"Yang that's against the rules!" Ruby whined loudly placing her controller on the table.
"It's In the game though." Yang countered.
"It's a glitch that gives you infinite health." Ruby retorted.
"You call it a glitch; I call it a feature."
Ruby groaned and rose from her seat on the floor. "It's still cheating." She said with a sigh. "I have to study…". Yang shrugged it off as she disconnected Ruby's controller and went back to a single player game.
Ruby took a seat at her desk and opened her notebook searching for the section on aura theory. She was skilled in this topic, but some of the new material confused her slightly and she wanted to iron out the wrinkles in her knowledge before the upcoming test.
She normally wouldn't have wanted to spend her lunch break studying, but Yang's constant cheating was even worse. The team had recently started to eat their lunch in their dorm room instead of the cafeteria. They had been getting weird looks from the staff and students after their food fight with Team JNPR a month ago.
"Need some help Ruby?" Weiss asked walking up behind the teams leader.
"Maybe…" Ruby mumbled. "I'm having a hard time understanding sensory enhancement." She said turning around.
Weiss hummed at her partners statement as she pulled up a seat. "What part of it don't you understand?" She asked looking over Ruby's notes.
"Mostly the execution." Ruby responded. "I understand how it works clearly, but I have a hard time doing it myself. Thought maybe I was missing something in my notes." She stated looking back at the page scanning the words and doodles.
"Hey Blake?" Ruby spoke up after a moment of scanning her notes.
The cat faunas looked up from her book in response.
"Is it true faunas use aura to dull their senses?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow.
Blake marked the page in her book and set it aside. "Yes." She responded turning to face Ruby. She wiggled her ears under her bow, "I personally use it to dull my hearing to human levels." She explained.
"Why?" Weiss asked from behind Ruby.
"Because you guys can be loud and super hearing hurts." Blake retorted.
"Oh… sorry." Ruby apologized sheepishly.
"It's no problem, I barely have to think about doing it." Blake said reaching for her book.
"Wait what do you mean?" Ruby quickly asked.
Blake's hand moved from her book to her chin. "Well…" She started collecting her thoughts. "When I first had to dull my hearing long term, I had to concentrate on keeping my aura away from my ears. Now it's more like flipping a switch and I barely even notice its happening." She explained.
Ruby quickly took note of Blake's explanation. "Thanks, you can go back to reading." Blake nodded and picked her book back up.
Weiss was about to say something, but she was cut off by a knock at the door. Yang paused her game and got up to open the door. "Professor Goodwitch?" Yang asked as she opened the door.
"Greetings girls." The huntress said looking at everyone in the room. "The headmaster wishes to speak with you." She informed.
"Why?" Weiss asked getting up from her seat.
"It's a matter concerning your team." She vaguely explained.
Team RWBY exchanged looks of confusion before the professor spoke up again. "You should get going, it's best not to keep the headmaster waiting."
The team stopped whatever they were doing and exited their dorm room heading the direction of the headmasters office.
"Why do you think Ozpin wanted to talk with us?" Yang asked from the back of the group."
"No idea, we haven't been on any crime fighting expeditions in a while." Blake voiced her thoughts.
"She said it was about our team." Ruby reminded them.
"I would think it has something to do with the Vytal Festival, but how does that effect our team?" Weiss added another question to the pile.
"Maybe were not allowed to fight." Ruby suggested.
"That wouldn't make sense. We passed the qualifiers." Weiss debunked.
"Well, our sister is undercover trying to take down a plot that has something to do with the festival." Yang posited.
"Fair point." Weiss muttered in defeat. "How is Scarlet by the way? I haven't seen her in a while." She asked.
"Neither have I." Yang added looking at Ruby.
"Same here. I'm kind of worried honestly." Ruby stated making both Yang and Weiss look visibly concerned. "Last I heard, she sent me a text saying she was heading to the Mistral border with Neo for some reason." Ruby finished with worry in her voice.
"Why would she go all the way out there?" Blake asked.
"She didn't say." Ruby replied. "She did say she got back a couple of days ago." She added sounding a little more upbeat.
They stopped in front of the elevator that took them to the headmasters office. Ruby turned to her team behind her, and they all gave a collective shrug. Ruby sighed as she pressed the call button. A minute later the elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside. The ride up was filled with intrigued silence as the girls were lost in their own theories why they were called to see the headmaster.
When the doors opened they were greeted by a familiar silver-eyed twin with a golden necklace. "Sup!" She greeted as they stepped out.
Ruby quickly tackled her twin in a tight hug. "Where the hell did you go!" She interrogated.
"I told you." Scarlet responded unable to breathe through her sisters grasp. "Me and Neo went to Mistral to tie some lose threads up."
"That does not answer my question!" Ruby whined.
"I'll tell you some other time sis. Now can you please let me breathe…" Scarlet pleaded as she started to run out of air.
Ruby quickly backed off slightly annoyed at her sister. Scarlet turned to the rest of the team. "Blonde, Kitty, Snowflake." Scarlet greeted everyone adding a wink to Weiss' nickname.
"Where's Neo?" Yang asked scanning the room.
"Training with her new weapon." Scarlet informed not elaborating on what or when Neo got a new weapon.
Ozpin cleared his throat from behind his desk gaining everyone's attention. "Can we start now?" He asked rhetorically.
"Eh sure." Scarlet shrugged walking over to stand next to his desk.
"As the four of you know I ask you here to discuss a matter involving your team." The headmaster started. "But this also concerns your involvement in the Cinder case."
"What about it?" Yang asked clearly confused on where this was going.
Oddly enough Scarlet stepped forward to speak. "Cinder is going out of town to discuss her plan with a White Fang contact, and she won't be back until the final rounds of the Vytal Festival."
Team RWBY exchanged looks of confusion again.
Ozpin picked back up the conversation. "Because of this, I have seen it fit to end Scarlet's cover early."
A lightbulb went off in Ruby's head. "Wait does that mean!?" Ruby's thought was cut off by a loud buzzing in her pocket.
The entire team pulled their scrolls out and saw their team's roster pulled up. Everyone looked in shock at a new letter at the end of their name that was accompanied by a picture of Scarlet's face.
"As of today, you will by the first five-person team in Beacon academy." Ozpin stated rising from his chair.
Scarlet was immediately tackled to the ground by Ruby and Yang hugging her as tight as possible. Weiss snickered at seeing Scarlet's aura gauge fall a few percent points when they hit the ground.
"Welcome to the team Scar!" Yang cheered.
"I can't believe this is happening!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Can't breathe." Scarlet complained under her sisters.
They separated and Yang helped Scarlet to her feet. Scarlet dusted herself off and looked up to see her families beaming faces. "It's great to be on the team!" She said with a beaming smile of her own.
"Will you be living with us in the dorms?" Blake asked stepping forward.
"I don't know. I still have to move a bunch of stuff out of my apartment." She said with a slight groan.
"I think I can help with that." A new voice broke in.
"Dad?" Yang and the twins asked in unison.
Tai chuckled lightly. "I've cleared my schedule to help you move your things out." Scarlet was about to object but was cut off by her father. "And anything you don't bring here; I will take with me back to Patch." He stated firmly.
"Guess I can't say no to an offer like that." Scarlet said convinced. "I can give Neo a call and she can come help out."
"We can help to." Ruby suggested.
"We have class you dolt!" Weiss chastised.
Once again Ozpin cleared his throat. "Given the circumstances, I have allowed the five of you to skip classes today so you may help Ms. Rose move into the dorms." As he finished his sentence Ruby and Yang's faces lit up with joy.
"Moving party!" The sisters cheered in union.
"So where do you live." Weiss asked through giggles.
"My place is on the west side of midtown." Scarlet said calming her excitement a little.
"That's a nice area. How can you afford that place?" Tai asked a little concerned.
"Well believe it or not; crime does pay." Scarlet said sarcastically. "That and my landlord knows what I do and is a total push over." She stated quickly and dismissively. "Anyway, let's get going!"
Scarlet turned the key to her apartment and pushed open the door. She lead everyone inside and down the short hallway. "AH!" Scarlet screamed as she rounded the corner and saw Neo leaning on her dining table lightly petting Scarlet's cat Fia. "Neo how did you get in here!" She yelled.
Neo pointed over to an open window near the couch.
Scarlet groaned and pinched her nose. "And you couldn't have met us outside because…?"
Neo shrugged and smiled.
Scarlet sighed and turned to everyone else behind her. "Welcome to my humble abode." She stated gesturing to the room. "This is the main kitchen-slash-living-slash-dining area. Over there is the bathroom." She said pointing to the far side of the room. "And next to that is my bedroom." She finished.
"What's with Neo's face?" Yang asked absent mindedly pointing over at the short woman.
Neo sighed. "It's my way of showing that I am part of the family." She vaguely explained. Scarlet was quick to pick up on how uncomfortable Neo was talking in front of so many people.
"So," Ruby started. "Does that mean you're not just Scarlet's sister?" She asked with hesitation in her voice.
"Yes." Neo stated. She nearly had to force herself to say it out loud. "It will be… weird, for me at first, but Scarlet is my family and therefore so are you."
Tai was quick to approach the girl and wrap her in a hug, "Welcome to the family Neo!" He stated very proud of her.
"You can let me go now." Neo mumbled. Tai obliged and backed off.
Tai turned around and clapped his hands together. "Okay let's get started! I've got some boxes in my car outside, you girls get started sorting." He commanded before walking outside.
"You know." Scarlet started. "I am looking forward to getting rid of some of my old junk." She stated very upbeat. "Especially this couch." She said harshly, kicking it roughly with her heel.
"How about I help you pack away some of your clothes." Weiss suggested pointing towards Scarlet's bedroom.
Scarlet shrugged, "I don't see why not." As she led Weiss to her bedroom, Fia jumped from the table and onto Scarlet's shoulder lightly brushing against her hair. Weiss looked at the adorable cat with restraint clear on her face. "You want to pet her don't you?" Scarlet asked.
"Yes, yes I do!" Weiss answered excitedly.
Scarlet pick Fia off of her shoulder and held the cat out for Weiss. Weiss graciously accepted the animal cradling the cat in her arms. "Oh, you're so cute!" Weiss cooed.
The cat replied with a soft meow.
Weiss was quick to reward the feline with loving scratches behind the ears, all while cooing at it.
"How did you train her so well?" The heiress asked still looking down at the cat.
"Don't know." Scarlet responded closing the door to her bedroom. "All I did was give her a lot of attention."
Weiss took a few seconds to scan the room. It was small, but it felt more cozy than cramped. It had light grey walls like the rest of the apartment and carpet floors. Scarlet's bed was tucked into the corner near a window with a wooden nightstand next to it. Near the door was a shuttered closet with one door opened revealing many grey and red articles of clothing. The room was illuminated by a dim ceiling lamp.
"When did you get her?" Weiss asked still doting over the cat.
Scarlet sat down on her bed. "Around the time I moved in." Scarlet thought for a second. "That was around a year and a half ago." She said reminiscing.
"Well, it must feel good to move out." Weiss said looking up from the ball of fur tucked in her arms.
"Honestly I kind of have mixed feelings about this." Scarlet admitted.
"Why?" The heiress asked sitting down next to Scarlet.
Scarlet fell backwards onto her mattress. "This was the first place I was able to call home." She started. "I had been living with Neo for around four years give or take, and before that I lived with both her and Roman." She crossed her arms under her head and looked up at Weiss with her eyes. "When I moved in here, it was the first time I had a place I could call my home."
Weiss smiled down at the newest member of her team. "In an odd way… I understand that." She stated.
"How so?" Scarlet asked sitting upright. Her inquisitive gaze was caught by Weiss's warm one, and she nearly got lost in the heiress' blue eyes.
"I came here from Atlas." Weiss started. "My father controlled every aspect of my life back then but coming to Beacon was the first choice I made about my life. I barely knew anything about myself when I first came here, but every day I spend with Ruby, Blake, and Yang I learn something new about myself, and I've learned the most by spending time with you." Weiss interlocked her hand with Scarlet's and smiled at her lovingly.
"Well, aren't you the romantic?" Scarlet teased.
Weiss giggled at the tease. "About that…" She hesitated. "Is it okay with you if we keep our relationship secret from the others? At least until after the festival." She was quick to tack on the final sentence.
Scarlet looked a little apprehensive about the question. "I don't know. I like you a lot Weiss but keeping something like this from them just seems wrong."
"Look as soon as the festival is over we can tell them in the most elaborate, grand, stupidly sarcastic way you can think of!" Weiss proposed.
"Okay, I'm going to kiss you in front of them." Scarlet immediately decided as she stood up walking over to her closet.
"W-wait! Hold on!" Weiss stumbled out her face lighting up brighter than both Scarlet's namesakes.
"Too late snowflake! I've made up my mind." Scarlet stated digging her heels in.
Weiss' red defeated face made Scarlet break into laughter. "Come on let's get my stuff packed already."
Weiss rose from her seat on the bed letting the adorable cat jump to the floor. "One last thing." She said walking beside Scarlet. "I want to be your personal tutor to catch you up on everything you missed in school." She declared proudly.
"So, you're going to tutor me through grades K through twelve." Scarlet retorted.
"You never went to school!?" Weiss breathed out completely baffled.
"Not a single day!" Scarlet stated with a cheery tone. "And before you get worried about my education, Neo signed me up for some online classes when I was eleven."
Weiss let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I will just be catching you up on the current topics we're studying."
"I'm not a big fan of spending my first weekend at Beacon with my nose crammed in a book." Scarlet complained to herself.
Weiss mulled over the statement for a moment. "You could think of it as a long study date." She proposed.
"Not a big fan of studying, but I do like the idea of spending more time with you." She said with a flirty tone.
Weiss and Scarlet were quick set aside some of Scarlet's favorite clothes for Beacon and a small pile to be sent back to Patch with her father. Weiss laughed when she came across the grey jacket Scarlet had purchased during a mix up incident several months ago.
When they were done in Scarlet's bedroom the duo walked out into the main living area seeing that everyone had already packed most of everything away. The only room they hadn't packed was the kitchen, most of which was going to be donated. By mid-afternoon the whole apartment had been packed away into boxes and loaded onto Tai's truck.
"Now to just get this back to Beacon!" Tai exclaimed slapping the roof of his truck.
"How are we going to fit any of that in our dorm?" Blake asked crossing her arms.
A dead silence fell over the group. They all remembered the trouble they had trying to fit all their belongings into the dorm when they first moved in. The reason they had decided to bunk their beds in the first place was to take up less space. Now they had to find room for another bed, desk, and dresser.
"I can help with that!" Neo chirped poking her head from behind the car.
"How?" The original members of Team RWBY asked in unison.
"Neo's great at interior design." Scarlet chimed in after placing Fia in the backseat of the car. Her statement earning a thumbs up from Neo.
"If you say so." Yang reluctantly stated. "We have a lot of stuff in there, if you think you can make it all fit, then have at it."
Neo had a bright smile painted on her face. "Tai-er dad, um…" She stumbled for a moment. "What do I call you?"
Tai shrugged. "You can call me whatever you want, but if you're serious about being a part of this family, then you can call me dad."
Neo nodded with an unclear expression on her face. "Well, dad…" The words felt weird as they left her mouth, not bad, just weird. "Can you take me to the dorm room so I can get started."
"Sure thing Neo." Tai said opening the door for the short woman.
"Hey what about us?" Yang cut in.
"Go grab something to eat and get a bullhead back to Beacon, I'm sure we will be done by then." Tai said getting into his car.
"Its three-thirty." Yang defeatedly mumbled as her father drove away.
"Sooo…" Ruby trailed off.
"Now what?" Scarlet finished.
"Well you live around here." Blake said turning to the elder twin. "Is there anything to do around here?"
"Let's see…" Scarlet trailed off thinking about the area. "There's a weapon shop not too far from here with a built-in firing range." She suggested. "I know the guy who runs it pretty well, so he might let us shoot some rounds for a while."
"That sounds like fun!" Ruby nearly squealed.
"I am a little out of practice." Blake muttered.
"Hell yeah!" Yang cheered.
"So Weiss, what's your verdict." Scarlet asked turning towards the Heiress.
"I don't have a gun, so I might just stay to the side and watch." She posited.
"Well that's no fun." Ruby groaned in annoyance. A visible light bulb went off in her head and her eyes lit up with excitement. "What if me and Scarlet trained you in using one!" She put forth.
Before Weiss could answer Scarlet had cut her off. "That is an amazing idea!" She agreed.
"I don't know you two…" Weiss resisted. "I haven't even held a pistol before."
"Weiss, if you're going to make me study with you all weekend then you can at least do this for me." Scarlet stated.
Weiss sighed in defeat. 'Checkmate Rose, Checkmate.' She thought to herself. There was no point in trying to argue after a statement like that. Besides being trained in a firearm might come in handy down the line. "Fine let's go." She relented.
Scarlet smiled and wished she could grab Weiss' hand. Instead she punched her in the arm and led her new team down the streets towards the store in question.
The store itself was not much to see form the outside. It was a long, short concrete box with a steel front door and a small bulletproof glass window with the name of the shop written in faded letters. Hanging above the door was a wooden sign with freshly painted letters depicting the stores name, 'Bite The Bullet' in a militaristic font.
Scarlet pushed open the door and a digital chime rang out through the store. "Well if it isn't Scarlet Rose!" An old man with a crooked nose called out from behind the counter. He was tall but stood with a slight slouch. He had messy long jet-black hair and faded silver eyes with cataracts clouding his vision. He wore a long tattered dirty black cloak.
Scarlet ran over to the man and wrapped him in a tight hug. "It's great to see you to old man!" She greeted through a laugh.
"What brings you back to my humble shop?" He asked with a bright smile.
Scarlet broke away from the old man and motioned towards her team. "Just thought I'd show my friends the best gun range in all of Vale." She stated proudly.
The man chuckled. "What's with the clone?"
Scarlet sped over to Ruby and threw her arm around her shoulder. "This is my twin sister Ruby!" She introduced.
"So you finally found her." The man said slowly standing up.
Scarlet nodded. "And this is Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They all go to Beacon." She introduced the rest of the team.
"Is that so?" The man started walking out from behind the counter with the help of a cane. "Well, I'm Ivan Calavera." He said stopping in front of the team staring all of them down. "I used to be a huntsmen myself, had to retire when a Nevermore tore off my leg and dropped me ten stories!" He parted his cloak allowing the team to see the man's right leg was gone with a cheap prosthetic leg in its place.
"Not another one of your war stories Ivan." Scarlet groaned.
"Oh come on Rose, I wasn't going to go into too much detail." Ivan chuckled to himself. "Even with a broken spine and missing leg I made sure that Nevermore was far worse off than I was." He finished pointing at the group with his cane. He chuckled to himself a little as he set his can down on the floor. "I used to be able to turn Grimm to stone with a glance. Can't do that since the God of Nature decided to make me half-blind." He absent mindedly complained as he reminisced.
"You wouldn't have to be related to a Peter Port would you?" Blake asked a little amused by the interactions between the two. She shrugged off his claims of 'turning Grimm to stone' thinking he was just exaggerating.
"PORT!" Ivan broke out into howls of laughter. "Not in the slightest! I taught that hack back when he was a first year. Would not stop bragging about the Grimm he killed, most of it turned out to be lies." He shot back with shocking energy for a man of his age.
"You taught at Beacon?" Weiss asked intrigued.
"Eight years in total, four as a Grimm instructor, four as a combat instructor." He answered. "Quit after that. Kids are too much trouble for that kind of pay. Scarlet's the only one I ever had the patience for."
The team had only known the man for less than five minutes, but he had quickly earned all of their respects.
"Anyway…" Scarlet cut in. "I was wondering if we could use your firing range for a while?"
"Of course you can! Ammo's on the house too." He turned to the rest of the group. "What do you all shoot?"
"I use a fifty-caliber dust sniper rifle." Ruby stated stepping forward.
"You two are definitely twins." Ivan mumbled looking back at Scarlet. "I don't have dust here, too expensive."
"I can use lead rounds."
"Good. What about you blonde?"
"I use two shotguns gauntlets." Yang answered proudly.
The old man nodded and turned to Blake. "I use ten-millimeter pistols." Blake answered.
Another nod from the man and he then turned to Weiss. "I don't have any firearm training. Ruby and Scarlet were going to train me today."
Ivan turned to the twins. "So what did you have in mind."
"We could try some assault rifles and shotguns, or maybe..." Ruby started listing different weapon types only to be cut off by her elder twin.
"We'll start out with revolver types." Ivan nodded and walked into the back room.
"What was that about?" Ruby asked a little offended.
"Trust me on this one Rubes."
Before long the team had their rental weapons and were aiming down range. Blake and Yang were talking while firing the occasional round, and Weiss was looking over her options with Ruby on her left and Scarlet on her right.
"Quick question." She said rubbing her chin.
"What is it?" Ruby asked leaning in.
"What is the difference between any of these?" She asked looking down at the four revolvers before her. The one on the far left was the smallest of the four and was constructed out of a wooden handle and black steel chamber and long round barrel. The second one looked similar to the first but was slightly bigger. The third was a far cry from the first two. It had a silver paint job and black rubber handle and a larger reinforced barrel the closer resembled a semi-automatic handgun like the one Blake was firing. The final gun was much larger than the others and had a similar paint job to the one before it. The gun also had a massive revolving chamber.
Scarlet leaned over Weiss' shoulder and pointed to each one as she spoke. "The one on the far left is chambered in .45 colt. The next one is .44 magnum, after that is .357 magnum, and the big guy there is chambered in .500 magnum." She listed.
"What does that mean?" Weiss responded.
"It means each one gets more powerful the farther you go." Ruby answered.
Weiss nodded and picked up the colt revolver. "Lighter than I expected." She mused to herself.
Scarlet pressed a button and several targets dropped from the ceiling down range. "You remember the gun safety rules right?" She checked.
"Oh, you mean the rules the two of you grilled me on for fifteen minutes?" Weiss asked using Scarlet levels of sarcasm.
"And what were they again?" Scarlet insisted.
Weiss groaned and started listing. "Always treat the gun as if it's loaded. Only point it at the target. Always keep the safety on and my finger off the trigger." The heiress listed for the hundredth time.
"Kinda mixing some rules there, but close enough." Ruby said satisfied with Weiss' knowledge.
Weiss smiled proud at herself and pointed the gun downrange aiming at the closest target. She took a long slow breath to calm her nerves and lined the center circle up to the iron sights of the weapon. She slowly squeezed on the trigger until the hammer fell and the bullet left the chamber with a loud bang. Weiss was caught off guard by the recoil and she was thrown off balance with the gun pointing towards the ceiling.
"Oh yeah, lock your arms. Helpful tip for ya there Snowflake." Scarlet half mocked from behind Weiss.
"Gee, thanks… So helpful." Weiss fired back sarcastically steadying herself. She did smile at Scarlet's remark, and the newest member of the team was snickering at Weiss' come back.
Ruby's voice brought Weiss' attention back to the target. "Damn Weiss, you nearly got a bullseye." She said with an impressed whistle.
"I did?" She asked doubting the statement.
"Yeah!" Scarlet confirmed. "You might just be a natural shooter." She congratulated.
Weiss put the gun down with a proud smile on her face. "Try the .357 next." Scarlet suggested.
Weiss complied and picked up the modern looking revolver. It was slightly heavier than the colt, but she got used to it quickly. She pointed the barrel down range at a different target and stiffened her joints.
"Just so you know." Ruby started. "Magnum rounds and guns in general pack more of a punch than colts do." She informed.
Weiss nodded and turned her attention back to the target. Just like before, she took a deep breath to steady herself and lined up the iron sights with the target. She pulled the trigger and when the hammer fell she felt the force thunder in her arms, but she was able to maintain control of them this time thanks to Scarlet and Ruby's tips. A confident smile spread across the heiress' face, and she then fired rest of the rounds in the gun.
When an empty click echoed from the chamber she lowered the gun and placed it on the table. "So how did I do?" She asked smiling from ear to ear.
Scarlet clicked a button on the panel next to her and the targets slowly started to move closer to the bench. When they stopped moving Ruby stepped forward and analyzed them closely.
"Well in my expert opinion." She started.
"What makes you an expert?" Scarlet muttered behind Weiss.
Ruby shot her twin an annoyed glare before she continued. "You are a natural at shooting!" She chirped with a proud grin. "We've been missing out on your skills this whole time."
Weiss looked incredibly proud of herself as her smile grew even more. "So how did the gun feel?" Scarlet asked walking up next to her.
"It felt great to be honest. I've been using Myrtenaster for a long time, so holding the gun felt natural to me. When I was firing it, I felt like I was in total control of everything." She said, her voice overflowing with joy and excitement. "I wouldn't mind getting one of these for myself." She giggled.
"I can make you one." Scarlet immediately replied.
"You'd be willing to do that?" Weiss asked optimistically.
"I love making weapons, and if Neo is moving my kit into the dorm then I can get started pretty quickly." Scarlet stated casually. She then turned to her twin. "You want to help out Ruby?"
"Of course! I have a few design ideas that might look cool."
"I'll get some blueprints from Ivan. Be right back." She said walking towards the door. She pushed open the door back into the main shop.
"Done already!" The old man called out as Scarlet walked out of the range.
"Just getting some blueprints." Scarlet replied walking to the back of the shop. She quickly found what she was looking for and went back to the counter placing the paper down.
The old man's eyes fell on the pistol strapped to Scarlet's waist. "Big fan of that Desert Eagle still." He said reminiscing.
Scarlet rested her hand on the grip of the pistol. "Well you know me; I've always been a big fan of hand cannons." She pulled the gun out of its holster and admired its form. She had used this exact pistol every time she visited Ivan at this store. Ivan allowed her to paint the shell with matte black paint and add red accents to exterior. "I've had a lot of fun shooting this here."
"Then keep it." Ivan stated casually.
"What…?" Scarlet breathed out not trusting her ears.
"Take it, free of charge." The man elaborated.
"Since when do you do 'free of charge'." Scarlet asked using air quotes.
"Since my favorite customer is finally getting her life on the right track!" Ivan responded with a bright smile. "That thing was practically yours anyway."
Scarlet set the gun down and reached over the counter to hug the man. "Thanks old man." She backed off for a moment. "I'm going to Beacon with my sisters, so I might not see you for a while." She said solemnly.
Her statement was cut off by the old man. "I know what you're insinuating." He said dismissively. "And when the reaper comes for me, it's going to walk away with a few scars."
Scarlet sighed with a smile pulling at her face. "Let me finish." She cut back in. "You were the closest thing I ever had to a dad growing up, and I just wanted to thank you for that."
"You can thank me by doing well in class." Ivan stated handing Scarlet her gun back. "Maybe call Port out on his lies. Couldn't stand that kid when I had to teach him. Same with his partner Oobleck."
Scarlet took the gun and grabbed the blueprints. "I'll try my best." She said walking back into the gun range.
Ivan watched as Scarlet walked back into the shooting range. "You got some good kids Rose." He muttered to himself remembering his old student.
Scarlet walked back in and saw the team crowded around each other talking about their respective weapons. As she approached them she got a text from Neo saying her renovation to the dorm was complete.
"You use a forty-caliber rifle right?" Ruby asked seeing Scarlet approaching.
"Yes, and Neo is done with the dorm." Scarlet replied.
"Sweet, lets head back and check out what ice cream has done." Yang bombastically stated.
Everyone nodded and they left the building after saying their goodbyes to Ivan.
The team made their way back to the Beacon campus chit-chatting about random topics. When they arrived back at their dorm room Blake stopped them pointing at the door.
"That changed quickly." She said with a smile.
When the school year started the door was decorated with the team's name in each members corresponding colors. Now at the end of their name was a crimson 'S'.
"Team RWBYS." The newest member of the team said letting the words roll off her tongue.
"I like it." The teams leader stated.
"It does have a nice ring to it." Blake added.
"Watch out Beacon, the most badass team ever just got even more badass!"
"You couldn't have said that a little more elegantly." Weiss chastised.
Ruby reached and turned the handle and fully swung open the door. Inside the room leaning against the window was the newest, and oldest, daughter of the Xio-Long Rose family. "Welcome to your new dorm." She greeted gesturing to the room.
"Ho-ly crap Neo!" Yang vocalized walking into the room.
In the span of a few hours Neo had completely redone the room and solved the space issue. Yang's bed was removed from on top of Blake's and placed in the opposite corner. The same was for Weiss' bed which now sat in the corner. Ruby's bed was no longer haphazardly hanging from the ceiling by ropes and was replaced by an actual Bunk bed with a wooden ladder connecting it to the floor. Next to each head bord against the wall was the respective persons dresser that now doubled as a nightstand, but the twins had to share a dresser by the looks of things. At the foot of each bed was that persons desk with all their books neatly stacked and a lamp placed neatly on the corner, again it looked like the twins had to share. Above Blake's desk were several shelves lined with books, next to Yang's bed were several dumbbells, on Weiss' desk was a test tube rack with several dust vials in them, and on the twin's desk was a weapon modification kit that could have belonged to either of them.
"This is so cool!" Ruby squealed.
"How did we never think of this set up?" Yang asked crossing her arms behind her head.
"Great work as always sis!" Scarlet congratulated.
"Where did you get a bunk bed from?" Blake asked.
"Your school gives them to teams who want them." Neo answered. "All you have to do is ask Goodwitch."
The team exchanged nervous and awkward looks amongst each other. "You didn't know that I assume." Neo asked with a smug grin.
"No…" Ruby admitted for the whole team.
Neo lightly sighed with a small smile on her face. "Scarlet, I moved your clothes into the dresser and put your toiletries into the bathroom."
"Gee thanks mom." Scarlet groaned. The team let out a collective laugh as Neo's face tinted red.
"Hey guys, there's a bird in the window." Ruby said as the laughter calmed down.
They all looked at the open window, and true to Ruby's word, sitting on the open windowsill was a red eyed raven. Neo approached the bird and reached out a hand only for the bird to snap at her. Neo reeled backwards clutching her hand as a small trickle of blood ran down it. Scarlet quickly went up to the window and slammed the window shut.
"I'll get the first aid kit." Blake said speeding into the bathroom. She quickly came back out with a white and red box. The faunus took out the bandages and took Neo's hand and started wrapping it. Neo mumbled her thanks as Blake finished.
"That was weird." Scarlet dismissed. "You gonna be okay Neo?"
Neo nodded affirmatively.
The energy in the room quickly returned to normal. "We can't thank you enough for this Neo!" Yang said sitting down at her newly placed bed.
"It's nothing." Neo brushed off.
Scarlet took a seat on the bottom bunk surprised by how soft it was. "Thanks for helping me move." She thanked her gaze shifting from each of the members of her new team.
"Don't mention it." Blake said walking over to her new bookshelf. She eyed each cover carefully making sure every title was present. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw some of her, more sensitive, novels were missing.
Neo leaned in close to the cat faunas and whispered into her ear. "I hid your erotic literature under your bed." She half teased. Blake's face lit up bright red as she shamefully grabbed a random book from the shelf and buried her face in it. She silently sat down on her bed leaning against the wall.
"We should get to bed soon." Weiss said checking the time.
"I'll get some food from the cafeteria." Yang said getting up. "What do you want Scarlet?"
"I don't even know what they're serving." She responded.
"Then tag along and see." Yang said beckoning Scarlet to join her. Scarlet shot up from her bed and followed after her older half-sister.
Neo waved goodbye to everyone and made her exit.
Ruby climbed up the ladder to her upper bunk flopping down onto the new mattress. "This is a lot safer than what we used to do." She giggled to herself.
"Best part is I don't have to worry about you falling on me in the middle of the night." Weiss joked sitting down at her desk.
"I'm so excited that Scarlet is on our team now!" Ruby exclaimed throwing her arms into the air.
"It will be fun to have her around more often." Weiss agreed for different reasons than Ruby.
"How do you think everyone will react on Monday?" Ruby asked leaning over the edge of the bed to look down at Weiss.
"Confusion I'd guess." Weiss responded. "You two look identical, but your personalities couldn't be more different."
"You don't think this might be a little dangerous?" Blake asked peaking up from her book.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked tilting her head to the side. Weiss raised in eyebrow along with Ruby's statement.
"She's still Red. Torchwick's daughter that's been hiding from the law. If I was able to figure it out, than someone else will." Blake explained.
"I think you might be being overly paranoid again." Weiss stated a little concerned for her friend's mental state.
"I mean, Blake might have a point." Ruby said, unexpectedly agreeing with Blake. "Someone familiar with the case might recognize her sword or fighting style." She stated with an oddly logical tone.
"The odds of that happening are astronomically low." Weiss retorted.
"I know." Ruby answered. "But better to expect it than to be caught off guard."
Weiss mulled over Ruby's words for a second. "I guess you have a point there."
"So in the unlikely scenario where someone confronts us about Scarlet's past," Blake started. "What do we do?"
The red and white partners went into deep thought for a moment. "Well having a cover story would be a good start." Weiss said crossing her legs. "She's the first person to enter Beacon halfway through the year, she's joining a five-person team, and she's entering a year in advance. It's safe to assume that will draw some attention." She listed. "We will be asked about that more, so we should have a cover for that sooner." She explained earning nods from the other two in the room.
"Early graduation from combat schools isn't uncommon." Ruby stated. "And my uncle is close with Ozpin… maybe we could say that he pulled some strings and got her in." She suggested.
"A bit flimsy," Blake mumbled. "But it might stop people from asking to many questions for a while."
"So what if somebody finds out she used to be Red?" Weiss asked returning to the original topic.
"Could just pull the coincidence card." Blake suggested.
"I think we take them to Ozpin." Ruby stated shooting down Blake's suggestion. "If that does happen, it's just better to tell the truth than lie."
The white and black members of the team nodded at the logical statement. If worst did come to shove, then lying would do nothing but cause more problems and issues. Telling them the truth of how Scarlet was instrumental in the downfall of Torchwick, and was about to stop a terrorist plot, would be the best course of action. Telling people that Scarlet was just a prodigy like Ruby would be a good cover for the girl's sudden appearance at the school.
A loud knock echoed through the room shortly being followed by Yang's shouts to open the door. Weiss opened the door letting Yang and Scarlet back inside. Both of them were carrying trays of food with plates on them. They handed each plate to the respective member, the twins got spaghetti, Weiss got scampi, Blake got fish, and Yang got a small pizza. The team sat at their desks, Ruby had to sit on her bed, as they talked and joked. They finished their dinner and Blake volunteered to return the plates and silverware.
Once she returned they organized a new bathroom schedule to fit Scarlet into the equation and got ready for bed.
Scarlet's eyes fluttered open, and she rolled over in bed to face the rest of the room. As usual Blake was missing from her bed and the sound of running water echoed in the bathroom. She rose from her bed and opened the shared dresser, pulling out one of the two identical copies of the schools uniforms. She gently set it on her bed as the water in the bathroom cut off and Blake walked out in her school uniform drying her hair with a towel.
"Good morning Scarlet." She greeted seeing the twin standing there.
"Mornin' Blake." Scarlet greeted in return. She grabbed her towel from the dresser and made her way into the bathroom carrying her uniform.
This was the routine that Scarlet and Blake picked up naturally over the weekend. Blake would normally wake up first and hit the shower, and Scarlet would typically wake up a little after and wait for her turn. The two of them would then go to the cafeteria and get the team breakfast.
Scarlet left the shower thirty minutes later dressed in her uniform. Blake put down the book she was reading and motioned for Scarlet to lead the way. They exited the dorm room heading down towards the cafeteria.
"You ready for your first day?" Blake asked fastening her bow to her ears.
"I am absolutely terrified." Scarlet confessed, anxiety leaking through her confident façade.
Blake chuckled a little. "You will be just fine. You got the rest of us to look out for you." She reassured. "That and Weiss has had you cooped up in the dorm all weekend studying. I doubt you're going to fall behind."
"You see that's kinda the problem. I've been cooped up in the dorm for two days. Nobody knows that I have transferred here." Scarlet said more anxiety leaking into her voice.
"Think of it as a grand reveal." Blake responded. "You've always been one for theatrics." Blake stated with a wink.
A small smile pulled at Scarlet's lips. "I think I have an idea…" She mumbled.
"Mind filling me in?" Blake asked raising an eyebrow in intrigue.
"Nope!" Scarlet responded with a pop.
Blake lightly sighed. Scarlet might look just like Ruby, but she definitely had a little of Yang in her.
The news spread like wildfire. Port made sure to introduce Scarlet to the whole class, and the same went for Oobleck. It didn't take long for the news of Ruby's identical twin to spread across the student body like a plague. All day people were walking up to either of the twins to ask them questions on how Ruby got into Beacon early and how Scarlet was allowed in halfway through the year. By the time they got to the last period of the day the twins were both as red as their first names.
They large team entered the combat training classroom and took their seats near the front of the stands. Scarlet and Ruby slumped down into their seats and took a deep exasperated breath.
"Only one more class to go." Scarlet mumbled to herself.
"This one is my favorite." Ruby excitedly whispered to her twin.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow hoping for Ruby to elaborate, but when Ruby opened her mouth she was cut off by the professor approaching them. "Good afternoon ladies." Professor Goodwitch greeted walking up to them. They all waved at the huntress. She turned towards Scarlet, "Since you are the newest student here, I would like you to fight first."
"Do I get to pick who I fight?" Scarlet asked with a new energy.
"If you wish."
Scarlet thought for a second before answering. "I want to fight Ruby." She stated punching Ruby in the arm.
Ruby quickly shot up in her seat with a new energy herself. "HELL YEAH!" She energetically yelled.
The twins quickly ran down to the locker room and changed into their hunter uniforms and grabbed their weapons. Scarlet was in the middle of loading a magazine into Slicer Thorn when Ruby walked up behind her.
"I am so going to beat you in this fight!" She bragged.
"Oh really?" Scarlet challenged standing up from the bench.
"Obviously!" Ruby's voice was overflowing with confidence. "I go to this class every day. I'm also the third best fighter in class behind Pyrrha and Yang."
"Need I remind you of the last two times we fought." Scarlet countered with a smug smile.
Ruby looked a little taken aback for a second, but she quickly collected herself. "You let me win the first time, and I went easy on you while we were on the train." She retorted.
"We'll see about that." Scarlet challenged pulling back on the bolt of Slicer Thorn allowing a round to enter the chamber.
"Oh we will." Ruby returned as she pulled the bolt of Crescent Rose.
The twins walked out of the locker room and into the arena. Scarlet saw the room had quickly filled up with teams, all clearly excited about the match, but oddly Team JNPR was missing from the stands. Scarlet shrugged it off thinking it was for the best.
Ruby took her place on one side of the arena and Scarlet stood opposite of her. The two looked like mirrors standing across from each other, but the illusion was broken by the inverted clothing choices and weaponry. Above them the display lit up with their aura bars.
They activated their weapons melee forms and the large scythe and crimson blade extended to their full forms. The girls got into their battle stances and awaited for the professor to count them down.
Ruby stared her twin sister down, her gaze not phasing the swordswomen. Scarlet on the other hand, was staring daggers soaked with blood at her sister, the sight nearly making Ruby flinch.
"Three!" The professor shouted.
Scarlet's entire body tensed up. Ruby took a deep breath allowing her muscles to relax.
"Two!"
Scarlet analyzed Ruby's pose trying to discern how she would attack. Ruby angled her feet correctly to charge.
"One!"
They both charged their semblances.
The buzzer sounded ringing through the entire stadium.
For a split second the entire arena was silent. The arena was still, and the entire audience hung on the edge of their seats with bated breath. The moment ended when Ruby shot forward tearing through the air sending red rose petals in all directions.
Ruby fired a gravity dust round from her weapon propelling her into the air at breakneck speeds. She then fired another round into the air changing her direction down towards Scarlet. She could feel the G-forces compressing her chest as she changed directions, but she ignored the feeling. Ruby brought the blade of Crescent Rose down on Scarlet with as much force as she could.
Ruby was shocked when the blade didn't connect with Scarlet or her weapon, but rather the stone floor of the arena. Ruby slammed into the ground halting her momentum as she slide across the floor. Ruby tried to climb to her feet but was suddenly kicked in the ribs by a steel toed combat boot.
Scarlet would have felt bad about the cheap blow to her sister, but she was too focused to care. She sped over to where Ruby had fallen down lying on her back. Scarlet unceremoniously stomped down on Ruby's kidney's. Ruby visibly reacted to the stomp as she was sent belly first onto the floor gasping for air.
Scarlet raised her weapon to end the fight quickly. As she brought the blade down a loud gunshot tore through the air and Scarlet was sent flying. Scarlet jammed her blade into the stone floor to slow her momentum and gracefully landed on her feet.
Scarlet started to laugh. "This is more fun than I thought it would be." She said through giggles. Ruby was very unnerved by her sisters laughter.
Ruby quickly got to her feet, her aura nulling the pain radiating from her back and ribs. She looked up at the display screen seeing that her aura had dropped to eighty-three percent, and Scarlet's had dropped to eighty-six percent. Ruby looked back down at her twin sister who was readying for another charge.
In an explosion of black rose petals Scarlet charged at Ruby slashing down at her chest. Ruby raised the shaft of her scythe blocking the blow, the force of the strike pushed her back a few inches. Ruby pushed back on her sister separating the two. She swung her scythe hitting Scarlet in the cheek with the back, blunt, part of the blade. Ruby quickly aimed the barrel at Scarlet's chest and fired a fire dust round.
Scarlet stumbled backwards as her grey aura flared across her body. She once again charged at Ruby, who as expected, tried to strike Scarlet to stop her assault. Scarlet dove to the right of Ruby and ran behind her slashing at her back. Scarlet changed her sword to its rifle form and fired a lead round into Ruby's back.
Ruby quickly recovered from the bullet and fired another fire round at Scarlet. Scarlet dove out of the way as the bullet grazed her cheek. She rolled to a stop and fired several shots at Ruby. The twins fell into a rhythm of dodging each other's shots and firing counter bullets at each other.
Ruby got down on one knee and pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose only to hear an empty hollow click echo from her rifle. Panicked ripped through her body as she quickly stood up trying to swap her magazine, but she was stopped by Scarlet rushing over to her and punching her in the face quickly followed by a slash to her chest.
Ruby fell to the ground and scrambled to get up. Scarlet kicked her down again and wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck holding her in a choke hold. Ruby could feel her aura rapidly draining, and in a panic she took her scythe and swiped behind her. Scarlet was hit directly in the neck by the sharp blade and let go of her twin's neck.
Ruby didn't waste time to catch her breath and wheeled around to face her sister. Scarlet was on the floor holding her neck in pain. Ruby raised her weapon and slashed down at Scarlet's chest. In a flash Scarlet had pulled her pistol gifted to her by Ivan and fired three shots at Ruby's face.
The first shot missed Ruby entirely, landing just below the stands scaring several students. The second grazed Ruby's ear, the pain slowing her slash down enough for Scarlet to roll out of the way. The final shot hit Ruby square in the forehead throwing her off balance.
Scarlet got to her feet and kicked Ruby in the stomach, fully knocking her to the floor. Scarlet stomped down on Ruby's left arm holding it down, and her right leg keeping her on the floor. Scarlet held the tip of Slicer Thorn to her younger twins throat.
"Yield." Scarlet commanded.
Ruby's eyes traced the crimson blade all the way up to her sisters eyes. Scarlet looked delighted at the fight. Her gaze showed no signs of exhaustion or intense focus. Her eyes only held a look of pure joy and excitement that only a child could have.
Ruby sighed and dropped her scythe to the floor and laid her head against the stone floor. She raised her open hands over her head and muttered the phrase, "I surrender." A loud buzzer rang through the room and Professor Goodwitch's voice called out, "Scarlet Rose wins!".
The crowd of students broke out into cheers and whistles, but the cheers from the rest of Team RWBYS were louder than the others. The teacher approached the twins with a smile on her face. "You two fought well. Please go to the lockers and return to your seats." She instructed.
Scarlet helped Ruby to her feet. "You okay?" Scarlet asked looking at her twins forehead.
"Just a little sore." Ruby answered leading Scarlet back to the locker room.
Ruby inputted the code to her locker and placed her scythe inside. She looked back at Scarlet who was taking off her combat boots. "You're one hell of a fighter you know that." She complimented.
"Thanks." Scarlet replied. "Kinda had to be growing up." She grimly added.
Scarlet watched as Ruby's posture shrank and her face grimaced. Ruby adverted her gaze into her locker and mumbled a question to her sister. "Did Roman ever have you kill someone?"
Scarlet's blood went cold in an instant and her mouth became dry. "Once." She answered as visions of blood filled her memory. "It was an accident mostly. I had just made Slicer Thorn and the guy didn't have any aura…" She trailed off closing her eyes, as the mans bifurcated body and spilled organs once again burned themselves onto her eyelids. "I swore to myself to never kill anyone after that. Neo ended up taking it upon herself to do the messy parts so I wouldn't have to." She explained opening her eyes again. The memory was so clear in her head now.
The thirteen-year-old criminal shivered in the cold breeze pulling her pitch-black cloak closer to her body. She was given a simple mission to wait for her father's train to arrive so she could help unload the cargo consisting mostly of guns and drugs from the lawless Vacuo.
She sighed and fixed the placement of the white and red mask on her face. She had been working on it as a side project of months and had just recently finished making it. She was much more proud of her main project hanging on her hip. A four-foot sword with a grey steel blade that collapsed down into a compact form, and she was able to work a high-powered sniper rifle into the design as well. She had taken major inspiration from the weapons she had seen huntsmen bring into Ivan's shop while she was hanging out with the old man. All that was left was to paint it and give it a name.
A door opening behind her made her turn around. She saw a man in a leather bickers jacket and black pants walk into the room. He looked at the cloaked girl with surprise and anger in his eyes. Scarlet saw a spider tattoo on the man's neck, a trademark of the largest gang in Mistral.
The two stared at each other for a long awkward moment. "Get out." Scarlet finally spoke, but her puberty betrayed her and made her voice crack halfway through the command.
The man laughed and pulled out an abnormally large knife. "Sorry kid." He started in a harsh raspy voice. "But I've got more important things to do than play with you." He threatened.
Scarlet pulled out the newly constructed weapon from her waist and activated its sword form. The man mocked her s she did. 'Maybe I need to find a more intimidating way of doing that.' She thought to herself.
"Leave or else." She threated swing the sword to her side. She was silently thankful that her voice didn't crack.
"Oh what are you going to do, kill me?" The man mocked. The next thing Scarlet new, the man was charging at her with his knife aimed at her heart. Scarlet panicked and swung her massive sword down at the man's shoulder.
Scarlet's face was sprayed in a fountain of crimson blood, and her screams of horror drowned out the man's dying gurgles.
"Scarlet are you okay." Ruby's voice brought Scarlet back to reality.
She looked her twin in the eyes, both of them had tears rolling down their faces. Scarlet wiped hers away with her sleeve and stood up placing her crimson sword into her locker. "It was a long time ago. I barely remember it happening." She expertly lied.
Ruby didn't say anything and went back to her locker with a look of worry on her face. "Does…" Ruby hesitated as she buttoned up her jacket. "Does anyone else know that?" She asked.
Scarlet's mind instantly brought up an image of Weiss. "No. Just you, Neo, and Roman of course."
Ruby sat down next to her twin sister and put her arm around her shoulder. "Thank you for telling me this." Ruby whispered. "I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks Rubes." Scarlet whispered in return.
The twins returned to the stands only to be greeted by more cheers. They sat down next to their team trying to hide their faces from everyone else in the class.
"You two were in there for a while." Blake pointed out. "Everything okay?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." Scarlet answered. "We just got caught up in a conversation." She lied. Blake shrugged and went back to observing the next fight. The rest of the team did the same and adverted their gaze down to the arena.
Scarlet smiled brightly. For the first time in her life she could finally say her life was in a good spot. She was with her sisters. She was safe from Roman. She was free from the crime world. She was closer to Neo than she had ever been. She was with a person she might one day call her girlfriend. She was home.
Scarlet could barely hear the professor say to the class that the final rounds of the Vytal Festival tournaments were in a couple of days. The same rounds that Cinder's plan to destroy the festival was planned to happen.
Next Chapter; The Fall