So I'm putting this out of a different day, normally I try for Fridays but I want to test out what day people decide is a good day to read RWBY fiction? I guess we'll see.
Anyway. this chapter's here for a number of reasons, but the major one is to bring in a little more magic into this it's at least a good enough taste of what's to come and if you like it be sure to let me know.
...
Ruby gave a content sigh to herself as she got out of bed. Normally, Ruby liked mornings, she felt fresh and rested after sleeping. That was good too, it was something she'd never really gotten to enjoy out in the wildlands with her Uncle but when she did it was definitely a treat.
Ruby always looked forward to staying in a tavern or inn and just laughing along with Uncle Qrow when he met old friends along the road, and then to settle into a comfy bed later in the night
She wouldn't even get to enjoy the times she'd been slipped a drink by a few of them anyone. Truly, Goodwitch didn't live up to the first half of her name.
No, it didn't matter. Even that couldn't ruin mornings.
She scratched her head and looked around. The sun hadn't actually risen, but it was still warm. The kind of heat that prickled her skin but wasn't so bad that she couldn't leave the warmth of her sheets.
The sun was just spilling threw their half-drawn curtains, and Ruby could see the light cast a line of yellow across the floor.
Now, Ruby usually woke up this early, and she'd gotten used to seeing her teammates wake up one by one:
The first out of the three of them was usually Blake, and the two of them would share a nod as to not wake up their respective partners. It was always funny in its own way seeing the Faunas wake up; Her eyes would twitch once, twice, a third and a forth faster and she rubbed her tired eyes. She'd stretch in a way that Ruby would never admit out loud reminded her of a cat.
It that usually the biggest sign of her tiredness, just like the rest of the time, Blake was pretty reserved and managed to school herself – maybe from her life as a terrorist – into being alert after just a few minutes. She'd be composed, and usually didn't need to do much to make herself look presentable for the rest of the day.
The next was Weiss. Ruby could tell that the Heiress hadn't exactly gotten used to the life of Beacon just yet. She wakes up groggily and cranky most days, with that half-asleep look children would give when they hadn't slept enough the previous night.
It was always a challenge for Ruby not to giggle at Weiss' unkempt and messy hair, which she'd remarked jokingly once wasn't very Schnee like.
Weiss had made their next study lesson particularly brutal for it.
Despite that if her waking up process was long then her getting ready one was an eternity:
Weiss was a girl of refinement, making sure that she was practically perfect in her presentation. She'd spend half an hour in the shower every morning, then another half an hour brushing her hair, before spending another hour on making sure she was presentable and fully awake.
Ruby wasn't sure if it was because she'd lived in the woods for most of her life but she couldn't imagine doing all that every day. Blake couldn't either from the knowing looks she sent a confused Ruby but Weiss kept up the routine as she had for the time she'd lived in the dorms with them.
Last was Yang, and by last Ruby really did mean last. She usually woke up about the time Weiss was finished with her hair, and would haphazardly make her way to the bathroom with lidded eyes and wild hair.
She'd spend ten minutes groaning in the bathroom and making noises through the door. Her morning was usually filled with lazy curses and it was clear even to Ruby that Yang wasn't used to living with people, or minding her personal space around them.
In many ways Yang was… a mess.
S-she would never say that out loud of course. Ruby was… she wasn't blind to how things were between them. It was awkward at the worst of times and painfully tense at the worse. It was like… Ruby knew that she should be working in some way to repair her relationship with Yang, her sister but despite the promise they'd made to each other to start over it was harder than it seemed.
Which was why Ruby wasn't sure what to do when she looked over her bed – drawn by the sound of quiet grunting – and saw Yang, dressed in workout clothes doing push-ups on the floor.
For a minute Ruby just stared, unsure what to do. Should she pretend to be asleep? Ignore yang and get ready herself? No, that would be stupid, she'd be noticed and be asked why she tried to sneak around.
As silly as it made her feel the reaper steeled herself and peeked over the bed again. She made sure to keep her voice low.
"Hey, Yang?"
Her sister didn't jump, or if she did it was disguised with another push-up as she turned her head to look at her sister sideways.
"Oh! Hey sis," she greeted, a look of surprise on her face as she spoke in a similar volume, aware of their sleeping teammates. "What are you doing up so early?"
Ruby's lips twitched upwards. "That's my line. I'm usually up this early."
Yang raised as an eyebrow. "Really? You're up at six am every morning? That's uh…"
Ruby smiled a bit wider. "You didn't think I'd be a morning person, did you?"
The brawler shrugged, not feeling bad about being caught out. "Yeah maybe, just didn't think you could with how late you go to bed."
"Well," she chuckled. "Guess I'm just full of energy."
They fell into silence again, and not a comfortable on as Yang continued her exercises.
"So…" Ruby tried. "What are you doing up so early?"
Yang hesitated for a moment as she decided whether or not to share what was going on in her head.. Eventually…
"I messed up," She admitted. "At the docks the other day I went in without thinking and nearly got us all killed. I thought I could handle whatever I was charging into and almost got Weiss, Blake and that Sun guy killed."
Ruby bit her bottom lip. "That's wasn't your fault Yang, those guys weren't what you were expect-"
"Doesn't matter though, does it?" Yang interrupted. "The fact is that I thought I was strong enough to deal with it and if it wasn't for that Amber girl we'd be dead. We didn't get by because of some plan one of us thought up or some trick we tried. It was luck, complete luck we lived and it was my fault… Weiss and Blake were mad at me last night. I could tell."
She sighed. "So I gotta make things better. I need to be stronger. I need to think things through more. Guess the whole waking up early thing is my idea of starting over as lame as it sounds. It's a hell of a lot different than what I was doing before Beacon."
Ruby looked away. "Before Beacon…." She stared at the wall. "Hey... Yang? How were you living before Beacon?"
Her sister blinked, but didn't question it as she went on to explain.
"I… moved to Vale about a year ago… maybe a little longer. Got an apartment in downtown Vale. Though maybe it was my chance to be independent you know?"
Ruby tilted her head. "How did you get by? Did you get a job?"
She laughed. "Yeah, not at first. At the start I was kind of stupid, went around spending the money I had on drink and… well, other stuff that I shouldn't have. Eventually I got in the mood to look for a fight after a bad day. Wandered into a Club and smashed the place up."
Ruby gasped, but didn't butt in as Yang went on.
"I tore the place apart, fought the owner's men, and two of his bodyguards. Beat the hell out of them and nearly punched his lights out too. Broke down while I was holding him in my hands. Now that think about it he must have been pretty confused when I started crying into his shirt."
"What happened after that?"
"I'm not actually sure. I remember it clearly but I don't know why he didn't just kick me out of the club or have me arrested. I wouldn't have resisted if he did. Instead he drags me to my feet and tells me that I'm going to be paying off the damages to his place. Junior hires me as a damn bouncer and the next day introduces me to the two bodyguards I'd just pummeled. Melanie and Militia were bitchy to me at first, well actually they're still bitchy to me, but I guess they're my friends. I got to know most of his other guys too and I worked for him up until I came to Beacon. He didn't actually get me to pay off on the crap I broke either, said that the insurance companies paid for it all."
She shook her head. "The whole time he kept me off the streets and from doing any more bad stuff. He acted like I was a pain in the ass the whole time, but I know he was happy for me when I got accepted into Beacon officially."
Ruby… wasn't sure what she could say to that. That hadn't been the story she had been expecting. She… she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting but not that.
What was she supposed to respond with now?
"That…" she tried. "It sounds to be like you pulled yourself out of a bad place. You… you didn't have to tell me all that… thank you, Yang."
She shrugged again and after a few more push-ups she stopped leaning against Blake's bed. She was all sweaty now, and the smell would probably wake Blake up if she moved any closer.
"What about you?" Yang asked. "How were you living before you came to Beacon."
Ruby hesitated. "I…" She trailed off, unsure what to say.
When it was clear she didn't know what to say Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes, looking away with barely restrained frustration. "It doesn't matter," She said. "All I know is that apparently Miss Goodwitch knew you were drinking."
Ruby laughed nervously. Yeah, maybe it hadn't been kind of the headmistress to expose her like that in front of her team. She guessed it didn't matter now. Even if she could have hidden it from Goodwitch she didn't think she could hide alcohol from her whole team.
Yang didn't seem as amused and she sighed.
"Whatever."
She made to get up and Ruby felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. It wasn't fair on her sister, she'd gotten Yang to open up to her and then she'd completely shut her down. There must be something she could do. If she didn't she might make things worse with how unbalanced they'd be with this.
"How about this?" She tried desperately. Yang paused and turned back to her, curious as to what she was being offered.
"H-how about on the weekend we get all our friends in Beacon together and we… we could play video games, watch movies and I-I dunno, we could ask stuff a-about everyone?"
Ruby cursed herself for how much she was stuttering now. What was so hard about this?
Yang didn't turn away though, in fact she looked interested.
"What kind of stuff?" She asked.
Wait, she was actually considering it?
"M-maybe like, stuff we like? O-our favourite food, u-um movies we like o-or i-if you want y-you could ask me about… about what I've been doing these-"
"Okay." She nodded.
Ruby felt as much dread as she did relief.
"R-really?"
"Yeah, we can get everyone together in two days and have fun."
"Two days?"
"Yeah why not, we only have one class on Wednesdays so we'll be free to do what we want for the rest of it.
"Right… sure, that makes sense."
With that decided Yang went back to her exercise for a few minutes, before going to take a shower as Blake woke up.
The Faunus girl raised an eyebrow but made no comment on the blonde's early rising. On schedule Weiss got up too, and eventually the four of them were ready for breakfast.
They reached the cafeteria and were waved over by Nora to a table occupied by team JNPR.
"Hey~!" the bruiser cheered as they sat down. "I hear you four were up to no good. What happened?"
Weiss sighed. "Something that we've been told not to speak about," she said. It was true, the police that arrived on the scene had asked for them not to share information on the White Fang attack until they had things properly filed.
"Let's just say we… What's the saying?"
"Bit off more than we could chew?" Yang suggested.
Weiss scowled in her direction but nodded. "Yes, and you can probably guess who's to blame for that."
The blonde could only sigh and give an apologetic shrug to the other team.
They didn't seem off-put by it and Pyrrha smiled reassuringly.
"Well it sounds to me like your team has had quite a lot of excitement recently. I wonder what you be doing today after class then… do you have anything planned?"
"Detention." Blake answered distractedly. The Faunus' ears twitched back and forth as she listened to the conversation, while her eyes were completely focused on one of the new books she'd purchased from Tukson. It was actually impressive how she managed to multitask that long with eating her breakfast.
The red-head winced. "Oh… I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up."
"It is fine," Weiss assured her. "We all realised that our actions have consequences… this just happens to be one of them."
Ren nodded in her direction. "That is a very mature outlook. I think that I would probably be upset about a detention no matter the reason."
Yang snorted in laughter. "Oh yeah, like you'd be upset about anything. You'd have to break character first mister calm and collected."
Ren just rolled his eyes good-naturedly while Nora and Yang chatted on about just what the blonde was being forced to do in her detention today.
"So what is it the four of you did yesterday?" Weiss asked. "You mentioned training before right?"
Pyrrha nodded. "The four of us sparred together for a few hours. Nora was definitely a challenge." The champion winced at that, and as if remembering a phantom pain rolled her shoulders. "She has far too much strength for her size."
"Sorry~" Nora sang from the far side of the table.
Weiss hummed. "It is good to see you all improving." She complimented, while sending a pointed look towards the leader of team JNPR. Pyrrha caught her meaning.
"Yes, we've all been doing well. Some of us are making impressive strides considering."
Yes, considering Jaune was the weakest of them.
Well… maybe it wasn't fair to label him as weak: Beacon was a school filled with people training to be elite warriors. He just happened to have the lowest scores in their combat class.
When the blond in question didn't respond in any way Ruby looked to him.
"Jaune? Are you okay?"
"Huh?" he asked, perking up. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"Really?" she pressed. "You've been staring at your food for the last ten minutes and you just look kind of… out of it."
He shook his head and gave a clearly fake smile. "Really I'm fine! Don't worry about me."
Ruby looked towards the other red-head with a questioning look. The fighter sighed and caved in.
"Jaune's been having some trouble with Cardin again."
"Pyrrha!" he cried out in betrayal.
"I'm sorry," she sighed. "But no matter how much he bullies you, you never do anything to stop it. It's been going on for too long now."
"I told you it's fine," Jaune argued. "Besides it's not just me, Cardin's a bully to everyone in some way."
As if one queue there was a noise as Cardin's laughter filled the hall. Most people tried to ignore it, but a few – along with team RWBY and JNPR – turned to see what was happening.
The tall male looked down with his chest puffed out arrogantly, at a smaller girl, with chestnut brown hair and a pair of rabbit ears atop her head.
She didn't look up at Cardin. The Faunus was looking to her feet, to the floor and to the tray that had been slapped out of her hand.
"What's this?" Cardin mocked cruelly. "You got in my way again freak."
Ruby frowned, as did the rest of her team, with the exception of a particularly dangerous glare and pressed ears by Blake.
Everyone around in the cafeteria was quiet.
Pyrrha shook her head. "It is awful that that man is even an example of what Huntsmen could be."
"Who is she anyway?" Yang asked. "Shouldn't her team be here to back her up."
"Her name's Velvet Scarlatina." Weiss supplied. "She a second year, part of team CFVY. I heard that the rest of her team were picked for a field trip. She wasn't."
"So she has to deal with punks like Cardin by herself?" Yang sighed.
"Well?" Cardin sneered, leaning down closer to the rabbit Faunus. "You have something you want to say?"
She was shaking now, and her fists were clenched tight. She looked like she wanted to explode.
But she didn't. Velvet didn't speak up or move. She just kept glaring at the ground.
Eventually, Cardin realised she wasn't going to do anything and sneered.
"Tch," he spat. "Damn coward." And with that he pushed past her, making sure to jostle her with his shoulder.
Moments later Velvet scurried out the door, her head still down as she fled. Moments later the hall filled up again with talk.
Jaune sighed. "Like I said, Cardin's a jerk to everyone… at least I don't get it as bad as some people."
Blake scowled. "He's a bully and a racist. Why on Remnant is someone like him trying to be a huntsman at all? He's disgusting."
"Dunno," Yang shrugged. "Hey, just promise that if he goes after you because of your ears you'll let us know right? I'll make regret it."
The Faunus girl blinked in surprise, but allowed a small smile to slip out.
"Thank you, Yang."
The blonde grinned and threw an arm around Blake's shoulder. "No problem partner, nobody's allowed to touch the kitty but me."
That got a much bigger reaction as Blake's face flushed red and she spluttered.
"Look's like you guys are having fun."
Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin at the familiar voice.
"A-amber?"
The girl in question smiled back. She stood with a tray of food in hand and a glint of amusement in her eyes.
"I know you!" Yang pointed. "You're the girl from the docks the other day that saved our asses."
Amber waved back. "The very same." She nodded to the space beside Ruby. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
Ruby nodded rapidly and shifted over a bit to make more room. "Sure." She squeaked.
She couldn't help it. Why was she here? Why was Ozpin letting a half-maiden with a target on her back show her face at the school? Could she even explain who she was?"
"Hello there," Pyrrha greeted. "I don't believe we've met before."
"Oh, sorry," she giggled. "My name's Amber Autumn." She extended at hand which the Mistral champion took happily."
"Oh~" Nora beamed. "Your name rhymes."
Amber laughed. "Yes, yes it does." She turned to look at them all. "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us have been properly introduced."
There was a chorus of 'ahs' from them as they did just that; Yang, Nora and Pyrrha with different levels of excitement, Jaune with a bit of bumbling, as Weiss, Blake and Ren introduced themselves politely.
"So Amber," Yang asked after they were finished. "Who exactly are you, and how exactly do you know our young team leader?"
The half-maiden answered before Ruby could even show signs of panic.
"Oh well I'm studying my last year here at Beacon." She answered. "I met Ruby here on the road last year on a solo mission."
Lies, Ruby noted immediately. The Headmaster must have gone through some sort of cover story with her. She supposed it made sense; after she'd revealed herself at the docks it was important for the headmaster to control what information about Amber was revealed…
Still.
Weiss bowed her head. "Well it is an honour to meet someone so far ahead of us. And even more after you saved us. You have my thanks Miss Autumn."
Amber waved her off. "You don't need to thank me Miss Schnee, It's not like I would ignore someone in need of help. It was a natural thing."
"Well, either way, I am thankful." Weiss conceded. "And it sounds like you were a genuine role model for my partner if her early acceptance into Beacon is anything to say about it."
"Ha! AS if," the maiden laughed. "I didn't really have a hand in inspiring Ruby. I'm pretty sure she wanted to be a huntress when I met her too."
"Amber~" Ruby whined. This really wasn't the time to spread rumours about her, not when she couldn't deny them if they happened to be fake. Knowing Ozpin he'd have told Amber to spin whatever tale she wanted to make her story more believable and Ruby would be expected to play along.
That was pretty hard to do when it came out of the blue.
Thankfully Amber noticed her discomfort, and after playing it off with a laugh managed to steer the topic of conversation onto safer grounds. She talked about all the exciting missions they'd probably get up to, she spoke about how long she'd been doing them herself and how tough they could be. Each little lie seeming to make her more and more… relatable.
"Wait a minute!" Nora gasped. "I think I remember you!"
Jaune tilted his head. "Uh, Nora,? I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met-"
"No, no, no," Nora argued. "You were in one of the bullheads at initiation. You're the one that zapped the Ouroboros!"
The others froze and turned to stare at her in shock. Amber just smiled and raised her hand.
"Guilty~"
"No way!" Yang gawked. "Yeah I remember you now. I couldn't see you clearly from so far away but yeah!" Yang had leaned over in her seat now. "You must be crazy strong!"
"I suppose," Amber allowed. "I'm kind of like a prefect of sorts, but instead of making sure students don't run in the halls I watch over them when they take trips into the emerald forest."
That might have been Amber's best lie yet. Ruby frowned. The older girl had been almost forcefully honest for the time Ruby had known her… had such a short time with Oz changed that?
That… left a bad taste in her mouth… especially with how easy Amber was managing to do it.
"So Amber," Ruby asked. "is there a reason you decided to… make your way over here?"
"Hm? Oh, I guess so, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it looks like the four of you guys will be having separate detentions with different teachers."
Yang groaned.
Blake looked confused. "Really? Why?"
Amber shrugged.
"Don't know. All I've been told this that it's be Miss Schnee with Professor Port, Belladonna with Oobleck, Xiao-Long with Goodwitch and Rose with the Headmaster."
Ruby resisted the urge for the sharp look she wanted to give the brunette. She held back a sigh. It looked like Ozpin wanted her for something.
It was enough to occupy her thoughts well after Amber bid her farewell and they went to class. If anything it was distracting, and not in the pleasant way you wanted to be distracted in when listening to professor Port, more like the frustrating distractions that could happen when trying to keep up with professor Oobleck.
Who just so happened to be the one who was teaching them.
He stood at the front of the class, his wild, green hair still even as he sped from left to right
"Today we will be discussing the founding of Vale, not the kingdom, but even further back, the city itself."
'Okay,' Ruby allowed 'at least this class could be interesting.'
…
…
Yang tried her best to look like she was listening to Professor Oobleck's class, she really did, but she just didn't have any motivation to listen to the teacher go on about, well, history.
Yang didn't like history, she didn't like dwelling on the past and even more so bringing up painful times again.
The last class they'd had with Professor Oobleck was bad enough, the thought of what happened to Faunus all that time ago was bad enough before taking into account that it might give her a reason to feel bad for the White Fang.
The blonde's eyes fell to Blake.
As the professor spoke her partner took notes insistently. Yang suppressed a sigh. She didn't like history… but it looked like Blake was more than a little interested.
She hadn't actually gotten a chance to properly talk to her partner after the whole craziness at the docks.
She really didn't know what to say though, it had been her fault they'd ended up in such a bad situation thanks to her temper, and then Blake had been shocked by those people she recognised… after the teachers came and told them off well… Weiss was maybe more vocal in her anger towards Yang's screw up but she knew Blake felt more or less the same.
It was weird, Blake was quiet already, but it felt different when she did it on purpose.
It made Yang feel guilty.
Which was as weird as it was annoying. Yang didn't care what anyone thought of her, not her crappy 'friends' back at Signal, not punks like team CRDL, not even her dad.
It was just the kind of person she had to be growing up. She'd been stuck dealing with so many people who couldn't really care less about her for most of her life.
So… with all that said, her partners' mood wasn't exactly something she was thrilled with.
She sighed again. After this she decided, after her detention, she'd need to find a way to make it up to Blake.
To Weiss too of course, but mostly her partner.
Well, she'd have to think of something, but for now, maybe she could show she was trying by actually listening to the green-haired professor for once?
Oobleck's back was too then as he scribbled down a rough drawing of Vale before it was populated, basically an open landmass with a handy cliff side.
"Centuries, perhaps millennia ago," he said. "Settlers of the continent attempted to start up homes where they could live and thrive with others. It is not clear on exactly how many, but there were many failed attempts. This, was a time when humanity didn't have an organized structure. There were no official armies and weaponry was far from where it is today. All they had was their sheer willpower, and tenacity."
He fixed his glass on his face as the eyes behind them scanned the class.
"Eventually however, maybe by some stroke of luck, a group of men and women stumbled across one of the greatest possible chances they would ever have at building civilisation; a wide-open plain, one side protected by a shallow sea, one by rich, expansive forests and surrounded on nearly all sides by huge mountains."
He turned again to the board and drew a diagram of houses beginning to sprout up.
"With these natural defences the people quickly got to work on fortifying the only entrances in and out, as well as making the land they had sustainable for living, with farming and agriculture already developed at this point in made settling permanently easier." He hummed, and a Yang could hear more than a few people – her Weiss and Blake included – scribble down notes at a frantic pace to match the professor.
Yang raised an eyebrow when she looked at Ruby, who was actually using her semblance to write faster, and so didn't look nearly as panicked as some of the others.
It was almost comical to Yang how her sister could use her speed so mundanely.
She looked down at her own notebook, which she hadn't opened yet…
Eh… she'd just try and memorise it.
"It took hundreds of years, but through determination and the dedication of many lives Vales was finally established, and as it is today, it is one of the safest places on Remnant. After that, once a Monarchy was established, the first King of Vale set out to expand as much as he could… but even to this day, while we call it a kingdom, in reality it is merely a number of frontier towns that have managed to survive. As you will remember from last time, no other cities lasted."
There was a collective shiver from the class and Oobleck nodded.
"As I thought. However, there is one particular piece of historical writing that interests me greatly. Now keep in mind that it is controversial, and while many believe in it – including myself – it has not had enough evidence to support whether it's true or not. That thing being, that there was a previous civilisation, that the first inhabitants of Vale build right on top of.
"But sir," Weiss questioned. "Surely if there was another city underneath this one we would know about it. Wouldn't there be signs?"
Oobleck smiled. "Oh but there are Miss Schnee, but we will get to that. Firstly I must tell you why this part of history is heavily argued." He looked around at his students. "Simply put, the writings of the ancient city are surrounded by more myth and legend than any actual recorded fact, and because things were told by word of mouth back then rather than documentation, there are scarce few, with writing appearing at what is seemingly the end of the era."
"The writings tell us of how the cities walls were built by living stone, how the forests were defended by Spriggans and Faeries and how powerful wizards and witches inhabited the homes." He smiled again. "Of course I'm not one to believe in that kind of history."
There was a chuckle from a few students.
"Even so," he went on. "All myths come from somewhere, and it is that somewhere that I am interested in. Many would discard it as nonsense and move on to other, more tangible things. I was almost the same, but there is one thing that stops me."
He nodded to Weiss. "You asked for signs miss Schnee? Well look no further than the ruins of the Emerald Forest." There was a mutter among the students.
"Did you ever wonder where they came from?" he asked the class. "How such massive spirals of stone could have lasted as long as they did? Some might suggest that they come from the first buildings of Vale, but the stone hint that they are much older than that. Not to mention that the idea that Vale was built on top when considering that the main tower of the ruins descends so far into a chasm that the bottom is invisible. We also cannot disprove this since when people attempted to excavate the site, they travel so far down that breathing became almost impossible and forces them back to the surface."
"So it's not actually proven either though," Yang groused. "It's just some fairy tale from when people thought magic was real."
"I suppose," Oobleck allowed. "It's not actually about whether it is true or not, but about discovering that if there was an ancient civilisation, then how did they manage to build a city against the Grimm? And how did they fall?"
The bell rang, signalling the end of class. the professor checked his watch.
"Well, that will have to be the end of it today, it looks like time got away from us. Oh and for homework, I want you all to research Mantle for next class, as sticking with the topic of previous civilisations."
Yang grumbled as at the work set but didn't voice a complaint as she made her way to another class by herself, tactfully avoiding her team so that she could go in peace. Miss Goodwitch was waiting for her patiently and greeted her with a nod as she opened the door.
Yang blinked at the other person in the room.
"What are you doing here?" she asked Sun Wukong, he gave a nervous wave and laugh as he scratched the back of his head.
"Mr Wukong was there with you at the docks the other night," the older woman supplied. "he is a student of Haven under our watch and as such is capable of the same punishments as you. Now, we were willing to let him off with a warning since he had only arrived a day prior." She glanced at the Faunus boy. "However Mrs Wukong actually volunteered to help you with your detention, since he admits to being just as responsible for the even as any of you.
Yang turned to stare at the guy in surprise. Huh, this was something she definitely wasn't expecting.
After that Miss Goodwitch led them to the library and explained to them exactly what they'd be doing: rearranging the archives in order. That didn't sound like much, until you took into account that the archive section was over two hundred shelves, and involved carefully reading each book to decide where it coincided.
Goodwitch left them to it, and for the most part worked in silence, it was kind of awkward at first until they got into it. the whole time the brawler would notice Sun shooting her looks as they stacked books…
Ugh… this was terrible. Yang knew what the deal with him was, mainly her being a complete idiot last time they'd met and threatening him. Yeah, way-to-go Yang, he probably had a great impression of you.
This whole situation was weird; the two of them together and alone in the library, (A place she'd never visit willingly) and stuck with him helping her with her detention. She just didn't know what to say.
It might be a good idea to just stay quiet and get this over with, the faster she did the faster she could leave… that lasted for a good ten minutes until Yang worked up the nerve to talk to Sun.
"Hey, Sun? Thanks for helping me. I don't know why but it's a lot better with someone here than doing it on my own. I think I'd go crazy if I had to do this thing alone."
Sun looked surprised but laughed. "Hey don't mention it," he shrugged. "But you want me to be honest? I kinda volunteered to help Blake with whatever she was doing."
Yang blinked again. That was… honest.
"Really?"
"Yeah," he grinned. "But the teach figured that out fast, and decided that I'd help you instead, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if I'm honest, you sorta scare me."
She grimaced. "Sorry about that by the way," she said. "Last time I was all worked up about Ruby, but I shouldn't have been like that and threatened you."
"Nah it's good," he waved away dismissively. "I get it, that you were under a lot of pressure. At first I thought it was because she was your team leader but family? Yeah I'd be worried too."
Yang hummed and after a moment turned to grin at him.
"You know, you're pretty cool Sun."
He returned the look in kind. "Heh, you mind telling my teammates that? They're always saying at Neptune's the cool one."
"No promises."
They shared a laugh, and when it died down Sun hummed.
"You know… I could probably make this go faster with my semblance."
"Oh yeah?" she asked. "How does it work?"
"It's like solid clones of myself. If I make two… we could, I dunno, relax a while."
She grinned. "Well get to it monkey boy!"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to stop with that name… are you?"
"Nope!"
He rolled his eyes but didn't complain any further as he clasped his hands together in a prayer-like motion.
There was a flash of light as two, almost see-through copies of Sun appeared and instantly got to work setting the books back in their place.
With that, Sun took a set at one of the tables, kicking his feet up on the table, Yang did the same beside him as they watched his clones work.
"How long can they last?" Yang wondered aloud.
Sun shrugged. "Eh, anywhere from ten to twenty minutes for something like this. I need to concentrate but it's not hard until I make a third one. This at least let's be kickback you know?"
"I do." Yang grinned.
The sat and just watched the clones at work of a minute until eventually she gave Sun a sideways glance.
"So… Blake?"
"Y-yeah! W-why?"
"Just wonderin'" Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just wondering why you like her."
"W-well why wouldn't I?" Sun asked defensively. "I mean, she's pretty, and smart, and has like, a really strong sense of justice or whatever, I mean, I got that from just a few days."
Yeah, Yang could admit all of that was pretty true, if a little downplayed by Sun.
Blake was smoking' hot, and Yang wasn't afraid to appreciate that about her partner. She was like, a dark and mysterious beauty, and she was smart. Yang almost always saw her reading and she was always listening in class, but it was just that. She was witty and quick thinking and intelligent. And yeah, the sense of justice was there she guessed, but it was kinda more than that.
Yang hadn't exactly known her partner for long, but enough now to realise that Blake was passionate about the White Fang, her history with them and her desire to do good both by the Faunus and Humans was pretty awe-inspiring. There were a lot of other things too: like her sarcasm that made Yang laugh, how she always listened when the brawler spoke, how her intense gaze and bright eyes. Her long dark hair and pale skin and that amused smile that made Yang weak at the knee-
Yang's eyes widened.
Aw crap.
…
…
The elevator dinged as it opened, and Ruby greeted the headmaster with a nod as she stood to attention in front of his desk.
"You wanted to see me for my detention sir?"
"I did," he confirmed. "please take a seat miss Rose."
She did, and waited patiently as Ozpin poured coffee into two mugs, before offering her one. She took it, although frowning at the lack of alcohol within and that smirk of Ozpin's showing he was well aware
Bloody Goodwitch and her terrifying glare.
There was at least sugar in it, so she could enjoy the taste.
Ozpin sipped slowly and regarded his follower with calculating eyes. After a moment she spoke.
"How are you Miss Rose? Recovering well from the other night?"
"You mean the kidnapping?" she asked. When he nodded she shrugged. "I'm fine. Nothing bad really happened other than a cramp from sitting in the same chair for a few hours. It shouldn't be me you're worried about anyway; my team are the ones who were in danger."
"Indeed," he hummed. "Your team and a new friend apparently… what do you know of him?"
"You mean Sun? not much I guess. Just that he helped out my team and that he's here for the festival."
Ozpins smirk grew wider and she felt compelled to ask if only because her suspicion was growing.
"Why?"
He took another sip.
"Oh, I was just curious. It seems that you didn't get to properly introduce yourself to him, nor he to you." He glanced up at her. "It would be the polite thing to correct that situation with Mr Wukong."
Ruby choked on her coffee, coughing and spluttering at Ozpin chuckled. She glared up at him when she got her breathing back under control.
"You can't be serious! Another one? How, are you sure?"
"You tell me Miss Rose," he drawled. "After all it could just be a coincidence. It could mean nothing that a young Huntsman-in-training's name is Sun Wukong, that by chance someone with that name is a monkey Faunus, who fights with a bo-staff, who according to teachers at Haven has a semblance that creates clones and seems about the same age as the Avatars here in Beacon."
Ruby groaned. "Okay I get it; you didn't need the sarcasm."
"What sarcasm?" he smiled.
Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. The headmaster could be particularly annoying when he was in the mood for games. Especially when he was smug about something.
This was just great. Another Avatar to make Ruby feel on edge. Yeah, there was definitely something strange going on. She knew there was a lot already, but she might have been able to ignore it if they were all from the same kingdom… that was out the window now.
"Is that want you wanted to see me about sir?"
"It is not." He allowed. "I have a mission for you Miss Rose, one that you will be taking without your team."
The Reaper straightened up. If she was going solo it could only mean that it involved magic.
When Ozpin knew he had her attention he continued.
"There have been stirrings in Vale… I have had information passed onto me about creatures residing in downtown Vale causing trouble, there have been robberies, assaults and all together growing tensions. I suspect they are of the grey-skinned variety."
"Feral Goblins?" Ruby asked. This was kind of a shock. From what her uncle had told her, Vale wasn't somewhere monsters got to call home.
Ozpin frowned. "All Goblins are feral beasts Miss Rose, but yes, I suppose they could be considered the more dangerous variety."
"Okay," she nodded. "So… what do you want me to do exactly? Find them and chase them out of the city?"
"No, you are to exterminate them."
Ruby blinked. "But… aren't Goblins intelligent?"
The old wizard didn't look impressed. "No more than any animal… will there be a problem with this Miss Rose?"
She scowled. "Of course not, I'll go straight away."
She made to stand but the Headmaster made her pause.
"Before you do, make sure you are equipped properly… here take these, they should be enough to aid you. A little insurance of sorts."
He was referring to the leather pouch on the desk, Ruby took a look inside and nodded; it was filled with salt. He wasn't finished though, and as she stashed it away Ozpin opened a drawer in his desk. Ruby's eyes widened slightly.
"You really think I'll need that?"
"I would rather be sure the job is done." He answered firmly as he handed her the item of interest.
That being a silver dagger.
The entire thing was silver, from the blade to the guard to the grip… it reminded her of a stiletto dagger and was made for the sole of killing creatures of the magical world.
There was a gravity to the situation that wasn't there before. Ozpin expected her to kill.
She took a breath.
"I understand sir. Will that be all?"
He hummed. "Try looking in the industrial area downtown… that seems to be where the majority of them are located."
"Alright then." She said, and with that Ruby bowed and stepped back into the elevator again.
The ride down was heavier than the ride up.
Ozpin was right. They weren't actually people, not in the way Faunus were. They were closer to Grimm. That's what Uncle Qrow had taught her for years. It was just… this would be the first time she'd gone on one of these missions alone, and it was the first she'd been given by Ozpin personally.
It was unsettling that his first was an execution order.
A few hours later Ruby was in downtown Vale. Her teammates were all busy with their own detentions, and team JNPR was doing whatever it was they did together, so nobody would realize she was gone until later tonight.
Hopefully this wouldn't take that long, she'd already gotten dressed in her combat outfit and her scythe was stored on her back, so really the only thing left to do was find the targets.
She looked from side to side. The district was still full of people, most coming home from work, but a few just loitering.
Up ahead Ruby could see a metalwork factory. She hummed.
From what she knew about Goblins; they liked to horde things, or barring that, they liked to live near a place where they could collect things. They favour metal, which was strange in its own way, but it was just that, it didn't matter if it was new and shiny or old and rusty.
Goblins liked metal.
That did give Ruby an advantage, since they were feral Goblins.
She made her way over to the factory even as she recounted what she knew in her head:
Goblins liked metal, but like many magical creatures were burned by iron. Feral monsters weren't as smart as others. Something about their minds rotting away the more they fell into madness.
If her hunch was right and they were in the metalwork's, then it gave her plenty of things to fight with.
She was at the gates now – a chain-link fence – which had been looked securely. She frowned. That told her two things; one, this was still a place people worked at, which meant that if she didn't do something today then there was a risk people could get hurt tomorrow and two…
She had to break in.
She looked around, making sure none was here to see her trespass before she got a good grip on the protective fence and began climbing.
Well, that was something to consider Ruby supposed.
If it was locked that meant she could do this in secrecy.
The huntress-in-training was just as fazed by the locked doors as she was the fence but at least realised that there might be alarms if she just smashed her way in. she looked up, what had she to work with?
'Let's see… the outside is pretty much solid concrete, so no way I'm breaking through that… um… I could try the doors but there's too much risk. If an alarm goes off then I could alert the targets… and if the police arrive it might turn it a bloodbath… wait… is that… okay, a smashed window on the fifth floor. It looks big enough for me to fit through. This still has to be quiet though."
Ruby hummed.
"Maybe..." she trailed off.
She bent her knees, and looked up at the window.
With the strength in her leg she had Ruby pushed off the ground and activated her semblance simultaneously. There was a burst of rose petals as she shot upwards and latched onto the bottom of the ledge.
Looking down it was easy to tell that the fall back down would be a painful one.
"Whew," she sighed in relief. "That would have been embarrassing to mess up."
She pulled herself up and over and brushed herself off as she looked around.
It wasn't pitch black but it was pretty dark. Dusty too. Maybe they should have someone clean up here. She shook her head, it wasn't important.
Ruby narrowed her eyes as she looked down the corridor. There was a light coming down the hallway; it was a dull red. It might have just been machinery or a smeltery that hadn't cooled down fully, but then again it might not be.
Ruby readied Crescent Rose, in its firing form for range and slowly crept down the halls.
She winced at her own footsteps, too loud in the all but silence building, and for every one she took Ruby felt as if something was about to turn the corner and spot her.
She bit the inside of her mouth. Was this what uncle Qrow had to deal with all the time?
Maybe, but she knew this wasn't the time to wonder about it.
Especially because at that moment there was a crash further in.
The sound was loud, almost like a wall had been broken through, and it made her jump.
She cursed at herself under her breath but listened out at the sound of bare feet could be heard slapping across the ground, and wild snarling echoed through the building.
Ruby sucked in a breath. So they were here. Alright, she had to be cautious. The warrior checked her gun for ammunition just to make sure before steeling herself and kicking up the pace.
The closer she got the louder the sounds. There were more of them now too; gargled noises and inhuman shrikes that sent shivers down her spine. There were a lot of them, a cacophony of dozens of high-pitched and wild cries.
She made the opening, and squinted as her eyes adjusted to reddish lights below. She'd been right about the machinery at least, the lighting it offered just about giving her the ability to see.
Not only that, but she was one some kind of catwalk, and but the looks of it when she peered over the edge it looked like there was a commotion.
She could make it all out, but from the looks of it, there were about twenty or so small, greyish shapes surrounding a more human-like figure in black.
And it looked like they weren't on the same side.
They were fighting, the one in black cutting down their foes with brutal efficiency. Every second was filled with the sound of metal on metal and sparks were flying.
Ruby felt instinct take over as she leapt off the side and into the fight, landing beside the black figure. They were male, judging by the height and broad shoulders, but apart from that Ruby couldn't make out, didn't have time because as soon as she landed the Feral Goblins lunged.
She fired twice, blasting the heads of the two who were closest and slamming the butt of her sniper rife against a third.
She turned to the man.
"Listen, I'm here to help, let me take this side!" she called to him over the retched racket these things were making. She didn't know why she did, but Ruby felt compelled to explain herself even as she had rushed to his aid.
His face was shadowed by a hood, his shoulders were stiff as if seeming shocked by something she couldn't recognise but he nodded quickly, and turned to cover her back.
Ruby got a good look at his weapon: it was a straight sword, with only a single edge and a thin guard. It was about the length of her arm and even in the dull light, shined silver.
He was here to kill these Goblins too then apparently.
Ruby engaged the mecha-shift of Crescent Rose and swung the weapon as it changed into a scythe cleaving through three of the grey-skinned monsters at once before dodging to the right as one lashed out at her with a clawed hand.
Ruby countered almost instantly, stepping into its reach and shoving the shaft of her weapon into its throat.
It was then that she got a good look at the creature:
It was disgusting; it had an almost human face, but its chin was too pointed and cheekbones too high. The things back was hunched and lumpy cysts had formed on it. Its eyes were a sickly yellow that were brought out further by its grey, corpse-like skin, and it had elongated, gnarled black and brown fangs that stuck out from both lips. That wasn't even the worst part.
Ruby wrinkled her nose at the smell.
This thing was rotting, clear as day, but not only that, this was a creature that lived and roamed in its own waste, feral and dirty the stench almost made her sick.
She pulled the trigger and felt the satisfying recoil as the blade of her scythe cleaver through the monster.
The red reaper wasn't done, ducking under two more dangerous claws and pushed Crescent Rose past them, they two Goblins snarled and moved into to her open guard.
She smirked, pulling the trigger again and watching as the two enemies were cut in half from the back.
Ruby didn't let up. She could afford to was more came at her from three sides.
Slash, Cut, Stab, Slice and Rend.
Ruby was a whirlwind of red, faster than any of these creatures could match and only enhanced with her semblance kicked into overdrive. At this rate she'd-
Ruby's eyes widened and she just managed to roll under a steel pipe that had been thrown at her head.
She looked up and swore at the much more dangerous enemy that had just appeared.
It was like the other foes only in the colour of its skin, the rest of its attributes far outclassing its peers.
It was a Hobgoblin.
They were bigger than Goblins, way bigger, almost nine feet tall and rippling with ugly and distorted muscles. Its teeth were longer, its eyes sharper and slit.
It stood on two feet while the smaller ones nearly crawled.
Probably the most dangerous part though was its equipment; it wore the skulls and bones of its kin as armour and wielded a massive metal beam as a bastardised club nearly as long as she was tall and looked heavy enough to crush her.
It looked her dead in the eye. It didn't shriek or cry, it roared. So loud that Ruby felt her bones rattle and she clenched her teeth.
It must have sensed weakness in her because it charged forward with the intent to turn her into bloody paste.
Ruby wasn't ashamed to admit she took a step back in shock. It was a mistake though, because it meant she'd lost the chance to avoid the attack, and her eyes locked onto the club at it was raided into the air.
She almost missed the man in back dashing past her, but when she did she cried out a warning. Did he not see that things weapon?
She needn't have worried, as the man stepped into the Hobgoblins reach and ducked left, where it couldn't move into and swung the silver blade up into its armpit.
It roared in pain even as it fell back a step but the man followed, wielding his sword like a cleaver her chopped again and again at the monster arm.
Ruby somehow managed to lose track of just how many swings the stranger took when three things happened at once:
First, the Hobgoblins arm was severed, sent flying into the dark where she couldn't see it. Second, the blood that gushed out of the newly open wound splashed onto her face, blinding her for a split second, which allowed the third thing to happen;
The goblins all cried out at once, and Ruby felt herself lift off the ground as something grabbed her. She fell back with an 'oomph' as her back hit the ground and weight kept her from getting back up. The noises rose louder and louder until all at once they disappeared.
Ruby reached up and wiped the blood from her eyes and stared blearily at the figure again.
"Uh… thanks?"
She sat up and looked around. They were all gone… they must have run...escaped somehow.
The man finally spoke.
"It's not over. The big one booked it and the others followed by they'll be back… I'm pretty sure this is their nest."
Ruby felt her brow crease. This guy's voice sounded… familiar. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time.
"Well, yeah. Who are you anyway? You were obviously here to hunt them down…" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "but I didn't hear anything about meeting up with another group."
There was a pause, before the man laughed with a kind of bitter mirth dripping from his voice.
"This is a little bit of a weird situation, but I guess that's just my luck. Heh… damn Ozpin loves playing games with the Order."
The silver-eyed warrior blinked.
"I'm… Sorry, what?"
"Oh, right. Guess you don't recognise me… how about this?"
He reached up to pull down the hood and turned to her.
Ruby would admit that her jaw might have dropped a little even as she gasped… but she didn't think anyone would blame her, not when it was not only someone she knew, but someone who by all accounts, had never given a hint that they were anything more than a racist and a bully.
"C-Cardin?"
...
...
There we go. I told you I wanted to make Cardin a bigger character. this is probably sooner than most of you were expecting but here it is.
What do you think? Good? Bad? Completely stupid?
Whatever you think you can let me know.
And what do you think about Yang's little realisation? Romance is going to be a part of this story, hopefully well written and I wanted to get it going slowly. Sun's still a factor, of course, I always see people write him or his feeling out of a story that includes the bees. That won't be happening here.
And Amber, going to be a bigger part for MOST of this story, even if it was a bit hard to get her introduced to the rest of the teams in a reasonable way. this at least made sense.
And just if people are wondering or think Yang's detention was stupid, I've done it myself once a long time ago. I mean. I love reading, I like libraries, but when you have to arrange over a thousand books in alphabetical as well as age and genre-specific order?
You want to burn all the paper left in the world.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, please follow, Favourite and Review.
Especially Review, even if its to say if you liked it or didn't, any bit of feedback is appreciated and a try to respond to it all.
BYE!