Here's chapter 19, everyone.
"Oh! Look!" Yang pointed over at a few crumbled ruins, but when Blake noticed what she was pointing at, she was pleasantly surprised to see items on multiples pedestals. "If that doesn't scream relic, then I don't know what does."
Blake watched as the blonde jumped down from a ledge, landing on her feet as she followed close behind. Both girls walked up to the pedestals, looking around at the many items they assumed were the relics. "They're chess pieces."
"Huh, yeah would you look at that. I wonder why they chose chess pieces as the relics." Yang walked around the many pedestals, noticing none were missing. "Sweet, looks like we're the first ones here too."
"Does it really matter? The end goal is bringing them back to the cliffs in time. You don't get anything extra for being first." Blake remarked.
"Bragging rights, duh." When she spotted the knight piece, Yang grinned and grabbed it. "How about a cute pony?"
Blake shrugged and something about how Yang spoke and smiled made her return the smile. "Sure."
"Ey! You smiled!" Yang held her grin as she walked over, noticing the smile Blake had on morphed into a scowl. "And it's gone… Well, it was nice while it lasted."
Suddenly the two girls turned when they heard a yell in the distance, though it sounded more like a yell of excitement as they gasped, seeing a girl with orange hair riding a Taara. "Whooooo!" Nora exclaimed and the electricity that the Taara emitted didn't do much to her, only powering her up and making her more excited until its reserves depleted and it fell to the ground. "Awww, lame." She looked down at it. "Hey, are you dead?" When the blue on its back faded, she sighed. "Man, and here I was hoping I could tame one. Oh well." The girl hopped off its back and looked over at Blake and Yang. "Awwwwww! Nooooo! We weren't the first ones to reach the relics!"
Her whines made Blake and Yang confused, since not only did she ride in on a Taara, but she also seemed nonchalant about it. "Who is this girl?" Yang said to herself as she noticed a boy walking out from the bushes behind where the orange haired girl had popped out from.
"Nora… What did I tell you about overusing your… Semblance?" Ren asked, panting as he walked over to his partner, clearly looking annoyed with her.
"Well you said if we run into Taaras, that I could use it, soooo… I used it." Nora grinned.
"And we also talked about your aura…" Ren said as he crossed his arms, giving her a stern look that made her sigh.
"Come on, Ren! Don't be that way! We got to the relics after all." Nora said as she pointed towards where Blake and Yang were. "Buuuuuut, it looks like we only got the silver medal."
Ren shrugged and walked passed his friend, getting over to the other team of two. "It doesn't matter about that, Nora." He stopped when he got in front of the two. "Sorry if her entrance was a bit… Confusing."
"That's an understatement." Yang pointed out as Ren took note of the knight piece in her hand. The blonde caught his eye and shook the piece in front of him. "Yeah, looks like these are the relics Ozpin talked about."
Ren nodded, walking passed Yang for just a moment to grab one of the rook pieces. "I wasn't expecting to run into other students at the same time where they placed the relics to be honest."
Yang shrugged. "Timing is a wonderful thing." She placed the knight piece in one of her pockets. "So, you and your partner feel like teaming up to get back to the cliffs together? Would be a lot safer after all."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you'd like taking the safer route."
"Maybe not all the time, but I'm not an idiot either." Yang noted. "Our goal is to get these back… Though now that I think about it, I did bet my sister I'd have more kills by the end of initiation."
It was that comment that got Blake to roll her eyes, while Ren put his chess piece, or as they called it, a relic away as well. "I don't see why we shouldn't team up. It would prove useful and may show the teachers that we aren't trying to go against each other."
"Huh? Go against each other?" Yang looked a little confused by what he said.
"Some students tend to get too competitive about dealing with monsters. It gets to their heads." Ren remarked as Nora caught up with them.
"Sooo, did you get one of the relics?" Nora asked, waving to Blake and Yang, who both slowly waved back, not sure how to respond to the girl. Ren nodded, getting out the rook piece before Nora snatched it from his hands. "Ooooh! You chose the rook?!"
Ren sighed, again nodding to his friend. "It really isn't all that special, Nora. Now come on," He pulled his guns out. "We should all start going back to the cliffs. I know we have a lot more time, but remember what I said about letting the competition of monster killing go to your head."
Blake pulled Gambol Shroud out, silently agreeing with the boy. "It's smarter to not stick around." While she herself didn't doubt her abilities, she felt there wasn't any reason to take unnecessary risks either.
Ruby was sighing to herself as she continued to keep watch of the cave entrance, listening to her partner snoring still. "Hehe. I wonder if she only snores like this as a wolf." Her fingers brushed the white fur of her partner.
When she heard a lot shot ring out in the distance though, she instantly got up, holding her scythe out as she felt whoever took the shot wasn't very far.
Weiss heard the shot too and her ears perked up, lifting her head as she noticed Ruby was already standing up, weapon and all. "What was that?" When she got up, she noticed Ruby's cloak was on her, so she blushed a little and gently let it fall to the floor.
"Sounded like a rifle." Ruby said, not taking her eyes off of the cave entrance, while Weiss got up on her paws and walked over, getting next to Ruby. "Is your aura recharged?"
"I-I don't know." Weiss didn't want to try and use her 'semblance' to find out since she still had her clothes in a pile, and Ruby was still in the cave.
Ruby looked over her shoulder, noticing the clothes as well, so she blushed a bit. "Um, if you need to, I can leave the cave. I don't mind."
"Y-Yes, that would be appreciated…" Weiss said as she turned around to walk back to her clothes, not letting Ruby see the blush on her face as the scythe wielder walked outside, making sure not to look in so she could respect her friend's privacy.
Weiss got to her clothes and took a breath, feeling her aura as it wasn't actually fully recharged, so she gasped.
"No… If I change back now I'll lose all of the aura that I just got back."
She groaned in annoyance, calling out to Ruby. "Um, Ruby! Could you come back in here?!"
Ruby was a bit surprised by how fast she assumed Weiss had gotten ready, but when she walked in, she saw that her friend was still a wolf. "Huh? Weiss, what's wrong? Why didn't you change back?"
"My aura. It isn't charged as much as I hoped it would be." The white wolf explained. "If I change back, well… My aura could break and I'd be left defenseless."
That concerned Ruby, so she walked over to Weiss clothes. "Well if that's the case, let me hold onto your clothes for you."
"W-What? No, you don't have anywhere to put them." Ruby chuckled at how Weiss expressed that concern as she folded Weiss' clothes and put them over her cloak. "What are you doing?"
"Gonna hold them in my cloak, silly." Ruby wrapped her cloak around the folded up clothes. "It's like a bag now."
Weiss looked at the clothes filled cloak and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you still need to hold it up? I mean, how can you put that on your back?"
"I was going to leave them in a spot we can find later. Wrapping them in my cloak is to keep them from getting dirty." Ruby said with a smile.
"But… Your mom made that cloak for you, Ruby." Weiss reminded, feeling a little guilty.
Ruby couldn't help but kneel down in front of Weiss. Was she did, she placed her hand on Weiss' head, making the wolf tense up a bit. "I know she did, and I love my cloak a whole lot, but now that I know what you have to deal with when you use your semblance, I wanna be able to help in any way I can, so please let me, Weiss."
The gentle nature Ruby possessed always helped Weiss feel better, so the touch of her hand on the top of her head helped empower Ruby's words. "I-I suppose I can allow you to do this, but only this once! I'll be sure to bring something with me to make it easier to hold my clothes."
With a giggle, Ruby moved her hand away, not daring to pet the girl since she didn't see Weiss as an animal. "Right. I'll make sure to keep it hidden in a good spot so no monsters accidentally find it." She said while picking up the clothes filled cloak.
The white wolf let out a smile as she walked on all fours, looking over at the cave entrance when another shot rang out. "Should we… Maybe go see if anyone is in trouble?" Another two shots went off, so Weiss growled a little and ran over to Myrtenaster, grabbing it with her teeth.
Ruby was a little surprised she fought like that, but would ask questions later. "Let's go, partner." Ruby said with a determined tone, both running out of the cave as Ruby quickly scanned the area, finding a small hole in a wall, so she nudged the wolf. "Over here."
Weiss looked over, seeing the hole, so she nodded and Ruby walked over to it, dropping Myrtenaster for a moment to speak. "I'll do my best to remember this spot." The white wolf said, picking her weapon back up as they both took off, heading in the direction of where the shots came from.
"How much longer do you plan on tiring yourself out?" Raven asked the white haired woman as she finally stepped out of the cabin. When Willow turned to her, trying to regain her breath, she shook her head and turned back around. "Ugh."
"What I do with my own time is my business, right?" Willow challenged, determined to not let Raven stop her from training.
"Not when you're my responsibility. Summer isn't about to forgive me if she finds out you put yourself in the hospital on my watch." The black haired huntress stated as she walked over, taking Willow's arm in her hand. "Get back inside and rest. Overexerting yourself is one of the dumbest ways to train. You lose your concentration and anything you worked towards will be for nothing."
Willow declined by pulling away from the woman. "I've only been out here for a few hours and I've taken breaks. While you slept I'd go inside to get some water, and I kept by the fire for warmth." Raven was surprised. "I'm not a child, Raven, and while I may not know as much as you or Summer on this, I do know that I can take care of myself."
Raven took a step back, crossing her arms at her stubborn nature. "Is that right? Okay… If you think this is how you should handle it, I won't stop you." She turned away from the woman, expecting a reaction, but when she didn't hear a word, she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening when she saw Willow trying to conjure up her aura again.
"Stubborn as hell… Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised, seeing as she's had to live with Jacques for this long."
Willow kept her attention on her training, knowing Raven was still watching in some way, so she closed her eyes again. "Weiss talked about her fan. It kept moving she, said."
Even though it was Weiss she thought about, the trigger was not the same. Her aura began to move around her body, starting from her feet as it began climbing up her body. Raven held her gaze on the woman, watching as her aura was slowly reaching her stomach, but after seeing it slowing down, Willow gasped and started panting.
"Ugh…" Willow knelt down and held a hand to her chest, letting herself breathe.
"Now do you-." Raven stopped when Willow stood up and walked passed her and into the cabin. "Did she really just ignore me…" The huntress looked annoyed, but she watched through the window. Willow had gotten some water from the fridge kept inside and drank. Raven shook her head and leaned against the wall of the cabin, watching as she walked out. "You're not seriously about to try again so soon, right?"
Willow walked over, sitting on the log as she held her hands near the fire, letting the warmth of it keep her from getting too cold. "I told you that I can take care of myself as an adult, Raven. Just because I want to get this done doesn't mean I'm an idiot," She turned to give the huntress a serious look. "Even if you call me that so much."
"I call you that because you act like one." Raven commented as she walked over, sitting on the other log. "Is this about that deal? If it is-."
"You said we all have our own drives, our own triggers. Let me discover or choose my own." Willow said defiantly.
"If this is what you call a trigger-." Raven was cut off yet again.
"Whether it's a good one or not isn't up for you to decide, Raven. Now then," The white haired woman crossed her left leg over the other. "I am famished after the hours of training, and you had enough rest to get food started."
Raven eyed the woman, surprised she'd speak to her that way. "What? Am I your maid all of a sudden? I don't remember asking your husband for a job."
Willow rolled her eyes. "Like you would ever be able to handle that kind of life. You'd drop the first tray with tea and muffins in a matter of seconds."
"Wow, that sounds soooo terrible." Raven replied sarcastically.
"Mock me all you want, but there are things that even you can't do well, Raven Branwen." Willow responded as she dusted her pants off a bit.
Raven shrugged. "Never said I could, and I don't see your point here. Who would gloat about being good at servitude? It's the lowest form of-." She was cut off when Willow casted a glyph in her face, but regretted it since she fell back onto the snow. Raven groaned as she watched the glyph dissipate. "Now you see, that's why I call you an idiot." She got up and walked over to the other woman. "Get up." She grabbed her arm and lifted Willow back on her feet.
Willow's heart was racing and she bent down a bit to catch her breath. "Don't insult… What they do." She was mostly defending those at her home who respected her and her children, the obvious and more supportive being Klein.
"Struck a nerve… Noted." Raven said as she helped the other woman back into the cabin. "If you need to sleep-."
"I-I told you I was hungry, you dunce. So go... And make us… Some food." Willow demanded as she sat on the bed, doing her best to regain her breath.
Raven didn't feel like arguing, so she rolled her eyes and simply walked over to her food storage, pulling out whatever she could find. After the huntress went outside to cook up the food she had, Willow let out a small smile.
"I'll show you what kind of drive I can have, Raven Branwen." Willow said as she laid down on the bed, resting her body up before lunch was ready.
Willow is still pushing forward, and so are the students at Beacon. It's fun to swap over POVs, and with Willow, I get to mess around with her and Raven interacting. Always a fun time. Anyways, have people enjoyed their interactions? Willow and Raven to be exact.
To JJ- Yes, the white rose grows, and with how her 'semblance' works at the moment, she spends a huge amount of her aura to use it. Percentage wise, it's near the high 30s. So more on that in later chapters.
I hoped you all enjoyed chapter 19. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in chapter 20.