"Got everything packed?" Tai was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.
Ruby and Weiss both turned to look at him, "Yep!" Ruby popped the p at the end, "Everything packed and ready to roll!" Weiss nodded in agreement.
"Great, I'll check on the other two and then we'll load it up in the truck." He wandered across the hallway to Yang's room and knocked on it before entering. "You two ready to go?"
Blake was lying back on the bed, a book above her head, and a clearly packed bag at the end of the bed. Yang was playing on her scroll but sat up at her dad's voice. "Yeah, we're good to go. Want me to take the bags down?" Tai nodded and Yang stood up, and waited for Blake to close her book, sliding it into an outer pocket, before they carried their bags downstairs. Weiss was pulling her suitcase onto the landing behind them, and Ruby stood behind her, staring around her room. She smiled at it, before following the other three down.
Once they'd loaded the bags on, Zwei came out to say bye, Ruby and Yang giving him a quick hug and a scratch, whilst Weiss baby talked to him again, giving lots of scratches and belly rubs. Yang rolled her eyes and chuckled whilst Ruby watched fondly. Blake meanwhile was already sat down, giving the dog a slightly evil stare. Despite not having bothered her too much, Blake still didn't like dogs.
Weiss finally finished saying goodbye to Zwei and Tai locked the house up and drove them to the airport so they could board their ship back to Beacon.
"Feel free to come back, all of you." Tai gave Ruby and Yang hugs, then turned to their partners, "That includes both of you, you're both welcome to come back any time, with or without my girls. You're both a lot quieter, and definitely more polite than they are."
"Hey!" Yang spoke up, "You raised us, so any lack of manners is your fault."
"Yeah!" Ruby stood next to her sister and gave her a high five.
Tai pulled Blake into a hug and whispered, "She can be a bit dense at times, but I know Yang'll be more than fine with you as her partner. Don't apologise again," He beat her to it before she could, "Your heart was in the right place, and that's what matters. Have some confidence in yourself, from what I've seen, you deserve it."
Blake smiled and hugged him back a bit more tightly, before heading over to Yang.
Weiss started to hold her hand out to shake it, but Tai just raised an eyebrow and opened his arms. To her credit, she only hesitated for a moment before walking over to him and hugging him tightly. Yang clearly gets her warmth from him she thought.
"I meant it about being free to come back anytime, especially you Weiss. You've helped keep Ruby going at her darkest, and it's clear to me how much she means to you. You're more than welcome here, and you always will be." Tai hugged Weiss a little tighter, and Weiss didn't trust herself to speak, just hugging her partner's father back.
She'd spent less than a week with him, but in that time he'd helped her make cookies, listened to her breakdown over trying to do something good for his daughter, cooked her dinners, helped with some training and her essays...Tai had been more of a father to her in that week than her real father had been in the 17 years she'd spent with him. To be fair she thought, that's a pretty low bar to clear, and Tai had done it in a single morning when he helped me with those Solstice cookies for Ruby, but the point still stands.
They let go and the four girls waved to Tai as they headed to get their airship back to Vale and Beacon.
The trip back went without incident, Blake curled up to Yang slightly, leaning back on her whilst reading a book she'd pulled from thin air, whilst Yang was flicking through her scroll. Weiss and Ruby were discussing a new idea for a team move between the two of them that would make use of Weiss' summons as well as her glyphs.
When they arrived, they dropped their bags off at their dorm room, and despite Weiss' insistence that they unpack now, Ruby's stomach growling convinced her that they should eat first. The four headed down to the cafeteria together, Ruby being held back from storming ahead by Weiss.
"Ruby? Hey, guys!" Jaune came running after them and they stopped to look back.
"Hey Jaune, what's up?" Ruby bounced on her feet, clearly a little impatient about not getting to go for food.
"When did you get back?"
"Err..." Yang checks her scroll, "About ten minutes ago? We were just headed to get lunch."
"Wanna come with?" Ruby asked, still bouncing.
"What? No, I'm good. So, you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" Weiss crossed her arms, a little annoyed that from the sounds of it they'd been left out of the loop.
"Oscar's here. He's in the infirmary."
Ruby's jaw dropped, "But I thought he wasn't getting here till spring?"
"It would seem Atlas sent him early." Weiss' voice still had a tinge of annoyance to it, but it was missed by everyone.
"I can show you where his room is if you like?" Jaune turned and after a quick glance at each other, the four girls followed.
They arrived at the infirmary and waited whilst Jaune signed them in, he'd explained that the only people who were allowed to see him were either the professors, or people he, Ren, or Penny authorised. Nobody asked why Nora hadn't been given that responsibility, they all knew why.
The room was very sterile, and almost glowed white. Whilst auras helped protect and heal from most injuries, if the aura was broken or the injury was severe enough, like Qrow's poisoning or Oscar's coma, then time was needed to help heal. Medicine always helped as well, so every combat school had an infirmary just in case.
Beacon's was a stereotypical one, very white, very sterile, and clearly designed for Huntsmen and Huntresses resting from injuries rather than for teenagers healing. There were little to no posters or anything to indicate frivolity or enjoyment. Weiss shuddered walking in, it reminded her a little bit too much of Schnee Manor. Without saying a word, Ruby moved slightly closer and rubbed her back gently, helping to calm her down, and she smiled back in response.
"Here we go." Jaune stopped outside a locked room and tapped a code in. The door swung open and a clean-shaven guy jumped to his feet reaching behind his back for a moment before relaxing when he saw the blonde. "Hey Ricardo, it's just me. Brought some of Oscar's friends to see him briefly."
Ricardo nodded and sat back down, crossing one leg over the other and pulling a coin out of his pocket. He flicked it up and down, but the girls all saw that his eyes never left the five of them.
Oscar was lying in bed, a suitcase beneath it, and Ozpin's cane shrunk down on a bedside table. His face looked pale, and his eyes were closed, but he didn't look in pain, if anything he looked peaceful.
"How is he?" Ruby looked to Jaune, who shrugged.
"He's alive, but that's pretty much all we know. His aura has mostly come back, but we're not sure if the whole thing is back, or just a part of it." He looked at them pointedly and they got the hint. Seems even Jaune had grown up and stopped accidentally blabbing things.
After a couple of minutes Yang decided to voice what they were all thinking, "Watching a guy in a coma is just a liiiitle bit creepy right? Or is it just me feeling that way?" Quick agreements from the other three led the guys and Jaune to head to the cafeteria.
"So, what's with you, Penny, and Ren being able to sign people in and stuff?"
Jaune looked at Ruby to reply, "It's cos we're sort of his unofficial slash official guardians. Since...yeah, you know." The girls nodded, knowing he was referring to Ozpin's final takeover and subsequent hibernation in Oscar back in Atlas, "Goodwitch said that he needs to be watched over by a professional Huntsman at all times. If we're in the school then great, that's us most of the time, but we've also gotta be careful and not draw attention to ourselves, otherwise it's gonna be pretty weird why half of us is always in the infirmary."
He sighed, "Whilst it does give us a pass on every mission, we 'take' it does get a little boring having nothing to do."
"Why do you say 'take' as if you're not really taking it?" Weiss was curious as to what Jaune had meant, and unlike Blake, who shared her curiosity, Weiss was happy to prod.
"Because we have to be bodyguards for him until he wakes up, we 'take' missions like everyone else, but never actually go on them. We're told exactly what missions to take, and then a professional either does them for us, or already has done them, whilst we stay at school and watch over Oscar."
By this point they'd reached the cafeteria and they grabbed food and sat at a table together. Checking nobody was listening in, Jaune continued, "I mean I get it, Oscar is pretty important, but we won, didn't we? Why do we need to protect him if we won?"
"Because we never caught Cinder or Hazel." Ren, Nora, and Penny slipped into seats next them.
"Salutations friends!" Penny was as happy to see them as ever, and Nora just grinned and waved, her mouth already full of food.
Ruby's grip on her cutlery went very tight at Ren's words, her knuckles going white. Jaune replied but Ruby didn't hear him, Cinder would stop at nothing to try and free Salem, which was a big issue. She ran through the different Maidens and Vaults in her head. The Winter Maiden was safe with them, so that Vault was closed off. Spring was Raven, and they'd heard nothing from her since she'd vanished at Haven, but hopefully she'd escape if she heard about Cinder gunning for her. Ruby knew nothing about the Summer Maiden, but figured she was probably somewhere in Vacuo, like the Summer Vault was. The only Vault Cinder could open herself was Fall, and that was at Beacon. Where they were.
She felt a soft hand gently close around hers and Ruby looked up. Team JNPR were still discussing Cinder and Hazel, filling Penny in on their particular issues with Hazel, and his with Oscar. Ruby's team were all looking at her though, and Weiss was gently holding one of Ruby's hands in hers. Yang was in the process of reaching out for her other hand, and Blake was looking at her with a worried look on her face.
Ruby smiled weakly and let go of her cutlery gently, so it didn't clang on the table and alert the others. She nodded to her team and Yang withdrew her hand, whilst Weiss squeezed gently before moving hers too.
"So, what's your plan for the rest of the break?" Jaune has turned away from the others and directed it at Ruby and her team. Penny, Nora, and Ren looked at them too.
"We finished all our essays, so I plan on doing some reading." Yang snickered as she knew exactly what books Blake was planning on reading. She'd been surprised she hadn't read her Solstice gift immediately, but apparently every time a new Ninjas of Love came out, Blake reread the entire series up to that point before reading the new one.
"I was thinking of relaxing for the rest of today, and then going into Vale tomorrow. Do you want to come with me Ruby?" Ruby blinked at Weiss' request. Is Weiss actually asking to spend some time with me?
"Umm yeah, of course! What else do BFFs do eh?"
"That, and I believe I also owe you some cookies."
"You do? YES, YOU DO OH MY DUST I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT!" Ruby nearly leapt out of her seat, but Weiss grabbed her cape.
"No, we are not going now! We're going to unpack, and relax for today, and we will go tomorrow. First thing. I promise, alright?" Weiss' grip on Ruby's cape didn't relax until she was sat back down again. She looked at the other's very confused reactions, even for Ruby that was an extreme reaction to cookies. Weiss rolled her eyes, realising she'd have to explain it to everyone, "I promised her two boxes of handmade cookies from Mr Chip if she did well in the tests, I gave her before Solstice."
Nearly everyone nodded, they understood Ruby's love for cookies, and they also knew Mr Chip was the best baker in Vale. Ruby's reaction made a lot more sense now.
"He does the best cookies in Vale by a distance, but they're also really expensive, so she can rarely ever have them. I don't think she's had any since...well since before the last Vytal Festival." Jaune's voice cut through the silence as he whispered to Penny, the only one who hadn't understood.
"Ohhh that makes sense to me now." Penny nodded in agreement, earning a soft smile from Nora.
Later that afternoon the four girls were relaxing on their beds, Yang and Ruby playing on their scrolls, whilst Blake read the first Ninjas of Love, something she'd been reluctant to do with other people able to see, but by this point her whole team knew about her love for them, and didn't judge her, so she read them openly. Weiss was also reading, but hers was a heavier tome to do with experimental Dust theory.
A loud ding echoed round the room as four scrolls went off at once. "Please report to the Headmistress's office immediately for mission assignment." Yang read out loud and looked to the others, receiving nods in confirmation that they'd received the same message.
"Guess relaxing the day away isn't happening anymore."
The four headed to the Headmistress' office, the lift doors opening to reveal the space. Despite the destruction during the Fall of Beacon, it had been rebuilt much the same, large windows, and a clock and gears motif running throughout. The desk had changed however, and was now a piece of curved, solid wood, with a holo screen across the top, the chair looked more comfortable than the previous slat based one, but only just.
Professor Goodwitch was sat behind it, reading through information on a holo screen in front of her, which she closed once the four girls were standing in front of her desk.
"Team RWBY reporting for duty!" Ruby rapped out a quick salute, excited at having a team mission at last.
"Thank you. This mission is highly confidential and is for your team only. You are not to share this information with anyone else." She looked sternly at the four of them who nodded. "You are to hunt down, and capture, a specific individual. You will liaise with a Huntsman on the ground, who has been tracking down the person for the last two weeks. This person is to be brought in alive."
Ruby tried to resist the urge to look at the others quickly, A bounty hunt mission? That's a little strange. "Err certainly. Do we know who the person is?"
Professor Goodwitch looked at the four of them, her gaze lingering on Yang slightly. "Yes, you do."
She tapped the desk and a familiar face popped up in a new holo screen, causing Yang to gasp slightly and tighten her fists.
"Mercury Black."
Author's note:
Ooooooo return of the plot! Yes, the fluff has ended for the moment and we are back into actual plot.
Thank you for waiting on this, I know the release schedule has slowed quite a bit, but I've had to go back to work and deal with life coming back to some strange sense of normality.
Thank you to everyone who reads these chapters, follows, favourites, or leaves a review! It really does mean a lot to know people read this stuff :)