Hey there everyone! We're back for another exciting chapter of 'The Darkling Thrush'!
As always I'd like to thank those who left a review! Nordlending, Jack, noone297, Baoh joestar, jin0uga and JustThoseGuys. Thanks for the kind words. And sorry if these are getting out a bit later than usual. I can't help it, I've got other priorities. Sorry.
Also, I know I keep saying this is 'M' territory. Because it is. And the next two chapters are really going there. So, I probably should change the rating...
Apologies in advance to anyone enjoying the bantering dynamic Pyrrha and Russel have. This gonna be a rough chapter.
XVIII
The Dance: Part 3
The halls of Beacon had gotten quiet with anticipation for the upcoming dance on Sunday. There was much discussion in the earlier days, whispers of who was going with whom. Who would be dancing under the spotlight and who'd be a wallflower. But now all there was, was preparation. Take a gander into the Ballroom, there you will find the planning committee setting up shop for the greatest night of their young lives.
After spending days out in the field on their first solo mission without the watchful eyes of their professors, the second year students were beginning to trickle back to Beacon. It seemed as if they all would be making it back for the dance. But then news arrived from the front, Team CFVY would not be making back in time.
Some nasty grimm they'd never seen before, an ape of some kind had wrecked their transportation out in the wilderness. It was a long walk back from where they crashed.
As Team CFVY were the heads of the planning committee, their duties had fallen to Team RWBY. So now Team RWBY, along with everyone they could round up was now currently hard at work in the ballroom, preparing for tomorrow night's festivities.
It was a huge undertaking, given the circumstances. Team CFVY already had weeks of notice and plan for when they'd return. But now Team RWBY had to scramble to get the job done. They were forced to cash in favors accumulated over a semester that they'd hoped to stock pile.
And that's why Team CRDL was now currently at the back of the ballroom, getting the sound equipment set up. Let it be known, never ask to borrow a pencil from one Ruby Rose. She'll hold it over you forever.
"Speaker check in five!" Russel called out loudly for all the students to hear. The last thing they wanted was to be caught off guard by some terrible screeching if Team CRDL hadn't set it up properly.
Over the way, acting as the DJ, stood Cardin with various players. The burnt orange haired Team Leader glanced away from his scroll, and the various messages from Velvet to look over to Russel. His partner gave him the thumbs up and Cardin went to testing.
Cardin adjusted the volume and hit play. Russel covered his ears and stepped away from the speaker as a slow song began to play. The students took a moment to pause and applaud. After hours of messing around and the awkward dance of finding the right cord in a box of similar power cords, they'd finally gotten it right.
"Nice job fellas." Yang said as she rounded the DJ set up. "Do a couple more tests to be extra sure. Wouldn't want this to be just some fluke now would we?"
"Alright." Cardin said, half paying attention as he busied himself with reading a new message.
The blonde bombshell of Team RWBY merely raised a brow at Cardin's actions. She could see his scroll from where she stood, Cardin was talking to someone and it must be quite the conversation to distract the tall boy. Under normal circumstances she would resort to teasing one about such a subject, but Cardin wasn't some guy you'd joke around with, not the way Yang could anyways.
Hostilities between Team RWBY, Team JNPR and Team CRDL were at an all-time low. But there were issues that needed to be discussed. It was something like a cold war after what Blake had done to Russel. Whatever grievous actions the CRDL boys had done, nothing matched what Blake did. Until they could bring themselves to actually talk about the incident, Team RWBY played nice. And so Yang walked away, leaving the sound tests in the capable hands of Cardin and company.
"Why do they call it a Ballroom?" Dove asked to no one in specific. After lugging around boxes of equipment and helping set up tables and chairs, Dove along with Sky and a couple of other volunteers had decided to take a moments break, eat some lunch graciously provided by the school. "I'd assume it would have something to do with, well, balls."
"Hm." Michael Geist, of the all faunus first year Team STAG, nodded in agreement as he chomped away at his sandwich.
"Ballroom. It's where they have 'Balls', as in parties." Sky said casually before taking a sip out of his soda.
"Just some fancy high society wording." Ezekiel Jupiter, the obese beaver faunus of Team DNCE grunted.
"Well why couldn't they just call it a 'Partyroom'?" Willa Rosa, the Leader of Team WILL, groaned as she rubbed her sore shoulders. That was the last time she let someone talk her into carrying a table like that.
"Well why don't we ask our resident high society type?" Sky suggested. And then they all averted their attention to the left. Their eyes fell onto the Schnee heiress herself.
Weiss busied herself with one of the most crucial decisions she'd been face with in her entire life. The fate of the whole dance rested on her shoulders. What color should be the table cloths? After much internal conflict, consulting with her peers and a phone call with the Schnee Dust Corporation's personal architect and home designer, she'd reached two final choices. Ivory or Oldlace.
Lost deep in thought, deliberating the complimenting shades that Ivory offered, but was torn by the tones of Oldlace, Weiss was left shocked back into reality by the sound of five of her peers shouting her name. Wiess had actually jumped in surprise. She turned around, eyes wide, looking for some sort of explanation, perhaps there was a grimm invasion, or a surprise test, Professor Port will forever be one of the banes of her existence.
But no, instead Weiss found only her peers, asking her a stupid question. "Why's it called a 'Ballroom' instead of a 'Partyroom'?" Dove asked in a very serious manner, so much that Weiss could only look in disgust at how lesser men have no concept of high society.
"A Ball possesses an air of esteem. A party is where simple men wallow." Weiss remarked contemptuously before returning to her task.
"I think she insulted us. Anyone else think she insulted us?" Sky said, looking around to his fellow students, who all just nodded in agreement.
"That's it. I'm never borrowing another pencil from Ruby, ever again." Willa muttered, earning another round of nods from the other students.
"Hey, Cardin. Seeing as were testing these bloody things, would you mind putting something decent at least?" Russel addressed his team leader informally.
Cardin merely stood in place, tapping up a message on his scroll, as if not hearing Russel. "Oi! You even paying attention, man?"
"Hm?" Cardin glanced up from his scroll and over to his left, where he found Russel looking rather cross. "Oh, sorry about that. Play something else? Sure." Cardin said quickly before hurriedly changing the song to something more upbeat.
"Jeez, Cardin. What's up with you?" Russel raised a brow and pointed at the scroll in his partner's hands. "There better not be anything inappropriate on that thing. We've got a bad enough reputation as it is."
"What? No. It's nothing." Cardin waved off Russel's concerns. The CRDL leader then claimed his scroll once again and checking it.
"Alright, so what are you doing?" Russel pried as he rounded the corner in an attempt to get a better look at what Cardin was doing on his scroll. "You'd have better luck just telling me what you're doing than this whole runaround thing. We both know I'll find out eventually."
"Ugh." Cardin groaned. He raised up his free hand and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I'm just talking to Velvet. Okay? Now bug off."
Russel raised a brow, his mouth falling slightly open in disbelief. "Oh come on man. Why the hell are you doing this?"
"What?" Cardin questioned, glancing away from his scroll once more and to his partner.
"I thought you just wanted to apologize to her and what not. Not carry on a correspondence." Russel shook his head in disapproval. "For Monty's sake Cardin, their ship crashed. And you're just texting her as if she doesn't have anything better to do? Like worrying about getting back to Beacon safely."
"You think I don't know that?" Cardin turned fully away from his scroll to face Russel. He puffed out his chest and stared down at his subordinate. "They're scared out there, you know? At any moment they can get ambushed by some stupid pack of Beowulfs or whatever that ape thing was. But at least they know we're waiting for them back at Beacon. That's keeping them going."
"And I'm saying they're better off without us breaking their concentration." Russel scoffed. "Quit thinking with your dick, Cardin. We both know in this line of work, a distracted huntsman is a dead huntsman."
"I'm not thinking with my dick!" Cardin shouted angrily. The CRDL leader then froze in place at the sound of Nora bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Cardin slowly turned his head and frowned at the sight of his peers all doing their best not to join the bombastic bubbly girl in her fit. "God dammit."
"Yeah we gotta work on that." Russel chuckled. "The whole anger thing isn't exactly doing us any good."
"Yeah, I know." Cardin's frown deepened. The CRDL Leader then began to sink behind DJ equipment, hiding in shame. "I'll just be here…if anyone needs me."
"Yeah. Okay." Russel reached over the setup and patted Cardin on the back.
Knowing when to leave his partner alone, Russel then set off to see if there was any more work to be done. And by the looks of things, they were pretty much done. The tables were all lined up. Party decorations were hanging from the ceiling. And the DJ equipment didn't seem to be acting up anytime soon.
Maybe no one would notice if Russel left early? The thought caused the young man to smile wickedly. With Dove already preoccupied lounging in the corner, he could whisk himself off back to the dorm and hog the television to himself. No more telenovelas, just good ol' fashion cartoons.
So Russel made his best Solid Snake impression and snuck his way over to the door. There were plenty of cardboard boxes laying around, no one would notice. Not to mention a number of the students were being rounded up by Ren, chief among them being Sky, who seemed to be working up the nerve to ask the JNPR ninja to the dance. By the looks of it, Ren and Nora were teaching them a dance of some sort.
Almost out the door, Russel could practically hear the familiar antics of one hellraising bunny and his duck companion. And he almost made it, if not for the sudden entrance of a familiar pair of transfer students, who's presence had attracted the attention of Team RWBY's leader Ruby.
"Oh! Mercury, Emerald!" Ruby waved to the pair of supposed Haven transfers as she skipped to the door. She then glanced over to Russel, seemingly knowing what the CRDL boy was up to and pointed at him menacingly. 'Get Back to Work', screamed Ruby's eyes in a demonic fashion.
Emerald put on the best warm smile she could muster. Mercury, on the other hand, just smirked and waved. Of the two, Mercury found it easiest to put on a façade. Quite ironic once the pair took into account Emerald's semblance. For all the illusions his green haired compatriot could manifest, Emerald could never lose herself into a role like him.
"I'm glad you guys could make it!" Ruby smiled.
"The promise of seeing festivities early? Getting a lay of the land was too good to pass up." Emerald said cheerfully, despite internally wishing to vomit. "Sorry if it's just me and Mercury. Our dear Cindy is suffering from a little…'culture shock'."
"Oh, alright then." Ruby laughed awkwardly. "Well, I hope she's able to make it tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I think she'll find it in herself to grace us with her presence." Mercury said with a knowing tone. Ruby just stared at Mercury in confusion. The way he worded it sounded sinister in nature, but she digressed. And with a shrug, the little red riding hood threw a thumb over her shoulder at current state of the ballroom.
"Now while we're almost wrapped up here, feel free to have a look around and get to know everyone." Ruby's smile grew wider. "What a better chance to make friends?"
"Oh yeah, totally. What a great idea." Emerald said in an agreeing tone. The moment Ruby's back was turned, as if to lead the pair of Haven transfers around, Emerald took the moment to express her discontent. She rolled her eyes and silently cursed. The more and more she'd associate with the likes of Ruby, the more and more she just wanted to violently gouge out her eyes.
But then, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught Russel's stare. Russel cracked an all knowing smirk and chuckled darkly. He gave nod to Ruby, his back was still turned to Emerald and Mercury, and gestured to the green haired girl. It was a silent threat, the kind Emerald understood.
"Play nice now." Russel muttered quietly as he observed Emerald awkwardly follow Ruby around the ballroom.
"You fall in love with my teammate or something?" Russel glanced to his side to find Mercury standing beside him with his hands crossed over his chest. "Mind if you quit staring?"
Not being the type to back down in these types of situations, Russel stood his ground. "Your teammate really needs to quit rolling her eyes. One day she might get caught in the act. Being two faced and what not." The young Thrush said with an underlying tone.
"You saw?" Mercury asked, easing up his stance slightly. He had to mentally remind himself of his mission here at Beacon. The less enemies they made the better. So, as the mohawk sporting boy had said to himself just moments ago, it was indeed time to play nice.
"Yup."
"Ha! Oh man, I can't wait to bring that up at the next team meeting." Mercury exclaimed, relishing in this knowledge. In their constant squabbles, he and Emerald never quite saw eye to eye. Cinder's lapdog would always try to stick it to him whenever she could. Always questioning his skills. Now, he had something he could pull out against her. "Thanks for the ammunition man."
"Got yourself a friendly team dynamic, I see." Russel chuckled lightly, easing up himself.
That was a good sign, seeing the green haired Thrush laughing, lowering his guard. Mercury could very well do away with the boy before he could pose any real threat to them. But now it would seem a little odd if a student suddenly went missing. Too many people asking too many questions. Best to squash this fire before it can even start. "Out of curiosity, are you going to be running around mouthing to your friends about Emerald's little quirk? It's tough making friends already, you see."
"Team RWBY's no friends of mine."
"Then why're you helping them set up?" Mercury inquired. But then the silver haired young man realized how impolite that must've sounded, to simply barge into another man's affairs, wanting to know every detail. So the young assassin doubled back. "If you don't mind me asking?"
"Professional courtesy." Russel answered simply. While there were many other factors as to why he was present, namely to square a debt and also because Sky had encouraged them all to attend in his efforts to woo Ren. But there was also another reason why he'd shown up. A certain redhead was avoiding him and he would very much like to know why. But sadly, Pyrrha was nowhere to be found. "You've seen how Ruby operates. Don't ever borrow anything from her."
"Advice noted." Mercury unfolded an arm from his chest and extended it to Russel. "The name's Mercury."
Russel stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before conceding to introductions. He didn't see the harm in it. "Russel."
"Well, nice chatting with you, Russel." Mercury said with a wave goodbye. "I hope to make your acquaintance again."
"Be sure to reign in your friend there. If I noticed, you know very well others did too." Russel said, now seizing his opportunity to escape, now that Ruby was preoccupied with introducing her new best friend Emerald to the present student body. "Take care Mercury."
And with his present business concluded, Russel was off into the day. Next stop, cartoon marathon. And then after that, he might just swing back for an early dinner. Out the Ballroom and onto the campus lawn, the young Thrush walked against the afternoon sun, his shadow casting long and stretching far. And the entire way back he'd felt a searing gaze watching his every move.
He was only a couple feet away from the dorm's entrance when he finally caught those familiar green eyes watching him. He glanced up at the top of the building, and there looking over the edge of the roof was that Invincible Girl.
Without another word, Russel entered the dorm and caught the elevator up, reaching the top floor. He then took the stairs up to the roof, as for some reason the elevator didn't actually go that far. Russel pushed open the door and there she was. Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl who was quickly adding more titles to her name.
"Maybe you're more suited as, The Elusive Girl, eh?" He said in a particular joking manner. But Pyrrha wasn't laughing or engaging in their usual banter. And that bugged Russel. Something was off about the entire situation, not just how the redhead's acting at this moment in time, but how she's been acting over the entire week.
"Why've you been avoiding me?" Russel asked, quickly getting to the point.
"Why are you helping me?" Pyrrha asked seriously. Her emerald eyes withdrew from the ground and fell upon Russel, giving her a good look at the boy. "I never questioned it before, but it doesn't make too much sense. I asked you to help me with Jaune, you didn't ask for anything in return, you just said alright. What's you're angle Russel?"
"Straight to the point." Russel said a bit playfully, but without nurturing the edge of his words. "Why can't you do this with Jaune?"
"I asked you a question. And as a friend, I'd like to receive an answer." Pyrrha affirmed.
"So how'd this all come about anyway? Where'd all the doubt come from?"
"Answer my question, Russel. Please."
"Marie-Anne right? That girl can't ever let me alone." "You know when I first came here, I wanted it to be a fresh start. But then I turn around and that woman's right behind me. Eyes like daggers, that sort of thing. Fuck my luck."
"She told me about Burgundy and Ruddy." Pyrrha said, causing Russel to freeze. "So it is true."
He stood there for a moment, thinking about the words in his head. His thoughts briefly drifted back to the moment in his past days spent in Oakwood. Now would've been the best time for his vast quick wittedness. He'd pull out a couple of big words out of his vocabulary, talk circles around the girl standing in front of him and maybe get off scot-free.
Except the look in Pyrrha's eyes said differently. As long as he'd been studying her in the brief moments they've spent in each other's company, Russel had made the mistake of lowering his guard, letting her know him a little better. None of his tricks would work on her. So he just skipped right to the inevitable conclusion of things.
"Yeah. And I'd do it again." Russel said without a hint of regret.
"Is that what this was? Another Burgundy and Ruddy? You helping me was just another one of your sick twisted games?" Pyrrha asked sounding bitter about the whole idea. The last thing she wanted was her life to be someone else's game. Especially when seeing where the end goal would eventually lead her.
"Not exactly." Russel said, doing his best not to raise his voice. "My intention always was to help you Pyrrha. I've had to get into your head to figure you out. And I think I finally understand you. Do you believe in destiny Pyrrha?"
"W-What?"
"The Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos. Four time Mistral Champion. You don't bust a sweat. Even against the impossible odds such as you versus my team. It's all child's play to you." Russel raised up his hands into the air, celebrating Prryha's achievements in a mocking tone. "And yet you can't just walk up to Jaune and ask him if he'd like to go to the dance together."
"What are you getting at, Russel?" Pyrrha demanded, completely fed up with Russel's tone.
"I'm saying, you can't make decision for yourself." Russel said, unyielding. He probably should've handled that delivery better. But damn it he was angry. "Why do you think Jaune's your team leader? It shit sure ain't because he's the best fighter. You outclass everyone at Beacon in skill and tactics. But at the end of the day, you can't make a call. Because you're too god damn uncertain about everything."
"Tell me, did you come to Beacon because you wanted to? Or because someone told you to?" He asked, looking back to find a particularly hurt expression on Pyrrha's face. She was at a loss for words.
There would be no heated exchange between the two of them. The conversation was already over and Russel hadn't even noticed. "God dammit." He murmured, mentally kicking himself.
"I think you should go, Russel." Pyrrha said, looking away from the young man with green hair.
Russel complied and began to head to the door. But not before leaving with the final word. Something that he believed Pyrrha desperately needed to hear. "We forge our own paths Pyrrha. Destiny's got nothing to fuckin' do with it." Russel said bitterly before walking off back down to his dorm room.
Left alone with only the fresh air to keep her company, Pyrrha's thought's drifted to Russel's words. Perhaps there was some truth to what he had to say. But then again, maybe it was all just another deceit, all apart of whatever game he was playing. And so, it was on that day the Invincible Girl recognized through Russel's words her only true weakness.
Her own uncertainty.
In regards to Pyrrha, I was never satisfied by her own inability to pursue Jaune when she clearly held feelings for him. She's Pyrrha Nikos, gosh darn it. So I thought back to the whole Destiny thing she had going on. Which got kind of meta when at RTX the RWBY team revealed they'd always planned to kill her.
But Pyrrha always lacked agency. She reacted and never actively pursued anything. And so I thought maybe adding another layer to that whole Destiny theme, straight out of 'Beowulf' there's this idea of predestined fate. And how Beowulf and the King Hrothgar, whenever they'd give a speech, as heroes do, they never championed the idea of succeeding. They just declared that it was in the hands of god now and that they'd just go out and give a hundred percent.
So I thought maybe Pyrrha operated similarly. Even if she didn't know it. I liked the idea enough because it also opens up a lot of unanswered questions about Pyrrha, like her family and her life before Beacon. Does she even want to be a Huntsman?
You can write a paper about that kind of stuff. And I love it. Next update will be at the most next week. I'm finishing up some long running projects of mine elsewhere here on FF. 'Til next time faithful readers! Later days!