Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I claim to, own RWBY or any other media that may be referenced. All rights go to their respective owners. The only thing I lay claim to are my OCs.
Pyrrha was killing it in the combat ring, taking on Team CRDL with ease. Rosa was bored of the stagnant nature of the fights.
Within the Beacon first year students, the ranking was fairly steady. Rosa was at the top, with Pyrrha next in the ranking (though they both knew the younger girl was barely playing with her). From there, most of RRAYNNBW took up the next top rankings - fighting each other to get closer to the top - with Jaune working his way up to their level. There were a few other students who occasionally managed to break into their stronghold as the strongest group of the First Years, but they were quickly booted back down again after the squad had gone through another training session.
What Rosa was interested in was the arrival of the exchange students. How would Beacon compare to the other schools?
"And Pyrrha wins the match. Well done Ms Nikos, you should have no problem qualifying for the tournament," Professor Goodwitch announces. After receiving a grateful nod from the redhead, she continues speaking. "We have time for one more match. Do we have any volunteers?"
"I'll do it," a boy with grey hair volunteers.
"Mercury is it? Very well, now to find you an opponent..."
"I'll do it," Rosa interjects. Every Beacon head looks at her like she's just grown another head.
"Ms Calavera... you don't usually volunteer yourself for sparring matches..." the professor says, shocked by her youngest student's actions.
"What can I say? I'm unchallenged by the majority of my cohort. I don't see the point of sparring matches where one person is hopelessly outmatched and everyone involved knows it. However, this is a student from another Kingdom, and I find myself curious as to how well I stack up against him," Rosa explains with a shrug before turning to the grey-haired boy. "Hopefully, he'll be a challenge."
He smirks at the challenge she was issuing, though inwardly he was screeching. 'This is a Calavera! She could be family! I might not be alone! Fuck, how am I going to get out of Cinder's clutches without getting my only possible family killed?'
"How about we up the stakes? If I win, you go to the dance with me?" he smoothly says as he stands up.
Rosa scoffs. "Not interested," she tells him simply, making his eyebrow raise in shock.
'Okay, not interested in a date to the dance, or not interested in betting in general. What if she's not confident she'll win? Wait, no, she said she's unchallenged by her peers, she's definitely confident. Wait, I need to focus," he thinks to himself.
"Fine, I still want to fight you though," he says.
A few minutes later, they're standing on the sparring court, facing each other. He's in a combat stance and already bracing for an attack, but she is standing with her weight on one foot as she - he assumes - eyes him up.
"Begin," Goodwitch commands.
Mercury doesn't wait. He charges in and fires a shot at her. She grins at him and holds up a hand in front of her, the bullet stopping inches from her hand before she flicks it out of the air with her fingers.
"You'll have to try harder than that," she tells him. A flick of her wrists and her swords leap into her hands from their sheaths on her back.
"It would certainly seem so," he quips. With that, he charges her, trying to get into a range where she couldn't block his blows with whatever semblance she has, although her swords would make that even more difficult.
To his frustration, she dances around him - her skirts kicking up around her - and dodges bullets, punches and kicks alike. In fact, it seemed to him like she was able to move the air around her to help her maneuvers.
After nearly a minute of valiant attempts, he manages to get a hit in as she dodges one bullet only to get hit by a kick. From there, she dances out of his range again, running rings around him as he starts to realise that for all his training as an assassin, he can't keep up with her.
It's a lucky shot when he manages to grab her around her waist and slams her into the ground before grabbing her ankle and thrashing her around to do damage to her aura levels. They're lower than his by far, but she hadn't been trying to attack him for the most part.
He feels his fingers be pried off her by a force he can't see, and eyes widen in shock as she cartwheels out of his hold, kicking him under the chin as she goes. As he stumbles backwards, she swings herself down low and her feet catch his, bringing him to the floor. He falls flat on his back and she flips around, one foot on the floor, the other digging into his stomach while her swords cross and pin his neck to the ground.
She smiles sweetly at him as he tries to figure out a way to escape her hold. "Do you yield?" she asks.
He pants for a few moments before realising that he can't break the hold she has on him.
"Or do I have to push your aura into the red?" she sweetly asks. He can imagine her fluttering her eyes at him, but he can't see them through her goggles. Her swords shift slightly, pressing down on the aura protecting his neck. His eyes go wide as he realises that he can't move his body, feeling like the air is pressing down on him everywhere except his head.
He gives his surrender, realising that for the first time since his father, he'd been completely outmatched. Even that huntsman that stopped their attack on the maiden had needed to flee from them rather than stay and fight. Worse, this girl had been practically playing with him. She would be Cinder's biggest opposition, no doubt.
"So, what do you have to say about your fight with Beacon's top first year?" Cinder asks him later that day when they are safely in their dorm.
"She's strong. She knows how to use her semblance, and I can't even pin down what it could be. Air manipulation, maybe telekinesis. I'm not sure. I could be completely wrong though. Whatever it was, she's good with it. She was practically playing with me," Mercury sums up.
"I thought you were throwing the match. You literally let go of her ankle!" Emerald accuses.
Cinder glares at him. "Did you?"
He shakes his head. "I didn't. Her semblance, whatever it is, forced me to let go. It was like something was controlling my hand and prying it away from her ankle just enough for her to get out of my grip. She could have stopped me at any point, like she did at the end, I couldn't move anything but my head."
"Interesting..." Cinder muses. "Add her to the list."
"Do you think we can really manipulate her if she's that strong?" Emerald asks.
Cinder smirks at her protégé. "Everyone can be manipulated; you just have to find their weakness."
Emerald grins at that. "Right."
"Everyone got dates?" Yang asks the squad.
"No" everyone but Ren and Nora chimes.
"What? I thought I was the only one?" Yang splutters.
Rosa levels a glare at her. "I'm younger than all of them. I'm not interested in any of them. Why do you think I turned down Mercury on that bet of his?."
"Boys only care about my name. They're gold diggers and I am not interested in being... used to further their dreams of riches," Weiss disdainfully snorts.
"I'm not interested in relationships right now," Blake deadpans.
"No one's asked me," Pyrrha admits. "I think they're intimidated by my reputation."
"I keep chickening out from asking either of the girls I'm interested in. They're both too good for me," Jaune laments.
"Jeez... what a bunch of singles we are..." Yang drawls before perking up. "Ren, Nora, you didn't say you don't have dates, does that mean you do?"
The two exchange glances and lean into each other.
"Yeah, we're going together," Nora says giddily.
Ren smiles warmly and boops her on the nose.
With that, Rosa gets a beep from her scroll. Checking it, she sees that she has a message from an anonymous number.
'There will be an infiltration of the Beacon CCT Tower on the night of the Beacon Dance. It is part of a larger plan that threatens Vale. Be careful.
- Your Anonymous Informant.'
"We just got a tip off," she tells her squad.
They look at the message.
"Shit," Yang curses.
"We can't just ditch the dance," Weiss complains. "We're the ones in charge of planning, and it would be too suspicious."
"We can't just ignore this though!" Blake retorts.
"We don't even know who sent us this. They could be trying to lead us astray from something else," Jaune muses.
They go back and forth for a few minutes before they finally come to an agreement.
They'd all keep a look out through the windows - as discreetly as they can - for any disturbances in the direction of the CCT Tower. If anyone saw something, they would send a message to the group message bank, and then Rosa (as the strongest of them) would discreetly excuse herself to go deal with the altercation. It wasn't fool proof; the intruder could come from anywhere and there was every chance they wouldn't see them.
On an unrelated note, Yang dares Jaune to go to the dance in a dress. He isn't backing down. So now, he has to go out with Nora to pick a dress to wear to the dance.
The dance so far is a success. People are having fun; giggling every time they see Jaune in his painfully short, strapless dress; a few people have supposedly spiked the punch; and Rosa is just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She can see her little brother dancing with Penny, his dress shirt being a perfect mint green match to the girl's mint green dress as they spin and twirl around each other, grinning and smiling the entire time.
Rosa has to smile at him. Like her, he's wearing traditional Spanish dance wear. A stiff wide-brimmed hat sits on his head and colourful embroidery covers his suit jacket. Rosa can imagine their Abuela fussing over him. Rosa's dress is made of multiple layers of heavy frilled skirts reaching close to the floor in varying shades of blue. A white corset wraps around her middle and a dark blue top covers her bust, leaving her arms, shoulders and neck bare. Her hair is curled elegantly to one side and a vibrant red flower sits behind one ear.
The siblings decide to dance together for one song when one of their Abuela's favourite Spanish songs comes on. Full of twirls and dips that Oscar did not look strong enough to pull off not dropping Rosa, the two and their colourful outfits become the centre of attention for the near five minutes of the song. At one point, Oscar picks up his sister and swings her around his body in a move that everyone is impressed by, regardless of their opinions of the two.
After that, Penny wants to learn the complex dance that the two had been learning for years.
Cue an adorable scene where Oscar tries - and fails - to help teach Penny the movements, only to accidentally drop her during a dip.
"Sorry!" he apologises.
"It's okay!" she tells him, giggling as she gets back up off the floor.
It's nearing midnight when Rosa feels the vibration of her scroll. She excuses herself from the conversation with her brother and Penny to go get some fresh air.
A hop and a jump gets her from the balcony to the ground outside the hall, and she runs towards the tower.
On arrival, she notes the knocked-out Atlas Personnel guards and scowls slightly to herself. Whoever is doing this is good. She slips out the daggers she had hidden in her skirts and progresses into the tower. More knocked out guards around the central elevator.
Rosa takes the elevator up and inwardly curses the loud ding of the elevator giving away her arrival. She scans the room and sees no one.
"I know you're here; you might as well come out and face me," she calls out, readying her daggers. A few seconds pass before a shadowed figure stands up from behind the console. A wide swing of the person - a woman by the distinctive curves her outfit was showing off - forms spikes of jagged glass.
Rosa jumps over them as they rocket towards her, using her semblance to push off towards the attacker. Daggers poised to attack, she trades blows with her for a few moments, matching her blow for blow. They're both distracted by a ding from the elevator and Rosa turns her head for less than a second to note the arrival of General Ironwood, only for the attacker to be gone when she turns her head back.
"Damnit, she got away," she curses under her breath. Turning to the Atlesian Military General, she puts away her daggers. "I'm sorry, Sir, I wasn't able to keep her here."
"Do not beat yourself up about it, Ms?"
"Calavera."
"Ms Calavera. If you had not been here, there is no telling what that woman would have been able to get away with," he tells her.
"Yessir," she says.
Rosa sits in Professor Ozpin's office as General Ironwood fumes about the attack.
"That is enough James. We still have to ask Ms Calavera about her account of the events," Ozpin scolds.
"Fine," the General relents. "Ms Calavera, would you mind telling us everything that transpired last night, starting from how you decided to go to the CCT Tower?"
"Of course. I had decided to go outside to get some fresh air as I was feeling a bit cramped and stifled inside. Once I was out on the balcony, I spotted a figure running across the rooftops, so I decided to follow. When I got to the Tower, I noticed that the guards had been knocked out, so I decided to unsheathe my daggers, they're my secondary weapons and I didn't think it was wise to call my locker to get access to my swords and combat box, time was of the essence at that point. I went inside the tower and noticed more guards had been knocked out, mainly around the central elevator. I took the elevator up, and originally I didn't see anyone as I stepped out. I knew there had to be someone there though, so I called out. The intruder stood up from behind the main console, and attacked. She used Dust to create glass weapons of varying styles. Glass shards, bow and arrow, swords. She seemed competent in all of them. We traded blows for a few moments, and then we got distracted by the elevator dinging. I turned my head to see Ironwood step out and when I looked back, the intruder had disappeared," Rosa recounts.
"Did she say anything? Was there anything else that you noticed about her?" Goodwitch inquired.
Rosa shakes her head. "It's more along the lines of my own thoughts. That room is the communications centre, it doesn't hold any records. Why would someone infiltrate that room in particular?"
"We don't know, but we are investigating," Ironwood tells her.
Rosa sighs. "That's... what I meant is, I don't think she was looking for records, rather, I think she was trying to broadcast something. She was at the main console, which would have the best broadcasting abilities. If I was investigating, I would check if something has been uploaded through it. I doubt this is the end of that woman's plan."
A few moments pass with only the ticking of the massive clock in Ozpin's office.
"How did none of us think about that?" Ironwood exclaims.
No one answers him. Rosa continues to sit in silence, waiting for them to dismiss her.
"Ms Calavera, do you have any other insights for us?" Ironwood asks her tiredly.
"No, sir. That's all I have," she tells him. Ironwood sighs.
"Thank you for your time, Ms Calavera. I just wanted to say that I think what you did last night was exactly what being a huntress is about. You noticed a threat, and went to apprehend and neutralise it. That takes bravery and you should be proud of what you achieved last night. If you were one of my students, I would be sure to give you much more recognition, unfortunately, I can't," Ironwood praises her. "In the future, if you ever decide to join the military, Atlas would be more than welcoming of you."
"Even though I'm a faunus?" Rosa challenges.
"I employ and teach a great deal of faunus, and they are some of the most talented people I have met. While yes, there is a great deal of... racists in the upper crust of Atlas, that does not translate into my academy and military. You would be more than welcome," he tells her.
"Thank you, Sir, it means a great deal to me that you, at least, are accepting of my species, even if the rest of your Kingdom is not. It gives me hope for the future," Rosa admits, a small smile across her face.
"No, thank you Ms Calavera. Now, I believe you have a team to help prepare for your first official mission," Ironwood tells her.
"Yessir. I hope my account helped you in the investigation," Rosa says as she stands up. "I hope you can find the woman responsible."
As she gets in the elevator, she hears Ironwood mutter, "So do I."
Back in her dorm, the squad is trying to pack their bags, and are bemoaning that they won't be able to go on mission together.
"We're a squad, why can't we do a mission as a squad?" Jaune asks for the thousandth time.
"Because these are team missions. We have to get used to working in smaller groups as well," Weiss reminds him, yet again.
Rosa rolls her eyes behind her goggles at the banter.
A ding comes from her scroll and she pulls it out to see another anonymous message.
'Mountain Glenn is next phase. Trains lead Grimm. Attack on Vale scheduled in 5 days. Be careful.
- Your Anonymous Informant.'
"Another tip off?" Blake asks.
"Yes. Apparently, there's going to be an attempted Grimm invasion into Vale in five days," Rosa tells her squad.
"How can anyone predict that?" Ren muses.
"Because they aren't predicting it. People are causing it. Mountain Glenn is known for being a hotspot for grimm activity, if someone could herd those grimm into the city…"
"It would be a bloodbath," Yang states.
"How these trains factor in is something to try and figure out, but, yes, it would be a bloodbath if they succeeded," Rosa finishes.
"That's... horrific," Pyrrha exclaims.
"Mountain Glenn is in the south east... do you think the White Fang could be behind this?" Jaune asks.
"It's a possibility we have to seriously consider," Blake admits. "Regardless, this person was right about the infiltration of the CCT Tower, we have to treat this as real too. At least one of our teams should try and get a mission in that area."
"Good idea," Yang agrees. "No offence, I think it should be Team RWBY that takes a mission in that area. Jaune may be improving a lot, but we need the best fighters we can get out there if we want to stop that invasion."
"No offence taken, Yang. Besides, Rosa's in Team RWBY, she's the best of all of us," Jaune points out.
"Okay then, we have most of a plan. Team JNPR, try and get a mission that keeps you in central Vale, ideally towards the south-east section, so that if we can't stop the invasion, you're there and waiting for it," Rosa orders.
"We won't let you down!" Nora exclaims with a salute.
"Good, let's make it happen, Squad."
A/N: Welcome back to The Grimm Reaper, I know it's only been a few hours, but still, welcome back. Just going to head this off here, I am not Spanish, and I am basing a lot of that stuff on the limited knowledge I have of Spain and Spanish culture, so I apologise to anyone reading this who is Spanish and feels I am getting stuff wrong. I do not claim that this aspect of my writing is fully accurate, and I am also going to purposefully making departures from real world Spain and Spanish Culture to best fit the Calavera family. So again, this isn't intended to be an accurate representation, and I apologise to anyone who takes offence to writing a culture not my own.
I don't have much else to say that wasn't said in last chapter's AN, but what did you think of this chapter? There are changes afoot, and Mercury is an interesting character to write (Me: complains about having too many main characters. Also me: adds more). Feel free to leave a review, I really enjoy getting feedback and it helps give me motivation to keep writing; and if you need someone to talk to, send me a PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Otherwise, I'll see you next week with another chapter.
-RebeccaMagic9