Iris strolled across Beacon's courtyard, her camera in hand and a smile on her face as she saw the architectural mix of the place. It almost looked like a combination of the old houses in New York and some more European designs, quite honestly, which included the supersized mess hall that resembled the main hall of a Cathedral. For all she knew, the place could, in fact, have been just that before it became Beacon's food court.
She blinked, then smiled and looked at the architecture more. She breathed in the fresh air, smiling as her mind finally registered that she was free to walk around as she pleased throughout the place and perhaps through Vale itself. Sure, she wouldn't risk going out without someone covering her ass, even if it was from several miles away, but it was good to finally...
To finally have this much freedom, she thought. This was still a mission, but it seemed a little more 'long-term' than operations like Camp Granada, a memory that caused her to shudder upon resurfacing. She blinked, shook her head to forget it, then turned around, inches short of slamming into another girl. Both of them jumped back, with Iris starting, "Oh, sorry!" as she noticed it was a surprised fellow blonde with eyes the color of the lilac flower and dressed in... Possibly one of the most eccentric female outfits she had ever seen. A golden tube top with some kind of emblem, hidden behind a leather jacket with puffy shoulders, hems that barely reached past her mdiriff and black, really short sleeves.
Wrapped around the wrist part of some longer, black fingerless gloves, there were two strange, semi-mechanical-looking yellow bracelets that more closely resembled armor of some kind. Going down below the belly, at the waist, there was a really strange half-skirt that shielded the rear of the girl, with the front, black shorts clearly visible. Finally, to top... Or bottom? Eh. To finish the outfit, there were a pair of laced combat boots, colored the same as the strange half-skirt and the leather jacket. The girl also had uneven orange socks, with the left being longer than the other one and reaching above the knee, while there was also a small purple scarf wrapped around the left leg, just above where the boot ended.
The blonde had one helluva fashion statement to make. She flashed a smile at Iris, then said, "It's alright. Never seen ya around here before, though..."
"Yeah," Iris rubbed the back of her neck, "I'm kind of new here and I was just admiring the sights."
"Oh," The blonde paused, then smiled and extended her hand, "Well, welcome to Beacon! I'm Yang!" which somewhat stunned Iris. The girl gently took Yang's hand and tried to shake, but the blonde gave a more firm grip than she'd expected. Yang complimented, "You got a firm grip! Working out?" while Iris tried to free her own hand from the claw of the blonde badass before her.
She nodded, winced, then said, "Yep..." to which Yang let her go and smiled. Iris rubbed her right hand, then said, "I'm Iris... Nice to meet you, Yang..." as she looked up at the lilac-eyed girl. It was almost too interesting to see someone with those kinds of features, like purple eyes. It almost seemed like something straight out of a fairytale, but still, this goldilocks seemed several increments more friendly than you'd have expected.
Yang nodded, "Likewise, Iris! And might I say, interesting name. Some real old vernacular stuff."
"'Old... Vernacular'?" Iris paused. She had always felt her name was a bit odd. It wasn't a Dorothy or a Joanne, but it wasn't a fricking Eda or something, either. Yang crossed her arms to her chest, smiling still, then showed Iris to follow. The two marched toward the center of Beacon's massive courtyard, toward a statue, as a series of Aircraft came and went, touching down at the Landing Pads on the cliff, disgorging many a student back onto the platforms.
"Yep," Yang nodded, "Y'know, pre-Great War and color-naming rule?" and, upon seeing Iris's confusion, she explained, "Uuh... Y'know, the quote-unquote rule that came after the end of the Great War that asked people to name their children after colors, or color-related objects, to honor the creativity and feelings that we fought for during the Great Waaarrr..." She dragged the last word out as she saw Iris staring at her like she'd freshly come out of a madhouse. She waved it off, "Nevermind, I guess...? Anyways!"
The two girls paused as they heard the sharp voice of a younger girl cry out, "Yaaaang!" as she waved at them, smiling and running. This one was another case of fashion sense gone wild. Black and red motif, a black shirt with long sleeves which were red on the inside, a faux-corset, colored black, with red, crossed-over lacing, a fluffy, but seemingly comfortable skirt that was black and red, yet again, tights, a cape and combat boots akin to the girl's to her right, but colored after her pattern. She also had gradient black-to-red hair that started black at the top of her head and ended full crimson at the tips.
She also had some sort of mechanical box item on her back that looked far too heavy for someone like her to carry. She ran up to them, then wrapped her arms around Yang's neck and said, "Sorry I'm late, sis! I just... Got caught up talking with friends at Signal before I had to take the Bullhead back..." She slowly craned her head toward Iris, "To Beacon..." and Iris finally noticed the odd color of her eyes. Silver.
Iris blinked, then said, "Hi?"
Yang chuckled, then slapped the shorter girl on the back and said, "Ruby, say hello to Iris. Iris, this is my sis, Ruby."
"Hey!" Ruby smiled at Iris, a bubbly personality hiding behind the face of a young girl. She extended her hand, too, which Iris more worriedly took hold of and shook. Ruby winced as she felt Iris's grip, then said, "Woo. You're kinda strong, Iris... Also, I like your name. Not a lot of people you hear with the old stuff anymore, but I guess I can kinda appreciate it."
"Yeah, Yang mentioned my name was apparently 'old-school'..." Iris chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I mean, it is, don't deny it," Yang snorted, then said, "We were just about to head to lunch. Wanna join us?"
"Uhm... I-" Iris had wanted to protest. In fact, she figured it might not have been a good idea to get too involved with the people of Remnant as a whole, but her stomach had cut the plan short with a titanic rumbling. Her cheeks tinted red out of embarrassment, Iris avoided looking the two girls right in the eye. Yang and Ruby looked to one-another, chuckling, then grabbed Iris by the arms and dragged her along.
"C'mon. Ya gotta meet the rest of our team, Iris!" Ruby smiled, "We got a lot to talk about."
"True, I guess...?" Iris paused, then wondered if they were here to interrogate her or something. Hm, no, probably not. The Foundation agents on-site would have already intervened if these two seemed dangerous. Both Yang and Ruby, however stopped, eyeing the girl for a moment, which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on-end. Oh, boy, what did she do this time?
"Uh, Iris?" Ruby started, "Where's your Aura? I can't... Feel it."
"... Aura...?" Iris asked meekly, almost shrinking under the gazes. They weren't withering, or angry, but rather just inquisitive. Sure, it wasn't that hard to understand they were concerned about someone not knowing anything about the world. Ruby chuckled, while Yang smirked, then took the girl's hand and closed her eyes. Slowly, Yang recited something in a whisper.
Before long, Iris felt the very core of her being warmed up. Before she knew it, she saw the faint auric light that surrounded Yang's hand and her own, a light which travelled to the deepest recesses of her mind and soul and seemingly exploded outward, coating her body in the light and soothing her nerves. The light, color-tinged to a brighter blue, surrounded Iris, then faded around her. The girl paused, then asked, "What did you just...?"
"Activated your Aura," Yang smirked, "Ruby was right. It wasn't on."
"Oh..." Iris looked at herself again, then hummed and asked, "I gotta get a bit more info about this."
"Well, c'mon along. We can talk as we go," Yang grinned. As the trio marched over to Beacon Academy's food court, Iris listened to Yang explain, "So, taking into account that you look like you're related to another of our friends, I'mma put it bluntly and explain it to ya. Aura's basically soulstuff power. A shield of a sort that overlays itself onto your body and provides protection while also healing minor wounds, like scrapes. Only creatures with souls, so humans, Faunus and animals, can have them."
"Huh," Iris took a moment, "Neat. Wait, related to w-"
"Yup!" Yang chuckled, "And it even gives us a sort of superpower, if ya will. We call them Semblances."
"Oh?" Iris seemed interested. Yang smiled at Ruby, who smiled back, then somehow formed into a streak of petals, moving at almost the speed of sound and leaving a trail of said petals behind her as she rematerialized next to the door. Iris smiled, then yelled, "That's AWESOME!" with an incredible amount of excitement visible as she bounced up and down. She paused, then thought, "I kind of have one of those?"
"... A Semblance?" Yang asked, which caused Iris to stop.
"Err... Ignore me, please," The girl let out an awkward laugh, "I blurt stupid stuff out some times..."
"... Aaalllright!" Yang chuckled, "C'mon. I think we've kept the others waiting enough!" and she and Ruby brought Iris into the mess hall. The place was somehow looking even bigger on the inside, taking into account the hundreds of students currently in the place, eating their lunches. Everyone here was colorful, clad in any and every kind of outfit there really was and seemingly very friendly.
Two girls, one clad in a black out fit with white and purple, as well as wearing a bow on the top of her head, waved at them. The other girl, clad in full white, with eyes bluer than her own and with white hair, was filing her nails. For all intents and purposes, Iris felt like she was looking at a squad of four models when she was being brought in by Yang and Ruby to chat. She took a picture of the place beforehand, then smiled awkwardly as Yang said, "Hey, Weiss! Blakey! We got a newbie!"
'Weiss' looked up at them, then frowned and said, "... I'm so sorry for their behavior, miss."
"... That's an interesting way to say 'hello'," Iris remarked, which garnered chuckles out of the two half-sisters behind her. Out of 'Blakey', as well, it seemed, despite the girl being focused on what looked to be a book. Weiss hummed, then simply looked back to her nails, a small smile on her face. Blakey seemed to have taken notice of her once more, smiling and waving at her in greeting.
"These are Blake and Weiss, our teammates," Ruby introduced them, "Gals, this is Iris."
"She looks a bit like Jaune," Blake commented as she flipped a page. Closing the book after putting a bookmark, she set it aside, then hummed and waved at Iris again, "Nice to meet you, Iris. I'm Blake... Blake Belladonna."
"Weiss Schnee," Weiss nodded, "A pleasure."
"Pleasure's all mine," Iris smiled at both of them, then noticed Weiss with a raised brow. Probably was expecting more of a reaction out of her for something, but she chose not to do or say anything to press the matter. Instead, she awkwardly plopped herself down next to the girls. Yang smirked, then gave a thumbs up, before looking back and calling out to someone. Four someones, sat at the next row of tables over.
She caught a bean or something with her mouth, then grinned as she chewed on it. She said, "Those folks are team JNPR. Another group of friends of ours! I'd call'em over, but I think Nora's a bit busy..." and she smirked as she caught another small piece of food in her mouth from aforementioned 'Nora', one would presume. Iris giggled, watching Yang catch the food like a puppydog.
"That's alright, I don't wanna be a bother..." Iris replied, then looked around. She hummed, then said, "Uh... Where's Ruby?"
The three other girls all paused, then looked around. Their only clue as for where Ruby had gone being the trail of rose petals left by the young Huntress. Iris hummed, then stood to her feet, excusing herself to grab some food. She was stunned to see that the food was actually, incredibly good-looking. Certainly beat the food in the Foundation's stuff for Skips by a country mile.
She plucked up a few things like fruit, fries, a steak, a fresh juice and plastic utensils, then marched back toward the table, a smile full of life on her face. Happily, Iris sat herself down just as Ruby reappeared, carrying a bulky white binder of some kind. She started digging into her food with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, garnering some laughter out of the girls as they talked.
It was a nice feeling and the food was fucking tasty. She listened to Ruby and the girls rambling and chatting about something or other regarding a team-building activity day. All was going well as Iris dug further and further through the plate of food. She was about to ask something as she looked up from her tray, but watched as Weiss took a pie to the face.
She looked back, seeing Nora, the ginger of team JNPR, pointing at her partner, then paused and blinked.
Oh, no...
Before Iris knew it, more food started to fly, courtesy of team RWBY's table. She ducked as a half-eaten apple flew over her head, then rolled off to the side, entering survival/combat mode. Her MTF Close-Quarters Combat training kicked into high gear as she watched the chaos begin. In the first minute, food was thrown around with the force of cannonballs and cans and trays exploded, spraying mashed potatoes, meat and whatever else into patterns around the floor.
A speck of potato landed on Iris's cheek. She quickly wiped it off, then stood to her feet as she heard the crowd starting to scramble out of the building. Beside her, the blonde, blue-eyed member of team JNPR flew through the air and slammed into the window. She blinked, stunned, then looked to see the rest of team JNPR quickly building up some form of fort made up of tables.
Team RWBY, meanwhile, stood opposite of them, taking cover behind overturned tables. Iris ran up to and hid with them, startled, then asked, "This is one hell of a beginning for a food fight...!" As she made sure her Camera was still safely attached to her hip. Yang and Ruby smirked, while Blake seemed to be concealing her own little smile and Weiss was a little less than pleased with the situation. Even so, she, too, smiled.
Iris chuckled, then raised a hand and said, "Hey, guys, can we chill out for a sec, until I get ou-" while trying to stand up. A pie slammed into her face while Nora's laughter echoed across the room. Iris took a knee, took the plate off her face and wiped the cream off with her gloved hand, her blue eyes filled with a hint of anger and mischief. She spoke, "Oh, it's personal now..."
Ruby nodded, stating, "Welcome to the fight, sister!"
"Hahahaha!" Nora laughed heartily, then sang, "I'm queen of the castle~, I'm queen of the castle~, I'm queen of the castle~!" as JNPR formed up around her.
Ruby stood up, slamming her foot onto the farthest table from them, then jabbed an accusatory finger toward Nora, "Justice will be swift!" and she squeezed the Carton of milk in her hand to emphasize the point, "Justice will be painful!" she added as the others stood up, Iris included, before declaring proudly, "It will be delicious!" and lifting her hand up into the sky.
All four girls behind her cheered proudly, Iris grinning ear-to-ear as she began feeling the thrill of having fun with others. Admittedly, they were probably not the same age as her, rather they were some years younger, but... She had never had the option to experience food fights, or laughing with her friends like this. The Foundation had made sure that she'd be free if she operated with them, but she had still missed nine years of her life in containment.
So, she felt pretty pumped up to have a proper food fight when Nora called out to her team, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" as she jumped down, sending a rippling shockwave through the floor of the cafeteria. Her seeming partner, a boy with eastern features, stomped onto a platter that contained watermelons, before delivering a hard kick to all three, while the other members of the team threw watermelons like they were mortar shells.
Iris stood to her feet and scoped in the watermelons, before taking a photo of them. She smirked, feeling her Aura, the same soul shield that the girls apparently had, kicking into gear. The photo had printed surprisingly fast, allowing Iris to grab it and utilize it, lifting to meet one of the melons just as it landed next to her, which sent it flying back toward the attackers. One of them, the red-haired seeming amazon of the team, managed to kick it with her heels, shattering it and scattering melon confetti all over the place.
Ruby called out, "Yang! Turkeys!"
And the blonde half-sister of Ruby charged forward, grinning, before actively fisting two cooked Turkeys to utilize them as boxing gloves. She spun, landed on her feet, then grinned and slammed her turkey-covered fists together, which sent a ripple through the air. She pushed forward as the rest of the melon volley was about to land and started punching the watery fruit apart, splashing the floors and still-standing tables with the juice.
As the rest of team RWBY pushed forward, Iris followed along, keeping her camera stowed and preparing to counteract anything that so much as looked at her the wrong way. She gasped, ducking underneath a baguette spear thrown by the redhead, then slid toward her and grabbed a smoked pork leg off the floor, using the bone as a grip. She understood that her Aura was more actively involved with the fighting as soon as it enveloped the food item in her hand.
She stood to her feet and spun the leg around with the blunt, meaty front facing toward the redhead who carried another baguette as a weapon. She slashed toward her with the leg as if it was a knife, but the girl defended herself pretty well, parrying each strike with the bread, which left grease stains on the otherwise surprisingly-resistant baked good. Iris commented, "God damn, is the bread stale...?!"
"You're hitting it with cooked meant," The redhead smiled, "Still, good form!"
"Thanks! You've got a heck of a form, too!" Iris complimented, "I'm Iris!"
"Pyrrha," The girl nodded.
"Nice to meet you!" Iris chuckled
"Likewise," Pyrrha replied, smiling. The two pushed off, breaking the lock, before Iris found herself needing to dodge two more Watermelons coming from Pyrrha's male, blonde teammate. She ducked under then, pushed forward, then slapped the boy across the cheek with the pork leg, before switching out for a watermelon on the floor which she threw at Pyrrha.
She then jumped back as Nora started swinging a watermelon-based hammer her way. Yang, however, joined in and helped Iris jink out of the way of the strikes, taking Nora on herself. Ruby, beside her, patted her on the shoulder and handed her a bunch of cans that had scattered after Blake had kicked the blonde boy into a bunch of soda machines. Iris smirked, shaking them and lobbing them in an arc toward Nora, to distract and get her off-balance.
Yang stood on Iris's left, stating, "We're gonna need some backup with Pyr!" before ducking as a baguette flew past her head, "Oh, boy, that was close..."
"Yeah, sure," Iris hummed, then targeted Pyrrha and charged forward. She grabbed a couple of pies off a table as she ran, pushed herself off a bench that would usually be sat on by utilizing her feet, then aimed for Pyrrha, throwing the two pies together mid-flight toward the amazon. Pyrrha managed to dodge one pie and catch the other's tray. She spun gracefully three times before throwing the tray like a disk that struck Iris right in the stomach, sending her flying back.
She tumbled upon landing, slamming against the wall with a thump. She blinked, then shook her head and watched Nora launch Yang through the ceiling, Blake dodging the strikes and using a string of sausages as a whip of some kind and a few other attacks that pretty much shook her. She stood to her feet, grabbed another pie off the floor and copied Pyrrha's move, throwing the tray like a frisbee her way.
Pyr had barely had the time to register it before it smacked her in the face and sent her staggering back toward the Eastern-looking fella that was friends with Nora. Meanwhile, the blonde was dropped by Ruby and Blake, while Weiss flew all the way back to her and hit the floor, leaving behind a swordfish that had impaled itself into the floor. Pyrrha seemed to have taken the hit personally.
She utilized what looked like the fricking Force to lift a series of cans and throw them the girl's way. Iris was quick, but she wasn't quick enough to dodge the entire barrage of soda cans. Instead, she pushed through them as she got painted by various flavors of soda. She managed to grab one can, despite the opposing force pushing against it, and throw it back Pyrrha's way, bonking her in the head with it and splattering soda all over her before she, herself, collapsed.
At least she had front row seats to what Ruby was about to do next.
As more and more cans somehow flew in, despite Pyrrha being discombobulated, Ruby seemed to power her semblance. Around her, the wind seemed to slow and a fire grew hot in her heels. She pushed herself off, what looked like a pseudo-Mach cone from a fighter jet forming around her as she pushed through air resistance with sheer, unbridled SPEED. Behind her, a whirlwind of food and cans seemed to form, which stunned both Iris and team JNPR as they watched it form.
The whirlwind formed into a spear as Ruby activated her semblance, the faint trace of rose petals dancing between the mass of bullshit heading toward team JNPR. Ruby had run past them and forced herself to stop, skidding to a halt and causing a spiderweb crack the size of an eighteen-wheeler in the wall. She ducked as even team JNPR was seemingly picked up by the whirlwind and slammed against the wall, wherein a painting worthy of a Psychedelic artist had formed with a dirtied team JNPR as its centerpiece.
Blake walked up to Iris and helped her to her feet as Weiss seemingly came-to from a concussion, with the group meeting up in the middle. They stopped as the door slammed open and all of them turned to see Miss Goodwitch, looking angrier than a bat out of hell. Her semblance kicked in and she stopped a few more flying food items, before, with a flick of her wrist, she rearranged the mess hall completely, including a table that needed to make a few skips and jumps over its siblings to land properly. Glynda then growled and said, "Children, please!" as she pushed her glasses back up onto her nose, "Don't play with your food!"
Ozpin, Emily and Adams all ran in as well, with the two women stopping as they saw Iris smiling as she and the girls chatted, with team JNPR right next to them. Emily sighed in relief, taking her glasses off her face and stating in a murmur, "She's okay..." as she watched the interaction.
"She made one hell of a mess, though," Chuckled Adams, "It looks like she had some fun."
"On that, we can agree," Emily noted, watching the girl chatting with her new friends and shaking hands with Nora and Ren.
Ozpin smiled at the two women, then put a hand on Glynda's shoulder. She sighed deeply, then rubbed her eyes and added, "They're supposed to be the protectors of mankind... And miss Thompson belongs to an entirely different organization than ours, Headmaster... She has already faced enough, according to our newly-found allies, anyways..."
"And they will be, Glynda," Ozpin replied calmly. The group watched as Yang crashed through the ceiling, stunning the entire group of kids, Iris included as she went to check on her. Yang stood to her feet calmly, dusting herself off, then smirked and gave a thumbs-up toward the teachers. Iris and the rest of team RWBY burst into laughter together, Iris letting out a belly-laugh that caused her to hunch over. Both Adams and Lilac saw and smiled because of it, while Ozpin sighed, then said, "Let them be children. After all..."
"It isn't a role they'll have forever..."