Chapter 9

Natsu vs Mercury

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Change

Training Hall

"And that's the match." Glynda said after Pyrrha single handedly defeated team CRDL.

"Lucky... shot." Cardin groaned in pain.

"Very good, Miss Nikos." Glynda walked onto the training floor. "You shouldn't have any trouble qualifying for the Vytal Festival."

"Thank you, professor." The red head said back.

"Now, I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." Glynda looked up at the students in the rafters. "Any volunteers?" She looked around and saw Blake reading a book. "Miss Belladonna?" The girl closed the book and looked up. "You've been rather docile these past few classes. Why don't you-"

"I'll do it." Mercury said as he raised his hand.

"Mercury, is it?" The teacher asked adjusting her glasses. "Very well, is there anyone in particular you want to fight?"

"Yeah, there is." The Haven 'student' stood up. "I wanna fight him." He pointed to Natsu, who was talking with his teammates.

"Me?" The Faunus asked, looking at the other boy.

"I don't think any of us have seen you spar yet." Mercury explained. "Besides, you shouldn't be much of a challenge."

"Oh, you are going down, buddy." Natsu jumped over the railings and landed as Pyrrha walked towards him.

"Can I talk to you after class?" The red head asked.

"Sure..." Natsu nodded confused. She walked past him as Mercury walked to the other side of the ring. The two stared at each other with smug smiles as the crowd watched in anticipation.

"Begin." Glynda said and the two charged at each other. Natsu drew his fist back as Mercury spun and their fist and foot collided, forcing both fighters back. Mercury raised his foot again to kick, but Natsu blocked it with an ice coated arm. The two smirked before Mercury delivered an enziguri, dazing Natsu.

Mercury flipped back and fired off rounds of Dust bullets from his feet. Natsu countered by creating a shield of ice that absorbed the bullets, before he swung his arms and shattered it. He swung his arms forward and the shards flew towards Mercury who jumped over them.

"You're friends not too bad." Ruby told Emerald, who rolled her eyes as the hooded girl turned back to the fight.

Mercury looked ahead as he landed as Natsu jumped and encased his right arm in ice, creating a blade. He swung his new blade and Mercury caught it between his hands. "Hmm..." The gray haired boy mumbled as he felt something wrap around his leg. He looked down at Natsu's tail pulled him to the ground. Natsu swung again and Mercury rolled out of the way.

Mercury stood back up as Natsu charged, bracing himself behind his sword. The other boy jumped off the sword and shattered it with his round as he flew back, sliding along the ground. "Hmm..." He stood up as Natsu ran to the side. Just as the Faunus jumped, Mercury turned to Glynda. "I forfeit."

"Huh?" Natsu asked as he slid during his landing. "Just like that? You don't even want to try?"

"Why even bother?" Mercury asked back. "It's clear our skills are worlds apart. If this wasn't a training match, I might be dead."

Natsu stared at his opponent disappointed. 'Man, I wanted to try that jumping spinning kick I saw in that Road Brawler game.'

"In that case, the victor of this match is Natsu Dragneel." Glynda said as Emerald smiled from the rafters. The teacher pressed a button on her Scroll and the holo-banner of Natsu glowed green and Mercury's turned red. "I advise you to think a bit more before choosing your opponent next time."

"I'll keep that in mind." Mercury said and as he walked away, the bell rang waking Blake up.

"That's all for today." Glynda told the other students as they started to leave. "And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses." Team's RWBY and NVAR left with Blake's head still in a book. They walked past Emerald as she leaned against a pillar.

"Isn't learning just so much fun?" Mercury asked sarcastically as they walked past Natsu who ran after his team.

The group of eight walked away from the hall with Blake trailing in the back. "Hey Blake!" Sun called out as he ran up behind her. "You uh, doing okay?"

"I'm fine." She said, closing her book and turning around.

"So, I hear that there's this dance thing on this weekend." Sun said after clearing his throat. "Sounds really lame to me, but I was thinking, you and me, not as lame?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"The dance this weekend!" Sun explained. "Wanna go together or what?"

"I don't have time for a stupid dance." She said before she turned around. "I thought you of all people would get that." The others looked at her with worried eyes.

"She seems out of it." Natsu said before seeing Pyrrha waving at him from the side of the building. "See you guys later." He told his team pointing over to Pyrrha. The other members looked at him as he ran over to the armored girl. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"It's about Jaune." She said. "You see..."

Nightime

Team RWBY's Room.

"You what!?" Blake asked her teammates and Team NVAR, minus Natsu.

"Blake, we want you to go to the dance." Ruby repeated.

"That's just stupid." Blake said back.

"But we're worried about you." Aerith said from the desk chair.

"Look, this investigation is starting to get to you." Vergil plainly said leaning against the bed frame.

"You can't sleep, you barely eat, and honestly your grades are starting to suffer." Weiss stated.

"Do any of you really think I care about grades!?" Blake asked annoyed. "Innocent lives are at stake!"

"We know, and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." Yang said, holding her partners hand.

"Thanks to you, Sun and Natsu, we know they're working somewhere out of southeast Vale." Ryuko said from the floor.

"And the Schnee Company records singled out Vale as the primary source of Dust robberies over the last few months." Weiss added.

"Don't forget about their stolen military tech too." Vergil added.

"But there are still so many unanswered questions!" Blake shouted. "How did they get it? Why do they have it?"

"Blake, if you can't keep even your eyes opened than you won't find them anyway." Vergil said.

"What Vergil is trying to say is, all we want is for you to take it slow for one day." Yang told her partner.

"It will be fun!" Weiss added. "Yang and I will make sure of it!"

"The two of us are planning the whole thing!" The blonde cheered.

"Isn't that Team CVFY's job?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, but their away mission has lasted longer than expected." Weiss explained.

"So, Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off." Yang continued before turning to Blake. "And now we can make sure you have the best night ever!"

"Can I join in?" Ryuko asked. "My mom is a designer and people tell me I have a good eye for color." Blake glared the girl making light of the scene.

"Sure." Weiss said and Yang nodded in agreement. "Blake, once it's all over, we can return to our search well rested."

"So, what do you think?" Ruby asked Blake.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time." She answered before she stood up and walked to the door, stepping over Ryuko. "I'll be at the library." She opened the door and walked out of the room.

"Great." Yang said.

"She can't keep going like this." Vergil said, making the others nod.

"Maybe we can get Natsu to talk to her." Weiss suggested.

"Hey, where's Natsu anyway?" Ruby asked.

"He said Pyrrha wanted to talk to him." Vergil said. "I wonder about what?" His words made them all think.

"You don't think that that she asked him to the dance, do you?" Aerith asked.

"You kidding?" Yang asked back. "Have you seen the way she looks at Jaune?"

"She's right." Ryuko said as she walked to the door. "If anything, Pyrrha wants Jaune to take her to the dance. Well, it's not really our business, is it?" She reached the door and turned the nob. "Come guys, it's pretty late." She turned and saw Jaune standing there with a guitar.

As he started strumming and poorly singing her name, Weiss stood up and walked over to the door and closed it. "Come on..." He begged as Weiss shook her head. "Open the door. I promise not to sing." Begrudgingly, the heiress opened the door. "I lied!" Jaune sang before he sang/asked the heiress to the dance.

"You done?" Weiss asked as the other people in the room stared at the blonde.

"Yes." Jaune said.

"No." Weiss answered before closing the door on him again when she noticed the looks the others gave her. "What?"

"And that is why people call you Ice Queen." Yang said as Vergil shook his head in disgust.

"My whole life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name." Weiss defended herself. "Besides, I already have a date in mind."

"Date or not, none of this will matter if we can't get Blake to go." Aerith said, making the others nod.

Juane and Pyrrha's Secret Area

Jaune and Pyrrha practiced their swings against each other before Pyrrha took out Jaune's legs with a leg sweep and pointed her sword at his head.

"Well done." She chuckled as she put her sword on her back and helped him up. "Your swordplay has proved immensely."

"Couldn't have done it without you." Jaune said as he dusted himself off.

"So, ready to move on to Aura?" She asked.

"Maybe we should just skip Aura tonight." Jaune said as he turned around embarrassed. "Maybe go on jog or something."

"Aw, come on." Pyrrha begged. "I even went to all the trouble of getting us some extra help."

"Extra help?" Jaune asked.

"You can come out now." Pyrrha said to the shadows as Natsu walked through the door way.

"You told Natsu!?" Jaune asked.

"All she told me was that you need some help finding your Semblance." Natsu explained.

"So, how better to help you find it then someone who uses theirs to fight on a daily basis?" Pyrrha asked. "Feeling better about this now?"

"That's not it..." Jaune said. "It's just... It was a dumb idea."

"What is it?" Pyrhha asked.

"Come on, you can tell us." Natsu said as he walked over to the red head and blonde.

"It's Weiss." Jaune confessed.

"She giving you trouble again?" Natsu asked.

"No! Nothing like that!" Jaune said back. "It's just, I asked her to the dance and she shot me down. Go figure, right?"

"Well, I believe the saying goes 'there are plenty of fish in the sea'." Pyrrha chuckled out.

"Easy for you two to say." Jaune said back. "I bet you have to hold back mobs of clamoring admires with sticks."

"You be surprised..." Pyrrha said back.

'The heck does clamoring mean?' Natsu asked himself. 'Besides, no one has asked me to the dance thing yet.'

"Oh, please." Jaune said as he turned around. "If you both can't get a date to the dance, I'll wear a dress." He walked away from the two, unaware of the look on Pyrrha's face.

"Does this mean I can go?" Natsu asked, completely unaware of the mood.

Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald's Room.

"And finally, Natsu Dragneel." Emerald said as she looked at her Scroll.

"Ah, the lizard, as Roman says." Cinder said from her bed as she sewed something.

"His Semblance is ice, but there's more to it than that." Emerald said, leaving Cinder confused.

"You were right about that Faunus." Mercury said looking up from his comic. "Something is up with him."

"Do tell." Cinder said as she kept sewing. She clearly wanted to know more about this Faunus, it might help explain the feeling she had when she first saw him.

"When I touched that ice, it didn't feel cold. If anything, it felt kinda warm." Mercury explained.

"And considering how hot that room was, that ice should have started melting the second he created it." Emerald added. "And yet it didn't."

"So, he can defy the laws of nature?" Cinder asked with a thought in her head. "Intresting. Add him to the list." Emerald nodded and pushed the picture of Natsu on her Scroll.

"You should be able take him no problem." Mercury told Cinder.

"Mercury, it's not about over powering the enemy, it's about taking away what little power they have." Cinder said. "And we will, in time."

"I hate waiting." Mercury wined as he laid back down.

"Don't fret, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." Cinder said as she stared at her needle.

The Next Day

Main Hall

Ruby sat at a table staring out the window until Ryuko slammed her hands on the table. "I need you to pick a table cloth." She explained before sliding two sample sheets that, to the untrained eye, looked exactly the same as each other.

"They're the same, aren't they?" Ruby asked.

"Never mind, I've got it." Ryuko said back and walked away.

"Okay..." Ruby stared as Yang carried a large speaker by herself before placing it down.

"So, do you have a dress picked out for tomorrow night?" The blonde asked her younger sister.

"Why bother?" Ruby asked back. "Why should we care if Blake isn't gonna come?"

"Don't worry, she's gonna come." Yang said before looking over. "Weiss! I thought the three of us agreed! No doilies!"

"Well, if I don't get doilies, then you don't get your fog machine." Weiss said back as the doors opened and Sun, Neptune and Natsu walked in.

"This dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked as the three walked over.

"We were thinking about it." Weiss said with a change of attitude.

"That sounds pretty cool." The bluenette said back.

"You ladies all excited to dress up?" Sun asked.

"Yeah right." Ruby rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"You can laugh all you want, sis." Yang said back. "I'll be turning heads tomorrow night."

"I don't know why everyone is acting so weird about this dance." Natsu said as he walked over to Yang and Ruby. "First Velvet, then Jaune, and now you Yang."

"Velvet?" Yang asked confused.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to ask me something about the dance." He explained. "She seemed nervous about something, must have been her mission. Wonder what she wanted?"

"You are such an idiot." Yang said, face palming. "So, what are you three wearing to the dance?"

"Uh... This." Sun pointed to his current look.

"Ignore him; for he knows not what he says." Neptune raised his hand and blocked Sun's mouth.

"Hey, I MOVED to Mistral, but I GREW UP in Vacuo." Sun defended himself. "It ain't a real shirt and tie kind of place."

"We've noticed." Yang said back.

"So, what does Blake think of all this?" Sun asked. "Is she still acting all, you know... Blakey?"

"Of course she is." Weiss said back.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind." Ruby said. "Natsu, you did talk to her, right?"

"Yeah, I asked her if she could take it easy." The lizard Faunus answered. "She said she had to do this. I don't think we're gonna get her here."

"Trust me guys, she'll be here tomorrow night." Yang said before looking up. "Ryuko, I thought we said no lime green!" She marched over to the other girl.

Library

Blake stared at the computer with blood shot eyes and bags under them. She typed something in when a small red dot appeared on the screen. Her eyes followed it as it moved up and down on the screen before it moved to her hand. She lifted it off the table and the dot moved to the ground. Blake looked around to see who was messing with her, but found no one.

She turned back to the screen to start typing again, and the dot appeared on her hand again. She lifted her hand and the dot moved to the screen. It moved side to side before making the infinity symbol. Now annoyed, Blake stood and found the dot on the floor. It moved away from her and she marched after it.

The dot rounded a corner and she followed it until she bumped into someone. "Hello!" Yang said as she shut off the laser pointer in her hand.

"Why are you-" Blake started to ask.

"We need to talk." The blonde interrupted her friend, grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the library.

Team JNPR's Room

Ren stepped out of the shower and Jaune grabbed his wrist.

"We need to talk." The blonde said before pulling his friend to the bed. "Look, I'm just gonna come out and say it. You are one of my best friends. These past few months, I feel like we've really bonded, even though you don't talk a lot. Seriously, you're really quiet. Honestly, I don't know much about you personally. But darn it, I think of you like a brother!"

"And I you." Ren said as he sat in his towel.

"Which is why I need your advice on... girls." Jaune said as Ren eyed his clothes hanging nearby.

"Girls?" Ren asked.

"I just... I don't know how to..." Jaune started rambling as Ren reached for his outfit. "Girls, well, I guess what I'm asking is... How did you and Nora, you know..."

"Wait, what?" Ren pulled back his hand when Jaune asked the question.

"Ahem." Both boys looked over as Nora cleared her throat. "We're not together 'together'."

"Nora, I said headphones!" Jaune shouted and she put them back on.

"Jaune, what is all this about?" Ren asked.

"It's Weiss." The blonde confessed. "I've totally fallen for her, and she won't even give me the time of day. She's cold, but at the same time, she's incredible. She's smart, graceful, and talented. I mean have you heard her sing? I just wish she'd take me seriously, you know? I wish I could just tell her how I feel without screwing it all up."

"Then do it." Everyone looked over as Pyrrha stood in the doorway.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Tell Weiss exactly what you just said." The red head clarified. "No schemes or pickup lines. Just be honest with her."

"But what if..." Jaune started.

"Jaune." Pyrrha interrupted. "You can't get it wrong if it's the truth."

"...You're right." Jaune nodded after a moment's thought. "Thanks Pyrrha." He stood up and headed to the door. "Good talk, Ren!"

"Practice what you preach, Pyrrha." Nora said to the red head.

Outside a Lecture Hall

'So Aerith and Vergil have gone shopping for this dance, Ryuko is setting it up, and I'm all by myself.' Natsu complained to himself as he walked down the hall. He looked up and saw Yang dragging Blake into a lecture hall. 'Wonder what that's about?' He walked over to the door and spied in.

"Look, if you you're going to tell me to stop, just save your breath." Blake told the blonde who sat on the main desk.

"No one wants you to stop." Yang said back. "I just want you to slow down."

"We don't have the luxury to slow down." Blake said as she paced back and forth.

"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity." Yang said.

"No, the necessity is stopping Torchwick." Blake turned to her partner.

"And we will." Yang said. "But I want you to listen to what I have to say first."

Blake shook her head and took a seat on the desk. "Fine."

"Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island just off the coast of Vale." Yang started. "Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal and our mom would go on missions all over the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose and she was like, a supermom; baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then one day, she left for a mission and never came back."

Blake just stared at her friend, both unaware that Natsu was listening in. "It was rough. Ruby was really torn up, but I think she was still too young to really get what had happened, you know? And our dad just kinda, shut down. It wasn't long before I learned the reason. Summer wasn't the first love he'd lost, she was his second."

"The first... was my mom." Both Faunus grew wide eyed at the revelation. "He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned the two of them had been on a team with Summer and Qrow. And that she left right after I was born. No one has seen her since."

"Why did she leave you?" Blake asked.

"That's the question..." Yang said as she swung her legs and faced the chalkboard. "Why? I didn't know the answer, but I was determined to find her and ask her myself." She pushed herself off the desk and stared at the chalkboard before picking up a piece of chalk. "It was all I thought about."

"I would ask anyone if they knew anything about her." She started drawing something on the board. "Then, one day... I found something. What I thought was a clue that could give me the answers, or even lead me to my mother. I waited for dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a little wagon, and headed out. We must have walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, was totally exhausted. But I want going to let anything stop me."

"When we finally got there, I could barely stand. But I didn't care- I had finally made it. And that's when I saw them, those burning red eyes. There we were: a toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too tired to even scream for help. We might as well have been served to them on a silver platter. But as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time." Yang finished drawing and put the chalk down. "My stubbornness should have gotten us killed that night."

"Yang, I'm sorry that happened to you and I understand what your trying to tell me, but this is different." Blake said before standing up. "I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers. I can't just-"

"I told you, I'm not telling you to stop." Yang interrupted. "I haven't. To this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she just left. But I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we need, Blake. But it doesn't do us any good if we destroy ourselves in the process."

"You don't understand!" Blake shouted. "I'm the only one who can do this!"

"No, you don't understand!" Yang turned around, now with red eyes. "If Torchwick walked through that door right now, what would you do?"

"I'd fight him!" Blake shouted.

"Then you'd lose." Yang shoved her partner.

"I can stop him!" Blake shoved back, but it was only a light tap.

"You can't even stop me!" Yang shoved again before wrapping Blake in a hug. "I'm not asking you to stop. Just please, get some rest." She let go of the hug and her eyes returned to normal. "Not only for you, but for all the people you care about." Blake stared at her partner as she started walking away. "And if you feel like coming out tomorrow, I'll save you a dance."

Blake sighed before walking to another door. As Yang walked closer to the main door, Natsu ran behind a corner and looked back as Yang walked down the other way.

'She's like me, huh?' He asked himself. 'Never knew her real mother either.' Footsteps took him out of his though as Glynda walked up behind him. "Hey, mo-"

"Come with me." She grabbed her wrist and guided him away.

Team NVAR's Room

"Again." Glynda said before turning the boom box back on. In front of her, Aerith was slow dancing with Natsu, trying to teach him how to do it properly.

"That's it." Aerith said to the Faunus. "You're getting better, Natsu."

"Than- Yeaow!" He started before Aerith stepped on his tail. "How am I supposed to dance if people keep stepping on my tail?"

"Good point." Glynda pressed a button on the box and the music stopped playing. "We'll have to think of something."

"Wait a minute, why am I even doing this?" Natsu asked.

"It's socially important for you to know how to dance this Sunday." Glynda explained to her son. "You want to impress the girls, don't you?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Natsu asked, making both girls shake their heads.

"For now, let's take it from the top." Glynda said before playing the music again and the two started dancing again. 'I can't believe I forgot to teach him how to dance properly. Good thing I ran into him. I have to thank Aerith and Vergil for tell me about him and Velvet. It's just a shame she won't be there.'

Nighttime

Quad

Jaune walked with a flower in his hand and a smile on his face. He was going to do it, tell Weiss how he felt.

"Neptune!" Her voice caught him off guard and he hid behind a corner as Weiss walked by. He looked over as Weiss ran up to the bluenette.

"Hey, what's up?" He turned around and asked.

"I know this is a little, unorthodox but I wanted to ask you something... Would you like to accompany to the dance?" Weiss asked, breaking Jaune's heart. He dropped the flower and walked away, heartbroken.

Yes, I know there's not a lot of action in this chapter but I hoped you still enjoyed it.

One of the reviews mentioned something about Natsu not acting like Natsu, and I realized he was right. So this chapter was the perfect chance to show case that, like in any universe, Natsu is still dense about matters of the heart. Plus, I really thought Glynda teaching him how to dance would be funny.

The idea about Natus helping Jaune with his Aura came from Natsu is Awesome, the man who help get this story started, so I thank him.

On to the poll results this week. There was a massive influx of voters because of a plug NiA gave in his drabbles. Ruby is still in first with Yang still in second. Velvet has been knocked all the way down to seventh, with Neo taking her place in third, and Winter and Coco are now tied for fourth.

Now, what's up with Natsu's ice? Keep reading to find out.

Beta read by digemsmack.