RWBY Pokémon Chapter 14

There were several things going through Weiss' mind when her scroll started ringing.

First and foremost, how was there any connection? The CCT towers needed all four to be fully functional for any connection beyond a one and a half kilometer distance. While she didn't know about Yang or Blake, they could be anywhere, there was 'no' way Ruby would have managed to get all the way from Patch to Atlas this quickly when there were no more charter shuttles to Vale and the surrounding area anymore. Not when she was 'comatose' last time Weiss saw her. Yet it looked like she had a firm connection with all three of them. Firm enough she could check the status of their auras.

Second, what was with the background image? It looked like the symbol for the kingdom of Vale, only in the colors of team RWBY. That wasn't any image she'd downloaded and set as a background for calls. She didn't even set her phone to 'have' an image background for calls! Had she been hacked? How could 'anyone' manage to hack her without the CCT to make a connection?!

But the single biggest thought that screamed in her head as she answered the call? Oh thank the 'gods', something other than the vapid "intrigue" of power hungry rich people who didn't give a damn that one of the four major strongholds against the Grimm was crippled at the very least. Something more meaningful than finding polite ways to say no to suitors that didn't give a damn about what she actually looked like, and holding her temper at false sympathy. Something more 'satisfying' than having to sneak off just to keep her skills sharp, with little to no chance of making actual 'improvements'.

So she answered the call from Yang, unable to hold in a smile. A smile that..wilted when she actually saw the blond on screen. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this was..worrying.

The first thing Weiss noticed when Yang popped up on screen was her hair. Normally it was a controlled wild, loose and free but very well cared for, like a lion's mane. Now though? The front looked like it hadn't seen a comb in a while, with noticeable tangles and strands sticking in random directions, and the back was haphazardly shoved into a ponytail, less out of a sense of style and more like she just didn't want to think about it. That was as jarring as seeing Blake refuse to eat fish.

The second thing Weiss was drawn to were Yang's eyes. Regardless of if they were purple or red, if she was physically exhausted or just waking up in the morning, there was usually this..energy. Like even when she was completely out of it she was eager for any challenge sent her way. But Weiss saw 'very' little of that enthusiastic, stubborn, characteristic will. In its place was a slouching, tired eyed stranger wearing Yang's face. She was so unmistakably worn down that it was downright 'disturbing'. Hell, she didn't even have the energy to hold up her scroll, she'd just set it down and angled it to look at her.

Regardless of the observations and growing sense of worry, Weiss put every bit of enthusiasm as she could into her voice. "Yang!"

While Yang's smile was genuine, it was oddly slow. Like the only reason she managed it was reflex. "Hey Weiss. That dress looks fancier than the one you wore to the dance. What's the occasion?"

That made Weiss shift to a stern glare. "Really? You're opening with half hearted praise of my clothes?"

There was a brief look of panic on her face. Good, at least whatever was going on hadn't made her emotionally numb. "Um, it looks great on you. Really compliments your hair and eyes, and makes you look like even more of a princess than usual. Seriously, if you wore that -"

Weiss cut her off right there. "I have spent 'far' too many of my waking hours lately dealing with insincere praise from the most self-centered, overbred 'scavengers' I have ever met. So excuse me for not having the 'patience' to hear the same droll the first time I hear from a 'friend' I was 'worried' about!"

Yang's response was the last nail, the undeniable proof that there was something seriously wrong. Where she would have usually deflected with something along the lines of "aw, you were worried about me", now she just cringed and mumbled an apology.

That swept whatever anger right out of Weiss. Ignoring a sudden, loud bird squawk, she decided to be direct. "Are you alright?"

A flash of..something went through Yang's eyes. It could have been shame or frustration."..well, no White Fang or Grimm, so I'm probably pretty safe. And you sound safe too."

Now there was another noise, almost like a cat calling for attention. Again, Weiss ignored it and prodded again. "I didn't ask if you were safe, I asked if you were alright."

She didn't take it personal when Yang scoffed. "Sounds like you already know the answer to that..you know. It's funny. I 'specifically' called you first because I 'wanted' to let it out. To just..I don't know, get my bearings before getting Ruby and Blake on the line. But now that I'm.."

This time when she trailed off, it was like she was distracted by something. Weiss thought there might be a person off screen, but all she could hear was Yang's increasingly shaky breathing, and that odd meowing. "Wait, you called me 'alone' when you 'somehow' could have our 'whole' team on the line? You should have done a conference call!"

"Look, I don't want to fall apart in front of them!"

Yang's outburst stopped the animal noises, her eyes shifting to red. There was very clear frustration, insecurity, and notably more 'life' in her gaze than earlier. "..but you're more willing to fall apart to 'me'."

"I've been the strong one for Ruby for over a decade. The one she goes to when she's nervous, or hurt, or scared. And Blake..I don't want her blaming herself for.."

As Yang trailed off, her body shifted position, her left arm going to her right bicep, as if squeezing the muscle for comfort. A muscle that looked..thinner than last time Weiss looked at it. In fact, the way she was squeezing the sleeve was..oh. "Oh..that's one way to lose weight."

Red went back to purple before Weiss even registered what she'd just said. And then Yang just broke down laughing, outright losing her footing and flopping off screen. The blond's reaction was pretty giggle worthy, so Weiss didn't bother holding it in.

The scroll shifted to get Yang back in view. Huh. Guess it wasn't set down on a table. Something mechanical? No, wait, if Yang had access to any robotics than she'd have a prosthetic, sub-par or otherwise. Another person in the room? Doubtful, Yang was being too open for..

..the single largest non-Grimm bird landed between the scroll and Yang, her thoughts shifting gears immediately. Predator beak, short wingspan for its bodysize, and that stare was 'not' what she'd expect from a bird. Appraising. Not "do as I demand and expect" like her father, more of a "not sure one way or another about you but you've caught my interest" like Winter to a freshly promoted soldier. So more intelligent than some wild hawk. Definitely not a grimm with that kind of coloration, plain brown with some bits of red to accentuate specific spots.

Yang was still completely out of it as the bird made a few squawks, the same ones she'd heard earlier. That odd meowing started again, and the way the bird seemed to 'huff' implied it was..holding a conversation with the unseen cat?

Okay. Very odd. Especially since Yang didn't seem to care about the animals in the room with her. Still, she shifted focus back to her friend as the laughter died down. "Wow. Just..really? A weight loss joke?"

She wasn't about to admit her brain went haywire and she was lucky she hadn't gasped in horror or said something 'completely' inappropriate. "Well with the number of times in a week you get on a scale before going off to burn nonexistent fat.."

The playful glint, while still muted, was the closest thing to Yang's usual playfulness. "This coming from a girl who spends more time doing her hair than I do!"

"Most of that time is spent bracing myself for whatever insanity you and your sister put me through!"

"Hey, don't blame us for trying to pull that stick out of your ass!"

"I'll blame whoever I want for whatever I want! From you being a brute with no boundaries to Ruby being a hyperactive dolt to whichever god is responsible for-"

"You love it and you know it, princess!"

"Don't you interrupt me!"

Yang just stuck out her tongue at that. And that got Weiss into an uncontrolled giggle fit before she managed to say, "..I can't believe I missed this pointless bickering."

"Well, I kind of knew I needed something that felt more 'normal', something a bit more familiar. Things have been pretty weird ever since I got here."

Part of Weiss wanted to say she wouldn't mind whatever 'weird' Yang was dealing with. Just about anything was better than being stuck in the all-too-familiar Schnee mansion, forced to be her father's trophy-daughter. "Yes, about that..just where is here for you? Because I would think a bird that..distinctive would be pretty well known all over Remnant."

If she needed any more evidence that bird was more than just wildlife that managed to get in the room, the way it quirked an eyebrow at that felt all too human.

Still, it wasn't talking to her, or making any noise. And Yang looked like she was getting nervous, like if Dr Oobleck asked her a question in class and she wasn't a hundred percent sure she had the right answer. "Oh boy..there's..kind of a lot to explain. And it'd probably be better to tell everyone at once, not go over the same things three separate times."

"Well then go ahead. Put them on conference call. You 'do' know how to make a conference call, right?"

Just the way the blond twitched implied Yang wanted to keep putting it off. "Sure, you just go to your contacts and hit call while in the middle of another call."

Well that was 'partially' true, and possibly a genuine lack of knowledge. "That works if you just want audio. If you want video from 'all' the sources to stream so we can 'all' see eachother, you hit the dots next to the contact and hit the 'add to video' option."

"Right. Yeah, that could have been embarrassing. Hey, Phyllis. Since I'm still down here, just lower the scroll so I'm looking down at it. That should be easier on your vines."

Vines?

Bill had stopped counting the days since the item transference test went horribly wrong. The good news was he'd stopped having nightmares about the severed hand that popped up, and the girl who appeared at the other end seemed to be doing fine.

Well, okay, he didn't know how she was doing psychologically, just that she was stable enough to leave the hospital, apparently had traits similar to a fire pokémon, and was doing a long term errand for Professor Oak. It all sounded 'very' interesting and he'd probably start asking for details when he wasn't so damn busy.

He was no closer to figuring out what went wrong or why than he was when the item transference went haywire. Absolutely every reading he had could tell that 'something' had happened, but nothing said precisely what or why. Just that it had absolutely nothing to do with any of the equipment settings or conditions at his or Elm's lab.

It was just so 'frustrating'! This was supposed to be a step to help make the world a better, more connected place! At least the people at Silf understood why the project had stalled out. Nobody wanted to put something in production when severed limbs and maimed people came out of nowhere.

About the only thing he 'had' figured out was for some reason the device was 'constantly' drawing power, never completely shutting down regardless of what he did. It wasn't much, certainly not enough to transfer even a fingernail clipping anywhere, but still odd. He unplugged the device from his wall, the lights dim for a moment but go back to standby. He turned off his personal generator, didn't get that much of an effect. He plugged it back in and turned the generator back on and it acted like it had a momentary power surge.

So, somehow it was drawing power no matter what, but not enough to accomplish anything. Odd, possibly a lead, but right now he was too tired to think of where that lead might go.

For half a second he considered calling for some extra hands, or at least some fresh eyes, to look at this mystery. In the next half second, his eyelids became impossibly heavy, his brain flipping off to sleep despite the fact it was just two in the afternoon.

Bill wouldn't wake up for another twenty four hours. When he did the item transference device was gone, along with all his hardcopy research notes. The phone was in his hands within seconds, the police on the scene eight minutes later.

When Yang had called Ruby, there'd been a small crowd at the scroll. Ruby herself, far more conscious than Weiss had last seen her. Their father Taiyang and uncle Qrow were there as well. All three of them relieved, teary eyed, and practically wrestling eachother to take up the center of their screen. Jokes and comforting words just flew between them and Yang as if Weiss temporarily ceased to exist.

And when Blake was on the line, the formerly reserved faunus became downright incoherent, pouring out relief, self-loathing, and a cocktail of other emotions Weiss couldn't hope to identify in that mess. Her currently uncovered ears folded into her hair, the tears streaking down probably did more to clean off eyeshadow that looked like it hadn't been refreshed or cleaned since the battle for Beacon. Yang managed to stay more in control, if barely. Though she chose the absolute 'worst' way to break through the tears.

"..I'd have thought by now you'd learn I'm always ready to lend a hand."

On Ruby's feed, Taiyang gave a quick chuckle which got him a glare from Qrow, while Ruby winced, mumbling something under her breath, visibly bracing herself for the oncoming explosion.

Weiss slapped herself on the forehead, dragging her hand down so only one eye could see the impending disaster. Really? When Weiss made 'her' inappropriate joke, it just slipped out and she was lucky Yang didn't take it badly. This felt like a more planned pun, especially with that awkward half smile.

The good news was it brought Blake back to a sense of coherency. The bad news was her reigning, focusing emotion was anger. Unrestrained, uncontrolled rage that gave the impression Yang was lucky not to be in arms reach of her. "You could have DIED! If he'd shifted the angle of his swing by a LITTLE you would have lost your HEAD!"

Blake being angry made Yang's eyes go red, showing the most energy since her uncontrolled laughter earlier. "He put his sword in your GUT! Like hell I was just going to-"

"Yelling 'leave her alone' before leaping for a punch, giving someone who had me at his mercy time to react, just what were you THINKING?!"

"I 'thought' if I just punched a guy who was 'twisting' his blade 'inside' you and he didn't let go then you'd be hurt even 'worse'! What, you want me to 'apologize' for saving your 'life'?!"

"HOW is nearly getting YOURSELF KILLED ANY BETTER?!"

It looked like they weren't winding down, they were just heating eachother up. Hell, it might have actually been better if they 'were' in striking distance of one another. Then someone, probably Blake, would feel sorry for lashing out. So Weiss tried to step in. "Excuse me!"

The look on Yang's face was familiar, the exact same as every other time she'd ever gotten into an argument with someone. Narrow eyes, set jaw, flaring nose. Just rational enough to know the fight needs to stop but too prideful to stop it herself.

But Blake? There was no other way to describe it than she just looked 'feral'. Grinding teeth, the muscles on her neck bulging, eyes wide and wow did they always have those slits or was that only a thing when she got extraordinarily angry? Because this was 'nothing' like any of the other times she'd lost her temper. Hell, this looked more serious than even the time-

Weiss' thoughts cut off when Blake growled, "What?!"

Was it racist to call it growling? Because Weiss was 'very' sure a human throat shouldn't be able to make that reverberating, guttural, primal sound. It was almost a roar. Wait, roar was 'definitely' racist! Think nonracist thoughts when trying to calm down a ferally angry Blake!

Hoping she wasn't showing any fear on her face, Weiss asked, "Can't we just be glad all four of us are alive and safe instead of 'screaming' at eachother?"

Of 'course' Ruby had to cut in there. "Yeah, yelling at teammates is Weiss's job! Don't put her out of work!"

On one hand it was nice that Ruby was helping to interrupt, Blake gave a quick, involuntary snicker at that. Still, that was a jab at Weiss' intentions, and 'that' was something the silver haired girl couldn't let slide. "When 'I' yell at someone, most notably 'you', it's because you did something completely thoughtless, like when you were 'so' busy decorating our room you nearly made us late to our 'first' class!"

Someone at Ruby's end gave a quick laugh at that. Probably her father, but since the two adults were content to let Ruby use her scroll without outright butting in themselves at this point it was hard to tell. All Weiss could see was her partner giving a quick glare to someone else before pouting at her. "Oh come on, that was literally the morning after initiation! I was still-"

The return to normal bickering, as if nothing had happened, had somehow managed to bleed off a lot of the bad vibes Blake had been giving off. She still looked a lot more 'wild' than Weiss was used to, but it didn't feel like a dangerous wild now. "Come to think of it, why 'did' we wait until morning to unpack? Wouldn't it have made more sense to do it the same night we were given our dorm?"

And Yang looked borderline 'normal' again somehow. Sure, she probably had a lot of issues she still had to work through, just as Blake had issues, but just being able to 'talk' to her team had helped put those problems aside. "Well I don't know about you two but yeah. That was a pretty full day, I was too zonked to do much after-"

It was half tempting to once again say 'zonked' wasn't a real word, but Weiss decided to take a different tact. "Just how do you get "zonked" when most of the day is spent hearing speeches, getting a tour, and getting our room assignment?"

The blond was downright animated now, gesturing with her arm as she retorted, "Um, hello? Started our morning launched into a forest full of Grimm! I was 'so' primed for more action, and it is just 'exhausting' being 'so' keyed up with so little to actually 'do'!"

And of course that got Ruby more riled up. "Wait, you were 'bored'?! I tired myself out because I was 'excited'!"

It was actually kind of cute how much more expressive Blake was with her ears uncovered. Not that Weiss could tell what Blake was feeling at a glance just yet, but the way they twitched around.. "Excited? Over getting to share a room with three other girls and being shown the cafeteria and classrooms?"

If anything Ruby seemed even more irritated after that. "Of 'course' I was excited! It stopped feeling like a dream that I was there, I stopped worrying that I didn't belong there..for a bit."

Oh there was just no way to confuse what 'that' referred to, and Weiss didn't appreciate it. "Don't you glare at me like that!"

And of course Ruby ignored her. "It was all just so overwhelming and awesome that I was definitely, one hundred percent in Beacon and just four years away from actually being a huntress! Anyone would be! Or at least 'should' be! And you were 'bored'?! What, were you expecting a crazy party with a lot of drinking after-"

Yang cut back in there. "Oh, 'this' is the thanks I get for defending you. I see how it is around here, nobody appreciates the Y part of team RWBY!"

Weiss sputtered for a moment, sending Blake and Ruby into giggle fits. "Appreciates? You have been on the scroll for over an 'hour', with 'all' of us being 'ecstatic' that you're alive! Just how much more appreciated do you 'need' to be?!"

With the fakest looking thoughtful expression Weiss had ever seen, Yang started counting off points with her fingers. "Well my little sister's an adorable prodigy that flips from cripplingly socially awkward to Captain Huntress. My partner's a sexy bookworm that turns into a feisty crusader. Weiss goes from strict ice queen to berserk, doesn't give a damn about her own safety white hot mess. Not a lot of room left for 'me' to shine!"

And with that, Blake raised an eyebrow. "Um, I thought it was about you being appreciated, not you getting a spotlight."

Yang had a..strange muscle spasm from her right side at that. Like she tried to move the limb that wasn't there anymore. "..my mouth forgot the message my brain wanted to send."

Blake flinched at that spasm, but if Ruby noticed she didn't let it show in her voice. "Well at least it wasn't as bad as when Dr Oobleck calls you class."

There was something nostalgic about the way team RWBY just..bounced off one another. Granted, Tai remembered that STRQ took until second year to start feeling like a real family, but then it looked like these girls went through more in a shorter period of time.

He didn't know if he should feel relieved Yang felt more like him than her mother by a long shot, or worried that her partner felt pretty similar to Raven in her own way. Hell their argument felt pretty similar to plenty of the ones that Raven had with all 'three' of..

..actually, come to think of it, the Raven comparison was probably unfair. The young faunus girl, Blake, looked like she'd really been through the wringer, and Tai wouldn't have been surprised to learn she didn't have much sleep. His former wife would have done a better job hiding that she was worried about anyone, and enjoyed getting into fights for the sake of fighting. Or at least she did the last time he'd seen her.

Thinking of one Branwen got him glancing at the other. Qrow was, of course, taking a quick drink from his flask, but neither of the twins were good at keeping their emotions out of their eyes regardless of what they said. The combination of that and Qrow's generally bad luck meant they'd been easy pickings every time Summer roped them into a card game.

"I can't believe I'd written her off. Never should have doubted her, hell, I should have gone straight for her the instant-."

"Hey, you've got plenty to blame yourself for but this isn't one of them. The city was on 'fire' and you can't be in three places at once. You got Ruby out of there safe, and that bitch who 'started' the fire has one less arm. It would have been a lot better if you could have stopped the fire in the 'first' place, but.."

"They were more clever than the usual psychos, Tai. Any of the usual cultists would have tried sneaking into the Maiden's chamber at a random time, not spark a panic, let loose the 'biggest' swarm of Grimm I've ever seen, hack robots.."

"Yeah but really? Woman somewhere near thirty in a schoolgirl outfit, or fighting alongside a bunch of students in the tournament? Kind of stood out to 'me', and I was watching from a 'lot' further away than any of you. Hell, I don't know who's dumber for not noticing that: you, Ozpin, or General Bring-An-Army-And-Lose-Control-of-Three-Quarters-of-It."

"I'm sorry, isn't this the part where you try comforting me?"

"Hey, if you want comfort, you know every brothel in every damn continent!"

"..well a few of the ones in Vale are out of business now. Happens when the Grimm come to town."

"Okay then..so, comfort..will a handjob do or do you want to roll around the same bed three quarters of the team already used?"

"Great, now you reminded me of when Ruby used to call us 'both' daddy. Should have filled my flask with the hard stuff."

"We stopped putting the 'hard' stuff in the fridge back when Yang thought it was a fancy energy drink, bird brain."

"I thought we moved it back after Ruby started a fire thinking it was cooking oil?"

"No, we just moved it to a different cabinet. It's the one next to the clean dishes."

"Thanks. You're the best housewife I know."

"Are we just going to keep flirting or are you going to tell me what's 'really' got your brain clogged up in there?"

"..was thinking of going to Raven, see if she can get a portal for me to reach Yang. Either we can bring her back home, or at the very least I can keep an eye on her. It's not like Oz is in any condition to send me to anything more important. Hell, things are so disorganized right now I don't think 'anyone' has any idea what to do right now."

"Well there's a collection of teachers, students, and random hunters coming back to Vale to try clearing out the city. That's got to count for something."

"That's just busy work and you know it. It's not like anyone has anything that can kill that massive wyvern thing."

"Wyvern? I thought it looked more like a dragon.."

"Everything with wings without a beak looks like a dragon to you, Tai. Hell, you've even called bugs dragons before."

"Dragon flies 'are' a thing! What, you've never been to a bayou before?! With all your constant wandering.."

Author's Note: Been sitting on this chapter for about a week, looking over it, giving it some edits and thinking what I wanted to happen in it and what needs to happen before Yang starts moving from Viridian to Pewter.

One of the biggest edits I did was cutting a 'great' deal of dialogue. The Weiss/Yang start, the Blake/Yang argument, those two things felt absolutely necessary. The Ruby/Qrow/Tai/Yang piece, not so much. And the part where Yang explains what Pokemon are, while necessary to a degree, feels like I should put it in the next chapter.

This chapter was a combination of trying to break out of my trap of just having Yang monologuing for an obscene amount of time and getting the team to have 'some' form of togetherness after the fall of Beacon. Just because they aren't physically in the same place doesn't mean we need a long period of waiting for them to reunite only for it to end up feeling underwhelming when it happens.

Hope you enjoyed the banter, rewatched a good amount of the first three seasons of Red vs Blue to get some inspiration for a lot of it. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out reasonably fast..though hopefully I'll finally break the writer's block I've got for RWBY Plays Modern Warfare before then. Seriously, that mission where you clear out an entire village is surprisingly uneventful when you stop and look at it..