The next morning was one of the fastest mornings anyone could ever remember experiencing.
It had been a long night, after spending nearly an hour deciding which room to choose, who was going to sleep with them, and dragging Weiss out of the spa room for bed, and the different thoughts going through different people's heads varied the hours of sleep they got.
Ruby had went to bed with Penny, Zwei, and Yang squished in with her, and had fallen asleep almost instantly due to the excitement she had been harboring all day. She had gotten around 9 hours of sleep.
Weiss had gone to bed by herself, after half-heartedly arguing over Zewi with Ruby, and had been nice and relaxed from her spa treatment. Well, other than the fact that she had gotten dragged from the pedicure she had payed someone else to do for her. She got around 10 hours of sleep, with a good hour of overtime.
Blake had went to sleep on her own as well, but had woken up in a much larger, king sized bed, smothered between her parents. That with the extra two hours of long contemplation of her new situation, gave her about 5 hours of sleep.
Then, Jaune, Oscar, and Ren had all slept together, snug as a bug, and got about a good 9 hours. Nora had wanted Ren, but was scolded by a few people about it, so she slept in the same room as Ruby, Yang, Penny, and Zwei. She got about 8 hours.
And lastly, Trifa had gone into a random, solitary room with no one else, and had went to sleep immediately. It was easy for her, since she had been trained to fall asleep anywhere, and on a comfortable, soft bed, it was effortless.
When people starting getting up the nest morning, at least half of the residence were out of bed by 6:15. Team SSSN had taken over the gym, which was about three times the size of the one in Haven. They weren't aware that there was a slightly larger one on the third floor of the basement, right next to the massive pool room.
Not only were their muscular, loud bodies thumping down the many flights of stairs while they talked loudly about which exercise equipment they'd claim first, but their ruckus awoke most of the people they passed, therefore causing a fog of objection and disturbance floating around.
With all the woken up people staggering around, demanding a reason for the cause of their disturbance, more people were waken up, and before 7:00, just about the whole Quarentine Quarters was awake. People flocked the kitchen for breakfast, while others went to resume their exploration of the place. Some just lingered in their rooms and waited for things to settle down.
"Ren, make some pancakes!" Nora ordered as the two of them entered the bustling kitchen. Ren sighed and shook his head, taking one of the many aprons hanging from a row of pegs at the kitchen's entrance.
"Of course," he answered heavily, still a bit sleepy, "Coming right up."
He gathered his usual ingredients, only to find that there was literally every single ingredient in existence in that large, Food Network-style kitchen, and his mood immediately flipped at the realization. A moment later, his count was cluttered with all kinds of elaborate things, and he began quickly stirring up a batch of pancakes he had been longing to make since he had learned the recipe.
Durning his culinary labor, when he had just poured out his first batch of 8x8 pancakes in one of the supersize griddles, he noticed someone standing behind him. He turned around after a few more minutes of the person watching them, and met eyes with no one other than Hazel Rainart.
His eyes widened, and he stared at him for a moment before slowly turning gray. Hazel just towered over him with that usual look of disgruntleness on his tan face, and memories of the encounter at Haven flashed over and over again in Ren's mind.
Hazel grunted, and Ren slowly turned around again.
"Can...I help you?" Ren asked calmly, still gray with his semblance. Hazel grunted again and folded his meaty arms over his chest.
"I'm hungry," he answered with his deep, low voice, "And since we're on temporary terms, I'd like to request some of your food."
Ren cleared his throat and thought for a moment. "I could do that. Do you mind any flavor in particular?"
"No nuts," Hazel replied gruffly, "Anything else is fine. I'm not a picky eater, like no one needs to be."
Ren slowly nodded his head and continued cooking, flipping his now half-cooked batch of pancakes. They sizzled, looking just right, and then Hazel walked away, disappearing around the corner. Ren could only assume that he'd be back once most of his batter was cooked up.
"Hey, Ren!" Ruby chirped, walking over to him, "How'd you sleep last night?"
"I slept fine, thank you," Ren answered, carefully watching his batch. Ruby eyed his almost finished first load, and her stomach grumbled almost simultaneously. Licking her lips, she hesitantly asked,
"...When you're done...could I have some, please?"
Ren sighed and then nodded.
"I suppose it would be alright," he said, "I am, after all, making quite a few of them."
"Yay!" Ruby cheered, throwing her fist in the air, "Thanks, Ren! I'm gonna go find Yang and see if we can find some kind of weapon room or something. This place is insane!"
Ren shrugged and flipped his pancakes onto a plate, quickly filling the griddle back up with sixteen more. "Good luck."
"Thanks!" Ruby said happily, "You're the best." Then she skipped off, calling her older sister's name, disappearing behind the other corner. Ren continued on without distraction or disturbance, managing to fill up at least five plates full to capacity, each with different flavors.
One plate was plain, another butter, another chocolate chip, another maple cinnamon, and the last one, honey. He had about four more flavors he wanted to make, and since he really did have all day, or in this case, all morning, he might as well take his time and maybe try out some new kinds.
Once he finished a sixth plate, this one being flavored with various berries, he heard a large group stop behind him. Not even caring anymore, he turned around to see Weiss, Blake, Nora, Jaune, Oscar, Ruby, Hazel, Trifa, Professor Green, the Belladonnas, Qrow, the Ace Ops, and Robyn, all staring at him.
"What is it?" he asked, feeling like he already knew the answer.
"Ruby said this is where I could eat," Trifa answered briefly, folding her arms, "If she was wrong, then I'll never trust her again."
"Aw," Ruby whined from the other side of the group.
"We're hungry!" Nora said loudly, "And I decided to spread the word that you make the best pancakes! We're all starving, and you're making like, a lot of pancakes, so why don't we all eat them? It is breakfast time, anyway."
Ren gave Nora an unreadable expression before sighing and shrugging once again. "Alright," he answered heavily, "Go ahead and take your seats."
Everyone's faces lit up, and they all filtered into the many, many chairs around the many, many tables in the huge dining room connected to the kitchen. They chatted amongst themselves, sitting next to who they wanted, and Ren began to laborious process of dividing up his pancakes, all while flipping his batches.
"I call Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called, bursting into a ball of rose petals and speeding over to Qrow's side. She caught him on the shoulders, stopping abruptly, and pulled herself up on them, bracing her feet agains the table behind her.
"Hey, Uncle Qrow!" she chirped, peering at him over his shoulder, "I was looking all over for you yesterday! Can I sit next to you and..." She paused and saw Robyn, who had just seated herself next to him.
"...Robyn Hill?" she asked, raising a brow. Qrow rolled his eyes and put his hands on Ruby's shoulders, pulling her down from him.
"Get your feet of the table, Kiddo," he chuckled, "And yes, be my guest. It's good to see you again."
Ruby landed on her feet and found the chair next to Qrow, but before she sat down, she gave him a big hug. He accepted it, smiling, and patted her lightly on the back as she squeezed him tightly.
"I was getting worried when we separated and you didn't come back," she said, unembracing him and sitting down, "What happened? Where were you? Where's Clover and Tyrian?"
Qrow's eyes darkened at the mention of Clover's name, and he looked down. Robyn saw this, and gently placed her hand on his shoulder again. Ruby was even more confused, and her face thirsted for answers.
"Well..," Qrow began, shakily clearing his throat, "Things got pretty complicated, and in the end...Clover was killed...by Tyrian."
Ruby put her hands to her mouth, horrified.
"Oh no..," she whimpered, "That's terrible! How did Tyrian escape? I thought you guys arrested him or something."
"I'm not really sure," Qrow answered, but we were all in a ship together and...well, things got messy. The ship crashed, Robyn was unconscious, and me and Clover were having a bit of conflict. Tyrian appeared out of nowhere, untied all of a sudden, and we all got in a fight."
"It was unfortunate that I was out at the moment," Robyn said, her voice low, "If I had been up, there could've been a chance of Clover living."
"Or you getting hurt more," Qrow said, glancing solemnly at her. He looked back at Ruby. "Tyrian used my sword to kill him...and then he escaped, right when the Military arrived with reinforcements. I was framed, and then they arrested me. Just my luck, huh."
"At least we all got sent here before things got worse," Ruby said, trying to find a positive, "I mean, you could've been sent to jail, and that Miles Luna guys said we'd teleport right back where we left off after the virus is gone. So maybe you could break away before your prisoner ship leaves or something!"
"Maybe," Qrow grunted. Robyn just half-heartedly shrugged, not looking all too convinced.
Ren came over with a plate stacked tall with fluffy, warm pancakes, and set some empty plates in front of the three of them, along with a fork, knife, and napkin. He then proceeded to put some pancakes on their plates, four each.
"Wow, Ren," Ruby said, staring at her breakfast, "You're doing all this by yourself? I was kinda thinking you'd have some kind of help."
"It's no problem," he answered calmly, placing a small pitcher of syrup on the table, "I'm just pleased that you all are so addicted to my cooking." He gave a slight, quite chuckled and moved on to the next row.
"Well, enough of the current past," Ruby said, licking her lips, "Let's eat! I'm starving!" She dug into her pancakes and began wolfing them down, stopping only once to lavishly pour some syrup on them before continuing on.
Qrow raised a brow and then chuckled, shaking his head and giving Robyn some kind of humorous look. Then they ate their food, along with about three-fourths of the group that had been summoned by Nora for breakfast. It was like eating in a big dining hall, except, they kind of were. It just wasn't a hall, it was a very large dining room. It was even bigger than the cafeteria at Beacon.
While everyone was gorging themselves on Ren's magnificent pancakes, Sun, Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage were all at the gym, working out and testing out all the different equipment. Neptune was more speculating than actually working out, since he wasn't "that kind of guy". He was more intellect and looks than muscle.
"Man, these dumbbells are hard core!" Sun said, lifting a pair of oddly large dumbbells, "They're not even that big, and yet they weigh like, sixty pounds!" He lifted them up and down with his forearms straight, his arms flexed and sweaty. "Feel that buuurrrrnnn..."
"And these weights," Sage added from his corner. The weights he was holding above his head were massive, and seemed almost impossible for any human to hold so high. But Sage, despite his laborious struggling, managed to hold it high above his head, steadily level. His arms were violently shaking at the time he spoke.
"How are you doing over there, Neptune?" Sun grunted through another forceful lift of his dumbbells. Neptune was walking on a treadmill, on a low speed, and watching some kind of video on its screen. He didn't look tired at all whatsoever.
"Hey!" Sun yelled, using some of the energy exerting himself to lift the weights to make his voice louder, "What are you doing?! We're suppose to be working out right now while no one's here to hog everything!"
"Yeah, I'm exercising," Neptune said, hardly paying attention as he continued to stare at the screen, "What're you talkin' about."
Sun rolled his eyes and decided to ignore him. Scarlet was hanging upside down on a steel bar, slowly pulling himself upward with his leg and abdominal muscles. It didn't exactly buff him up, but it got done what he wanted done. It was one of his only methods of exercise other than running and doing squats.
"Hey, boys," Yang greeted, walking casually in. She was wearing an orange tank top with her emblem on it and some black legging shorts, very similar to her pajamas, but utilized more for working out. Her thick blond mop was in a high ponytail, and her gauntlets were off.
"Oh, hey, Yang," Sun replied, setting down his dumbbells with a sigh of relief, "How goes it?"
"Pretty good," she answered, approaching the leather punching bag in the far corner, opposite of Sage, "I think I saw Ruby looking for me earlier, but I was planning on coming over here and working out after I heard about this gym and didn't want distractions. This place is pretty sweet, huh?"
"Yeah it is," Sun said with a wolf whistling following. He reached for another pair of dumbbells, 10 pounds lighter, and began working with those. Yang began punching eagerly at the bag, and was pleased with its sturdiness. It was like punching the outer shell of a Boarbutusk, minus any spikes. Good stuff.
"I wonder-" Yang said, panting and grunting through punches, "How long-ugh-we'll be here-uh!" She threw a flurry of high-speed punches at the bag, then gave it a swift roundhouse kick. The thing was thrown the the side, hitting the odd white wall, and then bounced back, nearly hitting her. But she dodged it and began attacking it again.
"Could be a long time," Sun answered, exhaling heavily as he worked on his weights, "Pandemics seem to go on forever, as far as I know." He inhaled deeply, his face turning red, and another drop of sweat rolled down his face. "My mom told me about one that got her and my dad when they were kids."
"How long-eh-did that last?" Yang grunted and punched the bag hard enough to break someone's bone.
"Four and a half months," Sun answered matter-of-factly, lifting the dumbbells one last time before roughly dropping them. They narrowly missed his socked feet, and gently rolled to the side.
"Geez!" Yang said, whistling, "That's horrible." She stopped punching the bag and caught her breath, walking over to a bench pushed up against the wall, and plopped down on it, heavily breathing.
"You said it," said Sun reaching down to pick up a pair of 40 pound weights. He had just started working on those ones, when the door burst open and Tai came in, panting and wide-eyed.
"Yang!" he exclaimed the moment he saw her.
"Dad?" she said, raising a brow, "Where did you-"
"Oh, it's so good to see you!" he said, jogging over to her and giving her a big hug, "I've miss you so much! I found Ruby a little while ago in the dining room, and then I heard that there was a gym on the first floor of the basement."
He looked around the room. "I find it kind of weird how there're three floors to this basement. And this gym looks hard core! Must be wearing you out, huh, my Sunny Little Dragon."
He grinned and fuzzed the top of her hair, his smile widening as she shook her head to free herself from his hand. She swatted lightly at him and stood back up, now having completely caught her breath.
"Not wearing me out, Dad," she said, rolling her eyes, "Just giving me some exercise. Care to work out with us before we head back upstairs to get a bite to eat?" She gestured to the various equipment and people in the room, who all returned some kind of casual greeting.
"You're Yang's dad?" Sun asked, not pausing his weights, "Cool."
"Yep, that's me," Tai said, nodding, "Mr. Xiao Long. But you can just call me Tai. You can even call me Dad if you want!" He gave a light hearted laugh and headed for the treadmill that Neptune was on.
"Excuse me," he said politely, "Could I please use this? I need to exercise."
Neptune shrugged and turned it off, stepping onto the floor and allowing Tai entrance to the treadmill and then walking away. Tai jumped on, turned the thing on to top speed, and began wildly sprinting to keep up with the high pace of the machine. A moment later, his legs were nothing more than a blur with drops of sweat dripping off once and a while.
"Woo!" Tai cheered, panting very hard, "This is great! I can't believe how nice this thing is...running!" He laughed at his own pun, and Yang joined in. Team SSSN just exchanged glances of annoyance.
"Nice one, Dad!" Yang laughed, "Although, you're not the first one to use the highest speed on a treadmill; You probably know that for me, it's 'been there, run that!" The two began laughing harder, and team SSSN looked even more annoyed.
"I just remembered," Sun said, abruptly dropping his weights and clapping his hands together, "I'm suppose to be...at breakfast." He swiped his hand across his forehead and pointed his tail at his teammates.
"Come on, boys," he said, marching towards the door, "Let's go eat and leave these two to their...puns..."
Sage shrugged and obliged. Neptune quickly got up to follow his leader, and Scarlet flipped off his metal bar, landing on his feet and walking over to the gym door. Sun gave Tai a quick wave, and then slammed the door behind him, the sounds of heavy footsteps following after.
"What's with them?" Tai asked, his face now red as a tomato. Yang shrugged, going back to her punching bag.
"I dunno."
Yes, I'll be slowly adding more and more characters in each day until I can't keep track anymore. If I'm missing someone you really want to see after a while, just let me know in a review. Thanks!
I'm gonna try to post chapters decently often, but that's no promise. Life is busy, busy, busy! Also, each chapter is a new day; It won't tell about the entire day, since these chapters aren't super long, but the next chapter will have hints on the events of the previous day.
Story Advertisements: Emerald and Orange, by TheAngelOfFate (Oscar and Ozpin fans, read this; I've only read the first chapter, and I liked it)
Any story by Maria65 (A lot of cute, short stories with shipped pairings married and having children; all are adorable)
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more chapters!