Hello again! I have another chapter here for everyone, another one will be out sometime next week. Which is the plan until I have no more chapters in the back log, every week or so should include a new Deadly Love chapter and Falling for the Knight sprinkled in there.
I understand that the writing, both perspective and pacing, is a little awkward at this point. Especially the last chapter. It's no excuse, but something to note is that this story was originially a one-shot. Written in a pretty short time over eight or so years ago, so my pacing, story, and even the perspective has changed as I've went over it again this past month. The pacing will be considerably better over the next chapters, it might not be great but at least better than the first chapter.
Over the last eight years I've added chapters here and there to the story, so my hope is everything isn't too crazy to lose sight of what I wanted from it. Once I catch up with the backlog maybe it might be streamlined a bit better. Nonetheless, thank you for your time and patience.
Training Arc
CHAPTER 2 - Living the Dream Part 1
Today was going to be a long day. Okay, so technically it won't be a longer day than the previous twenty four hour day, but it'll definitely feel like it. It had only started about eight hours ago and Yang already had a feeling that it was going to be as long as a lecture from her mother on how she should try different job paths. No mom, she did not want to be a coconut farmer, keeping up the family business was not on the top of her list of priorities.
Yang's actual list of priorities were infinitely more important, which were not actually typed or anything fancy (they sat on a table napkin she'd grabbed from the coffee shop she got her morning coffee from after a healthy breakfast). She still sat in the said coffee shop, contemplating what she should do and in which order. But hey, at least she had coffee.
With Jaune still recovering in the medical wing of the Academy Yang had a few days till he was going to be handed over to her. She was fine with that, 'cause it gave her plenty of time to get everything set up for when he came to train. On the long list of things to get done today, getting the paperwork done for that in Ruby's office was one of them. But it would be nice to catch up with her nonetheless, plus it would give Yang an opportunity to catch up with her sister, which never hurt. It would be nice to cozy up to Ruby, get some serious brownie points (or cookie points in her case), though Yang would rather be cozying up with someone else.
Next Yang would have to reserve (or really just grab one) herself a room in the dorms. Which would probably just be covered by Ruby when she talked to her, but Yang still needed one. It wasn't that she needed one for actually sleeping, though that would come in handy for said sleeping, Yang needed it for moving her set up of weapons and the like. If Jaune was going to be moving in with her, Yang probably should be moving the sharp and questionable objects (and her porn stash most importantly, really should be digitized by now) to another location, plus having it close to the academy would allow for easy access to weapons that they didn't have and the like.
Then Yang would have to report in to Professor Ozpin. She never really understood why they were called that, they didn't even have any real education other than the highest body count strategies. She guessed it was just a title to impose awe and all that, but it just struck her as pretentious. Sure, you're the leader, you get to decide what is what, but still. Same with all the Professors, even Cinder. Yang figured "Great and Powerful" was taken and that's why they stuck with Professor.
Lastly (hopefully), Yang would just have to grab a few favors and find a few people in the time remaining to help train Jaune in some specifics that she thought she would need. Though Yang could probably put that on the agenda for tomorrow or just gradually, Jaune wasn't getting better overnight, she still easily had another week or so before she would be ready to train. Actually, the last thing on her agenda was sleeping, preferably next to a certain someone, but Yang could suffice with just visiting the important factor in her newfound energy.
Yang checked her watch (sure there's phones nowadays, but you can always rely on a watch, and duct tape, you can always count on duct tape), when she saw that it was fifteen after eight she sighed. Her day would be starting soon, but not too soon, Yang had to finish her coffee.
Once she finished up the coffee she made her way out of the shop, mindlessly taking turns here and there while Yang thought about the new life she had been thrown into. Yang definitely was liking it so far, honestly she had been itching to get back into her action-packed life she'd been living before and so far it was shaping up to be quite the life.
Eventually Yang arrived at the gates to Beacon Academy, the grand buildings in front of her stood strong with architecture that seemed to have aged quite well over the years. To her left a pathway to the dorms meandered throughout the grassy area in front of the gate and fence that accompanied it. The pathway ran along the fence to the left, while a building to the right had a sign out in the front of it labeled Training Wing. Two more buildings followed to the right of the previous one, labeled Main and Dorms respectively. There seemed to be more buildings to the campus in the background, even more buildings too, but Yang was focused on the Main Building.
Yang had to admire the flowing grass that surrounded the premise, along with the trees that dotted various places among the buildings and pathways. What was the most impressive feature of it was the humongous tree in the middle of the three buildings. It was easily as tall as the buildings, picnic tables surrounded the grassy area around it and a few people were sitting under the tree and hanging out around the tables. Unsurprisingly she spotted a couple in the tree, one of them was against the trunk while the other slept in between their arms on top of a random branch. Yang shook her head at that, having students climb trees and not even bat an eye was just another thing in an academy for assassins.
As Yang passed the tree she noticed a few of the passersby looking at her, not really with suspicion, just curiosity or something of the sort. Well, she knew she looked good (my V-neck probably helped, and you can make almost anyone look better in short shorts), but still, no need to stare. Yang caught one girl that looked like they had just come out of high school staring her in the eyes, probably wondering how someone could get the purple-colored ones she had.
"Hey! My boobs are down here!" Yang pointed to her chest, causing the girl to blush and look away in embarrassment.
Yang meandered up the stretch of stairs leading up to the main building, stopping to glance at the list of Shadowbolts on the wall behind the front desk. They had replaced her picture with Gilda, obviously moving fast in that department. Yang figured that the bigwigs hadn't wanted the deal with Gilda to gain any rumors, same with having an ex-assassin in their ranks. It was probably best to get any confusion out of the way before it got messy, especially with Yang. The front desk lady (who had some nice...uh, nice smooth suit-like clothing, yeah, that's what Yang was looking at) was still looking a bit nervous, but she was fine with it, Yang liked the attention.
"Hey, I'm here to go talk to craterface." Yang said, leaning her arm on the front desk thing. Honestly she'd never figured out what they were actually called, the 'front desk' is too big to be a desk, so why call it one? Why not 'reporting station of the bored and lost'? Way more catchy.
"C-crater face?" The lady stuttered.
"Cookie? The Red and the Furious? Reap and Dine?" Yang said, listing off the nicknames she'd heard over the years. Then she noticed the look the lady was giving her. "What?"
"You mean Commander Rose?"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"S-Sure," The nametag on her breast flashed a glare at me, drawing attention to the name on it; Arslan Altan. Heh, AA. That won't be hard to remember. Her platinum blonde hair was definitely more platinum than blonde. But a blonde pass could be issued to her, Yang decided. Maybe she could introduce her to the other blonde she knew in the area.
While she called up Ruby and did whatever front desk people do Yang looked around, her eyes resting yet again on the list. Yang knew why she'd been number six, at least now that she had thought about it. She assumed that she was there based on laziness and not the crazy intent to kill, that's what the top three were for. Yang wasn't surprised at all with whom they were, the best of the best (obviously).
Third was Neo, someone who Yang figured would be there. Most people think that the brawn is more dangerous than the brain, but Neo begged to differ. Neo had destroyed and taken over plenty of territory and no one had even known it was her until much, much later. Since she was one of the few Shade assassins that actually planned [i]and[/i] had a destruction sweet tooth, along with being the left hand woman of Cinder, Neo was placed at the third most dangerous Shade assassin. Neo as the real cream of the crop. Yang chuckled at her own joke, waving off Arslan when she gave me a curious look.
Second on the wall was Neptune, who (in terms of raw strength and brawn) left almost everyone in space, pun intended. He was someone that the recruits were told horror stories of, in both Shade and Beacon Academy. Neptune was also the right hand man of Cinder, anything she asked Neptune did, no matter what.
Yang personally never liked how that creepy woman acted, she gave her the hibbie jibbies. Neptune, as much as she hated to admit, was almost a carbon copy of herself. There were a few differences here and there, but the largest difference between the two was Mercury's sense of moral, or lack thereof.
The first picture (and one of the most dangerous assassins in all of Remnant) was Cinder. Sadly, it was only a portrait and Yang wasn't able to take a peek at her glorious outfit she tended to wear, Yang had only seen her once or twice and boy did she pay attention in class. It was a blurry moment the first time Yang had seen her (and her drop dead figure), but when she walked by you couldn't look her directly in the eyes, it just didn't feel possible.
Yang looked at the closest thing she could, but knew that there was a reason she was the leader at that moment, there were no doubts after that. With just a look Yang thought she could kill her. Sure, it seems like a cliche one at that, but even so, she had a feeling there was a reason for her scanty attire, there always was, no matter who was wearing it.
She doubted that Cinder wore the clothing out on missions or in the open, but it didn't matter, there was no one that would dare attack her, and only about four people could even have a chance at killing her. She operated everything with a glance, if she wanted you to do something, you'd do it, or you wouldn't (because you'd be dead). It was probably just some silly rumors from Yang's recruit days, but she wasn't going to deny them until something and/or someone proved her wrong. Yang had a few ideas of how or what she did to get a reputation like that, for example one of them involved a jar of peanut butter, a cardboard cutout, and a lot of booze. It goes like this, first you start wi-
"Commander Rose should be ready for you within the next ten or so minutes."
"Hmm?" Arslan raised a questioning eyebrow in response, "Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. I'm not in a rush."
There was an awkward silence that I couldn't take after, "So, how do you even get a job like this?"
Arlsan stopped the typing she'd been occupied with, "Well, it's just something you get when there's no one else to do it. They needed a pretty face, not that I'm saying that I have one there's plenty of those around here, and I didn't want to go out in the field. At least, not nearly as often as everyone else."
Yang hummed, "Really? There's nothin' you've gotta get through to get in here, at least the academy?"
"What do you mean?" Arslan questioned.
"Okay," Yang shifted her arm positioning, getting ready to lay down some juicy Shade knowledge. "Back in Shade Academy you had to go through some test; beat this guy, kill this leader, take this job. You didn't get in there by applying, they applied to you. All the students there are sons and daughters of some of the most dangerous people on the planet, others got in there from the streets, finding jobs to do from mercenary buildings and the like. There's plenty more to it, but you get the gist, yeah?"
"Mhmm." Arslan had leant back in her chair, on a self-appointed break.
"So, what I'm tryin' to say, or really ask, is how did you get in here if you don't have to conquer a town or two?"
Arslan chuckled, "Y-You're not serious right? I don't se-" She saw my face, "You are serious. Hold on, you conquered a town?"
"Yeah, Yangtopia is doing great right now, I heard they just opened up a cake shop recently." Yang grinned. "Okay, well, that might've been a bit stretched. I had to grab a mission where some mayor was being a little too rambunctious in our territory, Command wanted him gone for me to get in, and next week 'poof', he was gone...and the cake shop too, unfortunately."
Arlsan sighed, "Yeah, I'd say the reason you don't see as many people like me around is that too many people are turned off by the idea of mercenaries, guns for hire, and assassins walking around you and for some civies it's not a promising job opportunity. Sure, that's what's up for grabs here and what someone trains for, but it's not the point of the Academy. At least I hope."
Yang pushed her on, "And the point of this place is…"
Arslan tapped her chin, contemplating, "I'd have to say that the point of the Wonderbolts Academy is to act as security and protect, or something of the sort I guess." Her fingernails clicked against the table, she had leaned forward while she talked, "Like, they don't just take any job they feel like, or rather, the one that pays the most. The Wonderbolts are there for the ones that need it, for the people that we think are the 'good guys' per say."
Yang nodded, "The opposite of the Shade Academy, really."
"Yeah," Arslan chuckled, "exactly, I'd say the Shades have us beat in the 'bang for your buck' aspect of this stuff."
"So, have you gone on any missions? I figure they want you to have at least a bit of field experience just in case." Yang asked, still curious about the ways of Beacon (and she just wanted to know a bit more about Arslan, but she didn't need to know that, shh).
Arlsan smiled, "Just a few, the minimal amount required really. I don't know about the Shades, but when someone picks a mission, it's mostly off the board out in the common area, off a list online, or assigned."
"That's about the same over there, but probably more fights over who gets what. Survival of the fittest and all that."
"I chose some of the easy ones, or at least the ones that I liked." Arlsan shifted back again in her chair, getting to a more comfortable position. "I took a mission to go save some scripts, something I had dreamt of doing when I was little. I fought a few people here and there, then grabbed the stuff from the temple and made my way back here, delivering them straight to Professor Ozpin."
This was actually kinda interesting, "Really? Why not just keep doing that? If you enjoy all that adventure and book stuff, why don't you just keep doing it? I mean, the book stuff it pretty questionable, I wouldn't want to be labeled an egghead personally."
Arlsan smiled, a bit of sadness seemed to creep in, "I think I would love to. But I doubt that I would be the most qualified for the job. I don't even have a partner, and I've only done a few of those kind of missions."
Yang scoffed, "What, you don't think you can do a few more missions and get on the Professor's good side? Just take a few ones that seem like they're interesting, get some extra books that the Professor may like, and you're good. Simple...ish. I guess there would be a ton of near-death experiences, rabid tourists, and a few hiccups, but I'm sure you'd be fine." Yang grinned in encouragement.
Arlsan giggled, "I'll be sure to consider it. Is that all?"
Yang tapped her chin, "Oh yeah, I've got something. What's this thing about partners?"
"You didn't have partners over in the Shade Academy?" Arslan asked, obviously curious.
Yang shrugged, "It was really just whoever you could trust to at least tell you before they stab you in the back. Sure, you would occasionally get a group of people who would actually work together, and it worked really well. There was just one problem," Yang tapped the desk with her index finger for emphasis, "no one really trusted each other. So, you have a possibility of getting things done multiple times faster, having way more loot, and becoming well known, but that problem would arise in everyone's mind. 'Who can I trust?'"
"Oh...well, it's not like that here."
Yang laughed, "I can see that."
Arlsan waved away the comment, "Anyway, you're pretty much required to have a partner on higher level missions and for the other, lower ranked ones, it's optional. The duos are usually an Instructor and Student, a couple, best friends, and so on. By having someone to watch your back and vise versa it creates a bond that is hard to find and build out of the missions and this Academy."
"And you don't have one?"
Arslan looked down, abashed, "No...no one ever wanted to. I was too much of an introvert to gain any friends, which really was one of the reasons I enjoy being here. I get to have short and sweet interactions, not having to worry about anything that I'd have to in a real friendship."
Yang smiled in encouragement, "I'm sure you'll be fine, you seem like you can grab one if you try hard enough."
"Yes, well, I guess I'll just have to see. I'll definitely take your advice to heart Miss Xiao Long."
Yang waved her arms around wildly, "Woah, woah, woah! Miss Xiao Long!? Please, I'm not nearly that old or stuck up like an aristocrat on a Thursday, jeez! Just call me Yang."
"A-Alright...Yang." Arslan glanced at her computer, "It looks like you're good to go. Head over to Commander Rose, her office should be-"
Yang cut her off, "I'll be fine."
"Surely you'll need at least some guidance, right?" Arslan replied.
"Don't call me Shirley, and like I said, I'll be fine." Yang began her way toward her sister's office.
Yup, she'd made a mistake. Three hallways, two rights, and a stairwell later and Yang was lost. She would've asked someone, but no one wanted to talk to her. It was like a super scary assassin or just a creepy solicitor walking around. It was probably that one janitor with the name tag 'Larry'. Come on, who has a name like that?
She continued my journey, content with living her last days in the maze of hallways and random breaks that lead to lounge areas and the like. Yang had to find a layout of the building, or at least someone that could direct her toward the office. But once the third lounge area popped up (she was pretty sure it was the same one, she'd just passed it multiple times), Yang plopped down on one of the chairs, sighing as she propped her feet up.
This wasn't good, Yang doubted she could even consider herself fashionably late anymore. She closed her eyes, accepting her fate…
"Hey lady! Lady! Hellooo!"
Yang kept her eyes closed, maybe the scratchy voice would go away. They sounded young, if Yang stayed still long enough, maybe they would get bored and leave. Whoever it was sounded like a mini-Ruby.
"Lady, are you dead?"
Yang sighed, still keeping her eyes closed, "I don't know who you're talking about, but I'm sure that I'm not considered a lady. A girl, woman, all that, but definitely not a lady, I don't have enough class for that."
She felt a finger poke her in the side, they were still here, "Well, you should probably stop layin' around. No one likes lazy people, at least that's what I heard. Commander Rose isn't lazy and she's awesome!"
Yang laughed, "Now that's not something I thought I'd ever hear about Rubs!" I chuckled a bit more, "She's even lazier than me, there's no way she actually got past that."
"Ow!" They slugged her in the arm, that brat!
Yang reached out and grabbed the arm, pulling them to the side of the chair. She opened her eyes to give them the stare down, and was greeted to a young girl with short and unruly purple hair, a jacket and some cargo shorts were her clothing of choice, along with some normal sneakers. She wasn't too surprised at her age, Yang just would never have expected Beacon to take them that young. But hey, Yang was being trained around her age (most likely even younger), so she couldn't say anything. Yang let go of her arm, "No punching, I'm trying to live out my last days in peace."
The girl gasped, "You're dying?"
"Figuratively, I'm dyin' to meet Ruby." Yang laughed at her pun.
The girl was not amused, "You got lost?"
"Yupper."
"On the way to Commander Rose's office?"
"I also lost my dignity and broke my motivation, but yeah."
The girl's face brightened, "So, if I show you to her office, maybe she'll let me train with her! I'll get so much credit!" She began to pull on Yang's arm, "Let's go lady!"
Yang sighed and pushed herself up from the chair with a grunt, "Sure, kid."
The girl led the way, her hand grasping Yang's and pulling her in whatever direction she saw fit. Yang looked around, glancing at the passing pictures in the hallways. Some were black and white, some recent, but all shared a similar theme; a picture of the assassins themselves, whether it was a group picture, duo, or just them by some impressive vehicle, weapon, or the like.
Yet again, it was a reminder of just how different Beacon was to Shade. The walls over there were filled with profile shots of all the previous commanders, higher ups, and the like, along with a few serious explosion ones or something like that. Transitioning from there to a place like this was going to be interesting. Yang turned her attention back toward the girl, giving it to her straight.
"So, who are you?"
The girl held her head high, "I'm Ruda, up and coming awesome assassin, number one fan of Commander Rose, and daughter of one of the best assassins ever!"
Yang laughed, "You're not biased or anything huh?"
Ruda's face scrunched up in confusion, "Biased? What's that mean?"
"Your opinion is, like, influenced by your love for your parent."
Ruda huffed, "But mom is awesome!" She kept her head held high, mumbling a bit, "Even after Dad died, she didn't give up."
"Mmm, I'm sorry, he seemed to have raised quite the kid, though." Yang patted Ruda on the back, "You'll have to let me meet your mom sometime, yeah?"
Ruda skipped along, "Oh that'd be so cool! I'll tell her once she gets back from her mission!"
"What's she doing?"
"I don't know, Commander Rose said I wasn't allowed to know." She replied, hanging her head.
"Ah, well, I'll be sure to see if I can get some inside info."
Ruda's eyes lit up, "You will?"
"Sure, and in payment you've gotta introduce your mom to me." Yang thought a bit, "Oh, and get me to Ruby."
Yang received possibly the most adorable salute, though she couldn't tell her that, "Yes, ma'am!"
They fell silent for the rest of the way, letting her think just a bit more about what to do. It was probably time for more food after she talked with Ruby, or maybe she could convince her to grab food with her and talk. Yup, new plan!
"Here you go…yeah, I don't know your name, lady. But here we are."
They stood outside the door to Ruby's office, "It's Yang Xiao Long, Yang works fine, makes it a bit easier to say."
Ruda gasped, "You're the one that took out Emerald, right?"
"That would be me, yeah. Problem?"
A few seconds passed, Yang really didn't want there to be, "Problem? Why would there be a problem? That was awesome! Not as awesome as Commander Rose, but still pretty awesome!"
Yang knocked on the door, "Sweet, well, it was great meeting you Ruda. Don't forget about our deal, 'aight?"
"Sur-" The door opened to reveal Ruby, whose face fell when she saw Ruda, but she quickly changed it to a happy one.
"Hey Rudes, what're you doing here?"
And there go Yang's eyes. Wow, Ruda is just shining like nothing else, she can't see. Yang thought every time Ruda blinks the hallway went back to normal lighting. Yup, those eyeballs are like spotlights right now.
Ruda squeed, "H-Hi Commander Rose, I was, uh, showing, um…"
"Instructor Yang." Yang whispered.
"Instructor Yang, yeah." Ruda nodded in affirmation, more to herself than anyone.
Ruby ruffled Ruda's hair, "Well thanks a bunch Ruda, I'm sure Yang would've been very sad if she hadn't been in your care. Now, go back to Miss Peach and tell her what you did, yeah?" Ruda nodded, "I'm sure she'll be very proud. I've gotta deal with this stranger that's been wandering around, I'll see you later Ruda, alright?"
They made their way inside, Ruda skipping off shortly after in excitement. The room had a desk in the middle of it, a window right behind showcasing the pond behind it and the pathways that hugged it. The pathways lead to more buildings, something that I mentally noted to explore. The surrounding walls held bookcases, most of the space on said shelves were filled with different trinkets and souvenirs from around the world, but a shelf here and there was filled with Daring Do books.
Daring Do was a great fiction book for all assassins really. A story about an adventuring Master Assassin, fighting villains like Dr. Caballeron and Ahuizotl, something that a lot of assassins dreamt of doing when they first started. The thing was that only a select few knew that she was an actual Master Assassin, one of the few solo ones, the title was really just a polite thing as she wasn't affiliated with any specific Academy or the like.
Though in a few a certain red haired side character was featured, leading to some assuming that Ruby was in some way partnered or knew the author J.K. Yearling, which was true, in a way. Ruby had actually been on a few adventures, obviously, each time calling Yang up to give the exaggerated tale of the books that would come out in the preceding months.
Ruby gestured to the seat in front of the desk while she got into her own chair (one that sadly was more swively than Yang's). "Go ahead and grab a seat Yang."
Yang watched as she put a folder back into a drawer in the desk, somberly at that, "You good Rubes? You're looking a little down, and I doubt that's because you don't get to nap as much nowadays."
The Commander of Beacon sighed, "Well, Ruda over there has a mother working for me. Everybody works for me in some way, but she works for me, she does a few special missions here and there, you get the gist."
"Yeah."
"Anyway, I sent her on an undercover mission, to check out the Wife Fang over in Mistral, few days later, today actually, I find out that she's MIA." Ruby rubbed her head, "I don't know what to do Yang."
"You sure you should be giving that info away to an ex-Shade assassin?"
Ruby smiled for the first time Yang had seen her that day, which admittedly wasn't that much of an achievement, but she had a feeling it had been the first time today, "Emphasis on the 'ex' part. You're going to be an Instructor for a very promising student here, along with your upcoming job with Oz, plus you're my sister.
Yang laughed, "Good to know."
Ruby continued, "I'll have to notify who's in on this mission, you would've found out eventually, so it's good that everything happened like it did. Just don't tell Jaune okay? I don't want this to get out yet."
Yang gave a loud sigh, "I [i]guess[/i] so…"
"Anyway, you're here for all the admin stuff, right?"
Yang nodded, "Yeah, I need that room too. I'm thinking of grabbing Jaune to train her over at my place, so I need someplace to store some weapons and the like, and to crash when I can't go back, for when she's over here. Figured I wouldn't want Ozpin yelling at me for loitering around the property or somethin'."
Ruby chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised if that happened." She paused as she thought about what Yang had said, "Did you already seduce one of our students?"
Yang smiled nervously, "Yes? Is that against the rules? Please don't tell me it's against the rules, leaving that hunk alone would be a crime unto itself."
Ruby shrugged, "Nah, you're good. One of the benefits of us being a private academy of sorts is that we make our own rules, and honestly I think it's just because too many people here get too close from partnering up for missions. Especially Instructors and Students, just don't let it get in the way of everything, alright?"
Yang nodded as Ruby handed her the paperwork for becoming an Instructor, getting a room, and probably a ton of other things that would help her out, "Yeah."
The flippity sound of ruffling papers signified the beginning of a lot of wrist work, nothing Yang couldn't handle. Obvious questions ensued.
Do you mind violent actions toward other people?
No, unless they're hot or give me a reason not to, hot being one of those reasons.
If you had to choose between a million dollars and giving away secrets of Beacon, what would you choose?
Both, a million dollars for not giving away secrets.
Dogs or Cats?
Dogs.
As Yang signed and went through all the papers, legal junk, trash, and recycling, she talked more with her sister.
"So, how you been craterface?" Yang asked, checking off another box.
Ruby tsked, "Ugh, I'll never outlive that nickname, will I?"
"I'm sure you'll have have it for five-ever, that's longer than fou-"
"You've hung out with Nora too much." Ruby sighed, "Or she rubs off on everyone else, literally everyone else. I don't know who isn't affected by her antics."
Nora was one of the few solo assassins in the world (those few included the aforementioned Daring Do, Qrow, Winter, and a few others). It wasn't surprising to close friends of her, but when you're sitting alone at home and all the sudden a sword is sticking out in your throat, your pie is gone, and a sticky note with the message: "Sorry!" written on it, word tends to lean toward the unimaginable abilities of solo assassins.
Yang laughed, "True, she still holding the record for no failed missions?"
"And the largest amount of missions ever done by anyone. Ever." Ruby added dryly. "You would've held that title of least amount of missions failed if it wasn't for the Christmas Incident."
Yang glared at her sister, "Oh fight me, I thought we agreed to never talk about that."
Ruby grinned, "Officially? Yes. Unofficially, and as sisters? Nope." She leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the desk, shifting papers and various other things out of the way, "Anyway, last I heard about Nora was that she was somewhere in the East."
"Around Vacuo?"
Ruby flicked her pointer finger in the air, "The one and only. Said she was going to go have some tea with some gypsy thing, something about s'mores too. And this is right after she single handedly made a revolution stop by, get this," Ruby paused for effect, "throwing a party. Sure, the balloons let out toxic gas, but still."
"Glad she's not a fan of the Shade Academy." Yang remarked.
"I wouldn't say that exactly."
Yang raised an eyebrow, stopping her already mentally taxing job (way too much work for the morning) of filling out a way too erratic and detailed packet, "Really? Nora can't stand their ideology or whatever."
"She doesn't mind Cinder, it seems."
"No way!" Yang said, a little surprised she had never heard of this.
"Oh yeah, she has tea with Cinder every Saturday, no matter what." Ruby shook her head, obviously not believing it herself.
"She's got dedication, I'll give her that."
Ruby chuckled, "I'd say, she should be back soon, are you up for hanging out with me and the rest of everyone whenever we actually do something?"
There's half of the plan over with, "Sure! That'd be fun." Yang had a good amount of the packet done, "How's the desk job going?"
"It's about as boring as waiting in a DMV, moves as slow as a granny on a treadmill, and is equal to the amount of fun you'd have watching a plastic cup decompose."
That got a laugh out of Yang, "Not able to grab a mission or two every once in awhile?"
Ruby waved around a dismissive hand, "A few here and there, not nearly as many as I'd like."
"Ever consider finding a partner to do it with? Or whatever you guys do here?" Yang asked, genuinely curious about it.
"I have one actually. But he's off finding some ancient texts or whatever, and I have to deal with all this stuff that's been happening."
"He?"
"He, him, man, that would be right. I hope at least." Ruby said, deadpan.
"You like 'em? What's his name? How long have you two been partners? Anyone made a move?" Yang pestered her with the questions, excited that she could practice her sister (someone who had stuck with the motto of 'love is for squares!') had a partner, and maybe something more. It was exiting to practice her sisterly duties.
"I-I do think he is pretty cool, which is something someone has to be to be a proper candidate for me of course. His name is Oscar Pines, and we've been partners for about a year or so. No one's made a move, but if I ever get the time," Ruby sighed in defeat, "I guess I would make one."
"So," Yang held back a laugh, "You'll get in his forest?"
Ruby blushed, but still laughed, "You know it."
Yang was happy for her. Out of all the people that she had met, Ruby was one of the assassins that deserved a happy life. Yang wouldn't suggest a content life, as she wouldn't be able to sit still, but she knew that with everything Ruby had gone through to get in her position, she deserved the chance to have someone share a bit of the weight.
Ruby had spent a good amount of her time mission-wise in the Vacuo, Mistral was a place that took up most of her time there. Though she hopped around the world for different missions, Mistral always brought her back. She held true to her old codename "Reaper", coming back to work with Ozpin, and the now disbanded Main Six . Though the rest of the Main Six were usually just doing their own thing unless they were super needed.
The Main Six were possibly the most successful and terrifyingly efficient team of assassins ever assembled. After tensions rose and war broke out over in Mistral, Beacon knew they had to do something, or rather Ozpin knew they had to help. While Haven and Atlas Academy sat on the sidelines it was a battle of wits, brawn, and everything else over in Mistral and the surrounding places.
While Beacon saw it as an opportunity to help out a country in need, not just a country actually, a whole region, Shade Academy saw profit. Yang had taken any missions that seemed like they'd help, take out a dictator here, eliminate an extremist group head there. All were things that I hoped would improve the situation, but not have Shade find out she was indirectly helping Beacon, more so the Main Six. Yang had actually met the Main Six throughout the missions, and all of them held up to their code names, though she supposed at that time they weren't the Main Six yet.
She'd met Pyrrha "Invincible" Nikos in Argus, right at the start of the problems over there. She'd been scoping out the different countries that looked like they were going to cause some trouble, little rebel faction here, a few shifty officials there, the usual kind of thing that pops up every so often. At just seventeen years old she was an Instructor of Beacon Academy, already seeing how she could spread protection and friendship, all that fun stuff. Yang was there looking for some easy jobs, Shade didn't care too much as long as Yang came back with something that would benefit them.
She'd asserted leadership that Yang only saw every once in a generation, she had a knack for it. Not only was she there for Beacon, she was there for herself. Pyrrha was there to assess the situation, not do so from a sheet of paper with statistics and words thrown together. She was going into a high-risk zone for people she didn't know, to make their lives different, hopefully for the better. Though those two reasons were viable ones, she had another reason in mind; find five of the best assassins for the Main Six, the Elements, the Team and whatever other nickname they gathered over the years.
A few months later Yang had met Blake in an old bar somewhere in the Menagerie desert. She was there as a hardened mercenary, but humble. She did what she had to, but did what she thought was right, what was acceptable for her moral compass. "Dash" as a codename fit her well, as when Yang sat down Blake immediately told her she wasn't interested. Yang had laughed, then curious about the faunus that looked like an introvert in an extrovert culture. She was there to earn some money for her family, by any means necessary.
Pyrrha had picked her up after she had ambushed a convoy of slave traders, obviously illegal, and highly appreciated by the headmaster. A few days later she grabbed Blake for her super secretive, though it wasn't so secretive later, (side harem) squad. Blake eventually became the elite pilot of them, quickly growing into one of the deadliest assassins of their generation, along with the next person Yang had met. Someone who hadn't seemed too particularly fit for the assassin's life.
Li Ren, codenamed "Tranquility", treated her in a local hospital (well, it wasn't too much of a local hospital, just something the locals set up for him, hence 'local'). Yang had been assisting some local rebels in Gossan, they'd give her some moola, she gave them some help (though she probably would've done it anyway). Stray RPG, unlucky her, let's just say Yang was blown away by how powerful one of those things were. Next thing Yang knew two firm pecks are in her field of vision, all the sudden she felt better.
He had been holed up in the makeshift hospitable helping out any locals caught in the crossfire. After his peace convoy had been hit by the city military he had been left on her own, eventually getting picked up by Pyrrha. He then became their resident medic, though rumors surfaced later about him being the interrogator of the group, something that his skill with sharp objects backed up. His girlfriend Nora rubbing off on him probably didn't help the interrogatee.
Yang had run into Weiss over in Argus, an elite of espionage of a different caliber no doubt. She'd been over there to "rid the world of horrible fashion choices forced by horrible dictators", which Yang wasn't about to complain about. She took the fleshy, seductive look of a video game spy, making me think that she was one of those secret agent ladies who seduced their target then slit their throat while drinking some cocoa. Turns out Yang was spot on, she's still doing the job she loves to this day. Yang thought Weiss likes the submissive part that the thrill of the kill gives her.
Funny thing is that she actually got recruited by Pyrrha after she tried to kill her. A few days later, "Snowbird" was working for Beacon, enjoying the time with her new cohorts. The Main Six became so much more deadly after she joined. To strike before the target even knew they were dead was invaluable to their team. Her no nonsense attitude kept them on path. And their lethality skyrocketed exponentially.
Nora "Lightning Bolt" Valkyrie had to have been the most dangerous of all of the Main Six. She was an army in her own right, able to complete the mission in some of the most unorthodox ways. You're gonna fire an RPG, plus you're her target? Well, now all the sudden your RPG is a casing filled with ice cream, napalm flavored, yum. She'd been wandering around Gossan when Yang saw her, we talked over a cake and Yang had to say that she would definitely not want to get on Nora's bad side.
Pyrrha found her after she had shown up at one of the (at the time) Main Four's top secret meetings. It didn't take too much convincing on Nora's part to get them to let her join, which turned out to be the right decision. Later on she became their explosives expert, something Yang honestly wasn't too surprised about. She had heard that Nora could make cupcakes into hand grenades, in a bakery, without any actual explosive material. Yang tried not to think about the amount of scientific laws she breaks just by existing.
The last "Element" of the Main Six, someone Yang had known for her whole life, was the last addition for Pyrrha's team. Ruby "Reaper" Rose had been set on joining Beacon for as long as Yang had watched her play Modern Remnant: Brotherhood, while I was training with the Headmaster of the Shade Academy, Ruby Rose was at the Academy. Over the years they had parted ways, focused on their own taste at hand, but a beer (root beer before Ruby was of age of course) here and there kept them in touch. Though it wasn't in touch enough that Yang knew a ton about what had been going on, sadly. Her main role in the main six had come from her trademark scythe, that was also a sniper rile. Ruby's ability to hit an apple off someone's head from a mile away tended to get around, though not enough for her targets to ever find out. After all, "it's just a rumor", but boy did they regret thinking so.
Yang's stomach grumbling interrupted her thoughts. Ruby noticed, "Wanna go grab some lunch, figure it's my break." She got up and made a passing comment, "Though I guess I make them, so it doesn't matter."
"What's the place we're goin'?" Yang asked.
Ruby shrugged, "Someplace with chicken."
Half an hour later they sat in a fast food joint a short walk away, sitting and eating chicken. Nothing much, and honestly it was quite funny. Two highly trained assassins sitting around eating some fast food, not something Yang would assume that most people would think they do. Probably think they were ravaging villages, throwing pie at small children, or something.
Yang sighed and leant back against her chair, "So Rubes, what have you been up to these past few years?"
Ruby did the same, "Years, huh? It's been that long?"
Yang nodded in confirmation, "Sure has."
A sigh began Ruby's talk, "Anyway, stuff you've missed over the years, let's see...After we stopped talking, when was that? When we were sixteen?"
Yang thought a bit, "I'd say that's about right. 'Round when that quarter-life crisis kicked in."
Ruby laughed, "Oh yes, you've gotta tell me about that."
Yang waved her hand around in dismissal, "You first."
Ruby gave an exaggerated sigh, "Fine. Well, after you so rudely stormed off after I confessed my undying love to you sis'."
Yang threw a hand to her forehead, "'Tis tragic, I know, but it had to be done."
They chuckled and Ruby continued, "I kept working toward climbing the metaphorical ladder of Beacon. It was pretty enjoyable actually, the only problem is that I haven't really gotten to go on a solid mission in five-ever..."
Yang chuckled, remembering the reason for five-ever.
"After I graduated from the Academy I made my way over to Mistral with Pyrrha, eventually we got together with the rest of the Main Six." She sighed at the memory, but continued. "Went on our little convenient Saturday escapades up until we felt that we'd changed the land."
"Seems to have been a bit fruitless, hmm?" Yang commented.
"Was it though?" Ruby said in rebuttal, "We took out the bad guys, helped out the civilians, and kept all the terrorism away from Menagerie and everywhere else. It may not look like it now, especially with how the papers spin it these days, but we changed it. A little at least."
Yang leant back into her chair, complacent with Ruby's reasoning. For Yang, she didn't think enough was done. After the initial skirmishes and the like had died down, all the academies had left, the Main Six had disbanded last I heard, and all the bad stuff had slowly become worse again. Sure the impact done by all the academies was still there, just now it was back to being bad. Sounded like someplace needed some TLC again.
"True, true." Yang admitted. She thought of something to continue the conversation, "So, when did you meet this Oscar person?"
Ruby blushed, seemingly a bit shy about talking about her (in Yang's hopes and dreams and wishbone wishes) possible new boyfriend. "Well, I met him at a convention, believe it or not."
Yang laughed, "You actually go to those things? I never expected you to do something like that, too cool for a congregation of nerds."
Ruby had a warm smile, "And he definitely fit into that category, let me tell you. A.K. Yearling was there, and I had to grab an autograph."
Yang nodded, still following along, "The only author you really like, yeah?"
Ruby looked around the restaurant, "Can I tell you a secret?"
Yang shrugged, "Sure."
"A.K. Yearling is actually Daring Do."
Yang gave an exaggerated gasp, "No!"
Ruby nodded excitedly, probably happy about being able to share her (hopefully) well-kept secret, "Yeah, yeah, I was actually there to meet her as a friend, but Oscar and I had this big argument on the validity of the series she writes."
"That's one heck of a big girl word." Yang commented, chuckling slightly.
Ruby chuckled along with me, "Sure, sure. Anyway, stuff happened, we got kidnapped by some supposed 'Master Assassin'," She added air quotes to show her displeasure with the villain, apparently they didn't meet their villain standards. If that was even a thing. "A few complications later and all three of us, myself and Oscar included were running from some monster thing and the villain guy. After that, I went to go hang out with Quibble some more."
"Oh? Did you show him your bunk beds?" Yang waggled her eyebrows.
Ruby laughed, her cheeks tinged red, "N-No!" She leaned in, whispering a bit, "Eventually, though."
Yang let out a hearty laugh, "You gotta make sure who likes top bunk, yeah?"
Ruby gave an exaggerated wink. "'Course."
Sighing, Yang finished up the rest of her scrumptious lunch, "Well, when are you planning to woo this stallion of a man? I've gotta meet him before you do though, gonna judge the pants right off this guy."
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to help me or sate some fantasy?"
Yang shrugged, "Hey, win, win, am I right?" She noticed Ruby's expression, "I'm messin' with ya, Ruby's. I just want the best for my sister, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah." Ruby got up to throw her food away, Yang followed her to do the same, "You know, I bet you could grab him to teach Jaune a few things."
Yang cocked her head, "Oh? Like what?"
Ruby turned to face her, "He's a logistical genius. He'll be able to teach Jaune what she needs to do in hairy situations, how to go about a mission, what to do in general, and every other mentality related thing she would need to learn. I may have only met him a bit ago, but I think I'm right on this one sis'."
Yang checked her phone for the time, "Alright, I'll trust you Rubes, just set me up with him whenever you can. I've got a meeting with Ozpin, so I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Yeah, I'll text you the time or somethin'. See you later, sis'!"
And with that Yang was on her way to the Headmaster's building. She was hoping to get some spice in the day, since it had been mostly average and pretty boring for the most part. Boy, did she get what she wanted. Yang didn't get some spice, she didn't get a spice bottle, she got a mix of Isaiah Mustang's sweat and a truckload of some third world spice market.
Thanks for reading as always. Any reviews of any kind are appreciated, and considered. Part 2 up next week, and continue the Training Arc. Which will cover probably about ten or so chapters till we get into the next one. I don't want to break the pacing so much it bleeds into Jaune's abilities and skills, so this arc is to at least back up anything they do after this arc. I'll be back next week, until then!