Aside from how different it smelled in comparison to his own house, the dorm was exactly as Team LLAC had left it, and stepping into it after two weeks was a comfort to Cobalt. Lily's plants were still there, and it looked like she'd been able to find someone to care for them while she was gone. Sadly though, Cobalt noted, the fern Lily had been so fond of was still not looking in good shape. He wondered if she'd replace it soon.
He and Luna were the first to have arrived, by the looks of it; Astra and Lily's luggage were nowhere to be seen. He grinned at Luna.
"Now would be a great time to snatch up the top bunk if you want."
Luna huffed lightheartedly. "No way. I could never do that to Astra."
Cobalt wiggled his eyebrows. "It'd smell like her though."
Hilariously, Luna looked like she was actually considering it before she gave Cobalt a gentle shove. "That'd be weird," She chuckled. "Besides, they definitely would have washed the sheets by now."
Cobalt shrugged. "Your choice." He sat with his suitcase and opened it to begin unpacking clothes into the dorm's closet as Luna did the same.
"So, how were your holidays?" He asked Luna. "You know, since a few days ago? Anything happen?"
"Not really," Luna responded. "Blaze, Li, and April are a bit upset that I'll miss their birthdays though."
Cobalt laid his neatly-folded clothes onto the closest shelves. "Oh yeah, I guess it'll be their first time celebrating without you, huh?"
Luna nodded. "And to think I'd have been able to be there for Blaze if term had started just two days later. I think she's more torn up about it than she's letting on."
"Sixteen is a big deal," Cobalt replied. "Hopefully you guys can at least meet for lunch on the weekend or something."
"Yeah, hopefully."
Just as they both finished unpacking. Hurried footsteps in the hallway announced Astra's arrival, and the moment the red-headed girl entered the room, she flung herself over to hug Luna enthusiastically.
"I know it's only been a few days, but I've missed you so much!" She squealed. She pulled back, bouncing and flapping her hands excitedly. "I can't wait to have class with you again and just be around you in general."
Luna looked equally excited, which was usually rare for her, but had been more of a common occurrence since she'd been dating Astra. "We might finally get to be on a proper date," She replied with a grin. "If you want to, that is."
Watching the two interact brought a smile to Cobalt's face. He'd enjoy watching their relationship grow and develop over this semester; they were good for each other and he liked seeing Luna so overwhelmingly happy.
After a moment, Astra looked around. "Is Lily not here yet?" She enquired.
"She might be late," Luna replied, her tone changing suddenly. "Something…interesting happened yesterday."
Astra's eyes glowed. "Ooh, in what way?"
"I should let her explain," Luna looked away. "If she wants to. It's kind of uh…" She rubbed her neck. "Something that should be kept on the down-low."
Cobalt's ears twitched in interest. "Should we be concerned?" The last thing he wanted to assume was that Lily had done something, but Luna's wording was a little worrying.
Luna shook her head. "No, it's not really anything to do with her. And I think it's not anything dangerous."
Astra raised an eyebrow. "You think?"
"Agh, I really shouldn't have said anything…" Luna groaned and flopped back onto her bed, hands on her face.
Astra plopped down beside her. "Aw hey, don't feel too bad!" She assured her. "I do stuff like that all the time."
Luna took her hands away and smiled as Astra placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."
Cobalt turned at the sound of wheels in the hallway to see Lily walk in. Luna and Astra looked at her too. Curiously, she wasn't wearing her jacket, leaving her arms bare and showing off the scars on her arms that Cobalt has always been too worried to ask about in fear of digging up things Lily didn't want to get into.
"Hey," The dark-haired girl greeted them as she pulled her suitcase over to her bed. "What's up?" She inspected the fern with a frown but said nothing as she began to unpack her suitcase.
Luna sat up to address her. "Is…she okay?"
Cobalt pricked his ears. She? Who was 'she'? He exchanged a glance with Astra, who shrugged.
Lily cast an uncertain glance at Cobalt and Astra. "Have you told them?' She asked Luna.
"No," Luna shook her head. "I figured you should, if you want to."
Lily sighed. "Well, I guess they have a right to know. But this isn't something you can tell anyone for the time being." She fixed her gaze specifically on Astra. "You need to stay quiet about it."
Astra nodded quickly. "I will, don't worry."
"So will I," Cobalt promised. He closed the dorm door, just in case, and went to sit beside Lily, his interest heightened. "So, what happened?"
Lily rubbed her arm. "I got caught out in yesterday's storm when I noticed some people fighting nearby," She began. Cobalt listened intently as she explained how she'd found a badly injured woman in an alleyway and had driven her home instead of to a hospital when the woman had reacted badly to the idea of the latter.
"We were able to get her the help she needed thanks to Jaune, but…" Lily took a deep breath. "She wasn't just any random stranger. As it turned out, she was none other than Neopolitan."
Surprise jolted into Cobalt and Astra gasped.
"The criminal? Roman Torchwick's old henchman?" Cobalt prompted, hoping he was remembering correctly.
"Reformed, it seems," Lily corrected. "She'd formed a brief alliance with Team RWBY and the others after betraying Cinder, but she vanished after that and a lot of people had assumed she'd been killed or returned to criminal work. But after yesterday, I think it's safe to say she's not a bad person."
"What makes you say that? Astra asked, leaning as far forward as she could without falling off the bed.
Lily fixed a serious gaze on her. "Because she's the Ghost."
Astra gasped again, louder this time, and shock pulsed through Cobalt as he stared at Lily.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Lily nodded. "She uses her illusion Semblance to cast herself in shadow. That's how she stays hidden."
"Wow…" Cobalt felt dumbfounded. It made complete sense. He'd heard about how skilled a fighter Neo had been, and how powerful her Semblance was. "So, all this time, she's been helping and defending people as a vigilante."
"That's awesome…" Astra breathed.
"I don't think she will be anymore though," Lily replied. "She almost died yesterday. I guess working alone in the shadows means that nobody has your back. Jaune's going to talk to the teams about it, to see if they can help her like they're helping my mom."
"So, how is she?" Luna asked, repeating her question from earlier. "Will she be okay?"
"She's still recovering, but I think she'll be fine soon." Lily leaned back. 'It's been…really weird having someone else in the house, honestly."
For Cobalt, he couldn't imagine the opposite, but it made sense that Lily wouldn't be used to having a stranger around in her own personal home. "Are you okay with it?" He enquired.
"I'm not actually sure how I feel," Lily admitted. "Even though I know she's been helping people, I still feel kind of uncomfortable around her. I guess just because she's someone I only really heard about in regards to how dangerous she was."
"What's she actually like?" Astra asked. "Is she nice?"
Lily looked thoughtful. "It hasn't been too easy to tell. She's definitely snarky, I can tell that much. And I think she likes me. But she still seems…untrusting," She added. "Not that I can blame her, of course. I guess she's been on her own for so long that she's not used to interacting with people in a way that doesn't involve fighting with them."
Cobalt nodded understandingly. If Neo had disappeared before the final battle, that would mean she'd probably spent over twenty years alone; no friends, no allies, nobody to keep her company. It sounded incredibly lonely and it made sense that someone who'd lived that way would have a hard time coming out of the isolation.
"I do know one thing though," Lily continued. "Talking to my mother always makes her seem more at ease. They've been reminiscing while my mother's been taking care of her. I hear them talking about the old days, when they'd gossip and pull pranks." She smiled softly. "As weird as her being around is, it's really nice to see. It's always just been her and me, but now that I'm here, I think it'll be good for her to have a friend."
"That does sound nice," Cobalt replied. "Nobody should ever be alone if they don't want to be." He briefly thought of being without his family or team and the idea pained him. He pushed the thought away. He knew what losing someone felt like. He had no intention of going through that again.
"So, uh," Astra swung her legs, looking around the room. "Shouldn't there be some kind of assembly soon?"
Luna jolted slightly. "Oh, right," She pulled out her scroll. "That should be in…" Her eyes widened. "…Oh shit, five minutes." She jumped to her feet. "Well, time to start another term, I guess." She glanced around at the other three. "Are we ready to be educated?"
Astra bounced off the bed and gave Luna's arm a quick hug. "Always!"
Cobalt grinned. "Hopefully, it won't be too boring."
As the team headed out to the assembly building, Cobalt felt a small prick of excitement. The second term, he knew, meant the start of mission for first-years. And outside of that, he was sure there'd be a lot more to experience. Whatever would come, he was interested to see would the months would bring.
