The dance had finally come and everyone was starting to convene at the dance hall to enjoy the night. Taiyang and Qrow met up on the way, dressed up in tuxedos that made them way too uncomfortable, and realized the other half of their team was gone and were curious as to why. A phone call soon told them why.
"What do you mean you're not ready? It's been like half an hour!" Taiyang said and looked at Qrow in confusion.
"Don't confuse the issue here," Raven said over the phone, "I'm fine and ready to go. Summer is the one who can't decide what to wear."
"How is that difficult? Just put on a dress, that's all that Yang did last I saw her."
"I don't care what Yang did! And I would, but she's doing that weird thing where she's making things much more complicated than they need to be."
"What do you mean?"
"Well…" Raven drifted off and looked at the bathroom door of their dorm. She lowered the scroll, walked over to it, and slowly opened it to look at Summer inside, dressed down to her underwear and looking frantically between a dress and suit jacket, both white, hanging on hooks in both her hands before looking at Raven with tears in her eyes.
"Raaaaae, I don't know what to wear! Help meeeee!" Summer cried and was met by Raven shutting the door and shaking her head. She lifted her scroll up to her ear and sighed.
"Yeah, you probably heard that. We'll be here for a while, don't wait up."
"Got it."
"That bad huh?" Qrow asked as Taiyang hung up and put his scroll away.
"Oh yeah, but they'll be there soon. Let's go steal food until they get there."
"I like that plan." Qrow and Taiyang resumed walking toward the dance hall with Qrow trying and failing to do his tie. "Stupid thing… ah whatever."
"Need some help with that?" Taiyang asked with a smirk. Qrow glared at him as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Says the guy who can't do his own tie either. No, I'm good." Taiyang shrugged as Qrow slicked his hair back and looked up at the night sky. "Besides, isn't it more fashionable to skew with your clothes like this?"
"Only if you're fashionable to begin with," Taiyang replied with a sigh, "which we most definitely are not." Qrow groaned and nodded as Taiyang wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, look on the bright side! At least we're not him." Qrow followed Taiyang's finger to where Sun somehow had gotten his tie wrapped around a bench's armrest and was choking himself trying to escape.
"You got a point there. Should we help him?"
"Nah, he'll be fine. He's been through worse than that."
Sun was not ok and found he could only glare at his traitorous friends as they walked away from him. He gagged and fought against the tie more as the edges of his vision started to darken. Sun was sure his life would meet it then and there when the tie gave up and he fell to the ground gasping for air.
"Are you ok?" Sun's savior asked and Sun held up a finger as he caught his breath. Once he was sure he wasn't going to die he sat up and looked up at Blake, who was shaking her head and giving him a wry smile. "How did that happen?"
"It's nothing. Just some bad luck," Sun said and jumped up to his feet. He started loosening his tie while looking at Blake. She was thankfully looking a lot better than she had yesterday after getting some sleep and she had changed into a simple yet nice looking purple dress with a black sash around the middle to go with the lacy collar and sleeves. Her normal black bow was replaced with a purple one that matched her dress and she wore simple dress shoes to complete the look. Her arms were still wrapped in the usual bandages, which was odd to a major degree, but then again it wasn't hurting anything.
"Um… is something wrong?" Blake asked apprehensively as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear.
"What? Oh no, just taking it in. You're killing it with the dress, I gotta say." Sun gave Blake a thumbs up and a wide grin that got a giggle out of her.
"Thanks, and you…" Blake looked over Sun's party outfit, which was just a black shirt buttoned up and a tie being the only changes being the only changes he made. 'He still has his gauntlets on too!' Blake thought before shaking her head slightly and said, "Well, there was an attempt I suppose."
Sun shrugged, "I'm only doing this because Neptune forced me to. If I could go in my normal clothes I would." He pointed at Blake and added, "But what about you? Feeling nervous at all?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Blake said and rubbed her arm, "and not even a little. I'm very nervous."
"You can still back out of my plan if you want to." Sun only meant it in the best way possible, but it still struck a little harder than Blake would have wanted.
'Back out. In other words, run away from something just because it's too much to handle again. Even if it's something that means a lot to me, I still end up running from it.' Blake gripped her arm tighter and her face set in determination. "No, I can't do that. I'll never forgive myself if I do that." Blake let go of her arm and clenched her fist in front of her, "I'll see this to the end even if it kills me!"
"Good, but let's hope it doesn't come to that yeah?" Blake nodded and Sun cleared his throat before he did an exaggerated bow and held his hand out to Blake. He then asked, in as much of a haughty upper class accent as he could manage, "So, do you want me to escort you to your date Milady?"
Blake laughed at the gesture, but took Sun's hand regardless. "You're such a dork, but thank you." Sun straightened up and waited for Blake to walk a little closer before they both started walking to the Dance Hall. "So, what's the next step to your 'great plan'?"
"First, we meet with our collaborator at the dance! There we coordinate and plan our next step!"
"…So, Neptune?"
"Of course Neptune. Do you think I'd trust Scarlet with something this sensitive?" Blake smiled and rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else. Instead she simply decided to enjoy the walk in silence along with several others going to the same destination. Soon the Dance hall was in sight, its lights shining in the dark night and the music drifting out of the open doors and growing louder the closer they got.
Soon they were at the entrance itself, the music at its loudest, and they saw a silhouette in the light of a girl with bright blonde hair in a simple yet stunning white dress. She outstretched her right arm to the side before bringing it to her stomach and bowing deeply. "Welcome… to the Dance," she said politely and with a small smile, "honored guests." Blake's eyes adjusted to the light and she saw Yang clearly.
And then she laughed.
"Y-Yang, what was that?" Blake asked through her laughter. Yang slouched with a groan and moved behind the pedestal she had been standing in front of and collapsed on top of it.
"I have to do something to entertain myself. This is so boring! Why did I get the short straw to do the greeting thing?"
"Because you decided to say how you planned to do nothing but empty the food table all night right in front of Professor Ozpin," Blake explained and rolled her eyes, "It's your own fault that you got put to work."
"It's such bullshit."
"That aside," Sun interrupted while ignoring Yang's muttering, "has Neptune come in yet? We need to talk to him."
"He went that way," Yang said and jerked a thumb behind her to the back of the hall, "I don't know what he's doing and I don't care."
"Thanks, we'll get out of your hair now." Sun gave Yang a thumbs up as Blake led him away from the blonde. Yang sighed in irritation, once again cursing Ozpin and every Huntsman under the sun for putting her here, and looked up in time to see Ruby stumble into the hall in a red dress.
"Aw, look at you!" Yang said as she straightened up excitedly and bounced a little as Ruby gave Yang a sharp look while slowly walking to her. "My little sister is all grown up and wearing cute dresses!"
"Laugh it up Yang," Ruby grumbled as she made it to the podium and grabbed it to help steady herself. She glared at the heels she had on and growled a little. "I hate lady stilts! I'll never understand how Weiss can do anything in these."
"Don't worry, you're not the only one who wonders that." Yang looked around for a second before leaning in closer to Ruby and held a hand up to her ear. "So how's everything going? Is it all set?"
"She says she's ready, but it is Cinder." Yang silently nodded in agreement as Ruby continued, "But there is really nothing we can do about that. Let's just focus on keeping everyone at this dance. It shouldn't be too difficult, since this is a party." Yang nodded again and leaned away from Ruby with a large grin.
"Well let's not worry about that! Just get some punch and enjoy yourself. Unless you twist an ankle." Yang chuckled at the glare Ruby shot her and let go of the podium.
"I'll try not to do that. You're not taking my place if I do though." Yang waved a hand in the air and smiled knowingly at Ruby before she blinked and looked around her at the latest arrivals. Ruby looked back in curiosity and her eyes widened a little at Summer and Raven as they walked toward them.
"What, do you two have something to say to us?" Raven asked and crossed her arms. She had changed into a fancy red dress with a black minidress. Her hair also looked a little more combed out than usual and she may have even used a bit of makeup, though Yang didn't care enough to find out for sure.
"Nah, just enjoying the view," Yang said and leaned forward with a smirk, "You clean up real nice, Rae Rae."
"…You're lucky we're at a dance, or I'd knock your teeth out." Raven dropped her arms to her side and her glare sharpened, "And don't call me that." That was only met with a chuckle from Yang.
"I like your dress Summer," Ruby said looking Summer over. She had on a white dress -'Naturally,' Ruby thought- with a small white scarf tied around her neck, and gray pantyhose. "I'm jealous of your shoes too. I'm not good with heels." Ruby's ankles trembled and she nearly fell over before catching herself.
"Thanks Ruby," Summer said, desperately trying to ignore the blush creeping on her face, and sighed. "I still think I should have gone with the suit."
"Enough of that!" Raven groaned out and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You'd look fine in whatever you wore, but you were taking too long! I had to get dressed too, you know."
"Yeah, you're right," Summer said and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, "I'm just nervous I guess."
"Don't be. You really do look good Summer," Ruby said and gave Summer a small smile. That got a giggle out of Summer at least.
"And that's enough flattery for me. I'm off to camp the food table, so I'll see you all later." Summer waved at Ruby and Yang and started to walk away when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I don't think so," Raven said and looked Summer in the eye when she turned to look at her. "I'm not going to let you just stay there not having fun. It's a dance, remember? So at least get one in."
"But… I don't-"
"Stop talking and come on," Raven said and grabbed Summer's hand and started dragging her toward the dance floor.
"What? Uh, ok…" Summer stammered out wide eyed and gave Ruby, who was rubbing her neck awkwardly, one last look before disappearing into the throng of dancers.
"Well, that was something," Ruby said.
"You think they're an item, or was that just girl stuff?" Yang asked as she put her hands on her hips.
"I don't care. I'm going to find and annoy Weiss. Have fun with your job Yang." Ruby gave Yang a wave and started walking away slow enough that her heels wouldn't bother her, leaving Yang to moan and collapse against the pedestal while beating her head against it.
"Looks like your date got stolen from you."
"Eh, it's alright," Taiyang said and took a sip of his punch, "anything that gets their minds off all this shit we've been dealing with and smiling for once." Qrow looked back at Raven and Summer as they danced, Summer especially so if her large smile was anything to go by while Raven smiled softly as she led the dance. "Like, when was the last time you've seen Raven smile when it wasn't at someone else's expense?" Qrow was silent for much longer than Taiyang thought he would and when he looked at him saw him deep in thought. "Really?"
"Yeah, I'll have to get back to you on that." Qrow felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he turned around to see Jaune looking between him and the punch bowl. "Oh sorry, I was in a conversation."
"It's no big deal," Jaune said as Qrow moved over enough to let Jaune get at the punch bowl. Once he got his own cup of punch he moved around to stand next to Taiyang and started looking around the hall.
"What's your deal? Are you looking for someone or something?"
"Something like that, but I don't even know if what I'm looking for is here." Jaune sighed and took a sip of punch before swishing it around in the cup. "Whatever, I'm sure I'll figure that out soon. Where's Summer and Raven?"
"Seriously, you didn't see that?" Taiyang asked and pointed toward the dance floor right at Summer and Raven.
"…No, no I didn't. It's been kind of a weird day for me."
"I would think it's been a weird day for everyone. But hey, at least you're not her," Qrow said and pointed at Weiss, who was busy adjusting flowers on one of the tables while Ruby was on the other side pushing them out of place. Weiss would glare at Ruby, and she'd give a coy smile, and the process would repeat. "She's been doing that since she got here. It's probably a Schnee thing."
The music died down and Raven and Summer let go of each other while the dancers around them stopped as well. "Thanks for the dance Rae," Summer said and brushed some hair behind her ear, "it really did help."
"Yeah yeah," Raven said as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms, "I just didn't want you crying about not having fun." That only got a giggle from Summer and she walked up to Raven. She put her hands on her shoulder and both pulled her down slightly and stood on her toes to kiss Raven on the cheek, which left her wide eyed and with a light blush.
"Say what you want Rae, but we both know you can be sweet when you want," Summer said and gave Raven one last smile before she let her go and started to walk away, leaving Raven stock still in the middle of the dance floor. Summer and Taiyang's eyes met and she gestured backwards with her head and smiled at him.
"I think that's my cue," Taiyang said and drained his punch in a single swig and put the cup on the table. "I'll talk to you fools later, I got some dancing to do." He gave Qrow and Jaune finger guns as he walked around the table and onto the dance floor, giving Summer a high five as they passed each other. As soon as Taiyang got to Raven, he poked her in the shoulder to knock her out of her frozen state. "If I had known one kiss would be all it would take to break the ice with you, I'd have done that a long time ago."
"Shut up," Raven said glaring at Taiyang, though her blush only deepened at his comment, "that never happened, ok?"
"Whatever you say," Taiyang said with a chuckle and held a hand out to Raven, which Raven glanced at before uncrossing her arms and taking it. They moved into a dancing position and started dancing slowly when the music started up again.
"Hey Jaune. Nice suit," Summer said when she made it to the punch bowl and started filling a cup.
"Er, thanks. It's just a rental," Jaune said and looked around a little before sighing and taking a drink of punch. "I don't think that girl you talked about is here."
"The night just started Jaune. Don't give up so easily." Summer was about to take a drink when she saw Qrow's curious look and shook her head. "Long story Qrow."
"I'm sure it is, and I also don't care. I'm going somewhere else, I'll talk to you later Sum." The teammates exchanged waves and Qrow left them to walk to the far end of the hall, only taking a quick detour to where Weiss was trying to straighten some flowers to say, "For god's sake, no one cares about the flowers," before going on his way. Weiss jumped at his comment and watched him walk away before she huffed and stormed away from him, leaving Ruby behind in a small laughing fit.
"Well, putting my problems aside, I wanted to thank you again for helping me Summer," Jaune said and got a groan from Summer.
"Oh my god, I replaced one annoying trait with another!" She said and pinched her nose briefly before looking back at Jaune, "Seriously, stop thanking me for helping you! You're my friend, so of course I'd help you!"
"Right, I just… you know."
"Yeah, I know." The two friends shared a smile and Summer was about to take a drink when someone crashed into her and wrapped her in a hug, completely ignoring that they had spilled Summer's punch.
"Summer! It's so good to see you again!" Penny shouted and hugged Summer, once again forgetting her own strength as she squeezed Summer a little too tightly.
"Oh, it's you again," Jaune said, getting Penny's attention while Summer tried to slip out of Penny's grip, "You know Sum- oh wait, you do know her. Man, I have been kind of scatterbrained lately."
"Oh, hello friend of Summer! You're looking well tonight."
"Thanks. I like your dress," Jaune said gesturing at Penny's green dress. He was also momentarily drawn to the white cloth wrapped around her left arm, but didn't think much of it.
"Thank you very much, friend of Summer."
"…You do know my name is Jaune, right?"
"I know." The conversation stalled thanks to Jaune's befuddlement until a couple of Atlas soldiers ran up to Penny in a panic.
"Penny, you're going to kill her!" the guard with red trim shouted while holding his hands out carefully toward her. Penny looked at him and loosened her grip enough for Summer to slip out of her grip, to the immense relief of the soldiers.
"Really getting tired of that," Summer muttered as she massaged her neck and looked down at her mostly empty cup as she turned to Penny, "and my punch is gone. Oh well, more where that came from. It's good to see you again Penny, I hope you've been doing well."
"Oh very much, there are so many people here! I hope you've been enjoying the dance too."
"When I'm not getting strangled, yes. So are you going to introduce me to your babysitters?" Penny blinked at Summer's question before her mouth opened in understanding and looked back at the soldiers.
"Oh, you're right! I'm sorry," Penny said to the soldiers and turned back to Summer while gesturing to the soldier in red and then blue in turn. "This is Captain Biggs and Lieutenant Wedge. They're my escorts for tonight!" Penny then leaned closer to Summer to whisper, "They were also the ones who chased us on our trip into town that one time," and then smiled widely as she leaned away from Summer.
"I see. Well, it's nice meeting you two. I hope Penny hasn't been too much trouble for you." 'After all, I know just how much of a handful she can be on the best of days.' Summer glanced at Penny, her smiling face no doubt hiding the storm of chaos that bristled underneath.
"Penny has been nothing but an angel!" Biggs said happily.
"And she follows all our directions and never wanders off!" Wedge added.
"Unless she gets curious and decides to investigate when you're not looking," Summer said.
"That's only happened three times since the dance started," Wedge said and missed the look Summer gave Penny and the nervous giggle from the latter.
"Right. Well, I'd like to talk with Penny for a little bit, so if you need to use the bathroom or something I'll watch her."
"I appreciate that very much!" Biggs said and turned to run to the bathrooms as fast as he could.
"H-huh? Sir, wait for me!" Wedge said and chased after Biggs. Jaune and Summer shook their heads at the soldiers while Penny stared after them.
Summer started to refill her cup with punch as she commented, "I'm shocked beyond belief you can get away from them so consistently Penny."
"It's not that hard actually," Penny replied and turned to Summer in time to catch the flat look from her. "…Oh, was that sarcasm?"
"Yes Penny, yes it was."
"Amazing!" Penny said, her eyes sparkling, and scooted closer to the table to lean closer to the punchbowl. "So why is this called punch?"
"…I don't know actually. Huh."
Jaune, for his part, simply sipped on punch and watched as the girls chit chatted. Like Summer said, it was the start of the night and he would have plenty of time to figure out the 'flower girl' thing.
"Target has been spotted. Currently at the food table getting some of those snack things. The time to strike is now!"
"Yeah dude, that's nice," Neptune said as he struggled to hold Sun up as he stood on his shoulders, "now can you get off, you're really heavy!" A sudden flash and the click of a camera caused the boys to freeze and look at Raven and Taiyang, who had stopped dancing so she could take a picture with her scroll.
"Get off the dance floor idiots," Raven said and went back to dancing with Taiyang. Sun hopped off Neptune's shoulders and the two scurried off the floor while dodging between dancers toward where Blake was standing.
Blake crossed her arms when they got to her, both slightly out of breath, and asked, "Well, is it ok?"
"Yeah, she's here," Sun said as he straightened up, took a deep breath, and gave Blake a thumbs up, "and alone too, by the looks of it. We're good to go if you want."
"Ok…" Blake grabbed her arm loosely and nodded, her face set in determination, "then let's do it. Before I actually back out for real."
"Alright, then let's get to it!"
"Why do I have to be the one to help here?" Neptune asked and sagged a little, "You know how I feel about dancing."
"Because you're our best bet on helping. Scarlet would never be interested enough to help with this, and who the hell knows where Sage is."
"Chilling in the dorm, no doubt."
"Exactly! So it has to be you."
"But-"
"Neptune, it's literally two minutes of dancing, if even that. You can bear it for that long, and if things go well then I guarantee nobody will be thinking about you after." Neptune still looked hesitant and bit his thumb until Blake walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Please Neptune, for me?" She asked.
Neptune stared at her for a moment before he dropped his arms and groaned out loud. "Gah, I can't say no to a girl in need! Alright, I'm in."
"Awesome!" Sun said and leaned back a little when Neptune pointed a finger in his face.
"You owe me big time for this Sun!"
"We'll figure that out later. Off you go." Sun waved Neptune off, who rolled his eyes before walking away adjusting the goggles on his head, and turned to hold out a hand to Blake. "May I trouble you with a dance, milady?" he asked in his 'haughty' voice.
"Only if you promise to never use that voice again," Blake replied with a smile, took Sun's hand, and walked onto the dance floor. Once they were far enough in they took dancing positions and started dancing in time to the music while also carefully moving through the dancers like Sun had discussed earlier. "I'm a little surprised, Sun. I didn't think you knew how to dance."
"Everyone's always surprised when they find out I can actually do stuff! Do I seriously instill that little confidence?"
"I'm sorry, really. You and Neptune are going through all this trouble to help me, so the least I can do is show you a little faith."
"Well, the next part's on Neptune. Let's see how he does."
Meanwhile on the other side of the dance hall, Neptune approached Weiss sitting on the side lines and staring sadly at the dance floor. Following her gaze, he saw that she was looking at Sun and Blake just as they had started dancing. 'Is she…?' Neptune thought and looked back at Weiss' troubled face and had a small idea. "Uh, hey there Weiss," he said and waved when she looked at him, "are you enjoying yourself?"
"I suppose," Weiss answered and looked back at the dancers. Neptune clapped his hands together awkwardly for a moment before clearing his throat.
"So… want to have a quick dance with me?"
"I'm not interested." Neptune was only slightly taken aback by Weiss' bluntness before sighing and glancing away.
"I'm not really interested either, but I still gotta do it," he whispered just loud enough to get Weiss' attention.
"What was that?"
"I said, just for one minute! Seriously, just one minute! After that you can switch partners, like with someone you actually want to dance with and is willing to switch! Wink wink." Weiss cocked her eyebrow at Neptune since he literally winked at her and she glanced at the dance floor where Blake and Sun were slowly dancing.
"So… anyone?"
"Yes, anyone. Please do this, I'm really putting myself on the spot here." Neptune's incredibly forced grin almost got a laugh out of Weiss if she hadn't looked back at the floor and locked eyes with Blake, who was very much looking at her. When she turned around and Sun looked at Weiss, she rolled her eyes at just what was happening and stood up.
'So complicated,' Weiss thought as she turned to Neptune and held out her hand. "I suppose a quick dance will be acceptable." Neptune nodded twice quickly, took Weiss' hand, and stiffly led the way to the dance floor which actually did get a giggle out of Weiss.
That good mood lasted up to the moment they actually got onto the dance floor, got into position, and Neptune promptly stepped on Weiss' foot. Weiss would like to think the glare she gave Neptune would kill a Beowolf and, despite the apologetic look he gave her, the dance did not get any better as it went on. The third time it happened Weiss groaned and shook her head.
"You aren't a good dancer, aren't you?" she asked.
"Not in the slightest, so can we please hurry this along so we can end my misery?" Neptune whispered back, his eyes darting at Sun and Blake.
"Excuse me, your misery?" Weiss asked just as Neptune stepped on her foot again, which got him another glare.
"Alright! I knew he could do it!" Sun said and took his hand off Blake's shoulder for a quick fist pump. Blake wasn't entirely convinced it was all Neptune's doing, but she didn't say anything since they were getting closer to her. "Alright, it's almost time for the last step."
"Right. And how exactly are we going to do that?" Blake asked and looked at Sun, "You never really went over that part." All he ever did say was 'you switch partners with Weiss, and then profit!', which was just about all Blake needed to realize Sun had been making this plan up as he went.
And somehow it was working.
"One," Sun said and glanced at Blake for a second before looking back at Neptune.
"Huh?"
"Two," Sun said. Blake looked over just as Neptune glanced over and mouthed the same word. They were really close now and the dance floor was more or less clear of other dancers right there, which was when Blake realized what Sun was up too. Weiss seemed to figure it out just then too, if her suddenly wide eyes were any indication.
"Sun don't you dare-!"
"Three!" With one last step Sun let go of Blake and twirled her toward Neptune and Weiss, who did the same thing with Weiss letting go of Neptune and twirling on her own. They twirled for only a second before they met in the middle, Weiss easily grabbing Blake's hands and stopped her spinning. Both girls stared at each other, amber meeting blue, and Weiss smiled at Blake and moved her hand down to her waist before grabbing one of Blake's shoulders.
"I'll lead, if that's ok," Weiss said, barely noticing Sun and Neptune vacate the dance floor in a crouching run. Blake nodded after a second and started following Weiss' lead after taking a second to tighten her grip. The music changed to a more upbeat song and Weiss couldn't help but giggle after a few seconds. "You're already a better dancer than Neptune. Not a high bar, but still."
"I saw that, but thank you," Blake said with the faintest blush and smiled at Weiss, "I don't think I'm that good of a dancer though."
"Don't worry, you're doing just fine. Though if you wanted to dance with me, you just had to ask instead of making plans with Sun. Would have hurt my foot less too."
"I… I didn't know if you'd want to."
"Oh don't be silly." Weiss rolled her eyes and looked up at Blake as she got lost in thought. And she hadn't missed the sad tone of her voice either. "But this isn't just about a dance, is it?"
"…No, it isn't," Blake said with a soft sigh, "I guess I just needed a bit of encouragement before I…" Blake looked at Weiss, her blue eyes focused and filled with concern, and she took a breath to calm herself. "I needed to get something off my chest."
"If you need to talk, you can always talk to me. I mean, you already know that, but-"
"I know, and I was hoping for that. Don't get upset, ok" Weiss gave Blake a flat look, which Blake returned for a second before she glanced away in embarrassment. "Yeah, I just remembered too."
"Just tell me Blake." The music stopped and changed to a slower song, which caused most of the dancers to move slightly closer to their partners. Weiss was one of them, which didn't help Blake organize her thoughts any better, though she shook the feelings away and refocused as Weiss led her into a slower dance.
"Well… there's really no way to say this without it coming out of nowhere, but… I like you, Weiss."
"Well, I like you too Blake, but I don't-"
"Not like that," Blake interrupted and closed her eyes. Weiss blinked at that, but stayed quiet. "I may not have said it, but I never really shared as much about me as I have with you that night. I don't know why, but it was so easy to share all of that with you. I feel safe knowing that you know me, the real me. And it means a lot to me that you trust me to know the real you."
Blake, deep in the moment, took a chance and moved her hand on Weiss' waist further so it was resting on her back. Weiss' eyes widened in surprise, but kept silent and waited for Blake to continue. After a second Blake opened her eyes.
"After that night, I felt different about you. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but I can't get it out of my head now. I only felt something like this before once, but this - what's happening now- is nothing like that. I…" Blake paused and she scrunched up her face in thought before she shook her head lightly and looked away. "I'm getting ahead of myself. I should stop."
"…I guess I wasn't the only one doing a lot of thinking." Blake looked back at Weiss in surprise as she looked down at their feet and stopped leading. They did little more than gently sway back and forth as Weiss bit her lip in thought for a moment. "I felt differently since that night too, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was." Weiss glanced to the side of the hall where Summer was looking through her scroll with Jaune on one side and another girl on the other. Weiss smiled a little when she saw the blonde and looked back at Blake with a small smile. "I think I know what it is though."
"You do?" Blake asked, feeling the smallest bit of hope growing in her chest.
"Yes. At first, I thought it was because you were my first friend, so of course I'd want to be around you. But when I was with Ruby or Yang or anyone else, it doesn't feel the same way. And when I thought about you, it felt… I don't know how it felt, but it wasn't a 'being with a friend' feeling." Weiss smiled a little wider as she gripped Blake's hand tighter and moved the hand on her shoulder up a little more. Blake felt like her skin was turning to stone, she felt so stiff, though Weiss' next words would do much more than a touch ever could.
"I wonder if this is what love feels like?"
Blake probably would have frozen on the spot if it weren't for Weiss. She had just barely come to terms with her feelings for Weiss when she committed to telling her, so the idea that Weiss not only had been thinking along similar lines, but that she also could return those feelings completely blindsided her. As her mind reeled to catch up with this sudden revelation, she realized that Weiss was waiting for an answer and her smile was starting to turn into a frown.
Blake shook her head and closed her eyes as she answered, "I don't know. I don't really know what it's like to really be in love. But… this does feel right." She reopened her eyes to see Weiss looking at her surprised and happy. "I guess… we can at least try? You don't have to if you don't want, but-"
Blake was cut off when Weiss moved her arm around her neck and pulled her down enough to kiss her. A jolt went up Blake's spine and her eyes widened at the sudden feeling of Weiss' lips on hers until she started to sink into it and closed her eyes. Their outstretched hands lowered to their sides and interlaced their fingers. Blake was sure some people were staring at them now, but she didn't care because she was still trying to comprehend that this was actually happening. After a few seconds Weiss pulled away from Blake and looked up at her, her mouth still hanging open slightly.
"I think I would love to try," Weiss said and pressed her forehead lightly against Blake's, "And I think that it'll work out." Blake didn't say anything, simply staring at Weiss and it was really starting to worry her. "Blake?"
"Ugh, I'm so bored!" Ruby groaned to herself and rubbed her eyes. Her main form of entertainment had decided to go dancing instead of being tormented by her, so now she was left with nothing to do. At least until she remembered Summer Rose was hanging around near the punchbowl and went to see what she was doing.
Might as well get some punch too, even if she didn't really need it.
"Huh, so that's why it's called punch," Jaune said and moved away from Summer's side.
"That's a lot more boring than I would have thought," Summer said as she put her scroll away and shook her head. "I guess that's the world sometimes."
"What's that about punch?" Ruby asked as she reached the table and picked up a cup and started serving herself.
"Don't worry about it Ruby, it's not important. Such is the conversations we get into when we wonder about the history of food."
"Wow you're right, that is boring." With her cup full she turned to look at the dance floor and took a sip, barely noticing the fruity flavor. She did raise an eyebrow at the sight of General Ironwood dancing with Professor Goodwitch and sighed.
"Not enjoying yourself?" Ruby blinked and looked to the side to see Ozpin walk up next to their group with his hands behind his back.
"Not really. I'm not really a fancy, pancy, dancy kind of girl," Ruby replied and took another sip of her drink.
"That's why I believe in making my own fun. Right Penny?" Summer asked and looked over her shoulder at Penny, who nodded happily.
"Well, you can't spend every waking moment on the battlefield, as much as some of us would like to. Everyone needs a bit of levity from time to time," Ozpin said with his usual smile.
"We're all well aware of that Professor," Summer said with Ruby nodding agreement while Jaune rubbed the back of his head.
"You know, dancing and-what?" Ozpin started to say only to stop when he looked at the dance floor just as a bunch of cheers and 'ooh's came from there. The rest looked and saw why, since who wouldn't when they saw the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company being bent over backwards and kissed by her partner. Passionately at that. At least Weiss seemed to be enjoying it too if the way she was holding on to Blake's neck was any indication.
"…Ok," was Ruby's response. Somewhere over the crowd, she could hear Yang laughing loudly and hoarsely.
"When was that a thing?" Jaune asked.
"Raven better share those pictures she's taking," Summer said glaring at her partner as she sat on Taiyang's shoulders to take pictures with her scroll, all the while shouting 'Holy shit!' over and over. Soon Blake lifted Weiss up and broke the kiss with a slightly worried look.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," she said only for Weiss to shush her and press her forehead to hers.
"Don't worry, it's fine," Weiss said with a smile that only widened when Blake returned it. That was when they both remembered where they were and looked around at the crowd looking at them. Weiss glared at them, slammed her foot down, and shouted, "What are you looking at? This isn't a show!" That got the crowd to look away and go back to dancing, even if Raven spent an extra moment to laugh maniacally as she got off Taiyang's shoulders. Weiss huffed and shook her head, "It's like they've never seen a kiss before."
"I think it's more that it was you getting kissed," Blake said and smiled as Weiss rolled her eyes and looked back at her.
"Like I care what they think." Weiss wrapped her arms tighter around Blake's neck and moved closer so Blake could more easily hold her waist. "So, do you want to try this?"
"Yes, I do," Blake answered and blushed when Weiss smiled and pressed her cheek against Blake's chest.
"Then I guess that's it." Weiss giggled when Blake put her chin on top of her head and hugged her closely as they started swaying. "You know, this does feel right."
"Yes, it really does," Blake agreed. She glanced up to see Sun giving her two thumbs up and a large grin while Neptune stood next to him with a smile. She waved the two of them off as best she could without letting go of Weiss, which they understood and walked away to enjoy themselves somewhere else, and closed her eyes to enjoy dancing with Weiss while not caring about anyone who could still be watching them.
"Well… that just happened," Ruby said as she looked over the crowd in amazement at how fast they went back to dancing.
"Welcome to Beacon, where everything gets wild at some point for no rhyme or reason," Summer said with a good nature roll of her eyes and took a drink. She then glanced to the side and looked at Ozpin in concern. "Are you ok Professor?" Ruby looked over to see Ozpin covering his face with a hand that barely covered a much wider grin.
'Is he… laughing?' Ruby wondered as Ozpin straightened up slightly and lowered his hand.
"I'm sorry," he said as he schooled his expression back into his normal smile, "that caught me off guard. That's what I meant when I said we need a bit of levity."
"I didn't think anything could take you off guard," Ruby said with a quick laugh.
"I am only human after all," Ozpin said as he glanced at Ruby. His smile dropped and his gaze held on her for slightly longer than necessary before he turned away, clasped his hands behind his back and the smile back in place. "Well, I suppose I've taken up enough of your time. I'll let you get back to enjoying your evening. Just try not to stay up too late."
"Sure thing Professor," Summer said and waved Ozpin off. Once the headmaster was far enough away she huffed quietly and added, "What does he expect us to do? It's a party after all."
"I believe he has a point though," Penny said leaning forward just a little, "First year students are eligible for their first missions tomorrow."
"Wait, really?" Jaune asked, now a little panicked.
"Oh yeah, I did hear about that," Ruby said and rubbed her chin as she turned to look at Summer, "Are you planning on doing something Sum?"
"I suppose I can go on one if something strikes my interest," Summer answered with a light shrug, "That depends on what there is though." She then smiled and elbowed Jaune, ignoring how the boy bent over in surprise, and added, "I bet you're going to be happy to get some actual spending money from those huh?"
"Yeah…" Jaune said only to have his eyes widen in surprise and quickly look at Summer, "Wait, money? We get paid for those jobs?"
"Of course we get paid for those jobs Jaune. Students we may be, but we still need to get basic necessities. And I guarantee you Jaune, one good hunt is far more profitable than whatever allowance your parents give you."
"They… don't give me an allowance," Jaune answered and got a confused look from Summer and Ruby while Penny looked between them in happy confusion.
"Seriously? But I saw you buying stuff the other week! Where are you getting money if not from your family?"
"Uh… oh hey look, it's Pyrrha! I was wondering where she was!" Jaune said and pointed across the hall toward the stairs where Pyrrha was walking up. She stopped halfway up and looked behind her over the dancers and Jaune started to raise his hand to call to her, but stopped halfway through the motion.
Even from where he was Jaune could still get a good look at Pyrrha. He briefly looked over her red dress – which was gorgeous looking in his opinion – before moving up to her face. She was smiling as she looked over the dance floor, but Jaune could see that it didn't go to her eyes as she turned to continue up the stairs.
He only barely registered that she also had a white camellia in her hair as he was more worried about her being so downcast.
"Oh, so she did come," Summer said as she looked at Pyrrha and crossed her arms, "I didn't know if she would."
"She looks… sad," Penny said tilting her head and giving Pyrrha a sympathetic look as she disappeared upstairs.
"Yeah…" Jaune whispered and looked down at his reflection in his drink. After thinking for a moment he nodded and looked up at the stairs. "I have to go do something, so do you mind watching my punch?"
"No problem," Summer answered and looked at Jaune as he handed Ruby his cup and walked away lazily to the stairs. They watched him go until Ruby nonchalantly poured his drink into her cup and set the empty cup on the table. "Really Ruby?"
"It's his fault for leaving it with me, he should know better," Ruby said and took a large drink before she started walking away. "I'll see you around Summer, I'm going to bother Yang."
"Have fun with that. Come on Penny, let's go tease your babysitters." Penny smiled widely and followed Summer to the far end of the hall, which was the last thing Jaune saw of them when he glanced back at the dance floor before he focused on finding where Pyrrha went. He was soon pointed in the right direction thanks to a girl with green hair and found her outside on a balcony leaning against a railing. Jaune walked over to her as casually as he could and smiled when Pyrrha looked away from Beacon Tower and at him.
"Uh, hey there Pyrrha! Nice night tonight, isn't it?" Jaune asked.
"Yes, it is," Pyrrha replied with a nod.
"I, uh, like your dress. Your date isn't going to get mad at me for saying that, is he?" Jaune had meant it as a joke, but the way Pyrrha frowned and turned back to look at the Tower showed she hadn't taken it as such.
"I think you'll be ok."
'Ok, no jokes then,' Jaune thought as he walked next to Pyrrha and awkwardly clapped his hands together. "So… any reason why you're out here instead of inside?"
"I just… don't want to be around crowds right now."
"Yeah, I can understand that. Nora's probably thinking the same thing right now since she spilled punch all over herself." Pyrrha giggled a little but the awkward silence fell over them again. Jaune leaned against the railing to collect his thoughts for a moment until he decided to just rip the bandage off. "So… who did you end up going with?"
"… I didn't. Nobody asked me out," Pyrrha answered and looked at Jaune, who was staring at her in wide eyed surprise.
"What? But… you're Pyrrha Nikos! There has to be plenty of guys who would kill to go out with you!"
"You'll find that doesn't translate very well to real life," Pyrrha said with a slight shake of her head. A hand started to drift up to the flower in her hair and stopped next to her head before lowering it to her side. "I have been blessed with great skills and abilities that have opened many possibilities for me. At the same time though, when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, it separates you from the others around you." Pyrrha grabbed her wrist with a sigh and shook her head, "And that makes it very difficult to form bonds with those around me. They think I'm above them." Jaune could only scratch his cheek as Pyrrha looked at him with a small smile.
"But that's what makes you so special. When we first met, you didn't even know my name! And because of you I met Nora and Ren, Summer and her team. I've made friendships that will last a lifetime."
"…Wait, even Raven?" Jaune asked looking at Pyrrha in confusion when she nodded, "but she dunked a bucket of milk on you the other week while laughing about 'milk going with cereal'!" His confusion only grew when Pyrrha giggled at that and looked to the side with a smile.
"Yes, I know. That's funnier in hindsight." Pyrrha looked back at him and dropped her smile, "But that's what I mean. You and everyone else treat me like a normal girl, no different from anyone else. It's… refreshing, to say the least. I guess that's why, if someone were to ask me to a dance, I would have liked it to be someone like you." This time Pyrrha reached up to the camellia in her hair and adjusted it slightly with a sad look before walking away from Jaune.
That was when it finally clicked in his head just what everyone had been trying to tell him in the last day or so. He groaned slightly and rubbed his eyes before looking over at Pyrrha in time to see her wave at Qrow as he walked out onto the balcony.
"I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" he asked as he walked over to Jaune, who shook his head in reply.
"No, we were just finishing," he said.
"That's good, I'd hate to get in the middle of something like that. It's awkward as hell." Qrow reached into his jacket and pulled out a leather bound flask and unscrewed the cap. He took a quick drink from it and leaned against the railing and ignored the baffled look Jaune was giving him.
"Uh… what do you have in that?" Jaune asked and pointed at the flask.
"Atlesian whiskey," Qrow answered and took another drink, stopped mid-sip, and quickly lowered it and looked at Jaune. "I'm not supposed to have this, so… don't tell Summer you saw me with this."
"I… sure, no problem." Qrow lifted his flask toward Jaune in a cheer and took another quick drink from the flask before settling in to watch the Beacon skyline, all with Jaune string at him wringing his hands nervously.
After a moment Qrow sighed and shook his head before asking, "What is it?"
"H-huh? Uh, it's nothing. I was just… lost in thought?" Jaune answered lamely. Qrow groaned in irritation, set his flask on the railing, and pushed off it to look at Jaune.
"What is it? And don't try to weasel out of it, this has happened to me enough times that I know when they're trying to hide something from me. So just say it."
"…You promise you won't get mad if I ask?"
"I also won't answer if I don't like the question."
"That's fine." Jaune let out a breath and scratched the back of his head as he thought over his question before deciding to just go for it. "I guess… I was just wondering about that thing with you and Summer the other day. I kind of saw the end of it, and I know it's none of my business but-"
"You're right, it is none of your business," Qrow interrupted. He shook his head and crossed his arms before continuing, "Look, I get you're coming to this with the best of intentions, but Summer and I have known each other long enough to understand each other. She just wanted to make sure I didn't end up doing what I'm doing now, hanging out by myself for the rest of the night. I'm honestly fine like this." Qrow leaned against the railing, picked up his flask, and added, "It's not like I'm interested in that kind of thing anyway."
"Let me guess, too much stuff on your plate?"
"She gave you that speech too huh? But yeah, something like that. But don't bother asking, it's very personal."
"Like you said, it's none of my business." Jaune sighed and put his hands on his hips, "And thanks for putting up with my questions, it's just been bugging me."
"Whatever. Don't you have something else you need to be doing?"
"Yeah, there actually is," Jaune said with a nod, "so goodnight Qrow. Don't overdo it, ok?"
"I know my limits, don't worry," Qrow said and held out a fist to Jaune, who quickly bumped it and started walking away. "And seriously, you never saw me!"
Jaune gave him a thumbs up and walked back inside and backed up in surprise when he nearly ran into Summer as she was leaning against the wall crossing her arms with a smirk. They stared at each other for a moment until Jaune scratched the back of his head bashfully and said, "Yeah yeah, I get it now. Like I said, I'm kind of dumb."
"We're all dumb Jaune. It's what you do with your new found revelations that matters," Summer said leaning off the wall and uncrossing her arms. "Just make sure you do what you want, ok?"
"Well, what I want to do and need to do are different things right now, if you get what I mean." Summer nodded and gasped a little when Jaune suddenly pulled her into a hug. It lasted for a few seconds before he pulled away and gave her a quick nod of thanks to her, which she returned with a small smile as he walked around her back into the hall. "Oh!" he suddenly said as he turned back to Summer and pointed out at the balcony, "I didn't see him, just so you know if he asks."
"Noted. Go do your thing," Summer answered and waved Jaune off. She watched him nod and continue walking until he was around the corner and she walked out onto the balcony where Qrow was leaning against the railing. She crossed her arms and smirked at him as he took a drink from his flask and asked, "Getting away from the crowd Qrow?" Qrow jumped and looked back at Summer, his eyes wide in panic, and quickly tried to hide his flask in his jacket.
"Uh.. I guess… yes?" he said and straightened up as Summer's smirk widened. "Please don't tell Goodwitch again."
"Tell you what Qrow," Summer said and started walking to him and dug through a pocket of her dress to pull out a pack of cigarettes, "since it's a party I'll cut you some slack. If you don't say anything about my vice, I won't say anything about yours. Deal?"
"Deal," Qrow nodded and took his flask out again while Summer flicked a cigarette out of the box, grabbed it in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter as she settled next to Qrow. He shifted away from her a little as she blew some smoke out and put her lighter and pack away. "So you had to get away for a bit too huh?"
"I love her to death, but there's only so much Penny I can take at once. I needed the break," Summer answered.
"So you just left her there?"
"Of course not, I taught her the Robot and left her with her babysitters. That should keep her busy for a while."
"That's evil," Qrow said with a chuckle and took a swig of his flask.
"I can't be the good girl all the time," Summer replied with a smile and took a drag.
Yang was as relieved as she could ever hope to be when Ozpin told her that her duties greeting people were done and she could actually enjoy the dance now. She was sure she left him behind in a burst of wind from how fast she ran from that podium. She grabbed a plate, shoved as much food as she could onto it, and ran upstairs in a mad dash until she was far enough away to rest against a banister. Now she was enjoying every one of those fancy little treats as she rolled her eyes at everyone below her.
'It's weird seeing General Ironwood of all people dancing with someone,' Yang thought as she watched Ironwood dancing with Glynda, 'Weiss would probably kill to see him like this. I don't know who she'd kill, but someone would die.' Her thoughts and snacking were interrupted when she heard someone walk up next to her and turned to see Ruby leaning against the bannister with a blank face.
"Oh, hey sis. Nice to see that you're surviving," Yang said and waved a sausage at Ruby, who didn't react in the slightest. "So are you having fun? It looks like you were a while ago." Ruby didn't say anything and continued to stare at the dance floor, even after Yang poked her in the cheek with the sausage. "Ok, what's got you so quiet? You see something really horrendous or something?"
"Kind of," Ruby answered and looked at Yang as she ate the sausage, "I just walked in on the dolls making out."
"…huh?"
"You heard me." Yang quickly swallowed her food and leaned toward Ruby with a wide grin.
"Ok, I have to know how you stumbled across that. What were you doing?"
"I was looking for you, and for some reason I thought you might be in the bathroom." Ruby shook her head and added, "I was wrong."
"Ha. So why are you spooked?"
"…You know that face Weiss makes when you walk in on her binging sweets and she kind of growls out 'Begone…!' in a scary way?" Yang nodded and shivered along with Ruby, "Well, it seems her doll takes after her."
"Yikes, I didn't know humans could make a face like that. So when you say 'making out', do you mean-?"
"Oh, they were all into each other, and they were enjoying it too. We should stay away from the dorm for tonight."
"That sounds good. I've been feeling cooped up staying in that tiny room anyway," Yang said as she set the plate down on the railing and stretched her arms over her head. "You want to train in the forest when this thing is over?"
"If I'm in the mood for it."
"There you two are!" Yang and Blake looked at new arrivals and gave Emerald and Mercury unimpressed stares as they approached them. "We've been trying to find you for a while you know," Mercury said holding his arms open.
"That's because we've been avoiding you and your tacky clothes," Yang said and smirked when Emerald looked down at her dress, "but since you found us, what do you need us for?" Mercury and Emerald looked around for a moment before Mercury dug through his pockets and pulled out some ear pieces.
"Cinder wanted us to keep you in the loop. She's about to start."
"Is she? Well I don't really care," Yang said and went back to eating while watching the dancers. Ruby just shook her head and took one of the ear pieces and put it in her right ear as Mercury and Emerald did the same.
"Ruby's on the line," Mercury said as he and Emerald leaned against the railing, "And it looks like all the dancers have partners."
"How much time do I have?" Cinder asked over the ear piece.
"Well-?" Emerald started to say before suddenly leaning over the railing with wide eyes, "What the hell is that?"
"What's going on?"
"That Jaune guy just walked onto the dance floor wearing a dress," Ruby answered as she watched Jaune proudly walk through the dance hall proudly, ignoring the amused and baffled looks from everybody who saw him, and stopped next to Pyrrha as she almost keeled over from laughter. "I mean, it's a nice dress. And I'll give him credit for doing such a gutsy move."
"He's got nice legs," was Yang's sole comment before going back to eating junk food.
"Right… you have plenty of time," Emerald finished just as the music picked up and the reunited Team JNPR started a really well choreographed dance number in the middle of the floor.
"Better be back by midnight, just to be safe," Mercury added and leaned forward. "Damn, those are some good moves."
"I'll be sure to keep my eye on the clock." Cinder said and cut off communications.
"And on that note," Ruby said and pushed off the railing, "we should go down there and make sure the dancers stay where they are. Yang, let's go dance." This got a mock gasp from Yang as she put her hand to her chest and took a step away from Ruby.
"My adorable baby sister wants to dance with me? Why, I'm honored!" Yang said. Ruby's response was to smack the food out of Yang's arms and drag away her laughing sister with Emerald and Mercury behind them. They walked through the second floor of the dance hall and past an open door leading outside to a balcony, where Summer and Qrow were still deep in conversation.
"So Raven mentioned how she wanted to upgrade Omen the other day," Summer said and took a quick drag of her cigarette, "did she say anything about that to you?"
"Of course she didn't," Qrow answered waving his flask around, "Omen is her baby and she doesn't like anybody touching it or suggesting improvements."
"Huh, then why did she mention it to me? I must have had a breakthrough or something." Summer flicked some ash off her cigarette before taking another drag. "Anyway, she mentioned the upgrade to me and I've been brainstorming how to make it work."
"What's her idea?"
"She wants to make an extending blade so she can fight at longer ranges, I guess because of Hierophant. I was thinking about making new compact blades that can fold in on themselves so that they're just as strong folded out as they are in, but I think to make the whole thing work I'll need to help Raven design a new hilt for Omen and… I don't know how to talk her into that."
"I'm sure you'll figure a way out. You always do," Qrow said and took a swig.
"Oh, I'm sure I will. It's just a pain having to fight her about her weapon and- what the fuck is that?" Summer leaned forward and squinted.
"What's going…" Qrow started to say and trailed off when he saw a woman running across a rooftop on the other end of the plaza, her black catsuit shining lightly in the moonlight as she jumped to the other side of the roof. "Well, she's not supposed to be here."
"Nope. Come on," Summer said, her face set seriously as she stubbed her cigarette out on the railing and braced herself as she hopped over the railing. Qrow groaned and put his flask away before he followed Summer. He fell and landed in a roll while Summer Blinked the distance down and started running down the pathways. "You think she's going for the Tower?"
"It's the only important thing that way."
"Son of a bitch!"
Getting into Beacon Tower wasn't as difficult as Cinder thought it would have been. There had been only one soldier patrolling outside and had been easily choked out while the six or so soldiers inside seemed to want to engage Cinder in hand to hand combat to near suicidal single mindedness. 'They probably don't want to damage the Tower with gunfire,' Cinder figured once the last soldier in the lobby had collapsed, 'that works for me.' She walked to the elevators, her glass swords still in her hands, and pressed against a wall when one of the elevators pinged and opened.
"It's 'Beacon' with a '3' instead of an 'e', and a pound sign at the end," a voice drifted out of the elevator.
"Thanks. I've been missing Grifball and- what the hell!?" the other shouted and they both ran out, the one closest to Cinder receiving a swift kick to the stomach as he came out. She then rolled over the back of the soldier she kicked and swung a sword at the second guard, who only had enough time to shout "Who the-!" before he took the flat of her sword to his head and crumpled into an unconscious heap. Cinder then tripped the one remaining guard with her sword and smashed her foot into his face to knock him out on the ground.
Cinder couldn't help but smirk as she melted the swords back into her suit and walked into the elevator, the doors closing a second later and took her up. She took out her scroll and tried entering in the password the soldiers mentioned and raised an eyebrow when it went through. "Huh, so that's the wi-fi password. That's handy."
"You mean you didn't know that already?" Ruby's voice crackled through the comms, causing Cinder to roll her eyes, "Even I knew that! I just asked Summer my first day here."
"Well good for you! Is there a reason you're calling me?"
"Yeah, we got a small problem," Mercury said and stopped dancing with Emerald momentarily, "One of the dancers is leaving the hall."
"Who?"
"Ironwood," Emerald answered and watched as Ironwood walked away from Glynda and out of the dance hall with his hands clasped behind his back. "I guess he's had enough partying for one night."
"Want us to take care of it?" Mercury asked.
"No. By the time he even thinks to look at the Tower I'll be long gone."
"For your sake, you'd better be right," Ruby said with a shake of her head and refocused on her dance with Yang. She looked up at her in time to see her looking around the hall with a concerned look on her face.
"Don't look now, but I think we're missing a couple more dancers," Yang said as she glanced down at Ruby and looked around a little more, leaving the smaller girl to hum in thought.
"He's unconscious, but alive," Qrow shouted from where he found an Atlas soldier lying in the bushes. He jumped off the small ledge and jogged over to where Summer was typing on her scroll.
"So she really did go inside. That's fine with me," Summer said and gave her scroll one last tap and turned around as it started beeping. The two looked up in time to see two lockers fly over the school and crash in front of them, each of them hissing lightly before they opened up to reveal their respective weapons. "Let's go get her. And make sure to take an earpiece too."
"Sure thing," Qrow said as he grabbed Harbinger and flicked the blade down and back up again to make sure it was loaded while Summer took her own weapons, leaving York's sheathe behind in the locker. Once they were armed the pair ran to the Tower's entrance and cautiously entered with their guns up. "Well, someone had a rough night," Qrow commented as he and Summer carefully stepped around the unconscious soldiers. After a quick search, Qrow relaxed and shrugged at Summer before adding, "Not here. Maybe she's further up?"
"Check the security console, I'll get an elevator," Summer said and gestured at the desk with her sword. Qrow nodded before he dashed to the desk , hopped over it, and set Harbinger against it before he started going through the security cameras.
"Nothing in Oz's office. That's weird, that'd be the first place I'd go to if I was breaking in here."
"You don't think she went down do you?"
"No, you need special clearance from Oz himself to go down there right? And she wouldn't know about that anyway. Which means…" Qrow continued clicking through the camera feeds until he found the one he was looking for and jabbed a finger at the image. "There, at communications! Why are you there?"
"Keep an eye on her, I'm going up." Qrow nodded more to himself than at Summer as she boarded an elevator that had just arrived and swung her sword into a reverse grip as the doors closed and took her up. "So what's she doing exactly?"
"Just working on the main console, the one that stupid A.I. shows up at," Qrow said over the ear piece and growled a little while Summer checked the magazine in her gun. "She just put her hand to her ear. I think she's talking to someone, but I can't tell with that fucking mask of hers. Why don't these cameras have sound on them?"
"Privacy. Nobody wants to get eavesdropped on when calling family. Just let me know what she does."
"Got it." The lobby doors opened again and Qrow looked up with his hand going for his weapon until he saw Ironwood rush in with a few soldiers. They looked around at the unconscious soldiers until they saw Qrow.
"Qrow?" Ironwood asked and waved his men down before signaling them to spread out with a twirl of his finger, them doing so immediately while he walked to Qrow. He ignored Qrow rolling his eyes as he let go of his weapon and went back to watching the console, "What are you doing here?"
"Same reason as you," Qrow answered and put his finger to his ear piece, "Hey Sum, Ironwood just got here."
"Summer's here too?" Ironwood asked and was pointed to the elevators by Qrow.
"She's on her way up now." Qrow checked a gauge that showed the elevator's progress and nodded when he saw Summer's was almost at its destination. He looked back at the camera to see the intruder get up, look toward the elevators, and quickly crouch behind the desk. Figuring he'd seen enough, Qrow grabbed his weapon and rushed to the elevator Ironwood was waiting by. "Heads up, she just ducked behind the console. We're coming up to help."
"I'll keep her busy."
"The rest of you keep this lobby secure!" Ironwood ordered, "No one goes in or out without my permission!"
"Yes sir!"
The elevator dinged before it opened and Summer cautiously stepped out and swept the room with her pistol. Once she saw the room was otherwise empty, she trained her sights on the main desk and started to slowly strafe around it. "I know you're there," Summer shouted and spun her sword around into a proper hold, "so don't bother hiding! Come out with your hands up or you'll regret it!"
Summer took a few more steps before the intruder stood up. She was remarkably calm for having a gun pointed at her, though that may also have just been because of her full face mask hiding everything but her eyes. Summer barely noticed the hair tied back into a ponytail and had to keep from rolling her eyes when she got a good look at the rest of her outfit: the form fitting catsuit would have been fine if it weren't for the fact it was sleeveless with gloves to cover her arms instead and, for reasons Summer couldn't fathom, decided to unzip the front to expose her cleavage.
'Goddamn this spy movie shit!' Summer thought and tightened her grip on Soleil as the intruder took another step. "That's far enough!" she shouted, which caused the intruder to stop, "and I said put your hands up if you don't want-!"
Catsuit suddenly grabbed a vial and spread it out in front of her, releasing a cloud of Dust that quickly fused together into several sharp crystals before they shot toward Summer. Summer's eyes widened and she managed to Blink up into the air and flatten her body so the crystals passed under her and crashed into the wall behind her. While she spun in the air Summer fired at Catsuit, who had thrown away the empty vial and blocked the bullets with her hands. Summer narrowed her eyes at the shockwaves that came off her hands when the bullets hit and the way her clothing lit up.
Summer landed on her feet and spun Soleil into its dagger form and held it in a reverse hold in front of her as Catsuit spun around to form a pair of swords from a stream of flame, the glowing parts of clothes dimming a little when she did so. Summer charged at Catsuit, readjusting her grip on her sword as she ran, and stopped a few inches away from Catsuit as she swung one of her swords.
Summer swung her own sword and clashed with the other sword before Catsuit went for a roundhouse kick. Summer easily ducked the kick and went for a stab that was deflected by a sword. Since she was close enough Summer raised her dagger to bring it down on Catsuit's head, only to be blocked by the other sword and locking both women into a stalemate.
During the lock Summer took in Catsuit, from the color of her eyes to the material both her mask and swords were made of, and her eyes widened in realization. "You again?"
Catsuit's eyes narrowed and Summer saw a faint glow under her, so she quickly jumped and braced her feet against Catsuit and pushed away from her just as Catsuit jumped backwards herself, both of them propelled by the small explosion the glyph had produced. Summer threw her dagger back toward the elevator, where it embedded into the floor, and held her empty hand out to brace against the ground and continue her flip and land next to Soleil. She looked up in time to see Catsuit had formed her swords into a bow and had fired three arrows at her.
Thinking quickly, Summer brought York up and deflected an arrow away from her before she kneeled and raised her Aura as the others landed around her. They exploded and for a moment the flames licked at her and caused her Aura to flicker. With the immediate danger gone, Summer pulled Soleil out of the floor and switched it back into a handgun and aimed at Catsuit as she landed.
The two women stared at each other down for a few seconds until the elevator pinged behind Summer, who didn't take her eyes off Catsuit as Qrow and Ironwood stepped out. "Oh good, we're not late for the party," Qrow said, aiming Harbinger while Ironwood narrowed his eyes and started going for his own weapon.
"Nope, you're right on time," Summer said and felt a small amount of satisfaction at the look of Catsuit's eyes widening under the mask. "You're outnumbered now! So just give up and maybe you'll-!"
Catsuit grabbed something on her belt and threw it at the Huntsmen, the top popping off with a metallic 'ping', and all three realized what it was as Catsuit dove behind a terminal stand. "Grenade!" Qrow shouted on the first bounce, with the grenade going off on the second with a loud bang and flash. Qrow was unfortunate enough to take the full brunt of the grenade and was floored instantly while Summer barely had enough time to drop her weapons and cover her ears and Ironwood put an arm over his eyes.
Ironwood lowered his arm and drew his gun, even with the loud ringing in his ears, and saw Catsuit running for a window. He aimed and fired three shots, two of them going wide and hitting the window while the third hit Catsuit in the back. She stumbled a little, but it wasn't enough to stop her from jumping through the window and disappearing outside.
"Damn!" Ironwood shouted and rushed to the window, careful to avoid Qrow and Summer, and looked outside to the ground before pressing a finger to his ear. "All units, the intruder is outside the Tower! Hunt her down!" He continued giving orders even as he walked back at the teenagers to see if they were alright.
"Goddamn flashbangs, I hate those things," Summer complained while shakily standing up and rubbing her eyes. Once the stars were out of her vision she looked at Qrow, who was sitting up rubbing his eyes, and waved at him. "Are you ok Qrow?"
"What?" he answered after a second.
"I said, are you-"
"WHAT!?"
"…Just sit down and stay out of our way, ok?"
"WHAT!?" Summer rolled her eyes and left her teammate on the floor to go to the central console.
"Keep me updated," Ironwood finished and took his finger off his ear and holstered his pistol, "So what exactly happened here?"
"She was working on this," Summer said and gestured to the terminal before she started idly typing on the holo-keyboard, "I don't know why though. Mind if I check?"
"What?"
"And can you please help him?" Ironwood looked at Qrow, who was now rubbing his ears, and waved at Summer to continue before moving to help. Summer spared her teammate another worried look before going back to work.
The dance was starting to wind down when Cinder returned to the hall. In the dark corridor just before the main dance hall she threw her mask off, took out her ponytail to shake her hair back into a more natural look, and changed her suit back into a dress with a few glyphs all before she re-entered the bright hall. She had already started mingling in the crowd by the time the Atlas soldiers looking for her arrived, unwittingly destroying the glass mask underfoot.
Cinder had a bit of spare time, so she had a quick cup of punch before walking onto the dance floor to Emerald and Mercury slow dancing. "Mind if I cut in?" she asked on approaching them. Emerald turned and smiled at Cinder before stepping away from Mercury so Cinder could take her place.
"Any trouble?" Mercury asked while watching Emerald walk to the food table out of the corner of his eye.
"No. By the time they realize what's happened, it'll be far too late."
"So what now?"
"We enjoy ourselves. It is a party, after all." In the distance Beacon Tower started chiming to indicate it was now midnight and Cinder smiled to herself, unaware of the four sets of eyes on her.
"You felt that too right?" Yang whispered to Ruby and pulled the smaller girl just a little closer to her.
"Yeah, that was a lot of anger up there," Ruby answered with a nod and looked up at Yang and shared a nod, "Let's get an update later." Across the dance floor, two others were wondering something else.
"Where do you think she's been all night?" Taiyang asked.
"Busy probably," Raven whispered back shaking her head, "At least she found someone who doesn't care about those scars."
"Harsh. Let's get some food, I'm hungry." Raven nodded and started leading Taiyang away from the dance floor.
Across the academy, many people were leaping to action. Ozpin and Glynda left the hall as discreetly as they could on getting messages on their scrolls, Atlas soldiers were rushing one way or another while looking for the intruder, and up in Beacon Tower Qrow was recovering from the flashbang with Ironwood's help. Qrow glanced at his leader as she worked on the console, trying to find anything of use, and caught her gaze.
In the split second she looked away, an image of a chess queen flashed on the screen.
