RWBY: Glowing Embers
Chapter 4
oxoxoxo
Arms crossed behind her back and flanked by a pair of her personal Atlesian Legionnaire droids, Julia Gaia stood at ease as the Atlesian aircraft descended to the Beacon docks. She had been notified the instant this particular ship had entered Vale airspace and had been ready to greet it the second it had begun its descent. She had dressed in full attire for the occasion, donning her chainmail and medals, her spatha and gladius sheathed across the small of her back and her crimson scutum shield held at her left side. She held her red crested helm under her right arm and her blood red cape billowed in the wind as the roar of the engines diminished. A friendly smile, something not often seen on her face, formed for a fraction of a second before she took a deep breath and steeled herself, ready to greet her old friend after so long.
As the ship touched down, Julia forced herself to look ahead at the doors and not at the comotion starting behind her. It sounded small, but there was definitely someone demanding to know what was going on as the ship's main hatch opened, a ramp extending to the ground as a lone woman stepped out, closely followed by a pair of Atlesian Knights. She was dressed in stark white, a colour that matched her hair, neatly kempt in a bun aside from a single strand that hung from the left side of her hair. The centurion stepped forward and stood at attention, giving a quick salute, a gesture that was quickly followed by the woman, her piercing blue eyes meeting Julia's crimson as they lowered their hands and stood at ease. "Welcome to Beacon Miss Schnee."
"General Gaia, please," Winter Schnee said, face just shifting the slightest bit for half a second. "We've known each other long enough for you to call me Winter."
"As long as you extend to me the same courtesy and call me Julia."
"Are you giving me an order, General?"
"No ma'am, just a suggestion." Julia said, a smile finally cracking her features.
Winter's expression matched hers for a short time before a cry cut through the air. "WINTER!"
Both Winter and Julia turned as one as three girls ran up to them. Julia instantly recognized the third girl as her sister Maria, though the other two girls were certainly not her sister's teammates. The lead girl was dressed in icy white with matching hair and electric blue eyes. The look, combined with the familiarity with which she accosted Winter told Julia exactly who she was, as Winter would often talk about her little sister Weiss. The second girl, however, was a mystery to Julia. She was shorter than the other girls, with black hair that had red tips. She wore a red cloak and a black combat skirt. Likely a friend of Winter's sister or a member of her team.
"Winter!" The girl in white cried out in joy. "I'm so happy to see you!" Quickly composing herself, the girl spoke again, curbing her enthusiasm and giving a small curtsy as she corrected her previous greeting. "Oh, uh, your presence honours us."
Maria said nothing, though she and Julia exchanged a look as Winter began to converse with her sister. Though the two sisters were far from settled on their differences, with Julia still believing in the strength and necessity of the Atlas military, and Maria still believing that Huntsmen and Huntresses were the way of the future, the two sisters had come to a grudging truce. The Impact attack on Vale was very nearly a disaster, and one that could have easily killed every person in the kingdom, or subjected them to a fate worse than death. It was only Maria, Julia and the teams under their command that were able to turn the tide and stop the advance of the monsters dropped upon the kingdom. It took both sisters, all of Maria's teammates, as well as the strength of two other teams to fend them off, and even then, Julia had still needed to intervene herself to rid vale of the remainder of the horde. Maria, however, had shown not only her own strength, but also that of her team, as they, despite being simply students, had stood alone against the hordes of nightmares, even knowing they risked their lives doing so. "Maria." Julia said with a nod.
"Sister." Maria responded.
"Beacon." Winter intoned, stepping off her ship and onto the school's docks. "It's been a long time." She said as she cast her eyes about the campus. "The air feels… different."
"Well, it is fall…" The girl in red muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "So… It's probably colder…"
Weiss slugged her in the arm before smiling sweetly at her older sister. "So! What are you doing here?"
"Classified." Winter replied curtly. Julia could tell where this was going, and it would not be fun for Weiss.
"Oh…" Weiss responded. "Right, well, how long are you staying?"
Winter narrowed her eyes. "Classified."
Weiss didn't flinch. "Of course."
A silence hung over the air, one Julia kicked herself for not breaking.
"Well…" The girl in red said. "This is nice… I think..."
"You're going to love it here!" Weiss blurted out, her sister's bluntness clearly not affecting her mood. "I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas, Vale too, the government and school are completely separate, can you believe it-"
"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its… bureaucracy…" Winter interrupted with distaste. "That is not why I came."
"Right." The younger Schnee sister said, a little too quickly. "I'm sorry."
Julia knew what was about to happen. Weiss had let herself slip.
"Nor did I come to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle, but it appears I have no choice in the matter." Winter nearly snapped.
"But… we won!" Weiss argued.
Maria looked like she was about to step forward to argue on Weiss' behalf, but Julia put a hand out to stop her. "This is their business, not yours."
"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory." Winter remarked. "I counted at least three strikes missed." She turned for a moment to her Atlesian Knights and gave a simple order: "Leave us." The droids acknowledged wordlessly, stepping back from their commander without so much as a nod. The elder Schnee sighed and gave a small smile. "How have you been?"
"Splendid!" The younger girl replied. "Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the very top ranking of our sparring class." Weiss said with a more than a hint of pride.
"Just behind me." Maria added to Julia in a hushed tone. "And Pyrrha, and a handful of other students."
Julia cracked a smile until the sound of a smack drew her attention to the Schnee sisters once again, as Winter had just struck her sister across the face.
"Silence, you boob!" She commanded as Weiss rubbed where she had been slapped. "I don't recall asking about your ranking," She said, her expression softening to that an older sister might wear. "I asked how you've been. Are you eating properly, have you taken up any hobbies, are you making new friends?"
"Well," Weiss said, gesturing to the red hooded girl next to her. "There's Ruby, and…" She looked over to Maria, who was fuming. If looks could kill, Winter would have been a pile of ashes. "Maria." She concluded nervously.
"I see." Winter said, first looking to Maria. "Julia, is this the little sister you've told me so much about?"
"I doubt she said anything good." Maria grumbled.
Julia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "This is my sister, Winter." She said, gesturing to Maria. "Winter Schnee, meet Maria Gaia, Maria, this is Winter Schnee, an old comrade of mine from the Atlesian Army."
Winter inclined her head slightly. "Charmed." She said, looking to The girl now identified as Ruby. "So this is the leader you wrote of." Winter said, examining the young girl's childish demeanor. "How appropriately… underwhelming." She declared, taking a few seconds to choose her last word.
"Uh… Thank you." Ruby said, desperately trying to not show her childlike side.
"Greetings, Ruby Rose." Winter said with a smile this time. "I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."
"More than she knows." Maria muttered, just loud enough for Julia to hear. The general cocked her head at her sister's words. What did she mean by that?
"Oh, yes!" Ruby said, snapping to a clumsy salute. "The honour is in my… court!" She added, giving what she clearly thought was a proper curtsy before nearly toppling over, tripping over her own foot and just managing to recover.
Winter straightened herself out. "I have business with the general and your headmaster, but seeing as I'm early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"
"Really?" Weiss asked, hope evident in her voice.
"Yes." Winter replied as she, the Gaia sisters, and her droid guards followed Weiss toward the school. "I wish to inspect them, and make sure they're up to my standards."
"Of course," Weiss responded. "Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only look unstable."
Winter cocked her head. "Bunk beds?"
"I'll catch up-" Ruby called, stopping herself mid sentence before retrying. "I mean, I will... reconvene with you… at a later… juncture!"
Julia tuned out the rest of her response as she stared ahead, watching as students parted like wheat before wind at their approach. "So, Maria," She said, addressing her sister. "I watched your battle as well."
"How many criticisms do you have of that?" The younger Gaia sister groaned.
"Few, actually." Julia replied. "I was rather impressed. Perhaps Beacon truly is making you into a better fighter than I estimated."
Maria frowned at her sister. "Excuse me, what?"
"Did I say something wrong?" Julia asked, eyebrow cocked.
"No, but you're not berating me. What gives?" Maria demanded.
The general sighed and opened her mouth to reply, only for the sound of crunched metal to cut her off, the head of one of Winter's droids rolling to a stop only a few feet behind them. The silence that followed was broken as a voice called out "Hey!"
Winter, Julia and their sisters turned as one to see a man approaching. He was tall and lanky, dressed in a formal, yet sloppy fashion of slacks, loafers and a fine buttonup shirt, though the top buttons were undone, and the cape that hung from his neck was short and tattered, only reaching just below his hips. His face was similar, handsome, yet sloppy, with slicked back and spiked black hair, a well defined chin and cheekbones, and shining crimson eyes, though he had a seemingly permanent stubble, and a look that was somewhere between annoyed, focused and inebriated. The image was made complete with what appeared to be some sort of weapon holstered on his mid back. The man was a huntsman, and one Julia was unfortunately familiar with.
"Yeah," he slurred, tossing the remains of a droid to the ground. "I'm talkin' to you, ice queen. You too, metalhead."
One of Winter's other droids advanced on the man, rifle raised, but the specialist raised a hand and ordered "Halt!"
Julia was about to demand to know what the man was doing, but before she could, Weiss was already advancing. "Excuse me, do you have any idea who you're talking to?" She demanded, getting right in the man's face.
The man quickly shushed her and pushed her out of his way. "Not you." He said, pushing past her and glaring at Winter and Julia, seemingly unfazed by the two generals and the droids aiming rifles at him. "You." The silence hung in the air as both parties waited for the other to make a move. "Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town." The man muttered, just loud enough to hear. "I guess you're here too."
Winter folded her arms behind her back. "I'm standing right before you."
He leaned forward and squinter before grinning like a fool. "So it would seem."
Winter glared at him. "You realize you just destroyed Atlas Military property."
The man looked about the wreckage of the droids he had mangled with mock surprise. "Ooh, I'm sorry." He drawled. "See, I mistook this for some sort of… sentient garbage."
Winter quickly shot back. "We don't have time for your immature games, Qrow."
"Wait," Maria said, looking between her sister, Winter Schnee and this man, Qrow. "You know him?"
Before either Julia or Winter could answer, Qrow spoke again. "You Atlas specialists think you're so special, don't you?"
"It's in the title." Julia growled.
"Well," Qrow went on "You know what you really are?" He asked, fixing the group with a harsh glare. "A bunch of sellouts. Just like your boss."
"I'm not sure what you think you're implying, but I've heard enough." Winter spat.
"As have I." Julia added, moving to stand alongside her old comrade.
"Oh, I heard too." Qrow continued, unfazed by the twin death glares from Julia and Winter. "I heard ol' Ironwood finally turned his back on Ozpin. And he finally decided to let the world know about one of the biggest threats to its existence."
"The threat has been dealt with." Julia growled. "I saw to that myself."
"And I'm sure it'll never crop up again." Qrow replied.
"What is he talking about?" Weiss asked.
"Weiss," Winter replied, pushing her sister aside. "It's time for you to go."
"Listen to big sister, Weiss, and you too mini Julie." Qrow added. "She'll protect you." Qrow flung his arms out and gestured about to the droids, dreadnaughts and carriers circling Vale's airspace, stumbling back as he did. "Just like Atlas is gonna protect all of us."
"If you won't hold your tongue," Witner declared, drawing her saber. "Then I will gladly remove it for you!" She spat.
"I'll hold him down while you do." Julia added, drawing her gladius and raising her scutum.
"Alright," Qrow said, slicking back his hair and beckoning them forward. "Come take it."
Winter glaerd for only a moment longer before she was gone in an instant, blade lunging for Qrow, who moved his head just out of the way of her sword. Winter stabbed and slashed again and again, each time just short of the huntsman as he ducked and dodged just enough. The elder Schnee sister made a particularly vicious slash which Qrow stepped back from and gave a comical bow. Winter took advantage and slashed down at him, only for her blade to meet the weapon on his back, the small bundle of steel unfolding into a large, single edged bastard sword. He parried Winter's attack and began to make space for his own attack.
Qrow spun around and twirled the weapon around himself, coming back to face his opponent just in time for Julia to slam into him, shield first, the impact throwing Qrow to the ground. Winter lunged for the downed huntsman, but Qrow rolled aside, the specialist's blade just stopping short of embedding itself in the earth. Qrow kipped up to his feet and spun back to make more space, holding his massive blade forward as though it were a fender's rapier, as Julia and Winter took their stances before him, Winter mimicking his stance, though doing so properly, while Julia held her shield aloft, gladius at the ready. Qrow tapped both of thier swords, twice each, before launching his assault.
The huntsman slashed forward with bold strikes, his massive sword just missing Winter as she stepped back from his assault. Seeing her chance, Julia charged again, Qrow sidestepping her charge and slamming the pommel of his sword into her back. Before he could press his advantage, Winter was on him, her shorter, lighter saber whistling through the air as she advanced on him, Qrow focusing all his attention on dodging her bladework as he attempted to make room for his own. Julia only made his life more difficult, stabbing at him with her gladius as the girls attempted to box him in.
However, it quickly became evident to Julia just what Qrow was doing. Though he lacked her sister's semblance, he was adapting to their fighting style, and before long, he was casually parrying each and every strike the two girls made, from Winter's elegant slashes and thrusts, to her own powerful hacks and stabs.
Maria and Weiss watched from the sidelines, a crowd of students having formed around the brawl as Atlas' finest battled their newest opponent. Neither one wanted to admit it, but both wanted to see their sister triumph over him right now.
"What's going on?" A voice demanded.
Weiss turned as one with Maria as Ruby arrived, the young girl confused as to where the crowd and the sounds of combat were coming from. The heiress was first to answer her. "Some crazy guy just started attacking our sisters!"
"Oh no!" Ruby squeaked, turning to face the fight. "Who would do such a thAT IS MY UNCLE!" The reaper cried, bouncing like a kid at a candy store as her childhood hero battled his newest challengers.
"What?" Maria demanded.
"KICK THEIR BUTTS, UNCLE QROW!" Ruby cheered.
Weiss huffed. "Teach him respect, Winter!"
"Knock him down, Julia!" Maria ordered. While she might not be the biggest fan of her sister, this was a competition, and who would she be if not competitive even by proxy.
Parrying another savage blow from Qrow's blade, Winter struck the huntsman across the jaw with her sword's hilt, jarring him for a moment. The huntsman recovered just in time to duck low under a thrust from Julia, rising up under her arm to knock her off balance as he raised his blade for a powerful overhand smash against Winter. Time seemed to slow for just a moment as two things happened at once. Qrow brought his blade down over Winter, just as she formed a Schnee family glyph under her own feet. Qrow's sword slammed into the ground, shattering the cobblestone beneath all the combatants with a mighty crash.
Julia picked herself back up to see Winter at the apex of her jump, Qrow's eyes fixed on her. Seizing her chance, she rammed the base of her shield into the ground, the boss opening to reveal the artillery battery behind it.
The sound of crushed rock and shifting metal caught Qrow's attention as he turned to face a savagely grinning Julia, her shield's barrel levelled directly at him. "Uh oh…" He muttered.
The Atlesian general pulled the trigger, an explosion of grapeshot firing from the barrel of her cannon. Qrow was blasted back by the firepower, flying right for where Winter stood ready, sword raised.
Qrow, however, was not one to lose easily, using his momentum to right himself and come down, sword first, against Winter, the specialist forced to dodge as the huntsman advanced on her.
Julia growled and ejected the spent clip from her shield. As she reached for a second one, a hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. "I would not do that, if I were you." The general turned to see none other than Erik Fantine standing behind her. "Wouldn't want to compromise your career anymore than already done, would you?"
"What are you talking about?" Julia demanded. "He struck first."
"Actually," Fantine clarified. "He baited the two of you into a first strike, giving him all the justification he needed to fight back. Rather cunning, really. For a fool, at least."
Julia gripped her sword all the tighter at this single realization: Fantine was right. Her career could be over if Ironwood found out about this. She and Winter had fallen headlong for Qrow's taunts, and now the drunken fool held the moral high ground. He had reduced them from the high ranking professional soldiers they were, to a pair of squabbling children, unable to resist a fight.
"As I said, General Gaia," Fantine continued. "You may wish to stand back from this one. You saved my life, so I'll do my part in saving your career. After all," He said, placing his hand back on her now slumped shoulder. "You're likely the only one in General Ironwood's army I would trust with the Vanguard project. Wouldn't want that little thing to slip from your grasp for a little squabble."
Julia's eyes were the size of dinner plates at Fantine's words. "What… How did you… uh…"
"How did I know about Project Vanguard?" Fantine asked, voice kept low. "How did I find out about James Ironwood's newest secret weapon? The secret weapon only it's designers, your crew, you, and the general himself know about?" Fantine asked, his semblance activating and giving him the appearance of one of her crew members. "It might be kept even off the Atlesian record until its completion, but I still have ways of finding out about it." His appearance shimmered as he once again regained his appearance. "Never assume your secrets are kept so. Someone always knows."
Julia took a breath, steeling her nerves as she forced herself to stop her hands from shaking. Whether it was from anger or nerves, she didn't know, but it would not do for her voice to shake in front of a man like this. "You will tell no one about this." She said, painstakingly forcing each word out, one after the other. "It is-"
"Top secret, of course." Fantine replied, removing his hand from her shoulder. "You must calm down, General Gaia." He said, turning to face the fight once again. Winter and Qrow had returned to where they began, the Atlesian specialist now launching a swarm of summoned birds at her opponent. "If you knew how many secrets I held, that would truly terrify you. Your little secret weapon is of little concern to me. I'll likely forget it by the end of the day."
"You'll likely forget it?" Julia muttered.
"I'll keep it in the back of my mind." Fantine assured her. "But worry not, the public will not hear this from me. I assure you."
Julia took a breath and resisted the urge to shudder as she let it out. She barely paid attention as Winter and Qrow squared off one last time, her mind only focusing on the Vanguard and how Fantine managed to find out about it. Who else knew? She wondered, as Winter made one final lunge, her blade surging for Qrow's throat-
"SCHNEE!"
The lieutenant general was pulled from her thoughts as General Ironwood's voice rang out through the courtyard. Every curse in Julia's entire vocabulary flew through her mind at that one second. Fantine knew about the Vanguard. She and Winter had given in to childish taunting. They had started a fight. And now, Ironwood had seen it. She was fairly certain things could not go more wrong.
Qrow put his hands behind his head and stepped back leisurely, while Winter snapped to attention. "General Ironwood, sir!" She snapped.
General Ironwood advanced, a small, orange haired girl following close behind him. Penny was her name, if Julia remembered correctly. "What in the world do you think you're doing?" Ironwood demanded in an even tone.
"He started the altercation, sir." Winter reported.
"That's actually not true," Qrow drawled. "She attacked first." He said, gesturing to the elder Schnee sister.
Ironwood followed his gesture, meeting Winter's gaze. "Is that right?"
Winter opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out as she looked away from the general's gaze.
"It was my doing, General!" Julia blurted out, stepping forward and snapping a salute. "I thought Winter was in danger, so I struck first. I will accept any reprimanding you will give."
"Julia, what are you doing?" Winter demanded.
"Taking responsibility, Miss Schnee." She replied. "I started this fight, I'll take the punishment from it."
"As touching as this display is," Fantine said, stepping up from behind Julia, his words sending a shiver down her spine. "I think you'll find the Schnee girl is, in fact responsible for this incident. She struck first and, amusingly enough, last. It was the drunken buffoon who blew the new crater in the walkway, however."
Ironwood's gaze returned to Winter, though it did linger on Qrow, who had the good sense to look bashful at his mention. However, the new crater was the least of their worries. A crowd had gathered, numerous confused and interested students having arrived to watch the excitement of the fight, and who now stood in awe of the deafening silence, the awkwardness of the moment preventing any from looking away.
"I see." The general muttered, as Winter and Julia both looked away in shame. "And you." He said, looking to Qrow with a gaze that could freeze any other man's blood. The look only remained for a second, but it got the man's attention as the general closed the distance with him. "What are you doing here?" He softly demanded.
Qrow smirked. "I could be asking you and your little pet here the same thing." He said, gesturing to Julia.
Julia was in the process of biting back the urge to smack him when her thoughts were interrupted. "Now now, everyone." Ozpin said, instantly taking the attention off the former combatants. He approached calmly, with the ever glaring Glynda at his side and a cup of coffee in hand, a small, yet genuine smile playing at his lips. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the coliseum, that I can assure you has better seats. And popcorn." He said, leaning in and widening his smile slightly.
For those not convinced, Glynda stepped forward with her usual aggression. "Break it up, everyone! We will handle this mess."
Ironwood straightened his collar as Winter's forces regrouped. "Let's go." He quietly ordered.
Maria watched as Julia and Winter fell into step behind him, the small, orange haired girl following them. She watched as the girl and Ruby exchanged cheerful waves.
The second Ruby and the girl broke eye contact, however, the young huntress in training launched herself at Qrow like a rose powered ballistic missile. "UNCLE QROOOOOOW!" She squeed, latching onto his arm. "Hi." The older huntsman lifted his arm, though his niece refused to release it. "Ah, it's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!" Ruby demanded, an expression of unbridled joy on her young face as she looked Qrow dead in the eye.
To Qrow's credit, he did not flinch, even as the sugar high huntress stared him right in the face. He smirked. "Nope." The huntsman ruffled his niece's hair as she giggled in glee.
"Qrow." Ozpin called, his declaration causing the man in question to drop Ruby unceremoniously onto the ground. A look to the man told Maria all she needed to know: he was running low on patience. "A word, please." He ordered as Glynda used her abilities to repair the damaged walkway.
Maria sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as Qrow and Ruby bantered. She had more to worry about than this drunk.
Weiss stepped forward as Qrow left. "And suddenly your recklessness makes sense."
"You're just mad he whooped butt." Ruby countered with a grin.
Maria rolled her eyes. "That was a draw at best."
oxoxoxo
Thatch and Alison took their seats alongside Jaune and Pyrrha at the Vytal Festival grounds as they waited for Yang and Blake to get back. Having seen the end of the most recent bout of the tournament, the group of friends decided to enjoy some time together, as recently, they had been so focused on the tournament and their huntsman shadowing missions that they had scarcely seen one another, let alone spent time together. So it had been decided that at least an evening together was more than called for, and seeing as how Yang was near constantly hungry (and Blake's roaring stomach said she could go for a meal as well), they hit the fair grounds and found the perfect destination: a noodle hut that Teams RWBY and JNPR had been to while EMAD was training. Thatch, Alison, Jaune and Pyrrha had found them a table while Yang and Blake had taken their orders and gone off to buy their meals. Thatch had offered to pay for the meal, but Pyrrha had retrieved her wallet and given Team RWBY's members enough lien for six large bowls of noodles, assuring them that a day with her friends was more than worth the price of dinner.
"You know, I'm really impressed, Jaune." Thatch said, patting the knight on the back. "For someone with your background, you're really getting better at leading your team."
Jaune scratched the back of his head and chuckled to himself. "I've always been pretty good at strategy I guess."
"Strategy is one thing," The renegade continued. "You managed to coordinate your entire team, something I don't think I could ever do, that's for sure. You might want to get those attack names down though, really make sure your team knows them."
The knight turned pink at the mention of his one fumble that round. "Yeah… That might be a good idea."
Though Pyrrha merely giggled and beamed at her leader, Thatch had to stop himself from laughing. When Jaune and his team had managed to get the match going in their favour, the young knight had ordered 'flower power' which was supposed to entail Ren and Nora finishing off the enemy together. However, he had evidently forgotten to let the teammates in question know about what the order meant. "Don't worry, mate," Thatch said. "You might have fumbled a bit, but you still won. Not only that, but Maria wants to get our team some of those fancy attack names of yours."
"Wait, really?" Pyrrha asked. "Maria wants to try that?"
Thatch and Alison nodded and both held back laughter at some of Maria's scrapped ideas for joint attack names. Such titles as 'Royal Art' for Alison and Francois, or 'Imperial Navy' for Thatch and Maria were thrown about, though the centurion was still unable to think up an attack duo name for herself and Francois, and had quickly scrapped the title of 'Lovebirds' to describe Alison and Thatch. She had said it sounded good at first, but wanted something a bit more symbolic. Thatch found it a bit odd that their fearless leader would even want to try something like this, but found it less odd the more he knew her, especially after finding her secret comic stash. Who would have guessed the humourless centurion had a guilty pleasure in X-Ray and Vav comics. "You don't want to know some of the things she's tried to come up with." Thatch muttered.
Alison giggled in response, making Thatch put an arm around her shoulders. He looked down to her, her sparkling jade eyes meeting his once again as they shared a quick smile. Alison was hardly one for public displays of affection, though she was just fine with romantic gestures such as leaning on her favourite male teammate, just so people knew he was with her. The rumours he was seeing Yang behind her back were ones neither of them enjoyed, though they had quickly come to an end when Yang had a 'talk' with their originator. Though no further rumours had been spread after that, Alison still felt like making it known he was hers.
"Alright, everyone!" Yang called, getting their attention as she approached with a large tray piled high with dishes. "Noodles are here!" Thatch was hardly impressed with how she managed to carry the giant tray full of even bigger bowls of food. He had seen her helping to set up for the dance, and carrying the giant speakers over her shoulder. One tray of food was child's play for her. "I've got vegetarian for Pyrrha, pork for Jaune and for me, seafood for Blake, leek and mushroom for Alison, and chicken and mushroom for Thatch." Yang handed each recipient their dish as she called them, once again simply handing them their dishes one handed. Thatch would normally roll his eyes at the showing off, but with a bowl of noodles in front of him, and his girl beside him, he wasn't going to complain.
The table went quiet as they all tucked into their dishes, Blake in particular devoured hers with quite the ferocity. Thatch would normally have chuckled at the Faunus girl's actions, but his mouth was too full of chicken and mushroom to care at the moment. What did get him to chuckle was Alison. The girl had started out eating her noodles very daintily, picking them up with her chopsticks and serving herself one mouthful at a time. However, that daintiness had gone out the window after the first few bites, and the artist was soon stuffing her face alongside all the other students. Thatch wasn't sure whether she picked that particular habit up from him, or from their fearless leader, a voracious eater in her own right, but it had happened, amusing him greatly.
Surprising no one, the first to finish were Blake and Yang, the blonde finishing her meal with a hearty belch and a sigh of contentment. "So, who are you guys putting up for the doubles round?"
Thatch chuckled to himself. "Fearless leader has her and I going up this round. Says we have a good mix of attack and defense that way." She had a fair point, Thatch thought, after all, her shield wasn't breaking anytime soon, and Thatch certainly had enough speed and agility to keep up with the enemy. "She'll probably call me in for training later today, just in case we're up tomorrow."
"You guys will do great!" Yang declared, flashing Thatch a thumbs up. "Well, unless you fight Team RWBY. We've got me and Weiss going in, and we're not gonna make it easy for you guys!"
"You can't go easy against Maria if you want to win." Pyrrha pointed out. "Trust me, I know." She said, chuckling as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Who is JNPR sending?" Alison asked.
"JNPR took a vote," Jaune answered. "And we decided that it would be best to sent in Pyrrha,"
"Hello~"
"And Nora." Jaune finished, somewhat surprised the hyperactive hammer wielder didn't pop up behind him.
"Quite the duo." Said a new voice. The group turned as one as Maria approached, still dressed in full armour even this late into the day. "Might even be a challenge to Thatch and I."
"Don't forget, I did beat you before." Pyrrha replied. "Twice, in fact."
"Which just means I'm due for a win by now." Maria said, folding her arms with a cocky smirk. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for our fight, trust me."
"Well, I look forward to seeing them." Pyrrha replied with her usual cheeriness.
Maria smirked wider and pulled up a chair next to the amazon, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving a light squeeze. "And may the best woman win."
Thatch and Alison shared a smile at their leader's antics. It hadn't even been a year since they arrived at Beacon, but their leader was already lightening up on a girl she had scarcely been able to tolerate the presence of at its start. Not only that, but Team JNPR had completely forgiven Maria for her misdeeds at the start of the year, something all parties involved were glad for. Now, however, with the centurion back on her feet, the spirit of competition was starting to come back between her and Pyrrha, and with the tournament having begun, there was no better time to compete. Thatch knew that in Maria's eyes, this tournament would decide which one of them was the better fighter. Pyrrha's semblance be damned, he had his bets on Maria.
oxoxoxo
Fantine did not know whether to be shocked, annoyed or furious. Right now, he was just attempting to hold back that final feeling.
It had been a few hours since Qrow and the young ladies from Atlas had their little altercation, and since then, Qrow had briefed Ozpin on his findings. At first it had been almost comical to watch Ironwood have one of his rare near meltdowns, and though Ozpin seemed more than a little annoyed with some of Qrow's more drunken antics, the man had long been a friend of Fantine's, so the phantom learned to tolerate his bouts of foolish alcoholism.
However, after dealing with Ironwood, Qrow had revealed his findings. Someone was inside Beacon, and whoever it was was likely responsible for Autumn's condition. That was when Fantine nearly fell from the wall he was leaning on.
"Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers, or generals, or headmasters." Qrow grunted. "The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about."
"They know about one more now," Fantine added. "Though not in the way I hoped they would find out."
Ironwood snarled at him. "You were the one who wanted to tell the world about the inferri-"
"And I intended to tell them, not stage a demonstration by dropping monsters they knew nothing about onto their heads." Fantine explained. "We covered up a problem rather than dealing with it-"
"After we lost a thousand men in one night!" Ironwood shot back. "Moral was at an all time low, we could not run another expedition after that many losses."
"And so instead of warning the citizenry to avoid that one corner of the world, you erased the island from all charts and pretended it wasn't even there." Qrow added. "Great idea, brilliant, even. Now all we have to do is wait for some poor unfortunate to fly over it, maybe think they could stop for the night. We'll just have to roll the dice on their survival."
"This is why we work in the shadows," Qrow continued. "Why we meet behind closed doors, so you tell me James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discrete, or did you just not give a damn?"
To his credit, Ironwood didn't even take a step back as Qrow got directly in his face. Fantine could only imagine a lesser man would have backed down from the stench of alcohol alone, but the general stood his ground before giving a sigh of resignation as he placed his scroll on Ozpin's desk, connecting it to the CCT network. "Discrete wasn't working." Ironwood declared, a hologram of Vale, Amity Colosseum, and Ironwood's fleet appearing in the center of the room. "I'm here," Ironwood declared, gesturing to his handiwork "Because this is what was necessary."
"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here!" Qrow countered. "He brought you into this circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!"
"And I am grateful."
"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."
"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them." Ironwood stated firmly. "Someone who would act. When they look to the sky and they see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will feel that strength."
To some, Ironwood's speech may have seemed impressive, but Fantine and Qrow merely began to chuckle. "James, perhaps you don't understand just what we face." Fantine said. "Qrow and myself, we have been out in the field while you arranged your toy soldiers. While you think our enemies fear your army, I tell you now, what our enemy creates, what she holds sway over, they are fear. What I faced when I went to the Abyss for the first time, when I fought the battle that ended the Grimm Incursion. He was fear."
"And fear will bring the Grimm." Ozpin added, moving from behind his desk to stand next to the phantom. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort, an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds: if this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?"
Ironwood was silent as the other occupants of the room all glared at him as one. "So then," He said, stepping forward to collect his scroll from Ozpin's desk. "What would you propose we do?"
Ozpin took his seat back at his desk. "I suggest we find our guardian."
oxoxoxo
Francois leaned back in his seat as he sat across from Velvet on the patio of a cafe in Vale. "And you're sure Coco won't mind you being here with me?" He asked, gesturing to her.
"Positive." Velvet replied, taking a forkful of the chocolate cake on her plate.
Francois chuckled to himself at her actions. It hadn't taken him long to learn the weakness his girlfriend had for chocolate cakes, and through his contacts in Vale, it hadn't been long before he found the cafe that served what nearly the entire city called the best cake in the kingdom. If the look on her face when she took a bite was any indication, his contacts were more than right.
"Coco's not gonna need me to fight for a bit." Velvet continued after swallowing her mouthful of cake. "She's gonna be fighting with Yatsuhashi, so I'm free for date night."
"Vraiment, I am the luckiest man in all of Vale." The nobleman replied with his trademark grin. "And did I not choose the perfect cafe for said date night?"
"Mmm you did." Velvet replied, her face becoming more than a bit scarlet. Francois smirked at his ability to continue to impress his girlfriend, even as their teams competed with one another in the Vytal Festival.
The nobleman took a sip of his latte and smiled to himself. "I thought as much." He said, lowering his drink back to the table. It was nice to know that even though they fought for different teams in this tournament that their respective team leaders would let them continue to date. Francois had confronted Maria the day before the tournament and had been ready to beg on his knees to be with Velvet had it been necessary. To his surprise, rather than scold him or tell him to end things with Velvet, Maria had given him one simple instruction: "keep your love life off the battlefield and you're good."
Her response was somewhat surprising, but it did make some sense to him. Maria might have been competitive, but she was hardly about to risk losing the loyalty of her entire team again, especially over something this petty. However, there was still the condition that Francois would need to fight Velvet should their teams be pitted against one another, but with her confirmation that she would not be on her team's doubles round selection, the two of them were in the clear.
Francois raised his drink, as Velvet did the same, the two clinking their mugs as the nobleman proposed a toast. "To us, and to our teammates."
"I'll drink to that." Velvet replied, taking a sip from her hot chocolate.
The two took their drinks and gave a joint sigh as they finished draining their mugs. Velvet and Francois shared a smile. Truly, his day could not get better than this.
"Francois?"
The nobleman looked up from Velvet's eyes at the new voice, turning to the street. There stood a young boy, likely no older than fifteen years old, blue eyed, with long, unkempt blond hair. He was dressed in a royal blue blazer, the emblem of a gold fleur de lis emblazoned upon the left breast. The boy looked absolutely elated to see him, his eyes sparkling and a huge smile on his face. Francois stood up as he locked eyes with the boy. "Damien?"
"Francois, it is you!" The boy ran forward, jumping over the fence onto the cafe patio and running up to catch the nobleman in an embrace. "It's so good to see you!"
"Oui, mon frere!" Francois said as he returned the hug, parting for just a moment to ruffle the young boy's hair. "You are a mess, little brother, what would maman et papa say?"
oxoxoxo
Sorry about the wait, guys, work and school have been kicking my ass, and those in conjunction with writer's block have been a bitch and a half to deal with. Still, let's see if I can't get the next chapter out any quicker, and move on to more tournament fights! After all, we do still need to see EMAD take part in the doubles round
As always, please leave a review and let me know how best to improve aside from just making quicker updates, because damned if I'm not at least trying...