Chapter 5:
Hat Kid sat on the floor of her room. She had blown her chance to get that Time Piece! She felt terrible. Every time she went through a door, she always returned with one. But this time, she would come back empty handed. Maybe she could try to see if there were any more?
She shrugged, going to the diving board above the sea of pillows. She was about to dive in, when she saw the pillows move. Her eyes flickered. Who was there? Was it Blake?
Emerging from the pillows was not Blake, but the older woman. Peck! She forgot to override the teleport system for the keychain! The ship blared with red sirens.
INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!
"Well." The woman said, climbing up from the pillows. "It seems I've made my presence known."
While Hat Kid was okay with most people entering and leaving her ship, this one in particular made her a little annoyed. She gave a loud whistle. From every corner of the ship came a variety of deadly-looking weapons, all pointed at the older woman. Hat Kid crossed her arms and pointed at the pillow fort, making it clear she wanted her to get out.
The woman raised her hands. "Easy there. I'm not going to hurt you. Or...yell at you. I'd just like to talk."
Hat Kid thought about this for a moment. She did save her and Ruby back there. She snapped her fingers, and the weapons all went back into the ceiling.
"Well, not me. But someone else." She said.
"Glynda, could you assist me in getting out of this place? I'm not as strong as I used to be." Came a muffled voice.
"Of course, Headmaster." The woman, known as Glynda, replied. She used her purple-wand magic to lift some pillows out of the way.
An old man, with a green scarf on and glasses, climbed out of the pillow pile.
"Ah, in my childhood days, I would have been all over this place." He remarked, brushing himself off.
"Wouldn't we all?" Glynda replied.
The man looked at Hat Kid. "So, you're the small one who beats up henchmen and sword-wielding armoured assassins for a living?" He asked.
Hat Kid shrugged. A day in the life.
"What is your name, little one?" The man said.
"Hat Kid."
"Hat Kid? Fits the job description, I see." The man replied. "I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy."
Hat Kid nodded. She walked over to the door, gesturing for him to follow.
The door wasn't exactly tall enough to let a full-grown man and woman in. They had to bend down and walk through.
They studied the Main Hall with interest.
"Interesting. So this is your base of operations. Very interesting." Ozpin said, looking at the planet through the glass of the ship. "This is definitely not our planet. How did you get to ours?"
Hat Kid shrugged. Peck if she knew."
"Hmm. And I understand you've been looking for these?" Ozpin asked, pulling out a Time Piece.
Hat Kid nodded.
"Here you are, then." He said, tossing her the hourglass.
"Headmaster, are you sure about this?" Glynda asked. "These items have immense potential for power."
"Which is exactly why I want them as far away from Remnant as possible." Ozpin replied. "There is no one we know of on Remnant who wouldn't abuse this. I would. You would. The White Fang would. Roman Torchwick would. Ironwood would."
Glynda nodded. "We all have a past we want to undo." He continued. "But when the chance comes to do so, I daresay the outcome would be much better if we had simply dreamed about it."
"You speak words of wisdom, Headmaster. Then I too, feel comfortable leaving them in your care." She said to the child.
"I invite you to come down to Beacon Academy to collect more whenever it'd be convenient for you." Ozpin offered. "And as I understand it, some of your friends have enrolled in the school. Feel free to have them help you in your adventures."
Hat Kid smiled. She tipped her hat to him as a way of saying thanks. She then opened up the vault door and tossed it in.
New Area unlocked! The ship's computerized voice chirped.
Hat Kid's eyes turned to a door.
"Well, I see you have other matters to attend to. Be seeing you, then." He said. "Oh, before I forget, could you help me work this thing?"
He held out the keychain. "I could only make it transport me here. I can't seem to get it to place me anywhere else."
Hat Kid looked at the keychain. It didn't work because he had to teleport to the ship before he could teleport anywhere else. She pressed the button with a red rose on it.
"Huh. Strange. That symbol is on Miss Rose's skirt, if I'm not mistaken." Ozpin remarked.
Hat Kid blinked. He was right! But, then, what did that mean? Did that mean Ruby was going to be important in helping her get the Time Pieces back?
The green light came once again, placing them in an office somewhere.
Ruby sat on one of the chairs. She smiled when she saw her sidekick.
"Hat Kid! You came back!" She said. Hat Kid high-fived her, before turning back to the Headmaster.
"Here. I don't think I'll be using it again. The pillow-pile is a no for me." Ozpin said, tossing Hat Kid the keychain.
"Pillow-pile? What? Where?" Ruby asked with an excited tone.
Hat Kid winked at her, before pressing the spaceship button. In a flash of green, she disappeared.
"Aww, I wanted to see the pillow-pile." Ruby said.
"You'll get another chance, I'm sure. Hat Kid will definitely be around much more now that we've had a little talk. Feel free to help her out on her adventures. For now, you'd best get prepared for Initiation."
Back in the spaceship, Hat Kid flipped onto the seat of the control station. She pressed a few buttons. The ship whirred and clicked. Her Time-O-Tron-2003 appeared to be functioning properly. It should now be daytime on Remnant. Theoretically, of course.
Pressing the red rose symbol, she teleported back. She took in her surroundings. Instead of an office, she found herself in front of a tall, massive building. It looked like a castle. Around her, teenagers walked around, sat together, talked, walked while talking, and some had the bravery to sit while talking.
She looked around. Surely, she would find her friends in this crowd, right?
A ship, similar to the one Roman had escaped in, landed on the ground behind her. A crowd of people got off. Hat Kid found herself lost in the much taller people walking around her. Some glanced at her, wondering what a small child was doing on Beacon campus. She then heard a conversation between two people.
"I'm telling you, I saw a green flash of light! It's totally Hat Kid!" Said a familiar voice. Ruby!
"Who-who's Hat Kid again?" Groaned a male voice.
"Oh, you haven't met her yet. She kicks butt!" Ruby replied. Hat Kid ran towards the two voices.
The voices came from outside of the crowd, over to a bench and tree.
There she was! Standing right next to a guy who...didn't look too good. She ran right up.
"That's her! Hat Kid! Hi!" She yelled, rushing over in a flurry of red petals. She snatched up the child, embracing her.
"I missed you, Kid!" She said. "Well, I know it's been only a day, but today's been a little rough. Glad you came back like the Headmaster said you would."
Hat Kid gave Ruby a thumbs up. Ruby then put her down. "So, this is Jaune Arc. He's had a bad morning too. Motion sickness is a real fiend I tell you."
Ruby looked around. "Yang ran off with her friends, so I guess we can just look around for a bit. We might even find one of those hourglasses you like so much."
Hat Kid wanted to make Ruby feel better, and their newfound friend Jaune. She pulled out her keychain, holding it up to Ruby.
"So this is that thing that lets you teleport? Cool, how does it work?"
Hat Kid shrugged. She bought it off of a website.
"Hmm, this button has my belt symbol on it. Weird. What does that mean?" She asked.
Hat Kid shrugged again. She beckoned for Jaune to come over.
"What?" He asked, sluggishly moving towards them.
"Hat Kid wants to show us something. I think." She said.
Jaune sighed. "Alright, as long as it keeps my mind away from this stupid herberbebr…"
Hat Kid put her hand on the keychain, then placed Ruby's on it. Ruby nodded in understanding.
"Put your hand on the keychain." She told Jaune. Jaune did as he was told. Hat Kid then pressed a button on the chain. Jaunes eyes went wide as plates as a green light enveloped the trio before disappearing. There they stood, in a candlelit room, with a desk and a not-shiny hourglass on the desk.
"Oooh! This is an interesting little hideout." Ruby said.
"What on Remnant is going on?" Jaune asked to no one in particular.
Hat Kid jumped up from the fort to a hole in the ceiling, which was covered by pillows.
"Pillow-pile!" Ruby exclaimed as she followed, burying herself in what she saw to be a sea of pillows. "C'mon, Jaune! It's a pillow-pile!"
"H-How old are you?" Jaune chastised, before jumping up into the pillows. It felt like an ocean of soft fuzz. He found the surface, and quickly stepped out onto the carpeted floor. To him, it looked like a kid's wonderland. There was a diving board over the pile of pillows, which Hat Kid was jumping off of, landing in the pile doing a cannonball.
"Oh, this is amazing! Ruby shouted as she surfaced. "It's like my childhood dreams about an ocean of pillows come true!"
"You had those kinds of dreams too?" Jaune asked "I thought I was just weird."
Hat Kid crawled out onto the floor, then gestured towards the hallway door. They followed the child through the purple hallway.
"Woah!" Ruby gasped, as she took in the Main Hall. "Are we in a spaceship?!"
Hat Kid nodded, gesturing towards the window.
"Hmm, that doesn't look like Remnant." She said.
Jaune just stared with a blank expression. "I can't tell whether I'm reliving a nightmare or a dream."
Ruby looked behind her at the second floor at the vault, then at the screen with the hourglass.
"Hmmm, so those hourglasses power the ship?" Ruby said.
Hat Kid nodded.
"So that's what you need them for." She said, putting a hand to her chin. "Well, mind if we help? Jaune?"
"Yeah, sure." Jaune said. "I guess."
Hat Kid pointed to a door with a camera on it. She then ran right through the door. Ruby and Jaune followed. Inside was a double ramp that lead to a box, which had a telescope on top. There were gears turning everywhere, and strange machines making all sorts of noises. Ruby started to walk over.
"WHO IS THIS!?"
"Wahh!" She yelped, jumping back. The voice belonged to a jar, a JAR of all things. It had purple stuff inside it, with eyes, a nose, and mustache swimming inside it. On top of the jar was a large chef hat.
"W-Who are you?!" She asked.
"Me? I am the most powerful man in Mafia Town!" The jar replied in a deep booming voice. Hat Kid rolled her eyes and hopped over.
"You're pretty, uh, contained for someone who's so powerful." Ruby said, wincing a little that she just made a pun.
"Shut up, slightly older rude little girl! Had I gotten my body back, I would teach you AND that snot-nosed brat a lesson in Mafia mmhphmhpm!" His shouting became muffled as Hat Kid covered the jar in a towel, then brought it over to a barrel nearby. Opening it, she tossed the jar in, closed the barrel, then dusted off her hands.
She then jumped back up to the crate, beckoning for the two to join her. Ruby stepped up to the telescope first, taking a peek. The telescope was focused on a particular part of the planet, one that was littered with canyons. She could see by squinting that there was a railroad system on it.
She stopped looking through, gesturing to Jaune to go next.
"What do you think?" Ruby asked Jaune.
"Uhh, I don't really know. What do you think?" Jaune replied.
"I think we're gonna go get some shiny hourglasses!" Ruby cheered.
Hat Kid held out her keychain again. The trio gathered their hands on the chain. She then pressed a button with a symbol that looked like a movie projector.
After the green flash, they found themselves on top of a building. It wasn't Vale, they could tell. Below them was a crowd of small creatures she couldn't make out. Hat Kid gestured to the top of another building, jumping over. Ruby and Jaune followed.
When they got to the top both her and Jaune gasped. In front of them was a penguin with an afro on, dance shoes, sunglasses, and a disco shirt.
"Wha...what?" Ruby said.
The penguin then spoke.
"Hello, darling. Did you bring some friends along? Wonderful, darling. They'll make fine additions to the cast!"
"Uh...uh…" Ruby stuttered. "H-Hi! I'm Ruby!"
"Greetings, darlings. My name is DJ Grooves, superstar, dancer, and legendary movie producer this side of FUB. I've tasked myself with making our young charge here a moviestar!" The penguin replied.
"C-cool. Sorry, just getting over the fact that there's talking birds." Jaune said.
"Well of course, darling. All penguins can talk, dontcha know?" DJ Grooves asked. "Now then, let's make ourselves an award-winner! We're about to record 'The Big Parade', the movie that'll take the breath away from audiences worldwide!"
Ruby's eyes sparkled. "A parade?! Can I be in it? Please?"
"Of course, darling. But that outfit…is not parade uniform. Can you take this outfit and get dressed?" He asked, tossing her a parade outfit.
"Sure thing." Ruby said, rushing over to a bathroom. Hat Kid followed.
"What about me?" Jaune asked.
"What about you darling? Maybe you'd like to get one on too?" DJ Grooves said, tossing him another one.
Ruby stepped out of the bathroom in her new attire, a shiny parade uniform with a bird hat on. Hat Kid soon stepped out.
"Omigosh you look adorable!" Ruby exclaimed, hugging the child.
Jaune walked over, he was in a parade uniform too. His hat was a little more slim.
"Nice treads." She said.
"You too." Jaune replied.
They went back to the building with DJ Grooves.
"You look great, darlings." He complimented. "The band here will follow you. Make sure to keep a steady pace and don't let 'em bump into you."
"Sounds good." Ruby said.
"The parade lasts a while; nothing you can do to speed it up. We'll let you all know when we've got enough footage. Don't lose spirit!"
He then hopped over to a moving platform with a band set and keyboards.
"Good luck darlings!" He said.
A penguin walked up to them with a movie camera. "Ready, Action!"
The parade was a blast. Ruby twirled a flag, Jaune threw out handfuls of confetti, and Hat Kid lead the way, leaping from building to building. The band played a catchy tune. Everything was ablaze with flashy sparks, and at one point, DJ Grooves had asked Hat Kid to turn on firework guns.
"Hey!" Jaune said, feeling loopy from all the noise.
"Yeah?" Ruby asked, looking back at her friend.
"We're...We're leading a parade of birds." He said, laughing.
"Yep. We totally are." Ruby said smiling back at Jaune. "Kinda makes you dispose of the idea that Faunus are different from us."
"Yeheheyeah!" Jaune said. He felt like a child again. When did he feel this giddy ever?
"Time to release the parade surprise!" DJ Grooves yelled. "Grab it, darlings!"
Ruby looked up at the party ball above the main building. It opened, dropping out a Time Piece.
"Hat Kid, that's one of those hourglasses!" She said.
Hat Kid nodded, leading the parade over to the main building. She picked up the Time Piece and placed it under her hat. The owl band finished a final note, then put their instruments away.
"That was fantastic, darling! With the footage we captured, the Annual Bird Award is as good as mine! The Conductor's gonna see this and weep, darling." DJ Grooves said, hopping over. "Why don't you keep that movie prop, darling? You do seem to like those so much."
Hat Kid tipped her hat, before pulling out her keychain. Ruby and Jaune put their hands on the keychain, and they flashed back on the ship.
"Wow. That was so cool. Thanks for taking us on a wild parade, Hat Ki-" She stopped and looked over. Hat Kid was plastered on the floor, sleeping.
"Huh. Well then." She said.
Ruby scooped up the child, walked back over to her bedroom, and placed her underneath the blankets. She tucked the blankets over her, running her hands through her hair. She then placed a light kiss on the girl's head.
"Goodnight, Hat Kid." She said softly. She turned to Jaune.
"Let's go home, then."
"Guess she's as tired as we look." Jaune said, his eyes having bags.
"Yeah, no kidding." Ruby agreed.
They approached the pillow sea.
"PILL-wait. Pillow pile." She said, whispering at the end, sliding into the secret pillow fort. Jaune followed. They entered the door with the rose on it.
Ruby found she had opened the door into a large room. She was back in Beacon. Jaune stood behind her.
"Oh, there's Yang!" She said, making her way over to her sister, who was lying down by her bed.
"Ruby, where were you? They had us going over Initiation! You missed it!" She said.
"Yang, my dear sister, if I had told you, you would probably say I drank expired milk again." Ruby replied.
"Oh really?" Yang asked.
"We went on an adventure with Hat Kid." She said.
"You mean that kid with a hat?" Yang replied.
"No, her name is Hat Kid." Ruby said. "She told me."
"She talks?"
"Well, not very often. Mostly points, shrugs, and nods." Ruby said. "Silent but deadly. I respect it."
"So, how's it been with your first day at Beacon?" Yang asked.
Ruby groaned. "Why did you have to bring that up?"
"That bad, huh?"