Chapter 22

Shop Til You Drop


Located in the northwestern peninsula of The City of Vale was the infamous 'Unaffordable Side of Town', so named because of its exorbitant cost of living that the common folk of Vale simply couldn't afford. While the city was heralded as a melting pot of cultures the northwestern micro-district had a distinct accent most closely resembling those living further north, and even its architecture could fool one into thinking they were standing in the City of Atlas surrounded by all its skyscrapers. Instead of snowy mountains however, here in Vale the high-rises were rivaled only in grandeur by the CCT Tower in the commercial district and the Emerald Tower atop Beacon's cliffs, most of which belonged to or were managed by the Schnee Dust Company.

Relics of the past were scattered amongst the seemingly futuristic structures, including the buildings of Vale's government both past and present. The ruins of where the royal palace once stood was now a park with trees that stayed burnt orange throughout the year, and in the very middle of the park was a large marble monument depicting the people of Vale tearing down the walls of the palace and in doing so the royal family's tyranny. And all throughout the park visitors were reminded that the land and monument had been generously donated and preserved by the Schnee Dust Company.

Not far from the park which also served as the entrance to the safest region of Forever Fall, stood the Azure Galleria, a crystal blue structure that could be seen from nearly every avenue in the city taunting the average citizen that couldn't even afford parking. Inside the glass dome palm trees and other exotic plants grew all around with artificial sunlight shining down from above. No matter the weather outside, the Azure Galleria was always bright and welcoming to its affluent patrons, and at night the ceiling acted almost like a giant magnifying glass allowing citizens who had likely never left the walls of a light polluted city to see the starry night sky for the first time, as well as the individual slivers of the shattered moon.

In the food court several audible sighs could be heard from across the mall as Team RWBY flopped down into nearby seats and dropped several dozen large bags around them. Almost immediately Ruby began loosening her boots while the others leaned back grinning with satisfaction at a job well-done.

"Not too shabby if I do say so myself," Yang said, still proudly wearing her lilac-colored tiara that read 'Birthday Girl' despite constantly having to dig it out of her unruly mane.

Blake nodded tiredly and began massaging her left shoulder which had been carrying her heavy books. It took all her self-control not to peek inside the covers now that they were resting but she somehow resisted the temptation. Not because somebody might think it poor manners, but because if she was caught ignoring the birthday girl again like she had when she'd pretended to be changing clothes in the changing room then there might be severe consequences of the Yang Xiao Long variety.

Rifling through several of her bags Yang held up her fingers counting them off. "I think I've got a different bikini for every day of the week now. Wait, hold on." She paused, either having run out of fingers or having lost count. "Okay, maybe most of the month, but I still wouldn't mind going back to grab a couple more just to be safe."

Weiss rested her tired feet atop a nearby empty chair and spread her body out as though she were sunbathing underneath the artificial lights, and very nearly kicked her heels off. "It's still November," she scoffed. "Why do you need to buy swimsuits now? And please don't tell me that you're going to start sunbathing atop the dorm again. You truly outdid yourself last time with how much skin a person can legally show."

"Professor Goodwitch flinging her off the rooftop was pretty hilarious though you have to admit," Blake laughed. "Oh wait, you were the one who broke her fall."

Yang shared in her partner's chuckles before taking off her unnecessary clothing and sprawling herself out, not quite as ladylike as the heiress. "By the time spring rolls around most of the good ones will already be sold out, and swimsuits are always cheapest in the fall and winter. Not that I'd call any of the bikinis you bought me cheap." She shook her head and shuddered. "I'll never understand why girls swimsuits and underwear are so expensive when there's hardly anything to them."

"Maybe for you there's hardly anything to them..." Weiss grumbled, with Yang turning a crooked grin toward her.

"Before today did you even own a swimsuit? Actually, have you ever even been swimming? I went swimming in Atlas last spring and I was the only person on the beach. Well, the only one not wearing thermal underwear and a coat anyway. Pretty sure I might've saved your kingdom's beach tourism that day. You can thank me later, or now seeing how it's my birthday."

Weiss let out an indignant huff. "I'll have you know that I have my own indoor swimming pool back in Atlas, as well as my own personal beach house."

"Of course you do..." Blake said dryly, yawning before curling up into a ball. More than once the team had walked in on the faunus basking in sunlight on the floor not far from Zwei, or the ray of death as her partner called it, and the glass dome above was already almost impossible for her to resist but especially when she'd been woken so early and hadn't had her customary afternoon nap.

"I'd take the beach any day," Yang said before giving Weiss a sly grin. "You might've thought you were being sneaky but my cat-like eyes and ears over here caught you buying nearly twice as many swimsuits as me when you thought nobody was looking. I especially liked the white one with the frilly top. Is that just for style or to hide the fact that you're flatter than an ironing board?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH ABOUT MY CHEST!" Weiss shouted, her high-pitched voice echoing throughout the mall and causing shoppers to stop and stare. Blake couldn't help flinching and was surprised when the entire glass ceiling didn't collapse on top of them. "I've had quite enough of you commenting on the matter!" She coughed and took a moment to recompose herself. "If I'm going to be staying with you and Ruby after the semester I would like to work on my tan, and-"

"Or lack thereof..." Blake said under her breath.

"-and," she seethed, "I bought perfectly tasteful two piece bathing suits that accentuate my body type without making a spectacle of myself."

Yang's grin widened. "Fair enough, but your alabaster keister is gonna blind people the first time it sees the sun. And you still haven't answered the real issue here. If you went swimming back home but didn't own any swimsuits, did you or did you not go ever skinny dipping?"

Blake snorted and glanced at Weiss who after giving the pair her patented 'Go to hell and please kindly stay there' glare, her lip twitched and she quickly turned her attention to Ruby who was curiously picking at her rose printed socks.

While the rest of the team had enjoyed getting pedicures at their favorite beauty parlor, Ruby boots had stayed firmly on, unable to bare the thought of a stranger looking at her feet much less touching them. She had gone along and gotten a manicure at her team's insistence, and Weiss' demand, but her nails being the disaster that they were the only thing that could be done to salvage them was paint them her favorite shade of red and style little black roses on them, which was more than enough for the girl who normally maintained her nails using tools found in the machine shop.

She had enjoyed getting her hair washed and cut by a professional for once, this time at Yang's demand, but had drawn the line at getting a full body massage. She had also refused climbing into a therapeutic hot tub or go inside a steaming hot sauna with her sister and friends with just tiny towels wrapped around them.

Ruby didn't mind being left out and would've been perfectly content sitting in the beauty parlor's waiting room with her headphones on, but her teammates wouldn't have it and so they'd carried on shopping only half-beautified. She couldn't help feeling guilty that she'd ruined their day at the spa when they'd enjoyed it so much in the past, and for forcing her team to take so many breaks. Every so often however Yang would hug her and whisper in her ear not to worry about it and that they were still doing what she wanted to do more than anything, and that was spending time with her baby sister. And torturing Weiss of course, and Blake, which admittedly might've been Yang's main reason for wanting to go inside the sauna. For her even the coldest shower could feel like a blazing hot sauna.

The team had already taken Ruby out for ice cream three times that day, with a fourth promised by Weiss once they were finished at their next stop, and they had even visited several weapon shops that were normally well out of the sister's price range but not for the CEO of Schi-nee. They'd also taken her to a pet store to play with the rescue animals looking for adoption, though admittedly Weiss might've had selfish reasons for doing so. Yang ended up buying several new dog toys for Zwei as well as a sackful of cat supplies, making Ruby excited thinking they were bringing home a cuddly friend for Zwei but in reality they were for Blake who hadn't been nearly as amused.

"What do you think of your new boots?" Weiss asked suddenly, watching the ragged pair laying on the ground as though they may fall apart or walk off on their own any minute.

"Huh?" Ruby blinked momentarily confused and followed where she was pointing, and Weiss patiently waited having long since gotten accustomed to delayed responses. "Oh, um, I love them!" She smiled awkwardly and with some effort bent down and held up her scuffed up black boots.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Those are your old boots, dummy," she said more wearily than unkindly. "I meant the ones I bought for you today. You go through them almost as fast as socks, but look! I bought myself a matching pair!" Weiss dug around one of her bags and retrieved a pair of white boots with red shoelaces and lace, and proudly held them up as though they were a trophy. She would never admit it out loud, certainty not in the presence of Blake and Yang, but ever since disguising herself as her partner Weiss had been secretly jealous of Ruby's comfy combat boots and had badly wanted a pair for herself, specifically a pair that matched.

"Oh, in that case I love them!" Her smile was more convincing this time, genuine even, but something on her face still didn't seem right to the astute eyes of her partner.

"What about your clothes?" Weiss asked dishearteningly. "You haven't picked anything out yourself. Do you at least like them?"

"They're nice, but I mean, clothes are clothes, right? And I think I have enough already." Ruby paused when she realized what she'd said. "Not-that-I-don't-appreciate-them-thank-you-I-love-them!"

Weiss sighed and put her shoes back quietly. "You're welcome, and if you see anything that you like, anything at all, please just say so."

"Having enough clothes hasn't stopped any of us," Blake pointed out, glancing down at the bags surrounding them and shaking her head. With clothes already overflowing out of the closet and their dresser some would inevitably have to be stored in the student garage, or kept perpetually in the dirty clothes bin. She and the sisters hadn't allowed Weiss to buy them everything, but looking at her bags remembering the items she had bought herself Blake couldn't help feeling a tad nervous. She was the only member of the team without a source of income, or practically unlimited source in Weiss' case, and while she had taken a small fortune with her upon her abrupt departure from the White Fang she didn't have too many shopping excursions like today left in her wallet.

Fortunately she had a billionaire as a friend and literal soulmate, but it still felt wrong taking advantage of Weiss' money even if the heiress was more than happy to be used as an ATM. Blake had already cost the SDC millions by helping sabotage trade routes and destroying security droids, and had caused no small amount of grief for Jacques Schnee who had occasionally taken his frustration out on the girl sitting beside her. Taking money from her felt dirty, and not just because the Schnee business empire had been built during the first two faunus crusades and maintained by taking advantage of destitute faunus.

Selfishly to some degree it felt like restitution for all the hardships of her people, but then again this wasn't technically the SDC's money they were spending today. It was Schi-nee's, and from what Weiss told her working for a dental hygiene company had the added benefit of having excellent dental coverage.

"Thank-you-for-all-the-new-books-clothes-ammo-movies-and-other-things-that-you-bought-me-when-I-wasn't-looking-but-thought-I'd-like-them!" Blake gushed, forcing an unnatural smile so wide it hurt. "I love my new crop tops, especially the black one with a cutout that looks like a cat head. You know how much I love cat things..."

Weiss nodded, her chin held high obviously pleased with herself. "You are more than welcome, but are you sure those aren't undergarments? I don't want you making a spectacle of yourself in public. At least not when we're together."

"Oh, speaking of-" Yang dug around one of her bags and retrieved what looked to Weiss like just a couple strips of cloth. "Thanks for the new underwear. Your the best!"

Her left eye twitched and she shoved the girls' hands back into the bag and looked around making sure nobody saw. "What are you doing?"

"Wait, so panties hanging from a clothes rack for everybody to see is perfectly fine, but actually holding them is somehow indecent and lewd? Gotcha."

"I promised to buy you decent undergarments so that you'd no longer have an excuse," she whispered. "Those however are-"

"Sexy as hell," she finished enthusiastically with a suggestive ring to her voice. "Blake knows what's up, and Ruby will wear whatever you and I buy for her, but if your side of the Ice Flower underwear drawer were to accidentally catch fire one day, say sometime later this week, nothing of consequence would be lost. Well, I take that back. There are a pair or two that look good when you bend over in your nightgown. You too Blake, especially you. Not that me and Ruby are complaining of course."

Weiss slumped over tending to a migraine and Blake patted her on the back sympathetically. "As sad as I am to have to start sharing a drawer again, just remember that anything is better than nothing."

"Says you," Yang said, "and don't give me lip, miss tight pants."

"W-what?"

"You know what. Name something you wear that doesn't accentuate every curve of your Bellabooty. That's right, you can't. And we share the drawer, remember? I may or may not look in there every day, but I can tell when something on your side is missing or not."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if I did it might have something to do with having lived in the wilderness most of my life, so could we please change the subject. We're in public and you don't exactly have an indoor voice."

Weiss nodded vehemently but Yang looked as though she was just getting started, or perhaps simply wasn't listening. "What about you, Rubes? Excluding pajama bottoms because that's different, you ever decide to save a load on laundry? With your frilly skirts it's kinda hard to see what your Ruby-booty looks like in leggings. Weiss, any comment on my sister's backside?"

"None whatsoever..."

"Sure..." Yang said sarcastically. She waited a few seconds for her sister's response but when she didn't get an outraged or even sheepish reply she turned to her worriedly "Sis? You alright?"

Ruby was staring at a nearby scroll screen with a glazed over look in her eyes still massaging her tired feet. She was leaning forward with a hand on her stomach as though she might've been hungry or had a stomach ache, and occasionally she'd squirm uncomfortably in her chair.

"Rubes?"

"I'm alright," she said, smiling weakly. "Coverage of the Vytal Festival Tournament starts today. They're about to go over the favored freshman teams and their odds in the singles round."

Yang continued watching her sister concerned over her weary-looking expression but slowly followed her gaze to a nearby holographic screen. A training montage of Atlesian teams was playing and Yang couldn't help letting out a chuckle as a young man wearing a dark suit, fedora and sunglasses played a saxophone that tore through concrete, Beowolf-shaped targets with green dust sound waves while a petite girl in a pink combat mini-skirt ran around the battlefield at blinding speed with nunchucks and a distinct cat's tail and rainbow trailing behind her.

"Good to know that Polaris' students are just as crazy as the rest of us, eh?" She gave her sister a playful nudge but she didn't seem to notice. "You think if I punched her hard enough SKTLS would pop out of her?"

Blake chuckled knowing her partner would certainly give it a try if given the opportunity, and part of her couldn't help feeling sorry for her fellow cat faunus.

After Atlas' montage ended every freshman from all four academies received a few seconds highlighting their combat prowess and all the girls let out squeals when they saw themselves and their friends on television. Once the video ended it cut to a young woman with snow white hair and bright lavender eyes sitting stoically at an orderly desk.

"Now we bring you the three highest ranked freshmen and overall favorites to potentially win the Vytal Festival Tournament," Lisa Lavender said in her usual serious, almost monotone voice.

An image appeared of a dark skinned girl with platinum blonde hair wearing traditional Mistralian garb and holding green fireballs in her palms. "Arslan Altan of Haven Academy's Team ABRN is a two time finalist in the regional Mistral tournament, and courtesy of October's published combat ratings we've learned that besides laying claim to the highest combat prowess, Arslan also has both the largest aura pool and strongest aura shield of the entire freshman class. She is also generally regarded as one of the finest hand-to-hand combatants of her generation and is an expert glyph practitioner specializing in fire.

The still image transitioned into Arslan hurling fireballs at concrete targets and disintegrating them where they once stood. Weiss leaned forward in her seat aghast at the sheer devastation of her glyphs but also marveling at the complexity in which the ancient runes were written. It seemed to Weiss that Arslan wore some sort of bracers underneath her wrist tape as they occasionally lit up like dust vials when she activated a glyph, meaning she didn't necessarily have to rely on dust and could use her own aura as fuel instead.

While crude the bracers would also give her better control over her glyphs than a rapier would, with the added benefit of acting like Yang's gauntlets for defense and blasting the opponent whenever she landed a punch. After leveling several more stationary targets the footage cut to Arslan engaging an armed opponent with nothing more than her bare hands while effortlessly creating pillars of fire around them without the need of dust or concentration, things the heiress could only do in her wildest dreams.

Weiss swallowed as she recognized this woman all too well, and when the video paused on Arslan staring into the camera Weiss couldn't help feeling as though her fiery green eyes were filled with hell fire, and were staring straight at her with the promise of retribution and vengeance against her and her hero...

Yang had leaned forward as well her eyes flickering red. She'd heard of Arslan and vaguely recalled watching her in Mistral's regional tournament earlier that year, but while the prospect of fighting an opponent she didn't have to pull any punches on excited her, she also couldn't help feeling the least bit apprehensive. The same way should could send almost everyone in her class to the hospital with little to no effort she could tell Arslan could and more importantly, would do the same to her sister and friends if given the opportunity.

Despite that fear and the bubbling anger as a result Yang also couldn't help admiring the control Arslan had over her aura and semblance, and how quick yet powerful all her strikes were. It was extraordinarily rare that Yang found someone her own age that she felt could truly match her in a fair fight, not that she actually thought Arslan could beat her of course, but watching her and her flame glyphs Yang couldn't help flinching and thinking back to the many times she'd very nearly been burned alive by her old training partner back at Signal.

Slowly, almost unintentionally, she glanced down at Ruby's feet then back at the screen as Arslan created a fiery blade out of thin air, as well as an obsidian chain from sand on the battlefield that she wrapped around her unsuspecting opponent's legs. The finish of the fight was brutal yet elegant, but all Yang could think about was how her glyphs looked vaguely familiar and how it had felt having her skin burned off to them...

She made a mental note to herself to message her uncle when she was alone, but with her eyes still flickering all Yang could think about was how lucky Arslan was to either still be in Mistral or have flown out on a mission earlier that day.

The video cut back to Lisa Lavender who seemed to be trying to hide a smile that was reminiscent of the unseen smile of her cousin sitting in the food court. "Neck and neck with Arslan for the number one spot is the young woman who defeated her in consecutive Mistral regional tournaments, Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon Academy's Team JNPR!" The girls cheered wildly and whistled as a familiar smiling redhead appeared on screen followed by footage of her training, or more accurately, systematically dismantling her opponents, of which three members of their team were a part of.

"Look, Weiss-" Yang pointed- "that's the time Pyrrha used your own arm to choke you unconscious."

"I know," she said dreamily, looking up wide-eyed at the champion who helped inspire her to become a huntress and gave her the courage to stand up to her father, and who may or may not have been partially responsible for her applying to Beacon over the other academies. It had been an honor to have her blood wiped off of Pyrrha's armor and to have caused a few small scratches and scorch marks on her sword and shield, but nothing could match having her swordsmanship complimented by her or sharing techniques with each other. Yang however believed Weiss' favorite moments might've come from the perks of sharing a locker room together, specifically bathing across from each other the one time Weiss ever showered down in the girls locker room.

After the brutal montage where everyone couldn't help wincing or shaking off phantom pains, Lisa Lavender appeared once again this time not even attempting to hide her grin. "Pyrrha Nikos is undefeated in both official and unofficial matches, and is only marginally behind Arslan where their aura pools and shields are concerned. Few opponents have so much as even laid a scratch on Sanctum Academy's Invincible Girl, but the third top ranked student has such distinction."

Yang sat up straighter with an air of cockiness around her, and her teammates turned to her beaming with pride knowing who was next, though Weiss' smile might've just been leftover from the previous pick.

"Yang Xiao Long of Beacon Academy's Team RWBY." They all let out loud cheers causing everyone in the mall to turn and either gawk or turn their noses away, with very few cheering alongside them. On the screen a stunning blonde stared seductively into the camera with her fiery fists raised and a glint of crimson in her eyes. "Miss Xiao Long's combat rating and aura pool is almost dead even with Pyrrha Nikos', but despite sporting a stronger aura shield as of yet neither have been able to get the better of the other in their training sessions together."

"Only because Glynda's scared we'll fight to the death and refuses to let us fight for more than five minutes!" Yang hollered back. "And the only reason she's rated slightly higher than me is because she's the teacher's pet and Glynda gets mad when I draw out fights or let someone have the first punch! It's called keeping things interesting and giving the opponent a fair chance!" She glanced at her teammates feeling their incredulous stares. "Okay, it's called having fun and burning off steam, but same difference."

"Yang Xiao Long is a fourth generation huntress and like Pyrrha Nikos is also undefeated in both official and unofficial matches. She's described by her combat instructors as a human wrecking ball due to her straightforward approach to combat and because the harder you push, the harder she comes back at you."

"Hell yeah! That's more like it!" Yang jumped out of her seat and punched the air, causing it to sizzle around her.

"However-"

"Huh?"

"-miss Xiao Long is also described as being a hot-headed, rage-a-holic who rushes into battle without thinking by Beacon's head combat instructor, Glynda Goodwitch, who was very keen that we mention this on air as well as her lack of mobility and team versatility, which according to Professor Goodwitch she needs to work on seeing how she's currently not on a mission and has the free time."

The girls looked up nervously at their blonde wrecking ball who coolly blew the hair out of her flickering eyes. A moment later she shrugged and sat back down, crossing her arms over her chest and pursing her lips together. "So what that I'm slow as hell compared to you three, or most of the class? It's worked pretty well so far hasn't it? And anyway I'm built for comfort not speed. And who the hell cares about team versatility when you're a front line Grimm slaying machine?" She turned to her teammates with pupil-less crimson eyes. "Any of you have a problem with that!?"

"Nope," they said in unison, all shaking their heads. Ruby however quickly looked away feeling guilty. Team functionality was her responsibility, one of the biggest for a team leader, and because of her negligence her big sister's combat rating was lower than it should've been, and with every team scouting the competition for weaknesses it could be an exploitable flaw in the team and doubles rounds, or on the battlefield surrounded by merciless, hungry Grimm...

"I am so raiding Glynda's mini-fridge again next time I get the chance..." Yang muttered, her eyes flickering a few more times before returning to normal. "Hot-headed, rage-a-holic my butt..."

The video once again returned to Lisa who was straightening her papers no longer smiling. "Of course the Vytal Festival Tournament is about more than just single matches, which brings us to the team and doubles elimination rounds. The freshman team with the highest overall combat rating is Beacon Academy's Team RWBY, which is slightly below that of an average third year team."

The team let out a loud cheer and began shaking each other hardly able to believe what they'd just heard.

"Thank you, Yang..." Weiss said under her breath, not entirely sure whether their combat rating being stated for the competition to hear was actually a good thing or not.

"Team RWBY is led by the fifteen-year-old prodigy from Signal Academy, Ruby Rose." Yang jumped and and down in her seat giving her sister congratulatory hugs while Blake and Weiss smiled proudly at their leader. Ruby on the other hand was at a loss for words but quickly began beaming at her teammates, knowing they were the reason the team was ranked number one. Video began playing of a red blur decapitating concrete Beowolves with an enormous scythe, and Ruby wiped her eyes wishing Crescent Rose could be there to share the moment with her. Even when the video transitioned into the photo they all recognized at her student ID by the chocolate smears on her face she didn't stop smiling. In fact it was the most beautiful picture of herself Ruby had ever seen, something Yang and Blake seemed to agree on given while Weiss scooted away from her partner and hid her face.

"Her partner is Weiss Schnee-"

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD ON TELEVISION, LISA!"

"-heiress to the Schnee fortune and an Atlesian junior fencing champion." Weiss' stoic ID picture appeared followed by video of her creating various glyphs to destroy targets and with a flaming rapier hold her own against Pyrrha in a technical marvel of a sword fight, and too soon in Weiss' opinion two other photos and clips began playing alongside her's and Ruby's. "They're teamed with the lightning quick and highly versatile Blake Belladonna, and Ruby Rose's older sister, the previously mentioned Yang Xiao Long." While everyone else cheered again Blake couldn't help squirming a little in her seat at the sight of herself on television. "Not far behind them however is Team SNNN, whose leader Sun Wukong would've been fourth on our list of freshmen capable of making it far into this year's extensive singles round."

"Wait, really?" Yang followed by Ruby glanced at their partners who nodded earnestly.

"Sun's combat rating is actually higher than Ruby's," Blake admitted, speckles of pink appearing on her cheeks. "A-and Sage's aura pool is nearly as big as yours, Yang. He's also supposed to be an expert with time dilation glyphs or something."

"Right, and I'll have the two of you know that Neptune's combat rating is higher than both my own and Blake's," Weiss said, her face brightening as well. "A-and don't forget about Scarlet. He won Atlas' junior fencing tournament earlier this year. Of course Father disallowed me from competing, so make of that what you will."

The sisters blinked obviously impressed but also a little surprised. "And here I thought they were just pretty faces who posed for saucy pictures, posters, and calendars," Yang laughed.

"Those too..." Blake practically purred.

Weiss nodded, though quickly corrected herself and made it look as though she was merely stretching a stiff neck. "I think they're rather tasteful myself," she said moments before a photo appeared of the boys posing on the beach without their shirts. "Especially July and August..."

"We'll have more for you as coverage for the Vytal Festival Tournament continues," Lisa Lavender said excitedly. "For now we'll close today's program with each academy's overall odds on favorite." The girls couldn't help leaning forward, their bodies shaking in anticipation while also crossing their fingers.

"Third year student, Robin Sherwood of Shade Academy." The screen cut to a tall young man wearing black leather armor and a cowboy hat, holding what Ruby recognized as an energy bow capable of collapsing into twin short swords. When he pulled the bow back a dust cylinder at the sights rotated causing a fiery arrow to appear, and when he released the arrow a concrete target was instantly disintegrated.

"Well that's gonna suck," Yang said aloud, already shaking the pain off her limbs. "Crap. Rubes, forget what I said the other day about bullet blocking. Go ahead and put bullet dodging practice back in my training regimen..."

"Third year student, Henry Marigold of Polaris Academy." Another young man appeared this one with platinum blond hair and wearing a spotless white chest piece with a marigold emblazoned on the front. He held a Multi-Action Dust Rapier in a defensive position, and Ruby couldn't help noticing just from a glance that his MADR appeared to be almost the same quality as Myrtenaster, and turning to her partner to comment she saw Weiss stifle a gag.

"Second year student, Mercury Black of Haven Academy, who will be entering the tournament with his partner Emerald Sustrai in the supplementary doubles round, and will be fighting in the memory of their fallen teammate, Vernal Vesna."

The girls clapped and nodded sympathetically, but couldn't help leaning forward just a little more in anticipation for who was last.

"Me. Me. Me."

"Pyrrha. Pyrrha. Pyrrha."

"Last but certainly not least, the overall favorite to win this year's Vytal Festival Tournament is none other than Beacon Academy's third year team, Team CFVY!"

Both Yang and Weiss couldn't help looking a little deflated, but both clapped just as strongly in support of their schoolmates as Ruby and Blake. "Any member of their team is said to be fully capable of entering the singles rounds and winning, but Yatsuhashi Daichi is an almost certainty. He currently has the highest combat rating of all four academies and made it all the way to the final eight in his first appearance two years ago as a freshman before losing to the eventual winner. Stay tuned tonight for more in depth coverage of the Vytal Festival Tournament. I'm Lisa Lavender reporting, coming up next is Cyril Ian with local news around Vale."

Commercials for the tournament sponsors began to play fronted by the SDC, half of which included an armored redhead smiling and waving at the camera politely. Everyone on the team let out a breath finally able to relax but Yang couldn't help grumbling something under her's. Students weren't technically allowed to have sponsorship deals at Beacon but an exception had been made for Pyrrha, who had also been given several other special perks. Yang had thought the academies throwing themselves at her had been cutthroat with each of them offering her better deals seemingly every other day before she settled on Beacon, which hadn't fought nearly as hard for her as Shade or Haven who had offered full-rides with perks in exchange for acting as a recruitment officer and posing half-naked in school advertisements, but nothing could compare with how badly the headmasters had wanted Pyrrha Nikos attending their schools. The topic had been on the news for months and the announcement of what school she would be attending had even been broadcast live on television.

Many had thought being a four time Mistral regional champion and top graduate of Sanctum Academy that Haven would've been her top choice, or perhaps Polaris which could've made her an officer in the Atlesian military by her third year if she joined the Special Operative Unit. When asked by her friends Pyrrha would just say that Beacon Academy was the home of champions which was what she wanted to be, but whatever her exact reason Yang was sure a lucrative deal had been included somewhere. And sometimes she couldn't help but wonder why Beacon had been so much more interested in Pyrrha than herself.

Perhaps it was simply because Beacon's headmaster already knew her coming to his academy was a done deal seeing how her father, uncle, mother, and stepmother were all been acclaimed graduates, but atop a small mound of envy Yang carried toward the so-called 'Invincible Girl', like her uncle she also couldn't help feeling the least bit suspicious of the headmaster's intentions.

As Weiss and Blake began talking excitedly over each other Yang joined them without missing a beat while Ruby shrank back into her chair. Taking notice Yang gently nudged her sister's shoulder. "Hey, no feeling guilty or sorry for yourself on my birthday," she said before leaning in closer. "You'll make it, Rubes. I promise, and I'll kick every single one of their butts for you."

Blake nodded but otherwise remained silent and shared a disheartened glance at Weiss. Before anything else could be said Yang cleared her throat and clapped her hands together. "Alright, today is MY day which means no more thoughts of the Vytal Festival. Got it? I am not sharing the spotlight with some stupid tournament."

Ruby nodded absently, staring at her feet which she was kicking into the air. With a devilish grin Yang ran her hands through her sister's newly styled hair messing it up.

"HEY!? Cut it out! You're the one who made me get my hair done!"

Yang giggled as her sister flailed her arms futilely and puffed out her cheeks trying not to smile. Blake and Weiss shared another glance with one another and with a nod joined in on their favorite game of 'Torture the Leader'.

Finally after the game was over and Ruby had been officially declared the loser several times over they were all gasping for breath with their leader's hair sticking up straight in the air.

"No more worrying about things out of your control," Yang said to her.

"Otherwise round two will be even worse," Weiss promised, winking at her partner. "We'll hold you down and tickle you while Zwei sticks his tongue up your nose and ears."

Blake shuddered and reflexively covered all facial orifices, but Ruby just smiled and slapped away a couple of stray hands preemptively sneaking up on her.

"Alright!" Ruby shouted. "I get it! No more thinking!"

"Shouldn't be any trouble for you," Weiss said humorously, sticking her tongue out so her partner knew she was only being semi-serious.

She laughed but it quickly trailed off and she sank back in her seat. "Hey, um, why is everybody looking at us?" Her teammates followed where she was looking, and saw that around them dozens of shoppers had stopped in their tracks and were staring, some as little as ten feet away.

"Well they did just show our faces on television," Yang said, giving a few of the handsome guys her age a suggestive wink. "Maybe they just have good taste?" Glancing around however her confident, sultry smile began to fade as most of the stares weren't directed toward her, but rather the small girl she had an arm around which reflexively became an impenetrable, protective barrier.

Even without being on television the girls were all easily recognizable as huntresses in-training due to their auras being noticeably brighter than the average unlocked civilian's, but also because of Weiss who anyone not living underneath a rock would've easily recognized even without a snowflake emblem on her jacket. Something Yang and Blake had asked she not wear into the city anymore but Weiss had insisted it was her emblem not the SDC's, and believe she'd safe from unruly faunus attacks here on the unaffordable side of town.

While Blake fought her urge to adjust her bow or hide in somebody's shadow, Yang was waving uneasily at the onlookers while Weiss simply ignored them as though they didn't exist. Ruby however was hiding under her hood pretending she was anywhere but here.

*twitch*

"Ruby Rose...Patchwork Village...Summer Rose..."

Blake could hear a few of the spectators mumbling to themselves as if trying to recall something on the tips of their tongues, and saw that while some of them were giving sympathetic looks toward the caped-girl as a condolence of sorts, more were staring with cold, accusatory glares as if shaming her. Ruby couldn't see them, but Blake suspected she could feel them burning into her, and Weiss grabbed her partner's shaking hand and squeezed.

The faunus took a protective almost threatening posture in front of her leader and turned to see Yang and now Weiss doing the same. Yang eyes had turned crimson as she glared at the condemning onlookers while Weiss appeared to be sharpening her tongue which was already almost as deadly as her rapier.

Perhaps taking the hint that their lives were in mortal peril the unfriendly mob began to scatter with the friendly, almost apologetic faces leaving soon after. Blake sighed with relief that nobody had caused an incident, specifically she and her teammates who would've leveled the mall for their leader, and glanced at her partner and sharing a knowing look.

'What was that about?'

Yang ignored her and scooted closer to sister, leaving Blake to turn to Weiss for answers.

'I don't know,' the heiress mouthed. 'Something to do with the massacre in Patchwork and Summer?'

Blake slowly nodded thinking she must be right. It would be an incident not easily forgotten by the citizens of Vale, and Yang had told them that some thought of Summer as a disgraced huntress of sorts for what could've been prevented if she had put her duty first instead of her daughter. And apparently that was a popular opinion on this side of town where non-Atlesian, non-military huntsmen already weren't exactly well-thought of.

After a few comforting whispers in her sister's ear Yang pulled her sister's hood down and kissed her on the side of the head. "You're alright, Rubes. They're gone, and more importantly I'm here."

"We're here," Blake corrected, giving Ruby a smile.

"The nerve of them," Weiss said venomously. "Say the word and I can have each and every single one of them banned from ever coming to the Azure Galleria again."

"It's alright," Ruby said with a reassuring smile, squeezing her hand back.

"No it's not alright!"

"Well, maybe, maybe not, but I know why they were staring. They're not the first ones, and you can't blame them. I don't. A lot of people a-are gone because me and Mom..."

"They have no right to look at you like that, especially not when I'm here with you." Weiss' murderous gaze turned to her partner where it quickly softened. "Got that?"

Ruby's smile became more genuine which had an infections effect on the team, all except Yang who was staring intently at the nearby scroll screen again.

"-Flannery is the third teenage girl to go missing this month." A man will teal colored hair motioned with his hands and photos of three young girls appeared all with reddish hair and gray, almost silver eyes, and judging by their attire, their favorite colors all appeared to be red...

Yang slowly turned to Ruby then back at the screen, her arm tightening around her sister. Sensing something was wrong Blake followed her partner's gaze but the news broadcast had already cut to the weather.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head but began glancing around the mall, her eyes pausing on every shadow as though something might've been lurking in it. "I think we've done enough damage to our wallets and Weiss' bank account for one day. What do you girls say we get back to Beacon before it gets dark?"

"Wait, what!? But it's still early," Weiss cried incredulously, with perhaps also a hint of disappointment in her voice. "We still have more shopping to do, and I owe your sister ice cream for not annoying me while trying on clothes earlier." She turned to Blake expecting her to talk sense into her partner, but the faunus was sitting up with her bow twitching in every direction and her eyes scanning for danger.

"We don't have to go straight home," Yang relented. "If you want we can pay a little visit to a place called 'The Crow Bar'..." She let the name hang in the air and Ruby's head slowly rose.

"T-that's-"

"Yep, the place Uncle Qrow owns. Well, partially anyway." Yang turned to their confused partners beaming. "Ruby's never been allowed inside because Dad's a boring, responsible adult, sometimes, but our uncle promised I could have all the free drinks I can handle on my birthday, and where I go Ruby goes. It's not exactly the kind of place you'd want to party though. Most of the people that go there are active huntsmen or retired, and most of them aren't exactly happy drunks. But the bartender's from Patch and makes a mean strawberry sunrise, and there's some pretty cool huntsman memorabilia hanging on the walls you might like."

"Awesome!" Ruby bent down and began tying her shoes back on.

Weiss and Blake looked at each other expecting the other to object but neither were able to come up with an excuse, especially not when it had cheered Ruby up so easily. "Alright, count us in..."

"Great, now what do you say we start the night off early with a Yang?"


(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I consider Chapter 22 an "in between" chapter, and I had seriously considered removing it but I thought it would be fun to show what an average day at the mall with Team RWBY looked like, and also wanted to take the time to introduce some of the tournament characters from Volume 3. We'll get to know them more a bit later, but I wanted to give you a "preview" of them and hopefully make them to feel more like real characters and not just fodder for the tournament. Especially Arslan, who I wanted to give a bigger role in the story as a rival to Pyrrha and Yang, and act as a red herring of sorts for Yang on her search for Ruby's attacker. I also thought it might be fun to give Henry Marigold a bigger role, but for the purpose of this narrative he's obviously going to be very different from his canon counterpart. I hope you enjoy. As always, all credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has made this story possible and blessed me with all of you. God bless)