Sleep had always been an uncertain beast for Ruby. On one hand, she was often eager to sleep, being worked hard under Jax, Nora and Bart's tutelage and just as often she was borderline dead after her shift at the club. But sleep was also daunting, elusive at times and even painful on occasion. Ruby had long taken up the habit of waking up early, settling with seven hours of sleep on average, sometimes a bit more if she was particularly tuckered out, or less if she was restless or had recently come out of one of her mini 'comas'; the fear of not waking up again, or at least for a long time, ever-present. All in all, she could never really figure out how she felt about sleeping, but there were days when she loved it, yearned for it even, and there were days she would only sleep when she reached the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.
Last night had been one of the harder days to decide on her standpoint. There was so much to think about that Ruby honestly had lost track of what she was even supposed to do in the morning, placement matches or something? She dismissed the thought as she poked at her breakfast, or what was left of it anyway, her appetite seemingly voracious after waking up that morning.
Luckily, her body had seemed to make her decision for her, practically shutting down and falling straight to sleep after making her bed and doing a minor amount of unpacking. Her team had seemed equally tired and, surprisingly, the night had passed without issue and hardly a word was spoken between them. Though, as she glanced around at her 'team', she wondered if that was really for the better.
Waking up that morning had been a challenge, for both Ruby and her new teammates, as they acclimated to each other's morning rituals, something that came more naturally to some than others. Ruby herself awoke the earliest and thus managed to circumnavigate the fuss the other three ran into when organising themselves. It became apparent that Weiss was not used to waiting her turn for things and Ruby, had she been in a better mood, may have found it funny to watch as the Atlesian princess had to wait for her turn to use their shared shower, growing more and more irritable by the second. Having already gone for a short jog, washed, and dressed, Ruby was forced simply to watch as her team tripped over each other in their groggy states.
The apartment-style room the four of them shared was spacious and was split into three sections: the living area, the desk area, and the kitchen. Nothing physically separated the sections, with only the slight changes in décor and furniture indicating transitioning from one to the other as one could easily move between them.
Ruby currently sat at the kitchen table swallowing her fifth slice of toast before stacking her two used plates on top of each other by the sink with her two bowls to clean later as she nursed her still piping hot coffee mug. Breakfast was available in the cafeteria for students who were either incapable, or too lazy to cook for themselves, but Ruby had always preferred a more personalised meal and so opted to make her own, with food she brought, Bart having had the forethought of telling her and her sisters to do so. The thought of food made her stomach growl like a beast, and she sheepishly looked around thankful no one seemed to have heard. Why am I so hungry?
"This is most interesting." Ruby startled, almost spilling her coffee across the countertop as she looked up at Penny who now sat across from her, an excited grin plastered across her face. Ruby wasn't sure to chalk Penny's stealthy arrival up to her distraction or Penny's skill but decided the toss-up didn't much matter. Instead, she gave the girl a confused look, to which Penny immediately responded. "It's quite interesting really, your grimm seems to be affecting you even outside of its use." Ruby's confused look only deepened causing Penny to playfully roll her eyes. "You're eating like a starving man and have yet to show signs of reaching a stopping point, only your human standards are stopping you from eating more. It seems like your body needs energy for something. Energy which it's almost immediately burning."
Ruby hummed in understanding, unsure of how to feel about the thoughts Penny had unwittingly provoked. The grimm rose coiled and writhed against her arm slightly as she delved carefully into her mind, just enough to peer into the pool from whence she pulled grimm. The viscous liquid calmly churned as she inspected it, if not for its colour and slight movement it could pass for an average lake one might find in a park, that is until bone and sinew rose from its depths to greet her.
"Good morning, Princess!" Ruby is torn from her mind as Penny chirped up and startled her. As she Looked up, it became apparent that she wasn't the only one affected by the sudden upstart, as Weiss massaged her temples and barely managed to twist a murderous glare into a reluctant smile.
"Good morning, Penny… Perhaps it would be best if we kept our voices down; after all, people in nearby rooms could still be asleep." Penny looked as confused as Weiss felt frustrated.
"But everyone is already awake; we have to be prepared to fight in 73 minutes." Weiss' smile cracked slightly, but she managed to keep her accepting tone.
"Well, we can never be so sure. Some people might not be used to waking up so early in the mornings." The princess tried to subtly hint at her meaning, but Penny's confusion simply grew. As if to spite her, a small choir of cheering and whooping echoed from down the corridor.
"Let's kick some ass!" The voice was followed by more cheers before fading away. Ruby suppressed a laugh as Weiss' eye visibly twitched and Penny looked pleased with herself. She only partially succeeded and allowed a small giggle to escape, drawing Weiss' attention.
"Good morning, Lady Branwen." Ruby hid her grimace at the title, she was sure Weiss knew she didn't like it and used it anyway. "I trust you slept well." Her words were surprisingly genuine as the princess moved over to the kitchen counter to make herself something, though she seemed to pause rather than continue the motion.
"Uh… yeah, I slept fine." Ruby clumsily replied, still unsure of how to treat the Atlesian. After an awkward moment of silence, she caught herself and added "How did you sleep?" Weiss, for her part, seemed to mostly ignore the reply, lost in something as she poked around the kitchen drawers.
"I slept quite well, thank you." The room fell into muteness again, the only sound coming from Neo messing around in the bathroom and Weiss' repeated opening of cabinets and the like. It remained like this until Neo emerged from finishing her morning rituals and unceremoniously fell into a chair beside Penny, her forehead slamming into the table with a dull thud and her multicoloured hair splaying across its surface. It appeared that Neo was even less of a morning person than Weiss. "How very unladylike." Weiss scoffed.
An unintelligible growl emanated from Neo's still planted face as floating pink writing appeared in the centre of the table for them all to read.
'Don't test me, Princess. YOU did this to me.' Weiss huffed a laugh.
"What on earth could you mean?" Neo slowly razed her head to glare at Weiss as the writing changed.
'You were in the shower for 40 MINUTES!'
"I fail to see the problem." Neo blinked in disbelief.
'Penny took 10 minutes and Ruby finished showering before any of us even woke up; what could you possibly be doing in 40 minutes? I could be two coffees in by now if I didn't have to wait for you!' Another scoff.
"A lady must look her best." The mute girl looked unamused.
'FOR WHAT!? We're going to spend most of the day fighting people!'
"That's hardly an excuse. As a member of Atlesian royalty, I must represent the qualities of my people, elegance and grace are among those." Neo simply groaned and planted her face into the table again.
'No amount of makeup or hair products can make being face down in the dirt look 'graceful' or 'elegant'.' Ruby chuckled audibly causing both of them to look at her. Neo smiled whilst Weiss rolled her eyes clearly annoyed.
"Right, well, clearly, I am outnumbered in this, so how about we move on to more pressing matters?" The princess walked back over to the table a mug of tea in her grasp and sat down beside Ruby. "Today's placement matches." She received three nods, two far more awake than the third. "Obviously, yesterday was a little hectic, so how about we explain what we can all do in the field so we can see what we're working with." Three more nods.
"I suppose I'll go first. As a Schnee, I have been extensively trained in fencing and other complex sword-fighting styles as is tradition for my family. Additionally, I have been blessed with my family's rare hereditary semblance allowing me to both create and control ice, snow, and water around me. I excel at area control and one-versus-one combat." Her team hummed in acknowledgement as they all absorbed the information to the best of their ability. Ruby found it hard to tell how much the Princess may be overstating her skill but observed that Weiss seemed to genuinely believe what she said and so any falsity that may arise was not intentional rather than potentially a misunderstanding. Not stating any weaknesses likely meant she either didn't trust them fully or had yet to be pushed enough to know them, either way was a potential problem in future. Penny spoke up next.
"I've trained in Close Quarters Combat, and I am physically much stronger than anyone else in the year." Weiss gawked at the girl as she spoke so nonchalantly about herself, unaware of how ridiculous her statement sounded. Penny wasn't frail but was definitely on the lankier side of the body category, the idea of her being the strongest in their year in terms of physical strength came off as ludicrous to people who had not witnessed it. Luckily, it seemed, Weiss was not in the mood to argue over it. "However, I haven't really practised with firearms or weapons so I am likely to require assistance when dealing with opponents who can use longer-range methods of combat. I have yet to learn what my semblance is if I have one." The ginger adopted a happy grin as she waited for someone else to pick up where she left off. Neo obliged, pink writing speaking for her as she sipped her coffee.
'I've been taught a large variety of martial arts, specialising in acrobatics and throws with the use of momentum. I also have a parasol that has been reinforced and has a hidden blade for surprise, but I try not to rely on that too much. My semblance allows me to create physical illusions that break and disappear when touched by a moving thing or person.' She tapped the first few words with her finger to prove her point. 'I'm also not the best at dealing with long-ranged opponents if they are given enough space, but I can be hard to pin down, so as much as I can't deal with them, they'll struggle to hit me too. My main problem arises when dealing with other nimble fighters that don't rely on strength much, I'm used to having the speed advantage so losing it is difficult for me to deal with.' Neo let out a content sigh as she fished the last of her coffee and seemed to finally begin waking up for the morning. She gestured, denoting she was finished and for Ruby to pick up.
"Well, I've been mentored by my uncle in mixed martial arts, knife fighting and small firearms. My semblance is, like, pseudo-teleporting." She received curious looks from her team, so she decided to expand. "When I use it, it's like time slows down and only I can move, and I still have to actually move to where I want to go. I guess you could say it was more like super speed than teleportation, but I can't use it to generate more force or anything and touching someone, directly or indirectly, makes it end. It also drains me a lot to use, even if I walk with it, it's like I'm sprinting as hard as I can." She paused to allow the others to process what she said before continuing. "I'm more likely to struggle against bulkier opponents as I don't really have anything flashy that can threaten them because I use a knife and a handgun most of the time. I can usually whittle them down, but in a large brawl-like setting I doubt I'll get the time to do so." A pondering hum came from beside her as Weiss seemed to arrive at some conclusion whilst sipping her tea.
"At least we have a good mix of approaches. Though I will not lie and say that our lack of ranged options beyond myself isn't concerning, but, for the first day, it shouldn't matter too much. Have no fear, I will come up with a winning strategy upon learning of who our opponents are each round." Ruby's eyebrows raised slightly at the comment but decided not to speak up, though she noticed Neo roll her eyes at the declaration. Weiss never noticed. "Is there anyone we feel we should be concerned about should we be matched against them?" Ruby didn't give the others time to respond before her.
"My sisters and Blake will probably beat us." Ruby made to continue but was cut off as an incredulous scoff came from beside her and Weiss huffed a laugh almost offendedly.
"Forgive me Lady Branwen, but, whilst I cannot speak for Blake, I do not believe your adoptive family can compete with Atlas' finest" She shook her head dismissively. "There is only so much one can learn…" It was Weiss' turn to be interrupted as Ruby spoke back up, looking more seriously at the princess.
"Weiss, my sisters have known each other for most of their lives and have sparred with and against me for years. Mil and Mel are likely the strongest two-person team in the year and Ilia is the single scariest person I know when she wants to put someone down. I don't know who trained Blake, but she is as good as, if not better than, they are in one-versus-one combat." Weiss seemed a little taken aback by the sincerity of Ruby's words but eventually let out a sigh as if disappointed that Ruby didn't understand something she evidently found simple.
"Forgive me if it appears that I'm attacking your adoptive family, but I simply mean to say that it is highly unlikely that they can compete with more vigorously trained individuals." Ruby made to interject again but was unable to do so as Weiss stood up, clearly done with the subject. "In the interest of time I'm going to head down to the gymnasium, we are supposed to meet there in twenty minutes, and I still need to warm up."
With her remark said she left, paying no mind to Ruby's attempts to get her attention before closing the door behind her perhaps a little more haughtily than she realised. The other three simply sat in silence for a moment before Ruby let out a tired sigh; perhaps Weiss simply had to learn the hard way. She just hoped her sisters weren't too harsh.
If she was honest, she didn't feel like there was much chance they beat her sisters' team. She had only caught Blake's strike in their first bout from a mixture of her own semblance and her grimm, the latter of which she didn't want to use unless necessary as it wasn't fair on her peers and her sisters would definitely know if she did.
A wicked smile broke across her face as she thought about her sisters' new teammate. She still owed her sisters some… comeuppance. She turned to Neo and Penny, both of which were still quietly watching her, unsure of what she was thinking and how to act. Her plan would have to wait until later.
"Come on. We should warm up too."
"Now that more or less all of you are in attendance, I shall go over the rules of today's placement matches. You shall all compete in a double-elimination four-versus-four tournament to decide your team's starting ranking within your academic year. This ranking is entirely separate from your individual and partner rankings. As a team, you will have an abundance of opportunities to both gain and lose rank at later points throughout the next year. Rewards and privileges are granted to teams based on their ranks and only teams ranked first through tenth will graduate this academic year." Glynda flicked a remote in her hand towards the same large screen she had used in the entrance exams, which immediately came to life displaying the twenty teams and the four pictures of their respective members.
"The more astute amongst you will have figured out that the resting time between your earlier matches will be much longer than that of your later matches, due to the number of concurrent matches being larger, so efficiency later on in the bracket will greatly increase your chances of winning the next matches compared to barely scraping through. This is to allow teams a few matches of leeway to adjust to each other before they are expected to compete in prolonged fighting together. As a hunter, it is expected of you to be able to adapt to your surroundings, allies, and foes alike, failure to do so is simply another thing that will hold you back." The professor received an array of nods, some far more confident than others, with the occasional gulp audible as the amount of sheer competition and work each student would have to endure sank in.
Ruby tuned out the rest of the professor's speech, having heard it all before from her extra entrance exams, instead deciding that her time was better spent observing her potential competition as she leant over a bannister separating two rows of spectator seats. She compared most teams versus her own and, thankfully, managed to conclude that they were in the top half at least, her reservations about their upcoming performance aside.
As a team, they much preferred staying mobile over prolonged close-quarters combat, with only Penny standing as an exception. On one hand, this was a good thing. Penny could act as an anchor, able to harass and combat any larger opponents whilst the other three worked on supporting her and eliminating any opposition support. Weiss' semblance could stop a frontal assault in its tracks, Neo's could mask their movement and run confusion amongst enemies. Ruby herself would be able to stay highly mobile and hopefully fight opportunistically.
However, that's about where her current optimism ended. If one of the seventy-two other students, not including her sisters and Blake, could reliably keep their distance, they were relying on Weiss' semblance and her .5 handgun and that was not enough to make her confident. If Penny fell early in a match, they were out of any and all raw power, meaning they would struggle to hold and maintain ground that was safe to move in.
Unlike her entrance matches, the arena wouldn't just be an open sparring ring with eight people stood in it. This time, now that they were officially students, they would be using the academy's state-of-the-art 'terrain generating' technology to create a random battlefield unique to each match. Overall, this was good for them, the harder they were to track, the better it would go for her mobility centric team, but it also could cause problems. Ruby's gaze flickered over to her sisters.
In the same way that her team relied heavily on mobility, her sisters did even more so, but the main difference was that they had the means to facilitate it. Blake could teleport around, making her nigh impossible to pin down when she could effortlessly dart around corners and out of sight. Mil and Mel could trade places and Ilia would simply disappear off the face of the planet waiting for the perfect moment to take her shot.
A commotion brought her back into the room; as students murmured and muttered to each other as the giant screen burst into movement, making a huge show of constantly shuffling the bracket order. Eventually, the jumbling slowed before stopping on its final decision and Ruby's stomach dropped. There, emblazoned in overdramatic, emboldened text was the quartet of pictures representing her team against… her sisters and Blake.
Fantastic.
A mirthful huff came from beside her, Weiss evidently finding it far more amusing than she did. Ruby hung her head, unwilling to entertain any sort of conversation about the situation. It seemed to work for a moment as Weiss never spoke up, but her hopes died as the familiar metallic clicking of bladed heels drew closer towards them. Oh boy… here we go.
"Ready to get your ass kicked princess?" Melanie stopped a few feet away and locked gazes with Weiss who seemed just as confident. Ruby could practically see the angry sparks clash as they glared at each other.
"Am I supposed to feel intimidated by the girl who uses heels as her weapon of choice?" The two descended into an argument, their voices growing loud enough to draw the attention of Glynda who immediately stepped in in an attempt to break the two up. It was clear that she was far less harsh with Weiss than Melanie, but neither seemed to pay her any mind and continued to glare at each other. Ruby groaned aloud; this was not what she had wanted for her first official day as a student at Beacon.
It was only the soft padding of boots to her right that caused her to look up. Blake approached and looked down at the smaller girl, a questioning concern on her face
"Rough morning?" The taller girl slowly adopted a smirk as ruby groaned in response, a small smile of her own peeking through her grief.
"You have no idea." Ruby managed to say amidst an overwhelmed sigh. Blake simply laughed.
"Are you sure? I've been forced to listen to your sisters plot Weiss' demise since before we went to bed last night." It was Ruby's turn to laugh, she had to admit that must have sucked, Blake seemed like the quieter type, and she could easily imagine Melanie, staying up into the late hours of the night cursing Weiss' name.
"Okay, I guess you have some idea. You sure you want to be caught 'fraternising with the enemy'?" Blake playfully rolled her eyes and waved her off.
"Too many people are taking this way too seriously." Ruby looked surprised at the comment, something Blake noticed and expanded for her benefit. She had figured Blake as the quiet try-hard type, not someone who would blow off her first 'test' of sorts. "It's like Professor Goodwitch said, we have plenty of time to change around the rankings and there is no way teams are going to work very well together after just one night. Admittedly, I am aware of how rich that seems coming from the girl who is the only newcomer to her team." Ruby nodded along at the other girl's words. "I'm sure the rewards/punishments for rankings are not going to be very drastic until at least the first month has passed."
"Oh, that reminds me, could you help me with something later?" Blake simply looked down curiously, prompting Ruby to give a little more information. "I'll tell you more later, I just want to surprise my sisters with something and you're the only other person with a key to their room, barring the staff of course." Blake didn't seem very convinced by the mischievous grin, scrutinising her for a moment, but eventually shrugged.
"Sure, just let me know and I'll let you in." Ruby moved to thank her but was silenced by an irate growl escaping the professor's throat beside their teams.
"Enough!" Weiss and Melanie finally quietened, noticing the apparent wrath of their instructor only now. "Any grudges or disputes the pair of you have can be disputed in the match, now get into the arena so we can begin. You are holding up the whole class." With her piece said, Glynda marched over to a small desk off to the side of the arena before flicking a setting on her remote again.
Hidden gears whirred to life as the surface of the arena began to shift and change into its randomised settings for their match. Their setting was a large open city block, partially destroyed and on fire in places as if having recently been hit by some form of terrorist or military attack. Finally, with the stage set, Melanie and Weiss shared one last hateful glare before almost simultaneously turning away and preparing at each of their team's respective corners. Ruby sighed. Again.
"See you up there, I guess. I would wish you luck, but that seems a bit counterproductive for me right now." Blake hummed with slight mirth at Ruby's words, though her gaze seemed to falter for a moment, flicking back to her team nervously before becoming more serious.
"Yeah… Just be careful up there… emotions are running a little high." Ruby winced as Blake walked back towards her team. If she was being honest, it was exactly that which terrified her. The twins and Weiss were dead set on destroying each other and she wasn't sure if she could keep a lid on whatever it was that her grimm was doing. She'd been avoiding thinking about it, but their hate and anger were just so… tantalising. It would be different if it was hidden even somewhat, but it was right there, so close, so…
She had barely noticed that she had stepped up to the arena with her team until Weiss began strutting in front of her, Penny and Neo. The princess was clearly confident and was happy to show it. Ruby wasn't so sure, but perhaps she was underestimating her team. Neo was masterful at what she did, Penny was equally terrifying in her own way and Weiss was definitely trained by the best given her upbringing.
"Okay, so, after much deliberation and thought, I have devised what I believe will be a winning strategy against our particular opponents." The Atlesian suddenly turned on her heels to face them and pointed directly at Neo who jumped back at the sudden motion. "Neopolitan, you are going to create illusory copies of us and send them in front of us to draw attention and bait out the other team." She rotated quickly, giving Neo no time to respond, and pointed towards Penny. "You are going to immediately engage those that engage on the fake copies and pin them down to the best of your ability." Penny offered a mock salute and a huge grin in response.
"Can do!" The girl was far too chipper for what she had just been asked to do but seemed not to care in the slightest.
"Good." Finally, Weiss turned to Ruby. "Lady Branwen, I believe I can count on you to keep Blake's interference to a minimum whilst I help Penny and Neo deal with the other three?" Ruby had to catch herself from flinching at the proposed idea. What did she think that her sisters did? They weren't likely to launch a frontal assault.
"I mean I can hold her off yes, but I feel…" she was cut off as Weiss turned back around to survey their closer terrain. The arena was comparable to a large football field, and it was implausible that their opponents could overhear them at this distance especially with all the generated buildings in the way. The majority of their surroundings was two perpendicular roads with many tight alleyways slipping between them and off to the sides and buildings towered over them allowing for little horizontal space.
"Lady Branwen I am aware that you are paranoid of what your adoptive family are capable of, but I shall prove to you that it simply cannot compete with a well thought out stratagem from Atlas' finest, no matter their rakish audacity." Ruby inwardly cringed at the rather gross underestimation.
"I don't think you understand my sisters aren't…"
"Begin!"
The sound of a familiar buzzer announcing the start of their bout cut her off and caused her team to begin executing Weiss' plan, much to Weiss' satisfaction and her chagrin. Neo offered Ruby a sympathetic smile before she ducked into the cover of an alley and began focusing on projecting her illusion. The taller girl simply sighed, resigned to sink with their metaphorical ship.
She cocked the slide on her handgun, receiving the satisfying click she had grown used to in recent years. Of course, they weren't using real ammunition, even with their auras up something could far too easily mess up, so instead, she had begrudgingly loaded her gun with rubber bullets. She didn't like the idea that the first time she would fire her gift from the club, it would be in the form of fake bullets and in an operation that she fully expected to fail and was concocted by someone she hardly knew.
Used to remaining light on her feet, she slinked along the artificially darkened streets, shadowing her team who in turn followed behind an illusion that Neo propelled in front of them. If she was honest, she wasn't paying attention to the supposed 'ambush' in front of her; she knew better. Ilia was almost definitely somewhere above them on one of the rooves, balconies or peering out of a window. The faunas wouldn't act yet, no, she would wait. If everything went well for Ilia she would only shoot once or twice in the whole fight, only revealing herself when the moment truly called for it.
Melanie and Miltia were likely nearby, and if anyone were to be caught by this trap it would likely be them, or more accurately Melanie. That wasn't a good thing. The twins had learned how to work together incredibly well, fighting as one near-omnipotent unit. Ruby wouldn't be surprised if the twins alone were enough to beat some of the worse teams on the first day who would have little to no synergy at all. It would take Ruby's team several minutes to take the twins down and it wouldn't be without cost. Just like everyone Jax fought with or against, he hadn't taught them how to fight fair. Sure, they could do so if asked, after all, they could all perform mixed-martial-arts to a certain degree of mastery, but there were no such rules in the fights the students were training for.
She wasn't sure where Blake would be, but she had been impressed with the girl's individual skill in a straight fight and that didn't seem like her style. With her mobility and semblance, she would likely take a high vantage point as well, but likely she would remain more mobile than Ilia who would have to keep a slow pace in order not to give herself away.
The near-silence was deafening as her team crept through the faux city streets, only the faint sounds of their steps and breathing breaking the otherwise soundless suburb. She tried to find her calm in the repeating rhythm of the motions, the monotonous pacing keeping her centred in the moment and reeling in her thoughts to a minimum.
Focus on execution. Overthinking things creates hesitation. Hesitation breeds indecision. Indecision breeds failure.
Briefly, she considered using her semblance to locate everyone, well except Ilia who she doubted she could find in the time she could maintain it. There was merit to finding Blake, after all, Weiss wanted her to essentially preoccupy the tall girl whilst they fought her sisters, but if she found them near each other she wouldn't be able to take them all and would equally give away her own position, and if she did nothing after finding them, she would have just burned through a large chunk of her energy for a minor benefit.
The four of them entered one of the larger crossroads between two of the alleys, confident in their safety as the illusions had traversed it first in an almost identical fashion as they then repeated. Each of them did their own preliminary scan of their surroundings, before moving on until suddenly Penny stopped in the middle of the road causing Weiss to nearly run into her.
"What are you doing?!" The princess whispered harshly whilst still trying to right herself from nearly falling over. Penny seemed to ignore her, instead choosing to do a second sweep of the nearby bins and crates that littered the alley.
"We're being watched." The ginger said in a far more serious tone than her team had expected. Her head continuously swivelled as she raised her hands, readying herself to fight. Ruby immediately acknowledged her movements, scanning rooftop and balcony alike as whoever she was listening for kept rapidly changing position. Blake. It was then that Ruby saw her, perched like a beast of prey above them hanging from a gargoyle protruding out from a nearby bank-like building, handgun raised. Ruby made to shout a warning, too late.
The metallic bark of the low calibre pistol rang out on repeat as she fired round after round at her motionless team, or rather, Weiss.
Penny reacted immediately, imposing herself between Weiss and the onslaught of gunfire, standing stalwart as a shield so the princess could safely retreat around the corner. Each shot didn't seem to faze the girl, but her aura was likely not holding up so well as she slipped into cover behind a large metal bin.
Ruby tried to return fire, but Blake simply disappeared in a sudden puff of shadowy smoke, once again undetected, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She cursed under her breath, she'd done what was likely huge damage to Penny with literally no repercussions, they needed to get someone high, who could keep track of Blake whilst she moves. Neo had dropped her illusion, instead, focusing on making it to cover and as such, it was unlikely that they could continue with Weiss' plan.
A low whistling was all the warning they received as two figures descended on the isolated mute who barely managed to roll out of the way of the twins' combined assault, though she had no time to celebrate as they continued their attack in one fluid sequence of motion. Penny reacted again, breaking from her cover to help Neo, only to be bowled over as a deafening retort split the air, the tell-tale cry of Ilia's rifle.
Ruby knew a lot about guns in general, but she knew a lot about that gun in particular; she'd seen it rip holes in concrete when it used a real bullet, seen it break some of Jax's ribs through his semblance and now send Penny fifteen metres through the air and into a wall. Penny didn't seem as if she'd even noticed, quickly recovering, and darting back down the alley, determined to aid her teammate.
Ilia shot again, catching her shoulder, causing her to spiral back and smack her head on a nearby curb. Afraid of Penny getting hit again Ruby rolled around the side of the crate she was using as cover and began to provide suppressing fire, so Ilia was forced to take her own cover. Ruby's motion seemed to spur Weiss into action.
The princess stepped into the middle of the alley, raised her hand behind her head before flinging it forward. A large swarm of razor-sharp icicles formed before shortly following through with Weiss' motion and launching themselves at the twins whilst they engaged Neo. The twins hardly skipped a beat, cartwheeling behind a corner before launching back towards the multicoloured girl.
The reprieve it offered however was priceless and Neo finally managed to properly set her footing and begin defending herself better. She was still on the back foot, but stable at least. A familiar whooshing sound forced Ruby to look behind her just in time to cover her face as Blake appeared beside her and kicked her into a different alley, isolated. Weiss moved to assist but was sent flying as Ilia, now unhindered, took another shot from her nigh-impenetrable perch. With Ruby out of sight, no one could shoot back at her.
Rolling with the momentum, Ruby managed to land on her feet and raise her knife in time to swipe wildly and dissuade Blake from engaging further. Both levelled their respective pistols at each other, locked in a staredown as they studied each other. Ruby huffed a laugh.
"Mine's bigger." Blake simply narrowed her eyes before shooting three times and lunging forward with her sword. Ruby pivoted managing to dodge two out of three and returning with one of her own which landed squarely in Blake's chest causing her to wince, but she powered through, forcing Ruby to block the swing with her knife. Something she couldn't do.
Knives weren't designed to block or parry; the blades were far too short and as such crumbled under the larger surface area and force provided by longer weapons. Blakes slash hit home and was followed by another kick to the stomach, knocking the wind from her and forcing her to stumble back. Now it was Blake who smirked, brandishing her sword.
"Mine's bigger." Ruby nearly choked on her chuckle, still recovering from the hit. She could hear the sounds of the fight in the neighbouring alley, the sound of Ilia's rifle tearing into her team and the terrain alike. She flicked the knife around in her hand, a bad habit, but it helped her concentrate as she stood up ready to fight again.
She didn't waste time, immediately shooting off two rounds before engaging her semblance and placing herself behind Blake, ready to lunge the moment the girl reacted to her shots. The moment never came as Blakes head suddenly twitched and she dropped low under the bullets and spinning around to deliver an upwards thrusting kick to Ruby's barely prepared chest. The taller girl followed though with a downwards slash, one which Ruby dodged and caught her wrist raising her knife towards Blake's throat, only to pause as she felt the barrel of Blakes gun press to her stomach.
Deciding not to give her opponent time she flicked her knife wrist forward, delivering a weak, but jarring, punch to Blake's face and separating them once more with a roll. She briefly lost sight of Blake during her motion, and as she looked back up, she couldn't see her opponent. Only instinct saved her from the slew of gunfire that sounded from her left, though a few still grazed her sides and limbs as she ducked behind a car. Blake suddenly appeared in her face blade drawn and descending upon her. Ruby managed to speed herself up enough to kick Black off but, upon contact, it immediately ended and Blake simply teleported back to being directly on top of her, this time kneeing her in the stomach as she landed.
Luckily, Ruby managed to fight her reflex and used her already extended leg to wrap around Blake's neck and pulled her sword arm in an attempt to start an armbar. Blake reacted too quickly though and shot her last four shots into Ruby's side, causing her to recoil in pain and release Blake who quickly rolled away, afraid of Ruby grappling her again. Ruby spluttered as she stood up again, allowed the time as Blake slid a fresh magazine into her gun.
She was in danger. Blake was in her element with all the terrain to give her the extra mobility and now she knew about Ruby's semblance, her sisters likely telling Blake before the match. A person was disqualified when either their Aura broke, or they surrendered. Both her and Blake were breathing heavily, but it was obvious that she had sustained a lot more damage; Blake's gun may have been a lower calibre, but she'd hit far more often, and it was still a gunshot. Not to mention, loathe as she was to admit it, her sword definitely cut deeper than Ruby's knife, with each successful slash worth two or even three of her own.
BZZT!
The sound of a blaring buzzer temporarily interrupted her concentration; someone had been defeated. Blake gave her no time to ponder further, shooting once before disappearing, only to reappear behind her and shoot again and repeat the process over and over again. All the while Ruby tried her best to avoid the hell that was raining down on her from seemingly every direction.
It was getting frustrating. Blake was so agile. She couldn't see her team anymore, but she could feel them… taste them. Hatred. Disappointment. Smug satisfaction. Pain. Panic. Confusion. Fear…
Rip…
Ruby immediately snapped herself out of it, unaware that she had been simply standing there taking shot after shot, only for the pain to suddenly catch up to her in one sudden wave. Growls and snarling filled her headspace. She had to stop. Suddenly, she raised her hand.
"I surrender!" The buzzer immediately punctuated her action.
AN: As always thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed and feedback and criticism are appreciated. I hope this chapter comes out okay; I've rewritten it multiple times now. I was planning to put this chapter and the next one together but I suddenly noticed that I was approaching 7k words so I cut it off at the end of this scene. I'm afraid that I'm not portraying Weiss correctly and coming off in the wrong way with how I portray certain characters.
Also, for those of you who care, you will have noticed I've taken a lot of creative freedom with certain characters and their semblances. Obviously, if we don't know a character's semblance I'm giving them one if they're important enough to the plot and require one. The flip side of this is that I'm 'altering' some existing semblances, the most obvious examples being Weiss and Ruby.
Ruby's is simply me trying to limit the number of dumb things that come from having super-fast characters when people get far too specific, i.e generating extra force etc.
Weiss'/Winter's is, put simply, a nerf. I think most people agree with me when I say 'Glyphs are OP as hell' and there is essentially nothing it can't do. Super-speed, all elemental attacks, summoning, making terrain (even mid-air), gravity control, I could go on and on but I think my point is across. The Schnees are basically maidens already in canon (now Winter actually is one). So I'm making it simpler, control of water and ice, that's the beginning and the end of it. I could just limit what they can do another way I know, but I feel like Glyphs were kind of a way for Monty to add a character with mage-like powers (alongside Glynda) before magic was actually introduced and as such is overloaded as hell because it was cool and nobody cared at the time.
Final note: I'm going to go back and do a little bit of editing to older chapters in the near future. I have Grammarly now, so my dyslexia is not an excuse anymore, so I shall grammar check the older chapters, but also add and cut a paragraph or two here and there. So, again if you care, I would recommend perhaps going and re-reading the old chapters a few weeks to a month after I release this chapter (23rd September 2021 for reference in future).
-Tabaxi