Chapter Twenty-Six: Discussions and Dates


"I almost forgot! When we were fighting I counted at least three missed strikes. You might want to work on that," Qrow said as Winter was about to leave Ozpin's office.

"How did you-? Who told you-? Gaaahhh! I swear I'll get that brat!" Winter yelled while she stormed towards the elevator as Qrow winked at her.

"And just who is this brat?" Phoenix asked as the elevator door opened.

"What are you doing here?" Winter asked, furious at him.

"Sorry, guess I just got turned around. From the looks of things we should both be leaving. Ladies first," Phoenix said sarcastically as he stepped out of the elevator. After a moment of her remaining still Phoenix gestured toward the end of elevator which Winter reluctantly went into, glaring at Phoenix and Qrow as the door closed.

"Thanks for the tip. Her reaction was priceless. How'd you know hear what she was saying?" Qrow asked Phoenix, who simply responded by pointing to the upper wall of the room. Upon closer inspection, a small camera could be seen. When Ironwood discovered it he gave Phoenix a glare.

"That line about you rather shooting yourself than being one of Ironwood's men was great by the way," Phoenix said, ignoring him.

"If you two gentlemen are done, we were having a discussion," Glynda stated.

"Right… Well your little infiltrator isn't just some pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition," Qrow continued as though nothing had happened.

"What! She's here?" Phoenix exclaimed. "I knew she was in Vale. That was obvious after the CCT incident. But to have infiltrated the school. Crap…"

"Despite what the world thinks we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters-"

"Or vigilantes."

"Whatever, the people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones who keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about. It's why we meet behind closed doors. Why we work in the shadows. So you tell me James, when you brought your army to Vale did you think you were being discreet or did you just not give a damn?"

"Discreet wasn't working," Ironwood replied as he placed his scroll on Ozpin's desk, creating a hologram of Beacon, the coliseum, and his forces. "I'm here because this is what was necessary," he said as he gestured to the projection of his forces. At this point Phoenix tuned the two of them out, getting tired of their constant bickering.

"And fear will bring the Grimm," Ozpin stated, pulling Phoenix back into the conversation. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort. An army is a symbol of conflict. If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight."

"My mother with the White Fang and an army of Grimm," Phoenix stated. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying having this entire army out in the open is a great idea. Mostly because it isn't. What I am saying is we should be prepared for the worst. My recommendation would be to keep your forces away from the public's prying eyes, while still close enough to respond to any major threat. That way, we still keep the illusion of everything being fine while we are, in fact, prepared for a fight. Still keep some of your clankers and a few smaller ships around the coliseum for security, but not enough to cause the fear Oz mentioned." When he finished explaining his plan he looked around to see everyone giving him shocked looks. "Why do you guys always forget I'm actually competent in these matters?"


"What'd they say," team RWBY asked, lunging at Phoenix the second he opened his door.

"How did you-? Never mind. Wasn't able to get anything. Oz knows all my methods and had countermeasures for them," he lied, knowing that this was the one secret he couldn't tell them about.

"Oh… well that's disappointing. Suppose we should be going," Yang said as she and the rest of her team walked out.

"Well…uh… would you mind if I borrow your leader for a moment?" Phoenix asked, blushing slightly.

"No problem lover boy," Yang replied, pushing Ruby towards him before walking out.

"Soooo, what'd you want to talk about," Ruby inquired.

"Right… what I wanted to talk about. I was thinking that since we didn't get to look around the fairgrounds much earlier we could now… together. Not like a date. Unless that's what you want… in which case it is a date. Soooo… you want to come? If you don't it's totally fine. I mean you're team is in the tournament tomorrow, and you are leader of the team so it was probably a dumb idea. I'm being awkward again aren't I?"

"Yep."


"Ooh! This looks like fun! And that looks like it's got good prizes! This is going to be so much fun!" Ruby squealed as she dashed around a carnival area of the fairgrounds.

"Looks like we've found where we're going," Phoenix thought, smiling as he saw her so excited. "So what do you want to do first? Ruby? I really really need to talk to her about this," he groaned.


"So this is where you've been hiding," Phoenix said as he found Ruby at one of the game stands. It looked like the goal of the game was to knock down the stacked cups in one throw.

"Phoenix! There you are. I've been trying to win that forever. Maybe you can help me," she explained to him, pointing a huge inflatable sword.

"Your wish is my command. How much for a try?"

"Five lien," the man in the game booth, who looked like the janitor, the "Dust Till Dawn" shopkeeper, the owner of that restaurant they went to, and just about every other person in the game booths, said. Phoenix handed him the money and grabbed the ball he was supposed to throw.

"Quick question. If I knock down more than one stack with a throw do I get more than one prize?"

"Sure, why not. For every stack you knock down you get a prize," the man replied, clearly not thinking Phoenix could do it. Phoenix activated the assisted aiming on his glasses and threw. The ball knocked down the first stack, then bounced off the walls knocking down the remaining two stacks before it flew into his open hand.

"Any other prizes you wanted Ruby?" Phoenix asked. After she recovered from the shock of what she just witnessed she pointed to a stuffed dog like the one he got for her at the arcade, still to stunned to speak. "We can still get one more thing. See anything else?" She shook her head. "Then I suppose I'll get that," Phoenix said pointing towards a scale model of Beacon. The man handed them their prizes, still stunned by what he'd just witnessed. As they walked away Ruby finally regained her voice.

"That was amazing! How did you do that? You threw the ball and it bounced everywhere! I didn't think that was even possible!" she exclaimed. He simply tapped on his glasses to answer her question. "You seriously need to make me some of those."


"I'm sorry sir but if you want to ride you're going to need to leave your glasses here," the man in charge of the ride, which Phoenix referred to as a Ferris wheel from hell, said.

"What? But how am I supposed to see?" Phoenix replied.

"I don't know sir, but rules are rules."

"Come on Phoenix! It'll be fun!" Ruby called out from the cage attached to the ride.

"Fine," he groaned as he handed the man the glasses. "But if I see so much as a single scratch on them you'll be riding this damned thing till the festival is over."

"Don't worry, he's kidding. He'd only leave you in here for a day at the most." The terrified man carefully placed the glasses with their winnings from earlier. Phoenix reluctantly got into the cabin, jumping slightly when the door slammed shut.

"I die I'm going to haunt you," he said as they raised up. Before they could say anything else the ride started up, spinning both the body of the ride and their cabin around. Throughout ride Phoenix and Ruby were clutching each other like their lives depended on it and screaming, occasional curses thrown in by Phoenix. After what seemed like an eternity, the ride finally began to slow down. "I am never doing anything like that again," Phoenix stated as they left the ride.


"At least you found something you hate more than flying. Now come on! There's another ride I want to try," Ruby replied as she dragged him off.

"Are you sure these damned things are rides and not torture machines from the seventh circle of hell?" Phoenix groaned after yet another ride Ruby had gotten him to go on.

"Yes, for the hundredth time, I'm su- Ooh! Food!" she exclaimed as she dragged him towards a concessions stand.

"What do you two want this evening?" the man running the stand asked.

"Why the bloody hell do all these people look the same?" Phoenix thought as he saw the same old man. "I already know what I'm getting. What do you want?" he asked Ruby. She gave the man her usual order.

"And you sir?"

"Four sides of fries, a lemonade in a souvenir cup, and a funnel cake."

"Please tell me we're not going on one of your torture contraptions again. We just ate and I really don't feel like throwing up," Phoenix begged once they finished eating.

"Fine," she replied, disappointed. "What do you suggest?"

"How about a normal, non hellish Ferris wheel?"

"Okay," she said, her attitude changing completely as she dragged him off.

"One of these days you're going to rip my arm off," Phoenix groaned.


"On second thought, this wasn't a very good idea," Phoenix mumbled, looking out from the top cabin which he was stuck in with Ruby.

"I mean… it isn't that bad. At least we're both here," Ruby replied.

"Yeah, I guess so." As he said that he used the "fake stretching to put your arm around someone" cliche.

"Really?"

"What? I was just stretching."

"Sure…" Ruby said, resting her head on his shoulder.


"So… you have fun?" Phoenix asked Ruby, his arms full due to holding her stuffed dog.

"Definitely! Thank you soooo much for inviting me."

"No problem. Looks like we're here," he replied as they reached team RWBY's dorm.

"Night Ruby, love you," he said as he gave her a quick kiss.

"Night. Love you too."

"Hold on! Almost forgot to give this to you this," Phoenix said as he tossed her the dog which knocked her over due to its size. They both started laughing before being interrupted by Weiss, who threw open the door.

"Will you two dunces be quiet! Some of us are trying to sleep!" She yelled, causing Nora to pop out from team JNPR's dorm to shush her. Weiss gave the couple an enraged look while they tried to stifle their laughter. An annoyed Weiss dragged Ruby, still under the giant stuffed animal, into their room and slammed the door.

"If today is anything to go by, this festival is going to be great," Phoenix thought as he walked back to his room.


For all of you who were waiting for some sort if date here it is. I figured a few things needed explanation. First of all, the time the second part of the chapter takes place. As you may have been able to guess it's night. You can see in the meeting in s3ep3 that it's night at the time so I figured after that would be one of the few times I could squeeze the second part in. The "Ferris wheel from hell" was the Zipper if you didn't figure that out. The reasoning behind there being a carnival to begin with was that I figured with the sheer scale of the Vynal festival, something like that wouldn't be out of the ordinary. And yes, the old man thing is a running joke that will also continue to s4 if possible. No, I'm not trying to act condescending by assuming you can't figure this out yourself, I just wanted to be safe. With all that out of the way, thanks for reading!