Quite the Characters
I don't own RWBY. This Episode is unrelated to any other Episode in the series. Not entirely sure how this came about.
Penny was damaged. The damage was specifically an injury that disabled her left arm, which had been struck by a now-neutralized Deathstalker's tail. An injury meant that Penny was not going to operate at her full capacity. If Penny could not operate at her full capacity, she risked further injury. If Penny was injured further, she would not be able to complete her mission.
That would not do.
Penny continued to fight. She would ensure that she completed her mission. Maneuvering her swords to compensate for his disabled limb, she pressed on in the fight, though it was quickly becoming a desperate battle. The Grimm were relentless and were coming in larger numbers. She did the calculations. By her projections, she would fail the mission in five hours, if the swarm did not abate.
Then, just as suddenly, there was a howl of a Beowolf in agony in the distance.
The Grimm began to head towards the howl, their attention diverted, only to for more howls to echo, and then, silence…
She would have sworn that the world fell silent in that moment as a stream of rose petals suddenly swarmed into the midst of the Grimm, which began to fall, limbs torn off with ruthless efficiency by a blade that Penny failed to see. Whatever the rose petals belonged to, they were too fast for even Penny's eyes, ripping through the beasts with ease and never stopping. With their attentions diverted, Penny quickly used one of her laser swords and a spare bit of solder she had kept handy to patch together a temporary solution for her arm's injury and leapt back into the fray.
Somehow, the thing that did not stop moving managed to evade each and every one of her strikes whenever Penny worried that it was heading into the path of her attacks. It was fast. Faster than even Penny, who was leaps and bounds beyond the design of any other mechanical soldier in the Winter Army, back when it was still standing.
And then, when it had slaughtered the rest of the Grimm, the entity stopped and Penny could only stare in awe at the beautiful sight before her, which was somehow augmented by the ashes of the Grimm scattering.
Her hair was a strange mix of red and black, cut in a wolfish style. Her dress was similarly black and red as were her leggings and boots. Her cloak was a ragged thing, the color of blood, which billowed behind her like smoke, and in her hand was a weapon that first looked like a scythe, then a rifle, then a cross between the two. Her eyes looked like twinned silver coins, shining in the light of a broken moon as she looked down at Penny with a small smile…
Blake was forced to close the book when Professor Goodwitch announced that they were going to land at Beacon shortly. Putting her book away disappointedly, she mused on what she had just read. Penny, the protagonist of the Lost Mechanical Soldier series by the young, new author Yang Xiao Long, was a robotic knight with a soul who had awakened centuries after the fall of the Winter Army and the general fall of civilization and technology, and she was the most advanced technology in a world that was falling apart in the aftermath. She had taken it upon herself to help the survivors rebuild society, following the last orders of her general: "Save anyone you can. Do good."
The "entity" that had just saved her, however, was Ruby Rose, the protagonist of Yang's most popular book, "The Tale of Ruby Rose." She was a mysterious warrior with a magical scythe who traveled the world to slay Grimm and save people. It was said, in the story, that she wouldn't allow herself to die until she had saved the world, but the book, itself, had ended with her setting out after slaying the Grimm Dragon that had been terrorizing the Island Kingdom for generations, and its master with it.
Everyone had been eagerly anticipating when the sequel would come out, only for the beloved, but slightly less popular Lost Mechanical Soldier series to be released, with three books out before this one. This book, however, was now combining the two tales, and Blake wanted to know more.
Blake's eyes widened when she disembarked and saw one person, however. White hair, a sword with six rotating cylinders of Dust, and a scar running across her left eye. There was no mistaking her for an impostor. This was the supposed Fallen Heiress of the Schnee family, an infamous bandit in the eyes of the wealthy and powerful of Atlas, and a folk hero to those who were not them, who traveled under the name of Weiss Ghost. It was said that she worked with all of the Faunus protest groups, save one: The White Fang. Rumor had it she was the only human to stand opposite Sienna Khan, herself, and live, and that the Branwen tribe never bothered her.
The girl seemed to recognize her as a former White Fang, or perhaps she thought she was still a member, as she stared at her flatly before turning away. She was interrupted from thinking on the situation by the sudden appearance of a strangely familiar-looking blond who approached her with a grin on her face.
"I see you've got a good taste in literature," she said, nodding towards the book, "What did you think of it? I had a blast with that one."
"I'm not finished with it," she admitted, "But I'm rather fond of it. The sudden arrival of Ruby was fascinating."
"I thought it was a good idea," the blond agreed, "The readers wanted to see her again and it just felt like the right time for it. Plus, the two settings fit together too perfectly to not go with it."
"I suppose you're right," Blake said after a moment's thought, "I'm Blake, by the way. Blake Belladonna. What's your name?"
The blond seemed excited at that question, "Oh, this is going to be great! I'm Yang…"
"Miss Xiao Long," the voice of Professor Goodwitch cut in as she grabbed Yang by the arm, "Professor Ozpin would like to see you in his office. It's urgent."
"Uh… Yes, ma'am," Yang said, before turning towards Blake, "We'll talk later."
Blake's curiosity was piqued threefold by that. The first was that her favorite author was apparently a fellow first-year student at Beacon. The second was that Professor Ozpin had called for her to meet with him. The third, however, was that the Fallen Heiress had taken it upon herself to surreptitiously follow the pair. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she followed them, keeping to the shadows.
When they had gotten to what Blake could only assume was Ozpin's office, Weiss turned towards her flatly and whispered softly enough that only Blake could hear her, "Why are you following them, White Fang?"
"I could ask you the same, Bandit," she noted at the same volume before simply saying, "I'm as curious as you probably are. And I'm no longer one of them."
"If you say so," Weiss replied noncommittally, "Do you have a way to get in there?"
"Naturally," Blake replied, "Do you?"
"Naturally," Weiss echoed, "I can go unseen, if I wish. Shall we, then?"
Once they had gotten inside, The pair kept to the shadows of the surprisingly not-that-well-lit office of Professor Ozpin, barely evading the eye of Professor Goodwitch as she left the room, presumably to give the welcoming speech to the rest of the students in Ozpin's stead.
She, however, was not what caught Blake's attention. Instead, what caught her eye were the two figures that Yang was staring at incredulously.
"You can't be real…" Yang murmured, as she examined them. If she weren't hiding, Blake would have been inclined to agree.
The figure on the left of Blake's viewpoint was distinctive in appearance. Coppery red hair. Electric green eyes glowing with an unnatural light, What looked like a pack on her back that Blake knew could only contain swords and detachable wires. Black boots and a dress that both had green lines running along them.
The figure on the right, however, was even more of a source of interest. Black and red boots and stockings. A black and red dress. A ragged red cloak the color of blood with the hood pulled up, hiding what was no doubt a wolfish haircut In the figure's hands was a combination of a scythe and a rifle that managed to both look and not look like it was a scythe and a gun merged together. If Blake were to describe it, she would have said that it was every weapon you could imagine, and that would have been even without the knowledge of what it could do.
The eyes, however, were the true source of Blake's focu. Silver eyes that seemed to shine like moonlight, despite the sun still being up. Those were all that could be seen in the shadows of the hood.
Blake could be forgiven for that fact that, in her shock at realizing who the two of them were, she hadn't realized that those same silver eyes locked onto her, while the green eyes had turned towards Weiss.
"It's rude to spy," Penny said, "Please come out."
As the pair slowly made their way down, Ruby pulled back her hood, revealing a face that looked more innocent than Blake had ever pictured the character looking.
"Well, I have to say," Ruby noted with a cheery smile, "I didn't expect the day I met my maker to go anything like this."
That night, on the Valean docks, a pair of thieves were trying to gain their bearings.
The shorter of the duo, with one eye pink and the other brown and her hair similarly colored, turned towards her partner and swatted him with her umbrella before she began to sign rapidly, "I thought you were dead, you ass. When the witch summoned the dragon, I saw it eat you!"
"Apparently reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," the taller of the pair said, plucking a black bowler hat with a grey feather off of her head, before dusting off the top and placing it on his head. "Because I remember that happening, too, but here we are. I guess it really is hard to keep a good thief down. Looks like Red managed to pull through and save every… This isn't Mend,"
"What makes you so sure?" she signed with a confused tilt of her head.
Wordlessly, he pointed his cane towards the moon glowing behind her.
The moon hanging in the sky was shattered.
"Maybe we should lay low for a while. We can set up shop with the local gangs later…"
Neo nodded in response.
"Oh, I don't know," a woman said from the shadows causing them to turn, "I think we could use some thieves who know what they're doing. Especially ones that apparently escaped death, itself."
The dark-haired woman, dressed in red and gold, was smirking at them, but it was her eyes that drew their attention. Merciless and cold, they glowed with an ominous amber light, reflecting the flame resting on the palm of her hand. Whatever she was, they suspected that they were not being recruited. They were being conscripted. Again.
