And here, we apply the bio-foam.
Tuesday, October 6
POV: Ruby
Sorry, but next time we get a cake for someone, we aren't flying, Ruby told Cerise as she desperately tried to keep the large cake stable and level on her lap. No offense to your flying, it's just too turbulent up here.
None taken, Cerise said, keeping her head forward. I know I'm not the most stable flier. That will come with time. She angled to the ground in front of the Dragonhouse. Another gust of wind blew by, jostling the dragon and nearly sending the cake falling to the ground below. Cerise landed gently soon after.
Ruby threw her legs over her dragon and looked at the ground below. She slowly slid off Cerise' back and bent her knees as she hit the ground. Thankfully, the cake in the box stayed perfectly intact through the entire trip. "Now for the hard part."
Hard part? I thought getting that here in one piece was the hard part.
The Rider smiled. "I didn't have to be worried about getting ambushed by hungry students in the air. I'll see you later." Ruby turned around and began the now perilous walk back to her dorm room. Yang should have been able to gather team JNPR, Gray team, and the rest of RWBAY by now. Aaron finally let slip when his birthday was, and they all missed it by four days. Celebrating late was better than never.
Thankfully, Ruby made it to her dorm room only attracting a few hungry stares. She shifted the cake's weight completely to her right arm and opened the door with her left. Members of the three teams were scattered throughout the room. Aaron was telling some kind of story. "Then Nalia dove down from the top of the mountain. We caught Brom and Saphira completely by surprise. Nalia hit almost dead center on Saphira's back and-"
"Happy late birthday Aaron!" Ruby interrupted, causing the one guy on her team to jump in his seat. "Looks like you're not the only one who can catch people by surprise."
"Looks like we'll be having leftover cake for a few days," Yang said while eyeing up the large box.
"I think you're forgetting how much Nora, Ruby, and Aaron can eat," Weiss said.
"She has a point," Pyrrha chipped in. "I don't think there will be much left at all."
"Challenge accepted!" Nora cheered.
"I thought there was something strange going on." Aaron crossed his arms. "A three team study session after we've all finished a few tests didn't sit right with me. Especially when one team seems to do extremely well as it is."
"Some of us might have to retake one or two, you know," Jaune said dejectedly.
"Jaune, not again," Ruby moaned as she set the cake box down on a desk. "I thought you were getting better at studying."
"I am, it's just that the last essay question kicked my butt." There were mumbles of agreement throughout the room, and a muttered, "that fucking font is murder on dyslexia," from Percy.
"Well, let's not let the cake go to waste," Yang said as she stood up. Ruby opened up the box and her sister walked over to her side. "I've got the knife, but do have the candles?"
Ruby froze, then facepalmed with her natural hand. "Dang it. Cerise, how could you let me forget the candles?"
It wasn't my responsibility to remember them Ruby, Cerise said. Her tone suggested that she let everyone in the room hear.
The red Rider rolled her eyes. She turned around and faced the general direction her dragon lay. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile." Aaron raised his eyebrows, while a few other people in the room snickered.
"I understood that reference." Yang gently punched Ruby's shoulder. "There was a time where I thought that it couldn't be made. I wish I could have beat you to it though." She jerked her head to the side and winced a little. Probably Halcyon getting a little defensive.
"That's a reference to something?" Aaron asked confused. "I've been saying that to Nalia for years."
"Another one for the Scrolflix list!" Ruby waved everyone else over, then looked at her natural hand. "Brisingr." A small flame burned to life near the center of her palm.
Yang took the hint and did the same. "Not exactly candles, but this will do." Aaron stood in front of the cake and the three teams gathered around, all except Blake, anyway. She stayed sitting on her bed looking at something on her scroll. Ruby nearly frowned at the sight. While Aaron had mostly recovered from his bout of depression, Blake kept pushing herself farther away. If the bags under her eyes were any indication, she wasn't getting enough sleep.
Ruby was brought out of these thoughts by someone starting the age old happy birthday song. Aaron put on a confused face and looked around the group with only his eyes. Everyone finished, except Yang who went on to the second verse only sung by third and fourth years in the cafeteria. "Gooooo out and have fun." She stomped her foot instead of clapping due to the fire in her hand.
"Yang! No!" Ruby yelled. "He might take that seriously!"
"Isn't everyone who sings that part underage anyway?" Aaron asked, confused eyes darting between Ruby and Yang.
"I've heard it's a tradition going back to when the legal drinking age was eighteen," Yang said with a shrug. "I'm just continuing it."
"This is when you blow out the candles," Jaune chipped in from the back of the pack.
Aaron turned to look at Jaune, then back at the two sister Riders. He shrugged. "Strange customs here." He leaned down slightly and in one breath blew a stream of air at the two small flames. Ruby cut the energy flow to her flame and it went out quickly.
Yang's, on the other hand, only burned brighter. "Aww, who's the lucky girl Aaron?"
"YAAAANG!" Ruby yelled even louder.
Nora burst out laughing, but Aaron looked even more confused than before. "Looks like you got yourself a girlfriend there, lover boy!" Nora said as she elbowed Aaron.
The green Rider rapidly turned to Nora, and his face lost some color. "What?" Aaron turned back to Yang with his eyebrows raised.
Yang's smile disappeared and she threw her hand up in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, not me. Man, these jokes aren't going my way lately."
"Cultural differences, Yang," Ren said with a smile on his face. "Some things don't translate well."
"Now that all that's over," Ruby threw a glare at Yang, "how about we actually eat this thing. I remembered the plates this time too." She took the box that held the plates and forks from where Crescent Rose normally rested. Yang cut the cake and everyone took at least one piece. Weiss grabbed two and brought the second over to Blake. After a few seconds of conversation, Blake slowly took the cake from the heiress.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Aaron glared at Ruby, who just shrugged. "Nalia flew down and hit Saphira's back dead center…" He continued on to explain in detail how he and Nalia bested three other pairs in a challenge they made themselves. While Aaron only managed to defeat one Rider, Nalia took out the other three dragons, despite them being a lot bigger.
"Something's not sitting right with me," Weiss said when Aaron finished. "Why can't you remember the name of the red dragon?"
The smile disappeared of Aaron's face. "Because his Rider and he was one of the ones who betrayed us." Silence filled the room. "Shortly before the Battle of Vroengard, the combined strength of the dragons there cast one of the strangest spells ever. They couldn't stand that several of their own would want to wipe them out, so they completely erased the names of the Forsworn's dragons from everyone's memory. All names, known by the public or not." Ruby's eyes widened and locked with Yang's. Neither sister said anything, but they knew what Aaron meant by all.
"Why would they do that? How did they do that" Pyrrha asked.
"Dragons hate traitors more than humans and elves combined. As for how, dragons can only use magic when they have the right inspiration. It's very rare that they can all cast one spell together. When they can though, they are among the most powerful spells ever cast."
Aaron set the remainder of his cake on the ground and leaned forward in his seat. "Now I'd like to move onto something a little more serious." Ruby's shoulders slumped. She knew where this was going. Apparently Yang did too. Her fingers curled into fists. The air in the room completely turned around from where it was only moments before.
"Who would steal a dragon egg anyway?" Yang growled. "We're the only ones who know about it."
"Evidently not," Aaron sighed, "and I know no one said anything." He took out his scroll and hit a few things on the screen. "I wasn't completely useless when I was pitying myself. I've mapped out the area around Vale and figured out how much area we can all cover in a day. This will change as Cerise grows, and Halcyon should be able to carry Yang next week."
"We do have our first official missions next week," Weiss said. "From what I've heard, the huntsmen we shadow have entire days structured to the minute if at all possible."
"Plus, these are real missions that need to be done," Ren added. "People are counting on us to complete them. We can't just leave on mission."
"Weiss and I are committed this week too," Yang sighed. "We can't really go too far since we're planning the dance. We can't hand it off to anyone else either."
Aaron put a hand on the side of his head. "So we have two weeks before we can start searching for real."
"Hey," Jaune cut in, "Ruby found Cerise egg when you weren't around, right? That turned out okay. It's possible that whoever stole the egg may have dumped it somewhere someone can find it."
"I did think it was a pretty rock," Ruby agreed. "I'm so glad I was wrong though." She felt Cerise send her appreciation from the Dragonhouse.
"We have anything planned for after Professor Goodwitch's sparring class today?" Yang asked.
"We've got nothing," Jaune said, the he looked at Ruby.
Team RWBY's leader turned to the newest member. "Aaron, send the map to the rest of us. We'll do what we can while you're in with Doctor Oobleck."
Aaron nodded and hit a few more buttons on the screen. Soon after, Ruby's scroll vibrated. She opened up the new file and looked at the detailed map and search routes. "I was learning how to set this up as I went with only a little help from books and the CCT, so bear with me. The areas on the outside are for aerial searches from dragonback while the ones closer to the city are for searches on foot. Using my past experience, I've determined the amount of area each of us can cover in a day. But none of this takes Grimm into account, so keep that in mind."
Ruby looked over the routes. Aaron even labeled who should be taking which areas. Ruby noticed that none of Cerise' and hers went anywhere close to Forever Fall and the beach she was captured. Another of hers covered all of Patch, but it was much smaller than the ones to the south. She glanced at Aaron out of the corner of her eye. All of that couldn't have been a coincidence.
She turned her attention back to the map. It looked like team JNPR was tasked with searching to the east, team RWBY took everything to the south, and Gray team had the north. As Ruby looked over her team's part, she noticed a tab alongside their routes. She opened it, and saw a somewhat revised map in case Blake wouldn't be joining in. It wasn't as well developed as the erst, but it was something. Ruby looked over at the Faunus. She was staring at her scroll, but not at the map. Ruby didn't want to believe that Blake would sit out on the search, but she couldn't ignore the possibility.
"For never using this program before," Weiss said, "I'm impressed. It's color-coded and everything."
Aaron shrugged. "I try."
"So what do you want done if we find whoever took the egg?" Pyrrha asked.
"Breaking his legs is an option," Nora said a little too happily.
Yang shifted in her seat. "That's one option."
A little too passive if you ask me, Cerise growled. Ruby turned her head to where her dragon was. A few other people in the room did too. An egg thief should not get off that easily.
Ruby shivered and tried to brush off her dragon's hostility. She knew Cerise was just venting, and red dragons were more aggressive than others. Still, it was still disturbing to hear her normally peaceful dragon wanting to hurt anyone. She looked at the time on her scroll. "It looks like we should probably be heading for sparring class right now."
Jaune looked at his scroll too. "Probably a good idea." Everyone stood up from where they were sitting and filed out into the hallway. At least they were finally doing something about the egg instead of just moping around.
POV: Aaron
Aaron sat with the rest of his team near the center of the stands in the auditorium. Team JNPR inexplicably took up seats on the far side, with Gray team sitting behind them at the back of the room. Professor Goodwitch stood on the sparring stage, giving a lecture on proper technique before the actual matches began. It was all stuff Aaron learned back on Vroengard, and from the looks on the rest of his teammate's faces, it was review for them as well.
"Alright, now onto the sparring matches," Professor Goodwitch finally said. "Are there any volunteers to start off?"
Across the large room, Pyrrha stood up. "I am prepared," she announced. Aaron noticed Ruby slump a little in her seat.
Goodwitch nodded. "And who would you like to be your opponent?"
Pyrrha looked behind herself and directly at another team. "I choose team CRDL as my opponent." Almost immediately, murmurs broke out in the stands. Ruby straightened out, and Aaron saw a smirk appear on her face.
"Are you sure, Miss Nikos? There are not very many situations in which you will be fighting four opponents at one time, and almost certainly not in the tournament."
"I am sure." Pyrrha spoke with complete confidence.
Goodwitch nodded again. "As you wish, Miss Nikos. You all have five minutes to prepare." She turned around and walked off stage.
"This ought to be good," Yang said to the team.
Aaron was thoroughly confused. "Why would she fight a full team? I thought this was all against single opponents."
"Against Pyrrha, team CRDL might as well be one person," Weiss said. "They may act big and tough, but they're one of the lowest ranked teams here."
"She's doing it to teach them a lesson," Ruby chipped in. "After the last class, Cardin and his team ganged up on a first year Faunus. They didn't get physical beyond a few pushes, but their verbal attacks…"
"I take it they've been doing this for a while." Aaron looked at the door team CRDL disappeared through.
"They were worse last semester," Ruby continued. "The things they were doing to Velvet…I'd rather not think about it. Seeing them going at it again, after what I've seen and been through, I snapped. I got up in their faces and let them have it. It took everything I had not to put them through a wall or two." Ruby grimaced. "But even after everything they've done, I'd still rather have them around than the Nevermores."
"Someone was going to fight them, one way or the other," Blake finally spoke up. "Pyrrha just beat me to it." She picked up the book she brought with her and opened it.
"I have a feeling each of us would have gone after at least one of them." Yang crossed her arms. "With all they've done, I'm surprised they haven't been expelled, or at least suspended. No one would shed a tear if they left."
There was silence in the team for a few minutes. Across the room, Aaron noticed two of the three that he literally ran into back when they first decided to go after the White Fang. They hadn't been around much, and every time Ruby, Aaron, or Yang tried to get close to them, they quickly walked away. Aaron couldn't shake the feeling that those two were hiding something other than Emerald being a pickpocket.
"Here we go." Ruby leaned forward in her seat. Aaron looked down into the ring and saw team CRDL walking in. Directly across from them, Pyrrha strode onto the stage. All the guys were bigger than her, but size didn't matter if they didn't have the skill to back it up.
The lights in the room dimmed, and the crowd silenced. Pyrrha charged the other team. She took a few swipes at Cardin first, who failed to move his mace in to block. Pyrrha quickly moved to attack Dove, who actually managed to block a few strikes. The last two the warrior hadn't touched soon had their legs cut out from under them. Pyrrha backed off a little, letting the opposing team regain some of their negligible composure.
The rest of the fight went in a similar fashion. Pyrrha was as adept at using her shield as a weapon as her spear. No member of team CRDL managed to land a hit on her. Their coordination was nonexistent past the first few exchanges. While Pyrrha had difficulty managing to hit her opponents with Dust rounds, she didn't need to. She was so fast with her spear and shield, she didn't need to rely on ranged combat.
Eventually, the guys fell to the floor and didn't get up. Sky and Russel were the first to fall. Dove was taken out by Cardin toward the end. Aaron couldn't tell if that backswing was intentional or not. Either way, Cardin soon got what was coming to him. Pyrrha tossed the bully into the air, then slammed him back into the ground.
The lights turned back to full brightness and Pyrrha stood tall in victory. Goodwitch walked back onto the stage. "And that's the match," she said.
Cardin looked up from the floor and groaned, "Lucky shot." He then fell to the ground.
"He got what was coming to him," Ruby mumbled. The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Aaron looked down at the four guys strewn across the floor. He wasn't sure if team CRDL was that bad for not getting one solid hit in, or if Pyrrha was that good, or both.
"Well done miss Nikos," Goodwitch said as she turned to Pyrrha. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."
Pyrrha nodded and smiled. "Thank you professor."
Goodwitch turned back to her tablet. "Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" She turned to where team RWBY was sitting. "Mister Benson or Miss Belladonna?" Blake quickly looked up and closed her book. "You two have been rather docile for the past few classes. Perhaps one of you-"
"I'll do it," a voice said from across the room. Aaron looked over and saw one of the new students on his feet.
Goodwitch straightened her glasses. "Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."
"Actually," Mercury interrupted, "I want to fight, her." He pointed right at Pyrrha.
The warrior woman recoiled slightly. "Me?"
"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished a match," Goodwitch cut in, "I'd recommend you choose another partner."
"No, it's fine," Pyrrha insisted. She looked up at Mercury. "I'd be happy to oblige."
Professor Goodwitch nodded. "Very well. You both have five minutes to prepare." Again, she left the stage. Blake sighed, and reopened her book.
"This'll be a fun match," Ruby said, back to her normal self. "Never seen Mercury fight before."
"If he's competing in the tournament, this will be the perfect opportunity to observe him," Weiss stated. "He won't be able to hold back if he wants to beat Pyrrha."
"Even then he'll still get creamed." Yang crossed her arms. "Was he even paying attention to what she just did?"
Aaron stayed out of the conversation. He was thinking about why Mercury would want to fight Pyrrha. She was a world renowned fighter. Aaron wasn't sure if he could beat her, not that he'd ever admit it. There was something else in play. Then again, Mercury might just be sizing up Pyrrha for the tournament. Weiss had discussed doing the same several times.
A few minutes later, Mercury entered the stage. The lights dimmed again, and the gray haired guy started circling Pyrrha. After a few seconds, he ran at Pyrrha and launched a kick that was easily blocked. Mercury kicked himself away and did several backflips to get away.
The opponents stared at each other for a few seconds, then Pyrrha charged. Mercury blocked the spear with a kick, then threw another. Soon after, gunshots came from his greaves. Pyrrha still managed to push Mercury away with her shield. Still, there was something in his body language that was unsettling to Aaron.
"He's doing pretty good," Ruby complimented. Back on the floor, Mercury launched another series of kicks, and actually managed to knock Pyrrha's spear out of her hand. He launched another kick, which didn't even make contact with Pyrrha's shield. His momentum forced him off balance and to his knees.
Pyrrha retrieved her spear and rushed Mercury again. The guy kicked off Pyrrha's shield and launched himself far away from his opponent. As the warrior woman charged again, Mercury turned back to Professor Goodwitch. "I forfeit," he said calmly. Pyrrha ran slightly past the guy.
"You don't even want to try?" she asked, clearly surprised.
Back in the stands, Aaron wasn't. That match confirmed his suspisions. Mercury was in fact sizing Pyrrha up. Aaron had done the same with Ruby and Yang when first sparring with them, and had seen other Riders do it to each other on Vroengard.. Still, they always finished the fight. It was the honorable thing to do. Mercury took the coward's way out. After a little more conversation on the floor, the combatants separated and left the stage.
The end of class bell rang and Blake sat straight up. "That is all for today," Goodwitch called from the floor. "And remember the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." She turned around and left the room through a staff door.
Aaron stood up. "Well, you girls have fun in your search. I've got to get to Oobleck's."
"Good luck keeping up with him," Yang said.
"Hopefully we'll have some good news when we get back," Weiss added.
Aaron left the amphitheater, and his normal path brought him right by Emerald. As always, she avoided eye contact and walked away. That was nothing new. Yang once said that Emerald might have a 'crush' on Aaron, but he quickly discounted it. He thought he could tell when a girl liked him. Several first and second year girls blushed and talked quickly to their friends when he looked their way. Emerald did neither. You think she could know that I got her at some point? Aaron asked Nalia.
I don't know how, but it is a possibility, his dragon responded.
What isn't a possibility here? People can do strange things here and it's considered normal.
We can do things that are strange here as well.
Aaron sighed. Sometimes I wish I was just a normal guy, then I realize that you wouldn't be there.
Nalia huffed. I believe that's what Yang calls 'smooth.'
POV: Ruby
After several hours of searching, Ruby and Cerise landed in the courtyard in front of the Dragonhouse. Against all hopes nobody found anything. It didn't help that Blake stayed behind either. She left for the library after Weiss and Yang said that they were for sure planning the rest of the dance, and never came back. Since the search wasn't an actual mission, Ruby couldn't order Blake to come along, not that she would anyway.
Ruby took out her scroll and looked at the time. "8:30…Ugh, this isn't going to work for long if we always come back so drained."
That was without fighting any Grimm as well, Cerise added. I doubt we will always be that lucky.
"It doesn't look like the beeping was the battery dying either." About halfway through the flight, Ruby heard an incessant beeping noise that stayed until Cerise flew back over the city. That broke her concentration while searching more than anything else.
It could be your fake eye. It could be running low on power.
"Wouldn't it still be beeping now?" Ruby sighed. "Whatever, I'll go meet up with the others, then I'll be back with you for the night."
Don't rush yourself. Cerise walked back toward the Dragonhouse and Ruby headed to her dorm. Everyone else on a search team was already gathered outside.
"So we found nothing," Ruby stated as she approached.
Yang shook her head. "Nothing. I guess we can't always find an egg under a tree."
"How about we wait until Christmas, and then look again!" Nora cheered, trying to lighten the mood.
"We don't have that long to wait." Ruby crossed her arms. "Then again, we did only cover a small area today, considering how much is mapped out. We could still find at least a clue."
"We have the rest of this week to look before we have to go on our missions," Weiss said. "That's plenty of time to look around."
"Hey Weiss," Jaune began, "think you could check shipping records, for SDC or other companies?"
The heiress looked at Jaune. "How would you think of that?"
Jaune shrugged. "It's on TV a lot. There has to be something in it if so many shows use it."
Weiss stared off into the distance. "It is possible to track things like that, but I'd only have access to SDC's. I'm on shaky ground after getting information on…something else I really shouldn't have been looking into. Other companies only share that information if there's a warrant or court order."
"It was a good idea," Pyrrha acknowledged. Jaune shrugged in response.
Ruby sighed. "Thanks for all your help today. Same time tomorrow?" There were nods of agreement all around. They all entered the dorm and walked toward their rooms. As Ruby walked by her team's mailbox, she saw something inside through the small window. She opened it up and took out a small note. Apparently a package had arrived for her.
A wide smile broke out on Ruby's face. She ran over to the residence hall's mailroom as quickly as she could without using her Semblance. She slammed the note down on the desk. "I have a package to pick up," she spewed out.
The resident assistant on duty raised his eyebrows. "Okay there, speedy, I'm going to need to see your ID." Ruby quickly took out her scroll and set it down next to the note. The RA took it and scanned it. He then looked at a something behind the desk. "Looks like you've got two, actually. I'll go grab them while you sign them out." The RA put a sheet of paper and a pen in front of Ruby, then he walked into another room.
"What's the rush, Ruby?" Yang asked. Ruby turned around and saw her sister walk into the mailroom. "Got a secret life you don't want me knowing about?"
"Remember that thing I've been working on for a few weeks now?" Ruby intentionally placed her natural hand on top of her bionic one. Yang's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a little. "All that should help me get it done."
A smile slowly worked its way onto Yang's face. "Bout time you've made progress on that. Just don't completely disappear again."
"As long as it's done before the dance and our mission. I'd prefer not to go out without it."
The RA walked back into view carrying two large boxes. He set them down on the counter and grabbed the paper from Ruby. "Here you go," he looked down at the paper, "Ruby. Man, a semester and a month in and I'm still learning people's names."
Ruby smiled and took her boxes. "Let's be honest, is there anyone besides Ozpin that's good with names?" All three people in the room laughed at that, then the sisters left.
Yang took off the top box so Ruby could actually see where she was walking. "So where to?" she asked.
"Well, since I'll mostly be working on this at night, not the Dragonhouse. Aaron's an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy, and this would make too much noise."
"Student workshops it is." The sisters walked out of their dorm and into the fresh night air. There wasn't a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky. It made searching easier, and flying with Cerise enjoyable. The only thing keeping Ruby from insisting on a late night flight with her dragon was her chafing thighs. It was even a problem on her mostly bionic leg. She really needed to look up better ways to prevent it. Extra padding did not help at all.
Yang opened their team's workshop door and held it open for her more encumbered sister. Ruby set her box down on the workbench, making a loud thud. "Thanks for the help, Yang," she said.
"Anytime." Yang laid her box down next to the other two. "Need anything else tonight?"
Ruby thought it over for a second. "Don't tell the others about this. I want to see the looks on their faces when I show up to the dance with 'skin' on my arm."
"Will do. See you when you finally get to the Dragonhouse." Yang left the workshop and closed the door behind her. Ruby turned back to her new supplies and smiled even more. She grabbed a utility knife and opened up the first box. Inside, a large piece of cloth lay folded up. Ruby took it out and looked it over. In hopefully less than a week, that piece of cloth would become her new skin. It was a little weird to think about it like that, but it was true. A bunch of mechanical parts sat at the bottom of the box. Those would be her new nervous system. The other box must have had the chemicals to make the cloth look and feel like skin.
Ruby smiled and called back the schematics and instructions that Penny sent her. She immediately got to work, measuring the exact dimensions of her arm. Cerise sent her own excitement and happiness to her Rider as well. For once, things were going according to plan.
Shoehorned movie references (ding!). Birthday song reference that only a few hundred people in the world will get (ding!).
Also, I am not going to have Gray team go on the same mission as team RWBAY. They will have their own mission which will end up going even worse than team RWBAY's mission.