A/N: (Tw for some anti-faunus racism and and an attempt at saying a homophobic slur.)
Chapter 11: The Bear and the Warlock
"BLAKE I BELIEVE IN YOU!" Ruby screamed, bouncing up and down on the cafeteria bench and showering both Blake and Weiss with rose petals. Blake smiled at this, her brow turning to steel in determination. Meanwhile, Weiss casually waved the petals away from her sausages.
Across the table, Nora slammed her fists down on the table with a grin fit to make Grimm flee in terror. "Put her in the dirt, Renny."
The eight of them (which in this case really meant Yang and Nora) had decided that more than a single match would be required to decide the winner of the "Team RRAYNNBW Arm Wrestling World Championship." Nora, however, had declared that it wasn't fair to the teams to let the two strongest ladies have all the fun. There had been some deliberation (again, mostly between Yang and Nora) and Ren and Blake had been chosen as the next competitors. The teams' two quietest members had accepted the "honor'' with muted enthusiasm.
Now, Ren's hand was steadily locked with Blake's, and neither of them seemed to be gaining much ground.
Jaune found himself getting lost in the details. While Blake had her teeth gritted and was obviously straining, Ren just stared back with a face like cut marble. He was struggling—Jaune could see it in the way the muscles in his arm and shoulder were tensed, the slight twitch of his eyebrows, the way he was precisely timing his breathing—but if Jaune hadn't known the guy as well as he did, he would have thought Ren wasn't even trying.
…Which meant that was probably how it looked to Blake. No wonder she seemed irritated.
At least her girlfriends were plenty happy to support her through it.
"Kick his ass Blake!" Yang shouted as she latched onto Blake's Ruby-less side. "You can do this! And even if you can't, we'll still love you!"
Weiss took her time to finish chewing a bite of sausage. After a moment's pause to swallow, she halfheartedly raised a fist. "Go Team RWBY," she said. "Yay."
Ruby turned on her with big, wet eyes. "Weiiiiiiiiss—"
Weiss was a rock. "Ruby, this is silly."
But Ruby was a chisel. " Pleeeeeeease?"
Weiss sighed, a smile now etched onto her face. "Alright," she muttered, before snapping her attention to her team's champion. "Fight on, Blake! It's best out of three! If you win here, the battle is over, and I promise I'll find some way to reward you for sparing us any more of this stupidity!"
Blake actually laughed, leaning even further into the match. "Under… stood."
Nora clenched her jaw with all the frustration Ren wasn't showing. "C'MON GUYS," she hollered at Jaune and Pyrrha, before latching onto Ren's unbusy arm. "Stay focused, baby. She might have three girlfriends, but she's still just one girlfriend, and she's not even your girlfriend!"
Jaune couldn't help but crack a smile at that. Nora would never quit being Nora, and over the years he'd grown to really appreciate that. Most of the time. He raised a fist, pumping it in the air. "You got this Ren! We're with you!"
Pyrrha took a deep breath, leaning around Jaune to catch Ren's eye. "She's going to falter soon," she said resolutely. "Hold out until she starts to flag, and then show no mercy! You can push her back!"
"I'm not as sure about that as you are," Ren said, darting his eyes at the three of them before looking back to his opponent. "You're quite strong, Blake."
"Thanks," Blake huffed. Her arm glowed for a second, her aura flaring to reduce her muscle fatigue—which was a totally legal move, according to the referees (who were Yang and Nora, again) on the grounds that all of them could do it. "You're not… bad yourself."
Still, it was obvious this wasn't going to last as long as the previous bout. Neither combatant had a semblance which would turn the tide, but they also didn't have quite the same level of stamina as their rowdier partners. Eventually, one of them would waver; the only question was, who?
For a moment it looked like it'd be Blake, as her arm started to dip slightly towards the table. Her eyes widened in concern, and she forced more of her aura into keeping her place, but then Yang slid in close on her right side. "Hey Blake," she said.
Blake glanced frantically at her. "What."
"Dork," Yang teased, kissing her cheek.
Blake's face darkened a shade. The hands shifted, Ren losing an inch.
"Aw dangit!" Nora glared hammers across the table at Yang, before sliding up into Ren's personal space. "Heyyyyy Renny."
Ren blinked, as Nora leaned in and smooched him too. "Thank you, Nora."
Nora smirked, leaning back against his side and crossing her arms over her chest. "You're not the only one who can harness the power of love, Xiao Long. "
As if on cue, a floral flurry shimmied up to Blake. "Hi!" Ruby said shyly, nuzzling up to Blake's cheek. She planted her own little kiss, and stuck her tongue out at Nora. "Power of love…" she cooed.
"Ye gods…" Nora gasped, her expression falling as Ren's arm began to give. She hastily clasped her hands together. "Napaal, lend him your strength! Maybe Rilg too! Uh…"
"You'll need Dioxa… when you're done…" Blake growled. Jaune had no idea what that meant, but Nora actually gasped.
"We've got him on the ropes!" Yang cheered. "Weiss, we need you to give us the final push!"
Weiss stared stoically at all of them. "No?" she intoned.
"But!" Ruby flailed her arms in Weiss's general direction. "But solidarity!"
Weiss gave her an incredulous look, as rock met chisel once again. "Really?"
Just when it seemed the stone wouldn't break, Yang brought down the mallet by wrapping her arm around Weiss's shoulders. "Solidarity forever, Weiss!"
"Ugh, fine," Weiss crumbled. She rolled her eyes and shrugged off Yang's arm, but it was all clearly for show as she climbed off the bench and walked up behind Blake.
She paused for a moment, seeming to consider what she was about to do, before slowly leaning in and wrapping her arms around Blake's midsection. She pulled in close and whispered something in Blake's hominid ear, too quiet for anyone else to hear.
Whatever it was, it made Blake's cheeks light up like a solstice tree. The hands wavered—it was no longer clear who exactly this was benefitting, but the finale was fast approaching.
"Oh muffins, that's some real big solidarity," Nora groaned. "Uhhhhhh…"
"I think I'm going to lose," Ren said, his eyebrows lowering a millimeter.
"UHHHHH." Nora suddenly brightened. "I got it! Jaune!"
Jaune jolted halfway off the bench. "Wh—me?! What am I supposed to—"
Nora looked him dead in the eyes and said, with absolute seriousness, "You gotta kiss Ren!"
Jaune's heart leapt into his mouth, and Ren's hand crashed into the table.
"Nora!" Both boys shouted in perfect synch.
Nora grinned, sheepish but unapologetic, and Jaune felt a sudden rush of frustration mixing with the flustered haze and half-formed imaginings of what Ren's lips were like.
He was about to open his mouth and go off on Nora for pushing everyone's boundaries yet again, when he heard a beautiful sound behind him.
Pyrrha was laughing, so hard she was nearly doubled-over. She wiped a tear out of her eyes, and said, "I don't think we're quite there yet, Nora."
Jaune's brain crashed again.
"Look," Yang said, talking with her hands as they walked down to the airship dock. "I'm not saying they're all going to start dating tomorrow, but come on. You can see it too, right?"
Blake rolled her eyes, shifting to bump against Yang's arm. "Maybe," she said. "But it's not our job to figure it out for them."
"Quite right," Weiss agreed, hanging off Yang's other arm. "What Team JNPR do with their romantic lives is up to them. We'll be busy enough managing our own time as it is."
They were between classes. Ruby had her Leadership Seminar with Professor Alizarin for the next two hours, and the others had filled the gap in their schedules with Professor Orlovski's Wilderness Survival workshop. The workshop was held in the Emerald Forest itself, which was quite a hike from campus. Thankfully, the school had helpfully provided transport.
Their conversation paused as they reached their ride; an older-model airship, large and squat and angular, painted in the gray, green, and gold of the Valish army.
As they arrived, the professor himself hopped off the back of the ship and strolled up to them. "Belladonna, Schnee, and Long, is it?" he asked.
Yang raised a hand. "Xiao Long, actually. And Weiss prefers if you don't use the surname."
"Mmm, 'pologies," the professor replied. He was a tanned and rounded man, barely taller than Weiss. His outfit wasn't flashy like most Hunters'—a drab green polo shirt and a boonie cap, along with a pair of loose-fitting cargo pants.
Yang didn't let any of that fool her though. Orlovski was one of the best Grimm trackers on Remnant, and she could see it in the sharpness of his eyes.
He scratched his bushy beard thoughtfully, looking back at her. "Wait, you're Tai's kid, yeah?" he asked, suddenly.
Yang nodded. It wasn't the first time one of the professors had mentioned her dad. "Yup."
Orlovski cracked a strange little smile, crow's feet crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Tell him Wojtek says hi next time you see him. Your dad's a good man." He jerked a thumb at the ship. "Anyway, hop in. We got a couple more students coming, and then it's off to the woods."
They climbed in the back of the airship with Yang leading the graciously lent a hand to Blake and Weiss; both of whom rolled their eyes at the treatment. They sat down together, Blake on Yang's left and Weiss on her right. The bay was a single aisle with two rows of seats facing across it, and mostly full already—about twenty students all told.
A couple more trickled in, mostly people Yang and the others didn't know. Weiss did start making small talk with the boy next to her—a sophomore named Aoba she'd apparently met in a dust lecture she was TA'ing—while Blake leaned on Yang's shoulder, enjoying the moment of peace.
Yang let herself relax. Wilderness survival was something her dad had drilled into Ruby and herself pretty hard before they came to Beacon (and Blake obviously had more experience than the rest of the team put together) but Weiss needed the training and they could all use a brush-up. Plus, this was a scenario course, and Yang loved running scenarios.
The last few students climbed into the truck, settling in the empty seats across the aisle. Yang didn't pay them any mind at first, until she heard a soft squeak.
She looked up, and immediately locked eyes with Team HTHR's Taffeta.
Oh. Well. Okay.
Yang blinked. Taffeta swallowed. Yang narrowed her eyes. Taffeta widened hers.
Hikari—sitting on Taffeta's right and apparently immune to awkwardness of this sort—waved cheerily. "Hi Yang!" she said.
"Yo, Hikari," Yang waved back casually. "What's up?"
"Not much." Hikari beamed, elbowing Taffeta in the side.
Taffeta, for her part, looked distinctly nervous. "H-hello…" she said. She didn't follow that up.
At her other side, Ruth just lowered her head into her hands.
They were saved from… that, as Professor Orlovski climbed into the cabin, pulling up the tailgate behind him. He walked past the students, rapping twice on the grate that separated them from the driver. The airship grumbled to life, and slowly began to rise with a disquieting rattling noise.
"Alright, students!" Orlovski barked, his tone suddenly serious. "We're heading into Grimm territory. You know the drill: buddy system, weapons free, report in if you encounter anything one of you couldn't handle on your own." He glanced around. "Who doesn't have their partner with them?"
Ten hands went up, including Weiss's. And Taffeta's. Yang got the funniest feeling she knew exactly how this was going to go.
"Right." Orlovski's eyes scanned the seats. "Sakamoto, you're with Sunderland."
Aoba and another sophomore Yang vaguely recognized as Sufjan nodded to each other respectfully.
"Ornstein, you're with O'Brien."
The first—Belka of Team EMBR, who seemed to be taking this class alone—groaned, while Ormond of Team ROYL sniffed disdainfully. He pointedly glared at the pair of spiralling horns on top of her head. Pretty much everybody in the car, including Orlovski, stared silent death at Ormond until he gave it up.
Yang felt a little frisson of anger creep up the back of her neck, even as Blake's fingers tightened in her hand.
Still, Yang didn't miss the quick glance that passed between Belka and the professor, and the tiny smile at the edge of Belka's mouth. Yang's opinion of both of them rose sharply in that moment. She'd love to know the whole story later.
She put it out of her mind as Orlovski went through the rest of the names two by two, quickly narrowing in on exactly what Yang had expected.
"Lastly… Nansi and Weiss."
Taffeta squeaked again, hastily covering her mouth. Weiss blinked, staring at her flatly, as Taffeta slowly lowered her hands and offered up a nervous smile.
"All set? Good." Orlovski cleared his throat and settled into that 'I've said this thirty thousand times to a hundred thousand different kids' stance that all middle-aged teachers seemed to have. "This exercise will assess your pathfinding abilities and navigation. Beneath your seats you will find packs containing paper maps, flare guns, and one camera drone each. You and your partner will be dropped at a random point around the Emerald Forest, and tasked with hiding your two camera drones at the locations marked on your maps. These drones are going to be used to observe the freshman initiation on Monday, so it is vital that they be placed in the specified areas and hidden well-enough that they won't be found and destroyed by Grimm.
"You'll have a time limit of two hours to complete this exercise. Once you accomplish your objective or the time limit expires, you will immediately retreat back to campus. Pairs are welcome to team up with other pairs, but bear in mind that this will force you to travel to four locations instead of two. Use the provided flare and call the class scroll line if you start to get overwhelmed. You won't lose any class credit for doing so—often, survival means knowing when to cut and run. If you see a flare go up, you and your partner will receive bonus credit for moving to assist. Any questions?"
Belka raised her hand. "Grimm forecast?" she asked.
"Category Three," Orlovski replied. "We've got a team of Huntsmen coming in over the weekend to weed things out a bit for the initiation, but for now assume moderate to high density. Given that all of you are at least sophomores, that should be within your capabilities to handle."
Yang found herself nodding along with the rest of the class. Category three was a bad, bad day on Patch, but it was pretty normal for the Emerald Forest.
"Nobody else?" Orlovski tapped his foot a couple times, then hit a switch on the wall. Compartments under the seats opened up, and the students quickly retrieved their packs. "Alright. First to drop will be Inariyama and Reynardine."
Hikari and Ruth stood up, hefting their packs with ease, and turned to Taffeta. "See you back at the cliffs, Taffy!" Hikari cheered, extending a fist. Ruth smirked, doing the same.
Taffeta lowered her head in embarrassment, but a moment later, a pair of arms appeared in the air above her shoulders, meeting the fists with two of her own.
She watched them walk away, Hikari twirling her sword while Ruth extended her axe-staff.
"Cantri ei keersaf," Taffeta murmured, as they leapt into the forest below.
Professor Alizarin clapped his hands together. "So!" he began, without even a moment's pause. "Welcome back."
A murmur of greetings passed around the ring of desks. Ruby found herself smiling at the familiar faces. She'd initially been confused and annoyed by these meetings, but nowadays she found herself looking forward to them.
Twelve students sat in a loose circle of desks, representing half of the teams currently enrolled at Beacon. All of them were people Ruby knew, though the lineup had changed slightly since last year—every team leader had to take the seminar every spring semester, but the class was split in two—one session on tuesday, and one on thursday—so that teams could have a bit more flexibility in their class schedules.
Once they'd all had time to trade good mornings, Sæmundr Alizarin clapped his hands again for silence, letting his gaze sweep the room. And he had one heck of a gaze; his right eye was a high-end Valish prosthetic, a gold sphere with a glowing purple core, surrounded by a web of faded scar tissue that stretched from his nose all the way to his right ear.
When his gaze landed on Ruby, she smiled at him cheerfully. He'd scared the cookies out of her when they first met, but… books and covers.
Alizarin finished his sweep and leaned forward, resting his chin on a crooked hand. "First order of business," he said, "by the time we get back together next week, several freshmen will have joined us. I trust you all remember your own first day in my class, and that you'll be just as supportive as your seniors were for you. We'll be giving these new leaders preferential treatment for a few weeks, but if anyone has any burning issues they want to bring up, I'd like to give you all a chance to voice them so we all know what you're going through."
Ruby bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. I should poooooobably get this out of the way early, huh? Before she could second-guess herself, she raised her hand high.
Alizarin cracked a slight smile, his eye seeming to glow a little brighter for a moment. "Miss Rose?"
"So…" she started, her neck ruffling at the feel of so many eyes on her. "Some people already know this, but Team RWBY… committed the unforgivable sin. Again."
There were a couple snickers across the room, most notably from Coco. "With style, too!" she shouted, earning an exasperated glare from Alizarin and an elbow to the gut from an obviously-still-amused Florence.
Alizarin turned back to Ruby, sighing and giving her a slow blink. "I suppose miss Adel's excitement is a clue to the nature of the sin, but care to elaborate regardless?"
Ruby grinned nervously, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Hey, it's not that bad! I mean I'm not dating Yang, so team CFVY is technically still worse."
She deliberately didn't add anything about team FLWR. Florence had never brought up her team being in a relationship in one of these sessions before, and it was likely she wouldn't appreciate someone else doing it for her.
Alizarin gave her a dry stare. "Well, we can count our lucky stars that Team CFVY still walks alone," he said. "You're well familiar with my stance on intra-team romantic relationships, so I'll spare you every single way this could end in disaster."
Something sharp cut through Ruby's smile. "With due respect professor? We're serious about this. We know how badly it could go, but we also know what we want. " She leaned forward, gripping her desk. "And frankly? We may be young, but we're Huntresses , sir. We're not going to wait for graduation to pursue our happiness, and I think you understand why."
Every drop of levity had left the room, replaced with somber understanding. "I understand completely, Miss Rose," Alizarin said. He sat up, smiling gently. "More than you know, I think. Therefore, as long as you keep it out of your academics and don't let it affect team cohesion, I'll allow this terrible sin to go unpunished."
"Aww, thanks!" Ruby settled back into her seat, looking around at the ring of faces. "Anyone wanna throw out any advice?"
Across the room, Cardin started to open his mouth.
"Except Cardin," Ruby added, her voice even sweeter than usual.
Cardin chose silence, because even he was capable of learning.
To Ruby's surprise, though, a hand did go up. Florence's, actually. Ruby nodded to her.
"First, congrats," Florence said, smiling big. "I hope they make you happy, Ruby."
"Aw, thanks," Ruby replied, a little confused.
"Second though… Lizzie may be a joykill —" she shot a sly grin at the professor, who clutched at his heart dramatically, "—but he's got a point. Remember that it's not your love that'll save you from the Grimm—it's your skill and your teamwork. Keep yourself sharp, and keep each other safe, and don't forget to lean on your friends as well as your partners." She gave Ruby a hard smile. "Your classmates don't want you and your girlfriends to die young."
Ruby swallowed, stunned by the intensity in Florence's voice. "Th-thanks," she managed.
"Well spoken, Ms. McAllister," Alizarin said. "Any further advice?" When no one else responded, he gave a nod. "Then who else would like to share?"
Ruby found herself unable to focus much when Team BRSS's Bristol raised his hand. Something about the way Florence had said all that… there was more to it.
To Ruby's memory, Florence had never spoken this much in Alizarin's class before. Why now? Why about this? Because they were both polyamorous? Was that really it?
"Mister Arc?"
Ruby looked over in surprise. She hadn't even noticed Jaune raising his hand.
"I… guess Team JNPR also has some interpersonal problems to work out," he admitted. "Not, quite the same as Team RWBY's… ha, but…"
He sighed, and when he looked up there was genuine worry in his expression. "I'm concerned that my team is losing respect for me."
Alizarin blinked, eyes widening. "Oh? That's surprising news."
"Yeah," Jaune said. "It surprised me too."
"Belladonna, Xiao Long, you're up!"
Her girlfriends stood and hauled on their packs, and Weiss rose to send them off. "I'll see you both soon," she said, tilting her head expectantly.
Yang chuckled, and leaned down for a quick goodbye kiss. Blake rolled her eyes before doing the same, though she held the kiss a lot longer than Yang had. They sauntered off, and as they reached the hatch, Yang spun around on her heel and raised her hands to make a heart over her chest. She held the pose, grinning like the madwoman she was, and tipped backwards out into the air.
Blake covered her face in her hand, and muttered something that sounded like "love of my life," before stepping out to follow.
That left just four students and the Professor, who was standing at the front of the bay and talking to the pilot. Weiss, Taffeta, Belka, and…
"Degenerates," Ormond snorted, staring right at Weiss. "And to think a Schnee of all people would be so fucking disgusting in public."
Weiss stared back at him. "Oh no," she said with a voice flat as the tundra. "It seems I've offended Ormond O'Brien. How terrible. Was it the homosexuality, the promiscuity, or the miscegenation? Please, I'd love to know which you approve of least."
Ormond just sat back, throwing his arms behind his head and cracking a sickeningly toothy grin. "All of the above, you stuck-up dy—"
"Hey, fuckwit," Belka groaned. "Girl could beat your ass into hotdog meat. Quit tryna front."
Ormond glared at his temporary teammate. "The animal sides with the race traitor. Who'd have guessed? C'mon handlebars, I thought we were partners today?"
Belka's face split in a wild grin. "Oh, we are."
Ormond's confidence flickered, and Weiss was suddenly very interested in how the next two hours would play out for dear, stupid Ormond.
"Ornstein and O'Brien!" Orlovski called out.
"Aight then," Belka said, standing to her considerable full height. "Let's go, partner."
She led the way, pulling a baton off her belt and spinning it around to extend it into a long, serrated spear. Ormond followed her with his colossal greatsword, muttering darkly under his breath. The two leapt off into the forest.
And then there were two.
Weiss sat back down and turned her attention to Taffeta as the girl looked up at her. "He's a bastard," she said, her voice soft. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything. He… scares me."
Weiss found her heart softening at the sincerity in those eyes. "He's hardly a concern," she said, offering an easy smile and extending a hand across the aisle. "I don't think we've properly met, have we? I'm Weiss, though I imagine you knew that."
"Y-yeah," Taffeta murmured. She started to reach out her hand, but hesitated. After a second's thought, an arm formed entirely of maroon aura fuzzed into existence, reaching out and taking Weiss's hand. "Taffeta Nansi," she said, smiling faintly. "Pleasure to m-meet you. Properly, I mean."
Weiss shook with the constructed limb, a curl of amusement on her lip. "Likewise. That's quite a semblance."
"Oh. Thank you!" Taffeta seemed surprised, but her smile was growing. Her extra arm vanished, as she settled back into her seat. "I hope this doesn't come around as strange, but your glyphs are fascinating . I've actually always wondered how they worked."
"Oh?" Weiss gave her a curious sort of look. "What did you want to know?"
Taffeta's eyes lit up. "Well… what do they feel like? Do you have to use visualizations or thoughtforms to generate the different effects? It seems like you have a really broad range of control and applications—a lot of semblances can be dust-enhanced, but yours is on another level entirely! Is it true you can use gravity and lightning dust to create localized time dilation? "
Weiss blinked, trying to reorient around the sudden shift in tone. "Yes, I can," she admitted. "Though it's very difficult."
"Incredible!" Taffeta grinned. "How does it work, is it just a basic temporal lensing effect or do you actually—"
"Weiss! Nansi! You're up!"
Nansi coughed, and the two got up and grabbing their packs. Weiss readied Myrtenaster, spinning the chamber and listening to it click. Beside her, Taffeta slid her hands into a pair of armored gloves holstered on her thighs.
They walked up to the open hatch, looking down on the forest below, shining green under the morning sun, almost too bright to look at after the dark of the transport.
Weiss made eye contact, and Taffeta traded her a quick nod, her earlier awkwardness greatly diminished. It was a familiar song and dance, by now—no matter how a Hunter presented themselves in daily life, in the wild they'd often become something else.
Weiss idly wondered what kind of a Huntress Taffeta would turn out to be, as they stepped out into the open air and fell towards the forest below.
A/N:
Hello hello! Big beefy chapter today (though not nearly as beefy as Grounded Lightning's 8k update from yesterday, which you should definitely check out if you haven't already!)
We're going into a Team RWBY do stuff at school" arc for a bit, because I think that'll be neat, and b/c I love to do the worldbuilding. More OCs! More drama! And yes, that was in fact a conlang. There's a spreadsheet for it. ;_;
Thanks, as usual, to Sgt. Chrysalis, juniorthib, FriendofYggdrasil, and shockfactor for their assistance! And thank you all for reading!