Okay, I normally put these at the end of chapters, but I'll make an exception this time around because I can. Anyway, THANK YOU FOR 300 VIEWS! To me, this is an absolutely massive milestone. Also, I won't deal with team assignment just yet. If all you lovely people wish to voice your opinions on whether our MC should be a free agent or on a team (and, if so, which one), romantic relationships with one of the cast or anything at all about the story, don't be afraid to leave a review. I'll make it my life's goal to listen to each and every one of you if that's what it takes to listen to everyone. Anyway, without further ado, onto the chapter!
Oh, and thank you to a kind presence on this site called (can't put the actual name since this site, lmao. Healthcare dot gov, but a URL kind of thing. There.), whom has left a review before this chapter was even finished.
And please note, there may be some upsetting content near the end. So, if you're uncomfortable with that kind of thing, don't read past the ballroom scene. You have been warned.
Chapter Three: Early Riser?
Rapture attracted some... odd looks from her new peers as she leaned against the wall of the airship currently in flight toward the prestigious Beacon Academy. Her armour's otherworldly design attracted mixed awe, curiosity and jealousy from the other budding students. She caught a glimpse of Ruby, the girl she had shared a holding cell with last night. Those silver eyes seemed to shine with the light. Truly, they were a rare trait. What were the odds of both of them having them?
It looked like she was accompanied by a tall blonde girl. They looked somewhat alike, leading the more observant to assume some form of familial connection. Ruby caught sight of Rapture, and dragged here presumed-sister over to see her. "Yang, this is Rapture. Rapture, this is my sister, Yang." She introduced happily.
"Hello there, Yang. I shared a prison cell with your sister last night following an attempted Dust robbery. Don't worry, we were bystanders that tried to stop it. God knows if I tried to rob it nobody would know I did." She half bragged. Indeed, it was the truth. She extended a hand for the slightly surprised blonde to shake. The other girl had a tight grip, but Rapture's Pilot strength and exoskeleton had her beat by a large margin.
"You've got a really firm grip, I'll give you that." Yang smiled. "If we spar, don't hold back. I want to see how strong the rest of you is."
"Will do, blondie." Rapture responded. The two sisters, after a brief farewell, turned and went to meet others. Rapture tuned out of the world, running over an idea she had for new equipment. She was pretty sure the materials existed on this planet.
After an indeterminate period of time, Ruby's tapping of her shoulder called the Pilot back to reality. "Rapture, it's time to go! You there?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Right." She was a little startled, but joined the flow of students both old and new heading off. Ruby and Yang were further back in the flow, so they didn't see her peel off from the pack and head to the warehouse she had stowed Connor. The Titan gave no greeting as she entered, quickly shutting the door behind her.
Inside was a workshop of sorts. Through a few decommissioned Atlesian combat robots, Ozpin's assistance in procuring materials and Connor transferring his AI to each one under Rapture's instruction, they had already started work on a prototype Ronin sword that Rapture had drawn up prior to the crash, as well as a Predator Cannon for future use. The sword was under construction currently, though progress was slow. The Cannon was yet to be started. When she closed the door, all three robots, as well as Connor himself, looked up and waved. "Welcome back, Pilot. I see you are well."
"Indeed I am, buddy. How's the sword coming along?" She questioned, taking her helmet off.
"It is approximately twenty percent complete. I estimate it will be complete within a month at the current pace. Then I will start work on the Predator Cannon." The smaller robots got back to work.
"Excellent. I'm going to work on that custom Longbow. Got a spare Smart Pistol?" She questioned, to which the Titan opened the cockpit. "Compartment five, Pilot." He responded. Rapture retrieved the pistol and quickly disassembled it. She hunted down the targeting module, which was her project. Before she seemingly vanished, she was working on implementing the Smart Pistol's targeting system into a Longbow DMR, eventually spanning into all weapons. It was a long-running project of hers, but there were certain issues in the scaling process. Maybe this world had the answer?
She worked on it for hours on end, but to no avail. There were all kinds of issues with the targeting, from random misfiring to off-target lock-on. Eventually, a message from Ozpin arrived telling her to report to the ballroom for the first night. She pulled her helmet back on, waved a quick goodbye to the robots and exited the building to find the ballroom. It took a few minutes, but she got there. Thanks to her cloak module, she got in unnoticed and took position against a wall. She ensured to dim her helmet lights before the cloak deactivated, so she blended in fairly well.
Hours passed without any interaction between Rapture and the new students, but after a rather long interval, Ruby noticed the Pilot and approached. She jumped when the young girl tapped her shoulder.
"Rapture? The lights are going out, you should get to bed." She said. Rapture looked at her for a moment before responding. "Yeah. Sure. I sleep standing up, though. I know it sounds weird, but past events have just made it second nature."
Ruby looked at her with the slightest hints of suspicion in her gleaming silver orbs. "Okay. See you tomorrow!" She said cheerfully before walking off back to her sister and a black-haired girl who seemed to wear a bow at all times, if wearing it to bed was any indication. Of course, Rapture didn't sleep for fear of waking everyone up with her screaming. She had terrible nightmares, just another sign of her severe PTSD.
Early in the morning, around five o'clock, Ruby Rose was up and about. She had been too excited to sleep for long, and so went to the bathroom to... take care of her bodily functions. When she entered, however, she most certainly did not expect to see Rapture. She had assumed that the mysterious combatant was either male or a robot, so this was certainly a surprise. The Pilot seemed to be washing her hands.
"Do you normally wake up this early?" She asked the other girl. Rapture visibly jumped, turning quickly with both hands behind her back. "Y-yeah." She was never good at lying when taken off-guard.
"Really? Huh." Ruby seemed to buy it, but then she looked into the sink and saw one colour that definitely didn't belong. Red. "What's that?" She asked.
"N-nothing!" The Pilot continued to lie, but to no effect. Ruby seemed to think of something for a second, before her eyes widened a little. "What... were you doing?" The younger girl questioned again.
Rapture looked at the door, ensuring nobody else was around before sighing. There was no use lying to the girl, she would always just question it. Slowly, she brought her left forearm around, palm facing upward. Ruby gasped at what she saw.
On the Pilot's left forearm, first and foremost, was a multitude of scars in all directions. But what made Ruby shocked was the four bleeding cuts that looked fresh. "Did you..." Ruby trailed off.
"Yeah." The Pilot sounded ashamed, bringing her right arm around to reveal a bloodied combat knife. She had expected the silver-eyed girl to chew her out or leave, but this time it was her turn to be surprised. She dashed forward in a formation of rose petals, reappearing directly in front of Rapture and embracing her. "Don't hurt yourself. Please. There are people that can help you!" The girl said.
"There isn't anyone that can help me with this, Ruby. I appreciate it, though." She softly replied. She couldn't deny that the sensation of the younger girl's embrace was strangely familiar, though she couldn't place it.
"Then I'll help you." Ruby shot back.
The older girl chuckled a little. "You just won't quit, will you? Fine, then. You can try." She said before Ruby released her grip and smiled. "Get yourself cleaned up. I don't think you want anyone else seeing this."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Rapture took some toilet paper and wiped the blood away from her arm and flushed the paper. She then applied bandages from a small medical kit on her back before rinsing the blood from the sink. She put her glove back on and unrolled her sleeve to completely cover the bandages. This was going to be an important day, and she didn't need anyone else getting worried about her.
Well, I hope everyone who's not exactly comfortable with self-harm heeded my warning at the start. If not, I apologise for any discomfort. But I did that because our protagonist isn't just a killer. She's a real person, with real problems. Anyway, see you all next chapter! And don't forget to leave a review if you have anything to say!