And here's the next chapter! Sorry about the wait, I got some writers block on this one and school didn't help. But here it is and I hope you enjoy it!
"I'm going to look for her," Weiss said as she walked towards the door. Ruby grabbed her hand, and Weiss looked back at her. Worry was in her silver eyes.
"Weiss, hold on a sec." Weiss snatched her hand back.
"Why? Something is wrong with her Ruby, just look at that!" She pointed at the blood and cracked wall. Ruby kept her eyes on her.
"I know that Weiss. But we need to stay calm. It could have been Yang that did that; she gets really angry when her hair gets messed up." Weiss crossed her arms.
"So Yang just came in here before we woke up, saw her hair was a mess, and punched the wall." Ruby rubbed the back of her head.
"Well it sounds stupid when you say it that way." She looked around the room and her eyes rested on the bookshelf between their bunks. "She has her scroll with her." She said.
Weiss went over to her bed and picked up her scroll. She pressed Blake's icon and put it up to her ear.
"It's Blake. Leave a message." Weiss made an annoyed sound and ended the call. She looked over at Ruby.
"Anything?" Weiss shook her head. Ruby rested her hand against her chin.
"Hmmm." A look of realization appeared on her face and she snapped her fingers. "I have a class with her after breakfast. And Yang has one with her before lunch. And we all have a period with her in Glynda's class. If none of us see her there then we can start panicking." Weiss looked back at her scroll, at Blake's picture. She closed her eyes.
"Fine." She said. She turned around and made her way to the bathroom. She closed the door and took off her clothes. She could hear Ruby trying to wake Penny up through the door. She turned on the shower and the cold water shot out. She hated how long it took for the water to warm up here.
Weiss sighed and looked at the blood and then at the cracked tiles. What could be bothering her? Why didn't she talk to her and the others instead of hurting herself? She ran her hand over her scar at the thought.
She checked the water, and yanked her hand back; it was still freezing. She grimaced and saw that her soap was missing. She groaned; today was going to be an ordeal, she could just tell. She went over to the sink, and opened up the mirror. She pulled out her soap and closed the mirror.
Her reflection looked back at her. Her reflection looked over at the wall, and gently shook her head.
"And I thought we had problems." She said. Weiss narrowed her eyes.
"I don't have time for you."
"No need to be rude Weiss. I'm just surprised Blake would do something like that." Her lips curled into a frightening smile. "Maybe she was thinking of us when she punched that wall." Weiss scowled.
"Blake is my friend. She wouldn't do that." Her reflection laughed and Weiss felt her skin crawl.
"Oh that's what she wants you to think. You honestly believe that she's just going to forgive you for everything you've said? Everything you've done? You treat her kind like the scum of Remnant and you expect her to just want to be your friend after she dove through a window just to get away from you? You're a racist Weiss. And she deserves better than you. They all do."
She leaned forward, her nose pressing up against the glass. Her blood was boiling and she struggled to keep her voice down.
"You think I don't know that? You think I don't feel horrible for what I said to Blake? To all the Faunus I've met? That I don't feel awful for how I almost ruined this entire team? That I hate myself? Is that what you want to hear?" Weiss' breathing was heavy, her breath fogging up the glass. She leaned back; her reflection looked smug as it smiled at her.
"I'm not the one who needed to hear it," she said. Her reflection returned to normal and Weiss was left looking at herself. She turned away from the sink, disgusted, and marched over to the shower. She threw open the shower curtain and stepped into the lukewarm water.
His eyes slowly opened and he was greeted with the sight of a white ceiling. He groaned as he sat up, his torso sore.
"Take it easy, bro." Sun looked over and saw Neptune standing next to his bed. He looked tired but he was smiling, his eyes full of love.
"You okay?" Sun asked. Neptune nodded.
"I was exhausted after that fight and my aura was drained but other than that I was fine. You, on the other hand, bruised a rib." Sun grimaced; well that wasn't good. He tried to sit up even more but hissed with pain and started coughing, his body shaking, and pain shooting through his body with each cough. Neptune frowned and gently laid a hand on Sun's chest. "I said take it easy." Sun swatted his hand away.
"I'm fine you big worry wort. My aura can fix this." Neptune chortled before leaning forward and placing a kiss on Sun's brow. Sun smiled as Neptune pulled back. "What was that for?" he asked.
"Just my way of saying thanks for saving my ass back there. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn't decided to play hero." Sun winked at him
"Only cause you have an ass worth saving." Neptune laughed, and Sun smiled; he loved the sound of Neptune's laughter. Neptune looked over at the door.
"You want me to steal some pain meds and we ditch this place?" Sun's smile grew.
"Hell yeah bro. I should be fine in a little bit." Neptune leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before walking away from the bedside and leaving the room.
"So then it spun around and starts firing at me, and it's causing all the cars to explode as the bullets rip through 'em." Yang made an explosion motion with her hands. There was a twinkle in Nora's eye and she was leaning forward as she listened to her story. Ren was silently listening, drinking his morning tea. Jaune looked awe struck while Pyrrha looked concerned.
"Do you know if those people made it out okay?" Pyrrha asked. Yang held up her hands.
"I'm not sure; we helped pull some people out of burning and crashed cars but I don't know if it was their car, was kinda focused on not getting shot then." Pyrrha didn't look reassure and went back to her oatmeal.
"What happened next?" Jaune asked. Nora grinned and pointed her fork at Yang.
"Did you break its legs?" Yang shook her head and Nora slumped back into her seat, pouting slightly.
"So Neptune starts-"
"Who?" Ren asked, his first comment towards her about her story.
"The guy I had with me. Anyway-" Nora grinned mischievously.
"Ohhh, a guy huh?"
"Yeah. Cute, but taken. So he starts shooting it and I'm driving through fires and shit and it aims its missile launcher at us."
"Missile launcher?" Jaune asked. Yang nodded.
"Yeah. So I'm thinking 'Well fuck this is gonna hurt'. And then it goes flying off."
"Was there a loose bolt?" Pyrrha asked.
"Nope. My dear little sis shot that fucker off just in the nick of time." She looked over their shoulders and saw her sister walking towards their table, Penny and Weiss walking alongside her. Wait. Penny?
"Morning guys!" Ruby said cheerily, walking around the edge of the table and sitting next to Yang. Weiss sat down on Yang's other side and gave JNPR a polite smile as a greeting. Penny sat down next to Ruby and flashed them a smile, waving.
"Salutations!" She beamed.
"H-hello," Pyrrha said. Jaune waved back, and Ren nodded. Nora leaned in towards Penny, a grin on her face.
"Hi! Are you a transfer student? Where are you from?"
"I'm from Atlas! And I guess I am now."
"Ooh, neat. Ren and I are from Mistral; are you liking the food here? I just love all the sweets they have."
"I am! And the food here is much sweeter then back home."
Yang turned to Weiss as Penny and Nora talked.
"Hey Weiss, I need to talk to you about the dance. I have some ideas for it."
"Like what?" Yang looked back over at JNPR and Ruby. She turned to Weiss and winked.
"Let's go somewhere a bit more private to talk about it." She laughed as Weiss' face flushed red. "Not like that; I don't want to ruin the surprise for everyone else."
"Well don't say it like that next time you dolt." Weiss said. She picked up her tray and went over to an empty table, her cheeks still red. Yang stood up and flashed a pair of gun hands at her friends.
"Later guys, Weiss and I gotta talk about some stuff." She said as she walked away. She took the seat opposite of Weiss and wrested her arms on the table as Weiss picked at her food.
"First, some ground rules; this is gonna be a kickass party so no doilies, boring music, or any of that other rich Atlas shit." Weiss pouted and set her spoon down.
"Boring? My taste in music is not boring." Yang rolled her eyes.
"Sure it isn't." She teased. "But I know you love to plan stuff so let's compromise. What kind of music do you like that won't put a crowd to sleep?" Weiss pursed her lips as she thought.
"I like Stupid Thugs. Is that 'party' enough for a crowd?" Yang scratched the back of her head as she mulled it over.
"Yeah, I guess. Gonna be hard to get a crowd pumped up without more music though." Weiss cocked an eyebrow.
"Why don't we just hire them?" Yang laughed.
"You serious? Where would we get the money to do that?" Weiss grinned at her.
"Did you forget who you were talking to?" Yang whistled.
"Damn Weiss, that-" Her scroll chimed. Weiss' face fell as Yang pulled it out of her pocket. Ruby had sent her a text. She looked back at her sister, who was busy laughing at something Nora had said, before opening the text. Yang's eyes widened at the picture; it was their bathroom but the tiles on the wall were cracked and there were drops of blood on the floor.
"What the shit." She whispered. Her scroll chimed again.
"Did u do this?" She looked back at her sister in shock. She was smiling as Nora told a story but Yang saw she had her scroll in her lap, and her hand wrapped around it.
"wtf? no" Ruby looked down at her scroll before quickly looking back up, her thumb dancing over the screen.
"Let me know if Blake isnt in class wit u. Weiss will tell u the rest." Yang pocketed her scroll, and looked at Weiss, who was stirring her spoon in her yogurt.
"Weiss. What the fuck was that?" She looked back at the other table, and realized that Blake wasn't there. She turned back to Weiss "Where's Blake?" she asked.
"We don't know," she said.
"What? What do you mean you don't know? She was in the dorm when I left, where could she have gone?"
"We don't know, Yang!" she snapped. Yang scowled at her and Weiss took a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth. "She was acting okay when we went to bed but when I woke up she was gone. And the bathroom was, well, like the picture." Yang looked back at the picture
"You guys thought I did that?" Weiss shook her head.
"She wanted to make sure it was Blake who did that before we freaked out and started looking for her."
"Well shit dude let's go look for her." She stood up and tried to walk away when she felt Weiss grab her wrist. She looked back at her
"Ruby doesn't want us freaking out until we see if she is in class or not." Yang snatched her hand back.
"Why? And why did you two wait till now to let me know she was gone?"
"She wanted to see if Blake was here first, with you. Ruby didn't want us tearing the school and Vale apart looking for her if she just woke up earlier then us. And she didn't want to worry JNPR or the others about it if Blake really did just wake up earlier then us." Yang took her seat.
"She punched the wall Weiss; that's not a good sign."
"You think I don't know that, Yang? But right now we need to stay calm and just try to see what is bothering her." Yang rolled her eyes.
"And if she ran away again? Or went to go pick another fight with the White Fang? What then?"
"Then Dust help anyone that stands in our way when we go after her." She said coldly.
She walked into the greenhouse that served as Professor Peach's class and grimaced; Blake wasn't here and it was almost time for class to start. Her shoulder's sagged as she joined the crowd of people. It was muggy in the greenhouse and reeked of dirt, manure, and other earthy smells. She found a spot in the back of the crowd and looked down at her boots as the people around her talked; she didn't really know anyone else in the class aside from Blake.
The bell rang and Peach walked into the room, a big smile on her face.
"Good morning class! I hope you all enjoyed the Summer Solstice! Would anyone care to share what they did before we start today?" Several hands flew up.
Ruby sighed and pulled out her scroll; better let Weiss know it was officially time to panic. Her finger hovered over Weiss' icon when she heard Peach exclaim
"Blake! So good of you to join us. Try and be a little faster next time though. Oh! Tell the class what you did during the Solstice." Ruby looked up and felt relief wash through her as Blake stood in the doorway. Her body looked tense and her hair hung past her shoulders in an un-brushed mess. She narrowed her bagged eyes at Peach before saying
"Nearly got killed. Try watching the news." Peach's mouth fell open in shock as Blake made her way through the crowd of students, shoving past them and taking a spot in the back. Peach blink and closed her mouth before saying
"Yes, well, um. I'm sorry to hear that Blake, and I'll try to make an effort to do so. But I'm going to have to ask you to stay after class for a little bit." Ruby looked over at Blake. She didn't say anything and just gave a curt nod to show she had heard her. The students around her gave her dirty looks as she pulled out her scroll and started to read something. Ruby looked back down at her own scroll and hit Weiss and Yang's icons.
"Blake's in class" A few seconds passed before Weiss responded.
"Oh thank Dust. How is she?"
"U ask y she punched the wall?" Yang asked.
"She looks angry. And tired. Not yet. Will let u no later." She pocketed her scroll and made her way over to Blake while a student told the class about how she had called her mother in Mistral. Blake didn't say anything as Ruby stood next to her.
"Hey Blake," she said. Blake grunted and her eyes remained glued to her screen. Ruby rocked back and forth on her heels, her hands resting behind her back. "We missed you at breakfast this morning." Blake said nothing. "Are you feeling okay? Any girl problems we should know about?" She saw Blake scowl. "It's just we found some blood on the floor this morning in the bathroom, and-"
"I don't want to talk about it." Blake growled. Ruby looked down at her boots, and kicked at a stray rock.
"Oh, okay. Well, you know we're here for you right?" Silence. Ruby sighed and pulled out her scroll. "She isn't talking about it." She pocketed her scroll and looked up at Peach as she began to teach the lesson; something about the deadly nightshade or some other flower and how poisonous it was. She couldn't concentrate and kept glancing over at Blake throughout the lesson.
Her shoulders were stiff and she kept her scroll glued to her face. Ruby couldn't see whatever it was that had Blake's attention, no matter how much she strained to see it.
"And that class is ho-" The bell rang and Peach looked over at the dirt encrusted clock on the wall. The students started to file out of the greenhouse, and Peach smiled and waved as they left. "I'll finish this lesson tomorrow class! Have a good day!" Ruby watched everyone leave the room and stayed in her spot next to Blake. Blake let out a sigh and collapsed her scroll, before crossing her arms and staring Peach in the eye. Peach looked disappointed as she stepped towards Blake. Ruby looked at Blake.
"Do you want me to wait for you outside, Blake?" she asked. Blake shook her head. "Okay then. I'll see you at lunch?" Blake said nothing and kept her eyes on Peach. Ruby sighed. "See you later, Blake." She said as she left the room.
Ruby walked through the grassy field around the greenhouse as she made her way back to Beacon's main campus. The sun was beating down, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Ruby dragged her feet, and looked back at the greenhouse; she needed to know what was bothering Blake. She would be failing her as a leader if she didn't try and help her with her problems, whatever they may be.
Her scroll vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was from Jaune.
"Hey Rubes wanted to give you a heads up"
"Sure wut about?" She asked. There was a pause.
"Cardin plans on asking Weiss out to the dance. Said she already turned him down but that he wont take no for answer. Just thought Id let ya know." Ruby grimaced; now she had to deal with Weiss getting stalked on top of Blake hurting herself and becoming anti-social? God this sucked.
"O. Ill let Weiss know. Thanks Jaune! Ur the best! :)" She started to walk towards Beacon again; she couldn't afford to be late to Professor Verde's class again.
"No prob. We still meeting up at the library to discuss combo attack names?" She drummed her fingers along the side of her scroll as she thought about it. She might need the distraction. She shrugged and typed her response.
"Yea! See u then!" She left the conversation and clicked Weiss' icon. "Hey Weiss, Jaune told me that Cardin is going to try and ask u out to the dance."
"Ugh." Ruby smiled at her response. "I already told him no."
"Jaune says he wont take no for answer. Want me to let Yang or Pyrrha kno?"
"No. If he tries to do anything I will deal with him myself. Thank you for letting me know Ruby. I'll thank Jaune the next time I see him." Ruby almost put her scroll away when it vibrated again. "How is Blake?"
"Bad. She snapped at Peach & had to stay after class. Didn't talk 2 me at all in class"
"I hope Yang has better luck." Ruby nodded her head in agreement and looked up when she felt her feet hit cement. She was back on Beacon's main campus and hundreds of students were walking around the courtyard, making their way to their classes. She looked back down at her scroll and typed her response.
"So do I" She pocketed her scroll and started walking towards the left wing of the campus. Err, wait. Or was it in the right wing? Ruby groaned in annoyance as she stood looking at the two different buildings.
She opened the door to Professor Azura's class, and exhaled in relief at the sight before her. Blake was in her seat, reading something on her scroll. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired as she scowled at something on her screen. She hurried to her seat and flashed Blake a grin.
"Yo, Blake, how are you doing?" She didn't say anything. Yang frowned. "You wanna ditch class and head to the gym for a sparring match? You seem pretty tense. And ya know, like ya need to punch something other than a wall." Blake's turned towards her in a blur, her scowl deepening.
"What was that?" She said through clenched teeth.
"Uhhh. That I think we should have a sparring match? And that you need to punch things other than our bathroom wall?"
"I don't want to spar with you Yang." Yang cocked an eyebrow.
"You may not want to but you definitely need to do something to blow off some steam." Blake scoffed and went back to reading on her scroll.
"I'm fine. Now leave me alone."
"Yeah, no. Not gonna happen." Blake growled in annoyance and stood up. She stormed past Yang and went down the stairs, her fist clenched and her knuckles white as they held onto her scroll. "Where are you going?" Yang asked.
Blake didn't answer her as she threw the door open and stormed off.
"Shit," she said. She pulled out her scroll ad started to text Ruby. "I fuked up. Blake left class. Im gonna go after her" She stood up and started to go down the stairs when the door opened again and Professor Azura walked in. She cocked an eyebrow at Yang before flicking a strand of blue hair out of her face.
"Glad to see you here so early Ms. Xiao Long. Were you going to the bathroom before class started?" Yang shook her head.
"Nah, just doing some stretching."
"Hmph. I see." Yang did some leg exercises to sell Azura on her lie before taking her seat again. Students started to come into the class, noisily talking. Yang pulled out her scroll, and saw that Ruby had replied.
"U find her?"
"No. got stopped by azura"
"Ms. Xiao Long, please put your scroll away." Yang looked up from her scroll and saw Azura glaring at her. She put her scroll away and rested her head in her hand, annoyed. Well this fucking sucked.
She stormed into Professor Goodwitch's class and put her hands on her hips. The classroom was relatively empty aside from the girl she had been worrying about all day.
"Blake Belladonna!" She exclaimed. Her amber eyes lifted up from the screen.
"What do you want?" Weiss thrusted her arm forward, a finger pointed at Blake.
"For you to keep your promise! You said you would tell me whenever something was bothering you. And you know what I woke up to this morning?" Blake blinked and didn't bother answering Weiss' question. Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. "I woke up to you missing and very obvious signs that you had hurt yourself in the bathroom."
"And?" Weiss' eyes widened and her mouth fell open at Blake's question.
"'And?' 'And!' I've been worried sick about you since I woke up and that's all you can say for yourself? Tell me what is bothering you Blake! Did I mess up again and say something to you without thinking?" Blake scowled, her lip drawn into a tight line.
"No, Weiss, it wasn't you! Now just drop it, and leave me alone!" Weiss began to climb the bleachers, her eyes never leaving Blake.
"You're a part of this team Blake and we are never going to just 'leave you alone'. Whatever is bothering you we can work out. Together." She stopped in front of Blake and held out her hand. Blake looked at it before looking back at her scroll.
"You wouldn't understand. None of you would."
"Try me," she said. Blake stood up and turned towards her; towering over her as she lowered her scroll to her side.
"You. Would. Not. Understand. Now just-" The door opened and Weiss looked back to see Yang and Ruby enter the room. Weiss smirked triumphantly as they quickly made their way up the bleachers. She turned back to Blake. She looked miffed and she sunk into her seat, going back to reading on her scroll.
"Hi Blake! I missed you at lunch." Ruby said as she took her seat. Yang walked around Blake and took her seat on her other side.
"Yeah, it would have been great if you had been there. Jet and Nora go into an arm wrestling contest. The look on Jaune's face was priceless when Nora beat him." Blake said nothing, but Weiss could swear she could hear a low growl rumbling from her.
The door opened again and Weiss looked back to see Professor Goodwtich walk into the room, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora following her. Glynda stopped and addressed them
"Hello Team RWBY. So nice for you all to be on time for once. I hope you all are not too sore from last night as I am going to need a team to volunteer for today's assignment." Weiss gave the professor a winning smile as JNPR climbed the bleachers and took their seats.
"Of course not Professor. We are all in fighting shape." A tiny smirk greeted Goodwitch's lips.
"Excellent." Weiss sat down next to Blake as the rest of the class began to appear, filling up the bleachers.
Weiss glanced at Blake out of the corner of her eye as the room filled up. The bell rang and Goodwitch raised a hand to silence the room.
"Today class I am going to need five volunteers. One team and one individual. We are going to be learning about how to handle a crowd of opponents, something that is not too uncommon when confronted with a pack of Grimm or dishonorable enemies. Now who would like to volunteer?" Weiss saw Pyrrha's hand shoot up and Team CRDL's hands shoot up in response. Goodwitch nodded in approval. They stood up and made their ways down the bleachers.
Weiss grinned; with Goodwtich distracted with Pyrrha pummeling those oafs she would, hopefully, be able to pry some answers from Blake, and not jeopardize her academics for this class. She turned towards Blake, who continued to stare at her scroll.
"Do you feel like telling us what's wrong yet?" Weiss asked.
A growl was her response.
She stepped into the ring and gave her opponents a polite smile. They sneered and scowled at her as they unsheathed their weapons. She pulled out Miló and slid Akoúo̱ into place, her polite smile never leaving her face. She was going to enjoy this.
Cardin charged forward with a yell, swinging his mace at her. Pyrrha parried the blow before slamming the shaft of her spear against his exposed side. Cardin grunted before swinging at her again. She ducked out of the way and threw up her arm to block an attack from Sky. His halberd raked across her shield as he pulled it back. His stomach was exposed.
She thrusted forward, her spear stabbing into his stomach. He grunted in pain as his aura took the blow and stepped back, raising his halberd, and holding it in front of his chest. She heard Cardin grunt from behind her and she ducked, his mace swinging over her head. With blinding speed she spun her spear around and thrusted back, stabbing into Cardin's knee. While he fell to the ground, Sky swung at her again with his halberd. She rolled out of the way, and sprang to her feet. She saw Dove taking aim at her with his gunblade, Russel off to his side, his dual Dust daggers in hand.
She hurled Akoúo at Dove's face. Dove reacted too slow and the shield slammed into his face, his arm's swinging wildly. He fired and the shot hit Russel in the head, and he howled in pain as his aura broke. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head as his aura crackled around him.
Pyrrha heard a buzzing sound as she used her semblance to pull her shield back to her arm. Dove glowered at her and charged at her, yelling. Pyrrha held her ground, and grinned as she heard Cardin charging at her from behind. They had no coordination. She sidestepped them both; Cardin swinging his mace as Dove leapt forward. The look on their faces was priceless as Cardin's mace slammed into the back of Dove's head. He collapsed to the ground with a groan and Pyrrha heard the buzzing sound again.
Cardin rounded on her and charged at her. She parried and blocked each of his attacks as he swung at her. He had no rhyme or reason to it; he just swung wildly. She heard Sky lunge at her with his halberd and she threw up her shield. A jolt shot through her arm as his halberd slammed and embedded itself into her shield. She grit her teeth as she held off Cardin with her spear and Sky with her shield. Her leg shot out and kicked Cardin in the stomach, causing him to grunt and fall back, and she threw her full body weight into her shield. Sky yelped as he was pushed back. Pyrrha reached out with her semblance, and felt Sky's weapon. She thrusted forward again and pushed at the head of his halberd. The halberd slammed into Sky's face and he fell back, releasing his weapon. Pyrrha forced the halberd out of her shield with her semblance and tossed it away before spinning around to block another one of Cardin's attacks.
He stared at her, contempt in his eyes as he struggled against her spear.
"You're gonna lose you red haired bitch," he snarled. Pyrrha scowled but said nothing. She heard Sky get back up and charge at her, armed with nothing but his fists.
She kicked back and felt her heel slam into his crotch. She heard him let out a squeal and she heard the buzzing again. With no one else to worry about she pushed forward with all her strength and Cardin stumbled backwards.
She raised her spear and shield up as Cardin readjusted his grip on his mace. He charged at her once again, and Pyrrha held her ground before leaping over him at the last second. His mace came crashing to the ground as she landed behind him. He righted himself quickly, but not quick enough. Pyrrha slammed her shield into his back, causing him to fall to his knees and grunt in pain, before putting her spear in front of his throat and pulling up and back. He dropped his mace and grabbed at her spear as she strangled him.
He coughed and wheezed before he slapped his hand against the ground.
A buzzer sounded, and Pyrrha released him. He fell forward, ressting on his hands, and coughed repeatedly. Glynda walked into the ring, her heels clicking against the floor. A proud smile was on her face.
"And that's the match. Well done Ms. Nikos. Thank you for you cooperation, Team CRDL." Cardin, and the rest of his team struggled to their feet, mumbled some curses, and stumbled off the stage. Pyrrha gave a curt bow to Glynda.
"Thank you professor," she said.
"Not a problem Ms. Nikos. Now go get changed." She said before re-addressing the class. "And that class, is how to properly deal with a multitude of opponents. Any questions?" Pyrrha saw a student's hand shoot into the air before she made her way to the exit. She had hardly broken a sweat but even still it would be nice to get back into her uniform.
The bell rang and Ruby glanced over at Blake before standing up. Blake had collapsed her scroll, and her jaw was clenched; her nostrils flaring slightly. Weiss and Yang had been trying, and failing, to get an answer out of her all period.
Her sister and Weiss stood up, and Ruby began to descend the bleachers while students shoved past her and tried to leave as well. She looked back when she reached the door and saw Blake following after them, keeping her distance. Ruby shook her head before leaving the room.
Ruby was hit with a wave of sticky humidity when she stepped outside of the building. She walked down the sidewalk, before looking over her shoulder. Blake was still near the door, her hand hovering over her pocket. Ruby could see the outline of her scroll in her shorts pocket.
"Yo, Blake!" Ruby looked over to see Sun and Neptune walking towards her. Sun was moving stiffly and walked behind Neptune; a huge smile spread across his face when Blake looked over at him. She saw Blake narrow her eyes, and she grabbed her left arm. Neptune and Sun came to a stop in front of her.
"We were wondering if you wanted to head into Vale with us?" Neptune asked, resting his hands inside his jacket pockets. Blake's brow creased as she scowled.
"Why would I want to do that?" Sun cocked his head to the side, confused.
"To celebrate, silly. We stuck it to those White Fang assholes, why not celebrate?" He paused and looked her over. "You doing okay? You look like shit." Blake stepped towards him; her lip curling into a snarl.
"You think we 'stuck it' to them? We didn't accomplish anything you fucking moron!" Neptune's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he stepped between her and Sun.
"Woah! Calm down, Blake." Blake stepped towards him, her hands balled into fists. Her body began to tremble.
"No I won't fucking calm down! We stop one mech and you all think we can go back to our normal lives? Like the White Fang aren't out there doing who knows what? That we actually accomplished anything? We haven't! And we need to stop them before who knows what happens!" Blake screamed. Neptune's face betrayed no emotion, though Sun looked miffed as he watched Blake. People had stopped and were staring at them.
"Well we're sorry you feel that way Blake. Because we managed to save a bunch of people's lives when we stopped that mech. And when you guys helped the people trapped on that highway. And whatever all your friends did before the mech attacked. But I guess that's nothing to you." Neptune turned away from her and started to walk away. Sun followed after him with a huff. Neptune held up a hand as he left. "I'll let Honey and Flaxen know you couldn't make it. Later, Blake." He said.
Blake stood there fuming before turning away and storming off. The crowd watched her leave before scattering and going back to walking to their classes.
Ruby turned to Weiss and Yang. Weiss looked shocked, her hand resting over her mouth, and Yang gently shook her head as Blake disappeared from view.
"Guys." They looked at her. "I think we need to have an intervention."
She put her scroll to door to the dorm room, her head pounding. She heard her stomach growl and a twinge of hunger gnaw at her belly but she ignored it. She had to charge her scroll for the night before she went back to the library to try and learn any new information about the White Fang. She hadn't had much luck learning anything new but she was positive if she kept looking she would find something new. She just had to. She opened the door and felt her stomach drop.
Weiss, Ruby, and Yang were standing in the room. Yang had her arms crossed and her expression was hard. Ruby rested her arms behind her back and concern was in her silver eyes. She couldn't meet Weiss' gaze.
Animal.
She grit her teeth and started to back up. Yang frowned, and uncrossed her arms.
"Blake." It was Weiss. Blake forced herself to look at her; into her icy blue eyes. Her face seemed to soften when Blake looked at her. "Please don't run away. We just want to talk." Blake looked back at Ruby and Yang and felt a twitch in her legs; begging to run away; from the questions and their gazes. She looked back at Weiss, at her kind eyes. She stepped through the doorway.
"Fine," she managed. Relief washed over their faces and they started to walk towards their beds. Blake hesitated for a moment before following them, taking a seat next to Yang. Ruby was the first to speak.
"Blake we're worried about you. You've been acting really strange since last night."
"We think this investigation might be messing with your head." Yang said. Weiss held out her hand and started to count on her fingers
"You haven't been eating, you clearly haven't slept, you're snapping at teachers- while on academic probation I might add! - and you're trying to push your friends away." Weiss cleared her throat and motioned towards the bathroom with a flick of her wrist. "And, that, as well." Blake grabbed her left arm, squeezing her hidden emblem.
"You think I care about any of that? The White Fang are out there and they are putting innocent people's lives at risk!"
"We know, Blake, we've seen what they do first hand, and we want to stop them just as much as you." Blake let go of her arm and rested her hands in her lap. Seen it firsthand huh? She tried not to snort. Her eyes widened in disgust as she looked at her hands; they looked like they were drenched in blood. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Thanks to you and Sun we know that they are somewhere in the Southeast part of Vale. And that they are working with an outside party." Ruby said. Blake opened her eyes, and was immediately confused. It hadn't been blood, it was just the ribbons on her arms and hands. She shook her head and looked up at Ruby. Weiss held up a hand, her index finger pointed skyward, and offered her a smile.
"And thanks to your prompting of this investigation we found out that the White Fang have been stealing a large amount of Dust in Vale, instead of destroying it like in the other kingdoms. So we know that the White Fang here are up to something strange, and have been for several months."
"And that whoever the White Fang is working for, they've got some serious ties if they can steal experimental Atlas military tech." Yang added.
"But we haven't found out why they are doing all of that! Who bought them out? Why are they working with humans? Why do they need all that Dust? Until we know what they are planning we won't be able to stop them."
"We know that Blake. But we can't stop them if you work yourself to death or get kicked out of school." Ruby kicked her foot before continuing. "And… why did you do that Blake?" Blake crossed her arms and looked away from Ruby.
"Do what?" Yang shifted her position so she was facing her.
"Why'd you punch the wall?" she asked.
Because I don't deserve any of you.
Because I'm a murderer. I'm no better than Adam.
Because I don't want to lose you like I did my parents.
Blake took a deep breath to steady herself, and looked over at Weiss. She was watching her calmly, no sign of judgement on her face.
"I was just angry. With how we haven't stopped the White Fang yet. And how we couldn't help more people on that highway."
"Then take that out on your pillow or come with me to the gym." Yang said, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulder. Blake scowled but didn't try to break out of the embrace. "We don't want you hurting yourself Blake." She said. Ruby chewed on her lip for a moment before saying
"I want you to take a break Blake. Maybe come with us to the dance and unwind?" Blake broke free of Yang's embrace and shook her head.
"No," she said.
"Blake we want to help you. And we promise it will be fun, Yang and I are in charge of it." Blake grimaced; who knows what kind of obnoxious, loud music, and annoying flashing lights Yang had in mind.
"That sounds terrible," She said. She stood up, and turned her back to them; she didn't want to see the hurt look on their faces. She walked over to the door and opened it. "I'll be in the library," she said over her shoulder as she walked out and closed the door behind her.
"Fuck," Yang sighed.
"She can't keep going like that. We've gotta do something before she hurts herself even more." Weiss said. Yang nodded in agreement. There was a knocking at the door and Weiss looked over at it in confusion. She looked back at Ruby. "Did Penny forget her scroll?" Ruby held up her hand, her shoulders raised, and an 'I don't know' look on her face. Weiss frowned before looking back at the door and standing up. She walked over to the door and opened it. Weiss' body went rigid at the sight before her.
Cardin stood in the doorway, a smirk on his face, and red roses in his hands.
"Hey baby," he winked. The door slammed in his face. There was knocking at the door again. "Ah come on, Weiss, don't be like that." Weiss looked back at Yang, asking for help with her eyes. Yang nodded and walked over to the door to stand behind Weiss. She crossed her arms, flexing her impressive biceps as Weiss opened the door again.
That smug fucker didn't even bother looking at her as he stepped into the doorway and shoved the flowers into Weiss' face.
"So you, me, the dance this Sunday? What do you say?"
"What was my answer when you asked me out last time?" She asked, her voice cold. Cardin cocked an eyebrow.
"No?" Weiss nodded.
"And what makes you think I would say yes this time?"
"Because how you can you say no to me? I'm buff, I've got a jaw most guys would kill for, and you're…"
"I'm what?" Yang could feel a chill coming off of Weiss.
"You're Weiss Schnee; you're the prettiest, richest, and most famous girl here. It's only fitting for a guy like me to be with you." Yang scowled, struggling to keep her temper in check as she looked at his stupid face.
"Cardin."
"Yeah, ice queen?"
"All my life I've been dealing with guys like you; boys who don't actually care about me, and only care about my name and my money. Who want me as their trophy to show off to all of their friends. You're not the first clueless fool I've had to deal with, and I doubt you'll be the last. So my answer, now and forever, is no." Yang grinned as Cardin's ego began to deflate, and his expression fell "And for the record, I'm gay." She slammed the door, and Yang chuckled when she heard Cardin fall to the floor when the door hit him. Weiss walked away and went to her desk, cracking open a textbook.
There was a banging at the door. Yang scowled and threw it open
"Listen you fucking dyke, I-" Cardin's eyes widened when he saw Yang standing in front of him. Yang winked before grabbing him by the collar and lifting him off the ground.
"I'm only going to tell you this once so pay attention. Weiss is not into you. She will never be into you. And if you try to do anything to her, I will beat you to within an inch of your life. Got it?" Cardin nodded vigorously. Yang smiled. "Good." She threw him and he slammed into the wall at the other end of the hall. Cardin groaned as he lay there. "Now get out of here before I get mad." Cardin scrambled to his feet and ran off. Yang shut the door with a smile.
Jaune slammed his sword against Pyrrha's spear, gritting his teeth as he pushed forward with all of his strength. Pyrrha kept his sword at bay before dropping her spear and stepping out of the way as his blade came crashing to the ground. Jaune let out a yelp as Pyrrha's legs swiped his legs out from underneath him. He coughed before rolling onto his back. The tip of Pyrrha's spear greeted him. She was smiling down at him, and he felt himself smile back at her.
She collapsed her spear and holstered it before she offered her hand. He took it and Pyrrha pulled him up.
"You've really been improving." She beamed. He blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"All thanks to you." He said.
"So are you ready to do some aura conditioning?" Jaune shook his head, and rubbed his sore shoulder.
"Nah, Azura was pretty hard on me today. Want to do some cardio instead?" He looked at her, and started to blush again. There was a shiny sheen of sweat coating her olive skin, and her beautiful crimson hair was starting to look tussled. Her warm, green eyes were looking him over.
"Is something wrong Jaune?" Oh crap, he had looked too long.
"It's nothing." Pyrrha cocked her head to the side.
"Are you sure? You know you can talk to me about anything."
Even about how much I like you? He shook his head.
"I've just been thinking about this dance." There seemed to be a sparkle in her eyes.
"Really? What about it?"
"Just wondering how it's gonna go. I didn't really have much fun at the dances at my old school." Pyrrha cocked her head to the side, her ponytail falling over her shoulder.
"Why?" Jaune laughed slightly, causing Pyrrha to look more confused.
"I'm not exactly someone most girls would want to ask out. And I'm okay with that now; there are better guys out there." She looked disappointed.
"So you're not going?" she asked. Jaune shook his head.
"I'm still going but it's mostly to see you guys have fun. I know Nora's probably gonna do something crazy, and Ren will just go along with it." He smiled reassuringly. "And I guess I could meet whoever your date is." Pyrrha looked taken back.
"My date?"
"Well, yeah. I heard some guys in class talking about how they were gonna ask you out. They were pretty good looking so I don't see why you wouldn't say yes." Pyrrha snorted, and then laughed before giving him a smile.
"Actually Jaune, I do have a date in mind for the dance. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and he's really cute." Jaune gave her a smile as he felt his heart plummet to his stomach. He had been right. Pyrrha deserved better than him.
"Well, I can't wait to meet him." He managed to say. There was a twinkle in Pyrrha's eye.
"Neither can I. Now, let's get started on that cardio." Pyrrha walked over to the door on the rooftop, opened it, and looked back at him. Jaune gave her a smile and followed after her.
Emerald stuffed chips into her mouth as Mercury read a comic and Neo drew something. Cinder was sitting on her bed, her scroll in her hand.
"We think Pyrrha Nikos may be the candidate." She said, crumbs falling down her chin. Cinder looked up from her scroll, eyeing Emerald curiously.
"Oh? Do tell." She said. Mercury lowered the comic just enough so he was looking over it.
"There's few people that are a better fighter than her. It would be stupid to pick someone less talented than her, especially with how versatile her semblance is." Cinder cocked an eyebrow.
"I know she's a good fighter, everyone from Mistral does." Emerald swallowed before saying
"She's also compassionate, no matter who she is dealing with. And since she is training to be a Hunter it wouldn't be strange for her to disappear from the world's watch." Cinder tapped her finger on her chin as she thought about what they said,
"Perhaps you are right. Let's keep an eye on her to see how things go."
"And what about Ruby?" Emerald asked. Cinder cocked her head to the side as she looked at Emerald.
"What about her?" Emerald fidgeted somewhat under her gaze.
"What are we going to do about her? She's a Silver Eyed Warrior, isn't she?" Cinder chortled.
"I don't think she poses a threat to us. She's a child."
"But she and her team stopped Torchwick the other night. And she ran into you back in spring. She could know who you are and tell Ozpin." Neo looked up from her drawing. She set it, and the pencils on the ground, and started to sign
"Can I kill them? I can do it while they're sleeping." Cinder shook her head.
"That won't be necessary, Neo. If Ruby recognized me she would have told Glynda by now; she was there as well. And she is a child; it would be next to impossible for her to be able to use the powers of the Silver Eyed Warriors at such an age. She is no threat to us." Emerald went back to eating her chips; if Cinder thought she wasn't a threat then she must not be.
Mercury groaned and sat up.
"Brothers this is boring. Are we actually going to be doing anything soon?" He asked. Cinder smiled wickedly.
"Oh I have quite the weekend planned for us."
And that's it! Let me know what you think!