(A/N) Been a while since I had something to actually talk about at the top here. But lemmie just say that there is an important announcement in the bottom author's note, please read it. No, the series is not being discontinued, I'll just alleviate that concern now. And now since I have your attention because of the bold text, lemmie just say that the issue of Spartans being infertile was actually addressed in last chapter's A/N. Also, I realized that I was an idiot and forgot to put the story's characters in the description... that's fixed now (finally)...
Also, we broke 100 Favorites! Thank you guys so much!
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, so on with the chapter!
Edited for clarity and/or minor fixes 4/10/19
Chapter Eight – Rotenwald
/-\ Ruby Rose; Beacon Academy /-\
"This is the part… where you lose."
"Over my dead-" He was interrupted by Cardin kneeing him in the groin before promptly falling over. His adversary stood above him, mace raised.
Before he could strike, Miss Goodwitch called the match. "Cardin, that's enough." She started. "While it is true that you are among the strongest of the first-year fighters, relying on strength and strength alone will get you nowhere." He let out a huff before walking away. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now… if you find yourself unable to manually gauge your aura, please refer to your scroll, as it is calibrated to give an accurate reading to within half of a percent. In case you've forgotten, the threshold for disqualification by aura level is fifteen-percent." He sighed before getting up to exit the ring. She then turned to address the class. "Remember everyone, the semi-annual Vytal Festival begins in September of next year, meaning you have a little under ten months left to prepare."
Both my partner and my sister looked excited, though Blake was her usual, neutral, self. Glynda continued as Yang threw a few punches into the air. "Those of you that choose to participate will be representing all of Vale. In only a few short months, this year's exchange students will begin arriving in the kingdom, and I expect every one of you, regardless of your participation in the tournament, to be on your best behavior." The bell rang, though I couldn't help but notice that Jaune looked sullen as he walked past me.
"Hey, sis, did Jaune seem a little… off to you?" I asked as we walked out of the classroom.
She blinked. "Uhh… kinda, why?"
"I think Cardin's getting to him."
"You're right, Ruby." Blake said, entering the conversation.
"Blake!" My sister jumped a little bit. "W- When did you get here?"
"She was with us the entire time, sis…" I deadpanned, but received only a confused expression. "Don't tell me you didn't notice Weiss either." She turned her head and jumped a little at the sight of my partner raising an eyebrow. I sighed. "We need to work on your spacial awareness…"
"Let's get back on topic." Blake interjected. "Anytime those two are together, Jaune seems on edge. And considering who we're dealing with, it's not exactly difficult to figure out why."
I pushed open the door to the cafeteria… …only to immediately catch an apple thrown at my face. I looked around and saw the very surprised face of the man in question: Cardin Winchester. I thought about retaliating in kind, but I decided against it, instead, shrugging and taking a bite of the apple. We walked right by him and I gave him a smirk as I deposited it onto his plate. "Its quite rude to throw things, wouldn't cha say, Winchester?" He glared at me and growled through his teeth. I gave him a smirk. "Let's go, ladies." I said as we strutted off.
"So, there we were. In the middle of the night…"
"It was day."
"We were surrounded by Ursai."
"They were Beowolves."
"Dozens of them!" She said as she shot up from her seat.
"…Two of 'em…"
"But they were no match. And Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs."
Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for over a month now…"
I raised an eyebrow. "Hang on a minute… how are you correcting her dreams?"
He sighed again. "She talks in her sleep… a lot…"
Jaune let his head hit the table. "Yeah… sounds about right…"
"Jaune…?" His partner said, turning to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… just peachy. Why?" He said, his head still metaphorically stuck to the table.
"Well…" I started, trying to figure out a way to say it. 'Oh, fuck it.' "No. You're not okay."
He lifted his head up. "Huh? What makes you say that?" Suddenly, our attention was drawn to team CRDL, who was harassing a Rabbit Faunus. Jaune clenched his fist while looking in their direction.
"Heh, normally, I'd offer to make him have an unfortunate… hmm… accident, tha-"
"OOOH!" Nora suddenly stood up. "Like breaking his legs?!" She said, a psychotic grin plastered on her face.
I facepalmed. "Goddamnit Nora…" I sighed, removing the hand from my face. "As I was saying… That's what I would normally do, buuuut I think-"
"OWWWW! THAT HURTS!"
We all looked over to see Cardin pulling on her ears. "Okay… Be right back." I stood up and stormed over to them. "'Ey fuckface!" I yelled.
The cafeteria went silent. Cardin's face grew a bemused smirk. "Oh, would you look at that. Two freaks for the price of one!"
I crossed my arms and gave him the worst death glare I had ever given. "Let. Her. Go."
He laughed. "Ohhhh I am so sorry." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, I swear on my honor as a Winchester that I'll never bother her again."
"Cardin Winchester," I said. "I will not warn you again."
A cruel smirk grew on his face. "Oh yeah? Well, how do ya like this?" He said as he tightened his grip on the Faunus's ear while twisting.
She screamed in pain and I immediately leaped into action. I burst into rose petals, almost instantaneously appearing to his side. Before he even had the chance to realize I was gone, I had already grabbed the offending hand and forced it to release her ear, though I may have overdone it… …if the sound of bones snapping was anything to go by…
'Good to know his aura's down.' I thought shortly before catching a glimpse of his eyes starting to widen. I shifted my grip on his hand and forced his arm backwards while striking his elbow with my other hand…
-Crack-
…bending his arm fully backwards… Time sped back up to its normal pace and I glared at his teammates. "Huh, it seems your leader has had an… unfortunate accident…" I giggled. "I think you should take him to the nurse's office." They stared at me for a moment before one shakily nodded and started picking up their leader's, still screaming, form. Seconds later, they disappeared.
My fury immediately broke and I turned to the injured Rabbit Faunus. I knelt down next to her. "Hey." I said, voice barely above a whisper. She didn't answer, and I could tell she was terrified. "Its alright, I'm not gonna hurt you." The expression of terror slowly started to abate, though she was still very reserved. "How bad is it?"
She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. "I- It's- It's okay…"
"Good." I gave her a warm smile. "I'm Ruby." I said, slowly extending my hand.
Her eyes darted between my hand and my face several times, likely looking for any trace of hostile intent. Finally, she shakily accepted the gesture. "V- Velvet…"
"Nice to meet cha." I started getting up. "Can you stand?"
"Y- Yeah…" She responded.
"Alright." I said, giving her a little assistance. "Where's your team? I can take you to them if you want."
"I- I- I-"
"VELVET!" A familiar voice yelled. Suddenly, a very angry fashionista jumped between us. "Get away from her!" I jumped back with my hands up in a nonthreatening position.
"W- Wait-" Velvet stammered out.
"Velvet get out of here! I can take her!"
"N- No, you don't-"
"I SAID GO!"
"COCO!" The chocolate-themed girl froze and slowly turned towards her teammate. "S- She isn't the one who hurt me."
Her guard instantly dropped. "…Oh." She rubbed the back of her head. "Well, this is awkward…"
I shrugged. "Eh, its no big deal. You thought your teammate was in danger and you reacted. Trust me, I know the feeling."
She blinked. "Okay, well… obviously no hard feelings on my part… See ya 'round, Ruby."
"Yep, see ya Fashionable." I said, giving a wave as I rejoined my team at the table. "Alright, where were we?"
Everyone looked at me with a completely blank expression before Jaune finally spoke up. "D- Don't take this the wrong way b- but… You are the single most terrifying person I've ever met."
I stared at him blankly for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, not the worst I've been called." I giggled. "Also, you're not wrong."
He nervously laughed. "Well… good to see I'm right about something, I guess…"
"Hmm… Oh yeah! We were trying to figure out how to deal with Cardin… Heh, something tells me he won't be a problem for a while…"
"How did you do that?!" Nora suddenly shouted. "Like, one second, you're in front of him, then he's got a broken arm!"
I smirked and shrugged. "Classified." Nora immediately deflated, and I regained my serious tone. "Alright, knowing him, this'll only keep him down for a few days at best. To get him to actually stop, we need some dirt on him. Any ideas?"
Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure that's… morally acceptable?"
"Well…" I put my hand up to my chin in mock thought. "Which is less acceptable? Watching someone get away with blatant racism and bullying? Or trying to make sure it doesn't happen anymore?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten away with it…"
"Yeah, he would've gotten away scot free." I motioned around the room. "See any teachers? Any security?" They looked around and were stunned to find that my observation was correct. "Its fairly obvious that they don't care in the slightest about what happens here. Hell, I'd wager it'd take someone destroying the place to get a reaction out of them." I laughed. "I literally broke someone's arm in half, and so far, the only one to respond was a random second-year student."
Pyrrha deflated slightly. "I suppose I can concede your point…"
"Yeah, so I just realized something. During our little… disagreement, he mentioned something about his 'honor as a Winchester'. Any idea what that means?"
"His family is practically a minor noble house." Blake started. "His great-great-grandfather was a general in the Great War, for his service, he was awarded quite a bit of land north-west of Vale. Eventually, people moved there and built a town, Winshire, if I recall correctly." She sighed. "That town has always had some of the worst Faunus discrimination in the entire kingdom."
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then why don't the 'Fang target it?"
"Because Faunus know to stay away from there… and I guess w- they always considered the SDC a bigger threat." Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Or at least that's what I've heard…" Blake quickly amended.
A smirk crossed my face. "Well, Blake, would you say his family's actions go against the Vytal treaty?"
She nodded. "Oh definitely."
I grinned. "Alright, so what you're saying is that if we could get proof that the Winchesters practically wiped their collective asses with that part of the treaty…"
"…Then the Vale council would have no choice but to revoke their ownership of the land." Blake said, her usually stoic expression broken with a devilish grin. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
Weiss sighed. "And here I thought I'd gotten away from courtly intrigue by coming here…" I snickered when she basically admitted to being royalty. "Don't be a pest, Oaf."
I gave a mock salute. "Yes, my Queen."
The whole table erupted in laughter while my partner buried her head in her hands. "I hate you."
"Keep tellin' yourself that, Weiss." I giggled. "Alright, we should probably get ready for history class now."
The rest of the table groaned before reluctantly agreeing.
I stood outside the history classroom and the green-haired Doctor sped out, shortly followed by Jaune.
"Ah-Miss-Rose! You-had-a-question-for-me?"
"Well, during your lecture, you said something happened to the White Fang… and I was kinda curious because I thought they were always violent…. Just not this violent."
He cleared his throat, signifying that he'd slow down his speech. "Ah, while it may be true that the underlings of the organization, and some of the higher-ranking members, have always preferred violence, their leaders have not." He took a sip from his coffee. "For instance, Ghira Belladonna did his best to promote Faunus rights while advocating for peace at the same time. During his tenure as high-leader, it was only those under radicals like Adam Taurus that participated in raids against Humans. However, once Ghira stepped down and Sienna took over, the organization morphed into what you see today." He shook his head. "A sad turn of events, wouldn't you say?"
"Yeah, see ya later, Profess- err, Doctor Oobleck."
He nodded in appreciation. "Oh-one-more-thing-Miss-Rose." I turned to him. "Mister-Arc-forgot-his-textbook-in-my-room, can-you-bring-it-to-him?" I nodded. "Thank-you! Run-along-now!" He said, handing me the textbook before speeding off.
I shrugged and went off to follow Jaune, who I remembered had been dragged off by Pyrrha. I sighed, trying to think of where they would go. Suddenly, I remembered something. Pyrrha trained on one of the rooftops of the dorms every night. I decided to jog over to them, a little exercise couldn't hurt, after all.
I reached the door to the roof and just started twisting the handle- "-lied!" I heard through the door, giving me pause. "I got my hands on some fake transcripts… and I lied…"
"What?" His partner asked. "But… Why?"
"Cause this is what I always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors… They were all heroes!" He paused. "And I wanted to be one too…. I was just never good enough…"
"Then let me help you-"
"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress. I wanna be the hero!"
"Jaune… I-"
"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives, don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own… then what good am I?" There was a pregnant pause and I heard scuffling from beyond the door. "Just… leave me alone… Okay?"
"…If that's what you think is best…" I heard Pyrrha say shortly before I heard footsteps coming towards the door.
I quickly backed away and hid around the corner. Seconds later, the door opened and a sullen Pyrrha walked through, heading for her dorm room. I whipped around and burst onto the roof, making Jaune jump in fright.
"Ruby? Wha-" I interrupted him with a slap to the face. "Owwww! What was that for?!"
"For being stupid." He gave me a confused expression. "I overheard your little conversation with Pyrrha."
He paled. "R- Ruby… Please… you can't tell anyone!"
I gave him a smirk. "You are either the luckiest man alive… or the unluckiest. Heh, its really hard to tell."
"W- What do you mean?"
"Well… I won't tell anyone…" He breathed a sigh of relief. "On a few conditions…" He gulped. "One: as soon as we're done here, you'll call Pyrrha, apologize, and take her up on her offer."
"Uhh… okay-"
"Two: You'll be joining Team RWBY in our morning exercises. Be in the courtyard by oh-six-hundred." He gulped again. "And Three:" I started, shoving his textbook into his chest. "Pay attention in fucking class. Knowledge is a better weapon than any rifle." I paused. "Well, I guess sword in your case…"
He nodded sheepishly. "O- Okay… I can do that. Just… please don't tell anyone…"
"You better. You're a huntsman-in-training now, Jaune. You said you wanted to be a hero, and this'll get you well on the way." I paused and decided to give him some additional motivation. "By the way, I'll let you stop coming with us on our morning routine when you can beat Cardin with more than 50% of your aura remaining." I started walking away but paused at the door. "Oh, and next time you want to reveal a secret… try finding somewhere a bit quieter than directly above Team CRDL's room. You're lucky I put their leader in the hospital today, or he might have overheard as well…" I unlatched the door and just before I clicked it shut, I heard him sheepishly greet his partner.
/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\
I nervously shifted as the elevator ascended to the headmaster's office. I had been called up shortly after Doctor Oobleck's uneventful lecture, though I was not worried about being in trouble. What I was worried about was accidentally revealing the things my sister had told me not to.
The elevator dinged, and I stepped into his office. He looked up from his desk. "Ah, Miss Xiao Long. Just on time." I gave a light laugh at his obvious, and successful, attempt to make me nervous… …given I was supposed to report to him a week ago… He motioned to the seat opposite his desk. "Please, have a seat." I did so, and he stared at me in silence for several minutes before he finally continued. "Well?"
I gave him a wide grin, one that I'm sure he saw right through. "Well what? Professor? I uhh…. I have no idea what you're talking about. Hehe…"
"You know full well of our agreement, Miss Xiao Long. Now, I must ask that you give your report."
"Uhh- Uhh… Alright… Uhh, w- whaddaya wanna know about her?"
He gave me an unimpressed look. "Is your sister, Ruby Rose, a threat?"
"T- That depends…" He raised an eyebrow. "If you wanna kill lots of people, then yeah… Otherwise, just don't make her angry."
"Interesting." He took a sip of his coffee. "Are you privy to any of her… secrets?"
I hesitated, looking for an answer that would both satisfy him and not reveal her secrets. "W- well… there were other Spartans out there…" A half-truth.
He raised an eyebrow. "Were?"
"Y- Yeah. Her old team died because of terrorists." A cross between a half-truth and an outright lie.
He took another sip of his coffee. "Tell me, has she told you of this UNSC that is constantly referenced on her equipment?"
"Yeah, they made the Spartans." I said, trying to keep the conversation as far away from the Covenant as possible.
"If this… 'UNSC' were to find Remnant, what would be their course of action?"
I hummed in thought. "Y- You'd have to ask Ruby, she uhh... she knows them better than I do."
He studied me for a moment. "Very well. One more thing, Miss Xiao Long," He smirked. "it seems that Team RWBY has taken a liking to a rather… brutal, training regimen. Might I ask why?"
"W- Well, uhh… w- we just wanna be the best huntresses we can be." I said, desperately hoping he'd buy it.
He studied me for a moment. "Very well, though might I suggest going a tad bit easier on yourselves? It seems that I receive a report from Professor Goodwitch fairly often that, in the morning, Team RWBY's auras are not full during her class."
"Y- Yeah… we'll uhh… take it easier…" I lied.
He smiled. "That is all I can ask." He pressed a button on his desk and the elevator doors opened behind me. "Thank you for your time, Miss Xiao Long."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Uhh, yeah. No problem." I said as I awkwardly shuffled towards the elevator.
I burst into my dorm room and immediately headed over to my bed. Just as I was about to grab the pillow and start screaming into it, someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned around to see the face of my partner. "Is everything alright, Yang?"
I hesitated for a moment… and then two moments… and then five… and then-
"Yang?" A different voice called out.
I turned to face my sister's partner. "I… uhh… we should probably wait for R-"
The door burst open. "Hey, guys! I'm finally-" She paused for a minute. "What's wrong, sis?"
"…Shut the door." She did so with a raised eyebrow. "You remember when I got called up to Ozpin's office on the first day of classes?"
They all gave me blank looks for a second before Blake raised her eyebrow. "I thought you were upset about Ruby."
I shifted nervously. "Y- Yeah, I was… But that day, Ozpin asked me… well… to spy on her."
Ruby burst into rose petals and reformed into her armor. "Bunker. Now." Her tone left no room for argument. She stormed out the door, and we were right behind her.
"Start from the beginning." My sister commanded just after she descended the ladder.
I took a steadying breath. "Right after class, Ozpin came to me and called me to his office."
"Personally?"
"Yeah. At first, I uhh- I kinda thought I was in trouble." I started. "But then we got to the office and… He showed me what happened when you got to Vale…"
She raised an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean?"
I shifted nervously. "I- I mean… the dust shop… the one Torchwick robbed…"
"Wait, he showed you that?" I meekly nodded. "Yeah… he has officially lost any semblance of trust I had in him."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "What happened there?"
"Eh, to be honest, not much." My sister started. "Killed a few goons, apprehended the most wanted man in Vale… Heh, all in a day's work for a Spartan." Her expression turned serious. "What I'm mad about is that he specifically went against my wishes and showed the footage to someone else." Her hands balled into fists. "What I'm pissed about is that he tried to drive a wedge between me and my mother fucking sister of all people!" We all stood in shocked silence for a moment before she took a breath. "What did you tell him?"
I blinked, not really expecting her to calm down so easily. "Uhh, wha-"
"This is obviously the first time you've reported to him. I want to know what he knows."
"Oh, uhh… Not really much. I told him that your last team died because of terrorists. He wanted to know what would happen if the UNSC found Remnant and I told him to ask you. And then he told me to find an easier training method."
She crossed her arms. "So, he doesn't know about the Covenant?"
"Nope."
She smirked. "Well, I'd say you did a good job. Nice touch with the terrorists, by the way."
I rubbed the back of my head. "It was kind of a spur of the moment thing…"
She waved me off. "Don't sell yourself short, ya did good sis." Her face turned serious. "But now we need to talk about our next move." I blinked. "So, were you nervous?"
"Uhh… Yeah?" I responded, not knowing where she was going with this.
She smirked. "Good… We can use this."
"I… umm-"
"Next time you meet, I want you to keep givin' him bullshit. And nothing but bullshit."
"Uhh… like what?"
She shrugged. "I dunno… tell him there's a planet somewhere made entirely of watermelons… or something…"
Blake raised an eyebrow. "That's… oddly specific. Does-"
"No."
"Oh, okay then." She finished.
"So, what's the rest of the plan?" I asked.
"That's it for you guys. But I have a feeling that he'll… misplace some important documents."
"And how do you plan on accomplishing that? The headmaster's office is one of the most secure locations on campus!"
"Oh, Weiss… I'm a professional," She giggled. "leave the details to me."
She blinked. "You know, the more I hear you giggle, the more I agree with Arc of all people…"
"Heh, well again, he's not wrong." She said, shrugging. "Oh, that reminds me!" She said, a smirk breaking out on her face. "He has volunteered to train with us." She turned directly to her partner. "How'd ya feel about doing the first half of his 'aura depletion' training?"
She blinked shortly before a devilish grin broke out on her face. "Oh, I would very much appreciate the opportunity."
I looked at the time on my new watch. "Uhh, he's coming, right sis?"
"He better be." She checked the time as well. "But he still has a couple minutes to get here."
I hear Blake's back crack as she stretches. "He's not going to have enough time to limber up."
I throw a few punches into the empty space in front of me. "So, what's the plan, boss?"
"Well, as soon as Vomit Boy get here, we'll start our warmup. Then we'll get to the standard combat training, before finishing off with aura depletion." She rattles off.
I raised an eyebrow. "Going easy on us?"
She smirks. "You guys've been bustin' your asses for the last week, I think its about time you get a light day." She smirks. "Heh, doesn't mean it'll happen very often, though."
I punched my fists together. "Wouldn't have it any other way, sis."
Suddenly, she put her hands behind her back. "Ah, well… Looks like he brought a 'plus one'." She giggled. "And she's wearing heels."
"What're you-" She holds a finger up to her lips and I silence myself. After a couple seconds, I hear the telltale sound of high-heels. "Oh, yeah, I hear it now. I'm guessing you heard it first because of… well…" I gestured to her. "ya know…"
She grinned. "Yep!" She said, popping the 'P'. "Alright, Ice Queen, why don't you hang back with Little Red over there and make sure she doesn't trip over any roots like you did."
I blinked. "How do you know it's-" Two figures emerged from the darkness, Jaune and- "-Pyrrha…" I paused. "You know, I'm just gonna stop questioning you…"
She grinned. "Probably for the best." She clapped her hands together and turned to our new arrivals. "Alright, everybody's here!"
"Hello." Pyrrha greets with a friendly smile. "I hope I'm not intruding. I've been curious about your routine for a while now, and when I learned that you invited Jaune, I asked if I could join."
Jaune clutched his head. "Not so loud… its earlyyyyyyyyyyy…"
"I've already been up for over an hour." My sister said before giggling. "You're gonna have a bad time, Vomit Boy. You two have about…" She checked her watch. "Two minutes fifteen seconds to limber up."
His partner immediately started doing as she was told, but Jaune just stood there. "…Wha-?"
"Two minutes!" He quickly started stretching and Ruby smirked. "That's what I thought."
"So, if I may ask…" Pyrrha started. "…why wear something other than your combat attire?"
"Oh, umm…" I started. "We, uhh… take our workouts very seriously. Its just easier on everyone if we wear these baggy clothes." I said, gesturing to the same garments we wore when we were free running.
She raised an eyebrow. "I suppose." She paused. "What will we be doing today, by the way?"
"Well, you're kinda in luck, we're-"
"Alright! Form up!" My sister commanded. "R-J, W-P, B-Y!" _WBY nodded and formed up. Weiss stood behind her partner, with Blake behind her and me beside my partner. "Jaune! Right next to me. Pyrrha! Behind him!" Jaune lined up next to my sister… on her left side… "Other side!" He quickly, and sheepishly, corrects himself and we set off.
After twenty minutes, we're all, sans Ruby, breathing heavily, though WPBY's are rhythmic and controlled whereas Jaune is huffing and bellowing for air. "Can… we… stop…?"
"NO!" Came our reply.
"Cheer up, Vomit Boy!" He huffed and groaned. "Let's get a cadence goin'!"
"OORAH!"
"Helljumper, Helljumper, where ya been?" Ruby starts, much to Jaune and Pyrrha's confusion.
"Helljumper, Helljumper, where ya been?" We responded, almost startling the other two in our group.
"Feet first into hell and back again!"
"Feet first into hell and back again!" Pyrrha caught on quickly, joining in our chant… if a bit quietly.
"When I die please bury me deep!"
"When I die please bury me deep!" Jaune joined in between breaths, and Pyrrha increased her volume.
"Place an M45 by my feet!"
"Place an M45 by my feet!"
"Don't cry for me, don't shed no tear!"
"Don't cry for me, don't shed no tear!"
"Just pack my box with PT gear!"
"Just pack my box with PT gear!"
"Cuz one early mornin' 'bout zero-five!"
"Cuz one early mornin' 'bout zero-five!"
"The ground will rumble, there'll be lightnin' in the sky!"
"The ground will rumble, there'll be lightnin' in the sky!" We rounded a corner and I saw Beacon's courtyard in the distance.
"Don't chu worry, don't come undone!"
"Don't chu worry, don't come undone!"
"It's just my ghost on a PT run!"
"It's just my ghost on a PT run!" We finished, finally arriving back where we started.
Jaune immediately collapsed and Ruby threw a water bottle at his face. He only groaned in response. "Alright, take five. Grab a water, lay down, just do whatever."
"If I may ask," Pyrrha starts. "what was that?"
"That's a cadence." Ruby answered as she was doing one-armed pushups. "Makes it a little easier to run, which is why I saved it for when Jaune was struggling."
"That sounds reasonable, though does it have to be that… morbid? Also, would you mind explaining what a 'Helljumper' is?"
She hummed. "Only the military ones are…" She shrugged. "And a Helljumper is… well, let's just say they're shock troopers." She said, all of RWBY knowing that it was a half-truth.
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit… young to have served in the armed forces?"
"Yep, but I was practically raised by military types. Me and my adoptive siblings had to be disciplined out in the wilds." Another half-truth was spoken, and I cast my gaze downwards. She clapped her hands together. "But enough of this depressing shit." She turned her gaze to _WBY. "How do ya guys feel about a little… evening stroll tonight?" She asked.
Weiss crossed her arms. "Oh? Did we get parts for the vacuum?"
She grins. "Yep! Just came in. We'll pick 'em up while we're out stargazing."
Blake put her hand to her chin. "I'm up for it, how're the trees this time of year?"
"Eh, I dunno… maybe a Gemstone would know."
Blake nods in agreement and I give my opinion. "Sure, why not. We gonna pick up some ants? I uhh… always wanted a few as pets."
"Nah, the pound'll get 'em."
We all turned our attention to the other two members of our party… …shortly before bursting out laughing. Pyrrha eyed each one of us curiously. "Are… are you on drugs?"
We all looked at each other before bursting out into another bout of laughter. After a good minute of nonstop laughter, Ruby looked at her. "Nah, we just like messin' with people." She giggled. "Anyways, break's over. Let's hop to it!"
/-\ Weiss Schnee; Forever Fall Forest /-\
"Ugh… I've been training with you guys for over a week now and I'm still dead for the entire day…" Jaune remarked to us. "Seriously… just… HOW?! How do you deal with this?!" He chuckled nervously. "Uhh, not that I'm complaining, Weiss."
I huffed in annoyance, but was cut off before I could say anything. "Yes, students," Our chaperone, Professor Goodwitch, started. "the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. At the behest of some students," She glared at Ruby. "the annual sap-collecting trip has been turned into a two-night survival expedition."
We all stared dumbly at the professor. "B- But… we didn't prepare! We don't have any food, no water, no tents, no-" A student started.
"Yeah, do you think whatever would put you in a survival situation would let you prepare?" Ruby interrupted.
"Oh yeah? How'd you do without that fancy armor of yours?!" He shot back.
She shrugged. "Just fine, I've been in much worse situations than that. Plus, you've seen how well I do in combat class without it." She turned to the professor. "Continue."
She glared at my partner for a moment before taking a deep breath. "As I was saying, I am your chaperone for this ordeal. During our stay, we will gather edible plants, hunt small animals, and, of course, make shelters. The arrangements are, ultimately, up to you, so long as each team stays together and the group as a whole stays fairly close to where I am making my shelter. During each night, each team will have at least one guard posted at all times. Any questions?" Silence. "Good, nightfall is in approximately six hours, I suggest you have an ample supply of firewood and a shelter constructed by then." Professor Goodwitch then walked away.
We all turned toward Ruby. "So, sis… when were you planning on telling us about this?"
She shrugged. "I wasn't, to be honest." I opened my mouth to retort, but she continued. "When I suggested that, they don't tell me when it'd be either. Meaning that even if I was intending to tell you, I could only say 'be prepared for everything'."
I pinched my nose. "Let's just get moving…"
I couldn't read her expression under her helmet, but she sounded impassive. "Alright. Weiss, search for some building materials. Blake, Yang, get us something to eat and also look for a source of water. I'll start digging our little foxhole. And remember, stay close to camp, we're in Grimm territory." She said before she grabbed a stick and started to dig.
I walked away and started scanning the forest as I went, my hand on Myrtenaster's pommel the entire time. After about fifteen minutes, I had gotten a fair amount of wood… whether it would be useful or not, I had no idea. I heard a rustling in the brush behind me and I instantly whipped around, drawing my weapon.
…
Nothing emerged.
…
"Is anyone there?" I asked.
"…Uhh…" I heard a sheepish, feminine, voice say. "C- Can you h- help me?"
I moved aside the bushes and before me stood one of my classmates… tangled within a multitude of vines, bushes, and leaves. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "How did you even manage that?"
She gave a nervous chuckle. "I… well… I uhh… I don't know…"
I raised an eyebrow. "You need to watch what you're doing. If I hadn't come along, you might have been happened upon by a wolf. Or worse, a Grimm."
"U- Uhh… Yes ma'am!"
I sighed and started cutting her loose with Myrtenaster. "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." I severed the last vine and she fell to the ground with an 'Eep!'. I extended my hand for her to grasp and quickly pulled her up. "Now, I do believe you have me at a disadvantage. May I ask your name?"
"Uhh… Umm… S- Selini, Selini Lykos." She responds.
I raised an eyebrow. "Southern Mistrali?"
"Y- Yes ma'am."
I sighed. "There's no need for that. We're both huntresses-in-training, I'm not even the leader of a team." I said as I looked her over. The towering woman wore a gold, feminized, version of the classical Southern Mistrali Muscular Cuirass along with greaves and gauntlets of the same color. Under her armor sat a vibrant red, tight fitting, shirt and matching tights under her golden skirt. She had her dark-blonde hair tied in a tight bun with a single braid encircling her head. Her weapons, on the ground beside her, looked to be a spear and shield. Though instead of the circular shield that Pyrrha had, hers was in the shape of an oval. Also unlike her kinswoman's, Luna's was painted. The emblem, put in the left-hand corner of the shield, was what I assumed to be her huntress symbol: A semi-detailed King Taijitu baring its fangs while missing its right eye. Out of the eye sprouted two beams, the red one encompassing the upper right and the other, golden, beam covering the lower right of the shield.
"Uhh- Y- Yes, m- err- yes." She stammered out. I sighed as she picked up her weapons. I was just about to ask her where her team was when she bolted in back of me. As I was whipping around, I heard a scraping noise… …and saw that Selini had blocked a Beowolf from slicing at me. She quickly retaliated, impaling the beast and killing it in the process.
I scanned the perimeter and saw three more of its kind, one being an alpha. The two younger ones charged, one found itself on the end of Selini's spear, the other found that it now had five Myrtenaster-sized holes in its chest. Both dropped, the alpha charged, and I stabbed my sword through the ground, creating a massive ice spike. The alpha would have avoided the obstacle… …had it not been for me propelling it forward with a repulsion glyph.
The beast fell dead as my creation melted into nothingness and I turned to face my impromptu partner. Her blue eyes looked me over, making sure I was unharmed. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I- I don't think there's any more. W- We probably shouldn't stay here." I agreed, and she turned around to head away.
I froze at the sight of a blonde wolf's tail gently swaying back and forth.
(A/N) Aaaand more Weiss confronting her demons! Yay! In all seriousness, I'm still working on what her reaction is going to be to Selini being a Faunus… soooo yea, there's that. Also, for those too lazy for google translate, 'Selini Lykos' translates to 'Moon Wolf' in Greek. She'll have some other purpose than helping Weiss with her racism issue, but as to what that role is… I'm not sure yet… Though I have written her backstory, so there's that…
/-Important-\
Okay, so the important announcement that I mentioned in the top A/N… A lot of you were disappointed that I skipped _WBY's reaction to the fall of Reach entirely… so I'm gonna rectify that… Introducing: 'Ruby B-312: The Fall of Reach'! It'll be a five-chapter reaction fic of… well… _WBY reacting to the fall of Reach… I'm super creative, I know. Ch1 is already posted and covers 'Noble Actual' and 'Winter Contingency'. Also, I'm planning on releasing a Fall of Reach chapter at the same time as a regular Ruby B-312 chapter.
\-Important-/
So, now that that's out of the way, more discussing what happened in this chapter. Cardin got his ass kicked… Fun Fact: Originally, I had him back off and the whole confrontation would've been resolved peacefully… But then I thought about Jaune's confession and the fact that I wanted Ruby to overhear him, and I realized that Cardin would also overhear. So, I figured out a way to… remove him from the equation. I think it turned out pretty well.
When Ruby is talking to Oobleck-and-his-text-is-written-like-this, its because he's speaking in his veryrapidpacedvoice. I put dashes in between the words to convey that, with her enhanced reaction time, Ruby is able to perfectly understand him… even though he's speaking a mile a minute.
I was kinda iffy on including the cadence, considering I'm not in any military, so if I made a mistake somewhere, just lemmie know. Also, I didn't make up the actual lyrics(?), just google "ODST cadence"… you'll find it eventually.
And now with the coded speech at the end. For those that couldn't figure out what they were talking about… here's basically what was being said: Ruby wants to go raiding(Evening stroll). Weiss asks if there's dust involved(Vacuum parts). Ruby says yes and that they'll be outside the city this time(Stargazing). Blake is okay with it and asks which forest it's in(Trees). Ruby says its in the Emerald forest(Gemstone). Yang wants to go too and asks if they'll need to escort the prisoners back to Vale(Pet ants). Ruby says no, they'll call the cops to pick them up(Pound)… Meanwhile Jaune and Pyrrha don't have any clue what's going on… That sequence was actually very fun to write.
And now we've come full circle to the Forever Fall forest… Next chapter that'll be resolved fully.
Now, on to the Reviews!
UnspokenTheWriter – Thanks! And you'll just have to wait and see if the Covenant show up.
psp reader – Yea, though I don't know if she would've rescued him if she knew about his heritage… a question that remains unanswered still.
Roboman – Yea, I suppose they could… though they're kinda set in their ways and Ruby "isn't thinking with portals" yet… so possibly in the future? Idk.
firestarter09 – See the top A/N
Dragon lord Syed 101 – I fully plan on a Ruby vs Pyrrha fight at some point… I just don't know when. If the UNSC shows up, Jun probably won't be with them unfortunately. Also, she's not any younger than Jun remembers her to be, she always looked like a child to him. So, her opinions: WF – wannabe revolutionaries; Faunus – humans with animal bits stapled on (aka as human as, say, random marine 62,414,851, who she saw get mauled by a Brute somewhere); Remnant's military – Incompetent; Atlas – A kingdom that likes their military… big whoop. With your second review, no biggie, I got what you meant. And Thanks!
raw666 – I like that idea. Yea, that'll be interesting if that happens.
Guest 01/02 – She'll probably explain it in Ruby B312: The Fall of Reach.
Guest 03 – Nope, lol. Just a rando who wanted to mind his own business and dig through the trash for food.
Shadow Walker of Fire – Thanks! And there is a very real possibility that they might show up. As for Halo characters… unfortunately there won't be any more non-OCs for this fic… probably… I might have some crazy idea a few volumes (of RWBY) down the line and, say, plop Jorge in for the hell of it. Just an example, that's probably not going to happen.
Glrasshopper – Thanks! And yea, I kinda dropped the ball on one or two of the perspective changes last chapter… hopefully this one's better.
SmoothedBeast36 – I didn't know about not classifying destroyers and frigates as capital ships, though it doesn't surprise me. Cruisers does, though. Under that definition, Atlas would be the only one with capital ships… and have twelve of them at that (I named all of them, too lol). And with the Fall of Reach thing, I didn't want to dedicate a ton of chapters in this fic to its documentation, though both your review and several PMs have persuaded me to make a separate fic.
Guest 04 – Tbh, I completely forgot about that plot thread… lol… Guess that's gonna get shored up now, thanks for the reminder. Also, I plan for Tai to appear in chapter eleven in person… maybe a phone call before then, but no promises.
Guest 05 – Thanks!
RSN – Thanks for the recommendations. I'll try to get by without doing the whole 'RUBY POV' thing, buuut if it becomes obvious that I can't make it clear who's talking, then I'll have to do that.
herpaderp1028 – Thanks! And I have no intention of abandoning this… I'm just a bit busier now than I was when I published the first chapter.
Spartastic 4 – Yea, it was a little soon… but she also wanted friends, and if she didn't tell them something then they would just keep doubting her and never actually start trusting anyone… so she was basically backed into a corner.
anthonyluna29 – It will be interesting to see when she does find out… because she will find out about her eventually.
SenorGorilla – Thanks! And she won't meet any more Spartan I's, II's, or III's… though I have a sneaking suspicion that she'll be meeting some "Spartan IV's". As for a prequel: I wasn't planning on it, but maybe in the faaar future… other than The Fall of Reach, of course.
And that looks like its it! This is by far the longest chapter so far… by almost 1k words, lol (I'm going by actual story content, not including A/N's) Anyways, see you guys next time in… 'Divide'
