Alabaster laughed lightly, shaking his head. "If I don't come out in five minutes, send a rescue team. Someone could get lost in here."

Ruby snorted at the joke, and even Weiss cracked a smile. But Weiss quickly focused on the next task, her eyes already back on her Scroll. "Alright, next up: desks and bookshelves. Pyrrha, can your Semblance help us?"

Pyrrha extended her hand towards first one of the bookshelves, then to the desks, but nothing happened. Sadly, she shook her head. "They're mostly wood. Not enough metal for me to lift it without ripping out the screws."

"That's alright. We'll just do this the old fashioned way," Weiss said, taking a moment to roll up her sleeves. Ruby found the sight far too funny, and had to turn away to stop from laughing. Together they moved the desks into place. Weiss seemed surprised that Ruby could move a desk by herself; the other girl seemed to struggle. It wasn't that she was weak, but more that she was unaccustomed to hard labor.t wasn't long after that Alabaster emerged from the closet.

"Ah, moving furniture. Let me help," he offered, moving over to assist Pyrrha.

"After this bookshelf, why don't we put our stuff away?" Ruby suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Weiss agreed, and together they placed the bookshelf between the desks, perfectly filling the space between the front wall and the closet door. With their side of the room arranged, Ruby followed Weiss into the closet, grabbing her hastily tied together things on the way.

At a glance, it seemed like Alabaster had taken the farthest wardrobe on the right, while Weiss was opposite him. But looking at his wardrobe, she couldn't help but be surprised.

There was just...so little. A few sets of clothes, mostly loose shirts and slightly baggy pants, all in tans and browns, but very little aside from that. The only thing that really stuck out was what he'd mounted on the weapons rack: a pair of batons. Even without close inspection, Ruby could see the lengths were layered, and the screw near the base of the handle made her suspect they fanned out. War fans, if she was identifying them correctly. But she couldn't see any kind of trigger or ranged capability to speak of, which puzzled her.

But there'd be time to ask him later. She refocused on her own wardrobe. Dropping her own bag on the floor, she opened the top and began taking out her things. Clothes, pictures; everything she'd thought she'd need for Beacon. She had still exercised some restraint in what she brought, but as she placed her family photo front and center, she smiled. Just the kind of motivation she needed getting dressed every morning.

As she put Crescent Rose on the rack, she glanced over to see how Weiss was doing. She was silently removing items from her suitcases, laying them in careful rows and stacks in her wardrobe. What struck Ruby was just how uniform it all was, even disregarding the actual uniforms they'd been issued. Almost all of Weiss' clothes were a pale white or faded blue. The only things that weren't were a couple of business suits she had for some reason, both of which were covered in some kind of transparent cover that she only ever saw at the dry cleaner's, and which Weiss hung carefully in the standing closet.

Ruby quickly directed her gaze back to her own stuff before Weiss caught her staring, and she rooted around in her pack when she felt her hand brush something made of paper. Immediately, she blushed profusely, peering into the bag to confirm her worst fears.

Staring back at her was a poster of Pyrrha. She'd completely forgotten about packing that, and now the real thing was in the next room over. There was no way she was going to put that up where Pyrrha could see it.

"Everything alright, Ruby?" Weiss asked, surprising Ruby by how close she was. Ruby didn't have time to react, and she could see Weiss' eyes settle on the poster. Even curled up, it wasn't hard to tell what it was, especially with the name "Pyrrha" proudly emblazoned across the top.

Weiss' hand flew to her mouth, and she stifled a giggle. Ruby could feel her insides twist as she fought to urge to just curl up and disappear, but settled for drawing her hood up.

"No, no, it's okay," Weiss quickly assured her. "I won't say anything."

Ruby glanced at the poster, then at Weiss. "You promise?"

"Absolutely," Weiss nodded. "In any case, I'm finished with my unpacking. I recommend finishing before Pyrrha comes in."

Ruby nodded, quickly stashing the poster in the back of a drawer behind her clothes. Riding off her nervous energy, the rest of her unpacking went quickly, and she only paused to make sure her face wasn't red before she stepped out.

"All yours, Pyrrha," she said, hoping she didn't sound nervous.

"Thank you," Pyrrha said politely, passing her and Weiss. Desperately trying to get her mind off the poster, she turned to Alabaster, who was adjusting the sheets on his bed.

"Excuse me, uh, Alabaster?" Ruby prompted, and he turned to look at her. "I couldn't help but notice your weapons in there, and, well, I'm a bit of a weapons geek, so I was hoping I could ask about them, if it's not a problem that is-"

"Sure," he said with a smile, cutting her off. "What do you want to know?"

"So they look like batons, but I noticed that they could fan out. I assumed they doubled as war fans, but I wasn't sure."

"You have a good eye. They do indeed function as war fans."

"So...how do you fight at a distance? I didn't see any triggers or anything."

"There isn't one. I use my Semblance," Alabaster explained, lifting his hand. With a quick flick of his hand, he summoned a small whirlwind in his palm before letting it drift off into a light breeze. "Aerokinesis, or air control. The blades of the fans have small channels that allow me to better direct it."

"Makes sense," Ruby agreed. It was unorthodox, but surprisingly creative. Even so, she was curious how it all worked. "Guess I'll see them in action when we train."

"You're welcome to take a look later," Alabaster offered, and Ruby couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, but I was thinking that I might go check on Jaune and Yang," Ruby said, glancing at Weiss for permission.

"I'm fine with it," Weiss confirmed, continuing to place books on her shelf.

"I'll be back in a few!"


Well, at least they're settling in, Jaune thought to himself with a smile.

In the short time since getting into their new room, his team had already started making it their home. In Nora and Ren's case, that had meant claiming one corner for themselves and putting their beds close together, with only a low bookshelf doubling as a nightstand between them. In Emerald's case, she'd hurriedly pushed everyone out of the bathroom once they were done putting away their stuff to claim the first shower for herself. Jaune didn't think any of them were that bad, but maybe Emerald had high hygiene standards. He made a note to try and keep on top of it himself.

What was stranger to him was the fact he was the only one with any significant amount of unpacking. Emerald had thrown a bag of what he presumed were her possessions into the closet before taking a spare outfit with her into the bathroom, and Ren and Nora had finished unpacking fairly quickly. A few sets of clothes between them, their tools, and some personal effects from the looks of things.

Turning to his own pack, he had gotten his clothes tucked away, leaving only his personal effects. And the first one that greeted him was the portrait of his family. Gently, he picked up the picture, feeling a pain of guilt as he looked at it. Staring at it reminded him of the situation he found himself in, but he knew he would have felt worse if he'd simply left it behind.

"Whatcha got there?" Nora inquired, making Jaune jump a little.

"Oh...just a family photo," he explained, setting it on the side table.

"Wow, you have a big family."

Jaune laughed to himself at that. He supposed it was true; very few people had eight children. He was more surprised Nora didn't comment on him being the only son. "Yeah. There's a lot of us. Made for some loud dinners!"

"I can imagine!" Nora chuckled in agreement before motioning for him to follow her. "Check this out!"

Nora dove under her bed, fishing around for something beneath before pulling out a thick book. As she opened it, Jaune realized it was a scrapbook, plastered with various pictures of her and Ren, as well as a few pictures of landscapes, buildings, and other things.

"Wow! Who took these?" Jaune asked, gently taking the offered book.

"I did!" Nora boasted proudly, jerking a thumb towards herself with a broad smile. "Been taking them for a long time!"

"This is impressive," he complimented, flipping a few pages. There were more pictures than he could count, all with a small hand-written blurb explaining what they were and when they were taken. It was surprisingly thorough. Even though he wasn't a shutterbug, he could tell the newer photos were better, and played around with focus and angle.

"Yep! One of the first things Ren and I got when we started travelling together. Took a bit of time to save up for the camera, though," Nora said, reaching out to turn to the beginning. Jaune was surprised to see some pictures drawn in what seemed like charcoal of various landscapes. "Back then, Ren used to use our campfires to draw pictures of things we'd seen."

Jaune wasn't sure what to say, but judging by the way Nora smiled at him, she likely knew how impressed he was. Gently, he handed it back to her. "Do you plan on keeping it going?"

"Hope so," Nora said, tucking it back under her bed. "A lot easier to get film here, that's for sure! Oh, speaking of, I should get a picture of the room!"

"Go ahead," Jaune laughed, watching as she grabbed her camera from under the bed. It seemed to be an older, bulkier model, but he didn't know enough to be able to say anything definitively. Besides, if her pictures were anything to go by, Nora could still do impressive work with them. As Nora amused herself setting up shots, he turned to Ren, who was watching her with a slight smile. "Those were some impressive drawings."

To his surprise, Ren actually laughed a little. "Thanks. They took a lot of effort."

"I can imagine," Jaune sympathized, recalling his sisters' art projects. He glanced at Nora before looking back at Ren. "She seems to be handling all of this well. How about you?"

"I'll admit, it's different," Ren said neutrally. "Not used to having my own bed, that's for sure."

"Didn't sleep at inns?"

Ren shook his head. "No, it was cheaper to camp outside of town. We were both used to it, anyway. Might need to adjust to a bed."

"Well, if you ever need a harder mattress, I'm sure the school can provide," Jaune joked. Once again, Ren surprised him by chuckling.

"I'll keep that in mind. I think it will be a nice change, though."

"Ahhh, that felt good," Emerald interrupted, exiting the bathroom with a long stretch. "Alright, it's open if anyone wants it."

"Oh, we should get a team picture!" Nora suggested.

"Wait, what?" Emerald asked, confused, before catching on to the suggestion. "Uh...not really a fan of pictures."

"Not even one?" Nora pleaded. "I promise I'll ask in the future."

Jaune glanced between them, wondering if it was his job to mediate, but the decision was taken from him as Emerald sighed. "I suppose one won't hurt."

"Awesome! Everyone scoot in!" Nora commanded, grabbing Jaune's arm with a strength that seemed entirely unreasonable for her size. Ren seemed prepared and was already by Nora's other side before she could drag him. Emerald slunk in on the side, shifting questioningly towards Ren.

"You'll need to take this one," Nora said, passing off the camera to Jaune. "My arms aren't long enough to get us all in one frame."

"Alright. Sorry if it's not the greatest quality," Jaune apologized, but held the camera up, angling it the best he could.

"Smile everyone!" Nora cheered, and Jaune couldn't help but feel her infectious enthusiasm. With a click, the photo was taken, and he passed it back to Nora. "Sweet! I'll let you all know how it turns out once I develop it."

Jaune was about to respond when a gentle knock came at their door. "Jaune? It's Ruby. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Jaune invited.

Ruby had barely stepped in when Nora's camera clicked again, catching her off-guard, and she stopped in place, stunned.

"Great shot," Nora said to herself before turning to Ruby. "You mind if I keep that one?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Ruby said, catching up to events. "I don't look stupid do I?"

"Nah," Nora assured. "I just like candids. Thanks!"

"How are things over in your dorm?" Jaune asked, inviting Ruby to sit on the edge of his bed. She smiled in thanks as she plopped down at the foot.

"Pretty good. We were almost done, so I thought I'd check on you guys and then my sister. Seems like you're almost done, too," Ruby noted.

"Yeah. Turns out we didn't have much to unpack," Jaune said with an unsure laugh. "So...welcome to the room!"
"I like what you've done with the place," Ruby chuckled.

"Really homey," Emerald commented, collapsing onto her bed with a tired sigh. "Gotta say though, comfy beds."

"Super comfy," Nora agreed enthusiastically, and even Ren seemed to agree if his small smile was anything to go by. Jaune didn't think the beds were that soft; if anything, they were pretty average, but he supposed in Ren and Nora's case, it was better than a sleeping bag.

"Not a lot of floor space," Ruby commented, pacing the open path from the closet to the bathroom. "Glad we were able to stack the beds."

"You have bunk beds?" Nora asked, jealously.

"How'd you manage that?" Jaune asked, genuinely intrigued. He was already used to bunk beds back home, and they would be a lot more space efficient.

Ruby paused, seeming to mull it over for the moment before smiling, holding a finger to her lips. "Can't tell you right now. But maybe I can tell you later."

"Fair enough," Jaune smiled, sitting down on his bed. "Anything else we can do for you?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, thank you. I just wanted to see how you guys were doing, and see if you needed any help. I was actually going to go see my sister before dinner. Just in case she wanted to hang with her friends or something."

Jaune thought he saw a flash of disappointment on Ruby's face, but it was gone quickly, and he didn't want to push her on it. "Well, you're welcome any time! Door's open."

"Except when it's not," Emerald added sarcastically, the pillow muffling her voice. Even so, Jaune could see the edge of a smile poking out the top. "But that's what doors do."

Ruby glanced at Jaune, and upon seeing his smile, beamed one of her own. "Well, I'll get out of your hair. Same to you!"