Authors Note: Hello my Dark Readers and welcome to the eleventh chapter of "Derelicts in Black". First I would like to say thank you to all the readers who have given their free time to give this story a read and a special thanks to all who reviewed, followed, and favorite. Please be sure to review and comment what you think. I'd appreciate the feedback. Whether you like or dislike, it's all welcomed. I hope you favorite and follow. And don't be afraid to ask questions. Now then, I hope you enjoy because it's time to continue the story.
P.S.: I cannot believe I have reached 35,000+readers! I am flabbergasted. It truly shocks m to see so many people enjoying what I add here. Thank you all so much.
P.S.: A special thanks to Killax0404 for becoming the 250th person to favorite this story.
Answering Questions: (If you want your question answered just leave it in the reviews)
To: Yaksher: Yes, even I felt like the chapter acted as a filler. It was, originally, going to be longer, however with the tasks I had to complete for my school, I was forced to publish only a little bit of what I had done in chapter 10. However, you can expect better content from me in the future.
To Tusbasa0129: My plans for Neo are grand. It will build up to something that I do not believe any other fan fiction writer ever did (at least I hope not) and I hope you all look forward to the surprises I have in store. And I enjoyed writing Ren dancing it brought many fond memories of Monty. (rest in peace) And don't all original characters will be brought back in their respective time.
To .1690: Believe me, Yang's puns are already bad enough (RWBY CHIBI EPISODE 16) and even I cringed when writing that part. And thank you, a lot of people never saw Neo and Nora as a team but the moment I got the idea, it just fit so well. Glad you liked it.
To Littlest1: Sorry to say this but no, Neo doesn't have telepathy. She was just thinking in her head. It would have been a good idea but it would counter her writing in a little notebook. But you get a cookie for figuring out the scene, good for you (pats head)
To Mossblomma: I will be shedding light on Adam's actions on Neo very soon, so do not worry about that.
To EndlessChains: Yes, Nora is quite a character. But she does have that ability to befriend anyone so look forward to what I have in store with her and the rest of the characters. The interaction with Neo and Adam will expand very soon so do not worry about that. And When I wrote Ren's side story, the topic was relatable to me since I live in a forest town. When I go to NYC, (I live 45 minutes away) I would act like this a lot. Introducing Neon so early would be a great head start when team FNKI return for the tournament. And showing how Ren was still like Monty was a great way of remembering him (rest in peace). Plus, it felt right in concluding the thought of Ren's first day before he met Ruby.
TrueWhovian77: Thank you for your compliment, and do not worry, there is much I must expand with Neo involving a few more characters as well. Stay tune for that. Because you will be in for some shock and surprises where I am hoping you'll scream "What!"
To xzEr00nly1x: I couldn't agree more!
To Rin: There will be many more side stories coming, especially with the Autumn and Winter seasons coming. (Very exciting!) I will at least be making several involving single characters and then group characters together as well.
To Akakuroforever: Adam and Blake's relationship is strictly platonic sibling love. They love each other as a brother and sister would. I know, I know, it might spice things up if there was some romance however as I said before, I want to avoid romance whenever possible. It has been used countless times as a main or secondary genre for a story and is the most popular. Rather than conform to that I wish to make a story that can be as great as a romance story without the romance aspect.
To Aura: Thank you for your compliment, it means a lot. And yes, that was just a vison I had in the "what if", if Adam did join Blake and I hope I did a good job in portraying it.
To EndlessChains: I am glad you enjoyed that side story and yes I tried to make everything about the decisions and problems in the side story as realistic as possible os I hope I did well in doing so.
To To Osheana259: I have taken some of your ideas into considerations and I already do have some plans that I hope you would enjoy. But thank you for the constructive advice. I will be sure to take note of it.
End of Questions: (I answered as best I could, thank you for asking!)
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY; all rights go to the Legendary Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I do not also own any of the music that will be shown in the story
Opening Theme: The Brilliant Green: Ash Like Snow, English version
Chapter 11: Together
It had been several minutes since leaving the King Taijitu's nest. Ruby, along with her small group of hunters in training, were long gone rushing through the forest swiftly and silently. There was no time to waste, they had to complete the test soon or risk failing. But being in the middle of a mysterious forest surrounded by potential unknown dangers; caution and silence were a must use to survive.
Each step Ruby took never echoed or crunched off the grass, and neither did anyone else's behind her. This surprised her a little.
Ren, Blake, and Adam already showed to have quality skills in stealth from the few times observing them. Neo was a new stranger but she was already silent throughout their meeting. It wouldn't have been surprising if she, too, was silent in her movement.
No, what surprised Ruby the most was Nora. Since meeting her, the girl was a constant ball of energy; and that was putting it mildly. And yet she moved with such cunning agility and silence that it amazed Ruby. There was no yelling, sounds, or laughter. She was as silent as the others.
While still… aggressively loud, no doubt, Ruby had to admit, she misjudged the orange haired girl a bit. While she was pleasantly wrong, Nora was still a ball of energy. But at least the wild girl could be hasty with silence, that relieved Ruby.
Continuing on the path that pointed east, the group accelerated their speed little by little each yard they took. Ruby estimated their arrival to be moments away, practically seconds if they stay on course with their current velocity.
With herself ahead of the group she would be the first to see anything they encounter. And being smaller and lighter, than the others she believed, her sprint was faster.
She was no stranger to seeing many blurry trees in her eyes when passing them. Running through the forest was nothing, if not second nature. She had done it countless times growing up. Both out of enjoyment and… not so enjoyable reasons. Those bullies never knew when to quit chasing her.
Ruby turned slightly and gazed back. She hoped she wasn't moving too fast for the others, especially, Nora and Neo. Her uncle had always warned her about getting too ahead of herself, both rhetorically and literally.
Never to sound egotistical, but she knew she could outrun any of them if she wanted. Her semblance was speed after all. But of course, she would then be disrespecting one of her uncle's many lessons. Something she would rather die before ever doing.
"Never allow your specialties to be exclusively for you. Broaden and sharing them will keep you alive longer."
She had never met Nora and Neo until now so she had no prior knowledge of how their endurance or mobility were. She already had a good hint from Ren, Blake, and Adam but the two new comers were still strangers. Well, they were all still strangers, technically. Those two were just... a little more stranger like than the others.
But to her satisfactory everyone was right behind her. Nora and Neo didn't seem winded at all. On the contrary, Nora sprinted with a huge smirk plastered on her lips while Neo ran with a confident smile.
Ruby also noticed that Blake and Ren were missing. That was until she glanced up and saw that the two had taken to the trees again jumping from tree to tree, causing a few leaves to sway off some branches.
Adam was running closely behind Ruby with Nora and Neo right behind him. No one seemed tired or struggling which was good. Very good.
With no further concern, Ruby did a turnaround and immediately sighted something up ahead. The trees were now lessening and the ground narrowed until it stopped on a small grassy hill in between two large trees near the edge.
Ruby slowed her pace and then halted as her feet reached the edge. Adam, immediately, came to a complete stop next to her as Nora and Neo both did the same behind them. Ren and Blake were the last to arrive as both jumped down and landed on the ground softly behind their group.
"Beautiful." Ruby muttered at the sight in front of her.
Though soft in tone, everyone heard and no one could disagree. The scenery was beautiful with a wide, short, grassy plain that beat the other two Ruby encountered by tenfold. There were several dozens of large boulders protruding from the ground; with several plants and bushes, of all colors, shapes, and sizes scattered across as well.
But while the scene was breathtaking, it was not what caught Ruby's eye. And one by one, everyone locked eyes with the real source of Ruby's comment.
In the middle of the plain, a massively wide flooring made of stone was laid out in a circular formation. Built on top was a structure that resembled remains of a rotunda made of stone bricks and columns.
It looked more like ruins than the actual temple the headmaster described. It was beyond abandoned, destroyed was a better term. A good majority was gone with the rest in pieces, covered in moss or both. Three of the columns were broken and on the ground. The remaining five, still standing, held up a circle of stones that Ruby presumed was the base of the second floor.
With a sharp inhale, she turned around to the small group and nodded over towards the ruins. "Let's go." She motioned, and jumped down with everyone else following in suit.
The closer the group got towards the temple, the more they realized how massive it was. From a distance, it looked small and capable of housing no more than a few people. Upon closer view, its base could have, in fact, held a few dozen people alone.
"What a marvelous structure." Ren praised as he approached one of the columns. He extended his hand and felt how cold the surface was. And yet it still maintained it's sturdiness from the roughness gracing his fingertips. His geography book was correct; stone remains strong no matter the age. "It's erection must have been difficult to put up."
"Of course silly! It's sooo tall and big even I don't think I can handle erecting that!" giggled Nora as she stared up the column with cupped eyes.
'That's what she said.' Neo thought with a purr and silently giggled as she hid the red on her cheeks.
Oblivious to Neo's pervertedness, Ren leaned closer to better examine the symbols and markings engraved in the stone. 'What do these symbols mean?' He thought and decided to pull out his scrolls to take a few pictures. He would save them for research later.
Ruby, along with Blake and Adam, ventured further into the ruins examining everything around them.
"This place is... fascinating." Blake muttered as she stared up in wonder at the open circular roof above them.
Adam walked to the center and kneeled over some of the patterned markings on the floor where he thought they looked familiar. "If I were to take a guess, I believe these are ruins of ancient humans who lived here before the modernization age of Remnant."
Ruby, with slight doubt, turned to her Faunus comrade. "How certain are you?"
"Fairly certain." Adam confidently replied. " I once studied texts that spoke about ancient humans who ceased migration and built settlement homes out of stone to keep the creatures of Grimm away."
Ruby accepted his answer but tilted her head a bit questionable. "You're very knowledgeable with human history. What made you so interested?" she asked curiously.
Adam felt himself tense a little. At first he didn't reply. Not even so much as a glance to Ruby which only caused the red hooded girl to raise an eyebrow in confusion. He was worried that he had revealed too much which could potentially reveal his past.
However, he didn't realize that Ruby was not making any suspecting theories at all. She was only curious. But his mind was too busy creating a believable lie to see that.
"Well Ruby… I-"
"Adam has always been a curious know it all." Blake suddenly, and unexpectedly, stated. She approached the two with crossed arms and turned to her brother, giving him a tired, or annoyed Adam couldn't tell, glance. "His photographic memory is the reason why and in truth, it's kind of annoying to me."
Quickly catching on, Adam turned to Ruby and shrugged. "She's not wrong. But what she fails to realize is that knowledge is power. Though that is why I am smarter than her."
Blake resisted the urge to slap her brother. It may have been an act they played but he didn't need exaggerate his ego.
Despite that, they hoped that Ruby didn't notice the slight hesitation in Adam's voice.
Even if she was a comrade to both, she was extremely intelligent which was potentially dangerous. Her enrolled into Beacon at the age of 15 was proof enough. She was also too observant and could be a problem if she grows suspicious of their actions. Their past was to be buried away forever, not return into light.
Thankfully, to their relief, Ruby shrugged in her usual noncaring expression. The trickle of sweat on Adam's forehead was quickly swatted away as he slowly exhaled the breath he didn't realize he withheld.
"I have a photographic memory as well." she replied with the faintest of smirks.
Adam didn't trust his voice so instead he smirked as well in his usual fashion, and nodded.
"That aside, why would they live in a rotunda like this?" Blake quickly asked.
While relieved to have escaped the suspicion of Ruby, their lie wasn't totally false. Adam did have a photographic memory and he did learn a great amount of human history. And while he enjoyed learning, human history was never a topic for pleasure in the White Fang.
It was research, analyzation, and study. To destroy thy enemy, one must learn of thy enemy. It was the only reason why she and Adam knew so much about human culture. It especially helped Blake with blending and adapting among them.
When asked, Adam quickly stood back up and stretched slightly. "Actually, this particular structure wasn't a home. It was a prison."
Blake wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. "A prison?"
Adam nodded. He then pointed to the center of the floor where a symbolic circle on top of an X mark lay engraved in the stone.
"I've forgotten what tribe used that symbol; but I know it is closest to the word "jail" or "concealment" in our language."
This fascinated Ruby. "So this is where they kept all their enemies." she stated and looked around. "One can only imagine what they did to them."
Adam grimaced. "Despite beginning the first signs of civilization, brutality was still heavily influenced. The most often cases a tribe would slaughter the elders and men while the women and children would be taken. The boys would be trained under their way and the women would become sex slaves to the warriors to birth new heirs."
"Disgusting." Blake muttered with crossed arms.
"Yes it was." Adam agreed. "However this tribe is different. They had their prisoners build small homes safely away from the prison. The civilians would stay there and leave the prisoners locked up." Adam added.
"They were merciful?" Ruby asked.
"Not entirely." Replied Adam. "While they didn't condone raping and slaughtering, they did have their fair share of brutality. They would sacrifice some prisoners and feed them to the Grimm."
"I believe I heard something similar." Ruby muttered and all eyes turned to her. "Per what I remember, a tribe would restrict a prison, take them far away and then smear their bodies with berries, scents, or anything that would attract or lure out potential threats."
Blake frowned. She knew where this was headed and didn't like it.
"They would knock the prisoner unconscious and leave them for any Grimm nearby. And while this happens, the ones who contained him would watch them devour him."
Adam rubbed his neck a little awkwardly. "To be honest, as cruel as it sounds, it's quite interesting because I believe they used this method to see what types of Grimm lived in the area."
Blake gripped her arms a little tighter. "So they were used as bait to see what types of creatures inhabited the area?"
"Correct." Her brother said, he could see how angry this made Blake and quickly turned to her. "I never said the past was easy to live in. But then again, is the present any better?" he asked. And Blake knew what he meant in between the lines. Was it any better for their kind?
Ruby could have sworn she saw a glint of sadness on both the siblings faces, but scratched it out of mind.
"The idea of our present being better is debatable. But what I'm sure we can agree on, is that life is not always generous." The siblings and Ruby turned to the voice of Ren who calmly approached them. "People will always do horrible things; intentionally or not. And innocent lives will also be taken or accused in the process." Ren casted his saddened eyes down at the symbol below him. He knew all too well what it meant to be accused and a prisoner.
Not sure about Adam or Blake, but the red hooded girl noticed from the tone of her partner's voice a lot of grief. She didn't say anything about it and would not urge him to tell her. Privacy is privacy.
"Where are Nora and Neo?" Blake quickly asked.
Ren pointed behind him towards the column he was at a few moments ago. "Taking pictures of themselves with the column."
"Why?" Adam asked in confusion.
"They want to show it on a site that uses a thing called a... hashtag?" Ren responded with a shrug. He was just as confused about it as they were.
The siblings glanced at each other then looked passed Ren to see Nora and Neo on their scrolls acting rather giddy.
"Great picture Neo! Now, what to caption this? Hmm..." Nora pondered until she saw Neo quickly scribbling something in her notebook.
"Hash tag To Big For Me and a winky face?" Nora read. "She closed her eyes and rubbed her chin a little. "That... sounds... AMAZING!"
This caused Neo to silently cheer as both girls jumped into the air and gave each other the loudest high five that echoed into the forest. "Thanks a bunch pal!"
Neo gave a thumbs up and nodded happily. Little did Nora know, her multi-colored partner had other things on her mind when recommending that.
'#ToBigForMe;)… That's what she said! heheh... I'm so bad... I should be span- wait what? Where did that come from?!'
Ruby rolled her eyes and looked away. 'That is all I ever saw back in Signal. I will never see the point of social media.'
Blake could have sworn she saw Neo's eyes flicker for a split second as she shook her head violently. Nora was too busy typing away and giggling to herself to notice.
Feeling a bit awkward, Blake turned away. 'Those two... seem very compatible with each other... I think.'
Adam only shrugged as he turned back to the group. "I believe we had enough time talking. We should do what we came here for." He suggested.
"If memory serves, we are to retrieve the placed relics from this location and return them to the Headmaster before day's end." Ren stated.
"Well we need not look further." Blake commented and pointed behind her. "I don't think ancient civilization had assembled chess pieces in their cultures just yet."
"As a matter of fact-"
"Shut it, Adam."
"CHESS PIECES?!" Nora shouted with upbeat tone. She looked up from her scroll and gazed with glistening eyes towards the various chess pieces in front of her. "I LOVE CHESS PIECES!"
Without warning, the orange haired girl put away her scroll and immediately rushed towards one of the stone alters that held the play tool. With a quick hand, she snatched the golden piece off and danced around with it balanced perfectly on the top of her head. She then proceeded to repeatedly say she was 'queen of the castle' in a sing song tone.
Neo walked up behind Nora as the girl dropped the piece into her hand and frantically waved it around. "Neo look, look! With this I am declared queen of the castle!"
The multi-color haired girl only nodded as she patted Nora's head which made Nora more energetic.
Ren could only look on with his shoulders slightly drooped. "Nora… that's… that's not a queen piece…. it's a rook piece." He sighed while shaking his head.
However, this went ignored as Nora kept dancing around. Neo shrugged to Ren and simply watched her partner dance with a smile.
Ruby drowned out the noise behind her as she approached one of the small stone alters reaching up to her stomach. Placed in the center was a small chess piece that was larger than her hand and carved with great detail.
She looked at the other alters and counted 20, with half of the pieces on top being golden and the other black. She also noticed a pattern among their overall placement.
"I wonder why the headmaster chose chess pieces?" Ren asked as he examined the one next to Ruby.
"There could be many reasons." The red hooded girl stated as she looked back down at the piece in front of her. "When it comes to the headmaster, you never know what he intends."
Adam crossed his arms as he glanced at the other alters. "From what I can surmise, there are supposed to be two sets of each chess piece, excluding the pawn, in black and gold. I say 'supposed' because there are some already missing."
"I guess that means we weren't the first ones here then." Blake said stoically. "But why only 20?"
"Why else," Ruby muttered with a shrug, "To decrease the number of successors."
Ren looked at the chess pieces more seriously. "This makes sense. There are various designated locations in the forest. Certainly, not a lot to let everyone pass."
"There are six to be precise." Ruby said in a matter of fact tone.
"How do you know that Ruby?" Ren asked.
"My uncle once mentioned it to me once when he was an instructor for the headmaster."
Adam pondered this. "So if there are only six locations that hold twenty chess pieces then there's only a hundred and twenty pieces available overall in the forest." He fixed his sunglasses and leered. "And if there's five hundred students…"
"The rule was clear: one relic per pair. Do not forget that." Ruby added.
"So twenty times two equals forty and if you multiply forty with six then only two hundred and forty students will pass." Blake narrowed her eyes. "And before sunset, a little more than half of the class will fail this exam." She warned.
"Doesn't that seem a little extreme?" Ren asked rather sympathetically. To have more than two hundred and fifty students gone like that seemed a bit much for a first exam.
No one responded at first and allowed silence to surround them until Ruby said. "I think it is a good method."
Then all eyes turned to her, some curious, others confused.
"My uncle once said to me: those who cannot handle the training could never handle actual combat." She quoted. "Beacon is one of the most prestigious academies to train the next generation of hunters. As such, we should not be expecting to be pampered or spoiled. Our duty is to become the protectors of society from the creatures of Grimm. Which is why we should be pushed hard to show that we belong, that we are worthy."
Everyone, including Nora and Neo, all glanced at one another and then back to Ruby. They all had mix thoughts on this ideal, but overall they all shared one common thought.
'That is respectable.'
"Your uncle sounds wise." Ren commented. "I can see his logic."
"He sounds experienced." Blake added as Adam nodded in agreement.
"And is very sure of his belief."
Shrugging, Ruby turned and grabbed one of the pieces behind her, the Black Knight Piece. "He has given me wisdom countless times." She said and stared at the horse piece. "He trained me and guided me from hard times. His beliefs are my beliefs." The last part she muttered more to herself than to the group.
She quickly did a 180 and turned back to the group. "Now pick your pieces. We don't want to hold ourselves up."
"We got ours!" Nora exclaimed as she waved her piece in hand. Neo nodded in confirmation.
"I guess that leaves only us." Adam said to his sister.
"Let's be quick about it." Shrugged Blake.
Adam walked up to the alter next to Ruby and picked up the only other Black Knight piece in the rotunda.
"You trying to copy?" Ruby asked with a smirk.
Adam scoffed and rolled his eyes under his glasses. "Trust me little red, I've loved the black night piece a long time. Its symbolic to myself and Blake as well."
"As is to me." Ruby replied.
"And me." Ren added.
"Alright well it's time we left." Blake insisted. "I thought I heard something around us, so let's go."
"Right." Ruby nodded. "Follow me and be sure to keep-"
"LOOK OUT BELOW!"
Ruby froze. Blake froze. Ren and Adam certainly froze. They all recognized that voice.
'Oh no…' they simultaneously thought.
Everyone looked above and Ruby's eyes almost bulged from her sockets when she saw that familiar yellow flash of hair. Blake raised an eyebrow in bewilderment and rubbed her eyes from seeing a flash of white light blinding her eyes. Ren and Adam instantly recognized that attire as it immediately caused the hair on the back of their necks to stand. Nora and Neo, unaware of who this person was, both watched in full interest.
It didn't matter to Nora as she mimicked the sound of a bomb falling. A person was crashing to the ground and she eagerly waited for the inevitable to happen. Neo didn't know why but when she saw this girl, a tingle of hatred ran through her. She wasn't sure if it was because of those GIANT, in her mind, "milk duds" on her chest, which she "was not" jealous of. Or if it was because of that "bubblish" bottom she was packing. Either way, Neo didn't like this girl and was eagerly waiting for her crash with an almost sinister look.
The faller was none other than Yang Xiao Long who, once again, was coming down from the sky. But this time her body was flailing around with the wind causing her to spiral under control. Despite that, Yang could catch a few glances below and instantly saw her sister, the mysterious beauty, those two hunks of men she, oh so much, adored, and two new faces. Instantly, she got an idea that made her grin.
"BABY SISTER, CATCH ME!"
She steadied herself enough where she was now falling towards Ruby's side. She opened her arms wide and smiled brightly, even tearfully but it was hard to see with her shades on, and there she saw her cute little sister staring up at her as she fell.
The plan was foolproof. She envisioned Ruby giving a scared reaction and immediately rush to her aid, and with her arms wide open, ready to save her big sister from a painful fall.
Then Yang would fall into those adorable little arms and embrace her chubby cheeked sister tightly and say "oh thank you little sister!" where Ruby would reply how she thought she lost her big, awesome, and VERY beautiful big sister!
And then Yang would reply never and the two would have that sisterly bond she was waiting for. After that, the two would become best friends forever and go on many adventures, save the world and, when Ruby turns seventeen, have an orgy with hot stuff, horny boy, and feisty as a birthday surprise! It would be perfect!
Yang thought of all that in her head with her eyes closed in order to imagine how beautiful it looked in her mind. And when she was ready to set her plan into motion, she opened her eyes, ready to see her sister. But shock filled her mind when Ruby was no longer below her. In her place, was nothing but the colorless, hard stone. Stone that was mere milliseconds away from her face.
'Oh shi-'
She couldn't even finish her thought as everything went black.
"It was, trust me."
"Are you sure? You could have-"
"Her velocity was too fast. If I tried to help I would have been crushed, so I'm very sure."
"Yes but… she's been unconscious for almost three minutes.
"She will be fine."
"… There goes thousands of years of history… inside a giant hole."
"Better than catching her."
"Whoa! I can't believe she made a hole that big! I mean I make big holes all the time but she REALLY made a big hole! It was soooo awesome!"
Yang could hear all the voices around her. She groaned as she tried to move but felt her body grow stiff. After a few seconds, she tried again, this time slowly, and could rise her upper body but groaned again from the pain. She thanked whatever lucky stars she had that her aura was already working on healing her.
"Look she's awake. See, I told you she would be fine."
Yang slowly opened her eyes and allowed them to adjust to the lighting. She felt a little dizzy but blinked a few times as she rubbed her head gently. When everything felt normal she looked up and realized that everyone was staring down at her, forming a small circle. There was a momentary silence until she gave a toothy grin and said, "Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop in with a Yang!"She was the only one to laugh.
She earned a few disapproving stares and sighs. She was used to that, one day she will have someone admire her comedic relief and, shocking enough, there was sudden a giggle. Yang's eye widened. She immediately stood up and looked around swiftly. She followed the trail of giggles to an orange haired girl in pink cupping her mouth and, actually, laughing. Laughing at her joke.
Yang thought that she was still unconscious, or perhaps died and gone to paradise. But no, it was reality and she was staring it in the face.
Whoever this girl was, was actually giggling. And there was more, the giggling soon turned into chuckling, and then sprung into a full-on laughter.
"That... that was good!" Nora laughed as she grabbed her sides. "You… you said YANG… instead of BANG!" she said in between laughs and air.
"You... you think I'm funny?!" Yang asked flabbergasted as she got out of the hole she made.
"You... you... are so... funny!" Nora praised. However her laughter stopped as soon as Yang got close and grabbed Nora by the shoulders.
"You... really think I'm... funny?!" Yang repeated.
Nora raised an eyebrow and examined Yang up and down. She then grinned as she nodded. "My lady, you have the comedy touch that comes once in a life time!" she said in a southern bell accent and raised a thumbs up. "You are a golden ticket of chuckles!"
At that moment Yang got a bit teary and couldn't restrain herself anymore. She quickly embraced Nora in her arms and spun her around multiple times. "You're the first person to laugh at my joke!"
Nora couldn't help but laugh some more as she enjoyed the ride.
"I'm Yang Xiao Long! Local comedy genius, who's also a gorgeous natural blonde!" Yang cried happily.
Nora squealed in delight and hugged Yang back while still spinning. "I'm Nora Valkyrie! An energetic girl who's all about fun and adventures! Oh and sloths, and pancakes, and making Ren do silly things with me!"
As both girls cheered and laughed, Neo didn't know why but seeing this blonde headed bimbo befriending her partner didn't sit right with her. She was HER buddy, not hers! Her cheeks puffed out and turned red. She especially felt angry when the girl was shaking her... "melons" right in front of her as if to remind Neo of what she doesn't have.
'Who needs big loads of fat in the chest anyway! My body is just loaded with potential so who cares!' She thought crossing her arms with a silent 'hmph'. Even though she thought this, her eyes were slightly watery. 'Why is life so mean...'
This didn't go unnoticed as Adam stared at the multi-color haired girl with a raised eyebrow. Neo spotted the faunus boy looking at her and stuck her tongue out while turning away from him.
This confused Adam as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. 'What's her problem?'
Ruby felt that this charade has gone on for too long, and cleared her throat loud enough for her sister to hear. "Yang... please stop and let go of Nora."
As if on command, Yang stopped and turned to Ruby. Without question she let go of the orange haired girl who pouted due to her "ride" stopping so suddenly.
Ruby nodded and crossed her arms. "Good now listen Yang I-"
"Baby sister!" Yang suddenly shrieked and glomped on top of her younger sister as she furiously rubbed her cheek to Ruby's.
"Yang, stop!"
"Ruby I missed you so much! I was looking all over for you in the forest but I couldn't find you anywhere!" She cried. "You have to forgive your older sister too because I wasn't just looking for you! I started thinking about hot stuff, horny boy, and feisty! Speaking of which," she turned to Ren, Blake, and Adam, "Hey you three! Did you miss me?" She asked with a wink.
Ren blushed a bit while Adam looked away. Blake actually took a step back and placed a hand on her weapon in case this crazy girl decided to do something.
"And before I knew it, I started looking for them too!" A shiver crawled down the said serchees back. "But now I found you! But it sucks because I can't be your partner now!"
Even though Ruby already new that, she silently breathed a sigh of relief, as did Ren, Blake and Adam. And after a couple seconds of escaping her sister's grip, Ruby got up and dusted herself off. "Yang... while it is unfortunate that we... can't be partners." She lied. "You need to find a partner yourself. The others here are already partnered up so none of them are available."
Adam nodded as Blake leered at Yang. Neo, in fact, wrapped an arm around Nora protectively and pulled the confused girl away with a silent growl.
Despite the looks she received, Yang just sighed almost defeatedly. "I know Rubes, by the way is hot stuff your partner?" she asked and pointed towards Ren.
He stiffened as Ruby nodded and paled when Yang smirked. "Ruby, my dear sister I am so~ proud of you! Already claiming your man huh? Thatta girl! But remember baby sister, sometimes you got to share the wealth with family." Ren slowly backed away as Yang wiggled her fingers and slowly walked towards him. "Don't worry hot stuff, I just wanna make sure you can handle me before I let you have your way with my adorable little sister." Never in Ren's life had he met a woman so perverted before. He could even see some drool as she neared him.
"Don't worry~ I'll be gent-"
Ruby got tired of Yang's antics and elbowed her sister on the head. The impact sent her back on the ground where she twitched slightly.
"Yang… please don't rape my partner."
The busty blonde shot up with glistening eyes and a happy grin. "Ruby, your hit was on point! You even aimed for the center which would impact the most painful damage to a person!" She cheered.
'Apparently, I didn't if your still up.' Ruby though sarcastically.
Ren felt a trickle of sweat drop down his forehead. 'That woman is… inhumane.'
"Listen Yang," Ruby started, "You'd best find a partner before it's too late. More than half the class will not pass this test. I highly recommend you to find someone fast before it is too late."
While Ruby did not like Yang annoying her with her presence, she didn't want her sister to fail like this. She has made a habit of always "just making it" in the past and while it may have worked, this time it's different. This exam decides their role as hunters in training and only a fool would not take it seriously.
Yang listened and actually smiled sincerely. She felt touched that her sister was trying to look out for her well-being when she should be doing that for her.
With a pat on the back, Yang gave Ruby toothy grin. "It's so sweet that my little sister is worried about me!" she pinched Ruby's cheek where she automatically received a slap to the face.
Ignoring the pain, Yang continued to grin as she placed her hands on her hips. "Don't worry about me Rubes for I, your amazingly awesome older sister, have already found a partner!"
This caused everyone to raise a few eyebrows in confusion.
"You found a partner?" Blake muttered a bit surprised.
Yang nodded, rather proudly of herself. "You betcha! How do you think I got here?"
"By falling from the sky?" Adam answered rather sarcastically.
Yang laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, that wasn't the greatest idea I ever had." She then gave a nervous chuckle. "In fact, I think she'll be pissed at me for leaving her."
"I'm sorry?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing!" Yang, spat.
"So where is your partner?" Ren asked.
All eyes turned to Yang as they expected an answer right away. However, she didn't and only stared up at the sky in silence as she looked all around.
"Yang."
"Hmm? What is it little sis?"
"Why are you looking at the sky?"
"Oh! I'm waiting for your question to be answered."
Ruby blinked. "What?"
"Just… give it a moment. She'll be here momentarily." Declared the busty blonde. "At least I think its flying this way… right?"
Ruby didn't know what she was talking about but decided to drop the thought. She then turned to everyone else. "Well since my sister has a partner who should be here momentarily, I believe the rest of us should get going."
"What?!" Yang screeched. "You're leaving me?!"
Ruby sighed and turned to her sister. "We have already completed our tasks." She held up the black chess piece for Yang to see. "We have no further business here."
"But you're just gonna leave your helpless older sister?!"
"Don't worry Yang I'll stay- mphff!" Before Nora could complete her sentence, Neo silenced her with her hand over the orange haired girl's mouth.
Ruby rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine Yang. I just want to get this test over with." She then proceeded to walk away with Adam, and Blake following. Neo dragged a reluctant Nora but Ren glanced at Yang with a small sympathetic look.
"Is it really wise for us to leave her?" he asked.
Yang was feeling grateful that her "hot stuff" was standing up for her. "Yeah, yeah what if I get attacked by a group of Grimm?!" she added.
Ruby sighed as she stopped and turned. "You are powerful enough to take on dozens of Grimm on your own. You'll be fine."
Yang pouted but she didn't give up. "Well what about creepy perverts who would try to gang rape me like in those videos!"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Yang… if anything I think perverts should be afraid of you more. I've seen you when you're angry or… in the mood. So I guarantee you will be fine. And I do not want to know what kind of videos you watch at home."
Though crazy as it sounded, Neo couldn't help but blush and quickly jotted a few things down in her notebook before putting it away. 'Another one for the list. No one must ever know.'
Yang was starting to lose hope and tried to think of something else until she, and the others, heard a loud scream that sounded to be approaching them.
"Was… was that a girl's scream?" Yang asked a bit unsure.
They all turned in the direction of the fearful cry and, in fact, saw a body flailing around in the distance and heading right towards them.
'Another falling body?' Ruby thought and immediately dodged the person flailing towards her. However instead of a rather destructive, shattering hole being made like Yang, her older sister caught the person in her arms with no real effort at all.
Everyone turned to see who this person was and Ruby instantly recognized this person to be that Jaune Arc fellow from the cliff. 'Incredible he actually survived.' She thought.
"Isn't this the guy from the Cliffside?" Adam asked.
"I believe his name is… Jaune." Replied Ren, though he was a little unsure on the count of never interacting with the boy.
Blake crossed her arm's. "Is he alive?"
"Oh! Does anyone have a watch in case we need to mark his time of death?!" Nora asked a bit dramatically. "We need to prepare flowers and send some condolence letter to his family! Neo quick, write down a list of supplies we'll need!"
The fact that Neo actually got her notebook and pencil ready, caused Ruby to roll her eyes.
"Actually, I think he's still kicking." Yang confirmed. "I can feel his breathing! By the way he's surprisingly light!" She tried shaking him around in her arms and this caused the Arc boy to moan a bit.
"Hey he's waking up!" Yang smiled. And everyone watched as he opened his eyes.
Nora slightly pouted. "Aw, I had the plan ready and everything."
Jaune had never felt every part of his muscles ache before. He didn't like it. He didn't like how today was going either.
First with the locker incident, then the mean lecture he got from his "Snow Angel", then the terrifying landing and finally being flung across the forest where he was sure he landed on a large, boulder or something.
At first, he thought he was dead. But then he realized that because of the pain, he knew he was alive. Surprising enough, while he did feel like he landed on something hard, he did feel something soft and squishy to his left.
He rubbed against it a little and slowly opened his eyes a bit to adjust to the lighting. The first thing he saw was the bright blue sky, that he was going through a couple seconds ago. The next, he saw a pair of beautiful lilac eyes and a grinning face very close to him.
"Hey there sleeping beauty. You enjoying the feel?"
Jaune's eyes widened when realizing he was in the arms of a girl, a beautiful girl. This made him fluster but not as much as when he realized that he was feeling one of her breasts.
He flailed and fell out of her arms and stammered a lot of apologies and forgiveness. He tried very hard to say he wasn't a pervert, nor a creep and that he never meant to feel it.
Yang was simply enjoying this blond guy's attempts of modesty. Innocent cherry boys were always fun to mess with.
"Hey don't worry, I would have been insulted if you didn't like them!" She patted his back but the impact caused him to fall to the grown again. She laughed and apologized but quickly gave him a wink which caused Jaune to blush heavily again.
Yang was definitely having fun with this. "You know, I take great pride in my body so if you ever want to feel them again all you have to do is-"
"Yang, stop corrupting him." Ruby ordered and her sister pouted.
After calming down a bit, Jaune now turned to the red hooded girl and recognized her as that mysterious goth girl on the Cliffside. She was one of the main topics in the cafeteria because of the rumors saying she had "Demon Eyes", as some claimed to have seen in the bathroom this morning.
"I am sorry for my sister's behavior." Ruby apologized and gave a little bow.
Jaune couldn't believe how emotionless this girl looked and how distant her tone was. It was like… taking to a dead girl. Maybe the rumors weren't as bizarre as they sounded.
"You're Jaune Arc right?" Ruby asked.
"Y-yeah! T-that's me." He stuttered. Ruby nodded.
"I am Ruby Rose." she said and turned to her sister. "Yang, never try to corrupt innocent people again. People like him are fragile, delicate, and innocent."
Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was punched in the gut three times. Even the strange goth girl found HIM weak. He then realized that Ruby said this busty blonde girl was her sister. The two were nothing alike.
He then turned to the group behind him and saw the three people she was hanging out with on the Cliffside with her. Do goths always travel in a pack? There were two other girls who didn't look gothic but were instead moping around for some unknown reason.
"Jaune." Ruby called. "How did you get flung here? What happened to you?"
For a few seconds, he was processing what Ruby asked of him and in those few seconds he remembered everything.
Jaune couldn't finish his sentence when a sudden roar followed by an explosion cut him off.
Everyone turned and saw three people running out of the forest in the distance and heading straight for them. But what caught everyone's surprise was what came behind them.
A deathstalker, the famous scorpion like grim that were rare to see was now in full view and chasing these three-new people.
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What in the-"
There was another roar but this time it came from the air and sounded incredibly high pitched. Everyone now looked above and Ruby went slightly wide eyed.
High above them a Nevermore, a giant raven like Grimm, was flying overhead and circling around. And while these two Grimm were very rare and incredible to witness, Ruby couldn't help but stare at the figure of Weiss Schnee holding onto one of the Nevermore's talons for dear life.
With so many things going on at once and multiple troubles just running, and flying, towards them, Ruby could only think of one thing.
'We should have just kept walking.'
And thus the eleventh chapter comes to an end. My Dark Readers, the main story continues. Please leave a review, good or bad. If there are any constructive criticisms you have, please do not hesitate to tell me, it helps me to grow as a writer. Also if you have any questions or suggestions fill free to leave them in the reviews. Prepares yourselves, for the main story continues.
Until next time my Dark Readers. Forevermore – FT