Chapter 1: Round One
A Beach near Patch, September 26th 18 BBY, 17:45 pm…
Nathan had never felt more peaceful.
This entire weekend on the island of Patch had been just what the doctor had ordered for him and the gang; the perfect chance to unwind and relax prior to the week that was about to descend upon them:
The Vytal Festival Tournament was finally upon them, and anticipation rushed through Nathan like a surge of energy. Because he would be competing within it.
Pyrrha had explained the Vytal Festival Tournament to him a few days ago:
It consisted of three distinctive rounds: Teams, doubles, and singles. The teams round was for an entrant's entire team to participate in. The doubles round was very much the same as the teams round, except that both teams selected two members of their team to fight in the round. Should a team win the doubles round, they would then decide which sole member of the team would represent them in the singles round, which resembled a more traditional tournament, where fighters would work their way through the opposition until they reached the final round. Whoever won that, won the Vytal Festival Tournament.
Nathan smiled. Jaune had sat the team down the previous morning to discuss their strategy for the tournament, and a major topic had been what part Nathan would play in the tournament. Since he was an unprecedented fifth member of a team, Jaune had expressed doubt that Nathan would be allowed to participate. Which had been when Nathan suggested that Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren all participated in the teams round, whilst he joined whoever they selected for the doubles round. The team had all agreed, and their plan was set.
Which was why now Nathan took the time to relax on the beach in just his T-Shirt and some camouflage skater shorts, soaking up the last few rays of sunlight as the sun started to dip beneath the horizon, because right now, everything was taken care of.
Then it came; that nagging, uneasy feeling Nathan had begun feeling some time ago, that gut feeling that something was going to go wrong during the tournament. It had bugged him all day, constantly in the back of his mind. Especially after his nightmare last night.
Finally though, he was driven from thought when a shadow came over him, blocking his sunlight.
Nathan opened one eye, and then the other, smiling at the sight stood before him. "Hey, beautiful." He said softly as he beheld his girlfriend.
"Hey." Blake replied. She had ditched her combat attire for this weekend retreat, and was currently wearing a nice purple tank top with spaghetti straps that hugged her figure, alongside a nice pair of black denim shorts. The bow that usually covered her feline ears was nowhere to be found, likely in her pocket or something. A pair of sunglasses were propped up on her forehead, allowing her brilliant amber eyes to sparkle in the early fall evening.
Kicking off her sandals, Blake sat down next to Nathan, laying her head on his shoulder. "Hard to believe it's nearly been a week already." Blake said softly.
"Yeah." Nathan replied. "One of the best weeks of my entire life."
It'd nearly been a week since the two of them had finally admitted their feelings for each other, sharing their first kisses atop Beacon Cliff. And since then, Nathan had been the happiest he'd ever been. Given how she snuggled up to him, Nathan was confident Blake felt very much the same way.
"Just came to tell you that Tai's nearly finished with dinner." Blake stated.
"Is that all?" Nathan asked, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's waist.
"No." Blake replied. "Just wanted some time alone with my amazing boyfriend." Before leaning in and kissing him.
Nathan pulled Blake close whilst he returned the kiss, still feeling the same butterflies fluttering about in his stomach that he felt the first time his lips had met Blake's.
Blake climbed atop Nathan so that she was straddling him before breaking the kiss, smiling warmly as they looked into one another's eyes.
Nathan then tucked a stray hair behind one of Blake's ears, running his hand through Blake's ashen black locks before leaning back and lying on the sand again.
Blake joined him soon after, simply laying her head on Nathan's chest and sighing happily.
Nathan had no idea how long they lay there, but he didn't care, simply continued stroking Blake's hair.
Eventually, Blake spoke up, breaking up the peaceful silence:
"I… I also wanted to ask if you were alright." Blake added. "I saw you looking pretty troubled this morning, but I haven't had a chance to ask you until now."
Nathan sighed and sat up, looking out towards Vale from Patch. He could see Beacon Academy from there, standing tall and proud atop its cliff.
Sighing, Nathan said: "It's… it's because I had a nightmare last night."
"What happened?" Blake asked, sitting up with Nathan, her amber eyes regarding her boyfriend with concern.
"We were all at Beacon, and… and everything was in ruins and burning." Nathan replied. "I couldn't move nor feel my legs, and… and all of you were…" Nathan paused and sighed. "You were all strewn about the area… dead."
Blake's eyes widened. "Is that all?"
Nathan shook his head. "I could see someone in the distance. Wearing all black, fast approaching. I crawled over to your corpse, only for you to suddenly come to life, grab me, and simply say: 'They're coming.' Next thing I know, I look up, and all I see before waking up is a flash of red." Nathan met Blake's gaze with a sigh. "I have a bad feeling the Empire is closing in. And with it, only bad things are going to happen."
"No." Blake said firmly. "Because we are going to face the Empire together. You, me, Team RWBY, Team JNNPR, all of us. Because that's what you mean to us, Nathan. And that counts as double for me." Cupping Nathan's cheeks, Blake added: "It's only been a week since I've finally been able to start calling you my boyfriend, Nathan. And I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon."
"Good." Nathan replied. "Because I don't plan on going anywhere."
"Works for me." Blake declared, leaning in and kissing Nathan passionately.
Pulling Blake close, Nathan returned the kiss, pulling Blake on top of him before pulling her even closer, running his hands up and down Blake's back, hearing Blake sigh into the kiss as it deepened.
Just as Nathan found himself being pushed onto his back, the two both heard:
"Hey lovebirds! Save the baby-making for later on! Dinner's ready!"
Breaking the kiss, Nathan noticed Blake blushing madly and chuckled. "Saved by the dinner bell." He said.
Blake nodded "I don't think we were ready for where that was going, anyway." She replied.
"Not yet at least." Nathan stated.
Blake smiled before leaning in and kissing Nathan once again, standing up and holding her hand out. "Come on. I don't want Yang getting any more reason to tease us."
Taking Blake's hand, Nathan stood up and put his shoes on before taking Blake's hand as they set off towards the Xiao Long house.
As they walked, Nathan felt Blake lace her fingers through his and smiled. It may have just been a week, but Nathan didn't care. He had never been happier, and with Blake at his side, he felt like nothing could stop him.
The following day, Amity Colosseum, September 27th 18 BBY, 11:45 am…
Nathan sat riveted to his seat as he watched the battle unfolding before him:
Team RWBY was currently battling Team ABRN from Haven Academy
Despite all of RWBY giving a good show of themselves, Nathan's eyes were focused solely on one member of the team:
Blake was currently duelling a woman by the name of Reese Chloris, a young girl with light green hair swept to the right and teal coloured eyes, wielding some form of hoverboard that doubled as dual pistols.
Nathan watched with a smile as Blake retreated from the battle, out of Reese's sight, using her semblance to create a clone of herself and hide.
Nice thinking, Blake, Nathan thought. I told you that your semblance wasn't useful for just taking the hit while you run.
Nathan smirked as Reese sprang the trap gloriously, attacking Blake's clone just in time for the real Blake to toss Gambol Shroud across the passageway, causing Reese to be caught on the ribbon and bouncing off.
Blake seized this opening, kicking Reese out of the circle and into the shields surrounding the arena eliminating her.
"OOH! A double whammy!" Port declared over the PA. "Reese Chloris is eliminated by ring out AND aura level!"
"YES!" Nathan shouted enthusiastically, jumping out of his seat. "That's my girlfriend!" He added, pointing towards Blake.
As if on cue, Blake looked up to where Nathan was, and smiled, blowing a kiss.
Nathan pretended to catch and press the kiss to his lips as Blake rejoined the battle.
Nathan watched as Blake ran alongside Yang, who was sliding along a icy slope assisted by her shotgun gauntlets Ember Celica, tossing Gambol Shroud to her.
Blake then yanked on Gambol Shroud, propelling Yang forward whilst Blake used Ruby as a springboard to leap forward ahead of Yang.
The rest of Team ABRN could only watch as Blake used her momentum to swing Yang forward, landing a thunderous punch that sent the remaining three members of ABRN flying into a nearby rock formation, eliminating all of them.
"YES! FUCK YEAH!" Nathan shouted as the rest of the crowd cheered.
"And that's the match!" Professor Port declared via the P.A. "Team RWBY is victorious!"
Nathan cheered loudly alongside the rest of the crowd as Team RWBY celebrated their victory before starting to head down to meet them. He wanted to congratulate them himself.
The fairgrounds, 12:00 pm…
"You. Were. Awesome!" Nathan shouted as he rushed towards Team RWBY, all of them turning to see him.
Blake looked and smiled warmly, jogging over and leaping into his arms. "Thanks, Nathan." She said.
"You guys rocked those jackasses harder than Weiss was rocked as a baby. Which would explain a lot of things, actually." Nathan joked.
"Hey!" Weiss protested.
Blake just giggled and kissed Nathan deeply and passionately.
Breaking the kiss, Nathan set Blake down and held Blake close as he saw the rest of Team RWBY smiling at him and Blake happily, returning the smile at them.
He still recalled their reactions when they had seen him and Blake after they had confessed their feelings for one another:
Ruby had nerded out as only Ruby could, Weiss had nodded approvingly, smiling, and Yang…
Yang had rushed back inside and returned with a camera, immediately snapping picture after picture of Nathan and Blake, with intent on distributing it around campus.
Finally though, Ruby said: "Is anyone else starving?"
Blake stretched at that, arms behind her head as Nathan held her close. "I may have worked up an appetite." She replied.
At that, an ungodly growl emerged from within Blake's stomach, as if her stomach was a creature of Grimm instead of a stomach.
Blake covered her stomach at that, eyeing her teammates and Nathan, blushing madly.
Nathan held his lips together fighting an outburst of laughter, as Weiss said:
"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here."
Of course, there were tonnes of places around them where they could eat, and Weiss' tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh wait." Weiss added.
"It's okay, Weiss." Ruby said, placing her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "I forget about the fairgrounds, too."
"I was being facetious." Weiss replied.
"Super big word of the day from the Ice Bitch herself, Weiss motherfucking Schnee." Nathan joked as Blake giggled.
Weiss eyed Nathan with a glare, before being distracted as Ruby said:
"WELL IF YOU WERE HUNGRY, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?!"
Nathan chuckled at that, folding his arms and shaking his head.
"Come on, I know just the place." Yang declared, leading the rest of the team off into the fairgrounds.
Taking Blake's hand, Nathan followed Yang, before hearing the sound of a scroll going off. He looked, to see Weiss staring at her scroll with a scowl. "Old man giving you shit?" He asked.
Weiss nodded.
"You really should let me take the call next time." Nathan said to Weiss. "I could tell him to stop bothering you, no problem."
"One day, I might actually take you up on that offer." Weiss replied as she quickened her pace.
Nathan turned to Blake and shrugged, as Blake smiled.
"Do I want to know what you'd say to Weiss' father?" Blake asked.
"I think you already have a vague idea." Nathan replied.
"Yup." Blake said, leaning in for a kiss.
"Hey!"
Nathan, Blake, Weiss and Yang turned to see Emerald stood behind Ruby, holding Ruby's wallet.
"Might be hard to eat without this." Emerald said playfully as Ruby started patting herself down making panicked noises.
Nathan allowed himself a chuckle as he watched the conversation. Ever since the Breach Battle, his bad feelings about Emerald and Mercury had disappeared, given they had helped win the battle.
Emerald chuckled too, saying: "Good to see you Ruby."
"Oh, thanks, Emerald!" Ruby said, taking her wallet back from Emerald. "Guess I dropped it. Girl pockets are the worst!"
"Hey, Emerald." Nathan called out as he joined them alongside Yang, Blake and Weiss.
"What's up, Em?" Yang asked.
"Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fight!" Emerald replied. "You guys were awesome."
"Oh stop it!" Ruby said bashfully, blushing a bit.
"I heard your team progressed to the next round, too." Blake said.
"They did." Nathan stated. "That was about as one-sided a fight as if Blake took on Zwei in a deathmatch."
The rest of Team RWBY and Emerald laughed as Blake turned towards Nathan with a glare.
"You know, I feel like we never see your other teammates." Weiss pointed out after calming down.
"How'd they do in the fight?" Yang asked.
"Really well." Emerald replied.
"Really well?" Nathan scoffed. "You treated those idiots like they had no idea what they were doing! To be honest, most of them were leering at the other two girls on your team besides Mercury." Pausing, Nathan added: "Bet they'll be settling for the same aged whores as always tonight."
Emerald chuckled as Ruby said:
"That's great! Uh… why don't we all go out and get some victory food together?"
"Yeah! Means we can actually meet your other two teammates." Nathan added. "And… I totally won't flirt with them and you to make Blake jealous and inspire her to make me sleep on the couch tonight."
Blake rolled her eyes and Emerald laughed a little.
"Gosh, that's so nice of you, but… my teammates are all kind of… introverted." Emerald replied, as they all looked to see Mercury sniffing the inside of a boot.
"What's he trying to sniff for?" Nathan asked with a raised eyebrow. "To see if someone took a shit inside the boot?"
"Really socially awkward." Emerald whispered, eyeing Nathan and Team RWBY.
"Ooh, yeah." Yang said. "I can see that."
"You'd have to be blind not to." Nathan remarked.
"So yeah, looks like Merc and I are gonna be moving on to the doubles round." Emerald said.
"Sounds good to me." Nathan replied.
"What about you guys?" Emerald inquired.
"My team hasn't fought yet, so…" Nathan said.
"Well, as the leader of this team, I've thought long and hard about this decision." Ruby said.
"We put it to a vote." Weiss pointed out, making Ruby nervous.
Nathan snorted, then eyed Blake, shrugging.
"Uh… yes, uh… but I decided that we should put it to a vote." Ruby countered.
"We voted for Weiss and Yang." Blake stated.
"Not you and Yang?" Nathan asked. "Geesh, guess so much for Team Bumblebee."
Blake giggled as Weiss said:
"I will happily represent Team RWBY."
"Yeah, we're gonna kick some butt!" Yang declared, a confident smirk crossing her face.
Emerald chuckled. "Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line, don't think we'll go easy on you." She said.
Yang chuckled in response. "Wouldn't have it any other way." She replied.
"Neither will I." Nathan declared. "Should you and Mercury come up against my team in the future."
"Looking forward to it." Emerald replied with a smile. "Alright, well, we're gonna go catch some more fights. "
"Have fun!" Ruby said as she, the rest of Team RWBY, and Nathan all headed off.
"See you later!" Emerald called out from behind them.
Nathan smiled as he took Blake's hand, seeing her meet his gaze and smiling at him in response. Leaning in, Nathan said: "I'll kick Emerald and Mercury's ass. Especially Mercury's. After he threw that fight with Pyrrha a couple weeks ago, I'll do it gladly."
Blake giggled and just laid her head on his shoulder. "I know you will." Blake replied. "Haven't let me down so far."
"And I don't plan to." Nathan said, kissing the top of his girlfriend's head.
Not long later, Noodle stall, 12:15 pm…
"Noodles? Really?" Nathan asked as he sat down on the stool, with Blake sitting in his lap.
"What? It'll take less time than a burger or something." Yang replied.
"Fair enough." Nathan said. "Plus, means I can share with Blake."
Blake eyed Nathan and smiled, leaning in and pecking him on the lips in response, just as the owner of the stall stepped out to serve them.
"I'll have a bowl of the regular, please." Yang said to the man, who promptly handed her a big bowl of noodles.
"Ooh…" Ruby said, before adding: "I'll take the same." At which she was given her own bowl.
"Do you have anything with a low salt-" Weiss went to ask, at which she was handed another large bowl of the same noodles. "Um… okay."
"Weiss… the fairgrounds are a place to eat ridiculously unhealthy shit." Nathan said. "I'm pretty sure that's saltier than you got when Neptune shut you down for a date again."
The rest of the team giggled as Weiss shot him a glare.
Nathan looked to Blake, just as she nodded at the stall owner, who nodded in response, before heading inside, and quickly emerging again, handing Blake and Nathan another bowl of noodles.
Complete with a large amount of fish.
"Aah…" Blake exclaimed, eyeing the noodles with wide, starry eyes.
Nathan chuckled and reached for his wallet, only to be stopped when Weiss fished out her card.
"Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion?!" Yang asked.
"Yeah, you almost never pay for our food!" Nathan remarked.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round!" Weiss replied.
"Oh, so the way we get you to pay for shit is by helping you do something?" Nathan asked. "Kinda self-serving, if you ask me."
"Oh, sorry, that came out wrong. Rather, I feel like rewarding us all for our success!" Weiss said.
"Um… my team haven't even fought yet." Nathan stated. "So…"
"They'll win; I'm sure of it." Weiss replied. "And then you and Pyrrha will go on to the doubles round, and gah!"
Nathan burst out laughing as Weiss' card came flying back out at her, smacking her between the eyes and landing back on the table.
"Ahem."
Everyone looked up to see the shopkeeper gesturing to the card machine, which read:
DECLINED.
"What?!" How can my card be declined?!" Weiss spluttered. "I was barely into my monthly allowance."
Nathan became aware of Blake grabbing their bowl and pulling it towards them, a nervous grin crossing her face as she did.
That was until the shopkeeper grabbed it, and yanked it out of her hands.
"No!" Blake moaned, falling forwards onto the table.
Nathan rolled his eyes, once again reaching for his wallet to pay for at least his and Blake's food.
"Maybe I can help?" A familiar voice called out from nearby.
Team RWBY and Nathan looked to see that the rest of Team JNNPR had joined them, and Pyrrha was waving a few lien with a smile on her face.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out joyfully, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Aw, you don't have to." Yang said with a smile.
"But she could!" Blake said, eyeing them desperately.
"I can too, you know." Nathan said, eyeing his girlfriend, at which she looked at him and kissed him passionately.
"Oh my gods, thank you!" Blake said.
"Well, I think you all earned it after that battle." Pyrrha said cheerfully.
"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked.
"The more the merrier!" Ruby said happily.
"I was wondering when you four were gonna join us." Nathan said, eyeing his teammates.
"We were held up by a few fans of mine wanting autographs." Pyrrha replied. "They were young children too, so… I was more than happy to."
"Sounds good to me." Nathan said. "So, we gonna eat or what? Cause… I think my girlfriend is gonna murder me if we don't."
Later, 12:35 pm…
Nathan and Blake pushed their bowl back and relaxed a bit, holding their bellies in satisfaction.
Around them, the rest of the gang did the same, despite Jaune looking a little pale.
"Are you sure it's wise to have eaten before a fight?" Ren asked as the owner cleared away their bowls.
"Of course!" Pyrrha replied. "It will give us energy!"
Immediately following that, Nora let out a hellish burp that drew everyone's attention.
"Fuck the Force, Nora." Nathan said. "That might have been enough to wake the dead."
"Ugh…" Jaune groaned as he headbutted the table. "If I barf, I'm blaming you."
"Oh! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora said, grinning impishly.
"Nora!" Ren chided. "That's disgusting."
"It's a good idea, though." Nathan pointed out. "Just stand Jaune on an elevated point and punch him in the gut, then let him rip."
"But… if you do feel the urge…" Ren said to Jaune.
"Got it." Jaune replied, giving Ren a thumbs up.
"Well, we should be off." Pyrrha declared, standing up.
"So, you think you guys are ready?" Ruby asked.
"Of course!" Nora said. "We've got a world renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune, and we have Nathan waiting in the wings in case one of us gets hurt mid-fight."
"Nora, I doubt that's how it'll work." Ren corrected.
"We've trained all year!" Nora declared after sticking her tongue out childishly at Ren. "Our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore and uh… Jaune!"
"You literally just said Jaune." Nathan pointed out.
"Are you gonna take that?" Ren asked Jaune.
"She's not wrong." Jaune replied.
"I'm kidding!" Nora declared. "He knows I'm kidding. Don't be so nervous! The worst that could happen is we lose, meaning that Nathan doesn't get his chance to show what he can do! Then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures! Our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no-one will sit with us in the cafeteria, and Ren and I have no parents, so we have no home left to go to, and we'll officially be renamed Team LOSE-I-PER!" At that, Nora, who'd slowly been draining of all colour throughout her rant, began laughing psychotically before breaking into a fit of sobs.
"So yeah…" Ren said. "We're feeling pretty good."
"Yeah…" Nathan replied.
"Don't fret." Pyrrha said gently, placing her hands on both Jaune and Nora's shoulders. "If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not… well… murderers."
"Yeah, don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before." Yang declared.
"Let's see…" Blake said, counting on one hand. "Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath…"
"Vast armies of battle droids, Sith Acolytes, former Sith apprentices, actual fucking Sith Lords, and a droid cyborg with four arms wielding four lightsabers at the same damn time." Nathan added, giving everyone a smug grin. "I'd say I'm ahead of all of you." At which he felt a hand slap him upside the head. "Ow! What the fuck, Ice Bitch?" He demanded, eyeing Weiss.
"And you call me egotistical." Weiss remarked smugly as the rest of the gang giggled and laughed.
Nathan rolled his eyes as Ruby then said:
"And that's all while we're still in training! Oh, imagine what it'll be like when we graduate!"
"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss said dejectedly.
"You mean; pay for a meal without Daddy Schnee's money." Nathan replied, making the gang all laugh once again, as Weiss rolled her eyes, knowing Nathan had gotten her back for her earlier comments.
At that, the intercom boomed across the area:
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately-" Port began to say.
"Yes, like they were scheduled to several minutes ago!" Oobleck interrupted.
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha said.
"Sounds like it." Nathan replied, standing up and walking over to where his team was sat. "Good luck, you guys. I'll be supporting you alongside Team RWBY."
"I know." Pyrrha stated, pulling Nathan into a warm hug. "With luck, you and I will be representing JNNPR in the doubles round."
"And may the Force help whoever they dump in our way." Nathan replied, before the rest of the team joined the hug. "Good luck, team. May the Force be with you."
"Thank you." Pyrrha replied happily before she and the rest of JNNPR sans Nathan walked off towards the battlegrounds.
"Go get 'em!" Ruby called out after them.
Nathan smiled as he watched his teammates make their way to the battlegrounds. The Force would be with them, through him.
And he was perfectly happy with that arrangement.
Guess who's back?!
Well; that was a much needed break, but now it's back to work.
Welcome to the third instalment of my RWBY-Star Wars Series; The End of the Beginning. We will have romance, epic battles, Nathan utilising his trademark acid tongue, and maybe a few changes to the original story because what's the point in writing what's already been written?
Either way; I hope you all enjoy this chapter. If you enjoyed it; leave a review in the apropos section, and if you really enjoyed it, then favourite and follow this story so you get updates as and when they come!
Thank you for reading, and I will see you next Saturday with chapter 2: New Challenges
T-Rock14