Annoyingly Short chapter as I wanted to separate more Bálor-centric events into the next chapter (I'm not gonna hit every chapter beat by beat)
Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Bálor Moonlight to me.
Bálor would sigh as he slowly trudged his way over to the seat assigned on his ticket ignoring the grumbling and complaints that he had to endure while doing so, hearing the sounds of a fierce battle going on below him as Team RWBY were having their first round match with a foursome from Haven going by the name ABRN as Professors Oobleck and Port handled the commentary, or what one could call commentary in most cases.
"…Age and school year are irrelevant, the only thing that matters in this tournament is skill." Oobleck would speak rather quickly as he most often did, to the untrained ear this would come off as a rush of words that would be tough to comprehend but six months in the man's class and superior Faunus hearing just left the wolf rolling his eyes.
"Correct." Port would continue the diatribe along further by explaining that the winning team would select two members to continue on into the Doubles Round, after which the remaining team member (whether by choice or if said teammate had been eliminated in Doubles competition) would proceed to fight it out with whoever's left in a bracket match competition. Obviously the last one remaining would stand as the winner of the Vytal Festival and no doubt be the talk of his or her Kingdom.
"Hmm, I'd like to think I know the girls well enough to anticipate how things will go past this round." The crowd would "Oooh" as one of the members of ABRN had been kicked out of the half-ice, half lava arena by a well time jump kick from the raven-haired feline.
"Yeah, they're definitely getting past these bums without much trouble." The amber-eyed young man would watch on quietly as Weiss encased the two males into a giant fist of ice and sent them rolling along towards a suspected ring out, his mind would work quickly as he noticed the versatility in her use of Glyphs as she created an ice ramp as Yang was rushing forward to gain momentum. "Definitely Princess Schnee." Bálor would watch on as the brawler grabbed onto Blake's Kusarigama as the Faunus leaped onto Ruby's shoulders to receive a boost of speed thanks to her Semblance and propelling the Bumblebee portion of the team forward, leaving Yang to wipe out the remaining members of Team ABRN with a gauntlet-assisted fist that sent them flying out of the arena and clinching the match for RWBY.
"Job well done guys…" He would sit up from his seat and make a beeline for the exit, feeling content to stay as far away from their victory party given the earlier situation with Taiyang and Yang respectively. "You've definitely earned your place in this tournament."
This sort of peace was the one thing he needed as he wandered the grounds of the Vytal Festival in relative silence, it gave him plenty of time to think about what he wanted to do with himself when..or rather if he graduated from the Academy. Going back to Vacuo wasn't an option, as sweet as it would be to return and reap bloody vengeance upon Mana and the rest of the turncoats it would only result in a Kingdom-wide manhunt and eventually his execution. And proceeding on the path of a Huntsman would be just the sort of thing Ozpin would want him to do, and as grateful as the wolf Faunus was for springing him from the hell that was the BlackVale Prison he was done with being just another pawn on someone else's chessboard.
"What the hell am I going to do when this is all over anyway, the Grimm activity isn't severe enough for Ozpin to warrant sending me out on missions anymore." Bálor would sigh dejectedly as he continued to contemplate and ponder on the next phase of life, stopping when he heard a familiar voice coming from a slight distance overhead.
"So, how are the new 'friends'"? The wolf Faunus recognized it immediately as Mercury Black, Yang's current lover and one of the transfers from Haven. He had already given the amber-eyed young man plenty of incentive to tear his throat out when he learned that the two were dating, and since he was supposed to be playing the role of model student due to the current situation he felt it imperative to turn and leave.
"I hate them, it's just..how can they be so happy all the time?" Bálor didn't recognize the second voice, his emotions were screaming at him to get a move on before deciding to walk up to the duo and start throwing punches. But the logic-ridden and prison-raised part of his mind were telling him to hide and gain info, people masquerading as friends was a common sight behind bars. Mostly it was due to the fact that the boys were often pent up and agitated, and you could only pass around the same prison bitches so many times before things got stale.
"Orders are orders, besides you got what we wanted right?" Mercury had begun speaking again as his partner sighed in disgust before answering his question, the wolf's ears perking up at the words 'heiress' and 'bimbo' before rolling his eyes.
"Sheesh, I know Yang dresses a tad loose but I doubt that she's like that." He would sit and watch the two of them skulking off before hopping down from the tree and dusting himself off as his stomach growled in protest. "Something stinks to high hell in Remnant, I better keep an eye on those two." His stomach would growl louder, as if insisting that its demands be met right then and there. "Fuck, alright already…" Bálor would turn on his heel ready to run to the nearest vendor for any kind of sustenance only to find himself met with a pair of amber-colored eyes not unlike his own, the wolf could feel his whole body tensing up in hesitation as he stood eye to eye with a woman he knew was horrible news as memories of the Underground came flooding back to him.
"Hello again my pet, I was hoping that I would find you here today." Cinder Fall would feel her lips curl upward in a devilish smile as the silver-haired Faunus felt his body tremble in fear of the raven-haired temptress standing before him, with the exception of his stomach which let out a muted growl. "I was so very concerned for your well-being after the incident a while back, it's good to see that you're unharmed."
He would bare his fangs at the woman irritated, the night that the pair had gone to the Underground had been a particularly jarring one as the atmosphere of death paired with its macabre Champion had left the wolf Faunus feeling like he was in a darkened nightmare with Cinder acting as a siren beckoning him to the darkness.
"Funny how with all your concern you failed to see if I was okay following the riot, hell my ex did more to ensure my safety after the fact and we're not exactly on the greatest of terms lately!" Bálor would growl and turn away as he decided to go off and find some proper sustenance, unbeknownst to him the pyromancer would be smiling as if his outburst of anger was merely another step on the way to some grand scheme. "So, it seems like Mercury's little plaything is helping me along in my plans after all. With every little outburst of anger, every moment of doubt, every second of hopelessness…" Cinder chuckled as she envisioned the end result of how his despair would effect her plans and she reveled in the infinite possibility of it all.
Team RWBY would be busy eating at a nearby noodle stand with the sisters and a less then thrilled Weiss were having a regular (albeit larger then average) portion of ramen while Blake's serving was adorned with fish heads and other bits of feline goodness as the heiress took out her charge card and handed it to the owner.
"Aww Weiss what's the occasion?" Yang asked exuberantly as the pale-haired Huntress, even with all her vaunted riches was a bit of a penny pincher were it came to treating the team to anything.
"Consider it thanks for sending me to the Doubles Round." Weiss certainly felt a sense of inflated ego knowing that she and Yang would no doubt win that round handily before envisioning herself succeeding in the finals, however those fantasies would be dashed as her charge card was thrown back with such force that it embedded itself into the wooden counter as the register flashed with a clear cut "Declined" message. "That's impossible, there's no way I could've gone through my monthly allowance that quickly!" The pale-haired Huntress would start to mentally run through her list of purchases
while Blake would try to sneak away with her meal anyhow, only to have her bowl quickly taken back, leaving the feline a pouty, upset mess.
"Perhaps I can help." A voice would say suddenly as the foursome looked over to see Pyrrha Nikos and the rest of Team JNPR walking up to the ramen stand, giving hope to the starving individuals (and especially a very distraught Blake
although on a personal level it wounded the heiress to have to resort to a friend in order to pay for a meal.
The group would then spend a bit of time discussing everything that led up to all of them now competing in the Vytal Festival from a group of renegade Faunus to a sociopath, each of them feeling grateful that they were in battles with rules and guidelines and not…murderers.
"Would Team JNPR please make their way to the battlegrounds immediately?" The normally droning and nonsensical voice of one Peter Port would suddenly come over the speakers nearby, alerting the happy and conversing gaggle of Huntsman and Huntresses that the next round was well upon them
"Well, it looks like this is it." Pyrrha would say with a cool confidence as the members of Team JNPR all stood up from their seats and began their march to the arena, Ruby wishing them luck as they were leaving. "Let's get going, I wanna make sure I have time to grab a popcorn and some other snacks before the next match starts."
Yang would sigh and look over as her sister and partner began to get up from their seats, as the brawler mulled over events from the day before.
"When I heard you say that I was the only one worth giving it all to, it sparked something inside of me. Something that made me feel like I wasn't good enough and that I had to become BETTER!"
She would stare at the pale gold wristlets that doubled as her new weapons before feeling a gentle hand on her shoulder, shocking her out her reverie as she looked up to see Blake looking down at her with a worried expression on her feline features
"Hey, are you feeling alright Yang?"
The golden-maned Huntress would sigh and nod her head quietly as she stood up, not wanting to ruin Blake's more than chipper mood after finally sating her fish-cravings. "Just got a lot on my mind, nothing you need to worry your fuzzy little ears over." Yang would grin and reach behind the bow to stroke her partner's cat ears with a playful grin before jogging off ahead of her.
This chapter was chaos, straddling the line between canon and imagination is Hell on Earth but I do what I can to keep a calm balance, even if it means staying up past 2 on what's technically my birthday.
So consider this my present to y'all