Chapter revised 31/12/2017; please see chapter 11.
/
Howdy folks, hope you all had pleasant Holidays.
Show of hands, people, who here believed I'd actually manage to release one more chapter?
...
No one, really? Alright, fair enough.
But for once, I managed to stick to the schedule. Go me.
It's the second time I update this story on the last day of the year, actually. Eh, maybe I should make a tradition out of it.
Alright, you guys know the drill by now.
Big shout out to Chaos Productions.
Review answering:
lordrednight: Glad you enjoyed the way I did things, m8. One thing I will assure you of is that I will never deny a character some much needed development, and as much as Tristard could have nipped this whole situation in the bud, Jaune needed this particular lesson.
Dr Nafario: No m8, that was Animal Allegiance. Bend Will just for a measly swarm of insects would be Overkill, don't you think?
ZalrokCSoulDeath: Shit, thx for the heads up, m8. And as for Volume 3, it's been a hell of a ride so far. Let me tell ya, it gave me a hell of a lot of material to work with for my fics. I'm going to have a LOT of fun with it.
Hunter81095: You'll find that out in the next chapter, m8.
Xbox432: Exactly, m8. You'll find that Tristard is rather good at making people think and consider their actions. He is the Archmage, after all.
Tracer28: It's one of the few fics on my favourites list, m8. I will admit I took some inspiration from it for that particular line.
And now, without further ado, enjoy the last update of 2015.
/
It was bright and early in Saturday morning, and once again, Team RWBYS found themselves walking the streets of Vale. Way too damn early in the morning in the opinion of 4 of its 5 members, but the fifth had been quite insistent in her nagging.
"Weeeeeiiss..." Ruby whined, while walking with a zombie like gait. "Why did you drag us here so early?"
"Yeah, Weiss-cream, what's the deal?" Her sister added with yawn, before mumbling quietly. "There should be a law against waking before 9am on a Weekend..."
To her surprise, the Heiress was in such a good mood that not even the brilliant (in her own opinion, horrid to anyone else) nickname seemed to rattle her.
"Oh, don't be such spoilsports, you two. They're beginning to set things up for the Vytal Festival!" The heiress exclaimed with more cheer than they had ever seen in her, arms wide as she looked up at the large 'Vytal Festival' sign adorning the street. "It is an event of magnificent proportions, all for the purpose of encouraging peace and cooperation between the Kingdoms. There will be a tournament. Fairs. Bals. And so much more!"
"You are really looking forward to this." Tristard commented in mild surprise.
"Of course! How could I not? I mean, do you have any idea how much planning goes into these things? How many details need to be worked out months in advance? Oh, just think of the logistics..."
The heiress looked off into the distance with stars in her eyes, her mind filled with thoughts of item stocks and entertainment planning.
...
...Nen avok, she was worse than Nirya.
The whole team deadpanned at the white-haired girl, who was still lost in her own little world, for close to a full minute before Ruby spoke again.
"All in favour of never letting Weiss choose our weekend activities again say I. I."
"I."
"I."
"Aye."
"The Is have it."
That snapped Weiss out of her bureaucratic day dreaming.
"Hey! I'll let you know I suggested coming here for a perfectly valid reason!" She cried out. "I've heard that the first representatives of the other Academies will be arriving today, and so naturally, I thought we should be there to greet them. You know, as representatives of Beacon, we should help our fellow students."
It was an honorable and sensible idea.
No one bought it. No one.
"Translation:" Blake stated flatly, still deadpanning at the heiress. "You want to evaluate the possible competition for the tournament."
"Why, I would never!" Weiss stated in an offended tone that didn't fool anyone.
"Hhhg, let's just go." Ruby grumbled as she resumed the walking and the others followed.
"Oh, by the way Tristard." Yang stated, catching the Dragonborn's attention.
"Hm?"
"You've been leaving the dorm at night quite a lot lately. Why's that?"
"Ah, that." Tristard said with a chuckle. "Well, you see..."
/
As they were leaving another of Prof. Port's classes, someone called out to the Archmage. He turned to find the Mystralian Champion addressing him.
"Ah, Pyrrha. How may I help?"
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, if it's not too much trouble." The redhead requested politely.
"Of course, walk with me."
She moved so that they were walking side by side, and after a few minutes of silence, she began talking.
"I wanted to thank you."
That earned her a raised eyebrow from the Dragonborn.
"Whatever for?"
"Ruby told me that Jaune came to you two for advice because of his... problem."
"Ah, that. "Tristard nodded in comprehension. "It was nothing, Jaune's a good man, if a bit insecure in his skills. He just needed a little push."
"True." The Champion replied with a warm smile. "But the fact remains that you managed to give him that push when I didn't. And for that I thank you."
"It was nothing." The Archmage repeated, before smiling slyly. "And I'm sure you'll get plenty of opportunities to "push" him during your late-night spars."
Pyrrha sputtered, her cheeks flaring up in embarrassment.
"W-wha... He...W-we...I-I..." With more effort than she'd care to admit, the Redhead managed to calm down. "A-actually, that's another thing I'd like to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
As Pyrrha made her request, Tristard's smile turned from sly to scary.
/
Later that night, Jaune opened the door to the Dorm's roof, wondering what new torture awaited him now. For all her warm, caring personality, Pyrrha could be a slave driver when it came to training. He honestly could not remember the last time he didn't feel sore even in places he didn't know could feel sore.
But hey, he had literally asked for it. And torture it may have been, but he couldn't really argue with the results.
As always, his partner was waiting for him.
"Today, we'll be doing something a bit different."
Something in the back of his mind told him he was not going to like this.
"Your skills have improved considerably, same as your stamina." Pyrrha praised, much to his delight. "But your speed and agility still need more work, which is why I asked for some help."
Jaune blinked.
"Uh?"
"She means me."
Jaune nearly jumped at the voice, before turning to find Tristard with his arms crossed and back against the wall.
"When the heck did you get here?" He blurted out, earning an amused smirk from his fellow male student.
"I've been here the entire time."
"Tristard is a more suitable sparring partner to practice what you're going to be practicing, so I asked for his assistance." Pyrrha explained with a smile, before moving a bit away. "You may begin."
"Wait, wait, why is he better suited to help me get faster?"
"Simple, Jaune..." The man in question replied as he moved forward, with a grin that the blond did not find the slightest bit reassuring.
Lightning began crackling in his hands.
"I'd start running now."
Jaune whimpered.
/
"...And that's about it, honestly." Tristard finished.
"Uh, that explains a lot." Yang mused. "Those weird lights on the roof, Jaune flinching every time he so much as sees an electric spark, the fact that he actually managed to dodge every attack from Nora in sparring class the other day..."
"The panicked shrieking kind of removed the impressiveness of that achievement, though." Weiss put in her two-lien.
"Isn't that a little mean, Tristard?" Ruby asked. "I mean, couldn't you at least have used paralysis or something?"
"With the way things were going at first, he'd spend more time paralysed than moving if I had done that. But you can relax, I had the power output to a minimum. He felt a slight sting at worst."
As they talked, the group passed through something that drew Ruby's attention.
There where police cars around one of the many shops on the street, a shop which looked absolutely wrecked, and a pair of disgruntled policemen stood at the entrance discussing something.
"What...?" She mumbled, as she neared the place. The rest of them noticed her splitting off and soon followed.
"Wow. What the heck happened here?" Yang asked to no one in particular. However, she was loud enough that one of the officers heard her.
"Robbery happened, kid." He called out, before turning back to his partner. "The place has been turned upside down, not a trace of dust left, and yet nothing else was taken. Even the money's all there. It just doesn't add up..."
"Ya think the White Fang's involved?" Inquired the other man.
As they continued their talk, Team RWBYS started moving towards the docks.
"The White Fang..." Weiss said scornfully, a deep frown on her face. "Degenerates, the lot of them."
Tristard was mildly surprised by her anger, but he had been on Remnant for long enough that even he was aware of the long-standing feud between the Schnee Dust Company and the White Fang. Frankly, the Dragonborn could sympathize. Memories of a light blue banner bearing a Bear symbol passed briefly through his mind.
Then he noticed Blake's angry glare.
"The White Fang are hardly degenerates." She said in a tone of expertly-concealed anger. "They started out as a peaceful movement. They are just... misguided."
"Yeah, right." Weiss retorted." Because torching down stores and murdering SDC personnel were clearly done with the best of intentions. Who knows what those savages have planned for all the dust they've been stealing."
"Their methods have become extreme." Blake gritted out, sounding to Tristard as if agreeing with the heiress left a bad taste in her mouth. "But you have no proof that they were behind this."
Blake's defence of the terrorist organization also came as something of a surprise to him. Sure, he was aware she was a Faunus, but...
...
...Ah, damn, this could turn ugly very fast.
"She's right, Weiss." Ruby having sensed the building tension, much to the Archmage's relief, tried to diffuse the argument. "I mean, they still haven't managed to catch that Torchwick guy I fought. It could be him. Right?"
"...Maybe." The heiress grudgingly conceded. "But that doesn't change the fact that the Faunus are scoundrels and thieves."
'By the Gods, Weiss, please shut up...' Tristard thought in alarm. No one else had noticed it, and she did make an admirable effort of containing herself, but Blake's posture indicated that she was just one more snide remark away from exploding at the white-haired girl. He actually began preparing to cast paralysis if it proved necessary.
"That's just plain unfair, Weiss." Yang butted in with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "I mean, they're not all like..."
"Hey, catch that Faunus thief!"
The entire group blinked, before looking towards one of the few occupied piers, and witnessing someone effortlessly dodging every attempt that was being made at catching him.
"Ah, gonna have to try harder than that! Nope! Oooh, I almost felt the wind on that one! Pardon me, coming through!" The young man taunted as he ducked and dodged circles around the few crew members chasing him.
Tristard considered the newcomer. Blond hair, tanned skin, obvious disregard for authority... And a furry, prehensile tail, which he was using to hang upside down from a lamppost. As much as he was amused by, and secretly supportive of, his antics, the Archmage couldn't help but curse his sense of timing. This fire was barely contained as it was, they didn't need any more fuel for the flames.
Having apparently gotten bored of his pursuers, the boy left the pier and sped through the still surprised group.
Tristard did not miss the wink he threw Blake, and for some reason his sympathy for the boy diminished slightly.
"Uh, that was weird..." Ruby said in a tone of someone not quite sure what was going on.
"After him!" Weiss shouted, before dashing off. Yang and Ruby followed, and after staring at each other, so did Blake and Tristard.
The chase proved difficult however, mainly because their quarry had abandoned the streets and taken to leaping through the lamppost and store signs dotting the street.
"At this rate we're gonna loose him! Tristard, can't you do something?" Weiss cried out as they ran.
The Archmage considered his options. Denying Weiss would only worsen her mood, and by proxy the conversation that was sure to follow. On the other hand, stopping the Faunus would have much the same effect with Blake. And he didn't really have anything against the eccentric boy. He decided on a compromise. He had the spell at the ready, anyway.
As they ran, a few bolts of green energy flew towards the fleeing stow-away, bolts that he dodged with little effort. As she was the only one who had him in her field of vision, Blake noticed with some curiosity that Tristard's throws were half-hearted at best.
The boy suddenly came to a stop, crouching on top of a lamppost, turning to his pursuers and grinning cheekily.
"Ah, Your aim sucks, dude! If it weren't for gravity, you probably couldn't hit the floor...WOAH!"
The ungrateful little bastard almost fell from his perch when a large spike of ice imbedded itself on the metal, so dangerously close to his crotch he could feel the cold.
He stared at it wide eyed, before looking back at the one who threw it, hoarfrost covered hand still outstretched and disturbingly cheery grin on his face.
The Faunus gulped, message received loud and clear.
'I could have hit you any time I wanted.'
He wisely decided to make himself scarce before he ended up really pissing the dude off.
And for a few seconds, it seemed the chase would begin anew, but as team RWBYS rounded a corner...
"Look out!"
"Woah!"
Clang!
...Weiss, Ruby and Yang collided with something, and the seconds they laid dazed on a heap on the floor gave Monkey boy ample time to escape.
"He got away." Weiss grumbled displeased.
"It happens sometimes." Tristard commented, before giving his teammates a look." You might want to remove yourselves from on top of that girl though."
"It's alright! I did not receive any significant damage."
The cheerful reply from underneath them made the girls jump back up in fright, while the one they collided with made no such effort.
The girl had bright green eyes and curly orange hair with a pink bow. Wearing a blouse that could be considered old-fashioned, she stared at them with a cheerful expression
"Salutations!"
The Archmage stared at the girl with slight confusion. There was something... off about this one. Still, he approached and reached an arm out to her.
It took an awkwardly long amount of time for the girl to seemingly realise what he was doing, her face lighting up in realization, as she grabbed the arm and rose to her feet.
"While it was unnecessary, many thanks for the assistance!"
"Think nothing of it." Tristard replied, bemused by her exuberance.
"Hey..." Ruby began uncertainly. "Sorry about that. Are you ok?"
"Oh, I am fantastic! Thank you for your concern. I am Penny!"
"Uuuh, Hey Penny... I'm Ruby."
"Weiss."
"Blake."
"Yang."
"Tristard Soverick, at your service."
"Pleased to meet you! Lovely weather we're having isn't it?" The newly identified Penny said with an abnormal amount of cheer for such a boring topic.
"I think she might have a few screws loose..." Yang muttered, unfortunately not low enough.
The girl cheerful expression seemed to turn sadly disappointed for a split second, before settling into an offended pout.
"I'll have you know I have no such thing!" She exclaimed, causing Yang some slight panic at having been caught.
"Sorry for my sister." Ruby quickly intervened. "She doesn't think before she speaks sometimes."
"Yeah, I... Hey!"
The girl quickly defaulted to her cheerful expression.
"Apologies accepted!"
"As amusing as this all is." Weiss finally interjected." We're wasting time here. We should get moving."
"Uh, Right." Ruby said uncertainly, as the team said their goodbyes and turned away from the odd girl. "Later, friend."
They were all understandably surprised when they found Penny standing there, her faces inches from Ruby's own.
"By the Nine, what...?"
"What did you call me?" The girl asked, in a suddenly very serious tone.
"What? But you were... And now you're... I didn't... What?" A very confused Ruby rambled.
"You called me friend." The girl said with shock, uncertainty, and something that to Tristard sounded very close to desperation. "Am I really... Your friend?"
Utterly bewildered by the question, Ruby glanced at her female teammates, who were all trying to convey their negatives from behind the girl's back. She then glanced to Tristard, who simply shrugged back as if to say, 'I don't see why not, but it's your call'.
"Uh... sure?"
...
After a few moments of silence, Penny's cheerfulness seemed to return a thousand times stronger.
"That is... Sensational! We can paint our nail, go to the movies, talk about boys..."
"So..." Ruby interrupted the girl's excited tirade, in an effort to calm her down. "What brings you to Vale, Penny?"
"Why, I am here for the tournament, Ruby friend!"
"You?" Yang said flatly "In the tournament?"
"Indeed! I am combat ready!"
"Wait, if you're a participant..." Weiss mused." Do you perhaps know that Faunus?"
"Who?" Penny stated confusedly.
"The thief. That stupid scoundrel we're chasing."
Oh, Troll dung.
"Stop that!" An angered Blake shouted, repressed emotions no longer containable,
"Excuse me?" An indignant Weiss retorted.
"Will you stop calling him thief, scoundrel and degenerate? How can you judge, when you don't know anything about him?"
"What is there to know? Besides that he was obviously up to something illegal. I mean, come on, he was obviously a thief. Why would I call him anything different?"
It disturbed Tristard somewhat that he couldn't quite tell if she was being serious.
"You... you... you stuck-up little Brat!"
"How dare you!?"
And as the argument quickly degenerated into a shouting match between the two enraged girls, the other three members of RWBYS could only look on in concern.
"Perhaps it would be better if we return." Tristard stated.
"Where are we going?" Asked Penny.
"Actually, Penny... Me and my team need to return to Beacon, to try and get this sorted out." Ruby explained, gesturing to the arguing duo.
"I see..." The odd redhead said sadly, before once more cheering up. "Well then, I hope that we meet again soon. Valedictions!" She waved at them as they began moving away, to which Ruby awkwardly waved back.
Perhaps she was becoming too good at this whole 'Making friends' thing...
"Perhaps the ride back will calm them down?" Yang said hopefully.
While he did not say anything in response, Tristard very much doubted so.
Such anger was not so easily quelled.
/
'Sometimes I hate being right...' The Archmage thought sourly.
Hours had passed, night had already fallen, and as they all stood in their Dorm room, Blake and Weiss were no closer to settling this discussion, while Yang Ruby and himself could only watch, their attempts at intervening unsuccessful so far.
As much as he worried for both parties, even his patience was beginning to fray.
"Why are you even making a big deal out of this!?"
"Because, Miss Schnee..." Blake replied, her polite addressing of Weiss dripping sarcasm. "It is exactly that kind of prejudiced, short-sighted attitude that caused the problem in the first place!"
"What can you possibly know of what I went through!? Do you have any idea of how many problems they-?"
"Want me to tell you were you can put your problems?"
"Why you..."
"ENOUGH!"
Silence finally fell upon the room, its female occupants staring at the source of that bellow in shock. The serious, stern look on Tristard's face was something they hadn't seen since the Cardin incident at the cafeteria.
"You have been going at this for hours and hours, failing to realize that you both are making the exact same mistake." He said in a neutral tone.
"But..."
"She..."
"Enough"
Both girls clamped their mouths shut suddenly feeling like children trying to talk back to an adult. The word hadn't been said nearly as loudly, but that somehow made it sound all the more commanding.
"Weiss." He stated, turning to the girl. "After hearing of your family's ongoing conflict with the White Fang, I can understand, sympathize even, with your dislike of them. But your family is not blameless in this. And judging an entire race based on the actions of a few is, indeed, a short-sighted and bigoted view. Would you condemn even the children of the Faunus for their actions? Does Velvet strike you as a monster that would jump at the chance to hurt you?"
The heiress looked down, not answering.
"And Blake." He now turned to the black-haired girl. "While I once again understand and sympathize with your outrage in favor of the Faunus, you fail to realize that you are pinning all of the actions taken by the SDC on Weiss, and she is not her family. If anything, I'd go so far as to say that she is just as much of a victim. You heard what she said about her childhood. Can you blame her for her attitude? After knowing how much of it was spent in fear?"
She too looked down in silence.
And both the girls stood like that for a while.
Weiss, while indignant at being scolded like a child, also began to feel grateful of Tristard's opinion and considered that perhaps she might have been too harsh.
To Blake, being told she was as prejudiced as Weiss was like a slap to the face, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made, no matter how much she didn't want it to. She sadly had to admit she may have let her past get the best of her.
As the two girls gave signs of calming down, Tristard allowed himself to relax.
It would seem this had been salvaged.
But then, the heiress' pride flared up. She couldn't just leave it at that.
"I may have been... rash in my view of all the Faunus, but I still maintain that the White Fang are nothing but a bunch of murderers."
'Gods dammit, Weiss...'
Blake lost what little temper she had recovered.
"Well, if people like you did not think like that, then we wouldn't have turned out that way!"
In the sepulchral silence that followed, the black-haired girl's eyes widened in abject terror as she realized what she had let slip.
"I... I..."
No... Nonono...
Too terrified to even look at her teammates' faces, the White Fang member dashed through the door.
"Blake, wait!"
And as Tristard followed, the rest of team RWBYS stood there, unsure of what to do.
/
Blake didn't stop running until she was at Beacon's central park.
While the stoic girl usually kept her emotions tightly under control, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing now.
After all that hard work to start again... She had ruined everything... And like so many times before, she ran away like a coward.
She should have known it was too good to be true.
Slowly, she reached up to her bow and undid the knot, revealing what his beneath.
Her greatest strength.
And her greatest weakness.
A pair of black cat ears twitched slightly due to the breeze, as if happy they were finally in contact with air after so long.
"So, that's what that was."
Blake turned around faster than Ruby would ever be capable of, to see Tristard staring at her.
And it terrified her even more than she had been a few minutes ago.
What would he think? Was he angry? Was he here to drag her back?
Seemingly sensing her distress, Tristard raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Peace, Blake, I mean you no harm."
Slowly, the Archmage approached, knowing full well that the wrong move would send her running.
"I have known you were a Faunus for a while now." He stated, much to her shock. "And I hold you no ill will."
"I wish merely... to understand."
/
And done.
Ok, so, it's a bit on the short side, and not a whole lot of action this time around, but I needed this to be a set-up chapter. Trust me guys, I have a hell of a ride planned for the next chapter. I'm fairly certain some of you will curse the next few generations of my hypothetical descendants for one particular scene.
But sadly, I'll have to tell you that January will be a rather busy period for me, so no updates until February.
That said, all that's left is for me to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Cya all on the next one.